On Wisconsin! (Tribute to Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans)

In 2011, the state of Wisconsin faced a $3.6 billion dollar deficit, one which would only get worse if the Madison lawmakers raised taxes or laid off workers or refused to do anything. One lawmaker quipped that the Dairy State would end up like the Golden State, California, where the public sector unions have taken the gold and are killing the fatten goose. If Wisconsin leaders failed to take necessary steps, difficult and politically unpopular, to curb the rising pensions and benefits crunch from public sector employee contracts, they would have face unwieldy fiscal problems in the near and distant future.

A former county executive, Governor Scott Walker was elected in 2010, following a greater upswing of popular support. Unlike other leaders, Walker did not walk away from the immense challenges or the comprehensive reforms which were vital in order to save the state from a stagnant economy and lingering insolvency. He proposed Act 10, legislation which would curb the collective bargaining rights of public sector employees, aside from police and fire. The legislation would forbid public sector unions from deducted automatic union dues. Next, the proposed law would prevent public sector unions from negotiating anything but wages. Furthermore, the law required the same employees to contribute more toward their pensions and benefits (though still less than their private sector counterparts.)

The political backlash from the public sector unions was immense. The flight of Democratic lawmakers to neighboring Illinois was immediate. Despite the outlandish protests in the capital, and despite the extralegal maneuverings of the Democratic minority in the statehouse, Walker's Act 10 prevailed. The saving were immense and immediate. Entire cities reconstituted their health care plans. School districts were able to save money, save teachers, and save their students from receiving a hobbled, inadequate education.

The public sector unions refused to give up. Not only did they assemble large crowds, but they mounted legal challenges, hoping for sympathetic liberal judges to rule in their favor and strike down reforms which benefited the individual taxpaying citizen against "oppressed" minorities like unions. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party working with their major union contributors filed recall papers to remove six state senators and Governor Walker. The same liberal interests tried to advance an allied judicial candidate to the state Supreme Court, but they lost that election.

In 2012, a full-on recall election expanded across the state, targeting six state senators and the governor. Campaign donations flooded from across the country. Walker's recall challenger, Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, had run against the incumbent in 2010. Because of the success of Act 10 budget reforms, school districts and cities saved millions, and took away any arguments for removing Walker from office. Even the liberal Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel endorsed his reelection in the recall.

Notwithstanding their failures at the ballot box, even though they successfully recalled four state senators and returned the upper chamber to slim Democratic control, the public sector interests filed a lawsuit to preempt Act 10. Using a misconstrued reading of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas ruled the law unconstitutional. A federal judge also ruled in the case in favor of the public sector unions.

In 2012, while the Republicans nationwide fared poorly beneath a fair standard-bearer (Romney) and unnecessary divisions over social issues, Walker's Republicans regained control of the state senate and maintained their majority in the state assembly. Walker has prepared an aggressive agenda of lowering income taxes, expanding mining rights, and implementing education reforms in public and higher education. Right-to-work legislation lingers in the aisles of the Madison statehouse, and Walker has pledged nothing specific, concerned as he should be about more massive demonstrations throughout Wisconsin, which would scare away potential investors and entrepreneurs.

Despite the claimed metrics of slow growth policies in Wisconsin, due more to the fraught demonstrations of the declining public sector union lobby, Governor Walker's reforms have proved that decisive leadership can promote comprehensive reforms in spite of sprawling dissent from massive demonstrations. This country is searching for real leadership, where elected officials will respect the taxpayers' dollar, not just the campaign contributions of Big Labor and other special interests. More to Walker's credit, today the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago reversed the lower court's ruling in a Two-to-One decision, another win for Wisconsin reforms, and a blatant harbinger of declining union influence in the Midwest. Almost the peak of irony, Wisconsin was the first state to enshrine collective bargaining rights for public sector employees, and now Wisconsin has become the victorious battleground for the statehouse and the citizen against the union hall and Big Labor elites.

Congratulations to Governor Walker, the Republican Party, and Wisconsin voters, both Democrats and Republicans, who supported Act 10 and accepted the comprehensive reforms of collective bargaining rights. Walker's example will serve to embolden and enable state leaders, both left and right, to step up for the state and save their statehouse from the crippling public sector union lobbies and the creeping pension obligations weighing on tax payers across the country.