Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
There’s been a lot going on in Wisconsin in the past week. I hope most Americans are aware of the reason why so many Wisconsinites have converged on the state capital to hold demonstrations.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, claims that the state is in financial trouble. He’s asking teachers, plow drivers, janitors, nurses, garbage collectors, and other public sector workers to contribute more to their pensions and to pay a larger amount of their health premiums. It appears many of those workers are willing to negotiate with the governor and to consider having more money taken out of their paychecks for their pensions and health insurance. What those employees are not willing to do is relinquish their right to collective bargaining.
I can understand why Governor Walker is asking public employees to have more deductions taken from their paychecks during these fiscally difficult times. What I question is his budget-repair bill that would strip public employees of their right to collective bargaining. If the governor believes that taking away that right will help with the state budget shortfall, why isn’t he demanding that police, firefighters, and state troopers give up their right to collective bargaining too? Could it be political payback? Does that sound like a possibility to you?
Here is an excerpt from an article that Todd Richmond wrote for Bloomberg:
Walker has introduced a bill that would strip public employees across the board — from teachers to snowplow drivers — of their right to collectively bargain for sick leave, vacation, even the hours they work. But absolutely nothing would change for local police, fire departments and the State Patrol.
The bill smacks of political favoritism for public safety unions that supported Walker’s election bid last year and sets up new haves and have-nots in Wisconsin government, said Paul Secunda, a Marquette University professor who specializes in labor law.
“That’s called ‘thank you, I got your back,'” Secunda said. “There’s no surprise there. This is the worst type of favoritism there could be.”
Well, Wisconsin firefighters are showing their solidarity with their fellow public employees. There’s a post at Mother Jones about an interview that Uptake’s Oliver Dykstra had with Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin. (Mother Jones also posted a video of the interview.)
Here are some of the highlights of that interview—which I’ve taken from Mother Jones:
- “The reason that we are here is because it’s important that labor sticks together. There was a message from the governor’s office to conquer and divide…collective bargaining is not just for us, police and fire, it’s good for all involved. It’s a middle-class upbringing.”
- “When firefighters see an emergency, one thing we do is respond. And we see an emergency in the house of labor, so that’s why we’re here.”
- “Every day, if you notice, we lead the AFSCME employees, the SEIU employees, all the public sector employees into the building, because we are here to fight with them.”
- “Collective bargaining is not about union rights; it’s about rights of workers…We ask Gov. Walker to come back and negotiate with the people, negotiatie with the state workers’ unions, and get things worked out, as opposed to just putting out this bill and we don’t hear from him again.”
- “Us as firefighters, we have been exempted from this bill…There’s a 5.8 percent pay into the pension, there’s a 12.4 percent pay into the health care premium benefits…For the betterment of the government, for the betterment of the state, we don’t mind helping to pay for that. We don’t want to price ourselves out of a job. Ever. What we want to do is have a fair and equitable treatment among our members.”
I have great respect for the Wisconsin firefighters who are supporting their fellow public employees—even though they have nothing to gain politically or financially by doing so.
“We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” ~Benjamin Franklin
Sources
Kasich is feeling the heat just a bit … remember he won by a very narrow margin … and …
There is a great deal of quiet (I stress the word quiet)talk going on about recalls by Dems and Indep … it is quiet because it’s serious … when people talk loudly, as those in Utah, it’s for publicity. Here, the matter is being given serious consideration which means the talk is kept very quiet. I’m sure Kasich, with his narrow margin of victory, and other repubs who made it in by a squeak are very aware. Plus I think there is some serious negotiations going on behind the scenes with the unions. This thing blew up in their faces in a manner they never considered possible and every one of them is looking for a way to distance themselves a bit and not lose their seats.
You know … enemies always seem to underestimate the American people … because they watch our movies, read our gossip magazines, and listen to our politicians, they seem to think we are a weak-willed, pleasure-seeking people who have no guts and certainly no ability to withstand hardship. Hitler thought so, Japan thought so, Osama thought so. That’s exactly how the republicans view the “libs”, tree-hugging, emotion-spewing, over-educated weaklings. Under estimation like that can cost a politician his career.
Great links Elaine! Walker is attempting a coup under the guise of a fiscal emergency.
