Posted on 02/28/2011 9:04:47 AM PST by fightinJAG
Reuters) - Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday that absent senate Democrats have 24 hours to return and vote on a measure to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state will miss out on opportunity to refinance its debt.
"Now they have one day to return to work before the state loses out on the chance to refinance debt, saving taxpayers $165 million this fiscal year," Walker's spokesman Cullen Werwie said in a statement.
"Failure to return to work and cast their votes will lead to more painful and aggressive spending cuts in the very near future," the statement said.
Walker's budget proposal has sparked nationwide protests from labor unions who fear it could be a harbinger of things to come in other states. To balance the state's budget, Walker wants to require public sector employees to pay more for pensions and health care, and to strip their unions of bargaining rights except for wages up to the rate of inflation.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Interesting notion.
What state are they in? What are the residency laws there? In NY its just 30 days (ask “yeah I’m a carpetbagger, so what?” Hillary).
That's nice. When I got hurt on the job, I didn't get to have the best, I had to go to a doctor of their choice.
Not quite; by the WI Constitution (Sec 14 of Art 4, IIRC) the Governor may issue writs of election to fill vacant seats.
As the members of the Senate are not there, AWOL as it were, the seats *are* vacant; so the Governor could simply issue a statement as to why he believes the seats to be vacated along with the writs for electing new Senators.
He may even be able to head-off legal challenges by the derelict Senators by having some sort of recall-clause on the ballots stating that by voting for another person the voter is, implicitly, recalling the current Senator.
His numbers have gone up over the past two weeks. I’d say it’s working.
Sure they have. lol
Walker won the November 2, 2010 election 52 to 46 percent for Democrat Tom Barrett, with the remainder of the vote to minor candidates.
Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, North Carolina said a new poll showed if the election were replayed now, the result would be almost exactly flipped, with Democrat Tom Barrett getting 52 percent and Walker 45 percent, with four percent not sure.
The shift in voter sentiment away from Walker was attributed to households with at least one union member, the polling group said. More details of the poll will be released on Tuesday.
The poll surveyed 768 Wisconsin voters from February 24 to 27.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2681743/posts
(1) if this is like the CBS/NY Times poll (enough said), then the sampling has been not-so-randomly selected and the results rendered dubious
(2) let’s say this poll you pull from to make your point is correct. if doing the right things means you lose an election, so be it. being a statesman means making the tough decisions when failing to do so might be easier but wrong. politicians are a dime a dozen. leaders are not. the united states’ economic situation in 2011 doesn’t require politicians who want to kick the can and stay in office. it requires leadership. polls are based on wording and whim. whim is what got us into this mess.
enough of that attitude already.
Doesn't seem to be about word or whim.
That means that they over sampled Democrats because almost all union families are Democrat. The only poll that counts takes place at the ballot box. I don't trust any of them any more. The Democrats are not going to come back. This is ground zero for THE Zero. This is about the SEIU 1199, the health care workers union who are also on strike because as SEIU members, they are public employees. This is about the unionization of the whole health care industry under the SEIU, 1/5 of the economy. This would seal our fate and empower Obama forevermore.
Please reread what I wrote. The teachers were not elected. The governor here in MI, declared an emergency and turned Detroit schools over to the State. As for the legislators, there are ways to call deraliction of duty. Then go from there, even if it is an emergency election.
Not all union members are democrats. I used to belong to a union many years ago and I always voted republican or independent.
The same could be said of polls showing Walker’s numbers up. Dems could claim that they over sampled republicans.
Polls are polls. They aren’t just reliable when they favor republicans. THAT is the point.
Admitting that it was UNION FAMILIES that turned the poll toward the unions is admitting that they over weighted Democrats.
I know that not all union families vote Democrat, but the majority sure do.
And people will do what they can to protect their jobs. That’s just a fact. Its called survival.
You just proved my point that we must stop the collective bargaining of the government workers because WE are the employers and the union workers see US, the tax payers as adversaries.
Wisconsin and the end of collective bargaining is ground zero for the Obama administration and their goal of unionizing the whole health care industry, 1/5 of the economy, under the umbrella of the SEIU, Obama’s personal union.
First, fire the state worker’s responsible for collecting union dues for state workers.
I’m not disagreeing that we as the taxpayers should have a say in what those benefits are. My post was only that to claim that Walker’s numbers were up, wasn’t realistic.
People that voted republican are just as apt to side with the dems on this issue because it affects them. That was my point. You disagree with that?
No, THERE is NO UPSIDE for Republicans in supporting government unions. Government unions are the enemy, they are on the opposite side of the negotiating table from the tax payers.
The main issue in Wisconsin is not the bargaining power of teachers or state government workers, it’s stopping the SEIU Health Care Workers - SEIU 1199. The press doesn’t want to report it, but that is the truth.
Suunds fair to me.
You’re still NOT going to get the tax paying teacher, firefighter, policeman etc to side with someone that wants to cut their benefits.
Another freeper astutely/correctly notes last year (below) exactly WHAT the Democrats accomplished in Texas back in 2003 the last time they (Democrats) pulled this cowardly, loathsome, disrespect of the fundamental principle of “MARJORITY RULES” stunt!
Basically, these 14 low lifes in Wisconsin are “flippin the bird” from Illinois to the majority of the Wisconsin people...........pure and simple. An organized conspiratorial “theft of quorum” by legislators like this should be a crime and punishable by serious jail time...........period. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would never support the Republicans doing the same thing.
To: pwatson
What did the Democrat grandstanding in Texas get them? The redistricting still went through eventually, but they looked like jackasses in the process.
I’d rather see Paul Ryan and others continue to provide principled and eloquent opposition.
18 posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 2:57:18 PM by Chet 99
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>>The state doesn’t hire or fire teachers.<<
Here in MI, the Governor called a state of emergency in Detroit Public Schools and put it under the control of the State Board of Education.
I would think that after the schools were closed for “sick-outs” for ‘x’ many days, the WI governor could do the same.
WWRRD?
*What would Ronald Reagan Do?
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