Louis Farrakhan has strong words for the administration about our involvement in Libya.
Who would have thought that the Right would be in agreement with Reverend Farrakhan?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Republicans = "despicable"
........................
Republican Sharia Law
Here is the core of the Republican Party today: anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti- immigration and anti-labor union. Anything else they claim is B. S. and their typical brand of hypocrisy. They say they want smaller government, but under their rule, the size of government exploded.
They say they want a smaller deficit, but they put us in the red long before the current administration. They say they want prayer in school. They do, as long as it’s Christian prayer. God forbid it should be a Muslim prayer. And sneaky? If they’d been up front about union-busting, they would’ve never been elected to office in 2010.
This modern Republican Party is the most despicable political party ever known to mankind in this country, and eventually it will take its place alongside the Know Nothings, the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. And not a minute too soon.
[snipped]
........................
Republican Sharia Law
Here is the core of the Republican Party today: anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti- immigration and anti-labor union. Anything else they claim is B. S. and their typical brand of hypocrisy. They say they want smaller government, but under their rule, the size of government exploded.
They say they want a smaller deficit, but they put us in the red long before the current administration. They say they want prayer in school. They do, as long as it’s Christian prayer. God forbid it should be a Muslim prayer. And sneaky? If they’d been up front about union-busting, they would’ve never been elected to office in 2010.
This modern Republican Party is the most despicable political party ever known to mankind in this country, and eventually it will take its place alongside the Know Nothings, the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. And not a minute too soon.
[snipped]
........................
GOP-- going backwards
......................................
My-oh-my, what a major-league blunder
The Wrap by Ron Judd
[snipped]
In Lesser Washington: GOP leaders, anxious to clear the stench of the Nancy Pelosi leadership era, are gleefully restoring Styrofoam cups to the Capitol cafeteria. Given them another term, and they'll truly restore America by putting the lead back in the paint on the walls.
[snipped]
......................................
My-oh-my, what a major-league blunder
The Wrap by Ron Judd
[snipped]
In Lesser Washington: GOP leaders, anxious to clear the stench of the Nancy Pelosi leadership era, are gleefully restoring Styrofoam cups to the Capitol cafeteria. Given them another term, and they'll truly restore America by putting the lead back in the paint on the walls.
[snipped]
......................................
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wisconsin union law blocked from taking effect by judge
....................................
Judge blocks contentious Wisconsin union law
The monthlong saga over Gov. Scott Walker's plan to drastically curb collective bargaining rights for public workers in Wisconsin took a turn Friday that could force a dramatic rebooting of the entire legislative process.
A judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect, raising the possibility that the Legislature may have to vote again to pass the bill that attracted protests as large as 85,000 people, motivated Senate Democrats to escape to Illinois for three weeks and made Wisconsin the focus of the national fight over union rights.
But Walker's spokesman and Republican legislative leaders indicated they would press on with the court battle rather than consider passing the bill again.
"We fully expect an appeals court will find that the Legislature followed the law perfectly and likely find that today's ruling was a significant overreach," Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and his brother, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, said in a joint statement. "We highly doubt a Dane County judge has the authority to tell the Legislature how to carry out its constitutional duty."
Dane County District Judge Maryann Sumi granted the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by the local Democratic district attorney, alleging that Republican lawmakers violated the state's open meetings law by hastily convening a special committee before the Senate passed the bill.
Sumi said her ruling would not prevent the Legislature from reconvening the committee with proper notice and passing the bill again.
[snipped]
....................................
Judge blocks contentious Wisconsin union law
The monthlong saga over Gov. Scott Walker's plan to drastically curb collective bargaining rights for public workers in Wisconsin took a turn Friday that could force a dramatic rebooting of the entire legislative process.
A judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect, raising the possibility that the Legislature may have to vote again to pass the bill that attracted protests as large as 85,000 people, motivated Senate Democrats to escape to Illinois for three weeks and made Wisconsin the focus of the national fight over union rights.
But Walker's spokesman and Republican legislative leaders indicated they would press on with the court battle rather than consider passing the bill again.
"We fully expect an appeals court will find that the Legislature followed the law perfectly and likely find that today's ruling was a significant overreach," Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and his brother, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, said in a joint statement. "We highly doubt a Dane County judge has the authority to tell the Legislature how to carry out its constitutional duty."
Dane County District Judge Maryann Sumi granted the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by the local Democratic district attorney, alleging that Republican lawmakers violated the state's open meetings law by hastily convening a special committee before the Senate passed the bill.
Sumi said her ruling would not prevent the Legislature from reconvening the committee with proper notice and passing the bill again.
[snipped]
....................................
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Resolute Wisconsinites ashamed they weren’t more vigilant when electing Walker
.......................................
Wisconsin Going Forward
Wisconsin adopted “Forward” as their state motto in 1851. Sculptor Jean Pond Miner was commissioned to create a representation of her home state and in 1893 created a seven-foot tall bronze statue of a female figure bearing the state’s maxim. The Wisconsin Historical Society notes, “Forward is an allegory of devotion and progress, qualities Miner felt Wisconsin embodied.” The statue is dedicated as a women’s memorial and now stands proudly at the west entrance of the Capitol in Madison.
Notably, Forward, predates the signing of the national civil rights bill by the better half of a century. She was nearly 30 years old before women had the right to vote. Ditto for the first labor movement.
When it comes to progress, Wisconsin and Forward have been ahead of their time.
Now Forward has been at the heart of the last month of protests and rallies in Madison. She’s the centerpiece. [snipped]
Wisconsin’s new Republican governor Scott Walker had been insisting he needed to eradicate the public employees’ collective bargaining rights to “balance the budget” – a budget he made worse when he gave tax breaks to corporations.
