Mar
2011 7
2011 7
Should Public Funds Be Used to Fight Public Unions? One California State Senator Says “No.”
On Friday, San Diego City Beat revealed an interesting piece of legislation moving through the California legislature. SB 931 would “prohibit public agencies from using public funds to pay outside consultants or legal advisors” to bust unions. From SDCB: “The bottom line is public money should not be spent to basically destroy...
Mar
2011 6
2011 6
“Will we embrace the point-and-click activism that led to progressive defeat in the last two years?”
Over the weekend, Mike Elk delivered two insightful pieces which both reject the inclination for celebration that seems a natural reaction to the Wisconsin protests. To be sure, the undying commitment on the ground in Madison, coupled with nascent national recognition of labor’s recent collective action, is cause for an extra pint of...
Mar
2011 6
2011 6
“All greatly prosperous societies have had excellent public civil services. When civil services are run down, so is society, and so is our State and Country.”
We recently posted an article about the potential for Right-to-Work laws to reach Alaska. A powerful comment was left, from a gentlemen working at the State Parks service, which we’ve decided to post here in its entirety: LL wrote: The alternative to us is privatization. There is no decent alternative to having a civil service. ...
Mar
2011 6
2011 6
You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Pound Dog: Scott Walker’s Bill Enables the Use of Unclaimed Dogs for Scientific Research. One Dollar Per Dog, Please.
As we’ve noted more than once, the most important result of the Fab 14 staying out of Wisconsin for this long has been the discovery, with every page turn, of more gruesome provisions in Scott Walker’s Budget Repair Bill. First, it was the sale and/or contracting out of state power plants. Then, it was birth ...
Mar
2011 6
2011 6
“Pension contributions from state and local employers aren’t blowing up budgets. They amount to just 2.9 percent of state spending.”
Economist’s View has pulled together a few strong articles that reject the notion that public employee pensions are putting state budgets in danger. Read their piece HERE. Highlights from each are below: The most recent Public Fund Survey by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators showed that, on average, state and local...
Mar
2011 6
2011 6
Michael Moore Spoke in Madison, Wisconsin and Rosario Dawson Tweeted About It
Video of Michael Moore’s speech yesterday in Madison is below. Earlier today, film star Rosario Dawson, one of the more active celebrity Tweeps when it comes to cause promotion, Tweeted about Moore’s appearance. Last week someone quipped that ‘if only George Clooney would point some of those Sudan satellites on Madison, people...
Mar
2011 4
2011 4
Three of This Weekend’s Rallies. One of This Weekend’s Parades.
Madison rallies for tomorrow are still piled high. Here’s the haps on just a few… A child-friendly parade has been scheduled for Noon-5PM starting at Overture and parading around the Capitol. Grab the parade poster (above) HERE. Map below… OVERTURE View Larger Map These two rallies have been posted by the Recall Scott Walker...
Mar
2011 4
2011 4
Non-Union Contractor Cheats Employees Out of $1.4 Million in Wages on Federal Project
One worker, Pablo Pedro, 28, an immigrant from Puebla, Mexico, told The News he did demolition work at the Ciena for a Lettire subcontractor for three months and was paid $13 an hour in cash – far below the federally mandated wage of $53 an hour. Non-union contractor Lettire Construction Corporation has been caught severely ...
Mar
2011 4
2011 4
Third Installment of Matt Wisniewski’s Most Beautiful and Touching Wisconsin Rally Footage
Matt Wiesniewski, using as a sonic backdrop the Johnny Cash rendition of the folk traditional, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” delivers his third gorgeous inside look at the Madison protests. WI “Budget Repair Bill” Protest (Feb 20-24?) Pt. 3 from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo...
Mar
2011 4
2011 4
$117 Million Bridge Project Connecting Maine and New Hampshire Moves Forward
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has assured Maine and New Hampshire that a federal grant portion of the funding for the Memorial and Sarah Mildred Long bridges would be upheld. The bridges connect Kittery and Portsmouth. From Seacoast Online: The agreement commits both Maine and New Hampshire to equally fund the Memorial Bridge at $35 ...
Mar
2011 4
2011 4
Despite a Drop in Unemployment Filings and More Encouraging Manufacturing Growth, Gallup Polls Unemployment Back Above 10%
Today’s February jobs report reveals nearly 200,000 jobs added last month, but the New York Times points out that this is “still not fast enough to recover much ground lost during the recession.” Such has been the monthly story during this recession. 200,000 sounds like a lot, but with 15 million unemployed, it is somewhat ...
Mar
2011 3
2011 3
Wisconsin’s Two Photos of the Day
–Democrat representatives work outside of Wisconsin’s Capitol after constituents were stopped from entering the building. Via The Uptake: –Blow-up palm trees are ‘planted’ outside the Capitol as a jab at Fox News who got caught pretending old footage of Sacramento protests was happening in Wisconsin. Via...
