Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's outright refusal to deny Tom Barrett's accusation that Walker would sign Right-to-Work legislation in the debates has made many people believe that Walker plans to make Wisconsin a Right-to-Work state, even though he says he has no "interest." Last year, Walker was asked point blank how he would make Wisconsin a Right-to-Work state by Diane Hendricks, Walker's biggest donor and who also pays $0 state taxes. Walker replied that he would "divide and conquer" starting with the public workers. Then, less than a month later, he "dropped the bomb," stripping public workers of their right to collectively bargain. There's only one thing left to do in Walker's plan to strip the rights of everyone through Right-to-Work.
Now, the Journal Sentinel has already begun priming the public by doing a PolitiFact on what should be an irrelevant statement about Right-to-Work, and they put it on their front page. Jeff Fitzgerald, a rights stripper, said that Minnesota was a Right-to-Work state, but PolitiFact corrected him. Honestly, if Right-to-Work isn't coming to Wisconsin, why should we be concerned with such a tangential lie, especially one so little publicized and so easily looked up? The Republicans lie all of the time, and that's the lie PolitiFact decided to cover?
There are far more critical and convoluted lies that PolitiFact should be addressing. Instead, by addressing the Right-to-Work lie about Minnesota, the Journal Sentinel was able to begin framing the debate on Right-to-Work. The real lie in the interview that PolitiFact should be correcting is that stripping public workers of collective bargaining rights was "a middle ground," which they repeat with no statements addressing the truthfulness. Through the PolitiFact, the Journal Sentinel is promoting the idea that stripping the rights of public workers was "middle ground," and therefore prepping the public for Right-to-Work, which is just to the right of that "middle ground," not far-right hillbilly feed where it really is.
Republicans, Right-to-Work is regulation! Not only that it regulates individual rights.
Showing posts with label far-right. Show all posts
Showing posts with label far-right. Show all posts
Monday, June 11, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wisconsin: Scott Walker's "Laboratory for Conservative Ideas"
What's next for Wisconsin now that Scott Walker survived his recall election?
Out-of-state corporate and rich donors own Scott Walker now that they gave him ~66% of his $30.5 million to hoodwink the state, not to mention the more than $16 million spent by outside pro-Walker groups. And these numbers are likely to increase as the final tallies are made. Even though Walker lost his party's control of the State Senate and didn't gain many votes for his rights stripping and unlimited campaign financing, receiving nearly the same percentage of votes as he did in 2010, we know Walker will act like he got a mandate.
We should be proud of what we were able to accomplish against such odds. Walker didn't receive the mandate that he wanted with all of his money, and by losing a majority in the State Senate with recalls this past year, we were able to slow Walker's reddening of Wisconsin. However, Walker won't stop now.
Dan Bice from the Journal Sentinel told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC after the election that Walker will make "Wisconsin, as he has already, a laboratory for conservative ideas." This is what Walker wants to do, and what his corporate and super rich donors like Diane Hendricks (who pays $0 state taxes) want him to do. And now, Walker is owned by these few and has little to fear from Wisconsin.
Now that Walker has significantly reduced the unions, there'll be far less funding for any progressive candidates. This was the far-right's goal, as explained by Scott Fitzgerald last year. Unions are the only special interests that share the same interests as large swaths of people, because they're democratic organizations. Unions are just groups of people working together for their collective interest. Businesses are controlled by an individual or very small group of people but with the finances of far more. The interests of business often don't align with the overall interest of a community, but unions, being part of the community, often have interests aligned with the community.
The unions have far less funding just a year after Walker stripped their rights, and they'll have even less now that their rights won't be restored any time soon. They couldn't come close to competing with Walker's corporate money in the recall election, even though their existence depended upon it. This means unions, the only significant source of money for Democrats, won't be able to provide funding for Democrats to compete with Republicans in Wisconsin. Republicans will forever have the money advantage as long as the Democrats support union rights and the Republicans don't.
