Balance of Power: Walker's budget could be major setback for WI Democratic Party

[undeterred]

MARK PITSCH | [e-mail] | 608-252-6145 madison.com |Posted: Sunday, March 6, 2011 7:00 am

Of the nearly $7 million labor unions have contributed to state candidates in Wisconsin over the last six election cycles, 93 cents of every dollar has gone to a Democrat. Among educators, it's 75 cents of every buck. For public employees, 73 cents. The data compiled by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign for the State Journal starkly illustrate why the high-stakes battle between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and labor unions over the last three weeks is about more than budget shortfalls and bargaining.

"I consider organized labor to be the backbone of the Democratic Party," said Mike Tate, state party chairman. "Part of Scott Walker's strategy is to weaken the infrastructure of the Democratic Party."
Walker has proposed eliminating most collective bargaining for most public workers, including state and local government employees, and teachers.

His plan — approved by the Assembly but stalled in the Senate — also would make it harder for public unions to collect dues, require unions to hold annual certification elections and impose a host of other measures that unions and labor experts said would cripple public unions and potentially render them useless.

Walker and other Wisconsin Republicans won't acknowledge a motivation other than to help the state close a $137 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year and a projected $3.6 billion gap over the next two years. However, conservatives have long complained about the ties between public employee unions and Democrats.

more at http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_87f6ba78-46c6-11e0-a5fc-001cc4c002e0.html

[HereSince1628]

1. Which is true but it sees a slice and misses the wheel of cheeze

The bill is also an attack on most public agencies/institutions that provide public services in Wisconsin.

Moreover it has enabling language for unilateral (dictatorial if you like) decision making by the executive branch of state government, as in the no-bid administrative approval for privatizing state assets.

Seeing the bill only as an attack on the democratic party, is a mistake. It results in creating a democrat vs republican competition that makes it easier for R's to retain voters behind the bill.

[Homer12]

2. It's no friend to Municipalities either

Unless your Rich like Waukesha County & Brookfield.


It hobbles them to spread the pain and raise Property Taxes, instead they'll be forced to cut services and raise fee's.

I have a feeling when Joe Republican Merton Resident has to pay 40 more dollars to get there trash picked up, then they'll get mad.

[ewagner]

3. Two points:

first he's put a freeze on the ability to levy taxes except on "new construction"...(we local yokels still don't know what that means)

and, second, to make it even worse he did not remove the "maintenance of effort clause" regarding Police and Fire expenditures which means their individual budgets cannot be reduced without a waiver from the State Department of Revenue.

We will be forced to lay off workers (preferably to Walker, UNION workers) and the "tool" he gave us is to limit their collective bargaining rights so that they couldn't grieve the layoffs....and in the case of teachers, he expects school districts to lay off the most senior; most educated; most qualified teachers who are earning the highest salaries and can no longer grieve because the seniority rights are not negotiable.

cute heh?

[HereSince1628]

4. We have some hints about what that might mean

As always, follow the money, and WHO supported Walker's campaign?

http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?rw=pr030211.php&CTGTZO=-360&CTGTZL=-360

<Snip>
Eleven powerful special interests including the business, construction, banking, real estate, insurance and agriculture industries contributed $5.09 million to Walker from January 2009 through October 18, 2010 which represents 64 percent of the $7.91 million in total large individual and political action committee contributions he accepted during the period. Republican legislators elected last fall received $2.49 million from those 11 special interests, which was 64 percent of the $3.89 million they accepted from all special interests.
<snip>