LETTER: Bizarre world of Wisconsin politics

To the Telegram:

Reading “Walker’s doing what public wants” in the Superior Telegram on May 23, was just one more reminder that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and, how the political views of another often seem to be coming straight from the Bizzaro world, at least in respect to any process of logic that might have been used to form them.

A case in point is the letter’s last sentence, which reads, “Not everyone has collective bargaining rights and security, but, everyone does have the right to deserve their fair pay.”

The writer should realize before the advent of unions and collective bargaining, workers had essentially no power at all to advocate for, or secure any fair pay for their ranks. As human greed would have it, employers could hire and fire at will, even in cases where an employee dared to bring up a basic issue like having a safe working environment.

In short, the “boss,” could easily crush any dissent from concerned and “uppity” employees, for any reason at all.

Before the letter writer grants Walker hero status, I hope she is aware that the mining bill for northern Wisconsin was not killed for the “sole reason of avoiding possible pollution to the environment.” Legislators like Sen. Robert Jauch and Sen. Dale Shultz — a Republican — merely wanted assurance that all environmental threats and negative impact on the area as a result of mining would be fully considered. In reality, it was the mining company that became frustrated because it could not have what it wanted, when it wanted it, and decided to pick up its marbles and storm off without making any reasonable concessions.

Actually Democrat and Republican senators are continuing to seek ways to bring mining interests into the area, because all of them, of course, favor creating jobs. These senators, including Shultz, should be commended for having the guts to proceed with caution, and considering that most citizens in the area favored looking before they leaped by making an adequate environmental evaluation.

No, we don’t need to remove every industrial job in Wisconsin. We just need to give proper caution and consideration to the possible consequences of a massive industrial project like the one proposed before we blindly accept it. Similarly, we need to speculate on how a disaster like that of the BP Horizon deep sea oil rig, could have been minimized or outright prevented, if we had insisted the company follow proper safety precautions and safeguards in the gulf, rather than ignoring those precautions in favor of making quick money?

When it comes to large business ventures, Walker has proven far too eager to ignore safety, especially as it concerns gargantuan companies like those run by the Koch brothers. He is not on the side of working families, nor does he really consider what is best for Wisconsin. We have already paid quite a cost because he insists on “balancing” the budget by throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Peter W. Johnson,

Superior

Tags: opinion, letters