Union Brothers and Sisters: Seize Opportunity to Show True Solidarity
The union-led school closures and demonstrations in Madison have left most ordinary Americans shaking their heads in disbelief. Months ago, I penned a message to my fellow union brothers and sisters when I found myself on the receiving end of union boss Richard Trumka’s wrath. Yesterday’s demonstrations reminded me of the full-page ads taken out against me when I put my foot down in dealing with union demands while I served as governor. My message then and now to good union brothers and sisters is that you have another option. You don’t have to kowtow to the union bosses who are not looking out for you, but instead are using you. You can join millions of other union members in a commonsense movement to help fight for the right causes in our great country – for budgets that share the burden in a truly fair way and for commonsense reforms that take power away from vested interests like union bosses and big business lobby groups, and put it back where it belongs – with “We the People.”
Here we are still struggling to get out of a deep recession and coping with high unemployment, record deficits, rapidly risingfood prices, and a host of other economic problems; and Wisconsin union bosses want union members out in the streets demanding that taxpayers foot the bill for unsustainable benefits packages. I am a friend to hard working union members and to teachers. I come from a family of teachers; my grandparents, parents, brother, sister, aunt, and other relatives worked, or still work, in education. My own children attend public schools. I greatly admire good teachers and will always speak up in defense of the teaching profession. But Wisconsin teacher unions do themselves no favor by closing down classrooms and abandoning children’s needs in protest against the sort of belt-tightening that people everywhere are going through. Union brothers and sisters: this is the wrong fight at the wrong time. Solidarity doesn’t mean making Wisconsin taxpayers pay for benefits that are not sustainable and affordable at a time when many of these taxpayers struggle to hold on to their own jobs and homes. Real solidarity means everyone being willing to sacrifice and carry our share of the burden. It does no one any favors to dismiss the sacrifices others have already had to make—in wage cuts, unpaid vacations, and even job losses—to weather our economic storm.
Hard working, patriotic, and selfless union brothers and sisters: please don’t be taken in by the union bosses. At the end of the day, they’re not fighting for your pension or health care plan or even for the sustainability of Wisconsin’s education budget. They’re fighting to protect their own powerful privileges and their own political clout. The agenda for too many union bosses is a big government agenda that only serves the union bosses themselves – not union members, not union families, and certainly not the larger community. Everybody else is just there to foot the bill; and if that bill eventually takes the form of thousands of teachers and other public sector workers losing their jobs because the state of Wisconsin can no longer afford to keep them on the payroll, that’s a risk the union bosses are willing to take as long as their positions are secure. Union brothers and sisters: you are better than this and you deserve better. Don’t be led astray.
One final word of warning to my fellow Americans: back in 2009, I warned about what would happen if states accepted short-term unsustainable debt-ridden “Stimulus Package” funds. Accepting those funds allowed states to grow government, increase already unsustainable levels of spending, kick the can down the road on reforming entitlements, and create public expectations that they would continue financing these new mandates once the federal funds ran out. States were not in a position to grow government and take on new financial commitments then, and now the chickens have come home to roost. As goes Wisconsin today, so goes the country tomorrow.
- Sarah Palin
Kevin Opar
(and Mordecai, and the left, etc.)
Phillips Ajit
How long can CBS afford to loose advertisers due to Katie Curry's poor ratings? In desparation she went to Egypt but even the Muslim brotherhood wouldn't talk to her.
Phillips Ajit
Let us make 2011 "The Year Of Impeachment" and start off with sheriff dumnik.
Helen Marangos
Janette you just don't seem to get it. These teachers are willing to pay more that was never the issue. But it seems that you and people like you have nothing better to do than blame unions and especially teachers for the economic problems of this country when all the CEO's and corporate executives are laughing all the way to the bank and their millions in bonuses.
Kevin Opar
Helen, who bailed out the unscrupulous billionaire execs who royally screwed up their companies?
Kevin Opar
Also if someone is wealthy, 9 times out of ten, they deserve it. Don't be a hater because of Obama's Goldman Sachs buddies.
Kevin Opar
Progressive republicans (which are not really republicans), not conservative republicans.
Kevin Opar
George W. Bush was a progressive, as was Teddy Roosevelt (who was also nominally republican but started the american progressive movement)
Byron Huntington
Please read this if you havent Already its long but your going to love this stuff.
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, and Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the ...sake of the kids, but the whole of th...is latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot, and will not, ever agree on what is right for us all. So. let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to “irreconcilable differences” and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:
--Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy. Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
--We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.
--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.
--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.
--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and biodiesel.
--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.
--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street.
--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies, and illegal aliens.
--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's, and rednecks.
--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.
--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.
--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.
--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bills.
--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks, and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.
--You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors.
--We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.
--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."
--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kumbaya" or "We Are the World".
--We'll practice trickle-down economics and you can continue to give trickle-up poverty your best shot.
--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name, and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.
Sincerely,
John J. Wall
Law Student and an AmericanSee More
about a minute ago · LikeUnlike.
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, and Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the ...sake of the kids, but the whole of th...is latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot, and will not, ever agree on what is right for us all. So. let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to “irreconcilable differences” and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:
--Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy. Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
--We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.
--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.
--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.
--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and biodiesel.
--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.
--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street.
--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies, and illegal aliens.
--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's, and rednecks.
--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.
--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.
--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.
--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bills.
--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks, and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.
--You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors.
--We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.
--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."
--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kumbaya" or "We Are the World".
--We'll practice trickle-down economics and you can continue to give trickle-up poverty your best shot.
--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name, and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.
Sincerely,
John J. Wall
Law Student and an AmericanSee More
about a minute ago · LikeUnlike.
Kevin Opar
GWB and Obama are essentially the same politically.
Kevin Opar
Most shallow people just get caught up on race.
Kevin Opar
Brian, I love you like a brother, but I suggest you pay no attention to specific left/right politics. That came from the French Revolution and has little to do with today. The real contention in washington today is between socialists and conservatives. Unfortunately, socialists are in the majority (both democrat and republicans).
Kevin Opar
Also, Obama is taking the crisis and making it much worse. Like I said, Obama and Bush are both progressives, and progressivism makes everyone poorer through economic stagnation, theft, and inflation.
Kevin Opar
...except for elites.
Kevin Opar
It would take a very long time to explain. You should google it. Basically Government runs the economy and everyone's lives. Realistically some progressives would like tax rates between 90-100% on the private sector to finance huge government spending and ever-increasing government employment.
Kevin Opar
A huge "nanny-state" as well. Government chooses winners and losers among companies and the subject (formerly citizen) has very limited choices regarding their own life-choices.
Kevin Opar
It's essentially an ever-evolving trend toward communism.
Patrick Young
Is community organizer a fancy word for union thug? I digress.
Kevin Opar
I'm guessing you probably got that from one of the websites of progressive party members or the party itself. Yeah, it sounds good, but conservatives also have fought for better treatment of women and against child labor. They say that stuff so shallow people would automatically assume that the other side beats up women and throws their kid in a dirty factory before Kindergarten. I know you are smarter than that.
Kevin Opar
The MAIN difference is "change by enacting government reform"
Brent Gentry
Palin-Walker 2012
Kevin Opar
Do you make decisions in your life to do what is in the best interest of yourself, friends, family and community? Or, do you make decisions as to what's best for the growth, power and influence of government?
Kevin Opar
do you think I beat up women and exploit children?
Kevin Opar
Do you hate rich people? (progressives thrive on that)
Kevin Opar
Also the progressive movement has recently been found to support efforts toward the expansion of islamic Sharia Law (which allows you to kick the shit out of women and rape them legally)
Patrick Young
Democracy is mob rule. Republic is represented government. I believe it is very clear what type of government the democratic party favor. I as a conservative/ independent, as our founders did, a republic under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Kevin Opar
Doesn't sound good for women's rights eh?
Kevin Opar
So you want to and indeed do. give your entire paycheck to government?
Kevin Opar
OOPS! sorry for the "S-bomb"
Kevin Opar
Ooh you brought up an excellent point.
Patrick Young
Brian are you serious? Are you even old enough to know what socialism is? I hear venezuela is welcoming people like you good luck.
Kevin Opar
If all of the billionaires were forced to pay for health care of all poor people, what happens to the price of health care?
Kevin Opar
actually, scrap that.....
Kevin Opar
If you can't pay for health care, and you are sick in America, what do you do?
Kevin Opar
OMG! I just realized that you are a freshman/sophomore in high-school!!!
Kevin Opar
haha
Kevin Opar
there is nothing wrong with that, you are probably learning all kinds of great stuff every day, and I consider you an adult intillectually.
Kevin Opar
Do you really? Actually that is incorrect. Through medicare, medicaid, SSI, disability and other subsidies, Americans have completely free healthcare equal to, if not, better than the best health care in any other nation on earth.
Kevin Opar
Michael Moore (progressive) will tell you that people are dying in the streets everywhere because they can't go to the hospital. He's lying. Don't take my word for it, if you ever find yourself in an emergency room, ask a nurse what happens if someone comes in with no money.
Kevin Opar
Good talking to you buddy, good luck in school.
Kevin Opar
We also have the best for our GDP.
Kevin Opar
No other country has our GDP.
Kevin Opar
Progressives play with words and warp numbers. If you ever watch the movie "Sicko," pay attention to how life in Cuba is portrayed. Then Watch a documentary about Che Guevara and or Fidel Castro. You'll then see who is telling the truth.
Kevin Opar
I hope you eventually get to travel the world and get to know lots of foreigners. Peace out!
Kevin Opar
Thanks, you too
Shelby Storm
I lost respect for Senator Scott Brown of MA.
Kevin Opar
@Kate, That's why it's important to save money. You can be prepared for future emergencies. Bankruptcy sucks, but if you are really really sick, it's better than dying. That's reality. There is no way around reality. Liberalism is a mental disorder based on the false notion that you can create something from nothing, and it thrives on hate, envy, selfishness and greed.
Kevin Opar
Have you ever wondered why medical bills are insanely expensive?
Kevin Opar
...Because subsidies inflate prices. That's reality.
Kevin Opar
Also, your bill is compensating the other people who can't pay all together and have no credit. The drug addicted moms who put their baby through the NICU can EASILY run multi-million dollar bills because they've abused themselves through the term.
Kevin Opar
Do you know who pays for their drugs, beer and cigarrettes? It's not dad, he's gone by the time she's done peeing on the stick.
Kevin Opar
You do, and "Stinking Rich people."
Kevin Opar
taxpayers pay for EVERYTHING, so she can run around and be impregnated by mystery men 6,7,8,9,12 times.
