As the stand off continues, the clock is ticking against cities, counties, school districts etc.
It is now becoming abundantly clear why the missing fourteen Senators are still missing. They are buying time for unions all over the state to get agreements rammed through before this bill passes. The Senators will continue to wait until their true bosses, the union leaders, give them the all clear. They will then return, make a show of debating the bill, vote no and say they tried. Meanwhile, union members all over the state will have sweetheart benefit deals for two to three years and budget repair bill will be of little value to those communities.
Last week I had a conversation with a local politician about the budget repair bill. He wasn't concerned about agreeing on a contract with local unions because he believed the budget repair bill would essentially backdate and nullify those agreements. That is simply not true and I pointed that out to him. I confirmed that by checking with my state Representative.
This is a statewide problem. Local officials all over the state simply aren't aware of what is in the budget repair bill and how that bill could help them with the budget shortfalls they will be dealing with once the state budget is in place.
Because of this, I believe Governor Walker needs to separate the collective bargaining provision, have a separate vote on that and pass it so politicians at the local level have those necessary tools. This is not about beating the unions. This is not about "who will blink first." This is about helping those smaller communities.
With each passing day, more and more union contracts are being ratified without the concessions their leaders claim they have agreed to. Yes, the unions are LYING. Big shock, I know. If this goes another week or two, and the missing fourteen come back and vote, the smaller communities will have these tools, but they will be of no value to them for two or three years.
The unions have thought this out very well. If they can get these contracts rammed through, the union dues money flow will continue and in the next election cycle, you will see union money pour into Wisconsin like never before.
Assemblymen must run every two years, Senators every four. The Senate is staggered so half are up for re-election every two years. So, all of the Assembly seats and half the Senate seats will be up for grabs in 2012. The unions will look to pour money into democrats campaigns and if they retake control of the Assembly and Senate, they will try and put collective bargaining back. This would surely be vetoed by Governor Walker, but they will try and have enough seats to be able to override.
Collective bargaining on benefits needs to end now. I would encourage all of you to call Governor Walker as well as your Legislators in the Assembly and Senate and encourage them to separate that part of the budget repair bill and get it passed. They don't need the missing fourteen to do it.
The clock is ticking.
The next step after that? Allow things to cool down and then bring it to the voters for a Constitutional Amendment to make Wisconsin a right to work state.
Monday, February 28, 2011
The REAL answer the 14 dems remain in Illinois?
Got this in an email. He says to pass it along, so I am doing just that and I encourage everyone to do the same. If we expose it, we stop them cold.
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QUESTION: WHY ARE THE DEMS STILL IN ILLINOIS?
WRONG ANSWER: TO STOP PASSAGE OF THE BILL.
CORRECT ANSWER: TO GIVE THE UNIONS TIME TO COMPLETE NEGOTIATIONS ON NEW UNION CONTRACTS ALL ACROSS WISCONSIN.
This question has not been carefully scrutinized by the media, but I suggest to you that the answer is part of a well-orchestrated plan by the Unions all across Wisconsin. The Dems aren’t holding out in Illinois because they want to stop the Bill. They know that they can’t stop it. They know that they must return, and when they do, the bill will be passed. So, why are they really delaying their return?
The answer has to do with that part of the Bill which states that all existing Union contracts, in effect upon passage of the Bill, will be honored until the contract expires. This provision has caused all the Unions in the State to rush back to the bargaining table to cut a deal.
In my county of Juneau, all of the Unions are rushing back to the bargaining table to agree to the last proposal put on the table by management. In many cases, management (especially in small Villages, Cities, and School Districts) does not understand the new Budget Bill. They don’t realize how the Bill will give them freedom to remove 80% of the terms of their Union contracts and control spending. They don’t realize how the State Aid to their little village, city or school will be drastically cut, and how they will need to cut back on their own spending as a result. Moreover, in most cases, the Clerk, Administrator, or Superintendent of the village, city or school has a contract that gives them the exact same benefit package awarded to the Union, and so there is a disincentive for management to help the elected representatives make the right decision. In short, these small communities and school districts are being taken advantage of by the Unions and, in some cases, by the people upon whom they rely for advice and guidance.
As a result, many small villages, cities and schools are entering into 2-3 year Union contracts which establish the same benefits which the Unions’ TV Ads say they have agreed to give up. We’ve all seen the TV ad where the Firefighter says that Gov. Walker is being unfair because the Unions have agreed to all of his fiscal demands, and have agreed to contribute to their pensions and health care plans. That ad is a lie. The Unions are rushing back to the bargaining table to lock in the deals they’ve had for years, and, I’m sorry to say, most small communities and school districts are letting them.
For example, last Tuesday, the City of Mauston approved a 3-year union contract with no change to retirement or health care benefits. At the same time, the Juneau County unions suddenly agreed to the offer that management put on the table 6 months ago, but only on the condition that the County Board immediately approve the contract. On Friday, the County Board held a special session to approve the new contract (which maintained all benefits at current levels and gave the Unions a 1% per year wage increase). However, at the last minute, the Board was informed of the contents of the Budget Bill, and the Board voted to postpone any action on the Union Contract until the Budget Bill is passed.
