One Last Add

OK, I lied, this will be my last word on our recall election, because it has been bugging me all day and I need to vent after seeing and hearing all the excuses from the Democrats.

Sure you'll hear from Walker's opponents that Walker forced them into the extreme measures they took, that Walker started this, that they were justified.  Or that the steps Walker took to balance the budget had nothing to do with fiscal responsibility and everything to do with breaking the unions' stranglehold they have had on the state for the last 50ish years.

Opponents will say that the unions had agreed to concessions prior to Act 10 being enacted but Walker refused.  While that may be true anyone with half a brain knows this was just a ruse by the unions to buy time.  That is what unions do.  It is why the Democrat senators bugged out of the state, to buy time.  It is what the national union bosses told them to do and like good little foot soldiers, they followed their orders.  It is SOP for them.

The state union heads have little power over the union locals.  The negotiated contracts have to be done by each union local with the district school board. (Note, I am describing a teacher's union, but it works across the board) Walker knew the tactics the unions employed from his time as Milwaukee County Executive when he tried to cut costs to balance the budget of the county. Every move he made was blocked by the union, so he knew any move he made at the state level would likewise run into the same obstacles, which is why he needed to address the collective bargaining issue.  They (the unions) will offer to negotiate, and then drag out negotiations (remember, that's what they do, buy time) sometimes for years, all the while keeping the old contract in place.  If they don't get their way, the union locals just hold out until the next election until they can pack the school board (or city council/board with their hand picked people who will give them what they want.

The boards and bodies they already have do not bargain hard, in fact they don't bargain at all.  They give into the union demands because they union has bought and paid for them.  These contracts are a bend over and take it deal for Joe Taxpayer without so much as a thank you in return.  Look at Milwaukee as an example.  MPS rammed through a deal before Act 10 was passed.  It was approved by a bunch of union approved stooges, and after the budget reforms went through, MPS was saddled with the terrible deal that they had already approved.  When they realised their mistake they went back to the union local asking to reopen the contract so they could make some minor concessions.

The Milwaukee teachers union gave the board the big middle finger and told them where they could go, because they don't care if a couple hundred peons get thrown under the bus, as long as the teachers higher up the ladder get to keep their free benefits.  What a wonderful negotiation huh?  This is they way is has been for as long as I can remember.

Then of course we have the WEAC scam called WEA Trust.  An insurance company set up by the teachers union to provide health insurance to its members.  The union forced the local districts to purchase the member's insurance from their company and then proceeded to charge rates which were at least 25% higher than equal coverage policies from other, private insurance companies.  And the taxpayers couldn't do anything about it, because their boards were the ones approving the contracts, you know, the ones that were bought and paid for by the unions.  This is how WEA trust became the cash cow for the union.  Does one really believe the union syndicate would EVER give up this racket in contract negotiations?

So face it, there was no good faith on the part of the unions of having an honest negotiation on this issue because unions do not negotiate in good faith.  As much as they will tell you the do, they do not.  They never have.  When you figure how much this scam had cost the taxpayers over the years, and how much of the $3 billion deficit was due to them, the only right they had earned was to lose their collective bargaining privileges (and they are privileges, not rights) which had been so graciously granted to them by the taxpayers of the state so many years before.

If you want to say Act 10 was a power grab, then it was grabbing power back for the taxpayer, not the Republican Party.  If the Republican Party benefited from it, the only thing that the unions can blame for it is their own greed.

I also heard a lot of "this recall didn't have to happen" and that "Walker broguht a polarizing brand of  conservative policies that most Americans, including some conservatives, don't agree with".

This is a fantasy developed by media liberals who have no idea what the real world is like.  They live in their small little bubble of like minded people in their ivory towers.  They think they are the reasonable people and that anyone who disagrees with them are polarizing and divisive.  It was these same mental children who couldn't handle the fact that when they were told they could no longer have their chocolate chip cookie at 3:00 PM every day who acted out like the spoiled brats they are at the State Capitol.  Then when they didn't get their way after throwing their tantrums, they brought this whole recall mess for no other reason than their own selfishness.  They were the ones who poured the poison into the well.  They are the people who polarized the politics of Wisconsin.

So now that Governor Walker has been elected for a second time in two years by a majority of the residents of Wisconsin, these people will understand that it is not Walker's brand of politics that has been rejected by the people, it's theirs.  I am hopeful that most will realize the days of the free lunch are over, but sadly, I think there will always be those deluded individuals who will never accept that people just don't agree with them.

There, my political rantings are now done.  Back to happy family issues.

Finally!

I usually try to keep certain things off of this blog as I know they are hot button topics and this isn't a place for arguing about it.  But At last!  After 17 months, we are finally done with all this recall crap!  We thumped the Democrats again.  In the last 18 months or so I have gotten so sick and tired of the garbage that was being pulled in Madison.  So now after trying to recall about every one of the Republican Senators, crying foul after getting thumped in the Supreme Court election, and now going down trying to recall the Governor for balancing the budget and jump-starting the state's economy, you guys can all suck it!  We have taken it from the unions for too long and there is a silent majority that isn't so silent anymore.  So rather than passing legislation to make it harder to do business in this state, lets finally remove the shackles. 

There, my rant is over and we can take a break from the barrage of political ads that have been running non-stop for more than a year.  Because we know that in just two months or so we'll start seeing the presidential ads and I'll get annoyed all over again.  ON WISCONSIN!

Primary Season

Primary season has been here for the last couple of weeks, though it has been ramping up over the last couple of days.  Since about Thursday last week, we have been getting the campaign robo-calls, at least two a day, though I think the most we got in a single 24 hour period has been five.  I can't wait for this primary to be over because these calls are so annoying.  I know they do it to reach those uninformed people out there, but I have decided who I will vote for and I am not going to change my mind, so stop calling me already.  I wish there was a choice of "Press 3 to let us know you have decided who you will vote for and we will stop calling".

After Tuesday things should settle down until, what?  Maybe August?  Whenever the conventions start.  Then it will be on all over again.

Election Day '08

While I have learned to keep my personal thoughts about certain things out of my blog here, such as politics and personal thoughts about what is happening at work, I have to gloat about the election yesterday. I came home at lunch and Kris and I went to vote to get Russ Feingold out of office and to also get Scott Walker in as the Governor. It was nice to see that even with all the smears that Barrett and Feingold were tossing out from the Democratic spin machine, that the people of Wisconsin have finally awakened to the fact that Socialism just doesn’t work. And now hopefully Walker will start getting the state back on track by cutting the enormous amount of spending that has been going on here.

And to get rid of Feingold, the “maverick” who really isn’t, is just sweet. I am hopeful that Ron Johnson and the rest of the red tidal wave that happened yesterday will signal a taking back of America to having our officials actually doing the will of the people, and not that of a group of powerful leftists who see government as a vehicle to redistribute the wealth of the country.

Let the countdown to 2012 and BO’s ouster begin. I just hope that in the next two years the Republicans can come up with a viable candidate for President, at least someone who I don’t have to hold my nose for when I cast my vote like I did with McCain.