Kevin Opar
And you and "Stinking Rich" people pay for EVERYTHING for the mystery men too. (And they usually habitually beat the crap out of the women too)
Julie Moss
Wisconsin is a con! Watch Chicago! Read the 2011 budget you would have a heartattack! (NOT THE 2012 BUDGET)
Kevin Opar
You see, socialism not only inflates prices, but it rots society.
Kevin Opar
The only way to get prices back down, is to limit subsidies.
Kevin Opar
Obamacare will only inflate prices further. Mark my words. Are you insured? How much has your premium gone up from last year?
Kevin Opar
Jerry, You owed them money. If you rack up a bill, you have to pay it. That's reality. The reason that your bill was so high, is because subsidies have inflated prices. If you subsidize more, it'll just get more expensive.
Kevin Opar
Socialists (both D and R) Gain power by telling you that they are going to get you something that is out of the bounds of reality. They make you hate and envy your fellow citizens who happen to be more financially sound.
Kevin Opar
The problem with socialism is that government quickly runs out of other people's money. The currency inflates, and everyone continuously becomes much poorer.
Betty Martinez
Absolutely true!!! Amazing clarity and truth telling. Good for you Kevin Opar.
Marie Wage
Storm proof your assets. We don't have much time.
http://www.anationincrisis.tv/index.htm
http://www.anationincrisis.tv/index.htm
Kevin Opar
Thanks Betty, To many I'm going to sound like a jerk, especially with the NICU mom example, there are many others. I stand behind those figures because I've lived in the inner-city for years now and my gf (my profile pic) is a nurse in the NICU. My mom is also a nurse who worked in an urban hospital. I could go on and on.
Marie Wage
When are we all going to get it that the Big Three are out to destroy us. Government, Corporate and Unions... an unholy trio, and they make us all hate each other, while they laugh all the way to the bank... on OUR money!
Marie Wage
No Kevin. You are not a jerk. My son was a NICU patient. When it came time for him to have a sleep study at the Univ. of Maryland, I had to go through hell and high water trying to get permission from the insurance company to cover it, while the welfare mom's baby (who was there at the same time) got everything paid for and with NO hassles! Her health care plan was better than mine. I don't begrudge people their health care but there has to be a fairer way to handle this.
Kevin Opar
Marie, the three you mention are fine as long as they are kept separate. When they unconstitutionally join together, that's when it gets ugly.
Marie Wage
They are not separate, I think we are seeing that now.
Kevin Opar
Oh Marie, I can't personally relate as I have no children but I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I feel for you. Every day in there must have been a proverbial cage-match trying to get the right care, figuring out what's covered, bidding down the itemized co-pay etc.
Kevin Opar
It's a tough situation because nobody, regardless of politics wants to see anyone go without care, especially a newborn. I think even the heavily subsidized poor should be taken care of, but there has to be some sort of limiting factor in a person's subsidized expenditure.
Kevin Opar
I could imagine maybe having government oversight over an individuals total subsidies, (welfare, EBT, SNAP, medicaid, SSI, disability, section 8, free phone, transportation reimbursement. etc. etc. etc.)
Kevin Opar
There is no way any medical bill would be paid back, but I could see maybe subtracting a percentage of the money the person could withdraw as cash-back (which is going to go to drugs, beer and WICarettes anyway) as a portion of each gigantic bill they rack up.
Kevin Opar
It might push them to think about condoms or abstinence, or eating more healthy (diabetic medication) fighting less (ER visits with injuries) or maybe try harder to find a job.
Kevin Opar
There just has to be some incentive for people to imagine the value of the money being spent so they can make wiser life-choices.
Kevin Opar
Health Savings Accounts would bid prices down.
Kevin Opar
Detaching health insurance from employers would make a HUGE difference as it would force insurance companies to be more competitive.
Steve Hilmer
Speak up, Sarah. You're one person who's making sense. Fire the teachers! These brainiacs taught our youth into 37th place in the world in math and science. For those marvelous failures they want more free stuff.
FIRE EM. Charter schools are our hope for real dedicated teachers.
FIRE EM. Charter schools are our hope for real dedicated teachers.
Dina Joanne Russo
Palin 2012!
Phillips Ajit
The runaway WI Dems have been spotted in Venezuela.
Phillips Ajit
Let us make 2011 "The Year Of Impeachment" and start off with the runaway WI Dems.
Phillips Ajit
How long can CBS afford to loose advertisers due to Katie Curry's poor ratings? In desperation she went to Egypt but even the Muslim brotherhood wouldn't talk to her.
Phillips Ajit
I thank FOX News for having Sarah Paling when we need her the most. Obama can't FTW (fool the world) anymore; each time he lies his ears grow.
Wes Dicken
This is too good not to pass along ... great job. You might add that the quiet hard working Americans are also tired of the emotional abuse whenever the left doew not get its way. Keep up the good work!
Cook Carolyn
Say the word Sarah. . .and We the People will help with your campaign!!!
Monica R Larsen
Kevin Opar, I sent u a message about the health care remark...Feel free to post it on this link...
Marie Wage
Kevin, if the Left doesn't want children born, why don't they champion vasectomies instead of abortions for the poor. As my beloved mother used to say... "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If these guys want to have their sex and go their way, they should shoot blanks.
John Richard Stinnett
Right on Phillips !!
John Richard Stinnett
I want Gov shut down . :)
Golda Lorayne Bailey
Sarah Palin, you are an egotistical, ignorant twit. and COMMON SENSE is TWO WORDS! No wonder you hate education, you never received any.
Boston tea party battle cry: "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!" Where is our representation? OH YEAH! The American working class is not as important as the American CORPORATE class. Tea Parties SUCK, ask Alice, she'll tell you!
Boston tea party battle cry: "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!" Where is our representation? OH YEAH! The American working class is not as important as the American CORPORATE class. Tea Parties SUCK, ask Alice, she'll tell you!
Rob Dawson
The Unions are showing the rest of us exactly who they are. Take, take, take no matter how bad it hurts the tax payer.
Marie Wage
@Janette... these horror stories are legion, I say we taxpayers send one HUGE BILL to Mexico for taking care of THEIR citizens. Every Congressman or woman who stood up and clapped while THEIR President ADMONISHED US should have been run out of office, but they are still there. The system is good at protecting their own people to such a degree that a man had to resort to murder to take a monster like George Tiller the Killer out. Our elected representatives aren't that much far behind George in evil and corruption. They are steeped in it. Instead of addressing the issue why some citizens would be so angry as to want to shoot them (i.e. Gaby Giffords) they want to take guns away...sheesh like that's going to make people hate them any less, or solve the real problem: their corruption. This mindset is however, indicative on how they handle national problems. Do the opposite of what is needed and make it worse! No wonder nothing is done right. Maybe some alien sucked all common sense out of their brains or something.
Helen Marangos
Janette, the runaway democrats are doing their jobs. They are doing what they were elected to do. Fighting for the rights of people!!!!! Not pushing a bill down people's throat like the governor is without having reasonable discussions. I thought that is what democracy is, the ability to discuss through issues. But you guys are quick to judge. If you think charter schools are so great than why are they failing. But no one wants to talk about that. All you want is to just bash public schools teachers. My kids are products of public schools and they got a great education. One went on to Upenn on a scholarship and the other to Columbia.
Kasey Micole Nolte
Thank you Sarah Palin! Thank you for writing and speaking the truth!! God bless and protect you and your family!
Heather Mae
DOE: Two-Thirds of WI 8th Graders Can't Read Proficiently...The $10,791 that Wisconsin spent per pupil in its public elementary and secondary schools in fiscal year 2008 was more than any other state in the Midwest. I wonder what kind of private education a single mother in Milwaukee could by with that amount of money. I then wonder how they would do on proficiency test.
Sue Donovan
The health care system should not be "for profit" for so many reasons. A big one is bc that an insurance company in the middle of the mix is skimming a good percentage of health care dollars that could better be spent on care of sick people and prevention of disease. Those who believe we have "the best health care system in the world" either don't know the real story or swallow what politicians want them to believe because both the insurance industry and big Pharma pay huge sums for lobbyists who line the pockets of politicians. Mr. McCain was the biggest recipient of corporate kickbacks. Many of the democrats got payoffs, too. We are number one in terms of SPENDING on health care per capita, but our infant mortality is a disgrace. On another note: those who think teachers are overpaid should really think about who has the most important job in the world. It is amazing how much we pay celebrities (LIKE SARAH PALIN) and yet teachers often go year after year with no contracts. No cost of living increases. The teachers in my area pay for school supplies out of their own pockets. It is amazing to me that people who vehemently oppose abortion and chatter so much about being pro-family and pro-child are also the people who complain the most about paying (taxes for) children's services. Next - the alleged "red carpets services" given to illegals (yes, Janette Sawyer - this one's for YOU) - these stories sound an awful lot like the urban legends about the apocryphal "welfare queen" (black, of course) who loads her shopping cart up with STEAKS, pays for them with food stamps and then drives away in a luxury car. Um, and how can you tell it is an "illegal" male staring at you as you undress? He could be a person who is a guest worker. Or a Puerto Rican male (Puerto Ricans are Americans, after all). I guess it is those hormones coursing through the veins of men of color that makes them want white women so much. Why do so many conservatives trade on fear and envy? Envy of the poor bc they must be getting something better than white, working tax payers. (Trust me, they get the short end of the stick every time...). Sharia law? Do you understand that Big Foot is more likely to come out of the forest to win megabucks and marry your kid than Sharia law will ever see the light of say in any municipality in America? The hysteria over Obama being a secret Muslim spy was laughable... But this stuff about Sharia Law in America is truly an idea that merits involuntary hospitalization with forced administration of chemicals like thorazine.
Eric Pierce
The more the Libs prattle about this minor point and that, the more we can be assured that the main issue lies elsewhere...like money. As the old saying says, the simplest explaination is often the most likely. So here it is: If union membership becomes voluntary, which is what Gov. Walker's bill allows, the unions will loose a large percentage of their membership. Members equal $$$ to the unions. $$$ equals power. The unions use their $$$ to buy "top cover" from Obama by contributing hugely to his campain fund. This is a perfect example of Obama paying his debt. When it comes to Libs, always follow the $$$.
Nogueira Kevin
! Never doubt that a group of sharing , caring , and serving people can achieve the impossible, The future of this Country is in your hands ! Sarah. God Bless You , We Love you.
