Kirsten « POWIP

22Apr/113

The Kloppenburg Recount: Something’s Rotten in the State of Wisconsin

Call me suspicious, but the fact that Joanne Kloppenburg is calling for a recount spells trouble to me. Not without good reason, Dan thinks she's an idiot. He may be right. I actually hope he is. Stupidity on Kloppie's part, believe it or not, would actually be comforting to me at this juncture.

However, living on Madison's isthmus, as I do---having dealt with the union insanity firsthand over the last two months---I'm wary that something else may be afoot.

Here's the thing...

Thousands of ballots cast in the city of Madison alone are suspect. When you have a contentious mayoral race occurring, but you have thousands of city ballots that reflect only a vote for a union-backed supreme court candidate...? Well, ya kinda have to raise an eyebrow, possibly two. With even rudimentary thinking skills, you also begin to form a clear view regarding the side of the supreme court race on which any serious voter fraud was likely occurring.

So, Kloppie, even if she's the next best thing to comatose, should logically know better than to go anywhere near a recount. 'Cause see, the likelihood is high that once those bags get opened back up, some of those deeply suspect ballots will come under much closer scrutiny. To be blunt, Kloppie should be very nervous about exposing the voter fraud that almost certainly took place in the name of getting her "elected." Considering her little "oopsy" of declaring victory before a very close vote had been properly certified, you'd think she'd also worry a bit about the possibility that she might lose by an even larger margin than currently reflected.

If Kloppie's willing to risk that kind of embarrassment, it signals to me that she and her supporters may have something distinctly odiferous up their sleeves. All that stuff she spouted yesterday at her presser about this being the right thing to do however the vote turns out...? Pure hooey.

Hope I'm wrong. Really do. But in my view, this recount could get very dark and exceedingly ugly.

Currently, a small coterie of concerned citizens, in conjunction with a couple of the folks here at POWIP, are working on a little project that would unquestionably help to put the kibosh on any shenanigans Kloppie and the unions might attempt to pull during this recount. More when we can safely share.

In the meantime, let's do a little delicious co-opting of popular union tag lines, shall we...?

Stand with Wisconsin: Donate to Justice Prosser's recount fund.

Kirsten

Solidarity Fever’s Fatal Effects, or the Hazards of Trusting Your Union Rep

Since my last post here at POWIP, Wisconsin has continued to convulse in the violent throes of Solidarity Fever. Living only six blocks from the State Capitol in Madison, the very epicenter of this social contagion, I've had ample opportunity to observe its etiology, spread, and ugly effects. Up until now, most rank-and-file union members have viewed Solidarity Fever as a boon, not a danger. But my post today may well change some minds.

In fact, a pernicious lie catalyzes the transmission of this mass malady among union members. Ultimately, that lie robs those infected of crucial awareness and reality testing that could save their bacon.

The lie is that government employee unions actually care about, protect, and work honestly and diligently on behalf of their members.

They don't.

Not one iota.

And I now have solid proof to back up my assertion.

On March 15th, the Sauk County Board of Supervisors had its monthly meeting in Baraboo, WI. At that session, supervisors discussed ratification of proposed 33-month contracts for five separate bargaining units:

AFSCME Local 3148 - Sauk County Health Care Center
AFSCME Local 252 - Sauk County Sheriff's Department (non-sworn employees)
AFSCME Local 360 - Sauk County Highway Employees
SEIU- Healthcare Wisconsin
Wisconsin Professional Police Association (WPPA) - Clerical Unit

I recently obtained and listened to a digital recording of this meeting in its entirety. I here share with you sound files pulled directly from it. Anyone wishing to verify the content of these files can contact Sauk County directly to request a copy of the recording. The audio makes it clear that, far from looking out for the best interests of their members, the unions are instead using them quite shamelessly.

Let's listen first to Sauk County Corporation Counsel Todd Liebman as he tells the board how representatives from AFSCME and SEIU, knowing they were up against Governor Walker's Budget Adjustment Bill, approached him and gave him carte blanche to write contracts pertaining to the employees they respectively represented. While Liebman doesn't discuss it here, the WPPA must similarly have sold out its clerical members.

