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Thursday, February 17, 2011

What the Hell is Going on in Wisconsin?



"Miss Graves can't hold her class today, kids. She is in Madison occupying the state capitol."

What a joke!

The state of Wisconsin is broke. The governor tries to get the teachers union members to increase their contributions (from nothing) to pay for their health care and pensions, and what happens? The teachers leave their jobs and mob the state capital with signs depicting Governor Scott Walker as Hitler or Mussolini. Naturally, the union thugs are turning out in support.

And the Democrats in the state capital? They run off and hide in Illinois rather than vote on a budget bill.

I am a teacher. I say to the teachers of Wisconsin-get your butts back in the classroom, you slugs!

Wisconsin is just another state that is going broke due to the out-of-control spending of the Democrats. It is also just another state that has been held hostage to the public sector unions. California and New Jersey are having the same problems.

And in Washington, President Obama says Wisconsin is declaring war on unions. Well, they should.

It all comes down to this folks. You do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. That's it. The state of Wisconsin cannot continue to pay for the teachers unions. If you are a public sector teacher, don't you think the taxpayers have a right to have some say on your pay and benefits? Or is it for them to simply shut up and pay more and more and more?

"Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do pay and die."

-Charge of the Light Brigade

No wonder they call them Cheeseheads.

(I can't wait to hear from my co-respondent, Siarlys. He's a union guy in Wisconsin.)

5 comments:

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Here I am Gary. I could call you a senile, ignorant ideologue, but that might make me look rude, however accurate your spluttering makes such observations appear.

As usual the media are missing what is really going on. The issue bringing people out into the streets is not dithering over pay cuts or increases, nor how much share of cost workers should pay.

The issue creating a furor is that Walker has proposed to repeal laws of thirty years or more standing and revoke any collective bargaining at all for any state employees. He exempted police and fire, but they were brave and honorable enough to say they can't simply accept what is being proposed as to their fellow union members in other fields of public service.

Scott Walker spent eight years as Milwaukee County Executive, having all his budgets and proposals massively reworked by the county board, and 76% of his vetoes over-ridden. Now he's feeling his oats, having bounced to the state level and come in with a majority of his own party. He's on a tear. He may have alienated enough of his own party so he won't quite get all of his agenda passed.

He is a psychopath, who had always been opposed to education, public transit, and any protection for employees. His notion of how to "create jobs" is to offer workers for sale at the lowest wage, without any safety or health protection, or benefits. He has sown the wind, and he is reaping the whirlwind.

It is time, as my friend in SEIU says, to "walk like an Egyptian."

Miggie said...

More financial support for Democratic candidates = more Democratic legislative support for unions = more legislative support for unions = more pay and benefits to union members = more money in union dues = more financial support for Democratic candidates.

It's familiar circle of benefits. The only flaw being who pays for the higher pay and benefits for the union members?

The taxpayers, of course, until they can't take it anymore and move out or they vote the Democrats out or the State goes broke.

The Democratic Party is composed of a compilation of special interest groups: unions, trial lawyers, women (primarily single), blacks, Jews (incomprehensibly), Gays, etc. Each of them with their own agenda but supporting the others unless and until there is a priority conflict.

The Republican Party on the other hand is composed of those who believe in certain principles regarding what is good for all Americans: Smaller government, lower taxes, stronger military, higher morals, more freedom, less regulation.

Good luck to Wisconsin. The Piper now wants to be paid.
.

Findalis said...

It is more like the unions have declared war on Wisconsin.

BTW, I thought teachers were paid by their local school districts not the state, or is it different in Wisconsin?

Gary Fouse said...

Gylminichen,

My ass is back in the classrrom. I never left it. I do what I am paid top do and I give my students what they pay for-unlike those slugs in Wisconsin.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

The Republican Party is a cabal of sleazy businessmen who look at government two ways:

1) How do we get rich off of government contracts, credits, and subsidies?

2) How do we keep our taxes low?

The combination is mathematically unsustainable, but as long as they can snooker a larger number of homeowners into thinking this platform can deliver something for nothing, it can sometimes win elections. The result is the ballooning national debt, evern since 1981 when Ronald Reagan came in to "prove that deficits don't matter."

There is plenty of room to improve private sector wages and benefits too. There is no reason the public sector should be way out in front. Allocate a larger portion of private sector net revenues to wage workers, take back the tax cuts businesses have been gorging on at public expense, and we can balance the public budget. Why?

1) Working families will be making enough money to afford to pay some taxes.

2) Less need for welfare, unemployment, and the various credits by which government tries to equalize things.

3) Those who have been getting a free ride will be paying their fair share of the budget.

Findalis, teachers, as public employees, are governed by the same collective bargaining statute as other public workers. This is about whether there will be collective bargaining at all, not about what the wage and benefit levels will be.