In response, there was a huge protest at the Courthouse, and numerous Union leaders from Madison made the trip to Juneau County to rally the troops. It was a very big deal for our little community.
I pass along this information because you may be seeing the same activity. If so, I urge you to inform your local elected representatives of the effects of Gov. Walker’s Budget Repair Bill. Don’t assume that they understand it. Yesterday, I met with some members of our County Board, and before I talked to them, they had no understanding of how the Budget Bill related to their Union contracts. I know this is hard to believe for those of us who closely follow this stuff, but for the ordinary citizen, the connection is not clear.
PLEASE PASS THE WORD.
John R. Orton, Curran, Hollenbeck, & Orton S.C.
Mauston Office Dells / Delton Office
111 Oak Street 140 East Adams St.
P.O. Box 140 P.O. Box 370
Mauston, WI 53948 Lake Delton, WI. 53940
Phone: 608-847-7363 Phone: 608-253-7363
Fax: 608-847-4155 Fax: 608-253-4155
Saturday, February 26, 2011
An open letter to our missing Senators.
The following is an email I sent to the 14 missing Wisconsin Senators
Dear Senators,
“This is about whether or not the Democratic party will continue to exist in any meaningful sense.”
That was what Rachel Maddow said on her show on Thursday, February 17, 2011. And we know that to you, she is correct and that is why you all left the state of Wisconsin. It’s not about workers, it’s not about slowing down the process so the opposition can speak. To you, this is about your own survival and the survival of the Democratic party.
Like so many others, I have been watching the events in Madison unfold over the last two weeks, and for the first time in my life, I am angry and embarrassed that I live in Wisconsin. Last November we had an election. An election in which the voters spoke and spoke loudly. An election where President Barack Obama said the Democrats took a shellacking. An election in which the Republicans took majority control in the Assembly, Senate and the Governor’s office. It was a fair election and your side lost. You may not like it, but that’s the way it is.
But instead of respecting the voters in the state of Wisconsin, you have decided you don’t like what the voters did, you don’t respect what the voters did. You have taken our system of democracy and shut it down and you have done so for your own selfish reasons.
In watching the last nine days since you fled the state, I have seen some of you interviewed on television. I have seen Senator Erpenbach quite frequently in fact. The thing that is so fascinating is that while you like granting interviews and holding press conferences under situations you can control, as soon as your location is discovered by ordinary citizens, you cut and run. And why? Because you don’t like facing ordinary citizens like Tea Party members with cell phone cameras. You don’t like answering tough questions. You are cowards, and you are embarrassing all of us in Wisconsin.
Even though your colleagues in the Assembly don’t like how it turned out, they are here doing the job they were elected to do. They offered up amendments, debated and stood up for what they believed in. You need to do the same.
A couple of years ago, when democrats controlled the Assembly and Senate, many of you voted for a budget that included a substantial tax increase. There was not much debate and the Republicans didn’t like it, but they stayed, did their jobs and voted hoping they could come back and fix it after the next election. That is what you need to do now. The problem is, you have no confidence that you will be able to change it after the next election because if this passes, and it becomes optional for union members to pay dues, you know many of them won’t. Dollar amounts drop, less gets contributed to the democratic party and there goes your financial support. You don’t rely on getting reelected by doing a good job, you rely on the unions having your back, and that’s a shame.
You also fear something else. You are afraid Governor Walker may be able to balance the budget, bring some new business to the state, and, God forbid, maybe even some prosperity. You fear that because if it happens, the voters in Wisconsin will be pleased, and all of this current mess will quiet down and fewer people will support your desire to reverse these necessary changes.
The longer this drags on, the more of a mess it becomes. Governor Walker will be forced to start laying people off, our state debt may not get renegotiated, costing us taxpayers several million dollars. But there is one very serious element to this not getting resolved soon.
Whether or not it’s the resolution they want, people need resolution and they aren’t getting it, and that makes them tense. You also have people who are spending time away from their families, and even though they are protesting for something they believe in, they are getting tired. Some are sleeping in conditions that are far less than ideal, and fuses are getting shorter and shorter. It’s a recipe for disaster. And while they believe the 14 of you are hiding out for their sakes, we know that’s not your real purpose.
If it gets so tense that chaos breaks out at the Capitol, that’s on your backs. If there are massive layoffs, that’s on your backs as well. If the state debt can’t be renegotiated in time and it costs us several million dollars, that too is on your backs. This is not what we elected you to do. Senators, you are playing games with our futures and it needs to stop.
As the years pass and we look back at this, how will this be viewed? My son is seven years old, so he’s not old enough to be taking serious history classes. But when he is old enough, what will he be taught about your actions? No one can say for sure, but given the fact the people that will be teaching him are union members, one can only imagine how your cowardly acts will be spun in the classroom. So it will be my job as a parent to make sure he knows the truth. And what will he learn? He will learn that despite having a democracy, fourteen state Senators hijacked the system and made a mockery of how our system works. He will learn that with the fourteen of you, going out and voting meant nothing because you fourteen acted like children and wanted your way. I want better than that for my son. I want better than that for me. I want better than that for the voters in the state I grew up in.
