From CNN.com
by Rick Fantasia
There should be no illusions. What is unfolding in Wisconsin and a half-dozen other states may be the beginning of the end for American labor.
Both the corporate leaders who are funding these initiatives and their Republican Party valets feverishly trying to push them through state legislatures understand this. The billionaire Koch brothers, for example, have pumped money into the Wisconsin effort; their energy and consumer products conglomerate was a top contributor to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's election campaign.
They must be giddy with anticipation, knowing how close they are to their long-standing goal of removing any significant opposition to their rule in American society. Too dramatic? If anything, it is an understatement.
As anyone following the events in Wisconsin knows, it has not been a matter of public employee unions showing intransigence in the face of a state budget shortfall.
The public sector unions have agreed to the financial concessions Gov. Walker had claimed were necessary to right the fiscal ship. No, the prize he hopes to deliver to his corporate supporters and ideological soul mates is much larger and more important than a simple balanced state budget.
Shock and awe has been the method employed, but just like in the war through which the phrase entered our national lexicon, momentary disorientation can give way to obstinate resistance, and no one anticipated the counter-mobilization that has galvanized workers in Madison, Wisconsin, and elsewhere.
Union labor recognizes that this is it: a Waterloo for the working class in America. Up to now it has been mostly a one-sided class war as private sector corporations have systematically weakened or destroyed their existing labor organizations, while intimidating and firing their workers when they have sought to organize themselves into unions.
For three decades this war has mostly played out beyond the public radar screen, as corporations and their consultants have turned workplace after workplace across the country into battlegrounds over the rights of workers to have some voice in the conditions of their labor.
When Walker and other governors complain that public sector workers receive better pension or health care benefits than do private sector workers in their states, they may be right, but this is because workers in the much larger private sector -- with unionization rates now at about 7%, down from 35% in 1955 -- have already had their pensions, their health care benefits, and their working conditions gutted. (About 35 % of public sector workers are unionized.)
Until now this corporate assault was not aimed at the destruction of public sector unions and the decent jobs and benefits that they were able to negotiate for workers. Public employee unions have agreed to concessions in the face of state and municipal budget problems across the country, as they have in Wisconsin, but asking them for more -- taking away the right to organize and bargain collectively -- tramples Americans' human rights.
Americans may not fully grasp what is at stake here, but we fail to do so at our peril. Unions have made mistakes, but they are the only defense that workers have.
Without viable unions to serve as a counterweight to corporate power, America's working people and their families are at the mercy of the largest and most powerful economic organizations on the planet.
Ironically, while mobilizing to destroy unions here, U.S. corporations have been somehow able to thrive in foreign countries that have much higher unionization rates and where labor movements have much more influence in society.
Unionization rates are about twice as high in Germany and Canada, for example, and as much as five times as high in the Scandinavian countries, but U.S. companies have been able to do their business quite profitably for decades.
Strong unions in these countries mean that their citizens enjoy high quality health care for all without having to pay huge insurance premiums, free or inexpensive child care for working families, university educations that leave no one in debt, five to six weeks of paid annual vacations, and worker standards of living that are mostly equal to or higher than those of American workers.
Socialism? Hardly. The capitalists of Europe and Canada do perfectly well for themselves, thank you, even though their CEO's don't generally expect salaries and stock options reaching into the stratosphere, like ours do.
If there were no labor movement in the U.S., there would be no social security system, no Medicare or Medicaid as we know them (unions regularly provide power and push-back at attempts to privatize or cut back ), no limits to child labor, or hours worked, or safety standards, or any ability to prevent or respond to unfair or despotic treatment by employers.
Whether in unions or not, American workers hold these protections because of unions. How long will they last if the unions are destroyed? Wisconsin is either the beginning of the end or it's a beginning.
Which side are you on?
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/24/fantasia.union.wisconsin/index.html?hpt=C2
Showing posts with label pension reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pension reform. Show all posts
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Social Media and Saving Florida
From Sunshine State News.com
by Kenric Ward
Inspired by large protests in Wisconsin, government workers are setting the social-media network aflame with plans for public demonstrations in Florida on March 8.
"Category 5 starting in Miami-Dade County and it will not stop!" Mike Medina, a member of the Miami police union, wrote on Facebook.
"March 8 Tallahassee -- greet the governor and legislators on opening day to let them know that you will not stand for changing our laws in favor of special interests," urged Paula House Eisenhart in another posting.
Teachers, government workers and a host of progressive-labor organizations are rallying under the banner of "Awake the State" in response to Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $5 billion in budget cuts and in advance of the Legislature convening next month.
State Rep. Mark Pafford, who posted on the "Awake the State" Facebook and Twitter pages, declared:
"This governor and the legislative majority want to use worker against worker to reduce their corporate labor costs. Now is the time for action -- as a member of Florida's Legislature, I need your help. I need to know the People are angry and are ready to make a very clear statement. We need to work together, now."
Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, advises users of the Facebook site to "make sure you change your profile picture to get more people aware of 'Awake The State' ... this page is the modern vehicle to ensure we maintain our constitutional right to gather -- and make change."
"Awake the State" is serving as a rallying site for Florida teachers, who are particularly concerned about the school budget.
A group called "Fund Education Now" announced it had collected 5,000 signatures against what it called "budget cuts."
