Michigan Bill Would Impose Financial Martial Law

ELECTED OFFICIALS COULD BE STRIPPED OF POWER IN TOWNS, CITIES, IN A :"FINANCIAL EMERGENCY" IN MICHIGAN -- AND AN APPOINTED REPRESENTATIVE COULD BE PUT IN CHARGE!

"...the governor could declare a “financial emergency” in towns or school districts. He could then appoint a manager to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, eliminate services – and even eliminate whole cities or school districts without any public input."

Rep. John Conyers

Source: CBS News
March 14th, 2011

Michigan lawmakers are on the verge of approving a bill that would enable the governor to appoint “emergency managers” — officials with unilateral power to make sweeping changes to cities facing financial troubles.

Under the legislation, the Michigan Messenger reports, the governor could declare a “financial emergency” in towns or school districts. He could then appoint a manager to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, eliminate services – and even eliminate whole cities or school districts without any public input.

==SHADES OF HITLER! NOTE THIS PAGE FROM A TEACHER'SMANUAL ABOUT HOW HITLER USED A GENERAL LAW TO THEN SPECIFICALLY TARGET JEWS (BE SURE TI SCROLL DOWN PAST THE END OF THE PAGE TO THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE):

==BACK TO THE ARTICLE:---

The measure passed in the state Senate this week; the House passed its own version earlier. The two versions of the bill are expected to be reconciled next week, and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he will sign the bill the bill into law.

Democrats and their allies are decrying the legislation as a power grab and say it’s part of a wider effort taking place in several states, such as Wisconsin, to weaken labor unions.

“It takes every decision in a city or school district and puts it in the hands of the manager, from when the streets get plowed to who plows them and how much they are paid,” said Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO. “This is a takeover by the right wing and it’s an assault on democracy like I’ve never seen.”

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat who represents Detroit, said in a statement that in a given city, the governor’s new “financial czar” could “force a municipality into bankruptcy, a power that will surely be used to extract further concessions from hardworking public sector workers.”

==Comment: Ever since the assassination of President John F.Kennedy, which was NOT the deed of Lee Harvey Oswald, Americans have been losing their civil rights. Michigan is in the top 10 of highest property taxes of all the states. Michigan as of Jan. 4, 2010 has the 7th highest tax rate on gasoline. Michigan has the 3rd highest business tax rate and the 6th highest unemployment tax rate in the country.===

==back to the article...==Conyers went on to say...

"It takes every decision in a city or school district and puts it in the hands of the manager, from when the streets get plowed to who plows them and how much they are paid," said Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO. "This is a takeover by the right wing and it's an assault on democracy like I've never seen."

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat who represents Detroit, said in a statement that in a given city, the governor's new "financial czar" could "force a municipality into bankruptcy, a power that will surely be used to extract further concessions from hardworking public sector workers."

He said the legislation raises "serious constitutional concerns." On top of that, he said, allowing an "emergency manager" to dissolve locally elected bodies "implicitly targets minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the economic downturn, without providing meaningful support for improved economic opportunity."

Republican state Sen. Jack Brandenburg said several urban areas of the state, especially Detroit, are in "bad shape" and require "financial martial law," the Daily Tribune reports.

The emergency manager, he said, "has to have the backbone, he has to have the power, to null and void a contract." In response to concerns that local leaders will have to cede control, Brandenburg said, "I'll tell you what, I think that in a lot of these places there is no control."

An emergency manager would only be put in place if several other steps to save a city's finances failed, and Snyder has said in recent weeks that removing elected officials or breaking contracts would be a last resort for an emergency manager. In addition, the legislature would have the power to remove an emergency manager.

As the "emergency manager" bill nears final passage, state lawmakers are also considering Snyder's proposed budget, which would cut spending on schools, universities, prisons and communities, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Snyder has also proposed eliminating $1.7 billion in tax breaks for individuals while cutting $1.8 billion in taxes for businesses to spur job growth. Much of the $1.7 billion in new tax revenue would be "coming from retirees, senior citizens and the working poor," the Free Press wrote in an editorial.

...I liked some of the comments that came from this article, such as:

"Stop blaming state, federal, public employees...[who want to keep unions in place] they are the last hold out of a fair deal...you want to know what happened to America? Follow the money. There were no billionaires and gazillionaires, and the few millionaires paid 90% tax rates. So that America had the greatest public works projects in the world. Now the rich pay miniscule taxes, and they invest in slave camps overseas. You want to target the problem in America? It isn't the workers, it's the rich who have destroyed the Middle Class, and taken all the tax breaks of the past thirty years and invested it in workshops in foriegn lands. It was the rich who moved America's factories, not the workers.

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"This story makes the Republicans look bad and next week we will read one where Dems are bad. Both are bad. they are owned by the Elite bloodlines. they are one big family. We are slaves."

