Walker raises prospect of union decertification to balance budget

[bobthedrummer]

by Lee Bergquist 12-7-10 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/111463779.html

:mad::argh:
:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[Dinger]

1. That fucker is nuts

Let him fucking try this shit.

[midnight]

3. True....

[AleksS]

2. It sounded even worse

It sounded even worse when he said it. I don't remember the exact words, but it was along the lines of:

"The unions were created by legislation, and we won't have trouble passing legislation to disband them either."

What are we in for as a state.

[dembotoz]

4. appears contracts don't mean anything anymore.

perhaps he is confused
he was elected gov.
not god

[AleksS]

7. The trouble is, what will stop him?

As I've said before, what will stop him?

The legislature is (if possible) filled with right-wingers even more nutso than he is,
so we can assume a bill he authors wiping out the unions would pass.
Obviously he'll sign it.
The state supreme court has been bought by the WMC, so any legal challenge is doomed to failure.

Would that be a case that could go to federal courts?

Before that though, would the state unions strike? Who would back down first? How long can they strike? Does anyone think Walker wouldn't fiddle while WI burns? At some point the striking workers would need money and have to work. Meanwhile Scotty sure wouldn't care a whit about any consequences to the people of WI. I mean look at how he ran the county. Whenever there was a conflict between his ideology and doing right for Milwaukee Co., ideology won 100% of the time, regardless the consequences to the public. He'd chuckle his little smirky chuckle, watch things go down the tubes, then blame it all 100% on the "evil unions." Since his buddies at Fox, the Journal/Sentinel, and on AM radio repeat his propaganda 24/7, the folks who elected him in the first place will lap up his story like sweet cream.

[CatholicEdHead]

5. Ouch, there is nuts and there is Walker nuts

Power seems to have gone to their teabagger heads, they seem to be bold enough to go for the union jugular.

[mojowork_n]

6. Obscuring the matter further

The nitwits at our state's largest circulation daily "put the burden of proof on the speaker" so
their analysis of the background issues (a claim by Gov. Doyle that breaking off negotiations with unions
would be illegal) will never rate higher than "half-empty."

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2010/dec/07/jim-doyle/wisconsin-gov-jim-doyle-says-it-would-be-illegal-s/

[undeterred]

8. WisPolitics: Sen. Fitzgerald says lawmakers discussing 'right to work'

Senate Majority Leader-elect Scott Fitzgerald (left) said lawmakers are actively discussing making Wisconsin a right-to-work state, the latest escalation in the looming battle between Republicans and unions in the next session.

Appearing at a WisPolitics luncheon on Wednesday, Fitzgerald said he attended the American Legislative Exchange Council meeting and was "surprised how much momentum there was in an around that discussion. Nothing like I've ever seen before." Fitzgerald said he's had discussions with Sen.-elect Frank Lasee about "some of the major changes that need to happen in and around labor. And certainly right-to-work is one of those topics that's always right there."

Fitzgerald said this is the environment, with a new GOP guv and legislative majorities, in which those changes could happen.

"We have new majorities. We've talked to new members of the House of Representatives and the way they view the world right now is the more feathers you ruffle right now, the stronger you're going to be politically. I don't ever remember an environment where that existed before," he said. "I think it gives us a lot of leeway ... to make some significant changes."

Fitzgerald also said Gov.-elect Scott Walker's comments about decertifying state unions reflect discussions among GOP guvs across the nation.

"When you've got governors like Chris Christie (in New Jersey) and Mitch Daniels (in Indiana) and Bobby Jindal (in Louisiana) and some of these Republican governors who are saying 'Listen we have to make some serious changes to get our state back on track,' I think most of the statements I've heard from Scott Walker fit in that category," Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said during the luncheon at the Madison Club.

more at: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=220213

These people send fucking chills up and down my spine.

[ewagner]

11. Holy S$$t!

These guys are even worse than I thought...and they've got the votes to pull this crap off and a willing, mindless Governor to ratify their stupidity....

I know the Wisconsin electorate lost their collective mind in November...

why?

They defeated Feingold.

They re-elected Frank Lassee...king of the crazies...

[ewagner]

12. What these folks haven't learned

is a very old, old lesson that was written about by an author named Robert Ruark in his 1955 book "Something of Value". He highlighted the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya that lead to Kenyan freedom from Britain and the violence that occurred afterward. The lesson, taught in political science classes during the 60's (at least where I was), is that if you are going to tear down established institutions, toss society (whether a nation or a state of the union) into uncertainty and chaos, then you better be able to replace it with SOMETHING OF VALUE to those being displaced.

They seem intent on tearing down.

But they have nothing to replace it with...they are against damned near everything but they have no clue as to what that actually stand for...

Worse yet...their rhetoric lacks SOMETHING OF VALUE.

[undeterred]

9. Beil warns Walker faces labor strife

AFSCME Council 24 executive director Marty Beil warned today Scott Walker will face "labor unrest" if the governor-elect seeks to decertify state employee unions.

"When you push a person to the corner and there's no escape, he'll push back," Beil warned following a news conference in which a string of union employees urged lawmakers to approve contracts negotiated with the Doyle administration.

Beil accused Walker of picking up tips on "corporate extortion" used by Harley-Davidson, Mercury Marine and other employers to force major wage and benefit concessions with union workers with threats to move their jobs elsewhere if they did not comply. He also accused Walker of political grandstanding for demanding a 10-day delay in a vote, saying he voted to approve contracts while in the Assembly on a one-day turnaround.

He said Walker has shown more hostility toward state employees than any of the eight governors he's worked with and said Walker didn't bother to respond to a letter he sent congratulating him on his win and asking to meet with him.

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=220665

[smoogatz]

10. They can't "decertify" unions. Walker is a moron.

What they can do is change the law that requires the state to participate in collective bargaining with public employee unions. If that happens, you're likely to see AFSCME and other public employee unions on strike in Wisconsin, which hasn't happened since the '70s. They think they smell weakness in a traditionally Democratic core constituency, so they're going for the kneecaps. They may get away with because of all the out of state cash they can count on in the next couple of cycles.

[TheMightyFavog]

13. Isn't it illegal for public employees to strike, though?

I thought it was.

[TheMightyFavog]

14. This bit from the artcile has become my new Facebook status

"In Scott Walker's world, CEOs never make enough money, and there isn't a working person who deserves what he earns."