The New Regime Asserts Power Against Its Citizens

30-year Middle Eastern dictator and strongman Hosni Mubarak has finally officially stepped down as leader of Egypt, to the roaring approval of crowds:

What will ultimately become of Egypt, politically, is still up in the air, but it's clear that this is a resounding victory for the protesters in Tahrir Square. What is amazing is that Mubarak did not actively put down the protests using the considerable police or military power at his disposal.

MidWest dictator and strongman--sorry, governor--Scott Walker of Wisconsin, flexing his newly-acquired power, is moving to bust the state's public employee unions, and is threatening to use the National Guard if necessary:

Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he wants to end collective bargaining for nearly all public employees because the state is broke and there’s no point negotiating with the unions when there is nothing to offer.

. . .

Walker, a Republican who took office in January, argued that his proposal is an alternative to ordering furlough days and laying off 12,000 state and local public employees over the next two years to balance a $3.6 billion budget shortfall.

. . .

Walker wants to remove all collective bargaining rights, except for salary, for roughly 175,000 public employees starting July 1. Any requests for a salary increase higher than the consumer price index would have to be approved by referendum.

Starting April 1, Walker wants to force state employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their salaries to cover pension costs and more than double their health insurance contributions. That would generate $30 million this fiscal year. Currently, most public workers don’t contribute anything to their pensions.

Walker said Friday that he updated emergency plans and alerted the National Guard just in case they are needed to ensure state services aren’t interrupted.

"To ensure state services aren't interrupted?" Give me a break. This is a threat of power against 175,000 public servants to take what is essentially a stiff tax hike (relating to the amounts they would be required to pay to cover pension costs) and like it without any form of public protest. Clearly the kind of display of power Mubarak eschewed.

Then again, Walker is just beginning his 30-year reign as dictator and strongman. Give him time.