Politics

On Scott Walker, Wisconsin, and the Budget Repair Bill: Is the Story Over Yet?

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

I have already written three posts about Governor Scott Walker, his budget repair bill, and the protesters in Wisconsin. People have been interested in the Wisconsin story and have left nearly 1,800 comments at my three posts. I’ve even received requests to write up another post so that we could continue the discussion on the subject. I think there are others like me who believe the Wisconsin/Walker story is not over yet.

As I did last week, I’m posting links to some articles on the subject for you—as well as excerpts from some of the articles.

Democrats immediately file suit to halt challenges (Journal Sentinel)

By Jason Stein, Don Walker, and Patrick Marley

Excerpt: Wisconsin is now among the vanguard of Midwestern states embarking on a new era with their rules for public unions. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, signed an executive order in 2005 to eliminate collective bargaining for state employees. Ohio is working on a measure to rewrite its collective bargaining law with public-sector unions.

But the fight in Wisconsin isn’t over – Democrats and unions are already filing lawsuits against the proposal and recall actions against GOP senators who approved it.

“It’s just the beginning,” said Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar). “This is the civil rights issue of this century.”

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Wisconsin’s Legacy of Labor Battles (New York Times)

By Kate Zernike

Excerpt: In her book, “Radical Unionism in the Midwest, 1900-1950,” Professor Feurer recounts how companies in the electrical industry in St. Louis started a network known as the Metal Trades Association in the first part of the 20th century to fight union organizing. The association had been alarmed by union protests that erupted violently with the Haymarket Square riot in 1886 and the demands for an eight-hour day, which started with the 1894 Pullman strike in Illinois — an early effort by Eugene V. Debs, the former Indiana legislator and future Socialist Party candidate for president.

“That left a legacy of the 1930s and ’40s for employers to form deep right-wing networks,” Professor Feurer said.

That network, she argues, was the precursor to the Midwestern groups that have now been assisting the fight against the unions in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana: the Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, and Koch Industries, based in Wichita, Kan. David H. and Charles G. Koch, the billionaire brothers behind the energy and manufacturing conglomerate that bears their name, have been large donors to Mr. Walker in Wisconsin, as has their advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, which first opened an office in Wisconsin in 2005.

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Opposition gears up for more protests, lawsuits as Walker signs anti-union bill (The Bellingham Herald)

By Ryan Haggerty and Michael Muskal

Excerpt: Even as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday signed into law a bill that sharply curbs collective bargaining for most public employees, his opponents were preparing for more demonstrations, court battles and political infighting over what has become a national test of labor’s power.

Organizers were hoping to attract tens of thousands protesters to the Capitol on Saturday for a rally featuring the return of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state on Feb. 17 in an effort to block the measure from passing. Along with the rally, Democrats are planning to ask the courts to overturn the new law and they have begun circulating petitions to recall some lawmakers. GOP supporters are circulating their own recall petitions, directed at the Democrats.

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Op-Ed: The GOP’s costly Wisconsin Koch binge is a wake-up call (Digital Journal)

The Big Shakedown: Wisconsin and the GOP’s Vision for America’s Future (Common Dreams) 

Dane County sues state to block budget bill (The Cap Times) 

Union Bill Is Law, but Debate Is Far from Over (New York Times) 

My Previous Posts

Scott Walker: A Fiscally Responsible Governor or a Politician Who Is Playing Favorites?

Is the Scott Walker Story Just the Tip of the Koch Brothers’ Political Iceberg?

Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and Protesting Workers: The Story Continues

492 thoughts on “On Scott Walker, Wisconsin, and the Budget Repair Bill: Is the Story Over Yet?”

  1. It would be fantastic if the lawsuit could get some traction.
    I am slso happy to see the Wisconsin folks still banging on M & I’s door. It would be nice that they pay the Federal money back since they are now part of a larger and wealthier bank. The Fed will accept Canadian dollars, won’t it??

  2. Elaine M,

    “Tom Corbett Sued For Axing Low-Income Health Plan”

    I love it … good on them and I hope the citizens prevail!

  3. What’s happening in Pennsylvania…

    From Huffington Post/Reuters (3/15/2011)
    Tom Corbett Sued For Axing Low-Income Health Plan
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/tom-corbett-sued-for-axin_n_836341.html

    Excerpt:
    NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pennsylvania’s governor and other state politicians have been sued in a class action suit after 41,000 residents lost health coverage following the state’s axing of an insurance program for low-income workers.

    The suit, filed in a state court by three of the affected residents, said freshman Governor Tom Corbett wrongly redirected Pennsylvania’s share of the money from a master settlement agreement between cigarette makers and states away from the health plan.

    As a result, the health plan, adultBasic Insurance, closed because no other funding provision was made. This left the people who were enrolled in the lurch along with 500,000 other individuals who were waiting to be covered, according to the law suit, which was filed on Monday in Commonwealth Court.

    The over $200 billion settlement between cigarette-makers and states aimed to compensate taxpayers for the soaring healthcare costs of treating ailing smokers.

    The lawsuit said that a Pennsylvania statute enacted a year after the 2000 national settlement required that “the tobacco monies would be used to make Pennsylvanians healthier and to fund the health of future generations of Pennsylvanians.”

    Some 30 percent of the tobacco money was set aside for the adultBasic Insurance program and the Medicaid program for disabled workers, according to the lawsuit, which seeks class action status.

