I think we all knew that the Republicans would over-reach after the November elections.  We see it to some extent at the Federal level but it’s at the state level where it is over-reach on steroids.  I agree with E.D. Kain who thinks that Wisconsin may turn out to be the Republican’s Waterloo.

And not just Wisconsin, but also Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Florida, and the rest of the over-reaching state Republicans. Governors like Scott Walker, Rick Scott, and Jan Brewer are riding on the coattails of the Tea Party, but they’ve become blind to the dangers of their radical policies.

What we are seeing is a Republican Party taken over by the most radical elements within – talk radio and FOX.  The newly elected Republican Governors and lawmakers are trying to ride the tea party wave to in act the policies of their real masters – the billionaire plutocrats like the Koch Brothers and Rupert Murdoch.

And now conservatives have chosen public-sector workers and teachers as their hill to die on. They have followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and elected Scott Walker, Rick Scott, and various other Tea Party candidates. Heavily funded by big campaign donors like the Koch brothers and other corporate interests, the Republican party has made a concerted effort across the country to take on unions, public pensions, and social services for the poor.

Enabled by a strong school-reform movement within the Democratic party, emboldened Republicans have waged an all-out assault on teachers, public education, and public unions and masked it all in the language of school choice and accountability. And now, in Wisconsin, they have side-stepped the Democratic process and ended collective bargaining rights for public sector employees, even amidst huge protests and popular condemnation.

Republicans have a long history of union-busting and anti-labor rhetoric, but taking on teachers and cops is a big mistake. This blatant effort to weaken the Democratic party will have precisely the opposite effect.

Ronald Reagan was able to successfully demonize the mythical Cadillac driving welfare mom.  The teachers, police and firefighters that Scott Walker attempted to demonize are not mythical and respected by the vast majority of the population.

Cross posted at Newhoggers