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This is the best possible showdown that could've happened in America today: a stand off between Democrats backing their government unions, vs. regular American taxpayers. From the WSJ...

Mr. Walker's very modest proposal would take away the ability of most government employees to collectively bargain for benefits. They could still bargain for higher wages, but future wage increases would be capped at the federal Consumer Price Index, unless otherwise specified by a voter referendum. The bill would also require union members to contribute 5.8% of salary toward their pensions and chip in 12.6% of the cost of their health insurance premiums.

If those numbers don't sound outrageous, you probably work in the private economy. The comparable nationwide employee health-care contribution is 20% for private industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average employee contribution from take-home pay for retirement was 7.5% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

Mr. Walker says he has no choice but to make these changes because unions refuse to negotiate any compensation changes, which is similar to the experience Chris Christie had upon taking office in New Jersey. Wisconsin is running a $137 million deficit this year and anticipates coming up another $3.6 billion short in the next two-year budget. Governor Walker's office estimates the proposals would save the state $300 million over the next two years, and the alternative would be to lay off 5,500 public employees.

In order to thwart the Democratic process, Democrat Senators fled the State capitol at noon, heading to a resort in Rockford, Illinois...

MADISON, Wis. – A group of Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers blocked passage of a sweeping anti-union bill Thursday, refusing to show up for a vote and then abruptly leaving the state in an effort to force Republicans to the negotiating table.

As ever-growing throngs of protesters filled the Capitol for a third day, the 14 Democrats disappeared around noon, just as the Senate was about to begin debating the measure, which would end a half-century of collective bargaining rights for most public employees.


Hours later, one member of the group told The Associated Press that they had left Wisconsin.

"The plan is to try and slow this down because it's an extreme piece of legislation that's tearing this state apart," Sen. Jon Erpenbach said in a telephone interview. He refused to say where he was.

Democrats hoped Republican Gov. Scott Walker and GOP lawmakers would consider revisions to the bill.

Walker, who took office just last month, urged the group to return and called the boycott a "stunt."

Cowardly Democrats refused a floor debate, instead heading out of town to the "Clock Tower Resort" (a Best Western ! ) in Rockford.

These Democrat Senators should be arrested, cuffed and taken back to Madison, then chained to their seats until they do their jobs: debate and vote. What kind of men and women are these cowardly Democrats?

A lefty editorial in a Wisconsin bird cage liner finds comments, written mostly by the protesters and their supporters, but I found a gem of a comment amongst the coal ash. One poster, obviously a unionist who would 'suffer' a $5,000 yearly setback due to the 'unfairness' of Gov. Walker's modest proposals, whined and whined and carried on about how she would have to give up things, goods and services, that would cost the economy of Wisconsin. This reply to that is a cogent response to the whiner...

econamike said on: February 16, 2011, 4:04 pm
@hrt

Not to be cold, but welcome to the “real world”.

We’ve never had cable and only recently got our first TracPhone.

We’ve already been shopping at Walmart (and Aldi’s) for years. We only eat out (including fast food) a few times a year and go to movies far less than that.

We make less than $30,000, have no health insurance, no pension and don’t get Martin Luther King day off. If I were to take the health insurance offered by my company, I’d have to pay 40% of the premiums. On top of that, I took a 20% pay cut for over a year when we were knocked down to 4 days a week.

Yet 10% of my income is taken from me in the form of property taxes so that “you” can have all these things leaving me unable to afford them. And another 7% is taken from me so that I can pay for the people on Social Security & Medicare (that money is not set aside for my retirement), another 5% for sales tax…

What percentage of people do you think are in my situation?
And can you see why people like me see “you” as a bunch of ungrateful whiners?

You ask “Where will your private sector profits come from when you cut back on your spending?”


Here’s your answer: The $5,000 you won’t have doesn’t just disappear… it stays in the pocket of the original person that earned it. Wow, I bet you never though of it like that.

Believe it or not, other people will get to keep more of their paychecks and they will spend that $5,000 instead of you.

There are “tax payers” and “tax takers”. The “tax takers” need to understand that every dollar they receive is taken directly from someone else.

Is life easy? NO
Is life fair? NO

But if people like me can’t afford people like “you” all I have to say is sorry, the gravy train is slowing down – deal with it like the rest of us have had to for the last 2 years.

Times are tough. Get a helmet.

Oh, this spotted at SondraK's...

Nice civility you've got there, leftards. Didn't learn much from Baracky's speech in Tucson, did you?

Video footage of one of the protesters in action (h/t Burge on the Twitter)...



Whining bastiches. Get back to work, all of you, especially you elected 'officials'. Face the music. You've been dodging this for years.

Your chickens are flocking home to roost.