Shortly after the 2008 elections, Republican leaders gave President Obama a list of modest proposals regarding the upcoming stimulus bill to which he replied, “elections have consequences and I won.” Perhaps the Democrats and their union rent-a-mob should be reminded of that statement as the farcical scene in Wisconsin goes on display for an international audience already reeling from world wide demonstrations and an overload of violent uprisings.
Despite the attempts of the media to portray the demonstrators wrapped in cloaks of constitutional legitimacy as they fight selflessly for the rights of children everywhere, the vast majority of the American people see through this manipulation and understand the real issues at stake. In short, we’re broke and the once-proud union cause has become a yoke around our necks that the nation can no longer bear.
Wisconsin’s problems are mirrored in virtually every state and the country watches as Democrat representatives opt to play hide and seek rather than tackle these issues head on. Their actions have a domino effect as Indiana representatives flee their state house and take up positions like children hiding under the covers in Illinois. Is this what the American people overwhelmingly voted for last November?
Facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker proposed increasing the public employee share of health insurance costs to 12.4% and asked state workers to contribute 5.8% of their pay towards pensions.
According to the MacIver Institute, when benefits are figured in, Wisconsin teachers earn an average salary of more than $100,000 per year. Currently, public employees are not required to contribute anything towards their pensions and only pay 5.4% towards health premiums, but the uproar is not entirely about the money as some token concessions have been made by the teacher’s union.
It should be noted that police and firefighters would be exempt from the Governor’s proposal.
The real issue at stake here is union power and the DNC has mobilized President Obama’s campaign army, Organizing for America, to coordinate efforts in the trenches of the protest. This has nothing to do with rights, it’s all about political power. The simple reality is that the Democrat party, as we’ve come to know it, would cease to exist without the ongoing support of the union juggernaut and this fact is not lost upon those in Washington.
John Heilemann of New York magazine recently disclosed to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell an amazing bit of information: “President Obama never spoke to six members of his cabinet during his first two years in office. Not once.”
Who has the ear of the President? During his first year in office, Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern topped the White house visitors list with at least 22 known meetings. AFLCIO leader Richard Trumka must surely have a commanding lead on the current list as he states “I am at the White House a couple of times a week…two, three times a week… I have conversations every day with someone in the White House.” Not really surprising given current events.
As teachers continue to strike illegally in Wisconsin with doctors on-hand to fabricate get out of jail free prescriptions, clueless children have been brought in as human shields and cannon fodder for a willing media as they’re paraded about for all to see. Often, they don’t even understand what they’re doing but they’re happy for a day off as evidenced in this video.
In typical liberal fashion, civility and respect are demanded only from those on the right side of the political equation as the usual foul language, Hitler personifications and violent rhetoric make their expected appearance amidst a flurry of socialist and communist imagery.
Outside of Wisconsin, the trend continues as Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) recently spoke to a group of union members in Boston stating, “Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary.”
Viewer warning, these may be offensive.
Crosshairs again? Really? Fortunately Jared Loughner is safely behind bars.
Wisconsin serves as the bellwether for similar dramas that will be be played out across the nation in the weeks ahead. With 44 states currently projecting crippling budget deficits for 2012, hard choices will have to be made and shared sacrifice will be asked of everyone.
Teachers are the backbone of our society and their contributions should never be undervalued, but the current display in Wisconsin is an embarrassment to all. The United States currently spends an average of $11,674 per student (doubling over the last 30 years), but yet we rank 33rd in international performance.
Students are the innocent victims in this ongoing political drama but our nation as a whole will suffer greatly in the decades ahead if this trend is not corrected.
Here’s a thought — let’s teach our children to think and instruct our government to stop thinking of us as children.
