Dear Madame L,
I've been watching with interest the recent fight between Wisconsin Republican and Democratic legislators, and I was devastated to learn that the Republican majority in the State Assembly passed a bill stripping public-sector unions of their bargaining rights.
This makes me think that the Republican governor and legislators were not really interested in balancing the budget, but were using that as an excuse to push back on unions.
Also, watching the goings-on in the U.S. Congress, I'm starting to think that the national Republican agenda is not really to balance the budget, either, but to keep supporting their rich contributors at the expense of the American middle class.
What do you think?
Sincerely,
Losing Faith in the American Democratic Process
Dear Losing Faith,
Although Madame L is not an expert on politics and probably watches the same TV news broadcasts you watch, she is also doubting whether any elected officials have her, and your, interests at heart.
However, in the Wisconsin, case, Madame L sincerely hopes, at least, that the original goal wasn't only to strip public workers of their bargaining rights. She's thinking that the Republican leaders used that vote "merely" to strike back at the Democratic legislators who left the state rather than participate in the travesty of that vote.
Either way, though, the result is the same, and Madame L deplores the use of such political gamesmanship, which may lead to tragic results not only for teachers and public health workers but also for the young and sick and poor citizens of Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
That's Me in the Corner, Too, Losing My Faith in American Democracy
1 comment:
Silly. It's all TV posturing. They're only hollering and fighting and cheating over about 20% of the state budget in Wisconsin. Medicare and Medicaid, the things taking care of your aging parents and uncles and aunts, is the giant vacuum cleaner roaring in the background. Same for the Federal government. The part of the Federal budget that does anything to protect you (defend our country, defend the food we eat, defend the air we breathe and water we drink, protect us from volcanic calamities, violent criminals, tsunamis, etc.) only constitutes about 20% of what the budget pays for.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans have the courage to tell you that there is an Elephant in the Living Room, and ah, you may want to think about doing something about it...
The loudest hollering for States Rights and Get the Federal Government Out... is in Alaska, where more than five times their tax money comes pouring back in to build their bridges, their schools, etc... They never seem to mind, nor to notice the blatant purple hypocrisy.
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