Patsy Coonce
Angel Blessing...Capture a Sunbeam..Reach for a Star...Follow a Rainbow...No matter how far...Cherish Your Hopes...Keep YOUR Dreams within view...And YOUR Positive thinking will pay off for YOU...And May YOUR ANGELS...Be Always Watching Over YOU Too!!!
Eric Pierce
@ Sue Donovan: I think you win the prize - Liberal Poster Child of the Week. I don't think I've ever seen so many truly thought-provoking talking points all in the same post at the same time. I am truly impressed. Please, tell us more...especially about Big Foot. I've always wondered about that.
Marie Wage
@Michelle, for the money we spend on it, either in public or private health plans, we do NOT have the best health care, or insurance, and a lot of it is because the system is more interested in making money than curing people of disease. They have lost their way. Innovators like Royal Rife were run out of the medical profession. There are cures for severe diseases, alternative cures but the AMA and drug companies are very powerful and doctors who practice alternative medicine have to do so "underground" or lose their license altogether. I remember back in the day they slandered chiropractors and called them quacks, it took a Federal lawsuit (which the chiropractors won) for chiropractic to be considered valid medical treatment.... and insurance companies STILL don't cover them but will cover back surgery. Read the book Racketeering in Medicine... it is a real eye opener.
Judy Evelyn Walz
Thank you for telling it like it is for the Unions and reminding union members that we want what is best for them AND our country.
Chai Vays
I heard an old jewish man (Shay Weiss) say : if the USA wants to lower the price of the oil , all they need to do is to announce that they are starting drilling...
only that will do the job we don't really have to do it!
only that will do the job we don't really have to do it!
Mike Farvour Kasten
I am a Republican I am also a state worker! I started working for the State of Wi. about 15 years ago. I did this because my wife got a good job in the Private sector and there were not many factory jobs for me in this area. So I took a $5.00 cut in pay and worse benifets to leave my Factory job to become a Correctional Officer. Since then I have worked my way up into a Middle Management Position in the Prison system. I was slowly getting raises as time went mostly due to advancement up the ranks. However that last several years I have been giving money back to the state in the form of paying for Benifits and putting money towards my retirement. Most of us understood this. Most of us have spouses that still work in the private sector, or did till they lost their jobs. Heck my wife and daughter are now living 4 hours away from me with her family because that is where she was able to get a good paying job again. Mean while I am here 4 hours away waiting till spring to finish up dates on this house so that I can put it up for sale and transfer closer to her new job so that we can be a whole family again. I know we are just one of many families living this way.
This bill will cost me an aditional $5,300.00 per year. That is half my house payment a month! That might not seem like a lot for a State employee making $75,000 a year, but most of us are not even close to that. We start out at $14.75 per hour to work with those poeple that you do not want on the streets. Over the years I have had inmate spit blood into my face, had bodily Fluids thrown on me, had to handle inmates that spred human waist all over them selves, cut their wrists, hung themselves and asulted me physicaly. All this for $14.57 per hour when you start. I have never complained about my job. I and 99% of my fellow officers have showed up for work since this has been going on. Yet we are still made out to be greedy SOB's. All because we start out at $14.75 per hour. Now Walker wants to use the CPI to cap our raises. Well When I started 15 years ago I started at $9.11 per hour. If the cap was use and we always got the max which is very unlikely we would be starting at approx $13.22 minus the $5000.00 or more that he wants to take from us.
On the other point of the unions, get rid of them if your a good employee they do not help you, If you are a peice of crap that should loose your job then they are great. I have seen in both the public and Private sector employees that should have gotten the boot and did not.
I guess the last thing I want to say is don't group us all together. There are state employees that have gotten to huge raises every year, but that is not all of us. The Gov needs to look at each area as a seperate unit and take form those that have gotten the huge raises and not as much from those that have not gotten anything and have actualy given back over the past several years.
Thank you for your time!
This bill will cost me an aditional $5,300.00 per year. That is half my house payment a month! That might not seem like a lot for a State employee making $75,000 a year, but most of us are not even close to that. We start out at $14.75 per hour to work with those poeple that you do not want on the streets. Over the years I have had inmate spit blood into my face, had bodily Fluids thrown on me, had to handle inmates that spred human waist all over them selves, cut their wrists, hung themselves and asulted me physicaly. All this for $14.57 per hour when you start. I have never complained about my job. I and 99% of my fellow officers have showed up for work since this has been going on. Yet we are still made out to be greedy SOB's. All because we start out at $14.75 per hour. Now Walker wants to use the CPI to cap our raises. Well When I started 15 years ago I started at $9.11 per hour. If the cap was use and we always got the max which is very unlikely we would be starting at approx $13.22 minus the $5000.00 or more that he wants to take from us.
On the other point of the unions, get rid of them if your a good employee they do not help you, If you are a peice of crap that should loose your job then they are great. I have seen in both the public and Private sector employees that should have gotten the boot and did not.
I guess the last thing I want to say is don't group us all together. There are state employees that have gotten to huge raises every year, but that is not all of us. The Gov needs to look at each area as a seperate unit and take form those that have gotten the huge raises and not as much from those that have not gotten anything and have actualy given back over the past several years.
Thank you for your time!
Vera Harrall
@Mike Kasten: It's too bad you are struggling, but join the club! Everyone is struggling! EVERYONE!!! From what I understand, the governor is not taking anything away from you, he's just requiring you to pay for part of your own health care and retirement. Sorry, buddy, no sympathy here! I have had a rough time for the last few years, too, and I have to pay for 100% of my health care insurance and 100% of my retirement!!!! I do appreciate what you do, but when you choose to work for a salary, you choose to do what it involves. If it's too bad for you, try getting a job in the private sector!
Sarah Jones
You don't like unions; look what you tried to do to the troopers union. It was in your emails. You know, the Bailey emails.
Edwin Shaw Jr
well said Sarah. we need you in washington
Marie Wage
@Mike, thank you for your loyal service and for your post. It's the teachers and that Trumka fellow who are being nasty and making all you guys look bad. Their union screwed them and now it's time to pay the piper and nobody wants to. At least there are still SOME state employees like you who are PROFESSIONALS, staying on the job until this works out.
Tammie Schmidt
I am a hard working teacher. I have worked hard to meet the needs of the children entrusted to me. I do not shy away from accountability. I say, "Bring it on!" You can in no way convince me that my health insurance or the retirement that has been promised to me for my hard work all these years should be taken away from me just as I am nearing retirement. Why should teachers or state workers be the scape goat? I say there are plenty of "pet" or "pork" projects out there that should have never been considered a viable means for spending the US citizen's tax dollars. I say it is time for politicians to quit squandering our taxes, cut foreign aid, and quit stealing wages and retirement that has already been promised.
Melinda Kabat
The average public school teacher salary in Wisconsin is 46k, with a starting salary around 25k. This puts WI at #20 Nationwide for average teacher salaries. The average salary for a PRIVATE teacher in Green Bay, WI is 56k. For 2010, Wisconsin is ranked 3rd highest when it comes to SAT scores.
DeDe Haffner Patton
God bless you Sarah for speaking the truth. So thankful for you.
Lizabeth Hale
Look around made in China. Why? Cost, Quality. Productivity
and Dependability. The Unions are driving businesses out of
the USA. People really need to STOP this is all about their
Pockets. They take your dues even if your not interested
in joining the Union. Why should i pay for something i do not
agree with. Should i not have a option???????
Obama and his Union are up to no good. How many other Prez
have had visitors from the Union Prez as much as this Administration.
Sarah!!!!!!! You keep Speaking For Us ...... Obama hides with the
Dems in Chicago. We love you Sarah
and Dependability. The Unions are driving businesses out of
the USA. People really need to STOP this is all about their
Pockets. They take your dues even if your not interested
in joining the Union. Why should i pay for something i do not
agree with. Should i not have a option???????
Obama and his Union are up to no good. How many other Prez
have had visitors from the Union Prez as much as this Administration.
Sarah!!!!!!! You keep Speaking For Us ...... Obama hides with the
Dems in Chicago. We love you Sarah
David Reedy
If union members could see what the unions use their dues for they would be holding demonstrations against the AFL-CIO and other unions,including teachers unions. These people need to open their eyes and see what's really going on.
Karl Sauerwein
Sarah , I really think Gov Walker wants to win this thing because it will raise his status over you in the Republican Party.. Your Union boss statement is weak.... But you are actually pretty low profile on this and that is telling me you may not be in agreement with Gov Walker and are afraid to say it..because the right and left would gang up on you.. I don't think so.. I think you should come out in support of the workers and stun the world.. but do what you want..
Michelle Becker
Sarah, I really like you, but in this you are wrong. Wisconsin did not have a budget problem until Scott Walker came into power and gave huge breaks to the corporations that he bows down to. What is going on here is dirty and underhanded. Suddenly Wisconsin went from having a budget surplus to being in the hole and he is using the hard working people of the state as Scapegoats in this. I believe it was in his plan all along to break the unions and come out of this as a hard core tough guy to get national media attention that would catapult him into the next presidential race. I'm not even in a union, but I don't want him representing me. I think he is a criminal.
Douglas Thompson
as a member of the UAW I was proud to stand by the America auto industry in it's darkest day...we took pay cuts...vacation cuts...pension cuts...health care cuts...work rule cuts...all to help our companies weather the global storm...and for it we are all stronger today...America we have to start working together to build a stronger future
Byron Huntington
Here in Arizona A right to work state doesn't mean you cant have a union. Fact is most folks in the south have found that the simple threat of bringing in a union is more than enough to bring about the same compensation. Seems to works every time for us and no union dues Hee Haw. I love this place!
Vera Harrall
@ Sue Donovan: Your grocery bill must be very low. You seem to be eating up all that crap the liberals put out. Rememberto be careful, because you ARE what you eat.
Byron Huntington
Democrats have done nothing to address the budget deficit even denied and misrepresented that it even existed to pass their Health care bill with the threat of fines or incarceration of the very same people they were hired to represent, Hell they work for us???. Does anyone really expect that this will pay for itself? It will undoubtedly cost two or three times as much as estimated government programs always have. This is truly the single most dangerous and damaging policy to national security and the economy. Only second to the budget is allowing the unabated entry of illegal aliens thru Arizona's southern desert superhighway otherwise known as our better than ever protected Border. An estimated 429000 Illegals passed successfully into Arizona this passed year and unknown amounts of Illegals were simply released back into Arizona by ICE awaiting a hearing they rarely show up for. This is truly more problematic to me because of the known terrorist threat it presents.