The Scott administration responds that state funding for K-12 education remains intact, but that the expiration of federal stimulus dollars in June will lead to an overall reduction in funds.
Meantime, county affiliates of the Florida Education Association are calling on teachers to e-mail and phone their local state legislators to oppose proposed reforms to the state retirement system.
A Senate committee is scheduled on Tuesday to hear Senate Bills 1128 and 1139, which would require public-sector workers, including teachers, to contribute to their pension funds and extend the retirement age.
To turn up the heat on the Legislature, "Awake the State" is pushing for a series of demonstrations on March 8, the opening day of the 2011 session. A la Madison, a major worker protest is being organized at the Capitol.
Organizers reportedly are aiming to bring 8,000 demonstrators to Tallahassee on March 8. Other groups that cannot make it to the capital that day are planning to hold rallies in their local communities.
Announced one Facebook posting: "March 8th in Florida, pick up a sign, stand tall for teachers, police, firefighters."
Mary Ryals, an associate instructor of business communication at Florida State University, said, "You bet I'll participate in the 'Awake the State' rally in Tallahassee on March 8."
Ryals said that Florida's public-sector workers, like those in Wisconsin, are anxious about changes to their pension and health-care programs.
Additionally, teachers expressed alarm over reports of a legislative proposal to discontinue automatic dues-withholding from instructors' paychecks. They fear that move could be the leading edge of a broader assault on collective-bargaining rights.
The Florida Education Association did not respond to Sunshine State News' request for comment.
Rep. Pafford related that the "Awake the State" page on Facebook garnered more than 2,000 "likes" from readers in its four days online. "It's a great vehicle for people to get on the same page and organize," he said, noting that some 60,000 people logged on amid the heated controversy of the SB 6 teacher-tenure bill last session.
The second-term lawmaker said social-media networks facilitate activism and grass-roots organization across the sprawling state when Tallahassee "gets sideways" on issues. That organizing potential isn't lost on public-sector unions, which are brainstorming in advance of the Legislature's opening day on March 8.
Nearly 100 self-proclaimed Florida progressives gathered in Orlando on Sunday to strategize on ways to combat the Republican reform agenda at the 2011 Legislature. One of the "LegiCamp" sessions was a tutorial on using Twitter for political organization.
Pafford speculated that much of the activity on March 8 will be local, perhaps in deference to the fact that it's a workday and, for most students, a school day.
Any widespread absence by government workers and teachers has the potential to stir a backlash among the very public they hope to court. Indeed, raucous demonstrations by public-sector unions could well boomerang among taxpayers who feel that government spending is out of control.
"The unions are fine with redistribution of wealth as long as it is coming out of our pockets and going into theirs," said Punta Gorda tea party leader Robin Stublen, who testified last week in favor of pension-reform legislation.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/social-media-explodes-florida-teacher-protest-chat
by Kenric Ward
Inspired by large protests in Wisconsin, government workers are setting the social-media network aflame with plans for public demonstrations in Florida on March 8.
"Category 5 starting in Miami-Dade County and it will not stop!" Mike Medina, a member of the Miami police union, wrote on Facebook.
"March 8 Tallahassee -- greet the governor and legislators on opening day to let them know that you will not stand for changing our laws in favor of special interests," urged Paula House Eisenhart in another posting.
Teachers, government workers and a host of progressive-labor organizations are rallying under the banner of "Awake the State" in response to Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $5 billion in budget cuts and in advance of the Legislature convening next month.
State Rep. Mark Pafford, who posted on the "Awake the State" Facebook and Twitter pages, declared:
"This governor and the legislative majority want to use worker against worker to reduce their corporate labor costs. Now is the time for action -- as a member of Florida's Legislature, I need your help. I need to know the People are angry and are ready to make a very clear statement. We need to work together, now."
Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, advises users of the Facebook site to "make sure you change your profile picture to get more people aware of 'Awake The State' ... this page is the modern vehicle to ensure we maintain our constitutional right to gather -- and make change."
"Awake the State" is serving as a rallying site for Florida teachers, who are particularly concerned about the school budget.
A group called "Fund Education Now" announced it had collected 5,000 signatures against what it called "budget cuts."
The Scott administration responds that state funding for K-12 education remains intact, but that the expiration of federal stimulus dollars in June will lead to an overall reduction in funds.
Meantime, county affiliates of the Florida Education Association are calling on teachers to e-mail and phone their local state legislators to oppose proposed reforms to the state retirement system.
A Senate committee is scheduled on Tuesday to hear Senate Bills 1128 and 1139, which would require public-sector workers, including teachers, to contribute to their pension funds and extend the retirement age.
To turn up the heat on the Legislature, "Awake the State" is pushing for a series of demonstrations on March 8, the opening day of the 2011 session. A la Madison, a major worker protest is being organized at the Capitol.
Organizers reportedly are aiming to bring 8,000 demonstrators to Tallahassee on March 8. Other groups that cannot make it to the capital that day are planning to hold rallies in their local communities.
Announced one Facebook posting: "March 8th in Florida, pick up a sign, stand tall for teachers, police, firefighters."
Mary Ryals, an associate instructor of business communication at Florida State University, said, "You bet I'll participate in the 'Awake the State' rally in Tallahassee on March 8."
Ryals said that Florida's public-sector workers, like those in Wisconsin, are anxious about changes to their pension and health-care programs.
