February 13, 2011

The revolution comes to Wisconsin

   (Image source unknown. Found on Facebook.)

First there was Tunisia. Then Egypt.

Now the battleground has moved to Wisconsin.

Make no mistake, what's going on in Madison this week is nothing short of revolution. Regardless which side you're on -- with Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican legislative majority or with Democrats and the state's unionized employees -- there's no doubt the capitol is 2011's Valley Forge, Gettysburg or Tahrir Square. The governor says he has already alerted the National Guard to maintain order.

The governor's so-called budget repair bill (details HERE) guts collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of state employees, including teachers (but not police and firemen). It would roll back and eliminate provisions workers and management have worked out over decades, increasing the employees' contributions toward pensions and health care while ignoring whatever they gave up in exchange for the status quo.  We're no lawyers, but this ex post facto maneuver strikes us as constitutionally illegal.

Former Sen. Russ Feingold calls Walker's plan "big government at its worst." 
"No private employer can do what the governor proposes, nor should it. For decades, Wisconsin has protected the rights of workers to collectively bargain with their employer on wages, benefits, workplace rules, and many other aspects of their employment. The governor is wrong to suggest that public workers are responsible for the state’s budget woes, and he is wrong to use that bogus excuse to strip them of rights that millions of other American workers have."
A second grade teacher from a rural school district posted an eloquent rebuttal to the governor on Facebook. I don't want to "out" her publicly here, but much of her essay deserves wide distribution:
"...The people who live here are hard workers and proud. But they can't afford the cost of educating their children. My school district has relied extensively on state aid to fund the schools. Unfortunately, the state has dramatically reduced the amount of funding it gives to schools like mine. As a result, our district has faced huge deficits. Last year, the district laid off teachers, which forced it to increase class sizes and reduce special ed services. This year, we are looking at more staff reductions and a salary freeze.

"And now we come to Walker. His proposal to have public workers pay more than 5% of their salary into the state pension and another 12% in health care costs will not save my district any money. Our schools superintendent rather bluntly told us that the state was going to keep the money to cover its own deficit, not provide more state aid to schools. So the working families who send their children to us will still see increased class sizes and fewer educational opportunities, despite these "savings."

"...My district has never required us to pay anything into the pension or for health care. We took those benefits in exchange for a lower salary. People accuse state workers of having cushy jobs, with exorbitant benefits, job security and fantastic salaries. So while admitting this makes me uncomfortable, I'm going to do it so you can see just how ridiculous that accusation is: My salary as a second-year teacher, with a Bachelor's degree and one class short of a Master's degree, is $36,000.

"...Walker's proposal would cost me about $400 a month. Frankly, I won't be able to survive... I'm not sure how Walker thinks reducing the salaries of thousands of workers like me is going to save the economy... With that kind of wage reduction, I won't be able to buy new clothes, go to movies, go out to eat, go to happy hour, buy Christmas presents, buy birthday presents, get haircuts or buy pet food. I won't be able to replace my 20-year-old furnace... I already gave up cable and I drive a used car with more than 140,000 miles on it. So it's clear I won't be buying any iPods or iPhones or anything else shiny any time soon... With that kind of cut, I won't be buying food or gas, either.

"Let me clear up a few misconceptions about teachers: I'm not a babysitter. I don't color all day. I don't get to leave at 2:00 every afternoon. I don't sit on the beach all summer. I get to school by 7:45 a.m. and I work until 4:30 or 5 p.m. At least one night a week, I stay later than 5. I'm supposed to get a half hour of "duty free" lunch every day, but I usually spend that time helping students or prepping for a lesson. There are some days when I don't eat lunch at all. I won't get into how hard it is to find five minutes to go to the bathroom when you have a classroom of 20 kids who demand your constant attention.

"And I already spend my summer working. In my district, many families send their children to summer school. It's free daycare. I don't mind. I'd rather my students spent their summer reading books and playing math games, than sitting zoned out in front of the TV or computer for two months.

"So now I have to make a choice. Do I stay in education and try to make it on $5,000 a year less? Or do I leave and try to find one of those cushy private sector jobs, where you have to pay for health care, but at least you get a decent salary? Um, are there even any private sector jobs left?

