Wisconsin Gov. Walker, despite falling poll numbers and threatened recalls, sounds for all the world like a man who believes he won. He is even declaring his anti-collective bargaining legislation “progressive, innovative” and “reform that leads the country.” Ohio, Michigan and Indiana are all promoting variations on this anti-labor theme.
Is this a new template for other state Republican legislators? New RNC Chairman and Wisconsinite Reince Priebus, backer of the Walker way, said:
“I’m proud of what Scott Walker did in Wisconsin,” […] “I think that he is leading not only the state of Wisconsin, but he is leading this country.“
Priebus is scheduled to speak with Vermont Republicans touting Walker’s tactics. The Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) and the Vermont AFL-CIO have called on the Vermont Republican Party to rescind his invitation due to “his anti-worker, anti-middle-class message.”
Smoothly paving the way for Priebus’ anti-worker proselytizing is top Vermont Republican Jim Douglas who weighed in favorably on Gov. Walker. Significantly, and as if to say to Vermonters, ‘resistance is futile’ he made a point of attacking Wisconsin Dems actions. Douglas said of the democratic legislators’ action against budget cuts and for labor rights
That's irresponsible […] I was pleased to hear leaders of the Vermont Senate from both parties declare that they would never resort to such a childish move.
An estimated 100,000 people turned out in Madison Wisc. this past Saturday to support the 14 democratic state senators. Its unlikely any of the 14 Wisconsin Democratic state senators rallying this weekend ever dreamed their legislative process would break down to the point where leaving the session in protest would be a desirable option. It did prove an option they needed and used to their advantage.
It seems far fetched a similar situation could ever happen here. Few if any Vermont legislators would dream Vermont’s legislative process could suffer such a breakdown and it is an unlikely event.
But they may have already disarmed and Jim Douglas and Reince Priebus are sure glad.
Would Vermont legislators ever consider flight? “No,” Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor, said Monday. “I hate to see any legislator walk off the job like that,” he said. “The legislative process is about discourse and about coming up with solutions.”
Of course, Jim = No Jobs, that approach works only when you actually have someone willing to openly and sincerely engage in discourse; someone willing to accept three-quarters of a loaf; someone clearly unlike Scott Walker, or John Boehner or Reince Priebus.
For a second, I thought Doesless was condemning the WI-GOP’s separating the “fiscal” collective bargain component from the rest of the budget legislation, locking out all but their supporters from the Capitol and passing this travesty in violation of open meeting laws.
I hear Preibus is hosting a “Voter Intimidation: Fear Is Your Friend” seminar when he’s in town next month. He’s one of the best when it comes to instructing how to use the polling place as your profiling playground. And that’s something that’s been missing from Vermont’s politics, so it explains why the GOP booked Reincid. And since Reincid really enjoys a good ole’ tea party too, he’ll be leading a re-enactment on Lake Champlain? It’ll be a hoot.
Here’s a taste of what to expect from a group called One Vermont Now. I don’t think they took Reincid’s seminar.
“When voter suppression allegations have surfaced in Wisconsin for the past decade, the name Reince Priebus isn’t far behind. In 2002, the state Elections Board enacted new guidelines for poll-watchers in response to a Priebus-led racially-charged voter intimidation scheme in Milwaukee. In 2008, Priebus’ Republican Party of Wisconsin sent out an email recruiting volunteers for alleged ‘inner city’ voter intimidation in Milwaukee. And just last year, Priebus was cited by name, in an aborted voter caging plot targeting minorities and college students involving the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Americans for Prosperity and Wisconsin’s Tea Party leaders. Now that Reince Priebus will have the RNC’s treasury at his disposal, those across the county interested in fair and clean elections will be on high alert.”
But One Vermont is a great group as well.
Good Question. We can only thank those 4.000 votes that put Shumlin into office and not Dubie. We have to work to keep the GOP from ever winning again — or at least long past the time when they can do too much damage. All we need to do is look at Wisconsin. If we let our guard down it could happen here.
I think the fact that Vermont Dems are refusing to tackle the revenue crisis, i.e. raise taxes on those who can afford it, paves the way for this type of drastic strategy in the future. Vermont is cutting desperately needed services for those with disabilities and the poor while preserving very wealthy folks from any shared sacrifice. They aren’t going after Unions yet.
Kurt Wright the Repub is going after unions. But the Dems are not really challenging the rhetoric that has led us to this place. That we are broke. That the deficit is our biggest issue. That the people must pay again despite already having wrecked pensions and paying for the bailouts. We are not broke, Wall Street and the Banks and military have all the money. No argument the Repubs are worse but where are the Dems really doing anything useful aside from the Wisconsin 12 who skipped town.