Back when he was running for Milwaukee County Exeuctive, Scott Walker made a big deal out of how the county was broke (it wasn't) and that, if he was elected, he'd forgo a modest portion of his sizable pay as a symbolic gesture. Walker won that campaign, then, in 2010, won the governorship. Whereafter he promptly claimed the state, too, was broke (it wasn't) and that hundreds of thousands of state and local government employees needed to take a big pay cut and lose their collective bargaining rights to help balance the books. This time he not only didn't take a pay cut himself, Walker quietly accepted a sizable, preordained pay hike that took effect when he became governor.
This sort of "we live on a different planet" attitude more and more seems to permeate the Republican Party, especailly and most ironically among the tea party faithful. Another case in point: US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has led the wrecking crew that seeks to shut down the federal government tomorrow if the president doesn't delay or kill off the Affordable Care Act he helped usher through Congress. As part of this showdown, many federal employees including staff aides to members of Congress would be furloughed or at least not be paid indefinitely.
A number of Democratic lawmakers, who ironically oppose the GOP's push to shutdown, say that if it happens, they'll voluntarily stop accepting their taxpayer-supported pay in sympathy with other federal workers and millions of Americans who would lose services when most government agencies shut down. As for Cruz (and every other GOP member of Congress, apparently):
I have no intention to do so," Cruz said when an audience member at the Texas Tribune festival asked if he would forgo his Senate salary if Congress fails to reach an agreement this week to fund the federal government.
Thus the increasingly frequent right-wing principle, re-employed in the latest act of political terrorism: It's OK, if you're a Republican.