Next, Mr. Liebman walks the board through changes he subsequently made to all five contracts in question---changes that, with the full assent of the union reps, swung all fiscally related employment matters out of the purview of collective bargaining and squarely into the control of the county.

So, according to each of the revised contract drafts (a representative sample of which you can find here), the county would have the power through 2013 to:

Implement a 0% pay increase each year
Hire and fire at will in the face of economic difficulty
Change or even abolish pay classifications
Deetermine type and level of healthcare coverage offered
Increase healthcare contribution levels over time
Set the level of pension contributions

Not exactly a super "bargain" for the members of these bargaining units, huh? If I were in their shoes, I would certainly be asking myself how exactly I benefited from this arrangement.

While I won't bother to share the audio, Mr. Liebman subsequently relays the spin communicated to him by the union reps: These measures would give the county what it needed to deal with upcoming budget cuts while simultaneously providing rank-and-file members with some "certainty" of employment in very uncertain times. Well...yes... With the savings the contracts permit, Sauk County would not likely have to lay anyone off in the face of major state budget cuts coming in June. But employees were almost guaranteed to get a better shake from the county under the Budget Adjustment Bill. Instead, the contracts "bargained" by union reps are nothing short of, ummm...draconian.

For their part, the Sauk County Board of Supervisors ended up ratifying all five revised contracts. Hard to say no to such a good deal. Members of four of the five bargaining units also subsequently chose to ratify the respective contracts on their end. But it turns out that union leadership didn't exactly go out of its way to explain the terms to which their members were agreeing. Employees are now whispering amongst themselves about the raw deals with which these four units ended up.

The only unit of the five not to ratify, as I understand it, was the non-sworn Sheriff's Department employees. Catching wind of what was happening to others, that unit opted to let their current contract extension run out and take their chances under the Budget Adjustment Bill. That seemed like a less risky bet.

Gee, could there be a reason that the union reps were less than forthcoming with their members?

Why yes, I think there could.

For the last of the sound files, here's one of the Sauk County Board supervisors making a fascinating observation in the form of a question to Mr. Liebman. Without realizing it, she points us to the truth.

Can't you just hear the gears turning in this woman's head? "Wait... Hold on... Something's off here..." Yes indeed, my dear supervisor! AFSCME, SEIU, and the WPPA all willingly threw their own members right under the bus in order to make sure they REMAINED members and paid FORCED UNION DUES for another 33 months. It wasn't about providing certainty to union members at all. Rather, it was about providing certainty to union BOSSES, who couldn't afford to lose access to automatic extraction of dues from all of those lovely, lovely government employee paychecks.

So, now members of four of the above-mentioned bargaining units are bound by 33-month contracts that amount to sugar-sprinkled crapola. What do they get for a substantial net loss in pay, benefits, and security...? The privilege of continuing to pay union dues, whether they like it or not. And if you think those dues will now be decreased "in solidarity" with the plight of Wisconsin workers...? Hey, I've got some land in Florida I can sell you real cheap, right on the water.

No one should think for even a moment that this was an isolated incident. If AFSCME, SEIU, and the WPPA pulled this maneuver in Sauk County, you can bet your bottom dollar that union reps around the state were racing to make similar raw deals that benefited not their members but instead union coffers and leadership.

Well played, union bosses, well played! [Insert thunderous applause here.] Absolutely gorgeous how you've suckered those who trusted you. Brilliantly diabolical how, without their even knowing it, you held a gun to the your members' heads when you thought you might no longer be able to hold it to taxpayers'. So breathtakingly obvious are your self-interested motives at this point that it almost carries me away with awe. Though, it's entirely possible that awareness of this little triumph will fail to evoke further ecstatic, fist-raised shouts of "SOLIDARITY!" from the rank-and-file you've shafted...or from those who suspect you may shaft them next.

