Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Charlie Sykes, In His Own Words, On Recalls

Charlie Sykes, a Milwaukee area squawk radio host and paid mouthpiece for the GOP, on recalls, in his own words:
Businessman Michael Cudahy derided the recall supporters as a “lynch mob,” but outsiders who saw only the anger misunderstood the depth of the outrage. Supporters were neither puppets nor radicals: they were taxpayers who had raised their families in Milwaukee,
bought homes, paid taxes, and played by the rules all their lives. They remembered when
Milwaukee was known for its efficiency and integrity, and were offended at the insult to
both their intelligence and their integrity.

But what was it about this particular scandal that brought out the burghers?

It was an easy scandal to understand: the numbers were big and the greed transparent.
But timing was also a factor: the economy was weak, thousands of Milwaukeeans faced pay
cuts or layoffs. Many of them have seen their own retirement funds shrink. Retirees who worked forty years or more for meager benefits seemed especially incensed. As well, the cumulative effect of choking property taxes, the simmering sex scandal of City Hall, and a sense that government no longer worked for the public seemed to have reached a tipping point.
'Nuff said.

1 comment:

  1. Heck, even Mitt Romney has piled in on this one:

    "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," Romney told a breakfast forum of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. "You know, if someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say, 'You know, I'm going to get someone else to provide this service to me.'"

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