I find it very interesting in a sort of detached way (because I don't benefit whether the unions in Wisconsin win or lose or the governor prevails).
What are we talking about here? The people who fund the pensions through contributions AND taxes have agreed to all demands from the gov except one and that is collective bargaining. The Governor is unwilling to concede that point and the question is why? I don't have the numbers to figure out how much the of the state employees taxes also go toward their pensions but I would be interested to find out. To say that the private citizen is supporting the public workers pension is not entirely accurate but that is a minor point.
Why won't the Governor concede that one point about collective bargaining? Obviously in this current climate it means nothing as the unions rolled over pretty damn quickly.
It seems to me it's political grandstanding. He wants to be known as the tough guy, the guy who balanced the budget. However, as some have pointed out the budget was actually OK until he handed out some favors to his buddies. Again, a minor point in the great scheme of things. He is going to make this situation as bad as it can get to make his name synonymous with fiscal conservative and strong leader. He is looking to run for bigger office.
.
The only thing that will change that scenario is if the unions stand together and shut Wisconsin down.
If they want the script tell them to look at what Maggie Thatcher did to the coal miners in the UK.
If he actually gave a damn for the people of Wisconsin this would be over and done with already and the collective bargaining thing could be whittled away over the next couple of years.
Update: I guess the Gov is showing his true colors. He wants a fight. He wants to be divisive. He wants publicity. When you get to the point of name calling those who disagree with you lose credibility.
http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/01/6165227-wisconsin-st-senator-calls-protesters-slobs
What are we talking about here? The people who fund the pensions through contributions AND taxes have agreed to all demands from the gov except one and that is collective bargaining. The Governor is unwilling to concede that point and the question is why? I don't have the numbers to figure out how much the of the state employees taxes also go toward their pensions but I would be interested to find out. To say that the private citizen is supporting the public workers pension is not entirely accurate but that is a minor point.
Why won't the Governor concede that one point about collective bargaining? Obviously in this current climate it means nothing as the unions rolled over pretty damn quickly.
It seems to me it's political grandstanding. He wants to be known as the tough guy, the guy who balanced the budget. However, as some have pointed out the budget was actually OK until he handed out some favors to his buddies. Again, a minor point in the great scheme of things. He is going to make this situation as bad as it can get to make his name synonymous with fiscal conservative and strong leader. He is looking to run for bigger office.
.
The only thing that will change that scenario is if the unions stand together and shut Wisconsin down.
If they want the script tell them to look at what Maggie Thatcher did to the coal miners in the UK.
If he actually gave a damn for the people of Wisconsin this would be over and done with already and the collective bargaining thing could be whittled away over the next couple of years.
Update: I guess the Gov is showing his true colors. He wants a fight. He wants to be divisive. He wants publicity. When you get to the point of name calling those who disagree with you lose credibility.
http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/01/6165227-wisconsin-st-senator-calls-protesters-slobs
10 comments:
Interestingly enough, the prank phone call to the Gov by someone posing as one of the Koch brothers sheds a lot of light on things.
Call me radical, but this type of thing (opposing the right to collectively bargain) is downright unAmerican.
It need to be vigorously opposed.
We are damn well near being an oligarchy ALREADY.
If the Teachers etc of Wisconsin want to get any traction here they need to call the Gov out. Ask him if he has ambitions for higher office. Clue the public in that this is just dirty politics. Shift the onus on the gov to defend himself.
Change the argument in other words.
I generally agree with most things you say, but you should do your homework on this one. The budget was not ok and this has been proven by the most Liberal paper in Wisconsin. The "Favor" you do refer to was done to bring business back to WI that have been fleeing for the last 8 years. We have lost thousands of jobs due to business leaving the state because of unfair liable lawsuits, tax codes (double taxation), increased insurance requirements to allow bigger lawsuits and dozens of other "bullshit" items. In addition, collective bargaining forces every school distict to purchase its health insurance from WEA Trust, which by the way is owned by the Union and cost the taxpayers 68 million more a year than the comparable plan other state workers are on. Do you see anything wrong with that? Public workers are also forced to pay union dues regardless if they want to join or not. Why should someone be forced to join a UNION that does not stand for what the believe in and supports politicians that he/she doesn't support. The Union is afraid that if the employee's are given a choice of paying dues or not, that many if not most will decide against it. You are right, this is about power. The power of the private citizens of WI who are fed up of the overspending, political favors given to Unions who supported a candidate, the insane benefit packages (entitlements) that no private employed citizen ever dream of, but most of all it is about taking our state back. We have spoken and put a true patriot in office to do our bidding. The people of WI fully support the path we are headed down. Either the Democrats come back to the Senate floor and let democracy have it's day to keep all the employees or Gov. Walker will be forced to lay off 1000's of public employee's who have not done anything wrong. We have an immediate buget problem this fiscal year to the tune of $137 million dollars. Roughly $37 million is solved by the items asked for of the Union. The other $100 million is going to be solved by refinancing current debt. WE CANNOT KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD ANYMORE. We have a structural problem in this state and the country that needs to be dealt with immediately. I would think that you would be well aware of this. Even FDR said that Public Unions would never work. How can a Politician bargian in good faith (for the good of the citizens of his state or even on the federal level) with a Union that helped put him in office. It can't be done and WI is living proof of this. We have laws on our books that protect our civil employees and guarantee certian rights. This is our tipping point and future of WI citizens, children and grandchildren require that we take our state back and get our fiscal house in order. Wake up and look at the whole picture!
Cris,
You are a radical :)
Sorry couldn't resist.
JC,
My point is not whether the budget is balanced or not. Not whether it was in good shape before or after the new gov. I considered those minor issues. The here and now is what matters.
My point (which I guess I didn't make successfully) is simply the unions caved on everything that matters to a fiscal conservative.
As I said the collective bargaining thing can be beaten into submission in the coming years.
The only thing that should matter to a fiscal conservative is the money. It's the only thing that matters to me. After that we are talking politics.
So what are we fighting about that matters at this point?
JC,
I don't mean to dismiss what you are saying as regards the budget and the will of the people.
However, is there a state in the nation that is not truly screwed and in need of a bailout eventually?
The whole damn country is a mess. Partisan politics only makes the situation worse.
Just MHO but we are played against each other endlessly to the point we are just part of a flea circus to those who think they know better.
I guess since I am from WI and see firsthand what collective bargaining has done to the state, it has become a big issue to us fiscal conservatives here in WI. Our budget is roughly 67% employee related. We cannot possible address our problems now or in the future without addressing this right off the bat. We live in a "Tax Hell" here and if we don't become more competitive and attractive to employers, we are basically fu-barded. This requires more than balancing a budget, it requires taking all step necessary to reduce the size of our budget. Sorry if I sound a little excited, but years of outright theft, destructive policies and laws will get a person's blood pressure up pretty quickly.
I agree that we have been played for years, but I can't lose some hope that a new breed of politicians can give us some hope.
I hear ya. Every single time I am disappointed with what what we elect.
Wisconsin is not unique. I live in a state that requires a cop to stand around guarding every hole that's dug on the public roads. They are considerate enough to do this great service on overtime rates.
We can't place the blame on just the Unions. The people we elect have allowed this to spin out of control. We have politicians collecting multiple pensions. On and on it goes. Top down clean house is what is required.
I think that is why I get excited when you have a politician that willing to take back all those past bad policies and not afraid of the backlash that is about to be handed to him or her. Gov. Walker gave back a large portion of his salary every year when he was County Executive. He wasn't afraid to say we all needed to give back to make a better state and lead by example.
Post a Comment