Walker’s real goal was revealed in a conversation with a man impersonating the oil heir David Koch. Walker wants to be like Ronald Reagan. He wants to “do something big.” Under the guise of “fiscal responsibility,” Walker has been trying to kill a long time foe of the right wing – organized labor – and with it wages, pensions and working conditions for which people have fought for decades.
“Balancing the budget” has become the lukewarm excuse to bust unions much like the iffy deviated septum is why you have to get that nose job. “I do Botox…for my headaches.” Sure. “People making $40K a year to teach kids are greedy parasitic union thugs.” Uh huh.
If this had happened in another state, the response would have been different. But in Wisconsin people have always thought of themselves as easygoing, open-minded and mellow – and their reaction has been visceral. Besides the big rallies overtaking the Capitol, many Wisconsinites have been showing up to be near Forward as a part of their daily errands. “Go grocery shopping, protest Scott Walker taking away union rights, pick up school uniforms and start dinner.”
These purported “union thugs” held G-rated, family-friendly, stroller-packed affable demonstrations. In true courteous Wisconsin fashion one of their chants to the 14 senators who left the state to hold off a vote was “Thank you!”
The several generations of Wisconsinites sauntering around the Capitol in the cold are even more of an apt symbol of what organized labor, pensions, health care and a living wage mean for working people: It’s family. The ability to take care of their families.
The protesters I talked to are afraid for their families and concerned for their neighbors. They’re shocked by the injustice and ashamed they weren’t more vigilant when electing Walker. But mostly they’re resolute.
“It’s painful standing up for your rights,” said Austin, noting her generation born in the ‘70s has never before had to deal with this kind of strife.
Austin relayed, “They [rights] were fought for…” Mackesey jumped in, “Again and again and again!”
.......................................
Wisconsin Going Forward
Wisconsin adopted “Forward” as their state motto in 1851. Sculptor Jean Pond Miner was commissioned to create a representation of her home state and in 1893 created a seven-foot tall bronze statue of a female figure bearing the state’s maxim. The Wisconsin Historical Society notes, “Forward is an allegory of devotion and progress, qualities Miner felt Wisconsin embodied.” The statue is dedicated as a women’s memorial and now stands proudly at the west entrance of the Capitol in Madison.
Notably, Forward, predates the signing of the national civil rights bill by the better half of a century. She was nearly 30 years old before women had the right to vote. Ditto for the first labor movement.
When it comes to progress, Wisconsin and Forward have been ahead of their time.
Now Forward has been at the heart of the last month of protests and rallies in Madison. She’s the centerpiece. [snipped]
Wisconsin’s new Republican governor Scott Walker had been insisting he needed to eradicate the public employees’ collective bargaining rights to “balance the budget” – a budget he made worse when he gave tax breaks to corporations.
Walker’s real goal was revealed in a conversation with a man impersonating the oil heir David Koch. Walker wants to be like Ronald Reagan. He wants to “do something big.” Under the guise of “fiscal responsibility,” Walker has been trying to kill a long time foe of the right wing – organized labor – and with it wages, pensions and working conditions for which people have fought for decades.
“Balancing the budget” has become the lukewarm excuse to bust unions much like the iffy deviated septum is why you have to get that nose job. “I do Botox…for my headaches.” Sure. “People making $40K a year to teach kids are greedy parasitic union thugs.” Uh huh.
If this had happened in another state, the response would have been different. But in Wisconsin people have always thought of themselves as easygoing, open-minded and mellow – and their reaction has been visceral. Besides the big rallies overtaking the Capitol, many Wisconsinites have been showing up to be near Forward as a part of their daily errands. “Go grocery shopping, protest Scott Walker taking away union rights, pick up school uniforms and start dinner.”
These purported “union thugs” held G-rated, family-friendly, stroller-packed affable demonstrations. In true courteous Wisconsin fashion one of their chants to the 14 senators who left the state to hold off a vote was “Thank you!”
The several generations of Wisconsinites sauntering around the Capitol in the cold are even more of an apt symbol of what organized labor, pensions, health care and a living wage mean for working people: It’s family. The ability to take care of their families.
The protesters I talked to are afraid for their families and concerned for their neighbors. They’re shocked by the injustice and ashamed they weren’t more vigilant when electing Walker. But mostly they’re resolute.
“It’s painful standing up for your rights,” said Austin, noting her generation born in the ‘70s has never before had to deal with this kind of strife.
Austin relayed, “They [rights] were fought for…” Mackesey jumped in, “Again and again and again!”
.......................................
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Limbaugh joins Beck on the insensitivity bench!
..........................
And Fox still keeps both of these POS on?
..........................
Rush Limbaugh Laughs at Diane Sawyer and Japan Situation
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rush Limbaugh finds it funny that a natural disaster struck Japan-a country that has made such strides towards being environmentally friendly.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rush Limbaugh finds it funny that a natural disaster struck Japan-a country that has made such strides towards being environmentally friendly.
[snipped]
..........................
And Fox still keeps both of these POS on?
..........................
Rush Limbaugh Laughs at Diane Sawyer and Japan Situation
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rush Limbaugh finds it funny that a natural disaster struck Japan-a country that has made such strides towards being environmentally friendly.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rush Limbaugh finds it funny that a natural disaster struck Japan-a country that has made such strides towards being environmentally friendly.
[snipped]
..........................
Career Government Employees
my_left_foot
Awesome! Another career government employee!
Let's make a list.
John McCain is my contribution.
Awesome! Another career government employee!
Let's make a list.
John McCain is my contribution.
Sounds like Tammy is having a slow day ...
• GinaMD
I am really disgusted with who ever this great censor is ! --- I am the "guest" whose comments were removed and they were certainly mild compared to those left posted
WHY ? is what I can't understand !
