It’d a rare day that I disagree with Ed Schultz, but today I do. He compared the totalitarian moves by Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan to the USSR. Personally, I believe that Snyder is goose-stepping to the other end of the spectrum, as he attempts to turn the entire state into a Republican dictatorship. Snyder’s plan will violate the US Constitution if he signs it into law, but that matters little to Republicans. To quote their former leader, Potomac Pinocchio, “It’s just a piece of paper.”

Although Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) anti-union crusade has received the biggest headlines, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is poised to sign an even more drastic assault on working Americans into law. Yesterday, the Michigan legislature passed a “ financial martial law ” bill that allows Snyder to appoint “emergency financial managers” with the power to terminate collective bargaining agreements: Contracts & Collective Bargaining Agreements. The bill would authorize the emergency manager to reject, modify, or terminate one or more terms and conditions of an existing contract. After meeting and conferring with the appropriate bargaining representative and, if in the emergency manager’s sole discretion, a prompt and satisfactory resolution were unlikely to be obtained, the emergency manager could reject, modify, or terminate one or more terms and conditions of an existing collective bargaining agreement. There’s a pretty serious problem with this power grab, however — invoking it would violate the Constitution. The Constitution forbids state laws “ impairing the Obligation of Contracts .” This provision provides a robust limit on a state’s ability to dissolve contracts between the government and a private party. As the Supreme Court explained in United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey , state laws impairing such contracts must be “reasonable and necessary to serve an important public purpose.”… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Most states have provisions under which the state can take over management of a city or town that is in default, but nothing so extreme as this measure which gives Snyder’s henchmen dictatorial powers.

Ed Schultz and Lansing Mayor, Virg Bernero, fill in the dirty details of this onerous plan.

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