Scott Walker tried to inject political machismo into his faltering race for the White House by announcing how he would hurt the working men and women in the federal government. Union bashing seems the last place to try and find any hope for a candidacy that has fallen in the polls faster than Wiley E. Coyote being strapped to an anvil.
While Walker may think this is a powerful idea the fact remains that everyone else sees this as a desperate last ditch attempt to breathe even a hope of air into a campaign that has no where else to go but the way Rick Perry’s did last week. Not for the first time does Walker lash out at workers and unions to make political hay. That is just his modus operandi.
While his fellow contenders for the Republican nomination will no doubt agree with his disastrous ideas they also know that Walker is not ready for prime time and not to be taken seriously. Instead of gaining ground Walker only plays into the growing national narrative of a desperate acting candidate without any more life-lines. If this is the opening bit to his much-talked about new style of reconnecting to voters then he might wish to consult with his handlers over coffee rather than too much beer. Something is really wrong in his campaign.
Someday Walker will have time to look back and reflect on his actions and proposals while on the public stage. Perhaps only then will he come to realize that it was not an honorable or politically smart move to attack the union men and women of this nation. Sure it plays to a wedge demographic but the larger portion of the electorate shakes their head and wonders if this is the only stage act he can present for the nomination.
In the end Walker does not look stronger or bigger after this latest attack on workers.
Just smaller and more pathetic.
Today the Washington Post gave voice to the many problems and pitfalls concerning Walker’s bashing workers.
Think about what would happen if you took this policy national. On a state level, it’s possible for a right to work law to draw a factory from one state to another. But if every state was a right to work state, then that incentive to move is eliminated. The decrease in union representation would spread, which drives down wages and benefits for everyone. Whether you think that’s a good thing depends on whether you are concerned with the interests of large business owners or the interests of workers.
There are a number of smaller ideas in Walker’s plan, like eliminating the requirement that federal contractors pay the “prevailing wage” (i.e. union wage) for construction projects, further reinforcing what seems to be Walker’s belief that the problem with unions is that they let workers earn too much money. And I have to highlight this bit:
“The Obama administration’s government-knows-best proposed rules will require employers to pay overtime rates to greater numbers of salaried works and require federal contractors to provide paid sick leave. Unfortunately, these rules will only reduce wages and deprive workers of the flexibility to balance work and life commitments.
“On Day One of my administration, I will repeal any regulation that reduces employee flexibility, as well as work for changes to federal law to allow time off for overtime hours worked. My changes will protect workplace flexibility by ensuring that misguided big-government mandates do not stand in the way of individuals and families.”
So Walker will roll back the Obama administration’s efforts to make more workers eligible for overtime pay and sick leave, because that would mean more “employee flexibility.” Indeed, just imagine the worker making $7.50 an hour saying to herself, “Boy, now that I have the flu I sure am glad I have to choose between dragging myself into work or staying home and losing my pay. Thanks for the flexibility, President Walker!”
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 
Walker doesn’t seem to understand that his entire bait-and-switch “union workers have it better than you do” doesn’t go over so well in Toledo or Pittsburgh or other working-class towns where union members watched their kids grow up to be doctors and executives. I know you won’t like this, Mr. Humphrey, but we all owe The Donald a debt for planting that seed in the minds of blue-collar workers (of which I am one) that the Walkers and Kochs and Hendrickses of the world DO NOT have our best interests in mind.
I love the rhetoric that any criticism of the lavish Federal pay and work rules is “bashing” them. Grow up. The federal government should pay its workers the lowest possible salary. Period. The job of the federal government is not to serve the federal workers, but to serve the taxpayer. If the workers don’t want to take the position on those terms, let them leave.
And I’ve been involved with enough unions to know they are primarily about their power and money and don’t really give a crap about the workers. Yeah, I remember the Doyle years, too. All the cuts and layoffs for teachers then, but he wasn’t “bashing” workers, just firing them. How many positions did WEAC cut then? Zero. Lower Dues? Nope. Was the same thing when the union forced its way into the Bradley center and raped the majority of workers who were part time college kids. Unions are inherently dishonest organizations these days. Their time has passed. Good riddance.
“government-knows-best proposed rules”, this is coming from a governor who has stripped local government and school districts of many local decisions. Hypocrite, thy name is walker.
Hey Tom any organization union or not, is only as good as those who belong to it make it. What was your contribution?
yazootu: Thousands of dollars over 18 years of dues. Certainly, more than the empty cleches you peddle. When I joined the union as a young teacher, the older teachers told me to wait my turn. They were so greedy, of course, my turn never came. After that I quietly endured the endless stream of complaints and false traumas of foolish teachers who couldn’t teach their way out of a paper bag. I paid to defend some of these worthless dead weights to be wrongly protected by union lawyers–including one who looked at porn at school. Never once did my local or the uniserve or the statewide demonstrate any serious concern for improving teaching itself or the professionalism of teachers, but they were very vocal about voting for Doyle and other losers like Baldwin and Moore.
Your rhetoric, yazootu, reminds me of the stuff I would hear from the leadership when I expressed my concerns and ideas and was being quietly told to shut the **** up. My other favorite was “The union is the things we do together.”
WEAC wasted millions of dollars and instigated other policies and organizations like WEATrust that paved the way for its own demise. But most critically, it was closed minded to any opposing views, and as a result, neither political party needed to give it a second thought. My estimation was that the leadership thought very highly of themselves–well beyond any actual accomplishment might suggest. I feel bad for those teachers still blind to that sad reality.
And I’ve carefully read Howard Zinn and about Hortonville, so don’t bother with that crap.
Peter Felknor If you needed Trump to show you that the Walkeers and Kochs and Hendrickses of the world DO NOT have your best interests in mind it is true that Trump followers are stoopid!