Friday, June 8, 2012

One Number Stands Out

There are many numbers and statistics that stand out from the recent re-call election.   From the unbelievable amount of money that walker raised mostly from out of state or the fact that 2,511,585 people voted in a June recall election.

However, amongst all of the numbers, one has really stood out with me and I have a hard time digesting it.  It is this one:


 But voters in union households who weren't union members themselves split almost evenly. As the Washington Post notes, Barrett won those voters 51 percent to 48 percent. That's a disappointing number for Democrats and labor. If they wanted to recall Walker, unions needed massive support from the rank-and-file and their spouses. That didn't happen Tuesday.

Just to be clear, in households where one spouse is in the union and one is not, the non union spouse voted for Scott Walker half of the time.   No wonder the divorce rate in WI is up!   While it shows that Scott Walker's "divide and conquer" strategy was so successful it applied to individual households.  It also amazes me that in these households, a spouse would be so selfish to think that their life partner would be overpaid and under worked?  If your spouse thinks so little of you, is that really someone you want to spend your life with? 

In full disclosure, my wife is a school social worker in one of the most politically engaged schools in Madison.   Many teachers, who are from overpaid, and are not the "haves of society" no matter what Scott Walker has to say: 




On Wednesday morning, the day after the recall election, while republicans were gloating,  and gloating, and gloating and even  gloating from out of state, while still licking their wounds over all of the hard work they had done for the past 16 months working on the recall, had to deal with a crisis situation.  

The staff(the 'haves" who have had their salary cut significantly with more to come) were forced into a code red situation, along with their fellow persecuted public workers and "haves", the local police department, worked together to thwart a local gang act of serious violence.  

While the right wing who has demonized public workers this past year, were gloating and the local newspaper was whining about recalls and democracy in action, the state workers that they have spent massive amounts of time demonizing were busy making our community a better place.   ALL going above and beyond their job descriptions to do so ( More disclosure, I have a teacher certification and no where in my classes did we ever learn about how to deal with serious gang violence). 

While the community has no idea what the vast majority of public workers that they have spent the time demonizing, they should know how impossible it would be to live without what they do.  

I also still stand by that everyone should go spend a day in your local public school volunteering!  Let's thank our public workers instead of demonizing them!  




17 comments:

  1. I am related to a public worker whose spouse voted for Walker. He is a TEA partier. She quit her job Wednesday. She told her husband that she decided to join his way of thinking... No more public paycheck for his TEA party attitude. Or health insurance. He will have to carry it now.

    She is dead serious. They spent the past 1.5 years with him taunting, getting rabidly angry at her and the family. While their adult son exists on disabilty, the family beneifts from her public sector paycheck and benefits.. and his company is a MAJOR coporate welfare recipient. She cracked and said she had enough.

    She is going to do volunteer work for the real have-nots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Then she is an idiot if she really did that

      Delete
    2. This wouldn't happen to be the same lady that tried to run her husband over in a voting dispute during the primary?
      If not, I am noticing a pattern with these stories. It would seem liberals are a bit insane.

      Delete
    3. IMBR you mean the lady that was trying to get away from her abusive Ex husband who was doing his best to make sure she would not vote?

      Of all of the stories the right wing tried to turn the past year and a half that one was one that boggled my mind.

      Delete
    4. From the news story: She allegedly didn't let his presence deter her and struck him with her sport utility vehicle, inflicting head, neck and back injuries that sent him to the hospital and led to her arrest, the newspapers said.

      Now, I guess I should assume you know her because the report doesn't say he was abusive.

      Delete
    5. http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2012/05/republican-thugs-since-when-were-women.html


      We already covered that here

      Delete
  2. Very interesting. Thank you for that story. Would love to hear a follow up in a couple months!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had two business ideas after reading this:

    -A matchmaking service for Liberals who are married to Tea Partiers and would like to get divorced and find someone who isn't insane. Group rates for divorce attorneys would be available.

    -A job placement service for teachers who would like to move out of state to a better paying job. You could market the service directly to out of state school districts with the pitch:

    "Wisconsin is #1 in high school graduation rates. Now you can hire their best teachers. This is a once in a career opportunity to upgrade your school district!"

    You could also reverse the process and offer Wisconsin school districts inexpensive teachers from southern states who are used being treated like shit.

    I'm only half joking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Which states pay teachers better?

      Delete
    2. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota. That's just in the Midwest.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous #1, great story, hope it's true. What seems like with many of the TeaPartiers is they can talk the talk, but can't walk the walk. You know, dealing with reality.
    I'm a school teacher who always thought that the public doesn't get education and have thought that they should get into the schools and see what's happening. If anyone wants to come into my classroom and see what's happening , feel free. In fact, please, come see what we do. You will be amazed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Palermo Pizza and their workers union issue.


    http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cntyExecutive/ExecutivesEmail/ExecUpdate040110.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous @ 1: Don't keep us in the dark! What did TEA hubby do/say?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gareth, your post is suitable for framing.

    And I'm not joking at all.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll update as it unfolds. Her husband's income is more than enough to cover their expenses. All their children are adults, her income was mainly discretionary.

    Her husband is one of those obnoxious TEA partiers who doesn't let up with chanting angry talk radio talking points. He is very passionate. So is she.. a champion for the underdog.

    She decided that taking care of her mother and doing other volunteer work will make her happy. After all, he has said on many occassions that her public sector pay is a waste of tax payers dollars; her job is not as important his.

    She agreed that no job is worth the arguments. But she also knows that her income fuels their leisure--his boy toys. She winked and said, what's the worse that can happen--we have to sell his boat? His motorcycle? His ATVs? Maybe when he has to give up soemthing he'll rethink things.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really have a hard time understanding how people like that stay together. But, maybe that's what all union members in relationships with Walker supporters should do--no more living off union-enabled wages, benefits, and luxuries. I worked with a teacher whose husband was, in her words, "very Republican", yet, he worked inconsistently, (and for his own dad), while she worked a very stressful job,supplied their family's insurance, and was the breadwinner.

    ReplyDelete