Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Who's The Alpha Fox In The Hen House?

Most people readily admit that having the Republicans in charge of both the governor's office and both houses of the legislature is the proverbial putting the foxes in charges of the hen house.

In just four short months, they have ravaged our economy, our environment, the working class, voter rights, workers rights, gay rights, our tradition of having an open and ethical congress, the system of checks and balances...oh, the list could go on for a long time. It will take years to correct all the wrongs they have committed in just these few short months.

It makes anyone who loves Wisconsin want to break down in tears every time they think about the damage done.

Last night, over at Milwaukee County First, I wrote about how the WISGOP's anti-transit agenda and budget would be especially harmful to the small businesses in Milwaukee County.

As I did the research for the peace, I learned something rather interesting.

I, along with the majority of Wisconsinites, presumed that Scott Walker was the head of the WISGOP and was calling the shots as one horrible bill after another came down the pike and was ramrodded through, even if it required questionable means at best, illegal procedures at worst.

However, this might not be an accurate perception after all.

An example of why it might not be are the RTAs.

As most people are aware, RTA stands for Regional Transit Authority and is supposed to be a method of consolidating a region's mass transit options and make it less costly and more efficient.  Walker recognizes the necessity of the RTAs and the necessity of having to raise taxes to meet the needs of transit systems even as he slashed their budgets.  He just doesn't want to take responsibility for the taxes going up.

This is evidenced by the fact that he did not eliminate them from his proposed budget.  He instead proposed that the RTAs be required to hold a referendum before being able to raise taxes to fund their respective systems.

The Joint Finance Committee, led by Senator Alberta Darling and Representative Robin Vos, and steered by Senator Scott Fitzgerald, chose instead to just obliterate the RTAs altogether.

Sources have reported that this maneuver has caused great concern in Walker's administration and in the Department of Transportation.  They are fully aware that the communities affected, including Milwaukee County, have no other way to make up for the revenue they are losing through Walker's budget cuts.  They are also fully aware of what this will do to regional employment rates and regional economies, not to mention the effects this will have on the state as a whole.

Yet, despite this, Walker has given no public indication that he will oppose this action much less veto it.

It makes me wonder just who's the alpha fox in Wisconsin's hen house.  Is Walker really leading the faithful to our mutual doom? Or is he just a figurehead trying to appear like he's in charge while someone else, like Scott Fitzgerald, is really the one pulling his strings?

And is there someone else beyond all of this, like the Koch Brothers, who are pulling all their strings?

3 comments:

  1. Still begs the question. Why? What is the motivation of the corportate elite?
    Perhaps a desire for the isolation of the masses. Still, why?

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  2. Good call capper.

    IMHO, prior to the recorded phone call with a guy he thought was David Koch, I think Gov. Walker had real authority.

    My guess is now, he's Kryptonite. If you're in the GOP, you're worried about how careless he and his staff are. He gave the Senate back to the Dems. It looks like he'll be recalled in January.

    Paul Ryan just cost the GOP NY-26, a seat that has been deep red since the Civil War. If you're in WIGOP, I could see people looking to Fitz.

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  3. Anon,

    My guess is that there's no plan. The Koch brothers and most of the rest of the top 1% want to socialize all their risk onto the taxpayers. See Wall Street. They also want lower taxes, so they can privatize more of their profits. Back in the Eisenhower administration the top federal rate was north of 90%. Since 2002, it maxes out at 35%. Capital gains are at 15%.

    For them, it's somebody else's problem to figure out the details. See ALEC. They've already offshored most of our manufacturing. Their mortgaged backed securities ruined the housing market. All that's left to pillage is health care and education and they're on that like stink on sh*t.
    JMHO.

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