Quick update: "
The Senate has backed the measure dubbed the "bill to pay the bills" on a unanimous vote.
The legislation now heads to Gov. Scott Walker after Assembly passage last week. Among its provisions:
- the bill would repeal $29.8 million in lapses that were planned under the collective bargaining changes, but not realized because it had been held up by a Dane County judge.
- it would reduce required lapses to $67 million; they were originally to be $200 million.
- it would transfer $235 million to the Patients Compensation Fund by June 30, 2012, to pay back the fund with interest for the illegal $200 million transfer made as part of the 2007-09 budget that was invalidated by the state Supreme Court."
Happy Flag Day! If you don't know the history of our flag take a minute to review it.
There is other good news to report on the Wisconsin front.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned judge Sumi's ruling on the collective bargaining bill passed by the senate earlier this year. (The one with the fleebaggers in absentia.) You may read the decision here. The significant line of the judgement is: "This court has granted the petition for an original action because one of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature."
Also the Senate passed the concealed carry bill. That would be Senate Bill 90. I can't help but note that the current law(until this is signed by the governor) is in violation of the State Constitution of Wisconsin, which states in Article 1, section 25: "The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose." So it is a relief to have the law brought a little bit more into line with the Constitution. Next step - Constitutional Carry.
Last week the Assembly voted to approve, by a vote of 84-12, Assembly Bill 148, also known as "the bill to pay the bill." Although it doesn't mean exactly what you would expect it to mean, it has a reassuring sound to it. "The bill to pay the bill". Almost sounds serious about becoming fiscally responsible.
It's almost enough to inspire optimism. Now if only the Congress would behave as responsibly. I know there has been much disparagement of Mr. Obama and his administration(And rightfully so, in my opinion.), but the bottom line is that the Congress has the power and the authority to have stopped nearly every action of the executive branch if they only had the resolve to do so. (As well as a heaping helping of backbone, character, sound moral values and basic human decency.)
"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." ~ Luke 12:17
Showing posts with label collective bargaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collective bargaining. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Not One Penny for Tribute
The senate met yesterday in a special session. They either addressed the portion of the Budget Repair Bill that dealt with collective bargaining or stripped out the fiscal portions of the bill. I suspect the latter. The logic here was that the bill they were voting on did not require a quorum because it had no fiscal impact(By which I think it means that it does not cost the state more money than is currently being spent -not necessarily that it really has no impact. Because truthfully a reduction in spending is an impact. Sorry if that doesn't make any sense, but it's been a long day here.)
Because it is a different bill than the one the assembly approved after 60+ hours of debate, it will go to the assembly later today. It is not substantially different, so there shouldn't need to be much debate on it.
The session was held quickly and in a highly irregular manner. Many are saying that it was not a legal vote, because the session and vote was not posted for a certain number of hours in advance of the session.This is what we will be hearing about until we are sick of it in days to come. The legislature says it met under the rules described in "Special and Extraordinary Sessions of the Wisconsin Legislature" .
I suspect, but not being a lawyer myself, could not say definitively, that the section under "The Call" gives them the authority to have called this vote the way they did and to have held the vote the way they did. The following is what I believe to be the pertinent section:
"In an opinion to Governor Emanuel
L. Philipp in 1918, Attorney General Spencer Haven indicated that the executive’s options in
calling a special session were quite broad:
It will be noted that this provision of the constitution leaves the matter wholly within your hands. You are hampered by no machinery, and no limitations. The time of issuing the proclamation, the time when the session shall convene, the subjects to be considered thereat, the length of notice to be given to the members, the method of notifying them, all are left entirely to your discretion. (7 OAG 49)
Attorney General Stewart G. Honeck’s opinion in 1948 (37 OAG 374) stated that the call may be issued in person or by mail, telephone or telegraph. He also added that failure to contact individual members who are out of the state or unavailable does not invalidate the special session. "(emphasis mine)
It looks to me as though they were under none of the limitations ordinarily governing the time of the session or the amount of public notice given before this meeting.
