Democratic Governor To Walker: 'You Are Cutting Your Own Throat'

WASHINGTON -- In the nation's capital for their annual winter meeting, Democratic governors took advantage of the surrounding national press corps to tee off on Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) and the anti-union measure he is pushing through his state.

Speaking shortly after a meeting with President Barack Obama, in which they insisted the topic of Wisconsin had not come up in any substantive detail, the Democratic governors backed both collective bargaining and inclusive governance.

"If you are a successful CEO of a company or of a state, the most important thing you can do is to build morale of the people who work for you," said Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.), citing his experience bargaining with Montana's public-employee unions, which agreed to forgo a salary increase two and a half years ago to avoid layoffs. "It is the people that work for you that make you successful, and when you do that to morale, you are cutting your own throat."

As for Walker's management style, "Every governor has to use his own model. But I don't know how this one ends in a good way," Schweitzer said. "How long do you think that CEO would keep his job and how successful do you think that business will be?"

Other governors offered similar sentiments, though with a little less bravado than the outspoken Montanan. Walker's push to effectively end collective-bargaining rights cuts against a fundamental plank of the Democratic platform and deals direct damage to one of the party's most reliable and powerful constituencies. And with poll numbers showing that the public, by and large, agrees with those protesting Walker's actions, there is little downside to Democrats speaking out.

Gov. Pat Quinn (D-Ill.), whose state has become the fleeing ground for Democratic lawmakers hoping to hold up anti-union legislative activity in Wisconsin and Indiana, said he had no problem providing political asylum.

"Illinois is open for tourism all the time," he told The Huffington Post. "We have Wisconsin legislators and I think Indiana legislators, I really think that everybody knows it is important to have collective bargaining. It is the best way to resolve differences, and what's happening in Wisconsin, I don't think will spread anywhere."

Comments

[builderman55]

11:49 PM on 03/03/2011

All any fool needs is enough rope and a close enough tree branch to hang themselves. Walker appears to be seeking out a suitable limb...

[elljay1]

07:38 PM on 03/03/2011

Walker said he will use any means possible to get his way.
Looks like his boys are starting to use any means possible!
Peaceful protests use people in large numbers.
Thugs, bully's, and loyalists of Gaddafi use weapons and ammunition.
Walker is a power hungry Despot ( a cruel and oppressive dictator )
Is this going to be the NEW America!!

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8618-503544_162-20039024.html?assetTypeId=41&messageId=10478220&tag=contentMain;contentBody#ixzz1FaOS1FMQ

[allengoldchain]

01:07 PM on 03/03/2011

Gov. Walker... just brush your shoulder off. those democrat gov come from states that are deep in debt. too bad they haven't got the nerve to do what is needed. They are more interested in getting reelected then making the adult decisions.

Did Obama ever take the time to learn that government federal union "workers" don't even have collective bargaining? At least Walker still allows for the union "workers" to collective bargain on their salary.

Walker don't back down!

[IndependentBadger]

03:34 PM on 03/24/2011

Oh, don't worry about that. Compromise is the LAST thing you'll see this guy do, while angling for a VP slot.

[deans2cents]

09:42 AM on 03/03/2011

Wisconsin is still in the USA.....I wonder why the governor is emulating HITLER and communism, and not democracy?

[allengoldchain]

01:08 PM on 03/03/2011

the vitriol of the liberals comes out as usual.

keep it up!

[thevamprn]

01:47 PM on 03/03/2011

It's interesting how it's only "democracy" when they're in charge otherwise it's a dictatorship. It's interesting how conservatives are "obstructionists" and liberals are patriots when they run away. That's why they will lose. Americans can recognize BS from shinola. That's why more people turn to FOX.

[Peoples23]

06:31 PM on 03/03/2011

Way to drink the Koolaid boys. Yes Fox is good, fox loves you, fox can do no harm. You know, cause you never hear hateful violent rhetoric from the right. Right? Now recite again, Corporations are good, and have the peoples interest at heart. Its fun and easy to be brainwashed!!