"I don't want to leave my students. Because the truth is, teaching kids is a fantastic job. This past week, I taught a four-year-old how to spell his name. I taught another child how to sound out words, so he could start reading a Dr. Seuss book on his own. And I took my class to the Planetarium, where they got to gaze in awe at the planets, moon and stars. The universe, they decided, was a pretty special place. Watching them, for a little while I felt it was."
Walker's measure comes up for legislative hearing Tuesday, with votes expected Wednesday and Thursday. Already, the state has seen worker rallies. More are scheduled.
  • The state Democratic Party has organized rallies at the State Capitol for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Buses will leave Racine from the park and ride at Highway 11 and I-94 at 7 a.m. each day for the noon rally in Madison, returning each day.
  • There will be rallies at the Racine Unified Central Office, 2200 Northwestern Ave.,  on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m.
  • Phone banks were set up this weekend to contact legislators. Local Democrats, working from the Labor Hall in Racine, at 1840 Sycamore (across from Skatetown), were attempting to contact State Sen. Van Wanggaard  to ask him to vote against this proposal.(When I first heard this on Saturday night, I said it was a lost cause, an opinion borne out decisively Sunday night as TV commercials under Wanggaard's name appeared in favor of Walker's plan.) But for those who want to contact him, his office phone numbers are 608-266-1832 and 866- 615- 7510, his email address is sen.wanggaard@legis.wisconsin.gov , and his fax number is 608-282-3561.

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56 comments:

  1. This is truly a sad moment in our state history. It seems that we are at a stand still. We need to see that all workers are treadted fairly not just those that supported our current legislature. I also would like to say that as a supporter of Senator Wanggaard I can tell you that after speaking to him this weekend he is seriuosly conserned with the current state of events and feels that this issue was not totally thought through. Van is a republican but is not to thrilled with whats on the table and feels in fairness to all government workers this Bill need to be further discussed before hasteful decisions are made. To all the nay sayers of Van watch as he votes his conscience and his constituents beliefs.

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  2. If this does not happen expect massive layoffs anyway you look at this the unions of the State and local Government are done

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  3. This is an entirely one sided article. Was it meant to be a commentary? And the photoshopped Bucky Badger beating, while funny, has no place in what appears to be a serious article on a critical subject for Wisconsinites.

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  4. Chris Liebenthal2/14/2011 8:50 AM

    My suggestion to the teacher who was whining above:

    a.) quit
    b.) moonlight as a hooker

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  5. Anybody defending this plan needs to live one day in a teachers shoes and understand there is nothing modest about a 400 dollar a month paycut for someone making 28,000 dollars a year their first year teaching. I wonder if Scott Walker is taking a pay cut this year? Oh yeah, 4000 dollars a year when you are making over 100,000 dollars may feel modest. I am scared for Wisconsins future.

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  6. To all the nay sayers of Van watch as he votes his conscience and his constituents beliefs.

    We will see what he does, seeing that he was once one of those that had a 'cushy' government job with all the benefits and now collects his state retirement.

    How can he be so bogus to vote yes on this which says 'I deserved it, but the rest of you don't'.

    Walker at government workers expense continues to reap his benefits, car, gas, housing etc. Taxpayers are paying all his expenses.

    I knew Wisconsin was going to be in trouble with a power hungry, college dropout running our state.

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  7. Many of the state's public sector unions lost their rank and file members when they started only taking care of the senior members of the union and threw the rest under the bus so to speak. For a number of years the unions pushed for the higher percentage pay increases under the threat of budget cut layoffs. The senior members go their raises and the newer members lost their jobs. The public sector unions for years refused zero increase deals to keep more or all their members working. The state budget holes are real. My guess is that no one in Madison figures there will be any productive bargining so why spend the months wasting time when the budget is a ticking time bomb.
    Obama can't claim any moral high ground since he sold out the Beloit GM, Kenosha Chrysler and Oak Creek Delphi workers.

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  8. Walker is attempting to crush workers rights in Wisconsin without even asking what concessions they would be willing to make. Teachers are not the problem.

    Van should be ambivalent about this, he was a union rep. Officers understand all the support staff around them will be punished while their rights remain intact.

    I spoke to two young, energetic teachers from Kenosha this weekend. They are looking into teaching abroad. Irony anyone?

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  9. If you don't like your job, then quit. There are others that will be happy to be in your shoes.

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  10. ~Cutting pay creates an economic downturn in spite of budget savings. No dinners at restaurants, new cars etc. The whole economy (particularly of small businesses) is affected.

    ~Treating workers like replaceable chattel is what countries like China and India do. Don't want to work 18 hours a day? Go to hell.

