Finally coming out and stating the obvious, Scott Walker admits that his assault against collective bargaining had nothing to do with Wisconsin’s budget deficit

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…

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23 Comments

  1. Andrew Jason Clock
    Posted April 14, 2011 at 10:11 pm | Permalink

    The video isn’t showing up…

  2. Posted April 14, 2011 at 10:17 pm | Permalink

    OK, it should be working now. Thanks.

  3. LAKE
    Posted April 14, 2011 at 10:43 pm | Permalink

    Awesome.

  4. dragon
    Posted April 14, 2011 at 11:03 pm | Permalink

    Groovy.

  5. Posted April 14, 2011 at 11:20 pm | Permalink

    Wow.

  6. IKKKEA
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 6:29 am | Permalink

    DK is a vegan, on top of it all.

  7. Tommy
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 6:30 am | Permalink

    And his wife is hot – with a tongue piercing!

  8. Knox
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 6:37 am | Permalink

    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.

  9. Chairman Meow
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 7:08 am | Permalink

    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.

  10. Edward
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 7:40 am | Permalink

    I know how to use Google.

    “FLILF”

    http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-29-2007/is-america-ready-for-a-flilf-

  11. Dashboard Pro
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 9:09 am | Permalink

    It’s all politically motivated? Really? A revelation that shocks absolutely no one…

  12. LaidOffTeacherPatti
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 12:05 pm | Permalink

    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)

  13. Ez
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 4:12 pm | Permalink

    Laid off? What happened?

  14. Robert
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 4:39 pm | Permalink

    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.

  15. Redleg
    Posted April 15, 2011 at 6:05 pm | Permalink

    ^^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.

  16. Posted April 15, 2011 at 7:03 pm | Permalink

    Good. Maybe they will take all that money and spend it on small businesses.

  17. Robert
    Posted April 16, 2011 at 10:15 am | Permalink

    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.

  18. Robert
    Posted April 16, 2011 at 12:09 pm | Permalink

    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.

  19. LaidOffTeacherPatti
    Posted April 16, 2011 at 12:56 pm | Permalink

    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?!!?

  20. Posted April 16, 2011 at 2:21 pm | Permalink

    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.

  21. LaidOffTeacherPatti
    Posted April 16, 2011 at 4:41 pm | Permalink

    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.

  22. Edward
    Posted April 17, 2011 at 9:11 am | Permalink

    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.

    In a remarkable admission, Rick Scott’s legal counsel Thursday told the Florida Supreme Court that he misled justices on the amount of money already spent on the state’s high-speed rail project — a key detail that may have helped cinch the governor’s victory in a constitutional tug-of-war.

    In a two-page letter to Chief Justice Charles Canady, Scott’s general counsel, Charles Trippe, acknowledged that last month he misrepresented a central fact in arguments supporting the governor’s rejection of $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project linking Tampa with Orlando.

    Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, one of two senators who sued Scott saying he had exceeded his constitutional authority in killing the project, said Thursday evening that Trippe’s letter is a “huge admission.”

    “It’s a material misrepresentation of the facts in this case,” Altman said. “We knew (Trippe) was wrong when he said it in court. But we couldn’t stop him from saying it.”

    In the letter, Trippe admitted he was wrong when he told justices that $110 million of the $130 million authorized by the Florida Legislature for the project approved in 2009 had already been spent.

    Instead, Trippe said only $31 million had actually been spent — a major gap that appears to have shaped the court’s decision that sided with Scott.

  23. Meta
    Posted January 17, 2012 at 4:04 pm | Permalink

    They’ve collected more than 1 million signatures to recall Scott Walker!

    Activists working to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) filed petitions today with more than 1 million signatures to the state, close to double the almost they needed to begin the recall process and force Walker to stand for reelection in November. If successful, it would be the first gubernatorial recall in Wisconsin history, and only the third in U.S. history. The number of signatures comes close to the 1,128,941 votes Walker received, and was far more than the 540,000 needed.

    More:
    http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/01/17/405473/walker-recall-effort-delivers-with-1-million-signatures/

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  1. […] 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 […]

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