Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is in trouble in his re-election campaign, so he's going back to a strategy that's served him well: divide and conquer. Walker's new plan involves targeting some of Wisconsin's most vulnerable by requiring drug tests for unemployment insurance and food stamp applicants, while using the fact that that's illegal to pick a fight with the federal government:
Few details were included on the new proposals, but advocates for the needy said the drug testing proposal for jobless and food stamp benefits would violate federal law — a complication that killed a similar proposal promoted by Republican lawmakers in 2011. Walker himself acknowledged the potential for conflict but said the move was still right for the state.
"We believe that there will potentially be a fight with the federal government and in court. ... Our goal here is not to make it harder to get government assistance; it's to make it easier to get a job," Walker said.
This is an obvious campaign ploy. Walker is offering the Republican base two distinct kinds of catnip: anti-poor people catnip and anti-federal government catnip. His actual drug-testing plan would be unlikely to hold up in federal court and even if it did, the experience of states that have implemented similar plans suggests that just a tiny percentage of applicants for aid would test negative. That means that either the state would
waste a lot of money on negative drug tests or force people having trouble putting food on the table to pay for their own drug tests.
In other words, what Walker is proposing is terrible policy on practical, moral, and legal grounds. But this is the kind of stuff Republicans love because they hate poor people and the federal government, so for a cynical, amoral governor facing a tough battle for re-election, it's a great move. Of course, Wisconsin voters might want to think twice about doing anything that will make it more difficult for themselves to get unemployment insurance if they fall prey to the lousy job creation numbers Walker has put up during his first term.
Make Scott Walker pay for his divide-and-conquer tactics. Please give $3 to Mary Burke.