From the beginning, opponents of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill have recognized it is more about marginalizing labor unions than it is about balancing the budget. If Walker’s primary interest was fiscal security he would not have passed tax cuts that will cost the state over $100 million.

Nor is this bill just about cutting expenditures. Public workers are already underpaid for their by labor by 4.6%, according to a recent study. Even after union leaders agreed to what is essentially an 7% pay cut last week, the Republican legislature still refuses to negotiate over provisions that would ban collective bargaining. Clearly Walker’s primary aim is to weaken public sector unions.

Many conservatives make the argument that the interests of unionized public sector employees are fundamentally at odds with those of taxpayers. But if that’s the issue, why are police officers, state patrol and firefighters’ unions exempted from the ban on collective bargaining? Likely because the unions representing teachers and other public sector employees are large contributors to Democratic candidates, whereas the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association endorsed Walker (a move they now regret).

To be clear, those labor unions are not only large contributors to Democrats, they are the largest. In 2010 the National Education Association, Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees were the three biggest independent contributors to Democratic candidates.

There are two ways to look at this. It could be that the legislature is doing only what it feels is best for Wisconsin, and it is merely coincidence that the largest Democratic contributors will suffer as a result. But when you look at this bill in the context of another piece of onerous Walker legislation – the voter ID act – coincidence becomes a less believable explanation.

The voter ID act creates barriers to voting that intentionally and disproportionately disenfranchise college students and minorities – groups who tend to vote heavily for Democrats. Much like the budget repair bill selectively targets those unions that contribute heavily to the opposition party.

Taken together, these two measures are a coordinated attempt to destroy the Democratic party in Wisconsin. This is not about balancing the budget or electoral fraud – it is an attempt by the majority party to consolidate power and prevent a viable opposition effort for years to come.

What Walker is doing is, to some extent, just the business of politics. Those in power try to stay in power, but Walker and his party are going about it in a way that is fundamentally undemocratic. Democracy depends on widespread civic engagement and participation. Erecting new and unnecessary barriers to voting flies at the very heart of that ideal.

Attacking unions is an attack on the ability of citizens to come together and affect change. Whether by speaking with one voice or turning small campaign contributions into respectable sums of money, unions provide an important counterbalance to the power of large corporations and wealthy individuals. Our democracy depends on these kinds of checks and balances; without them we risk becoming a Latin American-style oligarchy. And with the gap between wealthy and poor larger than it has been for generations, the need for strong and vibrant unions to maintain that balance is only going to grow.

What’s going on in the Capitol is a real fight, the implications of which spread far beyond health insurance and pensions. On the one hand it is a partisan fight. Walker and his legislature are out to destroy the Democratic opposition by targeting the unions who donate money to them, and the voters who elect them. This is power politics at its worst and should be out for what it is.

On the other hand, the fight also transcends simple partisan politics. It is about preserving those elements of civil society that guard the interests of those with little individual power. If inequality in our country continues to grow, we will depend on unions more and more, or we will lament their losses.

Geoff Jara-Almonte ([email protected]) is a fourth-year medical student.