From Greenpeace (1/30/2011)
A glimpse of the Koch Brothers’ dirty money network
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/a-glimpse-of-the-koch-brothers-dirty-money-ne/blog/32748
Excerpt:
How much dirty money are we talking about here?
The billionaire Koch Brothers themselves are able to push their polluter agenda through tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions, lobbying, and funding fronts groups and think tanks. Greenpeace obtained tax records that show that Koch foundations have given a total of $54.9 million to climate denial organizations since 1997, including $31.3 million in recent years of 2005 – 2009. And our 2010 report Koch Industries, Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine documented the millions more that Koch Industries spends on lobbying against climate and clean energy policies, and campaign contributions to polluter-friendly politicians.
From the Los Angeles Times (2/6/2011)
Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power
The billionaire brothers’ influence is most visible in the makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where members have vowed to undo restrictions on greenhouse gases.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-koch-brothers-20110206,0,1681069.story
Excerpts:
Reporting from Washington — The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington’s political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee’s 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.
Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch-founded advocacy group — Americans for Prosperity — to oppose the Obama administration’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gases. Of the six GOP freshman lawmakers on the panel, five benefited from the group’s separate advertising and grass-roots activity during the 2010 campaign.
Claiming an electoral mandate, Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs’ core energy businesses.
The new committee members include a congressman who has hired a former Koch Industries lawyer as his chief of staff. Another, Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, won a long-shot bid to unseat a 14-term moderate Democrat with help from Americans for Prosperity, which marshaled conservative activists in his district. By some estimates, the advocacy group spent more than a quarter-million dollars on negative ads in the campaign. “I’m just thankful that you all helped in so many ways,” Griffith told an Americans for Prosperity rally not long after his election.
Perhaps the Kochs’ most surprising and important ally on the committee is its new chairman, Rep. Fred Upton. The Republican from Michigan, who was once criticized by conservatives for his middle-of-the-road approach to environmental issues, is now leading the effort to rein in the EPA.
Upton received $20,000 in donations from Koch employees in 2010, making them among his top 10 donors in that cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
In recent months the congressman has made a point of publicly aligning himself with the Koch-backed advocacy group, calling for an end to the “EPA chokehold.” Last week the chairman released a draft of a bill that would strip the EPA of its ability to curb carbon emissions. The legislation is in line with the Kochs’ long-advocated stance that the federal government should have a minimal role in regulating business. The Kochs’ oil refineries and chemical plants stand to pay millions to reduce air pollution under currently proposed EPA regulations.
**********
The Kochs provided initial funding for the libertarian Cato Institute and are key donors to the Federalist Society, among other conservative organizations.
In recent years, they began drawing conservative media, business and political leaders to semiannual meetings in the West to discuss protection of the free-market ethos and to raise funds for their causes. The most recent was in Rancho Mirage a week ago.
Elaine,
“Even though David and Charles Koch like to talk about being free market libertarians? The dirty secret is their entire business is based on government contracts. They basically got their start . . . they got their start 50 years ago, their father, building refineries for Stalin in the Soviet Union. In the Bush years they got no-bid contracts to expand the strategic petroleum reserves and in the last few years they’ve been using imminent domain to seize up land to build new pipelines.”
That about sums all you need to know about what kind of fascists those clowns the Koch Bros. are.
Cenk Uygur talked to Lee Fang of Think Progress about Gov. Scott Walker and the Koch Brothers on MSNBC this evening. Here’s the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41745522#41745522
From Huffington Post (2/23/2011)
Scott Walker’s Plan To Take Control Of Medicaid Decisions In Wisconsin
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/scott-walker-medicaid-wisconsin_n_826821.html
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — So far, most of the attention on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) budget repair bill has focused on the section that would strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights. Less noticed is a provision in the 144-page piece of legislation that could dramatically change the state’s Medicaid program.
The bill would grant the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) sweeping authority to making changes to the state’s Medicaid program — which covers one in five residents — with virtually no public scrutiny. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Walker’s plan would use “emergency” powers to allow DHS to restrict eligibility, raise premiums and change reimbursements — all moves traditionally controlled by the legislature.
Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, equated it to if President Obama gave Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius total power to rewrite Medicare policy, even though it wouldn’t save any money in the current fiscal year.