Additionally, teachers expressed alarm over reports of a legislative proposal to discontinue automatic dues-withholding from instructors' paychecks. They fear that move could be the leading edge of a broader assault on collective-bargaining rights.
The Florida Education Association did not respond to Sunshine State News' request for comment.
Rep. Pafford related that the "Awake the State" page on Facebook garnered more than 2,000 "likes" from readers in its four days online. "It's a great vehicle for people to get on the same page and organize," he said, noting that some 60,000 people logged on amid the heated controversy of the SB 6 teacher-tenure bill last session.
The second-term lawmaker said social-media networks facilitate activism and grass-roots organization across the sprawling state when Tallahassee "gets sideways" on issues. That organizing potential isn't lost on public-sector unions, which are brainstorming in advance of the Legislature's opening day on March 8.
Nearly 100 self-proclaimed Florida progressives gathered in Orlando on Sunday to strategize on ways to combat the Republican reform agenda at the 2011 Legislature. One of the "LegiCamp" sessions was a tutorial on using Twitter for political organization.
Pafford speculated that much of the activity on March 8 will be local, perhaps in deference to the fact that it's a workday and, for most students, a school day.
Any widespread absence by government workers and teachers has the potential to stir a backlash among the very public they hope to court. Indeed, raucous demonstrations by public-sector unions could well boomerang among taxpayers who feel that government spending is out of control.
"The unions are fine with redistribution of wealth as long as it is coming out of our pockets and going into theirs," said Punta Gorda tea party leader Robin Stublen, who testified last week in favor of pension-reform legislation.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/social-media-explodes-florida-teacher-protest-chat
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Attacks on Teachers and Unions Should Concern Everyone
From Lilly's blackboard
by Lilly
Fifty years ago saying you were a “poor teacher” was redundant. Teachers were mostly women who wanted to teach, not to get rich, but because they loved kids.
However, 50 years ago, teachers and education support staff such as school secretaries and lunch ladies were expected to be polite and obedient and accept what they were given. They had no power to come together and bargain a better salary with administrators, who were, coincidently, mostly men. They were constantly exploited and underpaid.
Wisconsin, 50 years ago, became the first state in the country to do something about that.
They gave public employees, like teachers, the right to come together and negotiate for something better. When you negotiate, you have to work within a budget; you don’t get everything you want, but it stopped the exploitation of individuals. It meant that teachers and school support staff could move into the middle class and be treated with respect. Wisconsin should be proud of that.
And Wisconsin should be ashamed of a governor who threatens to reverse that proud history.
Governor Scott Walker says it’s all about the budget. But that doesn’t make sense. The teachers and support staff and their unions have already agreed to sit down and work together for what schools need, acknowledging that it will have to fit within an austere budget. They’re not at impasse. No unreasonable demands have been made.
This is about politics and payback. This is about punishing people who didn’t support his election, and it’s shameful.
Teachers today are still mostly women. They are still modestly paid. They still become teachers because they love kids. But because they have had a voice in education issues, they have become a powerful force in making Wisconsin public schools some of the best in the country.
What possible good can come from silencing that voice?
And all of us, whether in a union or not, should care about what’s happening here. In fact, maybe it’s more important for those who don’t have a union. The ability of modestly paid people to collectively bargain something better has helped build the great middle class of our great country, even among non-union members.
Because of the collective action of unions over the past 50 years, all of us enjoy a 40 hour work week, overtime, a weekend! We have a minimum wage. We have health and safety protections in our work places and protections against discrimination because of our age, our gender, our religion or our race. Who will provide the balance – the check – to the power of politicians if our unions are silenced?
Many with corporate and political power supported Governor Walker. Many of these powerful supporters don’t like unions. They don’t like the check and balance unions provide for the middle class on their power.
They believe they have found a pretext to destroy it by gutting unions that have been the most powerful voice standing up for the middle class. Laugh when these politicians tell you it’s about the budget. Wisconsin has balanced tight budgets before without destroying the rights of ordinary people to come together. This is a partisan attack. This is about punishing certain unions for having the temerity to speak truth to power.
In Wisconsin, the good people who work for public schools will never give up their responsibility to challenge the powerful when they are wrong. We will never give up our responsibility to fight for a better life for our children and our communities’ children.
We may seem an easy target to powerful politicians. We are mostly women. We work with children. We are not wealthy. But we have a treasure worth fighting for. We have each other. We will never give up our collective voice to speak the truth.
http://lilysblackboard.org/2011/02/wisconsin-teachers-union-struggle/
by Lilly
Fifty years ago saying you were a “poor teacher” was redundant. Teachers were mostly women who wanted to teach, not to get rich, but because they loved kids.
However, 50 years ago, teachers and education support staff such as school secretaries and lunch ladies were expected to be polite and obedient and accept what they were given. They had no power to come together and bargain a better salary with administrators, who were, coincidently, mostly men. They were constantly exploited and underpaid.
Wisconsin, 50 years ago, became the first state in the country to do something about that.
They gave public employees, like teachers, the right to come together and negotiate for something better. When you negotiate, you have to work within a budget; you don’t get everything you want, but it stopped the exploitation of individuals. It meant that teachers and school support staff could move into the middle class and be treated with respect. Wisconsin should be proud of that.
