Thanks a million

"Thanks a million," Scott Walker said last week on the phone to a man he thought was billionaire right-wing donor David Koch.

After our campaign ended in November, I hoped that Scott Walker would unite Wisconsinites from across our state to create jobs and fix the budget mess in Madison. Unfortunately he's chosen a path that divides Wisconsin by seeking to strip thousands of teachers, nurses and law enforcement professionals of their collective bargaining rights.

Media reports indicate that Koch and his company — which pushes an extreme agenda that includes climate change denial — was the second-largest contributor to Walker's campaign, having given $43,000 to Walker and $1 million to the Republican Governor's Association to run attack ads.

It's shameful that Scott Walker was willing to talk to one of his biggest campaign contributors, even as he refuses to negotiate and shuts out the voices of teachers, prison guards, nurses and Democratic Senators who are asking him to negotiate.

And while he was talking to the man posing as his big donor, not once did Scott Walker mention what he was doing this to solve a budget problem. Instead Walker described plans to layoff workers to get his way, bragged about his refusal to compromise, and seemed excited about a free trip to California from Koch as his reward.

Walker made it pretty clear: Rather than listen or negotiate, he wants to create some headlines for himself by destroying the collective bargaining rights that middle class workers have had in Wisconsin since 1959.

Now is the time to fight for an agenda that moves us forward together, not for an agenda meant to curry favor with billionaires and special interests.

Please join me in this fight.