By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
We now find ourselves in a very dark place and time politically in this country.
The Citizens United decision has unleashed the hounds, which has exposed the seedier side of politics. Both Scott Walker and Mitt Romney intend to use this totally misguided Supreme Court ruling to their political advantage. And, here’s a news flash: corporations are NOT people!
As we all know, Scott Walker is currently engaged in the political fight of his life. According to the most recent polling data from Marquette University Law School, Walker is in a statistical dead heat with Milwaukee ’s mayor Tom Barrett – the Democratic winner of the recall primary.
Walker is beloved and financially supported by rich conservatives around the country. His “fan list reads like a who’s who of some of the richest people in America” including casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Richard DeVos, owner of the Orlando Magic NBA team, and the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch.
Walker has already set the record for a state office with $12.1 million raised last year. His record-breaking $13.2 million for the last three months brings his gluttonous fundraising total up to $25 million since January 2011.
With money presenting no object in disseminating his message, Walker has begun to flood the airways with his blatant lies and vitriolic assertions. He’s now running a totally disingenuous ad suggesting that if elected, Tom Barrett would take us (the state) “backward.” According to the ad, under Barrett’s leadership: unemployment rose 27 percent in Milwaukee; the city has the 9th worse high school graduation rate in country; and that Barrett actually raised taxes on working families.
These assertions are comical to the extreme, in light of Walker ’s savage attack on the poor, the infirmed, the young, the old and anyone else who isn’t well off. Let’s examine the real record.
- On the Walker watch, collective bargaining rights for most state employees were eliminated.
- On the Walker watch: The public education system (K- 12) was drastically slashed $1.6 billion.
- On the Walker watch: The state has lost nearly 24,000 jobs (between March 2011 and March 2012); and, Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state last year (6,100 jobs).
Now Scott Walker has the unmitigated gall to accuse others of wanting to take our state in the wrong direction. The record speaks for itself: Walker has seriously divided our state and set us back decades.
With all that being said, Scott Walker is a total insult to our state motto and political philosophy – “Forward.”