In the Joint Finance Committee's final sprint to pass an already pork-filled budget, Senator Darling - co-chair of the state's budget writing committee - slipped in some more bacon in the middle of the night. An amendment that Senator Darling sponsored would have allowed fired Milwaukee police officers - including those suspected of very serious offenses like drunk driving, domestic abuse, and even rape - to continue receiving pay until all of their appeals have been exhausted.
This provision was heavily favored by the Milwaukee Police Association, which has strongly supported and donated to Senator Darling and many other Republican candidates.
Milwaukee taxpayers were burdened with this costly mandate for years until lawmakers took action to reign in and repeal it over the past two legislative sessions. It is estimated that Milwaukee taxpayers were saddled with roughly $4.5 million due to this mandate, and legislative action to tighten the spigot has saved hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Not only did Senator Darling ask Governor Walker to veto her special interest handout after voting for it in committee and vocally supporting it on the Senate floor, she actually voted to eliminate this mandate in 2008. This type of behavior simply defies logic – that is, unless you are a 20-year career politician.
Unfortunately, Senator Darling's recent addition to her laundry list of flip-flops over the years only symbolizes how she has similarly turned her back on her constituents through the toxic state budget she wrote and voted to enact.
In the budget she considers the “best budget [she has] ever seen,” she chose to shift billions of dollars from public education, healthcare, and local services, to handouts and favors for big corporations and special interests.
The fact that Senator Darling continues to boast about the great success her and Governor Walker’s budget represents for her party bosses and campaign donors shows just how out of touch she has become with the values and priorities of her constituents.
Her most recent flip-flop and steadfast support for this extreme budget reinforce what this recall election is really all about. It is about taking back the 8th Senate District for the people of our community and electing a Senator who will represent the values we all share – the same values Senator Darling unfortunately seems to have forgotten, or flip-flopped on, time and time again.
I guess we will see what really happens come Summerfest time next year. I'm thinking that a lot of the claims being made in the article are more of the same 'gloom and doom' projections that tend to follow when something is cut. Funny how reality never seems to match those projections...
My point, as it always has been and continues to be, is that there's nothing that can't be reversed should it be found not to work, via the next legitimate election cycle. Your side (the side of the unions) won't put up with that, even though that's the way we've been doing things for years and years, through administration after administration. You're attempting to sell this "need" for recalls and all the other nonsense your side has engaged in, based on a lot of hyperbole and overblown projection. It's more important to your side that you do everything within your power, including misleading people to the extent that you can, to overturn the last election than it is to do what we've been doing for years. Respecting the outcome of an election and the votes of those who voted in it.
I've looked at what Walker has done. I've looked at what Darling has done> I'm good with it overall. As for the bus situation, let's see if you can figure out why Abele selected the ones he did for elimination.
So you're saying that unless dues are mandatory, the unions will lose the majority of their members, even though they can still be used to negotiate wage issues? I guess that doesn't say much for unions, does it? Unless people can be forced to join unions, they won't. Darnnit! Thanks for at least acknowledging that it's absolutely imperative to their survival that they be able to make membership mandatory. And here I thought all along it was that good old union solidarity. As for stripping the ability to contribute, I could make the same argument about your side as regards your "tax the rich, tax and regulate corporations" mantra. Let's cut the crap, Lyle. Stop blaming money, the Kochs , Karl Rove, the Boogie Man or any other supposedly nefarious force out there working behind the scenes. It's getting to be a bit too much "birther", really. We had an election. Your side lost. You're unwilling to wait until the next one because you know darn well that what Walker's proposing, particularly as it relates to our educational system is going to work. And that scares the living you-know-what out of you. Lyle, you're too smart to really be going with the row you're hoeing here and if this is the best you've got, then there's nothing much of substance at all. Oh, and saw your post about going down the same road again. Why it never made it here is a mystery, but, really, it's more of a quarter mile oval, isn't it?
Your side was caught with its pants down not because of any particularly skillful maneuvering on the part of the Republicans. If ever there was a time when there was a lack of political gamemasters in general, this is that time. What got you guys was the fog of the buzz from 2008. You took way too seriously your victory in that year. Think about it. You beat John McCain and Sarah Palin after 2 W terms. You could have darn near run your mascot, a donkey, and won. Instead, you let yourselves believe that you'd found a new kind of leader and believed your own hype to such a degree that it led to your downfall in two short years. There's your lesson. Not that the Republicans outsmarted you. You outsmarted yourselves. Which, frankly, probably explains the absolutely outrageous reaction when it happened and the absolute need on your side's part for a redo. So no, I don't worry, but I don't underestimate the determination and drive that can result from self loathing either. Got the quarter mile to yourself now. Have at it.