Wisconsin Guv Calls for Crack Down on Public Workers Facing Severe Cuts

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says if unionized municipal workers aren’t happy with proposed benefit cuts and his attempt to entirely strip away their collective bargaining rights he’ll call in the National Guard to crack down on any work stoppages. The severe cuts come despite Wisconsin having a budget surplus.

“Maybe the new governor doesn’t understand yet — but the National Guard is not his own personal intimidation force to be mobilized to quash political dissent,” said Robin Eckstein, a former Wisconsin National Guard member and Iraq war veteran. “The Guard is to be used in case of true emergencies and disasters, to help the people of Wisconsin, not to bully political opponents. Considering many veterans and Guard members are union members, it’s even more inappropriate to use the Guard in this way. This is a very dangerous line the governor is about to cross.”

The state’s Joint Finance Committee began a public hearing on Walker’s budget plan this morning, as thousands of Wisconsin residents and union members made their way to Madison to protest. Republican law makers say they have the votes to implement Walker’s plan. A new report shows the plan could hit the state’s economy hard – to the tune of $1.1 billion – as a result of lessened spending power for the more than 340,000 public sector workers directly affected.

Madison’s public school district is letting parents know to expect “excessive absences” tomorrow, and possibly throughout the week. Superintendent Dan Nerad said teachers calling in sick will have to prove they have an illness.

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz lashed out at Walker’s recent remarks. “Here’s one reliable test of good public policy: You don’t have to call out the National Guard when you propose it.”

Walker’s attacks, part of his election campaign promise, are largely directed at the 1.6 million member American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union, which formed in Wisconsin, long looked at as a fairly progressive, and blue collar state. Reportedly, Walker’s proposed cuts wouldn’t harm police and firefighter unions, which supported Walker’s election campaign.

The national cuts in social programs for the elderly and schoolchildren, as well as a broad attack on public sector unions, have much in common with “austerity” measures taking place in the U.K.

Some Londoners formed a group called UK Uncut that is targeting certain corporations and wealthy individuals, such as the U.K.’s 9^th wealthiest man, Philip Green (who paid zero taxes in 2005 on £1.2 billion in income), for failing to pay taxes on what have been massive profits, according to a recent Nation article by Johann Hari.

An investigation by Private Eye found that Vodafone, a large cell phone company, owes £6 billion to British taxpayers. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced £7 billion in cuts to housing subsidies for the poor, among other things, which could be avoided if just this one company paid its bill to U.K. taxpayers. UK Uncut activists note that these cuts, and many others attempting to axe important social programs, are unnecessary if the wealthy and major corporations start paying up.

“It was clear to us that if this one company had been made to pay its taxes, almost all these people could have been kept from being forced out of their homes,” Sam Green, a UK Uncut protestor told Hari. “We keep being told there’s no alternative to cutting services. This just showed it was rubbish. So we decided we had to do something.”

According to the Government Accountability Office, in 2008 83 of the 100 largest companies in the U.S. hid their profits in offshore tax havens. Some of the companies involved include Apple, Bank of America, Best Buy, ExxonMobil (one of the world’s most profitable companies), FedEx, Kraft Foods, McDonald’s, Safeway and Target. The situation has gotten so bad that mega-billionaire Warren Buffet found that he pays a lower portion of his income in taxes than his workers.