It's Wisconsin Taxpayers, Stupid!

Thank you, Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans for a promise kept.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Congratulations to Wisconsin Republicans, who held together this week to pass their government union reforms despite unprecedented acting out by Democrats and their union allies. Three weeks ago we described this battle as a foretaste of Greece come to America, but maybe there's hope for taxpayers after all.

The good news is that Governor Scott Walker's reforms have been worth the fight on the policy merits. The conventional media wisdom is that Mr. Walker "overreached" by proposing limits on the ability of government unions to bargain collectively for benefits. But before he offered those proposals, Democrats and unions had refused to support his plan that public workers pay more for their pensions and health care. Only later did they concede that these changes were reasonable and will spare thousands of public workers from layoffs.

The collective bargaining reforms also mean that this won't merely be a one-time budget victory. Government unions know that financial concessions (and layoffs) they agree to during recessions are typically won back when tax revenues increase and the public stops paying attention. They merely need to elect a friendly governor. Mr. Walker's reforms change the balance of negotiating power in ways that give taxpayers more protection.

Unions can still bargain for wages, but annual increases can't exceed the rate of inflation. Unions will also have to be certified each year, which will give their dues-paying members a chance to revisit their decision to unionize. No longer will it be one worker, one vote, once. Perhaps most important, the state will no longer collect those dues automatically and give them to the union to spend almost entirely on politics. The unions will have to collect those dues themselves.

...Mr. Walker and his allies have won a rare victory for taxpayers, one which should be a lesson for other states and Governors. The monopoly power of government unions can be broken.

What's key to me as a resident of Wisconsin is this: "Mr. Walker and his allies have won a rare victory for taxpayers."

Thank you to Governor Walker and the Republicans for standing strong and standing up for us in the face of incredible pressure and intimidation, even death threats.



That is NOT what democracy looks like.

I worked to elect Republicans in the 2010 elections. I worked for change in my state and in Washington. I voted.

The victories of November 2010 were sweet. They offered hope for real change and actual progress in Wisconsin. Scott Walker and a slew of state Republicans won. We fired the radical Russ Feingold and sent Ron Johnson to the U.S. Senate. We sent more conservatives to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democrats and their union allies weren't happy about that. Obama and his political machine weren't happy about the "shellacking."

So when Governor Walker proceeded to enact his agenda, Wisconsin became "Ground Zero." Visions of Election 2012 and union power danced in the Leftists' heads.

Google "Wisconsin Ground Zero."

A sampling:

Wisconsin: Ground zero in battle over clout of labor unions in US

Wisconsin: Ground Zero in the Fight for Democracy

Wisconsin 'Ground Zero' for Next Chapter on U.S. Politics?

As ground zero in bargaining debate, Wisconsin union battle has nationwide repercussions

Without question, the budget battles in Wisconsin became part of a national war.

Our state became the battlefield. Our policies and politics took on national significance. We're still in the national spotlight.

The national unions, Obama's Organizing for America, the DNC, all the resources of MSNBC and the liberal media, Jesse Jackson, and Michael Moore joined the fight against Wisconsin taxpayers.

I understand the Ground Zero thing, but I don't like it.

This is about Wisconsin and our fiscal mess. It's about the solutions and direction we chose on November 2, 2010. This is about our taxes.

I resent national special interests coming in and taking over and making Wisconsin Ground Zero. I resent Obama taking select shots at select Wisconsinites. I resent the entire circus.

This is about my home and my household budget, not MSNBC's programming.

Obama and the unions and the Dems and the socialists can fight their war somewhere else.

To me, Wisconsin isn't Ground Zero in a national political power struggle.

It's where I live. It's my life. It's my money at issue.

I voted for Governor Walker to bring reform to Wisconsin and to make my beloved state a better place, not for Wisconsin to become anyone's Ground Zero.