Maddow on Emergency Manager Takeover of Benton Harbor, Michigan

[NoOneLeavesHungry]

Correction: we have all the schedules of drugs.

[TanjaEubanks]

This is about eugenics, social engineering, and "Us vs. Them". Divide and conquer. Done

[MsFlowergirl89]

This is a Republican thing!! This is just a start or little experiment so they can spread this grab on freedom and dictatorship. They have now taken over 4 cities, People must stop this assault on our democracy and freedom, and rights.

[VictusMei]

Also, please realize that this is not a Republican vs. Democrat thing. This is about the collusion of business and political power. Guy with ties to the developer who covets the city park sponsors a bill that gives control of Benton Harbor to a state-appointed emergency manager. This would happen with both Democrats, Republicans. The answer does not lie strictly in the political realm but in the regulatory realm. The mechanisms which prevent this have eroded.

[VictusMei]

Detroit is in danger of this right now. Please visit occupy-detroit.us to help Detroit and Michigan now! There has to be a better solution.

[TheBookVlogger]

God, this pisses me off!!!!

[johnb820]

4 people can't wait to play a round at the new golf course.

[docj09]

Rachel can try and spin this against the GOP all she wants...but the facts are this city is the asshole of Michigan and has been for years. Place is millions of dollars in debt after being controlled by democrat officials for years. Now she's criticizing a republican governor for stepping in and saying "enough is enough...if you can't run your city right we're going to run it for you"

[Wisdomwalker]

@docj09 I live in the most conservative city in the State of California, San Diego. The Republicans have had control of the mayors office and city council for years beyond memory. To put it kindly they have been less then good when it comes to managing local funds. Now if Sacramento did to San Diego what Lansing is doing to Benton Harbor then Fox New, Rush Limbuagh, and you would all probably be in an uproar.

[Wisdomwalker]

@docj09 Point is DEMOCRACY IS DEMOCRACY!!! And you can try and spin it anyway YOU want but the facts are this goes against everything this country was founded on. If the people of Benton Harbor want to elect what in your opinion is a bad local government that is their damn right! Its their town! Sheesh the founding fathers must be turning over in their grave. Dead soldiers from Benton Harbor who fraught and died for the FREEDOM of this country must be turning over in their graves. SHAME

[BigBrotherHal2001]

Infuriating. I'd like to offer the people of Benton Harbor the support of a guy from the Show Me State. A state does not have the power to dissolve municipal governments. It may have the power to regulate them, but it certainly cannot dissolve them. This should be taken to the Michigan Supreme Court.

[spankrobot]

There's always the problem of agents provocateurs, thought there may be a way to plan for that.

[SarahLeeSings]

What people are forgetting is that this is beyond left and right. Democrats and Republicans all over the place are in agreement, this needs to be stopped!

Sign the petition, donate, and support the recall effort! Do what ever you can!

[ffakr]

It took me about 60 seconds reviewing the Michigan Constitution to see this is blatantly illegal, at least the part of nullifying Union contracts. ... § 10 Attainder; ex post facto laws; impairment of contracts.

Sec. 10.

No bill of attainder, ex post facto law or law impairing the obligation of contract shall be enacted.

[lascaw]

I bet she hasn't even been to Benton Harbor. It's still a great city. I'm disgusted that someone sent me this video to watch this idiot disrespect a solid city.  Do everyone a favor and get your facts straight before someone gives you a story to read.

[bowenj10]

@lascaw BH is NOT still a great city. It's a cess pool, whether you want to accept it or not. The elected and unelected government officials are insanely corrupt and inept and govern a population of destitute morons who are creating future destitute morons. If it weren't for Whirlpool and St. Joseph, BH, and the state, BH would have devolved into an even worse cess pool than it is now.

[Simbelmyne13]

@bowenj10 I'm glad you've managed to jettison all rational faculties to the point where can't even see that's the state/corporate symbiosis that created the disaster in BH and everywhere else in the states. Did you overlook the entirely fascist (marriage of state and corporate power) nature of the law? If you like being a servant of unaccountable tyrants you should ask for a EFM in your own town. I'm sure they'd be happy to give you a job as a jingoist party hack propagandist.

