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Once upon a time, you could believe that the Republican party treasured American-style democracy as much as the rest of us do. Not any more -- as Maddow points out, they see democracy as part of the problem.
It seems that Scott Walker is trying to institute the same kind of centralized dictatorship in Wisconsin. And here's an interesting little commentary on the way these things work.
And thanks to the Supreme Court, Inc., major corporations are now perfectly free to buy elections whenever they want.
I used to be able to vote a split ticket with a clear conscience. Not any more, at least not on a national level. I've become very happy to be a native of Illinois -- well, nearly native: I've lived here since I was six months old. Illinois is about the most average state in the union, and happily, wingnuts have a short shelf-life here, if they ever manage to gain any traction at all. (And a thought: don't look for a vote to throw out the Republicans to have any lasting effect if they manage to get their agendas through the state legislatures: as we can see from the Obama administration's reverence for basic civil liberties after the Bush administration tore up the Constitution, once the power is there, whoever's in office is not going to give it up. But I digress.)
Yes, we have a serious budget shortfall, just like everyone else. Our governor took the obvious tack and, in addition to cutting expenses, raised taxes. Not much -- our state income tax rate is actually below average, even with the hike -- but it seems like such an obvious thing to do. Tools like Walker in Wisconsin and Snyder in Michigan would rather sell off public assets to their campaign contributors.
And you wonder why reading the news turns my stomach.
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