ON WISCONSIN – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  June 5th will be the next big political day for us.  It is the day of the Wisconsin recall election, when Wisconsin's marginally sane left will attempt to remove Governor Scott Walker from office and replace him with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. 

And the left isn't really pleased with Barrett.  The true leftist candidate was rejected by primary voters, so the left will reluctantly go with the Milwaukee mayor.  Anyone but Walker.

And yet, as the Washington Free Beacon points out, Walker has done a spectacular job as governor, writing a record of accomplishment that should make him an easy pick for re-election:

Wisconsin has pulled back from the brink of fiscal insolvency after Governor Scott Walker’s collective bargaining and budget reforms, despite doomsday warnings of fiscal disaster.

Neighboring Illinois, whose Democratic governor opted for tax hikes, has not fared as well.

Wisconsin voters appear happy with Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin’s economic resurgence. Gov. Walker got 626,538 votes in his May 8 uncontested recall primary, more than the two main Democratic candidates combined.

That total is also more than all the GOP candidates combined in the contested 2010 GOP primary, as well as the highest voter turnout for a gubernatorial primary in 60 years.

Unemployment has dropped from 7.7 percent to 6.8 percent since Walker took office. Unemployment in neighboring Illinois, however, only dropped below 9 percent in March—the first time it has done so in two years.

Wisconsin property taxes have fallen for the first time in 12 years. The state’s adult debt per capita is roughly $687. Illinois’ is about $853.

COMMENT:  And yet, there is a recall election, which itself will cost Wisconsin taxpayers about $16-million.  Polls show, despite the turnout in the May 8th primaries, that the election will be close.  I hope not.  I hope Walker wins comfortably.

The recall has been pushed by public-service unions, which, I hasten to add, are very different from unions in private industry.  (I am a union member, Writer's Guild of America, AFL/CIO.)  Public-service unions have always been controversial.  FDR opposed them, although he was pro-union.  Indeed, some early labor leaders opposed them.  And today, even Democratic officeholders have had to confront outrageous union demands.   When public-service unions are involved, the public becomes "management."  Included in that "management" are many union members.  It's a very strange situation.

We'll see on June 5th just how powerful the public-service unions are in Wisconsin.

May 11, 2012