Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Last week I wrote up a post titled Scott Walker: A Fiscally Responsible Governor or a Politician Who Is Playing Favorites?. Judging from the number of comments left at that post, it appears that people are very interested in what’s been going on in the state of Wisconsin. I think many people may believe that as Wisconsin goes—so goes the nation…and probably the life expectancy of labor unions and collective bargaining.
What got a lot of press attention was the story of the prank phone call that Governor Walker received from gonzo journalist Ian Murphy. Murphy pretended to be billionaire industrialist David Koch. He talked to Walker for twenty minutes. Murphy reportedly told the Associated Press he made the prank phone call in order to show how candid Walker would be in a conversation with Koch at a time when Democrats claim the governor was refusing to return their calls.
The prank phone call appears to show a cozy relationship between Walker and Koch, a top campaign donor who may have a financial interest in fighting unions. Union workers protesting in Wisconsin have already made monetary concessions to help with Wisconsin’s budget shortfall. One has to wonder what is really behind the governor’s demand that public employee unions be stripped of their right to bargain collectively. Is it all part of an agenda to “take unions out at the knees”—a strategy suggested by Scott Hagerstrom at the annual conference of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC)? Hagerstrom is the Executive Director of Michigan’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP).
In a Mother Jones article, Andy Kroll writes: Walker’s plan to eviscerate collective bargaining rights for public employees is right out of the Koch brothers’ playbook. Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions.
And who is Americans for Prosperity? Felicia Sonmez has written that AFP is really two groups—both of which were founded by David Koch in 2004: Americans for Prosperity, a 501(c)4 and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, is a 501(c)3.
Somnez says that both groups are considered “not-for-profit” organizations under the Internal Revenue Service code—and that they do not have to disclose the identity of their donors or the contributions made by those donors. She added that David Koch is believed to be one of the group’s top donors.
In a New Yorker article titled Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama, Jane Mayer wrote about Peggy Venable, the Texas State Director of AFP: She (Peggy Venable) explained that the role of Americans for Prosperity was to help “educate” Tea Party activists on policy details, and to give them “next-step training” after their rallies, so that their political energy could be channelled “more effectively.” And she noted that Americans for Prosperity had provided Tea Party activists with lists of elected officials to target. She said of the Kochs, “They’re certainly our people. David’s the chairman of our board. I’ve certainly met with them, and I’m very appreciative of what they do.”
In August 2009, ThinkProgress said that it had obtained an exclusive memo from a Tea Party group that is supported by Koch’s Americans for Prosperity.
From Think Progress: “The memo outlined various ways for Tea Party activists to intimidate Democratic lawmakers and disrupt their town hall meetings on health reform. ThinkProgress published half a dozen articles exposing the role of Koch-funded groups like “Patients United” in encouraging opposition to health reform. For instance, in Virginia, a Koch-funded operative Ben Marchi assisted a birther who followed Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) around, yelling at him at town hall meetings.”
That’s all I’ve got for now, folks. Talk amongst yourselves. I need a break!
**********
Sources
Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. (New Yorker)
Who is “Americans for Prosperity”? (Washington Post)
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Funded by the Koch Bros. (Mother Jones)
Why did Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker take a call from ‘David Koch’? (Christian Science Monitor)
Billionaire Brothers’ Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute (New York Times)
On prank call, Wis. governor discusses strategy (Yahoo)
Koch Front Group Americans For Prosperity: ‘Take The Unions Out At The Knees’ (Think Progress)
Union Busting: The Real Call from the Koch Brothers (Huffington Post)
Charles And David Koch Exposed For Insidious Role In Crafting The Modern Right (Think Progress)
For Further Reading
Koch-Powered Tea Party Pushes Climate Denial Bill In New Hampshire (Think Progress)
Commentary: Koch brothers and the union-busting Kansas House (The Kansas City Star)
There are a couple of live video feeds up from the Capitol. The second one down at the bottom of this story (click Play) shows what appears to be a drum dance going on in the rotunda.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/27/latest-protesters-refuse-to-leave-wisconsin-capitol-even-after-police-close-building/
Elaine, thanks for the boycott list. It gives everyone the opportunity to help the cause without being on the front lines.
Check out the Koch Industries paper products that you should boycott below.
From AnonNews—Anonymous
http://www.anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=585
It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch–the billionaire owners of Koch Industries–have long attempted to usurp American Democracy. Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.
Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin. Governor Walker’s union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process. The Koch’s have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state’s power supplies.
The Koch brothers have made a science of fabricating ‘grassroots’ organizations and advertising campaigns to support them in an attempt to sway voters based on their falsehoods. Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Citizens United are just a few of these organizations. In a world where corporate money has become the lifeblood of political influence, the labor unions are one of the few ways citizens have to fight against corporate greed. Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America’s broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere. As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers’ political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.
Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse – is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries’ paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.
U.S. Product Boycott List
•Vanity Fair
•Quilted Northern
•Angel Soft
•Sparkle
•Brawny
•Mardi Gras
•Dixie
European Product Boycott List
•Demak’Up
•Kitten Soft
•Lotus / Lotus Soft
•Tenderly
•Nouvelle Soft
•Okay Ktchen Towels
•Colhogar
•Delica
•Inversoft
•Tutto
Here is a live Twitter feed from the front lines in the Capitol. Crowds are orderly. Place is still packed. Earlier, there were a couple of obvious agitators trying to stir up the crowd to violence, but that fizzled. Security is letting people leave, but admitting people as those inside leave. That means the numbers inside remain about the same.
http://twitter.com/AndrewKroll
Buddha,
Thanks for the Wisconsin update. Great link OS. Wisconsin is one of the front lines. The governors are attacking on several fronts.
AP is reporting that “Wisconsin Protesters Resist Police Order To Leave Capitol“.
Supplemental from Huff Po’s live coverage states:
“HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel reports:
Police officers were supposed to begin clearing out protesters in the Wisconsin statehouse at 4:00 pm CT Sunday, but more than 30 minutes later, hundreds of people remained inside. An announcement was made that people were supposed to leave, and while some did go, chanting “We’ll be back,” many remained — even though they risked being arrested. Many more people who wanted to support the protesters but didn’t want to risk spending the night in jail amassed outside the Capitol.
Approximately 10,000 people were viewing a livestream of the action on the floor on USTREAM, but that feed went down shortly after 4:30, prompting panic from viewers on Twitter wondering where else they can view what’s happening. (FoxNews.com has a livestream at the top of its site.)
Police officers are currently in the Capitol but have taken no action to arrest or forcibly remove anyone. @MelissaRyan, who is on the ground, tweeted that the mood is not even in the slightest bit tense. Just a short while ago, protesters began singing the national anthem.
@News3David wrote that Jim Palmer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association — which has strongly supported the protest — believes people will not be made to leave and the Capitol will remain open. One Madison police officer not in uniform also told him that he plans to stay in the Capitol, even if asked to leave.”
Go unions!
eniobob,
I really miss KO. How about you?
An excellent article just posted by Laurence Lewis, one of the front page writers at Daily Kos. “Wisconsin is the front line in right-wing class warfare.” Laurence pretty well nails the big picture.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/27/949764/-Wisconsin-is-the-front-line-in-right-wing-class-warfare
Henman,
The Right has a lot of things that they need to be called out for. Hopefully, Prof. Turley’s blog is just one small step in that direction.
I just wonder if they realize that they are gambling…. It appears that the are playing Russian Roulette which is going end in craps….. unless you come in second place…then you have to come and clean up the mess that the winners started with….
rcampbell-
You said, “In WI, in previous years teachers have foregone pay increases and accepted higher pension contributions instead.”
This is an important fact that is never mentioned by the “talking heads”. Just this morning I watched a weekly local (Milwaukee) current events and politics show on the PBS channel. The Republican, an aging hack who has worked for years in Madison as a legislative assistant, spent the entire show interrupting and talking over the other Republican and the two Democrats. Much of his rant was about teachers and cops having “lavish fringe benefits” and “Cadillac pensions”, never mentioning that they gave up higher wages many times in previous years to get those benefits. Now, the Republicans want to rob them a second time and take their “fringe benefits” too.
“Fringe benefits” is an unfortunate term for things that are necessary for a decent way of life for everybody, not just the rich. Things like pensions, health and dental insurance, paid vacations, paid sick days, paid holidays- not to mention Unemployment Insurance, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicade. Who DOESN’T deserve to have all these things in the United States of America? We aren’t a third world country yet, but we are moving in that direction at a frightening pace.
