AFL-CIO Statement on Scott Walker Announcement

July 13, 2015

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in response to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s upcoming announcement to run for President of the United States:

Scott Walker is a national disgrace.

Heh. Richard Trumka wins the Internets today.

A couple of days ago Digby drew my attention to Paul Krugman’s definition of the term “derp”:

Derp” is a term borrowed from the cartoon “South Park” that has achieved wide currency among people I talk to, because it’s useful shorthand for an all-too-obvious feature of the modern intellectual landscape: people who keep saying the same thing no matter how much evidence accumulates that it’s completely wrong.

Based on that definition, many of you may notice that there’s lots of examples of derpiness around SMP in the past few days as well. I allude to all the posts about the doings of Kansas Governor Brownback and the economic disaster that he has created in Kansas with his tax-cuts for the wealthy friends of the GOP (see here, here, and here). Nevertheless, in spite of the emergency created by epic budget shortfalls and ranking 44th in job creation this year, there are those who persist in their embrace of derp, claiming that the “Kansas experiment” has been at least a moderate success, or, given time, will succeed colossally.

Notable among Kansas-disaster deniers is billionaire Rex Sinquefield who set out to buy himself enough compliant politicians to take Missouri down the same road. Sinquefield wants the Kansas experiment to be successful so badly that he doesn’t scruple to re-engineer the facts as he did in a recent Forbes Magazine article. Of course maybe that’s an example of plain garden-variety dishonesty rather than derp.

Sinquefield’s dollars though have had their effect on many of the Republican members of the Missouri legislature who passed their own gift to the very well-heeled, S.B. 509, last year. The standard rationale for ignoring what similar cuts did to Kansas: it’ll take more time for the positive effects of the Kansas tax-cuts to be felt. In other words, unless you belong to the  intrinsically deserving 1%, you should suffer now since we’ve heard that there’ll be pie in the sky someday. Maybe. This is classical derp, folks.

The same kind of derpiness makes Scott Walker a viable Republican presidential candidate. Walker cut taxes for Wisconsin corporations and the wealthy by almost $2 billion dollars over his tenure, and, in spite of trying to pay for the cuts on the backs of the poor and middle class via massive cuts in education, other public spending, and tax “reforms” that cost the poor and seniors, he is facing a  $283 million budgetary shortfall this year alone. He also failed to create more than half the jobs he promised would follow his tax-cuts.

How can we still regard the Republican economic philosophy as financially fiscally responsible when it leads a governor to put his state into debt default as Walker has done? What responsible, clear-thinking individual could even entertain the thought that after destroying the prosperity and endangering the public well-being of Wisconsin, Walker should be entrusted with the keys to the White House? But hey, he’s still singing the same tune and he won re-election. Derp at its best.

Examples of red-state tax-cutting failure abound. Most recently, we’ve read about how Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindall and his Louisiana legislative cohorts are begging Grover Norquist, instigator of the GOP endorsed anti-tax pledge, to let them off the hook so that they can salvage the Louisiana economy from the effects of their tax-cuts.

Want another example? Here in Missouri we’ve recently been learning about how the municipal courts have been used to generate revenue for small jurisdictions that would be unable to pay the bills otherwise. But what about a whole state that works on a similar principle? I’m talking about Albama here:

AL.com points out some of the examples of costs that are now paid for by court fees, not tax revenue: “In Chambers County, drug offenders pay into the fire and rescue fund. In Madison County, since 2000 fees for serving court papers have paid for county employees to get a raise. In Lawrence County, court costs help fund the county historical commission, so ostensibly future generations can learn about a time when Alabama adequately funded its court system.”

The State of Alabama has become so dependent on money extracted from increased court fees that, in 2014, Cleburne County officials were apoplectic when they realized that construction on nearby I-20 had cut traffic tickets in half.

[…]

The result? Working class people are paying for the cost of giving tax cuts to the wealthier residents of these states.

That last sentence? It’s true about Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri, and red states everywhere. What allows this situation not only to persist but to become even more prevalent? Which is to say, how does the wrecking crew get re-elected? Easy-peasy. Misinformation: think Fox news, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, spin and outright lies from elected officials. Deflection: steer the conversation to abortion, guns and gays (did it ever occur to you that Obama took so much heat for a similar observation because it hit too close to home?). Fear: ISIS is coming, or Sharia law, or the U.N jack-booted troops. And last, but not least: derp: if you don’t wanna believe the facts, don’t; if they’re inconvenient, disregard them.

