Every Saturday the Wall Street Journal runs an interview or profile of someone in the news on its editorial page. This week pens a piece about Scott Walker, who’s just been elected to another term as governor of Wisconsin, as the WSJ puts it, a conservative Republican in a liberal populist state.
Why has Gov. Walker been so durable in Wisconsin? Including being the only governor in U. S. history to withstand a recall election? I think that one possibility is that many Americans don’t find public employees who earn much more than they do, have incredible job security, and defined benefit pension plans particularly sympathetic. The reality is that everyone who depends on the public purse and there are very many of them these days needs to regulate their demands to what the public is able to pay. As long as wages remain flat and many people’s jobs hang by a thread maintaining a low profile might be a better strategy than trying to mobilize public outcry.
