Distopian SciFi FTW

[rolanni]

So, out in the great state of Michigan the new governor -- one Mr. Rick Snyder, a Republican -- has noticed that there's a Budget! Crisis! in his state! Sound familiar? And in order to be Fiscally Responsible, he has Bravely Leapt Into Action and is showing the way by advocating a new law that will not only break what few pitiful remnants of the unions that remain in these dark times, but which will also dissolve entire local governments.

You've gotta read this.

When I said it might be interesting to live in a science fiction novel? This was not the novel I had in mind.

Comments

[saruby.livejournal.com]

Well, he did say he wanted to make government smaller....

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

The piece is mistitled. Snyder is not playing fast and loose with democracy -- what he's doing is perfectly democratic.

What he may be paying fast and loose with is the State Constitution.

[lagilman]

What I love is how people are saying "no, it's ok that he does this, because we're in a crisis."

Those people seem to overlook that what's happening is the establishment of a justification of appointing governors who have no accountability to the people. In other words - no representation in the government.

Didn't we have a revolution a few hundred years ago to insist on this?


And do these people really believe that the person appointed is always going to be -their- person? (yeah, they probably do, and that's all they care about. *sigh*)

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

Like in Wisconsin, none of this was something he campaigned on. He was all mister moderate Republican. A whole lot of people bought the lie -- hook, line and sinker. I was not one of them. Even if this is taken to court (which it will be probably) the court here is also Republican.

He, like the other, Republican governors has a very definite agenda. He is planning to move a lot of money to his corporate donors and take a lot away from children, the elderly and the poor. Many people may not realize that we’re talking about a large tax increase on working families and seniors to pay for business tax cuts.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/cailleuch/pic/000d9q2f/)

Somewhere in the last few days I saw a graphic that spelled it all out but cannot find it now. So I post this.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Where you thinking of this one?

http://www.blogforarizona.com/blog/2011/03/kos-the-must-see-chart-this-is-what-class-war-looks-like.html

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

Like that but specifically for MI. It was more a table than graphic but appalling none the less.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

So my guess is correct? This is another manufactured crisis leading to massive power grab?

Awful lot of that going around out there.

[saruby.livejournal.com]

Actually, in MI the economic crisis is not manufactured, but it is very possibly being manipulated to affect elections, etc. The governor before last, a Republican, pushed through a lot of expensive programs when he wasn't re-elected (or his chosen successor wasn't, I don't remember). This set up the next governor, a Democrat, with an even bigger hole to dig out of (keep in mind this is MI, home of the failed auto industry). As a result she was a 1 term governor, because no one could have fixed the disaster that the MI economy had become. So, the crisis is real (very high unemployment, virtually no real estate market, drastically reduced state income with increased need for a safety net. What he is doing is taking gross advantage of this for the benefit of the few. My family is stuck in MI, because they can't sell their houses, but they also can't find jobs. It is truly tragic and only getting worse for the middle class.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's pretty much that I'd thought/feared. Real crisis, but made a lot worse by bad politics.

I found another Forbes (!) article (there have been a couple) that is really kind of mind-blowing--as much for who's saying it as for what it says.

http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/03/11/how-the-wealthy-plan-to-finance-the-american-aristocracy-with-middle-class-dollars/

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

The miserable state that Michigan is in isn't helped by brilliant ideas like reducing business taxes and other taxes that only effect people with lots of buckazoids. Taxes on everyone else have been raised.

As a college professor I am already paying way more for benefits this year. But at least the community colleges didn't get their budgets cut. University budgets were cut 15% and schools are penalized if they raise tuition. A set-up for more to follow.

[magda-vogelsang.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I didn't vote for him either, for all the good it did.

And as a university employee, I definitely stand to suffer under his administration.

[magda-vogelsang.livejournal.com]

Specifically, he's mentioned making university employees pay more for their benefits.

Mind you, we're already paying far more for them than we were a few years ago, and the benefits only partially make up for the fact that on average we make significantly less money than those with similar jobs and experience in the private sector.

[tessie614.livejournal.com]

Thatis one of the most biased article I've read in a long time. Not saying that it is wrong, but it is certainly biased.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Well, as long as it's not factually wrong, I guess we'll have to muddle along.

[magda-vogelsang.livejournal.com]

This is less sensationalized.
http://michiganmessenger.com/46807/constitutionality-of-emergency-manager-powers-questioned

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

*sigh* The aliens have landed, and they're not the nice ones ... *sigh*

[craig trader (from livejournal.com)]

Sounds a lot like a prelude to Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash".

Detroit

[claire774.livejournal.com]

We're used to being told that we've lost a big part of one American city; New Orleans. But we're losing another too: Detroit. it's already 1/2 the size it was. A monument to unbridled capatalism and greed. Now the superintendent of schools is closing 70 of Detroit's public schools. Lots of schools have already been closed. Watch the city vanish. I got a call today from a Detroit resident. There are lots of homeless dogs roaming the streets. Yep. We're in trouble.
C.