Eric Pierce
I find it amazing that those who claim to be teachers who post on this site are so completely uninformed. The bill has been public for a very long time and it is not at all complicated. So why do these self-identified teachers make such ignorant claims and assertions? Simple. They DO know the truth, and choose to carry the union water anyway...or they are Obama Drones impersonating teachers. I'd like to think the latter rather than the former.
Jim Morrissey
DRILL BABY DRILL. I't will ease everyone's pain and this country will be back on top.Divide the profits among the states.
Melinda Kabat
Also, every single one of us can thank UNIONS for the fact that we have an 8 hour workday. It was UNIONS who pushed, fought, and DIED for YOUR right to work less hours. It was UNIONS who fought for better working conditions, which we ALL now have thanks to the UNIONS.
Michael Kelly
When approximately 66% of the Eighth Graders in Wisconsin Schools cannot read English then it is ill-advised of those whose work it is to educate the Eighth Graders to read, to demand more pay, Health Care benefits that exceed what is paid private employees, and Retirement Benefits that also exceed private employees benefits. This demand is arising from a base human depravity, called Greed. Teachers, you should be ashamed instead of using words like "Solidarity", and "Worker's Rights", and if you are not ashamed, at least be honest enough to call it what it is, You want what you want, no matter who else has to sacrifice, you are Greedy.
Kay Hartman
I am sick of the finger pointing between Dems and Rep., and I am sick of the finger pointing between Bush and Obama. We need to think of today, and what we are going to do about it now. I disagree with spend and invest when you are broke. Let me say this, if you owe say $200,000 in your household, and you have trouble paying that debt, aren't you broke? Don't you find ways to cut out things you don't need or could do without? Let's us cut things that we don't need in government. State, local, and Federal governments got too big. Too many departments overseeing other departments. Too much abuse in the access cards also.
Kelly Ty Hyatt
I can't believe anyone is going to belive anything Bailey has to say. The equivelent of National Enquirer journalism. He got fired and wrote a tell all book? I buy it when I run out of Toilet Paper!
Bill East
Michelle (J B) Wisconsins financial problems didn't begin with Walker In 2009: The Wisconsin state budget operates on a biennium, covering two fiscal years at a time and decided by the state's Governor. Wisconsin is currently facing a budget gap estimated at $5.9 billion or 17 percent of the biennial budget. [1] In order to address the state's low revenue and increasing budget deficit Gov. Jim Doyle emphasized "This is clearly a time when we will have to make very deep cuts. This budget makes the largest cuts we’ve ever seen."
I am not sure where folks come up with Phantom statistics all the time but It was TIME the Unions Gave something up in addition to the sacrifices of the people paying the freight!
I am not sure where folks come up with Phantom statistics all the time but It was TIME the Unions Gave something up in addition to the sacrifices of the people paying the freight!
Bill East
I suspect Mr Leon is a PLANT
He Certainly is NO Conservative!
We have to keep our eye out for his sort attempting tp create dissension.
He Certainly is NO Conservative!
We have to keep our eye out for his sort attempting tp create dissension.
Marie Wage
@Chai Vays... just wait, one day the mother of earthquakes will hit the enemies of Israel and all their wealth (oil) will flow to her...that's a prophecy. Obama will wish he kissed Israel's butt.
David Reedy
I can agree with Melinda and others that unions have been a help in the past and were necessary,but they have become to powerful and no longer serve their members but tend to serve themselves,and become involved in things that have nothing to do with there membership but increase the union leaders power and pocketbooks.
Richard Sutliff
You are so.. right on w/ this union deal. I am still hoping for your being a pres candidate. Your decisiveness and common sense are just what the country needs. No one is speaking the straight stuff as you are. Stay in the fight. I pay half of my healthcare and all of my retirement.
Megan McNabb
may God bless you and your family, sarah!
Barbara Mclure
Put the blame where the blame belongs . With the goverment, not the unions. If it where not for unions the only ones getting good wages would be the people who say they are looking out for the country, thats a joke they only line thier oun pockets. The more they can take away from the people the more they take.They have destroyed social security.They send millions for wars we can't possibly win, and not forgetting the lives that have been wasted over such a lost cause. If so much money was not wasted on so many folish things, there would be money for teachers. Don't take away their future just because our goverment has made a big mess. They need to read the life of THOMAS JEFFERSON a lesson could be learned.
Steven Meyers
I like the line in the Bruno Mars song "Grenade," and I can assign it to our Commander In Chief..."tell the devil I said 'hey' when you get back to where you're from."
Myron McCrady
Reality check needed in all aspects of life where union costs are driving the product cost out of sight! NEA/NBA/NFL/MLB...I know teachers aren't paid like athletes..not all are in unions, and not all of them are in favor of riotous behavior....time to fix the problems, and for civility to return..JMHO
Maggie Thomas
The unions are puppet masters pulling the strings on their members and scaring them into thinking the world is coming to end. We are just saying pay your own way, and do your job. If you don't like it, quit and do something more suitable . I would choice so why are teachers or anyone else be different. Wha wha poor unions.
Richard Garrett
I read where so many Union people who are so smug and pleased that they have had after so many years a great relationship not to mention their retirement plans... that WE should have joined a Union to get it! Well your welcome to all the extorted monies taken by the "Unions" from the" Real Americans" tax payers so that you can thumb your nose at us! Its in poor taste that you fling that in our face! AND you wonder why the other NON-UNION people don't have sympathy for "YOUR CAUSE" to save YOUR "BARGAINING" rights. Take a hike... we ain't buy'n it no more!
Amy Meier
Check out the Facebook page named, "Help Wisconsin Govenor Scott Walker find your Democratic State Senators". "Like" and "Share" the page and upload your Where's Waldo parody photos to show your support.
Jester Brush
May God soon completely expose all that is not righteous in the upper eschelons of the unions. Mafioso dons never die, they become union bosses.
Richard Maloney
THE UNIONS HAVE BECOME SOCIALIST, THEY USE THIER POWER TO SCREW THE FOLKS OVER. I AM AFRAID THAT OBAMA KNOWS HE CAN'T WIN WITH OUT PITTING THE UNIONS AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. HE WILL USE LATINOS,BLACKS & MUSLIMS IN THE SAME WAY. I THINK WE ARE HEADED FOR A SHOOT OUT AT THE OK CORRAL!
Mike Ciriello
I have defended Gov. Palin when others have used labels to attack her and her family. I resent labels from conservatives that I and other like me are socialists becasue I belong to and support my union. I am a bit confused by Gov. Palin's message. I did not find her taking any position on the Walker so-called "Repair Bill." Does Gov. Palin support the right of collective bargaining for public employees? I understand and agree with the sacrafice part - many, many unionized public sector bargaining groups have accepted cuts and have reopened their agreements to do so. What goes beyond the pale is Gov. Walker attempting to take away the bargaining rights. That is outrageous and unacceptable.
LaVern Chase
Problem with unions are not the members they are innocent pawns it is the union bosses.
Richard Garrett
Richard Trumka needs to take a hike and his thugs with him. He spends way too much time with President Obama." Me thinks something is rotten in Denmark!"
Bruce Durham
A picket line, or the unemployment line? Its their choice. Neither of them are good.
Mike Ciriello
Matt- sounds similar to what Democrats were saying as they were ramming an equally unpopular health care bill down the throats of their constituents, along party lines. I'm not willing to let go and put my trust in my fellow man, particularly when they are subject to the manipulations of super rich industrialists like the Koch brothers.
Roy R Meadows
Trumka has never been anything more than an organized crime figure. Hopefully someone will invite him to join Hoffa in the rabbit hole in Ks, never to be seen again.
Daniel Frazier
The time for federally-subsidized brick-and-morter public school education has passed together with the need for unions. The U.S. should move public education into the 21st century by taking full advantage of high tech commnications and private school systems.
Lynn Heusinkveld
I like most of this.
Bill East
George, It seems you have a different take on the situation now that YOUR Ox is being gored. You can see that the Benefit packages for Public employees is unsustainable I KNOW you can. You also know there is no Competition for public employees so that "Bargaining" with them is Really Hostage taking. Its the Kids who suffer when teachers go out on strike because the Teachers Always Win. They win because the general public has been brainwashed by the News Media and the Democrats that Charter Schools (a REAL alternative) cater Only to the brightest and wealthiest leaving the public schools with the Dregs. So rather than allow their kids to suffer, will accept the Terms that the teachers demand in order to get the kids back in School.
Many of those parents both work and must make alternative plans to watch their kids or take time off from their jobs in order to take care of them themselves.
Personally,I do not believe a WORD of what you have said about being a Republican nor about your voting record or you would remember what the Greatest Republican of this century did when the Air Controllers went on strike and I believe the Governor of Wisconsin should do EXACTLY the same thing with the teachers in His state. There are Millions of College grads looking for work and I am sure would LOVE to relocate to Wisconsin to take them.
Many of those parents both work and must make alternative plans to watch their kids or take time off from their jobs in order to take care of them themselves.
Personally,I do not believe a WORD of what you have said about being a Republican nor about your voting record or you would remember what the Greatest Republican of this century did when the Air Controllers went on strike and I believe the Governor of Wisconsin should do EXACTLY the same thing with the teachers in His state. There are Millions of College grads looking for work and I am sure would LOVE to relocate to Wisconsin to take them.
MADDRAGON STUNTS
Nothing like a big o'l chicken.
Kay Hartman
The Republicans are upset about the amount of money the unions give to the Democratic Party, and the Democrats don't want to give up that money, but the union members should be angry about the money that is given to any political party. There should not be any money given to any party by the unions, because it is a conflict of interest. Why should your money go to a politician that maybe you don't support. They should be using this money for union member benefits ONLY.
Kathy Lucius-Pietron
It is absolutely ridiculous that the schools have shut down, I am ashamed of those teachers that go along with this crap. Where is the dedicated teacher now??? Don't blow smoke up our butts telling us how much you care about the students when you are not working and should be fired. If it were the Private sector you would be fired and it would be well deserved. I am ashamed of all of you that won't work!
Dave L. Underwood
well written Sarah. I agree.
Kermit Coble
Kent, I agree with you 100%. How can anyone think that the union person barging for wages and benefits for their people is the one that gave (lots of money) to the Politian’s campaign to help get him or her elected? How dumb is that?
Kermit Coble
Sarah, great statement!
David Pettyjohn
Well said!
