Ahh yes, Civility

I have been informed, gentle readers, that there was a meeting last night in Fountain Park to oppose Governor Walker's bill. The Sheboygan Press article talks about the union people who were there, but they neglected to cover one of the uglier aspects of that meeting.

I have learned, that the people at this rally were being encouraged and instructed on how to incite violence at rallies around the state tomorrow. This is abhorrent.

If the unions think that by bullying the people of WI, they can get what they want, then they had best prepare to be painted as the violent hooligans they are. What part of "There is no more money" don't you understand?

My fellow patriots, be alert, be responsible and above all, do not allow yourselves to be baited into violence. If there is to be violence let it be among those who are promoting it only. Better yet, show your support for the governor and legislature by staying away from these rallies and calling or e-mailing your support to the governor and your legislators.

We are better than that. And if, as I suspect, those advising and pushing violence are out of state agitators, may I ask that those of our fellow citizens who were listening, soundly reject their calls to violence, out of self respect if nothing else. This is Wisconsin, not Egypt. You are citizens before you are union members. A free and independent people should not need to resort to violence to settle our legislative differences.

"The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth." ~ Psalm 11:5

FAQ's about the budget repair bill answered by Sen. Leibham

This is the text of an e-mail I received from Sen. Leibham. I am sure that he is doing his best to provide a timely response to the many e-mails he has received over this legislation. I thought it might be a good idea to post his answers here for those who do not care to read the actual bill or who find themselves confused over the wording contained therein.

"By State Senator Joe Leibham

February 24, 2011

~ Information on Senate Bill 11 ~


Governor Scott Walker has unveiled a proposal that seeks to provide local government elected officials (city council members, school board members, etc.) with the authority to make decisions regarding most issues related to the people they employ. In addition, the plan would specifically require most government employees, including myself, to pay a greater portion of health care premium costs and half of the annual contribution to pension/retirement plans. Governor Walker believes these changes are necessary so that state and local elected officials will have all the tools needed to best manage upcoming budgets that will receive less state aid due to our ongoing budget crisis and economic slow down.

Without a doubt, the Governor’s proposal (officially known as Special Session Senate Bill 11) has created an historic level of interest and concern. It has been an amazing week as tens of thousands of citizens from our state (and now on a daily basis – more and more people from across the nation) have decided to participate in the law making process by sharing input with their government, protesting or demonstrating in public rallies. While things have gotten a little intense at times, overall this has been a positive experience.

The amount of input provided to me and questions asked has also been amazing. Thousands of district residents have called, e-mailed, or visited with me personally to discuss the bill, ask questions, and share their thoughts both in support and opposition. While I have tried my hardest to return calls, meet with people personally, and respond to e-mails, the sheer volume has been a challenge to manage. I appreciate everyone’s patience as I work to read and respond while managing all of my legislative responsibilities.

Many of the contacts have included questions about the bill. In an effort to provide answers, below I have attempted to summarize the major questions raised and provide factual information regarding specific provisions in the bill:

Will existing public employee contracts be impacted by the provisions in this bill? Existing employee contracts cannot and will not be impacted by the bill. The provisions included in the bill will only go into effect after an existing contract comes to an end.

What is required in the bill regarding contributions to state pension plans? State, school district, and municipal employees that are members of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) would be required to contribute 50% of their annual pension payment. The payment amount for WRS employees is estimated to be 5.8% of salary in 2011.

What is required in the bill regarding contributions for health insurance? State employees would be required to pay at least 12.6 percent of the average cost of annual health insurance premiums. Local employers participating in the Public Employers Group Health Insurance Plan would be prohibited from paying more than 88% of the lowest cost plan. Local government employers who use other health insurance plans or are self-insured would be able to set the contribution rate and the subject would be prohibited from the process of collective bargaining.

Will legislators and the Governor be required to participate in these changes to health care and pension contributions? All elected officials including legislators and the Governor will be required as of April 1, 2011 to make these contributions for health care and pensions. For elected officials the pension contribution is estimated to be 6.65% of salary in 2011.

Will public employees still be allowed to form unions? Public employees will still be allowed to form unions. An annual vote will be required to maintain certification as a union, and dues would be collected by the unions, not by the employer.

What will happen to the process of collective bargaining? The process of collective bargaining would continue for the establishment of the base wage for represented public employees.

Will there be caps on base pay? Base wage increases could not exceed increases in the consumer price index (CPI) unless approved by a referendum.

What will happen to items like overtime, premium pay, merit pay performance pay, pay schedules and automatic pay progressions? These items will be determined by the local employer (school board, local municipality, county board, etc.).

What will happen to various workplace rules that are currently bargained for collectively? At the local level these items will be managed and approved by the local employer. For state employees, work place rules would be developed by Office of State Employment Relations and approved by the legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations.

