Wisconsin is not just a place on the map. It is a greater community that is made of people who live and work to have their piece of the American dream. Our state economy cannot be built or re-built through the destruction of any of the people that live here. That is a simple fact.
Here in Wisconsin we have been successful using our hands, our heads and our hearts. The Midwest values of a strong work ethic and care for our neighbors have made Wisconsin such a great place to live a raise a family. The attack on those core values are at the heart of my objection to Governor Walkers "Budget Repair" bill. When Governor Walker made a direct assault on hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin families it was like he went into the room and pushed people so far to either side leaving no room for discussion, no room for working together. That is not how we do things in Wisconsin.
Making the decision to use the Constitutional right to deny quorum in a Legislative body was not an easy decision to make and not one taken lightly by me or anyone else. Democracy is about compromise; when you hold the majority you usually get most of what you want, but you work with the minority because they represent citizens too. It became clear that no matter what we did on the Senate floor, no matter what argument we made, compromise we offered, the bill would pass un-amended without any discussions or negotiations. This simply was not acceptable for a bill that changed nearly sixty years of strong employee rights laws.
This is Wisconsin; we just don't do this to our neighbors.
Legislators would like to justify their votes in favor of this divisive bill by saying the unions have become too powerful for their members giving them stronger working conditions and benefits to improve their quality of life. A better quality of life for many in our communities? I am not sure I understand the objection. Others that support this proposal may say that too many people qualify for SeniorCare and BadgerCare and that is why they have voted to cut these programs; well these are the times we live in, people cannot pay their bills so they qualify for help from state programs.
What the Walker bill was about from day one was destruction of public employee unions and our state Medicaid programs.
These policies hurt real people and real families. In the end, this is Wisconsin. Whether recall elections are successful or not, whether the bill is thrown out for breaking open meetings laws or not, whether action is taken to reverse the change; I have faith that we will get by as we always have. In Wisconsin, we built this state with the brains and brawn of our hard working families and that is simply the only way to rebuild it.
-Sen. Jon Erpenbach,
D-Middleton, represents the 27th Senate District.
Here in Wisconsin we have been successful using our hands, our heads and our hearts. The Midwest values of a strong work ethic and care for our neighbors have made Wisconsin such a great place to live a raise a family. The attack on those core values are at the heart of my objection to Governor Walkers "Budget Repair" bill. When Governor Walker made a direct assault on hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin families it was like he went into the room and pushed people so far to either side leaving no room for discussion, no room for working together. That is not how we do things in Wisconsin.
Making the decision to use the Constitutional right to deny quorum in a Legislative body was not an easy decision to make and not one taken lightly by me or anyone else. Democracy is about compromise; when you hold the majority you usually get most of what you want, but you work with the minority because they represent citizens too. It became clear that no matter what we did on the Senate floor, no matter what argument we made, compromise we offered, the bill would pass un-amended without any discussions or negotiations. This simply was not acceptable for a bill that changed nearly sixty years of strong employee rights laws.
This is Wisconsin; we just don't do this to our neighbors.
Legislators would like to justify their votes in favor of this divisive bill by saying the unions have become too powerful for their members giving them stronger working conditions and benefits to improve their quality of life. A better quality of life for many in our communities? I am not sure I understand the objection. Others that support this proposal may say that too many people qualify for SeniorCare and BadgerCare and that is why they have voted to cut these programs; well these are the times we live in, people cannot pay their bills so they qualify for help from state programs.
What the Walker bill was about from day one was destruction of public employee unions and our state Medicaid programs.
These policies hurt real people and real families. In the end, this is Wisconsin. Whether recall elections are successful or not, whether the bill is thrown out for breaking open meetings laws or not, whether action is taken to reverse the change; I have faith that we will get by as we always have. In Wisconsin, we built this state with the brains and brawn of our hard working families and that is simply the only way to rebuild it.
-Sen. Jon Erpenbach,
D-Middleton, represents the 27th Senate District.
