Put on a happy face.

Yes, which is why John McCain is the President of the US

who is president?

Three words that say an awful, and I mean awful, lot.

@Alfred.....And that is why democrats LOVE polls!

13.3 percent in 2011, down another percent from 2010

Considering about half of the state votes, and givin that Gov. Walker has attacked union rights it is logical that close to 100% of union workers will go vote, that 29% seems closer to accurate, but yes they did get polled a little high, nice observation.

Privileges, not rights just sayin ;)

That is assuming all private union employees feel the same way. Population of union membership in WI is 742,529. Barrett has a little over 1 million votes in 2010.

Alfred, I was confused by most of your invective, but regarding taxes, I'd rather pay a little more to help people instead of standing by while our state's poorest have to pay higher taxes because of Walker's cuts to the Eic and Homestead.

Well then Bren there is nothing stopping you at the moment to get out a check payable to the Wisconsin Dept of Revenue, I am pretty sure they will cash it. EIC is welfare that should be eliminated, and I dont even know what the hell homestead is, i just am sick and tired of being taxed, so much that I bought a place in a warmer state with no income taxes and property taxes of a mere $1000 for a big house, isnt that cool?

Alfred you don't understand..Libs don't want to pay more taxes themselves like Warren Buffet...they just want everyone ELSE to pay more so they can continue to live in the style to which their government checks have accustomed them.

I do my part every quarter Bren. Donate to the cause above and beyond.

http://www.revenue.wi.gov/

Alfred, my point is that Scott Walker has indirectly raised taxes by cutting tax credits. I believe you are free to live where you wish, so congratulations on your new house.

Kevin, I believe most people, regardless of political affiliation, pay taxes, so cannot respond to your comment. Some links to legitimate news sources that support your position would be helpful.

Steve thanks for sharing that link and reminding me what I'll be doing all weekend...

Who is the judge and jury on this thread, who determines what are and what aren't legitimate news sources.

Exactly why you can't accurately poll candidates not running. No information has been spread to pin their character in a negative light. No information released on how they would run the state.

The poll is well within the margin of error. There is no losing on Walkers end on this one.

ALEC has probably written all of Scott Walker's programs. Many of the republicans are members of this nightmare of America. I wonder if Grover Norquist has Scott's signature? The following are Wisconsin signers of Norquist's pledge.: The pawns are:
WI-Sen Ron Johnson (R)
WI-01 Paul Ryan (R)
WI-05 Jim Sensenbrenner (R)
WI-06 Tom Petri (R)
WI-07 Sean Duffy (R)
WI-08 Reid Ribble (R)

Interesting that this poll was taken by a democrat and is totally biased!!!
Good luck!

Or John McCain. Or Sarah Palin. One of them is even "Undefeated"

This.

"the circus" began with walker's election

"ripping each other " is the way of the GOP or haven't you been paying attention to the circus going on in the Republican Presidential Primary?

Why do you hate working men and women?

@ Keith Shitz
why do you keep using an ignorant rhetorical question in your posts? Why do YOU hate common sense?

@Keith Schitz: No one could possible hate a working man or woman. How could you even suggest that?

The number of recall petition signers makes it clear that more than public union employees (some 200,000) support the recall. AFP has done a fine job of ingraining the idea that the recall effort is only about unions. It is not.

The rest are democrats who can not accept the tough decisions that had to be made. It's not a key factor as I think you are trying to make. How many voted for Barret in 2010? It was more than 640,000. So why didn't that number sign the recall?

Steve, I'm not a Democrat and I support the recall, which is not about making "tough decisions," but about making poor decisions. In where loyalties are placed, on using one's office to promote a national special interest agenda instead of representing the people one was elected to represent, etc.

How many voted for Barrett in 2010? 1,005,008 according to MSNBC.com (http://elections.msnbc.msn.com/ns/politics/2010/wisconsin/governor). The signatures turned in were about that number but as we know not all of them could be valid. I also know several people who didn't sign the recall petition but intend to vote against Walker in the upcoming election. But I agree with Lyle, it will be a very close race.

Yes you are a moderate, but speak, at least here, to the very far left. So it's a losing argument.

