Monday, December 16, 2013

One of These Things Is Not Like The Other

By Jeff Simpson

Never mind....they are the exact same(emphasis mine) : 

Mary Burke is"running to the middle"


So you'd look to repeal Act 10?
I think there is a difference, and what I'd look at is restoring collective bargaining.
Are there any parts of ACT 10 that you agree with?
Yes, I do believe [state employees] paying a fair share of health care and pension costs is something we needed in order to be able to balance the budget.

I thought, this is the Democrats "best candidate"?   I figured there had to be a mistake somewhere, so I contacted the party and Mike Tate for his thoughts.


" Act 10 was bad policy and done in a manner that was demeaning and unfair to our public employees. Mary Burke has indicated she never would have pursued Act 10, busted unions by destroying collective bargaining and acting in such a divisive manner. Many Democrats as well as public employee unions have suggested paying a little more for health care and pensions as an alternative to the horrible and divisive manner in which Act 10 was passed and implemented. I believe when Democrats win the Governors office in 2014 we will see the reinstatement of collective bargaining rights for our public employees."

Scott Walker, our extreme right wing divisive Governor:

 "In the end, do public employees -- including me and my family -- pay a little bit more for pensions and health care? Absolutely," Walker told host Joy Cardin.
 Apparently these people fought for nothing:



  

Sorry people, go home.  No one was listening!   

Want to know more of the Mary Burke/ Dem party platform for the coming election?  Check out their website here





34 comments:

  1. We need a side-by-side comparison of Walker, Burke & Vinehout platforms for the world to see, including "personhood" and birth control pills, ACA, vaginal probes, tax cuts for the wealthy, school vouchers, etc.

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    1. ....and their campaign accounts.

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  2. Burke is just another born with the silver spoon in mouth, heck, give me the same resources this person has had, and I could get more done.

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  3. I'd have been perfectly fine with greater contributions to bennies as long as they were matched with an equal bump in up-front pay. Those packages were negotiated in good faith.

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    1. >>Those packages were negotiated in good faith.<<

      There won't be any more of that going forward.

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  4. The biggest problem with Burke's statement is that it makes the false assumption that you had to strip collective bargaining rights to get concessions on health care contributions. THAT IS NOT TRUE, and it tells me Burke doesn't understand what Act 10 was really about.

    The more I hear Mary Burke, the more I see John Kerry, 2004. We were told he was the "electable candidate" against another "Dubya" as well. How'd that work out?

    We can do better in the Dem primary

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    Replies
    1. Except that is not what she is saying. That is what "activists" are claiming she is saying. Just like with the iron mine in northern WI, her positions are exactly the same as every other elected Democrat.

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    2. so if EVERY other elected democrat felt that public employees needed to "pay their fair share" to balance the budget....

      why have a dem party at all?

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    3. What is a fair share? Now it's not fair - not even prorated !

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    4. ...or Michael Dukakis.

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  5. Jake, I don't think Burke's statement assumes that.

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    1. If it doesn't, then she shouldn't be linking in Act 10 with larger employee contributions for benefits. That's giving into GOP framing on the issue, when in fact it's two separate things.

      Too much mealy-mouthedness, too much accepting of big-money control. She needs to be pushed in a primary for just these reasons, and she needs to improve, or we need to find a better candidate.

      Somebody tell me how you win November 2014 against the GOP lie machine with a lame stance and platform?

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  6. And Kathleen couldn't even carry her own county during the last gubernatorial primary. But have at it. As someone who bargained teacher contracts for over thirty years and helped shut down our school district over Act 10, I need a candidate that can win. I am impressed with Mary.

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    1. You may have engaged in collective bargaining for thirty years but Burke doesn't appear to familiar with the process, if she believes public employees weren't paying their fair share. We shouldn't have to remind her that pension and health payments were negotiated in lieu of wage increases. Her attitude is extremely insulting and ignorant. It's proof that she lives in a different world than the rest of us.

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    2. True. Someone needs to clue Ms. Burke in on the fact that teacher compensation INCLUDES deferred compensation for health/retirement. That IS something she understands quite well. And forcing higher contributions by teachers or public workers is actually STEALING their pay from them.

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  7. I'm with Gareth. State workers took higher pension and benefit payments IN LIEU OF higher wages. This saved the state money because they could buy benefits in bulk. The employees were satisfied with being paid less than they would have earned in the private market because their benefits were usually happy. The state gets qualified employees and the employees feel reasonably fairly treated. But Act 10 broke the contract; now employees have neither the benefits they traded for nor the pay rate they traded for. Qualified employees have headed to the exits (retiring or taking positions in the private sector) or they have played musical chairs switching public sector jobs until they get the salary they require. In any case, the state will NEVER AGAIN get the benefits-in-lieu-of-pay-raises deal from labor ever again. Public workers have learned to insist on cash because they can't expect government to keep their side of deals. If the losses from Act 10 aren't made up soon, you can count on the public having inferior public servants handling their tax dollars. The public must demand competent, well-trained employees and these can't be bought on the cheap.

