Wausau, WI – The 2012 Wisconsin recall elections are over and Governor Scott Walker is still in office. State Representative Jerry Petrowski is now State Senator-Elect Jerry Petrowski. Senator Terry Moulton is still a member of the Wisconsin State Senate. The Republican Party of Marathon County has helped change our state.
Eighteen months ago...
Read the full press release here.
Showing posts with label Gov Walker Support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gov Walker Support. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
More Money for Public Schools Is Not the Answer
America’s public school students continue to score well below students from other developed countries on standardized tests of math, science, reading, and problem solving. Embarrassed teachers’ unions are blaming the poor performance of American students on budget cuts. This is nothing more than finger pointing to distract taxpayers from the real reasons for poor performance, but it is at least a well-timed if disingenuous distraction. Because of the disastrous economic policies of the Obama administration, most states have had to suffer through persistent recessionary conditions for three years and counting.
As a result, local school systems in most states have experienced on-going budget cuts or, at least, what teachers’ unions call budget cuts. In many cases the so-called cuts have really been reductions in projected increases as opposed to actual cuts. In fact, only the skewed logic of the left could define a reduction in a proposed budget increase as a budget cut. A cut is when you end up with less funding than you had, not less than you wanted.
Read the full article here:
http://patriotupdate.com/articles/more-money-for-public-schools-is-not-the-answer
Friday, May 4, 2012
From the Bader Blog: A Dark Lining in a Silver Cloud
A Dark Lining in a Silver Cloud
Thursday May 3, 2012 Posted 1 day, 1 hour ago by Jerry Bader
The good news is the perception of Wisconsin's business climate among business leaderscontinues to improve. But the prospect that Wisconsin will do a 180 on June 5 is keeping business from acting on that optimism. Business is excited about what Scott Walker is doing in Wisconsin. It wants to act on that excitement. It won't, however, if if believes all this ends in a month.
With Tom Barrett using Wisconsin's job numbers as a cudgel against Scott Walker, the governor needs to use this extensively in his campaign; what is paralyzing business, and job growth in Wisconsin isn't Scott Walker. It's the fear of business that Scott Walker will soon be gone.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Kaboom!
Wisconsin is on the Verge of a Jobs Explosion
Submitted by nathan.conrad on Thu, 05/03/2012 - 3:10pm
In the 16 short months that Governor Walker has been behind the desk of our state’s highest elected office, we have eliminated that deficit, saved over a billion dollars of taxpayer money and put an end to the rampant job loss caused by the poor fiscal management of the past.
Recently, a survey conducted by ChiefExecutive.net shows that the forward thinking reforms that have been put in place under Governor Walker are moving our state in the right direction. The survey, which can be seen here, shows that in 2010 Wisconsin was ranked 41st in the nation in places to do business and, in the time since, we have moved 21 slots up on that list after Governor Walker took office.
Governor Walker’s bold reforms have been highlighted even further by the editors of that site to show that, as a state, we are poised to see a jobs explosion when Governor Walker retains his office after this baseless recall is over. Take a look at the nation’s CEO’s vision for Wisconsin’s future with Governor Walker at the helm here.
While we continue to climb the ranks of best places to do business as a state, one alarming and concerning tidbit of information comes to light: We are being held back from further growth due to the impetuous disregard for business being forwarded by the failed leadership of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
According to Forbes, in their most recent ranking of best and worst cities to do business, which can be seen here, we see that Milwaukee has tumbled 31 spots in the rankings over the last year. Under Mayor Barrett’s watch, and because of the constant hunger to feed the spending beast that resides within him, Milwaukee has one of the worst outlooks for business in the nation. To put if frankly, no one wants to build and grow business in an area where burdensome taxation and irresponsible and overzealous regulation takes precedence over job creation.
Job creators are shunning the failed mayor’s city due to his inability to manage correctly and his total lack of a plan on any issue.
Governor Walker on the other hand is doing any and everything possible to attract business and help the struggling community thrive, even though their mayor seems more interested in running a third race for governor in a baseless recall rather than help his own constituents.
Governor Walker recently unveiled an initiative called Transform Milwaukee which will seek to help the tormented city get back on its feet again. The program is investing $100 million dollars into the beleaguered city to bring back jobs and opportunity lost during the tenure of Mayor Barrett’s failed leadership.
The initiative will provide $56 million in loans and venture funding for small businesses and industrial development to the city, which in turn is expected to create more than 2,000 new construction jobs.
