One has to wonder what Phil Pfuehler of the River Falls Journal was thinking when he wrote his “article” in this week’s paper. Phil likes to put quotation marks around the word “tools” in an attempt to belittle the proper structural changes that our courageous governor Scott Walker has implemented. I personally think this type of “journalism” is disgusting. Maybe Phil should look for another “job”.
Piece of Crap “Journalism”-
“Tools” to save money for schools don’t always add up
River Falls School District gets a year’s reprieve. Financial pain from big state aid cuts won’t be felt until the 2012-13 school year.
When that happens, projections show the district may need to cut a record $1 million to balance the next year’s budget.
Superintendent Tom Westerhaus said a shortfall of that magnitude will mean eliminating programs and likely increasing class sizes. Result: Teachers, students and parents will be affected.
What saved the district for the 2011-12 school year was a federal jobs grant. That money came last year as part of national legislation to attack unemployment.
Westerhaus said River Falls was cautious and held on to most of the money.
This school year, however, it will use the rest, about $700,000, and be able to keep up to 12 teaching jobs that might have been lost.
Without the federal jobs grant, school officials and the school board would have been working this summer to plug a $700,000 budget shortfall.
Gov. Scott Walker claims his $900 million budget cuts for public education will be more than offset by diminished collective bargaining for teachers and force them to pay for some of their health insurance and pension benefits.
Walker has used the word ”tools” to explain how school districts will end up with more money because of the legislative reform he proposed and got passed by Republicans in the Senate and Assembly.
That message was picked up in a recent story carried by KSTP-TV out of the Twin Cities with the headline, “Wisconsin union changes saving schools millions.”
In the story, state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls), who won her recall election last week and has a son who attends River Falls High School, was quoted as saying: “It means that we can save teacher jobs and really provide a better value for the taxpayers of the state.”
What the KSTP story didn’t address was the sizable cutbacks in state aid to school districts.
According to Westerhaus, for the new school year in River Falls, the changes break down this way: Loss of state aid, $1.6 million; gains from teachers and staff paying more for health insurance and pensions, $900,000.
Blend them and the result is a negative $700,000 for River Falls public schools. The saving grace: Being able to tap into the federal jobs money held in reserve from last year.
“We’ll be audited on how we used that money, but unfortunately it’s just for this year,” Westerhaus said. “If we didn’t have that, we’d be going through lots of cuts.”
For more on this story, please see the Aug. 18 print edition of the River Falls Journal.
Tell me that I’m having a bad dream or something. Do the Democrats really think they are going to win with a teacher union thug like Shelly Moore? OMG, have you seen her videos from Madison and Eau Claire? The ones where she is shouting and ranting about the union thuggery? How can Ms. Moore be a serious candidate when she has such close ties to perhaps the worst union in the country?
Shelly Moore is a joke, plain and simple. She needs to be defeated by Sheila Harsdorf so that we can maintain the proper changes brought about by Governor Scott Walker and the legislature. I know that there are some people at the Rivertowns Newspaper group that will disagree with this opinion, but that’s just too bad.
The budget deal reached in Minnesota between the Republican leadership in the Legislature and Democrat Governor Mark Dayton once again proves that so-called conservatives cannot pull the trigger when it comes to reducing the size and intrusion of government. The baseline biennial budget of $35.5 billion increases government outlays more than 10% from the previous two year spending.
Projected revenues for the state over the two years are projected to be between $33 billion and $34 billion. Where is the extra money coming from; more debt of course. The plan has the state borrowing $700 million from projected tobacco settlements.
The Republicans also caved in their plan to cut the 22,000 government non-worker, work force by 15%. It looks as though not one needless non-worker position will be eliminated and it would be a pretty good bet to wager that the non-worker, worker payroll will increase.
Various estimates approximate that non-worker, worker compensation accounts for about 70% of government budgets. How can you expect to control government spending without drastically chopping the headcount? This is the same mistake Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin made. He is trying to decrease or at least hold back the tide of state spending while at the same time preserving the ranks in the bureaucracy.
Unfortunately for Michelle Bachman, she is sorely mistaken to trumpet the Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature as an example of sticking to principles. Somehow, I expect the leadership in the House of Representatives to act no differently.
