Too many parasites living off the labors of the industrious--agreed. Throw the billionaire parasites out! And based on the comments of that Indiana prosecutor Cox, it's not so far-fetched to conjure up memories of Kent State. Watch out for "thugs" (to use Cox's word against him) in high places. Cox got caught making his "deadly force" comment, where other hardliners keep it behind closed doors. And where Woody Guthrie's "This Machine Kills Fascists" guitar message was metaphorical, this guy's bloodlust seems real.

it is past time that state county and federal workers realize they have to contribute like the rest of the working class it is not a privelage to work for the government any more than its a privelage to work for a bank what this man is doing is trying to rein in a budget that is totally out of control I applaud him for that these workers could have gotten a pink slip and then when they try to collect unemployment the state government can just say sorry we dont have any money to give you go to your local union representative and have the union pay you

What is going on in Wisconsin and other states with public employee unions attempting to legislate to their own benefit and the heck with budgets that must be balanced, will, in the not too distant future, be spreading to the military, with a call that enlisted personnel be unionized. Imagine that!

If anyone is to be compared to Adolph it is BHO. Adolph was not born in Germany, but Austria. Barry where is your birth certificate. Adolph was a socialist, Nazi's where national socialists. Barry is a socialist or worse. Adolph ended up destroying Germany. Barry wants to destroy the U.S. Adolph could fire up a crowd of his supporters. Barry fires up his supporters. Adolph outlawed political opposition. Bary is trying to do the same. Adolph banned guns for the people (1938 gun law). Barry wants to ban guns. etc, etc, etc.

These people have been feeding at the public trough so long they think they are entitled to anything they want.

If the government would take care of only essential services, then no Union would have a fit within government because their services would be essential. If Unions are allowed to exist in government, then politicians are, as we can see in Wisconsin, subjected to their wishes and not to the voters. Unions in government represent a blatant conflict of interest which politicians, bad ones this is, want there because it allows them to grow in their corruption. This is one of main reasons why every one that wants to understand democracy as the government by the people and for the people, as oposed to by politicians for their own interests; should without any doubt ask for small and limited government.

It is striking, and perhaps not at all coincidental, that the union power brokers and their pawns here are taking to the streets to maintain the status quo just as the hard line dictators in the Middle East are rallying their foot soldiers. After decades of control and deceit, they aren't going down without a fight, apparently.

Support your union!! Unions providing jobs - jobs in Mexico, Hong Kong, Communist China.

Can't Gov. Walker decertify the unions like Reagan did to PATCO?

Government Unions: those predictably charged with "Governing," in charge of their own purse strings, pay checks, and benefits.

Same as government legislatures (those who govern without being governed) voting their own pay rises, without any checks and balances on robbing the taxpayers.

As well, like school boards’ control over property tax rates, ensuring their own pay packages keep way ahead of inflation. Talk about the foxes guarding the hen houses.

Doesn't this sound way too much like ‘legally permitted’ embezzlement?

@Paul - Unionization of the military? Possible - Yes. Likely - No. Unlike the leeches we fondly refer to as "public employees" (aren't they supposed to be public servants?), the members of our military live under a differenct law...a different code...known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

As a military commander, I could put you in jail for a month, take away your pay, and reduce you in rank, just for being late to work, all without a trial or a jury, and all 100% legal under UCMJ. Why? Because the military demands a higher level of performance than that from mere "public employees".

There are many times I wish that we could subject our "public employees" to the same standards that we subject our true public servants...our military servicemen and women.

Oh, by the way, in the military, if you don't work for a full 20 years, you are not eligible for a retirement check. If you work for 10, 15, 18 years and then get out...too bad...so sad. And the military is an up-or-out organization. If you don't get promoted into the limited number of slots in the next rank, you get a pink slip. "Thank you for your service to your country. No soup for you!" Imagine making our "public employees" live by that standard?

Wisconsin Oath of office. SECTION 28. Members of the legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Wisconsin, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices to the best of their ability

I agree that we all need to face economic realities.

I have worked for both the Federal and New York State governments for approximately thirty five years. I was a federal agent for more than thirty of those years. I made countless felony arrests throughout my career. I’ve been injured in the line of duty three times, including once during the cleanup at the WTC. I was awarded numerous commendations, including a bravery award following a shooting during the execution of arrest warrants. My father was a career NYC cop and my brother was a federal agent before he was KIA in desert storm.

I deeply resent the inference that I am a “parasite living on the labor of the industrious”.

When federal pay was a joke in NYC, I still loved my job and worked off-duty to earn enough money to make a down-payment on a house. Before my wife was able to go back to work after the birth of our children, I was working seven days a week. That’s when federal agents were paid overtime at a rate less than straight pay. It took more than ten years (and is continuing today) for the federal government to comply with the law and pay employees overtime at the legal rate.