The only other large source of funding for politicians besides unions are businesses and the rich. Democrats will have to choose one of two things: small people-funded campaigns or get funding from businesses and the rich as well. We saw from the recall election that small people-funded campaigns aren't easy. So, many Democrats will begin seeking more support from corporations or perpetually lose. We've basically ensured the corporate control of our government.
So, what might our new out-of-state-controlled laboratory of far-right ideas cook up?
Walker refused to say if he would sign Right-to-Work legislation in the final debate when Tom Barrett guaranteed that he would. Diane Hendricks, Walker's biggest donor, asked for it last year on video, and Walker replied with his plan to divide-and-conquer beginning with the rights of public workers. Therefore, we can only conclude that this Tea Party wish is high on his list, even though he didn't campaign on it. Wisconsin can say good-bye to good paying jobs, and say hello to your new corporate dictators.
Right-to-Work would nearly ensure Walker's reelection in 2014 by gutting all significant funding for a Democratic challenger. It would almost certainly give Walker control of the entire legislature as well.
Wisconsin is still suffering from a budget deficit. Just like Right-to-Work, Walker has refused to deny that he would sign legislation like Michigan's financial martial law. It wouldn't be beyond Walker to spin another crisis requiring "bold" action like that law.
Walker hired a deer czar who's primary accomplishments involve privatizing deer hunting. A new private deer hunting industry would be a great way for Walker to push his far-right ideals and repay his rich donors. Get ready to pay hundreds if not thousands to hunt. It's what you voted for, even if Walker didn't say he would do it. That's the way Walker operates. While not nearly as likely as Right-to-Work, it's far from an impossibility.
Walker will surely continue to reduce funding to public education in pursuit of privatization. Expect up to a 30% slash in teacher base pay, something Walker can do without any new legislation. Walker has shown he takes the easy way out, and he won't seek legislation through the now Democratically-controlled State Senate to fix the budget this year.
With the continued bleeding of jobs, Walker may try to "stimulate" the economy again by giving more tax breaks to corporations and increasing our taxes by reducing tax cuts/credits or increasing government fees.
The only thing standing in Walker's way is the Democratic majority in the State Senate, and that may not be easy to hold without any significant source of money. The middle class doesn't stand a chance against the rich in a war with money.
Unfortunately, it seems our only way to stop the corporate takeover of our government is to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that negates the Citizens United ruling. People clearly don't realize when they are voting for politicians primarily supported by out-of-state interests, probably because those interests are able to frame the debate. We *could* get behind a few nationwide PACs setup to compete with corporate donations, especially if people donate what they were paying in union dues to the PACs. It's simply very difficult for candidates primarily supported by middle class grassroots to compete with candidates primarily supported by big business and the rich.
Out-of-state corporate and rich donors own Scott Walker now that they gave him ~66% of his $30.5 million to hoodwink the state, not to mention the more than $16 million spent by outside pro-Walker groups. And these numbers are likely to increase as the final tallies are made. Even though Walker lost his party's control of the State Senate and didn't gain many votes for his rights stripping and unlimited campaign financing, receiving nearly the same percentage of votes as he did in 2010, we know Walker will act like he got a mandate.
We should be proud of what we were able to accomplish against such odds. Walker didn't receive the mandate that he wanted with all of his money, and by losing a majority in the State Senate with recalls this past year, we were able to slow Walker's reddening of Wisconsin. However, Walker won't stop now.
Dan Bice from the Journal Sentinel told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC after the election that Walker will make "Wisconsin, as he has already, a laboratory for conservative ideas." This is what Walker wants to do, and what his corporate and super rich donors like Diane Hendricks (who pays $0 state taxes) want him to do. And now, Walker is owned by these few and has little to fear from Wisconsin.
Now that Walker has significantly reduced the unions, there'll be far less funding for any progressive candidates. This was the far-right's goal, as explained by Scott Fitzgerald last year. Unions are the only special interests that share the same interests as large swaths of people, because they're democratic organizations. Unions are just groups of people working together for their collective interest. Businesses are controlled by an individual or very small group of people but with the finances of far more. The interests of business often don't align with the overall interest of a community, but unions, being part of the community, often have interests aligned with the community.
