In Friday's NY Times, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman opens his own can of whoop-ass on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his sponsors, the Koch brothers, in: "Shock Doctrine, U.S.A."
The Professor begins today's column comparing Madison, Wisconsin 2011 with Baghdad, Iraq 2003, "...when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence."
He notes how, rather than focusing upon the urgent problems facing the Iraqi economy and the society, as a whole, then-American viceroy L. Paul Bremer "... told a Washington Post reporter that one of his top priorities was to “corporatize and privatize state-owned enterprises” — Mr. Bremer’s words, not the reporter’s — and to “wean people from the idea the state supports everything.”
And, he reminds us of how this served as the basis for much of Naomi Klein's powerful book, "Shock Doctrine."
Shock Doctrine, U.S.A.
Paul Krugman
New York Times
February 25, 2011
...Which brings us to Wisconsin 2011, where the shock doctrine is on full display.
In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor’s budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state’s fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions — an offer the governor has rejected.
What’s happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab — an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside...
Krugman points out some of the highlights in the bill, many of which have been noted in other diaries throughout this community over the past few days, including how:
-- the bill allows Walker-appointed officials to make draconian cuts in health coverage for low-income families, outside of the regular legislative process..
-- other provisions in the bill enable the selloff of state-owned utlities on a no-bid basis, for whatever price that's determined "...to be in the best interests of the state."
-- and much more...
Krugman refers to it as "a perfect setup for cronyism and profiteering." He concludes...
Union-busting and privatization remain G.O.P. priorities, and the party will continue its efforts to smuggle those priorities through in the name of balanced budgets.
IMHO, the truth here, however, is a bit different than that which Krugman attempts to portray in black and white terms (i.e.: Democrat vs. Republican).
Union-busting is, truly, a long-established plank of the traditional GOP platform.
However, as I've noted in posts as recently as earlier today and on February 4th, as well as in many diaries over the past few years, the privatization meme and Wall Street cronyism are as much a part of the real Democratic economic agenda, these days, as they are age-old Republican values, too.
That's bipartisanship which I will never accept.