Kelda Stands Up to Walker's Bullying

Wisconsin's Democratic state legislators continue rise to occasion and stand up to Walker's increasingly blatant bullying.

For Immediate Release February 23, 2011 Contact:

(608) 266-5340

Rep. Roys Response to Gov. Walker’s Phone Call with Billionaire Koch Impersonator

MADISON – Rep. Kelda Helen Roys issued the following statement regarding Governor Walker’s conversation with a prank caller posing as David Koch, one of the billionaire GOP financier brothers who contributed heavily to Walker’s campaign:

“I am aghast at Governor Walker’s shocking statement that he plans to layoff five to six-thousand workers as a means to extort democratically elected representatives and consolidate his political power.

“While I have deep ideological differences with the Governor, my jaw fell open upon hearing him openly admit that his plan to destroy the lives and financial security of thousands of Wisconsin families was simply to blackmail the legislature to pass his radical attack on workers’ rights.

“We knew Walker’s scheme had nothing to do with the state’s budget situation. Yet to hear him brag to his billionaire backer about using these hardworking families as his political pawns – dehumanizing them – while publicly sermonizing about job creation and corporate tax loopholes, shows a lack of integrity beyond my comprehension.”

Media outlets today reported that Gov. Walker made the following statement to a journalist he believed was ultraconservative billionaire contributor David Koch:

“So we’re trying about four or five different angles. Each day we crank up a little bit more pressure. The other thing is I’ve got layoff notices ready, we put out the at-risk notices, we’ll announce Thursday, they’ll go out early next week and we’ll probably get five to six thousand state workers will get at-risk notices for layoffs. We might ratchet that up a little bit too.”

See full transcript at http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/116751499.html.

The Cheddar Republic

Tonight in his so-called fireside chat (FDR he ain't!), Scott Walker threatened "dire consequences" if his pet Union-busting, BadgerCare-gutting, power-plant-give-away bill doesn't pass.

The missing Senate Democrats must know that their failure to come to work will lead to dire consequences very soon. Failure to act on this budget repair bill means (at least) 15 hundred state employees will be laid off before the end of June. If there is no agreement by July 1st, another 5-6 thousand state workers -- as well as 5-6 thousand local government employees would be also laid off.

Really, is there no end to this bully's blustering?

State Representative Kelda Helen Roys responds (in her Facebook status) to Walker's threats:

I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED. I will continue standing up for the rights of my constituents and all Wisconsinites - for workers' rights, the right of peaceable assembly, the right to participate in our democracy. If Gov. Walker wants to try to extort freely elected representatives of a co-equal branch of government, he should go to a banana republic. We in the cheddar republic will not stand for it.

I think it's safe to say that many Wisconsinites didn't realize just how draconian a governor Walker would be. I think it's also safe to say that many of us didn't realize just how awesome some of Wisconsin's state legislators are.