The unions have far less funding just a year after Walker stripped their rights, and they'll have even less now that their rights won't be restored any time soon. They couldn't come close to competing with Walker's corporate money in the recall election, even though their existence depended upon it. This means unions, the only significant source of money for Democrats, won't be able to provide funding for Democrats to compete with Republicans in Wisconsin. Republicans will forever have the money advantage as long as the Democrats support union rights and the Republicans don't.
The only other large source of funding for politicians besides unions are businesses and the rich. Democrats will have to choose one of two things: small people-funded campaigns or get funding from businesses and the rich as well. We saw from the recall election that small people-funded campaigns aren't easy. So, many Democrats will begin seeking more support from corporations or perpetually lose. We've basically ensured the corporate control of our government.
So, what might our new out-of-state-controlled laboratory of far-right ideas cook up?
Walker refused to say if he would sign Right-to-Work legislation in the final debate when Tom Barrett guaranteed that he would. Diane Hendricks, Walker's biggest donor, asked for it last year on video, and Walker replied with his plan to divide-and-conquer beginning with the rights of public workers. Therefore, we can only conclude that this Tea Party wish is high on his list, even though he didn't campaign on it. Wisconsin can say good-bye to good paying jobs, and say hello to your new corporate dictators.
Right-to-Work would nearly ensure Walker's reelection in 2014 by gutting all significant funding for a Democratic challenger. It would almost certainly give Walker control of the entire legislature as well.
Wisconsin is still suffering from a budget deficit. Just like Right-to-Work, Walker has refused to deny that he would sign legislation like Michigan's financial martial law. It wouldn't be beyond Walker to spin another crisis requiring "bold" action like that law.
Walker hired a deer czar who's primary accomplishments involve privatizing deer hunting. A new private deer hunting industry would be a great way for Walker to push his far-right ideals and repay his rich donors. Get ready to pay hundreds if not thousands to hunt. It's what you voted for, even if Walker didn't say he would do it. That's the way Walker operates. While not nearly as likely as Right-to-Work, it's far from an impossibility.
Walker will surely continue to reduce funding to public education in pursuit of privatization. Expect up to a 30% slash in teacher base pay, something Walker can do without any new legislation. Walker has shown he takes the easy way out, and he won't seek legislation through the now Democratically-controlled State Senate to fix the budget this year.
With the continued bleeding of jobs, Walker may try to "stimulate" the economy again by giving more tax breaks to corporations and increasing our taxes by reducing tax cuts/credits or increasing government fees.
The only thing standing in Walker's way is the Democratic majority in the State Senate, and that may not be easy to hold without any significant source of money. The middle class doesn't stand a chance against the rich in a war with money.
Unfortunately, it seems our only way to stop the corporate takeover of our government is to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that negates the Citizens United ruling. People clearly don't realize when they are voting for politicians primarily supported by out-of-state interests, probably because those interests are able to frame the debate. We *could* get behind a few nationwide PACs setup to compete with corporate donations, especially if people donate what they were paying in union dues to the PACs. It's simply very difficult for candidates primarily supported by middle class grassroots to compete with candidates primarily supported by big business and the rich.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Anti-Union Website Sponsored by Wisconsin State Journal - More Far-Right Media
Lee Enterprises, the publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal, has set up an anti-union website with many myths, have truths, and tons of spin to make you think you're better off negotiating with employers by yourself than collectively.
The site is called Lee Union Free, and is a despicable website coming from what is supposed to be an unbiased news source. Lee Enterprises recently chided their employees for signing recall petitions, as if signing a recall petition says you don't support Walker. They did this in an effort to look unbiased, but in fact their behavior just supports their bias towards Walker by chiding people who signed the petition but may plan to vote for Walker in the recall election, just like the far-right Walker supporting Gannett.
