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18 GOP Senators from Wisconsin receive death threats
State Sens. Joe Leibham and Glenn Grothman said they are among as many as 18 Republican senators who received a death threat following their votes to eliminate most collective bargaining powers for public workers.
The threat was sent in an e-mail late Wednesday with the subject, “Death threat!!!! Bomb!!!!” according to a copy of the letter released by Grothman’s office. The e-mail also was addressed to Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau.
Grothman, R-West Bend, said the e-mail is the latest example of “a new height in incivility.” He said in recent weeks he has received obscene phone calls at all hours of the night, been jostled at the Capitol and has been shouted down during interviews.
“This is another example of the anger which is being spewed by the government unions,” Grothman said. “This has been all about intimidating … Republican legislators into bowing to the public unions, and it has only steeled our resolve.”
Grothman said he is hesitant to completely disregard the threat given the volatile atmosphere in Madison. A note shoved under his door Wednesday night said, “The only good Republican is a dead Republican.”
I’m standing up and applauding Senator Grothman for defending his vote and not being intimidated by these violent, vitriolic union douchebags, and for speaking truth to power about what the unions try to do by intimidation. For too long public unions have had their way with state governments by looting taxpayers, and expecting governors to ask “how high?” whenever they say jump.
No more. It’s time to bring an end to this insanity.
What a Milwaukee teacher earns vs everyone else
With benefits, they make approximately $100,000 and the average teachers’ salary is $56,000. Per capita income in Milwaukee barely breaks $20,000:
The superintendent who’s been in the school district for nearly forty years remarks at around the 1:26 mark:
“This is the worst financial condition that I’ve seen in the district…the costs are way outpacing the amount of money that we have…”
If you see nothing wrong with what’s in that video, then you’re part of the problem.
Pro-abortionists rally in solidarity, infanticide continues with a smirk
Gabriel Malor posts some interesting photos taken at the Wisconsin communist socialist teachers’ protests. One of them was this:
“Abortion without apology” reads the sign.
The one benefit you can get from liberals marching in the streets is that if one looks hard enough, you get to see their true colors, what really gets them going. Money is power, and the more money funneled to the endless array of government-funded programs, keeps them in control of their agenda.
Take for example Planned Parenthood, which receives about a third of its financing from Federal dollars. The organization is a veritable abortion mill:
Planned Parenthood Federation of America recently posted on its web site its so-called service numbers for 2009. This document, dated February 2011, shows that Planned Parenthood committed 332,278 surgical and medical abortions in 2009—more than in any previous year.
The document also shows that Planned Parenthood provided prenatal services to merely 7,021 women and referred 977 for adoption services. These numbers were a 25 percent drop in prenatal care clients and a whopping 59 percent decline in adoption referrals.
“Despite its protestations that abortion is only a small part of its services,” said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, “Planned Parenthood has increased its number of abortions for 15 straight years. During that time, it has gone from committing 9.3 percent of all abortions in the United States to committing 27.5 percent.”
Sedlak also noted that Planned Parenthood now does 340 abortions for every one adoption referral and 47 abortions for every one prenatal care client.
“The records show that Planned Parenthood has committed 5,320,095 surgical and medical abortions from 1970 through the end of 2009,” Sedlak continued. “We estimate that the income from abortion accounts for 40 percent of its annual clinic income.”
Without apologies and on demand–this is what they refer to as “reproductive rights”. Their attitude toward what amounts to infanticide is condescending and barbaric.
[Via Memeorandum]
Governor Walker proposes a budget
Walker, whose state faces a $3.6 billion budget shortfall, outlined a two-year, $59 billion budget that would cut spending across the board. Over $4 billion would be gutted from state coffers, a 6.7 percent reduction. “The facts are clear: Wisconsin is broke,” he said. “It’s time to start paying our bills today — so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorrow.”
