The recall effort against Mr. Walker was framed as a working-class rebellion, a broad pushback against those who seek to shrink the middle class so that the rich could enjoy even greater affluence. Mr. Walker was portrayed as a tool of scheming capitalists intent on destroying the benefits of public employees because the wealthy deserve lower taxes.

Of course, nearly everything Mr. Walker’s opponents said was wrong. And voters clearly agreed. Mr. Walker won more than 53 percent of the vote despite his opposition’s slanders and the efforts of public employee unions from around the nation, who apparently felt they had a duty to interfere in Wisconsin politics.

Mr. Walker’s victory is a victory for all public officials, Democrat, Republican or independent, who understand that public employee benefits are strangling state and local economies around the nation. Mr. Walker inspired the hatred of unions and their sympathizers simply because he demanded fiscal sanity at a time when his state was staring at a deficit of nearly $4 billion, with no relief in sight.

Public employees in Wisconsin—a state that prides itself on its progressive traditions—paid nothing into their pension system when Mr. Walker took office, and paid only about 6 percent of their health-care costs. Mr. Walker supported reforms that required public employees to pay about 6 percent of their pension costs and about 12 percent of their health insurance. That saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $700 million.

These are precisely the kinds of reforms that have been put in place in many states, including New York and New Jersey, over the last few years. More reforms must come, but at this point, any reform is a relief.

Public employee unions have manipulated the political process to win sweetheart deals from legislators and governors. Their benefits have little to do with equity and lots to do with pure politics. But the game is up: Even private-sector unions are getting behind groups demanding reforms. The private-sector unions recognize that their brothers and sisters are bankrupting local governments, with terrible consequences.

Mr. Walker personifies a new kind of political courage: The courage to say, “enough.” Voters rewarded that courage in his recall election. And voters elsewhere are making it clear that they, too, have had it with public employee unions. Last week voters in San Diego and San Jose approved ballot measures that cut pension benefits for municipal workers—not just future workers, but for current workers, as well. Here in New York, concessions on benefits generally apply only to future workers. But that too must change.

Police officers and firefighters in San Jose were eligible to retire after 30 years of service with pensions equivalent to 90 percent of their working salaries. Luckily New York has never negotiated such a terrible deal with its public employee unions. Nevertheless, New York City has seen its annual spending on pensions grow from $1.5 billion to $8 billion in the last decade. That has to stop.

Scott Walker is not just a local hero. He is a national leader on an issue that is about to explode in every state and in every city across the nation.

Gabrielle Giffords (Getty Images)

Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt that took 6 lives and injured 12 others, has decided to step down from the House. While Giffords's recovery from her injuries was remarkable, there have been questions all along as to whether she would be able to return to her position. In an affecting video posted Sunday on Youtube, Giffords gave a brief statement thanking her constituents and explaining her decision:


Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Steps Down from Congress - YouTube.

A transcript of Giffords's statement was posted along with the video:

Arizona is my home, always will be. A lot has happened over the past year. We cannot change that. But I know on the issues we fought for we can change things for the better. Jobs, border security, veterans. We can do so much more by working together. I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice. Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. I have more work to do on my recovery so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week. I'm getting better. Every day, my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country. Thank you very much.

"Jewish Donors Warn Obama on Israel," said The Wall Street Journal. "Obama's Jewish Backers on Edge Over His Mideast Peace Plan," proclaimed the Los Angeles Times.

The denunciations were swift and final. President Obama, it seemed, had made a fundamental error in calling for Israel to return to its 1967 borders, with land swaps. Donors, according to the new narrative, would soon be switching their allegiances to the G.O.P.

But conversations with nearly a dozen of the top Jewish fund-raisers in New York reveal a much different reality, as rainmakers say they continue to back the president they overwhelmingly supported three years ago.

"This is nonsense," said David Pollak, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party. "I think anyone who would not give money to Barack Obama because of remarks he made the other day wasn't giving money to him in 2008."

Last August, hedge-fund manager and Obama megabundler Daniel Loeb sent a kiss-off letter to his friends in financial services, expressing his sense of being betrayed by the administration and comparing the treatment they were getting to that of a battered wife. Mr. Loeb's sentiment was echoed by several Wall Street Democrats and taken as proof that the financial industry was turning its back on the party.

A similar letter from a major Jewish donor was feared to be forthcoming. But so far, only Haim Saban, the billionaire entertainment executive, has publicly declared that he was finished donating to the president. There was just one problem, though: Mr. Saban was a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton and had never given money to Mr. Obama. Furthermore, Mr. Saban pledged to keep supporting down-ticket Democrats.

Mr. Obama's New York supporters said most of these accounts rely disproportionately on voices like that of Mr. Saban, or, more often, the heads of major national Jewish organizations, who have long been lukewarm about Mr. Obama.

"You've got all the professional Jews who are mouthpieces and speak for themselves. They don't like Obama," said one real-estate executive who has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democrats. "There are people who talk to the press all day long, and they probably didn't support Obama last time."

The stakes are high for the Obama campaign. According to some estimates, nearly 60 percent of the money raised by the Democratic National Committee is donated by Jews, and any drop in support for the president's re-election could endanger the campaign's ambitious goal of raising $1 billion.

Earlier this week, a few dozen members of Obama's regional finance committee met with Jim Messina, the campaign manager for the Obama 2012 effort. According to one bundler present, they discussed how Obama can win, even if the economy remains in the tank, and how the campaign can attract the smaller, grass-roots donors. The topic of Israel didn't come up once.

"You have concerns among Democratic supporters of Obama, but they are concerns among friends," said Robert Zimmerman, a prominent fund-raiser. "And there is no trust or confidence in the Republicans."

Jewish fund-raisers say that they fear for Israel's future too, but continue to support the president, mainly because his Middle East speech didn't contain anything Mr. Obama hadn't already articulated. Plus, they point out, Israel is just one issue among several, and Mr. Obama remains more palatable than any of his opponents on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the environment and preserving what remains of the social safety net.

"I have friends who are concerned, who wish Obama hadn't said that," said one bundler. "But at the end of the day, are they going to support Mitt Romney? I don't think so."

If they run into resistance from Jewish donors, bundlers said that they will lay out the many reasons they continue to support the president--reminding any reluctant supporters that Mr. Obama's speech only repeated the peace plan that has been accepted doctrine going back to George H.W. Bush, and that it's supported by Hillary Clinton, who remains a trusted figure in the Jewish community. And they will point to Mr. Obama's well-received address at AIPAC as proof that most Jews line up solidly behind the president, despite what the press might say.

The fund-raising has been a bit slow in the early going, according to several fund-raisers, but is expected to pick up once there's a real Republican opponent to contrast with the current president.

"The message is going to be simple, whether you are a Jewish donor, a black donor, a Hispanic donor, whatever," said one fund-raiser. "Re-elect Obama or this country is screwed."

dfreedlander@observer.com

Police confiscated the substance, which later tested positive for marijuana, and Stanley quickly resigned.

"Marcus Stanley is no longer with this office," Boxer spokesman Zachary Coile told POLITICO. "He submitted his resignation, and Sen. Boxer accepted it because his actions yesterday were wrong and unacceptable.

That's the end of what has been a 3-year career for Stanley on Capitol Hill.

It could have been worse--Politico notes that a previous Boxer staffer, Jeffrey Rosato, was arrested for receiving and distributing child porn in 2008.

[Politico]