Mayor Barrett’s inability to show true leadership in times of adversity has proven he is bad for Milwaukee, but would be worse for Wisconsin.
Governor Walker, on the other hand, has stood by his word and laid the solid foundation for a bright future for our state through his innovative and bold reforms agenda. Once this recall has been put to rest and Governor Walker’s plans can continue to move forward, the jobs explosion that will result will usher in a time of growth not seen in Wisconsin in generations.
In the 16 short months that Governor Walker has been behind the desk of our state’s highest elected office, we have eliminated that deficit, saved over a billion dollars of taxpayer money and put an end to the rampant job loss caused by the poor fiscal management of the past.
Recently, a survey conducted by ChiefExecutive.net shows that the forward thinking reforms that have been put in place under Governor Walker are moving our state in the right direction. The survey, which can be seen here, shows that in 2010 Wisconsin was ranked 41st in the nation in places to do business and, in the time since, we have moved 21 slots up on that list after Governor Walker took office.
Governor Walker’s bold reforms have been highlighted even further by the editors of that site to show that, as a state, we are poised to see a jobs explosion when Governor Walker retains his office after this baseless recall is over. Take a look at the nation’s CEO’s vision for Wisconsin’s future with Governor Walker at the helm here.
While we continue to climb the ranks of best places to do business as a state, one alarming and concerning tidbit of information comes to light: We are being held back from further growth due to the impetuous disregard for business being forwarded by the failed leadership of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
According to Forbes, in their most recent ranking of best and worst cities to do business, which can be seen here, we see that Milwaukee has tumbled 31 spots in the rankings over the last year. Under Mayor Barrett’s watch, and because of the constant hunger to feed the spending beast that resides within him, Milwaukee has one of the worst outlooks for business in the nation. To put if frankly, no one wants to build and grow business in an area where burdensome taxation and irresponsible and overzealous regulation takes precedence over job creation.
Job creators are shunning the failed mayor’s city due to his inability to manage correctly and his total lack of a plan on any issue.
Governor Walker on the other hand is doing any and everything possible to attract business and help the struggling community thrive, even though their mayor seems more interested in running a third race for governor in a baseless recall rather than help his own constituents.
Governor Walker recently unveiled an initiative called Transform Milwaukee which will seek to help the tormented city get back on its feet again. The program is investing $100 million dollars into the beleaguered city to bring back jobs and opportunity lost during the tenure of Mayor Barrett’s failed leadership.
The initiative will provide $56 million in loans and venture funding for small businesses and industrial development to the city, which in turn is expected to create more than 2,000 new construction jobs.
Mayor Barrett’s inability to show true leadership in times of adversity has proven he is bad for Milwaukee, but would be worse for Wisconsin.
Governor Walker, on the other hand, has stood by his word and laid the solid foundation for a bright future for our state through his innovative and bold reforms agenda. Once this recall has been put to rest and Governor Walker’s plans can continue to move forward, the jobs explosion that will result will usher in a time of growth not seen in Wisconsin in generations.
Still Moving Up - Wisconsin Business Climate Now 20th
Will Wisconsin Rise Again?
May 2 2012 by Dale Buss
The Badger State keeps rising in the Chief Executive Best States/Worst States list, and that’s got Wisconsin businesses cheering—as well as investing. Nevertheless, CEOs and entrepreneurs there are worried that an election recall this summer of their champion, Governor Scott Walker, could upend the great improvements made in the state’s business climate in just two years.
Wisconsin leapt to 20th place in our Best States/Worst States list this year from 24th last year, one of only eight states that enjoyed a rise of at least four spots. That followed a phenomenal 17-place leap in last year’s list, where it occupied the doldrums of 41st place.
Read the full article at ChiefExecutive.net....
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
How Retirement Benefits May Sink the States
- Yes, this is why we need to support Governor Walker to stay the course! The fiscal standing of Wisconsin matters!
Recall Defense: Understanding the Jobs Numbers
It’s not about the jobs—or is it?
Does Tom Barrett fall short as a political strategist? He has, after all, been trying to run on the issue of jobs in next month’s recall election. Is this a colossal bluff; a desperate hope that if he talks about it enough, no one will notice how bad his performance has been?Good luck, Mr. Mayor. Even with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s deflector shields fully deployed to obscure his record, Barrett can’t keep the rest of Wisconsin from finding out that under his aimless leadership Milwaukee is a graveyard for jobs.