Previously:

On the road to Iowa (June 1, 2013)

The Missouri General Assembly holds no monopoly on bad ideas or insanity. Travel to other battleground states and a reading of the local news about the legislature therein reveals the pervasiveness of the batshit crazy. Let’s see, defund public education, defund higher education (and limit access), attack labor and labor rights. Falling backward is a feature, not a bug.

“Wisconsin” atop the capitol dome. Sometimes referred to as “Miss Forward” (there’s another statue with

that title on the grounds – “Forward” is the Wisconsin motto). Locals would also refer to the statue as

“Miss Rennebohm” because it ostensibly gazed toward the Rennebohm Drug Store on the square.

Not quite a Libertarian paradise:

A display of republican dogma proudly exhibited on a vehicle parked on the grounds of the Wisconsin capitol.

Because government shouldn’t do anything and if we prevent it from doing anything by starving it of revenue people won’t expect anything from government. Except maybe abortion restrictions.

No Exit.

Mislabeling inside the Wisconsin capitol?

What’s the similarity between Jay Nixon and Scott Walker? Their respective political bases consider them the best republican governor their state has ever had.

What are the odds of either becoming president?

In the People’s Republic of Madison:

Hagiography in the lion’s den.

Scott Walker borrows a page from Michele Bachmann

May 29, 2013 5:00 am  •  Cap Times editorial

When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker traveled to Iowa last week to gin up talk about a possible 2016 presidential run, he borrowed a page from Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann….

….He thanked Iowans for their support in Wisconsin’s 2012 recall election, which sort of made sense, as Walker’s campaign was heavily funded with out-of-state money. Of course, most of that money came from states like Texas and California and Florida. But Iowa did its part….

….Iowa caucus-goers may be amused by local links. But they ultimately are interested in positions and track records. And Walker will, ultimately, have to explain why the policies he has implemented in Wisconsin have failed so dismally to renew the state’s economy. Wisconsin under Walker has dropped from a No. 11 ranking for job creation to a No. 44 ranking. That puts Wisconsin behind Iowa and all of its neighboring states on what a lot of voters think is the primary measure of a governor – and, presumably, a presidential candidate….

That left a mark.

A sign along U.S. 151 in Wisconsin, on the way to Iowa.

There are just as many signs and bumper stickers still visible in Wisconsin berating Scott Walker (r) as those that support him. That would make the Wisconsin Governor a polarizing political figure. And the perfect republican nominee for President.

Somehow I don’t think we’ll be seeing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (r) schmoozing Iowa voters at the Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola this September. That ain’t his crowd.

So far Dave Spence’s campaign for Missouri governor has seemed like an afterthought; he actually had to resort to suing Governor Jay Nixon to get himself some media attention. Spence has, however, found himself some big GOP guns to fire off: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in September, and, next Monday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will try to gin up some enthusiasm for Spence at a rally in Jefferson City.

Of course Scott Walker, who is to progressives as Darth Vader is to Obi Wan Kenobi, is a hero to the anti-union right-wing, all of which ought to play well with Tea Party loving Missourians. But given that Spence is making little whining noises about supposed corruption on the part of Governor Nixon, he should perhaps think twice about the message he sends when he touts the support of a man like Scott Walker.

Walker, after all, has spent the last two years mired in a particularly nasty corruption scandal involving both local investigators and the FBI:

The wide-ranging investigation has included allegations of illegal campaign work on the public payroll, embezzlement of funds from a veterans’ charity, and even child enticement. So far, it has netted 15 felony indictments and, at this moment, three people are awaiting trial.

At least six of those arrested and charged with felonies are close Walker associates. Walker himself has retained two teams of lawyers, including some specializing in criminal allegations, and, it is widely speculated, may well be one of the targets of the investigation.* Makes the iffy accusations that Spence is leveling at Governor Nixon seem like mighty small potatoes.  

But “Walkergate” is only the beginning. There have been reports of rampant cronyism and political payoffs under Walker:

… Republican political appointments – including wives, girlfriends, and even sons of major contributors – were given “career state leadership positions” with massive pay raises, while other public employees are forced to take giant cuts in pay, benefits, retirement, and collective bargaining rights.