• •
Tammy McGee, Moderator for TheOlympian.com
Gina, I would welcome a phone call from you if you have a question regarding the reason your post was removed. I will continue to remove comments that attack other commenters, or are otherwise against commenting guidelines.
Tammy McGee
360-754-5447
I am really disgusted with who ever this great censor is ! --- I am the "guest" whose comments were removed and they were certainly mild compared to those left posted
WHY ? is what I can't understand !
• •
Tammy McGee, Moderator for TheOlympian.com
Gina, I would welcome a phone call from you if you have a question regarding the reason your post was removed. I will continue to remove comments that attack other commenters, or are otherwise against commenting guidelines.
Tammy McGee
360-754-5447
A letter to Governor Walker
This is lengthly, but well worth the read:
To the Duly-Elected Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker (and anyone else who gives a hoot):
It has only been a week, and I grow weary of the political struggle that your Budget Repair Bill has caused. I am tired of watching the news, though I have seen many of the faces of those I hold dear as they march on the Capitol. I am tired of defending myself to those who disagree with me, and even a bit tired of fist-bumping those who do. I am tired of having to choose a side in this issue, when both sides make a certain degree of sense. And so I offer you this desultory (aimless or rambling) philippic (angry long-winded speech), because at the end of the day I find that though this issue has been talked to death, there is more that could be said. And so, without further ado, here are my points and/or questions, in no particular order.
1. You can have my money, but…. Ask any number of my students, who have heard me publicly proclaim that a proper solution to this fiscal crisis is to raise taxes. I will pay them. I have the great good fortune to live in a nation where opportunity is nearly limitless, and I am willing to pay for the honor of calling myself an American. Incidentally, Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the nation (and a Democrat) agrees with me. Your proposed Budget Repair Bill will cost me just under $3000 per year at my current salary, with the stated goal of saving $30 million this year on the state budget. I say, take it. You can have it. It will hurt me financially, but if it will balance the budget of the state that has been my home since birth, take it with my blessing. But if I may, before you do, I have some questions.
•According to the 2009 estimate for the U.S. Census, 5,654,774 people live in the state of Wisconsin. Of those, 23.2% are under the age of 18, and presumably are not subject to much in the way of income tax. That still leaves about 4,342,867 taxpayers in the state of Wisconsin. If you wished to trim $30 million off of the budget, that works out to about $6.91 per Wisconsin taxpayer. So I must ask: Is it fair that you ask $3000 of me, but you fail to ask $6.91 of everyone? I know that times are tough, but would it not be more equitable to ask that each taxpayer in the state contribute an extra 13 cents a week?
•Would you please, kindly, explain exactly how collective bargaining is a fiscal issue? I fancy myself to be a fairly intelligent person. I have heard it reported in the news that unless the collective bargaining portion of this bill is passed, severe amounts of layoffs will occur in the state. I have heard that figure given as 6,000 jobs. But then again, you’ve reportedly said it was 10,000 jobs. But then again, it’s been reported to be as high as 12,000 jobs. Regardless of the figure, one thing that hasn’t been explained to my satisfaction is exactly how or why allowing a union to bargain collectively will cost so much money or so many jobs. Am I missing something? Isn’t collective bargaining essentially sitting in a room and discussing something, collectively? Is there now a price tag on conversation? How much does the average conversation cost? I feel your office has been eager to provide doomsday scenarios regarding lost jobs, but less than willing to provide actual insight as to why that is the case. I would welcome an explanation.
•Why does your concern over collective bargaining, pensions, and healthcare costs only extend to certain unions, but not all? Why do snow plow drivers and child care providers and teachers and prison guards find themselves in “bad” unions, but firefighters and state police and local police find themselves in unions that do not need to be effected by your bill? The left wing news organizations, of course, state that this is because these are unions that supported your election bid, while you seek to punish those unions that did not; I would welcome your response to such a charge. You have stated that the state and local police are too vital to the state to be affected. Can I ask how child care, or prison guards, or nurses or teachers are not vital? Again, I would welcome a response.
•Though you are a state employee, I have seen no provision in your bill to cut your own pension or healthcare costs. The governor’s salary in Wisconsin was about $137,000 per year, last I checked. By contrast, I make about $38,000 per year. Somewhere in that extra $99,000 that you make, are you sure you couldn’t find some money to fund the state recovery which you seem to hold so dear? As you have been duly elected by the voters of Wisconsin, you will receive that salary as a pension for the rest of your life. I don’t mean to cut too deeply into your lifestyle, but are you sure you couldn’t live off $128,000 per year so that you could have the same 7% salary reduction you are asking certain other public employees to take?
2. Regarding teachers being overpaid and underworked. I don’t really have many questions in this regard, but I do have a couple of statements. If you haven’t already figured it out, I am a teacher, so you may examine my statement for bias as you see fit. I admit I find it somewhat suspect that teachers are mentioned so prominently in your rhetoric; those protesting at the Capitol are indeed teachers. But they are also students, and nurses, and prison guards, and plumbers, and firefighters, and a variety of other professions. If you could go back to “public sector employees,” I would appreciate it. But as far as being overpaid and underworked … I grant you, I have a week’s vacation around Christmas. I have a week off for Spring Break. I have about 10 weeks off for summer. With sick days and personal days and national holidays and the like, I work about 8.5 months out of every year. So perhaps I am underworked. But before you take that as a given, a couple of points in my own defense.
