Cheese headed unions
Public employees protested hard, loud, and ugly in the Wisconsin State Capitol this week. Many of them teachers who called in sick. State Democrats just picked up and left the state. All this to stop legislation that would limit collective bargaining rights for unionized public employees. Governor Scott Walker has to address a $3.6 billion state shortfall before the state becomes insolvent and no one gets paid. The Republican governor decided to cut an expenditure, which, after some post-protest concessions, essentially just curbs state pensions. He can do that or raise taxes on the majority of Wisconsinites who pay for their own pensions. Which would you do?
Most modern day American labor protests are inordinate. If you don’t like what someone pays you, then spend your lunch breaks and weekends for the next 6 months looking for another job or developing another skill, and move on. I know it’s not that simple, but neither is appeasing every citizen in a bad economy. Unions create this fabricated class warfare plight of the working man. The U.S. is a wealthy country, where people protest to save their $400,000 homes. It’s not like the Middle East where people protest to save their lives. Unions were created at a time when they were needed, like the early 1900’s when 8 year-old children were working in sausage factories. Now there are laws in place to protect workers from real exploitation.
These particular Wisconsin protests are even more disreputable because of the content of their dissent. Protestors are actually comparing their hardships to those in the Middle East, and Walker to Mubarak. Making comparisons like that brings attention, but no respect. Mubarak is a dictator who suppressed opposition and stole from his people. Walker is an elected state governor taking measured action against a debt crisis. These people are exactly what is wrong with America. They use terms like Hitler and racist and the rich like a pre-teen who calls her dad a “dictator” for not letting her stay out past midnight. It is time for the Democrats to return to Madison. And it is time for the public employees to get back to work, and start paying into their own pensions like everyone else.
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70,000 Wisconsinites say you’re wrong, Bob. That’s how many peacefully protested in Madison Saturday: Teachers, firefighters, nurses, social workers, police and even including a handful of Green Bay Packers. In a crowd that size, you’ll always get a few odd-balls with inappropriate signs.
The fight in my State of Wisconsin isn’t about the state deficit. In fact, we faced an even larger deficit 2 years ago and found a solution that included significant negotiated pay cuts for public employees.
The Republican governor and the legislature have created a budget crisis as a justification for unilaterally changing the law forbidding some organizations from collectively negotiating.
But maybe you didn’t know that there are four unions that would be exempt from the proposed changes – the only four unions that endorsed Walker, and who, by-the-way, have the largest pay/benefit packages.
And maybe you didn’t know that the Republican governor and legislature recently passed business tax cuts that took the current budget from black to red in order to create an exploitable crisis.
And maybe you didn’t know that Governor Walker has made no effort to negotiate or ask for concessions, even though the unions have ceded to all the pay and benefits demands — except the hard won right to collectively bargain.
And maybe you didn’t know that the Republican governor and legislature have attempted to rush this proposal through in only days and without allowing the normal process for input from the public nor from Democrats.
This is about punishing a political constituency that didn’t support a politician and not about trying to solve a budget issue.
What you see is a politician beholden to a few special interests, willing to trade away the rights of hard working public employees in Wisconsin for a chance to make national headlines and become the latest tea-party darling.
1.1 million Wisconsinites say you’re wrong. Those are the voters that elected Walker, who ran on a cut taxes, cut state employee benefits platform.
And maybe you don’t know there’s a different segue than “maybe you didn’t know.” All jesting aside, I respect your conviction, but I disagree.
I’ve read there were indeed concessions. And the political process being rushed seems to be an opinion more than a fact. But nothing you say about the other unions having exemptions and taxcuts changes the fact that unions are bankrupting states all across the U.S., all becaues some people feel entitled to what others do not get.
Bob: I was offering you the benefit of the doubt by use of the “maybe you didn’t know.” I was right, however that you don’t know much about Wisconsin, or else you’d know that a majority of Wisconsinites have expressed opposition to the Republican’s plan, in recent polling. And you probably aren’t aware that Walker did not in fact campaign on removing collective bargaining rights, nor about defunding BadgerCare (Wisconsin’s low income health insurance program), nor about breaking up the University of Wisconsin system. But all that, and more, was secreted into his legislation and except for the brave action of 14 State Senators to deprive the Senate from a quorum, it would have been rammed through without proper public hearings, and without debate by minority legislators. That’s certainly not the Democracy i learned about in 4th grade.
And to put our nation’s economic problems onto the backs of the 15 million union workers in the US who nurse us, teach us, build our cars, roads, buildings and houses, who put out our house-fires and who keep our neighborhoods safe is both ignorant and obscene. But hey, if the rich-elite got guys like you doing their dirty work for them, getting the middle-class to fight against the middle-class, fighting for the crumbs that remain after we’re all working for minimum wages, well, then that just means they have more time to enjoy their yachts and island getaways. Nice work.
You question whether the political process is being rushed. If the process weren’t being rushed by the Republicans, maybe there would be some other recourse for Democratic senators than leaving the state to prevent a quorum.
My Wisconsin state senator has my full support for leaving the state. He’s doing his job of representing me and the majority of his constituents, who disagree with the Governor’s bill and the Republicans’ imperious approach to passing it.
In order to rush this bill through, Republicans have taken unprecedented actions this week, ignoring longstanding traditions of the Legislature and even its rules.
On Friday, for example, Assembly Republicans convened and took three votes on the bill without a single Democrat in the Assembly chamber, before the 5 p.m. start time announced for the session. After Democrats denounced the votes as illegal, Republicans backed down.
See the WisconsinEye raw footage of the controversial vote here:
http://www.wiseye.org/Programming/VideoArchive/EventDetail.aspx?evhdid=3759
Click on the “Watch” button for “Assembly Floor Session (Part 4).” Then watch as Republicans begin voting several minutes before the session had been scheduled to start.
If this is a reasonable and necessary bill, why would it have to be passed this way? The process shouldn’t be rushed, and especially not in violation of Legislative rules and traditions, not to mention civility and decency.
Republicans have the votes to pass the bill, if they so choose. If the bill stands up to scrutiny, that will still be true next week and next month. They are in the majority in both houses. There’s no need to force this bill through before its impacts are assessed and understood.
At the same time, the citizens of Wisconsin have the right to register our dissent. And Wisconsin Democratic legislators have the obligation, in whatever ways are left to them, to do their jobs representing us.