Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, emboldened with the sudden realization that a quorum is not necessary to vote on any legislation not requiring public expenditure, capped off what leadership described as, “the most nostalgic night in memory” by voting to reinstitute slavery above the Mason-Dixon Line for the first time since 1863.
The new law, which restricts slave labor to “non-elected public employees, prison inmates, women, minorities, and undocumented aliens,” is scheduled to go into effect on April 1st. Gov. Scott Walker, fearing many private citizens as well as public employees may attempt to flee the state, has reportedly also ordered state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to consult with US Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the current legal status of the Fugitive Slave Act, which ironically was nullified by the state of Wisconsin (the first state to do so) in 1854.
Asked by reporters how he felt about this legislation being viewed as a move backwards –at least from an historical perspective –Walker commented, “As a state, and as a nation, we have progressed by leaps and bounds over the last century-and-a-half. As a society, I believe the American people have reached a certain level of maturity — a level of maturity which not only understands that one must embrace unmistakable lessons from history, but also that desperate times call for desperate measures– that in troubled economic times, nothing stimulates or helps to rebuild an economy better or faster than slave labor.”
In Washington, House Majority Leader John Boehner expressed his support for his Wisconsin colleagues, describing them as, “… visionary and innovative political thinkers who have employed historical wisdom in the service of the citizens of their state. Now that they have broken the barriers that have for far too long held back the sort of free-market job creation that our beloved country so desperately needs, I firmly believe the rest of the country, learning from their example, will pass similar laws leading not only to greatly reduced levels of unemployment, but historical levels of private sector prosperity unseen since the mid-1850s. My colleagues and I here in Washington will do all we can to enact legislation at the federal level that we expect will enable our country to return to its most glorious days of a long bygone era — a time when ‘master’ was not considered a dirty word.”
The House Majority Leader, Virginia’s Eric Cantor, compared the Wisconsin State Senate Republicans to the oppressed masses currently staging uprisings throughout the Middle East when he told reporters, “The tide is turning. The will of the people shall be heard. The American people spoke loud and clear last November. The revolution has come, and it will not be stopped until the true natural order of our country has been restored.” He then paid tribute to the leadership — as well as the complexion — of Speaker Boehner by raising his right fist in the air and yelling, “Long live the Orange Revolution!”
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Comments
Like it or not Wisconsin, like many states, is broke...so broke that they can no longer afford to have public employees able to continually demand more money and better benefits while the majority of citizens have fallen behind on debt or have no job at all.
Getting rid of public sector collective bargaining means Wisconsin is closer to balancing its budget.
That's the thing...nearly everyone acknowledges how far indebted we are...but no one wants their little piece of the government pie cut. You can't just keep spending more and more money and expect debt to take care of itself, somethings have to be cut...it's reality.
You either believe in balancing the budget and allowing for future prosperity or you don't. It really is that simple.
You know what else is important in balancing a budget? Having enough tax revenue to match the spending in your budget. And yet Walker just gave even more tax breaks to the richest people in his state, putting his state millions of dollars more in the red. Does that strike you as a problem? After all, you believe in balancing the budget.
You still don't get it. That's great that unionized public workers agreed to take a pay cut, but what about when they won't? What happens when they refuse to have anything cut?
Think it won't happen? Why, because people will put the state budget ahead of their own financial concerns? Because if the state asked them to take a cut, in the name of balancing the budget they'd surely say yes, right?
If you really believe that, then why do you suppose these workers belong to a union at all?
And no, you don't balance a budget responsibly by raising taxes...you cut spending. Giving tax cuts to the wealthy? Great, they're the ones who create jobs...and no, it doesn't add more debt...giving someone a tax cut means you're letting them keep their money in the private sector - where real wealth creation is possible.
Giving a tax break doesn't cost anything. The government doesn't give money to anyone when it gives them a tax break, it means they're not taking money from them that they already have.
The reason you give a tax break is not because of evil plans or greed, that's ridiculous...the reason you give tax breaks to business people is because the more you allow them to keep what they make, the more likely they are to reinvest that wealth into expanding their businesses and thus creating more private sector employment opportunities.
Is the business person being greedy in expanding their business, expanding with the incentive of making more money? Sure...but who cares if they're creating jobs putting more people to work. Like it or not we need money to live nowadays.
The Walker government did what they felt they had to to pass this bill...good for them, and good for you too, you just don't know it yet.
Not to mention the fact that even if the Republicans WERE capable of compromising on anything, it wouldn't matter anymore, since by removing collective bargaining they have eliminated the unions' ability to even bring an offer to the table. You claim that people on the left "can't stand to go out of their own way?" That's a riot when you realize that the right just made it a LAW to only go their way and made it ILLEGAL for the other side to challenge them.
Also I find it kind of sad that you rant about "balanced budgets, balanced budgets," and yet when something unbalances the budget, like raising taxes on the wealthy, the budget is suddenly unimportant. You cannot have it both ways. Either you want to balance the budget or you want to lower taxes on the rich. You can't do both; each one makes it harder to do the other. Pick one.
And no, you don't only balance a budget by cutting spending. If you don't think we can have a balanced budget with slightly higher taxes, I only have to point you to the 1990s. Slightly higher taxes then, and we had a record budget SURPLUS. Oh and the Dems were in power too, so your inevitable "well we weren't spending that much then" doesn't fly. After all, the left is the "tax-and-spend" party, amirite?
Taxes have been declining for decades, and yet people like you have the gall to act surprised that we suddenly don't have enough money to pay for everything. Taxes went down and we went into the red. So why is it that raising taxes to reverse this trend is the worst idea in the world to people like you?
I have concluded that conservatives, including the fool at the top of your comments, are just really, profoundly stupid. There is no reasoning with them. They really believe teachers and bus drivers are to blame for the economic woes of the country. Yes. Those $50,000 a year salaries are killing us. They are actually spouting the recently re-written talking point that the collective bargaining will somehow cost them money. Even when the collective bargaining was "passed" not as part of the financial package and when the legislators in the state admitted as such earlier, suddenly, because Fox News says it is so, it is SUDDENLY SO.
They would eat shit and drink pee if Fox News told them it had benefits.
sigh. At first, I just thought they were jerks, but no, it's clear they are just really, really, really dumb.
Unfortunately, it's dangerous to have really stupid people in charge of things. These people, I think, would be thrilled by martial law and concentration camps. As long as it didn't affect them. Sadly, they are dumb enough to believe it won't. And so, here we are.
If we can make it to the next election, and if the election is fair, then we might get out of this mess. If not, we're in a world of trouble, I fear ... and in large part it is because a bunch of people believe everything the news tells them to believe ... that and more people need to fecking vote, of course.