•The average full-time worker puts in 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year, with two weeks’ vacation time. That makes for a grand total of 2000 hours per year. Part of the teachers’ arguments regarding their time is that no one sees how many hours they work at home to grade papers, or create lesson plans, or things of that nature. I am in a rare state, in that I am not one of those teachers. I work an hour from where I live, and I like to keep my work at work. I, therefore, do not bring work home with me, but rather stay at school, or come in early, so that I can grade papers or create lesson plans while at school. So I am more prepared than most to explain the hours it takes to do my job. I also supervise an extra-curricular activity (as many teachers do), in that I serve as the Drama Coach for my school. The school year, so far, has lasted for 24 weeks. I have, in that time, averaged 78 hours per week either going to school, being at school, or coming home from school. If you remove my commute, of course, I still average 68 hours per week, thus far. That means I have put in 1,632 hours of work time this year, which works out to over 80% of what your average full time worker does in a calendar year. If you include my commute, I’m over 90%. If ikeep going at my current pace, I will work 2,720 hours this school year (or 3,120 hours if you include my commute). That means I work 136% to 156% as much as your average hourly worker.
•As to overpaid — I’m not sure I am overpaid in general, though I do believe I am underpaid in terms of the educational level expected to do my job. I have two Bachelor’s Degrees, and will be beginning work toward my Master’s this summer. By comparison, sir, you never completed college, and yet, as previously stated, you outearn me by almost $100,000 per year. Perhaps that is an argument that I made the wrong career choice. But it is perhaps an argument that we need to discuss whether you and others like you are overpaid, and not whether teachers are.
3. Regarding the notion that teachers that are protesting, or legislators currently in Illinois , are hurting the state. Very briefly, if I may:
•Teachers have been accused of shirking their duties by protesting for what they believe to be their rights instead of being in school. The argument has been, of course, that no lessons have been taught when classes aren’t in session. I must submit that lessons in protest, in exercise of the First Amendment right to peaceable assembly, in getting involved as a citizen in political affairs, have been taught these past few days. The fact that they haven’t been taught in the classroom is irrelevant. Ultimately a very strong duty of the school system is to help students become citizens — I think that has clearly happened this week.
•As to the legislators, it seems to me as though they feel their constituents deserve to have a length of time to examine the proposed bill on its merits, not vote it straight up or down three days after it was presented. As the current budget does not expire until June, this seems to me like the only response left them in light of your decision to fast-track the bill without discussion. Give them another option, and perhaps they will come back. I can’t say that I agree with their decision, but I can say that I understand it.
4. Regarding the notion that protestors at the Capitol are rabble-rousers and/or thugs. Such name-calling on the part of conservatives in the state and the conservative media could be severely curtailed if you would speak out against it. True, most of the people protesting, if not all, are liberals. Historically, liberals have always tended to think that they have far more support than they actually do. They also (in my opinion) have a tendency to get extremely organized about three months too late, if at all. So you can fault them for their decision-making, but I would ask you to speak out against the notion of thuggery. Again, very briefly:
•So far, 12 arrests have been made. Estimates say there were about 25,000 people at the Capitol today, and about 20,000 yesterday. Let’s be conservative (mathematically) and say that 40,000 people protested over two days. That would mean that officers arrested .0003% of all protestors. By almost any definition, that is an extremely peaceful demonstration, and of course you are aware that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of peaceable assembly for a redress of grievances. So in the main, these people have done nothing wrong.
5. If I may provide you with a sense of history. You work in the largest and most magnificiently appointed state capitol in the nation, built by Bob LaFollette (a Republican). You work in the same building where Phil LaFollette (a Republican) helped guide Wisconsin
out of the Great Depression. You work in the same building where Gaylord Nelson (a Democrat) was the first in the nation to offer rights to unions of state employees, rights that you now seek to overturn. And you work in the same building where Tommy Thompson (a Republican) provided more state funding to education than any other governor before or since. Are your current actions truly how you would choose to be remembered?
6. Finally, Governor, a note of thanks. Whatever the outcome of the next several days, you deserve a certain degree of credit. As an educator, I understand how difficult it can be to get young people interested in politics. You have managed to do this in the space of one week. A number of Wisconsin’s youth support you. A number of them do not. But whatever else can be said of you, you have them paying attention, and thinking about voting, and walking around the Capitol, and turning out to be involved. You have taught your own lessons this week, Governor, and that has its own value.
Thank you for your time,
Eric Brehm
To the Duly-Elected Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker (and anyone else who gives a hoot):
It has only been a week, and I grow weary of the political struggle that your Budget Repair Bill has caused. I am tired of watching the news, though I have seen many of the faces of those I hold dear as they march on the Capitol. I am tired of defending myself to those who disagree with me, and even a bit tired of fist-bumping those who do. I am tired of having to choose a side in this issue, when both sides make a certain degree of sense. And so I offer you this desultory (aimless or rambling) philippic (angry long-winded speech), because at the end of the day I find that though this issue has been talked to death, there is more that could be said. And so, without further ado, here are my points and/or questions, in no particular order.
1. You can have my money, but…. Ask any number of my students, who have heard me publicly proclaim that a proper solution to this fiscal crisis is to raise taxes. I will pay them. I have the great good fortune to live in a nation where opportunity is nearly limitless, and I am willing to pay for the honor of calling myself an American. Incidentally, Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the nation (and a Democrat) agrees with me. Your proposed Budget Repair Bill will cost me just under $3000 per year at my current salary, with the stated goal of saving $30 million this year on the state budget. I say, take it. You can have it. It will hurt me financially, but if it will balance the budget of the state that has been my home since birth, take it with my blessing. But if I may, before you do, I have some questions.
•According to the 2009 estimate for the U.S. Census, 5,654,774 people live in the state of Wisconsin. Of those, 23.2% are under the age of 18, and presumably are not subject to much in the way of income tax. That still leaves about 4,342,867 taxpayers in the state of Wisconsin. If you wished to trim $30 million off of the budget, that works out to about $6.91 per Wisconsin taxpayer. So I must ask: Is it fair that you ask $3000 of me, but you fail to ask $6.91 of everyone? I know that times are tough, but would it not be more equitable to ask that each taxpayer in the state contribute an extra 13 cents a week?
