Last week, after Michigan became the latest state to pass "right to work" for less legislation, many began to dig into the history of such laws and discovered that one of the earliest pushes for "right to work" came from an extreme right-wing activist Vance Muse, who was staunchly anti-communist, anti-integration and anti-union. Muse was the leader of the Christian American Association, an organization that fought to pass "right to work" in more than a dozen states in the 1940s.

Michigan is poised to become the latest state to pass "right to work" for less legislation, a mislabeled policy that is designed to weaken the rights and wages of working families. As is often the case in recent years, extreme anti-worker legislation, like the law in Michigan, can be traced back to Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and the group's founders Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who fund a host of extreme right-wing organizations.

When billionaire CEOs ask a politician to jump, apparently the proper response is—if Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is any indication—“how high?” Earlier this year, Snyder told the U.S. House education and Workforce Committee (see the video in this blog post):

Right-to-work is an issue that is a very divisive issue… we have many problems in Michigan that are much more pressing… I don't believe it is appropriate in Michigan during 2012.

The Michigan State Senate just passed the “right to work” for less bill. The House passed a similar bill earlier today and Gov. Rick Snyder (R) says he will sign the legislation that rolls back workers’ rights.

For the third time in the past 14 years, California voters rejected an attempt—fueled by millions of out-of-state dollars—to shut working people out of the political process when they soundly defeated Proposition 32. California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski said working families:

Rejected a blatant power play by corporate special interests to silence the voice of working people. Despite weeks of misleading advertisements backing Prop. 32 paid for by billionaires and out-of-state super PACs, the margin of defeat was decisive. Prop. 32 backers spent more than $50 million in an effort to fool voters.

Menards, the third-largest home improvement chain in the United States, encourages its employees to take a so-called "economics" course online that contains staunchly anti-Obama content and, while it doesn't endorse Mitt Romney, it talks in positive terms of policies similar to those the Republican presidential candidate has proposed.

In a recent conference call with Mitt Romney and the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Romney urged the employers to tell their employees who to vote for. In These Times featured a video of Romney's call in the article, "In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses to Tell Their Employees How to Vote."

Here's what Romney said:

I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections. And whether you agree with me or you agree with President Obama, or whatever your political view, I hope, I hope you pass those along to your employees.

Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch could be the poster boys for the big money special interests that are dumping hundreds of millions of dollars in this year’s elections on the national and state levels. Last week, it was reported that the American Future Fund (AFF), a front group for corporate special interests that’s linked to the Kochs, dropped $4 million into the effort to pass California’s Prop. 32.

Workers in New Hampshire have fought for two years to block attempts to pass "right to work" for less laws and dismantle collective bargaining. Now, depending on the election in November, they could face two more years of attacks on their rights.

An anti-labor Republican who has labeled himself "Scott Walker on steroids" swept the Republican nomination in New Hampshire's gubernatorial race last night. Ovide Lamontagne, a Manchester lawyer and perennial candidate for New Hampshire's higher offices, is a Koch brothers' dream candidate: he vocally supports "right to work," believes in abolishing the minimum wage and supports funneling taxpayer dollars for education into private religious schools.

We’ve been talking a lot lately about the current financial state of play in electoral politics. Despite the mega-finances poured into the current election cycle, working families have more power than they think—power at the polls.

It’s not just the presidential race that’s being flooded with money. Every political race—from your local sheriff to state and local judges to your state governors and legislators—is receiving more donations from an ever greedier financial elite.