Hitherto, when this university town and seat of state government applauded itself as “the Athens of the Midwest,” the sobriquet suggested kinship with the cultural glories of ancient Greece. Now, however, Madison resembles contemporary Athens.
This capital has been convulsed by government employees sowing disorder in order to repeal an election. A minority of the minority of Wisconsin residents who work for government (300,000 of them) are resisting changes to benefits that most of Wisconsin’s 5.6 million residents resent financing.
Serene at the center of this storm sits Republican Scott Walker, 43, in the governor’s mansion library, beneath a portrait of Ronald Reagan. Walker has seen this movie before.
As Milwaukee County executive, he had similar dust-ups with government workers’ unions, and when the dust settled, he was resoundingly reelected, twice. If his desire to limit collective bargaining by such unions to salary issues makes him the “Midwest Mussolini” – some protesters did not get the memo about the new civility – other supposed offenses include wanting state employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pension plans (most pay less than 1 percent), which would still be less than the average in the private sector. He also wants them to pay 12.6 percent of the cost of their health care premiums – up from about 6 percent but still much less than the private-sector average.
A few days after President Obama submitted a budget that would increase the federal deficit, he tried to sabotage Wisconsin’s progress toward solvency. The Washington Post: “The president’s political machine worked in close coordination . . . with state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals.” Walker notes that in the 1990s, Wisconsin was a trendsetter regarding school choice and welfare reform. Obama, he thinks, may be worried that Wisconsin might again be a harbinger.
He also thinks Obama’s intervention demonstrates why presidents should serve apprenticeships as governors. He says that Obama, in the Illinois Legislature and the U.S. Senate, “was a liberal among liberals,” and liberals are his base, and his staff comes from it. Governors, Walker says, get used to considering the interests of broad constituencies.
First, the Democratic Party is the party of government, not only because of its extravagant sense of government’s competence and proper scope, but also because the party’s base is government employees. Second, government employees have an increasingly adversarial relationship with the governed. Third, Obama’s “move to the center” is fictitious.
Read More: By George F. Will, Washington Post
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SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER THIS SAYING. "SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS AND I WILLTELL YOU WHO YOU ARE". WELL OBAMA HAS SHOWED US WHO IS FRIENDS ARE. YOU KNOW COMMUNISTS, LOVERS OF MAO, PEOPLE WHO WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO RUN YOUR LIVES FROM BIRTH TO DEATH [WHICH BY THE WAY THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL GET THE MEDICAL TREATMENT YOU MAY NEED TO LIVE]. THESE PEOPLE ARE HIS CZARS, HIS ASSOCIATES, HIS FRIENDS. HE BOWS TO THE SAUDI KING, DISSES THE UNITED STATES WHEN SPEAKING TO THE MASSES WHEN OVERSEAS. WHEN RUNNING FOR ELECTION HE STATED "AMERICA IS A GREAT COUNTRY VOTE FOR ME – HELP ME CHANGE HER. WELL HOW DO YOU LIKE THE CHANGE? I CERTAINLY DON'T. OBAMA IS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE US INTO A THIRD WORLD SOCIALIST COUNTRY. HE BELIEVES IN CLASS WARFARE. HE NEEDS TO BE IMPEACHED .
Interesting…..Doctors writing sick notes? (In this case very unprofessional). Something is wrong here or the people have suddenly have lost all their senses. Sick people stay at home in bed usually not storming the streets. All I can say someone needs to really open their eyes and wake up their dumbed down brains. I used to be in leadership in A GOOD Union and you just did not pull stunts like this or everyone whom didn't return to work by a set date …WERE FIRED AND REPLACED. These sick people had better prove they are sick and the doctors whom wrote those sick notes had better prove it and not just on say so-but with documented evidence and that means every sick person needs to be subjected to a proper physical examine by a doctor whom hasn't written a "SICKO NOTE".. These unions today are running this country into HE** and these poor, poor sick people need to stop boo hooing…they are paying less for those benefits than those outside the Protection of a Greedy Unions and its members who could care less about their neighbors whom are not in a Union who is part of this big lie.
" Hitherto, when this university town and seat of state government applauded itself as “the Athens of the Midwest,” "
Having lived in Madison for a VERY SHORT TIME, Thank, God!, The title "Athens of the Midwest" is rather appropriate ……. consider the sexual behavior often referred to as, "Greek".
'Nuff said!
What I find so interesting is that it didn't take b.o. 24 hours to comment on what is happening in Wisconsin, however, it took him almost a week to comment on Mubarek's ousting, He hasn't yet commented on Libya's rioting against Kudafi, nor has he mentioned on the murders of the 4 Americans in Somalia…………shows just what is of interest to this classless, anti-American, power hungry, usurper. He gave away the codes of British bombs to the Chinese, when are we going to call this fraud what he is, a treasonous traitor?!??!?!
He does not seem to be really comfortable discussing foreign affairs but will spew off about domestic affairs almost to quickly. It is total lack of experience and does not seem to have much experience surrounding him either. This is what you get when you hire a intern to do a job. He is lost and does not know it that the scary part.
Jimmy two has entered the Oval Office. I voted for Jimmy but have learned with age. It bothers me that very few of his media following him in the campaign ever ask him about his experience. I guess they were just awestruck by his leg tingling speeches. No one ever vetted this guy in public and we now have a world melting down and he is planning a MO-TOWN music fest at the White house this week.
Here is a lesson in leadership:
Headline:
Lobbyists: White House sends meetings off-site to hide them.
That what I call open and transparent. What scam job Barry sure is running. He is doing almost everything he said he would not do and more. Why do elected officials have no shame?
I doubt if Obama is giving his fake smile toward Scott Walker now. Now that Scott has shown exactly how the unions have controlled the voting booths with our tax monies. 95% of the union funds for politicians goes to Democrats. No wonder they love unions. And Obama is taking unconstitutional
measures to back them. The list of atrocities that Obama has commited are innumerable. How can we possibly stand by and see him, daily, tear down our country?
The unions have showed their true colors, Americans know they are bankrupting our country and instead of negotiating they want the same old for unions. They are behind much of the protests at Occupy, they use workers' money to supply these LOSERS.