Based on the 85K – 100K people who descended on to Madison, the fight has just begun. It’s not just about the unions anymore. The GOP’s held their illegal/tricky vote on Thursday. Scotty signed the half-a-bill into law on Friday. The people showed their anger on Saturday. This isn’t about unions anymore. Farmers circled in tractors showed their support. People who never protested before did so because of their disgust with the GOP and the Walker.
My head was near spinning off last night. I had so many questions. Rachel Maddow did an excellent job, as usual, of explaining what went on. There is even footage of what happened moments before the vote in the chamber.
Wisconsin GOP Strips Public Workers’ Bargaining Rights
Despite this blow, the war has just begun. Senate Republicans in Wisconsin were able to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights tonight. They cut the bill in half, voting on the collective bargaining rights. Because that aspect of the bill does not have any financial implications (to the budget), a quorum is not needed. The vote was 18-1. Thank you, Senator Dale Schultz for standing up to them by voting no.
“In 30 minutes, 18 state Senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten,” said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller. “Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people. Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government.”
Ya damn skippy!
Governor Walker and the GOP succeeded where union leaders have failed – revitalizing union solidarity. The sleeping giant is awake, pissed off, and ready to go. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
The e-mails emerge. Governor Walker is softening. He really misses Senator Jauch.
He poured out his heart in the letters. He agreed that unions can keep some of their collective bargaining rights:
1. Salaries with no market rate limit
2. Mandatory overtime
3. Performance bonuses
4. Hazardous duty pay
5. Classroom size
Walker also said OK to the agreeements lasting up to two years.
Jauch wanted sick leave and vacation pay to be included as well.
Then, Walker had to go and tell everyone how close Jauch was to coming back. He had to blame outsiders for ruining their relationship (e.g., union bosses, Senator Miller). He mocked the proposed border meeting, letting his stubborn pride stand in the way of real reconciliation.
“Trust is completely broken down now. I don’t believe anything he says.” – Jauch said.
Way to go Scotty.
Naturally, Jauch is hurt and doesn’t want to talk. Walker is left to ponder the e-mails and their relationship.
Being an internet-trained psychotherapist, I offer my advice to Walker. Let them keep more bargaining rights and send flowers. Huge, beautiful, and expensive. With this note:
“Baby come back. You can blame it all on me. I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you.”
Scotty’s numbers are tanking, and voters are launching recall efforts. I guess the Wisconsin 14 figures this is a good time to have a pow wow with Walker.
“It’s very difficult because I realize even though we didn’t plan it this way, people are resting their hopes on our decisions,” Jauch said. “I know that at the point we return some people are going to be terribly let down. We have to communicate with them that we stand together.”
That is why you meet him in Illinois. Since he’ll never agree to that, dig in your heels. There is a ton of opposition to his plan, especially when union members have already agreed to the cuts. I don’t know how long he can stand this because people are growing increasingly pissed off…at him.
I’m a huge Prince fan, but I’ve loved rap, R&B, and hip hop since I was a tweener. Here’s a great video – politically tinged hip hop. I love it! Enjoy. 🙂
ETA: Tip: If you find a better version of a video on a site other than YouTube, just copy that site’s embed code. Forget downloading direct from YouTube. I learned that the hard way. This version lets you see the signs without them being chopped. 🙂
I wasn’t shocked since we had that spoiler yesterday. Yeah, it’s that bad. ~9% almost $900M. Hmm. I know a lot of people (myself included) believe throwing money at a problem doesn’t work. Taking away money isn’t going to solve it either, though. The teachers lose their bargaining rights, and the entire state’s school system loses almost $1B in funding. Teachers are a resilient lot, though. They practically live by the making do with less mantra. Wave bye bye to music and art classes. They’re usually the first to go.
He also wants to cut $500M from Medicaid. He would achieve this by including increasing co-pays and deductibles and requiring Seniors to be enrolled in Medicare Part D. The latter makes sense if they can be covered anyway. But increasing co-pays and deductibles? Hello. They’re poor. That’s why they’re on Medicaid. Where are they going to get the extra money for co-pays and deductibles? Pick and choose meds time. And there’s always the ER where you can run up a bill, not pay, and discharge it in bankruptcy. Problem solved.
OK, now I don’t want to be completely negative. Just mostly. There are things I do like in his budget.
Exclusion of capital gains on investments in Wisconsin-based businesses
Very nice. More attractive if you don’t have to pay both federal and state capital gains taxes.
Elimination of positions vacant for more than a year
It might suck, but it seems the department stayed afloat without that position filled.
Truth-in-sentencing
I like this in theory. How they intend to pay for all those prisoners is another story.
So there you have it. A few lonely buoys of good in a sea of bad and ugly. Good luck, Wisconsinites.
Spinny Liberal 