JoeChalupa
01-09-2012, 12:53 PM
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-walker-appeals-to-gop-s-labor-bashing-zealots/article_44cde623-bf1d-5b05-92f1-0e2f60b3ab73.html#ixzz1ivKX53AY
MANCHESTER, N.H. — When I asked Newt Gingrich if he planned to campaign for Scott Walker in the recall election the governor will almost certainly face, Newt answered, “Sure!”
“Scott Walker’s fight in Wisconsin has made him a national leader on issues important to Republicans,” said the former House speaker. “Of course I would campaign for him.”
The Republicans who would be president disagree on some issues. But they are pretty much united in their affection for the nation’s most embattled governor.
After Walker attacked public-employee unions last February, Mitt Romney announced he was donating $5,000 to support the Wisconsinite. And Rick Santorum hails Walker’s “tremendous courage.”
What is it about Walker — who is so unpopular that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites are petitioning for his removal — that makes him so appealing to so many Republicans?
That’s simple. Scott Walker is an anti-union zealot. And anti-union zealotry has become a core premise of the 21st century Republican Party.
Attacks by Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich on public-employee unions may have gotten the most publicity. But other governors, most notably Indiana’s Mitch Daniels, are striving to undermine the collective bargaining rights of private-sector workers.
Here in New Hampshire, Romney has endorsed efforts to pass so-called “right-to-work” legislation, which would impose legal barriers to traditional methods for collecting union dues and providing representation for all employees at a workplace. Gingrich is an enthusiastic proponent of right-to-work laws. Even the most moderate of the GOP contenders, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, is urging New Hampshire voters to gain a “competitive advantage over your neighbors” by passing anti-union legislation.
But the Republicans don’t stop there.
Gingrich says: “One of the things the Congress should do immediately is defund the National Labor Relations Board.” Not to be outdone, Romney is airing a new ad in South Carolina that declares: “The National Labor Relations Board (is) now stacked with union stooges selected by the president.”
Santorum, who has tried to present himself as an ally of working Americans with talk of renewing our manufacturing base, is as militant as Walker when it comes to attacking the collective bargaining rights of public employees. “I do not believe that state, federal or local workers … should be involved in unions,” says Santorum. “I would actually support a bill that says that we should not have public-employee unions for the purposes of wages and benefits to be negotiated.”
Aren’t there any prominent Republicans who think unions make a positive contribution to society?
I found one. This guy says: “Collective bargaining … has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch.”
Who is this Republican outlier who spoke about “the sacred right of American workers to negotiate their wages”?
A fellow named Ronald Reagan. Some people used to think he was quite a Republican. But Reagan’s no Scott Walker.
John Nichols is the associate editor of The Capital Times. [email protected]
~~The GOP needs to support labor.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — When I asked Newt Gingrich if he planned to campaign for Scott Walker in the recall election the governor will almost certainly face, Newt answered, “Sure!”
“Scott Walker’s fight in Wisconsin has made him a national leader on issues important to Republicans,” said the former House speaker. “Of course I would campaign for him.”
The Republicans who would be president disagree on some issues. But they are pretty much united in their affection for the nation’s most embattled governor.
After Walker attacked public-employee unions last February, Mitt Romney announced he was donating $5,000 to support the Wisconsinite. And Rick Santorum hails Walker’s “tremendous courage.”
What is it about Walker — who is so unpopular that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites are petitioning for his removal — that makes him so appealing to so many Republicans?
That’s simple. Scott Walker is an anti-union zealot. And anti-union zealotry has become a core premise of the 21st century Republican Party.
Attacks by Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich on public-employee unions may have gotten the most publicity. But other governors, most notably Indiana’s Mitch Daniels, are striving to undermine the collective bargaining rights of private-sector workers.
Here in New Hampshire, Romney has endorsed efforts to pass so-called “right-to-work” legislation, which would impose legal barriers to traditional methods for collecting union dues and providing representation for all employees at a workplace. Gingrich is an enthusiastic proponent of right-to-work laws. Even the most moderate of the GOP contenders, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, is urging New Hampshire voters to gain a “competitive advantage over your neighbors” by passing anti-union legislation.
But the Republicans don’t stop there.
Gingrich says: “One of the things the Congress should do immediately is defund the National Labor Relations Board.” Not to be outdone, Romney is airing a new ad in South Carolina that declares: “The National Labor Relations Board (is) now stacked with union stooges selected by the president.”
Santorum, who has tried to present himself as an ally of working Americans with talk of renewing our manufacturing base, is as militant as Walker when it comes to attacking the collective bargaining rights of public employees. “I do not believe that state, federal or local workers … should be involved in unions,” says Santorum. “I would actually support a bill that says that we should not have public-employee unions for the purposes of wages and benefits to be negotiated.”
Aren’t there any prominent Republicans who think unions make a positive contribution to society?
I found one. This guy says: “Collective bargaining … has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch.”
Who is this Republican outlier who spoke about “the sacred right of American workers to negotiate their wages”?
A fellow named Ronald Reagan. Some people used to think he was quite a Republican. But Reagan’s no Scott Walker.
John Nichols is the associate editor of The Capital Times. [email protected]
~~The GOP needs to support labor.