If what we are seeing in Wisconsin this week is any indication of what we can expect on a national level when lawmakers have to make tough cuts to save our economy then we are in serious trouble.
The media and now even Obama himself is trying to frame this is an "assault on unions" or as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has called the plan an "assault" on the middle class. While that is great theater and it goes a long way to help their cause it's just not true.
Governor Walker is doing what he said he would do when he ran for election and people supported him for it. The taxpayers of Wisconsin are tired of footing the bill for these state employees who still get to "bargain" foer what shift they get to work or how much vacation time they get or when they get a salary increase. I only have one thing to say to them on all accounts: welcome to the REAL world.
The LARGE MAJORITY of Americans who are fortunate enough to have a job these days don't get that kind of opportunity. In the real world most of us go in for an interview and we ask those questions about benefits, salary, vacation days etc. Once we get the answers we then have to wait to see if the company would like to make us an offer. If we are fortunate to get an offer then we ACCEPT the provisions that the company laid out for us as a condition of our employment.
Governor Walker is trying to do what NEEDS to be done in order to help the state. He has to think of ALL of the citizens of the state, not just those in the unions. Because of the budget shortfalls that he is now facing he is left with some very hard choices: cuts or layoffs. Perhaps these teachers and state employees would rather be in the unemployment line than a picket line?
The hypocrisy of this whole event is sickening and it just goes to show how threatened the unions are of losing the power and clout that they have amassed over the years. This is not about the kids. This is about them. It's selfish and criminal as far as I'm concerned. If my kids were in these schools I would remove them in a heartbeat and homeschool them.
The media and Obama want us to believe that the "little guy" or the "common man" is getting beat up by the government here. What they don's want to tell you is the the taxpayers of Wisconsin are backing the Governor. They are tired of footing the bill for these excellent and protected benefit and retirement plans while they have to worry about keeping the job they have.
It's bad enough that these idiot teachers are involved in this but for them to take their kids on these "field trips" is shameful. They claim they are teaching the kids about democracy. REALLY? What about the democratic process that got Governor Walker elected in the first place? What about the people who supported him and his vision for the state and put him in office to carry out that vision? This is not democracy this is anarchy.
Then there is the Wisconsin Senate Democrats. What can I say. It doesn't surprise me to see Democratic Senators run away from a fight. After all that is what they are good at. Every one of them should be recalled immediately and thrown out of office. They have embarrassed themselves and they have embarrassed their positions. What would happen if our Congress acted like this and decided they just weren't going to show up one day because they didn't like the legislation that was being proposed? These fools need to get the boot.
The bigger problem we have here though is not Wisconsin. This situation is just a mere microcosm of America at large. If this is what we can expect when Congress begins to cut the spending and the social programs that we need to do away with then we are in big trouble in this country.
It's time for the adults to sit down and hammer this situation out before it's too late. If both sides plan to dig in and not compromise then we are doomed. We have a debt that is growing by approximately $50,000 PER SECOND. If we don't get serious about this and NOW then all of this won't matter in about 5 years. We may as well start learning to speak Chinese and getting used to wearing red from here on out.
We have a window of opportunity here where people who LOVE this country are going to have to put aside their aspirations for office and do what MUST be done. If they can't do that then it's all over. We are dead men walking.
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TruePatriot1
Barbara Joanne
UncleChri
Tommy T
rwnutjob
Caroline K
Salon.com
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I knew it would come sooner or later, and now here it is. Obama and the DNC have put themselves in bed with these union terrorists and will pay with the American voters. These union people have proven themselves to be nothing but irresponsible animals looking to get their way or they will destroy whoever is in their path. Obama and the DNC are now promoting violence and the Wisconsin Democrat cowards that have fled the state and shirked their elected duties to the people; prove how irresponsible and evil liberal progressives have become.
Public employees need to start to pony up and do their fair share for America. Most Americans do not enjoy the obscene pay and benefits these union members get off the backs of American taxpayers. These people can barely even be fired. The teachers union dragging the children into this mess should be charged with child abuse. These teachers should be fired on the spot for lying about calling in sick and attending terrorist activities.
Code Orange Patriots!
Again, for the sake of clarity, Walker cut taxes. This reduced revenue. If this were a fiscal concern, and not ideological he never would have cut corporate taxes.
Your failure to see the Truth is very evident here. It is basically, 'You can't see the forest for the trees'. Cutting corporate taxes gives corporations an incentive to move operations to that state. The people will be the benefactor of that move by being given jobs. Yes, that is right; you will be given the chance to earn your way through life. Going after bloated union benefits also allows the people to be the benefactor of that policy, in lower taxes for the people. Now the people have lower taxes due to lower union benefits, hence more money in their pockets, and the people have many more jobs, hence more money in their pockets.
No one is saying to abolish unions, just abolish union greed. You are constantly attacking corporate greed, yet you do not say anything about union greed. The reason for that is, unions account for a very large sum of donations to Democrat re-election coffers. Thirteen of the fourteen democrat senators, in Wisconsin, have received generous contributions from unions over the years; their cumulative donations range from $5,750 to $113,603. And anything less than, well, fleeing the state in order to prevent Gov. Scott Walker’s public-union-busting bill from passing could threaten those vital cash flows. The unions have Democrats in their pockets, the same way that you say Republicans are in corporate pockets. Bill, you need to call it what it is, and that is hypocrisy. If unions ponied up and helped with the deficit instead of trying to justify themselves, they would be considered more positively in the eyes of Americans. If the unions used their funds, obtained through union worker dues, for the union worker instead of a political party, the unions would be better off financially.
