Who is watching Wisconsin?

[Anonymous]

ummmm no, the main police and fire unions (the largest ones in the state) endorsed his opponent. I'm not clear on why he exempted them from the law, but it wasn't political payback. might have been reasons relating to public safety - didn't want to risk a strike or sick-in, or perhaps divide and conquer? point is, you are wrong.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:ummmm no, the main police and fire unions (the largest ones in the state) endorsed his opponent. I'm not clear on why he exempted them from the law, but it wasn't political payback. might have been reasons relating to public safety - didn't want to risk a strike or sick-in, or perhaps divide and conquer? point is, you are wrong.

Your understanding is incomplete. The two state-wide unions did endorse Walker's opponent, but the exemptions Walker includes are not state-wide (some police officers won't be exempted). The exemption is for local unions.

"In all, five public employee unions endorsed Walker, and four of the five are completely unharmed by Walker's budget repair bill, WISC-TV reported."

http://www.channel3000.com/politics/26867166/detail.html

Isn't that coincidental? One would think that if Walker were interested in exempting public safety employees, he would exempt all of them rather than simply those represented by unions that endorsed him.

[Anonymous]

And another oddity is our Chief Executive "meddling" in this state issue when he felt it was inappropriate to "meddle" in Iran"s rebellion two years ago!

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:And another oddity is our Chief Executive "meddling" in this state issue when he felt it was inappropriate to "meddle" in Iran"s rebellion two years ago!

Why is that odd? Is Wisconsin a foreign country? People in Wisconsin voted for Obama. People in Iran didn't. It's odd that you think this is odd.

[Anonymous]

Stripping collective bargaining rights doesn't save money. The actual money saving proposals I am fine with-I believe public employees should be included in shared sacrifice. Why you see folks in the street isn't because of the health and pension care cuts--that has happened in various forms around the country already and union members didn't protest. Why you are seeing the protests is because the legislation is an attack rights of freedom of association, and the ability to bargain.

To those who study history and care about democracy this is very disturbing--unions have been advocates for democracy and human rights not just here, but around the world. Think Solidarity in Poland, Chinese Anti-Sweatshops and forced Labor camps, and independent trade unions have been fighting corruption and their leaders have been assassinated in Columbia and Mexico.

This has very little to do with actual wage and benefit cuts, and everything to do with an American right to belong to a union.

[Anonymous]

I guess we should abandon state governments to accomodate you and Obama.

With regard to Iran do you see any distinction between his support ot the rebellion in Egypt and mum approach to Iran two years ago?

[Anonymous]

"I guess we should abandon state governments to accomodate you and Obama. "

Huh, what does that mean?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I guess we should abandon state governments to accomodate you and Obama.

I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion.

Anonymous wrote:With regard to Iran do you see any distinction between his support ot the rebellion in Egypt and mum approach to Iran two years ago?

We discussed this at the time of the demonstrations in Iran. The Iranian government would have loved to have been able to paint the protestors as agents of the US. Anything Obama did publicly would have served the interests of the government of Iran. The opposition specifically asked the US to stay out of it.

If you want to criticize Obama for being overly silent, Bahrain, Libya, and Algeria provide much more relevant examples. We have the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. That should give us a bit of influence.

But, comparing Wisconsin to any foreign country is really a stretch. Of course Obama has an interest in a US state.

[Anonymous]

Lazy, sloppy, selfish unions with sub-par results can't compete anymore. No money left to push all their incompetence under the rug anymore. sorry.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP.

Yes, Obama has finally stumbled into an area where he has some experience.....so called "organizing". It is a shame that when his plate is overflowing, he has to become involved in state issues.

[Anonymous]

Lazy: Tell that to your airline pilot or UPS driver or school teacher to their face
Selfish: Tell that to a firefighter or police officer--to their face (please!)
Sloppy: Maybe they could dress better-I agree some of their outfits could be spruced up, and maybe you could help
Sub-par results: Yes, the vastly unionized industry of Wall Street, mortgage brokers, and Countrywide employees really should be blamed--to bad they are all completely non union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stripping collective bargaining rights doesn't save money. The actual money saving proposals I am fine with-I believe public employees should be included in shared sacrifice. Why you see folks in the street isn't because of the health and pension care cuts--that has happened in various forms around the country already and union members didn't protest. Why you are seeing the protests is because the legislation is an attack rights of freedom of association, and the ability to bargain.

To those who study history and care about democracy this is very disturbing--unions have been advocates for democracy and human rights not just here, but around the world. Think Solidarity in Poland, Chinese Anti-Sweatshops and forced Labor camps, and independent trade unions have been fighting corruption and their leaders have been assassinated in Columbia and Mexico.

This has very little to do with actual wage and benefit cuts, and everything to do with an American right to belong to a union.

This is right. As I understand it, the legislation would strip the right to bargain about all issues other than salary. I also don't have any problem with the financial cuts - paying 12% of health care costs seems reasonable to me - but the elimination of bargaining rights is troubling. More troubling is the blatant partisanship Jeff noted - exempting most of the local unions that supported him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lazy: Tell that to your airline pilot or UPS driver or school teacher to their face
Selfish: Tell that to a firefighter or police officer--to their face (please!)
Sloppy: Maybe they could dress better-I agree some of their outfits could be spruced up, and maybe you could help
Sub-par results: Yes, the vastly unionized industry of Wall Street, mortgage brokers, and Countrywide employees really should be blamed--to bad they are all completely non union.

The mortgage crisis is directly related to government insuring mortages and removing the risk of default to the investor. If the government had never meddled in the mortgage industry, the private sector would have been VERY stringent on lending and there would have been no bubble. The Government has taken too much risk out of investing so that irresponsible people can fully participate in the economy which predictably is unsustainable. Unions have created non-competative environments and inferior products and services that are too expensive. Thats why there is so much talk on this board about what private "un unionized" schools to send DC to.

[Anonymous]

The nonsense is coming to an end. It will not be pretty.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Lazy, sloppy, selfish unions with sub-par results can't compete anymore. No money left to push all their incompetence under the rug anymore. sorry.

Remember when Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger ditched his US Airways jet in the Hudsen? Well, Sully was a lazy union member. The flight attendants that prepared the passengers for a crash landing and safely led them off the aircraft? Sloppy union members. The air traffic controllers who guided Sully in and cleared the airspace? Selfish union members. The ferry crews that rushed to the downed airliner to rescue the passengers? Incompetent union members. The police and firemen who contributed to the rescue? Lazy, sloppy, selfish, and incompetent union members.

The result of this effort of unions members? A "sub-par" rescue of all 155 passengers and crew.