The most recent Walker scandal may involve corruption or, maybe, just maybe, only incompetence. Or both. It’s still too early to tell. Soon after his election, Walker transformed the state agency responsible for economic development, the Department of Commerce, into a quasi-public agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), with himself as Chairman of the Board of Directors. He claimed he took this action because he wanted to streamline away the inefficiencies of ponderous state bureaucracies that conservatives always jaw on about. The outcome?:

Gov. Scott Walker called for “dramatic moves” Thursday in the wake of revelations that his flagship jobs agency had for more than a year lost track of $8 million in past due loans.

The revelation this week was just the latest embarrassment for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation since Walker created it after taking office last year. It is also under scrutiny from the federal Department Housing and Urban Development for failing to follow federal law and state policies in issuing economic development grants. And it was criticized for offering tax credits to a company bidding on a state contract.

Spence himself is a little tarnished about the edges. One assumes that he is probably trying to tar Jay Nixon in order to deflect attention from the charges of corruption attendant upon his tenure on the Board of Directors of Reliance Bank. Consequently,  he should be especially chary of associating himself with a figure like Walker whose administration seems to be either criminal or just criminally incompetent. Of course, these things don’t seem to really matter to most Republicans when they’re the ones who get caught.

Photos from Wikimedia

* Sentence slightly edited for clarity. Third from last paragraph: “bureaucracy” changed to “bureaucracies”  

Ouch, from Think Progress:

Missouri Becomes Second State To Divert Foreclosure Funds Away From Homeowners To Balance Its Budget

By Travis Waldron on Feb 13, 2012 at 9:25 am

Last week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) announced that he would use the funds his state received from a $26 billion mortgage settlement between 49 states and the nation’s largest banks to help balance the state’s budget, even though the settlement money was marked to help homeowners. In all, Walker will use $25.6 million of the $31.6 million Wisconsin’s state government receives to help close a budget shortfall.

Though Walker’s move to push struggling homeowners aside may seem radical, it is now being followed by at least one other state. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) and Attorney General Chris Koster (D) have pledged to put $40 million of the state’s $196 million share of the settlement into the state’s general fund to boost its higher education budget….

Wisconsin’s republican Governor Scott Walker bragged in television ads that he had a balanced budget and then grabbed the settlement funds to balance his budget because his policies didn’t actually fix the budget. Missouri’s Democratic Governor Jay Nixon submitted a budget with a 12.5% cut to higher education (ostensibly, to balance the budget) and when the settlement came in decided to relieve some of that cut to higher education with settlement money.

There is a difference.

Another chapter in the the evils of bought-and-paid-for politics is now playing itself out in Wisconsin – and, indirectly, in Missouri. Union-busting, Tea Partying, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced today that he had raised $4.5 million during the period from December 11 – Jan 17 in his quest to fend off a recall. You might be inclined ask just who is giving Walker all this money. He is clearly not too popular with the citizens of his state since over a million of them were eager to sign a petition for his recall.

And you would be right to ask. As Talking Points Memo’s Eric Kleefeld puts it:

… it becomes clear that Walker has been taking advantage of a key aspect of the state fundraising law for recalls – that until the election is officially triggered, the targeted incumbent can bring in unlimited donations.

Walker’s campaign staff claims that out of 21,443 donations, 16,406 were small contributions of $50 or less. However, WisPolitics.com did the math and concluded that, in spite of the Walker camp spin:

… 45 percent of the $4.5 million Walker collected during the two reporting periods filed yesterday came from those giving $25,000 or more. Most of his top donors also hailed from outside Wisconsin, according to a WisPolitics.com review.

Here’s the kicker, though, for those of us in Missouri: three of Walker’s biggest donors hail from our fair state and are, in fact, familiar names to those of us who follow the careers beneficent activities of the state’s main political sugar daddies:

Walker also received $250,000 from David Humphreys of Tamko Building Products in Joplin, Missouri, and another $250,000 from Sarah Atkins of Tamko.

Stanley Herzog of Herzog Contracting in Missouri gave Walker $250,000.

