Wisconsin prosecutors have alleged that Gov. Scott Walker was part of a wide-ranging “criminal scheme” to coordinate the activities of conservative groups that spent millions to help him and other Republicans fend off recall efforts.
In an exhaustive and devastating opinion, Judge Lynn Adleman writes that the facts don't justify restrictions that unduly burden minorities.
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Wisconsin was the first state to grant public-sector unions the right to negotiate contracts. Before Gov. Gaylord Nelson signed that law in 1959, only unionized workers in private companies had a government-protected right to bargain collectively. The Wisconsin idea soon spread around the country. Act 10 is an about-face, and Gov. Walker and his Republican supporters see it as a tough-minded strategy that other states can follow. History repeating itself, if in reverse.
A day and a half after the release of 27,000 emails obtained in the first completed investigation, the verdict of the national media is in: This Walker scandal is boring, which in Beltway-speak commands that all serious journalists just move along.
Even if Walker emerges from the e-mail release unscathed, he faces an additional inquiry from state prosecutors, who are believed to be looking into whether his successful campaign in a 2012 recall election illegally coordinated with independent conservative groups that poured millions of dollars into Wisconsin. That inquiry could create political challenges if it hobbles key campaign aides as Walker gears up for an expected vigorous reelection challenge in November.
There are a number of talk radio shows around the country covering — and funded by — organized labor that are still up and running, but like the labor movement as a whole, what remains is a far cry from the time when unions and the concerns of workers were a dominant part of the media landscape. The dozen or so shows that still offer labor and union concerns to radio listeners are mostly local, based in the traditional union strongholds of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Governing in Wisconsin is no longer about meeting the needs of your constituents—it has become about meeting the needs of corporate donors as it is obvious that this bill was not proposed by someone working for minimum wage.
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