"Teabaggers" Urge State Employee Pay Rejection
Articles in the March 15th editions of the GONGWER and MIRS newsletters talk about the "Tea Party" movement and their advocation for the rejection of the state employee negotiated pay raise.
GONGWER 3/15
TEA PARTY MOVEMENT GETTING ITS SEA LEGS
The Tea Party movement is comprised of more than 50 different groups across Michigan, has no leadership hierarchy and isn't interested in endorsing any gubernatorial candidates and that's exactly how Common Sense In Government President Wendy Day wants to keep it.
"We're kind of in uncharted territory in Michigan," she said Friday. "It was kind of an organic movement than came from the ground."
Speaking on Michigan Public Television's "Off the Record," Ms. Day said the groups are tied together out of the belief that government has too much power and control over the individual lives of Americans and is concerned the federal government oversteps states' rights.
Organizers of the groups are trying to tap into frustration with the federal government and bring to people's attention the issues within state government, she said. Currently, the group is issuing robocalls and urging lawmakers to reject the 3 percent pay raise scheduled for unionized state workers starting October 1.
Asked whether the Tea Party movement would be stronger if organizers created a leadership structure, Ms. Day said it's too easy to discredit leaders of organizations and "I'm comfortable with 1,000 groups blooming across the state. We're not trying to build an empire."
The group is, however, going to create a political action committee. Ms. Day said because the group is focused on holding lawmakers accountable, it will be dropping off literature to residents in the coming months and wanted to make sure everything was done according to the law. Asked later who is funding her group, Ms. Day said many individuals have contributed and the group has about $6,000 in the bank, but it doesn't receive big money donations from any entity.
Her group isn't courting any candidates in particular to run for office, she said.
"We're not coalescing around a savior," she said of the gubernatorial race. "The government has changed parties so many times neither party is the answer."
And Ms. Day said she doesn't expect the Tea Party movement to disintegrate once the election is over.
"The real work starts January 1, 2011," she said. "We don't really care about who wins an election."
MIRS 3/15
Patterson Set To Vote Yes On Eliminating 3% Pay Hike Sen. Bruce PATTERSON (R-Canton) told MIRS today that he's ready to vote on a resolution to reject the 3 percent state employee pay hike.
Patterson abstained when the measure was brought up for a vote earlier this month. He was the only GOP Senator who didn't vote for it. He said he refrained from voting on the rejection because he wasn't sure that rejecting a negotiated contract was legal under labor laws.
Patterson also said he wasn't aware the vote was going to be taken until that day and didn't have time to get his concerns addressed. Now having researched the question, Patterson says he has adequate information, indicating that rejecting the hike would not be illegal.
"I'm now in a position where I feel comfortable with it," Patterson told MIRS. "It appears to be legal and I can now vote knowing that."
This week, MIRS reported the argument forwarded by Mackinac Center Director of Labor Policy Paul KERSEY that the rejection resolution would be legal (See "Weighing In On Raise Rejection Query <http://mirsnews.com/capsule.php?gid=3280#23023> ," 03/11/10).
MIRS asked Patterson if it was Kersey's argument that persuaded him.
"I would say that it was an important component," Patterson said. "I also consulted other sources."
Day: 3% Raise Top Issue For Tea Party Group
The top issue for one Tea Party group is stopping the 3-percent pay hike for unionized state employees, Wendy DAY told an Off the Record panel this week.
Day is president of Common Sense in Government (CSG), which has led many of the Tea Party protests. She said she talked last week to House Speaker Andy DILLON <http://mirsnews.com/leg_bio.php?lid=217> 's (D-Redford Twp.) legislative assistant about the raise.
A Howell School Board member, she said she does not have a candidate for Governor and has "no plans right now" to run for another office.
Day said CSG wouldn't just disappear after the 2010 election, unlike traditional parties, adding that "the real work starts Jan. 1, 2011."
When asked what CSG's beef was, Day said, "Our beef is that government has too much power and control over the individual lives of Americans and that the federal government has more power than they're supposed to when you're looking at a state's rights issue -- our traditional form of government that we were founded upon."
Day said that she wasn't the leader of the Tea Party movement in Michigan and said there are 50 or 60 groups. She said CSG has 1,500 people on its e-mail list. The group has a 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 and will form a PAC this year.
"We're not here to build an empire," she said. "I don't have time to build an empire."
Day was asked how much the state collects in taxes and she said she didn't know. She was told it's $22 billion and was asked what was an appropriate level of taxation.
"Well, there's a couple of measuring sticks I would use," she said. "No. 1, if you can find it in the phone book, the government probably shouldn't be doing it. I do believe government is way too entrenched in many areas that they don't really need to be entrenched in."
When asked if the government should be helping the unemployed, Day said "to some degree," adding that she knows "people are hurting."
"I think from a principled perspective, right now our system starts out sort of as a safety net and turns into a spider web," she said.
When asked to name a reform she'd like to see, Day said a part-time Legislature, although she said she would like to see "the federal government go part-time before the state would."