Dear Steven, Please, you and Wisconsin accept my empathy, we have similar problems here in Romania but at a more existential level. Your message has helped me to find the simplest explanation and the most general one- of the Crisis and I have already published it at my Ego-Out blog.
Best wishes - and solutions to your pending problem Peter On Sun, Feb 20, 2011 at 6:18 PM, OrionWorks - Steven Vincent Johnson < [email protected]> wrote: > If you're not interested in the on-going struggle pertaining to two > diametrically opposing political POVs vying to steer the direction our > economy may soon have to contend with I would recommend skipping this > Off-Topic post. Actually, IMHO, it's not entirely "off-topic". I hope our > planet may soon benefit from the fallout of Rossi & Focardi duo (and > possibly Mills & Co.) work, assuming it's not all smoke and mirrors. In the > meantime, we must contend with the reality of the situation: > > > > The reality of Broken Economies: > > > > Who are we going to blame… > > Versus How do we fix the problem. > > > > > > <Another Brief Public Service Announcement> > > > > On Friday, Wisconsin’s state and local public employees offered to accept > all of the economic concessions called for in the budget repair bill – > including Governor Walker’s pension and health care concessions, the very > items our governor originally stated are absolutely necessary in order to > solve Wisconsin's looming deficits. (Personally, I knew right from the > beginning that the unions would eventually concede to all of Scott Walker's > economic austerity cuts, even if it is unfair. It was the right thing to do > under the current circumstances.) The unions only asked that Scott Walker > remove the provision that does away with 50 years of collective bargaining. > Governor Walker flatly turned the offer down. > > > > If the issue had really been about solving Wisconsin's looming budget > deficit a budgetary solution is now at-hand. The unions have now conceded to > all of Walker's key budgetary demands. It has become blatantly clear at this > point that the primary agenda in Walker's modus operandi was never about > balancing the budget; rather it is to get rid of unions, particularly the > right of unions to bargain collectively. It is incredulous to me that our > governor is willing to refuse a solution to our state's looming budget > crisis by refusing to accept the very fiscal concessions he has constantly > been calling for. > > > > It is my sincere hope that many readers of this post can at least > appreciate why Wisconsin public employees feel just tad ticked off. Walker's > political arm twisting is at least finally beginning to leave a bad taste in > the mouths of many who in the past could have cared less about politics or > unions. > > > > Scott Walker not only has an interesting political past life, he has > interesting financial backers as well: > > > > http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Walker_%28politician%29 > > > > And here's a gem concerning dirty politics: > > > http://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2010/08/21/walker-fails-to-act-on-campaign-controversy/ > > > > > > For some of the latest "raw" video footage of political unrest at the > Capital Square: > > > > http://www.youtube.com/user/OrionworksVideos > > > > > > PS: 14 Wisconsin senators remain AWOL. At present all it would it take for > Scott Walker to get the entirety of his bill passed as-is (with no > negotiating), which would include the destruction of collective bargaining > would be to nab just one “missing” senator and force him back to the capital > to complete a quorum. Unless several remaining republican senators > eventually take heart and demand that their governor follow through on what > was presumed to be his original intention to balance the budget, budgetary > concessions for which the unions have now met – the writing is on the wall. > > > > It was still a good fight. Maybe there will be another day. > > > > </Another Brief Public Service Announcement> > > > > > > Regards, > > Steven Vincent Johnson > > www.OrionWorks.com > > www.zazzle.com/orionworks > > > > --- > > Steven Vincent Johnson > > www.OrionWorks.com > > www.zazzle.com/orionworks > -- Dr. Peter Gluck Cluj, Romania http://egooutpeters.blogspot.com
