Sunday, April 15, 2012

How Much Is This Round Of Bad Faith Going To Cost Us Now?

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that the state is going to kill the maintenance contract with Talgo. The state is claiming that when the state killed the maintenance base for the trains, which they already spent tens of millions of dollars on, they also effectively killed the maintenance contract.

Talgo isn't taking it laying down:
As a result of the legislative action, the Transportation Department no longer can afford to make the payments required under the maintenance agreement and must terminate the deal, department attorney Kathleen Chung wrote in a letter to Talgo President Antonio Perez and his attorneys.

Talgo Vice President Nora Friend said the state can't back out that easily.

"The department is putting politics ahead of legality," Friend said. She said the state was "acting in bad faith . . . in order to advance an agenda to kill the train project, regardless of the damage it inflicts upon Talgo, the state and the taxpayers."

Talgo will initiate the contract's dispute resolution process, Friend says. That provision calls for mediation, but litigation could follow if mediation fails.
Bad faith bargaining isn't anything new for Scott Walker.

As Milwaukee County Executive, he was regularly being dinged for bad faith bargaining with the unions. As a result of his bad faith bargaining, Milwaukee County taxpayers have been socked for tens of millions of dollars in lost savings which would have been realized if Walker had the leadership skills to sit down and negotiate a contract instead of the smoke and mirror grandstanding that he gives us in its place.

The most recent example of Walker's bad faith bargaining, the illegal imposition of excessive furlough days because he failed to negotiate with the unions, is adding millions more to the taxpayers bill.

I can't wait to see how much Walker's Talgo fiasco is going to cost. And that bill won't include the lost jobs as companies see how Walker really deals with businesses and decided to not come to the state, or even worse, flee the state if they are already here.

14 comments:

  1. Sonofagun, Scott Walker's done, Cinco Good-bye-o!

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  2. Talgo was Doyles wet dream. Remember the no bid contract to build trains? After borrowing them 10 million of our money to build the facility I am sure he made stipulations in the contract so the state couldn't back out. It was his way of trying to force the train onto the next governor. So whose fault is it if we never see those loans paid back?

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    1. I better see you lay down these same comments on behalf of some of our road-builders.

      There is a very expensive bridge in the works that is quite close to being in the middle of nowhere---and you are going to be paying for it.

      And you will likely never use it.

      Delete
    2. Nope, haven't done much research on the stillwater bridge. Maybe they need it maybe they dont. Seems congress is all for it though. Or are they just looking for more "shovel ready" jobs to spend the stimulus dollars on?

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    3. That's just it, it's going to be all Minnesota or Wisconsin STATE dollars. Walker made it a point to not wait for Federal dollars on this project.

      It's a bridge of convenience, and the people who will use it (WI workers commuting into Twin Cities) should be the ones that pay for the bulk of it.

      The MN side doesn't want to put that much into it, the WI side wants MN to put more into it.

      The one thing that is agreeable across the board is that the current one is old and plain unsafe in certain river conditions.

      When you get a chance to research this be sure to question why a bridge in the Twin Cities cost a lot less and carries a lot more cars than the St. Croix deal.

      Like the mine up north, and many big projects, there are many companies that are willing to take "our" money.

      Governor Walker and his team are ready to spend, spend, spend!

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    4. You got it wrong:
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-fisher/our-political-bridges-to-_b_1399767.html

      Delete
  3. Imustbeajerk - There was NO no-bid contract. Quit repeating that lie just because the JS does, okay? Wiggle room to back out of a contract? How does that work exactly? Can I do that the next time a contractor finishes home repairs for me? Sorry, I've decided not to pay you for the work. FORCE the train on the next governor? Transportation issues don't bend with the wind, they require long-term planning, you dope. Now Walker has a 30-year old choo choo transportating workers to and from the Midwest's most high successfully companies, and they can't even use Wi-Fi to work. This whole thing is going to cost a lot more than what Talgo will sue for - AND WIN.

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  4. Anonymous, typically you resort to name calling when you are losing an argument, so I'll assume that is where we are at here. And, so there's less controversy here is an article from a different source explaining why the company already making trains in WI was not allowed to bid. http://dailyreporter.com/2010/08/04/state-loses-then-finds-letters-to-high-speed-rail-train-company/
    So, I'm not privy to the contracts signed, but a better analogy would be if you were to sign a contract with a remodeler during a pending sale of your home and hope that the new homeowner would pay the bill for the improvements.
    At any rate, a better argument can be made for high speed rail in CA. But that doesn't seem to be working out so well from what my friends out there tell me. Seems even if we do pay Talgo we will pay less than the cost increases in CA. Assuming they ever build it.
    http://news.yahoo.com/california-high-speed-rail-project-ongoing-budget-buster-213619399.html

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  5. Shorter imustberacist:

    I'm not privy to any knowledge about this, as usual, because I don't read the reporting here or elsewhere, but I'm doing to keep spewing what my friends out there -- Sykes, Belling, et al. -- tell me, because that's the easy way out of the harrrrrd worrrrrk of being an informed citizen.

    Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, for every topic.

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    1. It would be nice if you could enlighten me, maybe you do know what is in the contracts that will allow Talgo to eventually sue the state over? I do have two friends that live and work in LA and Fresno. But if it makes you feel better, I'll just listen to Sara Schulz from now on. Then maybe my opinion will matter to you.

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    2. More tedious droppings left to clean up.

      >>>maybe you do know what is in the contracts that will allow Talgo to eventually sue the state over? <<<


      Stay tuned mrrightwingwanker. You could check it out for yourself, or just wait for the court case to be filed. Oops, forgot you never bother to research or read anything you comment on.

      Just wait until the court decision is discussed wherever it is that you get the talking points you disseminate.

      Meantime quit asking stupid questions. Such as asking commenters to post links and information to refute your own factually mistaken talking points.

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    3. This is why it is impossible to engage somebody as yourself, you would rather insult me than attempt to make a point. Apparently you know less than me, but thanks anyway.

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  6. Yousuremustberacist, google is your friend.

    Have you tried to find information on the Talgo contract? Tell us what search terms you used, and we can help you refine them for you to find good reading and reporting on this for years now.

    So: Tell us five search terms that you tried.

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  7. Talgo trains contract with wisconsin. Here is what I end up with:
    http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/124576119.html

    As well as this excerpt from 2010:

    Earlier this month, Talgo announced it would build the trains for Wisconsin, Oregon and possibly other states at the vacant Tower Automotive site, creating 125 jobs. Super Steel, which had hoped to bring the work to its plant, filed for receivership the next day.

    “Tom Barrett and Jim Doyle are using taxpayer money to stab Wisconsin companies in the back,” Walker said. “The way to create jobs in Wisconsin is by helping our employers become more competitive, not by competing against them.”

    So friend, tell me the error of my ways, what should I have read?

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