Victoria Czapski
I was in Lansing, MI this past Saturday on another matter and stopped at a coffee shop just outside the capitol building where the protesters were. From listening to their conversations on the matter I can tell you that some of the protesters were not looking out for anyones best interest. I heard a few of them state that it was a flashback to the good times in the 60's when there were protests against the government. Really that is what we are striving for a return to the 60's? Now I was not around during those times, but from what my parents told me, this is not a time period that we want to look forward to reliving. If the teachers were really out for the best interests of the students they would focus on making sure that their students could read, research and evaluate both sides of an issue, create their own conclusions based on their research & defend their positions in writing. They would also be the most technologically advanced by focusing on areas of math & science. Then we could claim to be number one in acadmenic achievement and not have to worry about importing people who are academically capable of advancing technology in this country.
Dawn L Brown
I do not hold a grudge with most union workers,but to those union workers who follow the philosophy of union boss Richard trumpka; well they need to figure out how corrupt this guy is!!!
Thomas Rooney
I commend you Sarah. I have been a union member since 1988. I have also been a shop steward, chief shop steward and union president. Since 1988 sets two of our local's officers have embezzled our money. Our own members took over our union and unfortunately ended up with the USW. The USW has been the biggest disaster ever, happy to take our money but unwilling to meet even after a meeting was promised by the great Liar Gerard. I have always said that if unions prove their worth, people will come running to join, this has and will never happen while I am alive. I am now a dues paying non member and would encourage all union members to do the same. I have also requested that the USW freeze union dues for 5 years and put all the money they waste on politicians into their members pensions which are in serious trouble.
Sherri McCormick
Well said Sarah. Go Sarah!
Ron England
Top Ten Myths About Wisconsin Debunked
by Jeff in Milwaukee
I've been listening to a number of people who have been expressing seom wildly wrong-headed opinions about the protests in Madison. As the man says, You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. Here's my attempt to correct some of my fellow citizens.
1. There’s a budget crisis in Wisconsin.
Like virtually every other state in the country, Wisconsin faces significant budget challenges, most of which will disappear as the economy improves. You see, the main culprit in Wisconsin’s economic woes has been the loss of employment. This has caused people to stop paying income taxes (because they have no income) and to rely heavily upon the state-funded healthcare plan. As the economy recovers, tax revenues will return and public health costs will decline.
2. Wisconsin state workers are paid too much.
If you compare the salaries and benefits of public employees covered by the collective bargaining agreements in question with their counterparts in the private sector, you’ll see that Wisconsin public employees are actually paid slightly less. Their cash compensation is significantly less, but that is nearly counterbalanced by the values of their benefits. Nearly, but not quite. Most state workers could do better by working in the private sector.
3. Wisconsin state workers don’t pay for their pensions.
Not true. The collective bargaining agreement calls for the state to pay the equivalent of 5% of a state worker’s salary into a pension fund, which is professionally managed on behalf of the workers. What the state pays into the plan is part of the employees’ compensation that would be otherwise paid to the employee. This is the workers’ own money, just as what you contribute to your 401(k) is your own money. It’s not some “gift” from the taxpayers – it’s taxable income.
4. Wisconsin state workers need to step up during this crisis.
Representatives of the state employees’ unions have, in fact, offered to make all the concessions asked for in the budget repair bill. Every fiscal request being made by the Walker Administration has been agreed to by the unions. To whatever extent there is a fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, the unions have proven themselves willing to bear their share of the load.
5. I don’t have a pension plan at my job, so why should they get one?
This is a morally troubling argument. If my house burns down, should I go next door and torch my neighbor’s house because, darn it, if I have to suffer then everybody should have to suffer? Taking away the pension from a seventh grade math teacher isn’t going to make your retirement any more secure. The better question really ought to be, if those people over there can have a pension, why can’t I have one?
6. Hey, I’m paying their salaries!
Yes, you are. And every time you buy a loaf of bread at the local supermarket, you’re paying the salaries of every employee in the store. Every time you fill up at the gas station, you’re paying all the salaries at the oil company. This is how capitalism works. Everybody is always paying everybody else’s salary. That doesn’t give you the right to demand that the produce manager take a pay cut to keep the price of cabbage low, or the guy behind the counter at the gas station doesn’t deserve a health plan.
7. The Democratic Senators ought to come back to Wisconsin to do their job.
The state senators who fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum are taking the only action they can take to prevent what they feel is a patently unfair and unwise bill from becoming a patently unfair and unwise law. If the Walker Administration showed any indication that it would negotiate in good faith to reach a compromise, the senators would return. But as last weeks “punking” of Governor Walker demonstrated, the administration has no intention of working with the Democrats and would resort to lies and chicanery if given the opportunity.
8. The protestors at the Capitol Building are union thugs.
Given the massive groups that have assembled at the Capitol Building (100,000 last Saturday alone) the complete lack of anything remotely resembling a disturbance reflects well upon the citizens of the State of Wisconsin. Even on the day when a Pro-Walker counter-protest occurred side-by-side with the Pro-Union protest, the Madison Police Department reported no incidents. Those who are protesting are teachers, students, government workers, and in a profound display of union solidarity, fire fighters and police officers. Hardly the makings of an ugly mob.
9. The mob is full of out-of-state agitators.
This is virtually impossible to prove or disprove, but unless busloads of people from Illinois are stopping at the border and buying Badger and Packer sweatshirts and stocking hats, the crowd at the Capitol Building appears to be almost completely home-grown. The same cannot be said for the Koch Brothers, the multi-billionaires who stand to make a(nother) fortune if the budget repair bill passes. From Utah, the Koch brothers have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Wisconsin politics – from direct contributions to the Walker Campaign to their funding of shadowy “advocacy” groups that ran attack ads almost non-stop during the last election season. If you’re worried about out-of-state influences on our politics, look over there.
10. This is not a big deal.
What happens in Wisconsin is going to have a large impact on what happens in Ohio, then in Indiana, then in Michigan, and then in Florida. Once politicians and their ultra-wealthy owners crush public-sector unions, the task of crushing private-sector unions becomes just that much easier. And when unions have been destroyed, every worker in America will be reduced to taking whatever job at whatever lousy pay and with whatever lousy benefits (like none) that corporations decide we deserve. If the past few years have shown us anything at all, from Enron to Lehman Brothers to British Petroleum, it’s that large corporations are simply cannot be trusted, and there needs to be some force in our public lives that counter-balance their power and influence. With governments at every level being bought and sold by plutocrats of all sorts, labor unions have never been quite so vital to the survival of the Middle Class.
Thanks for reading!
by Jeff in Milwaukee
I've been listening to a number of people who have been expressing seom wildly wrong-headed opinions about the protests in Madison. As the man says, You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. Here's my attempt to correct some of my fellow citizens.
1. There’s a budget crisis in Wisconsin.
Like virtually every other state in the country, Wisconsin faces significant budget challenges, most of which will disappear as the economy improves. You see, the main culprit in Wisconsin’s economic woes has been the loss of employment. This has caused people to stop paying income taxes (because they have no income) and to rely heavily upon the state-funded healthcare plan. As the economy recovers, tax revenues will return and public health costs will decline.
2. Wisconsin state workers are paid too much.
If you compare the salaries and benefits of public employees covered by the collective bargaining agreements in question with their counterparts in the private sector, you’ll see that Wisconsin public employees are actually paid slightly less. Their cash compensation is significantly less, but that is nearly counterbalanced by the values of their benefits. Nearly, but not quite. Most state workers could do better by working in the private sector.
3. Wisconsin state workers don’t pay for their pensions.
Not true. The collective bargaining agreement calls for the state to pay the equivalent of 5% of a state worker’s salary into a pension fund, which is professionally managed on behalf of the workers. What the state pays into the plan is part of the employees’ compensation that would be otherwise paid to the employee. This is the workers’ own money, just as what you contribute to your 401(k) is your own money. It’s not some “gift” from the taxpayers – it’s taxable income.
4. Wisconsin state workers need to step up during this crisis.
Representatives of the state employees’ unions have, in fact, offered to make all the concessions asked for in the budget repair bill. Every fiscal request being made by the Walker Administration has been agreed to by the unions. To whatever extent there is a fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, the unions have proven themselves willing to bear their share of the load.
5. I don’t have a pension plan at my job, so why should they get one?
This is a morally troubling argument. If my house burns down, should I go next door and torch my neighbor’s house because, darn it, if I have to suffer then everybody should have to suffer? Taking away the pension from a seventh grade math teacher isn’t going to make your retirement any more secure. The better question really ought to be, if those people over there can have a pension, why can’t I have one?
6. Hey, I’m paying their salaries!
Yes, you are. And every time you buy a loaf of bread at the local supermarket, you’re paying the salaries of every employee in the store. Every time you fill up at the gas station, you’re paying all the salaries at the oil company. This is how capitalism works. Everybody is always paying everybody else’s salary. That doesn’t give you the right to demand that the produce manager take a pay cut to keep the price of cabbage low, or the guy behind the counter at the gas station doesn’t deserve a health plan.
7. The Democratic Senators ought to come back to Wisconsin to do their job.
The state senators who fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum are taking the only action they can take to prevent what they feel is a patently unfair and unwise bill from becoming a patently unfair and unwise law. If the Walker Administration showed any indication that it would negotiate in good faith to reach a compromise, the senators would return. But as last weeks “punking” of Governor Walker demonstrated, the administration has no intention of working with the Democrats and would resort to lies and chicanery if given the opportunity.
8. The protestors at the Capitol Building are union thugs.
Given the massive groups that have assembled at the Capitol Building (100,000 last Saturday alone) the complete lack of anything remotely resembling a disturbance reflects well upon the citizens of the State of Wisconsin. Even on the day when a Pro-Walker counter-protest occurred side-by-side with the Pro-Union protest, the Madison Police Department reported no incidents. Those who are protesting are teachers, students, government workers, and in a profound display of union solidarity, fire fighters and police officers. Hardly the makings of an ugly mob.
9. The mob is full of out-of-state agitators.
This is virtually impossible to prove or disprove, but unless busloads of people from Illinois are stopping at the border and buying Badger and Packer sweatshirts and stocking hats, the crowd at the Capitol Building appears to be almost completely home-grown. The same cannot be said for the Koch Brothers, the multi-billionaires who stand to make a(nother) fortune if the budget repair bill passes. From Utah, the Koch brothers have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Wisconsin politics – from direct contributions to the Walker Campaign to their funding of shadowy “advocacy” groups that ran attack ads almost non-stop during the last election season. If you’re worried about out-of-state influences on our politics, look over there.
