I think Scott Walker made a mistake excluding Police and Firefighters. I don't think his or "Republicans" aim to divide as some here repeat. I think he is trying to reign in the free wheeling spending and benefits that accrue to public unions workers - a true special interest group. The sky isn't falling for them. We middle class workers in the private sector have endured job cuts and salary freezes routinely. It's a fiscal way of life and why public unions should be exempt from this is not understood by me.

leominpin - I don't even need to leave a post here ... you took the words right out of my mouth!

grandys--I know you think you are a genius, but, believe me, you are the only one who thinks so. To say that animals are conservative is NOT the same as saying that conservatives are animals. No wonder you dislike teachers--they didn't help you very much.

markr vs. grandys618 - Good one markr, you hit the nail on the head with his comprehension skills!

The police & fire dept should have been included in the bill in the first place. Why should we have to pay in taxes to provide them their benefits when it's making it harder for us to pay for our own health care?

The rest of the folks that walker thinks make to much should also join the police union..

""How does Walker rationalize police collectively bargaining, but not teachers and other public sector workers?""

It was an "Atta boy" award to the Milwaukee Police Department union, who supported Walker over their own mayor Tom Barrett. The rest of the state cops kind of got "coat tailed" in.

In addition Walker is proposing legislation knocking out the City of Milwaukee rule, mandating officers live within the city limits. Something that has annoyed the union for sometime.

The Wisconsin Professional Police Association, which Janesville officers are members, did not support Walker. Although it would have been very difficult to treat the two groups differently.

Wisconsin is starting to look and feel a lot like Cook County Illinois in the 60's.

Whatever you have to tell yourself, grandys. The fact is that I did not call conservatives animals. I think I see your problem now. You are not able to understand what you read. You would probably be a liberal yourself if you were able to comprehend your reading. I also did not use the Jefferson quote "out of context," as you seem to think. It was very apropos, but again, I see now why you don't follow the conversation very well. There are literacy courses available--while it is plain that you can read, they might be able to help you grasp the MEANING of what you read.

How does Walker rationalize police collectively bargaining, but not teachers and other public sector workers?

Good move. Working people simply must organize if they expect to have any say whatsoever about working conditions. A Republican political ad intended to beat up on unions mentioned, hoping to inspire resentment, that organized public sector workers make 42 percent more than unorganized private sector workers! Connect the dots, people!!

Well, I am in front of a mirror right now, grandys. I see the good...but you are not in the reflection.

fearand rhetoric--You are correct. They think that calling us "liberals" is some kind of slur. They don't have the wherewithal to understand that it is the grandest compliment that they can give a person. If nothing else, it seperates us from the animals, which, you notice, are all conservative, self-centered, self-interested creatures.

This reminds me of a summer day back in 1986. It went like this: "MOM, my sister got more lemonade than I did!" I immediately started crying like a little baby. Just because my sister was older didn't mean she should have gotten more lemonade than me! -I was six at the time. This goes to show that the cops have to be sneakier than the taxpayers. And for that, we thank you.

grandys and toasty--Maybe you're right. Maybe Wisconsin now has more people like you than like us. This would not be surprising. As Thomas Jefferson pointed out, unpopularly but truly, "There are always more bad people than good. That is why we must balance the will of the majority."

fear: You say it pretty well.

Lots of really uninformed , slow individuals posting. Have never seen a time in my life when the term "liberal" was used more to be a derrogatory term. The tactics that some of you folks use to drag down your political opponents are just silly repeating tactics of arguements that you didnt even find! Try to argue facts and not use hyperbole, you may find it refreshing.
To say that Dems didnt turn out? Thats just ridiculous! Mrs Kloppenburg went from an UNKNOWN assistant AG to (if it stands) a 1% loser to a sitting SCJ! She also garnered almost 750,000 votes! I would hardly say that no one turned out. Waukesha county just scared up a few more dead folks!Not my opinion , but just a small dose of the crap we have to hear from repubs if their guy loses!
As far as scoreboard goes? Really this is some kind of game for you? The pendullum swings both ways, when your parents/grandparents are living in your basement and dying bc of lack of medicare then it will be time to throw the other guys out.
None of them will succeed because they are fighting the wrong battles, period.

I guess the next election will tell, won't it? "...instead of staying in their home state of Wisconsin and spending their retirement money here at home." I am home. Maybe I will start calling you Jesus Grandys. Didn't he live his entire life without ever traveling more than thirty miles from home?

But didn't this very same group already once (and not long ago) HAVE A UNION and dissolve it based on the City's promises of a raise and merit pay?

I kinda see where they are coming from. Who wants those they supervise making more than them. When a supervisor retires who will want to apply for the promotion when you will take a pay cut. It cant always be about dollars and cents but these days who can afford to take money from their family.

Show me ANY politician that doesn't lie by omission. They will say whatever is necessary to get elected. This applies to BOTH parties. The general public should be outraged by what is taking place in this country. They pick a hot topic and run with it. Whoever seems to pick the most popular soapbox to stand on wins.

These supervisors are undermining the policies of boss walker and must be dealt with swiftly and harshly to send a message to others that this type of disobedience of the rules of fitzwalkerstan will not be tolerated.

toasty....The reality is that we "Libs" did not throw everything we had at him. Many of us (not me, but I helped put Harry Reid back in office) did not get to the polls. It's called complacency, or the "so confident we need not vote" syndrome. And Walker slipped in by a narrow margin while we were sleeping-in. But not next time. "Fool me once" is enough fooling for liberals. Slow learners we are not. Plus your governor lied by omission on many counts during his campaign. If he had been honest and open about his plans, that would have been more than enough to sink his ship. But predicting is often very foolish, isn't it? I guess time will tell for One-Term Scotty.

Instead of "We're simply trying to organize so we have an opportunity to be exempt like the other people that we supervise," Aagaard, really meant "We're simply trying to organize so we have an opportunity to take from the tax payers like all the rest". Typical entitlement mentality.

Really NVgrf, One-term Scotty? You Libs are in for another round of reality check when he wins again. You guys threw everything you had at him and still lost. Millions and millions of outside dollars thrown at a conservative judge who you people compared to Walker. You people need to wake up! Walker 2, Libs 0. SCOREBOARD!

One-Term Scotty will not like this one.

To Serve and Protect

Themselves, first.

officerfriendly1, your scare tactics are obviously not exactly working. Silly officerfriendly1.

Eventually the budget repair bill, now on hold by the courts, may need to be voted on again. When it comes up a second time, I bet you will see the "blanket exemption" Aagaard speaks of. A lesson learned though, those middle management folks benefit from union settlements by those they supervise. That was before Walker and the budget repair bill stripped most of that away. The bill affects more than just union people.

Oh, Oh! Wait until Scotty finds out about this!

At least these guys made the right decision rather than letting compensation issues create unnecessary tensions and fighting amongst each other, which is exactly what the Republicans want from union workers and the middle class as a whole.