Walker fever hits the Dems
If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a whirring sound in Wisconsin. That faint hum is the OppositionTron 3000 machine working overtime to manufacture opposition for the state’s Democrats to some of Gov. Scott Walker’s election-year initiatives. These are proposals that, if introduced by a Democratic governor, liberals would swamp social media to support. But the mere idea that they might agree with Scott Walker has Democrats working late into the night in the talking point factory.
They dismiss Walker’s plan to save families money on school supplies as a “gimmick,” despite the fact that regressive sales taxes penalize the poor. At the same time they deride Walker’s $100-a-child tax credit plan as a “bribe,” they complain that the credit isn’t big enough. (On the federal level, Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Michael Bennet of Colorado have proposed increasing the child tax credit. If you hold your breath waiting for Wisconsin Democrats to complain, it would be best to have 911 on speed dial.)
Democrats complain about subsidies given to an international technology giant that plans to invest $10 billion and create tens of thousands of jobs in Wisconsin, knowing full well that a Democratic governor would have done just as much to land Foxconn. They whine about taxpayers supporting a “foreign” corporation, though their words would fit nicely into a campaign advertisement produced by Steve Bannon.
This week, the Legislature’s finance committee took testimony on a Walker proposal to stabilize health insurance markets by subsidizing high-cost health plans created by the poorly named Affordable Care Act. Under Obamacare, high-cost individuals have flooded the program, forcing insurance companies to raise premiums or drop out altogether. In the past year, premiums (not counting federal subsidies) have increased 38%, and several states are down to a single insurer in the plan. In Wisconsin, UnitedHealth and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield have bolted.
Walker’s plan would spend $50 million to hold down Obamacare premiums, in the hopes of securing another $150 million match from the federal government. Minnesota, Oregon and Alaska have created such “reinsurance” funds, with other states looking to do the same.
With a plan all set to improve Obamacare and lower insurance premiums all over the state, Democrats immediately praised Scott Walker, voting for his bill and issuing press releases giving Republicans credit for moving so quickly.
Except, given that it’s an election year, the exact opposite happened.
Democrats on the committee harangued witnesses as if they were on trial for stealing horses.
And of course, Democrats used the tactic of trying to amend the bill to their liking, making it seem as if a bill to provide affordable health insurance is actually denying people health insurance. Taylor offered a change that would have provided a “public option” through the BadgerCare program, trying to sneak in the left’s dream of budget-busting universal health care through an amendment. Naturally, Republicans voted the proposal down.
No one denies that many of Walker’s proposals are meant to reassure voters in 2018. But Democrats are inventing new contortions to pretend they oppose the plans.
Christian Schneider is a Journal Sentinel columnist and blogger.