Update: Video added.
Gov. Walker took a page out of the handbooks of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and took his case to the people of Wisconsin via a live address broadcast on statewide TV and the Internet.
You can read the text of Walker’s address here.
His opening lines were very effective:
Good evening.
Wisconsin is showing the rest of the country how to have a passionate, yet civil debate about our finances. That’s a very Midwestern trait and something we should be proud of. I pray, however, that this civility will continue as people pour into our state from all across America.
First, let me be clear: I have great respect for those who have chosen a career in government. I really do.
In 1985, when I was a high school junior in the small town of Delavan, I was inspired to pursue public service after I attended the American Legion’s Badger Boys State program. The military veterans and educators who put on that week‐long event showed the honor in serving others.
Tonight, I thank the 300,000‐plus state and local government employees who showed up for work today and did their jobs well. We appreciate it. If you take only one message away tonight, it’s that we all respect the work that you do.
Walker went on to cite individual state workers, teachers and private citizens who have contacted him directly about their respective circumstances.
And yes, he addresses a concern of mine, that taxpayers have not had a voice or a seat at the table in collective bargaining negotiations between government unions and government itself. You see, while technically there is an elected representative at the table, most of those elected officials are bought and paid for by the union thug on the other side of the table. That man or woman got into office with union campaign contributions extorted from union members and got votes from the mindless sheeple who go to the polls and vote the way their government union thug tells them to vote.
And the taxpayers get screwed in the process. A wink and a nod between the union thug and the prostitute across the table (apologies to any prostitutes who might be offended by the comparison) and the taxpayers are told to bend over and grab their ankles.
Now, for the first time ever, I feel taxpayers have a voice in the process. Gov. Walker and the Republicans in the Legislature are speaking up for those of us who have had no voice and are just told to shut up and keep forking over more and more money to the union thugs.
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I completely concur. This is the first time in recent memory that we have an elected official who has actually listened to we the people and are doing our bidding. He is doing precisely what he was elected to do and though I admired him during his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive, he is surprising even me in his willingness to stand up to the thugs. Scott Walker is a rock star governor, and the taxpayers shall ultimately be better for it.