Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Crunch Time! Predictions?

Gov. Walker is backed into a corner.  He is saying that Saturday is the deadline for his budget repair bill to pass or else he will have to start laying off public workers.

Here's the corner he has painted himself into:

A. On one wall, he has put his foot down that he will not compromise one millionth of an inch.  No how.  No way.  He even rejected a compromise by one of his own Republican senators.

B. On the other wall, the pressure has been mounting for him to concede something.  Let's count the ways:

1. Thousands upon thousand of protesters at the state capitol since last Tuesday.  We are on day 10 of protests.
2. Thousands of protesters nation-wide standing in solidarity with Wisconsin public workers.
3.  National polls say that over 60% of the public would oppose legislation going after collective bargaining rights.
4. The fourteen Democrat senators left the state to stall the vote.
5. Indiana governor Daniels (R) said that this year is not the year to go after unions.
6. The Indiana Republican senators who introduced anti-union legislation have now rescinded the legislation (well, I guess only part of it).  That happened at noon today.
7. Florida governor Scott (R) said that unions are fine as long as the intentions are good.
8. Studies have shown that the Wisconsin budget and pension system are doing just fine, even "healthy."  These were reported in earlier posts and comments.
9. If Walker lays off anyone, there will be such an uproar that Australia will hear it.
10. Walker was punked by Angry Beast.  A guy posed as one of the Koch brothers and Walker revealed a slimy plan to get the state Democrats back into sessions by saying that he will talk with the minority leader.  But while he is "talking" to the leader, the Republican senators will vote through the budget repair bill as is.
11.  It has been revealed that Walker is in bed with the Koch brothers.
And there are more, but this will suffice for now.

So what do you think Walker will do?  How will this all end?  Concessions, major layoffs, riots, jello wars??????  Let's hear your predictions.

6 comments:

  1. Walker is bone headed and backed by big money, the Koch Bros. He is going down with the ship Period. Should he fail, the national strategy will received a serious blow. He will fight to the end whatever that will be, too soon to tell at this point. Personally, I think that he will punt and offer a three year limit on collective bargaining. He has to get something or its his ass.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that his republican comrades may start applying even more pressure for him to make some concessions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. International newpapers are running the entire punk of Walker. Listen to the actual conversation and you will know why this dude is not going to compromise. He is digging in for a fight. Listen:

    Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was duped by a newspaper editor posing as a billionaire backer | Mail Online: http://bit.ly/eRB2D3

    ReplyDelete
  4. I vote for jelly wars.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Call me crazy but is this thing not being a little too hyped up? People are acting like it's the end of the fucking world, over dramatizing, running around like they make $5/hour to bust their ass for 20 hours a day scraping shit off of floors, having to eat cat food for a living, and now, NOW, this evil man named Walker wants to take MORE from them! I really don't get it. It's not like that. What is everyone afraid of? I understand that collective bargaining rights are huge for state workers. But without them, would the state workers not just be forced to become like every other hard working citizen who is NOT part of a union? My father does not work for a union, he has not had a raise in 3 years, pays 80% of his health care, pays for his own 401k, and does not get to negotiate his benefits, paid sick days, paid vacation, etc. Teachers, what exactly IS the average salary at Whitewater? What exactly DOES get taken out of your paychecks for your benefits? How many days a year do you already get off for holidays, plus sick days, vacation days? Are things really that bad? Do you believe they will suddenly turn into the scenario I described at the beginning of this? WHAT'S THE BIG FUCKING DEAL???? Senators left the state! What the hell is everyone so afraid of????????

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dude, its all about money! It always is! First, faculty members have spent many hours in college earning a doctorate, and in US, higher education means more money and benefits. A medical doctor is entitled to earn more, that is the game. Second, faculty members in general have not negotiated their benefits, but workers in other unions have negotiated their benefits, school teachers etc, who incidentally probably make less that your father. The average salary for assistant professors at Whitewater is around 50,000, not great when you consider the amount of time spent earning multiple degrees. Some of the graduates from Whitewater earn much more after 4 years. As long as I can remember, the state has paid ALL of the retirement benefits. So, lets assume for a moment you work at Whitewater, teach for 30 years, retire with a salary of about 60,000, your monthly retirement check will probably be between $2500 and 3000 per month. Unless you are lucky to have your house paid off, your mortgage may be around 1200 to 1600, there goes half your war chest. So do not for a single moment think that faculty or state workers for that matter are living in luxury here! By the way, there are many state workers scraping shit off the floors, as the janitors are UNION PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. Get educated dude!

    ReplyDelete