That’s $750,000 going to support retrograde politics in Wisconsin. Of course these fine folks have a history of lavishly dispersing their largess around Missouri and elsewhere (see Herzog’s recent contributions here; Humhpreys’ here). One of the things that they buy in Missouri are politicians who are willing to make sure that these millionaires pay the same 6% flat tax rate that you, presumably, and I pay. If these individuals have money to throw at Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, maybe the rest of us should demand that they start pulling their weight here in Missouri as well.  

There is a second issue here, though. While there is nothing wrong per se with people spending money to support politicians, there might be something wrong in permitting them to spend as much as they do in any single place. Just consider the $250,000 contributed to Scott Walker by Dave Humphreys, for instance. Since, many of the working people in Wisconsin who hope to recall Scott Walker might have to make an effort to scrape up $250 – or even $25 – to contribute to his eventual opponent in the recall, it does seem that, when it comes to buying government, Mr. Humphreys and his fellow members of the 1% have managed to create and perpetuate a system in which they can far too easily outbid the rest of us 99 percenters.

 

Oh, my:

Over One Million

MADISON – United Wisconsin today announced that more than one million Wisconsinites have signed a petition to recall Scott Walker, representing the most-participated-in major recall effort in American history, and a number so significant that it is beyond any legal challenge. More then 845,000 signatures were collected for Rebecca Kleefisch. Signatures were submitted to the Government Accountability Board this afternoon.

The signatures represent the largest recall effort in the history of the United States and 185 percent of the signatures needed to trigger a recall of Walker….

….The weight of all of the signatures collected is 3,000 pounds. That’s two of the heaviest Wisconsin Dairy (Holstein) Cows, or 158 of the heaviest Badgers.

300,000 pages at 14″ each laid end to end is 66.3 miles. This is the distance from Green Bay to Oshkosh, La Crosse to Tomah.

Stood straight up the petition pile is 128 times higher than the tallest building in the world.

Stacked on top of one another, the petitions would reach 125 feet high, which is taller than the wings of the Madison Capitol Building (those are 84 feet high)….

How much is that in butter cow sculpture at the state fair?

Put those numbers in perspective with the results of the 2010 election, from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board:

Office GOVERNOR Total Votes: 2,160,832

1,004,303 46.48% TOM BARRETT/TOM NELSON Democrat

1,128,941 52.25% SCOTT WALKER/REBECCA KLEEFISCH Republican

Back to the recall. That’s certainly a lot of signatures. What’s the lead recallee doing?:

Gov. Walker skips interviews, does NYC fundraiser

By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel Jan. 17, 2012 11:00 a.m. |(20) Comments

Madison — With recall petitions to be filed against Gov. Scott Walker Tuesday, aides said the governor would not be available for an interview because of a busy schedule.

Walker is scheduled to hold a fundraiser in New York City in the afternoon hosted by Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the founder of financial services corporation American International Group, according to a copy of the fund-raising solicitation posted on the website of the New York Daily News….

Previously:

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r) (December 19, 2011)

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r), part 2 (December 21, 2011)

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r), part 3 (December 23, 2011)

Wisconsin: they were misinformed? (December 26, 2012)

Looking across Lake Mendota to the isthmus and the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.

Previously:

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r) (December 19, 2011)

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r), part 2 (December 21, 2011)

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r), part 3 (December 23, 2011)

Captain Renault: What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?

Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.

Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.

Rick: I was misinformed.

Yesterday, in Wisconsin newspapers:

Walker says he did poor job of selling labor changes, regrets Koch prank call

10:53 PM, Dec. 25, 2011

MADISON – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, known for vigorously defending his positions, acknowledged recently that he’s made mistakes in how he’s gone about achieving his agenda.

The Republican governor, now facing a recall effort, said he regretted not having done a better job of selling his changes regarding collective bargaining for public employees….

….”Those are things most people didn’t know about and we’ve had to talk about since,” Walker said in the interview at the Executive Residence. Had he done so, he mused, “Would it have persuaded everybody? No. But the most common complaint I get, which I think is legitimate, is people say…’I’m really disappointed you didn’t do a better job of explaining it….'”

“…I’m really disappointed you didn’t do a better job of explaining it…”

Along Highway 14 near Black Earth, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Over 500,000 people have signed recall petitions. Woe is me. They were misinformed?

