The Good Guys Won!

Tuesday's governor recall election in the state of Wisconsin has been called the second most important election in 2012, and I do not believe this was an overstatement.

Scott Walker is the epitome of everything that people say they want in a political leader.  He took immediate action to address the state's massive $3.6 billion budget deficit which he inherited from his predecessor.  He came up with a plan to balance the state's budget without raising taxes and convinced the state legislature to pass it.  He courageously stood by his principles and did not back down, despite massive public protests and unfavorable polling. 

Walker's plan brought him into direct conflict with the state's public employee unions.  I wrote more about the corrupt influence of public employee unions on government and Walker's reasonable efforts to curb their power here and here.  Essentially, public employee unions have the power to force state employees to pay dues, which are then used to elect the unions' favored politicians (usually Democrats).  Those politicians, in turn, use their power to negotiate highly favorable contracts on behalf of those unions who funded their campaigns.  Michael Barone has memorably called public employee unions "a mechanism by which every taxpayer is forced to fund the Democratic party."  This vicious cycle explains why state and local government union employees make, on average, 45% more in total compensation than similar employees working in the private sector.  Walker took direct aim at this wasteful, corrupt system by proposing that government union employees pay a larger percentage of their health insurance and pension costs (still a much smaller percentage than most non-government employees), limiting collective bargaining rights of public unions for non-wage benefits of their members, and preventing unions from forcing state and local employees to pay dues.

It has now been well over a year since Walker's reforms took effect, and the evidence clearly shows they have worked.  He succeeded in eliminating that multi-billion dollar budget deficit without raising taxes.  In fact, the state's most recent budget showed a $154 million budget surplus!  Under Walker's responsible fiscal leadership, the state's economy has begun to create new jobs again.  By reducing the power of the teachers' unions, school districts around the state have saved millions of dollars and avoided sizable layoffs.  And membership in public employee unions declined significantly in the year following enactment (45% decline in AFSCME membership, per the Washington Post), suggesting that given the choice many people prefer not to be in a union at all.  These positive results have helped to change the opinions of Wisconsin voters.  Walker and his reforms were initially very unpopular in the state, but multiple polls leading up the recall election yesterday indicated that a clear majority of voters approved of Walker's job as governor and specifically of his collective bargaining reforms.  This explains why Walker's Democratic opponent almost completely stopped talking about the labor issue in the weeks leading up to the final recall vote.

In contrast to Walker's common sense solutions, the tactics of his pro-union opponents were radical and thuggish.  All the Democrats in the state senate left the state entirely to try to shut down the democratic process.  Protestors surrounded and occupied the state capitol building in Madison for months on end, shouting vile things and waving signs comparing Walker to Hitler.  So many physical threats were leveled against Republican legislators that many of them had to get police protection for their homes and businesses.  Huge numbers of teachers walked off their jobs for days and weeks at a time, shutting down schools and creating huge headaches for working parents.  And then there were the endless recalls.  The unions spent close to $100 million, first by turning a state supreme court election into a partisan drama by running a candidate who promised to legislate from the bench and overturn Walker's collective bargaining law passed by duly elected representatives of the people.  They then spent big bucks on a primary and special election to attempt to recall several Republican members of the state legislature, not for any corruption or crime while in office, but merely out of political disagreement.  A few months later, they got the necessary number of signatures to force another primary and another special election to attempt to recall Governor Walker, elected barely a year and a half earlier, and a few more Republican legislators.  Once again, the recalls were purely based on political disagreement.  For the entire year and a half period spanning all this political drama, the voters of Wisconsin were subjected to non-stop partisan rancor, campaigning, and get-out-the-vote efforts.  The unionists have literally torn the state apart.  No wonder that in the final recall election yesterday, nearly 70% of voters according to exit polls said that they believe recall elections should never be permitted or should only be permitted in the case of clear malfeasance or corruption in office.  Talk about an electorate sick of partisan politics!

I am thrilled about the outcome of this election because the good guys won.  And that doesn't seem to be something that happens much in politics these days.  Scott Walker took on one of the most powerful political interest groups in the state on behalf of the taxpayers, didn't back down in the face of some of the most extreme thuggery I've seen in politics, and ultimately won the fight because of his courage and persistance.  His success sends a powerful message to politicians everywhere that standing on principle doesn't have to be a political loser, and that elected officials don't have to kowtow to powerful special interests and go with what is easy and politically expedient in order to win elections.   (As further proof of this, the voters of San Jose and San Diego also approved initiatives limiting the power of public unions on Tuesday.)  It also sends a message that gutter politics and intimidation tactics do not always win the day.  There are still many people in this country that care about spending and deficits and will support a candidate of fiscal responsibility.  I hope this will embolden other politicians to challenge the public employee unions that are threatening their states with insolvency.

