Re: The one piece on what's happening in WI you must read

One of the really good guys in this debate is Dem Senator Tim Cullen from my
hometown. He and Scott Walker thought they had worked out concessions both
parties could agree with late last week, modifying some of the things the
Unions hated most; making unions recertify each year, removing the ability
to take Union dues directly out of Union member's pay. But then, caucus
leader Dem. Senator Mark Miller nixed the deal in what appeared to be at the
behest of Union bosses from DC. See, in WI, local school districts have been
hurrying to pass new contracts with higher pension / benefits even though
they know the Governor has promised to cut state aid to school districts. In
short, since school districts don't make cuts on the basis of merit or pay
scale but rather tenure, the newest hired teachers will be the ones to feel
the pay.

From where I sit, it looks like the unions are far more concerned about
keeping their own power than they are about protecting their weakest or
newest members. That's far more troubling to me than the bandied Walker
'croneyism'.

Scott Walker is a preacher's kid, an Eagle scout. He's a straight arrow.
He's not flashy or even terribly partisan. He simply doesn't want to raise
taxes to balance the budget and he'd rather not lay people off if he can
vision-cast the idea of local communities cutting their own budgets to get
everything back in order. But he may be too idealistic for such a liberal
state, and that's where I think the major friction is coming from. Mix in
the apparent fact that Obama seems to be making WI a prime battleground
state and it's not hard to think there's much more going on here than just
Wisconsin voters expressing their wishes and Wisconsin elected officials
responding to that mandate through the normal political process. There's
nothing normal about any of this.

I just hope this doesn't turn violent. Madison is a tinder keg right now.

Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |*
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On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 11:26 AM, Bruce Geerdes <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 6:28 AM, Johne Cook <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> As a citizen, it's scary just how much the unions are throwing their
>> collective weight and warchests against Gov. Walker. This isn't just about
>> the people of WI going about their business, it's taken on a much larger
>> significance, and that's scary and wrong.
>
>
> I find it disturbing that out-of-staters have gotten involved in WI. Now
> they're funding recall elections for legislators on both side of the aisle.
> There's something wrong about that.
>
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