POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Some Recent Historical Context for Wisconsin-Union Dispute [UPDATED]

In my previous post, I talked about how Wisconsinites likely view the money issues. But as the unions tell us, this isn't really about money: it's about the "right" to bargain collectively. This information is taken from the excellent No Runny Eggs blog.

In December of last year, after Wisconsin Democrats had taken their shellacking in the polls, but before their replacements could be sworn in, they called a last-minute Special Session in the legislature to try to pass new bargains with a variety of unions. A lame-duck special session is a rarity in Wisconsin state politics, having been called only once before in the past 40 years. Those very same Democratic Senators who have fled Wisconsin so as to prevent a voting quorum were part of this scheme, and the idea was to take advantage of the absence of any Republican State Senators who had left on vacation to ram through the new deals with 17 different unions, including language that would effectively eliminate oversight of state regulatory agencies and give them full control of workplace policies without having to get government permission.

For outgoing lawmakers, including departing, scandal-ridden Governor Doyle, this would prove an effective way of feathering their nests via various kinds of quid pro quo paid for by compulsory union dues. But it was a bridge too far, even though they used their clout to spring an Independent Senator who caucused with the Dems from jail on a Huber sentence for his fourth DUI conviction. Dave Hansen, the outgoing Dem majority leader, made the principled decision that the voters of the state had elected a new slate of legislators to deal with budget matters, and all of the contracts but one (for child-care providers) went down by identical 16-16 votes.

It was widely believed that all of those contracts would be approved in Special Session, but Republican lawmakers showed up to do their jobs. Whether Nancy Pelosi was proud of them or not is not recorded.

Yes, it's true that the new legislators and the new Governor were brought in to address the budget mess, and that likely signalled trouble for the unions. Governor Walker is correct when he says that the Runners shouldn't be surprised by the legislation, because getting a grip on public employee compensation and benefits was a big part of what they were elected to do. But it was that last-gasp attempt to make themselves invulnerable to public accountability that really was the last straw and that convinced Wisconsinites and their representatives that the cozy relations between government unions and legislators had gone too far and needed to be stopped, even if that meant "breaking" the unions.

This isn't a plebiscite on Wisconsin teachers, but on their union, which, in the minds of many Wisconsinites, has proved itself unworthy of the privileges it has been granted. It follows the results of a plebiscite in which the voters deemed some of the union backers in the legislature unworthy of their role as representatives for the commonweal.

This kind of fraudulent collusion doesn't help, either. More at No Sheeples regarding the Flee Flu.

Hangers-on from Chicago Revolutionary Communist Party movement, because communists are always emancipating humanity . . . by whatever inhumane means are necessary (because Walker's just like Mubarak):

Keffiyeh. Check. Because Islamists are all about teh human rights. Via Stacy

Wisconsin Teacher Salaries in Context

On average, including benefits, Wisconsin teachers earn about $78k per year. I'm going to leave aside the "for nine months work" part of this, because I think it's been hammered enough. The average household income in Wisconsin is about $52k per year. So, teachers earn about 1.5 times the average household income in Wisconsin when you factor in the benefits, and many of those households are two-income households.

Leaving the issue of benefits out of the equation, teacher salaries in and of themselves average about what the average Wisconsin family earns, even though many of those have more than one wage earner. A two-teacher family employed in Wisconsin public schools (and it's not uncommon), is pulling in double what the average Wisconsin family does, and about treble if you include the benefits disparity.

When Wisconsinites see that, and consider whether schools are successfully teaching their children what they need to make the most of their lives and careers, they're not really very happy with the "sick out" stuff, and they're even less happy about it when they consider what tenure means and how difficult it is to get rid of incompetents and loons within the system. Democratic State Senators playing hooky as well, causing disruptions for families who perhaps already committed to travel plans for the now-delayed summer vacation in order to buy time for OfA, the DNC, AFL-CIO, SEIU and various socialist orgs to bus in their people really doesn't play well, either, particularly in a time of inflation.

WEAC, the Wisconsin Educational Association Council, published the non-personal contact information of all the State Senators but one (pdf). That in itself, as well as the home addresses of the Senators, isn't that big a deal, as it's probably all public information. But take a look at the page. Right above the pdf link there's this graphic:

Erpenbach, from an undisclosed location in Illinois, is the ringleader of the Runners from Walker, and the one whose home address is missing:

As all of you would be aware, that kind of language was considered an invitation to violence just a couple of weeks ago, in the wake of the Giffords shooting. But when you combine that with the (gauzily) veiled threats that some of the Republican Senators have received (of the "we know where you live" variety), the picketing already conducted outside of some of their houses, the pounding on the windows and blocking of doorways in the Capitol, and Obama's very unhelpful "assault on unions" statement, you really do have the kind of bullying that most Wisconsin voters are going to be incensed over.

