Editor’s note: This commentary is by Paula Schramm, of Enosburg Falls, who is retired and likes to visit the Statehouse to support things like universal health care.
[W]hat’s up with the Vermont Republicans? For their big annual fundraising bash on May 30 (VIP meeting opportunity for $1,000, and $125 for dinner only), they have chosen, of all people, the notorious former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker for their speaker. What do they hope to learn from this arrogant Trumpish-clone?
Can it be how to turn a deaf ear to what the people of your state want until they are forced, in frustration, to mount a recall effort to get rid of you? Or perhaps better yet, how to prevail over them by supplicating billionaire donor Koch brothers to pour millions into saving your skin, and how to successfully toady to uber-rich fossil fuel magnates so that they will fund your campaign to get elected in the first place. (Hint: Be willing to wreck the environment for profit even if it threatens the health of residents, challenge regulations on carbon emissions, and end the development of renewable energy.)
It makes me sad and alarmed to think that maybe our Vermont Republicans want to hear how to do union-busting legislation, deny collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, pass anti-consumer bills, purge thousands from their state’s health insurance program, cut programs that provide care for the elderly and people with disabilities, make it harder for workers to qualify for unemployment compensation, oppose equal pay for women, and oppose a woman’s right to choose, even in the case of rape and incest.
That’s not all: He can school them in attacking LGBTQ rights, legislating voter suppression, and in particular, how to discriminate on the basis of race. There’s even more: They can learn how to make the largest K-12 education cuts in the country, turn around to privatize education with public funds, slash hundred of millions from public universities, increase tuition, but block any increase of financial aid.
If these aren’t the reasons they invited Walker, maybe they want his advice on opposing immigration reform, questioning even legal immigration, and on having a wall on our northern border. They may not need to hear his Trumpian foreign policy dictums, but is it possible they want to know how to cut the budget to put working veterans in jeopardy?
The saddest part of choosing this sorry excuse for a Republican as speaker, is that state Republicans have revealed that the proud tradition of the respected “moderate Vermont Republican” is actually a myth that is no longer reality. Gov. Phil Scott has tried to put the onus on the state party for making this choice, but all he will say about Scott Walker is that he’s “engaging” and has “an interesting story.” However, Gov. Scott is the one who is showing up to schmooze with Walker and lend this event credibility with his presence. His mask of “moderate Republican” is slipping a little bit here, and that’s really sad.
