Posted on 03/01/2011 1:59:46 AM PST by Scanian
When the Wisconsin General Assembly voted to pass Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, the Democratic legislators made themselves indistinguishable from the protesters surrounding the assembly floor.
They wore the same pro-union orange T-shirts. They behaved in the same sophomoric way, breaking out in a noisy demonstration. They chanted the same ubiquitous word: "Shame!" They might as well have brought guitars onto the floor for a Woody Guthrie sing-along and touted "Walker = Hitler" signs.
In Wisconsin, it's less that Democrats act to protect a special interest than that they belong to a special interest. A complete identification has long existed among state government, the public-sector unions and the Democratic Party. By seeking to break up this self-dealing nexus, Walker is "assaulting," in President Obama's formulation, a partisan political machine dependent on the state for its functioning.
The Wisconsin fight has focused on collective-bargaining rights, but that isn't the main event. As Daniel DiSalvo of the City College of New York-CUNY notes in a Weekly Standard article, 24 states either don't allow collective bargaining for public workers, or permit it for only a segment of workers. Even if Walker prevails, Wisconsin will allow more collective bargaining than these states.
Not to mention the federal government. Obama may lecture Walker about union rights, but he can go straight to Congress with a highly political proposal to freeze the pay of federal workers because they can't collectively bargain for wages or benefits.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Excellent point. The Wisconsin Democrats have shown that they’re not interested in the people of Wisconsin. Rather they’re interested in those who will give them money and power. I hope the people of Wisconsin start waking up to this fact.
Great article. Thanks for posting it.
I knew of the provision of Gov. Walker’s law that puts an end to state government collecting union dues, but I figured it was just icing on the cake of reduced collective bargaining.
Lowry presents a rather compelling argument that the dues collection issue is the *main* reason the ‘rats hate the bill.
Glad you liked the post.
If the union was really providing such a good service to its members then it would have nothing to worry about with the ending of check-off. :)
Automatic donations is more like it. Auto donations to Democrats is what the fight is really about.
If the voters in Wisconsin reelect these bozos, they will get what they deserve.
I have been saying this for years!!!! When taxpayer-funded personnel and computer equipment are no longer used to collect dues for the unions, we will have education again in our public schools. I am so thankful this issue is finally getting some attention!!!!
The sheeple are idiots...the “taxpayers” of Wisconsin pay the union dues directly from state coffers so the union can fund protests and put the Democratic Senators up in Illinois resorts all at taxpayer expense! Its all recycled funny money!
While we’re ending automatic deductions for union dues, why not throw in withholding of taxes?
Let the government make every taxpayer write a check. What do you think tax rates would do then?
It may be so among government workers, that they would hesitate to pay their dues without "check off" but that very system of individual members writing a personal check seems to work just fine around my parts anyway, of certain trade union members doing it.
My son is a union iron worker and works for several different companies every year, you should see his pile of W-2s he has to file each year. He pays his dues directly to the union.
In the case of the teachers, it might not work as well, unless of course they are compelled to belong to the union as a matter of keeping their jobs.
“””
Perhaps some of these members aren’t liberal Democrats, so they don’t want to pay dues — roughly $1,000 annually in the case of teachers — which will overwhelmingly go to funding and organizing for Democratic candidates.”””
We need to keep advertising that approval of Gov Walker’s bill will mean a $1000 pay raise for the teachers since they will no longer be compelled to pay union dues.
The other question I have had deals with all this money coming into the Wisconsin union coffers. I know they spend some on Democrat political contributions, but it seems that a lot of the union money is going into the pockets of the bosses.
Read any SEIU handout and you'll know that this is true. Except you would think that the state isn't Wisconsin, but rather Mao's China. I often wonder if the average state employee actually reads & believes that pap.
No automatic dues confiscation, the amount of money collect will drop by 50-70% and that means that less demonRATs can be bought.
The demonRATs know this and that is the real reason they are fighting this hard.
They will lose both here and in a state near you coming soon.
Iron workers, steam fitters and several other trade union workers are jobbers and get their assignments from the union hall and not by going door to door and being hired by the contractor.
If these guys don't pay the bribes or dues to the union, no work.
When they want someone to work {after hours, for a local politico} they just call the younger guys that need work, and these guys must show up... or they don't get jobs.
I've got an acquaintance that was a "business manager" for a trade union, and he had the power of which guys got which jobs, and when times were tougher, who worked and who didn't.
When he "asked the guys" to go help a politico that was a friend of the union, what do you think the response was going to be.
One thing I find ironic about union trades is their policy about Wal-Mart and not wanting their members to shop there. Wal-Mart, when building a new store, utilizes union labor quite often when they are building a new store. I know this to be true because of my wife's position in store planning at W-M, Their policy is to use whatever labor is available and can supply the man power needed to get the job done and often that is union labor. She has hired union electricians, pipe fitters, iron workers etc. many times.
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