I love the scene at the end of “The Wizard of Oz” when Toto runs under the curtain and starts nipping at the heels of the Wizard. The curtain is pulled back, and the Wizard is revealed to be nothing more than a scared little man, hiding behind his position so that he may bully the people, which he was supposed to be serving.
I think Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is a lot like the Wizard. Let me explain.
In “The Wizard of Oz”, after the Wizard’s true nature is revealed, he moves from character to character, explaining how each of them already had what they were looking for inside themselves. The characters are just blind to the power that they possess. The Wizard, it seems, is actually quite benevolent.
Scott Walker is staying behind the curtain. The curtain, in this case, is his assertion that stripping state employee unions of their collective bargaining rights is all about fixing a state fiscal crisis. Well, not all unions. Conspicuously missing are the only two unions that endorsed Walker during his run for Governor, the police and firemen.
For roughly three weeks, there has been a standoff over voting on the measure, as all but one of senate Democrats fled to Illinois so that the quorum necessary to vote would be impossible. Well last night, Walker found a way to ram his union busting measure through, by stripping the clause from the budget bill and making it a bill of its own. Since there is no actual fiscal impact to the union busting bill, a quorum was not required.
I’m not sure why the transparency of Walker’s political motivations isn’t clear to all. Or maybe it is.
From the fervency of the protestors encamped outside the state capitol, one would think that we were watching reruns of February news from Cairo. It seems that the will of the people just isn’t behind this measure. And aren’t our elected officials supposed to listen to their constituents?
FACT- Before Walker was elected to office, Wisconsin had a budget surplus. As soon as the Governor took office, he called a special session to push through two bills – corporate tax cuts, and a conservative healthcare reform bill. The direct result of these two bills is the fiscal crisis in which the state now finds itself. The state’s own finance committee said as much in their revised budget estimate when the bills were passed.
FACT- After the engineered crisis was underway, Walker, in a recorded phone conversation with a man he believed to be billionaire David Koch, as much as laid out his plans, likening himself to Ronald Reagan when he busted the air traffic controller’s union in the eighties. He talks of how, if he is successful, he expects other states to follow suit.
Busting the state’s unions in the name of fixing the budget just makes no sense. Even as the crisis unfolded, concessions were offered by the unions. But to take away their very voice?
What is government if not a union? It’s a large collective group supposedly acting on the behalf of the people. But in this case, it’s not. It is acting on the behalf of corporate interests and the RNC.
State employees no longer have a voice in Wisconsin. As individuals, they can’t scream loud enough. Clearly their government is no longer listening.
Scott Walker is a scared little man, drunk with power, hiding behind a curtain so that he can bully his constituents.
Be careful Mr. Walker. You may soon find a dog nipping at your heels.
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