    Negotiating job rules and benefits is a tenant of democracy and recognizing that workers do have rights is what sets us apart. Don't agree? Go get a job in Malaysia and let us know how it works out for you.

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  11. If you work in the private sector and have weekends, sick days or vacation days paid, thank a union. Without unions, private employers would not have provided the benefits that competed with those jobs.

    Do you see why this affects everyone? When they're done breaking the unions they'll come and break private workers too.

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  12. It's not that the teachers don't enjoy their jobs - most do, but let's be reasonable in how we are going to compensate those that build the future of our state. As it is, the state of our school systems is already declining, and this will be the killing blow.

    If this legislation goes through, many of the decent teachers and professors that we have are going to go elsewhere. Who will take the jobs? It certainly won't be anyone that is well qualified and cares about education. Those people are going to the states/schools that will give them better offers.

    Once the best teachers are gone, the top tier of students will follow. One thing we know about business - it is attracted to the places where they can find quality graduates, and that is no longer going to be Milwaukee, Madison, or any other place in Wisconsin.

    This bill is nothing more than a very short-sighted and desperate attempt by Walker to try to prove he can manage the budget. Unfortunately, his gambit is going to cost us quality workers and students, future business investment, and thousands of jobs (at least there will be plenty of underpaid teacher jobs available...). Walker is right that we need to make some budget cuts, but our education system has already been cut to the core - and it won't help the future of Wisconsin to kill it.

    I am a manager that constantly looks to our schools to recruit and develop talent. I may have placed a vote to cut our budget, but I certainly didn't place one to destroy our education system. If this keeps up, Walker will be writing himself a quick and one-way ticket out of public office.

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  13. http://walker.wi.gov/section.asp?linkid=1714&locid=177

    phone at office: 608.266.1212

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  14. Let's be clear, this represents $30 million, not a large sum of a $3 BILLION deficit. Not exactly a magic bullet. It's union busting.

    What good teachers in their right mind would come to or stay in a state where they had no say whatsoever in the workplace?

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  15. It is because of articles like this that I can now understand why people don't consider Dustin and Pete credible journalists.

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  16. To those that say quit....

    Those that will replace those who quit will be ones with less education....and frankly that scares the hell out of me.

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  17. The Scab
    by Jack London, (1876-1916)



    After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a scab.

    A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue.

    Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles.

    When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out.

    No man (or woman) has a right to scab so long as there is a pool of water to drown his carcass in, or a rope long enough to hang his body with.

    Judas was a gentleman compared with a scab. For betraying his master, he had character enough to hang himself. A scab has not.

    Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.

    Judas sold his Savior for thirty pieces of silver.

    Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commision in the british army.

    The scab sells his birthright, country, his wife, his children and his fellowmen for an unfulfilled promise from his employer.

    Esau was a traitor to himself; Judas was a traitor to his God; Benedict Arnold was a traitor to his country.

    A scab is a traitor to his God, his country, his family and his class.

    Author --- Jack London (1876-1916)

    NO SCABS!

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  18. To all of you union members....take all of your pension money and your family farm and put it up for collateral to start your own business as I have done. tell me then, would you use unionized employees to man your business? Allow them to strike for more benefits even when times are slim and you can't cover your own costs? Collective bargaining is nothing more than legalized blackmail! If business do the exact same thing its called price fixing and is illegal in a free market economy. Most union workers will never start their own business because they do not want to share in the risks of capitalism, they want the rewards and never want to "go backwards" even in some of the worst market corrections in our history. the business owners however will find a way....the American way to prevail....ship the jobs to china because the unions want it that way...when your union pensions fail don't look at my tax dollars to cover what your union promised to you that it can never provide. It amazes me to see how many "educated" people wont see that these kind of wages and benefits are truly unsustainable. You cant have your cake and eat it too! I dare you to start your own business and get a quick education on sustainable labor costs. There are only two kinds of liberals.... the duped and the dupers. which one are you?

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  19. Then the costs of getting the education should greatly go down!...because no one...I repeat! No ONE! Should pay as much as they are asking right now to get your degree as a teacher making that kind of crap money!

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  20. 4:42 -- Looks like you may have made a mistake when you changed careers. If you don't like running a business, don't run one.

