robin hood, where are you?

This makes me so angry. Gov. Scott Walker's budget, which yanks the rug out from under working people and public services, is about to become law. The budget is a moral document. Or rather, this budget is an immoral document. I'm not surprised we have come to this point, but I am incredibly discouraged. My oldest child is entering kindergarten this fall. With $1 billion cut from public schools, what lies ahead for him? And for his sister, who will follow just a couple years later? With $1 million cut from Planned Parenthood, what will happen to thousands of women across the state who depend on Planned Parenthood for reproductive health services and cancer screenings? What will happen to the families who depend on BadgerCare and Medicaid for essential health care and, in the case of several families I am acquainted with, autism therapy? With weakened environmental regulations, what will happen to our forests and lakes and wild spaces? Without unions to stand up for public workers, who will?

I am angry, I am discouraged, I am outraged, but like I've said before, I am not giving up hope. A friend recently reminded me of a quote by the late historian Howard Zinn, whose book A People's History of the United States I've been reading since the start of anti-Walker protests this winter: Note that throughout history people have felt powerless before authority, but that at certain times these powerless people, by organizing, acting, risking, persisting, have created enough power to change the world around them, even if a little.

It is simply unacceptable to take away from the poor and the middle class to increase corporate wealth. Call it balancing the budget, call it "flexibility in local governments", call it a business-friendly climate, call it what you want. I call it robbing from the poor to give to the rich. We need a Robin Hood.