You can still fix this.
Come home. It’s time to end this. It’s time to stop pretending you are heroes doing this for the middle class. It’s time to let us move on with our lives.
It’s time Senators.
Sincerely,
Mike Schwandt
Waupun, WI
Friday, February 25, 2011
Protesters for and against, stay away from each other.
Early this morning Governor Walker's budget repair bill passed the assembly and now waits for the Senate, but as everyone knows, our state Senators remain hiding out in Illinois. Despite numerous editorials telling them it's time to come home, including ones from very left leaning newspapers, they remain in hiding. The missing 14 also don't seem to care that the public sees their stunt as a bad thing.
I think the 14 Senators are doing what their bosses are telling them to do, and ironically, those bosses are not us, the voters that elected them. The bosses are the union leaders at the national level. The question is why. If the missing 14 would come home, the vote could be taken and it would be over with. Yes, people would be angry, but it would bring closure and people could go home and resume their lives.
With each passing day things are growing more and more tense, not just here in Wisconsin, but in other states as well. The longer this goes on, the shorter peoples fuses get. They are away from family and friends. Many are sleeping in places that aren't conducive to a good night's sleep. Many have gone days without a shower and a decent meal. Yes, you can eat pizza and fast food all the time, but it's not healthy and after a while, you start to not feel well.
All of that and the uncertainty of how and when it's going to end are creating a witches brew of potential problems.
The rhetoric from the left keeps getting ramped up higher and higher, and it's causing people to get more and more worked up. I don't believe this is accidental. I think certain people higher up in the chain of command are hoping something bad happens.
Consider the possibilities. You have tired, angry people that know that all that is left is for the Senate in Wisconsin to vote and it's over which they don't want. You bring people who support Governor Walker's proposal into the picture and have the union bosses toss in a few outside agitators and you could suddenly have a fight break out. With people having short fuses already, you suddenly have a situation that calls for intervention, and that can lead to riots. It may sound far fetched, but I believe the possibility is very real and is one the union bosses are hoping for.
I am suggesting people that favor these proposals by Governor Walker and those in other states steer clear of the State Capitol and other places where the pro union folks are gathered. They have a right to protest, it's a fundamental American right and they are properly exercising that right. Those of us on the opposite side of the unions have the right to gather too, I am simply saying to do it someplace else.
If the opposing sides stay away from each other and something happens, blame can only be placed on one side, and that's the side that is present at that moment.
This doesn't mean out rights are being taken from us. It simply means we are playing it smart and not falling into a potential trap.
I think the 14 Senators are doing what their bosses are telling them to do, and ironically, those bosses are not us, the voters that elected them. The bosses are the union leaders at the national level. The question is why. If the missing 14 would come home, the vote could be taken and it would be over with. Yes, people would be angry, but it would bring closure and people could go home and resume their lives.
With each passing day things are growing more and more tense, not just here in Wisconsin, but in other states as well. The longer this goes on, the shorter peoples fuses get. They are away from family and friends. Many are sleeping in places that aren't conducive to a good night's sleep. Many have gone days without a shower and a decent meal. Yes, you can eat pizza and fast food all the time, but it's not healthy and after a while, you start to not feel well.
All of that and the uncertainty of how and when it's going to end are creating a witches brew of potential problems.
The rhetoric from the left keeps getting ramped up higher and higher, and it's causing people to get more and more worked up. I don't believe this is accidental. I think certain people higher up in the chain of command are hoping something bad happens.
Consider the possibilities. You have tired, angry people that know that all that is left is for the Senate in Wisconsin to vote and it's over which they don't want. You bring people who support Governor Walker's proposal into the picture and have the union bosses toss in a few outside agitators and you could suddenly have a fight break out. With people having short fuses already, you suddenly have a situation that calls for intervention, and that can lead to riots. It may sound far fetched, but I believe the possibility is very real and is one the union bosses are hoping for.
I am suggesting people that favor these proposals by Governor Walker and those in other states steer clear of the State Capitol and other places where the pro union folks are gathered. They have a right to protest, it's a fundamental American right and they are properly exercising that right. Those of us on the opposite side of the unions have the right to gather too, I am simply saying to do it someplace else.
If the opposing sides stay away from each other and something happens, blame can only be placed on one side, and that's the side that is present at that moment.
This doesn't mean out rights are being taken from us. It simply means we are playing it smart and not falling into a potential trap.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
State and local government, unions and how it's all interconnected.
There are certain things in life most Americans can agree on regardless of their political persuasion. For example, with the exception of the far left, Americans agree our biggest financial problems come from too much government spending. (The far left doesn't care. They feel we can just keep printing money and borrowing.) You don't need a degree in accounting to know this will fail at some point.
Where the divide starts to come in to play is when it affects someone personally as we are seeing in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and a few other states with the budget repair proposals by those states respective Governor's. It becomes much more difficult to see the reality of the situation when it's going to affect you personally. But at some point, everyone has to cast aside the personal view of things and look at it logically.
