What Does Wisconsin See in Scott Walker?

Scott Walker’s big-money backers, including the Koch brothers, are making a mockery of this once proud, citizen-powered state, and pulling the wool over the eyes of much of the electorate

One consistent set of characters on the Tim and Eric Awesome Show are the characters Carol and Mr. Henderson. Carol is an office secretary, and Mr. Henderson is her abusive boss. Carol always finds herself somehow stimulated by Dan’s constant verbal abuse and berating her for everything from her weight, the way she smells, her lack of fashion and the way she talks. Carol not only continues to work for Dan, but is actually turned on by his constant bullying and abuse. The same comparison could be made for the half of Wisconsin that still wholeheartedly supports Gov. Scott Walker.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, 04/13/12. (photo: AP)

To make it perfectly clear that he planned on rewarding corporations by sticking it to the middle class, Walker called a special session on his first day office for “job creation,” where he passed $117 million in state tax breaks to corporations before telling teachers they were the cause of the deficit because they had union wages and benefits. And despite the 14 Democrats who left the state in protest of Walker’s union-busting budget bill to deny a quorum, Walker and his fellow servants of the rich forced the bill through anyway. The corporations got their big tax break at the expense of health care for sick children and the jobs of qualified teachers. And those corporations still aren’t hiring. In fact, Wisconsin has the worst jobs record in the nation despite Walker’s tax breaks, and lost 5,900 jobslast month alone.

If putting a corporate boot on the necks of working families to spite his political opponents isn’t enough to convince Walker’s supporters they’re voting against their own best interests, Walker is also an outspoken criminal who lies under Congressional oath. When asked, while testifying under Congressional oath, if he had any ulterior political motives behind his Budget Repair Bill, Walker, of course, said no. Walker argued his bill was written to respond to unions’ proposals submitted in December. But his staff started work on the bill just 20 days after his election, and told a billionaire campaign donor he would “use divide-and-conquer” strategies to pit private- and public-sector Wisconsin workers against each other to make Wisconsin “a completely red state.” Lying under oath is perjury, which is a criminal act. And criminals belong in jail, not the governor’s mansion.

In 2010, the year Scott Walker was elected and the Tea Party took over Congress, the top 1% took in 93% of all income. Taking everything Walker and his ilk say at face value, the only reason our economy is still struggling is because those in the obscenely wealthy top 1% still don’t have enough money to create jobs. This underlying belief explains contemporary Republican governance. If the rich only had more money, things would improve. Now, 1 percenters and corporate executives from out of state are pouring in money by the truckloads to help Scott Walker beat the recall attempt, hoping such governance will continue because workers’ wages be damned, their profits are all that matter.

Wisconsin has become the epicenter of politics right now, and is rightfully seen as a proving ground for all future Republican politicians. If an unlikable, pasty white guy with a personality akin to a piece of wood and a forgettable name like Scott Walker can turn a Northern blue state red by taking a dump all over the bottom 90 percent to reward the top 1 percent, and survive 100,000 people occupying the state capitol and a recall election brought about by 1,000,000 signatures to boot, this Republican strategy can be replicated anywhere. And it will, if Walker wins on June 5th.

I’ll have to assume Wisconsinites who like Scott Walker like him for the same reason Carol likes Mr. Henderson. Even though he calls her a cow, makes crude sexual advances and throws coffee in her face without provocation, Carol still goes to bed at night dreaming lovingly of Mr. Henderson. Wisconsin Republicans simply must get off on the abuse Walker happily bestows upon them and their children.

Carl Gibson, 25, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary “We’re Not Broke,” which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut. You can contact Carl at [email protected], and listen to his online radio talk show, Swag The Dog, at blogtalkradio.com/swag-the-dog.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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