Thoughts on Wisconsin

I've been trying to follow the goings on in Wisconsin. I have a friend who published the salaries of the teachers in Wisconsin. They make a lot more than my husband (I have to admit, I'm a stay home mom, only because he also gets a military retirement check), who puts together dust collector equipment. Maybe it's hazard pay? I don't know what the schools are like in Wisconsin, maybe they need protection and it's like going into a de-militarized zone? I doubt it. I also saw what the garbage collector makes. My husband said he's in the wrong business. Times were, if you couldn't get any other job, you could be a garbage collector. It didn't require a high school diploma. Now they make a small fortune compared to us.

Here's the facts my friend sent me:

TEACHERS:


Milwaukee $86,297

Elmbrook $91,065

Germantown $83,818

Hartland Arrowhead $90,285 (highest teacher was $122,952-lowest was $64,942)

Men Falls $81,099

West Bend $82,153

Waukesha $92,902

Sussex $82,956

Mequon $95,297



Kettle Mor $87,676

Muskego $91,341


STAFF:

Arrowhead - Bus Mng - Kopecky - $169,525

Arrowhead - Principal - Wieczorek - $152,519

Grmtwn - Asst Princ - Dave Towers - $123,222

Elmbrk - Burliegh Elemetary - Principal Zahn- $142,315 (for a primary school!!)

Madison - Asst Principal - McGrath - $127,835



UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN STAFF (2009) (salary alone):


Michael Knetter - Prof of Bus - $327,828

Carolyn Martin -Chancellor Mad- $437,000

Hector Deluca - Prof of Nutritional Science - $254,877 (really??)


source: Madison.com -as the UW removed salaries from being posted online in 2007- why if they are so low?)

How about some other "public servant job" ??? What do they make?



Madison Garbage men (2009) (salary only):


Garbageman, Mr. Nelson earned $159,258 in 2009, including $109,892 in overtime and other pay.

Garbageman, Greg Tatman, who earned $125,598

7 Madison garbage men made over $100,000

30 Madison garbage men made over $70,000

MILWAUKEE CITY BUS DRIVERS (salary only):

136 Drivers made more than $70,000

54 Drivers made more than $80,000


18 Drivers made more than $90,000

8 Drivers made more than $100,000


Top Driver made $117,000

(Source WTMJ)


(The average private bus driver makes $9-13 an hour (about 20,000 yr) with no pension, or healthcare.)





YET TWO THIRDS OF 8TH GRADERS IN WISONSON CANNOT PASS THE PROFICIANCY TESTS!!


AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO CONTINUE PAYING 100% OF THEIR GENEROUS RETIREMENT ?
THEY HAVE SHUT DOWN SCHOOLS AS THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY 5.8% OF IT THEMSELVES ...REALLY?

_______________

Now I looked up my city's school teachers and it's not like that. Garland Independent School District workers make about $50,000 a year. Admittedly, that's a lot more than we do. I guess their union isn't as good at getting money out of the government as Wisconsin's is.

I heard a man shouting on one of the videos about every worker should unite, that this was about a decent pay for the job. Really? Now why would I, who doesn't even have a retirement plan, be behind someone who gets a really nice retirement package without paying into it? There are people in Wisconsin (at the minimum, don't know if it goes nation-wide) who are paying for the union's retirement and don't have one either. There are people who don't have health care (remember the president saying that?), and yet the unions are complaining that they are being asked to contribute 12% of the health care costs? So why did the president have to jam the health care bill through, and then exempt the union members from it? And yet declare it's not unconstitutional?

There are so many questions that don't seem to get answered. How come every time I see coverage on the situation in Wisconsin, it's from FoxNews? Has no one else the balls to record the hate spewing out of these union members? Maybe they're not the average Union worker, I don't know. I belonged to a union one time, when I worked in a shop that made suits for men. I had no choice, I had to belong to the union if I wanted to work there. I had no say at that time, where my union dues went. I couldn't say, no, I don't want to belong to the union, because they would have just said "Bu-bye." And how come the TeaPartiers aren't so filled with hate? And yet, they were a threat to national security. These Union thugs who cross the street to get in someone's face and try to start a fight are having a peaceful demonstration? These women who say the tea partiers are on the plantation of the governor? Can you imagine if a conservative said that? I remember someone else calling black conservatives "Porch Negroes..." Now who was that? Oh, I think it was Van Jones. But because he was black and liberal, that wasn't a racist remark. I didn't know the term, and had to look it up. It basically means the slaves who worked inside the house, and were treated better than the ones in the field. The implication was that they didn't mind being slaves, because they were comfortable, and therefore didn't fight for freedom. Then there was the comment about President Obama being a "light skinned Negro."

I have friends of all nationalities. I have a friend from Columbia (here LEGALLY), my son plays with kids whose parents are from Nigeria. My sister-in-law is from the Netherlands (got a work visa through all the proper channels). I have numerous black friends. I don't dislike President Obama because he's black. He has a white half, too, doesn't he? I don't like that half either. It's his policies. It's the way he lies to you - and you can tell he's lying because his lips go thin, and he gets that tone of voice like he's scolding a child. It's the way it's ok for him to jam things through with out half the congress, but we have to compromise when he's out-numbered.

So, will the Union thugs cause this to spread across the country? And why isn't the President condemning their behavior? Is it possible that it works into his plans, so he's going to encourage it? I still think, and I've said it for almost 2 years, the President needs a disruption so he can declare martial law. I will be really surprised if we even HAVE elections in 2012. It doesn't match what Obama is doing. He will have found a way to declare martial law because of the outbreaks. He couldn't stir up the tea partiers, so he's going after the union.

I know people don't want to hear it, but it's like Glenn says. Preach peace, but prepare for war.