What workplace protections will remain for public employees after passage of the bill? Wisconsin’s Civil Service System (WCSS) will not be changed by the bill. WCSS is a system for hiring, retaining, and promoting employees based on an objective assessment of their qualifications and ability to do their work. The system that has been in place since 1905 is grounded on two cornerstones: hiring decisions are merit based, and removal from service must be based on just cause. An employee cannot be discharged, suspended, or demoted except for just cause. The system includes two processes under which a public employee can pursue a grievance against their employer. The first is through the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and is found in Wisconsin Stats s. 230.44. You can view this statute by visiting: http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&d=stats&jd=230.44

Matters which affect an employee’s condition of employment are covered by a grievance procedure found in chapter ER 46 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code: http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=WI:Default&d=code&jd=ch.%20er%2046

In addition, the bill now requires, per an amendment I sponsored, that a local government employer either adopt the WCSS or establish a grievance system that covers at least all of the following: (a) a grievance procedure that addresses employee terminations; (b) employee discipline; and (c) workplace safety.

If a local governmental unit creates a grievance procedure under these provisions, the procedure must contain at least all of the following elements: (a) a written document specifying the process that a grievant and an employer must follow; (b) a hearing before an impartial hearing officer; and (c) an appeal process in which the highest level of appeal is the governing body of the local governmental unit.



Are law enforcement officers exempt from the provisions of the bill? Fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and members of the State Patrol are exempted from the provisions in the bill.

How many votes will be required to vote this bill out of the Senate? The state constitution requires twenty (3/5’s of the total members) senators present for the vote to take place, but only 17 votes (a simply majority of the total members) for the bill to pass.

As the legislative process and deliberation continues on this bill, I am hopeful this factual information will be helpful.


It is an honor representing the residents of the 9th District in the State Senate!


Sincerely,



Joe Leibham
State Senator
9th District"

I have omitted the contact information for the Senator because, I am assuming his constituents already have it, and if others want his time, they can invest a little time in research to find it for themselves.

"Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." ~ Psalm 25:5

Glen Grothman speaks on Gov. Walker's Budget repair bill.

After the showing of the movie "The Cartel" by the Sheboygan Liberty Coalition on Monday, Senator Glenn Grothman arrived to speak and answer questions for the audience. He was running a little late because of the snow, and was subjected to (what I have been told was) somewhat hostile questioning from people who are not even his constituents. but he graciously allowed the questions. For an account of that, I recommend you visit Soapbox Jill's blog as I had a prior commitment and had to leave when he had finished his remarks.

What follows are the videos of Senator Grothman's remarks on:

The budget repair bill



Collective Bargaining, Badgercare and Medicaid



4K kindergarten and head start



Finishing of remarks and beginning of questions



"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."~Proverbs 15:1

The Alexandrea Merrell Show

Just a quick note: I will be on the first part of the The Aleaxandrea Merrell Show tonight at 9:00pm CST on blog talk radio.
Alexandrea is the author of Rules for Republican Radicals and her new book, Civics is just out within the last few weeks.For more info on Alexandrea, you can check out her website: http://www.alexandreamerrell.com/

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
~ Proverbs 27:6

Teachers Union Protests for Fun in Sheboygan

The Liberty Coalition of Sheboygan started planning to show the movie "The Cartel" about a month and a half ago. Apparently frustrated by their lack of ability to be where the action is in Madison, the Sheboygan arm of the Wisconsin teachers union decided to protest and picket the showing of this movie. They certainly have the right to exercise their freedom of speech in this way, however I think it was just taking advantage of an event that had been scheduled before these protests broke out.

Upon arriving at the mead library for the showing of the movie, I was greeted by the sight of maybe 100 to 150 protesters standing in front of the library doors chanting and drumming. They were being led in the chants by a woman who would yell "tell me what democracy looks like". Then the crowd would chance back "this is what democracy looks like". I have to agree with them. Democracy by its very nature is the mob rule. This is why our founders gave us a Republic.

The following movie was taken while walking the gauntlet to get into the library. I'm not saying that the protesters were angry or threatening in any way other than the fact that they constituted a fairly large crowd and that's a little intimidating, which is the point of such protests. I found it a little odd that there were so many outside protesting who then came inside to watch the very movie they were protesting against.



The Roca room in the library had about 80 to 100 people, many of whom had brought their signs in with them. There was a very obvious police presence outside of the library as you can see in the video and there was a cameraman from TMJ 4 both outside and inside after the movie. The head of the Sheboygan Liberty Coalition, Oriannah Paul, announced the code of conduct for the movie. There were basically three rules, your signs must be placed so that they are not obstructing the view of others; you may not speak out unless you're recognized; and please silence cell phones and pagers.

