It's such a difficult argument when all liberals care about is how to get more for their own selves and no consideration for those of us actually paying the bill. Every time you talk to them, it's all about them. When you talk to a conservative, it's about the greater good of the state as a whole. I don't think it's right that a group of union thugs representing less than 400,000 people should have as much say as they have on state policy. They should keep those money-sucking agendas in the private sector where they belong.

Oh if life could be that simple minded, but when you believe that all government is useless it is hard to come at that.

But for us adults, we know that there are many government services that are vital, and that we need competent, dedicated people in those positions.

All this childish whining and crying about "greedy" public employees, when the truth is the public employee compensation packages -- pay and benefits -- are on a par with the private sector.

But let's face it. This is ploy on the part of the greedy affluent is the ultimate Roach Motel of politics. People get lured in by their whopping $11 a year savings in taxes. The suckers fall to their knees and keep these tools in office, not knowing that that puppet masters have plans for them.

But then it is too late because there will be no political recourse. Not that it would matter because God forbid they would vote for their self interest. Trouble is, it drags the rest of us down with their resentful selves. That's the sucking sound.

This is for the adults in the room.

http://maciverinstitute.com/2012/04/act-10-one-year-later/

MacIver Institute? Right wing think tank. Yeah, there's credibility for you.

"Walker" please explain to us exactly what MacIver has wrong in that article. I await your response.

Brett bushman, enough projection please. And it's nonsense that "conservatives" only "paying the bill." We're all paying for the Bush tax cuts, Iraq War, etc. (unless "we" are a wealthy corporation)

And none of the "conservatives" with whom I am acquainted are focused on the "greater good of the state as a whole." They are focused on Scott Walker winning the recall election. There's no focus on Scott Walker's allegiance to the Koch brothers and ALEC (the special interest group from which 13 corporate "partners" have now backed away due to its extremist ideology. Koch Industries of course, remains with ALEC as the Koch brothers have donated $1million and loaned another $500,000).

If it were true that a "group of union thugs" (whenever I read or hear this I feel as if I have been transported into an Edward G. Robinson or Jimmie Cagney gangster movie!) had as much influence in state politics as Scott Walker pretends that they do I would definitely be concerned. But since Scott (or you) specifies precisely which unions, which "thugs," etc. are involved it remains a lie. Your post underscores the issue: first you degrade union (thugs = stewards?) for unions of less than 400,000 people. There are just over 200,000 public employs in Wisconsin. Did you (or someone else) make up this number, or is it public plus some private unions? If so, which one(s)? And to what "money-sucking agendas" do you refer? Please lay it all out.

Bren, I am not Brett, but I am assuming that Brett's numbers are from U.S. Department of Labor .... In percentages in comes out to 14.1 %. Which leaves 85.9% of us not employed by unions. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t05.htm

Unless you're trying to tell us that they have their numbers wrong as well. Brett would be correct.

Bren, it just amazes me how deaf you decide to be when it comes to Walker and the genuine concern he has for this state. Your Democratic heroes have no clue what they are doing. They are thinking with their hearts, which is bankrupting this country.

1)What exactly has Governor Walker done to "lower that tax on the wealthiest people?"
2) When you look at the salary and benefits of public employees they are some of the wealthier people in Wisconsin. Many are still making 100K/year in salary and benefits. While my salary has gone down 10% in the last year, public union employees salaries have gone up, to the tune of 18%
3)Democrats ALWAYS say they will not raise taxes on working families, but somehow they always do, usually by redefining what a working family is.
4) BadgerCare is an expensive entitlement that Diamond Jim Doyle opened up to thousands in the state. Governor Walker is moving people to Medicare. Why do we need two public health insurance welfare plans in this state?
5) Collective public bargaining entitlements is a large part of what got us into this financial mess to begin with. Why would we want to go back to those failed policies? This argument about safety is crap. Unions give up issues of safety and job improvement in favor of MONEY.

Bottom line Bren, when Diamond Jim Doyle left office with many of his Democrat majority, the state was worse than broke. We owed BILLIONS that they had put off pushing the GAAP deficit to it's limits.

We had a 3.6 BILLION dollar structural deficit which is now gone.

