Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
"What," Paul Rahe asks himself in a recent post, "would I be tempted to do in current circumstances were I Governor of the state of Wisconsin?" Paul continues:
My answer is straightforward. I would be inclined to play hardball. To begin with, I would not give an inch.
Apparently, Scott Walker asked himself the same question, and has settled upon the very same answer:
Walker stepped up the pressure on 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state to avoid a vote on the bill as he prepared to unveil on Tuesday a two-year state budget that he said cuts $1 billion from funding to local governments and schools.
But it's not just the Democrats in his legislature and the public employee unions that Scott Walker has to contend with in a ruthless game of bloody knuckles; he also faces the challenge of addressing the ever meddling Barack Obama. Yesterday, after endorsing RomneyCare in a speech delivered to an assembly of governors (from which Scott Walker was conspicuously absent), Obama ungraciously criticized Walker's handling of the situation in Wisconsin.
I also know that many of you are making decisions regarding your public workforces, and I know how difficult that can be....
But let me also say this: I don’t think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon. We need to attract the best and the brightest to public service. These times demand it.
Scott Walker, in a press release issued immediately after the president's remarks, answered thusly:
I’m sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn’t acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another.
Way to rock the snark, Governor.
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
"We need to attract the best and the brightest to public service."
Wait - Obama favors MERIT PAY?!?
Oct '10
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
Here's one of Obama's favorite tactics on display - the creation of straw men (I know of no public official who has "denigrated public employees") which he then cuts down to make himself look morally superior.
And if collective bargaining is a "right", then why is it denied to Federal employees?
Finally, I think the "best and brightest" people should be doing productive work, not occupying positions where they produce nothing AND their pay bears no relationship to their abilities.
Oct '10
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
Stuart Creque: "We need to attract the best and the brightest to public service."
Wait - Obama favors MERIT PAY?!? · Mar 1 at 12:06pm
The best and the brightest, save that thought for the next time you visit the local DMV. Or even better, the U.S Embassy in Mexico City. Something to avoid.
Merit pay does not apply... Now, this is not very nice, but true.
Those that could not compete in the private sector and hold a job, went to work for Government at various levels. A twisted form of nepotism.....
Wish one could apologize for that statement, Not going to happen soon...
Jun '10
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
Obama's perspective is interesting. He is considering collective bargaining as a right as if it is part of a constitutional mandate equivalent to the Bill of Rights. This implies that since it is a right, it cannot be legislated away. On the other hand, the right to health care and the individual mandate required to make it happen can be legislated in and is immune from a constitutional litmus test. So which is it Obama? According to the left, the Constitution is a living document that can be changed when it becomes outdated. If so, then collective bargaining should be considered outdated and can be voted out. I'd appreciate some consistency.
Now, back in reality, collective bargaining is NOT a constitutional right, and so therefore can be removed by the will of the people as it sees fit. Public employees get compensated at the level the taxpayer deems appropriate. There is no objective, inherent value to a government employee's worth. It is what the citizen decides it to be. In Wisconsin, citizens voted in Republicans because they have reconsidered their idea of what a public employee is worth. These are the rights we should be talking about.
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
Walker's response is pitch perfect. He pretends not to understand what Obama is up to and treats "The One" as an innocent ignoramus.
Jan '11
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
If I were governor I would tell Obama he shouldn't denigrate other heads of state.nor infringe their right to kill their own fellow citizens.
Also, the state of Wisconsin did attract their best and brightest and elected him governor.
(This is why I'm not governor. I'd be a disaster as a senator too. I might be able to be a decent Lt. governor - in a small state.)
May '10
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
Well, he's wrong. Obama is NOT innocent. In a battle of wits with Walker, Obama is unarmed.
Dec '10
Re: Scott Walker Sweeps in Latest Round of Bloody Knuckles
I believe Southerners have an expression: "Well bless his heart."
It's hard to describe the attitude but it seems to be Walker's.