The Politics of Wisconsin

February 18, 2011

In order to save their state from death by debt, Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Republican assemblymen (legislators) are considering a bill that would strip most public service employees of the right to collective bargaining. In addition, public service employees are expected to pay a small part of their pension and health care costs. Police and fire unions are exempt.

The reaction was astounding.

Eleven hundred teachers called in sick. Schools were closed.  A crowd of 25,000 protestors stormed Madison, the state capital. Downtown Madison looked like Cairo, Egypt. In order to prevent a vote on the issue, every Democratic assemblyman left Wisconsin to hole up in a resort in Illinois. An offshoot of the Democratic National Committee is actively organizing protests and bussing in protesters against the proposed legislation

This type of reaction has been seen in Greece, Ireland, and Great Britain when their governments announced budget cuts. There may be a similar reaction by the American public when Republicans try to reduce the deficit by any meaningful amount.

Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare consume 57% of the federal budget. Expenditures for these entitlements are projected to grow quickly in the future. The president completely ducked the entitlement funding problem in his budget; preferring instead to commit taxpayers to yet another huge entitlement, Obamacare. Republicans will but have yet to present a bill that would repair these financially failed programs. Democrats prefer to deny there is a debt or spending problem and therefore cannot be criticized for doing nothing except demagoguing any budget cutting plan to death.

While tea partiers and conservative congressmen believe the American public will support cutbacks in order to reduce the deficit, the reality remains to be seen. As the good people of Wisconsin, Greece, Ireland, and Great Britain have shown; many folks are not willing to give up anything in order to deal with deficits and debts.

I can only hope other Americans will respond better when the time comes for them to give up some benefits in order to prevent a national and global financial disaster. I am not optimistic.

Michael 

Jacksonville, FL 

References:   http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wisconsin_budget_unions

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/DNC_playing_role_in_Wisconsin_protests.html?showall

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/116390569.html

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_c40c09e4-3a43-11e0-91c0-001cc4c002e0.html