10. This is not a big deal.
What happens in Wisconsin is going to have a large impact on what happens in Ohio, then in Indiana, then in Michigan, and then in Florida. Once politicians and their ultra-wealthy owners crush public-sector unions, the task of crushing private-sector unions becomes just that much easier. And when unions have been destroyed, every worker in America will be reduced to taking whatever job at whatever lousy pay and with whatever lousy benefits (like none) that corporations decide we deserve. If the past few years have shown us anything at all, from Enron to Lehman Brothers to British Petroleum, it’s that large corporations are simply cannot be trusted, and there needs to be some force in our public lives that counter-balance their power and influence. With governments at every level being bought and sold by plutocrats of all sorts, labor unions have never been quite so vital to the survival of the Middle Class.
Thanks for reading!
Lisa Moss
first paragraph in is all i need to agree. its really time to reduce the union stronghold on the people and money that could REALLY be helping our country- public and private sectors AND children whose teachers have been conditioned by the rule of their real boss, the rich fat union. and as an incoming educator, i really intensely disappreciate the 'no opting out' of 'owing the union fees regardless of membership. best system ever... NOT.
Melinda Kabat
What we need to do is stop allowing CORPORATIONS & Special Interest groups to donate money to politicians. How about stopping LOBBYING period!! The oil & gas industry spends more $ on lobbying & campaign donations than any other industry. The Koch Brothers gave a million dollars to the Republican Governors Ass. which in turn spent that money on attack ads for Walker's opponent. Hence, why Walker in his punked call said "thanks a MILLION" to whom he thought was David Koch. In fact, the Koch Brothers donated more $ than any other oil & gas company in 2010.
Now where did these Koch Bro's get all their money? Ol Grandpa Koch built a bunch of oil refineries for Stalin, and Stalin paid well. See Grandpa Koch couldn't get any business in the U.S. because other oil companies didn't like the competition...and back in those days there was no regulation, so these other oil companies actually stole one of Grandpa Koch's patents. Stalin put out the word that he'd pay very well for help in building up the Soviet's refinery capabilities.
Grandpa Bush got his money through shady sources as well. Prescott Bush worked for a banking company that held the $ of the biggest contributor to the Nazi party. He continued working w/ the Nazis & profiting from them even well after the U.S. was in the war. Also, Prescott Bush was involved with a company that was based in Germany. This company used slave labor from concentration camps. Some survivors from these concentration camps who were forced to work at Grandpa Bush's Nazi company sued the Bush family.
If you are a Republican or a Tea Partier, just remember when you are calling that liberal a "socialist" or "communist," that it's your own party & heroes who amassed their fortunes from the socialists and communists.
Now where did these Koch Bro's get all their money? Ol Grandpa Koch built a bunch of oil refineries for Stalin, and Stalin paid well. See Grandpa Koch couldn't get any business in the U.S. because other oil companies didn't like the competition...and back in those days there was no regulation, so these other oil companies actually stole one of Grandpa Koch's patents. Stalin put out the word that he'd pay very well for help in building up the Soviet's refinery capabilities.
Grandpa Bush got his money through shady sources as well. Prescott Bush worked for a banking company that held the $ of the biggest contributor to the Nazi party. He continued working w/ the Nazis & profiting from them even well after the U.S. was in the war. Also, Prescott Bush was involved with a company that was based in Germany. This company used slave labor from concentration camps. Some survivors from these concentration camps who were forced to work at Grandpa Bush's Nazi company sued the Bush family.
If you are a Republican or a Tea Partier, just remember when you are calling that liberal a "socialist" or "communist," that it's your own party & heroes who amassed their fortunes from the socialists and communists.
Melinda Kabat
Oh, and if Walker really wanted to balance the budget...how about changing the pension fund management? Currently, 1/2 of the fund management is done by state workers & the other 1/2 is done by Wall Street professionals. The in-house workers cost the state about $28 million a year, and the Wall Street professionals were paid $194.7 million. So the Wall Street peeps cost $166.7 million more than the in-house management to do the same damn job. So if Walker got rid of the Wall Street peeps it would cost the state $56 million...saving the state a whopping $110.7 million bux. Let's also remember that WI has one of the healthiest pension plans in the country. Right now if WI was to cash out it's pension funds & had to pay for every person who would be receiving a pension, the state has 99.67% of the funds available.
Kay Hartman
No, Chris, the Republicans don't care how much you earn per hour. They are happy for you if you have a good income. They just feel you shouldn't live like a king, while the rest of the taxpayers are paying for it, and they are living on $7/hr. and only working a few hours a week.
Beth Harris
WOW....Have you ever even READ a Union Contract? Do you even know what one says or means? The statement about prostitutes and pimps.....ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! You are talking about Policeman / Fireman/ Correction workers/ teachers / nurses/ Children Services Workers / JFS workers/ Public Service Workers-These people HELP & PROTECT YOU!!!!! and YOUR CHILDREN!!! WOW!!! Where is your respect!!!! There are Safety issues & work conditions in Contracts NOT just pay increases- WOW again!
Beth Harris
For the record... Public service workers are TAX PAYERS TOO! Show me one Social worker that lives like a KING that is Joke....Really that is funny...
Jerry Minshall
GOD BLESS YOU SARAH...AND YOUR FAMILY..YOU'RE IN OUR PRAYERS....
JERRY L. M.
JERRY L. M.
Dennis Rahn
Sometimes unions are their own worst enemy by pushing for greed for their members because they receive union dues to grow. Things aren't always in the best interests of members.
Joel Grooms
God Bless the GOP
Beth Harris
GOD BLESS the Men & Women who put their Lives on the Line for
You and your Family every day!!
You and your Family every day!!
Beth Harris
say a prayer for the US "Darkhorse" 3rd Battalion 5th Marines and their families. They are fighting it out in Afghanistan and have lost 9 Marines in 4 days...Semper Fi.....this isn't being reported on the "news" channels
Bill Cano Jr.
You go Beth , My Father and I were both lifer's and I understand were you are coming from !
Bill Cano Jr.
Go Mama Grizz Go , Todd for First Dude !
Jennifer Heath
Sarah. Please mind your own state's business. When you have walked a mile in a Wisconsinite's shoes, as in became a Wisconsinite, then you can give your opinion about what we in the badger state should do. Please don't insult us by trying to give us advice on how to solve our own problems.
Colleen Sullivan Jaeger
@ Jennifer, as a Minnesotan living close to your border, I have many friends who are Wisconsinites. They all work in the private sector & every one of them are shaking their heads in disbelief. The protesters (mobsters) sent from out of state should be the ones minding their own business.
Alfred Festo
probably, the American president wants something from Libya, why he did not talk even at once about what is happening in Ivory coast, Somalia as well as Egypt but rather to Libya?
Alfred Festo
Hivi kweli kuna hata siku moja watanzania watafikilia kitu kinachoitwa azmio la Arusha? Hilo swala haliwezekan ktk hali hii ya kiubepari
Alfred Festo
MGODI WA KABANGA NICKEL UNAWANUFAISHA VIPI VIJANA WA NGARA AMBAO NDIO WANAZUNGUKA ENEO HILO?
Amy Estel Scioli
New Jersey's Police, Fire and teachers are being laidoff by the thousands. Being blammed for budget by a few bad egg suits. Truely UnAmerican. Those pro-layoff suffer 'little-man syndrome" as they are jealous for not being brave and strong. Please Help!!!
Jesse James
we must put GOD first, then country and all
things will fall into place , GO ARMY.. LOVE MY COUNTRY
things will fall into place , GO ARMY.. LOVE MY COUNTRY
Ron Logue
Thank you Sarah for being the person God wants you to be. Nothing else matters, and my prayers are with you. From the start I have seen the hand of God on your life. I will not coax you to run for the President of this great nation, but will encourage you to listen to your heart, and the SPIRIT within you as to what you should do. No person can run this great country without the Wisdom of God, and if anyone doubts that, they can look at where that has taken us for the last few years. The secret societies are out to destroy nthis country, as you well know. We do not want any more secret society presidents , representatives or Senators.. We only want God fearing and God hearing people in this government. I think and believe with all my heart that you meet that criteria, and only God in your spirit can tell you what to do, as He also must protect and keep you. God bless,
His and in Him,
Ron
His and in Him,
Ron
Linda Mosley
I just read this in a email and saddened by the hate that comes from the far left and the naive. Would you like for this to be happening to your parents?
But it has not been harsh press coverage that concerned her elderly parents, Chuck and Sally Heath.
Palin’s father Chuck said a man recently had sent the family photocopies of a receipt for a gun he had bought, together with a photocopy of a one-way ticket to Alaska.
The family had laughed it off, but the man subsequently turned up in the state and was arrested by the FBI, Chuck said.
“We sleep with the guns,” Palin’s father admitted.
But it has not been harsh press coverage that concerned her elderly parents, Chuck and Sally Heath.
Palin’s father Chuck said a man recently had sent the family photocopies of a receipt for a gun he had bought, together with a photocopy of a one-way ticket to Alaska.
The family had laughed it off, but the man subsequently turned up in the state and was arrested by the FBI, Chuck said.
“We sleep with the guns,” Palin’s father admitted.
Rory Mangini
The government in almost every area of the US has been over-spending without regard to who will have to pay the bill. I believe many (not all) Democrats are to blame and some Republicans are trying to clean up the mess but we all have to work together to find the best alternatives to reduce those debts. Wisconsin is just responding like anyone else would do with such a radical way of trying to fix the problem. I believe if we pulled are heads out of the dust and start looking to the future and running the government more like a business we could fix these problems and wouldn't have to rely on drastic cuts and help from tax payers. How about the government invest in more wind mills, water powered generators, solar and more green products to MAKE money to fund their spending instead of TAKE TAKE TAKE! If ran like a business we would also generate jobs! We have to start thinking people not just accusing!
Glenda Ahrens
Sarah, the Union demonstrations are getting ugly and very intimidating. I am very unhappy where this intimidation is taking us. But worst of all is our President is behind this all. This is not what our President should be doing.
Ron England
What happened in Wisconsin last night and who is to blame?
To all my union brothers and sisters who would like to blame this on the Tea Party, I would like to say you are wrong. The unions can blame only themselves for this.
What was responsible for the sudden grassroots uprising called the Tea Party? Obamacare!
The unions wanted universal health care for all. That was one of their collective goals for their political action lobbyists. When Obama was elected with Democratic control of the legislature, the unions seized their opportunity to force it through over everyone's objections. It was this disregard for the will of the people that brought about the growth of the Tea Party. It could have all been avoided. Had the unions polled their own members they probably would have found that even they were against universal health care.
In 2010 I proudly wore my "Don't tread on me" cap to the polls and did something that I have never done before. While I never voted for all the Republicans, I never voted for a single Democrat. The same thing evidently happened all over the country, and deservedly so.