In order for a state to run effectively, it has to live within its' means. If it doesn't, it will eventually fall apart. Our economy is not rebounding from the recession nearly as well as everyone had hoped. Wisconsin's current unemployment is at 7.5%, and nationally it's at 10%. For the next two fiscal years beginning July 1st, we have a budget deficit of $3.6 billion dollars. How do you fix it? Request a bailout? That's been done already and all it did was delay the inevitable. Do you raise taxes? You can try it but it's likely we will end up like the other states that have tried it. Businesses will pack up and leave for states where it's more affordable to do business. That will raise our unemployment, lower our tax revenue even further and make things worse. There is no choice but to cut spending.
The biggest cost in a business is labor...salary and benefits. The state is no different. The state needs government employees to run, but it has to maintain sensible levels of spending to in order to balance the books. We have ignored this basic premise for far too long and now we are in a jam.
At this point, everyone agrees it's reasonable for government workers to contribute more towards their benefits packages to help cut the spending. It's interesting that the government employees have only come around to this way of thinking in the last week or so and it has taken the threat of losing some of their collective bargaining rights to open their eyes to that reality.
The union side has said, ok, we will agree and government employees at the state level will pay more towards their healthcare and pensions but they want to stop there, no further and why isn't that enough?
If the only thing Governor Walker had to worry about was the state level it would be enough...for now, but he has the local governments to think of too. State government revenues depend on local governments running as well. Everything is interconnected.
At the local levels, county and city leaders are nervously waiting for the state budget to become public next week. They know the cuts are going to be deep, they just don't know how deep. Once those cuts hit, the county and city governments are going to be facing the exact same problem the state is facing right now, a huge budget deficit. How do all the local governments handle their deficits? Just like the state level, the biggest part of the budget at the city and county levels is labor, salary and benefits. So they are faced with the same choice, raise taxes or cut spending. They know they can't raise taxes because people have no more to give. So, they too will have to cut. But they won't be able to cut at the local level if the collective bargaining rights aren't modified.
Collective bargaining comes from a state law and it does not vary city by city or county by county. All government employees, right down to the county and city level can collectively bargain. There may be several different unions at those levels, but they all currently have the right to collective bargaining. So, if that's not modified at the local level as well, what will the city and county leaders do? They can't pass laws locally to limit collective bargaining, that's a state law.
History has shown us the unions don't like to give. They have proven this at every level. So when city and county leaders tell their local unionized employees they need to give, they are going to be in a battle and they won't have the leverage they currently have at the state level to force the issue, and if the local union employees won't budge, they will face layoffs too. THAT is why the collective bargaining law has to be modified. What happens if it isn't?
Layoff's will occur at the local level. Those employees will apply for and receive unemployment. That compensation comes from the state, not locally. In addition, those employees that get laid off will have less to spend locally which will put a strain on local businesses. Local businesses will be collecting less in the way of sales tax and the owners will pay less in income tax. But the laid off employees will also not be paying income tax, and all of that lowers the state revenue and it just keeps snowballing. Do you see what I mean when I say it's all interconnected?
As a nation, we should have heeded FDR's warning about unions for government employees, but we didn't. Government union employees should have been more willing to budge over the years, but they haven't, and now we have a mess. Had government union employees been more reasonable with their contributions over the years, collective bargaining would be viewed much more favorably right now.
Democrats and unions alike have got to quit running with this "sky is falling" nonsense. Yesterday, Democrat state Rep Joe Parisi claimed a loss of collective bargaining will lead to his wife and daughters being sexually harassed in the workplace with no recourse. This kind of hysteria needs to stop.
The bottom line is this bill needs to pass. The government union employees will see their net pay take an 8% hit on average. That's a whole lot better than layoffs.
Think about it.
Where the divide starts to come in to play is when it affects someone personally as we are seeing in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and a few other states with the budget repair proposals by those states respective Governor's. It becomes much more difficult to see the reality of the situation when it's going to affect you personally. But at some point, everyone has to cast aside the personal view of things and look at it logically.
In order for a state to run effectively, it has to live within its' means. If it doesn't, it will eventually fall apart. Our economy is not rebounding from the recession nearly as well as everyone had hoped. Wisconsin's current unemployment is at 7.5%, and nationally it's at 10%. For the next two fiscal years beginning July 1st, we have a budget deficit of $3.6 billion dollars. How do you fix it? Request a bailout? That's been done already and all it did was delay the inevitable. Do you raise taxes? You can try it but it's likely we will end up like the other states that have tried it. Businesses will pack up and leave for states where it's more affordable to do business. That will raise our unemployment, lower our tax revenue even further and make things worse. There is no choice but to cut spending.
The biggest cost in a business is labor...salary and benefits. The state is no different. The state needs government employees to run, but it has to maintain sensible levels of spending to in order to balance the books. We have ignored this basic premise for far too long and now we are in a jam.
At this point, everyone agrees it's reasonable for government workers to contribute more towards their benefits packages to help cut the spending. It's interesting that the government employees have only come around to this way of thinking in the last week or so and it has taken the threat of losing some of their collective bargaining rights to open their eyes to that reality.
The union side has said, ok, we will agree and government employees at the state level will pay more towards their healthcare and pensions but they want to stop there, no further and why isn't that enough?