[marliz012]

As a Grand Rapids citizen I am shocked, disgusted, and frankly scared....to see peoples rights being stripped away so quickly...makes me want to LEAVE Michigan, not stay to enjoy its fascist funded parks.

[spankrobot]

Get used to it: Big Business and the Very Wealthy have the law on their side and nothing short of massive peaceful civil disobedience is going to stop them.

[megandoesntlikeyou]

@spankrobot Is it even possible for people here in the U.S. to do ANYTHING peacefully?

I mean, it would be fantastic if enough people could come together and manage to control themselves in order to protest against this travesty, but I'm not holding my breath. :c

[Simbelmyne13]

@megandoesntlikeyou It's not possible to do anything without massive confrontation against the corporate/state oligarchs. They have really ramped up the attacks against the majority in this country in recent years. There is a lot of resistance, the most visible of which is in Wisconsin but it's not enough admittedly. Hopefully it will grow.

[geordany11]

All you idiots whos making this into a black and white thing, needs to wake up. This is wrong. Our civil liberties are in danger, there turning this country into some type of police state. The democrats are no different then the republicans.

[ffakr]

@geordany11 Yes, it's the new Democratic senators that are doing all this. They're exactly the same.

[MInuhanyouM]

@ffakr i haven't seen any democratic senators proposing to destroy entire towns and sell off their assets

[OfficialFrizzo]

Well there's an incentive for elected officials to make their communities solvent if I ever saw one...

[wwkayakit]

I just can't even believe this. I have been an Independent voter all my life, but what the republicans are doing in the last 2 years if beyond wrong, it's criminal. Essentially, they are creating a dictatorship, stripping us of our rights. Not all republican voters are bad people, but the leaders of the republican party have become a union of evil.

[Bo6us]

No matter your political views, unless you're racist against blacks, this is NOT right. Looking at the average revenues of each city, populations and average incomes for each family, you've got to be BLIND to not see the racial segregation in purposely put in place by the Local officials who-- Who would of thought?? Are all white!

[hailstorm0976]

I appreciate the coverage, though I think that the spin on Jean Klock Park is imbalanced. Many citizens of Benton Harbor were excited about the improvements to the park, and were in support of it. The latest decision of the Emergency Financial Manager is quite disturbing&constitutionally questionable. Nonetheless, I think that it is important to have members of the media cover this story to ensure that people in power are being monitored by the public eye.

[iamavet]

Worst places to live in Michigan because of crime, drugs and city government corruption is Detroit and Benton Harbor.These 2 cities, ran by corrupt progressive Democrats have been milking Michigan and US Govt taxpayers starting in 1960s. The biggest reason for State having a deficit is because of Detroit, Benton Harbor and public unions.

It looks like Maddow and MSNBC support corrupt city governments, crime and the Democrats taking tax money for their criminal agenda.

[sep0507]

@iamavet Looks like you support the elimination of voters rights. Doesn't matter if you believe Benton Harbor to be a corrupt city, the residents still have the right, according to the US Constitution, to elect ANYONE they want to office. MI will not get away with this over reach of power. Besides, it's really all about a golf course for the rich, white, GOP donors, isn't it?

[iamavet]

@sep0507

Could care less for golf , white, rich , GOP , blacks, pigs, basketball, or if you live on the moon.

They can elected bin laden for all I care and can kill each other in the street.

Just don't make the Michigan and US tax payers pay for it. They want to act irresponsible then pay their own bills and quit taking handouts from responsible people. Maybe than lawful responsible people will ignore these free loaders.

[sep0507]

@iamavet Which ones are the freeloaders? The ones stealing the land or the ones that OWN the land?

