Has anyone on here actually read the contracts? The concessions being made? The fact that the retirement fund has nothing to do with the state budget? Doesn't matter if you're union or not, seems to me that if Walker is going off half-cocked with this stuff, what else is he going to do? He is spouting talking points that have no basis in his abilities within the laws of the State of Wisconsin. Just a FYI, the unions for the State employees can only be "broken" if there is a majority vote by the membership to decertify the union- that's law. How about we have the private and non-union employees in the government take the concessions too? Including the Governor. How about if the legislature stops getting their raises, start paying for their benefits, including health and retirement? How about if they all stop getting per diem? How many people do you know that get their daily travel costs to their jobs paid? What would these cuts save the people of Wisconsin? Who does the more important job....the secretary at the capitol or the prison guard? Get real folks on both sides, this could break Wisconsin and not just financially.

lengendre, I never said I would support right-to-work-for-less laws. Don't put words in my mouth.

legendre - Spot on.

Very well said legendre!

legendre: Excellent!

Perhaps Mr. Decker is hoping for a judicial appointment by the Governor in January. It worked for Gary Sherman, maybe it will work for Decker as well.

Professor, Where in your distorted little world do you establish that private industry is "screwing" people? You have implied this before in many of your posts and if you are educated enough to be a professor you really ought to know better otherwise you have no business teaching people. I know you have lived your entire career outside of the reality of supply and demand but they must have books or at least internet access at your campus to look this concept up. If the people being "screwed" feel their compensation is not adequate, they can sell their labor someplace else and they are free to do this. This "race to the bottom" which seems to be your new catch phrase is just the marketplace making corrections between the balance of supply and demand. Why are you always looking at somebody who has more than you with the belief that they must have "screwed" somebody to get what they have? Are you really a Marxist zero sum type thinker? Really? Is your thinking that black and white? I thought part of being an intellectual meant understanding that the world is complicated and there are shades of gray. Maybe you should really evaluate your career choice. Join us out here in the private sector where you are paid based on your talents. You might be happier and not so bitter about making money. It's not evil to make money. And just to respond to some of the real stupid stuff I have read on here about "rich people." Most did not inherit their money. They amassed it in their lifetime doing something foreign to you professor, risking everything, working their tail off, a lot of sleepless nights, and praying that at the end of the month you have enough to pay your staff.

Legend--So, under your fact scenario, is your plan that, since the private industry is screwing the worker, while the 'fat cats' keep getting richer, the best thing to do is advocate screwing your fellow worker--who's union just might be in a position to stop the slide?

Does anyone else wonder how Wood got to Madison? Maybe it's just me here I guess.
Wisconsin State Employees Union executive director Marty Beil lashed out at Decker, calling him "a whore" for siding with Republicans who opposed the contracts.
Marty Marty Marty, what kind of language is that to be using?? The way I see it was that Russ Decker couldn't in good conscience do that to the state that he has worked for for the last 20 years, bravo Mr. Decker, I would like to wish you well on all of your future endeavors. You have shown that you do have a good conscience here, it's too bad that your fellow constituents don't have any........
I surely hope that the voters remember this when their next term is up for re-election,,,,,,,,

I'm glad you would support right to work laws in WI. You and I both agree it would be a good step in the right direction.

Congratulations Redhawk. What about state agencies which is what the entire thread is about?

legendre, you really should get you facts right before you post. I can name two businesses right in our area that have open shops, Weiler in Whitewater and Wisco in Oregon.

What if they refuse to tell you anything? In WI do you have the right to not join your union or not pay dues if you disagree with them? I'll give you a hint...no.

Ask your union. Maybe they ought to make the proposed contracts open so that good suggestions like that could be made. Bet they won't.

So if state employees have to pay a percentage into the retirement system, can they opt out and have nothing credited in their retirement account for that year?

Gazette: Do you even read the comments you remove? I didn't break any of the commenting rules. I used the "W" word but so did you and 5 other posts on here. I don't mind getting deleted if I have it coming. I made a clean comment basically using the same verbage from the article. You shouldn't just automatically delete. You should read first.

My comment "Russ you can't play with us anymore cuz' you're a <bleep>." "It reads like a preschool recess except preschoolers don't use that language."
It got removed??? Are you kidding me? I didn't say anything that the article didn't say.

