Posted on 07/17/2012 12:05:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Now that three California cities have declared bankruptcy, perhaps it's time to consider the lessons of Wisconsin.
One of the reasons Wisconsin Democrats couldn't unseat Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the state's recall election was that his challenger exemplified how Walker's narrowing of collective bargaining privileges for government workers benefited the state.
As mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett had relied on Walker's reforms to balance his city's budget. And Barrett wasn't alone among Wisconsin officials. Walker comfortably defeated Barrett in large part because in the 11 months that the governor's reforms were in effect, Wisconsinites got a good glimpse of how they worked, even in Milwaukee, where the savings allowed government to remain solvent and avoid widespread layoffs.
When Walker introduced his so-called budget repair bill in February 2011, he argued that the biggest beneficiaries of his plan would be cities, towns and school districts, which would gain the flexibility to cut costs without having to negotiate every change in compensation or work rules with local unions. His legislation specifically eliminated collective bargaining by government workers for benefits and required greater contributions from them toward pensions.
How local officials employed those changes to cut costs proved revealing. The state's teachers union, Wisconsinites learned, had used its power to collectively bargain for healthcare benefits to demand that local school districts provide coverage through a nonprofit insurer affiliated with the union. Once the state ended bargaining on healthcare, school boards began competitively bidding out their health insurance.
By the opening of the new school year in September, just two months after the budget bill went into effect, 23 districts had rebid their contracts, saving $16 million, or an average of $211 per student.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Oh please....Left-Coast Liberals have everything under control!
With its conglomeration of the perpetually indulged entitlement class, the public unions, huge hispanic population, enviro-whackos, and a general sense of moonbattery, California isn’t going to change for the better.
In 2010, a huge GOP wave year, California voters, presented with an opportunity to depart from their destructive path, re-elected Barbara Boxer and brought back Jerry Brown by comfortable margins. Apparently they think all is going swimmingly while the walls crumble around them.
CA needs to somehow administratively separate its American counties from the nutcase-infested coastal ones. Otherwise, that state is forevermore a lost cause.
California will have to go bankrupt and bust before the Dummycrats come around...and that’s if they don’t decide to just go Detroit the whole state. There are already whole abandoned neighborhoods in California and it’s only a matter of time before those abandoned neighborhoods start getting torn down...just like they do in Detroit.
They are not allowed to file Bankruptcy
But former Democratic administration gave public unions everything
The new Mayor said she is standing between the public and public unions that the people want to fire all union jobs and do the work themselves. Interesting
If the unions keep this up then when my kids grow up they’ll be asking me, “Mommy, what’s a labor union?” and I’ll point them at a history book.
CA vs WI ping
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
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