The biggest spin of them all on the site: "You don't need a union. Let your performance speak for itself." If that was true, we would have never needed unions, but that's definitely NOT true. Lee Enterprises would rather keep unions out so they can pay you what they want based on the performance they want to measure.
Their "Facts about Unions" page plays a video from the Daily Show. Really? I know they *can* be factual, but that's LE's only source of facts against unions? They're a newspaper for crying out loud! They couldn't dig up their own facts or reliable sources?
Besides the Daily Show video, they provide a link to unionfacts.com which is some non-profit in Washington D.C. The site profiles the extreme cases of union corruption, which I have deep concerns about, but it barely mentions the benefits of collective bargaining. Yes, any organization can become corrupt, and we must prevent that as best as possible, but that doesn't mean unions are bad. If anything, it means that anti-corruption policies that govern both unions and corporations are not working.
The site even violates their supposed policy: "Participation in public affairs or events that may leave the impression that news judgment is being influenced by activism is prohibited." Creating an anti-union website is clearly public and political activism biased against unions, but singing a recall petition is not biased. Signing a recall petition doesn't mean you can't support Walker and vote for him in the recall election. It means that you support Wisconsin's ability to choose in the future whether to replace an official before their term is up. So, signing a recall petition should not leave any biased impression. If Lee Enterprises wanted to assure their readers that their employees weren't biased for signing the recall petitions, Lee Enterprises could have simply reported on the facts of a recall, but that doesn't make for "attractive" headlines.
Now, it's very clear that Lee Enterprises is far-right Walker supporting media. They don't like unions or recall petition signers. They punish employees for taking part in an unbiased form of democracy, but then create an activist website that supports Walker's anti-union agenda.
If the Wisconsin State Journal, the La Crosse Tribune, and others want to appear unbiased, they need to shut this blatantly biased and spun website down! You can't have your cake and it eat, too. Either you're unbiased and show support for no particular cause, or you are biased.
NOTE: I'm not qualifying my statement about our far-right media in Wisconsin anymore, they're clearly far-right Walker-supporting media.
The site is called Lee Union Free, and is a despicable website coming from what is supposed to be an unbiased news source. Lee Enterprises recently chided their employees for signing recall petitions, as if signing a recall petition says you don't support Walker. They did this in an effort to look unbiased, but in fact their behavior just supports their bias towards Walker by chiding people who signed the petition but may plan to vote for Walker in the recall election, just like the far-right Walker supporting Gannett.
The biggest spin of them all on the site: "You don't need a union. Let your performance speak for itself." If that was true, we would have never needed unions, but that's definitely NOT true. Lee Enterprises would rather keep unions out so they can pay you what they want based on the performance they want to measure.
Their "Facts about Unions" page plays a video from the Daily Show. Really? I know they *can* be factual, but that's LE's only source of facts against unions? They're a newspaper for crying out loud! They couldn't dig up their own facts or reliable sources?
Besides the Daily Show video, they provide a link to unionfacts.com which is some non-profit in Washington D.C. The site profiles the extreme cases of union corruption, which I have deep concerns about, but it barely mentions the benefits of collective bargaining. Yes, any organization can become corrupt, and we must prevent that as best as possible, but that doesn't mean unions are bad. If anything, it means that anti-corruption policies that govern both unions and corporations are not working.
The site even violates their supposed policy: "Participation in public affairs or events that may leave the impression that news judgment is being influenced by activism is prohibited." Creating an anti-union website is clearly public and political activism biased against unions, but singing a recall petition is not biased. Signing a recall petition doesn't mean you can't support Walker and vote for him in the recall election. It means that you support Wisconsin's ability to choose in the future whether to replace an official before their term is up. So, signing a recall petition should not leave any biased impression. If Lee Enterprises wanted to assure their readers that their employees weren't biased for signing the recall petitions, Lee Enterprises could have simply reported on the facts of a recall, but that doesn't make for "attractive" headlines.
Now, it's very clear that Lee Enterprises is far-right Walker supporting media. They don't like unions or recall petition signers. They punish employees for taking part in an unbiased form of democracy, but then create an activist website that supports Walker's anti-union agenda.
