Victory for taxpayers in Wisconsin and California - The taxpayers have had enough

The news proclaimed the victory by Scott Walker over Big Labor in Wisconsin....expected and well done Governor Walker...The people told the Unions enough is enough....

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77098.html


The BIGGER story came out of California....Too many Public Employees were not satisfied with lifetime pensions and benefits on the taxpayers ( which they never paid into out of their paychecks) and kept gaming the system. Voters in San Diego sent them a real message.

Well, as they say, things that occur in California are "usually" a pre-indicator to things that will occur across the country.....this is the BIG NEWS you will likely not read anywhere else....

REAL change....not the kind that the Fool in the White House yapped about......The taxpayers have had enough. That is the message from last night's vote.


2 California cities voters approve pension cuts
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press 

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Voters in two major California cities overwhelmingly approved measures to cut retirement benefits for city workers Tuesday in contests being closely watched as states and local governments throughout the country struggle with mounting pension obligations.

In San Diego, 67 percent voted in favor of Proposition B while 33 percent were opposed. More than 65 percent of precincts reported.

The margin in San Jose was even wider, with 71 percent in favor of Measure B and 29 percent opposed. Nearly half of precincts reported.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed called the vote a victory for fiscal reform.

"The voters get it, they understand what needs to be done," he said in an interview.
Supporters had a straightforward pitch: Pensions for city workers are unaffordable and more generous than many private companies offer, forcing libraries to slash hours and potholes to go unfilled.

"We believe people are tired of having services cut back because of big pensions," San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican who is being forced from office by term limits, said recently.

Shrinking tax revenues during the recession are also responsible for service cuts, but pensions are an easy target. San Diego's payments to the city's retirement fund soared from $43 million in 1999 to $231.2 million this year, equal to 20 percent of the city's general fund budget, which pays for day-to-day operations.

As the pension payments grew, San Diego's 1.3 million residents saw roads deteriorate and libraries and recreation centers cut hours. For a while, some fire stations had to share engines and trucks. The city has cut its workforce 14 percent to 10,100 employees since Sanders took office in 2005.

San Jose's pension payments jumped from $73 million in 2001 to $245 million this year, equal to 27 percent of its general fund budget. Voters there approved construction bonds at the beginning of the last decade, but four new libraries and a police station have never opened because the city cannot afford to operate them. The city of 960,000 cut its workforce 27 percent to 5,400 over the last 10 years.

Opponents, led by public employee unions, say the measures deprive workers of benefits they were counting on when they got hired. Some workers decided against potentially more lucrative jobs with private companies, figuring their retirement was relatively safe.
"This is part of a broader effort to attack workers and to make their lives miserable," San Diego Councilman Todd Gloria said during a debate on the San Diego measure.

Thom Reilly, former manager of Clark County, Nev., and now a professor of social work at San Diego State University, said opponents face a difficult task. He expects the California measures may spawn similar efforts elsewhere if they pass.

"The ones who are actually paying the taxes will never see these benefits in their lifetimes, so there's not a lot of sympathy in the public," he said.

The ballot measures differ on specifics. San Diego's imposes a six-year freeze on pay levels used to determine pension benefits unless a two-thirds majority of the City Council votes to override it. It also puts new hires, except for police officers, into 401(k)-style plans.
More than 100,000 residents signed petitions to put the San Diego measure on the ballot.
Under San Jose's measure, current workers have to pay up to 16 percent of their salaries to keep their retirement plan or accept more modest benefits. New hires would get less generous benefits.

Reed, a Democrat, joined an 8-3 City Council majority to put the measure on the ballot. He said Tuesday that he expected other cities in financial binds to pursue similar measures.

"We're at the leading edge but we're not alone," he said.

Sanity restored in Wisconsin...and some rough business travel for yours truly....

Spent the day on business travel....The business part went well it was the "travel" part that was a slog.....delays and the Airlines showing that they have a long, long way to go to demonstrate that they understand customer service....Case in point, flying into Washington, DC at Reagan International Airport and having to wait on the tarmac for a 1/2 hour because " the gate we needed was being used" according to our Captain.....after a 1/2 hour wait, we finally get to pull up to the terminal only to find 4 open gates side-by-side....

Me thinks the Airlines need to get their act together.....it was not a happy group of passengers on our plane.....