Stacy and some of his readers have done the math over those WPS employees earning more than 100k per year. He's also covering the ramen menace that I wrote about yesterday.

Ass Cam

via @jmguardia

All Points Bulletin – Public School Teachers of Wisconsin AWOL

I think this graph adequately demonstrates many things. While private sector workers are busy... erm... working and fulfilling their obligations... ah, never mind.

Latest on Wisconsin-Union Showdown [UPDATEx4]

I've got a lot of copywriting to do today, and there are blog posters who are closer to the action, anyway (thanks, Kirsten), but here are some observations and links, in case you've not been able to keep up with the story.

Yesterday, at noon, with protesters, many bused in from out of state by the DNC and OFA in the wake of Obama's comment that Governor Walker and the Republicans in the Wisconsin State Senate were committing an "assault on unions," the Sergeant at Arms announced that he could not find any of the 14 Democratic State Senators to generate the quorum needed to vote on the measures proposed to help balance the budget. Those included upping the amount paid in to the teachers' pension plans (to 5.8%, about the national average) and contributions to their health plans (to 12%, about half of the national average). Despite the representations of visitors to this blog yesterday, when benefits are calculated in, it appears that the real pay and benefits of teachers in Wisconsin exceed $100k per year on average.

The Democratic State Senators cold not be found because they had left the state, though one called in to CNN to announce that they were in a "secure location," though not all together, and the reason for their leaving was that the budget changes had been proposed to precipitously, and without due consideration. Therefore, they were doing their jobs by avoiding doing their jobs. From their secure location, they issued a series of demands to the Governor and their Republican colleagues, as the protesters did their best to gum up the works at the Capitol.

Jimmie Bise has two terrific posts on the subject, laden with links, the first of which is here. The first of Michelle Malkin's so-far 4-part series on what's happening in Wisconsin is here. Stacy's first post on the "Cheesehead Revolution" is here, and Ace's contribution is here.

The missing Dems were discovered at the Rockford Clock Tower Best Western, apparently holed up in the Tilted Kilt bar, 20 miles south of Beloit, Wisconsin, and pretty much straight due south of Madison (past Cut Rock State Park in Illinois). There's a water park there, too. Due to Jim Hoft's call for Tea Partiers to flash mob them, they bravely fled, claiming on video to one of the Tea Partiers that they were headed back to Wisconsin to continue to do their jobs, though later announcing that they were liable to be gone from Madison awhile.

All in all, the spectacle presented to the public eye, including that of the trashy aftermath of the first day's protests, has not been sympathy inducing. That's underscored by the generally reliably liberal Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Chicago Tribune and even Madison's own Isthmus taking issue with the strikers and their methods.

The Governor held a press conference, stating that while the protesters had the right to be heard, that should not drown out the voices of the many who voted for him and his colleagues to do exactly what they were proposing to do, and urging the Runaway Senators to return to Madison and do their jobs. He came across as articulate, unflappable and committed, and reinforced that appearance on a variety of television political talk shows, where he stressed that his proposals seemed reasonable to him, considering that the alternative was to furlough as many as 6000 state employees, as was being done in some other states.

Meanwhile, pictures of the demonstrators' signs comparing the Governor to Emperor Palpatine (Imperial Walker, get it?), Hitler, Mubarak, Mussolini and with cross-hairs over his head were duly recorded and posted on the internet. Another young moron approvingly posted pictures that include calling him a turd, a bitch, and a dick, because that is what Civility NOW!!! is all about. Protesters also went out to picket in front of the legislators' private homes, even as in DC others picketed Speaker Boehner's residence on Capitol Hill, in part, it seems, for his telling Obama to stay out of Wisconsin's business. Remember, when I say we're all going to have to sacrifice, I mean you.

Richard Trumka is planning on bringing his thugs to Madison today, so I recommend that parents keep their kids home, even if they want to get on one of the SEIU buses to have a holiday. There have been threatening overtones, because that is what union thugs think democracy is about.

On Wednesday morning, Democratic Assembly members wore their t-shirts to show that they're fighting for working families (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). I think we all know what they mean by that.

What I'd like to see is someone go out and video reactions when they tell the kids that these apparent holidays now will mean make-up days in June. Think any of their teachers taking them to rally have told them that? I seem to recall that Wisconsin has laws regarding truancy, too, or at least so I was told with regard to Senior Skip Day when I was in school.

Lost in all of this shuffle was Nir Rosen's ridiculous self-defense at Salon over the tweets that lost him his job and Obama's hilarious account of Lincoln having begun the building of the "intercontinental railroad" during the Civil War. Yeah, I know that was a flub for "transcontinental," but as Bob's always asking, what if Bush had said it? Honest Abe the Gipper. Sheesh.

