Join Andrew Breitbart, Herman Cain & Jim Hoft at Wisconsin Freedom Rally to Support Scott Walker Saturday

#1 February 18, 2011 at 7:30 am

Granny commented:

Great idea! Wish I could be out there with you!

#2 February 18, 2011 at 7:31 am

Muffin commented:

WISCONSIN PARENTS UNITE!!! Officially pull your kids out of the failed, corrupt public school system this week in order to let the cancerous unions and their backers in this dishonest administration collapse in on themselves for lack of funding. No students, no dollars. Let them have it. THey want to shut down schools? They want to stop the state from functioning? Let them be the first casualty. One pleasant side effect of doing this will be your child actually starts learning again and enjoying life – and you won’t see them on prime time TV protesting in the streets for reasons unknown to them.

PARENTS UNITE!!!

#3 February 18, 2011 at 7:34 am

Muffin commented:

Now is the TIME!!! Democracy has never been so important, and never so at risk. Don’t just call in sick, call in DONE!!! Save your student, save your state, save our democracy. This is chemotherapy for the cancer that unionized rage is.

#4 February 18, 2011 at 7:35 am

vagabond trader commented:

Ditto that Granny! Hopefully there will be many more such rallys across country. We cannot allow the commies to control the narrative.

#5 February 18, 2011 at 7:37 am

Robin Gibson commented:

I can’t be there but I will be here cheering you on! Stay strong. I’m so upset that they are using our children in this fight. If this gets ugly, which it will, due to the push to fight and a child gets hurt, I hold them responsible!

#6 February 18, 2011 at 7:42 am

Militant Conservative commented:

I as well can’t make it from Ga. I’m doing my part here to get the TPM conservatives into the Republican party and rout out the RINOS.

Godspeed

powder is dry.

#7 February 18, 2011 at 7:47 am

Robert commented:

I think that the Wisconsin legislature should declare a quorum present and vote, and pass the bill on to the governor for signing. Since the Democrats are willfully staying away, they are subverting the process of legislation. One would presume that the purpose of requiring a quorum is to ensure that legislators have a fair chance to attend votes, such as if there were as true natural disaster, weather, or other event that prevented them attending. Since the Democrats have purposely stayed away, they then should be forced to forfeit the right and protection presented by the rule.

#8 February 18, 2011 at 7:50 am

cutlers bad knee commented:

Thanks for the info gateway ,i live near by,count me in….

#10 February 18, 2011 at 7:58 am

Thomas Jefferson commented:

The teachers are playing Obama-Poker in Wisconsin and Ohio, soon to hit a state near you. We need our states and nation to get back to fiscal sanity. Stay strong Governor, the remaining 49 stand beside you. I was just discussing:

Back on February 2, 2011, we were discussing the uprising in Egypt. I said, “As the government tried to wean the general population off their entitlements and detach them from their source of dependence, the people rose up against independence. Interesting, basically an independence revolution for dependence.” I continued, “What is happening in Egypt has less to do with democracy and more to do about entitlements. We don’t believe that this could happen in America, do we?” Opps. I knew it was going to happen, just not so quickly. Be prepared. Throughout the country we are going to have similar demonstrations to what we’re seeing in Wisconsin and Ohio. Welcome to the Self-interest Revolution. Vive la moi. El bienestar de la guerra de la independencia.

#11 February 18, 2011 at 8:01 am

retire05 commented:

Yesterday I called my Congressman, Michael McCaul, and told his office that since Organizing For America is considered Obama’s campaign organization, it should not be involved in state affairs and I wanted the Congress to hold investigations into the actions of OFA.

For all of you who support Governor Walker, and think it is time the unions, along with Organizing For America, are finally stopped in their tracks, you can do the same. Call your federal Congressman/woman TODAY. Demand that OFA be investigated.

To anyone who still thinks that the teachers who are participating in a “sick out” still care about your kids, you need your head examined.

CALL YOUR FEDERAL CONGRESSMAN TODAY. DO IT NOW. INVESTIGATE ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA TODAY.

#12 February 18, 2011 at 8:06 am

Joe Blow commented:

Our son lives near Madison and even during the summer farmer’s market up there the kids are protesting something. It’s still Bush’s fault to them and anything else they feel is conservative. I think conservative supporters of Walker will have to be very careful of the potential violence of the leftist group. The people of Wisconsin have high taxes due to the huge social programs and the do nothings from other states go there since they can get such free help.

On another note, Jim if you read this, in an article from The Daily Caller, on middle of the road Democrats ( HA! those running for reelection in 2012) working with the Republicans.
He states
“That leaves Sen. Claire McCaskill, whose rhetoric on spending lately has been strong enough to trick a disorganized Tea Party organizer into inviting her to speak at a rally. The Missouri Democrat has been working hard to distance herself from leadership, and this could be a prime opportunity to flex some muscle. She has co-sponsored a bill with Alabama Republican Sen. Pete Sessions to cap spending over the next ten years.”

Who is the Tea Party organizer that asked Claire to speak at their rally? Can anyone be that out of touch to believe what she says? She is the original Obama rear end kisser!!!!

#13 February 18, 2011 at 8:16 am

forest commented:

Who paid for the bus, hotel rooms etc for the state senators? They didn’t run away from their jobs and charge their employer the costs, did they?

And storming the capitol and senate offices. At tea parties I’ve been to, we stayed on the capitol steps without any Hitler signs or arrests or violence or littering.

#14 February 18, 2011 at 8:18 am

Granny commented:

#11 retire05 –

I would gladly call my Congress critters, but I live in Vermont. I have no lucid Congressman to call. I’ve sort of informally adopted Joe Wilson because he had the courage to call IWon WTF a liar in public . . .

#15 February 18, 2011 at 8:23 am

retire05 commented:

Granny, I understand in Vermont you’re screwed. But you can still call John Boehner’s office and demand an investigation into the actions of OFA. Doing nothing is NOT an option.

#16 February 18, 2011 at 8:27 am

Ipso Facto commented:

Last night on the news they interviewed a WI teacher and she said she felt like the Governor was “stabbing her in the back”. Clearly, the people in WI have little to work with if the teachers are that irrational about being fiscally responsible and bringing their health and pension contributions to half of what most people contribute in the private sector. And many people in the private sector (like me) have no pension fund.

These vermin have totally ruined our educational system across the nation and they feel like THEY are being stabbed in the back? This is what happens when people in the public sector have to face reality – they are simply unable to do so because they have no point of reference. They have absolutely no idea what it is like in the private sector to have to go out and do sales and marketing to obtain customers so that you can make a living. They have no idea what it is like in the private sector when you are not competitive in the market place. They have been so isolated from the realities of business in America today that they have no clue how all the rest of us have to sing (every day) for our supper, or we don’t eat.

These parasites on our economy have totally squandered the resources we have given them to educate our children. They will NEVER be worth a damn. We need to totally abolish the federal and or public educational system because it is just yet ANOTHER example of how the public sector has no clue about what most people have to do to EARN a living in a COMPETITIVE environment.

As long as they have an unending supply of students who just walk in the door, no matter what the teachers and administrators do, these arrogant people will abuse the system and feel entitled to exorbitant compensation packages which the free market would never support. We need to place all educators in the position where they have to compete for students or they will have no business – JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

#17 February 18, 2011 at 8:28 am

mark commented:

When Congress said they would not completely support Obama’s 3+ trilliion budget, Obama said that Republicans were playing a dangerous game and could result in the shutdown of the Gov’t, disrupting the lives of so many citizens that rely on gov’t services.

On the other hand, when liberals, including Obama, don’t get what they want, they do what? They shut down the Gov’t and disrupt the lives of everyone.

#18 February 18, 2011 at 8:28 am

Contessa61 commented:

I wish I could be there, but will be busy.

