Thousands protest Wisconsin anti-union bill

[Ridgerunner]

Ok, then enlighten us all. What are the facts? You can cast aspersions but without facts your just blowing smoke, which is what you are accusing the article of doing.

I’m not accusing the article of anything. I’m merely observing the obvious. It doesn’t state any actual facts. It states its interpretation of facts. Perhaps it could have actually cited the provisions themselves. That would be stating facts.

And no, you’re the one asserting that Walker is trying to steal from teachers to pay off fat cats. The burden of proof is on you, not me.

 

[gilliam]

I hope everyone is paying attention: Re: Hateful rhetoric from the Left in WI

 

[LCMS_No_More]

I hope everyone is paying attention: Re: Hateful rhetoric from the Left in WI

Similarly hateful, no…exceedingly hateful, rhetoric from the right as well, nationwide.

Mark Levine: They’re PIGS!
Rush Limbaugh: Freeloaders

As a unionized state employee in California who works hard holding down one of the busiest offices in the State, sometimes by myself, I take major umbrage at statements like this. I work hard for my wages and benefits as do all of my co-workers.

Is there deadweight? Sure. Every large employer will have deadweight, even in the corporate world where money is god and no evil can be done in its service.

 

[Ailina]

MADISON, Wis. — A bill eliminating most collective bargaining rights from nearly all Wisconsin public employees passed the Legislature’s budget-writing committee late Wednesday night despite two days of mass public protests. The bill went through with all Republicans backing it and no Democratic support. The vote clears the way for the Senate to take up the bill Thursday. Thousands of protesters packed the Capitol Rotunda to watch the hearing on television monitors, booing and screaming when supporters of the measure talked. Protesters packed the Capitol all day Tuesday during a 17-hour hearing, overnight and again all day Wednesday.

msnbc.msn.com/id/41624142/ns/politics-more_politics/

Well, I guess that’s because those unions caused the great financial collapse of 2008 and deserve to be punished. The bankers and Wall Street are completely innocent corporate welfare cases who had no

 

[bbarrick8383]

Well, I guess that’s because those unions caused the great financial collapse of 2008 and deserve to be punished. The bankers and Wall Street are completely innocent corporate welfare cases who had no

I blame everyone who doesn’t know how to live within their means, up to and including the federal government.

If you can’t afford the house, don’t blame the bank for offering you a loan they were required to offer you because the politicians want votes from those who think that people who can not afford houses should be homeowners.

The honorable thing for the 300,000 public workers of Wisconsin to do is to accept the fact that the government needs to cut back, offer up what they can and thank the taxpayer for providing it, it was good while it lasted I’m sure. Man up, tighten your belt and act like your grandparents did for awhile. Cut up the credit cards, put some money in savings, put some in glass jars and bury them, act like it’s a possibility that you may actually experience a great depression in your life and you want to prepare for it.

We own a small family business and we just lost our biggest customer, the first thing I asked my family is if they wanted me to go look for another job. It may be what has to happen, and so be it. I’ll do whatever it takes to take care of my family.

 

[cyberwolf001]

The people are finally standing up to this. An on here more Catholics rejecting Catholicism because it is opposed to the GOP social doctrine.

 

[bbarrick8383]

The people are finally standing up to this. An on here more Catholics rejecting Catholicism because it is opposed to the GOP social doctrine.

From the outside looking in, I don’t think many folks understand Catholic social doctrine.

I can understand the Church promoting a workers right to organize.

The attitude that permeates from the UAW, and public unions is one of jealousy and greed. Not one of workers who need to be fairly treated.

The means by which unions operate is their own demise. They are losing workers, because workers don’t want to work for them, but liberals will not admit to that.

I guarantee you I could start a union tomorrow that would have people knocking at the doors to join and be business friendly.

 

[LCMS_No_More]

I blame everyone who doesn’t know how to live within their means, up to and including the federal government.

If you can’t afford the house, don’t blame the bank for offering you a loan they were required to offer you because the politicians want votes from those who think that people who can not afford houses should be homeowners.

The honorable thing for the 300,000 public workers of Wisconsin to do is to accept the fact that the government needs to cut back, offer up what they can and thank the taxpayer for providing it, it was good while it lasted I’m sure. Man up, tighten your belt and act like your grandparents did for awhile. Cut up the credit cards, put some money in savings, put some in glass jars and bury them, act like it’s a possibility that you may actually experience a great depression in your life and you want to prepare for it.