Even dumber was Gwen Moore (Moron-WI) arguing against cutting funds for Planned Parenthood, by saying that it's better to abort babies than to doom them to a lifetime of eating ramen. Strangely, third-worlders seem to want to cling to life no matter what they eat. It's probably because they don't know any better, but perhaps Gwen can visit them and yammer at them until they see the attractiveness of suicide. Other things non-aborted babies might be forced to do are to use pre-paid cell phones and do without cable TV.

Given Obama's track record, I think we can call his Presidency The War Against the States.

"Union Bus"

Every day we get in the queue,
To get our money from SEIU.
I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile.
Wisconsin's only another mile.

UPDATE: Walker asks Obama, who rolled out his own insane budget this week, to mind his own business.

Meh. Law's for other people to abide by.

Much more at Memeorandum, and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's own data on salaries (pdf)

UPDATEx2: Ladd Ehlinger, Jr.: Privatize the Schools and hire strippers for the teachers.

I say, they can have all the collective bargaining power they want when every parent has a full voucher for his student.

UPDATEx3: Jerry observes a sad anniversary.

UPDATEx4: AFL-CIO recruiting protesters in Minnesota, because sovereignty doesn't mean shit to them.

Death of the Multicult

It's true that the Romans borrowed many of the gods in their Pantheon from people who had been brought under the Empire, but they never gave up believing that Roman civilization was superior to that of their conquests. The great hero of Virgil's epic was designated "pious Aneas." It was he who thought to bring with him the household gods at the fall of Troy, and it was duty to posterity, to history, that drove him to abandon Dido at Carthage and found Rome, even though he and his men were sorely tempted to stay after their wars and travels.

In a terrific piece at American Thinker, James Lewis writes about the death of the Multicult in Europe:

There is only one reason why all three of them [Merkel, Sarkozy and Cameron] are coming out with the same message. Europe is now really scared by its own suicidal open-door policy to millions of Pakistanis, Algerians, Sudanese, Somalis, and other Muslims who have been brainwashed to want to destroy Western culture. The annual burning of French automobiles in the suburbs of Paris has finally hit home. Europe now wants to teach Western values to its immigrants for fear of Islamofascist imperialism. But it's going to be close a race against time.

When the Soviet Empire collapsed in 1991 and the Berlin Wall tumbled down, Western leftists lost their whole reason for being, their very meaning in life. Bureaucracies instinctively spin new stories when they lose their reason for being, to keep justifying their huge appetites for tax money, power and perks, not to mention their obedient squads of worshipful students.

The leftish professoriate sought a new myth for itself when Gorbachev allowed Berliners to finally tear down that wall, as Ronald Reagan demanded in public, to the hysterical horror of the spinsters of the New York Times.

Academic radicals are tenured for life. Nobody can fire them. So they needed a new myth to keep their self-esteem alive. Multiculturalism was that myth, the keystone to the whole tyrannical mythology of Political Correctness.

They are tenured for life, providing they don't demonstrate the fundamental contradictions of Multiculturalism. As the Nir Rosen scandal demonstrated, academicians who live by political correctness die by political correctness. Alas for him, he was being pathetically honest by signaling that Islamism and women's rights cannot be reconciled. (And no, I'm not saying that all of the Egyptian crowd in Tahrir are Islamists, though Rosen is.)

Over at The Other McCain, Stacy posted an excellent riposte to the radical feminists who have been trying to control the narrative over Lara Logan's sexual assault:

Cairo is Cairo, mobs are mobs, rape is rape. A thing is what it is, regardless of what we call it.

Yet it is a telling characteristic of intellectuals to be more concerned with what is written about events than they are concerned with events themselves. Therefore the Thought Police patrol the Internet to make sure that no one writes the wrong thing about the news, because there are some questions too dangerous to be asked, because if people ever begin doubting the liberal worldview, the whole thing could unravel as quickly as the Mubarak regime.

Earlier today, Jill Filipovic sent me a Tweet: “Nir Rosen had the good sense to publicly apologize, retract and explain. You just keep going.”

To extend Stacy's observations, and to work this into my own writings on leftism and the symbolic (aka, the hypostasis of the Archons), this is a variety of Freudian fort-da that gives these people a delusional sense of control over the nature of things.

