The moonbats are starting to come out to play on the religious left as the drama in Wisconsin continues. Today it’s Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, the Washington Post alleged expert on all things Catholic. It seems there’s a conspiracy afoot:
The Wisconsin governor’s proposal to repair the state budget has acquired the characteristics of a conspiracy. Catholic teaching (Caritas in veritate, #25) unequivocally opposes the plan to strip union workers of their right to collective bargaining, but with evidence that this proposal is part of a secret and well-financed plot to coordinate the same effort in key states, the opposition of the Church assumes a new moral dimension. It may have been a prank phone call made to Gov. Scott Walker by someone pretending to be the billionaire, David Koch, but the Republican governor spilled out the outlines of a conspiracy.
I have no doubt that my use of the word “conspiracy” will be challenged. After all, a conspiracy implies secrecy and many pundits had already discerned the connection between a state budget bill and a nationally coordinated political attack on labor unions.
What do you say to something like this? “Yeah, there’s a conspiracy, all right. Bilderbergers and the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission and the Knights Templar are all getting into their black helicopters and preparing to breakup the lovefest on the streets of Madison.” Does it really need to be said that there is no “nationally coordinated political attack on labor unions” nearly so much as an effort in a handful of states with budget problems to bring standards for public employee unions in those states into line with the rest of America? Would it matter if it were? One gets the distinct impression from the likes of Stevens-Arroyo and Susan Thistlethwaite that facts and reality no longer matter, that they are caught up in some political fantasy in which its 1968 all over again.
Speaking of detachment from reality, a couple of University of Wisconsin grad students chime in over at Sojourners:
It’s been inspiring to see the camaraderie among the protesters at the capitol and people throughout the city. While protesters wave signs and shout, “Kill the bill!,” no one is violent.
While Governor Walker’s unwillingness to compromise is disheartening, the attitude of the city and the spirit of the protesters are truly inspiring. It is neat to see a city and many parts of the state rally around the rights of their fellow citizens. It has been a moving experience to take part in.
There’s good reason to doubt that claim, but there’s no question that there’s been violence aplenty in the language used on the streets, featuring signs too obscene to put on this blog, signs comparing the governor to Hitler, Mussolini and Osama bin-Laden, signs calling for him to be shot, with his face imposed on crosshairs, etc. Of course, when conservatives put up maps that use crosshairs to indicate congressional districts that will be targeted for special attention during an election campaign, that’s “provocative” and “incendiary,” and bound to push the “unstable” over the edge into murderous rampages. When the public employees unions and their allies on the left take violent languages and images to their demonstrations, that’s “camaraderie” worthy of a high-five at Sojourners, which has had not one word to say about the, shall we say, incivility of so many of those in Madison.
Camaraderie.
The State of the Union could be a good time to call us to move beyond the exaggeration, caricature, misinformation, and demonization that occur too often in our public discourse today. Instead, President Obama could call us to clarify honest disagreements and identify potential points of unity.
–Jim Wallis, who has been silent about the hate flowing in the streets of Madison, advising President Obama on how to incorporate the call for civility into his State of the Union address
February 26, 2011 at 11:55 am
Hyberbole aside is this:
in fact true? Is the right to strike going to be taken away? Any union would fight against that – although it does seem that the rhetoric involved here is over the top.
A friend of mine was told in one of his MBA classes “Management gets the union it deserves”. If the union is out of control, management probably is too.
February 26, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Actually, in the United States no public employee unions have the right to strike. The PEUs in Wisconsin would still have the right to bargain collectively over wages. It’s benefits, and especially pensions, where the problem has been, as governments have gone way overboard with their promises, such that PEU members in general have far better pensions than almost any private sector workers, at a cost that is beyond the means of the states and localities to support.
As for your MBA friend, he is absolutely correct, and that’s why we’re in the fix we’re in.
February 26, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Kate, the answer is no, but rather that the collective bargaining will be restricted to wages only. Collective bargaining in WI has resulted in such things as Viagra being covered under the teachers’ insurance plans.
This restriction in collective bargaining is needed under Gov. Walker’s plan so it gives county and local governments flexibility in bargaining — the biggest benefit will be that school boards will be able to go on to the state’s insurance plan or shop around for insurance rather than having to use the WEA Trust (which is a branch of WEAC, the teacher’s union, and which is utilized by at least 65% of school districts in the state).
By law they already cannot strike.
February 27, 2011 at 9:21 am
WEAC, the teacher’s union, is the health insurance carrier for many of the school districts.
I understand the WEAC insurance rates are about $500 per month higher than competively priced health insurance plans.
I leave to your imagination what the WEAC might be doing with its excess profits.
February 27, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Seems to me that it isn’t restriction in collective bargaining that is needed, it is for management to grow a backbone.
February 27, 2011 at 1:11 pm
No, what is needed is responsible budgeting and governance, which includes spending cuts, and *a part of* Gov. Walker’s plan is to gain a handle on state salaries and benefits. Our state is facing a now minimum $3.6B budget deficit.
Bottom line: We. are. out. of. money.
Gov. Walker has more cuts to announce, but that has been delayed by the actions of our Democratic state Senators.
February 27, 2011 at 10:13 pm
When conservatives get together and map out a plan and then put the plan in motion, it is a conspiracy. When “progressives” get together, map out a plan, and put the plan in motion, it is simply good organization.
Understand?
February 28, 2011 at 3:39 pm
And that cannot coexist with what I said how, exactly?
Charlie, it is hard to have a discussion who states a stereotype and then thinks he has made his point.
February 28, 2011 at 3:39 pm
The above should read “discussion with someone”
February 28, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Kate, “management” (Gov. Walker) has a backbone and is standing firm with the hard decisions which he has made. He blames both sides of the aisle for the situation we are in, and refuses to ‘kick the can down the road’ for a future legislature and administration to deal with (since there aren’t any more funds to raid or accounting gimmicks to use to make our budget appear balanced — which we are required by our state constitution to do). He will be holding his budget address tomorrow and I am anxious to hear what else he has in store.
February 28, 2011 at 9:00 pm
I was refering to the “managament” that was actually doing the negotiations – rather a lot further down the “food chain” than your govenor. If they had been doing their job, restricting collective bargaining wouldn’t have been necessary.
February 28, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Kate, I was simply making a statement about what I have heard progressives say whenever one group or another makes and executes a plan. I certainly do not claim to have heard every evaluation of planning, but all the evaluations I have heard come down to that.
The situation in WI is complex; every report brings new details to light. I do not understand all that is going on – especially since I know that everything I (or anyone) hear has passed through a filter of some sort.
March 1, 2011 at 9:18 am
ITA with Charlie, plus it’s not simply a matter of “management.” The unions have been operating under the same contract for over 18 months (since June/July 2009) because of difficulties coming to agreement on several of the collective bargaining items, if memory serves correct.
This was all fine because we had a Democratic governor and a Democrat-controlled legislature. However, when the GOP swept all three chambers in November, there was a last minute effort in late December (including springing a member of the Assembly out of jail for a day to get his vote) to get new contracts before the inauguration. This effort failed.
The other dynamic that goes on here with “management” is that the Democrats are big recipients (for the Senators, almost 20%) of union money, so they are basically negotiating on both sides of the table. :-/ (source: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117078618.html) Our question is then where are the taxpayers’ interests being represented?
The issue is that we are out of money and huge (and painful) decisions must be made to get things righted.
March 1, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Here is the text of Gov. Walker’s budget address from this afternoon, which he lays everything out pretty clearly: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=177&prid=5668