Wisconsin GOP uses SKULLDUGGERY to pass union busting legislation

   December 7, 1941, to quote President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “is a day that will live in infamy.”  It was on that day the empire of Japan launched an air raid on the Pacific fleet of the United States Navy based in Pearl Harbor.  That deliberate and calculated sneak attack catapulted America into World War II and the world was changed forever.  What was most diabolical about the attack was that Japan indicated that it wanted to negotiate with the United States to avoid a war and was all the while training and plotting the sneak attack.  It was the second greatest surprise attack in military history after the Greeks hid their army in a wooden horse (The Trojan Horse) they gave to the Trojans as a symbol of peace.  These attacks were quite a bold stroke.  They were DASTARDLY!  They were DIRTY!  (I can’t help it … I’m a history geek)

   March 9, 2011 will be a day that will live in infamy in the state of Wisconsin.  Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and the GOP controlled Wisconsin state legislature passed a bill by a resounding 18-1 vote margin that will strip all 175,000 public employees in the state of Wisconsin of collective bargaining rights.  This was done after the union busting legislation was removed from the budget bill and introduced as a stand alone bill.  Because it was no longer attached to fiscal legislation, the bill could be voted on without the presence of any of the Democrats.  This was quite a surprise for the Wisconsin 14, who had been in negotiations with Governor Walker in recent days.  It would appear the sudden amended bill and subsequent vote violated Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law where there has to be at least a 24 hour window before a vote can be taken on an amended bill.  This blatant usurp of the state’s bylaws was CONTEMPTABLE.  It was dastardly.  It was unethical.  It was political SKULLDUGGERY.

   There were reports as recent as yesterday (March 8) that Governor Walker was willing to negotiate with the Democrats in an effort to end the three week old stalemate.  As you may know, fourteen Wisconsin state senators ("The Wisconsin 14") left the state in protest because the union busting legislation was attached to a bill connected to the state budget.  Because the bill was of a fiscal nature, Wisconsin state bylaws require there be 20 state senators present in order to hold a quorum where bills can be voted on.  The GOP holds a 19-14 advantage in the state senate.  In order to hold the quorum, the GOP only needed one of the Democrats to return to the capitol.  "The Wisconsin 14" left the state on February 17 and have yet to return; thus blocking the vote on the budget bill with the union busting language in it.  Walker and the GOP had defused accusations of union busting by insisting that eliminating collective bargaining was a budgetary issue.  This was the governor’s story and he stuck to it even after the public employee unions had agreed to concessions to help the budget process reach a settlement.  While he was saying one thing publicly, Walker and the GOP were plotting their sneak attack in private.  It is clear now the talk of compromise and negotiation was a rouse to lure one or all of the Democrats back to Wisconsin.  The governor has tried everything imaginable to lure the Wisconsin 14 back.  Their staffers have not been allowed to fax or copy documents, the pay of the Wisconsin 14 has been withheld and their personal parking spaces have been taken away.  Governor Walker has even dispatched the Wisconsin State Police to the homes of some of the Wisconsin 14 and it has been reported the governor had considered issuing arrest warrants on the fourteen Democrats.  This political end around was despicable and illegal. 

   Scott Walker has rolled the dice on his political career.  If he’s able to win this battle, he’ll become a star in the national GOP and there will almost certainly be talk of him on a GOP national ticket.  If he loses this fight he picked, his political career is over.  He will be finished … washed up.  Recall petitions are already being circulated within the Badger State.  Walker can’t be recalled until January 2012 but he clearly stands a chance to be recalled as a result of this unscrupulous move.  To be frank, he’s allowed himself to be used as a guinea pig for the national GOP.  What happens in Wisconsin will either set or deflate the national GOP agenda heading into the 2012 elections. 

   It is reported that Admiral Isoruku Yamamto, the architect and the commander of the attack on Pearl Harbor, said to his subordinates after he learned the surprise attach happened BEFORE Japan’s formal declaration of war was delivered to the United States, “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a tremendous resolve.”  That is exactly what Scott Walker has done for the labor movement in the United States.  (See Labor unions are thankful for Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin)

   Scott Walker and March 9, 2011 … a name and a date that will live in infamy in Wisconsin and beyond for years to come. 

Peace, peace in the Middle East!

Craig Riggins

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