You'd think that if the first and most controversial thing a newly-elected governor does is attempt to abolish public sector unions, it would have come after a vigorous debate about labor laws during the campaign. In fact, Scott Walker never mentioned plans to target unions during his campaign, and the media never asked him if he had any.
I may not have the resources to cover the protests to the extent of my big media brothers, but I am proud to say that, in the days following the election, this blog was the first in state media to pose the question: Will the GOP go after unions? Over and over again, the answer from labor leaders and Democrats was unequivocal: Yes! And when I discussed the possibility with Rep. Robin Vos, the head economic honcho of the Assembly GOP caucus, he expressed support for establishing right-to-work in the state.
And yet, the mainstream media showed little interest in the issue that I admit, even I was lolled into thinking anti-union measures wouldn't be a priority. If the guys who have been covering the Capitol for decades aren't talking about it, it must not be in the cards.
A month after my post about right-to-work, Republicans started mystically floating ideas about either abolishing public sector unions or making Wisconsin a right-to-work state. Everybody should have seen it coming.
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