The conservative Wisconsin State Journal is again trying to alert fellow Republicans something is dangerously wrong at the Capitol. While Republicans vilified Madison for forcing liberalism on everyone else, ramming conservatism down our throats is A-Okay? Didn’t think so.
The line that stood out for me is this breathtaking rightwing authoritarian philosophical statement:
Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield: “There are certain values that the state upholds. If the values aren’t consistent at the local level, there is an opportunity for the state to come in and say these are our principles and they are good.”
Gulp! Sound frighteningly familiar? Sounds a lot like what we heard from so many despotic foreign leaders.
Since consolidating control of state government in 2011, Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature have enacted a series of laws that upend a bedrock of their party’s conservatism: the principle of local control. The GOP has wrested from local government’s control of cellphone tower siting, shoreland zoning restrictions, landlord-tenant regulations, public employee residency requirements, family medical leave rules for private companies and large soft drink bans, among other things. It instituted a statewide voucher program opposed by many school boards and has kept tight property tax caps on school districts and municipalities. The latest and perhaps most disconcerting example for many local officials is a bill introduced by Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, that would limit a municipality’s ability to regulate certain aspects of frac sand mining operations, such as blasting, damage to highways, and air and water quality.
“Many (municipal leaders) will tell you how terrible it is and how it’s the worst they’ve ever seen,” said Dan Thompson, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.
But of course denial helps Republicans disconnect from their own hypocrisy:
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said “legislators always take into account local feedback when developing bills,” including specific bill language. “The concerns of municipalities are carefully considered…
When Republicans are whining about there being too much local control, well…..
Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said other changes, such as ending residency requirements and the soft drink provision, are meant to protect individual freedoms, Evenson said.
Nice to know our state GOP is protecting our freedom to shop:
Republicans have long promoted themselves as the party of decentralized government and local control. UW-Madison political science professor emeritus Dennis Dresang. “But boy, recently, that’s really going out the door. What we see from the tea party types and the radical right types is, ‘I’ve got an idea, I’ve got an agenda, and it really ought to apply across the board.”
How do Republicans rationalize their authoritarian behavior?
Republicans … say many of the recent moves to limit local control derive from a different party plank than local control — deregulation.
If you want to know what the guiding philosophy of our rightwing authoritarian one party government is right now, Rep. Dale Kooyenga made it perfectly clear:
“There are certain values that the state upholds. If the values aren’t consistent at the local level, there is an opportunity for the state to come in and say these are our principles and they are good.”
“Rightwing Authoritarian” is a term defined in this recent blog post. Check it out.
Republican Rep. Dale Kooyenga: “There are certain values that the state upholds. If the values aren’t consistent at the local level, there is an opportunity for the state to come in and say these are our principles and they are good.”
