Friday, August 2, 2013

The Unfortunate Reality of Act 10.


 

By Jeff Simpson

We warned you at the beginning.  Act 10 has been devastating to WI.  

First a look at ACT10 from Scott Walker's far right extreme point of view.

Scott Walker is delusional enough to actually think that if everyone had used his ALEC written agenda, that everyone would be thriving.

The Journal Sentinel says Walker likened his public union philosophy to that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, saying the former president felt "that there wasn't a need for collective bargaining in the public sector "because the government is the people."

Walker says if Detroit were in Wisconsin, Detroit wouldn't be declaring bankruptcy. And if Chicago were in Wisconsin, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel would be successful with his school reforms.

Contentious legislation passed in Wisconsin in 2011 repealed collective bargaining for most public employees

Apparently in Walker's fantasy land, public workers making a living wage was more costly to Detroit than the outsourcing of millions of jobs.

Say it with me, but wait - there is more!

As if Scott Walker has not done enough damage with ACT10 he is ready to expand it!


Two-and-a-half years after mostly sparing police officers and firefighters, Gov. Scott Walker said this week he is open to the idea of limiting their ability to collectively bargain.

Such a move would undercut the few unions where he has found support. The unions for Milwaukee officers and firefighters, for example, were among those that endorsed Walker in 2010 and in the 2012 attempt to recall him from office.

The problem with ACT10 is while it worked well for its intended purpose(which was to punish his enemy and cut funding to the Democratic Party), it has not worked out well for the people in Wisconsin who actually work for a living!  

John "Sly" Sylvester actually gave a forum recently to the voiceless in this fight.  The people who paid dearly for ACT10, the people who you see everyday who are struggling mightily while you sing the praises of your $20 tax cut.   The people who do not ever get a private audience or even within site of Scott Walker.  

These are the stories you need to hear!






 









11 comments:

  1. Republicans believe that only Communists think that the lesson of Vietnam is to work for peace. So this brave Vietnam vet perfectly fits the twisted caricature that Republicans hold toward the Solidarity Singers.

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  2. Unions are largely what drove businesses out of the state. Other than that whole cause/effect thing, you might have been on to something. Walker didn't ship jobs out. They left on their own. When you've successfully unionized China, India, the Philippines, etc, unions here will stand a chance. So get cracking on those chain letters. Oh and the cartoon was great!

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    1. Unions had nothing to do with our lack of jobs. It was "free trade" agreements, poor management and the final nail in the coffin was Walker's ACT10 which by his own admission pulled $1 billion dollars of demand out of our economy.

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    2. Yep, it's so costly to run a business in these parts, given that Wisconsin has the lowest average weekly manufacturing wage in the Midwest.

      Anyone who believes the "high cost of unions" lie is either someone who is rationalizing their greed, or an ignorant, weak-minded fool. PERIOD.

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  3. Let's not forget that Walker turned down $800 mil in ready to go funding for inter-city rail, which also led to the premature shut down of Talgo in Milwaukee.
    Way to go, Mr. Job Creator!

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  4. Evenrude, Miller, Torro, etc. Caterpillar seemed like it was going to be next. Unions have much to do with why businesses pull up in search of cheaper labor. And Act10 was in response to a $3.62Billion deficit hole. (Doyle's deficit) The point? The loss of jobs was already being felt. Unions aren't a bad thing, that is to say, but sometimes the battle for "worker's rights" ends in fewer workers. Agree with you on free trade though. Clearly a blight on the US middle class.

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  5. Yeah, let's not blame the exec's who took millions in salary. Let's blame the unions who fight for decent pay and benefits. It get's old hearing that unions are to blame.

    Ask yourself, why is it that Germany's unions aren't causing their businesses to move to China?

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  6. Germany is almost single handedly holding up the Euro. Its' economy is propping up the labor market. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/31/german-unemployment-rises-slightly-to-68-percent-in-july-as-summer-holidays/ Unemployment between 6.6% and 6.8% ? In our dreams.

    Secondly, there are plenty of states doing well despite "millions to execs". If it were a matter of millions, there would be no act10 and we'd be complaining about something different entirely.

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  7. I take issue with the caricature: Walker's brain case is not that big!

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  8. Going after the Police and Firefighter unions is just step 2 in the divide and conquer strategy.

    Step 3 will probably be having the entire state be "right to work" and try to destroy the private sector unions.

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    1. That's almost certainly true.

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