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  21. Hmmm, I'm interested in what she said about having a bachelor's degree and making $36,000 a year and worried about not being able to survive. SUCK IT UP!! I'm sorry, but I have a bachelor's degree in business admin. and mathematics, I work for the PRIVATE sector, and I only make $30,000. I fully fund my own pension, and only receive $57. a month to put towards my health insurance. Jobs are difficult to come by right now. I have to rent out rooms in my house to friends to live. I come up w/ other creative ways to cut costs, If I can do it, then why can't the public sector.

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  22. Because you think it can't get worse for you, it will. When they bust the unions the slippery slope for private workers will get a whole lot more steep.

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  23. @ 10:01AM
    GM had planned on moving Delphi out of state way back when it was Delco. The process took many years and had the blessing of Ronald Reagan. I know because I worked there under the Delco name, and all Delphi workers were previous Delco employees or hired under separate contracts.....that was the first slippery slope for losing those jobs.
    And, initially GM choose that location for ease of finding *well educated workers* thanks to the job of public schools in Wisconsin. Don't believe? Hunt down one of the previous plant managers and ask.
    Gotcha in your lie!

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  24. Good to see the Pravda.wi has returned.

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  25. Americans are about to become subjects of the wealthy -- thanks to Republicans like Scott Walker, Van Wangarrd, and Robin Vos. What a hypocryt Wangarrd is -- demanding higher pay from Racine Unified when he worked security. Now he supports union busting. They will soon come for you, too!!

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  26. THERES NOT ENOUGH MONEY. Take the cuts or be laid off.

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  27. The public sector workers work for me, the home owner and tax payer, NOT the union. If I as a property tax, income tax paying employer says (colletively) the pot is empty then you can take cut's or be unemployeed. End of story.

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  28. First they come for public employees, then they will come for you!! This reminds:

    REMEMBER?

    "First They Came for the Jews"
    By Pastor Niemoller

    First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

    We need to impeach/recall Walker, Vos and the rest of the Republicans who support this.

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  29. If past governors and legislatures had done their jobs the need for what is seen as drastic action wouldn't have taken place. Clearly, Madison politics weren’t going to change until things got really bad. Massive protests and pickets at official's homes indicate how bad things have become with the state budget. The union scare tactics seems to be a sign of how far they will go to protect their revenue stream by having the State and local governments collect union dues for them. The protesters should be more upset with past elected leaders who kept funding things that weren't sustainable. From what I have read it appears that the bill isn't a union killer like the attack ads indicate. There are major changes to negotiations rules in the proposed bill but they are reactions to the size of the budget shortfall and in sync with what has happened in the private sector the past few years. There is a lot of misinformation being spread in the protests and attack ads. The public sector is going to begin to feel what the people who pay the taxes have been feeling for years. I also found it interesting that the UW-P article indicated how staff goes above and beyond by spending a little extra time talking to students beyond their short office hours. That definition of above and beyond tells me how out of touch these people are. This isn't easy for anyone, but over due.

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  30. I don't know anybody that has not been hit by this recession.My wages and hrs have been cut as have many others,why do public employees think they're immune.To compare it to the hollicost,get real!

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  31. I work for a Wisconsin school. I am NOT in a union. With the benefits package and pay I get currently I still make about 10% less than I could make in the private sector (not theoretical.. based on actual job offers.) The main reason I have remained in a public sector job is that, having worked in both, I chose job security and better insurance.

    Walkers bill, if passed, will effectively result in a significant pay cut. Odds are that I'll be moving out into a private-sector job if that happens so I can pay my bills. Good luck finding someone to replace me for close to the same salary but reduced benefits even in this economy.

    Of course, Walker would say that the job should be outsourced anyhow. So I guess that means there is a chance I would be contracted back to my school with the money going to my new employer but at 1-1/2 times my current pay.

    But that's the goal, right? Make sure more of the tax money ends up in as business profits instead of fewer dollars just going straight to the people doing the work.

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  32. How about everyone that gets a pay cut in the public sector quit and start taking for jobs in the private sector. Public school teachers can take all of the summer construction jobs, etc. Heck, fire all public employees. Everyone for themselves ... what a great state Wisconsin is ...

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  33. madisolation2/17/2011 7:06 AM

    The posters who are writing nasty comments about public employees and unions all write in the same glib, nasty, superior tone. They sound very egocentric: they don't care what happens to others in their community. They don't share a common bond with the people around them. In short, they don't care about others. Some are probably writing for the Republicans' benefit, but all of them come across as selfish, cruel, and uncaring individuals.

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  34. It is time for revolution in the United States of America...Now! It is time for a new constitution our current one simply doesn't work.