•Would you please, kindly, explain exactly how collective bargaining is a fiscal issue? I fancy myself to be a fairly intelligent person. I have heard it reported in the news that unless the collective bargaining portion of this bill is passed, severe amounts of layoffs will occur in the state. I have heard that figure given as 6,000 jobs. But then again, you’ve reportedly said it was 10,000 jobs. But then again, it’s been reported to be as high as 12,000 jobs. Regardless of the figure, one thing that hasn’t been explained to my satisfaction is exactly how or why allowing a union to bargain collectively will cost so much money or so many jobs. Am I missing something? Isn’t collective bargaining essentially sitting in a room and discussing something, collectively? Is there now a price tag on conversation? How much does the average conversation cost? I feel your office has been eager to provide doomsday scenarios regarding lost jobs, but less than willing to provide actual insight as to why that is the case. I would welcome an explanation.
•Why does your concern over collective bargaining, pensions, and healthcare costs only extend to certain unions, but not all? Why do snow plow drivers and child care providers and teachers and prison guards find themselves in “bad” unions, but firefighters and state police and local police find themselves in unions that do not need to be effected by your bill? The left wing news organizations, of course, state that this is because these are unions that supported your election bid, while you seek to punish those unions that did not; I would welcome your response to such a charge. You have stated that the state and local police are too vital to the state to be affected. Can I ask how child care, or prison guards, or nurses or teachers are not vital? Again, I would welcome a response.
•Though you are a state employee, I have seen no provision in your bill to cut your own pension or healthcare costs. The governor’s salary in Wisconsin was about $137,000 per year, last I checked. By contrast, I make about $38,000 per year. Somewhere in that extra $99,000 that you make, are you sure you couldn’t find some money to fund the state recovery which you seem to hold so dear? As you have been duly elected by the voters of Wisconsin, you will receive that salary as a pension for the rest of your life. I don’t mean to cut too deeply into your lifestyle, but are you sure you couldn’t live off $128,000 per year so that you could have the same 7% salary reduction you are asking certain other public employees to take?
2. Regarding teachers being overpaid and underworked. I don’t really have many questions in this regard, but I do have a couple of statements. If you haven’t already figured it out, I am a teacher, so you may examine my statement for bias as you see fit. I admit I find it somewhat suspect that teachers are mentioned so prominently in your rhetoric; those protesting at the Capitol are indeed teachers. But they are also students, and nurses, and prison guards, and plumbers, and firefighters, and a variety of other professions. If you could go back to “public sector employees,” I would appreciate it. But as far as being overpaid and underworked … I grant you, I have a week’s vacation around Christmas. I have a week off for Spring Break. I have about 10 weeks off for summer. With sick days and personal days and national holidays and the like, I work about 8.5 months out of every year. So perhaps I am underworked. But before you take that as a given, a couple of points in my own defense.
•The average full-time worker puts in 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year, with two weeks’ vacation time. That makes for a grand total of 2000 hours per year. Part of the teachers’ arguments regarding their time is that no one sees how many hours they work at home to grade papers, or create lesson plans, or things of that nature. I am in a rare state, in that I am not one of those teachers. I work an hour from where I live, and I like to keep my work at work. I, therefore, do not bring work home with me, but rather stay at school, or come in early, so that I can grade papers or create lesson plans while at school. So I am more prepared than most to explain the hours it takes to do my job. I also supervise an extra-curricular activity (as many teachers do), in that I serve as the Drama Coach for my school. The school year, so far, has lasted for 24 weeks. I have, in that time, averaged 78 hours per week either going to school, being at school, or coming home from school. If you remove my commute, of course, I still average 68 hours per week, thus far. That means I have put in 1,632 hours of work time this year, which works out to over 80% of what your average full time worker does in a calendar year. If you include my commute, I’m over 90%. If ikeep going at my current pace, I will work 2,720 hours this school year (or 3,120 hours if you include my commute). That means I work 136% to 156% as much as your average hourly worker.
•As to overpaid — I’m not sure I am overpaid in general, though I do believe I am underpaid in terms of the educational level expected to do my job. I have two Bachelor’s Degrees, and will be beginning work toward my Master’s this summer. By comparison, sir, you never completed college, and yet, as previously stated, you outearn me by almost $100,000 per year. Perhaps that is an argument that I made the wrong career choice. But it is perhaps an argument that we need to discuss whether you and others like you are overpaid, and not whether teachers are.
3. Regarding the notion that teachers that are protesting, or legislators currently in Illinois , are hurting the state. Very briefly, if I may:
•Teachers have been accused of shirking their duties by protesting for what they believe to be their rights instead of being in school. The argument has been, of course, that no lessons have been taught when classes aren’t in session. I must submit that lessons in protest, in exercise of the First Amendment right to peaceable assembly, in getting involved as a citizen in political affairs, have been taught these past few days. The fact that they haven’t been taught in the classroom is irrelevant. Ultimately a very strong duty of the school system is to help students become citizens — I think that has clearly happened this week.
•As to the legislators, it seems to me as though they feel their constituents deserve to have a length of time to examine the proposed bill on its merits, not vote it straight up or down three days after it was presented. As the current budget does not expire until June, this seems to me like the only response left them in light of your decision to fast-track the bill without discussion. Give them another option, and perhaps they will come back. I can’t say that I agree with their decision, but I can say that I understand it.
