Posted on 02/20/2011 3:56:58 AM PST by Candor7
Dear Free Republic,
As I looked out from the stage on the faces of thousands of folks at the "Stand With Walker" rally in Madison, Wisconsin today a young 7 or 8 year-old girl atop her dad's shoulders stood out. She was waving a "Fight Back Wisconsin" sign and cheering happily. Before the rally her dad had told me they gave up her basketball game today to come to the rally because "It's time to stand tall." Next to them in his hard hat was Mansfield, a tall, wiry gentleman who runs a small brick laying business near Madison. These two individuals symbolize what's at stake.
It's a decisive moment in Wisconsin and a watershed moment for our nation, and we urge you to join the fight at www.StandWithWalker.com.
On our side Governor Scott Walker, a newly-elected GOP-controlled legislature and tens of thousands of tea party and AFP activists are working to balance the state budget by finally cutting spending and reining in sweetheart pensions and benefits enjoyed by government employees unions.
On the other side are a privileged class of liberal politicians and government unions demanding higher taxes and even more spending for themselves and their ideology - all while private sector unemployment still runs high.
It looked and felt like the government workers marches in Athens, Greece throughout the week as the Wisconsin government unions, augmented by union activists from around the nation and President Obama's Organizing for America, marched, chanted, banged drums, and jeered at anyone daring to support Governor Walker's policies.
Here's what Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill that they're so angry about actually does:
- Ask government workers to pay half the cost of their pensions - still less than private employees pay for their pensions
- Ask government workers to pay 12% of their own health insurance premiums - the national average for the private sector is over 20%
- End collective bargaining for government unions for pensions and benefits. Allow bargaining only for raises that are less than inflation.
- End forced union dues, collected by the state. Union dues would become voluntary.
- Union members get to vote yearly on whether to keep their union.
To stop these sensible reforms, the unions and their Democratic allies are pulling out all the stops. President Obama has even weighed in attacking Governor Walker. (As I told the crowd today, President Obama should stop worrying about Wisconsin and get to work on Washington's out-of-control federal budget.)
Democratic state senators are so desperate they have actually fled the state to stall a vote -- and are hiding out at a resort in Illinois. Can you imagine elected legislators being so beholden to special interest unions that they would flee the state? Have they no shame? (Wisconsin, by the way, has citizen recall of elected officials and I've heard petitions are already being circulated to kick the senators who have fled the state out of office.)
Much is at stake because every other governor and every other legislature is watching what happens in Wisconsin. We have to win. Please stand with Scott Walker by signing our petition at www.StandWithWalker.com.
Know that we're on the ground here in Wisconsin. AFP and our allies are going all out to victory. We're pouring emails into the legislature, running radio ads and we're helping with rallies like the one today. We're going to win. Sincerely,
Tim
P. S. We're going to win, but we need your help. Please share www.StandWithWalker.com with your friends, family, neighbors, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers. The stakes are too high to think this is someone else's fight. We need to send a strong message to the unions by winning in Wisconsin and taking these common sense reforms to every other state and the federal government. Today, we are all Wisconsinites. Please help spread the word about www.StandWithWalker.com.
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Americans for Prosperity® (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual's right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than one million members, including members in all 50 states, and 31 state chapters and affiliates. More than 60,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial investment in AFP or AFP Foundation. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
PING for Scott Walker in Wisconsin
The Elites of society are throwing a temper tantrum when the going gets tough and the lower class refuses to lie down in the muddy roads for them to walk on.
No matter how many sob stories you hear, the real reason for the “Days of Rage” are
- End forced union dues, collected by the state. Union dues would become voluntary.
- Union members get to vote yearly on whether to keep their union.
This is how the Dem is able to mount organized strikes and protest movements. They have all these unions organization that is paid for by tax dollars.
Not only that, the dem use tax dollars to fund liberal organisations like pbs, planned parenthood to help them get reelected
GOP are realy stupid, if they can’t see that they’re funding their opposition for so long
End Union Dues. That is why. End Union Dues. End Democrats main Funding source.
what I don’t understand is why Walker is looking for economic changes to the union contracts that are valued at $300 million over two years when he is facing a $3600 million deficit. That is less than 10% of the total and I’m sure that payroll represents a lot more than 10% of the total budget. It puts into perspective that this is truly a “modest contribution” from unionized public employees and not an assault
I hadn’t heard about those two. NO wonder the unions and Dems are having such a hissy fit! We’re going to take away their Cash Cow!
End Union Dues collected BY THE STATE! What a concept. Why should WE the PEOPLE spend administrative money to collect the big bucks FOR the unions, in the first place.
To Screaminsunshine, I say ScreaminGREAT!
Hang Tough Gov. Walker.
By the way: who is paying for the meals and lodging? If the dem senators are paying for it themselves, out of their own pockets, fine and dandy. And perhaps they are.
But if the expenses are being footed by someone else, that's another matter. Then the payments are a gift to the legislators and should (1) be reportable and taxable as gifts; and (2) be subject to Wisconsin's ethics limits on gifts to legislators.
Purely in the spirit of bipartisan comity and fair warning, the Governor should get word out to the vacationing legislators that that they are incurring personal liabilities and that the expenses will be audited, so they'd better make sure they're paying properly and keeping records.
I read on one of the lefty sites that there is a site set up for donations for the runaways and they already had 100 grand as of yesterday. I checked the link and it was over that amount and growing, so it appears they will have the money.
Coming to a state near you ?
We here in Maine are already hearing the ‘rumors of war’ coming our way because our Governor and Treasurer are attempting to do the same in about two weeks.
The tree of liberty....
So the Dem legislators are taking public bribes? Send the police after them. they are criminals.
Heard some WI Dem legislator on the tube today, complaining that Walker and the GOP didn’t negotiate..just crammed the bill down their throats..it’s a lot of crapola..about how the House Dems crammed Obamacare down our throats..
That's why Wisconsin is so important. If the gov and the legislature pull this off and don't cave, it will be a warning to the unions that threats won't work. If they do cave then the unions/democrats will only be more emboldened.
Unless Wisconsin wants to say that any group of citizens can shower money on legislators for personal use in return for legislative favors. I think there's a word for that ... begins with "b" ... it'll come to me ....
what I don’t understand is why Walker is looking for economic changes to the union contracts that are valued at $300 million over two years when he is facing a $3600 million deficit
—
A) Walker has to start somewhere;
B) This bill is only one step in making WI a ‘right to work’ state - in order to attract businesses back to the state after Doyle drove them out.
B) This is just the first of many budget bills to come;
C) WI State labor costs are 60% of the budget, so I’ve heard.
I would hope that any “donation” fund set up to subsidize a strike by democrat state legislature members will be audited and challenged as was Sarah Palin’s legal defense fund. And the the media will investigate the sources of the “donations”- Chinese dishwashers in NYC perhaps?
I would also hope they - and their staffs - are on unpaid leave at best
—
which is over $7100 for each of the 14... in political donations to their reelection campaigns?
Probably illegalities abound, but since they are Dems, this is perfectly legal.
Those with publicly perceived personal and professional morality who break the law will be so charged, those without, will not be charged - which is why it pays (literally) to be a Dem.
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