The right-to-work legislation passed by Michigan lawmakers and signed into law by Rep. Gov. Rick Snyder has been widely recognized as accomplishing one major thing — it grants Michigan employees the ability to choose whether they do or don’t want to join a union.
But according to the New York Times (NYT), it also does something else — it once again demonstrates the reach and power those much-maligned Koch brothers. Particularly David Koch, whom the NYT says was one of the prominent “wealthy out-of-state contributors” who turned the tide on the right-to-work legislation financially.
This is funny when you think of software giant Tim Gill’s endless war on various state family doctrines, waged from Denver to places unknown to the tune of millions without even a peep from the NYT.
In fact, it seems the only problem the NYT has with Gill’s millions being used to impact races and legislation in various states is that Gill has been “less apt to work in concert with others around the country.”
That’s what burns the NYT about Koch — Koch doesn’t just give money to causes in which he believes, he actually has the audacity to do so in a targeted way so that he gets the most bang for every buck.
To be clear, the NYT also takes time to criticize the wealthy Michigan Dick DeVos, and lists when he gave to the cause and how much he gave to see the right-to-work measure passed. They say the cumulative affect of DeVos, Koch, and even Karl Rove (and others) was simply too great for union supporters to overcome.
For those of you who are paying attention, there’s a trend worthy of noting — when Democrats dump millions of dollars into the political process of other states, they are the voice of the people. When a handful of Republicans do the same thing and prove victorious, they are suppressing the voice of the people.