News Wisconsin labor protests it's like Cairo has moved to Madison these days

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Wisconsin is experiencing significant labor protests, with over 20,000 people gathering at the Capitol in response to Governor Scott Walker's proposal to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers. Many schools are closing as teachers participate in the protests, reflecting a deep divide among residents regarding labor rights and union protections. The situation has drawn comparisons to the protests in Cairo, highlighting the intensity of the unrest. While some support the proposed wage and benefit cuts, concerns about the stripping of collective bargaining rights under the Freedom of Association are prevalent. The ongoing protests raise questions about the future of labor relations and the potential for similar movements in other states.
  • #361


Greg Bernhardt said:
I will volunteer to watch people remove tape from marble for $500k!

I'll take that job for $499k! :-p
 
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  • #362


lisab said:
I'll take that job for $499k! :-p
BIDDING WAR!

I'll do it for a dollar less than you, as long as I can make the trip and pretend to fulfill the contract.
 
  • #363


I'll do it for the fun of watching people justify that kind of baksheesh to scrub MARBLE. :smile:
 
  • #364


i will do the entire job as an independent contractor for only $5 mil
 
  • #365


Can I still watch? :biggrin:
 
  • #366
When I want entertainment, I just look to see what legislative actions our Government is working hard on. For instance, I found out today, that a pair of WI Republicans are proposing to ban prank calls: http://badgerherald.com/news/2011/02/28/bill_circulating_in_.php
Although representatives deny any connection to the recent prank call on the governor, two legislators began circulating a bill Monday that would ban making trick calls masking the caller’s true identity.

Sen. Mary Lazich, R-Waukesha, and Rep. Mark Honadel, R-Milwaukee, authored a bill that would prohibit tricking the call’s recipient into believing the caller is someone they are not for malicious purposes.
For the record, I do not find the actual content of the bill as funny as I find the thought that it was likely written in reaction to Walker's enprankment.
 
  • #367
Gokul43201 said:
When I want entertainment, I just look to see what legislative actions our Government is working hard on. For instance, I found out today, that a pair of WI Republicans are proposing to ban prank calls: http://badgerherald.com/news/2011/02/28/bill_circulating_in_.php
For the record, I do not find the actual content of the bill as funny as I find the thought that it was likely written in reaction to Walker's enprankment.

:smile:

I'm so torn between amusement, apathy, and extreme hatred.

edit: Oh, and what about the senate resoluton to have the "absentees" aressted? The head of the police union called it, "insane", and the R spoke said it was a non-binding resolution. What a bunch of miserable hacks... they can't even decieve well..

May they all be afflicted with a variety of lethal diseases.
 
  • #368


nismaratwork said:
May they all be afflicted with a variety of lethal diseases.

If we are going to curse, let's curse well.

How about my ol' favorite: May they be consumed by a tidal wave of diarrhea.:smile:
 
  • #369


nismaratwork said:
Can I still watch? :biggrin:

i will install a webcam.
 
  • #371


WhoWee said:
Must be a union job?

What are you doing in insurance when your true calling is clearly stand-up comedy? :smile:
 
  • #373


nismaratwork said:
I'm mortally tired of these games, this rhetorical nonsense... this is union busting, and the people doing the busting don't have the balls to admit they're just Pinkerton 2.0
Are you aware that the second part of that sentence contradicts the first? Was that on purpose? Kind of like saying that you just can't stand people who just let their sentences trail off without...

PERSONALLY, I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE TYPE IN ALL CAPS! :smile:
 
  • #374


Norman said:
If we are going to curse, let's curse well.

How about my ol' favorite: May they be consumed by a tidal wave of diarrhea.:smile:

"May your armpits be infested by the fleas of a thousand camels" classic.

Yes... I like yours! :smile:

@Al68: It's not contradictory, it's simply demonstrative. :smile:
 
  • #375


nismaratwork said:
Hmmmm

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/03/wisconsin.budget/index.html?hpt=T1

Ammo found outside the capital... and now Walker is threatening... again... to lay of 1500 workers. My view is that would be political suicide.

How so? It isn't his fault the Democrats fled the capital to stop the vote. Also, at that point, Walker will not have a choice. He is stretching this out as long as possible until he has no other option. If he caves to the unions, IMO that will be political suicide, as he will lose all credibility. He has to ride this out to the end.
 
  • #376


CAC1001 said:
How so? It isn't his fault the Democrats fled the capital to stop the vote. Also, at that point, Walker will not have a choice. He is stretching this out as long as possible until he has no other option. If he caves to the unions, IMO that will be political suicide, as he will lose all credibility. He has to ride this out to the end.

Yes, it will be political suicide, but so is riding this out; he's already on a ballistic trajectory.