I stayed up late to watch Governor Scott Walker's speech on Tuesday night (delayed due to Barrett's refusal to concede until a couple of hours after the race was called by the networks).  The first words out of Walker's mouth (after an acknowledgement of the enthusiastic crowd) were these: "First, I want to thank God for His abundant grace."  I could hear the emotion in his voice as he spoke these very personal words, and also the next words as he thanked his wife and teenaged sons for their support.  I too felt surprisingly emotional as I heard these words.  Governor Walker and his family have been through hell over the past year and a half.  Wisconsin has been through hell over the past year and a half.  I am so thankful that God's grace sustained the governor, his family, and his supporters through this painful experience.  His grace apparently also enabled Walker to be incredibly gracious toward his political opponents in his speech, which was completely devoid of partisanship.  He said that he was the governor of all residents of Wisconsin and that he was going to work hard to bring the deeply fractured state back together.  When Walker mentioned Barrett's name and the crowd starting booing, Walker held up his hand for silence.  I guess I need more of God's grace because I wasn't feeling very forgiving and generous towards the union goons that have been so hateful toward Walker and his supporters.  I felt hungry for revenge.  I wanted to see Walker rub his big victory in their faces.  But deep down, I know that Walker's approach is right, both from God's perspective and from a practical standpoint.  It is rare indeed to find a politician who combines such incredible backbone with such a soft spoken, gracious attitude toward his enemies, and I hope that Walker has a political future beyond Wisconsin.

Now Who's the Party of No?

You know, I have at times been critical of the Republican Party. I believe in conservative ideals, but I have often thought Republicans tend to be very spineless and weak in fighting for them. I know at one point on this blog I even urged my readers not to give money to the Republican National Committee because of their habit of giving big bucks to some very liberal Republican candidates. I have also said that I am not necessarily pro-Republican; merely (fiercely) anti-Democrat.

However, I have to say that I have been very encouraged lately about what I am seeing from Republican officials around the country. Many of them are showing a lot more leadership and backbone than I expected to see. The Republican governors, especially, are doing both their states and their party proud. When Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was first elected at the end of 2009, I expected him to be a typical Northeastern liberal Republican squish. Boy, was I wrong! He has been fierce in taking on the unions and the political interest groups and fighting to get New Jersey back on a solid financial footing. Gov. Bob McDonnell has also done a great deal in only a little over a year to balance Virginia's budget and bring more jobs to his state. Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania is cracking down on abortion clinics in the state that violate health & safety codes. Not only did he succeed in exposing the disgusting & murderous activities going on in Kermit Gosnell's "abortion clinic" in Philadelphia, but he has also fired numerous state employees who were responsible for looking the other way for years while these violations occurred. Now, I am watching as Gov. Scott Walker and the courageous Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature take on the deeply entrenched public employee unions in the state in order to balance the state's budget. Despite intense pressure, angry mobs, and threats of violence, they are standing tall on their principles and refusing to back down. Other Republican governors are also standing up to the money-hungry unions, including Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.

Then there is the newly-elected GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. They too are courageously standing up to the President. They recently passed a package with $61 billion in discretionary domestic spending cuts, including de-funding Planned Parenthood. Granted, it's small compared to the overall deficit, but at least it's a start -- a start staunchly opposed by the Democrats who want no cuts at all. John Boehner and the Republican leadership in the House have also announced that they intend to take on entitlement reform in their budget coming out in April. This is a somewhat risky thing to do, especially since the President wants to do nothing but use entitlements as a political football to get re-elected -- but it is the right thing to do. It is encouraging to see this new class of lawmakers willing to take on such an important issue that lawmakers have cravenly avoided for decades.

Who knows how everything will happen in the end. Maybe the Republicans will end up caving in the end. Maybe the Democrats will effectively demagogue the spending cuts to worm their way back into power in Congress. But for now, we have every reason to be encouraged at this new generation of Republican leaders. They seem to have principles, and they seem to be willing to fight for those principles. We should pray for them and support them in any way we can. And those "conservative" critics who claim there is "no difference between the two parties" and "all politicians are equally corrupt" should be ashamed of themselves. There is a very clear difference between the parties, and people who think that it doesn't matter whether you vote Republican or Democrat are not paying attention to what's happening out there.