If the only thing Governor Walker had to worry about was the state level it would be enough...for now, but he has the local governments to think of too. State government revenues depend on local governments running as well. Everything is interconnected.
At the local levels, county and city leaders are nervously waiting for the state budget to become public next week. They know the cuts are going to be deep, they just don't know how deep. Once those cuts hit, the county and city governments are going to be facing the exact same problem the state is facing right now, a huge budget deficit. How do all the local governments handle their deficits? Just like the state level, the biggest part of the budget at the city and county levels is labor, salary and benefits. So they are faced with the same choice, raise taxes or cut spending. They know they can't raise taxes because people have no more to give. So, they too will have to cut. But they won't be able to cut at the local level if the collective bargaining rights aren't modified.
Collective bargaining comes from a state law and it does not vary city by city or county by county. All government employees, right down to the county and city level can collectively bargain. There may be several different unions at those levels, but they all currently have the right to collective bargaining. So, if that's not modified at the local level as well, what will the city and county leaders do? They can't pass laws locally to limit collective bargaining, that's a state law.
History has shown us the unions don't like to give. They have proven this at every level. So when city and county leaders tell their local unionized employees they need to give, they are going to be in a battle and they won't have the leverage they currently have at the state level to force the issue, and if the local union employees won't budge, they will face layoffs too. THAT is why the collective bargaining law has to be modified. What happens if it isn't?
Layoff's will occur at the local level. Those employees will apply for and receive unemployment. That compensation comes from the state, not locally. In addition, those employees that get laid off will have less to spend locally which will put a strain on local businesses. Local businesses will be collecting less in the way of sales tax and the owners will pay less in income tax. But the laid off employees will also not be paying income tax, and all of that lowers the state revenue and it just keeps snowballing. Do you see what I mean when I say it's all interconnected?
As a nation, we should have heeded FDR's warning about unions for government employees, but we didn't. Government union employees should have been more willing to budge over the years, but they haven't, and now we have a mess. Had government union employees been more reasonable with their contributions over the years, collective bargaining would be viewed much more favorably right now.
Democrats and unions alike have got to quit running with this "sky is falling" nonsense. Yesterday, Democrat state Rep Joe Parisi claimed a loss of collective bargaining will lead to his wife and daughters being sexually harassed in the workplace with no recourse. This kind of hysteria needs to stop.
The bottom line is this bill needs to pass. The government union employees will see their net pay take an 8% hit on average. That's a whole lot better than layoffs.
Think about it.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Budget Repair and the rush to settle contracts
There is no question people are in panic mode with all of this debate about the budget repair bill in Wisconsin. It's pretty much a given that it will pass, not a matter of if but when.
In Madison the city council rushed to get labor union contracts settled. In my home town of Waupun there are fourteen teachers considering early retirement and in Dodge County, the board here is looking at getting labor contracts settled soon as well.
http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/local/article_329cea36-3b25-11e0-91b5-001cc4c002e0.html
I don't believe these rushes to settle contracts are such a wise idea. For those of us that were paying attention (and yes I am taking a shot there) this news comes as no surprise. Scott Walker made it pretty clear this is what he planned to do when he ran for Governor of Wisconsin.
What he has also made clear is the budget is going to contain some very deep cuts. When you live in a city that depends heavily on shared revenue, this is rather unsettling. That's why this rush to settle contracts is a foolish idea. I believe people opposed to the Governor's plan are thinking if they can get these contracts settled before the budget repair bill is passed, they somehow beat Governor Walker when in fact, all they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot.
While so many keep insisting that all Governor Walker wants to do is bust the unions, I believe Governor Walker is trying to prevent city, county and school boards from looking at the budget and having a complete "oh crap" moment.
When the budget is revealed it's obvious a lot of cuts are going to have to be made at the local level. If you live in a community where people panicked and settled union contracts in a rush, your "oh crap" moment is going to be a lot bigger because your local officials will see the numbers, and will realize that cutting union benefits was a necessity and they won't be able to do it. So then what? Everyone else will have to pay more.
The union leaders are fully aware of this which is why they are pushing hard to get this done quickly. If contracts are settled before the repair bill is passed, local governments will have their hands tied for the length of those contracts. The budget repair bill will not back date and erase those agreements. And let's face it, the unions aren't going to come back and renegotiate out of the goodness of their hearts.
If you are a resident in a community where there is a push to get these contracts settled, I suggest you call your alderman or county board member, remind them they represent everyone and not just the union employees and tell them to "throttle back, take us out of warp."
In Madison the city council rushed to get labor union contracts settled. In my home town of Waupun there are fourteen teachers considering early retirement and in Dodge County, the board here is looking at getting labor contracts settled soon as well.
http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/local/article_329cea36-3b25-11e0-91b5-001cc4c002e0.html
I don't believe these rushes to settle contracts are such a wise idea. For those of us that were paying attention (and yes I am taking a shot there) this news comes as no surprise. Scott Walker made it pretty clear this is what he planned to do when he ran for Governor of Wisconsin.
