A friend of mine wrote a note on his facebook page questioning what's going on in Wisconsin. His point is that a governor is a CEO and the unions are holding an conflict of interest for the politicians in their state.
It prompted me to write this.
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A CEO is beholden to the corporation and the stockholders. A statesman is beholden to the constitution and the constituency and their well being. These are not necessarily the same jobs.
W ran as a "CEO" president and under his watch the economy collapsed, the housing market imploded and Friedmanomics was proven to be a ponzi scheme.
What we are witnessing across the country is union-busting. There's no ifs ands or buts about it. It's an attempt to strip the unions of all teeth.
But why? Why would that be something that a politician would want?
Why did Reagan, who led a union, want this? He levied the sounding alarm for this.
Why is it that the only party that constantly wants to strip unions of their power are the republicans?
Beyond the ethics and the "reasons" for dismantling unions that you and I are being told. Why would they want this?
Unions support democrats, plain and simple. To strip them of power is to remove a gigantic fundraising arm for a political party. This is not about what's good for Wisconsin. Or Indiana. Or New Jersey. It's about the Republican party trying to eliminate their opponent once and for all.
For much of what bothers people about public unions, the overreaches, the gridlock, etc, the benefits far outweigh them.
The hazard pay for firemen. The overtime for overworked cops.
But, Walker doesn't want to strip them of their ability to bargain collectively.
Why?
Because it's a smoke screen. They are hoping that right minded people with logic will see both sides of the issue and eventually fall into the "you know, I don't think it's so bad to strip them of this..." bracket.
They're counting on it.
Why?
Because the GOP is in hell. The Tea Party split them right down the middle and they are having a helluva time holding on.
In the meantime the world economy is on the verge of collapse. They aren't totally to blame (well, they are, but more on that another time) but, when gas prices hit $7 because WALL STREET is going nuts due to the mid-east, it's gonna be harder and harder for them to justify laying off thousands of workers. These aren't wealthy americans we're talking about. Walker's tax loopholes gave 100s of millions in breaks to the rich and the union worker he wants to break pulls in 50K. Barely.
In addition, there is something happening that the GOP knows about and terrifies them. It's quite simple, actually.
Someone born in 1994 was 7 years old when the towers fell. That child was terrified. It was a scary day. No two ways about it. But 7 year olds don't understand complexity. They see the world as good and bad. And they were scared because the bad guys were coming for the good guys.
But, 8 years later, when that child was 15, they came in to their own cognizance. They began to form rational thoughts of their own and let's face it, young people are ideological to a fault and usually side with the left. After all, they are poor, day laborers whose future is uncertain.
That child came to hate the Iraq war. The pictures from Abu Ghraib. The money it is costing. The veil pulled back to realize that much of it was just a revenge scheme for one guy ('He tried to kill my dad) and a money making scheme for the other. The war isn't righteous for that kid. It's ruined our standing in the world and we never got the bad guy.
Much the same way that a 7 year old in 1965 would hate the Vietnam War in 1973. Hmm...that war was brought to an end then and a president who was grossly unpopular was chased out of office by an invigorated youth vote.
The child of 9/11 gets to vote for the first time in 2012.
The millenials are coming. And they are a huge wave of voters.
Why do you think the right is trying to start id cards for voting? Why do you think they are trying to make it harder to register?
The millenials are coming.
And they know that, if they don't codify their ideologies now, they will be doomed.
But, they didn't count on invigorating the left. They galvanized the left. Who knew that was even possible? This is their doing. It's a gross miscalculation.
This bludgeoning of the worker's rights has less to do with balancing a budget than it does anything else I've described above.
It's an attack on the middle class. Just as the defunding of PBS is an attack on the lower class (the only free, non-commercial television. They can't monetize it and they can't control the message)
Just as the attack on planned parenthood is an attack on women's rights.
Funny, these are all happening at the same time.
We are witnessing the Republican Party's last stand. The gunfight at the OK Corral.
The next 18 months are going to be amazing.
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