Wisconsin Governor Fooled in Prank Phone Call

In this week’s Porkopolis column, Kevin Osborne writes about the coordinated effort by newly elected Tea Party-backed Republican governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Ohio’s John Kasich to use the looming budget crises as a reason take away labor unions’ ability to collectively bargain, with the ultimate goal of busting unions altogether.

It’s just another example of Big Business’ effort to squeeze the middle class even further and generate every last penny of profit it can muster.

Osborne writes about the real proponents (by way of large campaign contributions to many of the governors in question) behind this coordinated union-busting strategy: “As first revealed by Mother Jones magazine, the anti-union efforts are being bankrolled by the notorious Koch brothers, the real-world equivalent of Lex Luthor. The billionaire brothers, David and Charles, control Koch Industries, an energy conglomerate that is the second-largest privately owned company in the United States.”

A muckraking Web site called the Buffalo Beast all but confirmed Walker’s blind allegiance to the Kochs, as the site’s editor Ian Murphy posed as David Koch and was able to trick the embattled Wisconsin governor in an extended phone conversation that touched on a variety of Tea Party-friendly topics. The apparently clueless Walker admitted in the call that he talks about the coordinated union-busting effort with other governors, including Kasich. “I talk to John (Kasich) every day,” Walker said.

Here’s parts one and two of the 20-minute conversation.

How the damning call will impact the situation in Wisconsin — and ultimately every state dealing with the union-busting issue — remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: The American public should know the real reason/people behind these assaults on unions.