After battling the teacher’s union in Wisconsin, that state’s governor, Scott Walker, proposed a state budget that would have eliminated mandatory recycling. The outrage came fast and furious.
…
This is how the market is supposed to work. And there is a market for trash as there is for anything else. There are employment opportunities for everyone, no matter the skill level. However, Americans would likely be horrified to see entrepreneurs pulling carts of other people’s trash through the streets and living at junkyards.
If any doubt existed whether the walkout by Hudson teachers on February 18th was a spontaneous spasm of illegality, then a teacher that goes by the blog name of One Guy puts any speculation to rest.
The following is a quote from One Guy (an admitted government union teaching thug) taken from the Hudson Star Observer online chat about the penalties meted out to striking teachers:
One Guy said: On April 15, 2011 at 3:00 PM
John,
Yes, I am a teacher. And in the meeting Scott Ellingson held with us on the afternoon of the 17th it was made quite clear that the Union was asking us to go to Madison to protest against Scott Walker’s tactics and the content of the budget repair bill.
The teachers had no axe to grind with the District. Those who called in sick did so to go protest in Madison against the legislation.
I do not know how many actually went to Madison. I do know that at least 8 people confirmed to me that they had gone to Madison.
You know those little things that say OCT or NOV and a 09, 10 on your back license plate? They are indicators that tell if your license plate has expired. Gov. Scott Walker’s budget calls for the elimination of the stickers. It will save the state $800,000 over 2 years.
Why Not?
Lord knows the electronic communications and computers found in most police vehicles can pull up the plate quickly. Additionally, the sticker is not even on the front. This is simply a case of probable cause. Police should not be out searching to see if stickers are current. They should be doing other duties required.
*Hint – You may want to invest in the bakery that supplies doughnuts to Freedom gas station chain.
One night around the campfire a friend pointed out what was wrong with the Republican Party. He said the party leaders still believe in playing by the Queen’s Rules. The last couple of days seem to prove the point that the GOP stands for Government of Pussies.
First we have Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republican controlled legislature. They are letting some judge in a skirt or Hillary pantsuit push them around like a baby stroller. The judge with a son who has worked for government unions told the Governor that the bill to stop fleecing the productive people in society could not go into effect because the Republicans did not play nice with the fourteen Democrats that decided to cry and stomp their feet from another state. Walker said he would abide by the judge’s temporary restraining order until the cows come home or when the 2012 elections are held.
The only response Walker needed to give to the socialist dame in Dane was a great big FU! What do you think of that chickee-doo? You and whose army is going to stop the bill from going into effect? The judge has no authority over rules of the legislature. If the Republicans want to play dodge-ball or Jarts against the Democrats, then the judge needs to keep out, play mommy somewhere else.
Here is what the Governor and the Republicans do now. Pass the bill again with the following additions:
Include the police and firefighters
Cut the pay for Dane County Judges by 90% and take away their pensions.
In fact take away the pensions from all state employees.
Give every parent a tax credit of $5,000 per child under 19 for k-12 private schooling
Fire every non-essential government worker, which is most of them
And the next time a judge or government employee union tries to stop the legislation, then ……Shut ‘ER Down.
Scott Walker has described the budget repair bill as politically bold, but modest in its provisions. Well, that may be. However bold this bill is, it is rife with hypocrisy. For Walker and company to NOT include firefighters and law enforcement is wrong. Moreover, it looks really bad as both groups were supporters of Walker last November…
Look folks, either collective bargaining is wrong in the government sector or it isn’t. You can’t pick and choose like this and have any moral credibility, or expect people to see you as fully fair minded and rational. This is once again why I will never call myself a Republican or a Conservative.
If this legislation goes through, it will mark a very short term for both Walker AND many Republicans in Wisconsin. Walker has not to date fully informed the citizens of Wisconsin why collective bargaining within the realm of government workers is immoral. Why? Frankly, I don’t think he has the guts. I remain unconvinced that he has the intellectual capacity to articulate the full argument, one would hope he does but his silence on this is telling.
In another Ontheborderline exclusive, we have received a copy of an email of union thug intimidation. This time the event is to occur on private property. Notice that these teaching goons think a golf course open to the public as public property. It is obvious they don’t know the difference between private property where the public is invited to exchange in commerce and government property. Of course they believe in the right to destroy both.