[Valicore]

05:57 PM on 02/28/2011

Does anyone remember government FOR the people and BY the people? The PEOPLE, these protestors, have finally reached the point where the BS these "conservative" politicians has given them enough civil courage to refuse to back down.

[allengoldchain]

01:12 PM on 03/03/2011

Yes I also remembered that 54% of WI VOTED for Walker. How come the left believes it is acceptable when they are the ones ramming laws through? Obamacare was rammed through with the majority of the public viewing it as being UNPOPULAR. So why did the democrats not listen to the public then?

The fact is that what the governor is doing is what he feels is the right direction for approaching the budget crisis in WI. Unlike Obama at least he is taking the steps to do something about it! I give him a A for moving forward.

[Peoples23]

06:38 PM on 03/03/2011

"Deficits don't matter." -Dick Cheney 2003

Only when a democrats in office I guess. Makes you wonder if they are exaggerating the deficit to accomplish an agenda. I mean the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Austerity for the rich will be the end of the American Dream.

[IndependentBadger]

03:36 PM on 03/24/2011

Walker never said he was going to eliminate the right to collective bargaining, while campaigning. If he had, 54% of us wouldn't have voted for him.

Of course, he knew that.

[CMarks]

04:38 PM on 02/28/2011

Walker has instructed the Republican lawmakers to model their anti-union legislation after that passed by Indiana six years ago. The indiana law effective dismantled most union activity with some unions totally disbanding. Problem here though is that Indiana, without collective bargaining and other union perks for nearly 6 years, their condition currently is comparable to that of Wisconsin. This should prove as further evidence that Walker should simply "man up" and admit that his anti-union stand is not, as presented simply a money saving budget balancing action but a full fledged attempt to pay back his big business cronies by busting up the unions. If I lived in Wisconsin I would be organizing a recall petition to see just how much support Gov. Walker actually has.

[SuzeCupcake]

05:32 PM on 02/28/2011

Unfortunately we have to wait until he's been in office one year.

[dallencombs]

12:48 AM on 03/01/2011

Does that mean you have to wait until day 365 before you cn start your signture gathering? If not then start now and give him something to worry about.

[dannywanny]

03:24 PM on 02/28/2011

Destroying the unions has been the dream of the GOP for decades. Unions have been the stronghold of Democratic voters for at least fifty years. The GOP has nurtured the myth of the overpaid, underworked union employees. In truth, budget cuts and concessions have caused most union workers to have reduced benefits, and salaries have not kept pace with the private sector for many union workers.

This is a blatant power play under cover of fiscal responsibility. Eliminating collective bargaining rights will have no effect on the budget.

[allengoldchain]

01:15 PM on 03/03/2011

On the flip side putting the nation in deep debt has been the constant dream of liberals. Obama has spent the nation into even further debt then Bush... hey at least people got their checks..

[GoodbyeRubyTuesday]

02:17 PM on 03/03/2011

What a ridiculous comment - why would anyone, even the LIBERALS, want to put this nation in deep debt?

[dannywanny]

02:45 PM on 03/03/2011

Your aluminum hat is on crooked, pookie. Bush took a small surplus and created the largest budget deficit in world history, requiring Congress to raise the debt ceiling 7 times in order to borrow enough money to keep the government working, all with the support of the GOP. Complaining about the debt at this time is a little disingenuous, dont you think?

Oh, by the way, Reagan did the same, increasing the budget deficit 450%, which seemed like a lot of money at the time. Look it up.

[Tube Hunter]

02:35 PM on 02/28/2011

Gov. Walker's plan is simply unconstitutional. I

[allengoldchain]

01:15 PM on 03/03/2011

ok SC Justice Obama

[gloworm]

02:15 PM on 02/28/2011

it sure seems strange to me that a party that is dedicated to non-funding or under-funding our children's education so that fewer can obtain access to an underfunded educational institution that awards "degrees" that most countries in the world recognize, would deny anyone access to collective bargaining to just make a living. just the basics. we're all in this race, the HUMAN race.