FDR:

“The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote in 1937 to the head of the National Federation of Federal Employees. In the private sector,… organized employees and the employer meet across the bargaining table as (theoretical) equals. But in the public sector, said FDR, “the employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress.” Allowing public-employee unions to engage in collective bargaining would mean opening the door to the manipulation of government policy by a privileged private interest.

#19 February 18, 2011 at 8:30 am

donh commented:

Talk is cheap. Walk the Walk with Walker. Don’t let the rented mobs organized by Obama bully americans with your own tax dollars. Now is the time to assemble in large numbers and stop the plunder of our country by greedy unions.

#20 February 18, 2011 at 8:32 am

Scott commented:

As I understand it, Governor Walker put these reforms forward to avoid having to fire anybody. I read somewhere that the alternative is to fire up to 10,000 people.

The solution seems pretty simple. Tell the strikers if they aren’t back on the job by Monday, they’re fired. Everybody wins. The people who want to work keep their job and the greedy people who want to screw the taxpayers for more money and continue the illegal lose their jobs for violating the law.

Of course, these loons will probably set fire to the capitol.

#21 February 18, 2011 at 8:32 am

Granny commented:

#15 February 18, 2011 at 8:23 am
retire05 commented:

Granny, I understand in Vermont you’re screwed. But you can still call John Boehner’s office and demand an investigation into the actions of OFA. Doing nothing is NOT an option.
_________

Thank you for the suggestion retire05! I’ll do just that!I’ve been wondering what to do about that, since calling my “congressperson” is tantamount to giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

#22 February 18, 2011 at 8:34 am

dave in dallas commented:

Wow, I wish I could go. I was just thinking that I hope someone is organizing some rallies on the other side.

The truth of this matter is, 30,000 paid and transported whiners do NOT represent the will of the people. THe people voted for Republicans in the house, senate and governor’s mansion, for the express purpose of getting things like this under control. The people have already spoken! And the labor movement, the leftists, do NOT speak for them.

#23 February 18, 2011 at 8:34 am

Robert commented:

Wikileaks is completely supported by the left. Daniel Manning is a hero. Ok ok.

Here’s what we need. File FOIA requests, starting in Madison, to obtain the Gov’t contracts with each and every union. What’s a FOIA? Freedom of Information Act Request. Public records must be released to the public. Post all of the union contracts online for all to see. Post all of the salaries of all the union workers online for all to see. Call it Unionleaks.

#24 February 18, 2011 at 8:44 am

retire05 commented:

Dave in Dallas; get on the phone now. Call Jeb Hensarling. Call Ted Poe. Call Louie Ghommert. Call Mike McCaul. Demand an investigation into Organizing For America. Call John Boehner’s office at (202) 225-6205.

#25 February 18, 2011 at 8:51 am

Dave J commented:

Jim you and AB watch your six up there in Cheesestan, as things could deteriorate quickly if the unions bus in as many thugs as they claim to be.

#26 February 18, 2011 at 8:54 am

Granny commented:

Looks like Geithner might just be working for the Chinese -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110217/bs_nm/us_wiki_china_treasury

#27 February 18, 2011 at 8:56 am

Ella commented:

#25 Dave J, good point.

Folks, we need to take photos of all the buses with the union scum. Take pictures and post them on the internet immediately. Let’s show the world what’s happening.

#28 February 18, 2011 at 9:12 am

mark commented:

I’m just getting head a start on the MSM headline story Sunday morning, Feb 20th.

“72 year old kindergarten teacher breaks hip during an angry tea party flash mob”

Feel free to work this story MSM.

#29 February 18, 2011 at 9:28 am

Ex-ExZonie commented:

Separate School and State Now!!

#30 February 18, 2011 at 9:33 am

Chisum commented:

Liberals are geniuses at unleashing social panics because A) it never occurs to them that their motives are anything but pure and B) because they are almost exclusively focused on short term tactics. And yet they are invariably shocked when these moral frenzies come back to bite them.

http://pajamasmedia.com/eddriscoll/2011/02/18/group-targets-speaker-boehners-house/

#31 February 18, 2011 at 9:40 am

Ed commented:

Islamic extremists use women and children as shields…Wisconsin unions used school children as shields in their temper tantrum protest! birds of the same feather!

school vouchers now!

#33 February 18, 2011 at 10:06 am

Quilly Mammoth commented:

The best thing the people who go there can do is bring trash bags and clean up after those filthy vermin. Show that the Tea Party is the party of adults and the unions are the children who need to be cleaned up after.

#34 February 18, 2011 at 10:15 am

richard40 commented:

One caution though. Make sure the Tea Party protesters are thouroughly briefed on the importance of non-violence, and to never resort to violence, even if prevoked. They should also be careful to make sure any signs do not look extreme. And they should have plenty of video cameras along. Yes, we all know the left never follows the same rules, and that wil be the point, to expose the contrast, between the non-violence of the Tea Party, and the violence of the left, and the hipocracy and lies of the MSM.

The union thugs are likely to try and prevoke violence, knowing the MSM will blame it on the Tea Party. We must be prepared, by not having any violence coming from our side, and having video to prove it. Then when the MSM tries to blame the violence on the Tea Party, we can expose the alinskyite union goons for the thugs they are, and the MSM for the liars they are.

#35 February 18, 2011 at 10:20 am

lydiabug commented:

Please remember infiltrators. Remember they will do anything to make the Tea Party look bad. Video tape those with racist signs or anything derogatory and post on Youtube. Call them out at every chance. God bless.

#36 February 18, 2011 at 10:26 am

ImHappynBP commented:

You folks in Wisconsin are the Tip of the Spear. Good luck. You’re fighting for all of us.

#41 February 18, 2011 at 10:51 am

ramrants commented:

I see where you are organizing a counter protest against the unions. Instead of organizing a counter protest, why don’t you organize a grassroots neighborhood walk. Have your volunteers go door to door and explain the reality of the situation to the taxpayers?

You know your counter protest is not going to get a fair shake in the media and your voices will be drowned out by the unions, so wouldn’t this be a more effective way to “protest” the protesters? They can have the taxpayers call their representative and express their support of the bill.

I just think this is better than standing outside with a sign, only for the purple people beaters to start punching people and then the Tea Party, conservatives, Republicans, etc get blamed for the uncivil discourse.

#43 February 18, 2011 at 11:12 am

mark commented:

The President of the United States is currently helping organize mobs and is providing support to launch an assault on the Wisconsin State Government and rights of the people in the State. He has done the same against the citizens of Arizona.

Never in my lifetime would I have imagined to see this very sad day. But I am not depressed, nor am I dismayed. I am a patriot. The trenches are being dug. The lines are being drawn. Freedom is at stake for all of us. And this is not a drill.

#45 February 18, 2011 at 11:19 am

Plymouth Mom commented:

In the words of Rush, “right on, right on” Gov. Walker!

#46 February 18, 2011 at 11:20 am

FGFM commented:

It’s appropriate that 666 people will be attending!

#47 February 18, 2011 at 11:56 am

Bunni commented:

Wonderful! I wish I had a car and could get out there! I’m sure now that AB is involved, it will knock the socks off the libtards!

#48 February 18, 2011 at 11:58 am

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

Are you people delusional supporting this? “Democracy has never been so important or at risk!” Oh, the irony.

#51 February 18, 2011 at 12:04 pm

Mike commented:

I want to be there too EXCEPT as a counterprotest. You conservatives are always on the wrong side of history (slavery, women’s rights, civil rights, worker’s rights, environmental protections, etc, etc) and you are again here. I can’t wait to see you crash on the shores of reality as you overreach trying to push your corporate/religious-fascist agenda and scare away all of the independents you got this past election.

#52 February 18, 2011 at 12:07 pm

Chisum commented:

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

Are you people delusional supporting this? “Democracy has never been so important or at risk!” Oh, the irony.

You want irony? How about “elections have consequences”? Remember that? How about “I WON”?

