Let the recall begin

Recall of Walker imminent, justified for a plethora of reasons

Today marks the start of a historic occasion -- today begins, in earnest, the recall of Gov. Scott Walker.

While recalls shouldn't be done on whims, shouldn't be taken lightly, or utilized for every member of elected office whom a minority simply disagrees with, in this instance removal is entirely warranted. Gov. Walker has, in essence, flipped this state upside down. He acted as a typical candidate for office last year...but once sworn in, he behaved as atypical as one could imagine him being.

Progressives weren't naive; they didn't expect Walker to take office and act in THEIR interests. Walker had the dual backing of social conservatives across the state as well as the financial support of the corporate elite (both within Wisconsin and beyond its borders). So it wasn't a surprise when tax cuts and tort reform took hold of his agenda.

What was surprising -- to the left, the center, and even some on the right -- was the removal of bargaining rights for state employees, disregarding over fifty years of precedence that every governor, Democratic and Republican, had previously respected.

From that point on, it was clear that this governor was against Wisconsin values. His removal of bargaining rights was just the start -- what followed was a complete reversal of what citizens of this state have come to revere about what makes it great in the first place.

Just some of the complaints against the governor:

• He has proven himself a lackey to his corporate friends, and a cronyist in the worst way, appointing political allies and corporate donors' preferences to positions of power over more qualified candidates in various political administrative offices;
  
  
• He has ignored our state's high value of a good education, making cuts to schools and limiting their ability to raise funds themselves by $1.6 billion, a move that has increased class sizes in more than 4 in 10 school districts;
  
  
• He has similarly pushed aside the concerns of the elderly and disabled, capping funds to Family Care, a program that enables individuals to live a life of independence, creating more waiting lists for a program that was previously set to lift such barriers;
  
  
• He has demanded half a billion dollars in cuts to Medicaid, a move which will remove more than 64,000 individuals from BadgerCare, a full third of which are children;
  
  
• His promises on jobs have been thus far unfulfilled, revolting in fact, as unemployment has grown while job growth has barely exceeded the rate set by his predecessor from over a year ago;
  
  
• And while doing all of these things, while serving as a corporatist lackey, stripping funding for education, removing hope for seniors and the cognitively challenged, defunding and removing from state health services tens of thousands of children, failing to create any relevant jobs as promised, and removing the long-respected rights of workers in Wisconsin, what has Gov. Walker done? He has, during a time when he justified all these cuts as "necessary" to balance a supposedly fragile budget, given $2.3 billion in tax breaks to the rich and corporations.

It's one thing to say cuts are needed to fill a $3.6 billion budget deficit -- to give $2.3 billion in revenue away and then justify even MORE cuts as "necessary" is an entirely different can of worms, a disgusting example of the kind of "leadership" that Gov. Walker thinks is the right direction for Wisconsin to take (though 57 percent of the state disagree, believe he's leading us in the wrong direction).

In less than one year's time, Gov. Walker has effectively dismantled the values that make Wisconsin what it is. Wisconsinites value a strong education; we tend to take care of our family members; we respect our public workers, understand their worth is necessary and too often thankless; and when sacrifice is needed, we understand the difference between a shared commitment versus demanding that the brunt of it be made on the backs of the working class.

A recall of Gov. Walker isn't simply justified, it's imminent. To question "why" we're recalling this governor is the same as saying you've been blind to the offenses he's committed for the past year. The recall of Walker should be, and will be, a successful endeavor.