Posted on 03/15/2011 5:48:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
Who won the battle of Wisconsin? Republican Gov. Scott Walker got a legislative victory. On the other hand, Democrats, with a wary eye on 2012 and noting the worrying drop in support for President Obama in union-heavy states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, claim to be delighted that Walker has picked this fight.
"Republicans have done organized labor a great favor by putting the movement back in (the) labor movement, creating a level of passion and activism for workers' rights that hasn't been seen in generations," crowed Democratic strategist Mike Lux.
Maybe so. Though the three-week tantrum by union protesters in Madison (which escalated to harassment of Republican legislators by the Party of Civility), along with the flight of Democratic legislators to Illinois may well offend more Americans than it energizes.
Polling is equivocal. A national poll by Rasmussen found that 48 percent supported Walker while only 38 percent favored the unions. A highly significant 56 percent of independents sided with the governor. On the other hand, a CBS/New York Times poll found that 56 percent of those surveyed opposed reducing pay or benefits of public employees in order to balance state budgets, and 60 percent opposed weakening the bargaining rights of public employees.
Let's stipulate that polls can suffer from tendentious wording. Nevertheless, the public's response to the Madison imbroglio suggests that Republican budget cutters have not completely made their case.
Republicans may need to put greater emphasis on the difference between private- and public-sector unions. In a private-sector company, when unions negotiate with management, there is a limiting factor at work -- the company must remain profitable or everyone is out of a job. In the case of public-sector unions, "management" consists of elected officials, and the city, state, or federal government is the employer. Profit or loss is irrelevant, so there is no limiting factor. If unions receive more and more generous pay and benefits, it's the taxpayers who are on the hook, not "management."
Franklin D. Roosevelt was as radical as Scott Walker. In 1937, he said, "All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management." Former AFL-CIO president George Meany agreed, saying, "It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government."
In the private sector, unions do not control management and vice versa. In the case of public-employee unions, "management" -- i.e., public officials -- often receive generous contributions from the very unions with whom they are negotiating -- permitting unions to choose "management" to form a cozy, if corrupt, circle.
During the last election cycle, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees contributed $90 million to Democratic candidates. In 2006, then New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine addressed a rally of 10,000 public employees in Trenton, declaring, "We will fight for a fair contract." Corzine was supposed to be management. With whom was he fighting?
The answer, as even Democratic governors like Andrew Cuomo and Jerry Brown are discovering, is other middle-class people -- i.e., the taxpayers. The taxpayers are the ones left holding the bag when elected officials team up with public-sector unions. Middle-class taxpayers, only about 65 percent of whom have access to retirement plans, are picking up the tab for the 90 percent of government employees who do. Nearly 70 percent of lower wage government workers receive health benefits, compared with only 38 percent of private-sector workers.
Many state workers avail themselves of the option to retire in their early to mid-50s at nearly full pay. If they were New Jersey teachers, they can collect free health benefits for life.
The results are clear: New York has a 2012 budget gap of $9 billion; California's is more than $20 billion; Illinois' is $11 billion. The vast majority of middle-class taxpayers, whose pay and benefits are lower than those of the public-sector workers, must pay in higher taxes or reduced services.
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has asked California state workers for give-backs of 8 to 10 percent in salary, saying, "We have no choice ... We must now return California to fiscal responsibility and get our state on the road to economic recovery and job growth."
Mike Lux: Before you celebrate, have a look at Sacramento.
A key provision of Walker's WI law is not only to eviscerate unions' bargaining power but ALSO the state's obligation to collect union dues out of employee's paychecks---(most of which goes to Dem campaigns).
The libs are paranoid that Obama did not join them in WI as he promised he would during the campaign. He couldn't go----B/C he couldn't appear to side with violent union workers intent on keeping collective bargaining "rights" ...rights Ohaha's army of federal employees do not have.
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THIS SAYS A LOT Obama's recent Boston fundraiser started out as a $5,000 a plate then dropped to $500 a plate ... but he still could not fill the room——ended up talking to a little over 100 people.
Heh---nice to see Ohaha between a rock and a hard place. In a word----l-o-s-e-r.
It’s over unions.
Everyone must sacrifice. Your boss says so.
On a side—If the healthcare bill was so great why
are they giving all their friends waivers?
Yes and over time as new people come in and the old retire more and more will opt of paying union dues.
The fair thing to do would be for the Union to give back to the members an amount equivalent to what they give to the democratic party, stop supporting Democrats and or Republicans
and let the Union members support the party of their choice.
I know this make too much sense to be seriously considered by A) the Union, or B)the Democratic party who forever spout fairness. They wouldn’t recognize fairness if it bit them in the ass.