Left attempt to usurp 2010 election results in Wisconsin

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/33479

#53 February 18, 2011 at 12:16 pm

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

The issues here are completely muddled. The unions had very little effect on the state budget. The fact of the matter is your newly elected governor declared a budger crisis of 137 million dollars AFTER doling out 140 million dollars of hard-working Wisconsin tax payer money for private and corporate interests and medical program that mostly benefitted those making of 130k a year (do not remember the exact number).

Fact of the matter is, your governor and the corporate interest he shills for does not give a sh*t about you. This attack on unions under the guise of ‘the state being broke’ is at best a pretext and at worst a flat-out lie.

I wish everyone here who invokes the word ‘patriot’ and clammers on, with supreme ignorance of actual facts, about some left-wing, Communist/socialist/marxist conspiracy, would actually do independant research for themselves. It’s embarassing. You are a mobilizing cog, spewing propoganda for a plutocracy who gives less than a rat’s *ss about you.

#54 February 18, 2011 at 12:18 pm

DCGuy commented:

Are you really supporting a rally led by a GAY RIGHTS activist?

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Breitbart-Is-Throwing-an-80s-Themed-Gay-Party-3005

#55 February 18, 2011 at 12:21 pm

Mike commented:

Jackson Davey Moore,
AMEN. You have hit the nail on the head. These “patriots” here are the masses that stood by or (somewhat) silently supported the Brown Shirts in Germany or the Bolshevik terrorists in post-Imperial Russia. THey are for the people in power not for the PEOPLE.

Keep up the fight brother. These people here don’t plan on getting any smarter.

#56 February 18, 2011 at 12:26 pm

Edward Itor commented:

Wisconsin had a budget SURPLUS before Walker took office. Once in office, he approved $140 million to be given to some of those who helped him get into office. Roughly the same amount he is claiming that this the budget is short by…

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_61064e9a-27b0-5f28-b6d1-a57c8b2aaaf6.html

This isn’t about budget repair, it’s about destroying the biggest threat to the Republican party…UNIONS and ORGANIZED LABOR!!!

#57 February 18, 2011 at 12:27 pm

Chisum commented:

The unions had very little effect on the state budget.

The Wisconsin State Assembly, meanwhile, was poised to vote Friday morning on the bill that would force public workers to pay half the costs of their pensions and at least 12.6 percent of their health care coverage. It’s projected to save the state $300 million over the next two years.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/18/republicans-challenging-unions-state-capitols/

Yes, because $300 million is chump change!

#59 February 18, 2011 at 12:30 pm

Elliot commented:

It is a shame that we have gotten to the point that we are at each other´s throats over an issue like this. I am a teacher, have over 35 years of full time tenure, am well respected by my students and administrators alike, and I make less than $85,000, and I do contribute to my pension and health benefits. Don´t blame the teachers for this.

#60 February 18, 2011 at 12:31 pm

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

Chisum,

Why are you ignoring the rest of my post? Of course, forcing the middle class to pay for even more of the things that were once guarenteed with a blue-collar, honest job would save state money. That is not the issue though.

The issue is, WHY does the cuts have to be from unions? Why did the Governor hand out 140m in thank-you’s to corporate interests instead of balancing the budget? Doesn’t it seem likely that this attack on unions is a pretext? I’d like an answer to those questions, if you are going to answer at all.

#62 February 18, 2011 at 12:33 pm

andy42302 commented:

Edward Itor, you are very much correct. This isn’t about the budget at all but about busting the Unions. The budget crisis is just another lie that the GOP so often invents to promote their agenda.
As the ordeal is gaining world attention, that lie is becoming more exposed. It’s interesting that the SCOTUS opened the flood gates for unlimited political contributions to corporations and unions and now, all of a sudden, unions are the Antichrist and must be destroyed.

#63 February 18, 2011 at 12:35 pm

rushbocacaface commented:

The right is parading their token negro in Wisconsin!

#64 February 18, 2011 at 12:36 pm

elio commented:

To all the morons here So, teachers, cops and firefighters get paid too much and have too many perks but bankers and CEO’s don’t?Cut the defence budget e to hell with your flag and crapy fake patriotism you bastards are antiamericans

#65 February 18, 2011 at 12:38 pm

Daryl commented:

This is where the 1st shots will be fired and where civil war will begin…

#66 February 18, 2011 at 12:39 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

The funny thing is, these are actual voters and people from Wisconsin that are protesting. These are not politicians.

Sending in the professional conservatives is a really bad idea. Let it play out on its own.

#67 February 18, 2011 at 12:40 pm

Vic Nardozza commented:

What is wrong with you conservative idiots? Do you think Republicans give a damn about working people? All they care about are billionaires and corporations. What twisted logic makes you believe that Republicans have your best interest at heart? Really, explain it to me. It seems all hatred for Democrats dates back to LBJ’s civil rights legislation from the 60s.

#68 February 18, 2011 at 12:41 pm

Chisum commented:

Remember this: Dated August 2010

Despite Budget Cuts, Layoff Fears, Milwaukee Teachers Fight for Taxpayer-Funded Viagra

The filing last month comes as the union, the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, is also protesting hundreds of layoff notices issued to teachers for the coming school year. Citing a “financial crisis” caused by exploding benefit costs and revenue shortfalls, the district’s outgoing superintendent proposed laying off 682 employees in April.

The district gave layoff notices to 482 teachers in June, but recalled 89 of them last month. Additional teachers may be called back, but these are still the first layoffs of Milwaukee teachers in decades.

At least one lawmaker questioned why the union is fighting for Viagra while teachers are losing their jobs. A consultant for the school board has estimated that reinstating the drug benefit would cost $786,000 per year — the cost to keep perhaps a dozen first-year teachers employed.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/06/despite-budget-cuts-layoff-fears-milwaukee-teachers-fight-taxpayer-funded/

All Gov.Walker’s fault, right? He assumed office on January 3, 2011.

#69 February 18, 2011 at 12:41 pm

rushbocacaface commented:

Andy: I agree. The Koch brothers are behind this. This is the plot to destroy the democratic party and the middle class. It’ll look like Communism in the SU with an oppressed working class serving the elite masters.

#70 February 18, 2011 at 12:45 pm

Chisum commented:

#60 February 18, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Jackson Davey Moore

============================

Why do you act as if these cutbacks just began with Gov. Walker?

Why do you pretend that these are the only cutbacks being proposed?

#71 February 18, 2011 at 12:49 pm

kcs commented:

To all of you stating, in horror, that Walker’s real objective is to bust the teachers’ union …

I’d be quite happy with that. When Reagan fired the illegally striking air-traffic controllers en masse, I don’t recall planes suddenly dropping out of the sky. Do you really think the same education “professionals” responsible for the sorry state of public education would be missed?

#72 February 18, 2011 at 12:52 pm

kcs commented:

rushbocacaface (nice handle btw, really creative stuff) …

Those evil Koch boys are behind all this? Nah, gotta be the trilateral commission. Or the Masons.

#73 February 18, 2011 at 12:53 pm

Gary commented:

I will be there!! I say to all my conservative friends. Be careful as you can count on the left wingers to be there as well and I see trouble brewing. Stand strong for what is right.

I would have been there Weds, Thursday, and Friday, but I had a job to go to…AND I DID!!!

#74 February 18, 2011 at 1:00 pm

Greatest American Patriot commented:

You people should be ashamed of yourself. Small government trickle down economics with no regulations has failed America.

Republicans are subsidies are creating a corporate welfare State.

#75 February 18, 2011 at 1:04 pm

Chisum commented:

Athens in Mad Town
A seminal showdown between public unions and taxpayers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657704576150111817428004.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

#76 February 18, 2011 at 1:04 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

Actually, after 1981 air traffic controller errors, which had been an issue in the strike, increased. My neighbor is a retired air traffic controller.

Let’s hope it doesn’t escalate to that level.

#77 February 18, 2011 at 1:05 pm

NotWithYou commented:

I’ll be driving up with a van-full of Americans from Chicago to support the demonstrators against Gov. Walker’s attack on Wisconsin families. See ya there.

