Behind Michigan's "Financial Martial Law": Corporations and Right-Wing Billionaires

[Donnachaidh]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/michigan-snyder-mackinac-center

The think tank that inspired Gov. Rick Snyder's controversial budget bill is bankrolled by some of the same donors that funded Wisconsin's attack on unions.

Last week, Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed into law a fiercely contested bill giving unelected "emergency financial managers" unprecedented power to shred union contracts, privatize city services, and consolidate or dissolve local governments, all in the name of saving struggling cities and school districts. Dubbed "financial martial law" by one approving state GOP lawmaker and "disaster capitalism" by critics, Snyder and his bill have become a target for Wisconsin-like protests. Several thousand demonstrators marched on the Michigan Capitol in the days before Snyder signed the bill. But gone unmentioned is a little-known Michigan think tank that for years has been pushing for the most controversial provisions in Snyder's bill—and that's bankrolled by some of the same right-wing millionaires and billionaires that backed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his anti-union legislation.

Since 2005, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has urged reforms to Michigan law giving more power and protection to emergency financial managers, state-appointed officials who parachute into ailing cities or school districts and employ drastic measures to fix budgets on the brink of collapse. In January, the free-market-loving center published four recommendations, including granting emergency managers the power to override elected officials (such as a mayor or school board member) and toss out union contracts. All four ended up in Snyder's legislation.

"The Mackinac Center has been tight at the hip with the Republican Party establishment for years," says Doug Pratt, public affairs director at the Michigan Education Association. "It goes to their funding sources; it goes to their ideology."

More at the link--

[ananda]

1. Anyone surprised?

Geez

[hifiguy]

2. There is no way this can possibly be constitutional

I am a lawyer - not in Michigan nor familiar with that state's constitution - but I cannot imagine how this could ever pass constitutional muster in ANY state.

[starroute]

3. It's all part of the same network

The Heritage Foundation and associated groups (including ALEC), the right-wing public policy institutes, and the right-wing legal foundations all work closely together. They have overlapping boards of directors, belong to the same umbrella organizations, and swap staff back and forth.

The umbrella organization for these right-wing think-tanks is the State Policy Network, which was founded by the Heritage Foundation. There's an excellent study from a few years ago, Target San Diego, which goes into many of these connections. The report itself is a fairly large pdf, but the non-pdf link to the download page is http://www.onlinecpi.org/section.php?id=174.

Here's a quote from the introduction:

The report contains sections covering the national, state and metro levels. Among the key findings are:

• National level organizations such as the Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks and the American Legislative Exchange Council are deepening their ties with state legislators and policy organizations; while the State Policy Network strengthens existing state think tanks by developing their organizational structures, development operations and grassroots mobilization efforts.

• State level organizations such as the Project for California’s Future, Pacific Research Institute, Claremont Institute and Reason Foundation are linking the national conservative infrastructure with the right’s urban think tanks, corporate interests and party political structures.

• By developing a substantial independent media and research capacity, urban think tanks such as the Performance Institute in San Diego have developed an ability to drive policy debates, shape political campaigns and influence government decision making.

After presenting the case for the seriousness of the right’s challenge, Target San Diego recommends a concerted national effort by progressives to mount an adequate and strategically appropriate response.