• Public Employee Unions,  Scott Walker

    Update: Wisconsin Democrat Fleebaggers to End Union Standoff and Will Return to Vote – Not Until Collective Bargaining is Off the Table

    +++++Update+++++

    Well, not so fast. The Wisconsin Fleebaggers aren’t coming back to Wisconsin after all.

    Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson: Sen. Miller’s comments are taken out of context in the Wall Street Journal article just released. Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table. That could be soon based on the growing public opposition to the bill and the recall efforts against Republicans. Unfortunately, the WSJ fished for the quote they wanted, skipping this key step in logic: we won’t come back until worker’s rights are preserved.

    Union solidarity rallies continue outside the Wisconsin Capitol as filmmaker Michael Moore tells the crowd that America is not broke, but that the elite controls the money.

    The Wisconsin Democrat State Senators who fled the state rather than vote on union legislation supported by the Wisconsin GOP and Republican Governor Scott Walker are ending their stand-off and will return to the Capitol.

    Playing a game of political chicken, Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon, betting that even though their return will allow the bill to pass, the curbs are so unpopular they’ll taint the state’s Republican governor and legislators.

    The Wisconsin standoff, which drew thousands of demonstrators to occupy the capitol in Madison for days at a time, has come to highlight efforts in other states to address budget problems in part by limiting the powers and benefits accorded public-sector unions.

    Sen. Mark Miller said he and his fellow Democrats intend to let the full Senate vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget-repair” bill, which would also limit public unions’ collective bargaining rights. The bill, which had been blocked because the missing Democrats were needed for the Senate to have enough members present to consider the bill, is expected to pass the Republican-controlled chamber.

    He said he thinks recent polls showing voter discontent with Mr. Walker over limits on bargaining rights have been “disastrous” for the governor and give Democrats more leverage to seek changes in a broader two-year budget bill Mr. Walker proposed Tuesday.

    Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, said the short-term budget-repair bill can no longer be amended. He said when Democrats return they will be able to speak on the bill, “but we plan to pass it as soon as possible.”

    Wisconsin has severe budget problems like a number of states. If Wisconsin voters don’t like what Governor Scott Walker and the GOP have done to balance things, then they can vote them out of office and reverse the union collective  bargaining reforms at the next election.

    Somehow, I don’t think that will happen.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 6th from 16:00 to 18:56

    These are my links for March 6th from 16:00 to 18:56:

    • ObamaCare: Number of healthcare reform law waivers climbs above 1,000 – The number of temporary healthcare reform waivers granted by the Obama administration to organizations climbed to more than 1,000, according to new numbers disclosed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

      HHS posted 126 new waivers on Friday, bringing the total to 1,040 organizations that have been granted a one-year exemption from a new coverage requirement included in the healthcare reform law enacted almost a year ago. Waivers have become a hot-button issue for Republicans, eager to expose any vulnerabilities in the reform law.

      In order to avoid disruption in the insurance market, the healthcare overhaul gives HHS the power to grant waivers to firms that cannot meet new annual coverage limits in 2011. The waivers have typically been granted to so-called "mini-med" plans that offer limited annual coverage — as low as $2,000 — that would fall short of meeting the new annual coverage floor of $750,000 in 2011.

      "We don't want to take away people's health insurance before they have some realistic other choices,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in an interview with The Hill earlier this year.

      Republican lawmakers have seized on the waivers as proof that the law they want to see repealed is flawed, and they have accused the administration of giving them waivers as gifts to union allies. The administration has rejected both claims as Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have asked HHS for in-depth details about every waiver decision and request.

      ++++++++

      Crony ObamaCare for their pal union buddies.

      Repeal this bad law – repeal it all.

    • Wisconsin Union protests: Why conservatives are having mixed luck getting video of angry, violent liberals. – Even the protesters outside Wisconsin have figured this out. FreedomWorks' Tabitha Hale, who was shoved by an unidentified Communication Workers of America protester as she filmed him outside the organization's Washington offices, recounted the scene at RedState.com. She had a new, key detail: "The concern from a bystander was that 'You'll get on the news, stop it!' Unfortunately for him, he did not know who he was dealing with. I will ensure that this happens."