Surely March was a disappointment. Wisconsin lost 4,500 jobs. But there’s more to it than that: 4,400 were in Barrett’s Milwaukee.
It needn’t be this way, except for Liberal ideological purity. For instance, not one Democrat, Barrett included, spoke up when a single vote in the State Senate would have opened the door to thousands of jobs building an iron mine and the machinery to operate it.
Instead, Barrett fixates on “investing” your tax money in a two-mile, hundred-million dollar trolley line and wind energy systems—just as people wake up to the expensive failure of “green energy” to deliver either environmental benefits or reliable power.
If Wisconsin struggles with job creation, it’s not because Scott Walker curbed government union collective bargaining. It’s because private-sector job-creators fear Walker could be gone in a month and a Leftist governor could be trying to rig up a tax-financed economy with science-fair energy projects and passenger-rail money pits.
The March unemployment rate was 6.8 percent for Wisconsin and 8.2 percent nationwide. In the City of Milwaukee, it was 10.4 percent. If you’re wondering how to make jobs disappear, don’t call Scott Walker. Don’t even call Barack Obama. Call Tom Barrett. He seems to have the secret.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Don't let gender flap distract
Wisconsin State Journal editorial | Posted: Thursday, April 26, 2012 5:00 am
The grand total of women (and men) in Wisconsin who have used a 2009 state law to file employment discrimination lawsuits is — zero.
So don't believe the hype about state leaders supposedly stopping women from getting paid the same as men by repealing the law this month. Any worker in Wisconsin who is discriminated against based on gender, age, race or other factors can still seek justice from state and federal agencies as well as the federal courts.
The repeal of the 2009 state law that nobody used doesn't change that.
Democratic candidate for governor Kathleen Falk recently claimed that women who suffer pay discrimination "can't do something about it" because of a Republican-backed bill Gov. Scott Walker just signed into law.
But PolitiFact Wisconsin just rated Falk's claim as false: "Of the four legal options available under the current law, only one would be eliminated by the bill," according to the fact-checking website that Milwaukee Journal Sentinel journalists operate.
Moreover, it's the only one of those four option that hasn't been used.
"Nobody has obtained a finding of liability from a law judge and then gone into state court and asked for damages," Scott Beightol, a Wisconsin lawyer who represents employers on discrimination issues, told the State Journal on Wednesday.
He added: "How this became a gender pay issue is beyond me," given that the 2009 law, approved when Democrats controlled the state Legislature, wasn't specific to women.
Falk isn't the only one exaggerating the issue. Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, suggested repealing the 2009 law would be the most pro-business piece of legislation taken up by the Republican-controlled Legislature this session, according to the Journal Sentinel. That doesn't say much for the GOP's efforts to boost economic activity in Wisconsin.
Let's root out sexism in the workplace with less show and more substance.
The WI Mine Would Have Been Safe!
Fun Fact Of The Day
Did you know...
•The mine would not have had any negative environmental effects as the DNR & EPA were involved in the planning and supervision.
•Donna says that she wants to work together, but yet she voted against all these jobs just to play politics in the recall elections. We don't want someone representing us that says one thing and does another.
Did you know...
•The mine would not have had any negative environmental effects as the DNR & EPA were involved in the planning and supervision.
•Donna says that she wants to work together, but yet she voted against all these jobs just to play politics in the recall elections. We don't want someone representing us that says one thing and does another.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Job Jive
Democrats are claiming the shrinkage of Wisconsin’s work force over the past few months is the result of Governor Walker’s policy changes.
In other words, balancing the state budget for the first time in 12 years without raises taxes or laying off thousands of state employees are very, very bad things.
Pardon us for belaboring the obvious but Democrats, with nothing to offer except a mindless trudge into socialist insolvency, will blame Walker for every flat tire, hailstorm, deceased goldfish, un-mowed lawn and leaky roof that occurs from now until eight years after he leaves office.
A more plausible interpretation of the state’s economy is the inescapable fact that it’s part of thenation’seconomy. An economy that has been pounded into the ground by policies Democrats are working to re-impose here, if only they can get rid of Walker.
Trust-But-Verify Economics
http://wicfg.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/trust-but-verify-economics/
NOVEMBER 23, 2011
Ronald Reagan described his stance toward the Soviet Union on the dubious undertaking of arms control: “Trust, but verify.”
It’s not much of a stretch to see that same attitude coming through in a survey of business leaders released Friday by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC).