Not hardly.

“…And, uh, let’s let our state have a voice again. I mean, we need to take this, I, I’m really sad that we have to pay for a recall election. I’m really sad about that. I, but at the same time, I’m even more sad about how this is affecting the people of this state, how it’s driven people into poverty and, and how it’s all about power and influence. And, and the person, the person with the most power might have the most money. You know, I don’t believe that. I think if we all gather together, if we’re in one voice, then it’s the people of this state that have the power, not the money, you know…”

“…I’ve learned that it’s really important to fight for what you believe in. And I’ve learned that apathy is the, the greatest cancer our society could possibly have. And I’ve learned that if Scott Walker has given this state anything positive, it’s awaken the people of this state so they’re not apathetic. Because when you’re asleep that’s when anyone can take over your house, you know. Our house is this state. We’re the citizens of this state. We need to stay together even after this is over. We’ve formed coalitions in every county in the state and I think it’s, it’s going to be extremely important that we always stay vigilant, that we keep our coalitions together, that we don’t just break up, uh, and go our separate ways after this is all over. But, instead, that we, we stay together as a community, as a family, as a, as a coalition so this doesn’t happen in this state again…”

A sign along Highway 14 outside of Cross Plains, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Previously:

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r) (December 19, 2011)

Wisconsin: in the trenches for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (r), part 2 (December 21, 2011)

Proponents of the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (r) have collected over 500,000 signatures toward their goal of 720,000 to initiate a recall election.

Yesterday afternoon we spoke by phone with Robin Transo, a volunteer working on the recall effort from Boscobel, Grant County, Wisconsin, in the southwestern part of the state:

Show Me Progress: ….You’re working in, uh.

Robin Transo: Who am I and what do, what do I, what am I. Is that what you wanted? [laugh]

Show Me Progress:  Yeah.

Robin Transo:  Well, I, I’ll , I’ll just tell you. I’m, uh, normally, uh, I’m a retired teacher. And after I got out of retirement I, I, uh, started seeing, uh, how terrible it was, uh, people without health care. So I started a free clinic that serves to thousand five hundred people with primary health care. And, and we have dental programs for children, we serve about four thousand children in four of the southwest Wisconsin counties, with, uh, oral hygienists and cleaning and all of that. And then we have a thrift shop that helps get these kids’ teeth fixed and, and we have two other dental programs, uh, a dental extraction clinic for adults and we’re starting a new program next year for restorative care for adults. So, that’s what I do kind of for a living right now. I raise a lot of funds for the clinic, to keep it going because it takes about seventy-five thousand dollars a year to keep this clinic going. And most of our contributors have always been, uh, you know, people, middle class people who have secure jobs and, you know, like teachers, and union workers, and, and, uh.

And now, you know, as soon as, as soon as all of this came down in the State of Wisconsin I really started to get worried about our clinic because I knew that people were gonna be taken off from Badger Care and Medicaid waiting lists. I knew that, uh, there are supposed to be about sixty-nine thousand people dropped off from Badger Care and Medicaid, which means the only choice they have is to come to the free clinic and, and at the same time all of our contributors have been, their wages have been cut, you know. So, we were gonna be bringing in less money and we’d have more people to serve. In fact, in just the last couple of months we’ve, our numbers are up by two hundred and sixty-eight percent. We’re getting eight new patients a night every time we open our doors. And, I, I lose sleep over this.

So, I have a lot to do, but, uh, I was contacted by United Wisconsin to, to work to collect signatures in Grant County and I, I just thought, now, when am I gonna have time for this? But how can I not do this? I have to fight for the poor. And that’s why I’ve been doing this recall in, in, out here in Grant County…

…Show Me Progress:  So, have you been working with a lot of volunteers?

