Collective bargaining "rights"??

[whitehall]

What do you lefties want? You whine about the budget and when the GOP tries to do something you whine about that. The left faked hysteria when little old ladies and grizzled Vets joined the Tea Party but it seems that rioting municipal workers who violate the law with sick-ins and cowardly state senators who fled the state is ...business as usual. The left is becoming pathetic.

 

[California Girl]

I support the people of WI not to have their children's future held hostage by a bunch of greedy Union bastards.

Walker Rocks!

 

[xsited1]

Here's a great article on the subject:

==> Madison protest: Unions are angry

The government union issue is coming to the forefront because states, facing huge deficits, are desperate to reform their budgets and cut pensions.

Wisconsin looks a lot like Egypt this week. But while Arabs are fighting to end extraordinary overreach by government, Wisconsin union protesters are fighting to preserve it.

Unionism seems to coincide with poor state government management. States with higher public sector union shares tend to have higher levels of government debt. And the states with higher union shares do more poorly on grading by the Pew Center regarding the quality of public sector management.

Unions certainly have free speech rights to voice their opinions about public policy. But collective bargaining gives unions the exclusive right to speak for covered workers, many of whom may disagree with the views of the monopoly union. Thus, collective bargaining is inconsistent with the right to freedom of association.

 

[Dreadnaught1968]

We stand in solidarity with the protesters and the brave 14 State Senators who are making a stand against Gov. Walker, his cronies, and the Koch brothers' blatant attack on workers' rights!
Please forward this petition to everyone you know who supports the 14 Democratic state senators who are fighting for workers rights!
thepetitionsite.com/158/support-the-wisconsin-14/

The Project for Social and Economic Equality supports their actions and will do everything in our power to get their message heard.
Daniel Lee,
Director, The Project for Social and Economic Equality

You mean the 14 pussies that ran to Illinois? They stomped their little feet, took their ball, and went home. Hopefully all will lose their jobs next election cycle.

 

[Greenbeard]

Demacracy is only supported by deomcorats if it results in what democrats want I guess. Why did they even bother having elections in Wisconsin is my question?

There doesn't seem to be much of a partisan or ideological stripe to the process that's occurring. That is to say, it unfolds them same way regardless of who's in the majority and who's in the minority.

One side wins big in an election and moves forward with its policy agenda. The opposition mobilizes and protests publicly, while opposition legislators use any and all means available to them to obstruct the legislative process.

If you're amenable to the majority's policy preferences, you'll likely see the unfolding process as some kind of attempt to subvert democracy. If you're more sympathetic to the minority, you'll view them as boldly doing what's necessary to prevent the majority from "ramming through" destructive policies.

Same shit, different day.

 

[geauxtohell]

I like the WI DEMS "unique" filibusterer. I think it's hilarious that the best the cons on here can do is call them "pussies".

I also think it's laughable that the governor sent the state police after them.

What can they legally be arrested/detained for? Walker better hope make sure that doesn't happen as it is a clear abuse of power and a violation of the law.

 

[Leweman]

Demacracy is only supported by deomcorats if it results in what democrats want I guess. Why did they even bother having elections in Wisconsin is my question?

There doesn't seem to be much of a partisan or ideological stripe to the process that's occurring. That is to say, it unfolds them same way regardless of who's in the majority and who's in the minority.

One side wins big in an election and moves forward with its policy agenda. The opposition mobilizes and protests publicly, while opposition legislators use any and all means available to them to obstruct the legislative process.

If you're amenable to the majority's policy preferences, you'll likely see the unfolding process as some kind of attempt to subvert democracy. If you're more sympathetic to the minority, you'll view them as boldly doing what's necessary to prevent the majority from "ramming through" destructive policies.

Same shit, different day.

Agreed. Thats a good point.

 

[EriktheRed]

I like the WI DEMS "unique" filibusterer. I think it's hilarious that the best the cons on here can do is call them "pussies".

I also think it's laughable that the governor sent the state police after them.

What can they legally be arrested/detained for? Walker better hope make sure that doesn't happen as it is a clear abuse of power and a violation of the law.

Actually, I think it's perfectly legal, but only within the state. What DeLay did was illegal because he got the FAA to go after the fleeing Dems when it was an internal state matter.

