When the people of my home state elected Scott Walker governor I had hoped for the best. When the Republicans took control of both houses of the legislature I figured, as a lifelong Wisconsin resident, that it couldn't be that bad. After all, Wisconsin has a history of the GOP and Democrats working together for the good of the state. Those hopes were quickly dashed by Scott Walker "dropping the bomb" on the people of Wisconsin.
Over the last couple of years I have thought after every dumb thing the Republican Party did that they could not possibly do anything dumber. The Wisconsin GOP has proven me wrong time and time again. Nothing should shock me at this point.
But, this being Scott Walker's Wisconsin, there is always something around the corner—things that, in the words of the great musical artists C&C Music Factory, make you go hmmmm.
Instead of actually legislating, the GOP here in Wisconsin has been taking their marching orders from conservative talk radio, which as far as I can figure out just pulls the controversy of the week, "BENGHAZI!," out of their collective asses.
First it was the train that was supposed to be the Midwest rail link from Chicago to Minneapolis. We can't have that! The GOP faithful bought into it and killed thousands of jobs. Then the recession was the fault of all of those greedy union thugs, you know the ones, teachers, and other public servants. As we now know that little action sucked the economy in Wisconsin to new lows. Now, I could go on and detail everything the GOP has done to Wisconsin; however, I think most of you know that story.
Which brings me to Thursday, May 9th, 2013. The day after the Wisconsin State Assembly passed AB 110 which when passed by the Senate and signed into law will just be one more hoop for the poor to jump through. For those not familiar with AB 110 it will prevent those on Foodshare, Wisconsin's version of food stamps, from purchasing anything deemed non-nutritious by the state.
On Thursday the 9th the Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee added a provision to the state's biennial budget that states that no Wisconsin city could prohibit the sale of large, sugary drinks as was recently done in New York City. Got that?
Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend), the proposal's sponsor said,
[I] didn't want anyone telling [me I] couldn't order an extra-large popcorn and soda when going out to the movies. I want to make sure I can continue having that experience and don't have government telling me I can't have that experience.
First off, I don't know of anyone who could afford a jumbo drink and popcorn at the movies. Hell, I have to take out a small loan and pay it back over a period of 60 months with a variable interest rate just to go see the trailers at a movie theater.
The party of "local control" has once again taken away more local control. Now I want to point out that Rep. Strachota wants to have her damned double extra large soda when she goes to the movies, her own health be damned; however, let someone on Foodshare purchase a bag of Cheetos for their kid as a treat? Oh, hell no, that just ain't gonna happen because it isn't healthy.
Hmmmm ... all I want to know is what it is like to live in a world like the one Republicans live in—because it sure as hell ain't the same one I live in.