Local chambers of commerce are generally upbeat about the direction of attitudes toward the business community in Wisconsin and they see good things ahead. Not only do overwhelming majorities of chamber executives say the state is on the right track, the numbers released last week represent a striking, 180-degree turnaround compared with responses to a similar survey in 2009.
According to the survey:
A large number of chambers (74%) think the state is on the right track. This is a mirror image of survey responses 12 months ago when 74% thought we were heading in the wrong direction and a vast improvement over 2009 when only 18% thought we were on the right track. Seventy-nine percent of the local chambers feel strongly that Wisconsin is very or somewhat pro-business, compared to only 18% two years ago.
Somehow we doubt the dramatic shift is mere coincidence, given that in between, Wisconsin government took a similar one-eighty as a result of the 2010 elections.
So how does this sunny optimism square with the disappointing employment numbers reported for the past few months?
We strongly suspect this is an example of “trust-but-verify” economic decision-making. Employers are happy about the state’s current policy direction but they also realize how fragile that happiness may be. Optimism is tempered by the realization that thousands of Wisconsin residents are fully dedicated to tearing down the reasons for their optimism with more recall elections.
Only their complete and utter defeat will convince business that pro-growth policies are durable. Once that is established, just watch Wisconsin’s economy grow.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Rep. Kevin Peterson Offers Recall Amendment
For embittered union bosses, raw emotion fueled this summer’s attempt to flip control of the state Senate. Now, people who have the responsibility of governing this state are taking a more rational look at the appropriate use of recall elections.In an especially lucid constituent newsletter, State Rep. Kevin Petersen (R-Waupaca) points out that Wisconsin is one of just 19 states that allow citizens to force a mid-term election to fire and replace an elected official.
“Supporters of recall elections maintain it provides a way for citizens to retain control over elected officials who are not representing the best interests of their constituents, or who are unresponsive or incompetent. Opponents argue the threat of a recall election lessens the independence of elected officials, and can lead to abuses by well-financed special interest groups,” Petersen writes.
A recall isn’t unexpected if there’s misconduct in office, but local taxpayers coughed up more than $2 million this summer for recalls based on simple disagreements over public policy, Petersen says. But it takes only a small minority…to initiate a recall for removal of that individual from office.”
Petersen is co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment limiting recalls to officials charged with serious crimes or if there’s probable cause to believe the official has violated a state ethics code.
Total Recall
He would not make the process of pursuing a recall more burdensome. The existence of a recall petition would remain sufficient grounds for the effort to proceed.
But the amendment could curb the Leftist strategy of continuous chaos by putting disagreements over a legislator’s lawful votes out of bounds for recall attempts. That’s what regular elections are for.
Those who’d like to receive the “Petersen E-Press” can subscribe at Rep.Petersen@legis.wisconsin.gov.
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
WI Budget and Education - Great Things...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Things are Happening in Wisconsin!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 12, 2011
Dear Tea Party Supporter:
In addition to our championship Packers football team and winning Brewers baseball
team, Wisconsin citizens can further count their blessings with the news that great
things are happening in Wisconsin! For several months now, tea party supporters
all over the state have anticipated the positive results of the hard work of our
conservative legislators and Governor Scott Walker. Now the rest of the state can
also see the undeniable progress that has been made in removing power from the public
employee unions and restoring freedom and liberty to Wisconsin taxpayers.
Hat tip to several Wausau Tea Party supporters for sending us the following great
news in an email:
- Ashland School District - saved $378,000 on health insurance;
- Kimberly School District - saved $821,000 by dropping WEA Trust Insurance;
- Edgerton School District - dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $500,000;
- Baraboo School District - dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $660,000;
- Dodgeland School District - dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save $260,000
- Elmbrook School District - changing health care provider, savings estimated at
$878,000;
- Mequon-Thiensville School District - saving $49,000 on dental insurance coverage;
- Marshfield School District - saving $850,00 by dropping WEA Trust;
- City of Sheboygan - Mayor Bob Ryan says collective bargaining reforms will provide
enough savings to make up for the reduction in state aid;
- Wauwatosa School District - tax levy decreasing, no programs will be cut, class
sizes won’t increase, thanks to the reforms in collective bargaining;
- Manitowoc - Laid-off city workers may get their jobs back due to the wage/benefit
reforms contained in Walker’s budget. Changes to overtime rules saving the county
$100,000;
- Pittsville - will see a 9% decrease in the school portion of their property tax
levy. “This is the first year we have not needed to short-term borrow,” stated Board
President Strenn;
- Appleton School District - will save $3.1 million just in health insurance costs
due to being able to bid out the coverage and being able to drop WEA Trust;
- Racine County - inmates can now be used to perform tasks such as landscaping,
painting and shoveling sidewalks. Executive Ladwig states this is a “win/win for
the inmates and the county. It frees up county employees for other tasks, gives
the inmates a sense of value, and helps the county maintain property that has been
neglected.”