If the Wisconsin State Journal, the La Crosse Tribune, and others want to appear unbiased, they need to shut this blatantly biased and spun website down! You can't have your cake and it eat, too. Either you're unbiased and show support for no particular cause, or you are biased.
NOTE: I'm not qualifying my statement about our far-right media in Wisconsin anymore, they're clearly far-right Walker-supporting media.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Where Are Wisconsin's Jobs? Wait Til After Recall Walker Says
250,000 jobs. That's what Walker said he'd bring to Wisconsin in four years. Unfortunately for all of us, we've lost thousands of jobs since Walker took office. Walker hasn't brought any jobs to Wisconsin, instead he's made things worse.
In fact, Walker's fired over 1,400 teachers since he stripped their collective bargaining rights last spring. Even though he said his "tools" would prevent it.
So, where are all of those jobs Walker promised he'd create with his tax cuts for the corporations and massive budget cuts to education? They seem to be just to the south in Illinois where they've had lot's of successful job growth. Illinois didn't strip collective bargaining rights from their public workers or introduce massive cuts to education. No, only Walker did, and now we see the results.
Walker admitted trying to get those jobs we've lost to Illinois when he went to see the Illinois Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Unfortunately, it appears that because of Walker, those employers like the climate in Illinois much better.
No Republican governor even wants to be thought of as a Scott Walker after what he's done for Wisconsin.
However, Walker says that if you just wait until after the recall elections, Wisconsin will have a "dramatic" increase in the number of new jobs.
Trust me, Walker, employers are not waiting to see if you keep your job before they hire more workers. That's just plain asinine and narcissistic!
Many employers would like you gone right now. In fact, I predict that if Walker loses in the recall, there will be a dramatic increase in new jobs, but if he wins we're stuck. It's Walker's far-right policies that have kept jobs away, not the fear of recall elections. Just look at when we started hemorrhaging jobs, it was long before Walker's recall began.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Gannett Is Far-Right Walker-Supporting Media
Most of Gannett's reporters didn't sign a recall petition. Therefore, Gannett is clearly far-right Scott Walker-supporting media, because not signing a recall petition is clear support for Walker, while signing a recall petition isn't express support for or against Walker. Gannett has gone so far as to discipline those reporters who didn't follow their political bias and signed the petition. So, Gannett can't possibly report unbiasedly with so many people supporting Walker.
One could easily have signed a recall petition and then vote for Walker in the recall election. You can support Walker and be a petition signer. You may just want to give others a chance to elect someone else. My step-father is one of these people. Gannett is making sweeping claims that these people don't support Walker and then disciplining their employees based on their claims.
Signing a recall petition doesn't remove an elected official from office, the desire of the petition filers. It only gives Wisconsin a chance to remove the official through a recall election. However, not signing a recall petition keeps an official in office, the desire of the elected official. Therefore, there is no other way to interpret not signing a recall petition other than clear support for the current elected official.
Gannett publishes many Wisconsin newspapers including The Green Bay Press Gazette, The Post Crescent, The Fond du Lac Reporter, The Oshkosh Northwestern and Manitowac's Herald Times Reporter. All of these newspapers are in the bag for Walker since most of the reporters are. That's a significant portion of Wisconsin's newspapers that are far-right Walker supporters.
If Gannett is worried about the perception of their bias. They should make sure that half of their reporters sign a recall petition and half don't. Or they can report on what signing a recall petition really is.
Defend the Recall!
(In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't really believe that Gannett is far-right Walker-supporting media or that they should have half of their reporters sign recall petitions. However, they can't claim that signing a recall petition is "political activity" and has any bearing on reporting.
The main point is: one cannot infer someone's political bias based on their signing or not signing a recall petition.
Gannett, and all other companies, must not prohibit their employees from signing recall petitions, and they must not discipline employees for signing recall petitions. Now that they know, Gannett must come clean and admit what signing a recall petition really is in all of their Wisconsin publications or face the moniker of far-right Walker-supporting media.)