“That’s what you have here in what’s being proposed,” said Peacock. “If President Obama proposed that, there would be rallies all over the country, and we would be marching out there arm in arm with Tea Party members, protesting against it.”
“While the provision may result in significant savings in the future, it has been included on the list because it would remove the entire Legislature from determining substantial elements of the medical assistance program,” concluded the fiscal bureau’s analysis.
Part of the reason that advocates are so alarmed at the legislation is that the man who heads DHS is Dennis Smith, someone who has advocated for states to leave the Medicaid program.
In a December 2009 article for the Heritage Foundation, Smith, who was then on staff at the conservative think tank, advocated against health care reform proposals being considered by Congress and argued it would be smart for states to leave the Medicaid program.
Elaine M,
Lmao! Thanks for the clips!
I saw Craig Ferguson’s stand up act last fall – if you ever get a chance to catch him, you MUST! And, I’m not afraid to say, I have all seasons of “The Muppet Show” on DVD!
On another note, as I roll my eyes – “GOP Govs. Daniels And Kasich Defend Dem Lawmakers’ Walkout As ‘Perfectly Legitimate’”
Gee, that’s mighty white of these two.
Off Topic: I’m posting the following two videos because I need a good laugh–and because I love the Muppets and Craig Ferguson.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTwq1_9VH68&w=480&h=390]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KlJ2Uyu4U0&w=480&h=390]
From Think Progress (2/23/2011)
GOP Govs. Daniels And Kasich Defend Dem Lawmakers’ Walkout As ‘Perfectly Legitimate’
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/23/gop-govs-daniels-and-kasich-defend-dem-lawmakers-walkout-as-perfectly-legitimate/
Excerpt:
All week, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and national Republicans have been attacking Wisconsin’s Democratic state senators for leaving the state in order to block passage of Walker’s union-busting bill. Walker has sent the state police after the lawmakers, and today even said the senators may be committing “an ethics code violation” or even “a felony.” There is also an effort to repeal the decamped Wisconsin senators. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers in Indiana have fled their state to stop a different union-busting measure there.
As ThinkProgress noted, this tactic has a long history in American politics — Republican Abraham Lincoln even once jumped out a window while employing it. But the departed Democrats of Wisconsin and Indiana have more contemporary GOP defenders — two of Walker’s closest allies. Yesterday, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) defended his state’s vanished senators, saying their fleeing is “perfectly legitimate“:
Daniels, a Republican, said earlier Tuesday he supported the Democrats’ right to deny Republicans a quorum to do business and the rights of labor unions to protest at the Statehouse.
“The activities of today are perfectly legitimate part of the process,” he said. “Even the smallest minority, and that’s what we’ve heard from in the last couple days, has every right to express the strength of its views and I salute those who did.”
Today, appearing on conservative radio host Laura Igraham’s show, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) — who has been one of Walker’s most reliable defenders and whom Walker says he talks to “everyday” — refused to condmen the senators’ actions or Daniels’ comments, saying to a displeased Ingraham, “If you were there, you might end up walking out the chamber too!”
Buddha’s postings affect me in the same way … face it … I’m an easy revolutionary …
“I’m not interested in shared sacrifice, I’m interested in re-redistributing wealth back to pre-Reagan times.” (Mike Spindell)
I’m going to have to stop reading your posts because I agree with them too much and find myself chomping at the bit to get the revolution going. 8)
Lotta,
Well said. The tea party is favor of the Constitution so they must be in favor of the First Amendment….right?
Sam, employers are employers and workers are workers. There are provisions in place at the state level (and at the Federal level for Federal employees that are unionized) that prevent the work performed by the bargaining unit from being stopped due to a labor dispute such as no-strike clauses mandated by the laws that recognize the right of certain workers to organize. The right to economically effect the employer (strikes) is built into power dynamic of unions and employers and codified in law and procedures negotiated by the parties.
Now, if you’re upset because a large crowd makes it tough for Statehouse employees to get from their parking lot to their desks (to do the work of the state bureaucracy) that’s not an issue specific to labor and should not cloud your thinking on the matter. Any large group of citizens doing the same thing in accordance with their First Amendment rights FOR ANY REASON (short of burning down the building or rioting) is just protest, lawful assembly under the Constitutions.
