MADISON, Wis. — As four game wardens awkwardly stood guard, protesters, scores deep, crushed into a corridor leading to the governor’s office here on Wednesday, their screams echoing through the Capitol: “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Behind closed doors, Scott Walker, the Republican who has been governor for about six weeks, calmly described his intent to forge ahead with the plans that had set off the uprising: He wants to require public workers to pay more for their health insurance and pensions, effectively cutting the take-home pay of many by around 7 percent.
He also wants to weaken most public-sector unions by sharply curtailing their collective bargaining rights, limiting talks to the subject of basic wages.
I think we’ll be seeing more of this.
Found by Cinàedh.
I heard the governor is taking all the money and moving to another country (per Tweets). He wanted the military to kill everybody but they declined.
There’s no money slaves, it all went to the Wall Street Bankers.
With high unemployment, where do there public sector workers think the state’s going to get the money to pay for their benefits? This is a recession. The workers should be glad to be employed.
I think the fact workers will NO longer be required, by law, to belong to the union is a good first step in breaking the back of legal extortionists.
Why are they paying the legislators a dime?
They are the ones that should be got rid of.
Just think of how much more good can be done with that money.
Local government are funded by public transport, garbage collection, parking fees, water etc. There is almost no central government money involved, so they are buy in large immune to the recession.
I wonder if these protesters realize that most employees in the private sector have zero sympathy for them.
Welcome to world of reality guys. Us in the private sector have been living this for decades.
Go get a real job if you don’t like it.
But, then again who would hire you?
Can’t wait to see what would happen here in California when the cuts get pushed. Then again, probably nothing would happen since the cuts are being pushed by Brown instead of Arnold and the morons seem to be dry humping Brown’s leg.
I see lots of pro’s and con’s to this issue but a simple grand summation: this is how the race to the bottom plays out. Get the mob fighting among themselves for the scraps while the king makes off with the booty.
LOOK: its right there!!!
Tax cuts for the Rich, cuts on everything else for the rest OF US!
Silly Hoomans.
At least a few of the protesters must be Republicans. And that means they have guns, and since mid-2008 all of them have lots and lots of ammo. And big magazines/clips.
This could turn out poorly. But, it’s Madison Wiscahnsin, not NC or Arizona, so who knows.
Isn’t this, in part, why Walker was elected?
Otherwise they would have elected another Democrat that would never have the nerve to quit kissing union ass.
Maybe they can get Doyle to pay more fines for violating the state’s ethics laws.
I think even Obama realizes he is going to have to cut a few holes in the cradle to grave “Safety Net”.
Breaking an entitlement culture is never easy, and those receiving those entitlements will fight to keep taking from others.
This is just the opening round. Just wait until the federal government is FORCED due to its insane debt, to start cutting entitlements. Then you will see it really hit the fan.
The Feds could make a good start by slashing defense spending.
Derspankster: Good point, but it just moves the unemployment to DoD contractors, and contractors have more money (and congressmen) to fight that change. Seen it from both the DoD and contractor’s points of view back in the 70s and 80s.
Apparently we don’t remember this anymore but no-one gave anyone the right to unionize, collectively bargain — and to strike when it was deemed necessary.
Large numbers of workers bled and died, fighting the insanely wealthy and their mercenary troops to force a living wage for regular citizens.
We really should teach history in our schools, so we don’t have to keep repeating it all the time.
I guess it’s going to happen all over again, except this time the insanely wealthy seem to have brainwashed a larger number of imbeciles to join their mercenaries – for free and against their own best interests.
So many idjits…
The teachers don’t even realize that their hissy fits are just making the home-owners more determined to fight back against the outrageous benefits.
It is one thing to compromise, it is another to roll over and give up your rights to collective bargaining. This story should be linked to:
http://rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216
This is why pensions are hurting. States like NJ quit contributing years ago. I believe there is proof that the Wisconsin gov. has cooked the books. He just gave huge kick backs to companies that aren’t even doing business in his State, but helped him win his election. Thank you Citizen’s United.
[URL in previous post fixed. – ed.]
@#17 Public job Unions DO NOT bargain with anyone. They corrupt officials in charge at the time who do not have any own skin in the game.
Bargaining with private company owners – yes, those in charge have ALL of their skin in a game.
The only legal way to unionize in public sector should be law forcing every single public works union contract to be voted on referendum by the public whose tax dollars would be paying for the work and who will be getting services for that money. All current public union contract should e immediately made null and void and re-negotiated and approved by public who pays.
I live near Madison. You sort of have to see this in context.
This budget bill was announced last Friday. The republicans want it to pass this week. I think most people are upset because Walker is trying rush this legislation through, and currently the republicans in the senate are refusing to discuss the issues openly. Regardless of your view of the situation, this is happening way to fast and without any public input (aside from the protesting).
I could complain about Walker for days, but I don’t really feel like it right now. Here’s a news article that basically sums up my opinion:
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_61064e9a-27b0-5f28-b6d1-a57c8b2aaaf6.html
the trough is out of slop and the hogs are angry….beware!
Just filed my income tax today.
I feel great that I did my best (beyond) to get as much as a refund as I could.
FUCK THE GOVERNMENT.
FUCK THE UNIONS.
FUCK THE POLICE.
Bless the workers.
Bless the poor.
Bless the rich.
#21 dusanmal
This case in point would be your perfect example, then?
Well, you are correct when you say someone is not bargaining and that someone would be the same person who gets to make and change the rules.
It’s true, someone has to suffer during economic times like these but somehow, the suffering is never done by the politicians or their wealthy friends, is it?
It’s obviously these wealthy people in the unions, causing all this financial trouble.
have to admit that it’s nice to see government workers being treated the same as the private sector. my experience in the past has been that civil servants are immune and oblivious to salary and benefits reductions and even develop an feeling of entitlement to the positions they hold. in the federal government, you pretty much have to commit a class A felony to be fired. and even that doesn’t hold for congressmen and higher up.
So the union workers have “protected” their welfare for years by being in a union so that they can work as a group for their rights. A lot of people nowadays work for ScrewTheWorker Inc. and they have no rights, your boss tells you to come in on Saturday then you come in or you lose your job. Your company tells you no raise for four years (and in the meantime the CEO is making $200,000,000 a year), you contemplate quitting but you stay because the job market sucks.
So I think this is mainly a matter of the non-union workers being jealous of what the union workers have. The unions in this country were made for a reason: companies love to screw the worker. I see all this non-sense propaganda online about how teachers are lazy. How could a teacher be lazy? They work 7AM to 4PM, and then they have to go home and grade assignments and tests and prepare schoolwork for another four hours. In the meantime these anti-union people are sitting on the computer at 10AM on a weekday! Who is the lazy one?
It just boggles the mind how easily people are being manipulated.
I’d tell the teachers to get back to work or they’d be fired. Then I’d hire other teachers who are looking for work.
I would never skip work. In this economy, I’d be happy to have a job at all. I have no pity for these people.
Hmm, the more I think about it, fire everyone and let them reapply for their jobs.
Reminds me of when Reagan fired the flight controllers. Bzzzt. Unions lose again.
Apparently people who work for the government would like the same benefits as those who work for successful private businesses. Who can blame them? Everybody would like those things.
The problem is though, I think, that government can never really be like a capitalist-type entity, no matter how much it tries to. It has the public to deal with…they are like critical stockholders from hell.