You have 1 million lines on pages turned in. The real number is somewhere around 800,000 with about 20% "fraud" putting my prediction around 640,000 possible signatures.

The gap is 360,000 between those that voted for Barrett and those that signed.

So it is does not make it clear that more than just public union members support the recall.
You have 742,529 total union employees in the State. You have 640,000 valid signatures. Looking at the last election we can say that not all union members vote for a democrat.

I don't know if it will be close, need someone to run against first before you can lose.

Walker does not support the national entitlement idea. What we had before failed, there was no money left. We could have laid everyone off like Illinois but instead made the tough, right decisions to save a state. Walker is a patriot that will sacrifice a political career and make the tough decisions. You can only pander to a voter for so long before you are billions in debt like a democrat.

yeah yeah ALEC and Koch and fox news and whatever else.

@Steve, why would anyone vote for Barrett when the hypocrit wanted to use the tools Walker provided to balance the Milwaukee budget. Or Falk who promised the unions that she would veto any state budget that didn't include repealing Act 10. Hold the state budget hostage and this isn't a union issue? Bull.

To be a liberal is to be a hypocrite. They will excuse that hypocrisy because Walker is evil and stuff. Don't worry Bren you're not a liberal so this is nothing against you.

I hope this answered your question mau. If not watch some of this

http://www.youtube.com/user/donsmithshow#p/u/9/IlIS6gRq32Q

Steve, I write here primarily on the Walker recall, and my view on that subject I believe is undisputed.

I understood that approximately 1m signatures were turned in. I agree it's correct to assume that not every union member in the state supports the recall. If I were pro-Walker I'd concentrate efforts on the recall election.

Remember that public employees had already made a round of concessions under Doyle (furloughs), creating a precedent for contract negotiations. Union-busting is part of the national ALEC agenda and is occurring in other states (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/business/04labor.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1). Same with the 2011 corporate tax breaks.

Wisconsin was not "broke," budget issues yes, but this was the same type of "manufactured crisis" gambit that Walker used to justify firing courthouse security workers as CE (illegally). (Here's an interesting book to read about manufactured crises: http://www.amazon.com/Manufactured-Crisis-Attack-Americas-Schools/dp/0201441969).

We'll have to disagree about Walker's "patriotism." I don't describe putting the interests of Pfizer, Exxon Mobile, Koch Industries, etc., before the people who elected him to represent their interests as "patriotism." His latest legislation weakens wetlands regulations and opens the door to the controversial mining project. He stands to make irreparable changes to our state's environment and quality of education for a tens of thousands of public school children.

@Angela Mcclure: WOW! You have experienced a nightmare. Can you provide some specifics, or do you prefer leaving us with an emotional rant?

LOL wow, just wow. 80% of the population now has lower taxes and a better business climate exists here. Compare wisconsin to what recently happened in illinois, see what happens when you do what liberals like you want.

Tax returns? LMAO what you wanted your taxes to go up instead of down? You are a shill and a fake. That fact that you are putting periods in the middle of sentences, and that you can't even write a coherent paragraph, tells lots about your mindset.

Go leach off the public somewhere else.

I'd really like to hear some examples of this harm.

Normalcy = Doyle years where we had billions in debt and a system that paid off cronies and ran business out of the state?

It's funny the ones you meet on the internet that live in a bubble and are unable to make the tough decisions like Walker has, and what the state elected him to do. It's a good thing Walker does not pander for every vote and look to the next election. He is able to make the tough decisions and fix a state the was broke, literally.

no examples....

I'm not in Van Wanggaard's district, but note that he is a retired police officer and public employee pension recipient who supported the stripping of collective bargaining rights from public employees except fire and--police.

The residency requirement is favored in Milwaukee in part because having law enforcement living in the neighborhood improves the quality of the neighborhood.

Perfect analogy.
Now Keith Shitz, who cannot read or think for himself, will ask you: "Why do you hate hard working men and women?", not knowing that he and his ilk are the grasshoppers.

So, all the teachers, most of which have masters degrees, who educate our children all day and take night or summer classes to keep up their certifications for a messily 50k a year are lazy leaches? I'd like to see your educational status, most people who failed out of college look up to the poster boy Walker for inspiration. Don't worry about not being too bright, you too can be a governor some day.

