Topic: Liberal Fascism
One compelling piece of evidence in support of the intellectual bankruptcy of contemporary liberalism is the Wisconsin recall election. Big labor its liberal allies sought to reverse the verdict of 2010 by driving a reforming Republican governor out of office. Public-sector unions were infuriated by Governor Scott Walker’s assault on their unjust (and unaffordable) privileges. Unable to stymie his reforms in the legislature or the courts, they resorted to a recall election. And it was blithely assumed by the mainstream media that Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch (also targeted in the recall) would indeed get the boot.
It hasn’t worked out that way. Voters in the Badger State have shown very little interest in the issue that supposedly justifies the recall effort: Walker’s restrictions on union collective bargaining power. They’re so little interested, in fact, that Walker’s Democratic opponent in the recall, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (who also ran against him in 2010) never mentions the collective bargaining issue. And there’s a good reason for this: Walker’s reforms have worked. When he took office, the Badger State was facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit. Walker eliminated that deficit and now the Wisconsin Department of Revenue estimates that by mid-2013 the state will be running a $154 million surplus.
As Stephen Hayes points out in the Weekly Standard, the Wisconsin recall election is a farce. The issues that supposedly inspired it—collective bargaining, “workers’ rights”, etc.—have disappeared into the ozone. This begs a question: Just why are the state’s taxpayers being forced to cough up $18 million to finance the recall? That’s not hard to figure out. Public-sector union goons know that if Walker’s reforms are not reversed, their power will be permanently diminished. And that frightens the liberal establishment as well, which is so dependent on Big Labor for money and manpower.
With less than two weeks to go (the recall election takes place in June 5) it seems likely that the incumbent will prevail. Recent polls show Walker leading Barrett by a 5- to 7-point margin. Democrats are already in spin mode, talking down the significance of a Walker victory. And as Hayes notes, the mainstream media, which excitedly covered the original protests against Walker’s reforms and the early stages of the recall drive, have pretty much lost interest in the election.
Big Labor and the liberal establishment set out to negate the outcome of Wisconsin’s 2010 gubernatorial election. They deserve to fail and if they do, it will be one of the most richly deserved defeats in American political history.