Lawless

[paft.livejournal.com]

As I was saying:

Republican Wisconsin State Senator Scott Fitzgerald on what Walker’s union busting is REALLY all about:

If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the union, Obama is going to have a much more difficult time winning this election and winning the state of Wisconsin.

Democratic Representative Peter Barca, as the Joint Conference of Committee rams through the bill stripping public sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights:

This is a violation of law. This is not just a rule. This is the law.

This attack on public sector unions is not about being fiscally responsible, any more than “voter fraud” laws supported by Republicans are about respecting the vote.

This is about breaking the unions, defunding the Democratic party and making it difficult for President Obama to be elected. It is about the raw exercise of power, regardless of the law. It is about establishing what amounts to single party rule.

I draw a direct line to this moment from our willingness, as a country, to countenance what happened during the 2000 presidential “election,” when Florida’s Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, deliberately disenfranchised several thousand legal voters. Afterwards, the leadership of both parties told those of us who objected to sit down and shut up about it, as if valid American voters being turned away from the polls were nothing to make a fuss about.

The Republican Party learned they could win by openly and illegally subverting the will of the people and trashing the constitution and rule of law. Nobody should be surprised that they’ve escalated this tactic over the years. A large voter turnout is a liability to the G.O.P., and they know it. Their agenda directly and adversely affects too many voters – minorities, women, gays, union members, and lately, the middle class in general.

They don’t really need or desire a lot of voters anymore – just a nasty core of astro-turf supported yellers, and corporate buddies to funnel money into their campaigns.

And we, as a country, have allowed this to happen.

I stand behind pro-union demonstrators in Wisconsin. I wish them luck. I hope the tide of protests doesn’t recede. I hope that every single one of those Republicans who are ramming through this law find themselves confronted with hisses of “shame” every time they step out into public. I hope that recalls send as many of them as possible packing in the next couple of years.

But to every one of those protesting people who voted for Scott Walker, or those other Republicans I also say, “elections have consequences.” By voting for people who have nothing but contempt for you, you threw away freedom with both hands.

Good luck getting it back. And I mean that sincerely.

Crossposted from Thoughtcrimes

Comments

Re: Power corrupts...

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

So how much would each of those companies have to pay to make-up the state's budget shortfall, and how does that compare amount compare to thier overall income?

Re: Power corrupts...

[paft.livejournal.com]

sw: So how much would each of those companies have to pay to make-up the state's budget shortfall, and how does that compare amount compare to thier overall income?

I don't know, but it's bound to come much closer to making it up than gouging the middle class. The shortfall has been cited as being at $6.6 billion. According to the article I linked you to:

"...there are numerous breaks from the corporate income tax. These include scores of individual business-assistance programs that give tax credits for such things as research ($18 million annually) and investment in so-called development zones (about $14 million)."

In addition to breaks on the corporate income tax, Wisconsin businesses enjoy the following:

"...all manufacturing machinery and equipment is exempt from property taxes. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue estimates that about $12 billion worth of property is tax-exempt under this law. If taxed at the state's average tax rate, this would generate about a quarter-billion dollars in new annual revenue.

Business computers are also exempt from property tax, under a definition of 'computer' broad enough to include automated bank tellers and computerized cash registers. In this case, the state annually reimburses local governments approximately $80 million in lost revenue.

Then there are the business services untouched by the sales tax. A 5% sales tax on advertising would generate more than $100 million a year, the Department of Revenue estimates. A sales tax on computer consulting would yield more than $130 million. A sales tax on accounting would produce nearly $60 million. And so on."

Given these tax breaks, it's not surprising that Wisconsin is suffering from a budget shortfall.

Re: Power corrupts...

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Using the numbers cited above...

One Quarter Billion (250 million) + 18 million + 14 million + 80 Million + 100 Million + 130 million 60 million = 652 million (652,000,000)

If the currant shortfall is 6.6 billion (6,600,000,000) and all the expenditures you listed are removed, that still leaves a shortfall of $5,948,000,000.

What else should be cut?

Re: Power corrupts...

[paft.livejournal.com]

No idea. Are you at last agreeing, however, that those tax cuts should be rolled back? Or are you somehow clinging to the notion that keeping those tax cuts while gouging an already badly gouged middle class is the way to make up that shortfall?

Re: Power corrupts...

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

I'm saying that if the state is serious about balancing the budget, they will need to roll back the tax cuts AND slashing wages, pensions, services, etc. (this is the part that the unions are up in arms about)

Which brings us back to my comment about how any (real) progress is likely to leave both sides bloody.