Meanwhile, In Wisconsin, Sanity is restored as the Union Thugs and Overpaid State hacks finally see that they cannot derail the legislative process no matter how childish they want to act.....This shows that the Voters and more importantly the Taxpayers are the ones who set the tone of our Political Course in our country, not the Unions and certainly not the Public Sector. After all, they work for US, not the other way around.



Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald Statement on Senate Action
Posted: Mar 09, 2011 7:38 PM EST

MADISON, WI (Press Release) … After nearly a month of debate on the budget repair bill, nearly three weeks of childish stunts and delay tactics from the Democrats, the longest public hearing in state history and the longest Assembly debate in state history, the Senate met tonight to pass the non-fiscal items in the Budget Repair Bill. Sen. Fitzgerald released the following statement:

"Before the election, the Democrats promised "adult leadership" in Madison. Then a month and a half into session, the Senate Democrats fled the state instead of doing their job.

"In doing so, they have tarnished the very institution of the Wisconsin state Senate. This is unacceptable.

"This afternoon, following a week and a half of line-by-line negotiation, Sen. Miller sent me a letter that offered three options: 1) keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 2) take our counter-offer, which would keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 3) or stop talking altogether.

"With that letter, I realized that we're dealing with someone who is stalling indefinitely, and doesn't have a plan or an intention to return. His idea of compromise is "give me everything I want," and the only negotiating he's doing is through the media.

"Enough is enough." "The people of Wisconsin elected us to do a job. They elected us to stand up to the broken status quo, stop the constant expansion of government, balance the budget, create jobs and improve the economy. The longer the Democrats keep up this childish stunt, the longer the majority can't act on our agenda.

"Tonight, the Senate will be passing the items in the budget repair bill that we can, with the 19 members who actually DO show up and do their jobs. Those items include the long-overdue reform of collective bargaining needed to help local governments absorb these budget cuts, and the 12 percent health care premium and 5 percent pension contribution.

"We have confirmed with the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Reference Bureau that every item in tonight's bill follows the letter of the law.

"The people of Wisconsin elected us to come to Madison and do a job. Just because the Senate Democrats won't do theirs, doesn't mean we won't do ours."

The Media buries the news regarding LIVE AMMO found outside the Wisconsin Capitol Buildings...

The Mainstream Media is an active cheerleader for the Unions and those who want to make sure the public keeps paying through the nose....

The Unions Thugs and their ilk are NOT civil and the fact that live ammunition was found at multiple locations outside and inside Government Buildings in Madison shows that the people involved with this protest are as unstable as they come.

The way the Media has attacked the Tea Party but not seen the same anger in the crowds of Union Thugs that have tried to dictate the issues in Wisconsin shows that the Media are "cheerleading" the unions bullying of the people.

IF places were changed and this was a Conservative protest of a Liberal Administration and ammunition was found nearby, the Media would be screaming it in huge headlines....in the case of the ammunition found yesterday, there is a muted reporting by the Media. A news search on Google shows only 1100 news stories regarding finding ammunition compared to the 5300+ articles decrying the planned layoffs of 1500 state employees due to the cowardly legislators refusing to show up for work.

The Media is repeating the mistake it made when it "cheerleaded" Obama in to office only to have to reverse their positions a year later when he turned out to be incomptent. it would be best if they report the facts and let the reader decide for themselves instead of becoming partisan participants in the " Tryanny of the Minority".


Capitol visitors screened for weapons; woman arrested trying to rush past security
BILL NOVAK The Capital Times bnovak@madison.com madison.com Loading… Posted: Friday, March 4, 2011 12:15 pm

Police are screening people coming into the State Capitol on Friday after 41 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition were found outside three entrances to the building on Thursday.

Capitol Police also arrested a woman Friday morning after she tried to charge past officers to get into the building.

Elizabeth Ringle of Madison was arrested for disorderly conduct, police said, at the North Hamilton Street entrance to the Capitol.

According to police, Ringle continually attempted to get past the screening area without being checked for weapons or prohibited items.

"She was asked repeatedly to go through screening but failed to comply," the police report said. "After trying to charge past officers she was arrested."

Police also said several threats have been made to members of the state Legislature and the executive branch, but didn't elaborate who has been receiving threats.

Bullets were also found Thursday in the City-County Building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a block away from the Capitol.

"Multiple rounds of live ammunition have been recovered from public stairways and in a public bathroom in the City-County Building," said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

DeSpain said there were no specific threats made to anyone working in the City-County Building.

