Breaking: Wisconsin's Walker to absent Democrats: 24 hours to return

Reuters ^ | Feb. 28, 2011 | David Bailey

[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.

[Eva]

You know, it’s very possible that people would not have even noticed the stimulus money if your union members hadn’t pushed the Obamacare on us.

[Netizen]

My union members? They aren’t MY union members.

Most union members didn’t foist obamacare on us. Union members have good coverage, probably better than most. Its the unemployed that wanted obamacare. Remember, most polls showed that most Americans did NOT want obamacare, that’s obama had to have congress force it on us.

[Eva]

You apparently haven’t been paying attention. The only support for Obamacare has come from unions which are exempted from it, especially SEIU unions. Read that old article that I linked last night from American Thinker, called Pay to Play. It explains the game plan for Obamacare.

Obamacare is nothing but a power play for both the government unions and the Democrats. The teachers unions had to be bought with exemptions before they would support it. The teachers in Oregon even ran ads against Obamacare until they got bought off, then they flipped and started supporting it for the rest of us. It’s bad enough to have an adversarial relationship with the public schools, but an adversarial relationship with our health care providers is just plain intolerable.

Breaking the stranglehold of the public unions on the private sector tax payers is the only way to stop it.

[Netizen]

I hate to tell you this, but joe average is NOT the union. Joe average has no control over what the union does

[Netizen]

You act like there are no union workers in the tax paying private sector and that is not the case.

If corporations could be trusted to do the right thing unions wouldn’t be necessary. Unfortunately, corporations cannot be trusted to do the right thing. So while unions overstep, they are still necessary.

Now if Labor boards actually did their jobs, you might be able to do away with unions, but, just like unions they can be bought off. Its a no win situation for the average worker, no matter how you cut it.

[GOPJ]

Fire them all. the teachers who have been absent, the legislators who fled the state, the union thug bosses who only want more for themselves and don’t care about the state, the teachers or the children. Fire them all!

LOL - I was right there with you until you decided to 'fire' the children...

[EDINVA]

thanks for that info ... very interesting. Looks like the GOP has a lock on youth and (for the most part) looks. I like it.

[Eva]

This issue does not concern private sector unions, only public sector unions.

[Netizen]

President of the AFL Cio disagrees with you

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOD4QvX9LA-DCeDwnFlwsqNNJtZA?docId=ef6d4345ace94ba7bf6e339b864141f4

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the effort to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers in Wisconsin and other states has brought a level of excitement to unions that he hasn’t seen in years.

“We’ve never seen the incredible solidarity that we’re seeing right now,” Trumka told reporters at the federation’s annual meeting of union leaders.

Trumka said he hopes to tap into that enthusiasm to help spur union organizing and growth after decades of decline.

http://www.aflcio.org/splash_weareone.cfm?continue=/index.cfm

[Mr. K]

SO...it’s Tuesday

Did the GOP wimp out again?

Thought so....

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Change the WI constitution so that after three consecutive failures to achieve quorum, the quorum requirement drops to 50%.

Would they have to amend the WI Constitution...that would take a lot of time, maybe a 2/3 vote of both houses, and maybe even a public vote.

Couldn't they just change the Senate rules and make them effective immediately?

[BamaBlue]

Let me see...do I believe Trumka...sure he wouldn’t lie...now would he?

[BamaBlue]

This is what it’s all about...

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/03/alabama_education_association_1.html

Dues being deducted or not...if not they probably lose 30% of their revenue and substantial power in the political process...

[Eva]

OF COURSE TRUMKO would disagree! It’s a union organizing tactic to try to tie all the unions together.

The fact is that the bargaining rights of the trade unions are not endangered. Trade unions sit across the table from their bosses and negotiate. Government unions sit across the table from the Democrat politicians that they put in office and the bosses, who are the tax payers, get no seat at the table.

[PapaBear3625]

The quorum requirement is part of the WI constitution. Changing it must be done by changing the constitution, which is hard.

[Diamond]

“Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American DEMOCRAT Party-affiliated polling firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. PPP was founded in 2001 ...”

[ModelBreaker]

“Is there such a thing as “contempt of Legislature”?”

Hope not. I would have spent the last several decades in jail :)

[Palladin]

It’s fun to imagine all the different scenarios. This time around it will probably be Blue versus Red states. The entire middle of the country against the fringe states on the two coasts. The Reds are better armed and more ready.

Just think—the New Red Army of America will be a band of conservative brothers and sisters!

Quite a switch on the last century.

[WorldviewDad]

I guess I am confused by the negative angle of the post. We are in an on going struggle to change how we do business in this state...yes I live in Wisconsin.

I am very proud of what my governor is doing and I can understand why he is doing things the way he is. I keep hearing that he has issued “ultimatums” when what I actually here out of his mouth is him trying to prepare people for what the aftermath of this struggle will look like...and then because the media calls it an ultimatum, conservatives think he wimped out...we need to stop playing into their hands and support those on the front lines of the battle.

[WorldviewDad]

Just a thought...what if the state would not make school attendance mandatory but instead just supply all families with the option of an K12 Virtual School via the Internet...

New computer...$500
Internet.......$30 X 12 months = $360
Cost of K12....??? maybe $1000 I would think much less?
Total....$1860 per student per year

That is much less then the $11,300 per student the local public school is spending...or a savings of $9,440 per student or a saving of $13,700,000 just for the local school district...think of how much the taxes could be reduced.