Journalist John Nichols gave a passionate speech at the Wisconsin AFL-CIO convention condemning the policies of Governor Walker.
Nichols noted the many ways in which Scott Walker has decimated our great state. “When you lie to the people of a state, when you tell them that you will not attack unions, when you tell them you want the economy to grow and be healthy and you adopt different policies, eventually people wake up to the lie and they reject the liar.”
Nichols took the crowd through Walker's decision to attack unions and rob public employees of their collective bargaining rights. He continued outlining Walker's attacks on public education and his record billion dollar cuts to Wisconsin's education system. He described Walker's attacks on public services, failed austerity policies and how they have hurt Wisconsin workers. Nichols also ripped Walker for placing "his own political ambitions above the ethics of Wisconsin," calling Scott Walker a “career politician who has no interest in governing and every interest in his next political race.”
Nichols reminisced about the hope he felt while watching the Act 10 protests and the strength of the movement it generated. He rallied union members about the importance of getting out the vote in November so Wisconsin can "end a period of failure and return to a period of solidarity and a period of economic and social justice."