#78 February 18, 2011 at 1:06 pm

Barbara in Virginia commented:

“So, teachers, cops and firefighters get paid too much and have too many perks but bankers and CEO’s don’t?

Elio, the bankers and CEOs are paid because people willingly part with their own money to buy what the bankers/CEOs are selling. When they’re paid by confiscating their income from the taxpayers under threat of jail (the way public employees are), we’ll talk. Until then, grow up.

#79 February 18, 2011 at 1:11 pm

tommy commented:

This is all bamas fault , he planned this with Unions.. Unions now spending money to bus them in.. whos actually paying? tax payers

#80 February 18, 2011 at 1:12 pm

tommy commented:

You vote bama in 2012 give up your Freedom n kiss his ass people. I want no part of him or his Unions or Dems

#81 February 18, 2011 at 1:14 pm

Mike commented:

Barbara in Virginia

If you want to live in a country that doesn’t have pesky taxes to pay and civil servants to ensure that necessary services are provided why don’t you move to Somalia. I’m sure you’ll love it there.

And we don’t get a say in how CEO’s are paid even if we are shareholders.

#83 February 18, 2011 at 1:29 pm

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

Chiscum,

Amazing how you evade any sort of response which would force you to think outside of your sad, little paradigm, which is filled with conservative buzz words, and FoxNews hot-topic slogans, and pasted news articles. Yes, the economy is bad. Thats not at issue. This whole counter-protest is designed by a powerful elite in this country to rally support to bust unions. Unions UNFAIRLY being burdened with a deficit problem. In the face of irreputable facts of the current governor squandering money to multi-billion dollar corporate interests, you refuse to acknowledge the possibility that this current law is designed to punish unions, limit civilian bargaining power and further create more of a power disparity in this country.

Pretty pathetic stuff.

Also, KCS, do some researhc into Koch, his donations, his PAC’s and his private interests before you liken this to a nut-job conspiracy theory.

#84 February 18, 2011 at 1:37 pm

M. Simon commented:

Love to see Breitbart and Cain there for the Harvest Festival.

#85 February 18, 2011 at 1:42 pm

Joe commented:

Yes, let’s all support the fraud who invented a budget crisis for the purposes of hurting the working class. That poor, picked-on man. God forbid we help the people who are actually hurting. No, let’s criticize people for exercising their right to peaceably assemble. The Tea Party never did that before.

FAIL.

#86 February 18, 2011 at 1:42 pm

rushbocacaface commented:

According to Wisconsin campaign finance filings, Walker’s gubernatorial campaign received $43,000 from the Koch Industries PAC during the 2010 election. That donation was his campaign’s second-highest, behind $43,125 in contributions from housing and realtor groups in Wisconsin. The Koch’s PAC also helped Walker via a familiar and much-used politicial maneuver designed to allow donors to skirt campaign finance limits. The PAC gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, which in turn spent $65,000 on independent expenditures to support Walker. The RGA also spent a whopping $3.4 million on TV ads and mailers attacking Walker’s opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker ended up beating Barrett by 5 points. The Koch money, no doubt, helped greatly.

#87 February 18, 2011 at 1:42 pm

Heidi commented:

Wish I could be there.. ROCK ON!!
What a bunch of teacherbaggers..

#88 February 18, 2011 at 1:45 pm

Gregor Samsa commented:

I’m thousands of miles away but with you in spirit! Would love to participate in this.

Recently reconnected with a long-lost friend and am very disappointed to see that all week he has been making angry FB posts from Madison. Alas, this friend, for whom I always had great respect and affection, has over the years become unrecognizable. His misguided passion is just embarrassing to himself and he doesn’t know it. I would feel sorry for these ridiculous people if they didn’t represent such a fundamental threat to the country.

#89 February 18, 2011 at 1:46 pm

Heidi commented:

Hey # 87, how much $$$ did his opponent get from Geo Soros or his sons or his many many outlets, http://keywiki.org/index.php/Organizations_Funded_Directly_by_George_Soros_and_his_Open_Society_Institute

Hum, who would I rather have on my side, certainly not HIM…

#90 February 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm

Chisum commented:

Jackson Davey Moore,

Amazing how you evade my responses. Read my link @ 75 from the evil WSJ.

I know…the unions are VICTIMS.

The evil Koch is responsible for the election results in Wisconsin and the rest of the country. BO won Wisconsin by 16 points! What happened?

Maybe it’s George Soros’ fault.

#91 February 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm

EqualJustice commented:

YAY! I wish I could be there to support the ELECTED REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR! The people have already spoken.. November 2nd. Kudos to those TRYING to do what they were elected to do! Imagine if the Republicans had all driven OUT OF DC to avoid the HC vote? hahaha Imagine…

#92 February 18, 2011 at 1:51 pm

EqualJustice commented:

It’s a shame conservatives don’t have a “RENT-A-MOB” like organized labor, but I hope many will make the sacrifice and show up. We are getting used to this kind of intimidation and it’s about time we fought back with our OWN WORDS! SILENT NO LONGER> GOD BLESS and keep up the good fight at the FREEDOM RALLY. (Many will be with you in spirit!)

#93 February 18, 2011 at 1:54 pm

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

Oh right. I assume the Koch Brothers have nothing to do with the advent of the Tea Party movement or the dissemination of incindiery, right-wing propoganda to a bunch of easily riled nitwits who can’t understand the basic differences between democracy, communism and socialism (But only that Communism and Socialism are works of the *devil*!). Go ahead, buddy. You are right. Now be a good little puppet, and be the mouthpiece for your corporate master.

#94 February 18, 2011 at 1:55 pm

Chisum commented:

#87 February 18, 2011 at 1:42 pm
rushbocacaface

==============================

You freakin’ racist! As if anything you say has any credibility at all.

#95 February 18, 2011 at 1:56 pm

Bog & Bam commented:

Yes, be sure to go support all the fat cats that have been trying to destroy the middle class. It’s class warfare all right, from the top down. Wake up! Your asleep! You’ve been listening to a bedtime lullaby from Murdoch’s foxy, fairly unbalanced news services. These people are going after teachers now, you’l be next.

#96 February 18, 2011 at 1:57 pm

Chisum commented:

Now be a good little puppet, and be the mouthpiece for your corporate master.

——————————————————————————

Oooooooooo! This from a MASTER PROJECTIONIST!

You don’t even listen to yourself, do you? Yet you expect us to.

#97 February 18, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Jackson Davey Moore commented:

MASTER PROJECTIONIST!

? What?

#98 February 18, 2011 at 2:02 pm

Sturgen commented:

Aw look, the Libs woke up and got their morning ramen!
Rush.whateverface, Itor or Igor and Mikey…go back to your ramen and leave the big boys to do the work for you. I’d recommend a glance at a website OTHER than dailykos or other other ones I cannot remember. Their talking points are just making you like like a puppet.

No, wait…that’s just you doing that. Any chance at independent thought any time soon? Probably not.

Talking points come from talking idiots. The rest of us are looking like freaking geniuses next to you. Thanks for playing! YOU LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#99 February 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm

Commadore commented:

Power to the people……..say no to Koch Brothers! This Governor never mentioned these action when he was running for office….what a coward! Let’s remeber this in 2012! I want my country back away from coprorations!

#100 February 18, 2011 at 2:07 pm

Saniteaser4862 commented:

And what are your highly rational independant thoughts?

#101 February 18, 2011 at 2:11 pm

Ginger commented:

Not with you…#77

I really do feel sorry for you!

#102 February 18, 2011 at 2:15 pm

richard40 commented:

Another good idea. When the union protest has left for the day, have a group of Tea Partiers arrive to clean up their trash, like the stuff they left last time. And video the Tea Partiers doing the cleanup. Good video that, union thugs leave the street trashed, Tea Partiers clean it up.