4. Regarding the notion that protestors at the Capitol are rabble-rousers and/or thugs. Such name-calling on the part of conservatives in the state and the conservative media could be severely curtailed if you would speak out against it. True, most of the people protesting, if not all, are liberals. Historically, liberals have always tended to think that they have far more support than they actually do. They also (in my opinion) have a tendency to get extremely organized about three months too late, if at all. So you can fault them for their decision-making, but I would ask you to speak out against the notion of thuggery. Again, very briefly:
•So far, 12 arrests have been made. Estimates say there were about 25,000 people at the Capitol today, and about 20,000 yesterday. Let’s be conservative (mathematically) and say that 40,000 people protested over two days. That would mean that officers arrested .0003% of all protestors. By almost any definition, that is an extremely peaceful demonstration, and of course you are aware that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of peaceable assembly for a redress of grievances. So in the main, these people have done nothing wrong.
5. If I may provide you with a sense of history. You work in the largest and most magnificiently appointed state capitol in the nation, built by Bob LaFollette (a Republican). You work in the same building where Phil LaFollette (a Republican) helped guide Wisconsin
out of the Great Depression. You work in the same building where Gaylord Nelson (a Democrat) was the first in the nation to offer rights to unions of state employees, rights that you now seek to overturn. And you work in the same building where Tommy Thompson (a Republican) provided more state funding to education than any other governor before or since. Are your current actions truly how you would choose to be remembered?
6. Finally, Governor, a note of thanks. Whatever the outcome of the next several days, you deserve a certain degree of credit. As an educator, I understand how difficult it can be to get young people interested in politics. You have managed to do this in the space of one week. A number of Wisconsin’s youth support you. A number of them do not. But whatever else can be said of you, you have them paying attention, and thinking about voting, and walking around the Capitol, and turning out to be involved. You have taught your own lessons this week, Governor, and that has its own value.
Thank you for your time,
Eric Brehm
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Professional jealousy is ugly.
LOL, Judas has to run away with his tail in between his legs and claim "victory" on his sad website. He knows he was thoroughly trounced here so he has to parade his victory to his 3 friends. Oh and p.s. keep trumpeting how many people visit your website, 3/4 of them are people LAUGHING AT HOW STUPID IT IS!
Oh and for someone who claims to not read the paper down south anymore, you sure do post a lot of comments from there. More lies, more hypocricy, this is the real Judas.
Read more: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/letters/2011/03/14/be-like-normal-people/#ixzz1Gjkr188Y
Our "sad" website that Sandy never misses a word of. As you all know, since Sandy makes up characters to talk to herself on ____________K.com, she KNOWS that everyone else does that.
The difference with ThurstonBlog is that we have dinners at the Martin Way Diner (we need to do another), where other patrons recognize our conversation and thank us for keeping the CON assault to a minimum.
Hey, waiter - table for 1, the SandyKaye party!
Reading MR's rant in the TNT reminded me of Sarah Palin challenging Kathy Griffin for taking her kid to task for using vile words towards homosexuals (Jesus loves that, ya know). Griffin had to add two more shows to her Broadway presentation after Palin opened her mouth.
Oh and for someone who claims to not read the paper down south anymore, you sure do post a lot of comments from there. More lies, more hypocricy, this is the real Judas.
Read more: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/letters/2011/03/14/be-like-normal-people/#ixzz1Gjkr188Y
Our "sad" website that Sandy never misses a word of. As you all know, since Sandy makes up characters to talk to herself on ____________K.com, she KNOWS that everyone else does that.
The difference with ThurstonBlog is that we have dinners at the Martin Way Diner (we need to do another), where other patrons recognize our conversation and thank us for keeping the CON assault to a minimum.
Hey, waiter - table for 1, the SandyKaye party!
Reading MR's rant in the TNT reminded me of Sarah Palin challenging Kathy Griffin for taking her kid to task for using vile words towards homosexuals (Jesus loves that, ya know). Griffin had to add two more shows to her Broadway presentation after Palin opened her mouth.
dalecon hits the DALEE Double in stupid....
dalecon lies -
I am against Obama because he has no experience or background in foreign policy or just working at a job. He is an anti-american socialist with ties to racism and communism. He is a friend of a radical domestic terrorist, born in another country, comes from a corrupt city, can't speak without a Teleprompter to tell him what to say. He flip flops on most decisions especially ones that might help our country, allows foreign oil to dictate to us, bows to dictators tries to appease our enemies. He promotes killing babies, and pushes for same sex marriages. Since he has been in office we have the highest jobless rate in history, our national debt is at a point that we may never recover, and he and his wife take exorbitant trips all over the world.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/15/1579393/the-days-of-white-majority-in.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1Gja1Ixu4
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/15/1579393/the-days-of-white-majority-in.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1Gja1Ixu4
Well, dalecon - let's compare Obama to your former hero George W. Bush.
Foreign Policy - Obama lived in other cultures and traveled. Bush knows Texas. Oh and we can't forget his time in Alabama working on political campaigns when he was supposed to be in the National Guard.
The rest of your comments were nothing more than fabrications that are cover for saying "Obama is a nigger". My favorites lies of yours are his stand on gay marriage (he personally opposes) and "allows foreign oil to dictate to us" (remember GW Bush slipping the tongue and holding hands with the Saudi prince?)
As to jobless and debt, everyone with an IQ (here we go again) over 20, knows that the debt was run up by Bush and unemployment started in 2008.
Traveling around the world? A little class envy there dalecon?
Luckily for you, dalecon, the moderator for your media of choice has an IQ of about one point less than your's (on the curve). I'd delete your comments just to avoid the stupidity on my site.
It's sort of like eating chocolate...one bite isn't enough.
MRenchirito, aka MR, aka WhelpingBitch, has been following me so closely in the TNT comments that if I stopped quickly her nose would perform a colonoscopy on me. Considering her desire to play, I threw caution to the wind and relived the old days of The Olympian forum.
We are all aware that Walker and the GOP Senate are up to their asses in questionable actions concerning last week's vote to strip collective bargaining rights to state employees. Every excuse in creation has surfaced as to how they could pull off a nuclear option vote of this kind.