And Wisconsin should be ashamed of a governor who threatens to reverse that proud history.
Governor Scott Walker says it’s all about the budget. But that doesn’t make sense. The teachers and support staff and their unions have already agreed to sit down and work together for what schools need, acknowledging that it will have to fit within an austere budget. They’re not at impasse. No unreasonable demands have been made.
This is about politics and payback. This is about punishing people who didn’t support his election, and it’s shameful.
Teachers today are still mostly women. They are still modestly paid. They still become teachers because they love kids. But because they have had a voice in education issues, they have become a powerful force in making Wisconsin public schools some of the best in the country.
What possible good can come from silencing that voice?
And all of us, whether in a union or not, should care about what’s happening here. In fact, maybe it’s more important for those who don’t have a union. The ability of modestly paid people to collectively bargain something better has helped build the great middle class of our great country, even among non-union members.
Because of the collective action of unions over the past 50 years, all of us enjoy a 40 hour work week, overtime, a weekend! We have a minimum wage. We have health and safety protections in our work places and protections against discrimination because of our age, our gender, our religion or our race. Who will provide the balance – the check – to the power of politicians if our unions are silenced?
Many with corporate and political power supported Governor Walker. Many of these powerful supporters don’t like unions. They don’t like the check and balance unions provide for the middle class on their power.
They believe they have found a pretext to destroy it by gutting unions that have been the most powerful voice standing up for the middle class. Laugh when these politicians tell you it’s about the budget. Wisconsin has balanced tight budgets before without destroying the rights of ordinary people to come together. This is a partisan attack. This is about punishing certain unions for having the temerity to speak truth to power.
In Wisconsin, the good people who work for public schools will never give up their responsibility to challenge the powerful when they are wrong. We will never give up our responsibility to fight for a better life for our children and our communities’ children.
We may seem an easy target to powerful politicians. We are mostly women. We work with children. We are not wealthy. But we have a treasure worth fighting for. We have each other. We will never give up our collective voice to speak the truth.
http://lilysblackboard.org/2011/02/wisconsin-teachers-union-struggle/
What is really happening in Wisconsin
From Mother Jones
by Andy Kroll
Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker, whose bill to kill collective bargaining rights for public-sector unions has caused an uproar among state employees, might not be where he is today without the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch are conservative titans of industry who have infamously used their vast wealth to undermine President Obama and fight legislation they detest, such as the cap-and-trade climate bill, the health care reform act, and the economic stimulus package. For years, the billionaires have made extensive political donations to Republican candidates across the country and have provided millions of dollars to astroturf right-wing organizations. Koch Industries' political action committee has doled out more than $2.6 million to candidates. And one prominent beneficiary of the Koch brothers' largess is Scott Walker.
According to Wisconsin campaign finance filings, Walker's gubernatorial campaign received $43,000 from the Koch Industries PAC during the 2010 election. That donation was his campaign's second-highest, behind $43,125 in contributions from housing and realtor groups in Wisconsin. The Koch's PAC also helped Walker via a familiar and much-used politicial maneuver designed to allow donors to skirt campaign finance limits. The PAC gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, which in turn spent $65,000 on independent expenditures to support Walker. The RGA also spent a whopping $3.4 million on TV ads and mailers attacking Walker's opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker ended up beating Barrett by 5 points. The Koch money, no doubt, helped greatly.
The Kochs also assisted Walker's current GOP allies in the fight against the public-sector unions. Last year, Republicans took control of the both houses of the Wisconsin state legislature, which has made Walker's assault on these unions possible. And according to data from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the Koch Industries PAC spent $6,500 in support of 16 Wisconsin Republican state legislative candidates, who each won his or her election.
Walker's plan to eviscerate collective bargaining rights for public employees is right out of the Koch brothers' playbook. Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions. The Kochs also invited (PDF) Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union outfit, to a June 2010 confab in Aspen, Colorado; Mix said in a recent interview that he supports Governor Walker's collective-bargaining bill. In Wisconsin, this conservative, anti-union view is being placed into action by lawmakers in sync with the deep-pocketed donors who helped them obtain power. (Walker also opposes the state's Clean Energy Job Act, which would compel the state to increase its use of alternative energy.) At this moment—even with the Wisconsin uprising unresolved—the Koch brothers' investment in Walker appears to be paying off.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers
by Andy Kroll
Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker, whose bill to kill collective bargaining rights for public-sector unions has caused an uproar among state employees, might not be where he is today without the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch are conservative titans of industry who have infamously used their vast wealth to undermine President Obama and fight legislation they detest, such as the cap-and-trade climate bill, the health care reform act, and the economic stimulus package. For years, the billionaires have made extensive political donations to Republican candidates across the country and have provided millions of dollars to astroturf right-wing organizations. Koch Industries' political action committee has doled out more than $2.6 million to candidates. And one prominent beneficiary of the Koch brothers' largess is Scott Walker.
According to Wisconsin campaign finance filings, Walker's gubernatorial campaign received $43,000 from the Koch Industries PAC during the 2010 election. That donation was his campaign's second-highest, behind $43,125 in contributions from housing and realtor groups in Wisconsin. The Koch's PAC also helped Walker via a familiar and much-used politicial maneuver designed to allow donors to skirt campaign finance limits. The PAC gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, which in turn spent $65,000 on independent expenditures to support Walker. The RGA also spent a whopping $3.4 million on TV ads and mailers attacking Walker's opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker ended up beating Barrett by 5 points. The Koch money, no doubt, helped greatly.
