In his phone chat with the bogus-David Koch, Walker crowed about his appearances on a variety of television outlets. And he took particular relish in his dismissal of the President of the United States:
I've been going after Obama because he stuck, although he's backed off now but he stuck his nose in here... last time I checked this guy's got a much bigger budget deficit than we do and maybe he should worry about that. And not stick his nose in Wisconsin business.
This is a classic state's-rights posture: the big bad fedrul gov'mint got no business tellin' me how to run my state.
He's wrong on a couple of counts:
1. The president is the executive officer of all the states, as his title clearly indicates: "the President of the United States"; and
2. Wisconsin receives hefty revenues from the federal government, more than $9.5 billion in 2009. So the president does have an interest in what's going on in Wisconsin. What Governor Walker has not addressed in his "budget fix" is how he'll fix the hole his union busting will create. The Wisconsin Journal Sentinel has reported that Walker's moves will disqualify the state treasury from receiving up to $70 million dollars in federal funds for transportation as well as some other public works. We know how he intends to fix the budget deficit he created with his corporate tax giveaways; how will he fix the next self-inflicted wound to the state finances?
But Mr. Walker's claim to state's rights rings hollow on another score. In that same conversation with the bogus-David Koch he mentions all the conversations he's having with Republican governors, in which they're colluding to achieve the same outcomes:
Walker: ... Next question is I talked to Cassick (sic) every day, you know John's got to stand firm in Ohio. I think we can do the same thing with Rick Scott in Florida, I think Snyder if he got a little more support could probably do that in Michigan. We start going down the list, and a lot of us new governors that got elected to do something, big.
MURPHY: You're the first domino.
WALKER: Yep. This is our moment.
MURPHY: Yeah. What else can we do for you down there?
So contrary to Walker's claim, this isn't just Wisconsin business; this is a multi-state coordinated effort to deny workers their guaranteed rights. He's not only conspiring with other right-wing governors, he's conspiring with corporatists to do their bidding.
The president not only has a right to look into what's happening in Wisconsin and elsewhere, he has a duty to do so. What kind of power does the Department of Labor have to weigh in on this? The Department of Justice?
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