We own a small family business and we just lost our biggest customer, the first thing I asked my family is if they wanted me to go look for another job. It may be what has to happen, and so be it. I’ll do whatever it takes to take care of my family.

Wow…I bet your news sources didn’t tell you that the unions have offered to sit down and negotiate give-backs to help with the deficit, making the bolded part above a moot point.

Like what happened here in California, the unions did offer concessions, but Schwarzenegger decided to simply take what he wanted using previously non-existent fiscal emergency he created in order to bust the unions, who were willing to cooperate in giving concessions to achieve the goal of budget savings.

 

[bbarrick8383]

Wow…I bet your news sources didn’t tell you that the unions have offered to sit down and negotiate give-backs to help with the deficit, making the bolded part above a moot point.

Like what happened here in California, the unions did offer concessions, but Schwarzenegger decided to simply take what he wanted using previously non-existent fiscal emergency he created in order to bust the unions, who were willing to cooperate in giving concessions to achieve the goal of budget savings.

I don’t really watch, read or listen to the news all that much.

Given the mentality of public service unions though it would be interesting to see exactly what they would offer to give up…

The wannabe Republican governor of CA created a non-existent fiscal emergency? I thought CA has had a fiscal emergency for a few years now…??

 

[Jennykay]

Quite a few comments have been about teachers. Firefighters and the police
also have unions that participate in collective bargaining don’t they? Why are
important segments of our communities being targeted for being employed and
earning a living wage with benefits? Members of Congress have much better
salaries, terrific health insurance, and very good pensions and they bestow those
things on themselves with their votes. While states and cities are facing drastic
cutbacks what will Congress or state legislatures vote to give up to do their
share?
It’s all so frustrating.

 

[1voice]

I guess you can twist the facts any way you want. I would prefer an argument with some level of integirty. How does the bill he proposed address the issue of the New Healthcare Bill? Your reaching. And, you totally ignore my point. This is a manufactured problem to go after unions. The Gov manufcatured the problem by spending the surplus that was created by very hard cjoices by the last legislature which, by the way, included numerous concessions by the government workers unions negotiated with a Democratic gov.

And, doesn’t it bother you that non-partisan OMB has said the repealing “Obamacare” would add tot he deficit?

… Still a man hears what he wants to hear … and disregards the rest.
… Paul Simon … or Art Garfunkel… Not sure which.

Didnt BHO just give a speech admonishing the country to spend where it is important … and cut back where you can? I guess more concessions are in order. US Airways union employees had to give up 30% of wages and benefits or go under. Life is tough sometimes.

Of course there are a lot of dynamics involved… and maybe the Gov is succumbing to every politicians bent for pork barrel politics… and maybe hes not … but you are assigning motive based on assumptions and then further assuming that it obviously has to be reality. It sounds more like a conspiracy theory. Everything fits because you want it to. If you want to keep drinking the cool aid and justifying it … Cheers! But I choose the logic in the fact that the Governor said what he was going to do during the campaign and now he is doing it. It is not as complicated as you choose to think. The Governor knows that he was hired to make hard fiscal decisions … that have deep, long term affects. Public employee health and retirement benefits are the two of biggest drains on any States budget. Asking public employees to pay 12% of the cost is a pittance… they get no sympathy from me… and with Obamacare being set in place the Governor is using good common sense to head off any future battles for fiscal sanity where health care costs are concerned by picking his battle now … while the political wind is at his back.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Nice to see a Catholic who is pro-union. The usual anti-union Republican crowd is pretty thick in CAF. It’s rare to see someone stick up for organized labor. I happen to be a site union rep at my school and I LOVE my union. I’m union 100%. And I don’t apologize for it one iota. You can be Catholic and not anti-public employee/anti-government…

Nice post, gnjsdad

The right of workers to organize into unions is part of Catholic social doctrine. When the secular state aims to destroy a union, it acts counter to Church teaching. Such state action needs to be protested…vigorously.

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Centesimus annus stated…

“The theological dimension is needed both for interpreting and for solving
present day problems in human society”.

meaning that Church social doctrine is a matter of faith; Catholics are bound to believe that teaching.