- Kaukauna School District - hiring additional teachers, reducing class sizes, enacting
a merit pay system, and due to Gov. Walker’s Budget Bill. Kaukauna’s operating
budget has moved from a negative $400,000 to a positive $1,500,000. Much of this
savings was due to being able to drop WEA Trust.
- Hartland School District - switched from WEA Trust and saved $690,000;
- Hudson School District - saved $832,000 on health insurance due to ability to
bid the insurance.
- KSTP did a study of the savings in Sheila Harsdorf’s 10th Senate District. They
found that Ellsworth, Prescott, Menomonie, Somerset and Hudson school districts
are all reporting large savings due to the changes signed into law by Walker.
(Keep in mind, WEA TRUST is a union insurance company, a company that has obviously
been ripping off the school districts for years, thanks to collective bargaining
that prohibited school districts from seeking insurance coverage from any company
other than WEA Trust. How much tax money would we have saved if school districts
had been “allowed by the unions” to bid out their insurance over the years?)
WANT MORE GOOD NEWS??
Governor Walker and our conservative legislators:
- just signed an Unemployment Insurance extension adding 13 weeks of UC benefits.
- Passed a state budget on time, without tax increases, that leaves WI in the black
for the first time in over 10 years.
- Turned a $3 billion deficit into a $300 million surplus.
- Cut bonding by nearly 20%.
- Cut more than 1,000 government jobs, including 735 long-term vacancies.
- In the first 6 months of 2011, Wisconsin showed job growth more than twice the
national rate.
- Protected our votes by requiring a picture I.D. at the polls.
- Assured that Wisconsin was the 49th state to recognize our 2nd Amendment right
to carry concealed weapons.
- Paid off WI’s $60 million debt to MN under the former tax reciprocity agreement.
- Paid back over $200 million to the Injured Patients and Families Fund. This is
money that Gov. Doyle unconstitutionally raided from the Patients’ Compensation
Fund.
- Gov. Walker expanded the prohibition against tax money being used to subsidize
abortion.
Finally, I would like to share a letter that Wausau Tea Party supporter Dave Luepke
submitted to several area newspapers today:
To the editor:
I attended a Tea Party event in Oshkosh on Sept. 10. I arrived early and stayed
late so I could mingle with the crowd and find evidence to support the ugly accusations
against them. I’m happy to report that the accusations are baseless and apparently
made by those who cannot compete in the arena of ideas and civil discourse.
I did hear several teachers discussing their gratitude to Governor Walker for ending
the tyranny of forced dues where much of the money went to support ideology they
disagree with. Every speaker on the stage was terrific, and. Senator Ron Johnson
and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch further established themselves as courageous
leaders that are much needed for times like these. Both have worked tirelessly to
get our economy going in the right direction and have had some success already.
I would like to issue a challenge to their detractors. Why don’t you divert the
energy you spend on trying to destroy successful people and channel it towards helping
EVERYONE be more successful? So far all you have done is slander good people and
demand more of other peoples money. You have not created or saved even one productive
job or business, unless you count paid protesters. But they aren’t very productive,
are they?
And Sunday Morning I watched the Lt Governor lead the 9-11 Memorial at the Capitol.
I can sum up the whole weekend by confirming that I have never been prouder to be
from Wisconsin.
Dave Luepke
Edgar, WI
Thank you for your continued support.
Meg Ellefson, Founder
Wausau Tea Party
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Union Thuggery Is Not Confined to Wisconsin
LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.
Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.
No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that’s staffing a workforce of other union laborers.
Thursday’s violence was first reported by Kelso radio station KLOG.
Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.
“We’re not surprised,” Duscha said. “A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start.”
One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. “One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion.”
Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.
No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that’s staffing a workforce of other union laborers.
Thursday’s violence was first reported by Kelso radio station KLOG.
Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.
“We’re not surprised,” Duscha said. “A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start.”
