Republican Scorched Earth Policies

[ruckman101]

Walker is scum.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110310/ap_ ... get_unions


neal

[turk]

The unions lost. It was all an astro-turf protest for the most part anyway, with union thugs bussed in from other states. It will be coming to your state next. The governor offered concessions, including more bargaining rights for wages beyond inflationary indexes, and two to three year union re-certification, and bargaining rights for sick and holiday pay and working conditions among others. The democrats and the unions declined the offer. The sticking point: the bill didn't change the rights of union members to NOT have deductions automatically taken out of their paychecks and the right to NOT join the union and still work for the state. Surprise!!! They Dms and the Unions couldn't tolerate that. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 9-19-45-22

[ruckman101]

You certainly have that backwards. While there is plenty of evidence the Koch brothers bussed in sympathetic paid folks in support of Walker, what proof do you have that the organizations who were attempting to address their grievances with their government were "astroturf" and "thugs"?

Actually the fight isn't over yet. Could be an illegal vote. Although it is proof it had nothing to do with the budget. Coming to my state? Nope, dem gov.

You might consider a move to Michigan.


neal

[turk]

I may "have that backwards", but I predict more losses for democrats and unions in the future. This isn't exclusively a Wisconsin problem. I dunno about Oregon. I predict the dominos continue to fall in some other big unionized public sector states. People are sick of unions extorting money from the government, paying high taxes, monopolies on public sector employment, etc.. They do want lower taxes, more private investment, more jobs, etc..

[ruckman101]

It is a crisis created by banks, corporations, and republicans, a crisis created as an excuse to destroy democracy. Shock Doctrine. An ongoing ploy over the last thirty years to take us back to the haves and have nots of the robber baron days before unions. The income gap is already larger. 400 people are worth more the 50 percent of US citizen's combined.

Privatize profits, dump the costs onto the poor. Nice.

Shame.


neal

[glasseye]

http://www.truth-out.org/michael-moore- ... broke68265

[Elwood]

Yes GE that was a good one from MM. Worth repeating. neal posted it on page 17 a couple days ago.

Like minds and all the jazz.

[airkooledchris]

it is proof it had nothing to do with the budget.

that's just it. at least they finally showed their true colors and just "shoved it down our throats" to use a GOP talking point.

it's amazing how far some will go to defend the rights of the people who are forcing them to grab their own ankles and grunt.
true evil is brilliantly depressing


the good news is that Walker is on a faster downward spiral that Charlie Sheen.

you can watch everyone gathering in the downtown capital LIVE here: http://www.livestream.com/theuptake

Madison Police, Firefighters, and Capital Police are standing with the protesters. Walker is trying to get State Police to come in and kick everyone out.

right now the drum core and everyone gathered in the capital are chanting "who's house? OUR HOUSE!"

[chitwnvw]

Women sewed the Stars and Stripes
And the men, they fought the wars
The children learned arithmetic
And everyone was poor

Young man was the hero of the day
Long long hours, short short pay

Lesson I learned in history book, now
It's not what they told me
Folk lore, folk lore, folk lore
Your momma never told you

Now the women scream for equal rights
Their man wants to have an affair
Children learn to hate the world
And no one seems to care

Now the kids play vids instead
Their heroes are living on Wonder Bread

Lesson I learned in history book, now
It's not what they told me
Folk lore, folk lore, folk lore
Your momma never told you that

Some things never change
Some things stay the same
Some things rearranged
One thing I know for sure, your heroes always die.

[ruckman101]

Sen. Dale Schultz is my hero.

Madison -- The lone Republican in the Senate to vote against the repeal of most union bargain by most public employees said Wednesday that compromise "isn't a dirty word."

Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) voted against the bill and his other 18 colleagues voted for it. He issued a statement explaining his vote Wednesday. Here it is:

“As someone who as spent the better part of the last four weeks working toward and
hoping for a compromise, this is a difficult night. I’ve had the honor and privilege of representing folks in Southwest and South Central Wisconsin for 28 years, and where I come from ‘compromise’ isn’t a dirty word.

I’ve received tens of thousands of emails, thousands of phone calls and letters, and spent
hours meeting with thousands of citizens in my district. ...Ultimately, I voted my conscience which I feel reflects the core beliefs of the majority of voters who sent me here to represent them.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the days ahead as we now need to join
together to work through what promises to be a difficult budget.”

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/117711573.html


neal

[chitwnvw]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51030.html

[glasseye]

As a public service to this thread, I offer:

http://writing-program.uchicago.edu/toy ... ntence.htm

[Amskeptic]

People are sick of unions extorting money from the government, paying high taxes, monopolies on public sector employment, etc.. They do want lower taxes, more private investment, more jobs, etc..

The above is Conservative Talk Radio Boilerplate. It kills any notion that we are having an actual discussion, turk.

There is a clear argument that the budget-cutting Republicans do not really care about jobs, ask John "So Be It" Boehner.
There is aespecially clear evidence that the Republicans do not care about the deficit, ask all who voted to extend the irresponsible Bush tax cuts for the top tax bracket. Our revenue stream, turk, is lower as a percentage of GDP than at any time since 1949.

The Republican end-run was to take away collective bargaining rights as a stand-alone bill that had NO FISCAL ELEMENTS so they could get it passed on a simple majority. That is proof right there, that taking away bargaining rights had NOTHING to do with Wisconsin's budgeting.
Colin

[turk]

I'm not a cheerleader for unions. If the democrats didn't flee their jobs and go awol (because their union bosses made them do it) the other guys would have passed it a different way presumably. The teachers will be fine. They now get the option of NOT paying union dues. They can spend their money on something else each month. Yes, it's about the budget. If it weren't there wouldn't be a half dozen other states already looking at how to reform their public sector unions. Even here, DEMOCRATS are having to look at how to reform teachers unions. Yes, DEMOCRATS.

[ruckman101]

It is a coordinated attack by republicans. The corporate party, and corporate ain't you. No more dancing around the issue, gloves off class war.


neal