There are an awful lot of people out there making an awful lot of ridiculous statements about this. I saw a teachers union member on the news claiming that this was done because the republicans are out to "get our children". (Those were the actual words-can you believe that?) That, "teachers and the unions are the only ones standing up for our children's rights". If that were true, then why do teachers and administrators habitually deny our children their Constitutional rights during school hours, to say nothing of refusing to notify parents when their children need help to exercise those rights? If that were true, then why would the unions obstruct charter schools that are running more efficiently(i.e. more cheaply) and with better results(i.e. better grades) to keep them from succeeding? For that matter, if it were truly about the children, then why not endorse and restructure the educational system around homeschooling? I'll tell you why. Because it is not about the children, it is about power.
My speculation is that these people are so deluded that they cannot discern a lie even when it is told by themselves. But then what do you expect of those who embrace the Madison state of mind? Madison, a place where some of the people out here in the hinterlands say is the place that logic goes to die.
This is the right thing for our state and for the rest of the nation(Since they insist upon poking their noses into our business, I may as well include them.) The unions need to be restored to their reasonable role -that of ensuring reasonable wages along with healthy and safe working conditions - and leave politics to We the People.
"The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace." ~Isaiah 59:8
"And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand." ~Acts 29:3
Because it is a different bill than the one the assembly approved after 60+ hours of debate, it will go to the assembly later today. It is not substantially different, so there shouldn't need to be much debate on it.
The session was held quickly and in a highly irregular manner. Many are saying that it was not a legal vote, because the session and vote was not posted for a certain number of hours in advance of the session.This is what we will be hearing about until we are sick of it in days to come. The legislature says it met under the rules described in "Special and Extraordinary Sessions of the Wisconsin Legislature" .
I suspect, but not being a lawyer myself, could not say definitively, that the section under "The Call" gives them the authority to have called this vote the way they did and to have held the vote the way they did. The following is what I believe to be the pertinent section:
"In an opinion to Governor Emanuel
L. Philipp in 1918, Attorney General Spencer Haven indicated that the executive’s options in
calling a special session were quite broad:
It will be noted that this provision of the constitution leaves the matter wholly within your hands. You are hampered by no machinery, and no limitations. The time of issuing the proclamation, the time when the session shall convene, the subjects to be considered thereat, the length of notice to be given to the members, the method of notifying them, all are left entirely to your discretion. (7 OAG 49)
Attorney General Stewart G. Honeck’s opinion in 1948 (37 OAG 374) stated that the call may be issued in person or by mail, telephone or telegraph. He also added that failure to contact individual members who are out of the state or unavailable does not invalidate the special session. "(emphasis mine)
It looks to me as though they were under none of the limitations ordinarily governing the time of the session or the amount of public notice given before this meeting.
There are an awful lot of people out there making an awful lot of ridiculous statements about this. I saw a teachers union member on the news claiming that this was done because the republicans are out to "get our children". (Those were the actual words-can you believe that?) That, "teachers and the unions are the only ones standing up for our children's rights". If that were true, then why do teachers and administrators habitually deny our children their Constitutional rights during school hours, to say nothing of refusing to notify parents when their children need help to exercise those rights? If that were true, then why would the unions obstruct charter schools that are running more efficiently(i.e. more cheaply) and with better results(i.e. better grades) to keep them from succeeding? For that matter, if it were truly about the children, then why not endorse and restructure the educational system around homeschooling? I'll tell you why. Because it is not about the children, it is about power.
My speculation is that these people are so deluded that they cannot discern a lie even when it is told by themselves. But then what do you expect of those who embrace the Madison state of mind? Madison, a place where some of the people out here in the hinterlands say is the place that logic goes to die.
This is the right thing for our state and for the rest of the nation(Since they insist upon poking their noses into our business, I may as well include them.) The unions need to be restored to their reasonable role -that of ensuring reasonable wages along with healthy and safe working conditions - and leave politics to We the People.
