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Koch Brothers Behind

This is a discussion on Koch Brothers Behind within the The Political and Social Snake Pit forums, part of the Current Happenings category; You are somewhat correct Doug, but not 100% either. Donna Brazile says that unions that supported Scott Walker are exempt ...

  1. #21
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    You are somewhat correct Doug, but not 100% either.

    Donna Brazile says that unions that supported Scott Walker are exempt from restrictions on collective bargaining

    source

    The ongoing budget crisis in Wisconsin got pundits George Will and Donna Brazile debating on This Week with Christiane Amanpour.

    Will said that changes proposed by Gov. Scott Walker were reasonable and necessary given budget constraints. Brazile countered that the governor was using the excuse of a budget battle to destroy collective bargaining rights for public employee unions.

    "And, look, what we're talking about is that the governor has cherry-picked what public workers he will subject to this so-called removal of their collective bargaining rights," Brazile said. "The firefighters, the policemen and others who supported him in his election bid, well, guess what? They don't have to worry about their collective bargaining rights."

    Brazile implied that this was political payback, and we want to be clear that we’re not checking Walker’s motivations. We’re looking only at whether "the firefighters, the policemen and others who supported him in his election bid ... don't have to worry about their collective bargaining rights."

    Our first stop was checking Walker’s proposal. It asks state workers to pay more for their pensions and health insurance, which reduces take-home pay. But it also sets limits on collective bargaining power for the public sector unions.

    In a letter to public workers, Walker explained that his proposal would limit bargaining only to base pay, which means unions could not bargain for improved health insurance, working conditions or pension benefits. Pay increases would be limited to increases in the cost of living, using the Consumer Price Index, unless voters approved other pay increases via a referendum. Union members would have to vote to stay unionized each year, and contracts could only last only a year, among other limitations.

    Walker concluded the list of changes by noting, "Local police and fire employees and State Patrol Troopers and Inspectors are exempted from these changes."

    So Brazile is right that police, firefighters and others are exempt. Our next question was, are these the groups "who supported him in his election bid"?

    During the campaign last November, leaders of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association and Milwaukee Police Association appeared in an ad supporting Walker and blasting his opponent, Democrat Tom Barrett. Walker also won endorsements from the West Allis Professional Police Association and the Wisconsin Troopers Association

    Walker didn’t get the endorsements of two statewide unions, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, which both backed Barrett.

    For the record, the governor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the charge that he was exempting police and firefighters was "ridiculous." He said he didn't recommend changing the rules for police officers and firefighters because he didn’t want public safety work disrupted.

    We then contacted the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the statewide union that endorsed Walker's opponent last year. Executive director Jim Palmer said the statewide organization is much larger than the local Milwaukee police union that endorsed Walker. The state group has approximately 11,000 members versus Milwaukee’s roughly 1,400, he said.

    Similarly, the state firefighters association has more than 3,000, compared with the Milwaukee union’s 875.

    The state police union is opposed to the changes Walker is proposing for other public sector workers, which include county jailers and police dispatchers, Palmer said. The statewide firefighters' union also opposes the proposal.

    Palmer said he believes that Walker exempted police and firefighters not for political payback, but because they are the public workers who are most popular with the public. "And in that way, it’s very political," he said.

    Brazile said, "The firefighters, the policemen and others who supported (Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker) in his election bid ... don't have to worry about their collective bargaining rights." It’s true that Walker won the endorsement of Milwaukee police and firefighter organizations, and they won’t lose collective bargaining rights if Walker’s proposal succeeds. But not all unions supported Walker. In fact, the two significant statewide organizations endorsed his opponent, and they too would be exempt from restrictions on collective bargaining. Because the statement leaves out the fact that the police and fire unions broke ranks on whether or not to support Walker, we rate this statement Half True.
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    Not to mention, how obvious would it have been for him to exempt ONLY the particular police and firefighter unions that supported him, but instead just exempt them all to CYA, as well as it lessened the number of battle ready pissed off cheeseheads. lol Now having said that, here's a snippet from one of the police unions that's interesting

    If Walker were hoping to gain politically by sparing police and firemen, his plan has likely backfired. Last week, Tracy Fuller, director of the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, denounced Walker’s decision to abolish collective bargaining privileges for public employees.
    “I specifically regret the endorsement of the Wisconsin Trooper’s Association for Gov. Scott Walker. I regret the governor’s decision to ‘endorse’ the troopers and inspectors of the Wisconsin State Patrol,” Fuller wrote. “I regret being the recipient of any of the perceived benefits provided by the governor’s anointing. I think everyone’s job and career is just as significant as the others.”
    source
    Last edited by NoAngel2u; 02-22-2011 at 08:02 PM.
    Disclaimer
    I refuse to take responsibility for the provocative and rediculous nature of my posts, because I had no knowledge of nuthin since I just woke up and haven't had my coffee yet, or just got home from work and my brain is fried, or I just don't have any idea why a nice girl like myself would say such a thing! Furthermore, I hereby give up my right to sue myself for damages to my reputation, cause I don't think any less of myself and I know how much I got in the bank!

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    what do you mean somewhat correct?? all i said was that a large majority of the firefighters and police unions did not support him, and that is 100% correct.

    did i say that none of them supported him?? NO. and for the record what i wrote earlier had somewhat incorrect numbers based on a statement i heard on the radio the day before. i didn't write anything down and was only half listening, the actual numbers appear to be that 4 of 314 locals supported Walker.

    based on that information i'd say it is correct to state that the assumption the exemption was political payback is a load of crap designed to make him look bad. the facts never mattered, few if any journalists do research anymore, and overnight it was reported that the police and firefighters supported him when only a small minority actually did.

    this is what passes for "news" anymore, and sadly most people don't know the difference between FACTS and OPINION.
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    what i wrote earlier had somewhat incorrect numbers
    LMAO What do you mean 'somewhat incorrect'?

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    Something to keep in mind...

    Sure Wisconsin has a "budget crisis"... Now anyway...


    http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/..._you_20110220/

    There is a kernel of truth in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s claim of a “budget shortfall” of $137 million. But Walker, a Republican, failed to tell the state that less than two weeks into his term as governor, he, with his swollen Republican majorities in the Wisconsin Legislature, pushed through $117 million in tax breaks for business allies of the GOP. There is your crisis.
    Is it really fair of him to pass the blame of a money shortage on someone else when he created it himself?

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    frank, the current shortfall is for the fiscal year budget that was already in place when walker was elected. the projected deficit for the next TWO year state budget is $3.6 BILLION.

    Wisconsin State Budget

    Fiscal Year 2012-13 State Budget
    The state faces a $3.6 billion budget shortfall over the next 2 years.

    Governor Scott Walker has said that he will not raise taxes but will tackle the estimated $3.1 billion shortfall with the budget that he was topresent on Feb. 22, 2011. The text of the governor's budget address delivered on Feb. 22, 2011, can be found here, but he said that he will delay actually introducing his proposed budget bill until after that.
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    Lots of states, faced with swelling pension and health-care costs and yawning deficits, are seeking to curb public-sector pay and benefits. A few are going further by trying to trim the power of the unions that defend civil servants’ wages. This week Ohio’s legislature took up a measure similar to the one being pushed by Mr Walker in Wisconsin, denying state and local employees collective-bargaining rights. A bill before the Florida Senate would prevent the state from deducting union dues from salaries, and make it harder for unions to spend money electioneering. As it is, many states already limit collective bargaining by public employees in one way or another; and North Carolina, Texas and Virginia ban it altogether
    The Economist(google for full article)

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