Scott Walker, Union Buster

Started by Valerian, February 17, 2011, 09:31:43 AM

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Callie Del Noire

Woe, we are now creeping from the stupid, to the corrupt to the downright criminal. The would bring all sorts of conflict of interest claims that I fail to see how he can justify it.

Zakharra

  I'm convinced now that Walker is a Republican in name only. What he appears to be is a corporate party person. I do not think if he tried, he could do more damage to the Republican party than he is now.  How the hell can ANY policitian believe they can get away with crap like this nowwith modern technology? Do their brains leave their heads when they get elected?

'Politicians, the Living Dead.'

Kuroneko

#402
A new report on the capitol cleanup, not eve remotely close to 7.5 mil- http://www.wkow.com/Global/story.asp?S=14255125


Tish said, "If you're looking for damage in the Capitol, or any effects after the tens of thousands of protesters here over the past couple weeks, you're not going to see much."

Walking through the Capitol, Tish said damage was tough to find. He found damage from a sticker on a wall, paint damage on the wall, tape residue, scuff marks on the floor, and also pointed out the lawn outside, that was covered in mud, possibly from protesters over the weekend.

But Tish said evidence of damage was limited, saying, "The protesters took ownership of this building... there's very little damage to the building."



Friends who went there said that the protesters did a lot of cleanup themselves.

edit:  Also, a temporary restraining order has been issued on the collective bargaining law - http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118242109.html
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Callie Del Noire

Quote from: Zakharra on March 18, 2011, 11:14:31 AM
  I'm convinced now that Walker is a Republican in name only. What he appears to be is a corporate party person. I do not think if he tried, he could do more damage to the Republican party than he is now.  How the hell can ANY policitian believe they can get away with crap like this nowwith modern technology? Do their brains leave their heads when they get elected?

'Politicians, the Living Dead.'

He's showing that he's NOT in line with Republican Party ideas with moves like this. This is a clear and evident power grab. I mean how can you justify changing a civil servant to appointee in such a CLEAR case of conflict of interest? What is next, change all judges to straight up appointments with no vetting process? Picking out the heads of police departments throughout the state or requiring every person that now could possibly be a counter to his moves be approved by his office?

It is definitely looking like he's a good buy for the Koch's program.

itsbeenfun2000

Seems a lot of countries run fine with government appointments by party. USSR comes to one of the  major ones, oh wait they don't exist anymore. The Dane county courts have put an injunction on his bill due to the lack of 24 hour notice which is suppose to come with the open meetings act in Wisconsin. The same judge will hear arguments on whether the bill was constitutional seeing that he claimed it was needed to balance the budget then suddenly became a non-fiscal item.

According to legal observers on WBBM radio a judge would not have done the first injunction if he or she thought that the bill would pass constitutional muster.


Serephino

Quote from: Callie Del Noire on March 17, 2011, 09:08:41 PM
What I find (darkly) amusing is how BOTH sides solution to the loss of jobs is 're-education' and higher post-high school training. They all talk about how now that the 'cheap paying' blue collar jobs are gone that the people who lost them need to 'move up' to white collar jobs, YET every time something comes up short on the budget education gets dicked. With 20 grit.

We're sabotaging ourselves badly with this 'anyone can be a teacher' outlook. I have had to do some MINOR instruction as a petty officer in the Navy, and teaching is HARD. Especially when the training I got to do my job was phased out as 'un-needed'. Going back to basic electrical theory and how logic gates work so my workers know how to trouble shoot a system is a LOT of work. I can't imagine doing that over 9 months or more a year.

This is really bad here in Pennsylvania.  Our new wonderful Republican Governor who ran his campaign with the promise of 'cutting the fat' in the budget is taking a gutting knife to education.  He wants to cut education funding by 1.8 million.  When collages said they'd have to up tuition to make up for this, he criticized them, saying there should be some places they could cut expenses. 

