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Title: Wisconsin Republicans Step Up Pressure on Dems Who Fled State
Source:
Fox
URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201 ... deal-wisconsin-governor-warns/
Published: Feb 20, 2011
Author: Associated Press contributed to this rep
Post Date: 2011-02-20 13:13:41 by Happy Quanzaa
Keywords: union thugs, moochers, maggots, parasites
Views: 6626
Comments: 8
If changes aren't made to the benefit contributions paid by Wisconsin's nearly 300,000 public sector employees, about 10,000-12,000 workers will lose their jobs, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warned Sunday.
The Republican governor has been targeted by protesters for nearly a week for negotiating a bill now in the state Senate that would require workers to increase their contributions to pensions and health care coverage, would limit collective bargaining rules and tie raises to inflation.
But Walker said while the state enjoys a lower-than-average unemployment rate -- about 7.5 percent compared to 9 percent nationally -- about 5,000-6,000 state workers and 5,000-6,000 local government workers could lose their jobs if they don't accept changes to their benefits plan.
"I don't want a single person laid off in the public nor in the private sector and that's why this is a much better alternative than losing jobs," Walker told "Fox News Sunday."
The budget vote was supposed to take place last week, but was delayed when state Senate Democrats fled to Illinois to avoid having to vote on the plan, which would cost public sector employees about $300 million over two years, or less than 10 percent of the deficit total.
"If we're going to be in this together, (cut) our $3.6 billion budget deficit, it's going to take a whole lot more than just employee contributions when it comes to pensions and health care," Walker said. "But it's got to be a piece of the puzzle because as I saw at the local level, it's like a virus that eats up more and more of the budget if you don't get it under control."
Protesters and Democratic lawmakers have likened Walker to a dictator, and demonstrators protesting the budget bill have waived signs comparing him to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and Adolf Hitler.
President Obama, whose group Organizing for America, has bused in some of the nearly 70,000 protesters outside the state capitol on Saturday, last week called the bill "an assault on unions."
Walker said the president should stay focused on fixing the federal budget, which is $1.5 trillion in deficit this year. The president's plan, rolled out last week, proposes $1.65 trillion in deficits next year.
While union workers say they've been blindsided by the governor's plan, which he campaigned on through the midterm election, they also say Walker has unfairly targeted public employees while giving tax breaks to businesses worth about $117 million.
"We expected concessions, but we just didn't think there was a mandate for this. We didn't see him getting rid of collective bargaining," said Gary Steffen, president of the Wisconsin Science Professionals, the union that represents state scientists, including crime lab analysts, biologists, chemists and foresters.
Under the governor's proposal, unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay organized. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be approved by referendum.
Walker said he hoped "cooler minds will prevail" and lawmakers will come back to vote.
"Democracy's not about showing up in another state," he said.
Read more: www.foxnews.com/politics/...rnor-warns/#ixzz1EWYSGwLn
12K State Workers Could Be Fired Without
Budget Deal, Wisconsin Governor Warns
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#1. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
Make him move out of the mansion then.
Wait until the police and firefighters walk off in support. I'm sure the tea party crowd would be happy to take their places.
Since January 3, 2011, Republicans have controlled the power of the purse.
Police and firefighters are the only unionized government employees exempt from Walker's proposal.
You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: you are inferior and all the improvements in your conditions which you simply take for granted you owe to the efforts of men who are better than you. Ludwig von Mises in a letter to Ayn Rand
Look at how much Ron Paul is paying tit suckers...
What's he waiting for? Why not fire everybody in a union. Let's see how that works out for him. Even his big supporters, the Koch brothers, don't have enough money to bail him out of that.
Let's see how that works out for him. Even his big supporters, the Koch brothers, don't have enough money to bail him out of that. You're an idiot.
Socialist ass-hats think "There will be no more money when the U.S. dollar has no value, until that time we can keep printing more." And yes, that IS from LF's answer to Ben Bernanke, go65, leading disfunctional and delusional socialist of the forum. "You want me to kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, I'll kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, Rebs, or Sioux, or Cheyenne... For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free." Algren, "The Last Samurai" The selfish "nanny needer" socialist types already do not give a damned about those whose tax money funds their gluttonous desires. I could see those who are that disgustingly amoral willing to trample their own in a crazed rush to satiate their own greed.
Afghan Invasion cost $1.4 Trillion # More costly than 'the war to end all wars' / The Christian Science ... Aug 29, 2005 ... This conflict has already cost each American at least $850 in ... If the war lasts another five years, it will cost nearly $1.4 trillion, calculates Linda Bilmes, ... and Afghanistan ($66 billion) is "inching up" on the cost of the ... Iraq invasion and the increased instability in the Middle East. ... www.csmonitor.com/2005/0829/p15s01-cogn.html Guns or butter. Keep supporting the Koch Brothers. See how that's working for Mubarak and Bahrain and Gaddafi. 8D
#2. To: war (#1)
#3. To: go65 (#2)
Wait until the police and firefighters walk off in support.
#4. To: go65 (#2)
#5. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
#6. To: Skip Intro (#5)
What's he waiting for? Why not fire everybody in a union.
#7. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
But Walker said while the state enjoys a lower-than-average unemployment rate -- about 7.5 percent compared to 9 percent nationally -- about 5,000-6,000 state workers and 5,000-6,000 local government workers could lose their jobs if they don't accept changes to their benefits plan.
#8. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
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