I tell anyone who believes that working as a narcotics agent in NYC or anywhere, is parasitic, to apply for the job.

Your essay is insulting.

am a regular reader, believer, and disseminator of the Patriot Post to my eddress book.

as to the wisconsin senators playing hooky, didn't the republicans pull the same stunt in texas a couple of years ago.

might it be informative to remind us readers all of both the similarities and the differences in both these occurrences and their resolutions ?

might it also be appropriate to raise the question of when to initiate recall( or replacement) petitions for those wisconsin senators who have apparently abandoned their duties ?

tkx for your continued efforts.

I consider myself to be 'Very Conservative', socially and politically. I also belong to a Public Collective Bargaining Unit. I am a Defender of the Consitution as a Police Officer and I welcome all the restriction the Constitution places on my profession. Shall I say it keeps the thugs from being bigger thugs.

I contribute 11% to my retirement. This comes straight from My pay. I do not have a matching 401K nor do I get Social Security. I also contribute 50% to my healthcare. My union has taken 0% pay increases in tough economic times and this year I received a 10% pay cut. So my point is not all unions have the municipalities by the throat.

To make ends meet, I work nights and run a small landscaping business on the side. I am by no means looking for sympathy or a handout. I would simply like everyone to know that not all public employees are lazy crooks. I spent last Christmas in a cell with a heroin junkie throwing up on me and yes, I still say Merry Christmas not 'Happy Holidays'. I am happy (maybe not the right word) to do this for my community. I choose this profession understanding I would not get rich (90K with both jobs) but I would have a decent retirement when all was said and done.

So what is the solution? Honesty on boths end of the bargaining table. The teachers in WI need to step up to the plate.

God Bless America! Pray for Our Country, for it is in Great Peril!

a few things, Holder decides DoM Act is unconstitutional usurping powers given to the judicial branch of government.

Obama is processing Libya, start by kicking them off the Human Rights council at the UN

Southern Poverty Law Center announces increase in hate groups from the right wing what about the hatred from the unions above, the hatred from gangs murdering on Martin Luther King Blvds all around this country?

If Congress has not passed the budget for the fiscal year by Oct 1, they and their staff should go unpaid until they do, with no back pay later and no leaving town till they do.

Obama and his cabinet members should demonstrate work smarter by forgoing travel and give all speeches by video link.

Harry Reid just learned there are brothels in NV and wants them closed, their campaign donation must have been lost in the mail

How is it legal for legislators to refuse to do the duty for which thet were elcted by "running away" to other states to prevent a quorum being present?

While I'm tired of government undertaking fruitless activities, these cowards should be impeached and replaced with people who are willing to live up to their oaths, regardless of their political stripes.

I thought that today's article was right on target and truthful. I live in Wisconsin and am embarrassed to see the immature, childish antics of the cowardly Democratic State Senators who are hiding in IL, etc., and the rude, Liberal-Progressive protesters. What a shame and poor example for our children.

Tom S

Disabled Vietnam Veteran: 68-70

James Taranto, WSJ Best of the Web:

It's quite striking the way almost every lie the left ever told about the Tea Party has turned out to be true of the government unionists in Wisconsin and their supporters:

• Extreme rhetoric. The Wisconsin Republican Party has produced what Mediaite.org calls an "incredibly effective" video juxtaposing liberal complaints about allegedly extremist Tea Party rhetoric with unionist signs likening Gov. Walker to Hitler and other dictators. Left-wing journalists are making similar invidious comparisons: "Workers Toppled a Dictator in Egypt, but Might Be Silenced in Wisconsin" read the headline of a Washington Post column by Harold Meyerson last week. The other day on CNN we saw scenes of a Madison crowd chanting, "Kill the bill"--which was said to be violent and invidious a year ago, when "the bill" was ObamaCare.

• Violence. Blogress Ann Althouse, a state employee based in Madison, posted a video of municipal salt trucks blowing their horns in support of the unionists. A YouTube commenter responded (quoting verbatim), "whoever video taped this has no life and should be shot in the head." Unlike Frances Fox Piven, Althouse has never advocated violence, but don't expect the Times to give this the kind of coverage it gave Piven's claims that she had received threatening emails.

• Partisan AstroTurf. That's the Beltway term referring to a fake grassroots movement. Politico reported last week that "the Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America arm--the remnant of the 2008 Obama campaign--is playing an active role in organizing protests." A blogger at the OFA website, BarackObama.com, writes: "To our allies in the labor movement, to our brothers and sisters in public work, we stand with you, and we stand strong." We've also received emails from MoveOn.org, which says it's holding a pro-unionist rally outside our offices later this afternoon. Sorry, MOO, we're working at home today.