      The shove did make the news, and the video of it is lurching toward 300,000 views on YouTube. It confirmed, for conservatives, that union thugs were fighting back over Wisconsin. Every reasonably solid video of a shove or insult made it to Breitbart.tv. They just haven't broken into the narrative about the protests the way that 2009 videos of rebellion at congressional town halls did, or even Hartsock's Palm Springs video did. (This week, some congressional Republicans called for an investigation of Common Cause because the group had organized the event where those activists embarrassed themselves on camera.) There hasn't been any dip in support for unions; there has been a dip in support for Scott Walker.

      The videographers have not given up. FreedomWorks activists are on the ground in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah "this weekend through the next two weeks," according to the group. They want to supplement the FlipCam videos they've already been getting. They want documentary evidence of union anger out there so powerful that the media can't avoid it. But who doesn't know that he's venturing into the view of tiny cameras every time he attends a rally? Who trusts the media? Who wants to wind up as the face of Violence Breaking Out and wrecking his cause? The new age of protests is bringing on more self-consciousness and more détente.

      ++++++++++

      Journolister Weigel has it wrong.

      Didn't he check the Wisconsin weather vs. the Koch Protests in Palm Springs?

      It is tough to do anything with it cold and snowing.

      Of course, the LEFT and Unions knew they were being filmed and this is why their type of Saul Alinsky protests will have to be re-worked to be effective.

      The Union thuggery/ridicule days are indeed over – at least while someone is paying attention.

    • California Budget: Tax vote a worry for GOP – Republican lawmakers say they don't want a set of tax extensions to go before California voters in a June special election.

      While lawmakers say that's because voters rejected a nearly identical slate of taxes two years ago, making another election a waste of time and money, some Republican legislators and strategists say there's another reason: because voters might approve the taxes this time.

      "I think it's going to be a much closer vote than the last one," said Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa.

      Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan calls for solving the state's $26 billion budget deficit by cutting spending, taking money from special government funds and extending a set of tax increases approved by the Legislature in 2009. Specifically, the proposal calls for extending increases in sales tax, income tax and the vehicle license fee – some of those increases lapsed on Jan. 1 – for five years, raising about $11 billion this year.

      In May 2009, voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to extend those tax increases by two years. But despite that, Cook and others say there's good reason to believe the tax measure could pass.

      "It depends on the different special-interest groups and how much they buy in to this election," Cook said. "Right now, I think they're all in. You're going to see a lot of money."

      Republicans are specifically concerned about public employee unions, which would likely offer plenty of money and support to pass the tax

      +++++++

      Read it all

      The California GOP should stand form and not let Jerry Brown have his election in June.

      But, as usual, somebody will sell out – much to the demise of the California economy.

  • Public Employee Unions,  Scott Walker

    Video: Wisconsin Democrat Fleebaggers to End Union Standoff and Will Return to Vote

    Union solidarity rallies continue outside the Wisconsin Capitol as filmmaker Michael Moore tells the crowd that America is not broke, but that the elite controls the money.

    The Wisconsin Democrat State Senators who fled the state rather than vote on union legislation supported by the Wisconsin GOP and Republican Governor Scott Walker are ending their stand-off and will return to the Capitol.

    Playing a game of political chicken, Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon, betting that even though their return will allow the bill to pass, the curbs are so unpopular they’ll taint the state’s Republican governor and legislators.

    The Wisconsin standoff, which drew thousands of demonstrators to occupy the capitol in Madison for days at a time, has come to highlight efforts in other states to address budget problems in part by limiting the powers and benefits accorded public-sector unions.

    Sen. Mark Miller said he and his fellow Democrats intend to let the full Senate vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget-repair” bill, which would also limit public unions’ collective bargaining rights. The bill, which had been blocked because the missing Democrats were needed for the Senate to have enough members present to consider the bill, is expected to pass the Republican-controlled chamber.

    He said he thinks recent polls showing voter discontent with Mr. Walker over limits on bargaining rights have been “disastrous” for the governor and give Democrats more leverage to seek changes in a broader two-year budget bill Mr. Walker proposed Tuesday.

    Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, said the short-term budget-repair bill can no longer be amended. He said when Democrats return they will be able to speak on the bill, “but we plan to pass it as soon as possible.”

    Wisconsin has severe budget problems like a number of states. If Wisconsin voters don’t like what Governor Scott Walker and the GOP have done to balance things, then they can vote them out of office and reverse the union collective  bargaining reforms at the next election.