Robin Transo:  Yeah, we have, uh, we actually formed a coalition of, uh, Democrats and, uh, union workers and state workers and, uh, concerned citizens. So this coalition, uh, Grant County is a, uh, one of the largest counties in the state. We have quite a number of people, but, but a lot of farm lands and so, uh, we have to work the county from the southern part of the county, has to work one way because that’s where the university is, and a lot of the industry in our county. And then the northern part of the county, that’s where our vocational school is and a lot of farm, lot of farm people, a lot of poverty in the northern part of the county. Our county seat’s in, also in the northern part of the county. And it’s kind of a tough county because it’s, it’s sort of fifty-fifty. Uh, it’s really a, quite a Republican county in a lot of ways. But, um, they, all these volunteers get together and, and we’ve gotten our numbers. We’re, what we’re really trying to do now is achieve our seven hundred thousand, uh, signature mark out in all of these counties. And between Grant, Lafayette, and Iowa County we have nineteen hundred signatures to go to reach our seven hundred thousand signature goal.

Show Me Progress: What has been the reaction, um, in your community to this, to this, uh, to your [crosstalk]…

Robin Transo: Pretty split. Pretty split. You know, if, if you’re getting into the poorest part of the county, which is down by the Wisconsin River, uh, where there’s a lot of poverty along the river, you know, a lot of river people, um, just are poorer people. If you’re in those parts of the county then you get an incredible amount of support. If you’re in the part of the county where the county seat is, it’s, it’s pretty divided. Um, you know, you get some pretty angry people coming up to your recall areas and, and yet, you, you get, um, you also get people who are like, thank God, I didn’t know where to sign, you, you know, how, where, where do I sign? So, it depends on how these people have been impacted, you know, and I think, uh, this fallacy about, that our, our taxes are gonna go down is, they’re seeing now that that isn’t true. You know, this is tax time right now, where everybody’s getting their notifications on, on how their property taxes have been affected. Well, everybody I’ve talked to, their property taxes have gone up. And the reason for that, of course, is because our schools were slashed so deeply that you have to make it up some way, you know. And we still, the snow still falls, we still have to plow our roads, yet the counties have been cut. So, the only thing they can do is increase property taxes at the local level. And people are angry about that. I mean, I, I think under, had we stuck with the old tax formula, uh, their property taxes were due to go up by about fifty dollars. Well, our property taxes went up close to four hundred dollars in our township. And, and my husband went through the roof when he saw how that’s gonna change. But, our school di
strict was slashed by two hundred thousand dollars and we can’t afford to, to lose good teachers.

I should tell you all about how this is affecting our schools. And I, having been a teacher for twenty-one years, uh, I know that when you become a teacher that first five years of teaching you really need, in order to get you through, uh, to the point where you’re actually a good teacher and you don’t leave frustrated as a teacher, you need mentors. And those mentors are your older teachers. The people who’ve been there fifteen, twenty years are, are the best mentors. They know everything inside and out. They know how to discipline children the right way, they know how to teach, and they, they take your hand, so to speak, and, and they walk you through, uh, and teach you how to be a good teacher, you know. Our, our university systems, uh, teach you only so much, but experience takes you the rest of the way. Well, with all of these, these cuts in the state we lost so many good, experienced teachers. And now the schools are full brand new teachers that have to find their own way in their school system.

A lot of our special needs children, uh, special ed teachers have, have lost their jobs. So where do they put these special needs children? They put them in the classroom with, uh, inexperienced teachers that, and now the school systems can’t afford aides, so you have this inexperienced teacher with larger class sizes, uh, teaching a lot of special needs children and, and at the same time you have Governor walker who says, well, if these teachers don’t toe the line, and if their, if their, uh, children can’t prove that they can pass the test, then we’re gonna fire these, these teachers that, that can’t make it. You know, and they’re, they’re, it’s like totally pushed education into a corner.

And I, I really seriously feel that the reason that they’re doing that is so they can privatize schools in our state. Privatize, uh, our snow plowing, privatize everything and in the state. And, and what’s gonna keep the state from, from doing the same thing that [national anti-union chain store] does to its employees? Hire, hire everybody at minimum wage and then take ’em to a back room and sit down and say, this is how you apply for Badger Care and Medicaid, ’cause we’re not gonna pay you insurance to work here. You know, it, it’s going to make the middle class poorer and the rich richer. And pretty soon no one will be able to afford to send their children on to higher education so that they can get out of the hole because the, they’ve raised tuition in our, in our colleges. You know, it’s just totally, uh, it does not make any sense. You, you want your working people to have good insurance because if you don’t keep your workforce healthy who’s going to work? You know, you want people to be able to retire eventually because you want the young, new thinking people to be able to take over with new ideas and, but how can anyone afford to retire now? How can they afford to educate their children? It’s, I’m very frightened for my, uh, well, I don’t have any grandchildren, but if I did, I would be very frightened for my grandchildren, you know. I’m frightened for the children that are coming up through the schools right now. What options are they gonna have if their parents are poor? Very few. Very few options.

