Wisconsin conservatives cry for help to avoid upcoming behind the shed butt whacking

[Pseudolus]

Originally Posted by Herbert Hoover

It's whether or not people should have the right to collectively bargain.

And if you phrase a poll question like that, using the terms the union/media uses, you'll get a high number. If you emphasize that even most federal workers don't have the the old privileges of WI unions, or the lack of employee choice as to whether they want the union to bargain for them, or that unionizing public workers is a very recent idea that even labor heroes like FDR [ptoo!] were against, then you'll get a much lower number.

It's like "do you support equal marriage rights for everyone" in poll questions asking if people want gummint to radically change the definition of marriage - so much of one particular worldview is wrapped up in the way the question is asked that the results don't necessarily mean what people want them to be taken to mean.

[homeys66]

WI GOP needs to quit whining and get Walker to do some "Chris Christie" style townhalls where he tears into unions bosses and perks. Christie put unions way back on their heels in a far more entrenched state. Take the message to the voter and the unions don't stand a chance.

[Mr. B]

Originally Posted by Harry

Why would a politician overpay unions to buy votes when most voters don't belong to unions? It seems the way to buy votes would be to bust unions.

As posted by me on another thread:

"Problems with public-sector workers: (1) the employer side of the equation is not as motivated as private-sector employers are to keep down costs (except in times like these, when it's pretty much too late—the horse has left the barn). Additionally, with things like pensions, governments can provide additional compensation that won't show up on the books for some time to come. (2) Unions have lots of money, and they can spread it around to wherever needed, whereas there aren't too many organizations that are solely anti-union, so organizations who might be on the other side can't allocate a large portion of their money to fighting the unions (see California for the dire consequences of this)."

[Guerilla poster]

the problem is not collective bargaining, the problem is the political power of unions and that bribery is legal in this country.

[SirVLCIV]

Originally Posted by Herbert Hoover

Not if the union friendly Governor faced similar budget deficits.

[SirVLCIV]

Originally Posted by Harry

Why would a politician overpay unions to buy votes when most voters don't belong to unions? It seems the way to buy votes would be to bust unions.

Um, because those in the unions vote as a block, and those not don't.

[erosewater]

Originally Posted by Pseudolus

And if you phrase a poll question like that, using the terms the union/media uses, you'll get a high number. If you emphasize that even most federal workers don't have the the old privileges of WI unions, or the lack of employee choice as to whether they want the union to bargain for them, or that unionizing public workers is a very recent idea that even labor heroes like FDR [ptoo!] were against, then you'll get a much lower number.

Exactly. The people answering these polls are not very informed. You could word the poll "Do you think state workers should have the same bargaining rights that federal employees currently have?" and you'd probably get very favorable results. Except they'd be voting for state workers not getting collective bargaining.

[Harry]

Originally Posted by SirVLCIV

Um, because those in the unions vote as a block, and those not don't.

Those not in the unions could if they wanted to.

[gomer_tree]

@erosewater: That would be a brilliant poll.

[yoyo]

it's days like this that i miss HH