Backwards Badgers

The state of Wisconsin, where the Republican party was founded in 1854, is abut to come under control of that very same party. A PBS NewsHour report last night highlighted the success of the GOP in the Badger State, in which the Republicans won the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat, control of both houses of the legislature, and a larger share of the state's U.S. House delegation. Now the incoming state legislature is looking to negate and challenge many provisions in the federal health care law and make severe cuts to the state Medicaid program. Wisconsin's new Republican legislative majorities want to put more people at the mercy of the free-market insurance system as well as toughen requirements for state services.

In the state that gave America Robert LaFollette and William Proxmire, two progressive heroes, an ill conservative wind is blowing like so many winter gusts off Lake Michigan. As for the new incoming governor, Scott Walker - already charting a right-wing course with his decision to refuse federal stimulus money for high-speed rail - he has advocated cuts in Medicaid but refuses to say just exactly what sort of cuts he'll pursue when he takes office in January.

Somehow, the state's motto, "Forward," seems sadly out of date. :-(