Protests in Wisconsin?

[ZenOps]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/18/wisconsin.budget/index.html?hpt=T2

They started a couple days ago. Probably wasn't worth mentioning then.

It has grown. As usual its a case of "I need more money", and "I need a job".

Amongst other things, 6000 teachers will be cut this year with more to follow.

[ExtraSlow]

The USA is going to be pretty interesting over the next ten years or so. Remember the Greek debt crisis? A lot of states are facing situations that are just as bad.


May 2010 article - Will California be our Greece? (http://dailycaller.com/2010/05/26/will-california-be-our-greece/)

[arian_ma]

took err jaaaaabs

[syeve]

Wow...this is just mind numbing, where to even start?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/18/wisconsin.budget/index.html#

"In Illinois, for example, Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled a $35.4 billion budget Wednesday that depends on state lawmakers approving $8.7 billion in new borrowing largely to clear a towering stack of unpaid bills. That happened a month after state legislators approved a massive tax increase.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented budget plans Thursday that could eliminate more than 6,000 teaching jobs in the next fiscal year. The mayor of crime-ridden Camden, New Jersey, announced layoffs last month of nearly half of the city's police force and close to a third of its fire department."

Defence budget for 2011 = 712,000,000,000* IN ONE YEAR??!!

*up from 663B last year

Meanwhile they are cutting teacher, police and fire in their OWN country?

I have no words. I should insert some thoughtful quote from some smart person, but I don't feel like it.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by syeve


Defence budget for 2011 = 712,000,000,000* IN ONE YEAR??!!


I'm curious as to what would happen if the USA just pulled their whole military back ala before WW2 and became a reclusive country again?

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by syeve
Wow...this is just mind numbing, where to even start?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/18/wisconsin.budget/index.html#

"In Illinois, for example, Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled a $35.4 billion budget Wednesday that depends on state lawmakers approving $8.7 billion in new borrowing largely to clear a towering stack of unpaid bills. That happened a month after state legislators approved a massive tax increase.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented budget plans Thursday that could eliminate more than 6,000 teaching jobs in the next fiscal year. The mayor of crime-ridden Camden, New Jersey, announced layoffs last month of nearly half of the city's police force and close to a third of its fire department."

Defence budget for 2011 = 712,000,000,000* IN ONE YEAR??!!

*up from 663B last year

Meanwhile they are cutting teacher, police and fire in their OWN country?

I have no words. I should insert some thoughtful quote from some smart person, but I don't feel like it.


They have to cut police and teachers and city workers

All public workers will be cut because the public workers that came before them somehow managed to get the government agree to guarantee early pensions for everyone at or close to 100% of their pay.

Public union pensions are untouchable, so the only soultion is fire less experienced workers so they can afford to pay the outrageous pensions (that no one will take a voluntary cut on).

[broken_legs]

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9LENT880



The farce over the Wisconsin anti-union vote has just passed into the surreal. According to the AP, democrat lawmakers, who are firmly opposed to voting on the bill which is said to already have majority support, and who have been boycotting the vote by being absent from the state capitol, have now escalated and patriotically left the state. The reason is that while the vote can not take place without at least one Democrat being present, the police had been sent out earlier, with orders to sequester the democrats. The democrat response: run away. As the AP reports: "Senate Republicans can't vote on the bill unless at least one Democrat is present. Police could be dispatched to retrieve them, but it was unclear if they would have the authority to cross state lines."


^^
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/wisconsin-democrat-lawmakers-boycott-anti-union-vote-fleeing-state

[syeve]

Originally posted by broken_legs



They have to cut police and teachers and city workers

All public workers will be cut because the public workers that came before them somehow managed to get the government agree to guarantee early pensions for everyone at or close to 100% of their pay.

Public union pensions are untouchable, so the only soultion is fire less experienced workers so they can afford to pay the outrageous pensions (that no one will take a voluntary cut on).

Sounds similar to the automakers unions. I understand why they are cutting the jobs, I just can't believe the cutting vs big/increasing budget defence. Like someone else said, interesting to watch, could not be happier that I don't live there.

[1barA4]

Originally posted by syeve

Defence budget for 2011 = 712,000,000,000* IN ONE YEAR??!!

*up from 663B last year

Meanwhile they are cutting teacher, police and fire in their OWN country?

I have no words. I should insert some thoughtful quote from some smart person, but I don't feel like it.

The thing everyone has to realize is that the USA is a republic of states -- each state essentially lives and dies on its own, much less of that prop up the loser province stuff we socialist canucks do.

The defense spending is on a national level, the teachers, police and fire depts are at a state or municipal level of government.

EDIT - I'm not saying the feds shouldn't step in, cut defense spending and give that money to the needy states, I'm just saying that's not what they do.

[ZenOps]

Yeah, we don't have to worry *as much* about defense being in Canada.

We still rely on the Brits for that for anything international, and a little bit on the US for local. Noone is going to attempt a land invasion over the arctic, not even Putin.

As for offensive defense, we barely made it across to western Canada in the last century, I don't think we've had time to make that many enemies.

The US is paranoid about it even at a citizen level because that is where they got to where they are today, many, many hardfought battles some of the worst being within the nation itself.

"Bombs bursting in air"

[broken_legs]

Al-Jazeera is reporting that there were 100,000 protestors in Wisconsin