Scott Walker signs the bill eliminating collective bargaining. But you can't take a right, only its exercise.
(Darren Hauck/Reuters)
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has found his line and he's sticking to it. Asked by CBS News if he was a union-buster (correct answer: "yes"), Walker replied:
"I know that collective bargaining is not a right; it's an expensive entitlement. It's about time somebody stood up for the hardworking taxpayers of our state."
First of all, let's get one thing straight: union members are hardworking taxpayers. But beyond that, Walker has said this before, which means he's had the opportunity to learn that he is factually wrong.
Mother Jones'
Andy Kroll, for instance, is not the only one to have pointed out that the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
The United States is, of course, a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Then there's that word "entitlement." As Joan McCarter wrote in response to Republican attacks on Social Security and Medicare as
"entitlements,"
Let's just get the basics here of what the word "entitled" means as it pertains to these programs: "a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something."
So what Scott Walker is saying to justify his union-busting works out to "collective bargaining is not a right; it's an expensive thing to which people have a legal right or just claim, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights among other things." And the fact that he's using the term Republicans use to go after Social Security and Medicare should tell you something about his agenda.
Please, help entitle Scott Walker out of office with a $5 donation to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
