Wisconsin has become the canary in the coal mine as the nation waits and watches to see the outcome of a brewing class war drawn along union lines.
Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, unveiled Friday, Feb. 4, drew an immediate reaction as being nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt at old-fashioned union busting. Within days, protesters descended on the state Capitol, forcing some school districts to close for lack of staff. Sen. Jon Erpenbach and 13 other Democratic lawmakers went so far as to flee the state Thursday, effectively delaying the planned vote on Walker's bill. The protests continued to escalate, with Rev. Jesse Jackson leading the chant of "Save our schools! Save our children!" Friday to a crowd at 40,000.
We have maintained that Walker's tactics with regard to arbitrarily eliminating bargaining rights from public employees was rushed and unwise, especially given the state's rich union history. To be fair, Walker helped create this "crisis" when he passed a wave of his own spending bills - including tax cuts - just as he took office.
Thus, for the mess we have now in Madison - a government seemingly paralyzed by outrage - there's plenty of blame to go around.
But if you take away the hyperbole and emotion, this fight is not about saving public education. Nor is it about "oppressed" workers earning substandard wages in unsafe working conditions. For the most part, we're talking about fairly compensated public employees with better health and retirement packages than many in the private sector. An online search of Monroe teachers' salaries, for example, showed many teachers in the mid-point of their careers earning in the $50,000 to $55,000 range - that's about the same as the median income for an entire household in Green County.
So to compare the Madison protests to political upheavals in Egypt and elsewhere around the globe makes a mockery of those living under true tyranny and oppression. And to compare their fight to maintain lush benefits - even as private-sector employees bear the brunt of recession-driven cutbacks - to the real union battles of the past seems a bit disingenuous.
The theatrics of the past week have done nothing but further polarize our state. Many taxpayers are pushing back, saying they can no longer continue to fund these union "rights." And now, the circus has become a stand-off. Walker has refused to budge, standing by his vow to not negotiate with unions; 14 state lawmakers remained holed up in Illinois; and pro-union labor forces vow to continue to fight Walker's bill to the bitter end.
In the midst of this, Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, is offering a reasonable solution that could help lead us out of the current stalemate - something we have heard very little about throughout, as both sides seem to become more rigid in their positions with each passing day.
Schultz is proposing the state temporarily remove unions' ability to collectively bargain on pension and health care costs until mid-2013 when the next budget cycle begins. At that time, collective bargaining rights would be restored, along with higher employee contributions for pensions and health insurance.
We applaud Schultz for putting forth the first real compromise.
This is just the beginning of what promises to be a long and arduous spring budget season. Walker has not even unveiled his biennial budget - that's now been postponed until March 1 - but further funding cuts are a certainty.
Compromise has become a dirty word in politics. It's time Wisconsin follows Schultz's lead and finds a reasonable, even if it's a short-term, solution to its current mess.
That would be the strongest example of Wisconsin's Progressivism we could give to a nation that is watching closely how this all ends in Madison.
Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, unveiled Friday, Feb. 4, drew an immediate reaction as being nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt at old-fashioned union busting. Within days, protesters descended on the state Capitol, forcing some school districts to close for lack of staff. Sen. Jon Erpenbach and 13 other Democratic lawmakers went so far as to flee the state Thursday, effectively delaying the planned vote on Walker's bill. The protests continued to escalate, with Rev. Jesse Jackson leading the chant of "Save our schools! Save our children!" Friday to a crowd at 40,000.
We have maintained that Walker's tactics with regard to arbitrarily eliminating bargaining rights from public employees was rushed and unwise, especially given the state's rich union history. To be fair, Walker helped create this "crisis" when he passed a wave of his own spending bills - including tax cuts - just as he took office.
Thus, for the mess we have now in Madison - a government seemingly paralyzed by outrage - there's plenty of blame to go around.
But if you take away the hyperbole and emotion, this fight is not about saving public education. Nor is it about "oppressed" workers earning substandard wages in unsafe working conditions. For the most part, we're talking about fairly compensated public employees with better health and retirement packages than many in the private sector. An online search of Monroe teachers' salaries, for example, showed many teachers in the mid-point of their careers earning in the $50,000 to $55,000 range - that's about the same as the median income for an entire household in Green County.
So to compare the Madison protests to political upheavals in Egypt and elsewhere around the globe makes a mockery of those living under true tyranny and oppression. And to compare their fight to maintain lush benefits - even as private-sector employees bear the brunt of recession-driven cutbacks - to the real union battles of the past seems a bit disingenuous.
The theatrics of the past week have done nothing but further polarize our state. Many taxpayers are pushing back, saying they can no longer continue to fund these union "rights." And now, the circus has become a stand-off. Walker has refused to budge, standing by his vow to not negotiate with unions; 14 state lawmakers remained holed up in Illinois; and pro-union labor forces vow to continue to fight Walker's bill to the bitter end.
In the midst of this, Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, is offering a reasonable solution that could help lead us out of the current stalemate - something we have heard very little about throughout, as both sides seem to become more rigid in their positions with each passing day.
Schultz is proposing the state temporarily remove unions' ability to collectively bargain on pension and health care costs until mid-2013 when the next budget cycle begins. At that time, collective bargaining rights would be restored, along with higher employee contributions for pensions and health insurance.
We applaud Schultz for putting forth the first real compromise.
This is just the beginning of what promises to be a long and arduous spring budget season. Walker has not even unveiled his biennial budget - that's now been postponed until March 1 - but further funding cuts are a certainty.
Compromise has become a dirty word in politics. It's time Wisconsin follows Schultz's lead and finds a reasonable, even if it's a short-term, solution to its current mess.
That would be the strongest example of Wisconsin's Progressivism we could give to a nation that is watching closely how this all ends in Madison.
