Weekly/biweekly Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 12/26/2012 9:36:25 AM PST by cripplecreek
Lots of folks scoffed in town when reports surfaced that Democrats had petitioned the President of the United States to insert himself into the unseemly debate over Right to Work. Some asked out loud, doesn't POTUS have more important things to do than lobby Gov. Rick Snyder on that?
But lobby the president did.
During an exclusive one-hour sit down on WKAR-Public TV, the governor confirms that he and President Barack Obama shared a few minutes in private and the president looked the governor in the eye and said, "He wasn't pleased with Right to Work," Mr. Snyder reveals for the first time.
And the governor's response?
Short, sweet and to the point. "I said thank you for sharing that with me."
And that was it?
"Pretty much, yeah," the GOP governor glibly recalls.
Of course the central theme in the story line had the President linking RTW to potential federal dollars for the governor's bridge and the M-1 transit project for downtown Detroit. The speculation was the Democrats wanted Mr. Obama to hint if the governor signed Right to Work, he might not got the federal largess.
But on that point the governor suddenly clammed up when pressed.
Reminded that it would be a good story to report, the governor would have no part of that.
"It's a good story," he conceded but quickly added, "but you can wait for the book" and then he laughs.
The interviewer suggested he might not live that long and asked again for confirmation.
Still no deal.
The stubborn governor noted, "I do this to help the citizens of Michigan, not to make stories."
And then in case anybody missed his point, this coda, "Actually sharing any discussion with the President of the United States, I don't think really moves us forward with the citizens."
So much for that.
End of conversation.
While no one will confirm this, there is no indication that the federal money angle was discussed in the exchange between the two. Which means the "book" will not be nearly as interesting.
See the Evening with the Governor and First Lady Sue Snyder at wkar.org.
An Evening with the Governor 2012
Snyder is much more polite and restrained than I would have been. IOW, “GFY, punk.”
I reached the exact opposite conclusion. If Obama didn't link federal money to the decision, then one of his operatives did prior to Obama discussing RTW with him. Snyder would not say anything if the threat had been made. It remains to be seen if Obama follows thru with some sort of retribution to the state.
LOL! A great reply and then Gov. Snyder signed the bills as soon as he could. :-)
Snyder held all the cards and knew it.
The funny part is the idiot screaming about Obama bacon a few days earlier probably helped Snyder a great deal. He knew Obama couldn’t really withhold funds from Detroit and the GOP has control of those funds and will use them effectively.
“Professor” Obama should find something to busy himself with back in DC, like read the constitution.
States that have not yet passed right to work laws should instead give the unions more of what they want. It’s patently unfair that maybe 75 votes thirty years closed a shop to union representation and locked today’s workers onto a situation not of their own choosing. Right to work advocates should move to make certification an annual event, voted only from among active current employees by secret ballot. It is the onlynwaynto know if a union is truly serving the needs of its constituents. Our lawmakers stand for reelection, why not unions?
States that have not yet passed right to work laws should instead give the unions more of what they want. It’s patently unfair that maybe 75 votes thirty years closed a shop to union representation and locked today’s workers onto a situation not of their own choosing. Right to work advocates should move to make certification an annual event, voted only from among active current employees by secret ballot. It is the only way to know if a union is truly serving the needs of its constituents. Our lawmakers stand for reelection, why not unions?
Too bad we live in America where we don't have a king, huh?
They set some pretty high hurdles for de-certification. I read some SEIU by laws a couple of years ago and it only took 10% to derail a de-certification vote.
Snyder missed a golden opportunity. Because the media never asks 0bama any substantive questions, Snyder could have filled this role. Perhaps, he even could have covertly recorded the converstation as well. Snyder would not need to be confrontationl, just ask open ended question explaining the rationale for closed union shops. He could have moved on to other subject such as taxes, debt and gun confiscation. This could have been a treasure trove of information that could be used when needed.
Not with a National Security Force, Just as well armed, just as well funded as the Military.
I would have told the rat b@stard SOB to go intercourse himself.
Thanks cripplecreek.
Employees may file a petition for decertification (RD) if they believe support for a union has diminished, after collecting signatures from at least 30% of workers in a unit. A majority of votes decides the outcome.
Click the link for a chart of decertification elections and the outcomes from 2001-2010:
http://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/graphs-data/decertification-elections-rd
As you can see from the chart, unions were decertified by a substantial margin in the period portrayed. The process for dececertification is not widely known and is ferociously opposed by the union when it is attempted.
see #18
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
