The Rule of Small
Those who are comparing what went down in Wisconsin yesterday to what Senate Democrats did for the Health Care Reform Bill are missing something crucial: Obama campaigned on reforming health care; Walker said nothing during his campaign for governor about getting rid of collective bargaining. What the Wisconsin GOP did was actually what liberals wanted the Democratic-led US Senate to do: use their majority to push what the base was clamoring for.
In results in both cases were also different: Democrats in the US Congress compromised all they way until they realized that the GOP was trying to destroy the legislation piece-by-piece (and they're still going at it). In Wisconsin, there was little to no evidence that compromise was a factor in what ended up being voted on.
Even the crowd reaction (and the reaction to the reaction) are night and day. Anti-health care advocates were/are being financed, in large part, from the health insurance industry (who stood to lose a lot of money if there was a true universal health care system). Pro-union advocates are being financed by, well, unions; so the funding is in-house.
And here's the most surprising thing about this move: if signed, this means now that the Governor has more control over the lives of everyday Wisconsinites. In other words: the government has taken over. Where are the people who believe that government should stay out of the way?
The GOP says they follow the rule of law, and they also say they want small government. I think the truth is a twisted mix of these two platforms: they want the rule of small, aka government where the power is consolidated to a select few. And they want to be the selectors.
In results in both cases were also different: Democrats in the US Congress compromised all they way until they realized that the GOP was trying to destroy the legislation piece-by-piece (and they're still going at it). In Wisconsin, there was little to no evidence that compromise was a factor in what ended up being voted on.
Even the crowd reaction (and the reaction to the reaction) are night and day. Anti-health care advocates were/are being financed, in large part, from the health insurance industry (who stood to lose a lot of money if there was a true universal health care system). Pro-union advocates are being financed by, well, unions; so the funding is in-house.
And here's the most surprising thing about this move: if signed, this means now that the Governor has more control over the lives of everyday Wisconsinites. In other words: the government has taken over. Where are the people who believe that government should stay out of the way?
The GOP says they follow the rule of law, and they also say they want small government. I think the truth is a twisted mix of these two platforms: they want the rule of small, aka government where the power is consolidated to a select few. And they want to be the selectors.
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