Did the passage of Obamacare play a role in setting up Michigan’s move to right to work?
Certainly, competitive pressures from Indiana are key, as Henry Payne points out.
But the lessons of Obamacare should not be overlooked, either. Consider how Washington Democrats passed the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA), as the law is formally known. It on a strict party-line vote: The majority party decided that it was wiling to use its raw majority power when it it was required. The law was enabled by special deals made to key senators (the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase”). It was also assisted by a phony-baloney promise from the Obama Administration to (now) former U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan’s first district that the law would not advance abortion. Finally, the ACA’s legislative backers practiced all sorts of procedural shenanigans. They used the budgetary technique known as “reconciliation” to avoid a filibuster. They used a Senate rather than a House bill (as is required of all tax-raising laws) because it was more expedient. They jiggered the law in ways that underestimated its costs.
In other words, the Democrats in Washington played hardball, circumvented established procedure, and were even willing to suffer the lose of their majority in the House of Representatives (which they did).
Why did they do this, despite dissatisfaction their far left members who wanted a single payer law? Because they knew that that the effort would be worth it in the long run. The entitlements and special favors set up by Obamacare will almost certainly mean that America will permanently tilt, both politically and culturally, away from free-market capitalism and towards a social-democratic-welfare state. Aim for the long run, baby.
Perhaps Michigan Republicans, or at least some of them, have taken the lesson to heart. They’re willing to act on their policy convictions, and also to strike at their opponent’s heart while they have a chance. The near-death experience of Prop 2 no doubt stiffened some spines, but also proved a sentiment of “holy cow, we have to do something!”
Will right-to-work benefit Michigan Republicans politically? I think that in the long run, the answer is yes, though frankly, I’m not too concerned about that. I’m in it for the substance, not whether team red or team blue gets the corner office.
I hope Michigan’s Republicans are willing to follow their Democrat counterparts in the U.S. House, and be willing to (temporarily) lose the majority (or majorities) to enact legislation that advances their policy goals and (perhaps) political fortunes. Unlike the ACA, right to work is morally correct, and good for the economy as a whole.
If they wish to govern rather than simply mark time towards a public pension, Michigan Republicans should flatter the advocates of government, by imitating them.
First published by The Michigan View