gops take aim at their real target:
unions

wisconsin

The Bill: Gov. Scott Walker's proposal would prohibit collective bargaining by public sector workers for issues beyond wages, limit raises to a certain level without approval by public referendum, exempt employees from paying union dues and require unions to hold annual votes on whether they should remain in existence. Less controversial are calls for public workers to contribute more to their pension plans and pay higher health insurance premiums.

The Governor: Mr. Walker, a Republican, was elected in 2010 with 52 percent of the vote, replacing a Democrat.

The Legislature: Republicans hold majorities in both houses, but Senate Democrats have left the state to block a quorum and prevent a vote on the measure.

Projected Deficit: $3.6 billion over two years

Public Sector: 12.2 percent of state work force

indiana

The Bills: Democrats are protesting several bills put forward by Republican legislators, including measures that would prohibit making union membership a prerequisite for employment in the private sector and banning collective bargaining by public workers.

The Governor: Mitch Daniels, a Republican elected to a second term in 2008, has urged his party to abandon the union membership measure. He is not running for re-election, but he is considering a presidential bid.

The Legislature: Republicans hold majorities in both houses, but Democrats fled the capital to avoid the two-thirds attendance needed for a quorum in the House.

Projected Deficit: Estimates range from $300 million to $1.3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.

Public Sector: 11.5 percent of state work force

ohio

The Bill: Senate Bill 5 would effectively end collective bargaining for state workers and allow hiring alternate workers during a strike. It would end binding arbitration, an option favored by the police and firemen, who are not allowed to strike.

The Governor: John Kasich, a Republican, defeated Ted Strickland, the Democratic incumbent, in 2010 with 49 percent of the vote.

The Legislature: Republicans hold majorities in both houses, and the Democratic minorities are too small to withhold a quorum.

Projected Deficit: $8 billion over two years

Public Sector: 12.7 percent of state work force

new jersey

There is, in fact, something astonishing about the ascent of Chris Christie, who is about as slick as sandpaper and who now admits that even he didn’t think he would beat Jon Corzine, the Democrat he unseated in 2009. Some critics have posited that Christie’s success in office represents merely the triumph of self-certainty over complexity, the yearning among voters for leaders who talk bluntly and with conviction. Yet it’s hard to see Christie getting so much traction if he were out there castigating, say, immigrants or Wall Street bankers. What makes Christie compelling to so many people isn’t simply plain talk or swagger, but also the fact that he has found the ideal adversary for this moment of economic vertigo. Ronald Reagan had his “welfare queens,” Rudy Giuliani had his criminals and “squeegee men,” and now Chris Christie has his sprawling and powerful public-sector unions — teachers, cops and firefighters who Christie says are driving up local taxes beyond what the citizenry can afford, while also demanding the kind of lifetime security that most private-sector workers have already lost.

and there's the key, the scapegoat divide-&-conquer wedge issue, framed thus:

you've lost your security,
why should you have to pay
to give them
what you
no longer have?

but maybe that's a good thing, because once we all lose it, we'll have to stop fighting each other and unite to get it back!

then again, when you think of all the vulnerable folk who will slip thru the cracks during the struggle, maybe it would be better to unite now!