Peacenik read this list of stuff the GOP is doing in Wisconsin and Peacenik realized that there is no common ground. All 10 of these GOP actions are insane. You cannot convince Peacenik otherwise. And Peacenik is certain that you cannot convince Scott Walker that his actions are crazy. Clean drinking water is too much of a burden on who? So in the misguided belief that only in taking actions like the 10 listed here, can the economy be cured and employment return, the GOP is taking society back to a time that is forgotten. Back to the dark ages. What would you do if you lived in Wisconsin. In Ontario, what would you do if the government passed a law that created the likelihood that the Walkerton tragedy would replay itself? Peacenik is not even sure that the regulation of drinking water in Ontario is adequate after Walkerton. What do you do when the government turns its back on the people and acts like there is no common good? Watch Wisconsin. The future is there.
Walker’s assault on public employees is only one part of a larger political program that aims to give corporations free reign in the state.
As the standoff between the Main Street Movement and Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) continues for the twelfth day, much of the media coverage — and anger — from both sides has focused on Walker’s efforts to strip Wisconsin public workers of their right to collective bargaining. But Walker’s assault on public employees is only one part of a larger political program that aims to give corporations free reign in the state while dismantling the healthcare programs, environmental regulations, and good government laws that protect Wisconsin’s middle and working class. These lesser known proposals in the 144-page bill reveal how radical Walker’s plan actually is:
1. ELIMINATING MEDICAID: The Budget Repair Bill includes a little-known provision that would put complete control of the state’s Medicaid program, known as BadgerCare, in the hands of the state’s ultra-conservative Health and Human Services Secretary Dennis Smith. Smith would have the authority to “to override state Medicaid laws as [he] sees fit and institute sweeping changes” including reducing benefits and limiting eligibility. Ironically, during the 1990s it was Republicans, especially former Gov. and Bush HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, who helped develop BadgerCare into one of the country’s most innovative and generous Medicaid programs. A decade later, a new generation of radical Republicans is hoping to destroy one of Wisconsin’s “success stories.”
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