Michigan Republicans rammed an anti-union law through their lame duck session in mid-December, claiming it was about freedom and jobs and dodging questions about the role of billionaire donors like Dick DeVos. Now that it's late January, they can start relaxing and telling the truth about their motivations. Gov. Rick Snyder, who just six weeks ago was all, "We need this law because jobs!" is singing a rather different tune:
'Over 90 percent of the jobs that you're looking at aren't going to be in a situation where right to work is even relevant," Snyder said in the hotel's Ambassador Ballroom. "Let's keep in mind what the economy is really about. Why not embrace the great things going on and be more positive?It's not relevant for over 90 percent of jobs? Snyder is saying that now, explaining how, contrary to what studies have found in other states, average worker wages won't drop in Michigan as a result of the law's passage. But he was not exactly running around in December saying that the big lame duck push was about something not relevant to 90 percent of jobs. State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, meanwhile, is oh so very grateful to DeVos and former Michigan Republican Party Chair Ron Weiser for giving money and opening doors for the anti-union push:
Various bills from the legislator's perspective are kinda broken into two ingredients: air cover and ground cover. Air cover is financial backing and making sure that we've got contributions so that they've got enough money to go off and get this group out.There you have it, from Michigan Republican lawmakers' own mouths. This wasn't about jobs or the economy, and it was made possible by big donors.So, air cover is critical and I gotta tell ya, Dick DeVos and Ron Weiser are unsung heroes on this great work, that they were critical on the air cover element and getting us across'and they also opened up doors, frankly, with rarefied air that even Mike didn't have access to and even I definitely didn't have access to.
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