• Refusal to accept election results. Although Republicans have a majority in the Wisconsin Senate, Democrats have fled the state, taking advantage of the body's rules to deny the majority a quorum. The Indianapolis Star reports that Democrats from the Indiana House are employing the same tactic. Even Barack Obama, when he was an Illinois senator, usually voted "present."

• Stupidity. Remember "Teabonics," a photo album of misspelled Tea Party signs? The unionists can't spell any better--and some of them are teachers! Althouse got one photo of what we think is a woman holding a sign that reads " 'Open for business' = Closed for Negotiatins [sic]." Also, some of the teachers' tactics--in particular, fraudulently calling in sick and exploiting other people's children by enlisting them as protesters--seem not only unethical but calculated to repel the public. One blessing of low standards for public school teachers is that it ensures many of them are not bright enough to stage an effective protest.

The one exception: So far we haven't seen any evidence of racism by the Wisconsin unionists. But we're watching for it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703529004576160273318213558.html

Interesting but should include when relating this union action to Hitler's socialist ideals that Hitler outlawed unions when He took complete power in a deal with big money and big business to gain their support.

Walker is no Hitler. He is what he has shown himself to be, a politician and right or left most lie at their convenience to get votes and hide their real agenda. His is more then cost cutting its union busting.

I may be wrong on this, but I think I have my facts straight. You didn't mention in your piece on Collectivist Tyranny that JFK signed the executive order allowing for the once forbidden Unionization of public employees. If I am correct then the next Republican President can rescind that executive order. It should be a plank in the Republican platform.

One of the many things I find very amusing as well as unrealistic about this whole protest mess is that when asked for their solutions to the problems they face, they have none. Everything is just bombastic yada, yada, yada, but nothing solid that would solve the problem. These jackasses ARE THE PROBLEM, but as usual, can't see the forest for the trees. You want the benefits, do what the rest of us do, get out and EARN them!

(In response to the photograph of the sign wondering if anyone could see the difference between Gov. Walker and Adolf Hitler.) I submit that if anyone cannot see the difference, they should fire the striking teachers and hire scabs that CAN see the difference and will teach it to the under-achieving Wisconsin children (and parasites infesting the Wisconsin capitol for 2 weeks now, in the name of "rights"). Paychecks should be withheld from all employees who are striking (which is, after all, against the State Constitution), including the cowardly Democrats who are collecting the wages of taxpayers for not doing a job they were hired to do. Grow up, Wisconsin (and associated union-whining states), and stop the thievery!

Gee, I thought that all the hateful, disrespectful speech, signs, and the like had been banned by proclamation of our Glorious Leader. Maybe his union, socialist, communist, et al buddies missed the memo? Nah, they don't think it applies to them.

Something needs to be done with out of control state budgets, but to the Demorats that just means raising taxes on anyone who's not a union member.

I don't recall any marvel or world shaking invention coming from the WI educational system which would seem to indicate a "normal" American education. The Govenor should do what was done with air traffic controller strike, fire'em all. I mean really how bad would it be for "the children" to miss a few weeks of sub-standard education?

The comparison of health insurance benefit cost in terms of percentage of premiums paid by employees is not a good comparison. As an employee of the private sector in the healthcare industry, I have a choice of several health (medical, dental, and vision) plans, and a fixed allowance that goes toward covering them. If I choose the minimum plan, I pay about 18%. If I were able choose a plan comparable to what a MPS teacher gets (which I'm not, as nothing close to this is available), I'd be paying closer to 50%, as my allowance doesn't change.

Unfortunate too many people simply generalize all government workers as overcompensated, underworked, and active, even vigorous, members of unions. Many variations and factors should be recognized. A volunteer military career compelled my federal service after comparable private sector considered me too old. 35 years combined and my pay and compensation are stagnated (adjusted for inflation) at my military retirement levels. I am unaware of how (if?) union benefits me. I pay no dues, nor participate in union activities (and I oppose both). I suspect Reagan's break-up of PATCO in 1981 created precedents that reverberate in federal unions today. Be skeptical of aggregated statistics asserting overcompensation of all government employees. I know federal employees are definitely NOT underworked. We (coworkers and I) well earn our compensation. Am amazed more do not move to private sector. But most, like me, were prior military and suffer similiar stigmatism. I am still proud to serve, it is a priviledge and honor now as when a Soldier. But it is definitely not a place to get rich. I concur with need to cut costs, especially those that are unconstitutional and frivolous. But let's surgically cut out the cancer with a scalpel, skill, and a good prognosis. We should try to avoid the gory consequences of an hatchet weilding ax murderer.