Jerry thinks that now is not the time to bicker over what Lara Logan's rape means, but rather to pray for her recovery. I understand his point, and like many, many others I have been praying for her and her family, but there's also the memetic equivalent of the "golden hour" after a person has suffered a heart attack during which it is possible to limit the damage, and that time is with in the first 12 or so hours after an incident like this blows up on the blogosphere. Unfortunately, we who help to shape those memes have to do so within that period of time, or they become fixed, just as the tenets of multiculturalism became fixed in academia for lack of immediate and forceful contradiction when first they were introduced. And what is at stake is the truthfulness of "the narrative."

Blindly observing that women get raped in our own culture will not prevent other women from receiving the treatment that Lara Logan did. What we saw immediately after the news broke was lefties trying to wrest control of the narrative by categorically excluding any discussion of religion or culture as a contributing factor in the Jew- and woman-hating violence.

And it's not that I don't believe in the efficacy of prayer, either. Yes, in a better world, people on all sides would think first of the victims. Many of us did. That doesn't, though, mean that we should rest supine to the thought-buggery of ideologues, and that's not what I think Jerry's getting at, anyway.

Mary Grabar's piece at Pajamas about a Cuban documentarian's struggles to bring a more accurate depiction of who Che Guevara was to the screen demonstrates what happens when those who have differing points of view fail to get a foothold in the marketplace of ideas. Fortunately, the cartel-like control of publishers and the academy is over, at least for now. And that is why they want "net neutrality" and other mechanisms for skewing the playing field.

CiVIlity – wISconsIN – for the record…

Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, defender of the Private Sector, keeper of his word...

He was elected to do the very things he is now doing. He is doing the very things he said he would do when he campaigned. Stealing an "argument" from the President himself, clearly if the Libtard Left would just listen to what he is saying they would see the logic of it. Maybe it's a PR thing. Maybe Walker just needs to explain himself more thoroughly. Or maybe the Left little piggies at the trough need to STFU. Or maybe his eminence, the King Biscuit of Civility can live by his own rules:

"we can't have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back." - Barry O'Bama

So back to the public unions. Don’t like your public image? Realize you have a PR problem. Your =customers= are the public, and they are pissed off. Private companies have to deal with this crap all the time, and even if something is not actually their fault, they do realize they have to do something about the impression that it is. In general, it’s recognized that whining about unfairness is not an effective PR move. It might have helped some of these public policy guys if they actually had a real job at some point, where they had to deal with this sort of situation. They need some diversity in their ranks. More from Meep

More at AmericanThinker Blog

Unrelated.... Palin and Bush.... damn you!

Camp Obama

Been too busy to report on this:

President Obama’s top science adviser said there’s a need to “educate” GOP climate change skeptics on Capitol Hill as the White House seeks to advance its green energy agenda.

“It is an education problem. I think we have to educate them,” said John Holdren, who heads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Hello, Muddah,
Hello, Faddah,
Here I am at
Camp Obama.
All the counselors
Are informing,
And they say we have to stop
The global warming.

Vermont Weather:

March: Puh-leeze!

In like a sea cucumber, out like a WTF?

April: The cruelest month

April 15: God, I hate this shit. Where the f*** is spring?

April 20: Last snow, official start of mud season.

April 21-May 15: Mud

May 5- May 30: "Spring"

May 11: Last roadside snow disappears

Memorial Day weekend: Grilling in t-shirt, pretending it's summer

June 15: School ends, actual beginning of summer

June 25th: Water becomes warm enough that testicles only hide for a week if you jump into it.

July 4: Awesome vintage tractor attracts crowd in Vergennes. Secret Service provide entertainment by arresting guy who tries to ask Bernie Sanders a question about what the CIA reported to Pelosi.

Mushrooming season begins.

July 10: Naked people at public swimming hole ignored.

July 20: Giant papier mache heads at Bread and Puppets Theater send a dozen acid-dropping Phish-Heads to hospital.

August 4: Brattleboro Council has to issue another warning to nudie-tourists walking down Main Street with nothing on from their B&B.

Rest of August: Pick your own strawberries.

Labor Day Weekend: Hmmm. Think I'll wear a sweater.

September 13: Warm! Hit the swimming hole!

September 13: Shit! My nuts froze off!

Kids back in school.

October 1: First paper on Global Warming Due.

October 15: Shut the window, it's effing freezing out!

October 17: "Indian summer"

October 21: First flurries.

October 30: Halloween slush.

November 5: Crap, it's cold.

November 13: I'm going to quit smoking.

November 21: Still going to quit smoking.

November 27: First sticking snow.

December 8: Mall season begins

December 14: UPS truck stuck in your driveway

December 29: First time mailbox is knocked down by plow

December 31: Too slippery to go out for New Year's

January 5-12: Experimenting with hibernation

January 13: Wife wakes me up to do dishes

January 15-February 15: Holy fuck, it's cold!

February 22: Balmy. Temps flirt with 40 degrees.