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  35. michigan is about to join you wisconsin! one fund manager on wall street made 5 billion in a year. 150,000 a second i believe? that would solve michigans and wisconsin's budget problems. remember marie antoinette or the czar in russia? hmmmm sounds good.

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  36. stop corporate control of goverment think before you vote

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  37. Dear 2/17/2011 11:11 AM, The current constitution works, but only for the propertied, privileged and preferred classes. Its bias in favor of the fortunate few was built into the ditzy document by James Madison, a slave-owning elitist twit who feared the common man and worried that toilers would heed Thomas Paine's calls for the seizure and redistribution of the oligarchy's loot. If you've ever wondered why our system works exclusively for the rich, research James Madison and his contempt for rank-and-file humanity. The more you learn about that exploiter of servile labor, the more you'll hate him, his con of a constitution and the system which he inflicted on us.

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  38. The sooner we scrap James Madison's constitution, the better!

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  39. Like an orange which turns up juiceless, the constitution's just plain useless. It was written exclusively by and for the elite, who fretted that the ordinary people would demand the one right worth having--freedom from poverty. So the snobs deliberately saddled us with a pro-slavery rag which gave the poor nothing but high-sounding bosh about abstract rights. (At the time in which James Madison scribbled his screeds, the right to keep and bear arms posed no threat to the oligarchy. Inasmuch as functional firearms were the pricey possessions of the rich and the government which they dominated, farmers with crude muskets didn't terrify James Madison and his super-solvent peers.)

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  40. I'll gladly be a scab and take that teachers job for $36,000 per year...and I have my masters plus 10 years teaching experience. She should be grateful she has a job. There are thousands of unemployed teachers in the US...and thousands more who work in private schools, without unions, for the same wage and are happy to do so.

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  41. Dear Marilee, That's how the rich want you to think--they pit workers against each other scrambling for crumbs while they laugh all the way to their banks. Wise up. The enemy isn't public employee unions. Rather, the real menace is the master class which oppresses the impoversihed majority for fun and profit.

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  42. Dear 2/17/2011 11:19 PM, You're absolutely correct--the moneybag Marie Antoinettes and the corporate czars must go. I live and work for the day when a common man's government will seize their ill-gotten gains and imprison them for the rest of their natural lives. It's time to put the oligarchic pigs in pens and keep them there for the duration.

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  43. Having survived decades of oppression by the John-Swines of Rat-Scene, I yearn for the confiscation of their obscene Waxstash. Far from being job creators, the Carnauba criminals have been the sworn enemies of the working class. Sleazy labor practices and a fixation on art to the neglect of philanthropy have revealed the true character of the Waxtrash--they're nothing but avaricious, union-busting snobs.

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  44. Still, as vile as the Waxtrash and their kin may be, they're tame when compared to or with the Koch brothers. The Koch clan, its TEA Party and its puppet Walker must be divested of power.

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  45. Down with the Kochs and their corporate kink-dom!

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  46. Ho,ho! Hey,hey! The Koch brothers must go away!

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  47. Maybe someone should put a guillotine in front of the Koch lobbyist office...

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  48. The Kochs' puppet show should end a.s.a.p. May there be no encores! Seriously, the Kochs, the Johnsons, the Bradleys and other dollar-sign dynasties responsible for the current economic crisis must be tried for their crimes against humanity, divested of their assets and incarcerated.

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  49. GOP: Goons On Perpwalk!

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  50. Memo to the Krook brothers and other oligarchs: if you read your history books, you'll learn that dynasties die nasty. Just research the Romanovs...

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  51. What the Koch brothers call liberty is nothing but the license of the rich to oppress the rest.

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  52. The Kochs' "science of liberty" is the systematic exploitation of impoverished people who have naught but their labor to sell.

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  53. Free Enterprise: Legalized Corruption. Needed: Socialism plus a Common Man's Government Answerable to the People Through Frequent and Honest Elections.

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  54. Research Wisconsin's past and you'll find that the Badger State possesses a long and proud history of SOCIALISM. It is time for Wisconsin to lead the nation into a socially-just future, a new era in which greed will no longer pay. The struggle in Madison is only the beginning.

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  55. Today Madison, tomorrow the nation! Coming sooner than the corporate predators care to think: a long incarceration vacation at Leavenworth. Here's hoping the Koch brothers like mystery meat and baloney sandwiches served to them by very big, tough working class correctional officers...

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  56. May all the guards be UNION MEMBERS! SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

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