One thing that has caught my attention as of late is that whenever Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks about his standoff with the workers of public unions, he always says he's got to do what's best for Wisconsin "taxpayers."
Why "taxpayers" instead of "citizens" or "workers"?
It boils down to reducing democracy. If you speak about citizens or workers; these are words that are inclusive and equal. You can't necessarily quantify how much of a citizen someone is. Either you're a citizen or you're not. And while many workers may contribute differently to the workforce, it's hard to quantify how much of a worker someone is, rather, workers work.
But, when you introduce the term "taxpayer" to talk about people in your state, you're getting at something else.
Taxpayers are not equal. Taxpayers come in brackets frequently. Some people pay more in taxes than other, even though this distinction is usually based on total dollars and not percent of disposable income. (This is something we should do a better job of distinguishing.
So now it begins to be more clear that those who pay more in tax dollars technically have more of a voice in Wisconsin. It's the same reason that "voting with your dollars" isn't a democratic form of economics, because he with the most dollars has the most votes. This is what's really being represented by the word "taxpayer" when Governor Walker uses the term. He's saying that it's not citizens or workers who matter, it's those who pay the most in taxes that have his ear.
Also, taxpayers are not just people that work, they are also corporations. And as it has been reported, Koch Industries has a pretty big presence in Wisconsin, along with having been major contributors to Governor Walker and other antilabor causes.
So once again, it really does boil down to Republicans, the party of sweetheart deals and legislation for rich people, purchased by rich people with contributions, vs. working people.
Governor Walker makes the "taxpayer" distinction for a specific reason. He, like many in the far right, don't really believe in Democracy. They believe in maximizing profits at all costs.
And what more is a labor union, than a "work place democracy"? Corporations are set us as feudal kingdoms where the CEO/King speaks and the workers/subjects must comply. But when "workers" organize and bargain collectively, they are no longer left to stand alone against feudal bullies.
Governor Walker is trying to create his kingdom on the backs of public workers for the soul benefit of the "taxpayers" that paid his way into the Governor's mansion.
