More than They Bargained For

Starred review from April 15, 2013
Stein and Marley, reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, deliver a swashbuckling tale of Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker's election and tumultuous first year in office. Walker, who was the first Republican to win "in a dozen years," took much of the state by surprise when he introduced "2011 Act 10", a sweeping reform bill designed to slash state spending and remove Union bargaining power for state and local workers. But instead of an expected dry read, the authors' lively, economical prose, supplemented by snippets of social media reporting in real time, place readers in the crowded Capitol building stairwells, or in the midst of Wisconsin's largest sustained demonstration since Viet Nam protests rocked the University of Wisconsin campus. They follow as Democratic members of the Wisconsin senate decamp to Illinois to avoid a controversial and vital vote in the House, recording every detail and using each twist and turn to provide added insight. In a story that rocks with conservative and liberal flip flops, and results in Walker being elected governor "twice in one term," the authors' dedication and drive make this necessary reading on current American politics.

March 15, 2013
An in-depth narrative of the recent battle over the rights and future of Wisconsin's public-employee unions. The 2010 elections put Republicans in control of Wisconsin, a state in severe budgetary crisis. The new governor, Scott Walker, proposed a budget-repair bill that would severely reduce the influence of the state's public-employee unions on state and local budgets, in large part by eliminating their collective bargaining rights. The Republicans' conviction that this assault on union power was necessary to save the state from fiscal ruin, and the Democrats' equally passionate conviction that they would not permit working people to be stripped of hard-won rights, set the stage for a colossal, no-holds-barred confrontation. The Senate's Democrats decamped for Illinois, and in the full glare of international publicity, Wisconsin descended into months of high-stakes legislative maneuvers, litigation, recall elections, and huge, raucous demonstrations inside and outside the state capitol, in the course of which "the institutions of the state...at times seized up and ceased to work," demonstrating "how thin a line could separate a vibrant, respected democracy from illegitimacy and chaos." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Stein and Marley deliver an impressively objective account of the struggle, ably describing the objectives and tactics of each side in a confident and engaging style. At times, however, amid the tussle du jour, readers may lose sight of the parties' larger objectives. This may be the definitive history of exactly what each side did to the other during these momentous months: Portions of the resulting law are still before the courts, and it will be years before a sober evaluation of the effect of the legislation on Wisconsin, its unions and its budgetary processes can be undertaken. The authors wisely do not attempt one. A steady, authoritative account of an intensely emotional public-policy conflict.

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April 1, 2013

Stein and Marley, both reporters who cover the Wisconsin state capital for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, write of intrigue, protests, and ideologues in Governor Scott Walker's 2011 fight to disempower public employee unions in an effort to cut state spending. The plan was controversial even among GOP legislators, and it stirred up massive public protests. At one point, Democratic state senators fled to Illinois in an attempt to prevent passage of the bill, but the GOP outwitted them and passed the bill into law. Embittered union supporters forced recall elections against Walker and several GOP legislators, while state Republicans also directed recall efforts at Democratic senators. In a battle that attracted national attention and millions in out-of-state dollars, Walker survived the recall and remained a star in the conservative firmament. Yet Wisconsinites provided a solid majority for President Obama's reelection bid. VERDICT This book is a political thriller, an activists' handbook (for the Left on how to organize mass protests, and for the Right on how to effectively fight public employee unions), and a work of investigative journalism all rolled into one. Social scientists, political junkies, and anyone interested in public affairs will devour it.--Duncan Stewart, Univ. of Iowa Libs., Iowa City

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