#103 February 18, 2011 at 2:24 pm

Chisum commented:

Richard40,

The Tea Partiers only clean up because the Koch Bros. pay them to, donchaknow. It’s the only rational explanation.

#104 February 18, 2011 at 2:25 pm

David Jay commented:

Wow, judging by all the new leftist trolls turning up on this thread the union thugs must be really alarmed at the way this is back-firing on them. Obama’s little helpers must have been told to get on their mummy’s keyboards and push the Dem’s talking points. Remember lefties, elections have consequences.

#105 February 18, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Chisum commented:

#100 February 18, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Saniteaser4862 commented:

And what are your highly rational independant thoughts?

============================================

My thoughts? That you can change your name as often as you like but your comments are still stupid. Troll.

#106 February 18, 2011 at 2:30 pm

GOONKA commented:

Walker took this deficit problem over from Doyle – the same person who robbed the Tobacco Lawsuit funds (meant for DISCOURAGING kids from smoking) for his own ‘pet projects’ – and January 3, 2010, the state published that at the end of business year June 2009, Wisconsin was ALREADY 2.71 BILLION deficit. THAT was UP by 8.7% from the year BEFORE ending June 2008.

I am really tired of the bullcrap stories floating around. Get off the fat fingers and walk the internet, find the truth and read it. Painful, yes. But those are the facts.

The citizens of Wisconsin had ENOUGH of the SAME OL’ SAME OL’ – and elected Walker – we want the unions OUT. Period. Wisconsin has lost many manufacturers in the last decade. We want businesses to come BACK and WE want a RIGHT TO WORK state, that PROTECTS us from the union thugs.

Surprising. I know. People KNOW that they do NOT need unions to work. NOR do they need unions to tell them what their rights are. I have been in 4 of them. I am currently unemployed. Have been for 3 years. I am not bitter, except at the gluttony of the unions and their greed to fill their piggy banks with OUR money.

WI gov’t employees paid over $100 million in union dues LAST year. Thats JUST gov’t workers. Where is the OUTCRY over them taking money hand over fist. Isn’t that capitalism? notice how GREEDY and VILE and VIOLENT they get when they see the faucet is about to shut off?

Thats ALL this is about in Wisconsin. Everyone knows: we have no money. We are broke. Between BO and the unions, we have nothing left to give. We want businesses to come back so we can be a prospering state again. If the teachers and others think they have it SO rough with having to pay for their health care costs and retirement : come to the private sector, we’ve been doing it for years. And if this state continues to lose businesses, where DO these greedy people think this $ is going to come from? no one will be working. I think everyone needs to go after the unions and ask them WHERE IS OUR MONEY? and they should have had to place it ALL in interest bearing accounts to safeguard it.

.. but I digress. I will continue to do what I do to make money and just know, anything that is union related, stores, movie theatres, etc – I boycott them. I don’t use them. I refuse. Times are tough boys and girls, and WHEN I choose to spend my money, it’s NOT where union thugs take a piece of the action.

Get smart people, look around YOU and see WHAT businesses are union thugged. BOYCOTT THEM.

#107 February 18, 2011 at 2:45 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

We should abolish trade unions, collective bargaining and the right to strike.

Every individual should be able to perform the maximum of work. This would indeed greatly boost their productivity. Of course under this way, public workers wages may fall. But so be it.

Are we in agreement?

#109 February 18, 2011 at 3:02 pm

Rocco commented:

Teach says he makes 85 grand? Be honest teach, you forgot to mention summers off, school vacations, 13 paid holidays, 15 sick days, 3 personal days, paid insurance including dental, oh and let’s not forget that early retirement, what is it 50% after 20 years? Just grab a kid and use him as a human shield will ya! And now we the taxpayers have to forfeit our pay to stay home while you play sick. It used to be such a noble profession!

#111 February 18, 2011 at 3:10 pm

Bruce Donnelly commented:

Why not push for legislation similar to the Walker bill to be introduced quickly by Republicans in every state? Start in Illinois. Dems would quickly kill it, but it would be a pyrrhic victory. Taxpayers would be alerted to the cost of unsustainable union deals with politicians. It’s a teachable moment for organizing. Saturday is the 2nd anniversary of Rick Santelli’s rant. Time to be silent no more about state politics, too!

#112 February 18, 2011 at 3:11 pm

Theadora commented:

I wish I could be there, but I’m too far away in NY.

Good luck and stay safe.

I understand Jesse Jackson is leading demonstrations there now and that can only mean trouble!

#113 February 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

You do all realize that the comment in #108 is nearly a direct quote from that little guy with the funny mustache from Germany in 1933. He succeeded in fixing the economy. Great role model.

Shocking isn’t it.

#114 February 18, 2011 at 3:13 pm

joy commented:

I stand with the people of Wisconsin, Breitbart and the rest of the Koch cronies STAY HOME!

#115 February 18, 2011 at 3:13 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

whoops that was #107…I bet it wont last.

#116 February 18, 2011 at 3:14 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

I love anagrams.

#118 February 18, 2011 at 3:18 pm

Ryan Spencer commented:

Stand up for Scott Walker this Saturday! Teachers don’t deserve bargaining rights, neither do any other employee’s. They should earn no more than $10 per hour for teaching the children of America’s future. And for benefits, well if you aren’t an investor or trust fund baby then sorry, you shouldn’t have access to healthcare or a retirement fund. Get off your lazy butt and go work for $6 an hour so you can barely put food on the table and who cares if you can’t pay rent… This is the Republican party, we care about no one but our rich friends and we will fool the rest of you with a bible in one hand and a pistol in the other. God bless and give at least 10% of your paycheck to a church that doesn’t need it so their Republican pastor can buy another Cadillac. Thank God for corporations, what would we do without them.

#119 February 18, 2011 at 3:19 pm

Rocco commented:

Jackson Davey Moore says

“I wish everyone here who invokes the word ‘patriot’ and clammers on, with supreme ignorance of actual facts, about some left-wing, Communist/socialist/marxist conspiracy, would actually do independant research for themselves. It’s embarassing. You are a mobilizing cog, spewing propoganda for a plutocracy who gives less than a rat’s *ss about you.”

We did and in 1995 your leader was a member of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America. But don’t take my word for it, Check out their website!

http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/ng42.html#anchor792932

#120 February 18, 2011 at 3:21 pm

Mike commented:

Rocco (#109) until you spend a week in the trenches as a teacher you have nothing to say.

Sturgen (#98) we do look at other website, other news outlets, etc. What are you looking at? Faux News and other conservative mouthpieces? I recommend you go spend a little time where the workers have no rights and I am sure you’d come running back looking to sign up to whatever union would have you.

#121 February 18, 2011 at 3:23 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

Many here do not know they are being duped.

#122 February 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm

Rocco commented:

As long as I pay your salary, I’ll say anything I want!

#123 February 18, 2011 at 3:34 pm

Shay Rugis commented:

Pay Breitbart’s too.

Every minute, one is born.

#124 February 18, 2011 at 3:36 pm

John Weiner commented:

You see unions are really the problem but that doesn’t matter – we Republicans are very opportunistic people. The best way to control people you disagree with is to take a complicated problem that requires the apparent need for bold action and use it to achieve a longtime ideological objective. And that is exactly what we are doing.

#125 February 18, 2011 at 3:39 pm

jan commented:

I hope we can make it…..and I LOVE the PULL your kid out of school to make a statement! Let them sit in empty rooms…..my child attends a private school for this reason but if he was still in public, I’d pull him in a heartbeat! For lack of a better analogy, unions only serve to enslave and its been rumored that all Walker needs to cave on is the auto paycheck withdrawl and the unions will walk away from the collective bargaining push. You’re being sold out by a bunch of thugs and all you’re saying to the country is that you’re work can’t stand on its own and you can’t think for yourself. When you rely on someone for all you have, and they leave, you have nothing. Be your own person!