Yes, these cuts were painful. But you know what, when my salary decreased by 10%, the first thing we did was determine where we needed to stop spending money.

When you find yourself in a hole you don't want to be in, the first thing you've got to do is stop digging!

And Bren, and before you get too far off on the GAAP deficit:

http://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/kooyenga/pressreleases/Pages/CPA%20Caucus,%20Wisconsin%27s%20GAAP%20Deficit%20Decreasing.aspx

And despite what your Democrat heroes make up, we are experiencing job growth:
Up 6,000+ jobs since November. Sure beats the hundreds of thousands we lost under Diamond Jim Doyle

Chris Heather, your link describes union employees. Which ones are Scott Walker for? Against? In-state public unions except those which endorse him? Private unions that marched against him? Who are the "out of state" union "bosses?" Public employee unions? Private unions? Both? Or is it all just a pulsating, psychedelic mass of confusion but the words "union thugs" makes us sound '30s cool like Jimmy Cagney so lets keep saying them? I'd really like to know if anyone really understands who we are denigrating. I'd hate to make a mistake on the t-shirts.

Anti, Scott Walker has no concerns other than his benefactors, their egregiously extreme ideological agenda, and the dangling tempting carrots of media attention and eventual national office. A few minutes of research into the parallel ALEC bills currently in the pipeline or signed in the other ALEC puppet governor states will reveal that there's nothing original going on in Wisconsin. Walker was first to drop his ALEC union-stripping "bomb" and so all eyes are on Wisconsin (rather like diners staring, annoyed, at the drunks at Table 4).

If Barrett had promised 250,000 new jobs during his first term and had coughed up only 6,000 (looking only at the + side and not comparing to job loss), I can imagine the wailing and rending of garments. The idiocy here was in promising all those jobs in the midst of a recession. Walker would have said anything to get elected. And some people believed him!

Most of the job losses in Wisconsin are because of Barrett. If you think political heads create jobs, where is your criticism of Tom?

Fun Fact: (up to this post)

ALEC has been mentioned 11 times, mostly by Bren the moderate
Koch has been mentioned 17 times

Bren = ALEC Psychosis - a mental disorder characterized by symptoms, such as delusions or hallucinations, that indicate impaired contact with reality.

Anti-A - Nicely done. Bren did not refute one point before going Cagney on you.

Still turning the deaf ear Bren?
First of all, I have NO doubt that Scott Walker has my interests in mind as well as yours and everyone elses. MY property taxes are down. How are yours? MY employer is looking to hire more people. According to my school board representative, MY school district is doing better than before.

Governor Walker has a PLAN to create 250,000 new jobs. With all the recall threats so that Democrats can return Wisconsin to the failed policies of Diamond Jim Doyle, who would want to locate a business here? Stop fighting the Governor and try working with him. Maybe we can actually accomplish something good here.

Budget "bomb" No. 2 hasn't dropped yet, Tom...

I had anticipated a more compelling argument from the Dems. Bashing Walker is expected, but refusing to answer basic questions about the budget is shocking. Even more shocking was when Falk spoke for both herself and Barrett and said that they would not be answering questions about how they would have managed last year's budget. Barrett just sat there and stared at Falk and the audience.

There is only one adult in this race, and he already holds the office.

lets see what the F.B.I has to say about this. glad to see that there are people out there that think having a gov. as a crook and a liar is what this state really needs

I was shocked as well Linda that people voted for Doyle.

Brian, not sure where your percentages come from. The 2010 election results were 52% Walker, hardly a mandate. The Republicans who were in the public employee unions that had wage cuts might not be too excited to vote for him again. Some of the 300,000 folks potentially impacted by the possibly-unConstitutional Walker redistricting might have voted for him in '10 and might not be pleased.
Some economic Republicans on BadgerCare or EIC/Homestead eligible might not be too happy either. So we'll see what happens.

Luke, I wouldn't answer questions about the budget either. Remember that catchy phrase, "We're broke?" Well, how can we be "broke" but have $750,000 to hand out to pet employees? I'm confident that the state budget is an even bigger bad joke than the ones Walker turned in as CE. Since information is not precisely forthcoming from this administration from several levels, I have no confidence whatsoever in the budget data presented. Do we have a balanced budget or do we believe what Gov. Walker filed--a deficit? I wouldn't answer any questions, make any promises or any statements until the actual facts and numbers are known. Yikes.