Poster, I am not trying to be combative but you really have this view that the private sector is always rockin the cash. Its just not true. Who gets 10% raises ever, public or private? Changing the structure of retirement financing has been occurring in the private sector for 2 decades now with no huge pay raises to offset this. Of course there are those who will cite the fat cat CEO but that is not your average private sector employee. We are chugging along the same as you likely are busting our humps everyday socking money into a 401K with NO matching from our employer. If I only had to contribute 12% to my retirement I'd be laughing all the way to the bank. And this pay discrepancy you talk of does not exist anymore but that old argument keeps being dragged out, flung up against the wall and it just does not stick anymore. If it did all the state employees would be heading out the private sector but they are not leaving their state jobs en masse.

diverdown...I have no problem paying into my retirement "on par" with private business, but then I expect the 10% raises and longevity bonuses and everything else private business takes advantage of when the economy is strong. What many fail to realize is that many public workers are paid lower than private sector workers doing similar jobs. I've been a public service employee for 7 years, and I've never seen a raise that even equals the increase in cost-of-living expenses. I know the private sector has had a rough 3 years, and I want to see the state get back to being prosperous. But, Walker's plan is plain and simple...cut pay, cut jobs, bust the unions, and force workers to pay more into their benefits. I understand I should feel good that "at least I have a job" as so many say now, but just because I have a job doesn't mean I'm supposed to cave to every demand Gov.-elect Walker makes of us.

And Tommy Thompson was SUCH a paragon of fair play and ethics....Puh-LEASE!

The worst part is now they stuck the tax payers with a bigger bill. With no contract the employees do not take the concession that will save the state millions.

sounds to me like a couple of PO'd politicians who did not get re elected throwing it in the face of the constituents.

Nobody is thinking that that pruning some of the benefits from people in the public sector is going to solve the budgetary issues that our state faces, however, there needs to be some type of alignment due to budgetary constraints. Obviously, the pensions are paid through a fund that has built up over the years of investments, but the amount that is being paid to that fund yearly is at such an amount that the state cannont fund it. Regardless of where and when the pensions are paid from, the fact is, you are talking about having a pension plan that rivals major corporations being funded with taxpayer dollars. Walker is going to look at a number of different avenues to trim the budget, and cutting benefits along with eliminating gov't jobs that can be taken care of in the private sector is going to be considered.

Nobody is asking for public employees to fix the entire budget mess. It is only one part of the solution. It is not unreasonable however for them to contribute to their retirement on par with the private sector which is what the incoming gov wants them to contribute. Public employees go to work everyday just like the rest of us. They work hard and often times work dangerous jobs or jobs that are thankless and without prestige. Public employees need to understand that we the voters would never want them reduced to third world pay as some fear mongering posters have suggested but we do need to make our state more competitive so we can increase our tax base by attracting business. Many public employees will say they have made concessions, but the concessions they have made are not large enough. Asking a public employee to pay 12 percent toward their retirement is not too much.

MikeF...Thank you for setting the record straight. I'm sick and tired of public employees being slammed for being the problem with the state's budget issues. How can 10% of the working population in WI be the sole reason for the budget issues? It doesn't work that way. Public employees cannot possibly be expected to make enough concessions to fix the budget problem. We would have no pay or benefits left.

Anyone who thinks Decker did this because he thinks it was the right thing to do know nothing about Wisconsin politics. This was a big screw you I'm mad. He dosn't like the state unions because they did not support him in a race. He is mad at Doyle because his staffer is Chuck Chvala's wife and he hates Doyle. He is also pissed because his own party they tried to by-pass him earlier in the day. This was nothing but spiteful hurt feelings.
The Whore comment comes from the fact that there is a good chance that he sold his vote for a job in the Walker admin. because he now needs one.

First, the fund is now (as of Sept 2010) ranked 30th, not 28th.
Second, the state is not paying the retirement checks out of the general fund. The checks are being paid out of the investments made over the years. Instead of just reading and pulling numbers out of some wiki article, how about reading the source of those numbers? "Contributions made to the WRS by employees and their employers are invested by the Investment Board. The accumulated funds in the retirement system trusts are used to pay retirement benefits." (http://www.swib.state.wi.us/WRS.aspx)
So nice try, but no, this large retirement fund is not being directly paid out of the state biannual budget and most of the contributions are being made by local entities such as cities, counties and school districts.