"The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace." ~Isaiah 59:8
"And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand." ~Acts 29:3
Monday, February 14, 2011
Budget Repair
Update: The situation continues to worsen.
The Wisconsin legislature will be debating the merits of governor Walker's plan to repair the budget tomorrow and Wednesday. There's been quite a bit of coverage on this plan, and much of that coverage has been negative.
Unions, for a long time, have been dictating terms of employment for many, many people, not just in the state, but in the nation. I have written in the past that it is high time that the unions were reminded that they are made up of people. People whose first priorities, as far as employment goes, need to remember that, unless there's a job available, they will be unemployed. People who need to remember that they are citizens first and union members second.
In Wisconsin, the state's union workers have had about the best benefit package available anywhere, except those offered for Federal gov't workers. They will not find much sympathy for being forced to contribute to their own retirements, much less for being forced to pay a fairly low percentage of their own Health Insurance when compared to private sector workers.
There will undoubtedly be news stories covering the plight of the poor union workers forced, forced I say, to contribute in this way to their own benefits. The facts are, as Governor Walker stated, that there is no more money. The taxpayers have no more pennies to contribute to any more largesse that might be demanded in a collective bargaining agreement with these workers. The money simply isn't there.
Not only are there no more pennies to contribute to more benefits for these union workers employed by the state, but there is no more tolerance on the part of the people of the state for watching government workers whine about benefits that the private sector cannot afford to offer.
To their credit, I have seen many comments on articles, from state union workers who support Governor Walker in this effort. Many of them are also resentful that they have been forced to be part of the union in order to have these jobs. These are the people who understand what governments service is about. These are the people who understand that they are citizens first and employees second.
The state unions will be busing people to the capitol in Madison tomorrow and Wednesday, in an attempt to communicate to our legislators their strong disapproval of this action on the part of Governor Walker. AFP will also be busing people to the state capitol in Madison tomorrow and Wednesday, in an attempt to support the governor in his attempts to rein in the spending and to restore fiscal sanity to the state of Wisconsin.
My guess is that there will be more union members than regular citizens. Mostly because regular citizens from the private sector will not be able to take off work for the day to go down to Madison and be part of a demonstration. That does not mean however, that private sector employees and other citizens cannot make a difference in this debate.
This is one of those opportunities to exercise good citizenship by contacting your state legislators and giving them your opinion. It only takes a few minutes to call and your legislators will appreciate the input on what is sure to be a highly publicized vote. This is how participatory governments are supposed to work. Participate by calling your legislators and letting them know what you think, politely please. Remember, the aides who are answering the phone are not doing the voting. Call the legislative hotline at: 1-800-362-9472. Ask for your legislator. You'll be asked where you live, and transferred to the office of one of your legislators whether it be a senator or an assembly person. I would recommend that you make note of who your legislators are, and have your call directed from one to the next.
Citizenship in a free and independent Republic is a personal duty and a demonstration that we are worthy of the freedoms we have been given in this nation.
"So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." ~ Luke 17:10
- Democratic legislators have vacated the capitol in the hopes of preventing a vote.
- The governor has instructed that police to look for them and bring them back.
- The DNC and Organizing for America(Mr. Obama's replacement for ACORN) are busing in out of state protesters to add to an already strident situation. (There's a demonstration of civility and common sense-add to the danger of the situation by adding outside agitators to the mix.)
- Protesters have apparently gotten onto the Senate floor.
- Teachers across the state are calling in sick.
- Former Senate candidate Dave Westlake is calling for a I Stand With Governor Walker rally at the capitol on Saturday.
- Rush Limbaugh has called Madison WI, "Moscow West"
- The Socialists have chimed in for the unions.