Steve, who were the criminal defense attorneys hired by Jim Doyle again? Oh wait. Scott Walker's the first governor in state history (1848 to present) to hire a criminal defense team.

What charges have been brought on him after 2 years?

What a useful tool you are.

Good to see you are still alive, Keith.

you are dead wrong. THIS IS NOT THE END OF STORY PERIOD. NO UNIONS NO MIDDLE CALSS. OR CAN'T YOU FIGURE THAT OUT. UNIONS DISAPERAING SO ARE WAGES.

@Chris I'm using the word "right" in the correct context, which Websters says it means and that is "qualities (as adherence to duty or obedience to lawful authority) that together constitute the ideal of moral propriety or merit moral approval." The fact is the law allowed them to bargain and now they don't.
You are saying that I mean the second definition,and that is: "something to which one has a just claim." I assure you this story is not juiced up and it is factual. You can argue your definition, but you are taking that sentence out of context and prescribing your version of meaning to it. You are welcome to debate that collective bargaining in the context of the second meaning, but that's not how I am using this word in this story.

Collective bargaining were privileges, not rights. The term right is used to convey and relate it to a document like the bill of rights or rights granted to all of us. Which is was not. It is not a constitutional right to collectively bargain.

You will see this word "right" used out of context for years to come.

Thank you Steve. Good lord

Oh and Linda, I'm dead right about collective bargaining not being a right. The federal courts have been very clear on this. Research as case called Atkins vs. City of Charlotte once and read what the federal courts told them.

Without unions there would be not weekends and a 8 hour work day. Companies would still be dictating the terms and everyone would live in company towns. What a bunch of idiots. Do you really think the Right cares about you? Companies and the wealthy that is who they protect.

87% of the working class work 7 days a week?

83.7% of all statistics are made up.

Denise- Collective bargaining is not a right. It never was guaranteed by the Constitution, nor is it inherent from our Creator, which is where "rights", as applied Contstitutionally, means.

Unions, in the case of the public sector, especially teachers, are not middle class and are treated far better than the rest of the middle class, so stop using that crap as an argument.

And the fact that ammendment to the Constitution was not needed, is further proof that it was not a "right".

ooooh pleeeeez. letws be honest. oh thats right your a walker supporter and walker has never been honest

Suit yourself, Linda. I know what I see and hear, and I'd be willing to bet I interact with a wider cross-section of the population than you do. You people have irritated many more folks than you're aware of.

Typical, holier-than-thou attitude from the right.

How is that "holier-than-thou" Walker? Or are you just running short of one-liners to toss out there?

You folks seem awful nervous and defensive at this point. God forbid anyone speak out against the recall or suggest it's anything but a cakewalk.

Actually you wish we were nervous. It's a slam dunk. The moderates have learned a lesson & has moved away from Walker & his "My way or the highway" arrogance. They see the narcissist for what he is. The Koch phone call was enough proof of his character or lack there of.

You keep telling yourself that, Walker. Again, I know what I see and I know what I hear. You offer nothing as a counterpoint other than the same, tired, worn-out talking points that you and others have been posting here for months (re: the phone call - keep banging that drum - that's a classic - and that's exactly what I'm talking about). If repetition helps you boost your own confidence, good for you.

I'll go with my actual experiences over your C&P talking points any day.

As I know what I see and I know what I hear. I'll go with my actual experiences over any "holier-than-thou my way or the highway" any day.

Bob, I'm not sure who the "you people" are. I interact with an incredibly diverse cross-section of the Milwaukee community and findings are not consistent with yours.

Why am I not shocked by this revelation, Bren?

I'll stick with my experience and you can stick with yours. I'm confident that my cross-section (which I'd be reluctant to classify as "incredibly diverse" simply because it's not necessary for me to puff myself up in the process of relating what I've experienced) is representative, and I'm comfortable with it - and the conclusion I've come to in that regard.

Any way you slice it, Walker is going to be beat badly or going to jail or maybe both.

