Walker already sent the State Police after the Democratic State Senators. Could have tried democracy (negotiation after separation of collective bargaining rights from the budget repair bill). Then a simple phone call would have worked - instead police action is Walker's first choice.
Our governor thinks he was elected dictator or king. It has completely gone to his uneducated head. He is not willing to negotiated with the legislature. He won't talk to anyone. He just spouts the same old junk all the time.
This is what Republicans do when they think they have a mandate. Think Kent State. Now, like Kent State, this might be what it takes to wake up Americans and make them realize that the Republicans really don't think about "the help" as having rights, they don't think about them as human.
I am a Union member(UFA) and have been since 1960. Back then we were making much less then the public sector And putting our lives on the line in areas that were like War zones. We could not go on strike mainly because many lives would have been
lost and we most likely would have been fired.Not that I would have blamed the Administration I knew what I was doing when I took
the job. But we had a good Mayor(Lindsey) and a good Union and we finally got some fair contracts. I have to admit that in the past years the Unions have making more and more demands and are now making a lot more money and much better Pensions then mostof the workers in the Private Sector. With the economy as bad as it is and Taxes as high as they are and so many people with out jobs I do not feel that Gov.Walker is wrong in what he is trying to do. I do not think he wants to break the Unions but wants a compromise that I truly believe is necessary to get His State on the right Track. When Unions can Blackmail the State something is definately wrong.
Joe, you are mis-informed, as are many watching this unfold. But I understand, the propaganda machine is alive andwell, calling our neighbors "Bottom Feeders" and "Free-Loaders" (Rush Limbaugh today)
Teachers have given, up to 20% (in S.E. Wisconsin area) of their salaries. They have agreed to pay more for benefits. The next step? Eliminate anyone over 50, regardless of duty & decades of service. I know a college instructors who has given in to all of the concessions. She also works more hoursthan many in the private sector, working on Saturdays, Sundays, etc.
What she won't give up is her right to have a voice.
She voted for Scot Walker. She is a Tea Party Member, & staunch conservative. Walker pushed though a huge tax break to the top 1%, thereby 'creating a budget problem'. We were poised for a surplus next year.
Now he wants middle class Wisconsin to pay for those tax cuts.
'Scooty' as he is affectionately referred to, may have alienated many of his supporters with this attack on his neighbors. There 'were' many on his side.....until now. It's too much, too fast. 140 pages of legislation need to be evaluated, and digested to understand the full impact. That has not been done and is irresponsible legislating.
Ultimately those of us who see what is happening know this is a 'takeover'. Crush unions, you crush Democratic votes. The true irony? Conservatives lose the dignity of being able to vote their private politics. Not every union member is a Democrat! However, that may change after this aggressive move by 'Scooty'.
All I can say is 'People, follow the money'. Who put the most money into getting Walker elected? Special interest, part of the Conservatives strategic plan to simply bust the unions throughout the U.S. Ultimately to begin buying up elections. Citizen's United made it all possible. People are looking the other way, looking for Obama's birth certificate! Wake up America!
Today I am proud to be a Wisconsinite!
I have nothing to do with unions, but they ARE my friends and neighbors! More money out of the pockets of middle class is NOT the answer!
I wish that we had unions in Texas. RN's would not have been forced to work unpaid overtime. But I will take my $1600 a month pension after 29 years as an RN at the county hospital and retire overseas. Good Luck in your fight Wisconsin, if you loose your children will be the poorer.
Thanks for the vote of support. Not only will our children be poorer, but our grandkids too! This is a fight we should not have to fight again, but are willing to do so as it has now become necessary again. Walker picked the wrong issue in the wrong state.
I am retired law enforcement from Madison, WI. We were here for the riots of the 60's and early 70's. This crowd is very well mannered and just as determined as the crowds back then. Pray for us today that the imported tea partyers do not accomplish their goals of disrupting this into violence. We have had growing crowds every day and it's been peaceful; let's keep it that way and keep the pressure on folks. Dictator Walker will get recalled in 11 months (soonest we can do it) when this fails!
