Hang onto your lunch, folks:
Milwaukee Police and Firefighter unions have endorsed Scott Walker in the recall election.
Two unions that were spared from Gov. Scott Walker's curbs on collective bargaining endorsed him Monday.
Walker's plan did not make changes for police officers and firefighters, and the unions representing Milwaukee cops and Milwaukee firefighters renewed their support for him Monday. The two were some of the only unions to endorse Walker when he initially ran in November 2010.
“Governor Walker has a strong record of supporting public safety with an unwavering commitment to first responders,” said a statement from Michael Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association. “Today, we are proud to announce our support for Governor Walker’s reelection.”
What is wrong with these people? Don't they realize that they were only "spared" from inclusion in Walkers Union Busting not because he thinks they deserve unions (he hates all unions), but as a reward for endorsing him in 2010.
That they don't realize is: they're next for union stripping. Just ask anyone who belonged to the old air traffic controllers union who endorsed Ronnie RayGun (who later fired them for the audacity of making use of union rights). Ask all those people in other states who said "meh" when public employees lost their union rights and then they lost their rights to private sector unions in short order as Right To Work (for less) Laws were passed.
Dumb. Simply too dumb for words. Walker is a dog with a history of biting the hand that feeds him.
These folks need to realize that we are all in this together. We sink or swim together. An injustice to one is an injustice to all. Just because we're not personally affected, doesn't mean we don't have to do something.
The Scott Walker ads, of course, will heavily include his "union endorsements". What these 2 unions have done is to virtually slap public workers, the poor and vulnerable, school children, and our senior citizens in the face. He'll use those endorsements as approval for everything he's done.
Sorry this is short, but I just had to post this awful news. I'm expecting more to come out later and I will update as information becomes available.
Update: Reaction:
From the expanded article linked above:
Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, called Monday's endorsements inappropriate. His group, which represents police officers everywhere in the state but Milwaukee, endorsed Barrett in 2010.
"I think the endorsement by these two unions of Scott Walker is an embarrassment," Palmer said.
He noted police and firefighters were allowed to keep most of their ability to collectively bargain, but they lost their ability to negotiate over some aspects of their health care. Palmer said some police agencies are now threatening to set health-care deductibles of as much as $10,000 if police unions do not agree to concessions.
Update 2: I'm going to have to ask for forgiveness and some indulgence. On looking at my comments it seems I've been unusually touchy. I've been doing this between being bombarded with Robo Calls. Don't ask me why, but I'm on the Republican Robo Call list. With our Presidential primary tomorrow, they've been non-stop. The Push Polls are the worst! At first, it was a laugh listening to one asshat after another trying to out lie and out-attack the other guys. Now it's just nails on a chalkboard.
They're so bad that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a lengthy article on them.
So, if I've been terse or unyielding, that's why. Sorry. I'm just up to my eyeballs in Republican BS.