The ammunition found in the City-County Building and outside the Capitol were the only incidents of this nature reported to police, with no ammunition showing up elsewhere downtown, DeSpain said

Tyranny of the Minority

Let's break down a complicated issue into a simple equation. This can bring to focus the heart of the issue.

According to news reports, there are 300,000 public sector employees in Wisconsin.

According to the US census, the population of Wisconsin is 5,654,774.

If we do the math, that means that the public sector employees make up 5.3% of the total population.

That means at present, a little more than 5% of the total citizens in Wisconsin think they can set the tone for the rest of the State of Wisconsin and that have the right to tell the rest of the citizens (i.e. taxpayers, who the public sector employees work for) what they will or will not do, not show up for work and lie about why they refused to come to work when they should have worked or been fired.

If this is not a clear cut case of " Tyranny of the Minority", I don't know what else is.....

The Public sector Employees work for the taxpayers and should be grateful to have a job as many others would like to have their jobs. Enough of the BS already. Get back to work, and that includes the cowardly Legislators who ran across the border and abandoned their responsibility to serve the public's interests, and instead chose to serve their own shallow interests.

Job Abandonment

In the real world, unlike for Wisconsin Teachers & Legislators, people who lie about missing work get a pink slip....

Thoughtful analysis on the Wisconsin issue....

It comes down to this - Agree or disagree, teachers skipping school and legislators leaving the state to avoid doing their jobs is ethically wrong. If you want to debate an issue, do so in the legislature. If you want to protest, do so on your own time, not when you should be teaching in the schools or doing your state job. Any private employee who acted this way would likely be fired and/or replaced. But because they work for the state/municipal system, they are allowed to acted insubordinate to the taxpayers.

Teachers & Legislators, get back to the work you are being paid for and stop the acting out. It is embarrassing that these "public employees" are not taking care of their customers, only themselves....and it has been going on for far too long.

An “Assault on Unions?” It’s About Time
By Susan Brown February 22nd, 2011

Thuggish, “community organizing” politics showed up in Wisconsin after Commander-in-Chief, President Obama, deployed his Organizing for America (OFA) troops to inject protestors into the Wisconsin budget debate Obama describes as an “assault on unions.” Obama is a smart man, so why would he choose to federalize a state issue and define Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to reduce the state’s deficit, preserve jobs and prevent dramatic pay cuts as an “assault?”

After all, Gov. Walker simply asked union members to chip in a moderate percentage of their above average salary to contribute to their very generous and above the average pension and healthcare plans. The proposed increase could be partially recouped by another part of the proposal to make union participation and dues – optional – saving teachers upwards of $1100 annually.

Rather than intelligently considering the facts and having an intelligent debate, those charged with the honor of teaching our children responded like high school freshmen by calling in “sick” and closing down the Madison school system to join in a protest instigated by political arm of the Grande Community Organizer himself – President Obama. In the real world, where the parents of the Wisconsin public school system children live, people who lie about missing work only to show up on their bosses doorstep to protest get a pink slip, not a pat on the back.

In the meantime, Wisconsin Democrat legislators revealed their lack of intestinal fortitude when they left the state. They bailed to prevent the three-fifths quorum requirement necessary for continuance of Walker’s proposed legislation.

The sad part about all this is the “to hell with the children” attitude displayed by the Wisconsin educators, union members and the Obama administration. The children are the ones who pay the price for this ridiculously mindless political power stunt.

It really boils down to money and power. Former American Federation of Teachers president, the late Albert Shanker, said it best when he said, “When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.”

Recently, Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell reiterated the same self-serving attitude when she said, “This is not about protecting our pay and our benefits. It is about protecting our right to collectively bargain.”

Walker’s proposal would effectively make union membership optional, and as such, would slowly act as a way to dissolve some of the power teachers unions have collected for themselves over the years. No longer would taxpayer money be funneled directly into union boss pockets – leading to less political clout and less manipulation of the American electoral process.

America needs to be about the business of creating jobs. The traditional need for unions has long since passed and the longer they linger the more unions will be like a cancer on the workers in this country and the businesses they support.

The Bush administration understood that danger and demanded accountability by forcing unions to be more transparent by itemizing expenditures on an LM-2 report form. This accountability led to the indictment of 1004 union officials and the conviction of a little over 900 – for crimes including fraud, embezzlement of members’ dues and $93 million in court-ordered restitutions leading to the resignation of some of Service Employees International Union top employees.

