pBills

Lower side of the Middle-Class $35,000 to $75,000... upper side: $100,000 to $150,000

Walker is a lying sack of crap. He wants to bust the unions... oh and IF he can actually get that state budget in order after that, great. If not (which is more likely) he still busted the unions. You say Obama cares about his union friends? Really? If that was the case the Employee Free Choice Act would have been passed a LONG time ago. Obama like the unions are trying to protect the middle-class.

To me, I think the easiest thing for those in power to do is threaten to reduce salaries, benefits and state that jobs will be lost if they don't agree. The hard part is actually going through their budgets and actually finding better ways to do business. The funny part is that none of those "decision makers" would EVER agree to take a pay cut, lose benefits, etc. They would offer concessions, just like the unions do.

We all know that is this Gov. gets his way, it is simply the tip of the iceberg. The full assault on the Labor Movement will come soon after. Then it will be take even more concessions, lose your pensions, cut your salaries even more. Politicians will bash unions and the labor movement all day long, knowing full well they themselves are in the pockets of special interest. If they truly wanted to save money, they work like a business and get the most bang for their buck. Especially when it comes to supplies for agencies, over spending on projects, etc., etc.

The labor movement in this country is just as important as the civil rights movement, women's rights, and dare I say the fight for independence. What is happening in Wisconsin is a slap in the face to our nation's history and to those whose legacy lives in within the organized labor movement. I do not like the many professions and their unions being made the scapegoat for the financial plight of this nation when Wall Street gets bailed out and its employees get huge bonuses, the oil industry is netting tremendous profits while it is being subsidized by taxpayer dollars, sketchy foreign policy, the environment, and the blood of our soldiers. Those things are not acceptable to me. Daily in the paper I also read of poor athletes crying poor and the owners of the teams threaten relocating teams unless their for-profit businesses are also subsidized with taxpayer funded stadiums/arenas and event support. The Buffalo News today reports that Erie Country will be seeking bids for new turf while that old fart Ralph Wilson won't allow for naming rights of the stadium or even give a hint of what might happen to the team in the event of his passing. The public employees unions have been giving concessions for several years now. I've contributed to my pension and my health care. I realized that unions have lived off of the fatten calf for sometime and their is room for negotiation and compromise, but what the Governor of Wisconsin is proposing is an outrage. Every worker should have the right to organize and negotiate in good faith for benefits. If a contract is agreed upon then it should be respected and not have the rules changed after the game is started. It is that principal I want to believe our nation was founded on even though our history time and time again proves otherwise. You know who gets lifetime benefits? Many politicians at all levels and many are only "part-timers". The public employee unions and unions in general are here for the middle class rights and protections. Once they are dismantled where does it stop. Consumer protections? Environmental protections? I feel the these leaders are trying to balance the budget on the backs of the middle-class who do real work, create real products, and spend real dollars on a daily basis. Public employee union members are not getting wealthy are their day jobs. They, unlike the politicians who bang the "we are doing the work of the people" drum are truly doing the work of the people. They are the highway maintenance workers, social workers, teachers, counselors, nurses, etc. that keep this country moving forward. They are not wealthy politicians who think that they know what is best for me. Many people say the corporate leaders/executives, top talent and politicians are the ones we need to protect the most... sorry but what keeps the higher ups moving and stable? The Middle-Class Back Bone. There. I think that I said everything that has been stewing for the last couple of days.

I love all of the people who are ok with the Gov. doing this. FACT is NON of you would ever want to lose benefits, lose a percentage of your pension/retirement funds. The Gov. should dig a bit deeper to fix the budget than attack the unions in the name of balancing the budget. OH and by the way, I know some of this can help that... taking away their right to collective bargain is disgusting.

I don't see any of the people against the unions willing to cut their salaries, pensions, healthcare coverage, etc. We all know that many states are in trouble. How about they do some actual hard work and cut the wasteful spending, keep projects on schedule and at least on or under the scheduled budget, etc., etc. NOOOO, let's attack teachers (you know the people who educate our children) and other workers and their way of life. Talk about making the tough decisions, how about they raise taxes a little bit or maybe the governor can take a pay cut? Instead of making $137,092 per year he should take a cut and make only $100,000.

God I hope not. I not a big fan of sluggo. The current charging Buffalo would be good to me. Also if we go Blue, Red and Silver... hello Patriots colors. If we can't play like them, I guess we can look like them.

Doing nothing doesn't help either. I have always thought the health insurance industry right now has it made... they were jacking up rates before the bill. Now they can jack the rates up even higher and just blame someone else. Sad thing is that most people are to dumb to see that. It's all the bills fault, not the industry.

They are not required as you know most do something along the lines to help bring in better candidates/employees. I love how people though act as though everything was fine before the bill. Blinders on, prices were fine, everything was perfect.

For a company to have their employees pay say 10% which is one case I went through. To cover my family would have cost me $1,200 and change per month. I understand how businesses want to push more of those costs to the employees however it still doesn't justify ridiculous costs. People act as though the insurance rates were great before this bill. Fact of the matter is that they weren't and they were going up each year.

Most of unions have given concession after concession so give it up over the past few years.

Sad thing is that health insurance for many EVEN WITH a company paying a portion per month was not viable. I don't know a lot of people who can drop $1,000 per month on it.

Bottom line it hurts no one to make changes.

I like Cam Newton, not sure about all of "it" as of yet. That being said this is kind of a gay team Twilight thread.

huh?

No mocking, just stating facts.

I mock people? When? Who? Of course the solutions are the problem. Everyone that has stake in it one way or another will continue to fight and fight and fight. And Spend money on things that are not necessary. Nothing new.

That's lame.

I just know that after years and years and years of smokestacks, car emissions, smog, cutting down the parts of the rainforest... you name it sooner or later it will have an effect on the earth. Not harm is changing things to help out the environment.

I'll admit that I am a democrat... I will also listen to the opinions of others. I have never said the democratic way is 100% right or perfect. I do love how some republicans here are die-hard right some days, other days they are tea party (republican light), other days independent and so on and so on.

Reminds me a lot of people here.

Give me a break troll

How so.

As I have said before... Insurance Companies have it pretty good right now. They can play the victim of the healthcare reform bill and they can raise their rates. Stating it's all because of the bill knowing full well that they would have raised rates no matter what.