If someone had told me six weeks ago that I would have been marching in a union protest, I would have thought they were crazy.  I’m a pretty conservative guy, politically speaking.  My general sense of things can be summed up pretty simply.

We need less government.  Hey government, stay outta my way and outta my business.

It’s no big secret that when I joined the technical college as a teacher, I was automatically signed into their union.  I thought that was hilarious!  ME!  Part of the teachers union!  That’s like saying Yoda joined up with the Empire because he got a job as a poet.  Whatever.

So I was part of the teachers union.  It honestly didn’t impact me at all one way or the other.  If anything, it’s been a hinderance to me since the contract the Part Time Teachers union has states that newbie teachers don’t get offered classes as much or as frequently.  Okay.  Fine… they were taking a portion of my paychecks.  That’s cool.

Then I joined the state of Wisconsin.  I’m just about to quit here.  I’m currently a computer guy working on a variety of projects.  Again, I was thrust into a union.  I’m sure I’ve enjoyed a lot of the benefits which have been negotiated for me.  Again, the unions take a portion of my paycheck.  At least now, I have a lot of vacation time to show for it.

Funny how a GOP guy can still be a donkey

Then we have an election and usher in (along with the rest of the nation) a whole bunch of conservatives.  Some say it was because of the lunacy going on in Washington.  Whatever the reason, I was happy.  Like I said, I’m a conservative.  Just keep government crap outta my shit and I’ll be a happy guy.

Scott Walker is a freakin’ nut bag though.

I thought we had elected a guy to come in and make sense of things in a way that makes sense.  This guy is 25 pounds of conservative crazy in a 5 pound bucket.  Not even Rush Limbaugh is nutty like this freak.

He comes in to the state and within a month (after the Packers won the Super Bowl) goes straight for the nuclear bomb.  He didn’t pussyfoot around and slowly implement incremental changes.  He just said “How much dynamite do we have?  Okay, let’s use it all.”

When he put out his budget proposal, it was immediately apparent to EVERYONE that he was going after the unions.  He wanted us to pay for our retirement and health care.  He said (and continues to say) that we in the public sector are getting special treatment and that it has to end.

What a load of shit.

When I left the private sector to come to work for the state, I took an 8% pay cut.  Let me restate that… an 8% PAY CUT. My pay was lowered by 8% for the privilege of serving the people of the state.  Bear in mind that this isn’t some anecdotal random nobody.  This is me and my personal experience.

I was somewhat compensated for the lower salary by the balancing out of the retirement and health care being so much cheaper.  It didn’t cover things completely… my pay checks are still significantly lower than they were.  Now this power-drunk, disconnected weirdo wants to take MORE money from my paycheck.  I’m sorry but I just can’t afford to work here anymore.  I’m quitting to go back to the private sector.  Again, my new salary will be 9% higher.  Don’t let anyone tell you public and private sector people make the same money (much less that public sector people make more).

Let’s stay focused though.  All along, Walker’s been saying that he has to crush unions because it’s a fiscal issue.  It’s a money thing.  Naturally, this nut bag can’t be trusted.  He’s shown that over and over.  I’m not even talking about the phony phone call from that blogger guy.  I’m just talking about what he’s laying out and threatening.  If he doesn’t get his way with the budget, he’s going to lay off 1,500 people?!  Guess what!  After he gets his way, it’s not going to do as much as he thinks and those people are STILL GOING TO GET LAID OFF! This fat fool also kept talking about how he wanted the democrats to come back from Illinois to negotiate the bill.  He really doesn’t think much of anyone.  Can you really tell me he was going to negotiate?  HELL NO.  The republicans don’t need a single democrat vote to pass this travesty.  They only need them present to hold the vote.  Telling us he wanted them to negotiate is akin to saying “You have to come to my house so I can murder you, but don’t worry… I’ll only use a gun and I might not murder you.”  How disingenuous can you get?

Well last night on March 9th, 2011, the truth was finally revealed.  To nobodies surprise, it turns out that crushing the unions actually isn’t a fiscal matter after all.  The republicans decided that since they can’t bully the democrats back from Illinois, they’d just separate out the union crushing portions and get that passed.  I hate terms like “railroaded” and “rammed” but they’re really the most appropriate terms for what happened.  In just a few minutes, the republicans railroaded the revised legislation through.

I’m embarrassed and ashamed.  I still maintain my stance that government should just stay out of my business.  The thought that I might be lumped in with Walker is terrifying to me.

I’m too worked up to continue right now.
[facebook]