A poll commissioned by the NY Times...right!!! Kindly refer to my tagline. Thank you.
The advice above about separating public sector unions from private sector ones politically (conceptually) is smart. Watch the progressives/liberals on MSNBC. They do the opposite and equate rhetorically the public sector unions with all workers. They try to create a picture of ‘the rich’ only paying for the public services like schools and that being overly generous to public workers somehow benefits the private sector worker who ends up footing the bill.
1) Control the message, 2) Split the opposition
The unions have actually taken out tv ads here in Wisconsin showing supposed union members crying and moaning because their paychecks will now be less since the mean, evil, nasty Tyrant er Governor Walker is making them pay more in contributions to their health and pensions. The fact is they paid little or nothing before, and now they’re bawling because they have to pay a little. The Wisconsin GOP better counter that stuff quick. If the unions are successful in making it look like their nonexistent “rights” were taken away, the unions will ultimately win.
The unions have actually taken out tv ads here in Wisconsin showing supposed union members crying and moaning because their paychecks will now be less since the mean, evil, nasty Tyrant er Governor Walker is making them pay more in contributions to their health and pensions. The fact is they paid little or nothing before, and now they’re bawling because they have to pay a little. The Wisconsin GOP better counter that stuff quick. If the unions are successful in making it look like their nonexistent “rights” were taken away, the unions will ultimately win.
Good tagline. It could also be “We print our views and call it the news”
Conservative Americans are starting to catch on to the 'us vs. them' attitude of the unions.
Libs can't get elected in this country without the spoils. Union dues are funneled to Dems as political campaign contributions (Can you say 'kickbacks?'). Union officials fight tooth and nail against 'paycheck protection' laws that give members a choice about how their money is spent.
View these leftist union leaders as thieves in the night. They won't stop until the money stops.
Politically? Taxpayers.
The unions were shown to be selfish, and their win-win relationship with the Democratic party was clearly revealed. Unions IN GENERAL will be tainted from this display by the public sector unions.
Taxpayers are numerically superior to union members, this is a simple question to answer.
The unions and Dhims are pissed off that the Repubs were smarter than they were and used their own tactic of a deft use of the rules to pass the legislation.
Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and many other states are going to have to negotiate {one way or the other} with their own unions and the mob that defecated and slept in the halls at the Wisconsin state house will be just a bad memory.
I've been going to town hall meetings with my PA state rep and senator and I'm very encouraged with the path that they are taking.
There are going to be some changes made in PA that are going to make the msm heads explode.
Stay tuned, I'll provide real details as soon as some of the proposed changes are brought into bill and then laws.
Some include school vouchers, voter ID, Castle Doctrine extension, new budget with no tax increase etc.
Methinks this is a case of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. The labor unions are hollering and getting lots of attention, but when everyday Wisconsinites head to the polls in the future, they’ll appreciate that the Governor did what he said was going to do.
Lots of squawking doesn’t necessarily mean a majority.
Kharis13
The faked pro-commyunion polls will be shown up as any recall of Gov. Walker will go nowhere. The recalls against the dumbdem pols could indeed.
After seeing the “commy-policeunion thug threat letter” to Wisc. businesses, its clear the commyunions did not do well. You don’t resort to threats when you win.
An excellent example is that most teachers benefit contracts insisted that they buy health insurance from a union owned company, at rates 60% higher than other companies. Guess where the extra money went? See the following article:
More districts now could drop insurance arm of teachers union
We won, plain and simple. Tyrants do not go away easy so why expect the unions and democrats to give up their power easily? Let’s move on to the next battle...keep the Republican senators and Governor protected from recall. We can donate and volunteer to work for them. But, let’s move on to other states and send emails and phone calls to encourage pulling the plug on these corrupt unions and their democrat party puppets.
From: Sen.Fitzgerald
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 3:52 PM
To: Legislative Senate Republicans
Subject: Senate Democrat voting privileges in standing committees
Dear Members,
With the return of the Senate Democrats this weekend, questions have arisen regarding Democrat members’ participation in Senate standing committee public hearings and executive sessions. Please note that all 14 Democrat senators are still in contempt of the Senate. Therefore, when taking roll call votes on amendments and bills during executive sessions, Senate Democrats’ votes will not be reflected in the Records of Committee Proceedings or the Senate Journal. They are free to attend hearings, listen to testimony, debate legislation, introduce amendments, and cast votes to signal their support/opposition, but those votes will not count, and will not be recorded. If you have any questions, feel free to contact my office. Thank you, Scott Fitzgerald Senate Majority Leader 13th Senate District (Excerpt) Read more at wispolitics.com ...
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