This guy versus this guy?
The events of the last four months have become a seamless garment. Governor Walker’s refusal to compromise after being offered virtually everything he asked for from the public employee unions, except the end to collective bargaining, has bought him the national attention he is so obviously craving. (Remember his self-comparison to Ronald Reagan in his conversation with the pretend David Koch?) His initiatives since November (That’s right, he started turning the worm before he was even inaugurated) read like a Tea Party voter’s guide:
TEA PARTY VOTER’S GUIDE
1. | Declare federal high-speed rail funds a stupid idea. (Even though it would have been a quick infusion of some $850 million dollars into Wisconsin’s economy at a time it needed stimulating.) | √ |
2. | Declare Wisconsin’s highway system the transportation mode of the new millennium and tell the Federal Department of Transportation to “stick” its High Speed Rail funds. (Which it promptly did, into the welcoming arms of California, Washington, Florida and Illinois.) | √ |
3. | Announce the state is “broke” and facing a 3.6 billion dollar deficit. (Which it’s not under any rational view.) | √ |
4. | Take taxes off the table as a future tool to address state budget problems by signing into law a two-thirds “super-majority” rule for any new “revenue enhancing” laws. (Sure, this crazy law can be repealed, just as soon as the Governor and Assembly and Senate pass back into saner hands. In the meantime cutting services and financial support for students and the poor is all that can be done) | √ |
5. | Demonize state workers as greedy and unnecessary malcontents. (Perhaps the DOA can get its hands on Watson to be at the other end of “press one to speak to someone about your problem”?) | √ |
6. | Vilify school teachers as over-paid whiners. (In the new Walker Wisconsin, anyone with “at least” a bachelor’s degree will be able to teach school children; how difficult a profession can that be?) | √ |
7. | Portray public employee unions as motivated by stealing as much hard-earned tax-payer money as possible. (No chance they are motivated by having their members earn incomes commiserate with their education, abilities and private sector salability?) | √ |
8. | Pass tax breaks for corporations and high-income earning individuals, while the state is “broke,” to demonstrate Wisconsin is “Open for Business.” (Has anyone noticed that the “250,000 new jobs” campaign pledge has been subtly shifted to “250,000 jobs?”) | √ |
9. | Work to privatize the Milwaukee Public School system, by taking all caps off the school choice voucher program. (There must be some teachers in the Wisconsin National Guard that can be mobilized to teach Physics.) | √ |
10. | Propose to take taxpayer money away from public schools and subsidize religious schools, including subsidizing the parochial school children of the very rich. (Who says children can’t pray in school?) | √ |
11. | Privatize state agencies. (Are Commerce, the UW Hospital and University of Wisconsin - Madison the only state agencies he wants operating as private entities?) | √ |
12. | Massively cut public support for the University System. (Can anyone think of a more useless public resource for improving the economic climate in Wisconsin?) | √ |
13. | Gut state laws and regulations protecting the environment. (Clean air and water and wetlands protection is for wussies. And by the way, there is no such thing as Global Warming.) | √ |
14. | Expand the census of prisoners in the prison system, by doing away with “good time” credits, while cutting aid to education. (Hey, maybe the “tough on crime” campaign gambit is still in play. It certainly seems to be in the Supreme Court race.) | √ |
15. | Give the governor the power by executive fiat to reduce health benefits and eligibility for the poorest of Wisconsin’s citizens in Badger Care notwithstanding the expressed will of the state legislature. (Remember Palin’s “death panels?” Can you say “death panel of one”? Of course not, it’s an oxymoron.) | √ |
It is clear from what has occurred over the last four months that Governor Walker wants to be the new darling on a national level of the most radical part of the conservative movement. The fact that he has turned his back on compromise with the Democratic Senators on the collective bargaining issue shows that the fight is no longer about doing what is best for Wisconsin. It is all about the Governor building his national political resume with the Tea Party, while enhancing his alliance with and support from the Koch Brothers and the McIver Institutes of the world. The Wisconsin 14 have even said they will come back to deal with the Budget Repair Bill without a present commitment from the GOP and Governor to keep collective bargaining intact in this next biennium. Last night on The Rachel Maddow Show, Jon Erpenbach made it clear that the Governor could reintroduce the collective bargaining provisions he seeks into the new Biennial Budget Bill that is forthcoming, so that collective bargaining can be discussed and debated by the citizens of Wisconsin and Wisconsin legislators in a more deliberative way. (Perhaps Erpenbach was talking out of school on this offer, he was certainly talking out of state.) The Governor’s public response to this approach: No Compromise.
When you jump onto the back of a tiger like the Tea Party movement, you can’t easily jump off. If you don’t believe that, just ask John Boehner this morning. The Governor has been riding the tiger too long. It is time for him to come back to a more reasoned approach. If he puts the interests of Wisconsin ahead of his popularity with the most radical elements of the Wisconsin electorate, he has a chance to salvage his standing as a leader and politician. If he doesn’t, he can expect to be grist for the mills of political satirists for some time to come. The mocking of politicians can cause political fortunes to shift in the blink of an eye. Can you spell "Howard Dean?"
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