While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker cruised to victory in Tuesday’s failed recall — a stinging defeat for public employee unions in itself — two lower-profile municipal referenda in California that could slash public sector pensions passed overwhelmingly as well. The confluence suggests 2012 will be marked by fights at both the local, state, and national level over retirement security for public sector workers.

Voters overwhelmingly approved ballot measures in both conservative San Diego and liberal San Jose that seek to close municipal budget gaps by cutting worker pensions — not just pension plans for future workers.

BUSINESS RECORD

 Romney spent most of his business career as CEO of private equity firm Bain Capital – as of June 2007 he maintained an investor’s stake in the company.

 Bain Capital has been criticized for relentless focus on bottom line at expense of workers and jobs.

 Romney describes himself as a “business legend” in his campaign ads and once said of himself: “I’m basicallyin the investor’s Hall of Fame.”

 Bain Capital and Bain & Co. employees donated at least $171,000 to Romney’s presidential campaign in Q12007 and gave tens of thousands more in support of his previous political activities.

 Bain Capital financed 1988 buyout with junk bonds issued by Drexel Burnham – when SEC filed charges against the firm and CEO Michael Milken, Bain Capital maintained their business relationship; Romney laterreminisced about “the glorious days of Drexel Burnham.”

 In 2004, Bain & Co. received a multi-million dollar contract from the National Iranian Oil Company.

 Romney sat on board of directors of Bain portfolio company Damon Clinical Laboratories, which in 1996 was fined over $100 million for Medicare fraud committed during Romney’s tenure.

 Bain Capital owned company named Ampad that purchased an Indiana paper plant, fired its workers and offered to bring them back at drastically reduced salary and benefits – the firings became an issue in the 1994 Senate race when workers blamed Romney for their situation and appeared in Kennedy campaign ads.

 After Romney became governor, Bain Capital teamed up with Chinese appliance maker Haier Group in 2005i n effort to purchase Newton, IA-based Maytag Corp. and send jobs overseas.

 At least two Bain Capital companies – Stream International and Modus Media – focused on outsourced technical support services, expanding facilities abroad while contracting operations in the United States.

 Bain Capital operated steel company called GS Industries which went bankrupt in 2001 after years of laborstrife, closing a plant in Kansas City and laying off over 700 workers.

In response, more than 17,000 people this week put their names on an online petition asking the secretary of state to investigate whether Mitt Romney is a unicorn. Surprisingly, Bennett has not been sniffing around rainbows, nor recruiting maidens with expertise in medieval folklore to crack the unicorn question.