#126 February 18, 2011 at 3:40 pm

JGoodson commented:

I would love to be there to support the great patriot Gov. Walker. Finally a real leader who puts America first.

#128 February 18, 2011 at 3:54 pm

M. Simon commented:

What is wrong with you conservative idiots? Do you think Republicans give a damn about working people? All they care about are billionaires and corporations.

Of course. The one thing the Republicans know that Democrats don’t is that if you kill off the host there will be no blood to suck.

#129 February 18, 2011 at 4:07 pm

SgtMaj commented:

I wish I could join you. The parents of these children, should be outraged, I call them children, I noticed most of the teachers called them KIDS. Some of these teacher I saw interviewed, are absolute morons, why are they even allowed in a classroom. Fire them all and start over.

#130 February 18, 2011 at 4:38 pm

GRIZZinWI commented:

Fwiw here’s a link to teacher’s salaries and benefits in Wisconsin. You don’t need a name, just enter a position and county. http://www.postcrescent.com/article/99999999/APC0110/80221166/DataMine-Search-Wisconsin-teacher-salaries

When folks like are me are looking for work and others like my wife are taking pay cuts, it’s unconscionable that those in Madison refuse to give a little. The gray train is coming to an end and if they’re not careful, many of them will be on the outside looking in.

#132 February 18, 2011 at 4:59 pm

Michael Sweeney commented:

I’ll teach US & World History if they need a teacher – I’m Disabled, so the Students will get a second Lesson about respecting the Disabled when they attend my class…
Since most of the Textbooks I’ve seen are both Boring and Propaganda, I’d get the Students to read the books from people who lived through the events or that are based on the original sources (hopefully, something that’s more interesting and focused). And, When necessary, I’d show videos where they interview the “original participants”. That way, the students would not only learn the history of this country and the world they live in, but they would be interested enough in that history to read about it and discuss on their own time…

Remember, as our young people learn our history and learn why we’re here, they will be less susceptible to manipulation by those in power… It will be harder for some teachers to take them out of their classrooms and out “to the streets” to protest against “some dude” about some cause they know nothing about…

#133 February 18, 2011 at 5:03 pm

Mac Gruber commented:

Pathetic Idiots. The wealthiest people in America have ground their heels into your backsides for so long now you idiots are turning against the few who have benefits written into law.
The public workers of Wisconsin just made painful concessions. They do not receive free health care.
Rush and all on Fox are disgusting paid liars.

#134 February 18, 2011 at 5:06 pm

andy42302 commented:

Ryan Spencer, you #118 February 18, 2011 at 3:18 pm really gets to the core of the problem with those resisting Walker. It has nothing to do with concessions but rather the long term effect of lost bargaining powers.
If Walker and his corporate backers win, they will eventually honor your thought process that “Teachers don’t deserve bargaining rights, neither do any other employee’s”. And then they can implement your demands of “Get off your lazy butt and go work for $6 an hour so you can barely put food on the table and who cares if you can’t pay rent”.

This is exactly what the GOP and their corporate sponsors want. They want to go back to the days where child labor laws didn’t exist. They are waging a war against teachers, firefighters, police, programs that create jobs, and against women in order to redistribute the wealth from the worker to corporations that back the GOP. Your words are very true of the intentions of this bill. You want workers to be slaves to corporations, gladly taking whatever token they can get to buy a piece of bread and rush home after an 18 hour day to share with the wife and kids while chanting “God bless us, everyone”.

#135 February 18, 2011 at 5:07 pm

David Ball commented:

My 19 year old daughter will be there tomorrow to support Governor Walker. The organized thuggery of the public sector unions and their willing accomplices in the media and the democratic party MUST BE STOPPED!!!!!

#136 February 18, 2011 at 5:22 pm

Middle Class Lass commented:

Just a few facts about America’s Golden Age, the 1950s:
1. Yes, a Republican was in office, but President Eisenhower warned us of the military industrial complex and corporate overreaching and greed. . .”In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted.”
2. Unions were organizing and acting to improve safety, press for workers compensation insurance, and other benefits. The first Federal Mine Safety Act was passed in 1952. Recently we’ve seen what happens when unwarranted influence (corporate lobbyists) gutted the government’s ability to enforce mining safety regulations. . .
3. Government was investing in infrastructure. We created the interstate highway system, boosting commerce and creating jobs. We need similar investment today to repair our decrepit highways, bridges, and rail systems, and we need investment in green, sustainable energy.
4. Through programs like the GI bill, we were sending more people to college than ever before. Families were able to afford new homes, cars, appliances (remember that really cool 1955 Chevy your Uncle Lloyd bought brand-new?). . .and they were paying more in income taxes because they were earning more. We VALUED EDUCATION. Now, as India and China are leaving us in the dust, we need to make college more affordable than ever; too many of our young people are crippled by the debt they incur to finance their educations. (In Iran, a university education is FREE. . .isn’t it a shame that we can’t do as much for our children?)
5. “During the 1950s and 1960s, the halcyon days for America’s middle class, productivity boomed and its benefits were broadly shared. The gap between the lowest and highest earners narrowed.” Economists have long debated why America’s income disparities suddenly widened after 1980. . . . Some evidence suggests that institutional changes, particularly the weakening of unions, made the going harder for people at the bottom. (The Economist, “Inequality in American,” July 2006). This was also when Ronald Reagan and “trickle-down economics” appeared on the scene.

NOW, the top 1% richest people in American hold MORE THAN A THIRD OF THE COUNTRY’S TOTAL WEALTH, one working class breadwinner can no longer support a family with a decent home and car (sounds like that trickle really became a drip, doesn’t it?). . .and yet. . .(try to wrap your brain around this). . .

The new Congress voted to expand the deficit by extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Republicans fought against extending employment benefits to families struggling to sustain themselves and save their homes. They are fighting regulation of Wall Street hedge funds, insurance companies, and banks who created the 2008 economic meltdown and are now making so much money that Sultan-like bonuses are again in vogue. YET they continue to lecture the nation on fiscal discipline.

WHO are they going to discipline? YOU. . .if you’re working class, if you don’t drive a Porsche or Mercedes. Line for your water-boarding. Your own Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House budget committee, is the architect of a plan to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it. “The Republican leadership has been vague about what federal programs they want to cut, but Paul Ryan has been very clear,” Senator Sanders (D-Vermont) said. “Congressman Ryan introduced a budget plan that would privatize Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan; raise the retirement age to 70; and increase taxes on 90 percent of American taxpayers.”

So, fail to heed President Eisenhower’s admonition about unwarranted influence. Let the Republicans hand your Social Security (your money that you’ve paid into the program) over to their spoiled little Wall Street wheeler-dealers.

THINK the Republicans care about the middle-class? I know you guys are conservative, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been smoking some heavy dope.

#138 February 18, 2011 at 6:24 pm

Khassy commented:

“I think that the Wisconsin legislature should declare a quorum present and vote, and pass the bill on to the governor for signing.”

Sorry, Robert, but unlike the Democrats hiding in a hole like Saddam Hussein, our Republicans follow the law and do their jobs the way they are supposed to. They don’t bend the rules just to get their own way, the way that former Governor Doyle did with his midnight, closed-door deals.

#139 February 18, 2011 at 6:32 pm

Khassy commented:

This is what the teachers, who are violating their contracts and lying to get out of work, are teaching their students: http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_89a7d234-3bb9-11e0-adc4-001cc4c002e0.html Thankfully, my son was one of those smart enough to keep his butt in his classes and not follow the herd like another of the sheeple. And to see that at least one of the teachers (if not more) actually encouraged them to do it by saying there was no way to stop them is outrageous!

#140 February 18, 2011 at 6:41 pm

Milton commented:

I teach Ecnomics at a high school in Wisconsin. I love my job and I love my students. I coach two sports as well. With a masters plus a few, and coaching two sports, my take-home is about $57,000 a year. In my distrct we pay 10% for our health benefits, but the school pays the full 6.5% into the state retirement system. After all deductions (dues, dental, medical) and taxes are taken out, I clear about 39,000 a year.