One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. “One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion.”
Saturday, September 10, 2011
WEAC on the Wane
August 17, 2011
We can’t recall anyone looking at a state budget one month after it took effect and remarking on how it had worked. But the current budget is no business-as-usual tax and spending plan. At the beginning of August, one month in, changes were already measurable.
For instance, Democrats said school districts would suffer terribly. Let’s check that out:
Appleton—saves $3.1 million through competition among health insurance providers.
Ashland—saved almost $378,000 thanks to being free to choose its health insurance provider.
Baraboo—switched insurance providers to save $660,000 next year.
Edgerton—anticipates insurance savings of $500,000.
Elmbrook—estimates savings through health insurance changes at $878,000.
Fond du Lac—will save enough to offset a $4.4 million budget shortfall.
Kaukauna—will hire more teachers, reduce class sizes and introduce merit pay.
Kimberly—saved $821,000 by changing insurance providers.
This represents only one aspect of the budget bill’s positive impact, breaking the teacher union’s near-monopoly status as health insurance provider to school districts,
It may be only the beginning. For decades WEAC, the statewide teacher union, has been the 800-pound gorilla of Wisconsin politics. WEAC and affiliates directed almost $900,000 against Republican senators in last week’s recalls, and that’s just what legally has to be reported.
But just as school districts are now free to choose insurance providers, public employees are now free to decide annually whether their union is doing them any good and whether to pay the dues government employers will no longer automatically withhold.
School districts can recognize a chance to save money. We’ll bet their employees can too.
Right About Rail
It’s impolite to say we told you so, but in today’s political environment it seems constantly necessary.
So next time someone says Governor Walker was unintelligent to reject federal money for high-speed rail, clue them in about how wrong they are.
There’s proof in last Tuesday’s San Jose Mercury News.
We’ll summarize.
California is planning a high-speed rail project that differs from the rejected Milwaukee-Madison line chiefly in that it would traverse a total of about 800 miles. Three years ago California voters authorized $9 billion in bonding for the project and the federal government has ponied up about $3 billion of your money to help out.
One small problem: Overall costs are estimated at $43 billion and the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says there’s no certainty where the bulk of it will come from.
This is especially troublesome in light of anticipated massive cost overruns. Even though nobody has yet turned a shovel, estimates are ballooning north of $60 billion and heading higher.
It’s especially revealing that the California High Speed Rail Authority acknowledges higher cost figures, because it just recently figured out how many bridges it will need to build—years after producing the cost estimates it used to sell the project.
If this sounds hauntingly familiar—like the city of Milwaukee feigning surprise over multimillion-dollar expenses for digging up and relocating electric transmission lines to accommodate Mayor Tom Barrett’s streetcar project—it’s because that’s the way these things invariably turn out.
Walker smelled boondoggle and made the right call. But for some people, spending big money on big projects directed by big government is an objective in itself. Whether the projects are useful or perform as advertised is irrelevant; for Liberals, they’re almost a biological imperative.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Straight Answers on Public Employee Compensation
Stubborn facts, at your service
Do public employees really accept lesser compensation in exchange for job security, as it’s often argued? Do people give up a lot to go into public education just because they love teaching the children? Thanks to the MacIver Institute, the average citizen has a much better chance of finding straight answers to those questions.
The MacIver-operated web site www.WIOpenGov.org has just posted 2011 salary and benefit data for more than 105,000 public school teachers and administrators. With the addition of the current-year numbers, the site now has a continuous, 17-year record of compensation data for every K-12 school district in Wisconsin.
MacIver president Brett Healy announced the newly-posted information said:
11,469 Wisconsin public school employees will take home more than $100,000 in pay and benefits this year.
Overall compensation increased to $6.15 billion this year, compared with $5.97 billion in 2010.
The superintendent of the disastrous Milwaukee Public Schools is the state’s highest-paid school official. Gregory Thornton is receiving $265,000 in salary and another $77,398 in fringe benefits.
Ranking number two, Madison superintendent Dan Nerad—the man who couldn’t bring himself to do anything serious about 84 of his employees falsely claiming illness so they could blow off work to protest at the Capitol—gets a $201,438 salary and $58,034 in fringe benefits.
In addition to K-12 school employees, the web site has salary and benefit information for tens of thousands of state, county and municipal employees. All of the information is public record and lawfully available to anyone, though Healy notes that some municipalities are more forthcoming than others.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Democrat house votes to restrict unions
Measure would curb bargaining on health care
By Michael LevensonGlobe Staff / April 27, 2011
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.
