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
SL, Raff & Elaine,
The thing with bully’s is that when faced with strong opposition they fade. If they don’t they’re crazy and you can’t negotiate, nor allow crazy to have its’ way. My guess it was a Democrat who suggested the compromise, with the Republicans laughing behind the person’s back.
I Think I’ll Have Another Round in New Zealand,
That was as stupid an analogy as I’ve ever read and if you think it makes sense,then it says little for you. As others have stated it’s an Ayn Rand-ish sensibility. As such it really indicates that
there are many fools who would follow the political belief’s of a bad writer of romantic potboilers.
Elaine,
Your house mu be adorned with Gold…. You are wonderful…. I vote for Elaine to become managing editor….. You are truly a gift to this blawg….
Elaine,
Thanks for the transcript link. Interesting reading!
Yeah Buddha,
I have noticed that the trolls are especially active as of late. I am guessing that the Koch Brothers are spending some more money to try to deflect criticism and the facts about one of the sleaziest politicians I have seen in a long time. Pretty soon he will mke Blago look like a saint!
From Wisconsin State Journal
Transcript of prank Koch-Walker conversation
You’ll find the transcript of the conversation between Gov. Scott Walker and who he thinks is billionaire donor David Koch–although it is actually blogger Ian Murphy–at the link below:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/article_531276b6-3f6a-11e0-b288-001cc4c002e0.html
Elaine,
I’m sure they were. After what happened with the fascist Koch Bros. and the corrupt Walker being shown for what they really are? I am thinking overtime was most certainly approved.
Public Transit Sucks,
You don’t like public transportation? Don’t take it.
There. Very simple indeed.
Elaine M,
““I have two teenagers and I tell them that nothing good happens after midnight.”
Wait until his teenagers are 21 when EVERYTHING looks good after 2:00 AM.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I had to go there 😉
BIL,
“Huge issue? She violated her oath of office in a most egregious manner. Ergo, she is unfit for office. I don’t give a damn what other “good” she may have done. If Mother Teresa had committed murder, she’d still be a murderer. Pelosi aided and abetted treason after the fact.”
This is very true. Point well taken.
Buddha,
I noticed the ideologue trolls had emerged. You don’t suppose they were burning the midnight oil looking for links to post here, do you?
Gee, I wonder if “Dr. Lacy Fare” was an acolyte of Ayn Rand???
🙂
From Think Progress (2/25/2011)
FLASHBACK: Gov. Walker Promised To End Late-Night Votes Because ‘Nothing Good Happens After Midnight’
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/25/walker-midnight/
Excerpt:
Early this morning, Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly approved legislation stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights, in the face of ongoing protests that have gripped Madison for well over a week. The bill passed at 1:17 a.m., and Republicans only held the vote open for “seconds.” The vote was called while many Democrats were outside the Assembly chamber, preventing them from casting no votes. Only 13 of the Assembly’s 38 Democratic members got their votes in on time.
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) praised the Assembly’s action in a statement. However, the Assembly Republicans’ late-night procedural shenanigans fly directly in the face of commitments Walker made on the campaign trail, where he promised to end late-night votes because “nothing good happens after midnight”:
He promised to sign legislation if elected governor that prohibits the Legislature from voting after 10 p.m. or before 9 a.m.
“I have two teenagers and I tell them that nothing good happens after midnight. That’s even more true in politics,” he said in a statement. “The people of Wisconsin deserve to know what their elected leaders are voting on.”
My but the trolls are out this morning.
The Koch’s must be hard after their embarrassing exposure yesterday.
Thanks for explaining that you don’t understand.
The highest tax burdens paid in this country are paid by the middle class and the poor. Those who receive the greatest benefit are the wealthiest, who pay the least taxes. Take for example Alabama where in 2002 the lowest 20% of earners paid 10.6% of their income to the state in taxes, while the wealthiest 1% paid barely 4% to the state. These kinds of numbers can be found in nearly every state. Our Federal and state tax codes are a malfunctioning anachronism that do little but protect the wealthy and punish everyone else. It is this very tax inequity that is the strongest argument for a sliding scale flat rate tax without exemptions.
http://blog.mises.org/14012/the-mentality-of-transportationplanning-bureaucrats/
http://notaxfortracks.com/Facts/The_Light-Rail_will_Save_Money_Myth.aspx
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11608
Bar Stool Economics: by the socialist democrats…
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for
all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every
day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the
owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he
said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks
for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they
divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted
that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would
each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested
that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same
amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued
to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20′, declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right’, exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar,
too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back
when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat
down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,
they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money
between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our
tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most
benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being
wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might
start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Dr. Lacy Fare
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
raff/SL,
“The only beef I have with her is taking “impeachment” off the table.”
Pelosi refused to do her sworn duty to protect the Constitution.
Huge issue? She violated her oath of office in a most egregious manner. Ergo, she is unfit for office. I don’t give a damn what other “good” she may have done. If Mother Teresa had committed murder, she’d still be a murderer. Pelosi aided and abetted treason after the fact.
Light Rail is Subsidized,
Infrastructure costs money.
Who’d have thunk it!
And by all means, discount the savings light rail brings to road maintenance, traffic law enforcement and pollution mitigation.
The governor of Florida refused light rail because he’s an idiot.
And not the only one who is economically ignorant.
How do I know this?
Because I can read and understand.
The Economic Case for Light Rail in Detroit for example. And this: Light Rail resurgence benefits US cities.