Stuff just got real

President Obama has weighed in on the Republican push to destroy unions in Michigan.

Considering that President Obama said nearly nothing during the anti-union war in Wisconsin last year, this is huge.

Thank you, President Obama.

The White House statement after the jump.

This is what happens when you vote Republican

In a move that surprises just about nobody, Governor Rick Snyder announced at press conference this morning that when anti-union Republicans send “Right to Work for Less” (RTWFL) legislation to his desk, he will sign it.

After spending the past year being coy about his position on RTWFL, it was widely suspected that he would support such legislation. With gerrymandered districts ensuring Republican dominance for the foreseeable future, the will of Michiganders as a whole is being thwarted by a cadre of drunk-with-power ideologues that have been waiting for decades to jam anti-union, anti-worker, anti-woman and pro-Big Business bills through the legislature and into law. The perfect storm of the 2010 midterm election and the redistricting that happened the following year gave them their opportunity.

Details after the jump.

THIS is what democracy looks like

Via my good friend Abby Clark, a photo and video from the Michigan Capitol Building this morning. It’s already full of anti-Right to Work protesters by 9:30 a.m.

As Abby puts it, “This is a nightmare that should be getting national meda attention. Michigan is the birthplace of the American middle class as we know it and it’s facing an existential threat as retribution for Proposal 2 and the results of the November 6th elections.”

Video and photo after the jump.

Forming a more perfect union

Republican attacks on labor unions are, perhaps, one of the most hypocritical positions that they have. As they hold the U.S. Constitution aloft and bow down in solemn reverence to the Declaration of Independence, they seem to forget a couple of key things.

First, our country is, at its very core, a UNION. We are the UNITED States of America. We work together for the common good of all of our citizens, at least when we’re doing it right.

Second, one of our most basic tenets, right there in the 1st Amendment, is the right to peaceably assemble.

Labor unions are one of the purest expressions of democracy and freedom in this country, a fact that is often lost in the discussion. I want to remind our legislators of this so I started a petition called “Unions ARE Democracy. Unions ARE Freedom. Stop Republican attacks on unions in Michigan, say NO to ‘Right to Work’ for Less.“

You wanted a fight, Republicans? You have yourselves a fight!

Facing a Republican attack on collective bargaining rights and a full-court press to make Michigan a Right to Work For Less state, the Michigan AFL-CIO is hosting another Lobby Day at the State Capitol Building in Lansing tomorrow.

The Republicans have switched from the already-deceitful name “Right to Work” to “Freedom to Work”, presumably so that they can get the attention of tea party fanatics that worship anything with the word “freedom” or “patriot” associated with it (unless that loss of “freedom” comes in the form of an Emergency Manager for an African American community, of course.)

Details about the event and more after the jump.

Now is not the time to rest The Michigan legislature holds its lame duck session starting today and continuing through December 20th. The Republicans who control both houses of our legislature are signaling that they intend to get a LOT done in over the next four weeks. Further efforts to destroy our labor unions, an egregious, overreaching “reform” (aka privatization) […]

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