Not Even Close

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has easily survived a recall vote today that was instigated by President Barack Obama's political operatives and his radical Democratic supporters who favor socialized government. Democrats have been plotting for the past year how to overturn Walker's narrow election win over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in 2010. Walker inherited a more than one billion dollar deficit, which he has managed to turn into a small surplus after slashing government spending, in part, by breaking the lock public employee unions had over state government through a series of collective bargaining reforms that restore the balance of power to the people's elected representatives to control government spending. It's the type of reforms required of government at all levels, particularly at the federal level where government workers are now paid substantially more than their counterparts in the private sector and are provided overly generous pension and health care benefits not enjoyed by private sector workers. With nearly two-thirds of the votes counted, Walker led Barrett with 58% of the vote. The Republicans also won all four state senate districts subject to today's recall election, allowing Walker's party to maintain narrow control of that legislative body.

Democrats had been counting on taking over Wisconsin state government in a lead-up to this November's election to stir enthusiasm for Obama's re-election, which has faded with the worst economic record of any president in modern American history. Obama began distancing himself from the recall election as polls showed support moving in favor of Gov. Walker. Not surprisingly, the White House line tonight is that the results of the Wisconsin recall election mean nothing for November. "A race where one side is outspending the other by a ratio of at least 8 to 1 probably won't tell us much about a future race," press secretary Jay Carney said. Carney's suggestion that the Democrats were outspent is baloney. Big labor, the Democratic Party and their major benefactor, George Soros, have poured unprecedented sums of money into this recall effort and have nothing to show for it. Wisconsin's voters get it. Their neighbors to the south in Illinois could take a cue from Walker. Until the Democrats who control the Land of Lincoln recognize that they must undertake fundamental reforms opposed by their key constituencies, the state will never balance its budget and will soon be forced into bankruptcy when it can no longer afford the cost of borrowing more money.