Oh, and for those union members who plan dutifully to listen to their union reps and vote for Joanne Kloppenburg for Wisconsin Supreme Court tomorrow? You may want to rethink your trust in that advice, as well. You see, Kloppenburg's made it not-so-subtly clear that she'll vote the way the unions want her to. She's in the union bosses' camp, lock, stock, and barrel. But as we've seen, that doesn't necessarily pan out in your favor now, does it...? And she'll be on the bench for 10 long years once you vote her in. Justice Prosser, a judicial conservative, may not give you the short-term gains you're looking for, but he's not likely to bite you in the ass on your union's behalf. He actually believes in the law---and in ruling on it---which the unions clearly don't, one more evidence of which can be found here (h/t Dan Collins).

Time to realize that that "benign" case of Solidarity Fever you picked up from your union rep can be a real killer...

UPDATE: Huge thank you to Instapundit for the extremely kind Instalanche on this post.

UPDATE 2: Many, many thanks also to Professor William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection for likewise drawing attention to this article and what it exposes.

UPDATE 3: Also much obliged to Coalition of the Swilling for their marvelous mention. I loves me a sense of humor...

UPDATE 4: A heartfelt thanks now to Dad29 and No Runny Eggs. So grateful to see this report making the rounds. Much obliged!

Update 5: And the amazing Ace of Spades is now in the house... Thanks, Ace!

Update 6: ***THIS JUST IN*** My source in Sauk County tells me that BEAC, the branch of WEAC that represents teachers in the Baraboo School District, sold their members out as well, though the deal was only for a year. Sounds like the City of Baraboo is not playing ball with the unions, so those employees may have caught a big break, whether they yet realize it or not.

Kirsten

It’s All about [Leveraging] the Kids: Teachers March Wisconsin’s Students to a Dishonest Tune

Take a good hard look at the pictures above and below. Every one of them contains young children or adolescents wrongly recruited to carry the water of public employee unions here in the great state of Wisconsin. Looking at the above pre-printed signs, one might ask: "Stop the attack on Wisconsin families? How about stopping the attack on Wisconsin taxpayers?"

Anyone watching the national news already knows that an ugly fight has unfolded in my home state between the public employee unions and the Republican governor and legislators elected in surprising numbers last November. I will leave the details to other sources since they are readily available. The long and short of it is, Wisconsin is dead broke, and Governor Scott Walker is looking to put an end to the gross fiscal mismanagement that got us to this bad, bad place. One of the ways he aims to do that is to ask the state's public employees to start chipping in toward their benefits. They currently pay not one thin dime toward their pensions (for which there is zero vesting period) and a teeny, tiny little contribution toward their healthcare coverage. This would be bumped up to a 5.8 percent pension contribution (in line with the national average) and a 12 percent healthcare contribution (half the average paid by a private sector worker).

If you think the unions are unhappy about that, you should hear them on the following provisions:

Collective bargaining – The bill would make various changes to limit collective bargaining for most public employees to wages. Total wage increases could not exceed a cap based on the consumer price index (CPI) unless approved by referendum. Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until the new contract is settled. Collective bargaining units are required to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues. These changes take effect upon the expiration of existing contracts. Local law enforcement and fire employees, and state troopers and inspectors would be exempt from these changes.

Let's be clear about what Governor Walker accomplishes via this bill, should it pass (and as of a couple of hours ago, the Joint Finance Committee had finally voted and moved the bill on to the full legislature):

Cut Wisconsin's $136.7 million deficit for FY 2010-2011
Save state employee jobs in order to keep people off unemployment in a challenging job market
Keep total employee contributions far below what anyone in the private sector would pay
Aim toward Right to Work instead of outright decertification of unions

Considering the level of fiscal and economic challenge Wisconsin now faces, you'd think union members might feel a bit grateful not to have to make far greater sacrifices...or lose their jobs altogether. Instead, they've gone completely bat$#!%. And they've dragged children of every age into their extended temper tantrum as they try to bully Republican legislators into giving in to the status quo Wisconsin can no longer afford. The don't seem to have any conception at all that Wisconsin swung from its typical purply-blue to a rosy shade of red last November.

