A Dane County judge issued an injunction barring Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker from axing 100 county workers jobs right before Christmas.

Walker claimed that the actions of the county board which funded the employee positions for only the first three months of 2007 would create a budgetary deficit.  Therefore, Walker opined, he needed to cut the jobs now.

Walker claimed that the unions failure to waive lucrative pension benefits as well as their refusal to chip in for their own health care costs forced his hand and that's why he's making the cuts.  Mark this day down on your calendars because I may never say it again.

Walker may be, at least partially, right on this specific issue.

AFSCME union boss Rich Abelson claimed he knew the lucrative pension benefits would hurt the county and yet he kept his insight away from County Supervisors and from the County Executive at the time the package was passed.  If Abelson knew these would cause problems then they were ill-gotten gains and they need to be rescinded.  The only way to rescind them is for the union to sign off on their elimination, at least for all future employees.

The problem is not with the union rank and file — the problem is specifically Abelson.  Most employees as well as most unions understand that you do not bite the hand that feeds you but Abelson will keep his job even as over 100 employees will eventually hit the bricks.

Some employees are doing the smart thing by retiring if they are eligible but most are not eligible to retire.

Walker is not blameless for the county woes.  He has pursued a policy of virtually freezing taxes for the last 4 years.  This has resulted in failing infrastructure and structural deficits for nearly every budget he has crafted.  Pursuing a Grover Norquist "starve the beast" approach to governing, Walker has effectively destroyed much of the infrastructure in Milwaukee County.  Redeveloping it will cost much more than it would have cost to maintain it.

In his attempt to deflect blame, Walker read this statement:

"It is my responsibility as the county executive to administer a balanced budget for the county. In response to that duty, my administration took action to ensure that the 2007 budget is balanced. That action hit a snag today that will cost the county an additional $250,000 in 2007. In the end, I am confident that the county will prevail, but regardless, we will meet our duty to balance the budget."

It's about time that Walker realizes he has a responsibility to balance the budget but why hasn't he done it before?

But Walker's statement may have some truth — the county will prevail and those workers will lose their jobs.  Why won't Abelson come to the table and show a willingness to give up ill-gotten gains in exchange for being able to save as many jobs as he can?  It's too bad that Abelson's own salary isn't reflected in the smaller amount of employees that will have their union jobs.