Unions, today, serve no useful purpose. Their goal is to get as many benefits as possible with no obligations. We are in hard times and people must pay a portion of their healthcare. Obama is a major part of the problem. His support of unions is one reason that we must make him a ONE TERM PRESIDENT.!

Call these protesters what they are - whiney and selfish! Appointing themselves the only 'hard working families' is a joke and an insult to all the hard working, tax paying, non-whining people (read - non-union) who pay for their foolishnesh!

Thank God that Gov. Walker and his supporters see right through this, and may God give them the strength to stand strong and follow through with their sound plans for ALL the people of Wisconsin.

The Republican Party better figure out how to articulate the fact that union workers are not the only hard working people in this country and do not have the sole rights to that phrase so they can do what's right for all the people of this country.

Give the public schools and their teachers the same rights and freedom to discipline students as the Catholic schools,and I believe you'll see the increase in student performance you so much desire. Lets be honest about this....It's not nuclear science.

Ws are all familiar with organized MAFIA and their method of strong arming small businesses to pay them for "protection". The Unions use similar tactics but they are the"LEGITIMATE MAFIA"They take over large companys and force all employees to join and pay them monthly dues. The LEGITIMATE MAFIA are pulling out all the stops to prevent States from passing legislation to curb their power and the loss of millions of dollars.It is time someone blows the whistle on them and exposes them for what they really are.

even for anti union person like myself, I find this post precisely what I predicted. How many of you enjoy minimum wage or a decent wage? Check out what the gov said on tape, I found it shocking, His honor, Judge Guillory who I have coffee with 2x p/w, counted no less that 2 broken law, and 5 ethics violations. Hey, lets break the law. Listen to the tape. before you comment

Now also before you comment, read the bill. Is it balancing the budget? I found one section, about 9.5 lines. It gives the gov complete total control o sell any and all state assets w/o/ competitive bidding and at any price he wants. He doesn't have to inform the public. I could go on.

Health care. this blog has no love for universal health care. Geraldo at large stated, help us, my producer was was in a car accident and his insurance doesn't cover, he's broke. FOX NEWS, listen up, universal health care and union insurance will help that minor problem..

I saw you were upset with comparing the gov which I suspect will be up on either ethic or legal violations after listening to the tape, of being compared to Hitler. I saw Obama being compared by the GOP. Now the shoes on the other foot.

In his state, 3-1 ration against him. No one is supporting him. There is no stand up to the horrible underpaid people who teaches, (check out what they make) the will of the people is to take the deal, he is not doing the will of the people, the GOP is not doing the will of the people for the people have spoken. In this, yes he's a NAZI.

Unions serve no useful purpose? I live in a right to work state. Guess what, this mean they can fire you for no reason and you don't get unemployment. they tried that to my wife, we sued in federal court and broke them. we own them. Union would've prevented that.

read the Bill and watch or listen to something besides Ann Coultier and FOX. My challenge is always the same, prove it to me via the bill, via the tape. FOX new stated yesterday, they are not out to do the will of the people, they are out to bust the union and to deprive the DNC of money thus having one party rile. FOX NEWS stated it on Juan.

What do we call one party rule, I remember, COMMUNISM. You want it, live with it.

If I'm wrong in my brief analysis, show me where and I will reciend, want to debate, I'm up for it and remember I am anti union.

In closing, there was a surplus, he took office, now a negative. None of you ever questioned that, why? I know, tax cut to the rich. we had tax cuts for going on 9 years, how is that working out for us? Not very well.

In closing, you said, you sued in the big bad federal court. this company drops people after x amount of years so they don't have to pay a competitive salary. This what a right to work environment does.

I am not convinced he has an actual crises, I am almost convinced he manufactured it. Now tell me, all of you angry bloggers, what did the union do

for you? Better wages, working conditions, review boards, need I go on. Think about it. I do not know one rich teacher.

He considered putting in putting people in the crowd to cause trouble, maybe a civil disturbance, maybe some will die, but he didn't for it wasn't politically viable. Thew sign with Hitler is spot on for that's what he did in Nurmenburg. If you're going to cut the budget, do it with finase not with this hardcore fantasism.

Challenge still stands, check the facts for I will come back with them. YOU have a crooked governor who is all for big business and himself as outlined in the bill. this time GOP TALKING points and sticking to the script won't save him. He is suppose to listen to the people, to testimony, he refuses. Democracy at work or Fascism? I say its the latter for Hitler abolished the unions and for the same reasons. I see history repeated itself. Do not cry to me about some DNC's fleeing he state thus holding up the process. the GOP did it in Congress for 2 years. Now they are crying for the tactic they use came back to bite them?

Read the bill, listen to the tape then have a grown up discourse.

It is time for everyone to stop pointing fingers of blame and time to start agreeing to solutions. How can we move foward as a country united when we can't offer up some solutions and agree to them? It's time for the unions to re-examine their role in the work place and it's time for them to stop defending poor work performances and time to raise the bar of excellance!

