Not a Proud Republican Today

Just a little background: 14 Democrats left Wisconsin to avoid voting on a budget bill, which requires a quorum. One of the main issues in the bill was the collective bargaining rights of public employees. The Republicans peeled the collective bargaining issues away from the spending items, making a new bill that did not require the votes of the missing legislators. It was passed last night and public employees now have no collective bargaining rights in the State of Wisconsin.

When I was a teenager I talked to my Dad about one of the issues of the day, I don't even remember what. He explained to me any issue can get out of balance and that public opinion tends to lean one direction (until it goes too far) and then another (until it goes too far), and so forth, just like a pendulum.

I do agree that several of the issues being so warmly debated--union rights, entitlement spending--have swung out of balance. But Governor Walker lost me the very first day he announced his proposed legislation when he exempted some public employees (firefighters and policemen) from his program instead of making across-the-board cuts.

Whatever Governor Walker's intentions, that act makes our government take on characteristics of a police state. The subsequent revelation that those unions had supported his campaign smacks of favoritism. The conversation with the fake Koch brother brings up issues of corruption.

I have been marching with the public employees, even though I don't have a job that has ANY benefits, because I don't believe that the union rights that have been won over the course of half a century through grass-roots movements should be snapped in a day by an overly aggressive executive.

I think there should be dialogue by both parties and due process.