@Nonunion Member: Teachers don't make a messily $50K per year at RUSD. You forgot to add in that 40-60% fringe and then remember that it's all paid for a 9 month work year. So that messily $50k that YOU speak about is actually worth $93K on an annualized basis. That doesn't sound messily to many. And let's not forget that retirement package that teachers only pay a "messily" sum into and then walk away with a 7 figure retirement benefit.

@JWU Your right teachers start much lower than that, in the 30k to 40k range, I was taking the pay from teachers with 10 to 20 years experience. If you have your employer do a cost workup on any employee you will see that the cost with fringe as you call it is 50-75% higher than the income of the individual. Every employee at my place of employment had it done and that was the result. It was much more inexpensive for the state to manage a few contracts than pay administrators to manage tens of thousands of contracts. The 7 figure salaries and retirement benefits are for the coaches that no one seems to mind paying. If you don't like the pension program then you end the pension program, you don't create more laws to limit more of our rights.

Which of 'your' rights have been limited 'non'union member?

@Nonunion Member: Base reached pay at RUSD with 10-20 years is about $72,000 and with fringe annualizes [12 month year] at a whopping $144,000. Retirement is valued at more than $50,000 per year [excluding the true value of healthcare benefits'] and with a life expectancy of 20 years, that's a $1,000,000 CASH benefit for teachers.

Dang! If that's true, I don't wanna kill them, I wanna join them. Where do I sign up?

@CowDung - You or I can no longer bargain with the state collectively, a right that has been taken away.
@JWU - That is simply not true I have seen the payment schedules and non go up that high unless your a some type of coach in which case the rules are broken for some reason. I even went to the salary datamine and tried to find someone, randomly, with a high salary and the highest I found was 67k.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in "order to form a more perfect union". And yes it is the same thing as a workers union, it is people uniting in order to not be exploited. Putting laws in place against unions is as un-American as laws banning guns. If you don't like them don't join, if they get too much - renegotiate, if they get to big - break them but don't pass laws prohibiting them.

@Nonunion Member: Well if we go with the $67,000 that you found and the average fringe for RUSD of $35,165, we arrive at a 12 month annualized pay of $136,000. That is far from what you referred to as messily. Add to that the $1million cash payout, over 20 years, on the teacher retirement benefit [excluding the cost of healthcare insurrance] and you have a package that NO small business CEO's will never get from their employer.

You can not negotiate with tax dollars especially when there are no representation from the tax payer.

Collective bargaining was never a right it was a privilege. One that the unions took advantage of year after year after year with political help. It was banned because it needed to be as it was destructive to those that pay the bills.

@JWU - I don't know what your smoking but it must be pretty good based on the things your seeing. Give me a few names or some kind of facts to back that up please.

Nonunion member:

I've never had the ability to bargain collectively with the state--nothing has been taken away from me.

The 'right' to bargain collectively has only been limited when it comes to members of public sector unions. If one is a member of a private sector union, or not a union member at all, their ability to engage in collective bargaining remains unchanged.

If you are going to bicker about the numbers for RUSD, visit the JS Online's database of teacher salaries so we can settle on actual numbers.

RUSD average teacher salary is $53,288 with $35,165 in fringe benefits for 2009-2010 school year.

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dataondemand/33534649.html

Click on the 'Statewide list of average teacher salaries by school district.' link.

Non-nonunion Member:

The issue with renegotiating with public employee unions, is that the unions tend to negotiate with the same people that their campaign donations helped put into office. It isn't the same adversarial relationship between negotiating parties that we have in the private sector.

JWU thank you for posting the same numbers that I have been quoting, they are no where near $130k you mentioned earlier, and again for those that are a little slow every employee cost their employer outside of salary so those "fringe" costs are a wash. I will not even get into the fact that the state manages public employees for less than it is done in the private sector. I do want to know why no one wants to talk about year round school and the elimination of sports?

Sorry JWU it was CowDung who posted the real salaries.

I have to ask, what is inappropriate about a salary in the $60/$70K range for an individual with a Master's degree?

