The Dam Breaks: Walker's Secret Plan To Break Unions Caught On Tape
Remember the infamous taped, prank call where Scott Walker revealed his dark side to someone he thought was billionaire reactionary David Koch?
Well, Walker's outdone himself: A filmmaker released footage Thursday showing Walker - - knowing he was being filmed - - speaking to billionaire Diane Hendricks - - now his single largest donor at $510,000 - - in Janesville and revealing to her his "divide-and-conquer" plan before he inserted it into his infamous 'budget-repair bill' to crush public sector unions and also saying he was setting the stage for right-to-work restrictions on private sector union workers.
In the video shot on Jan. 18, 2011 - shortly before Walker's controversial budget-repair bill was introduced and spawned mass protests - Hendricks asked the governor whether he could make Wisconsin a "completely red state, and work on these unions, and become a right-to-work" state.
The Republican donor was referring to right-to-work laws, which prohibit private-sector unions from compelling workers to pay union dues if the workers choose not to belong to the union.
Walker replied that his "first step" would be "to divide and conquer" through his budget-adjustment bill, which curtailed most collective bargaining for public employee unions.
Documentary filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein, who says he captures both sides in his work, videotaped the conversation that Walker had with Hendricks and Mary Willmer-Sheedy, a community bank president for M&I Bank. The filmmaker was recording what Willmer-Sheedy and others in Janesville were doing to try to create jobs in an area hard hit by the shutdown of its General Motors plant and related businesses.
In the video, Hendricks told Walker she wanted to discuss "controversial" subjects away from reporters, asking him:
"Any chance we'll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions -"
"Oh, yeah," Walker broke in.
"- and become a right-to-work?" Hendricks continued. "What can we do to help you?"
"Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill," Walker said. "The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. So for us, the base we get for that is the fact that we've got - budgetarily we can't afford not to. If we have collective bargaining agreements in place, there's no way not only the state but local governments can balance things out . . . That opens the door once we do that. That's your bigger problem right there."
5 comments:
Secret Plan? Time to take off the tinfoil hat. He discussed this both before and after his win in 2010.
Oh? Really? Like in this story wherein Cullen Werwie says Walker isn't interested in right-to-work legislation? Parse that:
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/138059413.html#!page=3&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst
RD- WALKER IS A SOCIOPATHIC LIAR.
Walker discusses but never reveals his true intentions.
Do you really support his notion of divide and conquer?
A true leader does not divide and conquer.
If by divide and conquer you mean to break the public unions of their choke-hold on Wisconsin taxpayers, then yes.
WI is now projecting a surplus of $150+ million whereas Doyle had us in a deficit. Doyle's deficit and illegally and unethically raiding other funds is why we were in this mess. Walker fixed it, plain and simple.
Choke-hold, what a joke. Republicans have really turned out to be drama queens. Go look up what the QEO was and then come back and explain how that is a chokehold. But, I digress...
"A large chunk of the surplus is realized by delaying payments that will ultimately cost taxpayers more in interest.
The budget numbers released Thursday do not account for a sizable shortfall in the state's health programs for the poor that Walker's administration says it will deal with through increased efficiencies and spending cuts."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/gop-leaders-challenge-barrett-to-explain-his-budget-plan-8r5c82b-150952775.html
And speaking of raiding funds, did you already forget about Walker stealing $25 million from the fund to help fill the $140 million in the budget he pretended to balance? What do you call that again when your budget doesn't balance in the negative direction? Oh yeah, a deficit.
"Wisconsin will use a chunk of its $140 million share of a national settlement over foreclosure and mortgage-servicing abuses to help the state budget rather than assist troubled homeowners, Gov. Scott Walker and state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Thursday.
But of a $31.6 million payment coming directly to the state government, most of that money - $25.6 million - will go to help close a budget shortfall revealed in newly released state projections. Van Hollen, whose office said he has the legal authority over the money, made the decision in consultation with Walker.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/state-to-receive-140-million-to-settle-mortgage-claims-qh44q6v-139014139.html
One more thing: In the last year of Doyle's administration, the state gained about 28,000 jobs. Our first year with Walker has the state leading the nation in job losses. We can't afford any more of Walker's 'fixing', plain and simple.
http://political-heat.blogspot.com/2012/01/december-job-numbers-produce-sixth.html?spref=tw
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