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Wisconsin vs Total Recall

F

FreshFish

New member
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) pulled in $13 million in the most recent three-month reporting period to fight off a Democratic attempt to recall him from office...Walker's campaign added that it received 125,926 donations during the most recent fundraising period, which lasted from mid-January to April 23, 2012. Of those contributions, 76.4 percent received, or 96,292, totaled $50 or less.[emphasis added]
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/scott-walker-recall-fundraising-13-million_n_1465794.html


It sounds like Gov Walker's message is resonating nationwide with ordinary people: three out of four donations are less than $50.


Despite the "gloom and doom" predictions, municipal and county governments generally have been able to close projected budget deficits without raising taxes by taking advantage of expense reductions made possible by Walker's legislative agenda.

One item that really grabbed my attention was the ability of local governments to shop for health insurance. The public employees' union in Wisconsin had set up a wholly-owned subsidiary from which municipalities were then forced to purchase health insurance coverage. As soon as these municipalities were freed to acquire health insurance from any provider, their premiums went down.....

Private-sector union leaders around the country are speaking up more loudly about the need to rein in public-sector benefits so that governments can afford to spend money on something other than pension and retireee health care (see John Sweeney in NJ for a prime example).

Will we be a nation of free people, or a nation enslaved to government employees? Ordinary citizens face off against union might in early June. Both sides agree this is a symbolic test case with national implications.

Stay tuned.....
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

I'm a bit torn. Im starting to appreciate what he's done with unions but it sort of ends there.

It doesn't help that his vision for "creating jobs" mostly involves tax credit handouts on a case by case basis (and people wonder why his reputation is that of a stooge for the Koch brothers). And he's also the kind of guy who supports lifting the income limits for people to receive private school vouchers (which sort of tells you everything you'd ever need to know about what kind of elitist he is).

I don't think I could in good conscience vote to recall him, if only because I don't approve of the cartoonish attempts to demonize everything this clown does and I don't think it sets a good precedent. The extra time and money being spent on this whole thing is absurd.

I also know that there's no way in hell I'd vote for him if he runs for re-election. Which probably means I'll end up voting third party, since the democrats around here aren't any more trustworthy.
 
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Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
And he's also the kind of guy who supports lifting the income limits for people to receive private school vouchers (which sort of tells you everything you'd ever need to know about what kind of elitist he is).
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Black males graduate from Milwaukee Public Schools at a rate of 31%. Hispanic males at a rate of 36%. I guess he's the kind of elitist that thinks that isn't so hot.

Would you send your kids to MPS one day?

----
As to the recall more generally, I think there's a decent chance Walker survives, though with two more months of crappy jobs numbers, who knows?
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

WWM, how on earth is that relevant? What does MPS's failures have to do with Walkers belief that we shouldn't put limits on who we pay to make the choice to go to private schools.

We already pay out a lot of money to give aid to people who send their kids to private school, and it technically saves the state money over the state's expenses of those families choosing public school. But it's not enough for people like Walker unless he extends that handout to the elitists who (statistically speaking) wouldn't be sending their kids to public school in the first place.

And, to you, pointing that out means that I must be cool with MPS. [sarcasm]Nice logic, way to connect the dots. <thumbs up>[/sarcasm]
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
WWM, how on earth is that relevant? What does MPS's failures have to do with Walkers belief that we shouldn't put limits on who we pay to make the choice to go to private schools.
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MPS is entirely relevant to this discussion. The vast majority of voucher kids in Wisconsin are Milwaukee kids, who would be attending MPS otherwise. Before the change, the cap was 175% of the poverty line. That meant that families making $35k or so couldn't participate in the program. Enjoy MPS, kiddos!

Would raising the cap to 325%, as originally proposed, have been better than eliminating the cap entirely? I could see that argument. But still, that means that a family of 4, with both husband and wife pulling in around 42k, would be out of the program. I don't think any kid should be consigned to MPS, just because their parents fall above some income threshold.

We already pay out a lot of money to give aid to people who send their kids to private school, and it technically saves the state money over the state's expenses of those families choosing public school. But it's not enough for people like Walker unless he extends that handout to the elitists who (statistically speaking) wouldn't be sending their kids to public school in the first place.
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I know, I know, it's about the super rich. I agree, they shouldn't be using this program. But I remember having a very similar discussion to this one last spring. Now, a year later, where's the evidence they are?

As an aside, while I totally take your complaints at face value, it's hard to do so for other opponents of this program. There are folks who hated the program when it was only for families making 20k a year, their outrage over this seems faked.

And, to you, pointing that out means that I must be cool with MPS. [sarcasm]Nice logic, way to connect the dots. <thumbs up>[/sarcasm]
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Whoa, no. I did not mean to paint you as a supporter of MPS (with those numbers, who would be?). It was a rhetorical question. I suspect there's no way you'd send your kids there, just like there's no way I would send mine. If we wouldn't, why should we make others do so, just because of the neighborhood they happen to live in?
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

Yeah, Walker has set the fund-raising record now, and 74%, call it three-quarters of that money is from outside the state of Wisconsin. It's not his constituents that are supporting him.

Edit: It's actually 74% of the donations, not 74% of the dollars.
 
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Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

Carter said:
Yeah, Walker has set the fund-raising record now, and 74%, call it three-quarters of that money is from outside the state of Wisconsin. It's not his constituents that are supporting him.
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It's not only his constituents that are supporting him, in the exact same way that it is not only Wisconsin public-employee unions that are opposing him, either. How much money has the SEIU and the NEA pumped into the state as well?

The unions chose to make a national example of Walker; if we were being five years old we could safely say, "they started it."

Some people just don't like bullies and are willing to stand up for those being bullied.

Our state really needs Walker's reforms far more than Wisconsin does. If Walker succeeds there, it creates hope for places like ours.

It's really unfortunate that Walker's record has so many other elements attached to it; it certainly muddles and cloudies the picture, I'll grant you that!

If it were merely government reformer vs intransigent reactionaries, it would be a simpler, cleaner story. :)
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

You guys actually think Vouchers is going to solve the public school problem?

Elizabeth Warren documented the problem with the public school system in a book called The Two Income Trap. Vouchers doesn't solve it.
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

ScoobyDoo said:
You guys actually think Vouchers is going to solve the public school problem?

Elizabeth Warren documented the problem with the public school system in a book called The Two Income Trap. Vouchers doesn't solve it.
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Elizabeth Warren is a Communist, Scooby.
 
Re: Wisconsin vs Total Recall

FreshFish said:
Gee, I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry, it was just a joke......didn't mean to upset you, poor dear.
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You'd only hurt my feelings if you disappointed in your predictable retorts. Thus far you have never disappointed.

I see Rational FF has gained the upper hand in your continuing MPD battle over on the other thread. That's a sign of progress. :D
 
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