The latest I heard is that he's taking note of Walker's actions, and trying to limit the rights of the teacher's union.  Mostly, he wants to cut their pay, because according to him, they get paid too much anyway, and he wants to make it so it can't be raised any time soon. 

I swear, there's all these reports about how we're lagging behind so badly on a global scale when it comes to education, but apparently education is 'fat' in the state budget.  And while doing this, he's trying to give tax cuts to the gas drilling companies. 

Apple of Eris

Quote from: Serephino on March 20, 2011, 07:31:08 PM
This is really bad here in Pennsylvania.  Our new wonderful Republican Governor who ran his campaign with the promise of 'cutting the fat' in the budget is taking a gutting knife to education.  He wants to cut education funding by 1.8 million.  When collages said they'd have to up tuition to make up for this, he criticized them, saying there should be some places they could cut expenses. 

The latest I heard is that he's taking note of Walker's actions, and trying to limit the rights of the teacher's union.  Mostly, he wants to cut their pay, because according to him, they get paid too much anyway, and he wants to make it so it can't be raised any time soon. 

I swear, there's all these reports about how we're lagging behind so badly on a global scale when it comes to education, but apparently education is 'fat' in the state budget.  And while doing this, he's trying to give tax cuts to the gas drilling companies. 


I don't think we can cut their taxes any more, he already refuses to tax the marcellus shale drilling operations, the only state, I might add, that doesn't do so. Even a modest tax could bring in millions in funding, but then most of the politicians are in the pockets of these huge corps, so no way is it going to happen, esp when the governor says no.
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Haruki

#407
Just tossing in a couple cents, so forgive me if anything is repeated.

Being a WI resident, I've been following this more closely than I care to.  I will agree with a few things that have been stated that caught my eye.

  • Our governor (Walker) probably overdid it.....well intended, but overdone none-the-less, and to boot he didn't even include police and fire.  This is clearly not fair to other folks employed in public service jobs.  This alone is really driving people up the wall, esp. those whom work in the education segment of public sector work.
  • All politicians....I don't frigging care whether D or R or any other letter between A to Z, all have ties to big corps or some other special interests.  That's politics for ya, and it sucks that it has to be this way.  It shouldn't be, but it is.  Obama had his backers during the '08 campaign cycle, Walker had his last year's cycle (as did Doyle before him in '02 and '06.  Nothing will change about that until us Americans put our foot down and scream "ENOUGH!" in unison.  Which won't happen, so WYSIWYG in politics.

I will note, however, that we (WI state as a whole) are plain BROKE!  To tax any higher....be them working class or the upper echelon of residents and business / industry owners (WI already has ridiculous property and income tax rates as it is....some of the highest in the U.S.) will further drive people out of this state and to others.  We see it ALL the time....retirees moving to AZ or FL....trust me folks, it's not just due to our crappy winter weather that's per-usual every year.  It's been happening already for decades.  Anyone who says it's due to crappy weather is only telling half the story as to why this isn't a desirable place to relocate from other states in the lower 48.

Going by other posts I'm reading too.....looks like us, Ohio, Michigan and others aren't alone either.

I know of no easy ways by which I could fix public education at either the primary or secondary (University) levels if I were in Gov. Walker's shoes.  Cutting the budget by making union members in the education sector pay more into their pensions and healthcare are not the whole of the puzzle that is our fiscal mess.  (Aside: I should note, the law won't affect those who have been teaching for some 25-30 years...by WI state laws, we cannot change their already-existing pension agreements like some other states ARE doing....MN comes straight to my mind here....they are locked in place and are safe.  The whole measure is aimed more at those coming INTO the field of teaching and the like)

The reason other developed nations seem to have a higher turnout of smart folks (ESPECIALLY of note being the East Asian nations and China) is partly due to the absurdly rigid schedules students have to follow, oodles of studying that must be done, and insanely tough exams at the Jr High and High School levels.  For Japanese (since I know a little about it through reading up on other education setups around the world) students, failing Jr High or High School and the pressures that come with it are one of the leading causes of their high suicide rate.