MR found a email that suddenly surfaced about two days after the event from the State Clerk that played CYA on a "special session" clause that allegedly allows them to call a commitee meeting without the standard 24 hour or 2 hour emergency notice. Amazingly, the email (not time stamped) allegates that it was sent just two hours before the meeting - "as a courtesy but was not required". It was classic Right Wing Sound Machine material. MR also cited a call for a "special session" in January (although strangely announced on February 15th). When you dig deep enough, you find that a "special session" that had nothing to do with the issue at hand, and in fact outlined very specific issues was called. Well, as one can imagine, with MR "special session" makes it a catch-all. In other words, since they were in special session covering wetlands issues, they could pull a meeting without notice to vote on collective bargaining rights. Yeah.....uh huh. LMAO.
Now, the real issue of legality is the use of nuclear option on a budgetary issue, which is why the GOP stripped all budgetary items from the vote, even though they claimed the need for elimination of collective bargaining was because the state was broke. Needless to say, this will be the final point of contention in court and all the posturing about "special session" (which had nothing to do with anything) is nothing more than a smoke screen.
I couldn't help myself. Seeing how nuts MR was about the "special session" issue, I argued it up one side and down the other, to the point of ridiculous, as I really could give a good shit anyway, but it allowed TNT forum readers an opportunity to see MR in action - twisting, turning at every advance. She congratulated herself a few times, as usual. but in the end had to fess up that she didn't say that the special session was about collective bargaining or the budget......but THERE WAS A special session!!! Meanwhile, I unearthed tons of material from the Wisconsin Senate website that contradicts stuff being said by MR. I'd say she'd better place a long distance call to Wisconsin and get them straightened out.
It was Sandy at her tweeking best!!!
That should fill my sinful nature for a few more months. Maybe I'll change monikers and drive her more nuts.
We are all aware that Walker and the GOP Senate are up to their asses in questionable actions concerning last week's vote to strip collective bargaining rights to state employees. Every excuse in creation has surfaced as to how they could pull off a nuclear option vote of this kind.
MR found a email that suddenly surfaced about two days after the event from the State Clerk that played CYA on a "special session" clause that allegedly allows them to call a commitee meeting without the standard 24 hour or 2 hour emergency notice. Amazingly, the email (not time stamped) allegates that it was sent just two hours before the meeting - "as a courtesy but was not required". It was classic Right Wing Sound Machine material. MR also cited a call for a "special session" in January (although strangely announced on February 15th). When you dig deep enough, you find that a "special session" that had nothing to do with the issue at hand, and in fact outlined very specific issues was called. Well, as one can imagine, with MR "special session" makes it a catch-all. In other words, since they were in special session covering wetlands issues, they could pull a meeting without notice to vote on collective bargaining rights. Yeah.....uh huh. LMAO.
Now, the real issue of legality is the use of nuclear option on a budgetary issue, which is why the GOP stripped all budgetary items from the vote, even though they claimed the need for elimination of collective bargaining was because the state was broke. Needless to say, this will be the final point of contention in court and all the posturing about "special session" (which had nothing to do with anything) is nothing more than a smoke screen.
I couldn't help myself. Seeing how nuts MR was about the "special session" issue, I argued it up one side and down the other, to the point of ridiculous, as I really could give a good shit anyway, but it allowed TNT forum readers an opportunity to see MR in action - twisting, turning at every advance. She congratulated herself a few times, as usual. but in the end had to fess up that she didn't say that the special session was about collective bargaining or the budget......but THERE WAS A special session!!! Meanwhile, I unearthed tons of material from the Wisconsin Senate website that contradicts stuff being said by MR. I'd say she'd better place a long distance call to Wisconsin and get them straightened out.
It was Sandy at her tweeking best!!!
That should fill my sinful nature for a few more months. Maybe I'll change monikers and drive her more nuts.
Newt says "morality matters"-- oh, really?
..........................................
Coming to Terms with Newt
“Wife number three and I made a movie about the Pope, so my divorces and adulterous affairs don’t count.”
That’s how one person greeted Newt Gingrich’s recent announcement that he is seriously considering the possibility of running for president. Most followers of the presidential-primary scramble figured as much already. But Gingrich’s press conference ushered in an open season on the man and his personal life.
The negative comments have focused on more than the former congressional speaker’s personal infidelity. They’ve gone after his professional record, too. It’s always hard to divorce one from another.
Especially when it’s morality that Gingrich talks about on the campaign trail. “Morality matters in economics because balancing the budget is an essentially moral, not economic, question about whether or not politicians ought to follow the same rules as the rest of us,” he told a Faith and Freedom Coalition forum in Iowa recently. He went on to say, “There should be no distinction between economic, national-security and social conservatives. We should all base our principles on fundamental questions of morality.”
I happen to wholeheartedly agree. Iowa caucus voters tend to agree too. But when Gingrich muses about morality, people are reminded of his less than stellar record in that field.
Gingrich, mind you, didn’t help matters when he told the Christian Broadcasting Network: “There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”
That sounded a bit like he was walking away from responsibility. But, in that same interview, he added: “And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong … I found that I felt compelled to seek God’s forgiveness. Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness.”
Simultaneous to his comments, many were gearing up for the Christian season of Lent. As it happened, Gingrich was being ridiculed — “Patriotism made me do it!” was the most common barb — on Ash Wednesday, a day focused on sin and repentance.
I don’t know the heart of Newt Gingrich. I probably know him about as well as many folks who have sounded off regarding his reappearance as a potential candidate. Since we last saw him as an elected official, he has converted to Catholicism, and yes, made an excellent documentary about Pope John Paul II and the fall of Communism. Needless to say, none of these things excuse moral turpitude, and people have certainly been known to do things for politically advantageous reasons.