The Kochs also assisted Walker's current GOP allies in the fight against the public-sector unions. Last year, Republicans took control of the both houses of the Wisconsin state legislature, which has made Walker's assault on these unions possible. And according to data from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the Koch Industries PAC spent $6,500 in support of 16 Wisconsin Republican state legislative candidates, who each won his or her election.
Walker's plan to eviscerate collective bargaining rights for public employees is right out of the Koch brothers' playbook. Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions. The Kochs also invited (PDF) Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union outfit, to a June 2010 confab in Aspen, Colorado; Mix said in a recent interview that he supports Governor Walker's collective-bargaining bill. In Wisconsin, this conservative, anti-union view is being placed into action by lawmakers in sync with the deep-pocketed donors who helped them obtain power. (Walker also opposes the state's Clean Energy Job Act, which would compel the state to increase its use of alternative energy.) At this moment—even with the Wisconsin uprising unresolved—the Koch brothers' investment in Walker appears to be paying off.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers
Will the slumbering masses wake in Florida too?
By TODD RICHMOND and DINESH RAMDE
MADISON, Wis. - A state Capitol thrown into political chaos swelled for a fifth day with nearly 70,000 protesters, as supporters of Republican efforts to scrap the union rights of state workers challenged pro-labor protesters face-to-face for the first time and GOP leaders insisted again Saturday there was no room for compromise.
A few dozen police officers stood between supporters of Republican Gov. Scott Walker on the muddy east lawn of the Capitol and the much larger group of pro-labor demonstrators who surrounded them. The protest was peaceful as both sides exchanged chants of "Pass the bill! Pass the bill!" and "Kill the bill! Kill the bill!"
"Go home!" union supporters yelled at Scott Lemke, a 46-year-old machine parts salesman from Cedarburg who wore a hard hat and carried a sign that read "If you don't like it, quit" on one side, and "If you don't like that, try you're fired" on the other.
The Wisconsin governor, elected in November's GOP wave that also gave control of the state Assembly and Senate to Republicans, set off the protests earlier this week by pushing ahead with a measure that would require government workers to contribute more to their health care and pension costs and largely eliminate their collective bargaining rights.
He says the concessions are needed to deal with the state's projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall and to avoid layoffs of government workers.
"We did have an election and Scott Walker won," said Deborah Arndt, 53, of Sheboygan Falls. "I think our governor will stand strong. I have faith in him."
At a rally organized by Tea Party Patriots, the movement's largest umbrella group, and Americans for Prosperity, supporters of Walker carried signs with a fresh set of messages: "Your Gravy Train Is Over . . . Welcome to the Recession" and "Sorry, we're late Scott. We work for a living."
"We pay the bills!" tea party favorite Herman Cain yelled to cheers from the pro-Walker crowd. "This is why you elected Scott Walker. and he's doing his job. . . . Wisconsin is broke. My question for the other side is, 'What part of broke don't you understand?'"
Nearby, nearly two dozen cabs blocked a major intersection near the Capitol. The driver of the lead cab leaned out of the window and played a trumpet, while others attempted to honk their car horns in sync with a chant from pro-labor protesters: "This is what democracy looks like."
"One of the reasons the company decided to support the protesters is because the members of this company started off striking their employer for better wages and that employer . . . refused to allow them to bargain collectively," said John McNamara, the marketing director of Union Cab.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald reaffirmed Saturday that Republicans have not been swayed by the pro-labor protesters who since Tuesday have filled the Capitol with chanting, drum-beats and anti-Walker slogans.
"The bill is not negotiable," Fitzgerald said inside a heavily guarded Senate parlor at the Capitol. "The bill will pass as is."
Fitzgerald said Republicans have the votes needed pass the so-called "budget repair" bill just as up as soon as 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state on Thursday and remain in hiding return to the Statehouse. The missing Democrats have threatened to stay away for weeks and remain more resolved than ever to stay away "as long as it takes" until Walker agrees to negotiate, Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach said Saturday.
"I don't think he's really thought it through, to be honest," Erpenbach said.
Democrats offered again Saturday to agree to the parts of Walker's proposal that would double workers' health insurance contributions and require them to contribute 5.8 percent of their salary to their pensions, so long as workers retained their rights to negotiate with the state as a union.
Fitzgerald said he was unimpressed given that the offer was something the GOP has rejected for months. The restrictions on collective bargaining rights are needed so local governments and the state will have the flexibility needed to balance budgets after cuts Walker plans to announce next month, he said.
Walker, who was spending time with his family Saturday and wasn't expected to make an appearance at the tea party-organized rally, also rejected the Democrats offer. His spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said the fastest way to end the stalemate was for Democrats to return and "do their jobs."
Sen. Tim Cullen, a Democrat from Janesville, refused to say where he was Saturday but said he didn't expect the Senate to meet again until Tuesday. Cullen said he was watching Saturday's rallies on television with some friends.
"I'm hoping to see no violence, that's what I'm hoping most to see," Cullen said. "This has been a very peaceful, respectful thing all week given the size of the crowds."
