{"id":4090,"date":"2011-02-15T07:52:45","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T15:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=4090"},"modified":"2011-02-15T07:52:45","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T15:52:45","slug":"wisconsin-gop-declares-war-on-unions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/02\/15\/wisconsin-gop-declares-war-on-unions\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin GOP Declares War on Unions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governor Scott Walker is afraid.  He\u2019s so afraid that he\u2019s talking about the National Guard to put down what he thinks state workers\u2019 reaction will be for his attempts to pay for his tax breaks for millionaires by gutting their pensions, cutting their benefits, and forbidding them their right to bargain collectively.  What worries me most is that US National Guard troops have not always shown the same restraint Egypt\u2019s military recently has.  Do you remember Kent State?  If killing government workers will help the rich, that\u2019s OK with the Republican leadership.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"15walker\"Last month, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said that if employees strike, \u201cthey should be fired,\u201d and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) wrote in an op-ed that the moral case for unions \u201cdoes not apply to public employment [Murdoch delinked].\u201d Now, facing a $137 million budget deficit, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has proposed a \u201cbudget repair bill<\/font><\/a>\u201d that would severely limit collective bargaining<\/font><\/a>, eliminate the right of unions to negotiate pensions, retirement and benefits.<\/font><\/p>\n

Walker is facing fierce criticism for this all-out assault against state workers, especially after he insisted that the \u201cNational Guard<\/font><\/a>\u201d will be used against a walkout:<\/font><\/p>\n

When asked by a reporter what will happen if workers resist, Walker replied that he would call out the National Guard.<\/font><\/strong><\/span> He said that the National Guard is \u201cprepared\u2026for whatever the governor, their commander-in-chief, might call for. \u2026 I am fully prepared for whatever may happen.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n

Traditionally, the National Guard is called to assist Americans in times of crisis; so Walker\u2019s attempt to use the National Guard as a tool to suppress dissent is particularly deplorable\u2026 [emphasis original<\/em><\/span>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Think Progress<\/a>><\/p>\n

Ed Schultz covered this story very well in two segments of last nights show.  In the first, he gives an overview and interviews two school teachers.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n

In The second, he interviews Wisconsin AFL-CIO President, Paul Neuenfeldt about union busting through budget cuts.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisconsin is just an microcosm of Republican union busting strategy nationwide, and it seems they are willing to enforce their abuse of power by force.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor Scott Walker is afraid.  He\u2019s so afraid that he\u2019s talking about the National Guard to put down what he thinks state workers\u2019 reaction will be for his attempts to pay for his tax breaks for millionaires by gutting their pensions, cutting their benefits, and forbidding them their right to bargain collectively.  What worries me […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4090\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}