[Reincarnation TPS]

01:17 PM on 02/28/2011

Gov. Scott Walker is NOT going to be re-elected so he may as well give the people of Wisconsin his best sh0t.............

[dannywanny]

03:25 PM on 02/28/2011

This is not it.

[jacqmac]

01:05 PM on 02/28/2011

"cutting your (his) own throat" Hey! I'm sharpening the extra straight razors here. After he DOES slit his throat in public, can we grind him up and make him into pies? Then the PEOPLE would be holding a bake sale, a la Sweeney Todd!

[ThomasRossCMT]

04:44 PM on 02/28/2011

Please, avoid violent imagery about elected officials it freaks a lot of people out, and for good reason. Even in jest.

[logicdog]

04:59 PM on 02/28/2011

I doubt that the governor of Wisconsin is in danger of being assassinated by a Democrat with a straight-razor. What he does with the razor while shaving is his own business.

Besides, I don't see that anyone on the right is particularly disturbed about "freaking people out". Based upon their most vocal pundits (LimBeck, etc_), it's their stock in trade.

[Kendall Ellis]

01:04 PM on 02/28/2011

Collective bargaining is nothing more than a laborers way of joining in the "Capitalism" that our country's system is all about! How can you be for capitalism, yet deny a man his right to set his worth in the marketplace?
Republican business men want there cake and eat it too! Collective bargaining doesn't force anything on anyone! It's all about negotiation. If management cannot afford to give it up, they shouldn't do so at the table. Pure and Simple.
Do not deny a worker his right to participate in Capitalism like you expect his boss, or your company to be able to!

[SpeakupNation]

01:23 PM on 02/28/2011

Fanned for a concise way of explaining this. People had better wake up to what is going on.

[mickfan]

12:45 PM on 02/28/2011

Who elected this guy, he does not even have a college degree, only earned c's when he attended. No crime in that but you would think to be governor a certain amount of intelligence would be nice.

[PSzymeczek]

02:08 PM on 02/28/2011

Neither does Jan Brewer; all she has is a certificate in Radiology from Glendale Community College.

[Bigheart521]

02:53 PM on 02/28/2011

I was thinking the same thing, I saw a sign at the demonstration and it said "I am a Democrat and I voted Republican", I guess the demonstator was saying he made a bad mistake in voting for a Republican and now it's the Democrats who are helping them.

[mlowe0286]

12:18 PM on 02/28/2011

"Starving the beast" is a fiscal-political strategy of some American conservatives to create or increase existing budget deficits via tax cuts to force future reductions in the size of government. The term "beast" refers to the government and the programs it funds, particularly social programs such as welfare, Social Security, Medicare and public schools.
Former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin expressly advocates the policy: "please [Congress], starve the beast, don't perpetuate the problem, don't fund the largess, we need to cut taxes." U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, states "you should never have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans."
Some empirical evidence shows that Starve the Beast may be counterproductive, with lower taxes actually corresponding to higher spending. An 2007 study by Christina D. Romer and David H. Romer of the National Bureau of Economic Research found: "no support for the hypothesis that tax cuts restrain government spending; indeed, the findings suggest that tax cuts may actually increase spending.

Economist Bruce Bartlett called Starve the Beast "the most pernicious fiscal doctrine in history."

[jacqmac]

01:09 PM on 02/28/2011

"Starving the Beast" sounds like the name of a rock group--any takers? Anyway--I was thinking about what hungry 'beasts' do. They don't generally die of starvation. They either TURN on those that are starving them and devour them OR they TURN on each other and devour each other. A wolf in a trap will chew off its own leg to escape. Soooo-IF I were those that were calling to 'Starve the Beast', I'd be mighty careful what I wished for. It is NOT a GIVEN that the starved and hungry beast will turn on and devour its own relations.......You have been WARNED!!

[NHGranite]

12:17 PM on 02/28/2011

You sure this ain't Charlie Sheen? Act alike, sound alike, both stuck on themselves. Which twin has to P in the cup?