An interesting article in the Milwaukee Journal on the events that occurred in Wisconsin starting in February 2011 as a result of the proposal and subsequent passage of Act 10. It is important for everyone to be informed because Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) has his sights set on the White House. And if you thought George Bush the 43rd was bad, wait to hear this towering intellect. More beyond the Orange Cheese Curd.
There was more to Scott Walker's fight with unions than speeches and protests
Some of the more interesting revelations include:
• The top two officials within Obama's re-election campaign quietly met with key Wisconsin Democrats and union leaders in October 2011 and expressed skepticism about the looming effort to recall Walker and how it could affect the president's own re-election chances.
• A conservative Milwaukee foundation headed by Walker's campaign chairman helped prepare the way for labor legislation that advanced in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan in 2011 and 2012. The Bradley Foundation helped fund groups such as the MacIver Institute, a free-market Madison think tank that made an early call for a proposal similar to the one that Walker eventually put forward.
• Some of the crowd estimates released by the Walker administration at the time were several times smaller than those actually done by top police in Madison during the biggest protests against Walker's bill.
• At the end of the first week of protests, the University of Wisconsin-Madison police chief balked at an order from Walker's chief of staff to clear the Capitol of thousands of demonstrators in just under a half-hour because the officer believed it could lead to an ugly confrontation. The governor's aide backed off and the action wasn't taken that evening.
• Republican lawmakers never notified Capitol police of a plan to take an unexpected conference committee vote on Walker's legislation that sent protesters storming into the Statehouse and past the unprepared officers. Then in a move that stunned officers from other agencies, the Madison Police Department declined a direct request from the Capitol police to help the overwhelmed state officers regain control of the building.
One of the more troubling aspects that has developed in the state is how the Walker administration
tried using the Capitol Police to deny citizens their right to protest. In the event of future protests, the current administrators of the Capital Police may prove to be less tolerant of protestors thus setting up a possible confrontation.
It will be a long road back to rekindle the Wisconsin Idea.