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AN HONEST MAN IN GOVERNMENT GETS PUNISHED

IT IS OUTRAGEOUS THAT CERTAIN, SELECT PRISONERS CAN BE NOT ONLY HELD INCOMMUNICADO, SO THAT EVEN THEIR ATTORNEYS CANNOT CONTACT THEM, BUT THAT THEY CAN BE HELD INDEFINITELY. BRADLEY MANNING HAS BEEN IN NERVE-WRACKING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, SUBJECTED TO HUMILIATION, DEPRIVED OF HIS CLOTHING EVERY NIGHT, HAS NO BLANKET OR PILLOW, IS GOING TO BE CHARGED, NO DOUBT, WITH TREASON.I CONSIDER HOW LEE HARVEY OSWALD WAS TREATED, AND ASK ALL READERS TO DEMAND THAT LAWYERS AND FRIENDS HAVE ACCESS TO MANNING, THAT CLOTHING 24 HOURS A DAY BE PROVIDED FOR MANNING, AND THAT THOSE WHO CRITICIZE THE GOVERNMENT --SUCH AS P.J. CROWLEY,WILL NOT BE FORCED TO RESIGN FOR SATING THE OBVIOUS. WEAKILEAKS GETS QUOTED AGAIN AND AGAIN WHEN CRISES OCCUR. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORLD IS IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE,WHERE, BEFORE, WAS ONLY DARKNESS.
ONLY A FEW COMPANIES OWN MOST OF THE COMMUNICATIONS OUTLETS AND MEDIA GIANTS NOW. WHEN ALL DISSENT IS QUASHED, WHAT COMES NEXT?

Washington (CNN) -- P.J. Crowley abruptly resigned Sunday as State Department spokesman over controversial comments he made about the Bradley Manning case.
Sources close to the matter said the resignation, first reported by CNN, came under pressure from the White House, where officials were furious about his suggestion that the Obama administration is mistreating Manning, the Army private who is being held in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia, under suspicion that he leaked highly classified State Department cables to the website WikiLeaks.
Speaking to a small group at MIT last week, Crowley was asked about allegations that Manning is being tortured and kicked up a firestorm by answering that what is being done to Manning by Defense Department officials "is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."
Crowley did add that "nonetheless, Bradley Manning is in the right place" because of his alleged crimes, according to a blog post by BBC reporter Philippa Thomas, who was present at Crowley's talk.
"The unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a serious crime under U.S. law," Crowley said in a statement Sunday. "My recent comments regarding the conditions of the pre-trial detention of Private First Class Bradley Manning were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership.
"The exercise of power in today's challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values," Crowley said. "Given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility, I have submitted my resignation."
Crowley has told friends that he is deeply concerned that mistreatment of Manning could undermine the legitimate prosecution of the young private. Crowley has also made clear he has the Obama administration's best interests at heart because he thinks any mistreatment of Manning could be damaging around the world to President Obama, who has tried to end the perception that the United States tortures prisoners.
Nevertheless, Crowley's political fate was sealed Friday when Obama was asked at a White House news conference about his comments regarding Manning.
Obama revealed that he had asked Pentagon officials "whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of (Manning's) confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards."
In a comment that drew howls of protest from liberals, Obama added that Pentagon officials "assure me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well."
Manning's treatment has become a flashpoint for liberals, with Amnesty International noting he has been confined to a windowless cell for 23 hours a day, is stripped down to his boxers at night and is not given pillows or blankets.
Manning's lawyer also says the young private recently had to sleep in the nude because defense officials thought there was a suicide threat and decided to take away his boxer shorts.
Crowley is highly respected on foreign policy matters, dating back to his time as National Security Council spokesman under then-President Bill Clinton. He has been the Obama administration's public face on many international stories as the daily briefer at the State Department for Secretary Hillary Clinton.
But he has not had a completely smooth relationship with officials in the Obama White House, and eyebrows were raised several months ago when White House aide Mike Hammer was sent over to the State Department to serve as Crowley's deputy.
A senior White House official stressed that Crowley's exit was in the works for months and said the MIT incident only "hastened that departure."
"Everybody likes P.J. This was more a situation where it wasn't the right fit," said the official, noting there were times when Crowley wasn't on the same page as Clinton, let alone the White House.
Hammer will replace Crowley as the assistant secretary for public affairs, Clinton said in a statement Sunday.
She said she accepted Crowley's resignation "with regret."
"P.J. has served our nation with distinction for more than three decades, in uniform and as a civilian," she said. "His service to country is motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy, and I wish him the very best."
A little-known factor in Crowley's comments about Manning was revealed Saturday by April Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio who covered Crowley in the Clinton White House.
Ryan wrote on Twitter that Crowley "dislikes treatment of prisoners as his father was a Prisoner of War."
While it's true that Crowley's father was imprisoned during World War II, people close to him downplay that as a major factor in his comments about Manning, saying the biggest factor is simply that Crowley believes what he said.
In his statement, Crowley said he leaves with "great admiration and affection" for his colleagues and "deep respect for the journalists who report on foreign policy and global developments every day, in many cases under dangerous conditions and subject to serious threats. Their efforts help make governments more responsible, accountable and transparent."