Thursday, February 24, 2011

Walker Delivers His Own Punch Line

At the very end of his conversation with the phony David Koch, Walker says good-bye with this line:
WALKER: Well, thanks a million.  
Can you say, "Freudian slip?"  I thought you could.

1 comment:

  1. The real anger which does not get articulated is that this is a class war but not the kind you think. It is only a civil war between govt workers and the govt. It is similar to a stock broker's strike at Goldman Saks.

    But the class war is between the old, unemployed and disabled who own their own home and the govt workers.

    Most people support unions in the private sector because there are checks and balances. The union does well if the company does well or it fights the good fight. But public sector unions have no checks or balances. In WI the teacher's union has limited the number of voucher schools which can exist in a district. This has really pissed off mothers forced to live in the core by poverty and endure schools where violence in common. These women do not support the public sector unions. Notice those protesters are all white.

    Public sector unions have demanded Cadillac health and pension plans - their significant others are covered. This divides them from people demanding universal health care and equal rights.

    To sustain the public workers demands, people on fixed income must set aside four hundred dollars a month or more for property taxes or lose their homes. It is us against them. WHY? Because for years the old and disabled have complained and the unions and legislators say, yes we know but nothing is done.

    The old do not have children in school-their property taxes already paid for their children-renters with children pay nothing in property taxes because rent in this market is depressed. The schools bulge with non tax paying families of four to six children. Old people are losing their homes to support the demands of the schools; their football teams, coaches, swimming pools and low reading scores.

    There are many more class war issues that should be discussed to unite the people; there are solutions through institutional and systemic change. But just like with the real war, reactions are knee jerk --people are just taking left/right PC positions without reflection on the root inequities.

    It is an unsustainable public sector system and needs institutional financial reform. Users need to be responsible for the education system. Other govt workers must mirror the benefits in the private sector. Then all workers will have common interests. But with all the focus on the civil war, the root problem of the class war are ignored.

    If the public sector unions could meet with other types of community organizers and agree in writing to use their collective bargaining to make the structural changes to financing the schools and making an equalization between the private and public unions, they could win this fight with Walker because they will have more support.

    Otherwise they are like the GM unions insisting that people who really want to buy gas guzzling SUVs. The Janesville GM workers on unemployment are still insisting it wasn't the cars they produced. My point is, that at some point it is wise to listen to your critics and try to meet THEIR needs.

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