Where have we seen this activity before?

... In almost every family where allowances are given. An allowance may be handed out for the mere fact that "You are my child and deserve this money." But once that allowance is reduced, or removed, as a means to discipline behavior, cries of "unfair" and "you can't do that to me!" errupt amidst the juvenile caterwauling.

It is one thing for President Obama(mama) to ask that everyone sacrifice for those less fortunate, but it is quite another thing when publik servants are asked to sacrifice.

Selfish and Self-centered: a descriptive haiku might read;

(m)an spits words hurts Man,

"Tearing him down builds me up!"

No one cares for Self.

PoetHaiku

-- 1975

Got it wrong buddy:

Scott Walker versus Adolf Hitler

is like

Greyhound versus Maddog

Myrtle;

You have a syllable's advantage on me.

No disagreement with the Collectivist Tyranny posting, but the spell checker apparently can't distinguish between "sights" and "sites" (see below).

set their sites on federal employee unions -- who were the beneficiaries of Obama's "economic stimulus" plan --

Mark,

Here in Oklahoma the liberal pundits are demanding we fund education at the "regional average". What they want is more of our tax dollars to paper over our significant problems with education. Oklahoma ranks 47th overall in spending and student achievement.

I pointed out my mom got a great education from a one-room rural school back in the 40s. I think they were spending about $10 per pupil a year back then. Inflation adjusted, $10 then works out to about $200 per pupil now - which is still $6,300 less than Oklahoma spends a year per pupil today.

Does it do any good to suggest this isn't a "money" problem? That this is a "standards" problem?

How about the governor or Wisconson declare the democrats in hiding as abdicating their posts, vacate them, appoint new officials and press on with the business at hand. If I decide not to show up to work, my boss would fire me and replace me, why not with these individuals?

Why is it that Democrats are objecting to bringing "the VOTER" to the table in their collective bargaining? Could it be because they fear the voter? That they realize that should their demands be put to the vote they will lose?

My comment is just this. I have been in agreement with your posisitons on almost everything for years, but I don't think public service unios' members should subjects of your ire. I can't tell you how hard our job's are and our work places are not cushy and we are always at the whim of the tides of politics. I have been deeply offeneded to think that educators in the US are just lumped into a hump and our republican leaders think we should all just pound salt because many of our national leaders have sided with liberals. I for one feel like my 38 years as a school counselor are being put into a big vat of filth and boiled so someone's agenda can be justified. You are making me sad and unfortunately, kind of proud of the WI dems. :(

The sign "Scott Walker=Adolf Hitler ..."

It does not make sense to me. If they "Can't tell the difference" Then why is it that those who cannot tell the difference "Must be in a coma"?

In fact the entire sign reads poorly

"Municipal Employees forked over $87.5 million in union dues for the sole purpose of electing Democrats..."

I beleive that to understand the scope of this unholy alliance, the PERCENTAGE of contributions MUST be clearly stated. When so specified that well over 90% goes to demoncrats, their motives become clear and the method obvious. Free market corporations which routinely grease both sides of the aisle are not to be mistaken for unions of big and bigger gov't. which are beholden to only one devil in this charade.

@harry from massachusetts. The ones who ran to Oklahoma from their duties in Texas were also democrats protesting the Republican plan for redistricting.

Can we have more emphasis on STALIN and BOLSHEVISM and less on Hitler? The problem in this country is that there are too many Trotskyites in upper government and Hitler(who hated Communism and wanted to force all Communists out of Germany)has become the endless poster boy for all evil, when IN FACT, it is the Russian Bolshevicks that murdered close to 100million people.(Read the Black Book of Communism by Harvard University Press)Get to know the facts, not bather from Socialist public school propaganda.

Our children are not learning as they did a few decades ago for 2 main reasons: first, we dumbed down our schools so nobody would fail and suffer low self-esteem (didn't work), and second, the local schools boards have taken away the teachers' authority over their classrooms. This is a big FAIL; no teacher can enforce learning when the student has free reign and the teachers have no respect from them. It's time to restore authority to the schools and teachers, and let the students fail if they need to.

The MINORITY has now become the 'de facto' MAJORITY--those who lose the election—that would be the Democrats, because the public became fed up with them—can simply boycott the vote (thus denying the quorum), on any bill on which they know they cannot prevail by 'democratic' means, and VOILA! They win. They usurp in effect—albeit unlawfully—the place of the MAJORITY.

