From Rawstory.com:
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R), the Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader, must have forgotten his talking points while appearing on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show. This afternoon he admitted on-air what many liberals have long-suspected: rescinding collective bargaining rights from state workers is Wisconsin is as much about the 2012 presidential election as Wisconsin’s 2011 budget shortage.
As first reported by ThinkProgress, Fitzgerald told Kelly: “If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.”
Are we surprised? The sad part is that the sacrificial lambs are public employees, who don’t make that much money to start with. Funny how the people making over $250k a year were protected from tax increases by the Republicans and these middle class people are not only thrown to the wolves but prevented from having any bargaining powers.
It isn’t over. And while the Wisconsin Republicans can go around chest thumping and high fiving over their supposed victory. they probably won the battle but lost the war. There is a huge uprising within the United States over what is perceived as as bullying. Many people who ordinarily would not support unions will support the public servants because they are firefighters, police officers, nurses, teachers, librarians…the backbones of our communities. When the dust settles, across the nation, people will see just who the victims are. Old Mrs. Crabapple who works in the librarian is hardly a union thug, regardless of the picture painted by Wisconsin Republicans.
We will see if your prediction comes true. This particular blog entry could have been taken directly from the DNC’s talking points. I suspect that very few who agree with your statement about protecting people who make $250K from tax increases or view this as bullying the unions would vote Republican anyway.
Told ya! It was never about the budget. It was always about busting the union and the apparatus to fund non-Republican candidates. The Wisconsin Republicans just lacked to courage at first to admit it.
I’m not really seeing a huge uprising that isn’t being egged on and staffed by unions. It’s hard to imagine that Wisconsin farmers sit around worrying about their tax dollars not being used in negotiations over benefits they themselves may never enjoy. I don’t think the public employees in states that ban collective bargaining are crying buckets, either. And what about the >10 percent who are still unemployed? The people whose jobs have been outsourced because of the unsustainably high salaries and benefits demanded by unions? The times they are a’changin’, and romanticizing unions as being there only to protect the plight of the poor, underpaid worker is ringing hollow to a lot of other hardworking Americans who are struggling just to get or keep their jobs.
@Emma actually, I think a lot of folks in states where collective bargaining is banned or severely curtailed might be upset. They can sure see why it might be important to retain what little power you have.
I don’t think the country got behind the public employees over money. The turning point seemed to be after they made concessions, it still wasn’t good enough. Walker’s boys (and girls) had the numbers and they ran over top of the public employees, regardless of the concessions. That’s the rub.
@ Kelly: Elections are won by the party that draws the most votes from Independents, not by the folks that always vote the party line no matter what their party does. The attack on public service employees will haunt the GOP just as Moon is predicting.
So jobs are outsourced only because of unions??? … Since business is not required to track outsourcing statistics – prove it’s all the fault of unions….
Bet the Japanese are willing to think public servants should be compensated well for what they’re dealing with. Funny thing about government help, once you need it you can’t get enough. When you don’t need it no one else does.
This will haunt the GOP for a long time to come… The issue here is not saving money it’s about the manipulation of government by business. You really think Scott Walker figured out that workaround all by himself? Without the help of some really top notch privately paid attorneys?? Give me a break. Too much is being written on all sides about this and the ultimate conclusion is the same regardless. Politicians use party to control the electorate. Amongst themselves, they could care less.
The real parties among the elected are:
Party I – in this for my personal gain
Party II – really believe I can do some good.
Party II must reside in an echo chamber.
What does that mean?
Party II is like Bigfoot.
Strike that, Bigfoot’s been sighted at least once or twice. Party II is more like the Tooth Fairy.
I’ve known and met quite a few politicians (mostly Senate/House) and there are some sincere ones out there. Not all one party…… that’s part of the problem, everyones after the witty sarcastic sound bite instead of sincerity and thinking. You too could be a contender on talk radio… i
Oh, I forget, sound bite all the average badly educated less intelligent American can read or listen too. God, I hope the Japanese get over this or there will not be any intelligent life left on earth.
Public servants ought to be on the same level as the emperor after this earthquake.
Bet no one turns up their nose at public servants over there,
No one would here either if a plane crashed in Old Towne….. the expecation would pretty high. One of the first questions asked by Fox was “how well do you think your government reacted”. Here the answer would be “well, we’ve begun a hiring and training process”. Get ready. Look at Katrina – they were so overwhelmed, understaffed and untrained, public safety walked away. Contrast to NYC after 9/11 – well paid, well trained and well staffed. But now we think they’re overpaid and over staffed. How soon we forget our “hero’s” that appeared on tee shirts, hats and logos……
Good point, Juturna. I wonder if the statues will be torn down once people realize how overpaid those heroes were? I think we got a taste of that when Congress dug their heels in about paying for their delibilitating illnesses.
USS Blue Ridge headed to Japan. Some aid is already arriving. I see uniforms. Must be public servants ….arkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!
They’re cannon fodder. Collateral damage so we can use energy sucking light bulbs and drive Humvees
Aren’t first responders usually public employees?
