dagblog - Comments for "Obama's "Organizing for America" is organizing in Madison, Wisconsin"

"Administration officials"

artappraiser — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:27:06 +0000

In reply to Obama's "Organizing for America" is organizing in Madison, Wisconsin

"Administration officials" say they have nothing to do with it, that the DNC is doing it ("seeing an opening to show solidarity with the labor movement and rev up the party’s liberal base ahead of the 2012 elections,") and without consulting "the political team" at the White House "which is wary of getting distracted from Mr. Obama’s own budget confrontations with Republicans in Washington and upsetting his carefully nurtured position as an advocate for serious measures to address deficits,"

see

Wisconsin Puts Obama Between Competing Desires
By JACKIE CALMES
Published: February 20, 2011

None of this should be a

artappraiser — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:05:34 +0000

In reply to Obama's "Organizing for America" is organizing in Madison, Wisconsin

None of this should be a surprise to any Wisconsin voter that cast an informed vote:

...He regularly clashed with the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors over the past decade when he was that county’s elected executive. He pushed to privatize cleaning and food service workers and sought changes to pension and health contributions and workers’ hours. At one point, he proposed that the county government might want to consider, in essence, abolishing itself. It was redundant, he suggested.

[....]

“All I can think is, here we go again,” said Scott Larson, one of 14 Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin last week to block a vote on Mr. Walker’s call to cut benefits. Mr. Larson knows the governor well, having served on Milwaukee County’s board when Mr. Walker was the executive. He says that Mr. Walker is a nice guy on a personal level, “a good listener,” but that his politics are another matter.

“Unions have always been his piñata, over and over,” Mr. Larson said. “And this time I think he’s trying to out-right-wing the right wing on his way to the next lily pad.”

Mr. Walker’s supporters cheer the governor for what they see as delivering on the campaign pledge of frugality that got him elected in November and forced a surprising makeover, at all levels of government in the state, from Democrats to Republicans....

from

For Wisconsin Governor, Battle Over State Finances Was Long in the Making (by Monica Davey in Madison for the New York Times, February 19)

Which suggests that his opposition, including unions, should have been plotting reactions since the election.

And here is what appeared to

artappraiser — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:19:03 +0000

In reply to Obama's "Organizing for America" is organizing in Madison, Wisconsin

And here is what appeared to me to be Walker's pushback targeted to the above, in his press conference this evening:

"First off I want to begin, certainly acknowledging the thousands of people who are outside protesting, many of whom are from the state of Wisconsin --many more lately have been coming in from other parts across the country -- certainly acknowledge their right to be heard," said Walker.

"But I particularly want to thank the 300,000-plus state and local workers from across Wisconsin, who unlike those here today didn't skip out on work, showed up for their jobs, did their jobs the way that they have done in the past and will do int he future, and that is be good, professional public servants. And we appreciate the work that they continue to do.

"Certainly again, as I mentioned the folks outside have a right to be heard. But there's five and half million people in this state -- and certainly the taxpayers in this state have every right to be heard. We're not gonna allow for one minute the protestors to feel like they can drown out the voices of those millions of taxpayers all across the state of Wisconsin. What we're asking for today and what we continue to be pushing for in this Capitol, is bold when it comes to politics -- it's a bold political move. But any time you challenge the status quo, it's gonna be bold. But it is a very modest request of our government workers all across this state."

Transcription taken from Eric Kleefeld @ TPMDC, February 18, 2011.