Reform Unmasked
The following is an article from freep.com
“You heard rumors for weeks that the Reform Michigan Government Now! ballot proposal was some sinister plot by state Democrats to alter Michigan government to their advantage.
As I am with all conspiracy theories, I was skeptical.
But in a huge, “holy crap!” shocker, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has uncovered evidence that suggests the ballot proposal is every bit the Machiavellian move that people feared.
The evidence was found on a UAW region’s website, in the form of a slide show that lays out the ballot proposal’s motives and machinations. (see it here at the Mackinac Center’s website.)
According to the slides, the entire idea is about assuring Democratic control of the legislative redistricting process in 2011-2012, after the next census. The presentation dismisses as “too expensive” and unlikely the idea that Democrats might actually win enough elections before 2010 to assure a strong hand in redistricting.
So instead, it proposes using “the publics very negative mood and high level of discouragement about state government … to enact a ballot proposal which comprehensively reforms state government, including changing the structural obstacles to Democratic control of state government in 2012-2021.”
How clever. Or is that sinister?
The ballot proposal would shrink the legislature and reduce the number of seats on the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, moves that in the short term would exact heavy tolls on Republican officeholders.
Meanwhile, voters would think they were just supporting smaller, more efficient government.
The slide show is devastating for Democrats.
First, it exposes a real spoilsport attitude that makes the party look hopelessly desperate for power that can’t be attained at the ballot box. It’s a “change the rules so we can win” strategy that is almost child-like, a near admission that the party has no appealing agenda or saleable platforms, just a stark hunger for power to protect its favored interests.
It also reflects a horribly cynical view of Michigan voters. It assumes they can be easily manipulated with proposals to cut government (which may be true) but then nakedly tries to take advantage of that, for the party’s benefit, rather than the citizens’.
State Democrats have got to come out and say something about this.
If the slide show is not real, they ought to trash it. If it is real, they ought to apologize and insist that the proposal be withdrawn before it’s certified.
More shameful politics have rarely been exposed in this state.”
Tell us what you think!