The reason for unions should be about safe working conditions and an honest wage, not an obscene lifelong entitlement.
I knew you would offer that supply side justification as an answer. I almost shot it down in anticipation, but I didn't because I wanted to see if you really would try it. The fact that you attempted it proves one of two things. Either you are being dishonest, which I do not think, or you dont know how budgets work, which I think is the case here.
You theory that he has cut corporate taxes relies on the notion that corporations will move in to take advantage of the new benefit. To do so, they would have to in a given year, because budgets are ANNUAL. States have budget amendments that dont allow deficit spending. So if your theory were correct, he would be doing so on a hope, and the hope would have to materialize in a given budget year to balance to a specific sum. Budgets do not work that way, Tommy. Just like you cant go to a bank and try to get a loan for a Ferrari by saying that you hope to make 1 million dollars next year.
There are no forests or trees Tommy, only a budget. You have further proved my point by ruling out yours. It is not possible for Governor Walker to have attempted to balance his state's budget on the hope that some corporation would come in and bring a specific amount of revenue within the next budget year. You are completely refuted. Nice try though.
Remember Gordon Gekko? You free-marketeers love to quote his "greed is good" mantra. It's very simple, Tommy, if you think "greed" drives the market, then it drives the market. You cant select for whom greed is "good", and for whom it is not. That is regulation. Market decisions, which is the only market force that marketeers accept, accept greed as the driving force all across the spectrum.
Personally, I oppose market ideology. This is a good example of one reason why. "Greed" has to be balanced by a sensible plan. Your own statement about "union greed" acknowledges that. You can't have to both ways, Tommy, try as you might.
BB rejects market ideology. Why? Because he knows that he doesn't have the goods to survive, much less prevail in it.
I reject all ideology, not just market ideology. I reject market ideology because it is a bad way to solve complex problems. I wont presume to speak for you, Gordon. You're easily refuted with facts, and I have too much dignity to lie in the manner you prefer so frequently.
It was Tommy's "forest for the trees" comment that was condescending. I was not remotely condescending to him. Neither your comment nor Tommy's attempted to understand what a budget actually does. So you follow with an ad hominem. Gordon, you are beyond disappointing.
In addition, Wisconsin is one of 41 states where public employees earn higher average pay and benefits than private workers in the same state, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
And THAT my friends is why the unions don't want to lose collective bargaining. They have better pay, better healthcare and better retirement benefits (courtesy of the taxpayers of Wisconsin) than most of their counterparts in the private sector.
Even though they have agreed to some of the concessions and are willing to contribute more for their benefits from now on (how big of them) they refuse to budge on the collective bargaining chip. Primarily because they know that the dirty little secret is as long as they have that power they can once again get back to the level of contribution that they have now. They are willing to lose the battle so that they can win the war.
Gov Walker has sent layoff notices to the public state employee union leaders and the rubber is going to meet the road very soon.
Look, anyone that has ever been in the military will tell you what a crock most of the news is. When I was in the Marine Corps I could not believe my ears as to what the press was saying about what was really happening, it was almost all lies!
This was a real eye opener for me. I live in WI and those tax cuts you talk about Bill, have NO bearing on this years budget as they do not go into effect until next year, try checking your facts next time.
Also the union violence thing is easy to see on Youtube, and allot of businesses in WI are calling the local radio stations about Union morons trashing their houses, trying to blackmail them and their business into supporting the Unions .
The Unions had their day when they were really needed, but now they are nothing more than a political group that take their members money so they can live high on the hog and give little to nothing back in return for the money.
NEA leader 397,721 in salary and benefits!
UFCW leader 360,737 in salary and benefits!
AFSCME leader 479,328!
AFT leader 428,284!
IAM 284,975!
UAW 173,065!
IBEW 375,767!
LIUNA 618,000!!!!
IBT 362,869!
SEIU 306,388!
That's almost 4 million a year for all 10! How many union people could still have jobs and benefits for that kind of money?
Americans voted for Fiscal Responsibility. We voted against Democrats, due to their fiscal irresponsibility of handing out American Taxpayer dollars. The prior Bush administration was also fiscally irresponsible, but Obama took the baton and sent our debt into orbit. What the liberal progressive organizations and unions are doing now proves we were right in ousting the Democrats. The violence being perpetrated, on innocent Americans with dissenting voices, is despicable. The death threats and animalistic behavior against dissenting voices only makes us more determined and fills us with resolve in ousting the violent liberal progressives. I am an Independent, along with millions of other Independent voters, who swung towards ousting Democrats, and will gladly vote in 2012 to oust more of the liberal progressive cretins.
The unions have lost their way and have become corrupt. The unions are now merely another liberal progressive organization, all about political agendas in promoting anti American ideologies. Unions always spoke about corporate greed; maybe they should mention their own greedy salaries, pensions and benefits. Do you think there might be something wrong with bus drivers and other union workers making 150,000 a year, all off the back of the American Taxpayer?
“It is with great pride we present- Our Government Employee of the Year- Madison, Wisconsin bus driver John E. Nelson! Nelson earned $159,258 in 2009, including $109,892 in overtime and other pay. He and his colleague, driver Greg Tatman, who earned $125,598, were among the city’s top 20 earners for 2009, city records show. They’re among the seven bus drivers who made more than $100,000 last year thanks to a union contract that lets the most senior drivers who have the highest base salaries get first crack at overtime.”
2012 is coming, CAN YOU HEAR US NOW!!!!!?