Walker, who is not shy about his fiscal conservatism, takes an axe to numerous state programs in his proposal. If passed, over $700 million in education funds and over $1 billion in county and municipal aid would be slashed. That state’s Medicaid budget would be cut by $500 million. Over 20,000 government jobs would be eliminated. The state commerce department would disappear. It would also require, as his budget-repair bill stipulates, for public employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their salaries toward their pensions and pay 12.6 percent of their health-care premiums. Taxes would not be raised.
“Our budget reduces the structural deficit by 90 percent,” Walker said. “Gone are the segregated fund raids, illegal transfers, and accounting gimmicks. Gone are the tax or fee increases. Our state cannot grow if our people are weighed down paying for a larger and larger government. A government that pays its workers unsustainable benefits that are out of line with the private sector. We need a leaner and cleaner state government.”
There will be a lot of financial pain for people in Wisconsin, people who are not in public employee unions go to work everyday to feed their families, depend on state services, etc. I hope those people realize that they have their local union boss to thank for all of that. Scott Walker is merely trying to clean up the mess.
Keep reading Costa’s post–Walker is proposing lowering taxes and expanding school choice. More here.
On collective bargaining and the public unions
Collective bargaining is indeed a problem in the hands of public sector unions:
It enables unions rather than citizens to set the price of government. It is, thus, a direct assault on republican democracy, and it needs to be destroyed. Unlovely as they are, the Greek rioters and the snarling thugs of Madison are the logical end point of the advanced social democratic state: not an oppressed underclass, but a spoiled overclass, rioting in defense of its privileges and insisting on more subsidy, more benefits, more featherbedding, more government.
Big Unions fund Big Government. The union slices off two per cent of the workers’ pay and sluices it to the Democratic Party, which uses it to grow government, which also grows unions, which thereby grows the number of two-per-cent contributions, which thereby grows the Democratic Party, which thereby grows government… Repeat until bankruptcy. Or bailout.
[Hat Tip: Memeorandum]
In solidarity against the mob
The Wisconsin State Assembly voted on and passed Governor Walker’s budget bill early this morning. This is what happened after the vote was tallied:
Democrats erupted after the vote, throwing papers and what appeared to be a drink in the air. They denounced the move to cut off debate, questioning for the second time in the night whether the proper procedure had been followed.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” Democrats shouted in the faces of Republicans as the GOP lawmakers quietly filed off the floor and a police officer stood between opposing lawmakers.
“Cowards all! You’re all cowards,” yelled Rep. Brett Hulsey (D-Madison) as another Democrat tried to calm him down.
Here’s the video:
This is how the Democrats and their union overlords roll–intimidation, heated rhetoric, etc. We’ve seen it play out all week long. And they’ve taken it to the statehouse.
To the extent that the left now considers the Koch brothers the face of their opposition, they should be wary as the Kochs won’t be intimidated by the amateurish actions of the unions and their protesters. No, the Kochs aren’t backing down:
“With the Left trying to intimidate the Koch brothers to back off of their support for freedom and signaling to others that this is what happens if you oppose the administration and its allies, we have no choice but to continue to fight,” says Richard Fink, the executive vice president of Koch Industries. “We will not step back at all. We firmly believe that economic freedom has benefited the overwhelming majority of society, including workers, who earn higher wages when you have open and free markets. […]
“This is part of an orchestrated campaign that has been going on for many months. It involves the Obama administration, the Center for American Progress, aligned left-wing groups, and their friends in the media.
Here’s the deal. The union bosses are thugs, plain and simple. But they can be simple-minded. They’re used to getting their way and will throw a tantrum when they feel opposition.
Here in New Jersey, for example, the NJEA have had their way with Trenton for years until Governor Christie was elected. They were used to demanding previous governors to jump and the governor would happily oblige. When Governor Christie pushed back–and hard–the unions immediately started with the demonstrations, the in-your-face tactics, etc.–the typical nonsense. They’re used to getting their way. They’re spoiled.
So far Governor Walker is standing his ground and I would like to think that once the State Senate takes up the legislation, that Wisconsin’s Republicans stand firm. It’s the only way to reverse the unions’ ruinous cycle of fiscal destruction.
[Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin and Memeorandum]
Olliander 
Who’s talking…