Wisconsin and the Unions

Keep fighting the good fight. I hope you can recall those bastards.

One thing I don't understand is how anyone could be shocked that Republican politicians are attacking unions and workers' collective bargaining rights. To me, it seems obvious what is going on, and, as usual, it's all politics.

This began when the Supreme Court voted to allow unlimited campaign contributions from corporations, despite the fact that corporations clearly aren't citizens and thus have no standing as such under the constitution, they wield a terrifying amount of economic power, and they primarily have a profit motive rather than any patriotic or civic motive. It was basically a big gift to the Republican party, who would benefit from being the corporate shills they already are. You'll remember that supporters of this travesty on the political Right were quick to point out that it wasn't "party politics" because unions would be able to contribute unlimited funds as well, which would likely go to Democrats.

It's no surprise, then, that following that Court decision the Right would then attack unions, attempting to destroy them, if not directly, then indirectly by making them impotent. Without an effective union contributing to it, the Democratic party would lose important campaign funding. This is exactly what's going on in Wisconsin. It's about politics.

It's not truly about the budget. The teachers union already agreed to the wage and benefits cuts that the governor demanded. This is about attacking the Democratic Party by undermining a major donor organization--if workers' rights get trampled, so much the better.

The opening salvo against workers--against the people--was fired from the rightist ideologues on the Supreme Court.