Unfortunately the Republicans can't be satisfied with just squashing Obamacare. They are also taking advantage of their new found powers to respond to their wealthiest contributors and go after the unions that brought us Obamacare. This too will backfire on them. In doing so they are making the same mistake that the unions made. If they paid attention to the polls they would find out that a lot of their supporters and a lot of Tea Party members are also the majority of union members who were never for universal health care to begin with.
Your guess is as good as mine as far as what will happen in 2012. What am I going to do? I plan on proudly wearing my Tea Party cap to the polls again, but this time the "Don't tread on me" slogan will be targeting the long time incumbent Republicans. After all wasn't that the goal of the Tea Party in the beginning, to vote out ALL the incumbents?
To all my union brothers and sisters who would like to blame this on the Tea Party, I would like to say you are wrong. The unions can blame only themselves for this.
What was responsible for the sudden grassroots uprising called the Tea Party? Obamacare!
The unions wanted universal health care for all. That was one of their collective goals for their political action lobbyists. When Obama was elected with Democratic control of the legislature, the unions seized their opportunity to force it through over everyone's objections. It was this disregard for the will of the people that brought about the growth of the Tea Party. It could have all been avoided. Had the unions polled their own members they probably would have found that even they were against universal health care.
In 2010 I proudly wore my "Don't tread on me" cap to the polls and did something that I have never done before. While I never voted for all the Republicans, I never voted for a single Democrat. The same thing evidently happened all over the country, and deservedly so.
Unfortunately the Republicans can't be satisfied with just squashing Obamacare. They are also taking advantage of their new found powers to respond to their wealthiest contributors and go after the unions that brought us Obamacare. This too will backfire on them. In doing so they are making the same mistake that the unions made. If they paid attention to the polls they would find out that a lot of their supporters and a lot of Tea Party members are also the majority of union members who were never for universal health care to begin with.
Your guess is as good as mine as far as what will happen in 2012. What am I going to do? I plan on proudly wearing my Tea Party cap to the polls again, but this time the "Don't tread on me" slogan will be targeting the long time incumbent Republicans. After all wasn't that the goal of the Tea Party in the beginning, to vote out ALL the incumbents?
Laura Hatton
Please check out this page and share with your friends: https://www.facebook.com/notes/pieces-of-the-puzzle/meet-our-contributors-pt1/195589780461940
All likes are much appreciated.
All likes are much appreciated.
Glenda Ahrens
Ronald, its not the wealthly contributors causing this. Its "The People", we are tired of no jobs in the private sector while the public sector just keeps getting sweetheart deals and better pay than us. It is time to fix the problem, remove dues be taken from their checks, which goes to elect democrats, this will level the playing field. I am tired of liberals wanting my hard earned money so they can give it to someone else. Why should they be paid average 42% more than the private sector. We all work just as hard as each other. enough is enough. I am voting for Republicans to get this stopped.
Ron England
Glenda,
Top Ten Myths About Wisconsin Debunked
by Jeff in Milwaukee
I've been listening to a number of people who have been expressing seom wildly wrong-headed opinions about the protests in Madison. As the man says, You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. Here's my attempt to correct some of my fellow citizens.
1. There’s a budget crisis in Wisconsin.
Like virtually every other state in the country, Wisconsin faces significant budget challenges, most of which will disappear as the economy improves. You see, the main culprit in Wisconsin’s economic woes has been the loss of employment. This has caused people to stop paying income taxes (because they have no income) and to rely heavily upon the state-funded healthcare plan. As the economy recovers, tax revenues will return and public health costs will decline.
2. Wisconsin state workers are paid too much.
If you compare the salaries and benefits of public employees covered by the collective bargaining agreements in question with their counterparts in the private sector, you’ll see that Wisconsin public employees are actually paid slightly less. Their cash compensation is significantly less, but that is nearly counterbalanced by the values of their benefits. Nearly, but not quite. Most state workers could do better by working in the private sector.
3. Wisconsin state workers don’t pay for their pensions.
Not true. The collective bargaining agreement calls for the state to pay the equivalent of 5% of a state worker’s salary into a pension fund, which is professionally managed on behalf of the workers. What the state pays into the plan is part of the employees’ compensation that would be otherwise paid to the employee. This is the workers’ own money, just as what you contribute to your 401(k) is your own money. It’s not some “gift” from the taxpayers – it’s taxable income.
4. Wisconsin state workers need to step up during this crisis.
Representatives of the state employees’ unions have, in fact, offered to make all the concessions asked for in the budget repair bill. Every fiscal request being made by the Walker Administration has been agreed to by the unions. To whatever extent there is a fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, the unions have proven themselves willing to bear their share of the load.
5. I don’t have a pension plan at my job, so why should they get one?
This is a morally troubling argument. If my house burns down, should I go next door and torch my neighbor’s house because, darn it, if I have to suffer then everybody should have to suffer? Taking away the pension from a seventh grade math teacher isn’t going to make your retirement any more secure. The better question really ought to be, if those people over there can have a pension, why can’t I have one?
6. Hey, I’m paying their salaries!
Yes, you are. And every time you buy a loaf of bread at the local supermarket, you’re paying the salaries of every employee in the store. Every time you fill up at the gas station, you’re paying all the salaries at the oil company. This is how capitalism works. Everybody is always paying everybody else’s salary. That doesn’t give you the right to demand that the produce manager take a pay cut to keep the price of cabbage low, or the guy behind the counter at the gas station doesn’t deserve a health plan.
7. The Democratic Senators ought to come back to Wisconsin to do their job.
The state senators who fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum are taking the only action they can take to prevent what they feel is a patently unfair and unwise bill from becoming a patently unfair and unwise law. If the Walker Administration showed any indication that it would negotiate in good faith to reach a compromise, the senators would return. But as last weeks “punking” of Governor Walker demonstrated, the administration has no intention of working with the Democrats and would resort to lies and chicanery if given the opportunity.
8. The protestors at the Capitol Building are union thugs.
Given the massive groups that have assembled at the Capitol Building (100,000 last Saturday alone) the complete lack of anything remotely resembling a disturbance reflects well upon the citizens of the State of Wisconsin. Even on the day when a Pro-Walker counter-protest occurred side-by-side with the Pro-Union protest, the Madison Police Department reported no incidents. Those who are protesting are teachers, students, government workers, and in a profound display of union solidarity, fire fighters and police officers. Hardly the makings of an ugly mob.
9. The mob is full of out-of-state agitators.
This is virtually impossible to prove or disprove, but unless busloads of people from Illinois are stopping at the border and buying Badger and Packer sweatshirts and stocking hats, the crowd at the Capitol Building appears to be almost completely home-grown. The same cannot be said for the Koch Brothers, the multi-billionaires who stand to make a(nother) fortune if the budget repair bill passes. From Utah, the Koch brothers have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Wisconsin politics – from direct contributions to the Walker Campaign to their funding of shadowy “advocacy” groups that ran attack ads almost non-stop during the last election season. If you’re worried about out-of-state influences on our politics, look over there.
10. This is not a big deal.
What happens in Wisconsin is going to have a large impact on what happens in Ohio, then in Indiana, then in Michigan, and then in Florida. Once politicians and their ultra-wealthy owners crush public-sector unions, the task of crushing private-sector unions becomes just that much easier. And when unions have been destroyed, every worker in America will be reduced to taking whatever job at whatever lousy pay and with whatever lousy benefits (like none) that corporations decide we deserve. If the past few years have shown us anything at all, from Enron to Lehman Brothers to British Petroleum, it’s that large corporations are simply cannot be trusted, and there needs to be some force in our public lives that counter-balance their power and influence. With governments at every level being bought and sold by plutocrats of all sorts, labor unions have never been quite so vital to the survival of the Middle Class.
Thanks for reading!
Top Ten Myths About Wisconsin Debunked
by Jeff in Milwaukee
I've been listening to a number of people who have been expressing seom wildly wrong-headed opinions about the protests in Madison. As the man says, You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. Here's my attempt to correct some of my fellow citizens.
1. There’s a budget crisis in Wisconsin.
Like virtually every other state in the country, Wisconsin faces significant budget challenges, most of which will disappear as the economy improves. You see, the main culprit in Wisconsin’s economic woes has been the loss of employment. This has caused people to stop paying income taxes (because they have no income) and to rely heavily upon the state-funded healthcare plan. As the economy recovers, tax revenues will return and public health costs will decline.
2. Wisconsin state workers are paid too much.
If you compare the salaries and benefits of public employees covered by the collective bargaining agreements in question with their counterparts in the private sector, you’ll see that Wisconsin public employees are actually paid slightly less. Their cash compensation is significantly less, but that is nearly counterbalanced by the values of their benefits. Nearly, but not quite. Most state workers could do better by working in the private sector.
3. Wisconsin state workers don’t pay for their pensions.
Not true. The collective bargaining agreement calls for the state to pay the equivalent of 5% of a state worker’s salary into a pension fund, which is professionally managed on behalf of the workers. What the state pays into the plan is part of the employees’ compensation that would be otherwise paid to the employee. This is the workers’ own money, just as what you contribute to your 401(k) is your own money. It’s not some “gift” from the taxpayers – it’s taxable income.
4. Wisconsin state workers need to step up during this crisis.
Representatives of the state employees’ unions have, in fact, offered to make all the concessions asked for in the budget repair bill. Every fiscal request being made by the Walker Administration has been agreed to by the unions. To whatever extent there is a fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, the unions have proven themselves willing to bear their share of the load.
5. I don’t have a pension plan at my job, so why should they get one?
This is a morally troubling argument. If my house burns down, should I go next door and torch my neighbor’s house because, darn it, if I have to suffer then everybody should have to suffer? Taking away the pension from a seventh grade math teacher isn’t going to make your retirement any more secure. The better question really ought to be, if those people over there can have a pension, why can’t I have one?
6. Hey, I’m paying their salaries!
Yes, you are. And every time you buy a loaf of bread at the local supermarket, you’re paying the salaries of every employee in the store. Every time you fill up at the gas station, you’re paying all the salaries at the oil company. This is how capitalism works. Everybody is always paying everybody else’s salary. That doesn’t give you the right to demand that the produce manager take a pay cut to keep the price of cabbage low, or the guy behind the counter at the gas station doesn’t deserve a health plan.
7. The Democratic Senators ought to come back to Wisconsin to do their job.
The state senators who fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum are taking the only action they can take to prevent what they feel is a patently unfair and unwise bill from becoming a patently unfair and unwise law. If the Walker Administration showed any indication that it would negotiate in good faith to reach a compromise, the senators would return. But as last weeks “punking” of Governor Walker demonstrated, the administration has no intention of working with the Democrats and would resort to lies and chicanery if given the opportunity.