The Cartel is a documentary by Bob Bowdon that takes a look at the role of unions in the school district of New Jersey. It basically details the huge amount of waste in school district's spending in New Jersey. Or at least it's assumed to be waste because, even though they spend the highest amount per student of any state in the nation, they have some of the worst results. Their eighth graders were 39% proficient in reading and 40% proficient in math. There is also a very high dropout rate.

The film compared the average cost of teachers salaries($50,000 plus benefits)to the average cost per classroom($300-400,000, and asked the question:"Where is the rest of the money going?" The conclusion was that the money was going to unions, unneeded facilities upgrades and unnecessary layers of administration and bureaucracy. There was a huge amount of corruption shown. The film also concluded that schools are big business for unions and others, because everybody wants their children to be well educated and not many people are paying attention to where the money is going.

When the movie presented an account of a teacher who was prevented by union rules from volunteering her time to do an extracurricular activity after school hours with the students, a parent in front of me leaned over to her daughter and whispered "That's not true". I don't know how she reached that conclusion. The account was almost certainly true and I have heard similar accounts from teachers in WI.

The bottom line of the film is that communities need to be aware of how their money is being spent and hold feet to the fire when funds are being misused. (Those feet can belong to the unions, the school's administrative bodies and/or legislators.)At least that's the message I got from it. Clearly, I was a minority in that conclusion as most of the teachers and union people present seemed to think the film was being shown as propaganda just to make them look bad.

This is one of the problems with holding onto an ideology without regard to the facts. I sincerely doubt that the teachers union would have shown up to protest this movie had it not been for the budget protests going on in Madison right now. That's why I labeled this post as I did. There seemed to be little regard on the part of the teachers for the facts presented in the film. I can understand disregarding statistics(the third kind of lie), but ignoring facts in favor of feeling hard done by because it makes the ideology or organization you claim as your own look bad, is denial.

One of the attendees remarked to those around her:"Why is it okay for corporations to have it[collective bargaining] and not us?" Because, as the film stated, the party paying the bills(the taxpayers)is often not being represented at the bargaining table in a public union situation.

When a private corporation sits down to bargain with their union, they all know a number of fixed facts. The cost of materials, the number of hours required for production, shipping costs, building maintenance, and etc, needed to produce whatever is produced. They know how much their sales are likely to be and how much they can and cannot raise prices to meet their costs. In other words, the money available to pay for all the necessary steps of production is a fixed amount and there must be a certain percentage of profit obtained or there's no reason to have a business.

When the unions are dealing with a government, those numbers are a lot more fluid. There seems to be an assumption that if the union demands more, the government can simply raise taxes and the money for those increases will fall out of the sky. That is the difference.

That may have appeared to be true in years past, but now it is crunch time. Taxes are as high as the people will bear and prices on goods and services are going up. This is the showdown that is occurring in WI and across the nation. This is not the taxpayer telling the public employees that they are bad people or that they don't deserve to be compensated with a specific amount, but rather that there is no more money available to pay more taxes. If that means that these public sector employees feel that they must seek employment that will pay them better, then so be it.

The taxpayers of WI are not trying to denigrate the public workers, we are simply saying this is how much we can pay right now. There isn't any more and no amount of protesting is going to make more appear. Do what is best for you. If you can't afford to work for us anymore, then best of luck to you in your new position, whatever it is and we will look for those who can afford to work for what we can offer.

"And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."~ Luke 3:14

The Maritime Sentry: Democrats Side With Unions Over Taxpayers - UPDATE...

The Maritime Sentry: Democrats Side With Unions Over Taxpayers - UPDATE...: "We have now learned that Democratic State Senators are refusing to come to the floor to vote on Gov. Walker's budget fix. The Assembly Democ..."

"...I have received two emails from staff in the Capital building both reporting the same thing, that police have advised them to lock their doors. Large groups of protesters are screaming and baning loud drums inside the building. Other protesters are banging on the glass windows. One of the emailers has asked for prayers for the state. I can think of nothing more needed right now."
Please read the rest of this excellent post at The Maritime Sentry

An open letter to Senate Democrats from one WI Mom

Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen,

You were elected to vote.

• Not to run out on your responsibilities like teenagers pulling a prank.
• Not to run up expensive resort bills on the taxpayer's dime while you do so.
• Not to make our lovely state the laughingstock of the nation.
• And certainly not to leave our beautiful Capital building at the mercy of out-of-state hooligans brought in to act as Union Enforcers against the people of Wisconsin.
  
  You may not like it that your vote will not change the outcome. That does not change your duty. You were elected to vote. I suggest, that you put your behinds back on that bus, get yourselves back to the floor of the legislature in Madison and do your jobs.
  
  May I further suggest that you take up a collection amongst yourselves to pay the bills for the resort and the bus, so as to avoid further burdening the hardworking taxpayers of WI and shaming your electorates any further.
  
  Your behavior is outrageous.
  
  "The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
  
  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. "~ Micah 3:11-12