    Somehow, I don’t think that will happen.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 6th from 05:02 to 15:48

    These are my links for March 6th from 05:02 to 15:48:

    • Wisconsin Poll Watch: A WINNABLE FIGHT – Predictably the liberal media will make much of the new WPRI poll showing Governor Walker with a 43 percent approval rating.

      But there are some very interesting findings in the poll (which seems to over sample both Democrats and union households.

      The poll says voters oppose Walker's budget plan by a 46% to 51% margin. But: An overwhelmingly majority — 81% said that public employees should be required to contribute to their own pensions.
      When voters were asked to choose between keeping public employees wages and benefits the same but cutting the number of workers or making employees pay more for their pension and benefits to avoid layoffs…. voters by a margin of 83 percent to 12 percent chose having the employees pay more for their benefits.

      Right now this is the heart of the Walker budget pitch.

      And on the issue of collective bargain; another mixed message:

      When asked whether they favored "limiting" public employees ability to negotiate over non-wage issues: the poll splits 47% in favor, 50% opposed. (That is within the margin of error.)

      When that question is changed to whether employees should be "stripped of their rights to collective bargaining," along with other loaded language, support drops to 32%.

      So wording obviously matters. A lot

      ++++++++++

      Read it all….

      Agreed, that labor polling is very hard to construct without bias.

    • The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute: HIGHLY POLARIZED WISCONSINITES SPLIT OVER WALKER PLAN – Wisconsinites are deeply divided over Gov. Scott Walker’s plans regarding public employee benefits, wages and unions, according to a Wisconsin Policy Research Institute poll showing 51 percent somewhat or strongly opposed and 46 percent somewhat or strongly in favor.

      While support for Walker in general has held fairly steady in comparison to last November, in the meantime, opposition to him has solidified and increased. A slight majority of the public disapproves of the actions taken by Senate Democrats to prevent passage of the budget repair bill and overwhelming numbers want public employees to contribute more to their pensions. The public has a favorable opinion of public employee unions, including teachers unions. Most want Walker to compromise with Democrats and union leaders.

      The poll of 603 Wisconsinites was conducted between Feb. 27 and March 1, the day of Walker’s budget address, and has a margin of error of 4 percent. The survey of randomly selected adults included cell phone-users and was directed by Ken Goldstein, a UW-Madison political science professor on leave who is also the co-founder and director of the Big Ten Battleground Poll. It conforms in full with the disclosure requirements of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Code of Professional Ethics and Practice and the AAPOR Transparency Initiative.

      +++++++

      Read it all.

      Note the sampling and the wording of the poll questions

    • Flap’s Links and Comments for March 5th through March 6th | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for March 5th through March 6th #tcot #catcot
  • Barack Obama,  President 2012

    President 2012: Can’t America Do Better Than the Obama Economy?

    I think Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post (one of my favorite writers, I must admit, along with Mickey Kaus) has hit upon the GOP Presidential nominee’s theme for the 2012 Presidential race: Can’t America Do Better Than the Obama Economy?

    In January 2009 our unemployment rate was 7.6 percent, and 11.6 million Americans were unemployed. In February 2011 the rate is 8.9 percent, and 13.7 million Americans are out of work. In that same time frame African American unemployment has gone from 12.6 percent to 15.3 percent, while Hispanic unemployment has gone from 9.7% to 11.6%.

    The stimulus plan was supposed to keep unemployment from exceeding 8 percent. It didn’t do that, and in fact the figures are worse than they seem because of the dramatic drop in labor participation. (…)

    We can always imagine that things could be worse. That’s the White House line about the stimulus plan. But the question, as it will be in the 2012 election, is: Can’t we do better than this? If the answer (or the hope) is that we can, then we’d better come up with pro-growth, pro-jobs policies that will produce different results than Obamanomics.

    The answer is Yes We Can – with the GOP nominee – whoever that will be.

    This issues agenda is set.

  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day

    Day By Day March 6, 2011 – CULTures



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Obama’s “Organizing for America” is ALL about the President and his re-election. Obama needs to build his surrogate base to turn out the demographics he NEEDS in order to win in key battleground states, like Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.

    Will he be able to do so?

    Only if the economy and specifically unemployment dramatically improves before Labor Day.

    Obama will try to re-create his CULT of personality to mask his utter failure as President. Even Mitt Romney will be able to penetrate that veneer.

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    The Day By Day Archive

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 5th through March 6th

    These are my links for March 5th through March 6th:

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