Why the anti-union animosity?

Opinion: Krugman: Shock doctrine, USA

By Paul Krugman
Posted: 02/26/2011 10:00:00 PM PST
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Here's a thought: Maybe Madison, Wis., isn't Cairo after all. Maybe it's Baghdad -- specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence.

As many readers may recall, the results were spectacular -- in a bad way. Instead of focusing on the urgent problems of a shattered economy and society, which would soon descend into a murderous civil war, those Bush appointees were obsessed with imposing a conservative ideological vision. Indeed, with looters still prowling the streets of Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, the American viceroy, told a Washington Post reporter that one of his top priorities was to "corporatize and privatize state-owned enterprises" -- Bremer's words, not the reporter's -- and to "wean people from the idea the state supports everything."

The story of the privatization-obsessed Coalition Provisional Authority was the centerpiece of Naomi Klein's best-selling book "The Shock Doctrine," which argued that it was part of a broader pattern. From Chile in the 1970s onward, she suggested, right-wing ideologues have exploited crises to push through an agenda that has nothing to do with resolving those crises, and everything to do with imposing their vision of a harsher, more unequal, less democratic society.

Which brings us to Wisconsin 2011, where the shock doctrine is on full display.

In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor's budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state's fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget.

What's happening in Wisconsin is a power grab -- an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy.

For example, the bill includes language that would allow officials appointed by the governor to make sweeping cuts in health coverage for low-income families without having to go through the normal legislative process.
The good news from Wisconsin is that the upsurge of public outrage -- aided by the maneuvering of Democrats in the state Senate -- has slowed the bum's rush.

But don't expect either Walker or the rest of his party to change those goals. Union-busting and privatization remain GOP priorities, and the party will continue its efforts to smuggle those priorities through in the name of balanced budgets.

Paul Krugman is a New York Times columnist.

A unionized public employee, a teabagger, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, then looks at the teabagger and says “Watch out for that union guy—he wants a piece of your cookie!”

I didn't make a "point" that i needed to support. I simply disputed yours. You mentioned Ford and GM, are those the only companies of which you know who employ UAW people? You don't know too damned much, huh?

Why should capital be able to organize against unions, by buying political influence, but labor should not be afforded the same opportunity? Sauce for the goose makes sauce for the gander.