Wisconsin Democrats AWOL

[jgaffney]

The Wisconsin Democrats, rendered a minority in the 2010 election, are showing how a minority party should maneuver when a core issue is at risk. This is from the WSJ:

State Democratic senators, holed up in out-of-state hotels, gave no timetable for a return to the capital, putting on hold a fiscal bill that would limit collective-bargaining rights for most state workers.

"When we go back is ultimately up to the governor's willingness to sit down and talk about this and come up with some sort of resolution," said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who fled with 13 colleagues on Thursday to deprive Republicans of the needed quorum to pass the measure. He spoke by phone from a Chicago hotel, where he planned to stay Friday night.

Meanwhile, President Obama leaves no doubt where he stands in the struggle over union benefits and pensions. From the same issue of the WSJ:

Wisconsin's heated battle over state employee benefits has flared into a wider fight between Republican leaders and the Obama administration over the rights of organized labor and the proper ways to corral government spending.

Democratic Party officials and President Barack Obama's own political operation have helped mobilize thousands of workers this week to attend large protests in Wisconsin and other states where governors are pushing to slash union benefits in their bids to combat huge budget deficits.

Mr. Obama put himself at the center of the spat when he described an effort in Wisconsin to limit collective bargaining for state employees as "an assault on unions."

So, let me make sure I got this right. No matter how dire the budget situation becomes in Wisconsin, or any other state for that matter, union pensions and benefits are off the table. Is that correct, Mr. President?

Imagine what the press would be saying if the Republican minority in the California Legislature high tailed it to Reno rather than stay in Sacramento and vote on Democrat budget proposals that left public sector (teachers, prison guards, public employees) union contracts whole while slashing at health and human services and raising taxes on everyone else.

[jgaffney]

What's important to note about Wisconsin is that the Governorship, the Assembly and the Senate - all three - switched from Democrat to Republican in the 2010 election. As Mr. Obama himself said, elections have consequences.

[danceswithdogs]

It does not appear that these "dedicated teachers" are concerned about the students that are left high and dry while the teachers parade around shouting violent rhetoric about their Governor ("Kill the Tyrants" was one sign I saw on the news coverage..."Hitler" was another). Yep, that speech by Obama regarding "civility" needing to be maintained sure went a long way. I guess the teachers were AWOL that day too.

I guess the kids will be punished and made to stay in school extra days at the end of the year to make up for the days they had to stay home while their teachers paraded? More tax dollars spent.

[The New Guy]

having once been a member of the teachers union, i know first hand that the union doesn't do sh*t for the kids. the union is there for the union and occasionally some teachers. union dues are siphoned right out of your paycheck and spent on political BS to keep the machine going.

and you are right - the kids will end up in school extra days at the end of the year. teachers don't like it when little johnny skips school but what a fine example they set, right?

the problem with public employee unions is that no matter what happens after the "collective bargaining," it's always the tax paying public who gets screwed. it's high time for us taxpayers to rise up!

[subdjoe]

Here are some more lies by "Faux Gnus" about the quite, civil teachers calmly stating their views

ricochet.com/main-feed/Meet-a-Wisconsin-Public-School-Teacher

Notice how the lying reporter goes out of his way to paint all the teachers there as raving lunatics.

[jgaffney]

Kyle Olsen at Townhall.com gives us another piece of the puzzle:

Much of the current controversy in Wisconsin involves the impending loss of most collective bargaining privileges for state employees, including public school teachers.

The fact is that the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the largest teachers union in the state, has grossly abused that privilege for decades, resulting in the unnecessary siphoning of millions of dollars from Wisconsin public schools. Under current Wisconsin law, the identity of the insurance company that provides health coverage to school employees is a matter of collective bargaining in each school district.

In the majority of districts around the state, WEAC negotiators have used that law to pressure local school boards into purchasing coverage from WEA Trust, an insurance company established by and closely associated with the union.

WEA Trust offers very comprehensive health coverage, at a very high cost to schools. Most of the districts with the most expensive health premiums in the state are clients of WEA Trust. Most of the districts with the lowest premiums do business with other insurance carriers.

So, it's not about the right of the workers to negotiate in good faith with management. It's more about the union protecting its lucrative health insurance contracts with the school districts.

If I were the Deems in Wisconsin, I would get back to the table and negotiate the best deal possible. The longer they stay out, the more we learn about the teachers union and the impacts it has on the state budget.

[The New Guy]