I am retired law enforcement, but now small business of my own. See both sides of this issue and am 100% in favor of the protest. Do not let this man who is not the friend of any middle class citizen, take away our rights to collective bargaining. Susan, you are so right; follow the money. Walker was bought and paid for and now is delivering what he is told to do. If this works, he is going after over a billion dollars in our education system.
We will go from one of the best to one of the worst, except that Republicans are salivating all over America in trying to ruin the Middle Class because while we don't have millions of dollars to contribute individually, we do have millions of people in the Middle Class who can each contribute (which is how Obama got where he is). They want to dry up that well. Protect the Middle Class and stand for what is right and just!
I recall Republicans screaming about Health Care Reform bills as being too long to read, that they needed much more time, etc. etc. etc. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, and they are the ones trying to ramrod through 140 pages of historic changes, they want the Dems rounded up and forced to vote. Dictator Walker needs to BACK OFF or he will be recalled by the very people who voted him in.
I did not vote for him, but I am doing everything I can to be ready with the recall as soon as we legally can do it.
Joe, You are not up to speed on what is really happening. I applaud your years of service. What Walker is doing will ruin the great State of Wisconsin. This is not about pay or benefits. You are being fed a line if you think public employees are paid better and have better benefits than the private sector. They are not paid better and it's because of the benefit package that many people took those less than desirable state jobs in the first place.
Now, not only do you want them to continue to give concessions (nearly a billion dollars collectively is what they were ready to give up, but Walker asked Doyle not to sign the packages, and here we are). Walker knew all along that he would cause the deficit by pretending he was a legislator, not the gov. and giving $137 million to the rich which put us in the red. Now he wants Middle America to pay for it. Walker has to go.
I suspect since you are retired, you may have children and possibly even grandchildren. Do you want them to work in sweat shops? Do you not care about working conditions? Walker is allowing companies to come to this state without paying any taxes, with little or no regulation and our environment, our children and our grandchildren will pay for this. Haven't we seen this in the past over and over? I do not want fat cats coming to Wisconsin and ruining our great state, sickening our citizens and then leaving when the gravy runs out.
Do your homework Joe and I can't help but believe you will not really support this guy who is bought and paid for by the very people who want to destroy Middle America.
Walker clearly does not know what the job description of Governor is. He thinks he is a legislator. He is writing laws hand over fist, instead over governing our state. He is taking this away today, rewarding the rich for what?? What are they doing for Wisconsin? Oh yeah.... being paid to take our jobs overseas!
Walker you would be a joke, but you are not funny. You are a DANGEROUS man who is leading Wisconsin to disaster. We need to recall you as soon as possible, but in the next 11 or so months before we can do that, we need to keep the Dem lawmakers on permanent vacation so they are not forced to help strip Wisconsin of all things good.
It's not that you got better and better union contracts when the private sector was doing better than you, it's that you got "normal inflation" based contract agreements and the private sector went down the tubes. I personally think you are a right wing plant trying to get something going. Only a fool or a RWT couldn't see how badly the middle and working class has done. Twenty years ago, $50,000 per year was considered upper middle class and we were doing OK. Today, we/I struggle to make $50,000 a year and we are still considered middle class. What happened? We got screwed.
The next great thought from the Banksters and the rest of the criminal political element will be is to import Asian labor to do our jobs over here. Oh geez, they did this for years when they brought them over as H2B "Guest Workers" and had American workers train them. So American Businesses could ship OUR job overseas. That's what they did in the 1800's when they built the railroads in the West. The Irish Immigrants were too expensive.
How's you 401K pension doing after the fall and where did all the money go? I have nothing but the Social Security I started paying into when I was 13 years old. 54 years ago. It comes every two weeks and never a problem. 5% administration costs.
I LOVE my government. I just hate the creeps and bums that have taken it away.
"Thom Hartmann seeks out interesting subjects from such disparate outposts of curiosity that you have to wonder whether or not he uncovered them or they selected him."
—Leonardo DiCaprio, actor, producer, and environmental activist
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
—Eric Utne, Founder, Utne magazine
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann is a creative thinker and committed small-d democrat. He has dealt with a wide range of topics throughout his life, and this book provides an excellent cross section. The Thom Hartmann Reader will make people both angry and motivated to act."
