At the heart of every progressive struggle, at the heart of
every union, is solidarity. Over the last week, the Wisconsin labor movement
has been strengthened by an infusion of energy from contingents of immigrant
rights groups, Native American activists and organizers from many movements
from disability rights to LGBT rights. Private sector workers and non-union
workers have come to the protests with signs of support.
Underlying this solidarity is the fact that this right-wing
assault impacts every worker—even those without a job. It affects every
community and the services they depend on. If something as fundamental as the
right to collective bargaining can be stripped away, why would the right wing
stop there? Without a fierce struggle, every basic right that has been won by workers
is at risk.
The attack is led by the richest of corporations and their
entourage. Their plan in Wisconsin includes not only gutting collective
bargaining but also education and health care.
The same bill that essentially ends collective bargaining as
it was set up decades ago also seeks to cut the right of the public and the
legislature to review and stop cuts to Medicaid , BadgerCare, FamilyCare and
SeniorCare programs. Under Gov. Scott Walker’s bill, changes would be made exclusively
by a Committee under his control. Rules than can be re-written include those
establishing rights to medical care for children, prescription drug plans for
seniors; nursing home care for the elderly; and long-term care for the disabled
outside of nursing homes. One estimate shows that at least 50,000 people could lose Medicaid
coverage, while others may face increased fees and reduced benefits.
But that may not
be enough for the right wing. In the past, Dennis Smith, the current Secretary
for the Wisconsin State Health Department, has called for states to drop out of
Medicaid entirely.
Education is
under attack, too. The budget for education will be cut by an estimated
$900 million. The exact figure will be announced by the governor on March 1. However,
it is already clear that Walker does not value public education. Mary Bell,
President of the Wisconsin Education Association Coalition, said recently that “Class
size, curriculum, materials, resources, all of the Internet access which the
governor also rejected some money for last week, those are all services we all
rely on in order to educate kids for a new generation. All of those are under
cut by this.”
Divide-and-conquer
tactics fail: Workers know who’s to blame
Corporate-owned news outlets in Wisconsin want us to accept
the premise that cuts to education are necessary because revenues coming into
the state have decreased. The only way for local school boards to deal with
less funding, they claim, is to have Walker’s bill scrap collective bargaining
rights for teachers and other educational staff. They try to pit teachers
against students, parents and the community.
The protests over the last week show that the divide-and-conquer
tactic is not working as thousands of students and their parents have joined
teachers on the streets of Madison and in the capitol building.
Corporate media neglects to mention that while Walker claims
that cuts are necessary because there is not enough revenue, he has proposed
cutting corporate taxes altogether—completely. That was his campaign pledge.
Corporate profits increased by 39 percent in 2010 as a
national average. Corporations have not only been bailed out by us, they are
bringing in money for their private accounts hand over fist.
Wisconsin has a budget crisis because corporations
collectively make billions from the labor of Wisconsin workers, they get
support from Wisconsin taxpayers in countless ways from infrastructure to corporate
welfare handouts, but they refuse to pay taxes so that Wisconsin can function.
The state apparatus works for them.
It works so well that according to the Huffington Post, “the
share of corporate tax revenue
funding the state government has fallen by half since 1981 and, according to
Wisconsin Department of Revenue, two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes.” It
works so well that the legislature recently cut corporate taxes by about $117
million—the result of Assembly Bills 3 and 7 and Special Session Senate Bill 2.
Walker is not
alone in proposing the elimination of corporate taxes. The new governors of Florida
and South Carolina made the same campaign pledge. The governors of
Pennsylvania, Georgia and Iowa pledged to cut corporate taxes drastically.
Cutting corporate
taxes does not solve budget problems or create jobs. If the budget is to remain
balanced, cutting revenue from corporate taxes means that expenses must be cut
in equal amount. Programs that provide services and employ people to deliver
them are slashed. This provides no economic stimulus and no increase in jobs.
Many corporations simply use the extra funds from tax breaks to increase their
cash reserves or boost bonuses and dividends which fatten the pockets of a very
thin layer of corporate owners.
Walker’s latest
attack on workers is consistent with his record. His political career really began to take shape when
he was the executive for Milwaukee County. In 2003, he laid off social workers,
staff working in public parks, janitors and more. Park bathrooms were closed,
public pools were closed and trash piled up. During his tenure, 20 percent of
the workforce was laid off and conditions for all deteriorated – simply because
he put the interests of the bond raters and the banks above the people.
Now Walker wants to
do the same on a statewide level. The protests, the occupation of the capital
and the growing movement are the only thing standing in his way. A lot hangs in
the balance as the whole world watches what will happen. Everyone who can
should join the protest in Madison.
