What's Wrong With Michigan?

I was rudely interrupted today by the Michigan House of Representatives.

I was only looking/awww-ing at the Ikea monkey for the one hundred billionth time when was alerted that the Michigan House of Representatives had passed the destruction of labor unions "right-to-work" bill.

Couldn't Michigan lawmakers
look at this monkey instead of
passing legislation?

The bill pretty much says that employees can choose whether or not to pay union dues at companies or business where labor is unionized.

You may be thinking, that doesn't sounds so bad. If a few people opt out of paying for participating in a union, that's okay.

But that's not what's up.

That's not what's up?

No.

Here's what's up.

The real goal of the right-to-work bill, of what is actually two bills - one that enables right-to-work for the public sector and another for the private sector, is to break down the labor unions and hinder them incapable of operating.

Labor unions have been the underpin for labor rights and better wages.

Even though I personally believe that child labor is pretty cool (jk obvi), apparently some people don't, like labor unions.

Labor unions have been at the precipice of basically every major win for laborers of all kinds - like better working conditions for EVERYONE, what we now consider normal work hours, and keeping our professional athletes happy.

That whole 8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for what we will thing? That was a labor union thing.

Wouldn't it suck if we had 23 hours for work, 30 minutes for sleep and 30 minutes for what we will?

We don't want that.

In other words LABOR UNIONS ARE THE SHIT, DON'T MESS WITH THEM!

This is an epic amount of signs/people.

To give you an idea of how important this is, Reuters reported that 12,000 people protested the passage of right-to-work outside the capitol today.

It made for a pretty cool scene.

Unfortunately (and in many cases, fortunately), loud people with large signs aren't necessarily effective in changing the minds of lawmakers.

But to make it worse, it's unlikely that this law will be able to be overturned at the ballot box by popular vote because an expenditure was added to the bill and expenditures cannot be voted on via ballot measure in Michigan.

This woman knows the joy only the WSJ editorial
 board could feel at the moment.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board collectively jumped for joy at this news like a Republican at a Mitt Romney book signing.

While most would find that situation strange, awkward, uncomfortable, and possibly anti-hygienic, a Republican, and I assume the Wall Street Journal editorial board, would find this thrilling.

The Journal gloated, "Because the final right-to-work bill will contain an appropriations rider, under Michigan law unions won't be able to overturn it by referendum, as they did to Ohio's collective-bargaining reforms in 2011."

They may as well have written, "Screw those guys in Ohio! They are stupid! They suck!"

The WSJ endorses this
sign (not really)

While some people may believe that Ohio and its inhabitants suck, as you can see by the picture on the right, I personally do not agree. I base my argument on the photo on the below.

Dude, Ohio is not that bad.

Whatever your take on this whole Ohio argument, the feelings that should be pulsing through your veins are anger, disappointment, and hunger (that last one was just me, it's snack time).

The workers in Michigan were dealt a blow today as cold as the Winter Warlock before he learns to walk.

Maybe we should put one foot in front of the other and get to work finding a way to overturn this messy malarkey in Michigan.