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May Yoni be crushed by the VRWC he cheers on.
Interesting passage from a National Review article published yesterday.
Walker Holds His Ground
I hope he takes full advantage of the simple majority that remains at work in the legislature.“We are looking at legal options to compel the senators to come back,” Walker says. “They have no endgame. They don’t know what they are doing. They got caught up in the hysteria and decided to run, but that’s not how this works. You have got to be in the arena.”
Bringing up hot-button legislation while the Democrats are gone is another arrow in Walker’s quiver. Though the Wisconsin cons ution requires three-fifths of the senate to be present to pass fiscal legislation, a simple majority of 17 members cons utes a quorum for other bills in the 33-seat state senate. So the 19 GOP senators who remain in Madison can pass any number of bills while their Democratic colleagues are on the lam, and Republicans are a majority in the assembly, too. “They can hold off, but there is a whole legislative agenda that Republicans in the senate and assembly can start acting on that only requires simple majorities,” Walker warns.“If they want to do their jobs, and have a say, they better show up.”
May Yoni be crushed by the VRWC he cheers on.
If by cheering on VRWC, you mean common sense; Yeah! Right on!
The public employees in Wisconsin are in an existential snit over Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill -- an effort to eliminate a State debt/deficit that threatens the solvency of Wisconsin.
Here is what the bill proposes that has public employees displaying that "new civility" and comparing him to Hitler and Mubarek...
- Ask government workers to pay half the cost of their pensions - still less than private employees pay for their pensions
- Ask government workers to pay 12% of their own health insurance premiums - the national average for the private sector is over 20%
- End collective bargaining for government unions for pensions and benefits. Allow bargaining only for raises that are less than inflation.
- End forced union dues, collected by the state. Union dues would become voluntary.
- Union members get to vote yearly on whether to keep their union.
I don't see anything about gassing them or gathering them up into concentration camps.
Indeed. Not to mention that there was an election last November and the people made their choice then.
This is nothing more than a bunch of middle class government employees seeking to protect their own sinecures, granted by a process that should never exist for public employees.
Collective bargaining for public employees is an hetical to the democratic political process and should be summarily destroyed.
"the people made their choice then"
the mandate was the classic "get the jobs and economy going" in a horrible economy plus the customary mid-term swing, NOT a mandate to destroy jobs.
The proposed legislation did not "destroy" one government job; it merely asked government employees to share the burden.
They are unwilling and, therefore, seem intent on destroying their own jobs. Good riddance; there are others (such as the protester carrying the sign with which LnGrrrR took exception) who would gladly work those jobs under the conditions proposed by Governor Walker.
"it merely asked government employees to share the burden."
They already have yielded in the current fight, and over the past 2 years.
The VRWC causes the Banksters' Great Depression then the lower 98% has to pay for it.
Also, Walker won on a platform of reducing government spending and, it is my understanding, that bringing government salaries and en lements more in line with the private sector was a part of that agenda.
So, from what I'm hearing and seeing, Walker is doing exactly what he proposed he would do during the campaign. I guess he does see this as a mandate...and, one he intends to follow through on.
Good for him. Right now, the majority of Wisconsins support him and his efforts.
And still, they enjoy en lements and salaries far above the State's averages. What is being proposed isn't out of line and, it certainly doesn't rise to the level of the absurd amount of "new civility" on display in Wisconsin right now.
VRWC and its tea baggers goons swim in dishonesty and bad faith:
But Tea Party Nation and Mark Williams, the disgraced former chairman of Tea Party Express, who was forced to resign after making offensive racial comments, are calling for a more radical approach. In an email alert to supporters sent last night, Tea Party Nation promotes Williams’ “great idea” to impersonate SEIU organizers at upcoming labor rallies in an attempt to embarrass and discredit the union.
Williams lays out a highly dishonest and fairly involved scheme to have “plants” sign up on the SEIU website to be organizers for an upcoming rally, dress up in SEIU shirts, and to then make outrageous comments to reporters covering the events in order to “make the gathering look as greedy and goonish as we know that it is”:
That link will take you to an SEIU page where you can sign up as an “organizer” for one of their upcoming major rallies to support the union goons in Wisconsin. Here is what I am doing in Sacramento, where they are holding a 5:30 PM event this coming Tuesday: (1) I signed up as an organizer (2) with any luck they will contact me and I will have an “in” (3) in or not I will be there and am asking as many other people as can get there to come with, all of us in SEIU shirts (those who don’t have them we can possibly buy some from vendors likely to be there) (4) we are going to target the many TV cameras and reporters looking for comments from the members there (5) we will approach the cameras to make good pictures… signs under our shirts that say things like “screw the taxpayer!” and “you OWE me!” to be pulled out for the camera (timing is important because the signs will be taken away from us. [...]
