Politicians should heed Wisconsin results

What happened in Wisconsin this past week could have huge ramifications for Alaska. Other than Michigan there is no other state in the union were Big Labor has more of a stranglehold on politicians than in Alaska.

The mainstream media will tell you Big Oil runs the state. But reality paints a different picture.

If Big Oil is in charge, how is it we have some of the highest oil and gas taxes on the planet? And how is it we’ve adopted policies (AGIA, ACES) that are designed specifically to punish the Big Oil producers? If Big Oil executives are running Alaska and controlling our politicians, they are taking the concept of self-loathing to a whole new level.

If you care about reality, results and the facts you can plainly see, Big Labor, not Big Oil, runs these parts. Our mix of high taxes and big spending is the exact agenda Big Labor has been on the front lines pushing for years. And they are winning big in Alaska.

Remember all those ads promoting our current oil tax structure? Who paid for those ads? Big Labor. Who has gotten their way for six years running now? Big Labor.

It’s easy to understand why Big Labor wants to bloat our state budget with higher taxes leading to more state spending. The bigger state government, the more state employees. The more state employees, the more cash flows to the accounts of Big Labor. It’s not complicated.

And remember, most public employees are forced to give Big Labor cash just to work. Since we are not a right-to-work state, if you want to work you have to pay Big Labor. No pay, no work.

What does Big Labor do with all that money? They buy more sympathetic politicians that continue to grow government and keep taxes high, resulting in the hiring of more union workers. And round and round it goes.

It’s all legal, of course, but it stinks.

How will what happened in Wisconsin impact Alaska? In a word, courage. Most Alaska politicians are terrified of taking on Big Labor. That’s why we haven’t seen a significant cut in the state’s operating budget in decades.

Most Alaska politicians know that if Big Labor puts a bull’s-eye on your back, a storm is coming, a hurricane of political ads paid for by Big Labor painting you as anti-education, anti-poor, anti everything.

Hopefully, our governor and legislators will take courage from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. When Walker fought to take away the collective-bargaining rights for most public workers, the writing was on the wall. He’s through, but he proved that putting your political career on the line is not only worth it, he can survive it.

Take heart, Sean Parnell. Take heart, Alaska Legislature.

Let’s be clear. Just because Governor Walker survived his David versus Goliath battle, there’s no guarantee Alaska leaders would. With the Anchorage Daily News and other media outlets joining arm-in-arm with Big Labor, there’s a good chance Mr. Parnell and those lawmakers fighting with him wouldn’t survive.

But try they must. We can’t continue to close our state to new investment and spend like there is no tomorrow. It’s not sustainable. It’s suicide. It’s gutless.

Our governor and legislature must do two things to save our state. First, pass right-to-work legislation ending legalized extortion. Forcing people to give cash to a politically connected organization (Big Labor) just so they can work is the very definition of extortion.

Secondly, we have to take away collective-bargaining rights from public employees. You say that’s radical? Franklin Delano Roosevelt opposed giving collective-bargaining rights to public employees.

Roosevelt, far from a conservative, realized decades ago that giving government employees — public servants — the opportunity to bargain collectively would bring disastrous consequences. He was right, and it has.

This is a fight that will be won in Alaska, and each and every state, only when governors find courage — the type of courage Walker showed.

How big was what happened in Wisconsin last week? What could it lead to?

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch put it in perfect perspective on the night of the election. She said, “Years from now they will say the campaign to save America began tonight.”

Let’s hope so.

Dan Fagan hosts The Dan Fagan Show, televised statewide from 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays on Fox-4 KTBY, and streamed globally on the Dan Fagan Show Facebook page. Contact him at faganreport@me.com.