This sounds disturbingly like the America of the Gilded Age. In the Economist review of Philip Day's book on American Unions the following quote describes well the attitude in America before the 1911 legislation; “The robber barons made no claim to paternalism. As fervent converts to Social Darwinism, they believed that inequalities were inevitable; that the well-off deserved their station in life as the poor deserved theirs. Jay Gould, the greatest railway financier of his day and an ardent advocate of this dogma, bragged: “I can hire half the working class to shoot the other half.”
Governor Walker sounds disturbingly like Jay Gould in his statement regarding what was left of Wisconsin's middle class;
“We can no longer live in a society where the public employees are the haves and taxpayers who foot the bills are the have-nots.”
If Governor Walker would have finished college, or even taken a simple math class, he would understand that his statement is a false dichotomy because the over 280,000 Wisconsinites who are public employees are a subset of the taxpayers. So, a University professor at UW is a have because she is a public employee, but she is a have-not because she is a taxpayer. Pesky details like reason, truth and logic don't get in the way of Walker's inflammatory statements and as a result he has been successful in doing what Jay Gould did, he inspired “half the working class to shoot the other half.”
This critique does not include the multiple assaults on education, medical care, individual rights and the environment that have been enacted by these “parallel universe” ALEC Republicans
The final volley for the 2011-2012 legislative war on the working class was shot this week when the 100 years of the successful vocational, technical and adult education was set aside in order to bring the industrialists back into their pre-1911 Gilded Era Power. Contrast the Republicans from outside Milwaukee dismantling the Milwaukee board in 2012 to the Republicans from Milwaukee championing employer and employee rights for everyone in the State in 1911.
R. W. Tarbell's statement describes the leaders from Milwaukee who were responsible for the Progressive legislation of 1911.
“Discussion on the law of 1911 would not be complete without reference to two distinguished gentlemen of that day. Senator Edward T. Fairchild, a Milwaukee lawyer, was a member of the senate at Madison for three terms. In 1911 he introduced the bill to create the new vocational schools. Subsequently Mr. Fairchild became a member of the State Supreme Court, and eventually the chief Justice.” Senator Fairchild was a Republican
“Francis E. McGovern was governor of Wisconsin in 1909 when the bill was introduced by Senator Fairchild. Mr. McGovern was a Milwaukee lawyer, both before and after his service as governor was finished Like Senator Fairchild, he had a deep interest in a better plan of training for working people and signed the bill into law.” Governor McGovern was a Republican
It is now time for the good Citizens of Wisconsin to take their State back from ALEC and for the Republicans to take their party back from talk radio.