Non-nonunion Member:

While I think that the elimination of sports would be a terrible mistake, year round schooling has some definite advantages...

@CowDung: I couldn't imagine year round public education put on by the Racine Unified School District given the current level of mediocre results and wholesale mismanagement by RUSD. The longer the child is in RUSD, the further behind they fall from the State average test score. I am not interested in hearing the teachers blame the parents, the goals not being achievable and on and on. It comes down to a horrendously expensive school system that completely fails to educate our children. I am delighted that parents are using vouchers to transfer their children OUT of RUSD.

Maybe the situation is better in your area.

@JWU, they do have year round school in RUSD at Janes Elementary. They just don't brag about it. They tried to get a middle school year round at Gilmore but that was a failure because they couldn't get enough parents and teachers to participate.

http://www.racine.k12.wi.us/?do=schools.content&pageID=43

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IS NOT A RIGHT!!!!!!!!

That's a privilege!

@Walker. The fact that you make $60,000 for 6 months of commercial fishing is not bad at all. Unless you waste the other 6 months doing nothing. In that case, you will ONLY make $60,000 per year and you're a putz for wasting the other 6 months that could earn you more. A teacher gets paid for a 9 month job and they have the same choice that you have to work the other months or sit on you can and do nothing but cry that you only make $60,000 per year and I owe you something for your hardship.

WOW! You certainly are clairvoyant. I guess I shouldn't question such an intelligent angry being! It was an example of how rediculous your "annualized" imaginary number is; but I guess your blinders won't allow your little mind to get off it's narrow track & see how silly you look. (No, I'm not a teacher or a union member. Just don't care for bullies. I'd certainly be disappointed if you didn't turn that into something it's not clairvouyant one.) Have a great day!

Enjoy your $60,000 for your 6 months of fishing that defines your "work year". And don't come back and whine that you only make $60,000 a year without first explaining that you only work 6 months. Jeez, sorry this is over your head.

Imaginary numbers is right, we are talking real take home pay here. I once got paid $150 an hour for consulting that does not mean I make $300k a year. Teachers usually get jobs or take classes to keep up certs during the summer. Also, if you're mad about summers off keep school in session year round that's what the other countries that are kicking our buts do. My problem with Walker is he did not solve the problem he skirted it. Eliminate the pensions, summer vacation, and sports in schools, but keep teachers competitively paid and cooperating together, tough decisions and a lot of work but necessary to keep pace globally.

I knew you wouldn't disappoint me! Your kind is so predictable. Love to say they know what someone is thinking. Yeah, we see who's head it's above. But then you're always right & never wrong.

Enjoy the fishing Gilligan.

@Nonunion Member ...put this in your pipe and smoke it. You seem to be familiar with such practices.

Oh, To Be a Teacher in Wisconsin
How can fringe benefits cost nearly as much as a worker's salary? Answer: collective bargaining.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164290717724956.html

@JWU - They don't cost nearly as much you yourself said 40% which is lower than the private employers.

@Nonunion Member:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164290717724956.html

"The showdown in Wisconsin over fringe benefits for public employees boils down to one number: 74.2. That's how many cents the public pays Milwaukee public-school teachers and other employees for retirement and health benefits for every dollar they receive in salary. The corresponding rate for employees of private firms is 24.3 cents."

I'm basing it on published numbers in the data mine. I think your being lied to. BTW the whole "with benefits" thing is a joke, like I said before the cost of any employee outside of salary is huge so if it's public or private the cost is there and is a wash.

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/mar/04/maciver-institute/maciver-institute-says-average-annual-salary-and-b/

A wash? What does the money fall from space and just appear in the treasury? No wonder we were in a budget fiasco with a mindset like that. When you own a business you calculate your payroll of salary and benefits. If you don't well you won't be around very long and won't be able to pay taxes which pay for all those public worker benefits.

One of the best things Walker did was remove collective bargaining. This allowed school districts to get away from the over charging WEAC, reduce their bennifit spending and increase it's quality. If you can provide one teacher the same benefits but instead of paying $20,000/yr you are now paying 14,000/yr it adds up.