Yet ‘trust but verify’ is a political proverb. Gingrich’s recent years appear to have involved a commitment to public policy, as well as to family and his newfound faith. Confessing our failure, demonstrating a purpose of amendment, these are at the heart of Christianity. Of course, the voting booth is not the confessional, and for the most prudent reasons, voters can’t be as merciful with their elected officials as they are with their neighbor.
Or can we?
Gingrich is just a man, too. And his lack of finesse about his sins may simply result from a discomfort with speaking about his failure publicly. Nevertheless, he has to. And in being publicly reflective, he, probably inadvertently, is doing what he does best: teach.
Back in January I wrote a piece with Seth Leibsohn, co-author with Bill Bennett of the upcoming book “The Fight of Our Lives,” welcoming freshman members of Congress to Washington and urging them to be good and decent. For legislators, our capital can be a city of temptation: you may be away from your family; in many cases, you’re keeping irregular hours, attending a whirl of social events. There are no excuses for slip-ups, but there is value in knowing the enemy is very much there, and that you need to protect yourself against it.
In this way, Gingrich actually provided a little bit of a public service in one of his least articulate moments. If you can get past the ridicule, he serves as a cautionary tale: That boundlessly powerful feeling you get when you’re doing things you deem important for the world can get you into trouble. Beware. As he told the crowd in Iowa, Newt Gingrich 2011 hits the stage “with maybe a little more wisdom” than the Newt Gingrich who was king of the 1994 Republican revolution.
As for that whole presidential dust-up: It’s not the craziest idea ever. And, if we can all put cynicism aside just for a moment, maybe, just maybe, the fact that Gingrich can seriously consider such a notion is testimony to a little, amazing, transformative thing called redemption.
..........................................
Coming to Terms with Newt
“Wife number three and I made a movie about the Pope, so my divorces and adulterous affairs don’t count.”
That’s how one person greeted Newt Gingrich’s recent announcement that he is seriously considering the possibility of running for president. Most followers of the presidential-primary scramble figured as much already. But Gingrich’s press conference ushered in an open season on the man and his personal life.
The negative comments have focused on more than the former congressional speaker’s personal infidelity. They’ve gone after his professional record, too. It’s always hard to divorce one from another.
Especially when it’s morality that Gingrich talks about on the campaign trail. “Morality matters in economics because balancing the budget is an essentially moral, not economic, question about whether or not politicians ought to follow the same rules as the rest of us,” he told a Faith and Freedom Coalition forum in Iowa recently. He went on to say, “There should be no distinction between economic, national-security and social conservatives. We should all base our principles on fundamental questions of morality.”
I happen to wholeheartedly agree. Iowa caucus voters tend to agree too. But when Gingrich muses about morality, people are reminded of his less than stellar record in that field.
Gingrich, mind you, didn’t help matters when he told the Christian Broadcasting Network: “There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”
That sounded a bit like he was walking away from responsibility. But, in that same interview, he added: “And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong … I found that I felt compelled to seek God’s forgiveness. Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness.”
Simultaneous to his comments, many were gearing up for the Christian season of Lent. As it happened, Gingrich was being ridiculed — “Patriotism made me do it!” was the most common barb — on Ash Wednesday, a day focused on sin and repentance.
I don’t know the heart of Newt Gingrich. I probably know him about as well as many folks who have sounded off regarding his reappearance as a potential candidate. Since we last saw him as an elected official, he has converted to Catholicism, and yes, made an excellent documentary about Pope John Paul II and the fall of Communism. Needless to say, none of these things excuse moral turpitude, and people have certainly been known to do things for politically advantageous reasons.
Yet ‘trust but verify’ is a political proverb. Gingrich’s recent years appear to have involved a commitment to public policy, as well as to family and his newfound faith. Confessing our failure, demonstrating a purpose of amendment, these are at the heart of Christianity. Of course, the voting booth is not the confessional, and for the most prudent reasons, voters can’t be as merciful with their elected officials as they are with their neighbor.
Or can we?
Gingrich is just a man, too. And his lack of finesse about his sins may simply result from a discomfort with speaking about his failure publicly. Nevertheless, he has to. And in being publicly reflective, he, probably inadvertently, is doing what he does best: teach.
Back in January I wrote a piece with Seth Leibsohn, co-author with Bill Bennett of the upcoming book “The Fight of Our Lives,” welcoming freshman members of Congress to Washington and urging them to be good and decent. For legislators, our capital can be a city of temptation: you may be away from your family; in many cases, you’re keeping irregular hours, attending a whirl of social events. There are no excuses for slip-ups, but there is value in knowing the enemy is very much there, and that you need to protect yourself against it.
In this way, Gingrich actually provided a little bit of a public service in one of his least articulate moments. If you can get past the ridicule, he serves as a cautionary tale: That boundlessly powerful feeling you get when you’re doing things you deem important for the world can get you into trouble. Beware. As he told the crowd in Iowa, Newt Gingrich 2011 hits the stage “with maybe a little more wisdom” than the Newt Gingrich who was king of the 1994 Republican revolution.
As for that whole presidential dust-up: It’s not the craziest idea ever. And, if we can all put cynicism aside just for a moment, maybe, just maybe, the fact that Gingrich can seriously consider such a notion is testimony to a little, amazing, transformative thing called redemption.
..........................................
Hallelujah! Rogers to run for mayor
......................................
Olympia Councilwoman Rogers to run for mayor
So far, comments have been mostly positive. The usual naysayers haven't yet weighed in, though.
......................................
Olympia Councilwoman Rogers to run for mayor
So far, comments have been mostly positive. The usual naysayers haven't yet weighed in, though.
......................................
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