Madison police estimated 60,000 or more people were outside the Capitol with up to 8,000 more inside. Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney had planned to add 60 deputies to the 100 who patrolled during the week. But Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said there had been no arrests or problems by midafternoon.
"We've seen and shown the world that in Madison, Wis., we can bring people together who disagree strongly on a bill in a peaceful way," DeSpain said.
Steve Boss, 26, a refrigerator technician from Oostburg, carried a sign that read "The Protesters Are All 'Sick' -- Wash your Hands," a reference to the teacher sick-outs that swelled crowds at the Capitol to 40,000 people Friday and raised the noise in its rotunda to earsplitting levels. Boss said the cuts Walker has proposed were painful but needed to fix the state's financial problems.
"It's time to address the issue. They (public workers) got to take the same cuts as everyone else," he said. "It's a fairness thing."
Doctors from numerous hospitals set up a station near the Capitol to provide notes covering public employees' absences. Family physician Lou Sanner, 59, of Madison, said he had given out hundreds of notes. Many of the people he spoke with seemed to be suffering from stress, he said.
"What employers have a right to know is if the patient was assessed by a duly licensed physician about time off of work," Sanner said. "Employers don't have a right to know the nature of that conversation or the nature of that illness. So it's as valid as every other work note that I've written for the last 30 years."
John Black, 46, of Madison, said he came out to the rallies in order to help bridge the gap between the pro-labor protesters and tea party members. He carried signs that asked for a compromise on the budget bill while a friend's son handed out purple flowers.
"We liked Scott Walker as a change agent, but he moved too quickly and because of that there's always room for compromise," Black said.
---
Associated Press writers Scott Bauer and Jason Smathers contributed to this report.
http://headlines.verizon.com/headlines/portals/headlines.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=headlines_portal_page__article&_article=3334125
MADISON, Wis. - A state Capitol thrown into political chaos swelled for a fifth day with nearly 70,000 protesters, as supporters of Republican efforts to scrap the union rights of state workers challenged pro-labor protesters face-to-face for the first time and GOP leaders insisted again Saturday there was no room for compromise.
A few dozen police officers stood between supporters of Republican Gov. Scott Walker on the muddy east lawn of the Capitol and the much larger group of pro-labor demonstrators who surrounded them. The protest was peaceful as both sides exchanged chants of "Pass the bill! Pass the bill!" and "Kill the bill! Kill the bill!"
"Go home!" union supporters yelled at Scott Lemke, a 46-year-old machine parts salesman from Cedarburg who wore a hard hat and carried a sign that read "If you don't like it, quit" on one side, and "If you don't like that, try you're fired" on the other.
The Wisconsin governor, elected in November's GOP wave that also gave control of the state Assembly and Senate to Republicans, set off the protests earlier this week by pushing ahead with a measure that would require government workers to contribute more to their health care and pension costs and largely eliminate their collective bargaining rights.
He says the concessions are needed to deal with the state's projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall and to avoid layoffs of government workers.
"We did have an election and Scott Walker won," said Deborah Arndt, 53, of Sheboygan Falls. "I think our governor will stand strong. I have faith in him."
At a rally organized by Tea Party Patriots, the movement's largest umbrella group, and Americans for Prosperity, supporters of Walker carried signs with a fresh set of messages: "Your Gravy Train Is Over . . . Welcome to the Recession" and "Sorry, we're late Scott. We work for a living."
"We pay the bills!" tea party favorite Herman Cain yelled to cheers from the pro-Walker crowd. "This is why you elected Scott Walker. and he's doing his job. . . . Wisconsin is broke. My question for the other side is, 'What part of broke don't you understand?'"
Nearby, nearly two dozen cabs blocked a major intersection near the Capitol. The driver of the lead cab leaned out of the window and played a trumpet, while others attempted to honk their car horns in sync with a chant from pro-labor protesters: "This is what democracy looks like."
"One of the reasons the company decided to support the protesters is because the members of this company started off striking their employer for better wages and that employer . . . refused to allow them to bargain collectively," said John McNamara, the marketing director of Union Cab.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald reaffirmed Saturday that Republicans have not been swayed by the pro-labor protesters who since Tuesday have filled the Capitol with chanting, drum-beats and anti-Walker slogans.
"The bill is not negotiable," Fitzgerald said inside a heavily guarded Senate parlor at the Capitol. "The bill will pass as is."
Fitzgerald said Republicans have the votes needed pass the so-called "budget repair" bill just as up as soon as 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state on Thursday and remain in hiding return to the Statehouse. The missing Democrats have threatened to stay away for weeks and remain more resolved than ever to stay away "as long as it takes" until Walker agrees to negotiate, Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach said Saturday.
"I don't think he's really thought it through, to be honest," Erpenbach said.
Democrats offered again Saturday to agree to the parts of Walker's proposal that would double workers' health insurance contributions and require them to contribute 5.8 percent of their salary to their pensions, so long as workers retained their rights to negotiate with the state as a union.
Fitzgerald said he was unimpressed given that the offer was something the GOP has rejected for months. The restrictions on collective bargaining rights are needed so local governments and the state will have the flexibility needed to balance budgets after cuts Walker plans to announce next month, he said.
Walker, who was spending time with his family Saturday and wasn't expected to make an appearance at the tea party-organized rally, also rejected the Democrats offer. His spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said the fastest way to end the stalemate was for Democrats to return and "do their jobs."
