As we head to TheWorks staffing event that starts tonight, I’m struck by how uplifting it has been to keep company with our contributors and commenters here on StaffingTalk. InTheMajors, Raghav, Steve Cary, Robert Bausch, Drew, and Paul Phipps, I salute you.
We are at a turning point in history where it is up to the staffing industry, the on-ramp to employment for so many, to not just make our businesses run profitably but also to educate the public at large about how public union and government excesses harm every one including the very people the public unions purport to represent.
None of that could be more clear than what has happened here in Wisconsin where I’m currently holed up on a short vacation.
When Wisconsin went through its battle with public employee unions in 2011, it looked as if the dark side would in fact defeat us. Union mobsters occupied the state capitol and their populist rhetoric was winning over unsuspecting and naïve young people like the young man in the video below.
Fast forward 16 months and Wisconsin has become a model for rebuilding America. The state defeated the public unions, won the trust of the people, and gave businesses reasons to invest. Public employees were freed from paying exorbitant union dues and freeloading union bosses are now unemployed. The Hayward area where I am now is enjoying a resurgence.
We still have many battles ahead of us, but with work we can preserve the freedom and the opportunity that have made our country great.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Gregg,
I respectfully beg to differ with your assumption that somehow Wisconsin has become a model for rebuilding America. I was really put off by the amount of outside money going into Gov. Scott Walker’s coffers to fight the recall especially when these groups include organizations like the NRA, Tea Party and Americans for Prosperity (APA).
Governor Walker raised nearly $46 million in fighting the recall effort with much of the money coming from outside groups. The bottom line is that Governor Walker outspent Tom Barrett by nearly 3 to 1.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/04/us/politics/money-spent-on-wisconsin-recall-election.html
I find it hard to believe the National Rifle Association and the APA – which is heavily financed by the Koch Brothers – truly had the interests of the people of Wisconsin in mind in backing Governor Walker.
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Joe- does your theory follow all the way through? Does that mean that John McCain didn’t really lose the election in ’08, Obama simply outspent him?
I guess I have more faith in the integrity of the voting population.
And, let’s not forget the union machine that was brought into Wisconsin for both the previous recalls, the judicial race and this latest recall. Millions were spent and still, the people voted the way they intended.
The people of Wisconsin have spoken. They have made themselves clear 3 times now and some are still scrambling for some other reason for the outcome to be anything other than what it truly is.
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Joe,
I respectfully beg to differ with your assumption that somehow the only “outside money” flowing into Wisconsin was directed in favor of Gov. Scott Walker’s coffers! If you would research a source other than that bastion of unbiased reporting “The New York Times”, you might find that BOTH sides were strongly supported by “outside money”. Are you really going to ask me to believe that no organized labor dollars – much less physical manpower – crossed state lines into Wisconsin?
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David,
You are correct that outside money came in for both sides and there were activists from both sides. The point I was trying to make the was the amount of money from vested interests favoring Governor Walker. In the interest of fairness, I have also provided a link from the Wall Street Journal and they claim that Governor Walker outraised Mayer Barrett – $30 million to $4 million. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/06/06/political-wisdom-decoding-wisconsin-recall-results/
My point is the amount of money that came in and from whom. My god, what interest does the NRA have in “fighting” unioins?
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Joe…First, thanks for jumping in here with a different perspective. They are always welcome here and I appreciate your tone and follow up.
At the same time I question the statistics and the presentation by the New York Times and you’re right the WSJ didn’t do justice to the story either. Neither discusses money from the unions which went almost exclusively to Barrett. We don’t know how much money that was. Some on the Barrett side have estimated $10 million. Others $50 million.
Also, I do think the Koch brothers and the NRA do have the interest of the public at large in mind and feel the well-being of our country is threatened. The people of Wisconsin agreed.
At the end of the day, the rest of America really needs to take a look at the true impact of unions in the public sector. San Bernardino, CA is in the process of filing for bankruptcy due in large part to the retirement and payroll costs of union employees and their inability to restructure because of their CBA. Unions were a great thing when they were implemented but the fact is they were created prior to OSHA, prior to minimum wage, and prior to labor laws. As a Southern California resident I definitely look at Wisconsin as a model for what I would like to see in my state…
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Joe,
Obama has outspent Romney by 4 to 1 so far with money coming from $40,000 per plate dinners at the Hollywood homes and Swiss chalets of Hollywood stars and George Soros, not exactly the middle class he purports to support.
Your feelings on this?
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Sam – I do believe Obama has outspent Romney, but I think also that Romney has raised more money. I am not sure but I will research this. And I won’t deny that Obama raises lots of money from the entertainment industry. Democrats have historically raised more money from the Entertainment industry than Republicians.
Obama recently came to Houston for a rather expensive fund-raiser that was sponsored by a gentleman that owns a staffing agency. But I was surprised to find out that the president had a $100 per person fund raiser for smaller donors early that day, which I thought was pretty cool.
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