Steffi Badanes and Audrey Piehl
Reporters
Here we examine the recent protests in Wisconsin and the response of politicians.
Steffi: I’m about ready to join the protesters in Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker is ready to remove the increased pensions and health care benefits that workers receive in Wisconsin by completely stripping them of their rights to unite as the workers of America.
But it doesn’t stop there.
He’s also prepared to make major cuts on education aid by $900 million, sending notices to teachers across the state, informing them that their contracts may not be renewed. Generally, workers’ unions usually give a lot of support to Democratic candidates in elections, so now Governor Scott is trying to make it much more difficult for workers to express their opinions by showing their support. He plans on removing competition between bidding companies by simply deciding for himself which company he will give a government contract. Many labor workers and Democratic lawmakers agree that this is completely unfair. This Tea Partier is just inching farther and farther away from a Democratic government.
The working middle class is composed of fellow Americans and should not be demonized. Our country should be giving them as much support and resources to succeed as much as any American.
Audrey: As the protests in Wisconsin rage on, the rest of the country watches as democracy itself may be in jeopardy. Republican Governor Scott Walker wishes to gut out unions, which has been met by heated protests by state Democrats and everyday citizens alike. Many have accused Walker as being the next Adolf Hitler, for one of Hitler’s first acts in Nazi Germany was to destroy the unions. In response, the Democrats have fled the state in what has become known as the “Wisconsin Walkout.”
Now for a proper democracy to succeed, the losing parties have to accept failure and continue to participate in the government ardently. However, with the Democrat’s abandonment, they keep democracy from proceeding naturally, and are thus holding it in ransom until they feel their anti-union debate will be sufficient (if ever). And now it seems Indiana may follow in their footsteps, leading another state towards possible oligarchy.
So don’t be fooled into thinking Governor Walker is the single threat to democracy in Wisconsin; those who have mangled it for their own purpose are also to blame.