Better get your "Recall Scott Walker 2015" signs ready.

don't be so sure. if we don't beat him the F.B.I will

More like get your "Free Walker" signs; by then he should be serving his sentence.

We'll see what happens once the Democrats begin sharing the Walker/ALEC agenda in campaign ads. There is so much material, a literal "embarrassment of riches" for Barrett to share about Walker, as CE and as our ALEC governor. I hope Barrett has better campaign advisers this go-round. He is articulate, humorous, and highly intelligent. He would be an excellent representative of our state.

Your exactly right Clark!

If I understand your post correctly, you are denigrating the people who pay for social programs through taxes so they are available for those in need as indulging in "entitlement thinking?"

So applying your thought process to the private sector, where people also pay for services, people who pay for utilities are indulging in "entitlement thinking" because they expect electricity, water, and natural gas? Or the use of the automobile for which they are making payments? Or cable TV, internet, etc.?

Gear, please think about the difference between true entitlement thinking (I am the King there I am entitled to wear a crown and an ermine cape and hold a scepter) and taxpayers who pay taxes to provide social programs to others and themselves if there is ever need.

Bren that is the most off base simplistic argument I have ever read. Entitlement means getting something you don't pay for or don't deserve. With the amount of posts you enter on here I'm guessing you are living off of me right now.

►SO YOU SEE THEY PAY TAXES ON THIER WAGES TWICE. THEY PAY THE TAX TO GET PAID THEN THEY ARE TAXED ON WHAT THEY EARN.◄

:facepalm:

I don't know why we have taxes at all then on private employees. The state workers pay for their own salary with the taxes they pay from their salary. It's like a free circle of money!

:facepalm:

Wow, Linda, way to state the facts.

linda I don't even know where to start..........

The wages for all of these professions are all public record, and many, if not all, can be found easily online.

You continue with this drivel that snow plow drivers get paid $11 and hr. Complete non-sense in almost every case. Do you even know who the plow drivers work for? In the past, they thought they actually worked for the state.........lol

DPi has every teacher in the state listed with salary & benefits as well, and once again, you're numbers are on the extreme low end. AAMOF, just in our district, 27% of the teachers are compensated over 100K a year. Every single one of them is compensated well over 45K as well.

Not sure where in cyberspace you entrust for "your facts", but I hope you're not paying for them........

linda w is correct about state employee furloughs, etc. Several years back teachers voted to have more money taken from their paychecks to buy better health insurance.

It's interesting how Gale Klappa can pull in a $1million dollar salary courtesy of We Energies customers without a whisper (and with a Bachelors degree in Communication) while the "tar and feathers" are out for teachers (most with advanced/terminal degrees) who make a middle class wage (mid-to upper 5 figures/low 6 figures).

Quite a few of the right-leaning on this site, who do not hesitate to indulge in name-calling, etc. at people who don't agree with their talking points, are offended by the impression that some moderates and the "left" may regard them as less intelligent or willfully ignorant. The best way to counteract these negative impressions is to conduct objective research and retain a clear and open mind. If someone writes something with which you disagree, look it up, immerse yourself in the data, look up other viewpoints, analyze all of the information, and develop a reasoned interpretation. Or just call someone a nasty name or make a denigrating remark.

Bren - You do not get it - a middle class wage (mid-to upper 5 figures/low 6 figures) guess what? That puts them right near the 1% class. NOT middle class. What does a degree have to do with anything? Advanced degrees - oh boy. Woop woop. What degree does Bill Gates have? Waiting...waiting...waiting? Is he worth Billions? Waiting...waiting...waiting.

I know, I know...hit me with your best ALEC stuff. BTW - do those companies who left ALEC also have a waiver for Obamacare? Just saying.

Illinois is better off than Wisconsin. Did you look at the job numbers for Illinois versus Wisconsin. Walker...dead last in jobs...period. He is an epic fail. The rich with their "gifted" accountants pay zero in taxes. Where have you been. As a corporation SC Johnson has paid $0 in the last 13 years in state income taxes. Why, because look at all the donations the family makes. They pay off politicians like your lovely Walker who has been paid off by anyone and everyone including the Koch Bros. Walker did not balance the budget. Stealing millions from federal money allocated to people facing foreclosure is balancing a budget? Time to go back to economics 101.

