Roman Dictatorship and Fiscal Conservatism: Michigan

Roman Dictatorship and Fiscal Conservatism: Michigan
As if New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's line-item vetoes were not enough to demonstrate the power of Roman dictatorship for state-side fiscal conservatism, behold the executive moves instated by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

The Michigan governor, another GOP Midwestern chief executive, is picking up the pieces where the previous Democratic administration fell through. Not content with cutting spending from the state budget, he has empower local and county stake holders to take on dictatorial powers and resolve economic crises:

According to Slate Magazine:

"Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, according to his critics, is not merely misguided. He is un-American. Snyder's plan to take over financially troubled cities and appoint unelected "emergency managers" to run them "is the same kind of flagrantly undemocratic 'emergency rule' used by military dictators, "wrote a blogger on DailyKos. Rachel Maddow warned her viewers that if Snyder has his way, popular sovereignty at the local level will come to an end."

These emergency managers hold the unilateral power to do whatever it takes to instill fiscal solvency into failing and bankrupt municipal and local school governments.

Contrary to Maddow's strident claim that local sovereignty is all but dead with this overarching directive, "emergency managers" are empowered to intervene only in cases of fiscal emergency, and only then to effect fiscal resolve and restore local agencies back to a firm financial footing. The endless deliberations and filibustering by interest groups and low-level bureaucrats can frustrate any meaningful reform to such an extent, that entire states may become insolvent because of partisan bickering. A single authority executing extensive cost-cutting is the most efficient way to ensure fiscal solvency across the board. The governor is not undermining local and county leadership, but rather taking diligent steps to safeguard tax-payer money and provide for the future of public utilities in the state of Michigan.