Obama's rhetoric to the contrary, the Democrats do not stand for change. Public employees are not screaming epithets against the Wisconsin governor in the streets because they support change. They are reactionaries trying to defend a failed system that is tetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Democrats have no solutions to our looming financial crisis and our out-of-control deficit spending. I have known for a long time they are cowards -- I saw how they demagogued Bush's sincere attempt at Social Security reform back in 2005. What I have recently come to realize is that many Republicans actually do stand for change. Many of them are sincere about wanting to solve our deficit crisis and tackle entitlement reform. Many of them are willing to take risks and stand up to powerful & corrupt interests to do what's right. I don't put my trust in politicians, but I will say that I've rarely been prouder to be a Republican.

For a great article on this contrast between the parties, check out this column by Charles Krauthammer.

Thoughts on the Wisconsin Showdown

As most of you know, there's a showdown going on in Wisconsin, with protestors jamming the state capitol to protest a plan by the new Republican legislature to cut public employee benefits in order to attempt to balance the state's budget. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

1. You'd think, from reading the protestors' signs comparing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to Hitler and hearing union bosses call him the "Mubarak of the Midwest", that he and his allies in the state legislature were pushing something really radical. What they are actually proposing is for public employees to pay 12.6% of their health insurance instead of less than 5%. (Is there ANYBODY who works in the private sector who gets their employer to pay 87.4% or more of their health insurance???) Oh yeah, and they have to pay half of their pension contributions (as opposed to 0% now). I know, I know, can you believe those evil politicians asking public employees to contribute some money toward their own retirement? I mean it's not like non-government employees have to save for their own retirement or anything.

The bill also restricts the power of the unions in other ways. It keeps unions from forcing state employees to pay union dues. And it ends collective bargaining for public employee unions for everything except for wages (with the exception of police & fire), which means that benefit increases would be restricted to the CPI. The reason for this is quite simple. State and local government union employees make, on average, 45% more in total compensation than similar employees working in the private sector. Thanks to collective bargaining, public employee compensation (usually disguised as increased non-wage benefits) has continued to increase significantly despite the dismal economic conditions. Over the past few years, public-sector employment in Wisconsin has continued to increase while private-sector employment decreased. And unfortunately, Wisconsin simply can't afford to pay for it anymore. The state faces a $3.6 billion budget deficit over the next two years. Why shouldn't the unions have to tighten their belt like the rest of us?

Rich Lowry of National Review put it like this: "Walker's reforms, though, go beyond the immediate bottom line. They are aimed at curtailing the power of public-sector unions that feast on the circularity of their relationship with government. The unions work to elect politicians, then sit across a bargaining table from them -- and lo and behold, get what they want." This circular relationship is a big reason why so many states are going bankrupt.

2. The tactics of Big Labor, as always, are appalling. Teachers are walking off their jobs and shutting down schools to attend the protests (bringing their students with them in many cases). I wish I could get the taxpayers to foot the bill for ME to walk of my job to engage in days of political protests. As mentioned before, the governor is being compared to Hitler and Mubarak for having the cheek to try to balance the budget. The protestors have surrounded the capitol, waving vicious signs and shouting vicious things. Republican legislators are getting physical threats against them, and some of them have been forced to get police protection for their homes, businesses, and families. Unionists have actually targeted some of those homes and businesses for protests. They are trying to bully and scare state legislators into doing what they want. It's despicable. And give the Republicans credit for not backing down, at least so far. The behavior of the unions demonstrates just how corrupt and entitled they are and just how badly they need to be reined in.

Jay Nordlinger, as always, has some great thoughts on National Review. He writes, "A great advantage of the Left is that they are organized and determined -- and have a lot of time. Paid time. The taxpayer is funding these 'days of protest,' engaged in by the public-school teachers. They are using their 'sick' leave, provided by the taxpayer, to go rallying. And what are the other citizens of Wisconsin - the majority - doing? What they always do. Going about their business, or businesses; providing for their families. As we speak, some are having to stay home with their school-aged children, who have been locked out of their classrooms by their teachers. Ordinary Wisconsites aren't paid to go rallying in the capital. Besides, they 'ralled' at the polls last November. They had their say then. And now, Governor Walker and the rest are trying to conduct the people's business." Nordlinger also quotes a columnist from a local newspaper saying that union leaders "must figure that if they bring 13,000 shouting people to Madison, they can overrule the election."

3. Speaking of attempting to overrule the election. The Democrats in the Wisconsin legislature have disappeared. Yes, that's right, disappeared. They walked out of the capitol and literally left the state, driving to a hotel in Illinois. This forced the legislature to postpone the vote because there was not a quorum present. Unbelievable. You don't like what the majority of legislators -- democratically elected legislators -- are doing, so you just leave town and shut down the legislature completely. Yes, this is how Democrats operate. They act like two-year-olds and throw a little temper tantrum. What would happen to our system of government if the minority party left town every time the majority tried to pass a bill they didn't like? For the millionth time, Democrats demonstrate why they deserve to be a permanent minority.