Yet, while I applaud the recall as a good process and, in fact, a fundamental right of citizens, I also hope the people of the Badger Nation vote to keep their gutsy governor.
The state’s labor unions are angry at Walker. Mighty angry. The embattled Walker argues, “I think it’s more about power — because let’s remember, the real reason the unions nationally are involved in this isn’t because of pensions or health care contributions or workers’ rights or anything else. The real reason is because we also, as part of our reforms, gave every worker in our state the right to choose whether or not he or she wants to be part of a union, and no longer have their dues forcibly removed from their payroll.”
Public employee unions aren’t going to support any of those changes, but each and every one is a good idea, long overdue.
And the governor’s reforms appear to be already working. He has saved overburdened taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, a report recently released by the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators shows that districts across the state are today financially more secure, haven’t had to make the layoffs they were facing without the reforms and have actually been able to hire more teachers.
Still, there’s another issue concerning the recall.
“Interestingly enough,” Gov. Walker points out, “normally you have a recall about someone who breaks their promises. We kept all of our promises and yet you’ve got a core group that are just sore about that.”
The right to recall is essential, but to recall Gov. Walker wouldn’t be right.