Walker's opponents insist the remarks undermine the Republican governor's long-held claim that the polarizing law he and the GOP-led Legislature pushed through stripping most public workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights was meant solely as a budget-balancing measure. They also say the comments signal Walker ultimately means to go after private sector unions by making Wisconsin a right-to-work state, which would allow workers to not pay dues even if they are covered by a union contract.
Walker, who faces a recall election next month largely because of anger over the collective bargaining law, made the remarks in January 2011 in response to a question from one of his top donors, Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks. She asked Walker if he could make Wisconsin a "completely red state, and work on these unions, and become a right-to-work" state.
"Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill," Walker responded. "The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. So for us the base we've got for that is the fact that we've got – budgetarily we can't afford not to. If we have collective bargaining agreements in place, there's no way not only the state but local governments can balance things out."
Tom Barrett, the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee who lost to Walker in the 2010 election and who is running against him again in a June 5 recall election, has been accusing Walker of secretly wanting to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state. Barrett told reporters at a news conference in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb, that Walker's remarks on the newly-released video left him flabbergasted.
"It is so clear whose side he is on. He's not on the side of the working people of this state. He's not on the side of the middle class. He's trying to curry favor with his masters who are in the right wing of the Republican Party," Barrett said. "Now is the moment of truth. Now he's going to have to say whether or not he would veto a right-to-work bill if it hit his desk."
Walker co-sponsored right-to-work legislation in 1993 as a freshman in the state Assembly, but he has declined to say whether he would sign or veto a right-to-work bill if the Legislature passed one. Right-to-work supporters believe it would give more freedom to workers and make it more attractive for companies to invest and hire employees. Opponents say it undermines unions and doesn't help the economy.
The Walker footage was first reported late Thursday by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Walker's campaign spokeswoman, Ciara Matthews, declined to discuss the what Walker may have meant by his "divide and conquer" remark during a phone interview Friday with The Associated Press. Matthews did release a statement earlier in the day saying Walker "has made clear repeatedly that he does not have an interest in pushing right-to-work legislation."
Walker faced a $3.6 billion budget deficit when he took office in January 2011. Despite widespread skepticism, he has maintained since unveiling his "budget repair bill" that February that the collective bargaining restrictions written into the bill were needed to give the state and local governments the flexibility to confront looming budget cuts.
Filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein captured the footage while shooting "As Goes Janesville," a documentary on the city of Janesville's efforts to create jobs after a General Motors plant in town closed. The conversation took place at the Beloit headquarters of ABC Supply, the roofing wholesaler and siding distributor Hendricks co-founded.
Lichtenstein has worked for Democratic campaigns and donated to Barrett, but he said the timing of the clip's release wasn't linked to the recall. He said he planned to release snippets of the film only after he completed it and showed it to the people it follows most closely and finished those screenings last month.
"It's absolutely not a political attack. This is 28 seconds in a 10-minute trailer in a 90-minute film," he said. The documentary is expected to be shown at film festivals and on PBS stations this fall.
The video makes for interesting campaign fodder, but it's unlikely it will sway many voters. After a year and a half of recall talk, most people have already made up their minds about whether they support or oppose Walker.
Original Article
Source: Huff
Author: TODD RICHMOND
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