- Mr. Obama has chimed in with his two cents worth, saying Governor Walker shouldn't have turned down the train money. (And exactly how would that have helped this situation? Unless it is Mr. Obama's contention that Mr. Walker should continue the shady accounting practices of former Gov. Doyle and have surreptitiously allocated some of that money to the general fund to make the budget look better.)
- Mr. Obama has also said that Gov. Walker's bill seems like an assault on unions. Perhaps if the members of the state employee unions hadn't spent their time over the last several years alternately whining that they aren't paid enough and bragging to the rest of us that they had lifetime security in their jobs with no worries about health care or retirement thanks to their wonderful state jobs, we might agree. As it is, not so much.
It is time for the state union employees to remember that they are citizens first and union members second. If they had reigned in their unions demands, the governor wouldn't have to. As it is, they just seem greedy, selfish and power-mad. In these days of media inspired politics, that's not the message they should want to have out there. They could have stepped up to the plate and said we offer these reductions to the state out of a wish to remain consistent in our duty as citizens to keep this state fiscally solvent.
We're all in this together. They chose to continue business as usual. This is not a republican or democrat issue. this is a common sense issue. When there is no more money, the belt must be tightened and luxuries let go.
The Wisconsin legislature will be debating the merits of governor Walker's plan to repair the budget tomorrow and Wednesday. There's been quite a bit of coverage on this plan, and much of that coverage has been negative.
Unions, for a long time, have been dictating terms of employment for many, many people, not just in the state, but in the nation. I have written in the past that it is high time that the unions were reminded that they are made up of people. People whose first priorities, as far as employment goes, need to remember that, unless there's a job available, they will be unemployed. People who need to remember that they are citizens first and union members second.
In Wisconsin, the state's union workers have had about the best benefit package available anywhere, except those offered for Federal gov't workers. They will not find much sympathy for being forced to contribute to their own retirements, much less for being forced to pay a fairly low percentage of their own Health Insurance when compared to private sector workers.
There will undoubtedly be news stories covering the plight of the poor union workers forced, forced I say, to contribute in this way to their own benefits. The facts are, as Governor Walker stated, that there is no more money. The taxpayers have no more pennies to contribute to any more largesse that might be demanded in a collective bargaining agreement with these workers. The money simply isn't there.
Not only are there no more pennies to contribute to more benefits for these union workers employed by the state, but there is no more tolerance on the part of the people of the state for watching government workers whine about benefits that the private sector cannot afford to offer.
To their credit, I have seen many comments on articles, from state union workers who support Governor Walker in this effort. Many of them are also resentful that they have been forced to be part of the union in order to have these jobs. These are the people who understand what governments service is about. These are the people who understand that they are citizens first and employees second.
The state unions will be busing people to the capitol in Madison tomorrow and Wednesday, in an attempt to communicate to our legislators their strong disapproval of this action on the part of Governor Walker. AFP will also be busing people to the state capitol in Madison tomorrow and Wednesday, in an attempt to support the governor in his attempts to rein in the spending and to restore fiscal sanity to the state of Wisconsin.
My guess is that there will be more union members than regular citizens. Mostly because regular citizens from the private sector will not be able to take off work for the day to go down to Madison and be part of a demonstration. That does not mean however, that private sector employees and other citizens cannot make a difference in this debate.
This is one of those opportunities to exercise good citizenship by contacting your state legislators and giving them your opinion. It only takes a few minutes to call and your legislators will appreciate the input on what is sure to be a highly publicized vote. This is how participatory governments are supposed to work. Participate by calling your legislators and letting them know what you think, politely please. Remember, the aides who are answering the phone are not doing the voting. Call the legislative hotline at: 1-800-362-9472. Ask for your legislator. You'll be asked where you live, and transferred to the office of one of your legislators whether it be a senator or an assembly person. I would recommend that you make note of who your legislators are, and have your call directed from one to the next.
Citizenship in a free and independent Republic is a personal duty and a demonstration that we are worthy of the freedoms we have been given in this nation.
"So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." ~ Luke 17:10
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