Are you suggesting the well off don't get handouts? What do you call the capital gains tax rate which allows guys like MRomney to pay $3 million less a year in taxes? I call it a handout.

@Conservativa - Kathleen Vinehout was in Mount Pleasant Sunday evening and offered up her idea for an alternative budget: http://mountpleasant.patch.com/articles/kathleen-vinehout-not-like-any-other-candidate-out-there-including-democrats

Vinehout, as an extreme longshot, has to come up with something to attempt to make her look relevant. What about the two that actually are contenders - Falk and Barrett? Did they have anything?

The rich pay the biggest percentage of taxes because they control the largest percentage of wealth. Duh.

@ Conservativa

Just one example, SC Johnson you know that "Family Company" they have not paid one single penny of income tax to the State of Wisconsin in the last twenty years! How many middle class workers do you know that have not paid one single penny of income tax to the State of Wisconsin in the last twenty years?
That same "Family Company" that also de-frauded the U.S. Treasury out of nearly $7 million of federal income tax. The "Family Company" received $5 million from an IRS mistake - then covered up the mistake and conceal it so the IRS would not discover it. The rich "Family Company" then made false representations to the IRS for an additional $2 million that it was not entitled to receive and was based upon the IRS mistake to begin with. Grand total to de-fraud the U.S. Treasury - Nearly $7 Million. What happens though when an employee has more values than the "Family Company" and decides to tell the IRS about the $7 million - well the "Family Company" fires the employee, pays all of the $7 million back to the US Treasury four days after firing the employee, then sues the fired employee claiming the employee stole from them when the employee gave the US Treasury evidence of the entire fraud.
Conservativa - you from that "Family company"? You seem to have the same sense of distortion that they do. The rich don't pay their fair share - look at the "family company" they pay nothing for 20 years!

Hazel, wrong. Mitt Romney paid a tax rate of about 14%. That is substantially less than what a lot of middle income people pay.

Same repeated lies again, "even Federal public employees don't have... collective bargaining privileges." The fact is they do & they just recently finished and published their latest handbook. www.afgenvac.org

Yes, Bob, let's keep public sector wages low. After all, the folks who build our bridges, teach our kids, police our streets, keep our air and water clean, they are not nearly as worthy as the guy that works to line his own pockets while sucking the teet of corporate welfare. Dislodge that teabag from your throat and swallow some truth - the public sector adds 100x the value of the corporate sector to the everyday life of everyday Americans

Barrett and Falk are both on record for repeatedly dodging the question of how they will pay for all of these givebacks over the last few weeks. So we are supposed to replace a guy who had a clear budget plan that worked with these guys who are tall on rhetoric, and bereft of facts? I don't think so.

Heather I was,and I will give credit were credit is due here. It seem that Kathleen Vinehout was the only one willing to answer the actually questions and not that I agree with her political ideologies, but she was at least trying. The rest of them were just bashing Walker. Walker will win in a landslide if they continue down that path. Just saying.

@Heather Rayne Geyer

They refused to answer the question at the first debate. Since then jsonline has published an article that says they both would not anwer the question in any meaningful way.

Sure, they will eventually, some day, have a plan.

Michigan Joe-- The Koch Bros. are a couple of conservative businessmen who employ 50,000. That puts alot of roofs over peoples heads and food on the tables.
Demonizing them is all part of the Saul Alinsky (Obamas mentor) plan coming down from the Whitehouse. Give it up. We know your plan.

Koch Industries, which the brothers own, is one of the top ten polluters in the United States -- which perhaps explains why the Kochs have given $60 million to climate denial groups between 1997 and 2010.

The Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs accused Koch Oil of scheming to steal $31 million of crude oil from Native Americans. Although the company claimed it was accidental, a former executive in this operation said Charles Koch had known about it and had responded to the overages by saying, "I want my fair share, and that's all of it."

lol Michigan

Michigan Joe; you have enough problems in Michigan. How about you fix some of those before worrying about us?