How can this in any way be seen as lawful? The voters selected their representatives, and those who have been elected are duty bound to do their job, among other things, to vote. At the very least, they are to attend and at very least vote “present” as did their leader Obama, when he was a state senator. Boycotting the vote, thereby preventing the quorum, flouts not only the will of the people, but the intent of the respective constitution, be it state or federal. Not only should they be denied pay for being delinquent, but in reality, they should be subject to an executive ultimatum to return and do the duties job they were elected to do, or be replaced.

If there is not yet a law on the books, a bill needs to be proposed that sufficiently clarifies the duty to do the job of an elected representative, and the conditions under which 'forfeiture' of their position can occur. Let them boycott that vote as well. They probably will. This would further expose those who reject the constitution and show by their actions that they really do not believe that this is a nation of "rule by law".

To RK Sprau and Mr. Ochasenbein: I don't quite understand, Mr. Sprau, how don't support unions; your letter is definitely pro-union. Mr. Ochasenbein and Mr. Sprau: Unions were started to give workers fairness in wages and benefits. The started with good intentions. Unfortunately, as the unions grew, they acquired more and more wealth and power. We know what that does to people and organizations. The result now is that for public employee unions, the wages and benefits are paid by the private sector workers, who can't afford to keep you in this lifestyle. We don't want to change your wages, but not contributing to your benefits if a gift the rest of us are not willing to give. You will still have collecting bargaining on wages, which is fair, but you shouldn't have it on benefits. No one else does. And by the way, I know a few wealthy teachers personally; a married couple. The wife taught elementary school and the husband taught high school. They both retired about 10 years ago and are collecting about $100,000

together in their pensions. WOW!

My challenge still stand, read the bill, communism or socialism, take your pick. Annie, no child left behind and pushed on via bush. Both sides did that.

Now as for the other, OMG, the unions are supporting the DNC's. As the tape shows and follow the money, Big business want zero regulations, bad working conditions,and its GOP who takes the money and are bought and paid for. I stated the Legs in Wisc are not doing the peoples will by 3-1. this is a fact as noted on FOX as noted prior. Listen to the tape, FOX News can get everyone they want to say, the people are tired of this, the people are behind them. Nice spin but 3 to 1, come on. Some of you have ire, good, fight for something or stand for nothing.

My challenge to everyone is to prove your case, this blog prove your case. Someone told me, this is abusive, If stating prove your case is abusive, then I'll wear the label with pride. Keep up the good work, all of you. A wise rabbi ate 350BCE said, "When two Rabbis debate the law then the only outcome can be truth."

nosocialism, The Nazi party was the National Socialist Party. And Adolph's best friend was Joe Stalin up to the early 1940's. Next to Joe and Mao, Adolph was a piker in that he killed less people.

We have a sterling example of how to handle the situation in Wisconsin. When the Air Traffic Controllers went on strike in 1981, President Ronald Reagan FIRED THEM and got some more. Seems they really weren't all that hard to replace after all. I even heard there was a national teacher surplus. You might want to dwell on that Governor.

My earlier comments about unions were composed out of exasperation. We are in hard times and people need to take responsibility for a portion of their healthcare costs. There many good unions. Unfortunately the media is focusing on the rabble-rousers who are not really interested in finding constructive solutions to a major budget problems. Historically unions have secured workers rights, health and safety. We need unions but unions need to be good stewards of limited funds and bargain in good faith. I would rather have lower pay if it means saving my job.

The real problem is summed up in Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Until we as a nation humble ourselves before God we will continue to have unrest.

Great article! I too am a retired state employee, and have been a member of a Union. I can say, at the time, the union was not very strong, or helpful.I too contributed to my pension and health insurance. It seemed to me that my required donations were kind of high. But after looking back, and now reaping the rewards, I will not complain.

I, like you, have felt that public employee unions have no place in the public domain. However, public employees need to have some way to speak out about unfairness in the workplace. I believe one way to solve this problem is to have a State Ombudsman that would hear, investigate and take action on those who feel that they have been unfairly treated.

The State Office of Ombudsman would be under the perview of the State Legislature, and work closely wioth the Legislative Committed that deals with State Employees.

There is something wrong with the idea that some individual has the power to increase my taxes other than through a law passed by the Lesgislature.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent my viewpoint. And I use the Latin term Semper Vigilo for my blog e-mail.

If I didn't show up at my job for a week and a half I would not only be fired but would also loose all accrued benefits. In other words, I would be out on my ear!

Excellent essay...as a mastered degree public school teacher, retired, I want the Dept. of Education dismantled and the power returned to the states and localities and their hired professional staff to determine what is best for their children. The students belong to the parents, not the NEA or the Dept. of Ed. Let the localities do what is best, and let the parents hold the professionals they hire to teach and even raise their children be accountable to the parents and citizens of those localities. Imposing rules and social engineering from the top (either by the government or the teachers' unions) just "ain't" it!!

