Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker found himself in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today, admitting under oath that his going after the collective bargaining rights of state employees had absolutely nothing to do with saving his state money. Here’s video of the Governor being questioned by Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
…Kucinich grilled Walker on how repealing collective bargaining rights for public workers would save money for Wisconsin’s budget. He specifically asked Walker how much money would be saved by requiring unions to hold annual votes to continue representing their own members.
“It doesn’t save any,” Walker replied, after a brief exchange with Kucinich.
Kucinich then produced a letter (pdf) from Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal bureau, that listed the state’s recent “Public Employee Collective Bargaining Modifications” among nonfiscal policy items that would not save the state significant money. He said the letter proved that the collective bargaining changes were motivated by politics rather than cost-cutting.
“I think what we’ve been able to demonstrate here is that the attack on collective bargaining rights is a choice, not a budget issue,” Kucinich said….
And here’s something from our friends at ThinkProgress:
…Walker’s admission is crucial because he had long claimed that his anti-union “budget repair bill” was designed to save the state money, not bust unions. But his words today echo those of Wisconsin state senate leader Scott Fitzgerald (R), who last month effectively admitted that the union fights are not about budgetary issues, but rather about winning the next election by depleting the ranks of organized labor…
23 Comments
The video isn’t showing up…
OK, it should be working now. Thanks.
Awesome.
Groovy.
Wow.
DK is a vegan, on top of it all.
And his wife is hot – with a tongue piercing!
I like that it took seven comments before we got to the fact that he had a FLILF. That speaks well for the level of dialogue on this site.
Also, I’d like to point out that the guy sitting behind him looks like a demon.
I don’t even know what FLILF is. But The Koos holds Walker’s feet to the fire nicely. I hope Rick $nyder is paying attention.
I know how to use Google.
“FLILF”
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-29-2007/is-america-ready-for-a-flilf-
It’s all politically motivated? Really? A revelation that shocks absolutely no one…
In other news, Scott Walker announces that the sky is blue, water is wet and he has a small dingy in his pants.
Hey guys, like my new screen name? I thought I’d test it out here because I honestly like you all (yes, even you EOS :)). The great news is that I’ll have plenty of time to hang around here and comment after June 16th (last day of school)
Laid off? What happened?
I guess getting the economic house in order is the GOP’s second highest priority. I wonder if they’ll ever get around to it. They’re so busy with their top priority.
^^EZ, Patti is a Detroit school teacher, and they have all been at least, temp-wise, on paper, been laid off as they sort out the budget over there. Sadly, more than a handful are likely to be actually furloughed as that district shrinks even more, and no superman steps forward.
Good. Maybe they will take all that money and spend it on small businesses.
WI Rep. Calls for Federal Investigation Into Surprise Votes
http://news.change.org/stories/wi-rep-calls-for-federal-investigation-into-surprise-votes
I wonder if these Democrats calling for an investigation have been, or will be, told what really happened.
Here’s what really happened: The fix was in for the Democratic candidate and the WI-GOP anticipated it by having this one clerk (in a heavily Republican county) deliberately hold onto enough thousands of votes until all the rigging shenanigans had played out and the final statewide vote was tallied. Then, once the dust had settled, this clerk emerges with the 14 thousand legit votes she is pretending to have misplaced.
It was a nice chess move, and funny those rigging the election in favor of the Democrat didn’t anticipate it.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore the topic of the thread. Scott Walker is a lying asshole who is just in office to do the bidding of those interests looking to annihilate all checks and balances on their racketeering. Walker couldn’t think or act for himself if his life depended on it.
Yep, all 5400+ teachers got pink slips (my principal got his last week and my parapro and other non-teachers will get them after April 30). Our union is rah rahing that “most” will be rescinded, starting with special ed (which is what I am) and bilingual and math but I’m not sure about that. Then again, what the hell are they gonna say?!!?
Patti, I’m sorry to hear that you lost your job, at least for the time being. I hope that things work out for the best, for both you, and the kids that you work with every day.
Mark, thanks. I’m hopeful that it will be “rescinded” but we won’t know until after July 1…meantime, it’s back to searching for non-existent jobs. OTOH, this may finally be the kick in the ass that I need to a) make my CTN beer show with the Beer Wench and 2) try to get a book published. I doubt it, but maybe.
Also in the news, it turns out that Florida’s teabagging governor lied about how much money had been spend on high speed rail in the state.
They’ve collected more than 1 million signatures to recall Scott Walker!
More:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/01/17/405473/walker-recall-effort-delivers-with-1-million-signatures/
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[…] bargaining — in the relationship between government and people.” Ohio and Wisconsin, under attack by anti-labor crusades like the Koch brothers, have had their bloody fights, and now […]