Are you paying attention to whatâÄôs happening next door in Wisconsin, my home state? If not, you should be, for what happens in Wisconsin doesnâÄôt necessarily stay there; Gov. Scott WalkerâÄôs attack on collective bargaining and working families will bleed, sooner than later, into other states.

Wisconsin has had to ask itself: Does Walker have the stateâÄôs best interests at heart? If he truly did, why did he give corporations $140 million in tax breaks (worsening the deficit) while threatening massive layoffs? That $140 million would go a long way toward ensuring Wisconsin is thriving and “open for business.”

Walker claims to have received “thousands” of e-mails in support, but these could come from anyone, anywhere. A Virginia-based Tea Party faction organized last weekendâÄôs pro-Walker rally, and the protesters were bused in from other states. They then sang “Sweet Home Alabama” on the CapitolâÄôs lawn. Talk about being out of touch.

Billionaires Charles and David Koch, based in Kansas, poured tons of money into WalkerâÄôs campaign. To my knowledge, neither billionaire has set foot in Wisconsin, but they now have more say than the thousands of hard-working public (and private) employees who call it home.

Since these outsiders donâÄôt have WisconsinâÄôs best interests at heart, who does? Perhaps itâÄôs those who have been there all along: people who work every day toward making my home state a better place. Whether that means teaching our children, taking care of our sick, keeping our roads safe or running a business, we are all âÄî every one of us âÄî Wisconsin.

I want my one-week-old nephew Henry to have the same opportunities I have had, but he may not get that chance if all of these outside players get their way. This is a fight for his future and for our own. As WisconsinâÄôs official motto goes: “forward.”