  4. From One Wisconsin Now (3/15/2011)

    Walker’s Budget Promises to Cut BadgerCare, Increase Class Sizes; Hundreds Demand M&I Bank Repay Taxpayer Money Now
    Demonstrations at M&I Bank Headquarters, State Capitol Branch Highlight Bank’s Failure to Do Fair Share as Wisconsin’s Middle Class Faces Historic Sacrifices
    http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/walkers-budget-promises-to-cut-badgercare-increase-class-sizes-hundreds-demand-mi-bank-repay-taxpaye.html

    Excerpt:
    Madison – When M&I Bank gladly took $1.7 billion in taxpayer TARP dollars two years ago, it was supposed to use the money to help get the state’s economy back on its feet, assist homeowners in steadying their mortgages and then quickly pay the money back. Far from that, M&I and its CEO Mark Furlong have failed to pay back the $1.7 billion in taxpayer money, even as Wisconsin’s middle class faces historic cuts to vital services like schools and healthcare.

    “That is why we are here today,” said Ann Louise Tetreault, a registered nurse, and a participant in one of the rallies held today at M&I headquarters in Milwaukee and at the Madison branch across the street from the State Capitol. “We want to shine a light on M&I’s activities and to demand that Furlong and company pays us back our money so they can stop using it to hurt Wisconsin families.”

    Despite M&I’s dependence on the generosity of taxpayers, the bank’s executives have helped finance Gov. Walker’s agenda to cut vital services for those same taxpayers – and to take away their basic collective bargaining rights. Furlong and other executives now plan to cut and run on Wisconsin by selling M&I to a Canadian bank and approving plans to move the headquarters to Illinois. Furlong will be rewarded for this move with a $24 million pay day, while many bank employees and the state will be punished with the potential loss of hundreds of jobs.

  5. From Huffington Post (3/16/2011)
    Pro-Labor Group Working America Recruits 20,000 New Wisconsin Members In Wake Of Budget Protests
    By Amanda Terkel
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/16/pro-labor-group-20000-new-members-wisconsin_n_836164.html

    Excerpt:
    WASHINGTON — While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) may have won the most recent battle in Madison by securing passage of an anti-union bill, labor activists are optimistic they may emerge as the victors in the long run.

    Forming a union is a lengthy process, and although labor officials say they already see more interest from workers, it’s too soon to measure an increase in membership numbers. But there is one indication the battles in Wisconsin are providing a boost for labor.

    Working America, an advocacy organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO that provides an outlet for non-union members to support the labor movement, has signed up approximately 20,000 new members since Feb. 15. The group was active in the state in 2008, when it built up the bulk of its membership, which now stands at 65,000. It was inactive for the past couple years, however, and just reopened shop the beginning of 2011.

    Joining up with Working America is far easier than enrolling in a union, involving simply filling out a form either in person or online. New members are asked to contribute $5, although no dues are required.

    Joining a union, on the other hand, requires holding elections and often battling with management, which may employ all sorts of tactics to slow down or stop the process.

    “The increase in Working America numbers provides one of the first real-world examples of what we’ve seen, which is increased interest nationally and in Wisconsin of supporting workers’ rights,” said one labor official.

    In late February, the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse voted 249-37 in favor of union representation through AFT-Wisconsin, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. One professor at the university said Walker’s actions galvanized them to form a union.

  6. Otteray,

    Stewart and Colbert often do better than the MSM at speaking the truth about people like Erickson, Limbaugh, Beck, O’Reilly, et al.

  7. Elaine, leave it to a comedian on a fake news program to speak the best truth. That is funny.

  10. Moving on to more news of the insane: Yesterday in Houston, a tea bagger slugged a union rep who was speaking at a rally. The union guy did not retaliate. And of course, it is the union people who are “thugs.” I need an aspirin because trying to follow that logic gives me a headache.

    Story with video at the link.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/16/956845/-Tea-Party-Activist-Assault-Speaker-At-Texans-Day-Of-Outrage-Rally-In-Houston,-TX

  11. Elaine, the complaint came from RedState. That ought to be enough to discredit the complaint right at the beginning. Their credibility is zip. If you register there and try to engage in discussion, you will be summarily banned. On the other hand, if you engage in spittle-spraying rants about how bad libruls and the guv’mint are, you will be hailed as a hero.

  12. Otteray,

    Thanks for the link to the Daily Kos post.

    **********

    Following is a link to the letter that Wisconsin union workers sent to M&I–the letter that Moe Lane at Red State called “contemptible.” Moe also wrote of the letter: “This is a barely-veiled threat from the cops and the firemen that organizations subject to the anti-labor reform boycott cannot expect a prompt and effective response from them in case of emergency.”

    http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0310/0310wppa.pdf

    Read the letter. See if you can find the “barely veiled threat.”

  14. It should be noted that lists of contributors to Walker from which the sub lists for boycott purposes have been compiled also contain all the names of those individuals who contributed to Walker.

  15. rafflaw,

    Yes, but the Canadians just bought the bank. Bush gave this particular bank a whole lot of money in TARP cash … $2 billion which they haven’t paid back!

  16. Blouise,
    That is good news. M & I is owned by Bank of Montreal, isn’t it? They also own Harris Bank here in the Chicago area and I worked in their Woodstock branch as a trust officer about 17 years ago! I hope the union folk empty that bank!

Comments are closed.