So, the question is, "Why cave now to these union blackmailers?" And why is it that it is always the Republicans who must be willing to "compromise?" Nothing good ever comes out of something like this. All that ends up being accomplished is that the problems are pushed off to another day, when they will be much more difficult to deal with. This "compromise" will do nothing more than to re-enforce the type of bad behavior that has been exhibited by both these scumbag AWOL Democrats as well as the union leeches. The governor said at the very beginning of this that the 5 million people in his state deserved a voice, they deserved to be heard just as much as did the 300,000 union people. Well, by being willing to now "compromise," he is effectively telling those 5 million residents of his state that they are now free to go screw themselves. Once again we have a Republican who has a severe case of spinelessness. I'm not even sure if that's a word, but it fits what's going on here. So it was then that after turning down an invitation to meet with Democratic Party leaders on Monday, Gov. Walker has now offered to keep certain collective bargaining rights in place for state workers. All coming in the form of his proposed "compromise" which I guess is aimed at trying to end a nearly three-week standoff with these absentee Democratic state senators, at least according to e-mails released Tuesday by his office. The e-mails, some dated as recently as this passed Sunday, show somewhat of a softening stance on the part of Gov. Walker in his talks with the 14 Democrats who chose to flee to Illinois instead of manning up and doing the job that they get paid to do. In their effort to block a vote on his original proposal that would strip nearly all collective bargaining rights for public workers and force concessions amounting to an average 8 percent pay cut, they chose to run. What's going to happen is that victory will go to whichever team's players have the bigger balls. And from where I'm sitting, the governor needs to start growing a pair.
Under this new "compromise" now being floated by Gov. Walker and detailed in the previously mentioned e-mails, union workers would be able to continue collective bargaining over their salaries with no limit, which is a change from the governor's original plan that banned negotiated salary increases beyond inflation. He also proposed "compromises" allowing collective bargaining to stay in place on mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size for teachers. The calling for increased contributions for health insurance and pension, projected to save the state $330 million by mid-2013, would remain. Sen. Bob Jauch, one of the 14 AWOL Democrats, said he hoped that the "compromise" would serve as a blueprint for future negotiations. But both he and Sen. Tim Cullen, who were working with Walker’s administration, said the latest offer was inadequate. Inadequate? Who do these worthless gasbags think they are? They hold the entire process hostage, and then claim that the, what I view as excessive, overtures now being made by the governor are inadequate? Look, I can't help but think that this whole notion of a "compromise" is a big mistake. You can never afford to give into individuals who use these types of tactics, because if you give these thugs so much as an inch they're going to want to take a mile. Nothing good can come from this "compromise." The e-mails even showed that Sen. Jauch had wanted even more items to be subject to collective bargaining than what Walker seeks to eliminate, including sick leave and vacation pay. “I consider the lines of communication still open,” Cullen said Tuesday. “Whether there’s going to be any communicating, remains to be seen. These things ebb and flow.” Boy, isn't that big of Mr. Cullen. This gutless coward has no right to be making any demands as long as he remains hiding out in another state. In fact, there should be absolutely no dialogue with these deserters until that can manage to grow up and get back to where it is that they belong!
Walker had repeatedly said that he would not budge on the key parts of the bill that’s been stymied in the Senate after Democrats left 19 days ago. But it would appear that he is now budging, and that cannot be viewed as being a positive thing. But the pressure to arrive at some sort of deal has increased as protests reached as large as 80,000 union parasites and polls show the public want a "compromise" and recall efforts were launched against 16 senators, including eight Republicans. Some of the items in Walker’s "compromise" plan could only be bargained if both sides agree to take them up. Workplace safety would be subjected to bargaining regardless. Walker also proposed allowing collective bargaining agreements to last up to two years, instead of the one-year limit in his original proposal. Unions would only have to vote to remain in existence every three years, instead of annually as Walker initially proposed. Additionally, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority employees would not lose all union bargaining rights and the Legislature‘s budget committee would have to vote to approve any changes to Medicaid programs sought by Walker’s administration. Under the original bill, the Department of Health Services could make cuts and other changes to programs benefiting the poor, elderly and disabled without requiring a hearing or vote by the legislative committee. Senate Republicans spent hours going over the "compromise" plan Tuesday morning in a closed-door meeting, Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said. He acknowledged that pressure was increasing on the senators, saying the recall efforts launched against eight Republicans was “on everybody’s minds.” If the people are not going to chose to stand with the Republicans on this issue, then they deserve whatever it is that results from this ongoing situation. Having said that, should the governor chose, instead, to cave on this, and throw the people of Wisconsin under the union bus, then he is deserving of whatever scorn is heaped upon him by the good people of Wisconsin.
“Everybody’s obviously receiving a lot of pressure,” Fitzgerald said. “I had people on my front porch before I left this morning.” He didn’t say whether Senate Republicans agreed with the concessions Walker proposed on Sunday, but said support for the underlying bill remained strong. “We’re rock solid, we’re fine,” he said. Sorry, but I'm just not so confident about that anymore. Because if the governor is now willing to go squishy, how many more Republicans will soon be following his lead? Isn't there anyone out there who possesses the necessary backbone to do what needs to be done in order to prevent our entire country from going completely down the tubes? I'm really beginning to wonder.
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