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| Brett McMahon |
NewsNM note - (Spence) Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote a talking points memo a few days ago that we find is being used all around the country by progressives. We even heard hints of it from NM Democratic Party Chairman Javier Gonzales on News New Mexico this morning. In the column Reich called what happened in Wisconsin a Coup de Etat. Knowing what a coup is and isn't we found this perfect response by Brett McMahon in Townhall - Merriam-Webster defines “coup d’etat” as: “a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially: the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group.” Most definitions also note the overthrow is accomplished through illegal or unconstitutional means. Forget for the moment the Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state in an effort to monkey wrench the legislative process. Forget the bussed-in union activists and the protesters who occupied the capitol building. Focus instead on the band of Midwestern guerrillas, as Reich must imagine them, who toppled the Wisconsin government. Here are the facts behind that “violent overthrow”:
1) The legislature and Governor of Wisconsin were freely and fairly elected. 2) The legislation was passed within the rules of both bodies of legislature. 3) Only about 5 percent of the state's population is directly affected by the legislation. That percentage is from the U.S. Census Bureau, which listed 284,963 full-time equivalent state and local employees in its most recent 2009 data. The total population of Wisconsin in 2009 was 5,654,774. 4) That minority is paid by the overwhelming majority of the state's population. 5) That minority has accrued significant debt obligations for which the balance of the state's population is directly financially responsible. Wisconsin’s unfunded pension obligations equal a 32 percent share of its GDP. 
6) That financial responsibility is the direct result of the negotiations conducted for the small minority's benefit. 7) Those negotiations were conducted between that minority and prior elected officials. 8) Those prior elected officials received millions of dollars in campaign contributions and “volunteer” work on their behalf from that minority. Unions contributed millions of dollars directly and indirectly to Wisconsin Democrats. The Wisconsin Education Association Council PAC alone spent almost $1.6 million supporting Democrat candidates during the 2010 elections. 9) Those contributions were collected from a small minority by the state as a withholding from their paychecks. 10) Those paychecks are only possible from the taxes extracted from the majority of the population. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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