[iamavet]

@sep0507

The beach land is a different story and that is up to the city and the people.However Maddow and MSNBC propaganda is trying to link the take over of City Gov by State Gov to the beach land, which to me is a journalistic crime. However the take over of the city by the State was necessary as reported in the Michigan Messenger April 20, 2011

"Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved a state takeover of Benton Harbor’s finances last year after the city needed help meeting payroll."

[sep0507]

@iamavet Taking over the finances and EXCLUDING the city managers from their elected positions is a different matter. The state wqould normally come in and aid the beleagured city until they could see their way financially. But the new govenor is all about power grabs. It won't stand up in court.

[iamavet]

@sep0507

And that is the point, why should tax payers (State and Federal) keep bailing out City government officials, if through corruption or mismanagement, the City is going into default. Since Granholm failed to fix the problem, the current Gov is stuck with it and will be resolved by the courts.

However, my biggest problem is with MSNBC. They only started hyping up the story when the new Gov was elected. Maddow and Ed show used 1/2 truths and riot inciting language to incite violence.

[sep0507]

@iamavet The point is FIX the problem, not steal their city. So half truthts and outright lies on FOX is OK? This isn't an emminant domain issue, it's a power grab by wealthy GOP donors. PERIOD.

[femfilly]

Golf courses did not save any of the neighboring towns, Buchanan for instance, why would it work in Benton Harbor?

[BadWolfRacing]

Benton Harbor is "Flint on the Lake". If Benton Harbor Local Government  were able to handle their own financial affairs, they would not need a State appointed financial manager. This is nothing more than liberals pandering for voters from the poor.

[sep0507]

@BadWolfRacing You're wrong. Benton Harbor government "may be " mishandled, but that doesn't give the state the right to override the voters wishes. It does give the state the right to come in and 'oversee" and help the elected officials reach a sound financial outcome. This abuse of power by the state is just another ploy by the GOP and their wealthy donors to grab desireable land for their own personal use. I see a BIG LAWSUIT COMING! And you know what? Benton Harbor will win.

[kkfin81]

Annnd, all the people shown in the "not in Harbor Shores" video shots are white.... unlike the true demographic of the citizens they are displacing.

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

Rachel is showing her partisanship again. The takeover of Benton Harbor has been going on for years, with the blessing of DEMOCRAT Governor Granholm. As the people of BANCO (Google it) can tell you, the takeover of Benton Harbor is NOT "unprecedented," as Mayor Benero claims.

Where were Rachel and Virg when this was going on under the Democrats?

[masercot]

@xxxxPaladinxxxx Neocons will go to any length to justify being Soviet shills. Nice try, son...

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

@masercot Don't assume you know my politics. And I'm probably older than you, "son."

The struggle over Benton Harbor has been going on for years, and nobody gave a damn until some asshole Republican became governor. I'd be a lot less skeptical of Rachel and Virg's partisan agenda if they had been talking about this when Granholm was governor.

Shove it.

[masercot]

@xxxxPaladinxxxx So, you are saying that the previous governor dissolved the town's government? Got proof?

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

@masercot No, I'm not saying Granholm dissolved Benton Harbor's government. But that doesn't mean she isn't complicit in a takeover of the city by other forces.

Since you apparently don't know the recent history of Benton Harbor, I'll recommend once again that you visit the BANCO website. They can explain in much greater detail the history of the city.

[masercot]

@xxxxPaladinxxxx So...You lied. Not meant to be factual, eh?

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

@masercot No, I didn't lie. If you'd bother to research this issue before making snarky comments, you'd know that Benton Harbor's state-appointed Emergency Financial Manager was appointed by Democrat Governor Granholm BEFORE before Republican Rick Snyder ever became Governor.

If you knew anything about BH you'd realize the REAL takeover of the city is by Whirpool Corp and their interests, with the state's help. And it began years ago. Again I ask, where were Rachel and Virg?

[masercot]

@xxxxPaladinxxxx Again, the issue is the dissolving of the town government. You know...democracy. Yes, I know Benton Harbor was a company town, now with no production facilities; but, this has nothing to do with the assault on a democratically-elected government...

...even if you want it to very badly...

