Bucky is Pissed!

Bucky the Badger is the embodiment of the tough but egalitarian sensibility of the good citizens of Wisconsin, who have been duped into electing this wacko schmuck as their governor:

Meet Scott Walker; union-busting, worker-hating, double-dealing tool of the plutocrats. 

Here is his plan for dealing with a deficit he created in only 6 weeks on the job
(From TPM): (Emphasis is mine)

Scott Walker proposed stripping nearly all government workers of their collective bargaining rights. And as a warning shot across the bow, he told Wisconsin reporters Friday that he's alerted the National Guard ahead of any unrest, or in the event that state services are interrupted. Under his plan, which he'll include in his forthcoming budget proposal, most state workers would no longer be able to negotiate for better pensions or health benefits or anything other than higher salaries, which couldn't rise at a quicker pace than the Consumer Price Index.

Why would he propose such a radical, anti-labor move??

According to TPM:

Wisconsin's new Republican governor has framed his assault on public worker's collective bargaining rights as a needed measure of fiscal austerity during tough times.

 Only it turns out that this lying sack of skunk gizzards has a much more diabolical plan to return the workers of Wisconsin to the golden age of the 19th century, when the barons of industry routinely abused the working class:

The reality is radically different. Unlike true austerity measures -- service rollbacks, furloughs, and other temporary measures that cause pain but save money -- rolling back worker's bargaining rights by itself saves almost nothing on its own. But Walker's doing it anyhow, to knock down a barrier and allow him to cut state employee benefits immediately.

 But wait...There's more:

Furthermore, this broadside comes less than a month after the state's fiscal bureau -- the Wisconsin equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office -- concluded that Wisconsin isn't even in need of austerity measures, and could conclude the fiscal year with a surplus. In fact, they say that the current budget shortfall is a direct result of tax cut policies Walker enacted in his first days in office.

From the Capitol Times of Madison:

In its Jan. 31 memo to legislators on the condition of the state’s budget, the Fiscal Bureau determined that the state will end the year with a balance of $121.4 million.
To the extent that there is an imbalance -- Walker claims there is a $137 million deficit -- it is not because of a drop in revenues or increases in the cost of state employee contracts, benefits or pensions. It is because Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes -- or delay their implementation until they are offset by fresh revenues -- the “crisis” would not exist.

And Gov. Shitstain's crusade could really cost the State millions. 
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wisconsin communities could lose $70 million or more in federal aid for transit systems under a bill quickly moving through the state Legislature, opponents of the bill are warning.The measure by Gov. Scott Walker would strip most union rights away from most public employees. That could put in danger federal aid for buses because U.S. law requires that collective bargaining rights remain in place to get federal funds, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

And lo and behold, at long last, the workers and sane citizens of Wisconsin are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!


Perhaps inspired by the great awakening of the Egyptian people, or maybe even the attention given the Tea Party rave-ups, the people of Wisconsin have risen up in protest of this egregious affront to the already battered and reeling middle class:

Bucky would be proud. Workers in other states had best take a cue from the Badgers, because the Republican onslaught (in grovelling service to their wealthy and powerful corporate overlords) to pauperize the working folk is on a goosestepping march across the nation (TPM):

Add Tennessee to the list of states primed for a fight over public sector worker rights.

The Senate Education Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to abolish collective bargaining between teachers unions and school boards across the state.

The vote was 6-3, with all Republicans on the panel voting for the bill and all Democrats against.

Sponsor Sen. Jack Johnson said passage of the bill -- SB113 -- will remove 'an albatross from around the neck of our school boards across the state' and remove a roadblock to education reform.

A similar panel in Ohio is considering legislation to end collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. And the trend is set to spread quickly from Wisconsin to many other states.

 Vigilance citizens, vigilance!