By: Daniel Nardini
It really all began with the election of current Governor Scott Walker and the Republican majority in the state legislature. Then the governor and the Republican majority decided that as part of their austerity measure they would take away the rights of state employees to strike and have their unions negotiate for state employees. The fight escalated with an attempted recall of a number of Republican legislators. That failed. Now the Democrats and unions want to oust Governor Scott Walker himself in a state recall. The Republicans for their part have tried to pass legislation like Bill 286 that will allow employers to not hire and even fire employees who had been convicted of felonies but had served their time and want to rehabilitate themselves into society. Also, the Republican-controlled State Assembly passed laws that now requires those wanting to vote to show state-approved identification. This will be hard for low-income and racial and ethnic minorities because it is not easy for them to get state-approved identification because of poverty or geographic isolation. The Republicans started a vicious war against the unions and against the poor by passing bills and budgets that would harm a broad section of Wisconsin’s people. The Democrats in turn are wasting money and time trying to kick out the Republicans in one way or another. And cooperation is simply out the window.
Meanwhile, many people in Wisconsin face unemployment. Although unemployment in Wisconsin is 7.8 percent (versus 9.1 percent nationally), the state owes the federal government $1.18 billion for the unemployment funds it borrowed and the state is fast running out of funds for the unemployed currently on unemployment benefits. The number of people who now go to soup kitchens and places that provide free food to the needy and poor is now so great that many soup kitchens and food pantries cannot cope—their shelves empty of food. And in this climate it seems that neither the governor and the Republicans on the one hand and the Democrats on the other seem to be interested in trying to call a “time out” to help their fellow state residents in need. I find it truly sad that Wisconsin government has become a microcosm of he bitter polarized battles taking place all across this country and especially in Washington, D.C. It seems that all of this fighting is related to the bitter 2012 political campaigning that is virtually paralyzing our machinery of government. And so I ask if there is no way to come together and care for us ordinary Americans caught between these two fires?
The Never Ending Wisconsin War
By: Daniel Nardini
It really all began with the election of current Governor Scott Walker and the Republican majority in the state legislature. Then the governor and the Republican majority decided that as part of their austerity measure they would take away the rights of state employees to strike and have their unions negotiate for state employees. The fight escalated with an attempted recall of a number of Republican legislators. That failed. Now the Democrats and unions want to oust Governor Scott Walker himself in a state recall. The Republicans for their part have tried to pass legislation like Bill 286 that will allow employers to not hire and even fire employees who had been convicted of felonies but had served their time and want to rehabilitate themselves into society. Also, the Republican-controlled State Assembly passed laws that now requires those wanting to vote to show state-approved identification. This will be hard for low-income and racial and ethnic minorities because it is not easy for them to get state-approved identification because of poverty or geographic isolation. The Republicans started a vicious war against the unions and against the poor by passing bills and budgets that would harm a broad section of Wisconsin’s people. The Democrats in turn are wasting money and time trying to kick out the Republicans in one way or another. And cooperation is simply out the window.
Meanwhile, many people in Wisconsin face unemployment. Although unemployment in Wisconsin is 7.8 percent (versus 9.1 percent nationally), the state owes the federal government $1.18 billion for the unemployment funds it borrowed and the state is fast running out of funds for the unemployed currently on unemployment benefits. The number of people who now go to soup kitchens and places that provide free food to the needy and poor is now so great that many soup kitchens and food pantries cannot cope—their shelves empty of food. And in this climate it seems that neither the governor and the Republicans on the one hand and the Democrats on the other seem to be interested in trying to call a “time out” to help their fellow state residents in need. I find it truly sad that Wisconsin government has become a microcosm of he bitter polarized battles taking place all across this country and especially in Washington, D.C. It seems that all of this fighting is related to the bitter 2012 political campaigning that is virtually paralyzing our machinery of government. And so I ask if there is no way to come together and care for us ordinary Americans caught between these two fires?