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Conservatives vs Unions: who stands to win and who stands to lose

I think the whole situation in Wisconsin is a good microcosm for what is going on in the nation as a whole. A Republican is selectively targeting certain unions and not only trying to cut their wages and benefits, but also trying to take away their ability to collectively bargain.

The governor claims this is about the budget deficit the state will face. But that is political spin to justify his real motive, which is to give rich people more money, which is the motive for the entire Republican party in this country.

Governor Walker is doing this by cutting corporate tax rates at the same time he is cutting wages, benefits, and bargaining for middle class jobs. And he isn't targeting all public unions. He is leaving unions like the police and fire dept alone, two unions who supported him during his campaign. So instead of getting money from rich people who can afford it or from all unions equally, he goes after unions that are typically Democratic, unions that have already said they will accept lower wages and benefits.

Looking at this nationally, Republicans are constantly cutting taxes for corporations while trying to undermine the efforts of unions to try and get benefits for their workers, those people who make up the middle class that you hear so many politicians talking about. The first thing the Republican House did was extend the Bush tax cuts, which restricts the amount of revenue the gov't takes in thus causing a bigger deficit. The next thing they do is to roll out cuts to funding for anything that comes close to abortion, food for women and children, and entitlements that are designed to help the poor and middle class.

What Gov. Walker and the GOP are doing is taking away money from the middle class and poor and giving it to rich people under the guise of cutting the deficit. Their justification is the old trickle down theory that the rich will invest it, that investing will grow the economy, and that growth will benefit everyone. But that didn't happen under Bush and it benefited the rich much more than everyone else when they did it under Reagan. Now they are combining that bad theory with cuts in essential services for people who depend on them.

If conservatives get their way only rich people will win, which is redundant because they have already won by being rich. If liberals win the middle class and poor will keep what little they have. And historically, the rich will do just fine under Dems. Sadly the people don't know these facts and therefore vote against their own economic interests.

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