The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.
Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed the plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure, they could lose their union backing in the next election. After the vote, labor leaders accused House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.
“It’s pretty stunning,’’ said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over again that they’re with us, that they believe in collective bargaining, that they believe in unions. . . . It’s a done deal for our relationship with the people inside that chamber.’’
“We are going to fight this thing to the bitter end,’’ he added. “Massachusetts is not the place that takes collective bargaining away from public employees.’’
The battle now turns to the Senate, where President Therese Murray has indicated that she is reluctant to strip workers of their right to bargain over their health care plans.
DeLeo said the House measure would save $100 million for cities and towns in the upcoming budget year, helping them avoid layoffs and reductions in services. He called his plan one of the most significant reforms the state can adopt to help control escalating health care costs.
“By spending less on the health care costs of municipal employees, our cities and towns will be able to retain jobs and allot more funding to necessary services like education and public safety,’’ he said in a statement.
Last night, as union leaders lobbied against the plan, DeLeo offered two concessions intended to shore up support from wavering legislators.
The first concession gives public employees 30 days to discuss changes to their health plans with local officials, instead of allowing the officials to act without any input from union members. But local officials would still, at the end of that period, be able to impose their changes unilaterally.
The second concession gives union members 20 percent of the savings from any health care changes for one year, if the unions object to changes imposed by local officials. The original bill gave the unions 10 percent of the savings for one year.
The modifications bring the House bill closer to a plan introduced by Governor Deval Patrick in January. The governor, like Murray, has said he wants workers to have some say in altering their health plans, but does not want unions to have the power to block changes.
But union leaders said that even with the last-minute concessions, the bill was an assault on workers’ rights, unthinkable in a state that has long been a bastion of union support. Some Democrats accused DeLeo of following the lead of Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and other Republicans who have targeted public employee benefits. “In the bigger world out there, this fits into a very bad movement to disempower labor unions,’’ said Representative Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat who opposed the bill.
Under the legislation, mayors and other local officials would be given unfettered authority to set copayments and deductibles for their employees, after the 30-day discussion period with unions. Only the share of premiums paid by employees would remain on the health care bargaining table.
Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said that, even if the bill becomes law, municipal workers would still have more bargaining power over their health care plans than state employees. “It’s a fair, balanced, strong, effective and meaningful reform,’’ he said.
Unions lobbied to derail the speaker’s plan in favor of a labor-backed proposal that would preserve collective bargaining, and would let an arbitrator decide changes to employee health plans if local officials and unions deadlock after 45 days. Labor leaders initially persuaded 50 lawmakers, including six members of DeLeo’s leadership team, to back their plan last week. But DeLeo peeled off some of the labor support in the final vote.
Representative Martin J. Walsh, a Dorchester Democrat who is secretary-treasurer of the Boston Building Trades Council, led the fight against the speaker’s plan. In a speech that was more wistful than angry, he recalled growing up in a union household that had health care benefits generous enough to help him overcome cancer in 1974. He said collective bargaining rights helped build the middle class.
“Municipal workers aren’t the bad guys here,’’ he said. “They’re not the ones who caused the financial crisis. Banks and investment companies got a slap on the wrist for their wrongdoing, but public employees are losing their benefits.’’
The timing of the vote was significant. Union leaders plan today to unleash a major lobbying blitz with police officers, firefighters, and other workers flooding the State House. Taking the vote last night at 11:30 allowed lawmakers to avoid a potentially tense confrontation with those workers, and vote when the marble halls of the House were all but empty.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.
Teachers Unions Working Feverishly to Organize Charter Schools
APRIL 27, 2011
By Kyle Olson
4/27/2011
One of the things I’ve always liked about charter schools is they aren’t bound by onerous labor agreements that hamper innovation. Traditional public schools get boxed in with union contracts that literally stipulate when a teacher arrives in the morning and when he or she must depart. And that’s just the beginning of union-imposed regulations.
In charter schools, the interest of the students comes first, so adults oftentimes find themselves going above and beyond to ensure that students succeed. In the documentary “Kids Aren’t Cars,” the story was told of Tindley Accelerated School in Indianapolis. The principal said his teachers stay late and work Saturdays if necessary because they do not accept failure.
