tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post6873713104030109850..comments2023-10-30T04:54:07.159-04:00Comments on 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE: GOP Takes Aim at Collective BargainingDChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835607180418553607noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-38704701727918665462011-02-23T21:50:34.691-05:002011-02-23T21:50:34.691-05:00First, it would be great if visitors to this site ...First, it would be great if visitors to this site would use a name or some way to identify since I don't know if all the Anons are the same person.<br /><br />Obamacare was not shoved through. If it had been, liberal Dems would have loved it which they didn't. Instead it took a long time to meander through both houses of Congress and was a much-awtered down bill because of it. What is happening in Wisconsin and elsewhere is Republican majorities overreaching and trying to ram through their legislation. There is no bargaining, even within their own caucus.<br /><br />Union members ARE taxpayers. They are working class folks who patrol our streets, take care of our sick, teach our children. The Right seems to forget that.<br /><br />Regarding what polling shows--yes, Americans/voters want it all. They want their government services, they want low taxes, they want balanced budgets. That's one of the reasons we are in this mess--neither party wants to tell voters no. I am not against balanced budgets--I am very much for them. Most Americans are. It's how we get there where people differ. I don't think it's right or smart to try and balance state & federal budgets by punishing the working/middle class.<br /><br />Thanks for your comments.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00835607180418553607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-62997087478364931992011-02-23T14:19:39.936-05:002011-02-23T14:19:39.936-05:00That same USA Today also showed that Americans opp...That same USA Today also showed that Americans oppose tax increases with a 71% majority.<br /><br />Hmmm... 71% or 61% - It seems that, unfortunately, many poll respondents don't understand that supporting one means opposing the other...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-35191237273300556002011-02-23T14:07:59.829-05:002011-02-23T14:07:59.829-05:00Government workers were making good salaries in 19...Government workers were making good salaries in 1962 when President Kennedy lifted, by executive order (so much for democracy), the federal ban on government unions." ... "The argument for public unionization wasn't moral, economic or intellectual. It was rankly political.<br /><br />Traditional organized labor, the backbone of the Democratic Party, was beginning to lose ground. As Daniel DiSalvo wrote in "The Trouble with Public Sector Unions," in the fall issue of National Affairs, JFK saw how in states such as New York and Wisconsin, where public unions were already in place, local liberal pols benefited politically and financially. He took the idea national.<br /><br />The plan worked perfectly -- too perfectly. Public union membership skyrocketed, and government union support for the party of government skyrocketed with it. From 1989 to 2004, AFSCME -- the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- gave nearly $40 million to candidates in federal elections, with 98.5 percent going to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics."<br /><br />-Jonah Goldberg<br />http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/260359/public-unions-must-go-jonah-goldbergAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-73486078577232576502011-02-23T13:16:34.097-05:002011-02-23T13:16:34.097-05:00"This is about a naked power play--bust the u..."This is about a naked power play--bust the unions & you drive a stake through the Democratic Party." <br /><br />The first admittance that the Public Unions and the Dems are aligned against the tax payers.<br /><br />Public Unions put Dems in office and give Dems campaign cash while Dems try to grow the power of the Public Unions (which are by definition monopolies). The victim is the private sector tax payer who is getting fleeced.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-19988955960233892522011-02-23T13:11:17.694-05:002011-02-23T13:11:17.694-05:00"This is what dictatorship looks like, not de..."This is what dictatorship looks like, not democracy. The democratic process would include real debate and a thoughtful give-and-take..."<br /><br /><br />Of course... Just like the passage of Obamacare.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-70407672921635237512011-02-23T11:08:26.139-05:002011-02-23T11:08:26.139-05:00A USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that 61% of American...A USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that 61% of Americans oppose a Wisconsin-style law taking away collective bargaining right of public employees.<br /><br />http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-22-poll-public-unions-wisconsin_N.htmDChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00835607180418553607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-18567825380245564602011-02-22T20:11:57.383-05:002011-02-22T20:11:57.383-05:00No, it's not as simple as that. And yes, I kno...No, it's not as simple as that. And yes, I know the U.S. is a republic not a democracy, thanks for the history lesson.<br /><br />This is about a naked power play--bust the unions & you drive a stake through the Democratic Party. The unions in Wisconsin already signaled they would cave on salary & benefits. Walker has no interest & will only be happy when he busts the unions. Kasich is on record saying he wanted to break the teachers unions. They are taking away fundamental rights workers fought decades for in this country. This is about power & politics, not economics.<br /><br />By the way, Walker had a surplus in this fiscal year when he entered office only to pass a tax cut bill brining Wisconsin into the red. The current emergency that Wisconsin is currently in is of his own doing.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00835607180418553607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226605107278385473.post-69287456384380196842011-02-22T17:22:06.670-05:002011-02-22T17:22:06.670-05:00Governor Walker and Governor Kasich were both elec...Governor Walker and Governor Kasich were both elected on platforms that would curb spending by restricting Union benefits, so this issue has already been debated and voted on. There is also reporting from Rasmussen that shows the majority of likely voters in Wisconsin support the measure. If anything, what we’re seeing is the polar opposite of what’s happening in Egypt. We’re seeing a small minority of society fighting tooth and nail to keep their handsome benefits paid for by the rest of society. We have no money and something has to give; it’s as simple as that.<br /><br />And the United States is a Republic, not a Democracy.Craig Wessonnoreply@blogger.com