A Step Too Far

On Wisconsin! Go Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida! The battle has been joined. Demonstrators are in the streets and in front of the state houses of their capitals. You have to go back to a time that culminated in the great depression to find such a horrible economic situation and the egregious provocations that are causing the demonstrations. Deregulation nearly resulted the total collapse of our economy, and it caused the stubborn recession we are now in. Far from trickling down the wealth of this nation is being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. The policies of the Republican Party are enriching the rich while everyone else is getting poorer. The prices of food, gasoline and every other commodity are spiraling out of control partly because of the greed of the speculators on Wall Street. Since the Presidency of Ronald Reagan the attack on the middle class has been relentless and unabated. The exportation of so much industry and so many jobs has made it almost impossible for the labor unions to retain enough power to check the greed of the financial titans.

The greed of the wealthy knows no bounds. The marching orders to the Republican Party by the Koch brothers and other powerful financial interests are to destroy the remaining labor unions by abolishing collective bargaining and passing right to work laws. Karl Rove and Jim Demint have admitted that this is an arrogant and cynical attempt to dry up the funding of the Democratic Party. If they succeed they will have served their greedy masters by removing the last impediment to total economic Darwinism. The Republican governors and legislators carrying out those orders are trying to justify their actions by proclaiming an economic emergency. They are using the deficits to justify lowering the wages of the middle class and destroying collective bargaining while giving still more tax breaks to the powerful corporations and the wealthiest individuals of their states. Almost all labor unions recognize the larger threat and they are joining the teachers, the nurses, the fire fighters, the police officers and other public employees who are mounting a defense against this outrageous attack on the two party system and the equitable economic structure that has made this country so great.

The battle in Wisconsin has become a symbol for the larger war the Republican Party is waging against the unions, and it is capturing the attention of the entire nation. Governor Walker has let the cat out of the bag. The members of the public employee’s union agreed to a reduction in their wages and their pension plans, but this was not enough for Governor Walker. He still insisted on greatly reducing their collective bargaining rights. There was no economic reason for him to do this given the concessions the union made. The Democratic senators responded to Governor Walker’s unwillingness to negotiate by leaving the state in order to deprive the Republicans of the quorum they needed to pass a budget bill that severely restricted the collective bargaining rights of state employees. This is when the impact of the demonstrations came into play. The public was soon siding with the union. In desperation, Governor Walker and the Republican members of the state senate resorted to stripping the collective bargaining restrictions out of the budget bill, claiming that collective bargaining was not a budgetary issue. The state senate then passed a separate bill restricting the right to collective bargaining. Governor Walker and the Republican Party cannot have it both ways. If collective bargaining is not a budgetary issue he cannot justify gutting the unions on budgetary grounds. This fact is not lost on his constituents.

The voters in Wisconsin, and hopefully the rest of the nation, realize how unfair the Republican Party’s attacks on the unions are. The disapproval rating of Governor Walker and his Republican henchmen have soared as the demonstrations and debates on this issue have drawn the attention of the public. Wisconsin has the recall and petitions to recall eight of the Republican senators are being circulated. There is little doubt that petitions to recall Governor Walker will be circulated in two thousand and twelve when he is eligible to be recalled. If there is any justice the efforts of those wonderful people who are demonstrating and gathering signatures on those recall petitions will further educate the public as to the injustices causing so much grief for the vast majority of this nation. It is time for the public to realize how unfair it is to absolve the corporations and the wealthiest individuals of this nation from the duty of sharing the sacrifices necessary to deal with deficits they caused while the middle class is required to sacrifice so much. It is time for the public to realize who is responsible for stealing their livelihoods and exporting them. It is time for the public to realize who is responsible for setting their houses on fire with toxic loans.

In typical fashion, the Republicans are trying to convince us that Governor Walker is a bright, rising star when it has become all too evident that the brightness they are pointing out is nothing more than the glare of a falling, flaming turd. But he is only a small part of the story. The Republicans have chosen to serve as the army of the wealthy and the greedy rather than serving as representatives of the people who voted for them. Even if the people and the unions who have done so much to create the middle class survive this battle the real war must continue. The middle class must stop this destruction of their jobs, their wages, their houses, and their dreams. They must recognize their enemies and fight them. It is not the hard working people of this great nation who started this class war, but it is they who must win it if this country is to survive as an economic power. You will know that the voters finally understand what is at stake if in two thousand and twelve they hand the Republican Party the greatest defeat any party has suffered in the history of our nation. You will know the voters finally get it if they insist that the Democratic Party use the power gained from those elections to pass and enforce the regulations needed to reign in the insatiable greed that his nearly brought this nation to ruin. You will know that the public understands the issues when they insist on the rich paying their fair share of the taxes and they give the Democratic Party a mandate to preserve and create jobs.

I know that some will say such an overwhelming mandate would also be detrimental to the two party system, but nothing could be more detrimental to that system or our country than what the Republican Party is and has been doing. When one of the major parties has acted so irresponsibly that it has suffered a political eclipse in the past it has changed its ways and regained respect or another party has replaced it. That is what must happen now. The middle class must recognize the enemy and win the war the Republican Party is waging against it.