 

[LCMS_No_More]

I don’t really watch, read or listen to the news all that much.

Given the mentality of public service unions though it would be interesting to see exactly what they would offer to give up…

The wannabe Republican governor of CA created a non-existent fiscal emergency? I thought CA has had a fiscal emergency for a few years now…??

The concept of a fiscal emergency didn’t exist until he came along. There have been budget crises where the legislature and governor didn’t agree on how to write the budget, even during boom times. In those days, both sides respected the law and worked out a compromise that worked for everyone. When the second worst governor in the history of the Universe and another prime example of Republican ideological thought, Pete Wilson, was forced from office due to gubernatorial term limits, it must have stuck in his craw that he couldn’t implement his proposals that would have made state service into a joke. Given the temper tantrum the Republicans threw after they lost to Gray Davis a second time (their fault for not nominating Riordan, but I digress) in demanding a do-over election (using the Recall provision in the California Constitution), they got Schwarzenegger, a man with lots of ambition and a noisemaker but not much in terms of brain cells…something to do with steroids, I think, but I digress. Wilson had his third and fourth terms in Schwarzenegger. Because of the extra time, Wilson succeeded through Schwarzenegger. They’ve effectively busted the union. With a Republican dominated state Supreme Court, the governor, whoever he is, can act with impunity and nothing will be done to stop him.

Don’t tell me Schwarzenegger is a wannabe Republican. He’s the quintessential Republican union buster in the Reagan tradition.

 

[bbarrick8383]

Quite a few comments have been about teachers. Firefighters and the police
also have unions that participate in collective bargaining don’t they?

From what I understand they did not want to compromise security and safety of the people. The liberals are saying those unions backed the Gov., the Gov said 4 of them supported him while dozens more did not.

Why are
important segments of our communities being targeted for being employed and
earning a living wage with benefits?

Define a living wage? Should a public employee make on average more than a private employee? Should those wages and benefits be a gold mine compared to what the average private employee gets?

Members of Congress have much better salaries, terrific health insurance, and very good pensions and they bestow those things on themselves with their votes. While states and cities are facing drastic cutbacks what will Congress or state legislatures vote to give up to do their
share?
It’s all so frustrating.

Who knows, lets vote liberal so we can more wonderful government, it’s such a great thing isn’t it?

 

[a_priori]

The red herring and strawman counts on this thread are through the roof.

 

[bbarrick8383]

Don’t tell me Schwarzenegger is a wannabe Republican. He’s the quintessential Republican union buster in the Reagan tradition.

And your a comedian.

 

[a_priori]

I blame everyone who doesn’t know how to live within their means, up to and including the federal government.

If you can’t afford the house, don’t blame the bank for offering you a loan they were required to offer you because the politicians want votes from those who think that people who can not afford houses should be homeowners.

The honorable thing for the 300,000 public workers of Wisconsin to do is to accept the fact that the government needs to cut back, offer up what they can and thank the taxpayer for providing it, it was good while it lasted I’m sure. Man up, tighten your belt and act like your grandparents did for awhile. Cut up the credit cards, put some money in savings, put some in glass jars and bury them, act like it’s a possibility that you may actually experience a great depression in your life and you want to prepare for it.

We own a small family business and we just lost our biggest customer, the first thing I asked my family is if they wanted me to go look for another job. It may be what has to happen, and so be it. I’ll do whatever it takes to take care of my family.

Great post.

 

[CMatt25]

The whole matter of tax breaks for Walker’s cronies and anti-union is just another example I believe of the wealthiest engaging in class warfare by wanting to redistribute the wealth upwards towards themselves along with further destruction of the middle class. I saw I think it was the WI Council of Churches standing behind the protesters. WWJD? I heard the Council of Churches representative say tonight He would be standing with them. I believe this too. I’m praying the WI bishops have gotten behind them as well. God bless the protesters.

 

[a_priori]

WWJD? .

I was a public employee union officer and negotiator. You shouldn’t ask that question. You might not like the answer.

 

[CMatt25]

I was a public employee union officer and negotiator. You shouldn’t ask that question. You might not like the answer.

Nah I am more than comfortable with what I believe the answer to be. Irregardless of the conservative take on it.