Ok, actually you raise some valid points... like everything else in life there are always 3 sides to every story.. What both sides say and what really happened. Like you, I'll try to reply to your post by the points you've made.
Some information about ALEC.
http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed
I followed that link, and read the "information" that was contained therein.
I found it biased and misleading beyond belief. With a LOT of digging I found that Alecexposed.org claims it is a member of a group of other activist orginazitations, among them are PRWatch.org, SourceWatch.org, BanksterUSA.org, Foodrightsnetwork.org, and AtrazineExposed.org. These are all part of the Center for Media and Democracy, and are all funded by ....you guessed it....George Soros.
The site goes to great lenghts to expose how Governor Walker has ruined Wisconson and why there is an effort to recall him. So lets look at the truth, not what the site says. For more than a generation in Wisconsin, the power of special interests and the liberal elite have gone largely unchecked. Gov Walkers administration finally stood up to them, and they changed the way they did things in government in Wisconsin. That's why his opponents are trying to recall him. They want to roll back the clock and take us back to the days of skyrocketing taxes, bloated budgets, and unchecked and unaccountable spending. The day he became Governor, he set about the work that the people of Wisconsin sent him to do. He eliminated the deficit left by his Democrat predecessor.
HE gave the freedom of choice to public employees. The reforms have allowed public employees to decide if they would like to spend (in some cases more than a thousand dollars a year in dues) or keep their hard earned money. They finally put the control of state government back where it belongs, in the hands of the people. He kept his promises to the voters in Wisconsin. He didn’t raise taxes. There were not the massive lay offs of state workers that his opponents said would happen. His reforms have balanced the budget and lowered the unemployment rate to a level unseen since 2008.
ALEC is not just about Wisconsin or Ohio, it is about the cause of reform across this country. It is about deciding what kind of country we are going to be for generations to come. We must send a message that we can and will live within our means. We must not hand power back to a small group of special interests and let them run state governments into the ground across this great nation for their own gains.
The Senator who introduced it was so very ignorant about what was in the bill that when she was questioned by committee members about it she actually looked very foolish because she continually said that she didn't know many of the specifics of the bill.
Much like Nancy Pelosi when she said she didn't know what was in the Health Care Bill and that Congress had to pass it before they could find out what was contained inside it?
Of course ALEC has a political agenda. It's agenda is to reduce a bloated federal government and bring more control back to the states. It also is trying to reduce the tax impact on every single citizen of this Country. The way you do that is by reducing spending. I'm NOT saying that everything they do is perfect and above board...no organization is perfect. But in order to reduce spending you must do EXACTLY that ...REDUCE spending on all levels. Obviously there are certain things you cannot reduce in the interests of the safety of the citizens. (You cannot abolish the police force or Fire Dept. for example) But you can cut back on out of control unions that are used to getting everything they want year after year. Again, like I said before, I'm not saying that what was earned before should be reduced... a contract is a contract. But I am saying that reductions need to be made. And I'm putting my own self where my mouth is.... My wife works for the DMV in our state. She's had her work hours changed, reduced and her pay has been frozen for two years now. Plus she gets unpaid furlow days. It hurts us financially of course. So I'm feeling the pinch just like you. But I recognise that it's necessary if we are to close the 40 BILLION dollar deficit that our previous Governors on both sides rolled up ...much of it to corrupt politicians, contractors and out of control unions. This is exactly the kind of thing ALEC is trying to stop, contrary to the lies that George Soros would have you believe.
I can't speak for how things are done or handled in the IBEW-AFL-CIO or any other union. But i can say that The democrats didn't bring this battle to us.It was definately the Republicans.
Well, thank God for the Republicans. At least some party is trying to cut the out of control spending!!
We had no choice but to fight back or be forced to do a very dangerous jobs for about 15% less because IF Senate Bill 5 HAD passed,that was the paycut we were facing
As I've said many time, a contract is a contract. Those that agreed to the terms of that contract should, by all means, reap them. New hires, on the other hand, should not get those benefits. If it was a 15% or a 1% pay cut doesn't really matter.. A persons sells themselves for the pay they are offered. If it's 15% less than people that are already employed then so be it.. They don't have to take the job. If 15% is necessary for the survival of all the citizens of the State then 15% it is.. This is much too serious a matter for lying. So if they were truly lying then they deserved to be defeated.. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between the two points of view.
We would have been at the mercy of local elected officials for everything from fire gloves to new trucks and everything in between.THAT would have been disasterous!
Why? The citizens of your state pay your saleries...the local elected officials are their duly elected representives with a fiducary responsibility to the citizens to oversee spending . Absloutely they should have a say in what they buy.
This statement is simply wrong:
"Now the public sector unions are making MORE than the private sector people that support them, but they still want the same pensions, they still want the free health care, they still want the free pensions and benefits."
It is not wrong, I provided first hand knowledge that, in the case of the teachers union at least, it is 100% factual.
As I said in my other post.the Republicans here in Ohio TRIED to say publicly that the average public sector worker made 41% more than a comparable in the private sector.Well,it was researched and when it was made public that it just wasn't so they lost face and steam for their fight.
Researched by who? What was the actual percentage? I'd be interested in knowing what was made public. Do you have a source for that claim?
Personally I seriously doubt that you or many other people would do my job for the pay I receive.
Very true. First, I'm too old, second, I live in the tri-state area, with the highest taxes and saleries in the Nation. But I was a volunteer member of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for several years, and I've fought my share of fires... the worst one being in Bass River State forest back in the 70's. I've eaten my share of smoke.
Little gets accomplished when both sides do nothing but point the finger at each other and attempt to lay blame. Both sides share the blame.
On that I agree 100%, which is exactly WHY the Tea Party exists. We're just average citizens that are mad as hell at the lies that have been fed to us by both parties. Presently we're engaged in a war to remove the RINO's (Republicans In Name Only) from our party and the Socialist Democrats of the left from our Government. We're not a bunch of kooks, racists, radicals, or monsters that the left and their controlled media dogs have led you to believe. We are you. We are everyman and everywoman in this country that wants our freedoms and our Country back. Your very future and the future of your wife and kids depends on our success. Join us..