Any level of transparency the Bush administration achieved was reversed when, in 2009, the Purveyor of Transparency himself rescinded the Bush LM-2 form rules and ostensibly padded union fat cat wallets.

This move away from transparency served to peel back layers of hope and change to reveal a very union-friendly core. And federalizing the Wisconsin budget debate made Obama look like a national union boss rather than an American president.

You say Governor Walker’s proposed legislation is an “assault on unions,” Mr. President? Many Americans say, “It’s about time.”

—–

©2011 Susan Stamper Brown. Susan is a motivational speaker and military advocate and can be reached at susan@susanstamperbrown.com her website www.susanstamperbrown.com

Wisconsin follows NJ's lead in bringing the public sector back in line with the private sector & stopping the greedy hacks

Wisconsin Gov. Walker has hit on the issue that needed to be brought forward and has shown true political leadership by bringing the costs for state employees lifetime benefits under control in Wisconsin.

Last night, at about midnight, the state's joint finance committee passed the bill, which set it up for a vote today by a session of the joint assembly. Republican Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald said that Wisconsin is leading the country "in bringing the public sector back in line with the private sector." He added, "There are no easy solutions to the problems our state is facing."

This is what was needed for too long as the state & municipal employees in all states have rigged the system to their own benefit for far too long and to the detriment of all other citizens.

Now OBAMA has tried to weigh in to a State issue and has tried to defend the Labor Unions ( Ever heard of "States Rights' Mr. President??)

Now, with the Gov. Scott Walker taking on unions in Wisconsin, it was only a matter of time before Obama gave his two cents. He has taken the side of the state government unions against Walker’s plan that would force state workers to cover half of their pension contributions and 13 percent of their own health insurance cuts. The plan would also strip government workers of the power to collectively bargain for higher wages unless the public approved it through a vote.

When asked about the public employee benefits cuts in Wisconsin and the resulting union protests President Obama said he saw the cuts as an “assault on unions”.

We have seen how the Democrats in Wisconsin deal with "change"....They have walked out and are in hiding......Typical of a group of feckless fools who know they are on losing side of the issue.

Run you cowards......you've shown your true colors.


Wisconsin budget fight escalates as Dems flee Madison to avoid vote
By Mary Katharine Ham - The Daily Caller Published: 1:31 PM 02/17/2011

A three-day-long stand-off at the Wisconsin state capitol between union supporters and those backing the Republican governor’s budget cuts just went to another level Thursday as Democratic senators apparently fled the state to prevent a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill, which would cut public employee union collective bargaining rights and require them to contribute to pensions and health care.

Law enforcement has been sent to find missing Democratic lawmakers, according to a Madison, Wis. ABC affiliate. State Sen. leader Scott Fitzgerald said only one Democrat is needed for quorum to vote on the controversial bill, which is expected to pass a Republican-majority Senate. The “Sergeant of Arms is going door to door to find Democratic senators.”

The budget-repair bill passed a finance committee 12-4 late last night, its last hurdle before a Senate vote, on party lines convincing Senate Democrats that moderate Republicans would not deliver them an upset victory over the Gov. Scott Walker.

Sources tell the Madison NBC affiliate that Democratic lawmakers may have left the state to avoid a vote, possibly fleeing to the Illinois border, about an hour drive from Madison. The move is a repeat of a 2003 stunt by Texas Democrats who fled to a hotel room in neighboring Oklahoma to avoid a redistricting vote.

Public employees, largely teachers and many of their students, have been protesting in Madison for three days, flooding the Capitol building with people and signage. Many Wisconsin schools have had to close due to sick-outs by large percentages of the state’s teachers.

The fight in Wisconsin has become a flash point for a national debate over budget deficits and how to solve them, with both sides recognizing the high-stakes battle will become a template for other states, no matter who comes out on top. A large defeat for unions in the battleground state of Wisconsin—the birthplace of AFSCME— would have public policy repercussions.

The Democratic Party’s Organizing for America, the leftover campaign apparatus from the Obama campaign, has entered the fray, filling buses and running phone banks for unions in Wisconsin. President Obama offered his opinion, declaring Walker’s measures an “assault on unions” despite admitting he hadn’t looked into the details.

The vote procedure is fluid in Madison now, depending on who shows up the the Senate. Assembly Democrats are reportedly still at the Capitol.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/17/wisconsin-budget-fight-escalates-as-dems-flee-madison-to-avoid-vote/#ixzz1EFDz3x6s