Sen. Tim Cullen, a Democrat from Janesville, refused to say where he was Saturday but said he didn't expect the Senate to meet again until Tuesday. Cullen said he was watching Saturday's rallies on television with some friends.
"I'm hoping to see no violence, that's what I'm hoping most to see," Cullen said. "This has been a very peaceful, respectful thing all week given the size of the crowds."
Madison police estimated 60,000 or more people were outside the Capitol with up to 8,000 more inside. Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney had planned to add 60 deputies to the 100 who patrolled during the week. But Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said there had been no arrests or problems by midafternoon.
"We've seen and shown the world that in Madison, Wis., we can bring people together who disagree strongly on a bill in a peaceful way," DeSpain said.
Steve Boss, 26, a refrigerator technician from Oostburg, carried a sign that read "The Protesters Are All 'Sick' -- Wash your Hands," a reference to the teacher sick-outs that swelled crowds at the Capitol to 40,000 people Friday and raised the noise in its rotunda to earsplitting levels. Boss said the cuts Walker has proposed were painful but needed to fix the state's financial problems.
"It's time to address the issue. They (public workers) got to take the same cuts as everyone else," he said. "It's a fairness thing."
Doctors from numerous hospitals set up a station near the Capitol to provide notes covering public employees' absences. Family physician Lou Sanner, 59, of Madison, said he had given out hundreds of notes. Many of the people he spoke with seemed to be suffering from stress, he said.
"What employers have a right to know is if the patient was assessed by a duly licensed physician about time off of work," Sanner said. "Employers don't have a right to know the nature of that conversation or the nature of that illness. So it's as valid as every other work note that I've written for the last 30 years."
John Black, 46, of Madison, said he came out to the rallies in order to help bridge the gap between the pro-labor protesters and tea party members. He carried signs that asked for a compromise on the budget bill while a friend's son handed out purple flowers.
"We liked Scott Walker as a change agent, but he moved too quickly and because of that there's always room for compromise," Black said.
---
Associated Press writers Scott Bauer and Jason Smathers contributed to this report.
http://headlines.verizon.com/headlines/portals/headlines.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=headlines_portal_page__article&_article=3334125
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Start the Rick Scott Recall
Start the Rick Scott Recall
I get it we don’t like taxes. We think they are to high and the government lights cigars with hundred dollar bills. I get it. The thing is, taxes allow us to do collectively what we can’t do individually and unless you live in a cabin deep in the woods you are part of collectively, part of society and taxes are necessary.
I think taxes are to high for most of us but there are a few who do light cigars with hundred dollar bills that are unaffected by them. These are the people that governor claims we can’t over burden because they create Florida’s jobs. Well friends in case you missed it, where are the jobs, they don’t seem to be creating too many. If it is for this elite class that we give tax loopholes that cost our state billions, then I say we are not getting a very good return on our investment.
What good is it to have low taxes if our children aren’t protected and can’t be properly educated, what good are low taxes if our elderly aren’t taken care of and our rivers become polluted? What good is it to have low taxes, if our parks are closed and our quality of life is eroded? What good is it to have low taxes if our society crumbles down around us? Low taxes I might add that don’t benefit the vast majority of the states citizens. How is your bank account, mine was wiped out two weeks ago when I had to get new tires. I had to make the choice get new tires or get my tooth fixed; do you sometimes have to make similar choices?
Rick Scott through his budget proposal has shown us that the elderly, our children, the disabled, our schools parks and rivers don’t mater much to him. They matter a lot to me and I hope they matter a lot to you too.
The governor won the election after spending 79 million of his own dollars and now he wants the working middle class, our state workers, and our teachers to take a five percent pay cut. I remind you these people are not responsible for where the state finds itself. They show up work hard and educate our children or provide services and Scott wants them not the bankers and fat cats that reap billions in tax breaks through loopholes, to pay for our recovery. Furthermore is this the right time to pull billions of dollars out of the economy with these defacto pay cuts. Most economists would say empathically no.
His solution to the budget seems to be cutting jobs, teacher jobs, park worker jobs, and child welfare jobs among others. He says that through cutting these jobs more jobs will come to Florida. Friends Florida already has one of the lowest tax bases in the whole nation and no personal income tax. If jobs aren’t rushing to Florida now, then diminishing the quality of our education system, harming the environment through deregulation and gutting government services isn’t going to some how miraculously work.
Our low tax rate has been a double-edged sword too. Because our taxes have been so low Florida has been able to keep salaries stagnant, which means as costs rise, the middle class is harder hit here than in other states. How long are we going to sit back and just take it, or be tricked by talking pints or into believing that one day we to might be rich and when that happens why should we pay more taxes. Somebody making a million dollars is not going to suddenly quit, outraged, and take a job in a book store because the government takes half and they now only take home five hundred k.
I know that some of you that voted for Scott did so because it was like voting against Obama. I’ll be honest, I voted for Obama but don’t think, aha you got me and I am just spouting the lefts talking points because I am not a cool aide drinker. I don’t care who comes up with the good ideas as long as they are good ideas and Scott’s budget isn’t just a bad idea it’s a disastrous idea. Jacksonville’s public schools already cut to the bone are about to lose 91 million dollars.
