ICYMI: National Review Publishes Mother’s Account of Democrat Scheme Exploiting Vulnerable MI Families

October 18, 2024

(October 18, 2024 – Lansing, Mich.) A bombshell article appearing in The National Review tells the account of a mother caring for her medically frail son, unveiling the ugly reality that underpin a new and deeply troubling scheme in which Michigan Democrats and labor unions are ruthlessly exploiting vulnerable citizens for political gain.

In the piece, entitled “ Democrats Let Unions Steal from My Sick Son — to Reelect Themselves,” Michigan mother Tammy Martin explains that a new law passed by legislative Democrats and rapidly signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this year reclassified caregivers like Martin as “public employees,” subjecting them to unwanted unionization by the public sector union, the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU).

“I’m not a public employee,” Martin writes.  “And I’m certainly not a political pawn or an ATM for special interests. I’m a mother desperately trying to keep my son alive.” Martin further notes that the new law designates her sick son as her “employer,” whom SEIU will allegedly bargain against on her behalf. 

The upshot, Martin states, is not tangible benefit to hardworking, vulnerable families trying to make ends meet, but an outrageous theft of union dues from caregivers and a brazen plan to funnel these ill-gotten funds directly into Democratic campaign coffers. This year alone, the SEIU poured $200 million into reelecting Democrats across the country– $555,000 of which went into Michigan Democrat bank accounts, according to the latest data from the Michigan Secretary of State. 

This practice strikes at the very heart of our democratic values,” said Abby Mitch, executive director of Michigan Rising Action. “Governor Gretchen Whitmer led the year proposing a $5,000 tax credit for caregivers, which has not been passed into law despite pleas from caregiver advocates. It appears this proposal was nothing more than a PR tactic to make way for her unconscionable signing of a law permitting labor unions to prey on caregivers through forced unionization. It is bald-faced political grift that turns sick and aging Michiganders into cash cows.” 

The policy highlighted by Martin is a retread of a Gov. Jennifer Granholm-era policy that had failed vulnerable Michigan families before.  During the 2000s Michigan Democrats enacted this exact same policy, with the SEIU taking money from caregivers’ stipends every month, while giving nothing in return.

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