Wisconsin Governor Stands Firm Against Collective Bargaining, Warns of Layoffs

I agree that left or right, it doesn't matter. What is sad is that many of the middle and lower classes have been duped (by republicans however) that their enemy is the other half of the middle class. The true enemy is the extremely wealthy who are greedy and will never have enough. They are going to cause a depression with all of their nonsense, but the duped still don't get it. Everything you said, bravehonor, is exactly true.

Left, right was does it matter.....this is management vs. the working class. The HAVES and the HAVE NOTS. People died in the past so that the AVERAGE American could have a better life and not make peasant wages, or work 7 days a week, 60-80 hours or more, NO sick days, No medical........they had nothing. Now the GREEDY RICH who got us in this recession because their profits were not good enough BLAME the UNIONS......Management/Owners have a million, want a million more menality. Why don't all of you go after the damn OIL companies......GREED, GREED and more GREED. One OIL company, that;s ONE, made 40 Billion in profits last year...........Yeah......blame the unions when the owners ship overseas and pay chinese workers .12 cents an hour in horrible conditions......oh I forgot, the RICH believe in God more than the workers....that is the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.

My husband had three jobs 'outsourced' while working for 'the too big to fail bank's'. What did the banks do with the savings? They gave it out in bonuses to the very top executives and investment bankers. These banks didn't care about their current or downsized employees or the other businesses that relied on the business of the downsized professionals. What happened after the big banks gambled away money and took bail outs from the federal government, the executives/investment bankers gave themselves big fat bonuses in the form of stock options taxed at 15%. They laid off 10 to 30% of their staff to save money yet found lots of money to give to themselves. Afterall it was a 'contract'. What happened when these millions of downsized workers lost their jobs? They paid less state and local taxes. They shopped less, therefore, sales taxes went down.

So, what do our predominantly Republican Gov. and their colleagues do? They blame it on teachers and other public sector workers and their unions. You are the CAUSE OF OUR PROBLEMS. They pitted the private sector workers who have seen their salaries go down because of the greed of big corporations against the middle class neighbors who happen to work for government. They took 40 years of anti-gov't propaganda that convinced people that gov't does nothing and deflected them from directing their anger at the real problems; a tax structure geared to give the rich more and more money and greedy bankers and corporate executives.

If Wisconsin government employees lose their jobs, maybe, the average WI citizen might see that government workers actually do something to improve the quality of their lives.

In my opinion, the only real reason State employee benefits look so good is because comparable private sector benefits have been scaled back so much in recent years. As I understand it, employers no longer pay any of the premiums for employee health insurance and 401k plans have replaced traditional retirement plans. Public employees are not getting a free ride. They have earned what they receive. They contribute to their retirement plans through State taxes. Other citizens should be willing to do the same because these public employees (police, fire, regulators and others) contribute to the wellbeing of the people.

I am glad to see Gov. Walker and democracy prevail. Start the layoffs.

The majority stand with the Wisconsin Gov.
We have our own bills to pay, and shouldn't have to cover yours (even a portion) as well union members. I heard even stimulus $ went to teachers pensions,etc, now where did all that $ go! The free ride is OVER.
Maybe when the unions are bused in- they could pick up the missing senators in Illinois to get back to work. The fake MD notes for teachers to be off work on sick leave????? Legal action against the MD who wrote them- or person pretending to be (state college employee MD?), DEFUND that clinic of tax dollars- false exam records/Rx notes of illness, teachers lying about being ill, and senators for not working.... 2012 can not come soon enough!

How much do union "bosses" get paid? That alone might be enough to wake up a few people. Union workers are not the problem. So what was Andy Sterns, SEIU, salary? What is Trumka's, AFL-CIO? Your union dues are paying for these. How much is it costing YOU to transport "protestors" from around the country to WI? How much are these signs costing you? How much are you forced to pay in dues each year to give these guys a cushy life? Government employees are required to pay these dues. You do not even have a choice of how your dues are used! Wake up! You are getting fleeced. These dues should be used to help union workers NOT union bosses!

Wall street bankers and money managers were the cause of all these budget deficits in every state by loss of jobs,tax revenues and foreclosures.They get a 750 million dollar bailout from U.S. taxpayers to stay solvent and invest in job creation in this country by Bush and republicans and another 400 billion in tax cuts to them and the corporations.They continue to invest in foreign countries and outsource jobs.The right now say it is the unions fault for all these deficits.We are being forced to compete with wages in China and India and they wil not be happy until all Americans union and non union work for those wages.This is a race to the bottom for the working class.

Theirs a place for Unions, But Public workers... Interesting!
1st, They are in a business that doesnt create wealth, They are paid by us the American taxpayer! How we ever got to a point were public union employees are making more on average then those in the private sector with same skills, Whom by the way is paying the wage of those in the public unions... I know Insane!
2nd, why is it if the state doesnt have the money, Which in most cases means that state has high unemployment, their isnt a simple way of just proving to public union Joes... The moneys not their, options are limited!Seems to me alot of these public union jobs are teachers, Is this really something they can't comprehend? & well relying on these folks to teach out children?
That in itself is downright shameful!
If I were a Govoner I would fire all these teachers & rehire them at a flat starting rate, & their pay would be adjusted to their performance, & bonuses for certain locations that have had poor results!
This would create a enviormentfor teachers to be more creative with their methods, & more then likely would demand better results from students!

I am not a memeber of a union, but I know we need unions to keep greedy management from taking all of the profits. We need to send our kids to college..we need to feed our family..we need to be able to purchase a new car every four years..we need to pay for our medical care..we need jobs that pay a fare wage or salary. If you do not need what you are entitled too, then let management give you what remains after they walk away with the prime cut of the profits. Look at the bonuses the banks are paying their management. How much does the bank teller or the loan officer make? Not 25% of what management is being paid.