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I couldn’t resist posting this.
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For some reason I can’t open that link. ??
I wonder how many residents of Wisconsin Koch Pipeline and Georgia-Pacific employ? I would guess at least a few… And I bet they would like to expand within the State so they could create more jobs… I think one way to do that would be to offer them a tax incentive.
I know, big business is so greedy. That’s why the Savior’s of the people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton both live in the poor house :whistle:
Interesting story. I don’t know a lot about the Koch brothers. I am going to research them a little more. In all fairness, what politician isn’t connected to big money somewhere? The unions also contribute a lot of money to politicians. I think we need to question and keep an eye on both sides.
The teachers complain that they have to purchase classroom supplies out of their own pocket, but the union makes sure to get its dues. Are the unions really looking out for the teachers or themselves?
MoparKid,
Let’s see. The Koch brothers are worth 43 billion dollars. Billion?? Yup, Billion. And they need us to give them a tax incentive to do business here? Huh???When I ran a business in Wisconsin, nobody came forward to offer me any tax incentives simply to be here. I stayed in business in Wisconsin because I made a living doing so. It’s pretty obvious Koch brothers are profitable here already. Now they want to tip the scales their way some more. How does that affect the other Wisconsin citizens who might try to compete with the Koch bros.? You’re right, let’s just ship those profits out-of-state.
PT50Man,
As to the unions buying school supplies, that’s never been how it works. The school districts purchase supplies. Many of those districts cannot afford them. Many of those darn self-centered teachers are so selfish that, rather than see our kids go without, they are using their own funds to pitch help. Why shouldn’t the teachers be unhappy about that situation? Why shouldn’t you, if you’re a parent?Guess what folks, part of the reason we can’t afford to run our schools, fire departments, and police forces is because a very few people in this country/world have monopolized an immense share of the world’s wealth. You and I aren’t in on that group. But to offer further tax incentives to those who certainly are in that group, like the Koch brothers, is absolute insanity. Aren’t they making a profit already?? Where did their 43 Billion dollars come from?
Interesting phone call the Governor got the other day, huh? Sounded like he was looking forward to the Koch brothers scratching his back some. I wonder why? You might want to check into that.
Paul
Link to transcript of conversation.
Paul, you need to read my blog a little closer. I question why the teachers have to pay for supplies out of their own pockets and pay union dues. The union makes sure that they get their money. If the union was truly looking out for them they wouldn’t have to pay for that stuff. When you pay union dues, everything is negotiable. I worked for BF Goodrich Tire Co. in the 60’s. Some of the jobs we did were extremely dirty because of the chemicals we worked with. Our union negotiated a uniform program for us so that we wouldn’t have to ruin our own clothes. I am not anti union. When times were good we got pretty good raises and benefits, but when times were slow we settled for less. BF Goodrich and the URW worked together in thick and thin to make good decisions that benefited everybody.
We need to question what the unions spend their money on the same way we question big business. No body is squeaky clean in this business and we should question everything. Neither big business or unions should be more powerful than the government. We elect our government. I did not vote for President Obama, but when the people spoke and he became president, he also became my president. I want him to be successful for the sake of our country. It is ashame that we as Americans are so divided. We need to start a new party called the common sense party. Both sides are losing in this category. Whether Democrat or Republican, they both have some good things that they stand for and some boneheaded stuff, neither party has figured out how to sort them out yet. I think that the common sense party should outlaw lobbyists, get them out of the Capitol Buildings and the White House.
PT50Man
Quote:I think that the common sense party should outlaw lobbyists, get them out of the Capitol Buildings and the White House.Amen to that brother!!
I’m right with you, that teachers shouldn’t be expected to pay for their school supplies. But I’m not sure that is a battle for the unions. Perhaps so.
You know the saying about “picking your battles”. Perhaps the union is mostly concerned with employee issues such as your example regarding uniforms, and wages, benefits, safety, etc., and simply hasn’t gotten the traction to push for supplies. They have to have a limit to their scope. I have no idea.