Colleges in those countries are essentially a joke, thus why a lot flock to the U.S. or Europe for higher education.

In closing, I'd say this.  Get ready.....this is going to be one HELL of a roller-coaster ride and it's NOT going to be very pretty as states (not just WI) dig into their pockets and find that there's no hard money left.....only 'Monopoly money'.
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Oniya

Quote from: Haruki on March 23, 2011, 12:08:44 AM
I will note, however, that we (WI state as a whole) are plain BROKE! 

One question that remains, though - would Wisconsin have been broke if Walker hadn't made all those pay-outs that haven't brought new jobs into the state?




Just a heads-up/reminder for people:  I've been hearing that April 4 is going to be a big day for people to show support for workers in general.  Keep an eye out for places where you can make your voice heard.
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itsbeenfun2000

I too live in Wisconsin and it is all relative. I live on the border of the chicago suburbs. compared to their property taxes we have it good. People have been moving across the border to get a better deal on a house and lower property taxes with very good schools. I fear many now will be moving back because of the schools. The lowest paid collar county high school in the chicagoland area would be the highest paid district in the state of Wisconsin.  As I said it is all relative.

Callie Del Noire

#410
What I want to know is if the state is broke why is he giving away utilities on closed bid? I recall an article where he was increasing the budget of a private run equivalent of the state department of labor too.. (Why not shut that down..and I'm going to have to find the name of it in the articles I was looking at durn it!)

You can't tell me.. adding to a budget for a group that hasn't used what they got already (which has been done) and adding additional payoffs/cuts to interests that backed you is smart fiscal sense.

Everything he's done is to either line someone's pockets, cut the upper classes/business interests tax rates or screw the groups that didn't support him in the election.

Of course it's all moot in the end, a friend pointed me towards the veto power Walker holds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_veto

that without a doubt is the most open veto power I've seen.

Revolverman

How the hell could anyone look at that and think "That POSSIBLY cannot be used for abuse!"

Rhys

Quote from: Oniya on March 23, 2011, 12:48:00 AM
One question that remains, though - would Wisconsin have been broke if Walker hadn't made all those pay-outs that haven't brought new jobs into the state?

Yet despite being so broke Walker was all sorts of willing to do this. He gave Sen. Randy Hopper's mistress (the one he was living with outside his district) a new job with a $12,000 pay raise. As mentioned before, he's giving away the utilities on a closed bid. And that's only a trio of examples of what he's pulling.

Its an extreme example of some rather typical Republican tactics; tactics now being mirrored in other states that elected Republican officials in 2010. He's more than willing to give tax breaks, pay outs, etc. to corporations, political backers and the rich. But he's screwing teachers and other private sector workers and using dirty tactics, blatantly false claims and all but ignoring state law to push a radical agenda. Callie Del Noire hit it right on the head: he's lining cutting tax rates for business/the upper class, and going after the people that didn't support him... or people who did but who happen to usually support the Democrats (Certain unions, for example).

Through this whole thing the budget has been an excuse. Its been an excuse to target unions, teachers, college students, the working poor, etc. and to weaken each group as a whole while giving benefits and power to the people who are willing to kiss his backside and attempting to make it more difficult to uncover his corrupt acts.

I can't call this 'well intentioned' but overdone. If he were well-intentioned:

-He wouldn't be using lies to do it every step of the way including but not limited to making false claims about what teachers make. It misrepresents how much this all would cut out of the budget and it screws over people who are making about half as much as he's claiming they make.

-He wouldn't have pushed for the removal of collective bargaining even after unions agreed to pay cuts and paying more for benefits.

-He wouldn't have hired the father of two of his closest allies who lost an election for a local sheriff position to head the Wisconsin State Patrol and then attempted to use them illegally to bring back the Dems who fled outside the state. He wouldn't have hired the mistress of a Republican Senator, giving her that $12,000 pay raise.

