This week there will be one of the most important elections in Wisconsin history, the repercussions of which will resound around the planet. Wisconsin has been artificially split by the current administration. They have pitted working men and women against one another in ways that defy conscience. I am a resident who talks to hundreds of people each month. Not just, "Hi, how about that weather." talk. Ya know? We talk about jobs and the environment, hunting, the economy, what their family is doing to make ends meet in the tough times we face daily. There is an overwhelming consensus that emerges if you listen. Each and every person who has had their tax dollars spent, bailing out the banks is furious that there is no ability to refinance to the more reasonable rates of today. Most home owners are entrenching in their homes, if they are at all able, spending money on refurbishing their places, if they can, so that perhaps in seven to ten years they can sell for what they owe. Many have resorted to buying at big box stores whose profits leave the area and rarely return. Many are living in multi-family groups, taking in relatives or friends who have lost their homes, or are unemployed. The few who can afford to, are buying gas sipping cars, riding their bikes a lot more, making more meals at home and trying to walk more.
The few who believe that all will be well, if we just cut taxes on the wealthiest, so it can trickle down to the rest of us refuse to understand economic forces and the nature of capital to flow upward rather than downward under those conditions. A slippery slope is being traversed politically. There has been a long held belief in our country that "All politicians are crooks." and because of this pervasive myth, the vast majority stay home on election days because they really don't understand that there are good people to choose and others who should not be trusted with administering anything. The turn out for the election that put Wisconsin's Governor in office was just a little under half, of that half, about half of them decided to unleash corporate power in the State House, Our House! We have had nothing but disasters in virtually every area since then. Wetland protection laws were gutted, hundreds of hours were spent fighting the proposed mine that the governor wanted to shove down our throats (illegally),salaries for teachers were put in the cross-hairs, thousands of lives have been turned upside down, unions (currently representing less than 12% of all U.S. workers) were demonized, fees for virtually everything the average citizen pays for went up, but the handouts to wealthy corporations and big business multiplied as well. While virtually every cost borne by citizens went up, food, energy, housing, etc. the cost of "doing business" in Wisconsin went down. One tax loophole alone that the Governor signed into law allows corporations to funnel profits to out of state shell companies, in states with low or no income tax, to avoid taxation in the State of Wisconsin! This one change alone is estimated to cost the state (taxpayers) approximately 130 million dollars in the next biennium (two year budget cycle).
Supposedly, Wisconsin faced a dire budget situation. A growing majority understand that these charges were trumped up to fan the flames of division between the tea party activists and the rest of us. Because of the deft control that corporate influence has been able to exert over both the meanings and messages that we are bombarded with daily, some have begun to believe the rhetoric, without regard for the facts of the matter. What we need is the 100% turn out that would have kept the ship of state on course. We are proud people, who nearly always help one another. We the people of Wisconsin, get to know our jumper cables and always offer to use them when folks need a jump, so that when the shoe is on the other foot, there will be someone to do the same happily, for us. I have known neighbors to mow one each others lawns when they go on vacation, take in the mail and newspaper so it doesn't look like they are away. Heck, growing up in most of Wisconsin a generation or two ago, all the kids in the neighborhood ran in packs, listening to whatever parent was closest. we were kept in line by the fact that we had pride in being good people. now the "supreme leader" has deemed at least half the people as "enemy" and has set out to make our lives more difficult at the same time he enriched his friends, his contributors, and out of state interests that only want us to dance to their tune.
Today, the news surfaced that our governor spurned a lover who dared to get pregnant by him in college. None of these are behaviors of a person who can be trusted. The inconvenient truth of the current sate of affairs here is that we are truly in a fight between what is right and good about our state and what is dark and hidden from view behind the eyes of a psychopath. The good can only come to the surface, as any dairyman will tell you if you let things rest. Continued agitation keeps the cream in suspension. Wisconsin has always been known for letting things alone and watching the cream rise to the top. It was important to us to take care of the less fortunate, regard our children as the hope for the next generation, and leave behind us a lasting legacy of a land more beautiful than we found it. Perhaps losing all of our forests instilled an ethic of rebuilding and growth. giving a little bit more than we probably should, but doing it with the hope that someone else would benefit by our exuberance. How we ever let a greedy, selfish, corporate stooge get into office here only proves to the world that we must use our democratic voice to put down the wealthy, take back our rights and freedoms, reaffirm what generations of Wisconsinites have fought and died for, and kick out the folks who just want to enrich themselves at great cost to the majority of state residents.