@Harry from Massachusetts

Yes, you're thinking of the "Texas Eleven" who were in fact DEMOCRATS. Happened in 2003 over a redistricting vote, when they decided to flee to Oklahoma.

So yes, back in the summer of 2003 my state unfortunately picked up a bad case of flees (or fleas, you pick).

I don't understand why more citizens are not discussing the bottom line which seems to be that Obama, his cohorts like the unions are trying to overthrow our government.

Unions have a history of corruption and bully tactics and their organized efforts to block our way of governing traditionally is glaringly clear.

I thought sedition was a crime against the state much less shutting down the schools and leaving town so that normal governance was not possible.

Perhaps I'm not connecting the dots correctly, but the union groups that have shown up not only around the world, but now in our own cities are not grassroots public protest, but are organized union opposition to our way of governing.

I'm always amazed at how Mr. Alexander is able to cut through the chase and get to the point while offering undeniable verification for his position. Thanks for another excellent post. You have stated what's been on a lot of our minds here lately~ Thank YOU!

YOU NOTICED HE DIDN'T HANG AROUND IN WI. HE WENT TO OHIO. COULD IT BE HE WAS AFRAID OF THE CROWD OF PEOPLE THAT WAS FOR WALKER.

HE IS SCUM1111111111111111111

BOBBIE S. MEADERS

I live in a city adjoining Madison, WI., about six miles from capitol square. No one has contacted me or my wife for support (not that they'd get any!), in fact, the unions are not seeking support from the general population at all, since they have to know we are against them. I personally know people who have left good paying jobs in the private sector because of the no-cost bennies that the State offered. On the other hand, some of the people I work with in the private sector have left the University of Wisconsin (especially) because of the rush to mediocrity that the unions demand. They are people who take pride in their work, look to do the right things for their families and communities, and are respected by coworkers. The protesters need keep it down on the Isthmus - the real population of Wisconsin have been wary of their antics for years now. They are just showing their colors to the rest of the world. The old saying around here, that Madison is 60 square miles surrounded by reality, has never been more true.

Unions love layoffs - because then they can pretend they "gave something up". When in fact, they have no problem laying off low seniority members...as long as the ones at the top don't have to take 1 ounce of a pay cut. It's ironic that these same people call conservatives "greedy"...also Conservatives donate at a 7:1 ratio to Liberals.

Unions clearly understand the strategic import of the battle now underway in Wisconsin. "If we lose in Wisconsin, it's going to be a domino effect," proclaimed Teamster John Hennelly. "This is just the opening salvo in a war."

Great! Now we know what to do! SUPPORT WALKER IN ANY AND EVERY WAY YOU CAN, PATRIOTS!!! MONEY! FEET ON THE GROUND! FLATTEN THESE DAMNED TRAITOROUS COMMIE BASTARDS ONCE AND FOR ALL, AND SHOW THE PRETENDER IN THE WHITE HOUSE THAT THERE IS VIRTUE AND POWER IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE STILL!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

I urge any member of any Wisconsin Tea Parties to spread the word to their brothers and sisters in those districts covered by the truant state senators - be mindful that these cowardly and infantile nitwits have actively refused to represent their districts according to the law and the state constitution. This is worse than abandoning their posts; it is abandoning their duty to the voters, and rendering valueless the votes of those constituents.

I have little hope that the progressives in those districts will see the light, but any others should be sufficiently outraged - that their voting rights have been taken for nought - that they can press for a special election to replace these "senators" with new members of the state senate who will NOT run away from their duty when the quorum is the question.

@ Ralph850 -- The sign "Scott Walker=Adolf Hitler ..."

It does not make sense to me. If they "Can't tell the difference" Then why is it that those who cannot tell the difference "Must be in a coma"? In fact the entire sign reads poorly

Posted February 24, 2011 at 3:30:22 PM

Thank God! I thought I was the only one who saw this!

The majority of the country is against this...

The majority of Wisconsin is against this...

So much misinformation in one opinion piece, this might be a record.

Mark,

Why doesn't the governor just FIRE all the democrat no-shows for dereliction of duty and hire in replacements???

@ Duke,

In the words of ex-Speaker Pelosi, "Are you serious?"

Even though I was a member of a union for 23 years ( I guess I still am, because I retired from the job pension $422/mo, no insurance because it would have cost more than that ), never once did I vote for the people that the Steelworkers backed. AND, I hated seeing my dues being used to back them and making those that ran the union rich. Thanks to the fact that I was also retired from the NAVY, because I started using TRICARE. People have to realize that unions are not for the workers in most cases, but are a means for those running them to make money off of your dues.

There is NO ethical basis for government unions. They are unethical, besides being completely self-serving, self-policing and self-negotiating.

