Rick Snyder's burning down the house

It’s like setting a bunch of different fires all over the place and then watching as people without fire extinguishers frantically run from spot to spot, trying to douse the flames quickly without getting burned.

This is Rick Snyder’s strategy, and it’s working.

Snyder and his ilk are setting fires on multiple fronts and moving on to their next target while affected constituencies, underfunded and ill-equipped, scramble to respond.

• He’s signed a bill cutting six weeks of state-level unemployment benefits. The measure reduces state jobless benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks as of January.

• He’s launched a major assault on representative democracy. On March 16, he gave broad new powers, including the ability to terminate union contracts, to emergency financial managers appointed by the state to run struggling cities and school districts. Opponents say it could set up virtual dictatorships and strip power from local elected officials.

• His surrogates at the Koch-funded, Midland-based Mackinac Center have made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to three state universities with labor relations departments – Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan – seeking all e-mail messages regarding Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R-Douche) and his attack on collective bargaining. A Mackinac Center employee told Talking Points Memo, a web-based political journalism organization, that the request is “part of an investigation into what labor studies professors at state schools in Michigan are saying about the situation in Madison.” One professor described it as anti-union advocates "going after folks they don't agree with."

• He’s repealed Michigan’s item pricing law, a popular consumer protection measure long hated by business, and statutorily prohibited citizens from coming together to repeal his repeal via referendum. (Seems a tad unconstitutional but what do I know?)

• His budget proposal gave a big, fat $1.8 billion tax cut to his business buddies while increasing taxes on seniors, the poor and others.

• He’s reduced revenue sharing for local governments. Want your snow plowed and your fire department open? Tough.

• He’s attacked teachers and students, offering schools less aid and suggesting they make up the loss by forcing teachers to pay more of their own health care and retirement costs.

The list goes on.

Snyder’s war, cloaked in “We must take drastic measures to reduce our deficit and balance our budget and live within our means” b*llsh*t, is wearing people down. Inundated with depressing news, people are turning off the radio and turning on Undercover Boss and Dancing with the Stars. How many protest rallies can a person watch? How many newspaper articles describing the harmful effects of Snyder policies can someone read? Add to the state-level shenanigans the fact that the same strategy is being employed in other states and nationally, and it’s a wonder anyone’s buying a newspaper these days.

It’s this fatigue and the resultant resignedness and passivity that are allowing Snyder et al to pursue and achieve their outlandish victories. If we’re preoccupied with the struggle to feed our children, keep our jobs and put gas in our cars, it’s not likely we’ll be knocking on doors and leading marches.

At first I thought what was happening was just conservatives exercising their muscle and going for whatever they could get while the gettin's good. But now I see genuine class warfare, a nefarious, brilliantly-orchestrated campaign on the part of the Haves to make sure those who Have Less become the Have Nots. They’re not just taking away perks; they’re stealing our voice and our power and our tools and our rights.

When someone with a few pebbles tries to fight the guy with the tanks, guess who wins?




Sources: www.mlive.com, Talking Points Memo