GOP governors like Scott Walker, Mitch Daniels, and Chris Christie have tasted the ambrosia of winning and the nectar of power. And they want more, lots more. Since these state leaders clinched roll-backs to collective-bargaining rights, they have become markedly more ambitious, almost manically so. Yesterday, Governor Walker signed HB123 into law, obliging all Wisconsin teachers to wear state-sanctioned uniforms. Two days prior, Governor Daniels autographed a piece of legislation limiting teachers’ time in the faculty lounge to fifteen minutes every six hours. As for Christie, his latest budget proposes using teachers’ lunch money to fill the state’s $10 billion budget shortfall. Asked by a reporter why he’s such a big fat meanie, Christie replied, “Joel Klein made me do it.”
“Give a governor an inch…,” by The Associated Steam Press, New Jersey Diamond-Ledger, April 1, 2011.