The only hope we have is to vote. Educate yourself, and vote! Reasonable people may differ about who the best choice may be, but it is unreasonable to expect the people with the money to tell you the truth about their candidate. Generations of young men have died for our right to vote, they did not die for the rights of corporations to take whatever they want and leave us as little as possible.
The few who believe that all will be well, if we just cut taxes on the wealthiest, so it can trickle down to the rest of us refuse to understand economic forces and the nature of capital to flow upward rather than downward under those conditions. A slippery slope is being traversed politically. There has been a long held belief in our country that "All politicians are crooks." and because of this pervasive myth, the vast majority stay home on election days because they really don't understand that there are good people to choose and others who should not be trusted with administering anything. The turn out for the election that put Wisconsin's Governor in office was just a little under half, of that half, about half of them decided to unleash corporate power in the State House, Our House! We have had nothing but disasters in virtually every area since then. Wetland protection laws were gutted, hundreds of hours were spent fighting the proposed mine that the governor wanted to shove down our throats (illegally),salaries for teachers were put in the cross-hairs, thousands of lives have been turned upside down, unions (currently representing less than 12% of all U.S. workers) were demonized, fees for virtually everything the average citizen pays for went up, but the handouts to wealthy corporations and big business multiplied as well. While virtually every cost borne by citizens went up, food, energy, housing, etc. the cost of "doing business" in Wisconsin went down. One tax loophole alone that the Governor signed into law allows corporations to funnel profits to out of state shell companies, in states with low or no income tax, to avoid taxation in the State of Wisconsin! This one change alone is estimated to cost the state (taxpayers) approximately 130 million dollars in the next biennium (two year budget cycle).
Supposedly, Wisconsin faced a dire budget situation. A growing majority understand that these charges were trumped up to fan the flames of division between the tea party activists and the rest of us. Because of the deft control that corporate influence has been able to exert over both the meanings and messages that we are bombarded with daily, some have begun to believe the rhetoric, without regard for the facts of the matter. What we need is the 100% turn out that would have kept the ship of state on course. We are proud people, who nearly always help one another. We the people of Wisconsin, get to know our jumper cables and always offer to use them when folks need a jump, so that when the shoe is on the other foot, there will be someone to do the same happily, for us. I have known neighbors to mow one each others lawns when they go on vacation, take in the mail and newspaper so it doesn't look like they are away. Heck, growing up in most of Wisconsin a generation or two ago, all the kids in the neighborhood ran in packs, listening to whatever parent was closest. we were kept in line by the fact that we had pride in being good people. now the "supreme leader" has deemed at least half the people as "enemy" and has set out to make our lives more difficult at the same time he enriched his friends, his contributors, and out of state interests that only want us to dance to their tune.
Today, the news surfaced that our governor spurned a lover who dared to get pregnant by him in college. None of these are behaviors of a person who can be trusted. The inconvenient truth of the current sate of affairs here is that we are truly in a fight between what is right and good about our state and what is dark and hidden from view behind the eyes of a psychopath. The good can only come to the surface, as any dairyman will tell you if you let things rest. Continued agitation keeps the cream in suspension. Wisconsin has always been known for letting things alone and watching the cream rise to the top. It was important to us to take care of the less fortunate, regard our children as the hope for the next generation, and leave behind us a lasting legacy of a land more beautiful than we found it. Perhaps losing all of our forests instilled an ethic of rebuilding and growth. giving a little bit more than we probably should, but doing it with the hope that someone else would benefit by our exuberance. How we ever let a greedy, selfish, corporate stooge get into office here only proves to the world that we must use our democratic voice to put down the wealthy, take back our rights and freedoms, reaffirm what generations of Wisconsinites have fought and died for, and kick out the folks who just want to enrich themselves at great cost to the majority of state residents.
The only hope we have is to vote. Educate yourself, and vote! Reasonable people may differ about who the best choice may be, but it is unreasonable to expect the people with the money to tell you the truth about their candidate. Generations of young men have died for our right to vote, they did not die for the rights of corporations to take whatever they want and leave us as little as possible.
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