Elaine,
I like the “Koch addict” humor! Great responses and a very current and evolving topic. Congrats!
eniobob,
That is one of the best songs from CSNY. Jefferson Airplane also covered it and I think both bands assisted each other in their respective recordings of it!
Lottakatz,
“I wondered just what was there that called for scrub brushes and Clorox, must have been that Nazi stuff, LOL.”
Lol – Ya think?
“Thanks for the update.”
Glad I could be of help!
Mike S,
“This “shared sacrifice” meme that is prevalent today from DC to the various Statehouses bothers me.”
Actually, I never thought about it that way and now that you bring it up, you are right. Wasn’t it Reagan who blamed the poor for being poor? I posted a link regarding corporate tax thieves on another thread, but I’ll be damned if I remember where – http://www.truth-out.org/us-uncut-calls-out-corporate-tax-deadbeats67941
I’m not looking to be a top 2%er – as long as I can keep the roof over my family’s heads, have a job to go to every day and see to it that my community continues to thrive, I will do whatever is necessary, and I’m fine with that.
As a resident of CT, I support Governor Malloy’s budget. I have always said that if taxes must be increased for the betterment of my community and my state, I will gladly pony up. I can appreciate that he will not seek to cut state funds going to the cities and towns; I can really appreciate that he is not seeking to cut education and services that many residents must rely on. So if I have to pay a little more? So be it. That’s the difference between Stamford and Greenwich 😉
The governor was Stamford’s mayor for 14 years and was very instrumental in growing the city by steering companies away from NYC, which created jobs and boosted local businesses. Layoffs and cuts to education were last resort measures, two very important issue to me. I believe he will perform as well at the state level. And if he doesn’t? Well, he’s just a one term governor.
Stamford Liberal
“Looks like someone in Indiana is out of a job … ”
“Indiana official fired for tweets about protests
By Justin Elliott
Mother Jones subsequently discovered that Cox maintained a blog, Pro Cynic, that contained regular Nazi analogies and the like.”
—-
That was good news and really fast! I checked out his Twitter account and then went to his website earlier today and surprise, his website was wiped clean, gone. I wondered just what was there that called for scrub brushes and Clorox, must have been that Nazi stuff, LOL.
Thanks for the update.
Mike Spindell:
I am pretty sure we disagree on the cause of our anemic economy.
So all I can say is that Best Buy, Sears, hhgregg and others are filling the gap left by Circuit City. It is the natural evolution of an economy such as ours. The inefficient are at the mercy of the public.
Change of die, evolve and meet the changing demands of public taste or you go bankrupt.
Don’t you think the people who lost their jobs at Circuit City can now find employment with one of the companies that has now increased their sales?
What you see as a bad thing, I see as a good thing.
How many new companies may be created because of the people who used to be mid-level or store managers at Circuit City? How many jobs will they create?
“The son of a farmer, Woolworth aspired to be a merchant. In 1873, he started working in a drygoods store in Watertown, New York. He worked for free for the first three months, because the owner claimed “why should I pay you for teaching you the business?”. He remained there for six years. There he observed a passing fad: Leftover items were priced at five cents and placed on a table. Woolworth liked the idea, so he borrowed $300 to open a store where all items were priced at five cents.
Woolworth’s first five-cent store, established in Utica, New York, on February 22, 1879, failed within weeks. At his second store, established in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in April 1879, he expanded the concept to include merchandise priced at ten cents. The second store was successful, and Woolworth and his brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, opened a large number of five-and-ten-cent stores. His original employer was made a partner.”
You think there aren’t a couple of potential FW Woolworths in the management or labor of Circuit City? How many jobs will they create?
SL
The Connecticut budget does seem quite reasonable. This “shared sacrifice” meme that is prevalent today from DC to the various Statehouses bothers me. The middle class and the poor have been under attack since Reagan. The higher proportionate share of the cost of government has been borne by them. The corporate welfare that has been given at all government levels (i.e. The NYSE was given NYC tax breaks not to move)outstrips the actual welfare given to the needy. I’m not interested in shared sacrifice, I’m interested in re-redistributing wealth back to pre-Reagan times.