—Dean Baker, economist and author of Plunder and Blunder, False Profits, and Taking Economics Seriously
Walker already sent the State Police after the Democratic State Senators. Could have tried democracy (negotiation after separation of collective bargaining rights from the budget repair bill). Then a simple phone call would have worked - instead police action is Walker's first choice.
Our governor thinks he was elected dictator or king. It has completely gone to his uneducated head. He is not willing to negotiated with the legislature. He won't talk to anyone. He just spouts the same old junk all the time.
Power mad Gov Walker can NOT even find the high road .
This is what Republicans do when they think they have a mandate. Think Kent State. Now, like Kent State, this might be what it takes to wake up Americans and make them realize that the Republicans really don't think about "the help" as having rights, they don't think about them as human.
Republicans are utterly determined to wipe out the middle class. It is SO obvious.
I am a Union member(UFA) and have been since 1960. Back then we were making much less then the public sector And putting our lives on the line in areas that were like War zones. We could not go on strike mainly because many lives would have been
lost and we most likely would have been fired.Not that I would have blamed the Administration I knew what I was doing when I took
the job. But we had a good Mayor(Lindsey) and a good Union and we finally got some fair contracts. I have to admit that in the past years the Unions have making more and more demands and are now making a lot more money and much better Pensions then mostof the workers in the Private Sector. With the economy as bad as it is and Taxes as high as they are and so many people with out jobs I do not feel that Gov.Walker is wrong in what he is trying to do. I do not think he wants to break the Unions but wants a compromise that I truly believe is necessary to get His State on the right Track. When Unions can Blackmail the State something is definately wrong.
Joe, you are mis-informed, as are many watching this unfold. But I understand, the propaganda machine is alive and well, calling our neighbors "Bottom Feeders" and "Free-Loaders" (Rush Limbaugh today)
Teachers have given, up to 20% (in S.E. Wisconsin area) of their salaries. They have agreed to pay more for benefits. The next step? Eliminate anyone over 50, regardless of duty & decades of service. I know a college instructors who has given in to all of the concessions. She also works more hours than many in the private sector, working on Saturdays, Sundays, etc.
What she won't give up is her right to have a voice.
She voted for Scot Walker. She is a Tea Party Member, & staunch conservative. Walker pushed though a huge tax break to the top 1%, thereby 'creating a budget problem'. We were poised for a surplus next year.
Now he wants middle class Wisconsin to pay for those tax cuts.
'Scooty' as he is affectionately referred to, may have alienated many of his supporters with this attack on his neighbors. There 'were' many on his side.....until now. It's too much, too fast. 140 pages of legislation need to be evaluated, and digested to understand the full impact. That has not been done and is irresponsible legislating.
Ultimately those of us who see what is happening know this is a 'takeover'. Crush unions, you crush Democratic votes. The true irony? Conservatives lose the dignity of being able to vote their private politics. Not every union member is a Democrat! However, that may change after this aggressive move by 'Scooty'.
A Proud Wisconsinite
All I can say is 'People, follow the money'. Who put the most money into getting Walker elected? Special interest, part of the Conservatives strategic plan to simply bust the unions throughout the U.S. Ultimately to begin buying up elections. Citizen's United made it all possible. People are looking the other way, looking for Obama's birth certificate! Wake up America!
Today I am proud to be a Wisconsinite!
I have nothing to do with unions, but they ARE my friends and neighbors! More money out of the pockets of middle class is NOT the answer!
I wish that we had unions in Texas. RN's would not have been forced to work unpaid overtime. But I will take my $1600 a month pension after 29 years as an RN at the county hospital and retire overseas. Good Luck in your fight Wisconsin, if you loose your children will be the poorer.
Thanks for the vote of support. Not only will our children be poorer, but our grandkids too! This is a fight we should not have to fight again, but are willing to do so as it has now become necessary again. Walker picked the wrong issue in the wrong state.
I am retired law enforcement from Madison, WI. We were here for the riots of the 60's and early 70's. This crowd is very well mannered and just as determined as the crowds back then. Pray for us today that the imported tea partyers do not accomplish their goals of disrupting this into violence. We have had growing crowds every day and it's been peaceful; let's keep it that way and keep the pressure on folks. Dictator Walker will get recalled in 11 months (soonest we can do it) when this fails!