I’m all behind the union members making concessions in light of the economy, but if you strip the unions of their collective bargaining rights, you’ve pretty much killed off the unions. I don’t think that’s in our best interest, as a society.
Casting your vote, and electing someone, is only the first step in the process. If those elected officials misapply their authority, it is our right and responsibility to speak up in opposition. It seems to me that that’s what’s happened downtown.
I got this today:
There’s a new twist in the Chaos at the Capitol. That budget bill could payoff big for one of Governor Walker’s biggest campaign contributors.
Here’s something you might not know. Buried inside Walker’s 144-page budget repair bill are 10 lines. They don’t directly deal with state workers, unions, or contracts. Still, controversy is already heating up over what it could mean for a couple of out-of-state billionaires.
The sign at Saturday’s Tea Party rally in Madison read “Walker, kick the Koch habit.” What does that mean?
Charles and David Koch are high powered conservatives. Koch Industries is one of the largest private energy companies in the world, with operations throughout Wisconsin.
In 2010, Koch’s political action committee gave Governor Walker’s campaign $43,000 its second largest contribution.
So what?
Well, to save money, the Governor’s controversial budget bill would allow the state to “sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without the solicitation of bids.”
Critics say no-bids could mean some sweet deals for Koch.
“They put all of this money into getting him elected and now they are reaping the benefit, whether it’s reducing the rights of working families in Wisconsin as well as this payoff on the power plants,” said One Wisconsin Now director Scot Ross.
Another concern: “If the government were to unload these power plants, we would want to see not just transparency, but competitive bidding,” said UW-Milwaukee Public Administration Professor, Mordecai Lee. “We’d want to know that the taxpayers are getting the most for their dollars.”
And Lee worries: “Really, it seems to me it makes government look like it’s for sale,”
In this case, to the Koch brothers, who also founded and fund “American’s for Prosperity” — Tea Party supporters, which recently launched the standwithwalker.com website.
Koch’s PAC gave a million dollars to the Republican Governor’s Association which spent a ton of money on conservative TV ads in Wisconsin last year.
A spokesperson for Governor Walker’s office told the I-Team in an email Monday night that he couldn’t comment on short notice.
This is me again. After Gov. Walker’s comments to the guy from NY, it’s certainly food for thought.
PaulAnd what did he really say? Not much. Just casual conversation. We’ve all had converstaions like that. All politicians have backers. The Dems have Soros and Turner and others plus organizations like unions and such. What’s the difference? I know the difference. You agree with one and someone agrees with someone else. The main thing the WEAC is worried about is not the loss of collective bargaining, but maybe the shopping around for a less costly insurance plan because the health plan the Wisconsin teachers currently have is owned by WEAC. It’s called WEA Trust. Talk about sweetheart deals? This is one.
Business whether it’s “BIG” or small all look for advantages. That’s pretty obvious. Be it a tax, or some type of competitive edge they all look for it. No one is selling “air we breath”, so whatever your business is you need to stay ahead of the competition. Their profits are made to offset their expenses which can be huge. Look what happened to GM and Chrysler. They had huge profits, and “union” built JUNK. They made money had over fist and yes they just couldn’t pass off what they thought was quaility. We as a nation keep funding them to keep them, lets call it alive because they provide jobs in some shape or form. We really didn’t need 4 differently named Impala’s or Tahoe’s. What we needed is GM and Chrysler to keep our economy chugging along. It’s all about growing the economy. This is the direction our goverment made after WW II. As a nation we grew until recently when China and some of these oil rich countries have gained in strength. Now what does this have to do with whats going on with Wisconsin you ask? Well Wisconsin is small business compared to the US and we need to stay competitive amongst our competitors, the other 49 states. We need that oh so important goverment supplement money to keep us from going broke. If we can’t grow, we collapse alot like what would problably happen if the US lost it’s “BIG” businesses that bring money into this country. Why do you think Walker wants to get businesses back here into Wisconsin? It’s all about competion and growing. Unfortunately we get stepped on, some harder than others. When and if the layoffs start will only deepen the hatred for Walker and as we all know hindsight is 20/20, so we best go forward.
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