Letter: Harsdorf, her party: Many troubling, unanswered questions

When Harsdorf tells her supporters that protesters are concerned only with their paychecks, she pits neighbor against neighbor. While neighbors bicker, she remains silent regarding the drastic changes to our state that she supports.

Her constituents want to know:

--Why didn’t the Legislative Fiscal Bureau find the state was facing a “fiscal emergency” in its Jan. 31, 2011, report?

-- Why are we relaxing environmental regulations and giving tax breaks to rich corporations?

--The Economic Policy Institute finds that Wisconsin public employees are undercompensated (by 4.8%) compared with those in the private sector. Why do our elected representatives say public employees are overpaid? (Aren’t corporations overpaid?) Why are public employees blamed for a bad economy caused by decisions made on Wall Street?

--Why are our legislators discussing “fiscal stress tests?” (When will Wisconsin take over its first town?)

--Why are we cutting programs low-income families depend upon?

--How will our public schools survive massive budget cuts?

--Why is Walker speaking at a School Choice conference sponsored by the American Federation for Children (AFC)? Why are we using tax dollars to send higher-income kids to charter and private schools? Why does Walker want to exempt voucher students from the statewide tests public school students must take (and by which public schools are judged)?

Harsdorf knows that her constituents have many concerns. She’s received their e-mails.

If she believes that hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets in protest only because of union agitators, she is a fool.

If she wants to wag her finger at union support for the protests, she must explain why the AFC (an out-of-state organization) is fighting her recall.

She must explain why she speaks at rallies organized by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.

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