I was sacrificed at my company. A year and a half ago, I was making mid teens per hour, now I am making low teens an hour at a union plant and our health insurance keeps going up. The good things out of it is, less taxes taken out and our pension is not unfunded like the state's pension fund might be.

Not just nationally is the retirement ranked undeniably high, but 28th globally. Regardless of who this plan blankets, the State of Wisconsin is fiscally unable to fund this pension plan at this rate. Concessions need to be made, and if they can't be made during times of crisis like we have now, then when will they occur? When you have individuals in the private sector making concessions to keep their jobs, how does the union quantify benefits of this nature?

The Wisconsin Retirement System is actually the result of a merger of 3 retirement systems: Milwaukee teachers, state teachers, and state/local public employees. These three retirement systems merged creating a single WRS.
The system covers over half a million current and former employees from almost 1500 employers. 27% are state employees and 73% are local (city/county/school) employees. Source: http://etf.wi.gov/publications/et8901.pd....
Considering this, it is no surprise it is considered one of the largest retirement systems in the country.

"A whore?" Well now we are seeing the true colors. Stay classy union folks.

When taxpayers read information like this "Wisconsin state employees are covered immediately under the Wisconsin Retirement System, which is the 9th largest public pension fund in the US and the 28th largest public or private pension fund in the world.[1]".

http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Wisc...

It's a wonder why we think the system is broke. 28th largest, and that's rating against private sector pensions.

Great... I'm not making ends meet now. We're in serious trouble. See ya in the bread lines.

You're naive if you blame public employees for the state budget deficit. Public employees in Wisconsin make up only 10% of the working population. When the economy is rolling along smoothly, they take their 2-3% wage increase per contract and see their contributions to health insurance premiums rise about 5%. Now, when the state is facing a deficit, it suddenly becomes the responsibility of 10% or the working population to fix it. Whenever the economy is hurting, the blame is put on public employees. Gov.-elect Walker is going to learn a hard lesson that cutting public services and public employee wages won't fix the problem, and I believe may actually have the opposite effect. Lower wages means lower taxes paid in. And, more of the paycheck going to insurance and the meager pension fund public workers have means less money in their pockets to spend in the local economy. Every worker in WI should be making sacrifices, not just public employees.

If Decker had a problem with the content of the contracts, he should/would have said so. Instead he votes no to block the passage because "it's the next Legislature's turn to address them." Essentially, he is refusing to do the job he was elected and paid to do. If he is refusing to perform his duties, he should also refuse to accept pay for the last few weeks in his term, including the per diems for showing up in Madison.
It is not the next legislature's turn until they take office. The current terms do not end until January. Either do your job every day until your last day, or clean out your office.

I really appreciate the fact that this man was able to stand up for what he believed in and not cave in to others who was pressuring him and stripping him of his position. This is nothing but a kids game and adults are playing this game.

"Wis. Democrats fails to get new contracts passed"? I'm the last person to bring up grammar issues, but am I the only one who thinks this headline is incorrect?

In regards to what happened in Madison, I've never been a big fan of Sen. Decker, but I am a fan of shaking it up! It's amazing the decisions people make, when they have nothing to lose. They don't have to worry about being a "whore" to any special interest groups, or their party. I wish there were more occasions like this in Madison. It would be a pleasure to expect the unexpected.

A wh0re for doing what he thought was best for the taxpaying citizens of the state, rather than the union workers. Only a union theolog would come up with that definition.

He had nothing to gain (that we know of) for voting against the contracts. A prostitute usually has a financial incentive and doesn't give it away. So the definition really doesn't fit.

I salute him and Plale for making a stand.

Good for Russ Decker, at least he had the courage to listen to the people. Marty Beil should be hanging his head in shame for his comments. Do union members think they are exempt when it comes to making concessions to reduce the deficit? This is similar to unions voting for Obamacare, and then getting waivers so they do not have to participate like everyone else.

Donnaw- you said it 'And we wonder why our state is such a mess.'.. and to think ..our state is going to have to deal with this crap for the next term..

Hello Canada,,,, Can I come in????

And we wonder why our state is such a mess. They have to get someone out of jail to vote? They've had how long to approve this disaster and now 3 weeks before the new legislature takes office they scramble? What a joke! I just hope all the new reps coming in got the message from the voters--stop screwing around and do your job! It's about getting our state in healthy shape.