Vote 2012

I just came back from voting the ineligible marxist liar out of the office he usurped in '08.  But that isn't what I wanted to blog about today.  I just wanted to send a message to Gov. Snyder regarding Proposal 6.  For those of you outside of Michigan you probably haven't heard about the issue, but because I'm sure the Governor reads my blog religiously I wanted to comment.

Today I voted NO on Prop 6, but Governor, it wasn't because you asked me to.  It's because Matty Maroun is a sleazy scumball and that proposal was all about him and his empire, and something like that shouldn't be in the Constitution in the first place.

But know this, Gov. Snyder:  I don't like your sleazy conduct on this issue either.  The elected representatives of the citizens of this state (the majorities of which are of your own party) turned down your bridge proposal, and it is disgusting that you decided to circumvent the will of the people as expressed by that vote.  Your conduct is only slightly less reprehensible than Maroun's.

Now, concerning Proposal 1, which amounts to a public ratification of Public Act 4, more commonly known as the Emergency Manager Law.  I get so tired of the whining citizens of these cities and school districts getting on the "you're usurping local elected officials and local control and putting an unelected and unaccountable bureaucrat in charge" bandwagon.

Folks - if your local elected officials didn't have their heads in their nether regions in the first place, you wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place.  And who was it that kept voting the goofballs into office in the first place?  Check your closest mirror for the answer to that question.

So now you've run yourselves into the ground and you can't pay the bills.  Without the Emergency Manager law, your only option would be Municipal Bankruptcy.  And who is making the decisions then?  Why bless my soul, it's an unelected and unaccountable Federal Judge!  So the "Local Control" argument is no argument, but a smokescreen.

Of course, any fat-cat, corrupt politician wants to keep his power, so in order to avoid losing that, he turns to the State to bail him out.  Well folks, when you want the State to bail you out of your predicament there are of necessity some strings attached to that money, and that's where the EM comes in.  Because you're now asking the citizens of the entire state to save you, and that gives them an interest in how your municipality or school district is run.  It can't be business as usual.

Now, despite the "unaccountable and unelected" argument, who appoints the EM?  Why, the Governor of course.  And I'm pretty sure that all Governors in all 50 states are elected by the people of those states.  Ours in Michigan certainly is.  So you have an appointed outside party who answers to the Governor, who answers to the people of the State every 4 years, just like those local politicians you are so concerned about.  It's not like the EM just materializes like something out of a Star Trek transporter room.

Certainly the labor unions in those municipalities - teachers, fire, police, and others - don't like the EM, because all of their contracts quite likely go out the window.  But why should the unions not share in the pain of turning things around?  Nobody gets off scot-free in situations like this.  Yes, there will be job cuts.  Yes, services will be reduced.  Yes, classroom sizes will get bigger.  Lots of stuff will happen.  But those things would happen with a bankruptcy judge too.  So again, this is no argument, just a smokescreen.

All in all, the EM law gets bankrupt units of government back on their feet without having to resort to the  painful, and expensive Federal Court case that will drag on for months and impose solutions that will look pretty much the same as what the EM would impose.  You just get there sooner with the EM, and you retain some level of accountability through the Governors office, which you wouldn't have with the Judge.

Seems to me that is as good of a solution as you are going to get.

An Unexpected Briefing from Air New Zealand

A friend linked me to this, and it's too good not to share.