@Keith Best... saying that the David and Charles Koch "are a couple of conservative businessmen" has the same tone of ignorance as when Mitt Romney said, "Ann, she drives a couple of Cadillacs."

The two Koch brothers are not "conservatives," they are most likely fascists. Their father who provided the money to those "silver spooned" guys was a founder of that wonderfully American organization, the John Birch Society. The father, Fred Koch made his original fortune by working for Stalin's regime in the USSR.

Take the time and follow the money trail from two "sick puppies" and you will find that their political donations go to organizations that are hell bent on destroying the Middle Class. Working side by side with the Kochs are the Walton Family which inherited the fortune that their father made by selling crap to the lower classes while sending their jobs to China.

There is a pattern here as most of the funders of the Right Wing are the generation of people who inherited their wealth. Why you Wingers buy into what they are trying to do makes no sense. Don't take my word for it... do the research (and that does not include FAUX). Read the books written by John Dean (Republican) and by Kevin Phillips (Republican). Then get back to us with your commentary. You might get more respect for your opinions than the ones that are based on the Clliff Notes version of Ayn Rand's rants.

I don't think Oconomowoc will be throwing him a parade. Pink slips were handed out last week at our High School. We will be losing some good teachers.

You know what, you got to look beyond one year and anything Walker has done beyond one year usually takes a giant crap.

Walker. Worse than Nixon.

Hey Schmitzy--
Then why did Scott Walker get elected......... 3 times?
In primarily Democrat country?

Not to mention that they are Birchers. It is amazing. Here we thought America had stomped out this pathology, but it is roaring back, thanks to these sociopaths.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative." -John Stuart Mill

well let's take a look here shall we? http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

#74 on that list. Granted they are still top 100 but there is hell a lot bigger fish to fry when it comes to political donations. PAC's you say ? Let's take a look at those also at a federal level. http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/toppacs.php

Hmmmmmmmmmm

And unions robbing billions from tax payers is a good thing? Good to see we finally have self made private money helping push ideas the rest of us all believe in.

My eyes are wide open, socialism is to be defeated.

From 1998-2008, Koch-controlled foundations gave more than $196 million to organizations that favor polices that would financially enrich the two brothers. In addition, Koch Industries spent $50 million on lobbying and some $8 million in PAC contributions.

"Walker" if your assertion in lobbying. You better start taking a look a little closer to those numbers ; http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s

If you trying to tell us there is too much money in politics, I would hope we could all agree on that. However, the entire Koch this, Koch that regurgitation act by some of you has become very sheep like. They are not even big fish in pond when it comes to it. Start looking at both sides of the isle here.

What about Soros? Get off your high horse. Soros is banned from several countries and wanted on charges in others and he is the backing to most liberal action committees.

@Heather Rayne Geyer

The Koch brothers have given a small fraction of what the trial attorneys and unions have given the Dems. That has been documented. The Koch brothers also supported Governor Doyle.

Oh Heather - was that George Soros?

There would be no Soros if there were no Bircher Koch brothers. Simple minds see three billionaires and sees them as similar. Intelligent minds realize that one set of billionaire is working to make themselves richer will the other one is working against his self interest because he doesn't want to see the type of fascist takeover that took place when he was a kid.

And Little Luke, if there is documentation, where is it?

Amen brother.

Thanks for all your great facts! Oh wait, there wasn't any. Eliminated a 3 billion dollar deficit, stopped collective bargaining; even FDR said back in the good old days that public workers should never be able to unionize, saved countless money for school districts across the state because they aren't being raped by the teachers health insurance consortium.

How the hell do you people -- who basically hate FDR -- come off imagining what he'd say if he were alive today?

Speaking of history, Walker's record as Milwaukee county executive gives us a hint that the deficit closing was done in a way that it will bite us in our collective butts sooner or later. Hope you enjoyed that movie with the $11 tax cut.

Vince you are completly full of BS ... There are many laws on the books protecting workers .. and not your union BS ... go back to leaning on your shovel while someone else does the work .. it is what u do best

This is your argument? Unions were great 60 years ago, so was the Soviet Union, times change. The unions don't care about people anymore. They care about union dues and creating a hostile work atmosphere.

On the head Vince. Hard to get it across to people who live on their knees rather than fight on their feet.

