Cairo comes to Madison

For those not familiar with what is happening in Madison Wisconsin this week, it's pretty simple. The labor unions have decided to make an example out of Wisconsin's governor, the legislature and the citizens who would dare to tell them no.

Labor Unions Rail!

Say you generally liked Gov. Scott Walker's move to rein in government labor costs but had a few doubts on his method. The last few days should have cleared that up nicely.
The public-sector union tantrums, meant to make lawmakers wobble, have an inadvertent message for the rest of us: Voters can vote all they want. We can elect a cheapskate governor and a Legislature to match. But come the moment, unions will have the last, loudest word.
They'll have it if takes marches. They'll have it if it takes what amounts to an illegal strike, with so many Madison teachers calling in sick Wednesday that the district closed schools. If it takes showing up for a we-know-where-your-family-is protest on Walker's Wauwatosa lawn while he was at work, the unions are sure they can outshout any election result.
This is exactly why Walker is right to limit the unions' power over government spending.

And what does our president have to say about it?

Obama calls it an assault on unions.

"Some of what I’ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you’re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally, seems like more of an assault on unions," President Obama told TMJ4 in Milwaukee.

Follow the link and watch the video of the president as he assesses the unrest in Wisconsin.

The voters of Wisconsin and the newly elected governor and legislature have a mandate from the people. "Rein in spending." To do that, the governor has recognized that the state can no longer sustain the budget costs of exorbitant labor union contracts with state employees. These state employees are going to have to bear a fair share of the costs and expense of their pensions and insurance.

Saying those who didn't see it coming must have been in a "coma," Gov. Scott Walker unveiled sweeping legislation that would severely curtail public employee rights and dramatically change the way Wisconsin negotiates with unions going forward.
Officials alerted the Wisconsin State Employees Union on Friday that expired collective bargaining agreements would be canceled March 13. State unions have been operating under the terms of their previous contracts, an arrangement that can be terminated with 30 days notice.
The news came on the same day the governor unveiled a budget repair bill that would remove nearly all collective bargaining rights for nearly all public employees in the state and make it easier for employers to fire workers that engage in some form of labor unrest.
To union leaders, and many Democratic lawmakers, the governor's moves represent an all-out effort to end the influence of organized labor in Wisconsin.

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Democrats and labor unions are calling it a power grab and an action specifically designed to kill labor unions. While those on the other side of the argument see it as the only way to rein in Wisconsin's runaway budget.

And the people's interest are being crushed in the middle.

The major sticking point seems to be the governor's desire to eliminate 'collective bargaining' on everything but salaries, along with requiring pension contributions and insurance contribution increases. Except for police and fire, who the governor has exempted period, for fear that a public safety strike would be devastating to the state.


The problem is this. Currently, state and local employees pay nothing toward their pensions and very little toward their insurance coverage. By asking them to pony up and by removing their ability to continue the present arrangement via collective bargaining union contracts, the governor has lit the fuse to a labor time bomb in Wisconsin.

Cry Havoc! Let slip the dogs of war!

Protesters clogged the hallways of the Wisconsin state Capitol on Thursday as the Senate prepared to pass a momentous bill that would strip government workers, including school teachers, of nearly all collective bargaining rights.The nation's most aggressive anti-union proposal has been speeding through the Legislature since Republican Gov. Scott Walker introduced it a week ago. After clearing a major legislative hurdle Wednesday night, it was headed to votes in the Senate and Assembly.

As it stands today, thousands are in the streets protesting in Wisconsin.  Seems strikingly reminiscent of strikes witnessed in France and other socialist states in Europe when they too were told that their socialist obligations could no longer be sustained.

Now the only question that remains in Wisconsin? Will the people of Wisconsin stand up and stand united in the face of union bullying tactics. Will the people of Wisconsin stand and say that reason must be applied to the larger crisis of state deficit. Or will the people's interests become a casualty of union bullying.

I would certainly like to think that the people will support the governor, but I don't have any faith in the common people being able to hold the line against an all out union onslaught and a sympathetic media media blitz that has already begun.

Short of putting the national guard on the streets, its only a matter of time before the governor and the legislature capitulate to union demands.