I am retired law enforcement, but now small business of my own. See both sides of this issue and am 100% in favor of the protest. Do not let this man who is not the friend of any middle class citizen, take away our rights to collective bargaining. Susan, you are so right; follow the money. Walker was bought and paid for and now is delivering what he is told to do. If this works, he is going after over a billion dollars in our education system.
We will go from one of the best to one of the worst, except that Republicans are salivating all over America in trying to ruin the Middle Class because while we don't have millions of dollars to contribute individually, we do have millions of people in the Middle Class who can each contribute (which is how Obama got where he is). They want to dry up that well. Protect the Middle Class and stand for what is right and just!
I recall Republicans screaming about Health Care Reform bills as being too long to read, that they needed much more time, etc. etc. etc. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, and they are the ones trying to ramrod through 140 pages of historic changes, they want the Dems rounded up and forced to vote. Dictator Walker needs to BACK OFF or he will be recalled by the very people who voted him in.
I did not vote for him, but I am doing everything I can to be ready with the recall as soon as we legally can do it.
Joe, You are not up to speed on what is really happening. I applaud your years of service. What Walker is doing will ruin the great State of Wisconsin. This is not about pay or benefits. You are being fed a line if you think public employees are paid better and have better benefits than the private sector. They are not paid better and it's because of the benefit package that many people took those less than desirable state jobs in the first place.
Now, not only do you want them to continue to give concessions (nearly a billion dollars collectively is what they were ready to give up, but Walker asked Doyle not to sign the packages, and here we are). Walker knew all along that he would cause the deficit by pretending he was a legislator, not the gov. and giving $137 million to the rich which put us in the red. Now he wants Middle America to pay for it. Walker has to go.
I suspect since you are retired, you may have children and possibly even grandchildren. Do you want them to work in sweat shops? Do you not care about working conditions? Walker is allowing companies to come to this state without paying any taxes, with little or no regulation and our environment, our children and our grandchildren will pay for this. Haven't we seen this in the past over and over? I do not want fat cats coming to Wisconsin and ruining our great state, sickening our citizens and then leaving when the gravy runs out.
Do your homework Joe and I can't help but believe you will not really support this guy who is bought and paid for by the very people who want to destroy Middle America.
Walker clearly does not know what the job description of Governor is. He thinks he is a legislator. He is writing laws hand over fist, instead over governing our state. He is taking this away today, rewarding the rich for what?? What are they doing for Wisconsin? Oh yeah.... being paid to take our jobs overseas!
Walker you would be a joke, but you are not funny. You are a DANGEROUS man who is leading Wisconsin to disaster. We need to recall you as soon as possible, but in the next 11 or so months before we can do that, we need to keep the Dem lawmakers on permanent vacation so they are not forced to help strip Wisconsin of all things good.
Hey Joe,
It's not that you got better and better union contracts when the private sector was doing better than you, it's that you got "normal inflation" based contract agreements and the private sector went down the tubes. I personally think you are a right wing plant trying to get something going. Only a fool or a RWT couldn't see how badly the middle and working class has done. Twenty years ago, $50,000 per year was considered upper middle class and we were doing OK. Today, we/I struggle to make $50,000 a year and we are still considered middle class. What happened? We got screwed.
The next great thought from the Banksters and the rest of the criminal political element will be is to import Asian labor to do our jobs over here. Oh geez, they did this for years when they brought them over as H2B "Guest Workers" and had American workers train them. So American Businesses could ship OUR job overseas. That's what they did in the 1800's when they built the railroads in the West. The Irish Immigrants were too expensive.
How's you 401K pension doing after the fall and where did all the money go? I have nothing but the Social Security I started paying into when I was 13 years old. 54 years ago. It comes every two weeks and never a problem. 5% administration costs.
I LOVE my government. I just hate the creeps and bums that have taken it away.
he will take the Hosni Mubarak rd.
what ever happen to our democracy?
It is highly unlikely that he, being a Repulican Union Busting puke.
I can not say on here what I think should happen to him.............