A G.O.P. Cri de Coeur, Deconstructed

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/opinion/a-gop-cri-de-coeur-deconstructed.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Republicans Must Stand Strong” (Op-Ed, March 4):

Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin, advocates returning authority to the states but doesn’t mention how his administration has moved to remove authority from people at the local level.

Laws restrict local control over everything from a plastic-bag ban to teachers’ salaries and benefits. As an example, cities can no longer pass a paid sick leave ordinance.

He is simply advocating a power grab by the state, rather than real power to the people.

KAREN HESTER, MADISON, WIS.

To the Editor:

If Gov. Scott Walker disagrees with the policy goals of protesters and wants to govern otherwise, that’s fair. But he implies that protesting is itself the problem.

He writes that disagreements amount to “intimidation.” Sure, a minority of protesters use bully tactics, but most expressions are well within the bounds of good judgment. If he disagrees with their ideas, that’s fine, but he must not imply that expressing them in protest is a problem.

JOHN CHANGBAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH.

To the Editor:

It does not take major smarts to detect a pattern in Gov. Scott Walker’s article: “As someone who has confronted … I have a simple message … I told my fellow Republicans … I personally made the case … I decided to take the high road … Take my battle with Washington … As I never tire of telling crowds …”

Yes, the ego has many faces, not all of them framed by yellow hair. One is worn by Gov. Scott Walker, the survivor of a recall effort in Wisconsin and the second candidate to withdraw from the Republican presidential primary.

But when he denigrates the unions and the “enormous size of the federal government” and speaks of getting taxpayers “more of their money,” the taxpayers in question usually stand ready to turn education, immigration, incarceration, environment and the arts over to Bigly Business.

Sad!

JANET BURROWAYLAKE GENEVA, WIS.

To the Editor:

Gov. Scott Walker tells fellow conservatives to stand strong against the liberal defense of the “enormous size of the federal government.” That liberals want big government is a tired old lie. Liberals want effective government. The federal government acts to ensure that all citizens enjoy labor and voting rights, public health, clean air and so on.

Removing the protections of the federal government means that powerful entities can more easily have their way in states that don’t act to protect citizens.

Justice is what liberals want, and they work to preserve federal authority so that states cannot become dominated by powerful interests, to whom Governor Walker has shown his primary allegiance.

RICK REIBSTEIN, LEXINGTON, MASS.

The writer is a lecturer in environmental law and policy at Boston University and the Harvard Extension School.

To the Editor:

Republicans fundamentally do not understand that having 50 different sets of laws, one for each state, does not work in 2017. People no longer stay in their small communities for life, and, moreover, we are all affected by what happens in other parts of the country and the world.

Nonetheless, given the Trump administration, I have found some comfort in the rights of my state, and I am thankful every day that I live in New York.

ELLYN S. ROTH, NEW YORK