From: Kit Bruesewitz [kbruesewitz@dishup.us]
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 5:12 PM
To: All Teachers
Subject: Fwd: Rally in River Falls Saturday February 26th
RALLY IN RIVER FALLS: 4:00 PM – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH. Meet at KILKARNEY HILLS GOLF CLUB at 163 Radio Road, River Falls for a short rally and to line the road entering the Golf Club with vehicles and bodies showing union solidarity. This is a public golf course so there should be no problems. For additional information you can contact Cecil Cahoon, NEA Organizer at ccahoon@nea.org or via cell at 202-230-9027
Gov. Scott Walker, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Dean Knudson, John Shiltz, Kitty Rhoades, Sheila Harsdorf, Dan Kapanke, John Murtha, and Supreme Court Judge David Prosser are all invited speakers and/or guests to the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in River Falls. No doubt, they view this tiny retreat as a respite from the loud crowds speaking their minds on the State House grounds in Madison. But this is OUR chance to tell them that union rights are important in every corner of Wisconsin. The tentative agreement reached yesterday in Durand demonstrates that collective bargaining works: If it can work in Durand, it can work for Wisconsin. JOIN US on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Kilkarney Golf Course public parking area and help us carry our message to greet Governor Walker and his guests. WEAR YOUR RED and BRING YOUR SIGNS!
Jo Palmer
Administrative Staff Assistant
West Central Education Association
105 21st Street N
Menomonie, WI 54751
wceajo@wwt.net
715/235-6808
1-800-472-6801
FAX: 715/235-7475
Send Kit and Jo an email or phone call and let your feelings be known.
UPDATE: 6:13 p.m.
It appears not all of the headliners who were invited will be able to make it live. I do know that they may be teleconferenced in though. So the hundreds of cars and protesters stretching for miles to the PRIVATE entrance of Kilkarney’s will miss out. They get to stand in the cold wind, walk great distances, and wonder why they even came.
The following is an email sent out to local businesses from the Baldwin-Woodville Wisconsin educators (Teachers union mafia).
From: Baldwin-Woodville Educators
Educators in the Baldwin-Woodville School District are very concerned with the budget repair bill proposed last Friday by Scott Walker. As citizens in the community our dollars help to support the local businesses. We feel this bill will not only negatively affect our schools but it will also adversely affect the small businesses that we have built good relationships with and support. We need your support in helping to stop this negative legislation. We are asking for you to contact your local legislators and to let them know as business owners you support the rejection of this bill. Please reply to this email ASAP if you support this effort and we will encourage our members to continue supporting your business. If you choose not to reply we will assume you are in favor of Walker’s bill.
Links to stories from newspapers for more information-
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel- Workers say it’s about union rights, not money
Madison State Journal- Legislators mum on Walker proposal as union leaders, protesters rage
Please contact your representatives soon, they plan to vote on this piece of legislation as early as Wednesday.
Senator Sheila Harsdorf (SD-10) 608-266-7745 Sen.Harsdorf@legis.wisconsin.gov
Rep. John Murtha (AD-29) 608-266-7683 Rep.Murtha@legis.wisconsin.gov
Thank you,
Baldwin-Woodville Educators
For more information or questions feel free to contact any of the following staff members:
Anthony Stitt- 715-684-5347 Lisa Magnuson- 715-386-1965
Jarod Dachel- 715-688-2763 Jim Rumpel- 715-684-4121
Dennis Paquette- 715-928-0848 Debby Walters- 715-698-2981
The Wisconsin Senate is expected to begin deliberations at 11 a.m. on the controversial budget repair bill.
Demonstrators opposed to the bill began gathering early Thursday in front of the Senate chambers where lawmakers will take up Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s bill to end collective bargaining, except on issues of salary, for most public employees.
The bill will first be debated in the Senate, then move to the Assembly some time this afternoon.
So it appears that the Dems didn’t show up. Not sure what’s going to happen. It may come down to if the Democrats don’t want to participate, the Governor might be able to have the contents of the bill become an Executive Order. Not sure how it works in Wisconsin. Anyone dare to speculate?
You know those little things that say OCT or NOV and a 09, 10 on your back license plate? They are indicators that tell if your license plate has expired. Gov. Scott Walker’s budget calls for the elimination of the stickers. It will save the state $800,000 over 2 years.