>>>>>>>Just a reminder to Wisonsoniters today to get out and vote and, preferably, clean house of the Walker menace!!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>We received a leaflet with all neighbors names (from the same and closes street) who didn't vote in 2008 or 2010. That was from Tom Barret campaign and I think it's a violation of privacy. We didn't know last names of our neighbors before - now we know.
>>>>>
>>>>>I hope you voted for Walker; just to annoy the liberals :)
>>>>
>>>>Consider the liberals annoyed ;-)
>>>>
>>>>The only thing that keeps me from going postal is knowing this would be the result. The recall was not going to succeed. I have one daughter in Madison and one in Milwaukee, plus an ex girlfriend whose mom was the first president of the Madison teachers union. but Wisconsin is a big state where progressive politics do not go statewide.
>>>
>>>Good.... glad to see the people of Wisconsin sending liberal politics and big labor union money packing with their tail between their legs....
>>
>>I wouldn't go that far. It's still a pretty evenly divided state.
>>
>>Do you have something against the working man (and woman)? I am certainly no blind defender of everything unions have ever done but let's not forget that they came about for a reason. Workers were ruthlessly exploited by ownership until they organized some power of their own. For some strange reason a lot of people seem to want us to return to that state of affairs.
>
>Hi Mike,
>
>I think the issue here is that public employee union proposals for wages and benefits are negotiated and approved by public officials whose campaigns for reelection are largely supported by the same unions. Couple that with, on the benefit side, the union proposals can easily be looked at as something "way off in the future". In the past it was difficult to find folks willing to take public service jobs due to low salaries. The work around was to give great benefit packages, especially retirement, and protection from job loss by the unions. Now public worker salaries have surpassed private sector but the benefits remain. In CT, where I currently reside, state employee contract agreements are not even voted on by the legislature. Instead they are rubber stamped by some sub committee in an obvious attempt to shield the legislators from having to actually go on the record.
>
>As I was typing this, I listened to a news item ref teachers in Chicago who make an average $73K and are demanding a 30% increase. Hmmmm.
>
>Ken

Hello Ken,

I will not in any way, shape, or form defend the Chicago teachers union. They epitomize what can be wrong with unions.

The Madison teachers are a bird of a different feather. Yes, they have (had) good benefits. But their salaries are way below par for their education and commitment. You wouldn't want to live on their incomes and neither do I. Teaching is a profession you go into because you feel the call, not because you think it's going to make you rich. If anyone thinks they are getting rich teaching our children they are dreaming.

What really steamed me during the recall debate was how much derision there was for the teachers. Part time workers. Summers off. Six hours a day of work, i.e. school hours. How far from the truth. If you knew how much time went into preparing lessons, scoring tests, talking to kids after class, you would be grateful for your 8-10 hour workdays. They deserve the summer off considering how much they do, how little they earn, and how important they are to our country. Does any among us who benefited from American school education really consider them overpaid? It's preposterous. These are the last people who should be demonized.