Thursday, March 10, 2011

GOP Trampled Democracy to Appease Their Wealthy Backers

When Wisconsin's G.O.P. senators couldn't get what they wanted in an open process, they resorted to goon-squad democracy. You got a problem wi' dat?

Cartoon source

I’m not at all surprised by what the Wisconsin Republicans have done to get their way (hook or crook it doesn’t matter). No one else should be either.

“When Wisconsin Republicans did an end run around Democrats on Wednesday night in order to pass a bill that would strip public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights, they showed themselves to be liars. This was supposed to be about balancing Wisconsin's budget, remember? The collective bargaining rights revocation was all of a piece with an ironically named "Budget Repair Bill," and Gov. Scott Walker, darling of billionaire union-hater David Koch and his astroturf group, Americans For Prosperity, swore up and down that it was only the budget he cared about in this fight.”

That lie has been exposed by the GOP’s actions. People should know that the men behind this assault on unions don’t believe in democracy. They are elitists who only look out for their own. The Koch brother’s daddy Fred was the clown that started the John Birch Society – what does that tell you about the Koch boys? 

“This battle is about a few very wealthy men, and the politicians who seek their slice of power through them, wanting to steal the future from ordinary people and their children. They want to rob old people, who worked all their lives, of their Social Security and their pensions; they want to rob future generations of their inheritance, which, for regular people so blessed, usually comes in the form of the windfall from the sale of a deceased parent's home. If people can't afford to stay in their homes in their later years, there's no inheritance for their children. Why do David Koch, and his brother Charles, and their good friend, Rupert Murdoch, want to rip you off? To enrich their own heirs at your expense.

This is what the fight is partly about. The rest is about control.”

I have no doubt busting unions is only part of the Koch brother’s agenda. Just look what they’ve done so far to ensure they can override the will of the people in Wisconsin. They buy politicians like you and I buy socks – when they are no longer usable, they throw them away. 

“How much easier it would to be boss of all of us if there were no meaningful opposition to fulfilling one's self-inflating, heir-enriching agenda. Now that he's made the Republican Party over in his own image -- in Wisconsin alone, at least three congressmen, one U.S. senator and the governor won election in 2010 thanks to his efforts -- the only obstacle left is the opposition party, whose get-out-the-vote operation is rooted in the labor movement. Kill the unions and you cripple the Democratic Party. Game over.”

GO HERE to read the rest of the article.

4 comments:

Dave Gray said...

Here's where you'll find the coffee, Dave:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117078618.html

The chicken-shit Democrat clowns who left town in WI and shirked their responsibility to vote on authorized legislation are owned by public employee unions - just like the Democrats in the CA legislature. Public Employee Union dues has bought too much power in state capitals for too long at the expense of other taxpaying citizens. The pendulum has begun to swing back to the middle.

By the way, it was sure nice to see all that civility by the union demonstrators (it seemed like less than half of them were foaming at the mouth) versus those rabid tea party types. LOL! Can't wait to see the SNL sketch.

ImBlogCrazy said...

Republicans, have enjoyed getting donations from unions in Wisconsin for many years. that's common knowledge.
The article you sent me stated:
"There used to be Republican candidates who were moderate and were willing to talk about working people's issues," Abelson said. "It's hard to find them now

As for the Dem senators being cowards because they left the state - are you aware this has been a Repblican tactic numerous times in American politics?

They did exactly the same thing in 1988.
Heck, they have a history going back to the party's foundation when Lincoln and his staff jumped out windows to avoid a vote.

I guess that makes Republicans chicken-shits too right?

Or, do you have a "double-standard when it comes to the Elephant Party?"

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the feedback.

Dave Gray said...

No, Dave, I do not have a double-standard; any Legislator who flees his responsibility is a chicken-shit.

Although my search wasn't extensive, I was unable to find any case(s) where a single or group of Republicans fled their legislative responsibilities. Lincoln was a Whig, not a Republican, when he took a short run to avoid a quorum the Democrats needed to vote on adjourning early to cut off debate which would (and did) insure the failure of the Illinois State Bank.

Perhaps you can cite the 22 year old 1988 case or another - not that I would call them anything less than chicken-shits for taking a runner.

FYI, I'm not a Republican. In fact I find them nearly as offensive as Democrats. My beef is with public employee union contributions going only to those that will assist in approving their overly generous contracts. If a Republican had no fiscal common sense, I'm sure he/she would receive hefty union contributions just like most Democrats.

I think almost every union is corrupt; I sued the International Seafarers International for unlawful actions and won a handome settlement from the NLRB. Even so, I am not against collective bargaining in principal. In the private sector, a worker is at a disadvantage since his employer has a natural inclination to desire maximize profit. That factor does not exist in the public sector. Federal employees do not have collective bargaining and I see no logical reason for state or local employees to have that option. Civil service employees have always had protections that were superior to private-sector employees.

I think at minimum, public (and private) union employees should have to write seperate checks for dues and for any PAC contributions AFTER they've received their regular paycheck. As an aside, I think the same method should apply to all payroll deductions. Individuals should receive all their money for labor performed and THEN be required to seperately pay taxes to the government.

ImBlogCrazy said...

Thanks for sharing such an inside view of unions Dave.

I'm not going to argue how right or wrong Unions are with you because you've had a bad experience with them (and I believe what you're saying is true regarding your personal experience.)

I'm sure it would sour my view too.

Let's let it go with Unions can be good, and they can be bad - like so many other things in life.

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