You know what's really stuck in my craw since 1.3+ million Democrats voted Scott Walker out, and his legislative allies began almost immediately signaling they weren't going to let go of power even though Democrats Tony Evers, Mandela Barnes and Josh Kaul beat the incumbent Republicans fair-and square?
This mindset and justification offered up by Scott Fitzgerald,
the Wisconsin GOP State Senate Majority leader and lead election nullifiying excuse-maker in the Legislature's super chamber:
What's important about that sentence is that it exposes the Wisconsin Republican philosophy that the people cannot be trusted to make a choice, and Republicans will not let that choice be routinely implemented because Republicans Walker, Fitzgerald, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and virtually every member of their caucuses are, in lock-step, substituting their will for the ballot-box expression of the people's choices.
Talk about elitism: One little group knows better than the 1.3+ million Wisconsinites who said otherwise. How very old-timey Sovietski-ish of them.
And once you understand that this elite is showing itself, other bits and pieces fall into place, so...
* Of course, the Walker-centered elites would be fine forcing homeowners and farmers off their property in Mount Pleasant so Foxconn could have the land. To the elites, your domain is subject to the eminent domain whims and lawyering of our Badgerland eminences.
* Of course, the elites in the Republican government would take the advice of the major business organization Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and block a review of the environmental issues the massive Foxconn project's siting will raise - - and then moved in the lame-duck power grabbing session to add two more special-interest carveouts: a bill written at the WMC's request to extend big business' control of much of the state's natural resources, and another bill that will guarantee the road-builders additional, lucrative work with less local control and environmental considerations - - summarized here.
Because elites outside the government demand special treatment and their elite servants inside the government will provide it. It's an elitism mobius strip, and everybody in the loop is a winner.
* Of course, another major business organization representing the dairy industry would be invited to sit down with Walker to water down groundwater contamination rules which, date show, need to be strengthened to prevent residential well contamination.
* Similarly, an even bigger swath of corporate Wisconsin is beating on the the administration's doors demanding control over groundwater they demanded in their hand-delivered demands went from legislators to Vos to GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel.
The elites call that process "certainty." It certainly reeks of entitled special treatment.
* Of course, Walker as a general rule would repetitively distance himself from the people except in game day selfies, whether never issuing a pardon, never visiting a state correctional facility, never approving an increase in the state minimum wage of $7.25-per-hour after nearly 27 straight years collecting guaranteed state paychecks, raises, health insurance, retirement benefits, travel expenses, free phones, conference expenses, per diem payments, and, since 2011, residency in the Executive Mansion.
Because elites expect to be coddled. Their bills are really yours. Like taxes, as the sage said, everyday costs are for little people.
And ditto for meeting them. Of course, Walker would repeatedly call his by-invitation-only meet-and-greats "listening sessions,' or Ryan could go more than 600 days without holding an in-person town hall meeting in the congressional district he then abandoned, preferring to drink $350 bottles of wine with DC insiders.
And, of course, being elites who are above it all, Walker would not even deign to go to his own election night gathering and make a public concession, just as Fitzgerald and Vos did not attend the fast-tracked hearings on their power grab bill to which which hundreds of everyday citizens trekked in the cold, then signed up to speak, then waited their turn and had their say while Vos and Fitzgerald were unavailable to listen.
Like Walker's 'listening sessions,' being close to the public isn't what the elites do. That's why the rich have private country clubs, and GOP state capitol pols have private offices to avoid the public they do not trust.
So when Fitzgerald says he doesn't trust Tony Evers, he means you.
the Wisconsin GOP State Senate Majority leader and lead election nullifiying excuse-maker in the Legislature's super chamber:
One of the Legislature's top Republicans said he helped write a sweeping plan that weakens the incoming Democratic governor because Republicans "don't trust Tony Evers right now."Set aside that Fitzgerald doesn't know or care that he's raising the trust issue while discussing the power grab bill he and his allies wrote in secret, then sprung on an unsuspecting public.
What's important about that sentence is that it exposes the Wisconsin Republican philosophy that the people cannot be trusted to make a choice, and Republicans will not let that choice be routinely implemented because Republicans Walker, Fitzgerald, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and virtually every member of their caucuses are, in lock-step, substituting their will for the ballot-box expression of the people's choices.
Talk about elitism: One little group knows better than the 1.3+ million Wisconsinites who said otherwise. How very old-timey Sovietski-ish of them.
And once you understand that this elite is showing itself, other bits and pieces fall into place, so...
* Of course, the Walker-centered elites would be fine forcing homeowners and farmers off their property in Mount Pleasant so Foxconn could have the land. To the elites, your domain is subject to the eminent domain whims and lawyering of our Badgerland eminences.
* Of course, the elites in the Republican government would take the advice of the major business organization Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and block a review of the environmental issues the massive Foxconn project's siting will raise - - and then moved in the lame-duck power grabbing session to add two more special-interest carveouts: a bill written at the WMC's request to extend big business' control of much of the state's natural resources, and another bill that will guarantee the road-builders additional, lucrative work with less local control and environmental considerations - - summarized here.
Because elites outside the government demand special treatment and their elite servants inside the government will provide it. It's an elitism mobius strip, and everybody in the loop is a winner.
* Of course, another major business organization representing the dairy industry would be invited to sit down with Walker to water down groundwater contamination rules which, date show, need to be strengthened to prevent residential well contamination.
* Similarly, an even bigger swath of corporate Wisconsin is beating on the the administration's doors demanding control over groundwater they demanded in their hand-delivered demands went from legislators to Vos to GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel.
The elites call that process "certainty." It certainly reeks of entitled special treatment.
* Of course, Walker as a general rule would repetitively distance himself from the people except in game day selfies, whether never issuing a pardon, never visiting a state correctional facility, never approving an increase in the state minimum wage of $7.25-per-hour after nearly 27 straight years collecting guaranteed state paychecks, raises, health insurance, retirement benefits, travel expenses, free phones, conference expenses, per diem payments, and, since 2011, residency in the Executive Mansion.
Because elites expect to be coddled. Their bills are really yours. Like taxes, as the sage said, everyday costs are for little people.
And ditto for meeting them. Of course, Walker would repeatedly call his by-invitation-only meet-and-greats "listening sessions,' or Ryan could go more than 600 days without holding an in-person town hall meeting in the congressional district he then abandoned, preferring to drink $350 bottles of wine with DC insiders.
And, of course, being elites who are above it all, Walker would not even deign to go to his own election night gathering and make a public concession, just as Fitzgerald and Vos did not attend the fast-tracked hearings on their power grab bill to which which hundreds of everyday citizens trekked in the cold, then signed up to speak, then waited their turn and had their say while Vos and Fitzgerald were unavailable to listen.
Like Walker's 'listening sessions,' being close to the public isn't what the elites do. That's why the rich have private country clubs, and GOP state capitol pols have private offices to avoid the public they do not trust.
So when Fitzgerald says he doesn't trust Tony Evers, he means you.