Oh, and images like this aren't going to help:
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Wisconsin-Rep-Nick-Milroy-Tackled-By-Capitol-Police--117400318.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLR2QCkcB4

Walker is done, was done the moment the democrats left the state; unions were FORMED in the face of harsher actions than this.
 
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  • #377


How will it be political suicide if he has no other choice? Again, it is the Democrats who left the state who are leading him to this. Also, the public's view will probably be positive once the budget is repaired.
 
  • #378


CAC1001 said:
How will it be political suicide if he has no other choice? Again, it is the Democrats who left the state who are leading him to this. Also, the public's view will probably be positive once the budget is repaired.

He's placed himself between Scylla and Charibdis.
 
  • #381


Once the bill passes (assuming it passes), and the budget is repaired and the public sees the world doesn't collapse for the public-sector workers, I think Walker will be fine.

Also I think it is that he has no choice. If he gives in, he loses. If he rides it out, he could lose, or score big. What will need to be watched is the public opinion within Wisconsin as the budget there is repaired, provided the bill passes.
 
  • #382


Char. Limit said:
This is starting to scare me. I mean, what the hell is going on when police are tackling people for trying to enter a building? And Scott Walker is blackmailing the Democrats?

What has US politics become?

How is Scott Walker blackmailing the Democrats? They are the ones who fled into hiding, then will try to blame him when layoffs start having to be issued. I'd say they are the ones blackmailing him.
 
  • #383


CAC1001 said:
How is Scott Walker blackmailing the Democrats? They are the ones who fled into hiding, then will try to blame him when layoffs start having to be issued. I'd say they are the ones blackmailing him.
They recuse themselves to deny the GOP majority a quorum. If you don't like that, please argue the facts, not the headlines.
 
  • #384


turbo-1 said:
They recuse themselves to deny the GOP majority a quorum. If you don't like that, please argue the facts, not the headlines.

Then they should return any money I am paying to their salary for them to do their job. And they did flee and hide. We didn't find out where they went for a couple days after they went missing.
 
  • #385


CAC1001 said:
How is Scott Walker blackmailing the Democrats? They are the ones who fled into hiding, then will try to blame him when layoffs start having to be issued. I'd say they are the ones blackmailing him.

Here's how I see it. Democrats leave so that unions don't get busted. Republican governor threatens to lay off employees unless the Democrats return. That's blackmail, clear and simple.
 
  • #386


Char. Limit said:
Here's how I see it. Democrats leave so that unions don't get busted. Republican governor threatens to lay off employees unless the Democrats return. That's blackmail, clear and simple.

I have to disagree. Because the Democrats had no right to leave in the first place. They are stalling the vote. If the vote can't take place, then other measures will have to be taken. That's not blackmail. Wisconsin is a democratic system. The way democracy works is if your party loses to the point that the other party can do what they want, then tough. That's just how it works. If the people don't like it, they can vote the party out for overreaching and vote the other party back in. If the people of Wisconsin really don't like this, I think they might even be able to oust Walker via a recall come January 2012.
 
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  • #387


The way that politics works is that you use whatever tools you have, within the rules, to get your way. What is the essential difference between preventing a vote by making the meeting inquorate, or preventing a vote by filibustering? Not much.

For example in the UK parliament, there have been MPs from Northern Ireland who have been elected and repeatedly re-elected, when everybody voting for them knows perfectly well that they will never actually take their seats and participate in the business of parliament, as a matter of principle. The one and only point in their election manifesto is to prevent anybody else from representing the constituency, and the electorate support them in that action.

So I'm not sure how "forcing" elected representatives to do anything (especially something against their will) can be callled "democracy".
 
  • #388


AlephZero said:
So I'm not sure how "forcing" elected representatives to do anything (especially something against their will) can be callled "democracy".

The filibuster is a parliamentary procedure. No one is forcing elected representatives to do anything against their will, they can vote against the bill.
 
  • #389


Greg Bernhardt said:
Then they should return any money I am paying to their salary for them to do their job. And they did flee and hide. We didn't find out where they went for a couple days after they went missing.
It's like an old-fashioned filibuster just like Robert Byrd used to do. Well, except they don't have to stand and talk the whole time. Or be present at session. Or be in town. Or in the state.

But other than that, it's just an old-fashioned honest filibuster. :smile:
 
  • #390


Char. Limit said:
Here's how I see it. Democrats leave so that unions don't get busted. Republican governor threatens to lay off employees unless the Democrats return. That's blackmail, clear and simple.
Pretty big difference between how you see it and reality. The reality is that no union busting is being advocated by anyone as a matter of objective fact, and using the word blackmail to refer to the Governor instead of the Dem. legislators seems to ignore which side is trying to use the democratic process and which side is blocking it to try to demand their way.

Those Democrats are using fraud, deception, hateful propaganda, outright lies, and obstruction to try to undermine the democratic process.