But back to Obama, I am very frustrated and disappointed with him. But that doesn’t mean I thought Florida should pay the price for his policies. You don’t like Obamacare, all right I don’t like it either, but I don’t think our schools and our state parks, our children, elderly and disabled should pay the price for my dislike of it. This is not a republican verses democrat thing; this is a basic decency regardless of your party type thing.
Then does Rick Scott really represent you? Less than half of those that voted actualy voted for him, which means only about a quarter of all eligible voters did. Do you have a child or an elderly relative? Do you have a disabled family member, do you like to go to parks or live near the river? Do you care about the environment, or are worried that the rich are getting richer while you have trouble paying your rent or mortgage or have to decide between a tooth or tires this week? Are you a teacher or a governemnt work? If you answered yes to any one of these questions then just maybe Rick Scott does not represent you.
We want pension reform, sure, we want smaller government, I understand but don’t we also want a Florida that we can be proud of to be a state where we want to live. Let’s phase in pension reforms and lets find and eliminate waste but lets not throw out grandma and the baby with the bath water, which untreated will flow directly into our rivers. Lets tell Rick Scott he better start representing all of us not just the rich and those on the far right or he won’t be representing any of us much longer.
I get it we don’t like taxes. We think they are to high and the government lights cigars with hundred dollar bills. I get it. The thing is, taxes allow us to do collectively what we can’t do individually and unless you live in a cabin deep in the woods you are part of collectively, part of society and taxes are necessary.
I think taxes are to high for most of us but there are a few who do light cigars with hundred dollar bills that are unaffected by them. These are the people that governor claims we can’t over burden because they create Florida’s jobs. Well friends in case you missed it, where are the jobs, they don’t seem to be creating too many. If it is for this elite class that we give tax loopholes that cost our state billions, then I say we are not getting a very good return on our investment.
What good is it to have low taxes if our children aren’t protected and can’t be properly educated, what good are low taxes if our elderly aren’t taken care of and our rivers become polluted? What good is it to have low taxes, if our parks are closed and our quality of life is eroded? What good is it to have low taxes if our society crumbles down around us? Low taxes I might add that don’t benefit the vast majority of the states citizens. How is your bank account, mine was wiped out two weeks ago when I had to get new tires. I had to make the choice get new tires or get my tooth fixed; do you sometimes have to make similar choices?
Rick Scott through his budget proposal has shown us that the elderly, our children, the disabled, our schools parks and rivers don’t mater much to him. They matter a lot to me and I hope they matter a lot to you too.
The governor won the election after spending 79 million of his own dollars and now he wants the working middle class, our state workers, and our teachers to take a five percent pay cut. I remind you these people are not responsible for where the state finds itself. They show up work hard and educate our children or provide services and Scott wants them not the bankers and fat cats that reap billions in tax breaks through loopholes, to pay for our recovery. Furthermore is this the right time to pull billions of dollars out of the economy with these defacto pay cuts. Most economists would say empathically no.
His solution to the budget seems to be cutting jobs, teacher jobs, park worker jobs, and child welfare jobs among others. He says that through cutting these jobs more jobs will come to Florida. Friends Florida already has one of the lowest tax bases in the whole nation and no personal income tax. If jobs aren’t rushing to Florida now, then diminishing the quality of our education system, harming the environment through deregulation and gutting government services isn’t going to some how miraculously work.
Our low tax rate has been a double-edged sword too. Because our taxes have been so low Florida has been able to keep salaries stagnant, which means as costs rise, the middle class is harder hit here than in other states. How long are we going to sit back and just take it, or be tricked by talking pints or into believing that one day we to might be rich and when that happens why should we pay more taxes. Somebody making a million dollars is not going to suddenly quit, outraged, and take a job in a book store because the government takes half and they now only take home five hundred k.
I know that some of you that voted for Scott did so because it was like voting against Obama. I’ll be honest, I voted for Obama but don’t think, aha you got me and I am just spouting the lefts talking points because I am not a cool aide drinker. I don’t care who comes up with the good ideas as long as they are good ideas and Scott’s budget isn’t just a bad idea it’s a disastrous idea. Jacksonville’s public schools already cut to the bone are about to lose 91 million dollars.
But back to Obama, I am very frustrated and disappointed with him. But that doesn’t mean I thought Florida should pay the price for his policies. You don’t like Obamacare, all right I don’t like it either, but I don’t think our schools and our state parks, our children, elderly and disabled should pay the price for my dislike of it. This is not a republican verses democrat thing; this is a basic decency regardless of your party type thing.
Then does Rick Scott really represent you? Less than half of those that voted actualy voted for him, which means only about a quarter of all eligible voters did. Do you have a child or an elderly relative? Do you have a disabled family member, do you like to go to parks or live near the river? Do you care about the environment, or are worried that the rich are getting richer while you have trouble paying your rent or mortgage or have to decide between a tooth or tires this week? Are you a teacher or a governemnt work? If you answered yes to any one of these questions then just maybe Rick Scott does not represent you.
We want pension reform, sure, we want smaller government, I understand but don’t we also want a Florida that we can be proud of to be a state where we want to live. Let’s phase in pension reforms and lets find and eliminate waste but lets not throw out grandma and the baby with the bath water, which untreated will flow directly into our rivers. Lets tell Rick Scott he better start representing all of us not just the rich and those on the far right or he won’t be representing any of us much longer.
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