Wisconsin has capped education spending since 1993 through something called the QEO. Tommy Thompson was our gov for a while. He didn’t like the unions. Based on a law passed here, education spending can only increase 3.6% in a district. To go over 3.6% increase, a school district needs a referendum. Most of that 3.6% increase has been used to fund increases in medical care and transportation costs. We’ve had to lay-off teachers and eliminate programs to keep the busses running over the past three years. Case in point, from 1997 (the year I started teaching) to 2007, teacher pay increased in my district a total of 10.8%. Nationwide, average hourly wages increased 25.3% over the same time period.

If the state will not allow a local school district to pay our 6.5% into the SRT, then I’ll lose about $300 a month take-home. It won’t be easy, but I’ll make it. If my spouse was a teacher, we’d be in real trouble, looking at $600 a month of take-home lost.

I realize that many have fallen on hard times. I get that. Many of you are saying “boo hoo, suck it up”. But times were awfully good in the 1990′s, and they weren’t too bad in the middle part of the last decade either. As teachers, we don’t see the big raises or the huge bonuses when times are good. We don’t have the “good times” to pad our savings, allowing us to survive the tough times. In exchange, we expect to be somewhat insulated from the tough times. Those have been the rules. Case in point. My brother is in sales. He pulled down a massive $40,00 bonus two years ago. He bragged about it and mocked me for being a lowly teacher (somewhat in fun). Last year he lost his job. He was actually mad at me for having job security.

And, seriously, I wonder if it is constitutional for the governor to force a local school district to not give a benefit. As a conservative, I like government as close to the people as possible. We have a great school board and we’ve made some serious concessions to get our contracts signed. We’ve taken pay cuts to maintain our benefits. That’s what we’ve decided to do. How can the Governor overturn our contract? I don’t work for the state. I work for our local school district. They hold my contract.

My preference woud be for Walker to simply reduce per-pupil state assistance and let the local school boards decide what to do. For some reason, though, he is taking a heavy hand. This is not a genearlly conservative approach. Conservatives let the local governments, and locally elected school boards, decide how to negotiate and what to do. If you think I’m wrong on this, ask a school board member in Wisconsin. Most of them are conservative people, and they are shocked by all of this. They don’t envy the notion of having to negotiate hundreds of individual contracts. And they don’t want angry teachers calling-in sick. They don’t want to eliminate programs and they don’t want to cut pay.

In the end, though, I get it. Education spending is something like 60% of the state budget and 80% of that is wages and benefits. The money has to come from somewhere. Still, for the first time in my life it’s harder to be a teacher around conservatives than it is to be a conservative around teachers. If I have to hear that I’m lazy and undeucated by people that aren’t from Wisconsin, don’t understand the 18 years of pay caps and really have no idea how I work or how much I get paid, I think I’m going to flip over and start voting Dem.

#141 February 18, 2011 at 6:42 pm

Wiscp commented:

I know you guys want to come and pick a fight. My advice would be don’t. Have your little march, be polite, and have a nice little party for your favorite corrupt governor.

We’re not falling for your provocation. This is, after all, Wisconsin. We’re nice. So don’t be jerks while you’re guests in our house.

#142 February 18, 2011 at 6:49 pm

Khassy commented:

“Wisconsin had a budget SURPLUS before Walker took office.”

If I get paid $1,000 on the first of the month, I have a $1,000 surplus, irrespective of the fact that I still have to pay my mortgage, car payments, buy groceries, etc. Would really be nice if you idiots learned the facts.

To quote Wisconsin State Senator Wanggaard: “Wisconsin has a $3.6 billion deficit. We owe over $56 million to the state of Minnesota, accruing interest daily. We owe $200 million to the Patients Compensation Fund. To continue meeting the health needs of Wisconsin families, Medicaid requires an additional $153 million by June 30th. Our budget crisis is not in six months. It is now.”

Yup, sounds like a huge surplus, eh wot? For more facts, read his letter to his constituents here: http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_d899af8a-3b95-11e0-98bf-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story

#143 February 18, 2011 at 7:03 pm

Jean commented:

I hope you have more supporters show up than there were protesters.

#144 February 18, 2011 at 7:05 pm

Khassy commented:

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s (a far left-leaning newspaper) PolitiFact has found Rachel Maddow’s statement (and that by other idiots around these parts) about Wisconsin having a surplus to be FALSE.

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/18/rachel-maddow/rachel-maddow-says-wisconsin-track-have-budget-sur/

Educate yourself before opening your mouth and you won’t sound like such an ass.

#145 February 18, 2011 at 7:44 pm

Khassy commented:

“a union spokesperson just announced that those teachers that called in and lied for a sick day, will not be punished because the union will make it too costly for the districts to pursue.” This was recorded and broadcast this morning.

Now I’d like someone to tell me that the unions aren’t holding us hostage and aren’t out of control, when they are going to try to prevent their members from facing consequences for blatantly violating their contracts, which clearly state no organized work stoppages or strikes.

#146 February 18, 2011 at 9:29 pm

Milton commented:

#145, union spokesmen or not, it’s not up to the union. It’s up to the local districts and their individual contract language. For example, my district hasn’t done anything to sick-out teachers (but we haven’t had school cancled either). The district next door is being quite harsh and will fine it’s teachers. How does a union hold a local school board hostage? Sick outs lead to fines. We have direct deposit pay checks. It’s nothing for a school board to withold pay, and our union would have to fight in court, but that’s costly. The power to discipline is easily and clearly in the hands of the school boards.

#147 February 18, 2011 at 9:51 pm

Hack commented:

Hack Wilson will be there in spirit!!

http://www.hackwilson.blogspot.com

#148 February 19, 2011 at 12:34 am

Mark commented:

OK people here is the deal on Wisconsin. The state is over 3 BILLION in the hole. The state helps to support the local school systems by giving aid (money) to the city and town governments. To balance the state budget Walker will be cutting school aid to the local governments. So now the city and town governments will be forced to jack taxes to ridiculous levels to support their local schools unless the teachers take cuts. Unless the public union bargaining rights are repealed (like Walker wants to do) we will have chaos on the local level. These are the real issues and anybody who says anything else doesn’t know what they are talking about.

I support Walker 100% as I don’t want my property taxes (which help support the local school system) to go through the roof.

On Wisconsin! Anybody want me to teach ‘em how to Bucky???

#149 February 19, 2011 at 12:58 am

Milton commented:

148, you are correct that the bi-annual budget deficit is over 3 billion. The state gives a per-pupil amount to each district. The gov has not stated at all how much that will be for the next budgetary year. Traditionally there has been a 2.5% increase in the per-pupil dollars. Last year it was 2.0%. Assumining it will be 0% this year, our district will face a shortfall of $1.4 million (perhaps 20 teachers with benefits). You are incorrect in stating that property taxes will increase signifcantly. Such large sums cannot be made up by increasing property taxes in Wisconsin due to state restrictions on education spending increases. Tax increases of that size must be voted-on through district-wide referrendum.

Walker wants us teachers to pay into the WRS out of our own pockets. He want’s us to pay 12% of our medical care as well (I pay 10% right now). If he can force the teachers to pay for their benefits, he can grant a 0% per-pupil increase, basically reducing education spending, but without reducing teachers. Our district, for example, would more than make-up for any shortfall if all of the teachers paid their own 6.5% into the retirement system. Then the gov can say he cut costs but didn’t have to cut programs. It’s actually quite brilliant. But it’s not a collective bargaining agreement that is the problem. My guess is that an elimination of collective bargaining would be more costly. Would a school board negotiate everyone’s contract seperately? Would principals do it? How long would that take? What’s to stop me, an awesome teacher, from negotiating my benefits back? Would good, experienced teachers be fired on a whim? If a powerful parent hates you because you gave their kid an F because they were cheating, do you have to find another job?

