Revolting Wisconsin
By George Scaggs
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas What to say about those lovable teachers & union drones protesting in Wisconsin? I must admit I consider it bizarre that people believe they have a right to a pension and benefits to begin with or even a job for that matter. Stranger still the striking teachers in Wisconsin seem to believe that they have the right to extract it from tax-payers regardless of whether or not the state has enough money to go around.
While Wisconsin teachers throwing their own Greek styled socialist hissy fit is both telling and troubling it also serves as a microcosm of various economic challenges political battles and societal shifts all taking place simultaneously.
But the teachers egregious behavior went beyond refusing to show-up for work. Some took it upon themselves to infect young impressionable minds with their destructive (progressive) attitudes dragging students along to their protests.
About now Im trying to imagine the position of the average hard working middle-class family in Wisconsin who just voted some grown-ups into office to instill some necessary fiscal discipline into state matters. Working in the private-sector they probably pay twice as much as state workers do for benefits and receive less.
With teachers and school officials shutting-down the schools in protest these tax-paying parents now find themselves having to take-off work to be home with a child who should be at school.
In sum these teachers have provided a perfect example of why public employees should not be unionized. At the end of the day tax-payers are effectively being held hostage by those intended to serve them.
It requires no more than basic math skills to understand the economic equations here. One only need take a cursory glance at American History to see that it was an independent spirit not a dependent one that built this
greatest of nations. From Wisconsin a look across the lake to neighboring Michigan clearly illustrates where union dominance inevitably leads.
Yet these simple lessons are beyond the people hired to teach the young throughout an entire state saying a great deal about the misguided priorities of todays public education system. It also raises larger questions. Such as - Just when did we as Americans come to believe that others owe us that which we are not willing to provide for ourselves?
Economic Reality
As we look across our nation the fiscal state of government at all levels tells us that we have more government than we can afford. Whats going on in Wisconsin is just one indication of very real economic challenges confronting America. Taxpayers are increasingly realizing that government must spend responsibly and theyre putting people in office who will effectively deal with these issues. To delay is to only magnify the scope of sacrifice that ultimately must be made.
For teachers or any other public-sector employees who genuinely deserve what they believe they have a right to they would do well to go and seek it out. No one else chose their profession or made career choices for them. There is a free-market out there. If you can find a better deal for what you have to offer more power to you. You
do have the right to pursue it.
With utter disregard the reactionary liberal retort to dealing with fiscal reality continues to decry tax cuts" for the ultra wealthy". Look around the blogosphere and news comment sections; they are infested with angry protestations that are long on emotion and short on validity.
For those who are determined to punish whoever they imagine is wealthy" they should examine the harsh realities taking place in like states like Michigan California and New York where productive citizens and business owners are escaping in droves.
In short the party is over and its time to tighten the belt.
Tea Party Reinforcements
As is typical unions working in conjunction with leftist activist groups such as Organizing for America (formerly Organizing for Obama…ahem!) directed the
anti-Walker protest efforts in Wisconsin complete with comrades bused in from out-of state.
Interestingly the crowds were reported from 40000 60000. Surprise surprise Big Media is into projecting crowd sizes again as opposed to the generic thousands gathered" phraseology reserved for Tea Party events.
What has changed is mobilization on the Right. Conservatives intend to stay engaged a recent shift that is not going away. Finally by Saturday a smaller counter-effort was mounted by Tea Party" groups intruding upon the sacred protest ground that the Left formerly solely maintained. Though the Right also bused people into the state it is worthy to note that conservatives muster volunteer troops unlike their counterparts on the Left.
Teachers and Doctors Honorable Professions?
We would like to believe that teachers and doctors are honorable individuals who have responded to a higher calling guided by a desire to help others and care for their fellow man. While chances are likely that this holds true in most instances let us not assume that it does for every professional.
In Wisconsin a place known for its progressive activism throw in a politically charged issue in and voila suddenly hundreds of teachers and no less than five doctors were openly practicing deception that is shocking.
From an AP story Sunday morning that was quickly scrubbed as the scenario in Madison continued to unfold we find this gem:
Doctors from numerous hospitals set up a station near the Capitol to provide notes covering public employees absences. Family physician Lou Sanner 59 of Madison said he had given out hundreds of notes. Many of the people he spoke with seemed to be suffering from stress he said.
What employers have a right to know is if the patient was assessed by a duly licensed physician about time off of work Sanner said. Employers dont have a right to know the nature of that conversation or the nature of that illness. So its as valid as every other work note that Ive written for the last 30 years.
Sanner and a handful of other doctors were found on the street corner soliciting free-passes like they were Halloween candy. In this instance the noble physicians assessment" of their patients" amounts to assisting them with filling out a form on the sidewalk. The scene is played out over and over in various videos circulating the web.
This too represents change. Increasingly the left has become ever more brazen with their tactics seemingly unhinged as they are challenged from the
right. With modern technology it no longer matters whether or not Big Media cares to share what actually takes place. Conservatives now have the means to routinely expose the cheap stunts of their political adversaries.
Two examples can be found
here and
here.
Basic Services
Part of the problem of rising health insurance premiums is societys insistence of including elective services in their health plans made all the easier when someone else pays the bills. For anyone who believes that the demands of public employee unions are limited to tax-payers providing them basic services think again.
From last August comes a tasty tidbit from Wisconsin when the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association filed a lawsuit to reinstate benefits for erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra & Cialis. The school district previously cut the benefit from their insurance plan hoping to save nearly $800000 a year.
According to
ABC News story entitled
School Bans Viagra When 1000 Teachers Prescribed Erectile Dysfunction Drug
Two years ago the Milwaukee school district decided that it was more interested in enhancing teacher performance in the classroom than the bedroom.
The district cut Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs like Cialis and Levitra from its health insurance plan hoping to save $786000 a year.
Officials said too many teachers were using the expensive drugs for recreation swelling their insurance rates. An estimated 1000 of the 10000 schools staff which includes employees dependents and retirees were using the drugs."
Wanna bet that some of the Viagra poppers in Milwaukee were among the throng intent on raiding empty public coffers in Madison last week?
George Scaggs is a writer commentator voice actor & audio-video producer. You can find more of his work at American Thinker Ramparts360.com TheGraph.com & Bargain Citizen Media.