Show Me Progress: As, as you, uh, as you’ve gone through this process, and you touched on this, uh, a bit, you, you get, uh, somewhat mixed reactions from people depending on their viewpoint, uh, do you, do you hear recurring themes from, uh, people with either the positive or the, the negative views of what you’re doing?

Robin Transo:  Well, the reoccurring themes seem to be what people are being told, you know, that this state was in dire straits, which I do not believe we were. You know, well, we had to do something. You know, and I say, well, sure, we all want to sit down and make concessions and our unions were willing to make concessions. We put on the table everything that the governor wanted. But he did not want to communicate. He just wanted to break the backs of the unions. And whether it was to privatize things or whether it was to make it more difficult for to, uh, for Democrat voters, or to have a support system, you know, whatever, whatever his reasons, uh, you know, I don’t think people truly understand, um. They think that, they think that our state was in dire straits and we had to do something and it’s hard to explain to people who aren’t keeping up with everything that’s happening in this state. That, that’s not the bottom, that’s not the bottom line, you know. We were willing to make concessions. He was not willing to make concessions.

You know, uh, he wants to, he wanted to pass that bill through. So nobody knew what was in the bill. He wanted to rush it through. So, most of the people in the State of Wisconsin didn’t realize that in that bill, hidden in that bill were things like, um, power plants, uh, wanting, not wanting to follow environmental protection laws. You know, wanting to be able to force whatever to our waterways. You know, people didn’t know that until those fourteen senators left the state and people were able to go through that bill with a fine tooth comb and find out what was really happening. You know, why those senators left the state. Uh, I think they’re heroes, personally, I think they’re heroes because without them having left Wisconsin we may, we may never have known immediately what, you know, people wouldn’t have had an opportunity to get the word out. And it all would have been done. And, and, you know, they, they were gonna make it so recycling wasn’t gonna happen in this state. Well, you know, the fourteen senators left, they found out that, that they weren’t gonna have recycling anymore, well, people got upset. And, and the senators that stayed home had to change that because that was a very unpopular thing to have in that bill. And, you know, so there were changes after the fourteen senators left.

And, and, uh, another reoccurring theme is, is, uh, we voted this man in, what’s wrong with you people, why can’t you just be, you know, it’s too bad that, that you didn’t get your way about beating this guy, you know, let him just play it out. It’s like, well, actually, we don’t have to recall our governor. We don’t want to have to do this. But we can’t afford to let this go by another four years. Or everything that this state stand for is gonna be destroyed. Our progressive history is being, it, it, I compare it to, uh, you know, having been an art teacher and fabric artist and all of that, it’s kind of like, you know, this state and what we stand for is sort of like, um, kind of like burlap, a piece of burlap, you know. And every day another strand of burlap’s being pulled out of, burlap’s only as strong as, is only strong if it’s all together. You know, and you start pulling strands out, one person’s right after the other, the right to go into the state capitol and, and sit down as a school child in, in the legislature and take notes, you know, that’s, that’s our right. To have that taken away to say that they can’t even take a picture of their legislators in fourth grade, you know, or, or, you can’t go in with your whole family if you’re a family of four, uh, because if you do you better have a permit to walk in there. It, you know, all these, these things we’ve always taken for granted as the right of a Wisconsin citizen are slowly being taken away from us. That’s how fascism started, you know. That, that is, uh, one day you just wake up and you don’t have the right to do that anymore. It, it’s okay to bring concealed weapons into the capitol, it’s not okay to bring a camera. You know, it, it’s ridiculous. Some of this stuff that’s happening, it’s just totally ridiculous. It doesn’t even make sense in my mind. This is not Wisconsin. This is not what Wisconsin stands for. This isn’t what we grew up with. This isn’t what we’re proud of.

And, and we recallers are not doing it because we hate the governor. But we hate whoever is working him, you know. Someone is
working him, whether it’s big money, whether it’s lobbyists, whatever it is, somebody has an agenda and he’s following someone’s agenda. This could, no one man could be this insensitive to the poor. Or the, or the working people of this state. No one man could be this evil, you know. So, I don’t think it’s just him, you know.

