When the voters threw their temper tantrum in 2010 they elected right wing ideologues as governors and state legislators in a half dozen states. Those extreme right wing fanatics quickly set about pursuing their radical agenda. Taxes on businesses were slashed and there was a move to reward favored businesses by privatizing many government services. The fanatics then used the revenue shortfalls caused by decreasing taxes on large corporations to justify severe spending cuts for services the middle class depends upon, such as public education, health care and unemployment insurance. The right wing fanatics also mounted an all out assault on labor unions by stripping away the collective bargaining rights of public workers unions. This union busting correctly became a symbol for the destructive assault on the middle class, and it provoked massive demonstrations against the bills to bust the unions representing teachers, nurses, firemen, and policemen, among others. What is happening in those states where right wing fanatics have gained control of state governments should serve as an example of what will happen if the Republicans gain control of the federal government or are allowed to continue obstructing reasonable efforts to deal with our current recession.
Among the states in which the right wing ideologues gained control of the state governments are Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. I have chosen to focus on those states because there are some very interesting things taking place there. The constitutions of Wisconsin and Ohio provide middle class voters with some tools they are using to fight back. In Wisconsin there is the recall that has been used to oust two Republican State Senators who supported Governor Scott Walker’s unconscionable agenda. Scott Walker becomes eligible for recall in January of 2012. The defeat of two of the six Republican state senators the unions were trying to recall and the failure of the Republicans to recall any of the four Democrats they were trying to recall does not bode well for Governor Walker, nor do the polls which indicate that he is in serious danger of being recalled as soon as he becomes eligible for that procedure.
Governor Kasich of Ohio has a slightly different problem. Like Governor Walker, Governor Kasich did not even bother to try to negotiate with the unions or the Democrats; instead he ignored the demonstrations and rammed his union busting bill through the state legislature. Ohio does not have the recall, but it does have a referendum that allows voters to repeal unpopular legislation. More than enough signatures have been gathered to put a referendum to repeal the anti-union bill on the ballet. All of the polls indicate that Kasich’s union busting bill will be repealed. Furthermore, the polls indicate that his approval rating with the voters has slipped drastically. Governor Kasich is now sweating bullets over the certainty of the repeal, his slip in popularity, and what is happening in Wisconsin. He is desperately trying to back peddle. Come, let us compromise he is saying. This is a far cry from his demand that the unions apologize to him and the people of Ohio for protesting the passage of his union busting bill. The unions and the Democrats are saying he should have been willing to compromise before now. It seems that the only choices left to Governor Kasich are to repeal the union busting bill on his own and start over or to let the referendum process play out. The time for him to act like an adult has already run out. It is very unlikely that he will be able to take back what he has done and to demonstrate the ability and the willingness to be reasonable. Such efforts are a bit like trying to unpick a fight you started when you punched someone in the nose.
The Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, does not have to worry about a recall or a referendum. In this regard he is like the governors of most of the states where right wing fanatics have taken over the state governments. What he and the other right wing governors and state legislators do have to worry about is what the voters are thinking and feeling. All of the polls have shown a large increase in the number of voters who disapprove of what those right wing governors and state legislators are doing. None of those right wing governors, however, have experienced as great of a disapproval rating as has Governor Scott in Florida. A mere seventeen percent of the voters approve of the job he is doing. He has become so desperate that he is now sending out robo-calls in the middle of his term as governor. The voters of Florida are letting him know what they think of those robo-calls and his performance as governor by flooding his office with reverse robo-calls. Bless the hacker who was able to allow them to do that! As one voter who identified himself as a life long Republican said: “I’m so angry at you that I will not vote for any Republican again.”
It has taken something truly horrible to rouse the voters from their slumber and make them realize what the agenda of the right wing fanatics is doing to the middle class of this country. Now the voters in those states where the right wing Republicans rule are directing their anger where it should have been directed over the last ten years. And the voters in those states are finally fighting back. A serious battle has finally begun, and it is a hopeful sign. This is not good news to those right wing governors or the Republican Party. I am finding the right wing’s consternation of over the events in those states rather amusing. They are spinning for all they are worth, but it will do them no good; they are now spinning on the extended middle finger of an electorate that is very angry about the destructive agenda of the Republican Party. If I were in a more charitable mood I would take up a collection to buy and send to those governors some drip-dry underwear. Perhaps I am being overly optimistic, but I think they and the Republican Party are going to need such underwear when the voters render their verdict in 2012.
Even Karl Rove is trying to warn the Republican Party of the perils of drifting too far to the right. The warning is too late, Karl! The Republican Party has nothing to offer but pettifoggery, and that will only carry them so far. The voters are finally beginning catch on. It is now up to President Obama and the Democratic Party to focus on jobs and reveal the intellectual bankruptcy of the obstructionists who put the interests of their party above the needs of the people of this country. President Obama and the Democratic Party must take the battle into the Senate, the House, and the Streets. They must urge the voters to follow the example of the good people in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. They must urge the people to demand an end to the obstructionist tactics the Republicans are using to prevent the government form doing what it needs to do to create jobs!
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