Flier from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's September 2014 Visit to the Flint Farmers Market

VOTE   WHILE   YOU   STILL   CAN!

Under Michigan’s Emergency Manager law, the city of Flint is run from Lansing. Flint’s city council, mayor, and charter have no power; residents have no voice. All local decisions are made by Gov. Snyder and carried out by an Emergency Manager (EM) he appoints.

This is dictatorship and it is dangerous!—not simply dangerous to our fundamental rights,

but dangerous to our very health.

Financial Emergency  Fixes Cause Health Emergency Crises

The United Nations has declared “safe, clean, accessible, and affordable drinking water and sanitation” to be a human right. Water shutoffs and unsafe water deny this right and put entire communities at risk of disease and other health complications.

The multiple fecal contaminations of Flint's water supply are the direct result of the decision to abandon the Detroit water supply for a new Lake Huron pipeline. Even though independent auditors commissioned by the State called this a "major risk" and said Flint and Genesee County residents would be better off staying with the Detroit regional authority, Snyder's EM pushed the plan through.

Now everyone is paying high water rates because those fees are the security for bondholders in the new pipeline deal underwritten by J.P. Morgan Chase and UBS. That's the “comeback kid” in action!

Our Public Health at the Expense of Our Public Wealth

Through Snyder’s EM, the State of Michigan handed private Flint corporation Uptown Reinvestment $5.65 million in grants and low-interest loans to create “an emerging health and wellness district” downtown. Flint’s EM also awarded Uptown a 12-year, $1 million tax abatement and $880K in federal community development block grants for the project that:

• privatized control of the once-public Flint Farmers’ Market
• gifted publicly-owned Genesee Towers to Uptown for $1
• setup MSU's Public Health program as Uptown’s tenant in the old Flint Journal building

If State resources exist for “public health districts” that benefit wealthy private interests, Governor Snyder can allocate resources to address actual public health emergencies arising from soaring water rates, water shutoffs, an unsafe water supply, and the theft of local democracy.

Lower Water Rates Now! Stop Water Shutoffs Now! Safe Water Now! Restore Democracy Now!

Labor Donated   •   Contact the Democracy Defense League at DemocracyDefenseLeague@gmail.com

LEAFLET: DEMONSTRATE FOR A PEOPLE'S RECOVERY! JANUARY 12TH, DETROIT, MI

Sunday, January 12th in front of COBO Center in downtown Detroit, site of the 2014 North American International Auto Show. More at the Autoworker Caravan website.

Autoworkers Fight Back! Demonstrate at the 2013 North American Auto Show

via Autoworker Caravan

 

Save the union; Save Detroit; Save the planet!

Demonstrate Sunday, January 13 & Monday, January 14, 1:30-3pm across from Cobo Center in Downtown Detroit at the 2013 North American Auto Show

With all the talk about the successful turnaround of the Big Three, the spotlight needs to be turned on to the deteriorating working conditions autoworkers are facing. We were forced by the White House Auto Task Force to “sacrifice” during the bailout at GM and Chrysler. Concessions were incorporated into the current contracts with the Detroit Three. These included the elimination of COLA, time-and-a half only after 40 hours, loss of break time and holidays, expansion of two-tier and at GM of break time and holidays, expansion of two-tier and at GM The pacts sent a signal to workers: don't complain, just “be happy you have a job.”

Some Things Never Change: Police Beating Military Veterans Exercising Rights

Philadelphia, 1946:



Boston, 2011:

VIDEOS: Benton Harbor Blossomtime Parade & Recall Rick Snyder Rally

Activists, politicians, and citizens rally in Benton Harbor, Michigan against the state's Governor Rick Snyder and undemocratic GOP policies during Benton Harbor's annual Blossomtime Parade, in which Snyder was Grand Marshall.

Take Action: http://www.FireRickSnyder.org | http://www.facebook.com/RejectEmergencyManagers

VIDEO: US Uncut Tax Day Rally at Bank of America | Flint, Michigan

US Uncut gives Bank of America a lunch time case of the Mondays in downtown Flint, Michigan.

"We Are Michigan" Rally for Workers, Students, Seniors & Shared Sacrifice | Lansing, March 16

On Wednesday, March 16, 2011, upwards of 7,000 Michiganders rallied to denounce proposed GOP legislation that would tax pensions, gut schools, void local elections, ordinances & contracts, privatize services, eliminate project labor agreements, and pass all the savings on to Wall Street. Turning public pain into private gain. To join the fight against this power grab, see:

http://www.michaelmoore.com
http://www.miunion.org
http://www.iww.org
Recall Rick: http://tinyurl.com/4sb3esk
http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com
http://lansingworkerscenter.wordpress.com/
http://www.miaflcio.org/
USUncut MI: http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Uncut-Michigan/164529150265296

Stand Up & Fight, Michigan!

Via http://www.StandUpMI.com/

I made this image because as a concerned citizen - who, like many of us is a little confused and overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the changes our corporate-controlled government "officials" are simultaneously attempting to implement across our great state (and country) - I have been wondering on a daily basis lately:

"What can I, as one person, do to make a difference?"

Well, I'm a graphic designer. I make images that speak to people. So I made this icon in the hopes that it will become a reminder, and an inspiration to all that we as a state, and as a community, CAN fight back against the injustice and loss of democracy that the establishment is trying so hard to wreak against us. - Chris K.

ANTI-PROTEST MOVIE: "Brink of Disaster" (1972)

"How 1960s activism "threatens" American moral, religious and ethical principles."

PART 1



PART 2

SOS: "Calling all Workers & Retirees" by Gregg Shotwell

Workers, retirees, unionists, and activists of all stripes and sizes are responding to calls to protest at state capitals In Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere.

In Michigan, where I live, Governor Snyder wants to raise taxes on workers, poor people, and retirees so he can give businesses a tax break of 1.8 billion dollars. This is the Republican version of welfare. Tax the poor and give to the prosperous. Or, from each according to his humility (poor, retired, working), to each according to his greed.

This transfer of wealth from one group to another would be labeled class warfare by Republican pundits, but since the shift is from the less affluent to the most affluent, it's deemed justice—wise and benign governance.  In their book, only corporations and wealthy investors deserve government support. Like my brother, Steve Shotwell, said, in regard to the conservative minds of our times "Corporations have all the rights and privileges of individuals, but individuals don't have the right to organize."