Thread: Protesting in Wisconsin....Just the beginning?

well I am not sure what the national news has shown but the bill has been split. The collective barganing has been voted on as a seperate issue and has been passed. They did not need the democrats for this special vote because it did not have a financial impact. Now they can vote on the rest of the budget.

Originally Posted by knightwolf

well I am not sure what the national news has shown but the bill has been split. The collective barganing has been voted on as a seperate issue and has been passed. They did not need the democrats for this special vote because it did not have a financial impact. Now they can vote on the rest of the budget.

pretty smart eh

now the question is whether that is going to end up as political gain or political liability for the republicans. they're obviously betting that with more corporate money for them and less union money for the opposition the voters would be swayed by the more expensive/better advertising.

i wonder whether the public employees would just go for bankrupting the state. supposedly the reason to kill their collective bargaining power is so that the past contracts can be unilaterally amended, but there's still the rule of the law and it takes a bankruptcy to cancel a debt.

Originally Posted by gugi

but there's still the rule of the law and it takes a bankruptcy to cancel a debt.

They will just change the law.

tim

Originally Posted by kerryman71

Not really.

Yes, really Ok that socialism part was probably from me consuming a bit too much conservative media, so here's a picture originating in NYT to counterbalance it.

Originally Posted by 32t

They will just change the law.

That's the thing though, afik the federal laws trump state laws, so if a state decides that they are no longer going to pay their former employee the pension that they had mutually agreed upon say some 20 years ago, I don't think that just changing the state law to say it's cool would fly. But I really don't know all that much.

I should've been a little clearer in my "not really" comment. I meant not really in regards to the socialism comment you made. I realize that when this country was most prosperous for the majority of its population the top wage earners were taxed much higher. Our progressive tax system has gotten much more regressive over the years. There were some years when the top money makers were paying as much as 70% towards the end of the year. The fact that they now pay less than ten percent more than many middle class people is sickening. That's of course if they pay at all.

When it comes to corporations forget it. In the early 2000's Microsoft made 13 billion in PROFIT and paid less than 6% in taxes while at the same time outsourcing over 100,000 to India I believe.

I think we were on the same page, just in misunderstanding in wording.

John

Originally Posted by gugi

Yes, really Ok that socialism part was probably from me consuming a bit too much conservative media, so here's a picture originating in NYT to counterbalance it.





That's the thing though, afik the federal laws trump state laws, so if a state decides that they are no longer going to pay their former employee the pension that they had mutually agreed upon say some 20 years ago, I don't think that just changing the state law to say it's cool would fly. But I really don't know all that much.

Gingrich and Jeb Bush are actually pushing the Republican members of the House and Senate to make it easier for states to file bankruptcy so that they can get out of their pension obligation to retirees.

John

Funny how people are so concerned about the pay and benefits of public workers but don't seem to have any thought about what some mid level manager at GM makes or the guy who manages your local supermarket. After-all you are paying his wages every time you purchase something. Public Worker salaries are public record but private ones are a big hush hush secret.

What's that you say, you have no choice you have to pay taxes and there is no choice on your part but you can buy a Ford or go to another supermarket? You think that really makes a difference? GM pays their workers a fraction of what they used to pay. Anyone notice a decrease in the price of a Chevy?