-He wouldn't have tried to deny the Democrats their ability to vote upon their return.

-He wouldn't have paid out $140,000,000.00 to businesses in amounts that his economists could've told him would not help create jobs or truly stimulate the state economy.

-He wouldn't have tried to force protesters away from the capital, cutting off their ability to get medical supplies and other needs will they were assembling civilly. A well intentioned individual doesn't make outrageous claims about damage to the capital or make a cancer patient choose between getting their meds and protesting.

-He wouldn't be selling our utilities on a closed bid.

-He wouldn't be pandering to the Koch Brothers and more than willing to fly out and have a good time with them while he should be working on fixing this state's fiscal crisis that's so terrible that he needs to push extreme cuts to public education, state health benefits, tax credits for the working poor, county budgets, etc. to fix it.

-He wouldn't be trying to turn civilian positions that handle aspects of government transparency into positions staffed by people he appoints. He wouldn't force individuals to go out and get a court order to get information that should be openly available to them by state law.

-He wouldn't be laying off thousands of people after using the 'I'm doing this to prevent layoffs' argument to try to push his union busting bill.

-Speaking of layoffs he wouldn't have gambled with the well being of thousands of public sector employees by threatening to start laying them off if the Democrats didn't come back and give him his way.


I could go on and on but this is getting excessive. Scott Walker, as I've put it before, is a scumbag. The guy has been corrupt since college where he couldn't even run for president of the student government without getting ousted for campaign rules violations.

His actions aren't about fixing the state. And they're certainly not about representing the people of Wisconsin. They're about handing money and power to his buddies and using deceit, strong arm tactics, violating state law, and lashing out at those individuals who didn't support him and/or people who are traditionally allies of the Democrats. Frankly, I just hope that he and the Republican Senators who are supporting this, can be recalled before they do too much damage to our state.
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Valerian

The April 5th date is for a state judicial election.  Justice David Prosser is running for re-election under a cloud of accusations that he's in Walker's pocket.  He and three other conservative justices led a four to three vote against a regulation that would have required justices to recuse themselves when dealing with an issue involving a litigant that had contributed more then $1,000 to that justice's campaign.

http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/article_8cbd38bf-dd8e-50a5-a29e-1eda36eb81aa.html

Quote
In taking the action they did, the four Wisconsin justices -- Prosser, Annette Ziegler, Michael Gableman and Patience Roggensack -- bucked a trend that courts in other parts of the country are following in an effort to remove the taint of financial influence from the workings of the judiciary. Washington, Oklahoma, Michigan and other states have decided to take the decision out of the hands of the justices, and have adopted rules that set a clear threshold for when recusal must occur.

His opponent is Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg, who is on record as being in favor of the recusal measure.




As for Walker's job creation strategy -- which seems to consist mainly of throwing tax breaks and subsidies at corporations: 
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bribing-businesses-doesnt-work-2011-03-23?reflink=MW_news_stmp
Quote
Nationwide, such giveaways from state and municipal governments amounted to more than $70 billion in 2010, according to Kenneth Thomas, a political scientist at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, who has specialized in studying these subsidies. That’s more than the states collect in corporate income taxes in a good year. Read about Thomas’s book: “Investment Incentives and the Global Competition for Capital”

And that $70 billion is twice as much money as would be required to fully fund the pensions owed to state and local government workers, the very same pensions that budget-cutting politicians across the country claim are responsible for the fiscal hole we’re in.




And some interesting poll information on the governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan, and how they would fair if elections were held again today:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/buyers-remorse-polls-show-3-new-gop-govs-losing-in-do-overs.php
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Oniya

Quote from: Valerian on March 23, 2011, 08:49:50 AM
The April 5th date is for a state judicial election.  Justice David Prosser is running for re-election under a cloud of accusations that he's in Walker's pocket.  He and three other conservative justices led a four to three vote against a regulation that would have required justices to recuse themselves when dealing with an issue involving a litigant that had contributed more then $1,000 to that justice's campaign.

http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/article_8cbd38bf-dd8e-50a5-a29e-1eda36eb81aa.html

His opponent is Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg, who is on record as being in favor of the recusal measure.

