You may not have noticed, but Michigan residents have lost the right to vote in local elections.
You may not have noticed because the local news media is not describing Rick Snyder's emergency manager legislation that way. But that is what it did.
The right to vote for our leaders at the local level has been eliminated. The right to vote for school board members, township trustees and officials, and so on is now only allowed in those communities that Snyder thinks deserves to have that right.
The right to vote for local leaders has been replaced by the privilege to vote, bestowed where Snyder thinks local leaders have done enough busting of unions and cutting of services to deserve the privilege.
Michigan news media have been treating this power grab through emergency managers as only theoretical, reassuring us as the Detroit Free Press did recently, that Snyder is a nice guy and would never do anything nasty.
But on Friday (March 25, 2011) the newspaper had to report that 150 school districts and charter schools are in deficit and more could be forced into the situation due to Snyder's cuts in state aid to schools, which are coming at a time when the school aid fund has a huge surplus.
Even taking out a large number of charter schools, which the local people don't get to elect and have no say over, that's an awful lot of people disenfranchised.
Everybody was fine with that concept when they thought it was only going to those black people in Detroit, but now it's clear the law will reach into every part of Michigan.
Everybody still OK with that?
1 comment:
What an outrageously race-baiting comment for you to make. Have you no shame?
The emergency financial manager was needed in Detroit because the school children, mostly black, were being systemically robbed by the corrupt and incompetent people who were supposed to be looking out for them.
Is it truly your position that the decades of waste, theft and croynism should have been allowed to continue unchecked. If so, then you are indeed the racist, since you are willing to sacrifice yet another generation of black children in order to protect a corrupt ruling class.
By the way, it was Granholm who appointed Bobb. I guess she did that because it only affected black people in Detroit.
(The rest of your post was equally absurd. The school aid fund does not have a huge surplus..instead it has unexpected tax revenue increases that was stored for future use, which was possible only because the foundation grant was further sliced.
But let's take your word for it. 150 school districts, about 30 percent of all state schools, are near bankruptcy even though the school aid fund is flush with money. That's odd, and it has nothing to do with Snyder's proposed cuts which wouldn't take place for another year. So, according to you, schools have been getting sufficient funding and still can't balance their budgets. That sounds like they sorely need outside help.)
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