Scott Walker's empty gesture

Milwaukee County Exec Scott Walker tries to get some political benefit out of the passing of Rosa Parks, announcing that he will honor her by putting a sticker on the front seat of every county transit bus today, the day she is buried.

"This seat is dedicated to Rosa Parks," the stickers will say.

I suspect that Rosa Parks would prefer some other action from Scott Walker to pay tribute to her -- something less symbolic and more real.

For starters, Walker could quit jacking up bus fares for people who rely on the bus as their primary means of transporation. He proposed a 23% fare hike for regular riders in this year's budget, following fare increases and route cuts last year.

Under Walker the bus system, once one of the nation's best, will soon be in a death spiral. Higher fares and fewer routes result in lower ridership, which become the justification for more service cuts and fare hikes.

Rosa Parks would not be pleased with Scott Walker's moves to make it harder for the working poor to get to their jobs.

Nor would she be pleased with Walker's efforts to make it harder for minorities and the poor to vote, by proposing a series of "reforms" intended to keep them away from the polls.

In light of those actions, Walker's gesture of putting a few stickers on some bus seats for a day rings hollow. Rosa Parks would tell him that, if she could.