How Walker Really Won Wisconsin

[Honeycombe8]

18. We'll have to agree to disagree. No "framing" can make me vote to end Social Security.

It doesn't work that way. That only works with an uninformed public or those who are on the fence about an issue.

The unions forced workers to join, so I'm guessing those are the union workers who voted to keep Walker in.

Unions have made missteps and gotten greedy over the years, generally speaking. I didn't think it was a big enough issue to make people vote to break the unions, but maybe it was.

Recognizing that local and state govts are feeling financial pressures, if not going bankrupt entirely, is a good starting point when bargaining. I don't know about Wisconsin, but I haven't heard of too many unions who came to the table in the last several years with an offer to give up parts of pensions. Here in Dallas we actually had AT&T union workers picketing in 2009 for continuance of their free health care for life pension. In 2009, in the midst of the beginning of what may have become the second Great Depression, with millions out of work. and the AT&T union workers weren't recognizing the seriousness of hte situation or willing to give an inch on their pensions. The rich don't have the market cornered on greed. I posted here on DU to an AT&T union worker & pointed out how inappropriate that was at that time, that it would hurt the image of unions. The AT&t union worker responded that AT&T top level brass were still getting those big bonuses! I responded and told him that no, it was in the news that AT&T was not giving bonuses that year to top level brass. The AT&T union worker didn't respond.

It's that attitude that has hurt the image of unions. I still would, and do, support unions, refusing to blame all unions for the greed shown by some. But it's certainly possible that that greed has affected the Wisconsin voters, where the taxpayer pays the bill.

Fat pensions for life, with free health care, are a thing of the past in this day and age. Some unions refuse to acknowledge that. A company asking a union for its NEW pensioners to contribute something toward their health care is met with anger, protests, picketing.