The other day, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Falk made an amazingly bold statement. She said that she would
veto any budget that did not restore collective bargaining.
As news of this statement spread, you could hear Republicans' heads exploding across the state.
Jeff Wagner, afternoon squawker on WTMJ radio, was damn near in hysterics as he was predicting that such an act would do everything short of causing the universe of imploding. With panic in his voice, he was stating that this was so "reckless," "irresponsible" and that it would "endanger every person in the state." He followed that up with
a fear-filled blog post:
Let's break this down. Falk has apparently promised to veto a $60 billion document unless it restores collective bargaining rights. In other words, Falk is willing to potentially destroy the credit rating of the State, devastate municipal budgets, jeopardize public safety and bankrupt programs - all to appease her Union masters.
John Mercure, the late afternoon squawker on the same station was having the same level of histrionics.
In a frenzy, the right wing echo chamber started flailing about this. One blogger called it "
really stupid." Another twit said that Falk would be "
holding the state hostage."
Ernst-Ulrich Franzen, another pro-Walker blogger, disguised as a member of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board, tried to use it to prove that the recall is about just one issue, and in doing so insults every child, every parent, every senior citizen, every vulnerable citizen, every woman, every taxpayer, and every working man and woman in the state. That's a whole lot of apologies he needs to do, and he still hasn't
apologized to John Weishan yet.
And as you can imagine, the Koch Brothers, via one of their front groups,
was practically apoplectic.
By the way they were acting, one would think that Falk had proposed making cannibalism an official state function, or even worse, saying that
women shouldn't be treated as breeding stock.
As I watched this happen, amused and bemused, I started thinking about the absurdity of their statements.
First of all, as any intellectually honest person knows, the recall is about much, much more than just collective bargaining. The abolishing of workers' rights is a big part of the movement, but not even the most of it, much less all of it. There is
so much more to it.
But when we recall Walker, what are we really risking?
Higher taxes?
We already have higher taxes thanks to Walker.
Job losses? Under the Walker plan, the state has seen
six straight months of job losses, leading the nation for
two of them, while the rest of the county has seen job growth. In fact, Walker's record at losing jobs is
nearly twice the rate of Governor Jim Doyle's rate, and Doyle had the full brunt of the recession to contend with.
Destruction of the economy? Under the Walker plan, Wisconsin is
ranked 50th in economic activity. Dead last. How could anyone destroy it more?
But there are things - besides job losses, higher taxes and a stagnant economy - that Wisconsin would risk by recalling Walker. They include, but are not limited to:
- Women being treated as breeding stock;
- Senior citizens and disabled citizens not receiving services that would keep them out of nursing homes and other institutions;
- Our children crammed into overcrowded classrooms and receiving a poor education;
- Workers not receiving the necessary training for the few jobs remaining;
- People not being allowed to vote just because they're poor or a student;
- Having fresh air to breathe or clean water to drink;
- Everyone receiving medical attention;
- A government that is representative and responsive to the people;
- An increase in transparency in government; and
- A government that doesn't operate through a secret wireless router in a closet.
You know, come to think of it, it's a risk I'm willing to take.
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