"Salaries for non union workers has essentially flatlined the passed 20 years"

*********************

Simple economics, Vince. When the available market for labor expands (thanks to the industrialization of formerly non-industrialized nations) and it can be accessed readily (thanks to the "tech boom"), the ability of unions, not active in those new markets, to control the cost of labor diminishes significantly.

If you want union power back, you have two options. You can attempt to unionize the new marketplace or you can call for stringent isolationist economic policy here. Have you worked towards either of those goals, Vince?

Demonizing and punishing the companies that make use of the new markets won't correct the situation (they'll simply become foreign corporations) and more likely will produce more negative effects here (severe cost of living increases w/o the desired increase in higher wage jobs, for instance) than positive ones.

And, BTW, private sector union workers in our nation over the past 20 years have actually lost ground, rather than merely "flatlined", when you take into account the concessions many of them have had to make and the increase in the cost of living. As have many non-union workers.

And unless you happened to figure out how to use a 30 year old piece of data-processing equipment to post your comment, you're as much a part of the problem as are the corporations, politicians and every other consumer in this country.

giatny, Wisconsin is at or near the bottom of the nation in job growth. Government workers receive benefits as part of their overall compensation package, same as most private sector workers. You demonstrate a lack of understanding of what many of the groups you abuse actually are. Please provide some examples of Obama's "reign of terror" (eliminating the threat of Osama bin Laden perhaps?).

"Free health care?" Where did you get that whopper? Here in America, we pay through the nose for health insurance, unless one lives at poverty level (approximately $24,000/per annum for a family of four).

And please don't forget that George W. Bush left office with the worst recession since the Great Depression and nascent stimulus payments on his watch. Don't blame Barack Obama for the recession.

@giatny....Are the black helicopters following you?

Where did that $6 trillion come from? Two unfunded wars, a market crash brought on by crony capitalism and tax cuts for people who didn't need them.

BTW -- does you RETURN key work? Makes your rants easier to read.

This is more entertaining:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHRdiklTlU&feature=player_embedded

Even funnier:
http://wcmcoop.com/members/top-republican-legislator-abandons-walker-calls-him-whack-job/

Falk has missed a big opportunity by being so passive up until now. The more Barrett talks, the more he is exposed as a complete idiot to his base. In that article, he actually agrues that the police and fire fighters should have their collective bargaining rights for benefits taken away so that government employees are not pitted against one another. Either he is stupid, or he knows those who vote for him are stupid.

Excerpt from the article:
"While the legislation was being debated, Barrett sent a letter to legislative leaders saying that if they were going to reduce aid to local governments and make public employees pay more for pensions and health care, they needed to make sure Milwaukee police and firefighters had to make those higher payments. He also wrote that changes should be made so that Milwaukee officers no longer had a form of collective bargaining that was not available to police in other parts of the state.

Barrett said Tuesday he opposed pitting one group of public employees against another and pointed to his endorsement by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association to show he has a good record on public safety.

"

Now this is funny:
http://wcmcoop.com/members/top-republican-legislator-abandons-walker-calls-him-whack-job/

Smart folks in WI can see that Walker lies a lot and can NOT be trusted!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-richards/walker-is-false-statement_b_1446911.html
Jon Richards

Wisconsin State Representative
Walker Is the "False Statement" Champion
Posted: 04/25/2012 9:45 am

Already last among all 50 governors in creating jobs, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is by at least one measure also among the worst when it comes to telling the truth.

Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning arbiter of truth in politics, has examined the statements of eight governors, including Walker, who were elected in 2010.

According to their fact-checkers, Walker twists or ignores the truth far more often than all but one of the governors Politifact followed.

Of the 44 Walker statements Politifact analyzed, almost two of every three Walker statements were rated Pants-on-Fire False, False or Mostly False. Only six were rated True.

For example, during a secretly tape-recorded call in February 2011, Walker told a blogger he believed to be billionaire industrialist and big Walker contributor David Koch that "almost all" of the people at the Capitol protesting his plan to roll back 50 years of workers' rights were from out of state. Politifact rated Walker's statement False......

Morninmist, Have you seen any of Falk's ads? Talk about false claims.