Madison WI Lefty/Union ProtestsFollow

WHY it is so inconceivable for the Governor of Wisconsin to ask his state employees to contribute a whopping 12% of their own salaries to fund their own healthcare? Just imagine the pushback when those Madison Tahrir Square-types are asked to contribute to everyone else's healthcare plan too - provided Obumble's Plan is proven Constitutional. Which it ain't.

Oh snap... That's right! Unions are exempt from contributing to Barry's plan...

Totem

Also, it's safe to say that state workers have already done a large part (I agree with more contributed towards pension/insurance) by agreeing to furlough days. I forget the exact percentage, but the furlough days equal out to be a fairly large percentage cut in their salary.

Public sector collective bargaining makes no sense at all. Public sector workers should have all of their collective bargaining privileges removed, not simply the privilege to negotiate for benefits and work rules.

Then why isn't he taking away the collective bargaining rights of police and firefighters like he's demanding of teachers? Like Paskil said, this is just union busting on the pro-Democratic side.

Edited, Feb 21st 2011 8:28am by Jophiel

I can't recall who I heard it from, but an interview I heard said he received an endorsement from a minority of police and firefighters in Wisconsin, so I am not sure that's the case. Also, I don't know how it works in Illinois, but around here police & firefighters aren't generally GOP endorsers.

Do we really need to fuck over public workers more? There are so many reasons why this is a huge problem for public sector workers of Wisconsin. Firstly, Walker had tried to sneak this through on the fast track before anyone could notice. We're already fighting dirty. Secondly, Paskil already mentioned, the public sector has already been forced to give concessions once already in the form of furlough days, which are already slated to be increased this year again. Why do public sector employees keep having to make concessions? Thirdly, Walker (and the rest of the legislature too, but less so) is being a real prick about this by absolutely refusing to renegotiate this bill at all. He's going to fight this till the bitter end, and it's going to get ugly before it gets any better I'm afraid. Fourthly, why exactly does Walker have a vendetta against unions? Are WI's unions so strong that he can't get anything done? They aren't. Why couldn't he have foisted paycuts on the public sector to make himself look good and just move on, instead of trying to bust unions that are about as agressive as retarded housecat?

The thing that drives me crazy is that all these protests are going to be ultimately futile. They'll find a democratic senator soon and haul him back to the capitol. Then all the other red states are going to be emboldened by it passing in Wisconsin and pass similar legislation. Then Walker will recover the however small amount of reputation damage this will do to him and keep passing bullshit legislation and tax breaks. Yay.

The public sector wages/benefits should be the first to be cut. There is no reason that public sector job losses should not mirror, if not outpace, private sector job losses other than politics. Pro-union/pro-big-government people like to talk about the jobs that the public sector "creates", but they don't bother to tell you that that's the reason your property taxes go up when states cut back on aid to cities. They don't bother to tell you that ridiculous teacher contracts are the reason school boards get to lay on levies, often times without a vote, to increase your taxes even more. The reason we are 6 feet tall in a 20 foot puddle of sh:t is that people in government like to give away money to people and projects that they have no business giving money to. The ability to collectively bargain pensions & work rules for public sector employees is just one more example of this.


GOOD! Government service should be about government service. It shouldn't be about making a decent living. You want to make a decent living? Go out and be productive. My son's kindergarten teacher made $75,000 dollars last year. She made $75,000 to teach children to finger paint and walk in a straight line.

That is f'ucking ridiculous. Add to that the fact that she makes it for working a grand total of 8 months out of the year, gets a pension & retirement benefits package that could currently be values at over $60,000 and you get an even grosser violation of common sense, bordering on criminal.

It's just wrong. Democrats and RINOs have been giving in to these people for so long, and slowly adding to the festering pile of sh:t that it should be painful and scarring when the band-aid is finally ripped off and the wound gets to heal.

Given that their power doesn't extend over state lines, probably not.

That'd really hurt my feelings if I didn't, you know, have a job and stuff. :D

Edited, Feb 21st 2011 1:00pm by Jophiel

Is someone a little butthurt that someone else has a job that not only pays him for his work but also provides him time to post?

I think we all know the answers. It's not even debatable :)

If you had a point here you would have been better off not making it during business hours on a Monday.