From the VOMITORIUM
In the last month all of the Middle East has exploded into protests…..by now we all have heard the reasons….no jobs, little food, little pay, total breakdown of society for the people and a well spring for the authoritarian a/holes that hold the power….somewhere I though it would be good if Americans would get off their lazy butts and start demanding that the pigs in Washington would start acting as a true rep of the people….so far I have been sadly disappointed….we Americans stand by and allow the crap to happen…..
But wait! Wisconsin has revved up and the public employees are protesting the bill by their new governor that would target unions, especially public service unions…trying to eliminate collective bargaining, screwing with their pensions and their health care….basically it is an attack on unions….a typical GOP strategy…that and trying to eliminate any organization that deals with the poor……
All the pundits whether Right or Left have been calling this action by the governor as a way to attack the state budget and that the protesters are just cowards for NOT caring about the state deficit……25,000 protests have descended on the state capital of Madison to voice their disapproval of these targeted actions….
Let us look a little closer at the situation……as of January whjen the governor took office there was an expectation of a budget surplus of about $120 million…..but shortly after the swearing in….the Repub governor and his cronies in the GOP lead legislature passed a sweeping bill that spent $140 million on the special interests that paid him for his campaign…..news pundits say that the people need to do the math….I agree……a $125 million surplus minus the $140 million bill mean that there will be a deficit…….a deficit that the governor the legislature brought onto the people of Wisconsin and now the public employees are asked to make up the shortfall……I WOULD BE PISSED TOO!
Oh by the way….there are exemptions from the cuts those would be the police union, firefighters union and the state troops union…….in case you are interested…these 3 unions were the ones that supported Walker in his campaign…..coincidence? Like Hell!
A few more tidbits……
The Fiscal Bureau memo — which readers can access here — makes it clear that Walker did not inherit a budget that required a repair bill.
The facts are not debatable.
Because of the painful choices made by the previous Legislature, Wisconsin is in better shape fiscally than most states.
Wisconsin has lower unemployment than most states.
Wisconsin has better prospects for maintaining great schools, great public services and a great quality of life than most states, even in turbulent economic times.
Unfortunately, Walker has a political agenda that relies on the fantasy that Wisconsin is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
Walker is not interested in balanced budgets, efficient government or meaningful job creation.
Walker is interested in gaming the system to benefit his political allies and campaign contributors.
Any deficit that may occur in Wisconsin had NOTHING to do with the public employees and their benefits….but rather a well timed plan to destroy anything union…….the middle class workers MUST pay for the benefits that the governor has given to his handlers and their interests…..
Repubs are PIGS! Attack anything that represents the workers….now please tell me whose has the best interests of the middle class at heart….why does the middle class keep voting for the very people that are out to destroy them?
Here is another thought….if they succeed in Wisconsin…NO public employee will be safe anywhere in this country…..
Good post, but… 😈
Sadly, I don’t agree that unions represent the workers. Most union leaders who are not gangsters are politicians, would-be politicians, of frustrated failed politicians. Like almost ALL politicians of ALL colours, they are only interested in themselves and represent no one. The unions’ leaderships use their positions to enhance their hold on both power and their members and they ARE generally opposed to “saving the country” (or the poor), since, without poor workers and a failing economy, their power and the apparent need for them is weakened. THAT is equally true of collective bagaining which I think is an absolutely abhorrent practice that flies directly in the face of humanity, decency and progress.
All that said, I cannot see why you are even mildly surprised by Walker – you have a broken and biased system riddled with curruption – heck, it’s BASED on curruption – what else would you expect from such an electoral/political system?
I am not surprised…but I am disappointed that a couple of the conservs that I respect are NOT telling the whole story…..they keep saying that there is a deficit that needs to be addressed and that is just not so……..the governor and the repub legislature created the problem and now they want only a select few to make the sacrifice….I believe in shared sacrifice but this is NOT that….
Well, yes, I suppose in the final analysis I agree with you about the “shared sacrifice” – BUT, personally, I don’t believe in ANY sacrifice – I believe in them getting it f*cking well right in the first place (as they’re paid to do) so there is NO sacrifice for the vast majority of us!!!
The problem with that is that politicians will be politicians and they have their handlers and when that is paramount we have the crap we have now…..
Also the right makes it sound like these people stole their benefits or that they are NOT hard working individuals…..or that these people are not part of the working public……they are being demonized because of their use of collective bargaining……this is a direct assault on the working class in Wisconsin…….
A reporter got through to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “by posing as right-wing financier David Koch…then had a far-ranging 20-minute conversation about the collective bargaining protests,” Mother Jones reports.
He discussed the GOP strategy to hold Democratic senators’ pay until they returned to vote on the controversial union-busting bill and how they were looking to get Democrats on ethics violations if they took meals or lodging from union supporters.
Most interesting: Walker said he would take “Koch” up on this offer: “Once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.”
Listen to the pig….
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/02/23/walker_pranked.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=politicalwire
But wait! There is more……..http://bt.io/GjId #wiunion
Check the facts…..http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/