Wisconsin Power Play By PAUL KRUGMAN

[Joanne98]

Last week, in the face of protest demonstrations against Wisconsin’s new union-busting governor, Scott Walker — demonstrations that continued through the weekend, with huge crowds on Saturday — Representative Paul Ryan made an unintentionally apt comparison: “It’s like Cairo has moved to Madison.”

It wasn’t the smartest thing for Mr. Ryan to say, since he probably didn’t mean to compare Mr. Walker, a fellow Republican, to Hosni Mubarak. Or maybe he did — after all, quite a few prominent conservatives, including Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santorum, denounced the uprising in Egypt and insist that President Obama should have helped the Mubarak regime suppress it.

In any case, however, Mr. Ryan was more right than he knew. For what’s happening in Wisconsin isn’t about the state budget, despite Mr. Walker’s pretense that he’s just trying to be fiscally responsible. It is, instead, about power. What Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to do is to make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy. And that’s why anyone who believes that we need some counterweight to the political power of big money should be on the demonstrators’ side.

Some background: Wisconsin is indeed facing a budget crunch, although its difficulties are less severe than those facing many other states. Revenue has fallen in the face of a weak economy, while stimulus funds, which helped close the gap in 2009 and 2010, have faded away.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/opinion/21krugman.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1298293203-czN/SP1XYgALkgANyXvZMQ

[elias49]

1. Nail on the head. nt

[Loge23]

2. I'm afraid it's a losing battle.

The demonization of labor unions - and the American worker in general - continues unabated.
It is difficult for me to understand the apparent venomous ongoing attack on labor from the elites, but continue it does.
I applaud the people of Wisconsin for taking a stand and I only hope that their courage is contagious, but the elitist propaganda has co-opted so many of the very people - uninformed, uneducated, or otherwise - that unions are so vital to. There is no doubt that an uprising across the country against the bigoted and elitist ruling class could change the tide, but I'm afraid that that ship has sailed.
One small glimmer of hope is that the uniformed services of the nation (police, fire, etc) join their fellow civil laborers (teachers, maintenance, nurses, etc.) in opposing the blatant theft of their labor by the elite.
It is the elites that have caused the situation we find ourselves in these days. It is everyone else that is blamed.

[vi5]

3. +1 and an "amen!"

That's how I feel. My optimism fades every day. Labor has spent the past 20 or so years being demonized, always by Republicans and increasingly by Democrats (or when not demonized by Dems, treated like the annoying cousin you only deal with when you need something from them but other times avoid like the plague).

We have become more and more of a selfish, every man for themselves, "I got mine!" country and the idea of people banding together for a greater good that does not involve "destroying enemies" is more and more a thing of the past.

[rfranklin]

4. Divide and conquer...

It is working well.

[underpants]

5. Great article

[Faygo Kid]

6. Bingo.

Union-busting, pure and simple.

[Myrina]

7. Stimulus funds didn't "fade away", Walker refused them.

WI was supposed to get $800M for high speed rail and Walker told POTUS to stuff it - and all the jobs that went along with it.