How can Republicans keep getting away with the hypocrisy that they are “Christians” when they violate, with no shame and no remorse, every tenet of what Jesus Christ tried (and failed) to teach them? They need to be called out on this every time they quote selected parts of the Bible to support their bigotry, hatred, and lack of compassion and respect for their fellow man.
You hit the nail on the head Buddha. Citizens United has opened the floodgates and if the attacks on unions are successful, the corporations will be the only show in town.
BTW:
Those who miss KO.
http://foknewschannel.com/
“The GOP strategic aim is simple enough. If they can abolish union collective-bargaining rights, they can undermine the automatic payment of dues to the public-employee union treasuries. Shrinking those treasuries and reducing the union structure and membership will make it harder for Democrats and their allies to communicate directly with workers.
And under the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, unions — like corporations — are free to spend as much as they want directly advocating for a candidate. That makes the math even more urgent as the 2012 election season approaches.”
Howard Fineman
Jason Linkins HuffPost Reporting jason@huffingtonpost.com
TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads:
“Hello, good morning, et al., to this morning’s edition of the Sunday Morning Liveblog, which you should imagine is pedeconferenced to you, Sorkin style, on the morning of the day he is likely to win an Academy Award (though I am rooting for Banksy, in every category except sound effects editing). My name is Jason and I am here to watch the affluent punditocracy urge the need for “shared sacrifice” as usual, though there is rumor today that Richard Trumka might briefly appear, possibly during the segment where David Gregory discusses Charlie Sheen’s presidential hopes. (HE IS ADDICTED TO WINNING, IS HALEY BARBOUR?)”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/27/tv-soundoff-sunday-talkin_40_n_828757.html
Stamford,
There is probably medication to prevent me from influencing you!!:)
rcamblell,
You hit the nail on the head as to why unions are still needed. Mr. Walker is one walking and talking and Koch Spending example of the anti-worker, anti-union, anti-middle class and anti-woman and minorites ideas that are drownig the Republican party.
rc,
What Mike said.
Good show.
“It is precisely Walker’s kind of unilateral capricious behavior that spawned unions.’
rcampbell,
Couldn’t agree more with the entirety of your well thought out comment.
In the early 90’s, my partners and I took a company public. As part of that process we were required to sign a document stating we understood and accepted that our primary responsibility as board members and officers of a publically traded company was to provide the shareholders the maximum reurn on their investment. This is a completely understandable thing to require of management. I know that sounds quite off topic, but just a step or two away from that story, we get to what’s happening in WI.
Focussing management’s attention on ROI is not an innately bad thing. It doesn’t make corporate business managers bad or even anti-union people. It’s their job to control costs and with personnel costs being most company’s largest expense item, it’s often the target of cost cutting. Again, this by itself is not anti-labor, it’s management’s job.
However, to suggest that the workers, be they teachers, or sanitation workers or electricians should not or, worse, are not permitted to organize to protect their own side of that equation is absurd and it runs contrary to the American tradition of fair play as well being anti-democratic (small d).
Denying workers the right to organize and negotiate their work environment, conditions, pay and benefits is to deny them democracy. Corporations and goverments are set up using monarchy as their organizatioal model. Unions are democracies. They elect representatives from their ranks to negotiate with management on their behalf. Management’s (and Gov. Walker’s) view is that of royalty rather than democracy. Walker’s position essentially asserts that state workers MUST accept the largesse of the king without question or discussion. Ironically, this anti-government teabagger is stating that the state knows best how much a teacher should earn. Only the state is equipped to determine what workers’ benefits and workplace condition will be. The worker has no say in the process.
When a company is profitable, it is usually because all elements of the business are working well. All levels from plant floor to the board room are doing what they’re supposed to do. It is right and fittig that labor enjoy some benefit for their part in the good news. It shouldn’t be that only management is rewarded with bonusses as if only they provided the time and sweat to achive the good results. On the other hand, when times are difficult, the workers can be, and have been, asked to negotiate salaries and benifits downward to protect the company or city, county, state from insolvency. In WI, in previous years teachers have foregone pay increases and accepted higher pension contribution instead. Now those pensions are under attack.
It is precisely Walker’s kind of unilateral capricious behavior that spawned unions. It’s why we had dead miners in KY. His actions (and Koch Industries behind him) indicate a contempt for American workers, contempt for the middle class and contempt for the voters and residents of WI.