Rail Road Job

The action this week in Ohio and the preceding weeks in Wisconsin may represent the triumph, finally, of centrist thought. Before my right wing friends take this opportunity to explain how the protection of collective bargaining is truly a left wing idea, let me explain.

See, over a million voters in Ohio, I submit, did not sign petitions because they like a good firefighter or police strike. Many moderates, even moderate state employees (me included), are not completely sure collective bargaining has a place in government service. The voters signed the petition to recall Senate Bill 5 because… well, let’s let Governor John Kasich (R-OH) explain why himself:

“It doesn’t mean that because you talk you reach agreement. Just because you talk doesn’t mean you work it all out. But I think the public would like us to talk. So we’ll see where this all goes.”

His statement nicely encapsulates how the citizens of his state felt about the bill which, by his own admission, may not have even been discussed with the stakeholders before passage. The perception, apparently, was that the Republicans rammed it down Ohio’s throat. Their hubris is understandable. They thought they had a mandate. Sometimes in politics however, disgust over the other guy is mistaken for a mandate. It reminds me of another example of doing something politically, because you can.

The other recent example of doing something because they could is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Again righties, hold your water until I explain. Obamacare, continues to evenly divide the country. Not because, as the administration would tell you, Democrats lost control of the message but, because it was perceived to be rammed down America’s throat. The perception may be wrong because many Republican ideas such as private insurance pools were incorporated into the law.

Message or not, Obamacare and the ALEC agenda for states seems to smack of good ole fashioned railroading by the voters. Voters, especially moderates and centrists, seem to be telling politicians the majority is not a license for tyranny. If I am right, regardless of how national elections turn out, we may see another mass majority change in state houses in 2012. This change might also include the recall of Governor Scott Walker (R-WI). Politicians drunk with the power of the majority may want to reconsider anything which looks like tyranny. Offending the American sense of fair play may hazardous to your political health.