Show Me Progress: So, how do you communicate, um, this kind of, um, message to people who aren’t aware of what’s going on? And, and especially as you, you communicate with them about the recall process.

Robin Transo:  Well, there’s. there’s different things that I’ve tried. I try to be a creative thinker. And, uh, and I try to be kind to people. This is the way, I mean, having been a teacher and in health care, you know, you have to be sensitive that everyone has the right to believe the way they want to believe. And my first reaction to all of this was, I don’t want, uh, the children of this state to not know the truth about what happened in that first one hundred days of office.

And, and I decided to come up with a game called Scottyopoly. It’s totally bipartisan. It’s only built on the truth. And, and yet, it’s, it’s fun, not because, there’s things that happened in that first one hundred days you just can’t make up. You know, like things like prank phone calls and, and, uh, going off to Illinois with fourteen senators, and blow up palm trees, and, I mean, this stuff is like [laugh], you know, a hundred and sixty thousand people showing up and then having the Governor say, these people are from out of state because Wisconsinites support me is, is crazy, you know. And, so, we created this Scottyopoly game which the State Historical Society reviewed and deemed as a historical, uh, having historical significance. And the reason I wanted to create that game is to support my free clinic. Primarily because I knew my free clinic was gonna be impacted. That’s, that’s one thing.

So you, you create, uh, different ways to teach people the truth. And another thing is, when you run into someone who is really upset you try to diffuse ’em. You know, tell them that you respect their opinion.  Tell them that you’d like to share their point of view. You don’t fight with them. Uh, you know, and, uh, you don’t want to fight with them [laugh].  But, it, you don’t want your family divided either. And your community divided and your state split in half over these issues, either, you know.

The, the one thing you have to do is find a common, a common ground and say, you know, we’re still, you’re my neighbor and no matter what you believe or what I believe I still love you as my neighbor. We’re all working together to make this state the best we can. And, and just have to respect each other, you know. And, and some people aren’t willing to, to respect your point of view. And they, they give you the middle finger and, and you have to just wave back, you know. I know that anybody that I work with, we all, we all say, listen, if anybody, uh, yells out the window, get a real job, or, or anything like that, you just wave at ’em and tell ’em [inaudible] hope you have a nice day, you know [laugh]. You don’t, you don’t argue with this people. They, they’re entitled to their opinions, just like we are. And we just need to respect each other and try to get through this.

And, uh, let’s let our state have a voice again. I mean, we need to take this, I, I’m really sad that we have to pay for a recall election. I’m really sad about that. I, but at the same time, I’m even more sad about how this is affecting the people of this state, how it’s driven people into poverty and, and how it’s all about power and influence. And, and the person, the person with the most power might have the most money. You know, I don’t believe that. I think if we all gather together, if we’re in one voice, then it’s the people of this state that have the power, not the money, you know.

Show Me Progress: So, this process, as you’ve gone through it, what have you learned?

Robin Transo: Well, I’ve learned [pause], I’ve learned that it’s really important to fight for what you believe in. And I’ve learned that apathy is the, the greatest cancer our society could possibly have. And I’ve learned that if Scott Walker has given this state anything positive, it’s awaken the people of this state so they’re not apathetic. Because when you’re asleep that’s when anyone can take over your house, you know. Our house is this state. We’re the citizens of this state. We need to stay together even after this is over. We’ve formed coalitions in every county in the state and I think it’s, it’s going to be extremely important that we always stay vigilant, that we keep our coalitions together, that we don’t just break up, uh, and go our separate ways after this is all over. But, instead, that we, we stay together as a community, as a family, as a, as a coalition so this doesn’t happen in this state again. And, and I’ve learned so much about so many wonderful people, people I never even knew existed are now in my life. And, and, it’s been a, it’s been a great journey for that reason. I’ve also learned that some of the people I never knew could be cruel can be cruel. And that’s a, that’s kind of a wakeup call. But, uh, but mostly I’ve seen positive things come from the people I live around. And, uh, I’ve seen, uh, people pull together and that’s, that’s a, it’s been a wonderful journey in that sense.