--Less than half the cost of trying to beat an uncumbent GOP Supreme Court Justice
--More is spent every four years trying to win the House and Senate, usually unsuccessfully
--Less than half the cost of a presidential election year Coordinated Campaign
--If the proposal passes, it will reduce the cost and increase the prospects of winning the State Legislature every cycle
Although nowhere in the proposal does it state as such, under the provisions of the proposal, two GOP Supreme Court justices will be removed, as will eight (mostly) Engler appointed judges to the Court of Appeals. Slide 18 of the powerpoint presentation points out this out.
The budget allotted for this proposal is $4.9 million. Nowhere in this presentation, or anywhere on the RMGN website is any mention of where that $4.9 million comes from. The RMGN is described on their own website as a non-partisan grassroots organization. It is headed by Dianne Byrum, a former Democrat state legislator and current Michigan Democrat Party Treasurer. She also serves as spokesperson for the Michigan Coalition of Compassionate Care, an organization that successfully placed a medical marijuana proposal on the November ballot.
The Michigan Democrat Party has denied any organizational connection to the RMGN. Chairman Mark Brewer said, "I have been and continue to be supportive of this grassroots proposal that reforms the Michigan government. Provisions such as ethics reform and asset disclosure for elected officials would help create a more open and accountable government that works for the citizens of Michigan rather than the special interests that currently have too much control over the way business is done in Lansing."
The UAW powerpoint presentation would suggest a direct connection. Budget slides 30 and 31 both refer to "MDP-in kind" for budget items. MDP refers to the Michigan Democrat Party, indicating a direct collusion between RMGN and the Michigan Democrat Party headed by Brewer.
Signers of the petition drive for the ballot proposal were simply told that the measure would reduce the size of Michigan government, cut wasteful state spending, reduce retirement benefits and salaries for politicians, bring accountability to state government and eliminate un-needed government departments. What the signers were not told is that the entire initiative was a Coup D'Etat designed to sieze control of all branches of Michigan government and ensure that those branches remained in Democrat control for decades.
Saul Anuzis, Chairman of the Michigan GOP told The HinzSight Report, "Every circulator that we are aware of pitched the signers that this was a government reform effort to reduce costs and the size of government. Whatever worthwhile reforms were in this package, they were used to fool the voters into signing and voting for this blatant attempt to overthrow state government by several special interests."
At the heart of the proposal is redistricting the state in such a way as to guarantee Democrat control. This is a process commonly known as gerrymandering; or the process of establishing districts most advantageous to the party in control of government. Gerrymandering is a time-honored tradition throughout the country -- but is usually kept in control by the separation of powers within state government. In order for redistricting to be accepted, all three branches of government have to sign off on the plan. This is what the RMGN proposal seeks to ensure.
Their first step, and the most subtle part of the RMGN proposal was the Judiciary. Since the Michigan Supreme Court must certify any changes to the Michigan Constitution, the proposal seeks to remove two GOP members of the court, thus ensuring a Democrat majority.
To his credit, Nick De Leeuw of RightMichigan.com has been all over this story since the petition drive was first announced. For weeks, Nick has written about the steal provisions of the proposal, and dug into the hidden backers of the organization. Provisions within the proposal that looked bipartisan on the surface, when examined, showed that the RMGN was designed to eliminate Republican, or Republican appointed justices.
Through opinion research, the RMGN determined that the Michigan voters are angry about recent Democrat tax increases, legislative failures and state spending. Seeking to use that voter anger, they carefully crafted the 12-page proposal to include poll-tested language designed to garner public support for popular reforms, while obfuscating the true nature of the proposal.
"The process was deceptive, the language faulty and the principle of amendment by petition abused," Anuzis told The HinzSight Report. "This was little more than a stealth, underhanded attempt by the Michigan Democrats, UAW and Trial Lawyers to trick the voters of Michigan into passing something they could not attain at the ballot box."
Ironically, on the same day that the Mackinac Center discovery was announced, Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney penned an Op-Ed in the Detroit News in support of the RMGN proposal. In it he states:
Concerned political activists from the Republican and Democratic sides came together to initiate this proposal. I am one of them. Our group includes regular citizens, lawyers, labor leaders and union members, as well as elected officials and party (Democrat and Republican) activists. Some AFL-CIO-affiliated unions support this effort, as do many individuals. This is a grassroots campaign.
He then goes on to list the RMGN talking points about "government is broken" (seemingly a common theme for the Democrat Party this year, without mention of how or who broke it), reducing legislators and legislative salaries (a very popular proposal), and reducing the size of government (something advocated by the GOP and certainly available to the current administration.) He finishes his piece with this:
This proposal will amend a small part of the state Constitution. It only affects four of 12 articles and amends 35 of 232 sections. But by changing the status quo of gridlock, amending the partisan practices, reforming both the Legislature and the judiciary, saving more than $35 million each year, the Reform Michigan Government Now ballot proposal brings the kind of big change in our government that struggling Michigan families really want.
It will certainly change the "statis quo of gridlock" by ensuring a Democrat theocracy in all branches of state government.
The proposal itself is under fire from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which has announced a plan to challenge the validity of the proposal in the state Court of Appeals. Chamber VP and general council, Robert LaBrand said, "We're not going to allow the Michigan Constitution to be hijacked like that. This petition drive is all about guaranteeing (Democratic) control of state government in the coming decade."
Paul Kersey of the Mackinac Center perfectly sums up the proposal, and the conspiracy uncovered by the UAW powerpoint presentation.
To the extent that this document is what it appears to be, it leaves little doubt that the Reform Michigan Government Now ballot initiative is a partisan power play. The most important features of the scheme are the redistricting commission and the removal of two Republicans from the Michigan Supreme Court. Nearly everything else in the proposal seems to be calculated to make the entire package more attractive to voters.
The Mackinac Center is a nonpartisan policy research organization committed to informing Michigan residents about the content and likely consequences of legislation and ballot proposals. While we have no objections to partisan politics as such, it is essential to call attention to partisan ploys that are presented as neutral good-government reform.
The PowerPoint file also gives a troubling glimpse into the thinking of UAW officials. Rather than working to guide their members through a difficult economy, they appear to be pursuing a crassly partisan and breathtakingly cynical political maneuver. At a time when the auto industry in Michigan is undergoing difficult changes, the UAW would be well-advised to focus on its members and leave politics to the politicians.
Anuzis sums it up. "At best, this is an unethical and sneaky attempt at a constitutional rewrite which was never foreseen in the current amendment process."
Lest anyone question whether internet bloggers are having an impact on politics today, it is worth noting that the UAW documents were first brought to light by Jim Vote, a graduate student at Wayne State University, working this summer for the Mackinac Center.
This type of cynical attempt to circumnavigate the voters and steal government through subterfuge should scare the heck out of everyone.