You Republicans have short memories. At tea party rallies they were portraying Obama as Hitler. When one of your guys (Walker) gets likened to Hitler you have a fit. What a bunch of hypocrites. You can't have it both ways. I wonder how many of the protestors in Wisconson are Republicans Probably a lot. Walker is a snake in the grass. If he said he was going to end the bargining rights during his campaign he probably wouldn't have been elected. The union movement in America has been responsible for just about all the benefits white collar workers and others receive In a true democracy people should have the right to collective. But then again Republicans are not for peoples rights, just rights for the rich. God bless teachers. They deserve to be paid more than any Govenor.

I have to correct the misinformation being put out there about the 1937 letter from FDR to the National Federation of Federal Employees, which anti-union activists falsely claim demonstrates FDR would support the union-busting efforts of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

I know this letter well because the original version of it hangs on the wall 15 feet outside of my office at the national headquarters of the National Federation of Federal Employees, the organization I work for and to which the letter was written.

This letter was saying one thing and one thing only: federal employees should not have the right to strike. Any effort to expand the meaning of the letter is a willful misrepresentation of the facts.

In the letter, FDR's concern was that if federal employees, like those serving in the War Department – not Wisconsin state employees like teachers – were to strike, it could be a threat to the nation's security - a legitimate concern for the federal government where about half of the workers are employed by agencies with a clear national security mission.

The right to strike was implicit at the time FDR wrote this letter because the private sector was the only sector in the U.S. where collective bargaining existed, and private sector unions did (and still do) have the right to strike. Collective bargaining without the right to strike, which is common today, simply did not exist in America when this letter was written. FDR qualified his entire discussion of collective bargaining in the letter with the phrase “collective bargaining, as usually understood.” In 1937, “collective bargaining, as usually understood” meant the right to strike.

Let’s also not forget the time period in which this letter was written. In August of 1937, Hitler was amassing power in Europe and forming military alliances around the world. The last thing FDR needed was labor disputes possibly leading to strikes. That is precisely why when JFK granted federal workers bargaining rights in 1962, they were expressly not afforded the right to strike.

The 1937 FDR letter was written to federal employees about the importance of not having strikes in federal agencies because of national security concerns; nothing more. To suggest this is evidence that FDR - a huge supporter of workers' rights to form and join unions - would support Scott Brown's union-busting tactics is outrageous and disingenuous. A voice in the workplace for teachers and other Wisconsin public employees is not a matter of national security.

I'm quite certain that if FDR was around today, he would be leading the protests against Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

Randy Erwin

Legislative Director

National Federation of Federal Employees

Randy Erwin ---

FDR said unions IN GOVERNMENT was a BAD THING.

That is what we are trying to tell you.

Unions in the private sector are different. The bargaining sides in the public domain (read:government) are ----- BOTH supported by the CITIZENS -- who ARE NOT AT THE BARGAINING TABLE.

Geeeezz ......... what a maroon you is .... ;-)

I also agree that we all need to face economic realities.

I've been living off welfare both Federal and New York State welfare, for thirty five years. I was in the federal pen for thirty of those years. I was arrested for countless felony arrests throughout my career. I've been injured in my line of work three times, including once during a looting spree near the events of the WTC. I was elected cellblock president numerous times. My father also was a career criminal and my brother was in the Federal Pen before he was KIA during a bank robbery attempt.

I deeply resent the inference that I am a parasite living on the labor of the industrious.

When welfare payments were a joke in NYC, I still loved standing at line at the welfare office and even spent time away from line pimping hoes to earn enough money to make a down-payment on my own hoe-house. Before my old lady finally dropped her litter, I was spending seven days a week standing in line waiting for a handout. That's when welfare recipients were forced to wait twice as long in line. It took more than ten years (and is continuing today) for the federal government to dream up a law to conpensate welfare waiters for their time spent waiting.

I tell anyone who believes that working as a narcotics dealer in NYC or anywhere, is parasitic, to apply for the job.

Your essay is insulting.

P.S. But not as insulting as that guy McSomething or other who tried to insult our intelligence.

Re: Jim T.

Jim T. wrote "In a true democracy people should have the right to collective."

I think what the socialist meant to say was, 'in a true collectivist society the proletariat have the right to 'collect' from others (i.e., tax payers).'

He is entitled to his opinion on socialism, just as others are entitled to their opionins.

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA),. . . Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary."

Of course, and as usual, whenever anyone gets bloody in such "protests" it is virtually always the Conservatives who remain civil and get bloody. liberals have no worry when their violence results in bloody Conservatives, the MSM always finds a means of "looking the other way" and thus are not confronted with justifying liberal violence.

The bogus manner in which the MSM has been covering the violence in Wisconsin is much like the manner in which it covers the islamofascists attacks on Israel and Israelis.