The left missed the grassroots story, says the Kochs "lead the charge." The Koch brothers paid for a "heated tent," a few buses on the day of the protest, and a pamphlet.
12/13/12, "A conservative star rises in … Michigan?" Legal Insurrection, William A. Jacobson
"Until recently, I knew nothing about Patrick Colbeck. I still know very little about him except for one thing … he is responsible for achieving the once unthinkable, a measure of freedom for workers in Michigan through the just-enacted right to work law.
As reported by Reuters, Insight: How Republicans engineered a blow to Michigan’s powerful unions:
"As a trained aerospace engineer, Patrick Colbeck applied his penchant for data analysis and “systematic approach” to his new job in early 2011: a Michigan state senator, recently elected and keen to create jobs in the faded industrial powerhouse….
From outside Michigan Republican circles, it appeared that the Republican drive to weaken unions came out of the blue – proposed, passed and signed in a mere six days.
But the transformation had been in the making since March 2011 when Colbeck and a fellow freshman, state Representative Mike Shirkey, first seriously considered legislation to ban mandatory collection of union dues as a condition of employment in Michigan. Such was their zeal, they even went to union halls to make their pitch and were treated “respectfully,” Colbeck said.
The upstarts were flirting with the once unthinkable, limiting union rights in a state that is the home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry and the birthplace of the nation’s richest union, the United Auto Workers….
They built from the grassroots, bottom up, rather than from Snyder and top leaders in the legislature. If anything, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville was viewed as an obstacle because he represents a labor-friendly area."...
Read the whole thing.
I don’t know enough about Colbeck to say he is the next big thing, but based on what he achieved and how he achieved it, he is someone to watch for future higher office.
He certainly will be watched and targeted by the unions, so we’ll be watching out for him."...
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12/13/12, "Insight: How Republicans engineered a blow to Michigan's powerful unions," Reuters
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12/6/12, "Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity are leading the charge for Snyder's 'Right to Work' bill," Detroit Free Press, Greg Gardner
"Members of Americans for Prosperity set up tents at the Michigan Capitol Building and broadcast speeches from President Reagan, as they cheered on in support of Right to Work legislation."
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The Nation's graph (below) shows Michigan Right to Work advocacy spending only through 2011. Even for 2011 they show the Koch brothers spent nothing. Only one group spent in 2011, the Mackinac Center.
12/8/12, "Pro–'Right to Work' Groups In Michigan Outspend Union Counterparts," The Nation, Lee Fang
"In the last few years, conservatives have made significant contributions to political organizations that have pushed the state to the right on core economic issues, and explicitly pushed right to work as a top goal (see the graph above):
• Americans for Prosperity–Michigan, the group founded by the billionaire Koch brothers, has a relatively new chapter in Michigan that has produced pamphlets extolling right-to-work reforms. This week, the group set up a heated tent outside the capital to support Snyder’s law and bused activists to Lansing to counter labor protesters."...
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