One could easily have signed a recall petition and then vote for Walker in the recall election. You can support Walker and be a petition signer. You may just want to give others a chance to elect someone else. My step-father is one of these people. Gannett is making sweeping claims that these people don't support Walker and then disciplining their employees based on their claims.
Signing a recall petition doesn't remove an elected official from office, the desire of the petition filers. It only gives Wisconsin a chance to remove the official through a recall election. However, not signing a recall petition keeps an official in office, the desire of the elected official. Therefore, there is no other way to interpret not signing a recall petition other than clear support for the current elected official.
Gannett publishes many Wisconsin newspapers including The Green Bay Press Gazette, The Post Crescent, The Fond du Lac Reporter, The Oshkosh Northwestern and Manitowac's Herald Times Reporter. All of these newspapers are in the bag for Walker since most of the reporters are. That's a significant portion of Wisconsin's newspapers that are far-right Walker supporters.
If Gannett is worried about the perception of their bias. They should make sure that half of their reporters sign a recall petition and half don't. Or they can report on what signing a recall petition really is.
Defend the Recall!
(In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't really believe that Gannett is far-right Walker-supporting media or that they should have half of their reporters sign recall petitions. However, they can't claim that signing a recall petition is "political activity" and has any bearing on reporting.
The main point is: one cannot infer someone's political bias based on their signing or not signing a recall petition.
Gannett, and all other companies, must not prohibit their employees from signing recall petitions, and they must not discipline employees for signing recall petitions. Now that they know, Gannett must come clean and admit what signing a recall petition really is in all of their Wisconsin publications or face the moniker of far-right Walker-supporting media.)
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Permanent Injunction of Unconstitutional Voter Suppression Upheld
Two weeks ago, the Voter Suppression Law requiring an ID to vote that was passed by the far-right Republicans in Wisconsin was found unconstitutional by two judges, one from conservative Waukesha and one from liberal Dane. Both judges found the law to be unconstitutional, because the law goes "steps beyond the proper authority of the Legislature" to restrict voting by specific groups. Judge Richard Niess, the second judge said in his order, "The government may not disqualify an elector who possesses those qualifications not contained in Article III, such as a photo ID." The unconstitutional law was then halted by a temporary and a permanent injunction from the respective judges.
However, Governor Scott Walker, by demanding the injunctions be stayed, continued to insist upon suppressing the votes of the poor, the elderly, and minorities. Walker and the Republican leadership lit a fire under the normally slow-moving Attorney General Van Hollen's butt to appeal the decisions. Remember, Van Hollen refused to help the FBI in their criminal investigation of Walker and his aides as well as the election debacle in Waukesha last spring. Fortunately for the people of Wisconsin, our judges will have none of that.
Last week, Judge David T. Flanagan denied Walker's request to stay his temporary injunction, and yesterday, Judge Niess denied Walker's request to stay his permanent injunction. Niess said, "It is no law at all."
So, no more IDs to vote, and it doesn't sound like any judge would have a leg to stand on in support of the constitutionality of the law. Judge Niess said that would be a clear case of judicial activism. So, we likely will never need IDs to vote, as should have always been the case. Otherwise, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where Walker is trying to send both cases, is more than FUBAR.
For those of you worried about increased voter fraud, the Voter Suppression Law wouldn't stop any of Wisconsin's previous cases of voter fraud. So, our elections are protected as well with and without the Voter Suppression Law. This is one of the reasons it's unjustified and unconstitutional, it doesn't make any practical effort towards stopping voter fraud, but it makes great strides to limit the voting of certain groups.
No more IDs and no more asking for IDs to vote. Make sure everyone knows so they can save money by not purchasing one. The halting of free photo IDs is one reason the permanent injunction won't be lifted unless the Republicans can somehow prove the law is constitutional.
