Howard Finman said it right when he wrote in his article for the Huffington Post "The Real Political Math in Wisconsin, isn't about the state budget or the collective-bargaining rights of public employees there. It is about which party controls governorships and, with them, the balance of power on the ground in the 2012 elections."
Fineman later went on to write in his article about a conversation that happened at a Washington dinner that proved his point and later mine. "We are never going to win most of these states until we can do something about those unions," one key operative said at a Washington dinner in November. "They have so much incentive to work hard politically because they are, in effect, electing their own bosses - the Democrats who are going to pay them better and give them more benefits. And the Democrats have the incentives to be generous."
When will enough be enough for politicians? How much power do they really want? And When will the American people come before re-elections? These are the questions I am posing today.
According to Gov. Haley Babour (R-MS) "Half the states in the country do not allow collective bargaining." He went on to say on Meet The Press, "People act like this is some right. Like there is some collective bargaining rights. There is no collective bargaining rights under the Constitution." He does not stand alone in his way of thinking.
Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN), my home state, nearly eliminated collective bargaining six years ago when he took office. He said during an interview on PBS News Hour "By far the most powerful special interest are the government unions." Governor Daniels may one minute withdraw his support to save his popularity, and the next continue to keep pressure on unions in Washington while attending the National Governors Meeting, but he isn't fooling anyone. You might believe "the best was treated no different from the worst" when people were losing their jobs and/or benefits. Maybe that's because you were sitting in your nice warm mansion with your class of expensive champagne.
Lets look at the facts. According to in.gov.org in 2009 the National average yearly salary for jobs (OES) for Education, Training, and Library Occupations was only 49,530. Post Secondary Teachers could make anywhere on average from 70-80,000 a year. While Kindergarten and Middle School Teachers made around 50-53,000. That's average. Under all other teachers the income was more believable, since I have many friends who are teachers. That figure was 41,110. Now of course if you are a lawyer or judge this figure goes up. And so does the life time benefits for the Judges. There are no life time benefits for most public employees.
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) also wants to eliminate collective bargaining. Not only that, raise health care premiums to 12.6% and pension benefits by 5.8%. Even though this past week the Unions agreed to his terms Governor Walker decided that wasn't good enough. "Actions speak louder than words," he stated on Meet The Press. He went on to say "Their actions in the last two weeks show that." When asked by moderator David Gregory about his inconsistencies and if the governor thought firemen and/or police were more important than teachers the governor responded. "This is not a value judgment about employees, but ultimately about preserving public safety. Two weeks ago teachers walked off the job for three days and it was an inconvenience for parents. A disturbance like that I can't afford....It ultimately comes down to public safety." He says he is willing to share in the sacrifice but at the same time he doesn't deny wanting to change the course of history. As he stated he has given us the problem, the solution, and how he acted on it.
When asked about how he had acted on it, he admitted to discussing planting trouble makers in the crowd but the governor said, "we rejected that...we look at everything that is out there. We are not going to allow anyone outside to come in and disrupt this debate. They can come in and inform it, but we are not going to let them disrupt the debate and take the focus off the real issue here. The real issue here is that 14 state Senators need to come home so we can wrap up the debate." Really? Wrap up the debate Governors? I think you do not want to debate at all. I think you want what you want, when you want it. And you want it now.
Richard Trumka had a good point when he said, "No person should have to face the loss of their job or the loss of their rights."His colleague Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) also echoed his sentiment when he stated, "When the Governor says come back home he's not saying lets negotiate, he is saying let me do what I want to do with the unions." Bravo! I say bravo!
Frankly, I think the voters need to take a stand once and for all in 2012! This is still America. We as Americans need to stop for a minute and look past all the campaign promises, the long speeches, and the money that is being spent. If we took even half the money being spent on campaign contributions and promises we could probably either put a million people to work or create jobs to do so. We could use the other half to help balance the budget.
ights away from the people is not a way to get popular nor voted back into office. It is our right to speak out against things we don't agree with. I do believe it is our First Amendment Right. Our constitution may not spell out every little right we may or may not have. However, this does not give any Governor or elected official the right to dictate what our collective bargaining rights should or should not be. Just think for a moment. Now it is the unions. Next it will be the collective bargaining rights of the stores we shop in or what we wear. This is not a dictatorship no matter how much money you put behind it.
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