What he has also made clear is the budget is going to contain some very deep cuts. When you live in a city that depends heavily on shared revenue, this is rather unsettling. That's why this rush to settle contracts is a foolish idea. I believe people opposed to the Governor's plan are thinking if they can get these contracts settled before the budget repair bill is passed, they somehow beat Governor Walker when in fact, all they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot.
While so many keep insisting that all Governor Walker wants to do is bust the unions, I believe Governor Walker is trying to prevent city, county and school boards from looking at the budget and having a complete "oh crap" moment.
When the budget is revealed it's obvious a lot of cuts are going to have to be made at the local level. If you live in a community where people panicked and settled union contracts in a rush, your "oh crap" moment is going to be a lot bigger because your local officials will see the numbers, and will realize that cutting union benefits was a necessity and they won't be able to do it. So then what? Everyone else will have to pay more.
The union leaders are fully aware of this which is why they are pushing hard to get this done quickly. If contracts are settled before the repair bill is passed, local governments will have their hands tied for the length of those contracts. The budget repair bill will not back date and erase those agreements. And let's face it, the unions aren't going to come back and renegotiate out of the goodness of their hearts.
If you are a resident in a community where there is a push to get these contracts settled, I suggest you call your alderman or county board member, remind them they represent everyone and not just the union employees and tell them to "throttle back, take us out of warp."
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The battle in Wisconsin and my views of unions.
23 years ago I had an experience with a union that I will never forget. I was 18 years old and the experience did NOT impress me. First, a bit of background.
My dad was in a union in the early 60's. He worked for American Motors in Kenosha and had to join the union if he wanted the job. He told me that early on, unions served a very good purpose. They brought in workplace safety, fair wages and decent benefits. But as time went on, unions became more of a problem rather than the solution. Workers began to take advantage of the union benefits and started slacking at work. They would stop working 30+ minutes before the shift ended, then hang around and talk until they could punch out for the day. The supervisors were powerless to do anything because the union bosses stood behind the lazy workers.
Dad also told me how strikes could get ugly if companies tried to bring in temporary workers to get the job done while the employees were on strike. That's where my experience comes in.
As I said I was 18 years old. I was working three jobs, one full time and two part time. My second part time job was delivering a shopping advertiser one day a week on a rural route. About 3/4 of the way through my route was a concrete company. I dropped 5 papers every week for their office in a paper tube next to their mailbox. The workers for this company had went on strike. I was aware of this but didn't really think much of it.
On this particular Tuesday I could see about a dozen men picketing, carrying their signs as I pulled in the driveway. I went directly towards the mailbox as I always did, but I didn't get there. Before I could get to the mailbox, I had a few men step in front of my car, and when I stopped, the entire group surrounded my car and began hitting the roof and hood.
I knew what was going on so I grabbed a bundle of papers from the back seat and held it up to the drivers side window. One guy spotted it and called the other ones off. I got out and put the papers in the box and handed them a couple more. They were trying to be nice but I ignored them since they didn't take the time to ask first before they engaged in their bullying tactics.
This may sound stupid to some, but looking back I realize that I was lucky they were located where they were on my route. Had they been located at the end of my route, I wouldn't have had a bundle of papers to show them and had I only had a few papers in the car, I doubt they would have believed why I was there and it would have turned out very different.
At 41 years old, I would now handle that very differently. I would get out of my car and let em have it for being stupid, but at 18 years old, while I knew what was happening, I was scared. I may be 6'4", but there was one of me and a dozen of them.
I get it, I really do. They thought I was coming in to take one of their jobs. Fine, but what on earth is the harm in asking first? I was one person in a car. It's not like I was among a group of people walking towards their workplace. That would have been obvious.
The whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth regarding unions. Their actions that day were nothing but outright bullying. They had no business surrounding my car or laying a finger on it. And while they apparently felt bad about the incident, they didn't feel bad for trying to bully me, they felt bad because they were wrong about who I was.
Union members today get all offended when you dare use the word "thug" around them. Clearly that thug mentality was going on in the incident with me 23 years ago, and it is clearly going on this week in Madison. The liberal press keeps insisting it's all civil and peaceful, but there have been cases of people needing to be escorted between offices because of outright intimidation, and one case of the doors to the Senate chamber being blocked. That is NOT peaceful protesting. Voicing your opinion is one thing. That's a clear right in America. But trying to stop people from voting in the democratic process is NOT part of peaceful protesting.
What's unreal is they aren't even trying to hide it. We have our 14 senate democrats who have fled the state to prevent a vote from taking place. One the one hand, they say they are doing it to allow more time for those opposed to Governor Walker's proposal to be heard, yet they also say they will stay away as long as necessary, making it quite obvious they just want to prevent it from ever being voted on.
There are options. Under our state law, this requirement that at least 20 senators be present for a vote only refers to bills that have some fiscal component. Beyond that, a simple majority is all that is required to vote.
If it were me, I would write a separate bill that deals only with the collective bargaining issue and get that passed. Senate democrats would then have no reason to stay away any longer since the unions are now ready to offer concessions. Again, that's what I would do. I don't believe Governor Walker will do that which proves he's a better man than I am.