However, Governor Scott Walker, by demanding the injunctions be stayed, continued to insist upon suppressing the votes of the poor, the elderly, and minorities. Walker and the Republican leadership lit a fire under the normally slow-moving Attorney General Van Hollen's butt to appeal the decisions. Remember, Van Hollen refused to help the FBI in their criminal investigation of Walker and his aides as well as the election debacle in Waukesha last spring. Fortunately for the people of Wisconsin, our judges will have none of that.
Last week, Judge David T. Flanagan denied Walker's request to stay his temporary injunction, and yesterday, Judge Niess denied Walker's request to stay his permanent injunction. Niess said, "It is no law at all."
So, no more IDs to vote, and it doesn't sound like any judge would have a leg to stand on in support of the constitutionality of the law. Judge Niess said that would be a clear case of judicial activism. So, we likely will never need IDs to vote, as should have always been the case. Otherwise, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where Walker is trying to send both cases, is more than FUBAR.
For those of you worried about increased voter fraud, the Voter Suppression Law wouldn't stop any of Wisconsin's previous cases of voter fraud. So, our elections are protected as well with and without the Voter Suppression Law. This is one of the reasons it's unjustified and unconstitutional, it doesn't make any practical effort towards stopping voter fraud, but it makes great strides to limit the voting of certain groups.
No more IDs and no more asking for IDs to vote. Make sure everyone knows so they can save money by not purchasing one. The halting of free photo IDs is one reason the permanent injunction won't be lifted unless the Republicans can somehow prove the law is constitutional.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
No Environmental Protections, But We Can Regulate Women's Bodies
The Republicans in Wisconsin can't let go of their extreme right-wing agenda. Instead of passing a bipartisan mining bill last week that gave Gogebic Taconite what they publicly requested without sacrificing environmental protections (Wisconsin Way Mining Reform Act), the Republicans held steadfast to AB 426 with the goal to reduce government regulation in the form of environmental protections. Yes, Republicans, government regulation is good sometimes, it even ensures my milk is fresh, and you used to feel the same way.
But, no, they don't see it that way anymore, and since that was the Republicans' only jobs plan, we have no hope for any significant change in the other direction to finally recover from the recession. Not that the mining bill would have given us exactly that either, but it would have been something.
Instead, today the Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly will be trying to pass new abortion laws, because government regulation is good when it regulates women's bodies. Some of the new regulations include teaching only abstinence in sex education classes, because that works.
One abortion bill is similar to the vaginal probe legislation in Virginia, requiring a doctor to be in the room when abortion-inducing pills are taken, even though there is no medical need. It also requires an additional conversation between the doctor and patient within 24 hours to make sure she really wants it, because she can't be expected to thoughtfully consider the decision and talk to her doctor herself. The bill just makes getting an abortion more troublesome and difficult by increasing government regulation over women's bodies.
Another bill would ban insurance companies in Wisconsin from covering abortions. Are you kidding me?! More government regulation on women's bodies and now our insurance companies.
Today is more proof that the far-right Republicans in control of Wisconsin care only about their extreme ideological agendas and not jobs or the middle class.
Watch the Republicans talk about the need for government regulation today on WisEye!
Instead, today the Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly will be trying to pass new abortion laws, because government regulation is good when it regulates women's bodies. Some of the new regulations include teaching only abstinence in sex education classes, because that works.
One abortion bill is similar to the vaginal probe legislation in Virginia, requiring a doctor to be in the room when abortion-inducing pills are taken, even though there is no medical need. It also requires an additional conversation between the doctor and patient within 24 hours to make sure she really wants it, because she can't be expected to thoughtfully consider the decision and talk to her doctor herself. The bill just makes getting an abortion more troublesome and difficult by increasing government regulation over women's bodies.
Another bill would ban insurance companies in Wisconsin from covering abortions. Are you kidding me?! More government regulation on women's bodies and now our insurance companies.
Today is more proof that the far-right Republicans in control of Wisconsin care only about their extreme ideological agendas and not jobs or the middle class.
Watch the Republicans talk about the need for government regulation today on WisEye!
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