Two foes getting ready to face the coming dragon.
Red Knight: We're going to face the dragon. I need you to not stab me in the back.
Blue Knight: Since we're facing the same dragon, I will not stab you. Take my short sword as proof of my honesty.
Red Knight: Not enough, I'll need your broadsword and shield as well.
Blue Knight: But after we finish the dragon, it will leave me defenseless to your assaults.
Red Knight: For the good of the battle.
Blue Knight: Um...no.
Think of it in those terms.
The good folks at Low Country Dirty Tricks, Underhanded Dealings & BBQ have few things that they would like someone to bring them up to speed on with this whole Wisconsin mess. And by bring up to speed, we mean make us understand how several square pegs are supposed to fit into holes shaped more like circles.
First, if we understand this situation correctly, the Republican Governor cuts taxes to spur job growth. Which, if I'm not mistaken, didn't work. This cut in state intake creates a budget deficit. Now to fix this self created budget deficit the Republican Governor wants to have the public employee union...the teachers if I'm not mistaken...pay more out of their own pockets for pensions. The union agrees that in these hard times, ignoring the insanity of the situation, to help meet the budget shortfall, their members will pay more for their own pensions.
And this all would be fine, except for the lower taxes to create non-existent job growth part. Lower taxes on top of the low taxes they've already had for three years of no job growth. Brilliant!
But then the Republican party says they also need to remove the union's collective bargaining agreement, so in the future the local leaders will have flexibility in working out their local budgets. Which sounds great, had the unions balked or fought at the proposed changes, which they didn't. I could even see where the need for flexibility might be needed, if the other side wasn't already willing to compromise, except this proposed change really places ALL the power in the hands of the small town government official. And saves NO actual dollars. Not now or guarantees them in the future. It only creates government without challenge.
The second part of the equation is that in the face of massive protest, the Republican party have not responded to the outrage by listening to the people...but have rallied around one another? Which sounds strange, when just last summer the Republican party as a whole (maybe not Wisconsin, I dunno) indicated that government should listen to the people and not pass the Patient's Right Act (Obamacare for those not really paying attention). And that bill was debated and fought over, this bill was introduced on Monday to voted on three days later. So the theme appears to be "listen to the people when they say what you want, and stand against them when they stand in the way of what you want to do."
Perhaps we missed a chapter. Does no one actually read history but me?
But what about the children? Especially when its not the unions that are bad, when you consider that the highest test scores in the country are in states with strong teacher's unions, and the five states with the lowest test scores...well, you see where that is going. True, unions protect bad teachers in a number of cases, but that's not all they do. And its not like the teachers are overpaid anywhere. So why are the Republicans so intent upon disarming them?
Square peg. Round hole. And now the Republicans are looking for a hammer.
Wait, what the hot phrase last year? Stuffing something down somebody's....
Ah, politics.
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