What little sympathy I have had for unions is drying up quickly. Madison schools were closed for a 3rd day this week as teachers have called in "sick" so they can go protest. Their job is to teach. So not only are they not doing the jobs they were hired to do, they are also disrupting the lives of the private sector workers who pay their salaries. Parents in Madison, Milwaukee, Watertown and other districts have had to take time off work or make other arrangements because of this unexpected school walkout. In my opinion, this is exactly why collective bargaining should be taken away. In the private sector, aka the real world, you get fired for pulling stunts like that.
As far as the rest of the unions, they have shown their true colors. They keep insisting that they are willing to sit down and talk but Governor Walker won't sit down with them. Let's review.
Shortly before Governor Walker took office, the unions, knowing this very thing was coming, tried to ram through an agreement but failed. Now that this has happened they are suddenly willing to talk. Governor Walker said no, and I hope he sticks to that. They had their opportunity and blew it.
The eyes of the nation are on Wisconsin, and while the liberal press is doing their level best to make our Governor out to be the bad guy, I believe the majority of Americans see this for what it really is, which is a bunch of spoiled children not wanting to pay their fair share.
My dad was in a union in the early 60's. He worked for American Motors in Kenosha and had to join the union if he wanted the job. He told me that early on, unions served a very good purpose. They brought in workplace safety, fair wages and decent benefits. But as time went on, unions became more of a problem rather than the solution. Workers began to take advantage of the union benefits and started slacking at work. They would stop working 30+ minutes before the shift ended, then hang around and talk until they could punch out for the day. The supervisors were powerless to do anything because the union bosses stood behind the lazy workers.
Dad also told me how strikes could get ugly if companies tried to bring in temporary workers to get the job done while the employees were on strike. That's where my experience comes in.
As I said I was 18 years old. I was working three jobs, one full time and two part time. My second part time job was delivering a shopping advertiser one day a week on a rural route. About 3/4 of the way through my route was a concrete company. I dropped 5 papers every week for their office in a paper tube next to their mailbox. The workers for this company had went on strike. I was aware of this but didn't really think much of it.
On this particular Tuesday I could see about a dozen men picketing, carrying their signs as I pulled in the driveway. I went directly towards the mailbox as I always did, but I didn't get there. Before I could get to the mailbox, I had a few men step in front of my car, and when I stopped, the entire group surrounded my car and began hitting the roof and hood.
I knew what was going on so I grabbed a bundle of papers from the back seat and held it up to the drivers side window. One guy spotted it and called the other ones off. I got out and put the papers in the box and handed them a couple more. They were trying to be nice but I ignored them since they didn't take the time to ask first before they engaged in their bullying tactics.
This may sound stupid to some, but looking back I realize that I was lucky they were located where they were on my route. Had they been located at the end of my route, I wouldn't have had a bundle of papers to show them and had I only had a few papers in the car, I doubt they would have believed why I was there and it would have turned out very different.
At 41 years old, I would now handle that very differently. I would get out of my car and let em have it for being stupid, but at 18 years old, while I knew what was happening, I was scared. I may be 6'4", but there was one of me and a dozen of them.
I get it, I really do. They thought I was coming in to take one of their jobs. Fine, but what on earth is the harm in asking first? I was one person in a car. It's not like I was among a group of people walking towards their workplace. That would have been obvious.
The whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth regarding unions. Their actions that day were nothing but outright bullying. They had no business surrounding my car or laying a finger on it. And while they apparently felt bad about the incident, they didn't feel bad for trying to bully me, they felt bad because they were wrong about who I was.
Union members today get all offended when you dare use the word "thug" around them. Clearly that thug mentality was going on in the incident with me 23 years ago, and it is clearly going on this week in Madison. The liberal press keeps insisting it's all civil and peaceful, but there have been cases of people needing to be escorted between offices because of outright intimidation, and one case of the doors to the Senate chamber being blocked. That is NOT peaceful protesting. Voicing your opinion is one thing. That's a clear right in America. But trying to stop people from voting in the democratic process is NOT part of peaceful protesting.
What's unreal is they aren't even trying to hide it. We have our 14 senate democrats who have fled the state to prevent a vote from taking place. One the one hand, they say they are doing it to allow more time for those opposed to Governor Walker's proposal to be heard, yet they also say they will stay away as long as necessary, making it quite obvious they just want to prevent it from ever being voted on.
There are options. Under our state law, this requirement that at least 20 senators be present for a vote only refers to bills that have some fiscal component. Beyond that, a simple majority is all that is required to vote.
If it were me, I would write a separate bill that deals only with the collective bargaining issue and get that passed. Senate democrats would then have no reason to stay away any longer since the unions are now ready to offer concessions. Again, that's what I would do. I don't believe Governor Walker will do that which proves he's a better man than I am.
What little sympathy I have had for unions is drying up quickly. Madison schools were closed for a 3rd day this week as teachers have called in "sick" so they can go protest. Their job is to teach. So not only are they not doing the jobs they were hired to do, they are also disrupting the lives of the private sector workers who pay their salaries. Parents in Madison, Milwaukee, Watertown and other districts have had to take time off work or make other arrangements because of this unexpected school walkout. In my opinion, this is exactly why collective bargaining should be taken away. In the private sector, aka the real world, you get fired for pulling stunts like that.