Good to know (everybody, vote if you can!), but I was actually referring to the fourth, which is the anniversary of when Dr. King stood with sanitation workers in Memphis. 
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Valerian

Oops.  That's what I get for not re-reading the posts I look at while I'm still slightly bleary from having just woken up.  Heh.  But yes, there are going to be demonstrations all over the country, which is very cool.  :)  Sadly, there are as yet no events scheduled near me, but I'll console myself by voting on the fifth, at least.

Walker will perhaps be celebrating by once again turning down federal railway funds, this time for improving existing service between Milwaukee and Chicago; funds which have an April 4th deadline for application.

Yeah, I'm still bitter about the train issue.  *sigh*  I had been highly doubtful of Walker from the beginning, but that was when I knew we were in for some serious trouble with this guy.
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Callie Del Noire

#416
Quote from: Valerian on March 23, 2011, 09:34:04 AM

Walker will perhaps be celebrating by once again turning down federal railway funds, this time for improving existing service between Milwaukee and Chicago; funds which have an April 4th deadline for application.

Yeah, I'm still bitter about the train issue.  *sigh*  I had been highly doubtful of Walker from the beginning, but that was when I knew we were in for some serious trouble with this guy.

I'd be a bit less hateful towards the Train funds.. all the 'good deals ' I've seen the Feds offered are not enough to do the setup and develoment .. I know that Florida and California turned them down because they weren't enough to properly start and if they failed in the programs they OWED the moneys to the Feds.

In the case of Florida the studies they used were iffy about the potentenial income. San Fran to LA, oh yeah..that is a rail link that work. But California doesn't have the funds to put up for it.

Valerian

Well, I've been longing for some good rail lines in the state, since we really don't have any; and the proposed new train setup would have taken a lot of the heat off the highways between Milwaukee and Madison, where there's a very high accident rate.  Though in this particular case, what bothered me the most was the fact that money had already been invested locally in get the project underway, a company was on the verge of moving in to build the cars and create jobs, and all that was lost when Walker said no.
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Callie Del Noire

Quote from: Valerian on March 23, 2011, 10:56:37 AM
Well, I've been longing for some good rail lines in the state, since we really don't have any; and the proposed new train setup would have taken a lot of the heat off the highways between Milwaukee and Madison, where there's a very high accident rate.  Though in this particular case, what bothered me the most was the fact that money had already been invested locally in get the project underway, a company was on the verge of moving in to build the cars and create jobs, and all that was lost when Walker said no.

Rail development would be a boon, but it's something that will take a LONG time to do. High speed rail is something that hasn't been worked on in the US but SHOULD be.

That is something that has been long in coming and put off by the automotive companies.

Zakharra

 High speed rail only works between and in cities. In the rural countryside, it's is much less practical, as it all mass transit.

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: Zakharra on March 23, 2011, 02:46:53 PM
High speed rail only works between and in cities. In the rural countryside, it's is much less practical, as it all mass transit.

True but a high speed rail link between.. San Fran/LA/San Diego for example would work. If you could properly capitalize on it. For years, to use another example, there has been talk to do a High Speed link from Atlanta to Chattanooga. That would be very viable, if you could get proper venture capital but the outlook in the area is that it's a 'money sink'.

No one wants to try it. Decades of automotive firms countering the plans and such. General Motors role in the Streetcar scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Streetcar_Scandal) is a good example of how we let business interests sabotage the concept. 

But that is a sidebar to this threads topic. Still looking for that 'privatized' Labor group I mentioned earlier..

itsbeenfun2000


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I cannot facepalm enough.   It isn't possible.  :P
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