I've made visits to the State Capitol Building for two days in a row now. On both days, hoards of children, from toddlers all the way up to high-schoolers, were present...many holding signs, others singing or chanting, some marching, a few running through the corridors shrieking...ALL unwittingly helping to propagate union lies about the bill and anger toward legislators standing for fiscal sanity and limited government. Like these girls for example who seemed so happy to be holding these signs:

Most of these kids were of school age. On a weekday, that's exactly where they should have been. In school. Instead, they were being used by adults, many of them teachers who apparently have zero conscience but had the chutzpah to carry signs like the one below, saying, "Care about educators like they care about your child." Respectfully, if pimping children out to be used as the pawns of the unions is how teachers in this state "take care" of them, I wouldn't wish that sort of succor on anyone.

It hasn't stopped there, either. Wednesday, there was a massive "sick out" so that teachers could show up at the Capitol, many of them bringing students with them who should have been learning how to do an algebraic equation or diagram a sentence or memorize the Pre-Amble to the Constitution (I know, I know, I'm dreaming on that Constitution one). Instead, they all took a field trip to learn firsthand what recently-unelected Governor Jim Doyle last year so egregiously added to the state's public school curriculum: The History of Collective Bargaining, aka Traditional Methods of Bullying the Guy that Signs Your Checks.

And that is exactly what makes me so furious about the use of children to further union ends. Teachers, in particular, are grossly abusing a massive power differential and an inherent trust in their relationship with students to further their own ends. They are telling lies in order to get these students to sing and dance to their tune.

They've told kids that programs they love at school will be cut. (No school cuts are on the table in this bill).

They've told students that pension funds would be taken away from teachers who'd saved their whole lives. (There are zero retroactive cuts in the bill, particularly any that would violate the state's fiduciary responsibilities).

They've screamed the message to children that collective bargaining rights are being taken away. (Unions will simply have to take a vote every year to re-certify and allow individuals to choose whether they want to be represented by the union or not.)

All of this falsehood being pumped to impressionable minds who have no reason to doubt the people they so easily look up to as role models. And for what? Because teachers, along with other public employee unions don't want to contribute to fixing a massive fiscal problem that financing their benefits over the years has helped to create. There is no, "Kids, we've had it golden for a long time, but there comes a day when you have to take responsibility." Now THAT is what I would call honorable teaching: Giving kids a view of how things work in the real world. Showing them how to accept difficulties in life and move forward in spite of them. Giving them a true sense of even the crappy, devalued dollar we now have.

Instead, they're dragging kids as pawns into a labor protest, teaching them to feel entitled, showing them how to throw a massive and ugly public temper tantrum if you're not getting what you want, and modeling how to intimidate people who won't cede the road entire to you. Nice...

For the past two nights, students in Baraboo were up marching around the town square in protest of teachers losing pay and collective bargaining rights. Yesterday afternoon, there was a student/teacher walkout in that same town. As of this morning, a huge rash of school districts all over the state---Platteville, Racine, Madison, De Forest, Edgerton, Lodi, Waunakee, you name it---are closed as a result of high teacher absences and an inability to cover them with enough substitutes. You can bet, students will once again be a prominent percentage of the crowd again this morning, with the vote being taken around 11am.

I shudder to think that kids may have been in the mobs that showed up at the homes of Republican legislators who were being picketed over the past few days. I don't know if there were children there or not, because I wasn't there, but based on what I'm seeing everywhere else, and the ways children are being used to do the union's heavy lifting, I frankly wouldn't be at all surprised. Abysmal...

But it's "all about the kids," right...? That's what the teachers keep disingenuously telling us, anyway.

Teachers and other public-employee union members and leaders ought to be heartily ashamed of themselves for way they are lying to and using these children, who are not getting an honest picture of this situation. Nor are they getting the education they deserve...the education that will serve them out in the real world. That bringing this fight first into the classroom, and then taking the classroom out into the street, is not at present a fireable offense...? Well, it damned well oughta be.

And that is all I have to say about that. Back to the Capitol I go for what ought to be another very dismal day in education in Wisconsin.