Wisconsin sends the nation a message

Earlier this year, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said to his state’s public unions, “I am going to take control of this budget.” And come hell or high water, he did.

What ensued was an epic battle. Walker was subjected to a rare recall election after he took on his state’s public unions and their collective bargaining capabilities. In February, a bitter political standoff pitted Walker and Republican lawmakers against the unions, after Walker proposed a bill that increased union workers’ health care and pension costs and cut their collective bargaining rights for future contract negotiations.

The bill, which passed in the state legislature, was a monumental initiative that will help Wisconsin balance its budget, which, like many others across the country, is in the red. However, union delegates denounced it as an “attack on working families and a violation of open meeting requirements.” They began a grass-roots campaign to remove Walker from office.

Last Tuesday, the battle came to a head, and Walker was resoundingly victorious. He should be congratulated, applauded and celebrated.

Public sentiment is changing, friends.

My good friend, the great columnist Peggy Noonan, wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “The vote was a blow to the power and prestige not only of the unions but of the blue-state budgetary model, which for two generations has been: Public-employee unions with their manpower, money and clout, get what they want. If you move against them, you will be crushed.”

This is no longer the case, and Walker proved it by decisively winning his recall election by seven percentage points.

Local governments are stifled and the economy is showing little signs of improvement. Taxpayers are beginning to wonder why they should foot the bill for a public employee to retire with full health care benefits and pension when the state is bankrupt and they can’t even afford their own health care and retirement costs.

I hope this message is heard loud and clear in New York state — particularly in Nassau County. In 2012, pensions will cost Nassau $160 million, health care another $277 million. These numbers are staggering.