Our goal is to make the gathering look as greedy and goonish as we know that it is, ding their credibility with the media and exploit the lazy reporters who just want dramatic shots and outrageous quotes for headlines. Even if it becomes known that we are plants the quotes and pictures will linger as defacto truth.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/21/...filtrate-seiu/
And you know Fox Repug Propganda network will use the tea bagging liars' quotes.
So, are the proposed changes in the Governor's bill reasonable or not? And, if not, why not?
Right, but those items usually already have sales tax. How would you propose to make up the lost money from the income tax? Would tax rates on things like TVs just shoot up to 200% or something?
Actually, the way I understand it, the tax would increase by about 22%. But, the embedded cost of current tax structure (being eliminated by transitioning to the Fair Tax) all along the path of that television's production would be reduced by roughly the same 22% so, in theory, the price you see at the Best Buy would not change appreciably.
That's what the Fair Tax proposes.
The argument then arises that manufacturers will just not pass the cost savings along to consumers; at which point, Fair Tax proponents believe compe ion will be introduced into the market and an informed consumer will force the television manufacturers and retailers to do just that.
I didn't, I just the thought the sign was dumb. The author of the sign implies how good the teachers have it, but "sick days"? Don't most jobs have that? And don't a good amount of teachers get retirement and/or pension?
Thanks Yoni. Two further questions: wouldnt any sales tax system be extremely volatile during economic downturns?
Also, wouldn't any state be able to impose their own income tax if the federal one was removed?
Wow, that was a political cartoon with a conservative point of view that was actually kinda funny. I'm shocked.
Here's what that cartoonist had to say...
Yeah, I bet this doesn't end well for the unions.
Not sure when bizarro boutons will get back to it, so I'll take a shot:
Yes, sales taxes (along with the "VAT" type taxes) would be VERY volatile in downturns.
Many states already have income taxes, so the answer to the second question is yes as well.
"We Have a Fire in the House of Labor. We Are Here to Put it Out": Wisconsin Firefighters and Police Officers Join Massive Protests Against Anti-Union Bill
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2..._a_fire_in_the
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This is not about money. It's about power.
If the Repug assholes win, it will be a precedent for the VRWC to push the same power grab elsewhere.
Thanks RG. Wondering what they think of state income taxes. And I figured any sort of revenue system that focused mainly on sales taxes wouldn't be sustainable/predictable.
The unemployed don't and, yes, many jobs don't offer sick time. If you don't work, you don't get paid.
Yep, something that isn't threatened. Which was he point of the sign. Government unions are whining about losing things they are privileged to have and failing to recognize they're jeopardizing things others would love to have...like sick leave, pension, and an early retirement.
The sales tax in Williamson County, Texas has stood at 8.25% for as long as I can remember...good times and bad.
If you set the tax, legislatively, like the income tax, there shouldn't be that much volatility.
States are already free to ins ute income taxes. So what?
I just don't think that "sick days" are some workplace extravagance. Teachers are paid on salary, so for every sick day they take, there's a decent chance they might be working late as well. It's not like teachers get overtime.
I mean, it's sick days we are talking about, not stock options.
I understand people think they're making too much money. But if teachers lose those benefits, won't that attract less teachers to the career field? Are the citizens ok with that? Are those teachers particularly unskilled?
Also, those teachers took that job under the assumption they would receive those benefits. Pretty unfair to cut them now, unless you grandfather in those laws. I can tell you if the gov cut military retirement you'd have a lot of pissed off soldiers in the middle of their career.
You misunderstood me. I meant that, in hard times, people will buy less. The tax revenue itself would be volatile.
And I wasn't sure if you were against all income taxes, or just the federal one. Thanks for the distinction.
sick time is pretty common around here, even for non-union jobs...
Yep, just as income tax revenues are volatile. Government would have to prioritize their spending -- just like the rest of us do when times are lean.
I'm opposed to State income taxes, as well but, that's not what you asked.
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