LETTER: One-party rule has retarded progress, sowed divisiveness

To Ozaukee Press:

A letter to the editor in last week’s Ozaukee Press, titled “Democrats would kill reforms, take state back to bad old days,” from a fellow Plymouthite made me gasp.

The author wrote about “not paying attention to political events” and “the corrupt shenanigans of politicians and lobbyists.”

I have been paying attention. 

The shenanigans during the past eight years under one-party rule in Wisconsin need fixing.

The writer praised the “good times that have come,” but the good times are not enjoyed by all.

A deep worldwide recession had governments bringing people together to deal with revenue shortfalls.

But not Wisconsin, which was slow to recover because of “deforms” enacted by a one-party government, along with a divide-and-conquer style of governance and an our-way-or-the-highway style of legislating.

The letter described a government “friendly to business” that is “getting people to work in record numbers.”

But where is the balance?

Is the government being friendly to workers with efforts to ensure jobs that provide for a living-wage, comprehensive benefits, pension plans leading to a secure retirement future and a voice for employees in their working conditions?

Is it friendly to women and their rights, to the environment, to our hard-working public employees?

Democrats are not advocating reversing all reforms.

They just want to fix the “deforms” that were not common sense actions and were not for the good of all citizens.
Pay attention to candidates running against the one-party-rule incumbents. 

Learn about a progressive platform and what will be done to move all Wisconsinites forward.

Tony Evers said, “Return Wisconsin to a place where we treat each other with respect and dignity, where we stop pitting Wisconsinites against each other, and we actually talk and listen to each other, not insult or demean our opponents.”

John Binder
Plymouth