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    Replies
    1. Qualified public employees cannot be bought on the cheap.

      But Wisconsin Republican politicians can,

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  8. We will never return to where public employees had a say in healthcare and pension payments. All of us will continue to pay for these even though they were negotiated. Is it fair - no! Look - do you want Walker out or not. Burke said an interesting word. "Fair share" I hope someday that we can indeed pay the fair share. Should a low payed state employee pay the same healthcare premiums as say Walker or JB? No. Burke did mention that CB should be a right. I believe Burke is our best chance of putting Walker back in Tosa. Sorry Fireflies.

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    Replies
    1. You might want to look up what Fair Share really means. It's union busting terminology. Thanks for pointing that out.

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  9. Vote for Burke and block this extremism. RTW is next if you don't .

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    1. You Dem operatives need to stop with the false equivalency BS. What if there's a Dem candidate with a better chance if sending Walker back to Tosa, because that candidate won't play the "I'm a wishy-washy, Republican lite" game?

      And maybe that is Mary Burke, but that crappy answer on Act 10 (and equally weak answers on the Notthwoods mine and oligarchical control of the state) isn't giving us confidence.

      Right now, Im looking for better, and I have the right to through August

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    2. And guarantee do we have that Burke won't do the same thing? She's already shown she doesn't understand the full impact of Act 10.

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    3. I believe she does - but would you like her to come out and say that she is going to run on returning to the past as it was? She would never get elected.

      Delete
    4. Ooh! An anonymous Burke troll says she is pro-Labor despite all of her repeated statements to the contrary! I'm sold!

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    5. No we do NOT want to return to the past at all. We want to make sure that we keep things exactly the same because Wisconsin is running a well oiled machine.

      It works so well we consistently rank in the 40's in pretty much every economic indicator there is. Who would want to stray from that!

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    6. Soo Capper wants a discussion but he starts calling people trolls? What's the matter Capper - are you in need of some tartar sauce. :)

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  10. Look - electing Burke will put a block on the extremism going on. Even if she wanted to restore CB she couldn't. Let's try to tackle one thing at a time. Many you seem to think getting the perfect candidate in there is going to solve things over night. Wouldn't even happen with two branches under dem control.

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    1. No one is asking for the perfect candidate. Just not one that has more negatives than positives. Neither Burke or Vinehout fits that simple requirement.

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    2. So you want us to embrace. "suck"? WHY? Isn't the primary process there for us to decide who the best candidate is to take out Walker?

      What do you operatives have against EARNING the people's votes, and making casual bystanders want to vote FOR you. Your half-ass "get in line" style make it more likely Walker will win, not less. And I don't find that acceptable.

      Progressive messages win elections. Period

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  11. This is so intellectually dishonest. Mary Burke's position is exactly what the unions were saying -- keep collective bargaining, require greater employee participation in pension and health insurance. You really are destroying any reputation you could ever have for informed political commentary by this continuing hatchet job on the next Dem gubernatorial candidate.

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    1. I just addressed that very thing - http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2013/12/which-side-are-you-on.html

      heaven help us if she is the next dem candidate

      Delete
  12. Here's an antidote for the "divide-and-conquer" strategy: Let bloggers have their own opinions and let a primary sort out the candidate with the greatest support.

    The honest reactions are refreshing and instructive. Criticism can be constructive.

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  13. When Vinehout, or whomever else formally declares, perhaps then we should have a pragmatic discussion about the best candidate to run against Governor Transvaginal Ultrasound.

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  14. Scott Walker remembers creating jobs as assemblyman in Wisconsin . It was easy with ALEC. 32000 UNION public sector jobs. It is not as easy this time with out using your tax dollars. Scott Walker has created ALL Wisconsin`s budget problems working for ALEC. In 1997 Walker and Prosser as state assemblymen championed for ALEC with truth in sentencing telling the legislatures it would not cost a dime it was to give judges not parole boards the control over sentencing. Then Walker filibustered to stop sentencing changes after the fact misleading ALL the legislatures. With out the sentencing changes Wisconsin`s prisons quadrupled over night. Most people sentenced to 2 years now had to serve as much as 6o years. It shows Wisconsin has wasted 100 billion if you add the numbers to the state budget since 1997. Not including the building new or remodeling of 71 courthouses & 71 county jails & 441 police stations and dozens of prisons 28 billion plus interest. The total is over 28 BILLION plus the 60 Billion spent by social services to support prisoners families because the bread winner was a political prisoner as US Att gen Eric Holder explained. Then farming out prisoners in several states until the courts realized it was not allowed in the Wisconsin constitution. Wisconsin then hired 32000 union public sector workers to fill the jobs housing the prisoners from deputies , judges, district attorneys all owe Walker for creating there jobs. 32000 UNION PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS. This cost taxpayers over 3.8 billion or a half million per day to house these EXTRA prisoners per day in Milwaukee county alone. Wisconsin claims it has 24,000 prisoners compared to Minnesota`s 5500. Wisconsin`s corrections population is 104,000 with many in half way house and county jails and county prisons that are not counted.

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