Cut out all the spin in his statement and look at the actions and any independent minded voter of either party or no party has to conclude: man, oh man, does Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker want to remove collective bargaining from state employees. Despite steadily plummeting polls, and the fact that his way of clipping the wings of organized labor is undermining more subtle methods GOPers could have done now that they have power across the country, he is making it clear it’s his way or the highway out of the state or into jail if they show up in the state:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday dismissed as “ridiculous” a letter from a Democratic state Senate leader who suggested a meeting “near the Wisconsin-Illinois border” to discuss the state’s budget impasse.
Sen. Mark Miller sent the letter to Walker on Monday, offering a border summit as a way to resume stalled negotiations on the state’s budget.
Miller and 13 other Democratic senators left Wisconsin for Illinois on February 17 to prevent a vote on a budget plan that includes limits on public bargaining.
But Walker said top Republican lawmakers and even members of his own staff have already met repeatedly with some of senators, including one meeting over hot chocolate at a McDonald’s restaurant. Walker said the talks seemed to be making progress and the Democrats’ return seemed imminent.“Time and time again, the person standing in the way of making that possible is Sen. Mark Miller,” Walker said.
Even a head of lettuce sitting in the produce department at Vons Supermarket on Adams Avenue in San Diego would read that and say. “Wait a minute? Then isn’t it worth meeting and calling Miller’s bluff?”
And it’s true: if Miller and the Dems seemed to be trying to play games with Walker, and if Walker had some kind of negotiation offer — even a small one — it would hurt Miller and the Dems. But Walker clearly has an agenda that goes beyond the real issue of the budget. As came across in his (in)famous taped talk with a fake David Koch.
This video that has now surfaced of him talking to and praising the REAL David Koch (and making a pitch for money) won’t help his image either. Except with Rush, Sean, Glenn and their loyal fans:
All of this comes within the context of reports of poll results such as this:
The Wisconsin Public Research Institute released a poll over the weekend which showed that 51 percent of Wisconsites somewhat or strongly oppose Walker’s plan to roll back collective bargaining rights and cut public workers’ compensation. More striking is the intensity of the opposition Walker and his plan inspire.
It’s not just that 51 percent oppose the plan, but 42 percent oppose it strongly (9 percent somewhat oppose). And asked if they strongly or somewhat approve or disapprove of Walker’s job performance as governor a remarkable 45 percent strongly disapprove, with another 8 percent somewhat disapproving. His strong approval was 29 percent and his somewhat approve figure is 14 percent.
Another question asks whether Walker should “stand strong” for his plan or should find a way to compromise with the state Democrats and public worker unions. Fully 65 percent favor compromise while 33 percent opt for the “stand strong” position.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been widely blamed for undermining the GOPs big gains in the 90s by overreaching and displaying an ideological hubris that turned away those who were not Republican party partisans. Walker is in danger of playing the same role for the GOP in the early 2010s since this story has “legs” — in the form of demonstrators who get press coverage…and You Tubes that surface. The unions and Democrats may be milking it for all its worth but it’s Walker who is giving them a nice, big, fat political cow to milk.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.