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

@masercot No, the issue is a takeover of a town by special interests, facilitated by the state and the courts, that has been going on -- in one manner or another -- for years, and was ignored by people like Rachel Maddow until a Republican took the helm.

You speak of democracy, but if you'd take the time to learn more about this, you'll find that democracy in Benton Harbor has been under assault for years.

[masercot]

@xxxxPaladinxxxx Takeover by corporation has been around since the industrial revolution. The Snyder doctrine is a very new thing...

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

@masercot This is true, but even if we proceed from your point of view, focusing solely on the "government" takeover of BH, the fact remains that the process was begun under Governor Granholm, a Democrat, and neither Rachel nor Virg Benero made any mention of that.

To be fair, the process under Granholm wasn't as draconian as Snyder's plan, but Rachel's whole point was that this is purely a Republican phenomenon, which simply isn't true.

[sep0507]

@xxxxPaladinxxxx You fail to see the point. Granholm DIDN'T appoint anyone to take over the city, some asshole republican govenor did. Granholm didn't sellout to Whirlppol like the current govenor did. It wasn't an issue before because it wasn't an issue. Now it is, and one about power and land grabbing republicans.

[xxxxPaladinxxxx]

@sep0507 Actually, Granholm DID sell out to Whirpool. Just because she didn't take it over personally doesn't mean she isn't complicit in a takeover by other forces.

Again, I recommend you visit the BANCO website. They can explain in much greater detail the recent sordid history of Benton Harbor.

[jatichenor]

What freedoms did the golf course take away? Freedom to deal undisturbed? The state appointed manager portion of the story is disturbing, but I think the park is much improved and it's time to relax about the course and focus on righting the actual problems in SWM (not just Benton harbor).

[jatichenor]

Clearly not many people here visited the "civic jewel" of Jean Clock Park in the decade prior to the golf course, but then again unless you needed illicit drugs you would have had no reason to go. The average person in St Joseph or Benton Harbor cannot afford to be a member of the new course, however they can all enjoy the free walking paths, cleaned up beach, and lower crime rate

[Stateslate]

@jatichenor In the end, no matter what the rationale is, this is the backsliding of American democracy. They're using the same logic politicians used to think people had in the middle east; that some people are willing to trade in freedom for security. The only person who can make the calls? Snyder. The only person who can directly affect how they operate? Snyder. All in the name of securing our state's budget. Apparently democracy is only good when it's profitable.

[nicegyrl1]

my home....................my home...smh. Sad thing is, it's not just us but other cities who are about to get the same thing. The other side of the bridge (st. Joe) is just as bad off as The Harbor, only they are not telling you that. The whole state of Michigan is suffering as well as other states, because of selfishness. And then you get stereotypical comments about "poor and welfare" not taking the time to even ask or get to know a person, because of crap like this

[midwestmacrame]

I won't stand for living in a state that only helps rich white folks overtake yet another lakeshore on which to chase those damn little balls around. This is not the future I want to build. Bastards.

[staceybassoon]

This is a recall campaign underway. The hearing is set for the end of this month.

[stephterp]

These MI politicians are not republicans. They are by definition, Fascists! Their agenda is to please the mackinaw center for public policy and corporate greed!

[Chiquiwiki]

Sorry "what is happening"

[Chiquiwiki]

So sad to see what has happening in my old home state.

[TechnomancerMorhion]

The true desire of conservative republicans. Turn America into a totalitarian corporatocracy.

[mrekbass]

Conservatives are fuckin craaaazy!!!

[jw12yrsctch]

Time to take to the streets, a recall would be nice, but now the people's voice needs to be heard loud and clear. March in Bloomfield, march in Birmingham, march on St Joseph, march on HIS house, march on the wealthy that are pulling Snyder's strings. This is illegal, immoral, and Snyder needs to be held accountable by the people. If Michigan lets this go they will deserve everything that comes next. Ypsi, Hazel Park, Flint, etc will see Emperor Palpatine soon as well. 

[tatazmania15]

Recall Rick Snyder!