Collective bargaining isn’t perfect, but what would replace it?

#150 February 19, 2011 at 3:22 am

AuntieMadder commented:

Rocco commented:
Jackson Davey Moore says

“I wish everyone here who invokes the word ‘patriot’ and clammers on, with supreme ignorance of actual facts, about some left-wing, Communist/socialist/marxist conspiracy, would actually do independant research for themselves. It’s embarassing. You are a mobilizing cog, spewing propoganda for a plutocracy who gives less than a rat’s *ss about you.”

We did and in 1995 your leader was a member of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America. But don’t take my word for it, Check out their website!

http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/ng42.html#anchor792932
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Nice reminder, Rocco. While we’re at it, I’ll remind everyone, especially Jackson Davey Moore since he’s so freakin’ mouthy about it, that the US is a Constitutional Republic. It’s not, nor was it ever, a Democracy, a Constitutional Democracy or a Representative Democracy. The word “Democracy” is not in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. Why is it that the Founding Fathers rejected Democracy?

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” – Thomas Jefferson

“We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real Liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of dictatorship.” – Alexander Hamilton

Then, why do our politicians, especially the Democrats, the Dept of Education and the lamestrea media keep insisting that our govt is a Democracy when it’s not and always speak/report as if it is?

“Democracy is the road to socialism.” – Karl Marx

We Social-Democrats always stand for democracy, not “in the name of capitalism, ” but in the name of clearing the path for our movement, which clearing is impossible without the development of capitalism. – Lenin, Letter to Inessa Armand (1916)

“Social-Democracy, however, wants, on the contrary, to develop the class struggle of the proletariat to the point where the latter will take the leading part in the popular Russian revolution, i.e., will lead this revolution to a the democratic-dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry. ” – Lenin, Two Tactics of Social Democracy (1905)

From Chapter 3 of The Unseen Hand by A. Ralph Epperson:

“It is generally conceded that even a monarchy or a dictatorship is an oligarchy, or a government run by a small, ruling minority.”

“Such is also the case with a democracy, for this form of government is traditionally controlled at the top by a small ruling oligarchy. The people in a democracy are conditioned to believe that they are indeed the decision-making power of government, but in truth there is almost always a small circle at the top making the decisions for the entirety.”

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“That’s the bitter truth, and it must be looked straight in the face. This barrier to the expansion and development of the American socialist movement will not be overcome, and even a regroupment of the woefully limited forces of those who at present consider themselves socialists will yield but little fruit, unless and until we find a way to break down this misunderstanding and prejudice against socialism, and convince at least the more advanced American workers that we socialists are the most aggressive and consistent advocates of democracy in all fields and that, in fact, we are completely devoted to the idea that socialism cannot be realised otherwise than by democracy.

The socialist movement in America will not advance again significantly until it regains the initiative and takes the offensive against capitalism and all its agents in the labour movement precisely on the issue of democracy. What is needed is not a propaganda device or trick, but a formulation of the issue as it really stands; and, indeed, as it has always stood with real socialists ever since the modern movement was first proclaimed 109 years ago. For this counteroffensive against bourgeois propaganda we do not need to look for new formulations. Our task, as socialists living and fighting in this day and hour, is simply to restate what socialism and democracy meant to the founders of our movement, and to all the authentic disciples who followed them; to bring their formulations up to date and apply them to present conditions in the United States.” James P. Cannon, SWP’s West Coast Vacation School, September 1, 1957

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Learn more about the differences between a Republic and a Democracy and why the Founding Fathers chose the former over the latter. Then, for the love of all that’s holy, stop saying stupid sh!t about “our Democracy” and “protecting our Democracy” because, whether you’re on the left or the right, to those of us who know the US is a Republic, you sound like damned fools when you say those things.

The Founding Fathers Rejected Democracy
by Dr. Harold Pease

The Founding Fathers universally rejected democracy and hoped that posterity would never turn the United States into one. The word they used was “Republic,” which is not synonymous with “Democracy.” The word “Democracy” is not in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. Even the Pledge of Allegiance is “to the Republic for which it stands.”

(snip)

So why did they reject Democracy? Because it is inherently flawed with the “share the wealth” philosophy, which only works as long as there is someone else’s money to share. Those receiving are quite pleased with getting something for nothing. But those forced to give are denied the right to spend the benefits of their own labor in their own self-interest, which creates jobs no matter how the money is spent. They also lose a portion of their incentive to produce.

Read the rest here: http://www.libertyunderfire.org/2010/06/the-founding-fathers-rejected-democracy/
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Are We a Republic or a Democracy?
by Walter Williams

In recognition that it’s Congress that poses the greatest threat to our liberties, the framers used negative phrases against Congress throughout the Constitution such as: shall not abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, and shall not be violated, nor be denied. In a republican form of government, there is rule of law. All citizens, including government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government power is limited and decentralized through a system of checks and balances. Government intervenes in civil society to protect its citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the cases of peaceable, voluntary exchange.

Contrast the framers’ vision of a republic with that of a democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. As in a monarchy, the law is whatever the government determines it to be. Laws do not represent reason. They represent power. The restraint is upon the individual instead of government. Unlike that envisioned under a republican form of government, rights are seen as privileges and permissions that are granted by government and can be rescinded by government.

How about a few quotations demonstrating the disdain our founders held for democracy? James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 10: In a pure democracy, “there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual.” At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, ” … that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.”

John Adams said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Chief Justice John Marshall observed, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.” In a word or two, the founders knew that a democracy would lead to the same kind of tyranny the colonies suffered under King George III.

The rest is here: http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4080

#151 February 19, 2011 at 9:56 am

Tim E commented:

Wish I could be at Madison today, but I can’t make it. You have my support! The Public Employees need to be brought under control. They have showed their hand, and have decided to behave like Terrorists. This is unacceptable.

Mish has some great info here. Make sure to read what FDR said about public unions.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/02/scapegoating-madness-mom-susie-hit.html

#153 February 19, 2011 at 2:29 pm

Dale L. Neill commented:

Union thugs what they gona do?

Now that the American people are flat out sick and tired of you
Cheap unfaithful politicians those union dues are buying
Unfaithful to those tax payers that elected them too
Mob bosses of unions are doing some crying

Money grubbing union thugs like that Kenya born imposter in DC
Faithful to the party of un-American progressive democrats
Their run and hides behavior shameful for us to see
Witnessed when cornered they scurry like rats

This is the trade mark of the new democrat party and union made
We have a governor and a people that want to do what’s right
The union and its followers are creating a hate parade
Union’s power is challenged by the people’s right

We are watching a power grab by unions and the progressive elite
Unions and liberals think their mighty and have all the power
They are bussing in protesters from any town or street
The people have spoken and it’s the people’s hour

By Dale L. Neill of Lewiston, Idaho
February 18, 2011

Pay your union dues and get a democrat

#154 February 19, 2011 at 4:03 pm

Rocco commented:

Jackson Davey Moore says

“I wish everyone here who invokes the word ‘patriot’ and clammers on, with supreme ignorance of actual facts, about some left-wing, Communist/socialist/marxist conspiracy, would actually do independant research for themselves. It’s embarassing. You are a mobilizing cog, spewing propoganda for a plutocracy who gives less than a rat’s *ss about you.”

Here’s some more independent research for ya comrade

http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/video/video/show?id=2600775%3AVideo%3A3236451&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_video

Imagine that, communists standing in solidarity with teachers. Makes me sick!

#155 February 19, 2011 at 6:12 pm

Blickty blam commented:

Everyone on this board should read post #136.

Thank you to the more than 60,000 people that were peacefully supporting the teachers and other public workers. Wisconsin loves it’s public workers.

To the hundreds of conservatives that were trucked in. Thank you for your taxes.

Join Andrew Breitbart, Herman Cain & Jim Hoft at Wisconsin Freedom Rally to Support Scott Walker Saturday

Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, February 18, 2011, 5:14 AM

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