Interesting Museum. 1946 Hawaiian tsunami. Hilo, if I recall
http://www.tsunami.org/index.html
First responders:
http://www.tsunami.org/storyfestfirst_responders.html
This week, nine Marines were killed. Almost all networks spent more time on Charlie Sheen than the Marines. Except the left leaning liberal PBS. They covered those deaths and did not mention Charlie Sheen.
@Juturna,
All the more reason to defund PBS. We can’t have left leaning liberals caring more about our service personnel than real red-blooded, apple pie eating patriotic conservatives, now can we?
You would think from this thread that there had never before been a battle between the political parties and their supporters for control of the levers of governmental power. The only thing that has changed for us is that, thanks to technology, we just see more of it and in real time. Well, there is one other thing. It seems these days that, whenever you get beaten in the political game by the other guys, the other guys are labelled immediately as absolutely evil and despicable and a threat to our life and liberty. That seems to be a fault on both sides, I would posit. Hmmm, that’s not exactly new either, but, thanks to the internet, we ALL get to take part in the hue and cry…and the insults…and the denigration…and the name calling.
Those public servants on the USS Blue Ridge are not in labor union. They are not staging dishonest sickout to demand union representation. These are public servants who are selflessly doing their jobs and therefore very well respected …. perhaps the state workers in Wisconsin
could learn something from them.
@kelly, and there are plenty of public servants who have been disparaged on this blog who selflessly do their jobs day in and day out.
There are plenty who are not staging dishonest sick outs. On the other hand, you disparage ‘the state workers’ in Wisconsin. Is that all state workers? You realize that there are also local workers in that mix also. Some are barely able to eek out a living. I have seen some numbers. While I don’t approve of all tactics I have seen in Wisconsin, it doesn’t make me change my mind about collective bargaining and what a scum bag Walker and his followers have been to them.
Correct, I haven’t seen this level of business control of government and such blatant lying in my lifetime. I’ve only read about it in history books….. then came monopolies and the unions.
I’m touched that PBS cares so much….now. Where was their concern when they supported all the blame America first crowd, supported terrorist organizations, and were willing to take money from them, and thought about ways to make it an anonymous donation? The board may have ousted Schiller, but they all agreed that they supported her. They got rid of her for PR reasons.
@Cargo
I have never felt that pbs supported the blame America first crowd. That is just bogus. I also am not aware of it supporting terrorist organizations or taking money from them.
When you say ‘they all agreed,'[ who exactly do you mean? They all who?
Ron Shiller and fake Muslims = Scott Walker and fake Koch. Good point!
Subtle……so subtle.
Here are some pictures taken at the WI rallies–taken by a rabid anti-Scott Walker, ultra- liberal family member (yes, I have a few of those, believe it or not), so you can take my good word for it that they are not doctored in any way.
http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h459/EmmaWdse/
You will never see these images in the press. I wonder why?
I slipped in the Imperial Walker photo just for fun. I actually really like that one!
Ron Schiller was ready to take money and hide it as an anonymous donation from an apparent HAMAS and Muslim Brotherhood support group that wanted to advance Sharia in the US.
NPR fundraiser Betsy Liley suggested that the Muslim Brotherhood associates make their donation anonymously to shield themselves from unwanted government attention.
Vivian Schiller “resigned” but the board put out that news with this: The Board accepted her resignation with understanding, genuine regret, and great respect for her leadership of NPR these past two years…”
Since this is the person that has so riled conservatives, fire Juan Williams over his supposed biases, and obviously supported Ron Schiller, and the board supports and respects this? Nothing has changed except that they are getting bad PR.
Here’s Vivian Schiller: “Ron Schiller’s remarks are contrary to what NPR stands for and are deeply distressing to reporters, editors and others who bring fairness, civility and respect for a wide variety of viewpoints to their work everyday.”
Here’s the problem. She’s upset that he made those remarks. Where’s the condemnation for meeting with supporters of Sharia and terrorism?
Perhaps I phrased it wrong. Not the Blame America First crowd but the liberal crowd. Even Joe Scarborough says it: JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well I just want to say, I love NPR and I listen to NPR, but I’ve been listening to reformed, pot-smoking hippies for the past thirty years on NPR with a very substantial left-wing bias – and I don’t care that they eat tree bark like Euell Gibbons, and I don’t care if they are still smoking pot in their sixties. They put on great radio. But for NPR – for NPR, the leadership at NPR to question the bias of Fox News is a joke. They have been biased – again, I still listen to them, because like “The New York Times” they are the best at what they do. But, please, that is a laugh. NPR –
Knowing the dripping contempt with which NPR executives hold their political and intellectual inferiors, I have no use for them anymore. I’m even willing to give up my beloved “Writer’s Almanac,” the only reason they ever got any donations from me. Screw them.
@Emma
I think all people in the media are superior acting. Do you think Roger Ailes is the picture of humility? I agree about screw them but I love PBS and its programming. And after looking at the shows *I* like vs the shows some other people like, that confirms it…(the superiority bit)
Downton Abbey vs Jackass3 watchers….you tell me.
NPR and PBS are separate.
@Juturna “Writer’s Almanac” is on NPR during Morning Edition. That is where my donations have gone, but that’s stopping this year.
I’m familiar with the program… PBS shouldn’t take the hit for NPR.
@Juturna Who’s talking about PBS?
Others have been lumping PBS/NPR into one.