 

[kaz]

We stand in solidarity with the protesters and the brave 14 State Senators who are making a stand against Gov. Walker, his cronies, and the Koch brothers' blatant attack on workers' rights!
Please forward this petition to everyone you know who supports the 14 Democratic state senators who are fighting for workers rights!
thepetitionsite.com/158/support-the-wisconsin-14/

The Project for Social and Economic Equality supports their actions and will do everything in our power to get their message heard.
Daniel Lee,
Director, The Project for Social and Economic Equality

Liberalism, the power of greed

 

[Leweman]

I like the WI DEMS "unique" filibusterer. I think it's hilarious that the best the cons on here can do is call them "pussies".

I also think it's laughable that the governor sent the state police after them.

What can they legally be arrested/detained for? Walker better hope make sure that doesn't happen as it is a clear abuse of power and a violation of the law.

How about not showing up for work when they are being paid by the taxpayer. You know that money that all liberals voluntarily gives every year because they feel government knows how to spend money better than them. Oh wait thats not what tax dollars are.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

How is this any different from the GOP's policy of filibustering legislation during the first two years of the Obama white house?

If the majority is unwilling to negotiate with the minority, the minority is always free to take whatever legal steps are available to protect there rights. This is true regardless of who the minority is, and what they are standing for. No laws have been broken, so no foul.

If the Wisconsin GOP doesn't like it, they are free to either wait them out or try to negotiate.

 

[boedicca]

A filibuster is a proper parliamentary procedure which requires that the elected representatives actually SHOW UP FOR WORK.

 

[rightwinger]

I know there are already 13 Wisconsin threads on the first page of Politics already....but this one is really, really good

Protests start for 6th day at Wisconsin Capitol - USATODAY.com

 

[WillowTree]

I liked it when the Tea Party showed up with signs that said "We were at work yesterday, where the hell were you." Go Tea Party..

 

[Greenbeard]

A filibuster is a proper parliamentary procedure which requires that the elected representatives actually SHOW UP FOR WORK.

This is a silly distinction. Denying a quorum (either through absence or simply refusing to answer a quorum call) has not historically been an uncommon way to delay business in a legislative body that lacks a filibuster. See the "disappearing quorums" common in the U.S. House prior to Czar Reed's tenure as Speaker.

The question is whether obstruction by the minority is acceptable in representative government. And a person's answer to that seems to vary depending on whether or not they're sympathetic to the minority's policy preferences.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

A filibuster is a proper parliamentary procedure which requires that the elected representatives actually SHOW UP FOR WORK.

Denying quorum is a legitimate parliamentary tactic. It's just one you don't like because it's the Democrats.

Again, if the GOP doesn't like it, they are free to wait or compromise.

 

[rightwinger]

I liked it when the Tea Party showed up with signs that said "We were at work yesterday, where the hell were you." Go Tea Party..

At least they got the spelling right......


They can thank those teachers

 

[Liability]

I like the WI DEMS "unique" filibusterer. I think it's hilarious that the best the cons on here can do is call them "pussies".

I also think it's laughable that the governor sent the state police after them.

What can they legally be arrested/detained for? Walker better hope make sure that doesn't happen as it is a clear abuse of power and a violation of the law.

They ARE pussies. Run away, brave Sir Robin. Bravely run away!

You only "like" this so-called variant on a "filibuster" because it's a bunch of pussy libbies doing the running. If the roles were reversed, and a bunch of GOP stalwarts were running away from the legislature to prevent the hypothetical liberal Democrat majority from cramming some other fucking mess down the throats of the people, you'd be expressing outwage! So would all the libbies.

 

[The T]

I like the WI DEMS "unique" filibusterer. I think it's hilarious that the best the cons on here can do is call them "pussies".

I also think it's laughable that the governor sent the state police after them.

What can they legally be arrested/detained for? Walker better hope make sure that doesn't happen as it is a clear abuse of power and a violation of the law.

They ARE pussies. Run away, brave Sir Robin. Bravely run away!

You only "like" this so-called variant on a "filibuster" because it's a bunch of pussy libbies doing the running. If the roles were reversed, and a bunch of GOP stalwarts were running away from the legislature to prevent the hypothetical liberal Democrat majority from cramming some other fucking mess down the throats of the people, you'd be expressing outwage! So would all the libbies.

 

[whitehall]

It wasn't that long ago, remember when libs were outraged at Tea Party activists? Remember how the left was shocked, I say shocked that little old ladies and grey haired conservative men would actually engage in the political process? There were cries of anarchy and treason on the left. Now we have municipal workers breaking the law with sick-outs and trying to intimidate the poor Wisconsin governor and the left thinks it's another day in the park. Cowardly democrat state senators probably think they are entitled to a pay check while they sit in a bar in Illinois. What a bunch.