Incoming freshmen, I’m happy to welcome you to Gov. Scott Walker’s finest example of targeting excellence in Wisconsin and its institutions, then crushing it.
Over the past few years, Walker has done a bang-up job restricting rights, reducing pay and removing employee protections. This occurs not only at the University of Wisconsin but also across the state. This year’s budget, however, has been a master class in dim-witted policy solutions and sleights of hand.
The sole purpose: to distract the public from real changes.
There was substantial uproar over the GOP’s proposed restrictions of Wisconsin’s open records laws. The law allows for a great deal of transparency, granting anyone the right to pull open records, such as notes used to draft bills. These records can help determine if any special interests or unspoken motives were involved in the drafting process.
The open records law is particularly relevant in Wisconsin. Drafting notes, similar to what I described above, revealed the Walker administration specifically asked to eliminate the Wisconsin Idea (think of it as the UW’s mission statement) of state statutes. This claim is contrary to their official position of a “drafting error.” The open records request caught the Walker administration’s lie. Maybe that explains Walker’s administration involvement in drafting the proposal. It’s much easier to hide dirty laundry when no one can see the hamper.
The GOP announced they would be dropping this controversial change from the budget due to backlash from across the political spectrum. However, I don’t believe these laws were in actual jeopardy at any time. It seems Republican legislative leaders proposed these controversial changes in their recent revision of the budget in order to draw the public’s attention away from other changes.
In the budget and other bills there are changes that will have substantial impacts for Wisconsin. For instance, eliminating Wisconsin’s Prevailing Wage Law, which prevents a “race to the bottom” in publicly financed construction. How about the elimination of the weekend for many workers across the state?
Good thing Walker already gutted the unions that fought for things like an eight-hour workday and a standardized weekend in the first place.
The public can only generate so much outrage and by putting out something the media finds invaluable, the Republican leaders can guarantee the angle of news coverage. Meanwhile, Walker boost his pseudo-presidential “credentials” by coming out against the changes to the open records law and appearing in favor of transparent government.
It would be clever if it wasn’t so superficial. It would be clever if his office weren’t already on the record supporting this.
The people of Wisconsin are sick of the Republicans’ petty manipulations and Walker’s dim presidential polls are showing it. In the past few months, his in-state approval ratings have plummeted to 41 percent while his disapproval ratings have jumped to 56 percent. His “leadership” is exemplified by a state budget with virtually none of his initiatives included. This year has been a disaster for Walker.
Yet, Walker is like Teflon; he’s always covered in shit but it all just slides off and he comes out looking clean on the other side. So far, his pseudo-presidential campaign has included: publically lying about British Prime Minister David Cameron, enjoying depressing state economic numbers, which have become the norm, and calling for a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as a state’s issue after more than 2/3 of all states (the requirement for a Constitutional amendment) already had legalized gay marriage. Finally, getting nearly all of his proposed initiatives removed from the state budget.
But hey, he slowly revealed his campaign logo on Instagram, so he’s gotta have some political chops, right? I think I’m probably giving Walker and his merry band of Koch-heads and smart-ALECs too much credit.
It doesn’t take much sense to punish public servants like teachers while handing the keys to the state over short-sighted and dim-witted proposals. Like Gogebic Taconite’s now abandoned mine in northern Wisconsin or the Stooge-esque bumbling of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Hopefully, Walker’s presidential campaign will bring back a dose of reality to a governor who is increasingly bereft of it.