That’s why it is disturbing to watch labor unions organize charter school after charter school, with little being done about it. Their intent is clear. Consider what United Federation of Teachers Vice President Leo Casey said at the recent socialist Left Forum, courtesy of EAGtv:
“If we do not figure out how to organize charter schools and if we are not successful in doing that, we will end up in the same place as the auto workers. So there is no more key question before us as a union and a broader labor movement with regard to education than how we approach charter schools and our ability to organize them.”
What he’s saying is that the United Auto Workers unionized Ford, General Motors and Chrysler and ignored foreign competitors. As foreign market shares grew, the UAW’s membership rolls suffered. Casey’s envisioning a similar scenario with school employee unions.
He doesn’t care if charter schools benefit students. He just knows that they hurt his union, so they must be changed as soon as possible.
“Organizing a charter school is like organizing WalMart. This is not traditional public sector organizing,” Casey went on to say, pounding his fist on the table. To say Big Labor has a distaste for WalMart is an understatement, so the comparison is all the more insulting to charters.
He continued on the WalMart theme, which would make one wonder if the union campaign to organize charter schools is because they believe charter teachers want their representation, or because a unionized charter school will soon turn into a run-of-the-mill, substandard school.
“The battle has to be to organize those schools. If those schools are organized, do you think WalMart is going to be pouring money into them?”
Casey’s strategy is a political one, not one born of a desire to create quality schools.
Stanley Aronowitz, a professor, union activist and former Green Party candidate for governor, also spoke at the event and concurred with Casey, “I’m for the position that charter schools are ratty and should be abolished yet at the same time we should organize them – I agree with that position.”
It is a shame teachers unions, principally the American Federation of Teachers, are unionizing charter schools simply as a power play – not because those teachers are seeking to organize or because unionizing creates a better education. It’s further proof that teachers unions look out for the adults instead of the children.
Kyle Olson
Kyle is founder and CEO of Education Action Group Foundation, a non-partisan non-profit organization with the goal of promoting sensible education reform.
Scott Walker column: Property tax relief needed
We need property tax relief.
For too long, middle-class taxpayers have been stuck with the costs of paying for more and more government. In 2000, the average property tax on a median value home in Wisconsin was $2,110. By 2006 it had risen to $2,729. Today it’s $2,963. Without the property tax reforms in our budget, these middle-class tax bills would rise to $3,425 by 2013.
These increases hurt middle-class taxpayers. They make it harder for the retired couple living on a fixed income to stay in their home or for the young couple who are saving to buy their first house so they can start a family. Rising property tax bills also hurt the blue-collar family who took a pay freeze to keep their jobs and they hurt small businesses that are struggling to cover payroll.
That’s why, amid all the difficult choices we had to make in our new budget, we’re implementing a real property tax freeze.
Our property tax reforms will save the typical taxpayer nearly $750 over the next two years. That’s real money we’re keeping in the pockets of middle-class taxpayers across Wisconsin.
Protecting the middle-class and promoting job growth are key components of our budget reforms that provide long-term solutions.
Think about this: How many people would run up a huge bill and then ask their children to pay it? Sounds pretty irresponsible, yet that is what the government has done for years. Given this fiscal instability, it’s not surprising that businesses have been hesitant to add more capital or hire more workers.
Two years ago, the last governor and state Legislature ran up the largest structural deficit in recorded history. Now we are stuck with the bill. In contrast, our budget makes the hard decisions. By tackling the tough choices, we are making a commitment to the future. We are showing our children that we are willing to take on today’s challenges, so they can grow up in a Wisconsin at least as great as the one we grew up in. In doing so, we also protectmiddle class taxpayers who always seem to get stuck with the bill.
Our budget plan balances a $3.6 billion deficit and reduces the structural deficit by more than $2 billion. That is why a national bond rating agency called our budget “credit positive.” (When was the last time anything in government was called positive?) These signs of fiscal stability will give job creators the confidence they need to begin expanding and start hiring.
I think our state is moving in the right direction. Since the start of the year, more than 24,000 jobs have been created in the private sector in Wisconsin, including more than 11,000 manufacturing jobs. Now, we are taking even more positive action through our fiscally-responsible budget proposal.
Getting the state’s finances in order, creating a better environment for job creation, protecting vital services and saving middle-class taxpayers money; these are the core objectives of our biennial budget plan. These plans will help get Wisconsinworking again.
Contact Gov. Scott Walker by email atgovgeneral@wisconsin.gov or by phone at 608-266-1212.
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