As far as the rest of the unions, they have shown their true colors. They keep insisting that they are willing to sit down and talk but Governor Walker won't sit down with them. Let's review.
Shortly before Governor Walker took office, the unions, knowing this very thing was coming, tried to ram through an agreement but failed. Now that this has happened they are suddenly willing to talk. Governor Walker said no, and I hope he sticks to that. They had their opportunity and blew it.
The eyes of the nation are on Wisconsin, and while the liberal press is doing their level best to make our Governor out to be the bad guy, I believe the majority of Americans see this for what it really is, which is a bunch of spoiled children not wanting to pay their fair share.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The stinking, foul disgusting hypocrisy of Democrats knows no bounds.
Do you think I am upset from that title? You have no idea.
Earlier this year, Democrats in DC tried to introduce legislation to eliminate the fillibuster in the US Senate. For those that don't know what that is, a fillibuster essentially allows US Senators unlimited debate on the grounds that any Senator has the right to speak as long as necessary on any issue. This right was limited in the House of Representatives years ago because the House is so much larger.
Democrats this year defended this move to eliminate the fillibuster claiming it had been used too many times by their Republican counterparts and was therefore being abused. This effort failed. It did however have widespread support from liberals all over the country. Keep in mind the fillibuster is completely legal and has also been used many times by Democrats in the past.
Today in Wisconsin, a vote was pending on the Budget Repair Bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker. Democrats didn't want that to happen. So what did they do? They fled the Capitol, and in doing so made it impossible for the Wisconsin State Senate to vote. In order to vote, at least twenty senators must be present. There are currently nineteen Republican and fourteen Democratic senators. All fourteen democrats FLED the Capitol leaving nineteen senators with the inability to vote. But it doesn't end there.
The fourteen senators didn't just flee the Capitol, the left the state. Why? Because under the Wisconsin constitution, senators who leave can be "compelled" to return to vote. Today the Wisconsin State Patrol was sent out to try and locate the democrats who fled. This is why the democrats left the state and went to Illinois. Our state Police have no jurisdiction to go get them in another state.
Governor Walker held a press conference this afternoon where, among other things, he encouraged the senators to come back and do the job they were elected to do. At the time that I write this, to my knowledge none have returned.
Liberals on the news and all over are cheering this "bold move" by these fourteen senators because they are doing this to save these poor state employees from having to pay more towards their insurance and pensions. But here's the problem.
While the fillibuster is a completely legal thing to do at the national level, what our democratic state senators are doing is a violation of the rules here in Wisconsin. If a vote is scheduled, state senators are required to be there.
So nationally, liberals want to change the law to end a completely legal procedure that they themselves have used many times and at the same time are cheering our state senators for breaking the rules that accomplish the exact same thing as the fillibuster, preventing a vote.
As I said in the headline...Stinking, foul disgusting hypocrisy of Democrats knows no bounds.
Earlier this year, Democrats in DC tried to introduce legislation to eliminate the fillibuster in the US Senate. For those that don't know what that is, a fillibuster essentially allows US Senators unlimited debate on the grounds that any Senator has the right to speak as long as necessary on any issue. This right was limited in the House of Representatives years ago because the House is so much larger.
Democrats this year defended this move to eliminate the fillibuster claiming it had been used too many times by their Republican counterparts and was therefore being abused. This effort failed. It did however have widespread support from liberals all over the country. Keep in mind the fillibuster is completely legal and has also been used many times by Democrats in the past.
Today in Wisconsin, a vote was pending on the Budget Repair Bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker. Democrats didn't want that to happen. So what did they do? They fled the Capitol, and in doing so made it impossible for the Wisconsin State Senate to vote. In order to vote, at least twenty senators must be present. There are currently nineteen Republican and fourteen Democratic senators. All fourteen democrats FLED the Capitol leaving nineteen senators with the inability to vote. But it doesn't end there.
The fourteen senators didn't just flee the Capitol, the left the state. Why? Because under the Wisconsin constitution, senators who leave can be "compelled" to return to vote. Today the Wisconsin State Patrol was sent out to try and locate the democrats who fled. This is why the democrats left the state and went to Illinois. Our state Police have no jurisdiction to go get them in another state.
Governor Walker held a press conference this afternoon where, among other things, he encouraged the senators to come back and do the job they were elected to do. At the time that I write this, to my knowledge none have returned.
Liberals on the news and all over are cheering this "bold move" by these fourteen senators because they are doing this to save these poor state employees from having to pay more towards their insurance and pensions. But here's the problem.
While the fillibuster is a completely legal thing to do at the national level, what our democratic state senators are doing is a violation of the rules here in Wisconsin. If a vote is scheduled, state senators are required to be there.
So nationally, liberals want to change the law to end a completely legal procedure that they themselves have used many times and at the same time are cheering our state senators for breaking the rules that accomplish the exact same thing as the fillibuster, preventing a vote.
As I said in the headline...Stinking, foul disgusting hypocrisy of Democrats knows no bounds.
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