8. The protestors at the Capitol Building are union thugs.
Given the massive groups that have assembled at the Capitol Building (100,000 last Saturday alone) the complete lack of anything remotely resembling a disturbance reflects well upon the citizens of the State of Wisconsin. Even on the day when a Pro-Walker counter-protest occurred side-by-side with the Pro-Union protest, the Madison Police Department reported no incidents. Those who are protesting are teachers, students, government workers, and in a profound display of union solidarity, fire fighters and police officers. Hardly the makings of an ugly mob.
9. The mob is full of out-of-state agitators.
This is virtually impossible to prove or disprove, but unless busloads of people from Illinois are stopping at the border and buying Badger and Packer sweatshirts and stocking hats, the crowd at the Capitol Building appears to be almost completely home-grown. The same cannot be said for the Koch Brothers, the multi-billionaires who stand to make a(nother) fortune if the budget repair bill passes. From Utah, the Koch brothers have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Wisconsin politics – from direct contributions to the Walker Campaign to their funding of shadowy “advocacy” groups that ran attack ads almost non-stop during the last election season. If you’re worried about out-of-state influences on our politics, look over there.
10. This is not a big deal.
What happens in Wisconsin is going to have a large impact on what happens in Ohio, then in Indiana, then in Michigan, and then in Florida. Once politicians and their ultra-wealthy owners crush public-sector unions, the task of crushing private-sector unions becomes just that much easier. And when unions have been destroyed, every worker in America will be reduced to taking whatever job at whatever lousy pay and with whatever lousy benefits (like none) that corporations decide we deserve. If the past few years have shown us anything at all, from Enron to Lehman Brothers to British Petroleum, it’s that large corporations are simply cannot be trusted, and there needs to be some force in our public lives that counter-balance their power and influence. With governments at every level being bought and sold by plutocrats of all sorts, labor unions have never been quite so vital to the survival of the Middle Class.
Thanks for reading!
Ron England
Glenda, what you are telling me is that your opinion is based strictly on your own envy and greed. That argument will never sway me.
Ron England
Phil there is already a procedure in place where a union member can request a rebate of any part of his dues that are contributed for political action if he does not agree with the unions positions. I have done it myself a couple of times.
Randall Huber
Well said !
Cindy Lou Sessler
http://palindefender.blogspot.com/
Ron England
http://policelink.monster.com/news/articles/151597-from-911-heroes-to-greedy-public-servants-no
How times have changed. Remember 9/11? A mere 10 years ago, people were applauding cops and firemen as we went about our duties. Many of us were thanked for “being there.” Now what’s happening?
I went to WTC the day of the attack. I returned during the recovery — on my own time. Many of the people who responded developed long-term terminal illnesses. Some of those have died. For a short time, it was a good thing to be a cop or a fireman.
I haven’t changed. If the attacks occurred today, I would still rush in while millions rush out. The same goes for most of us – despite what the public thinks.
I’m also not “greedy.”
I agree that the costs have gone up. I will NOT, however, take responsibility for the atrocious mismanagement of the pension system by the government and municipalities.
I made my pension contributions while they stopped making them. I stood up and questioned the State when they took the money out of the system to use elsewhere. I railed against the “pension holidays” that allowed the lack of payments into the system.
I do not qualify for Social Security and am not permitted to go into a 401K. The pension system is all I have — except for welfare, and some of you undoubtedly would call me a leech if I ever went that route.
No one likes the way the economy has turned. I have family members suffering through this, as well. But, when the economy was gaining double-digit percentage points, my raises weren’t even close.
In plain language: While the private sector was getting 10-15% raises, I was getting 3-4%.
I also will not take responsibility for the disgraceful rise in health care costs. The insurance companies who back Christie are the ones responsible — but you don’t see him going after them for their outrageous rates, do you?
My union has already agreed to 0% increases and has given concessions to save jobs. I and many of my fellow public servants have said we’d be willing to discuss contributing toward my healthcare.
But nobody talks about that. We are just “greedy.”
When (not if) the next attack occurs, my brothers and sisters will be there, just like we are when you dial 9-1-1 or stop us on the street when you are in trouble.
Some of us still do it with a smile. All of us do it with pride in serving the public.
Don’t call me greedy. Call me Officer.
Officer Nick Loizzi has been with the Rutherford Police Department since 1987, and has served in various roles for PBA 300.
How times have changed. Remember 9/11? A mere 10 years ago, people were applauding cops and firemen as we went about our duties. Many of us were thanked for “being there.” Now what’s happening?
I went to WTC the day of the attack. I returned during the recovery — on my own time. Many of the people who responded developed long-term terminal illnesses. Some of those have died. For a short time, it was a good thing to be a cop or a fireman.
I haven’t changed. If the attacks occurred today, I would still rush in while millions rush out. The same goes for most of us – despite what the public thinks.
I’m also not “greedy.”
I agree that the costs have gone up. I will NOT, however, take responsibility for the atrocious mismanagement of the pension system by the government and municipalities.
I made my pension contributions while they stopped making them. I stood up and questioned the State when they took the money out of the system to use elsewhere. I railed against the “pension holidays” that allowed the lack of payments into the system.
I do not qualify for Social Security and am not permitted to go into a 401K. The pension system is all I have — except for welfare, and some of you undoubtedly would call me a leech if I ever went that route.
No one likes the way the economy has turned. I have family members suffering through this, as well. But, when the economy was gaining double-digit percentage points, my raises weren’t even close.
In plain language: While the private sector was getting 10-15% raises, I was getting 3-4%.
I also will not take responsibility for the disgraceful rise in health care costs. The insurance companies who back Christie are the ones responsible — but you don’t see him going after them for their outrageous rates, do you?
My union has already agreed to 0% increases and has given concessions to save jobs. I and many of my fellow public servants have said we’d be willing to discuss contributing toward my healthcare.
But nobody talks about that. We are just “greedy.”
When (not if) the next attack occurs, my brothers and sisters will be there, just like we are when you dial 9-1-1 or stop us on the street when you are in trouble.
Some of us still do it with a smile. All of us do it with pride in serving the public.
Don’t call me greedy. Call me Officer.
Officer Nick Loizzi has been with the Rutherford Police Department since 1987, and has served in various roles for PBA 300.
Henry E Sleeth
Sarah, You are one of my hero's, thank you for helping the Nation focus on smaller government. I wanted to comment about Labor Unions. I am generally in favor of them, because they protect workers when employers act in underhanded ways. My union support stops as soon as they spend employee’s money on politics or lobbying. At that point, they are no longer helping the individual. Like the Government, when they get too big, they to go bad. I know the issue is more complex than I see it, however I believe that unions would be “a good thing” if they only spent the employee’s money on negotiations and support of the employees. Yours, Hank Sleeth
Cassy Carla Macy
Chris Robinson... I read your post at the beginning and I wanted to ask you....Which would you rather have, An employment check that keeps getting higher and higher until the company paying you can no longer afford it and lays you off. Also, during this time, cost of living keeps getting higher and higher because ALL companies are doing the same and in order to be able to keep up with the cost of demand for higher wages they are forced to increase the cost of their product. (this is the way it is now)? Or do you think it would be better if people could learn to live with in their means instead of demanding higher pay and that way the cost of living would not be effected and therefore never rise?
Cassy Carla Macy
Selfishness is the root that gives birth to all destruction.
Beth Harris
@ Ronald England-THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!! Some may not think you are a HERO but I DO!! THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!!
Beth Harris
Janette- you need to read and understand a union contract before you make statements like "little goes to help the workers".Union Contracts are set in place for safety issues / work place conditions. Not just PAY the Polition.
Beth Harris
R.I.P Officer Andy Dunn Sandusky Ohio Officer killed in line of Duty
The policeman stood and faced his God, which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shining just as brightly as his brass. "Step forward now, policeman. How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To my church have you be...en true? The policeman squared his shoulders and said. "No, I guess I ain't because those of us who carry a badge can't always be a Saint." I've had to work most Sundays and at times my talk is rough and sometimes I've been violent, because the street are awfully tough. But I never took a penny that wasn't mine to keep... though I worked a lot of overtime when the bills got to steep. And I never passed a cry for help though at times I shook with fear, and sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place among the people here. They never wanted me around except to calm their fear. If you've a place for me here, Lord, it needn't be so grand, I never expected or had too much, but if you don't..I'll understand" There was a silence all around the throne where the Saints had often trod. As the policeman waited quietly for the judgment of his God. "Step forward now , policeman. You've borne your burdens well. Come walk a beat on Heaven's streets. You've done your time in Hell. R.I.P Officer Andy Dunn, you will be truely missed 03-19-2011 OUR HERO
By: Gary Howell
The policeman stood and faced his God, which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shining just as brightly as his brass. "Step forward now, policeman. How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To my church have you be...en true? The policeman squared his shoulders and said. "No, I guess I ain't because those of us who carry a badge can't always be a Saint." I've had to work most Sundays and at times my talk is rough and sometimes I've been violent, because the street are awfully tough. But I never took a penny that wasn't mine to keep... though I worked a lot of overtime when the bills got to steep. And I never passed a cry for help though at times I shook with fear, and sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place among the people here. They never wanted me around except to calm their fear. If you've a place for me here, Lord, it needn't be so grand, I never expected or had too much, but if you don't..I'll understand" There was a silence all around the throne where the Saints had often trod. As the policeman waited quietly for the judgment of his God. "Step forward now , policeman. You've borne your burdens well. Come walk a beat on Heaven's streets. You've done your time in Hell. R.I.P Officer Andy Dunn, you will be truely missed 03-19-2011 OUR HERO
By: Gary Howell
Cathy Thomas
Have you read the book "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America" by Charlotte Thomson? It is a wonderful fact-based read. You can download the entire book for free. It tells exactly what the public school system in all 50 states is about.
Sandy Overturf
Take time to unite to fight for your pension. Our government has a unit that will tell you that your retirement fund is underfunded but won't provide any documents to prove it. They lie. Our group hired 3 actuaries companies and found their figures where over 2 BILLION OFF.
Ask for an audit and how they figure your pay outs. They where caught trying to steal 2.25 billion out of our fund. They don't fallow the law. If your pension fund was taken by the PBGC they robbed you.
Ask for an audit and how they figure your pay outs. They where caught trying to steal 2.25 billion out of our fund. They don't fallow the law. If your pension fund was taken by the PBGC they robbed you.
