Each week we select a news story, editorial, Letter to the Editor or column that's generated a lot of feedback at PostBulletin.com and reprint some of those comments on this page. This week's topic is the ongoing turmoil in Wisconsin, where thousands of teachers, students and prison guards have been rallying in Madison against Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip government workers of union rights and require them to pay more for health care and pension programs.
Below are some of the comments we received.
"I'm not sure why Wis. Gov. Walker doesn't just propose to raise general fund spending by 7.5 percent, find some civic centers to expand and then just get some of them 'rich people' to pay for it all like Minnesota. What, is he stupid or something? ... If he could just get some of those Minnesota 'rich people' to move over there, the problem would be solved."
----------------
"So, public employees do not deserve a living wage nor any retirement income when they retire?
ADVERTISEMENT
The people in Wisconsin think differently. They have every right to collective bargaining and protect what they have worked so hard for, be they teachers, firefighters, police, those who clear the streets of snow, work in government offices."
----------------
"This is what we need to do! The gravy train ends."
----------------
"You think the work benefits you enjoy today were just handed out by business? Paid overtime, sick time, vacation, job safety, and pensions were all fought for. Read your history or listen to a teacher — the fight was bloody and deadly. Even if you are not union, you benefited from the struggle of the people who were brave enough to organize. As you watch and smirk as the unions slowly disintegrate, remember that this was the downfall of our country."
----------------
"Wisconsin ran out of money and Minnesota's next. The former DFL-controlled Legislature raided every account for the 'general' fund. Now there's basically NOTHING left! And now all the unions are worried and ringing their hands over their pay and benefits — as in not getting their increases."
----------------
ADVERTISEMENT
"What unions have done and continue to do is struggle for the right of ALL workers, whether they be union or not for the reasons stated above. The gold standard of worker dignity, fought for by unions, is universal. Big business is not going to be a guardian of these standards out of the goodness of their hearts. They'd rather not pay workers much at all, lest it decreases their ability to buy politicians of both parties."
----------------
"It's about time some common-sense laws were passed concerning unions. The unions have had their way for too long and the taxpayer needs to be represented for a change. It's time to stop unions from having more power than the majority of the state's citizens. Now Minnesota representatives need to start representing the people instead of the unions."
----------------
"I say give unions more, not fewer bargaining rights. It's time to accelerate the fiscal collapse of Wisconsin, Minnesota and every other state burdened by the unsustainable demands of previous union contractual agreements. No more slow fiscal death. No more band-aid 'solutions,' stop-gap measures and deferral of payments. Let the whole termite infested structure collapse under the weight of its own decay. The sooner, the better."
----------------
"Anyone who is anti-union has probably never had to work very hard. They probably were born with a silver spoon in their mouth."
——————
ADVERTISEMENT
"Walker is doing the job the people of Wisconsin elected him to do, and he is doing one heck of a job of it! ... Those teachers out protesting are NOT doing what they were hired to do and that is teach. The teachers are not being paid to chant, "Tax, tax, tax the RICH!" ... What really bugs me about these protests is the union members' sense of entitlement, like they're a chosen people, they're above all other workers."
----------------
"Looks like the American public is waking up to the exorbitant pay and benefits being handed out to the people who work for us. I ask those of you working in the private sector to look at your pay over the last five-10 years, look at the changes in your benefit package, health insurance plan, how about your retirement or pension plan at work. How do you compare to what you see from those working for the government?"
----------------
"Everyone here is in such a hurry to become a third-world ... hole. Just because someone in Bangladesh can make a pair of shoes for two bucks doesn't mean we should compete with them here at home."
----------------
"If I lived in Wisconsin, I'd be very angry if these teachers are paid for their time spent protesting.
Either way, the public sector unions in Wisconsin are showing the entire nation precisely why they do not deserve more tax dollars."
ADVERTISEMENT
----------------
"Big business? Or big unions? Which was responsible for the worst recession since the Great Depression that we are just now climbing out of?"
----------------
"I work in the private sector and do not have the luxury of a pension or health benefits after I retire.
The way to reduce the deficit and huge debt that our children and grandchildren will be burdened with is to start looking at these pensions and other benefits that the public sector enjoy at our expense. It is ridiculous to have them retire when they are in their mid-50s and pay them not to work for the next 20 or 30 years."
----------------
"People scream bloody murder at the thought of millionaires giving up some of their hard-earned income to taxes to help the country out of a financial mess. Now the same people are insisting that worker bees work for less money for the same reason. How will small businesses (apparently the most important victim in every debt discussion) survive if you cut the salaries/benefits of the the middle class? Who's going to hire lawn services, buy water softeners, get new shingles, get new decks, get their computer repaired, go to a dentist/chiropractor/optometrist/hairdresser, bar, restaurant, etc., if the majority of the population is making less money?"
