Gov. Scott Walker's attack on Wisconsin's middle class and his plan to take away the rights of public service workers is wrong. It's certainly wrong for the governor to work for corporate special interests like the infamous Koch brothers instead of the people of Wisconsin. And his threat Tuesday of "dire consequences" was disingenuous and irresponsible, especially since his draconian attack on the freedom of employees to have a voice at work has nothing to do with balancing the state's budget.
It's time for the governor to stop fighting with public employees, put aside his partisan agenda and help Wisconsin move forward. The governor should work with the unions and both political parties and remember that this is not about winning a fight - it's about getting things done.
In Indiana, for example, that's what Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has decided to do. Ideologically, Daniels and Walker are kindred spirits, and the Indiana governor is no friend of workers. But Daniels decided this is not the right time to declare war on workers. According to the Indianapolis Star, Daniels signaled Tuesday that "Republicans should drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures."
Wisconsin's governor has created an unnecessary impasse. Gov. Walker has driven 14 Democratic state senators into hiding because it's the only way they can force a pause in the legislative process. He is staring out his office window at unprecedented protests by thousands of Wisconsinites from all walks of life. Recent polls show the public is not on his side. Everyone understands that Gov. Walker's claims about the state budget are a pretext to take away peoples' rights and shrink Wisconsin's middle class. This is no way to lead a state. The governor should work across party lines to solve this problem so Wisconsin lawmakers can move on to other issues - including the budget for the coming fiscal year.
The governor could end this crisis if he's willing to work with the unions and both political parties. As we all know, this crisis is not about the money and never was. To the extent that Wisconsin has a budget deficit, it is a problem of the governor's own making, thanks to tax breaks he just gave to corporations. The workers have already agreed to Gov. Walker's requests for concessions on pension and health care. But the governor won't budge - he continues to put his ideological agenda ahead of the people of Wisconsin. That's just plain wrong and makes little sense as a practical matter.
The governor is needlessly alienating Wisconsin's workers. I understand why the governor attacked his own work force of public-service employees in his first six weeks in office. Taking away collective-bargaining rights from all workers is an important agenda item for the big corporations and the extremists in his own political party. But this plan has backfired. The middle-class families of his state are turning against the governor. Of course people are angry. Giving tax breaks to corporations and the super rich while taking away the rights, income and benefits of middle-class families isn't fair. No state can afford this kind of strife when budget crises make "shared sacrifice" the phrase of the day. Shared means shared.
Gov. Walker should move Wisconsin forward instead of pursuing his partisan political agenda. There's no room for political games in a fragile economy. There are tough problems to solve, and that can't happen when politicians are playing politics with people's lives. Politicians like Gov. Walker shouldn't be declaring war on the middle class to appease their corporate backers. They should not talk about making "tough" decisions to reduce the standard of living for working families at the same time they increase the wealth of billionaires like the Koch brothers.
A right-wing corporate cabal funded by the Kochs is applying growing pressure on Walker and all Republicans to attack unions. Tomorrow, the Koch-led front group Americans for Prosperity will begin a Wisconsin TV and radio ad campaign to promote this assault on workers.
Now we're seeing exactly the same attacks in states like Ohio. Until these governors and politicians ask the corporations and the very rich to pay their fair share, they have no business asking the rest of us for anything.
You can join the fight -- www.wearewisconsin.org.
Follow Ethan Rome on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@HCAN
Jesse Berney: Top Six Revelations in the Call Between Fake David Koch and Governor Scott Walker
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Randi Weingarten: National Collaboration Conference In Denver Eclipsed By Wisc. Protests
Neither is in constitution, are special status granted by courts as reward for lobbying.
The right of the people to form labor unions and to collectively bargain for standards in wages and working conditions is well established. It was won through arduous effort and great, even supreme, sacrifice requiring the blood, life and limbs of workers to secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Conversely, the granting of 'personhood' to corporations was accomplished through judicial fiat by courts that are now mainly recognized for their politicized nature and extreme corruption -- much like our current Federal judiciary, especially the Roberts Supremes.
Second, when unions gain wages and benefits it has a direct effect of increasing wages and benefits in the competitive private sector by establishing a fair market bench mark. Thus, even if you are not in a union, YOU will directly benefit if they prevail!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/22/947918/-Wisconsin:-Its-not-just-collective-bargaining,-Medicaid-is-on-the-line-too
Polls on Wisconsin, Union vs Walker
Gallup
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/02/41_percent_of_republicans_oppo.html
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2011/02/22/poll-wisconsin-voters-heavily-favor-public-employees-protesters/
There are a lot more but I got tired of wading through Google's interminable rehash of page after page, after page, ad nauseum, of Rasmussen' totally biased poll.
- Mayor Rahm Emanuel, City of Chicago
Not being a member of a union, I'm 76 years old, and thanks to a decent education yeaars ago, it is frightening that the entire country is not up in arms over this obvious plan to mimic Nazi Germany's, "First they came for the Labor Unionists.."
But the best part came next. "NEVER AGAIN!" Never again would we allow one class of our fellow citizens after another to lose their rights. When Winston Churchill spoke of the Sleeping Giant that had awakened as WWII began, he wasn't speaking of our Government. He was speaking of our PEOPLE. I am so proud of them all, and all of the people of all the countries in the World who are supporting them that it brings tears of joy to my eyes. Thank you for bringing back what I used to have, for my kids and grandkids. Love you all.
-- Edmund Burke
chris
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/rasmussen-poll-on-wisconsin-dispute-may-be-biased/?partner=rss&emc=rss
According to the firm’s statement of question wording, these were the first four questions Rasmussen asked in the poll:
1: How closely have you followed news reports about the Wisconsin governor’s effort to limit collective bargaining rights for most state employees?
2: Does the average public employee in your state earn more than the average private sector worker in your state, less than the average private sector worker in your state, or do they earn about the same amount?
3: Should teachers, firemen and policemen be allowed to go on strike?
4: In the dispute between the governor and the union workers, do you agree more with the governor or the union for teachers and other state employees?
There is nothing wrong with the first question, which simply asks people whether they have been following events in Madison. But the second and third questions are arguably problematic.
You can Google it, but all you get are pages and pages of:Rasmussen Polls on Wisconsin dspute may be biased. Time to put that conclusion to rest with, YES, they certainly are.