@Nonunion Member ...put this in your pipe and smoke it. You seem to be familiar with such practices.

Oh, To Be a Teacher in Wisconsin
How can fringe benefits cost nearly as much as a worker's salary? Answer: collective bargaining.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164290717724956.html

@Nonunion Member: your "wash" comment reminds me of a person I read about that claimed he/she should not be given overdraft charges on returned checks in the account because the overdraft was not caused by bouncing checks, it was caused by ATM withdrawals that should count towards an overdraft on a retuned check check.

Your accounting sounds a bit ridiculous that the taxpayer should not consider the $$$ cost of fringe benefits for teachers because it is a "wash" with the amount paid to the private sector? So the fringe is paid with magic money?

@Steve - When I say "a wash" I mean that the fringe benefits are paid to employees weather they are public or private union or non union. The real disscussion is the base salary which at ~60k is minimal for someone with a masters.
I did take a look at your article and again they are saying salary with benefits, and MPS are the highest paid in WI because the cost of living is high.

I don't see how the cost of living in Milwaukee is high. Most of the homes have almost no value left to them unless you live in a very upper end neighborhood. It's not LA, it's run down Milwaukee.

You have to account for the total expense of an employee. Especially one that receives a pension. Gosh that would be nice.

Prime example of how a piece of paper does not automatically = tons of money. Teachers get masters partially for personal pride but mainly for income gain. The more degrees you have the more you are paid in the school system. Don't know for sure but I bet they get help from the district to pay for that education.

They also are not building the space shuttle with the degree. They are teaching children. I don't want to knock what they do, but it is just teaching. They generate no profit for a company, they are not inventing any new products. They are following a state controlled curriculum.

$67K, for maybe 8 months of work, not bad especially when they knew the pay structure before coming or continuing to be a teacher. Work the 2-3 months in the summer, profit more.

Interesting Keith. I know the internet and have checked this out.
recallscottwalker.com

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Canadia eh

Domain name: RECALLSCOTTWALKER.COM

Bright to you by the same party that hid in Illinois because they couldn't have it their way.

So what. This wouldn't have gone any where unless people were pissed off.

Someone was thinking ahead.

If you want to blame anybody, blame it on disengaged voters who did not fully check out Walker and after they saw him they were shocked. Many of us could have predicted this.

Year two of the school and muni budgets coming up. Iceberg dead ahead.

dailykos, not surprising

Walker and the TeaRepugs have a long history of their War on Women!

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/kleefisch-wont-challenge-recall-petitions-le4datk-141085483.html?page=1#!page=1&viewAll=0&sort=newestfirst

Whistling past the graveyard JWU?

@Keith S...

This report was put out about 2 weeks ago--about 40plus school districts who are in deep trouble for this years budget. It will updated periodically.

"The second year of the budget is going to be worse for many school districts.
Schools did save last budget year--but it was a one time savings. Now the bones will have to be cut. Polls will get tighter as these districts realize the impact of Walker's cuts. Education is and always has been of high value to Wisconsinites. "

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/7126ec513f66440e67bfd72aa/files/Schools_Shortages.pdf

You guys have WAY too much time to make these pie in the sky pdfs. Use the creativity to create something, like a job. That job would create tax revenue which would help the school districts.

Unless, you really could care less about the school district and the entire motivation is Walker busting your gravy train.

@morninmist

I'm not sure what state you are speaking of when you state that "Education is and always has been of high value to Wisconsinites" when the numbers show that people have been ignoring the output of the school districts since the 90s.

WI spends more than any other mid-west state, and consistently produces below average students. There is not, has not, and never will be a direct correlation between what you spend on the schools and what kind of students are a product of that school. If you really need an example of this, look no further than DC. They spend upwards of 16K per student and show a graduation rate of less than 50%.

Money =/= Results

ha ha.
More and more people are realizing that Walker tells big LIES!

The only thing working for Walker is that the Doe probe is moving closer to HIM!

We Are Wisconsin ‏ @WeRWisconsin

VIDEO - Pls RT: Brkng news report on latest top @GovWalker aide implicated in criminal probe http://bit.ly/GRFqI7 #WIunion #WIrecall
View video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN6UseVbIaM