The NH GOP welcomes their self-proclaimed hero Scott Walker to New Hampshire this week.
Gov. Walker will be headlining Saturday’s GOP Convention at Pinkerton Academy.
Get a good look at him while he’s here. Find out what he stands for, and who he stands with. Remember, Walker is the role model for the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate: Ovide Lamontagne describes himself as “Scott Walker on steroids.”
Walker became famous for his direct attack on middle class families in Wisconsin, repealing the collective bargaining rights of public employees. Walker ignited the war on workers. His actions sparked protests by more than 100,000 people in the streets of Madison. Twenty thousand of those protesters were inside the Wisconsin State House.
At first, Walker claimed that the anti-union amendment would be a cure for Wisconsin's budgetary problems. But then 14 Democratic state senators fled the state in an effort to stop the anti-worker amendment. Without them, the Wisconsin Senate did not have the quorum required to change fiscal laws – so Walker removed the language from the budget bill and stated that it had no fiscal impact. With no fiscal impact, the bill could be immediately passed because no quorum was needed. The change in process proved there was no budgetary justification for attacking the state's service unions.
Walker's story is far from over. Much of Walker’s signature anti-union legislation has already been ruled unconstitutional. But Walker hasn’t backed down from his ideological fight, just because his law violates the constitution. Walker has already appealed the federal court ruling issued in March. He is also appealing last week’s decision by a state judge, who ruled that other provisions of the law were unconstitutional. Walker doesn’t seem to care whether the law is constitutional or not – he just wants to bash unions.
Here in New Hampshire, GOP gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne says he ”will be Scott Walker on Steroids.”
Image of Ovide
What does that mean?
We already know that Lamontagne supports “Right To Work (for less)” legislation – is that what he means when he says ”Walker on Steroids”? Does he want to repeal the New Hampshire’s 40-year-old collective bargaining law? Is that what he means by ”Walker on Steroids”?
If he is elected Governor, and he repeals collective bargaining and representational rights, Lamontagne could make sweeping changes affecting state employees. How about a 10% pay cut? A 20% cut? Maybe a 50% pay cut? If there is no contract to protect the workers, Lamontagne could do that. Is that what he means by “Walker on steroids”?
Would he just wipe out entire departments? He already wants to privatize the Department of Transportation. When he says “Walker on Steroids”, does he mean eliminating public services and firing public workers?
Here in New Hampshire, we have thousands of Republicans who are proud union members – and are appalled at Walker’s casual disregard for their constitutional rights and their collective bargaining rights. What message is the GOP leadership sending to these Republican members, when they invite Walker to headline the state convention?
What would ”Walker on Steroids” look like here in New Hampshire? I do not know – and I definitely do not want to find out. I do not want to see the state I love, and my home, destroyed by a radical extremist in the Governor's seat.
If you are a Republican, please contact the New Hampshire GOP and let them know what you think of having Scott Walker headline the state Convention. http://www.nhgop.org/
Cross Posted from NH Labor News