AUTOMATONS GOOSE-STEPPING IN WISCONSIN'S CAPITAL ROTUNDA

Wonder Why the Legislators in Madison can't get much done at mid-day? And why lots of WI schools have had to cancel their class trips to Madison to see the Capital? And why the blood bank has had to close down? Why Capital Tour participants have to wear ear plugs? Why Capital visitors are forced to leave the rotunda because of the din. Why Capital staffers and employees are leaving work with headaches and ringing ears? Watch the video for a vivid picture of Capital protesters. Members of the noon-day sing-a-long, which takes place inside the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda daily, talk about fatigue and how they keep staying strong for the "protest."

Solidarity forever?? Raised fists?? Reminds me of the Communist Party. But these people are union puppets, brainwashed, indoctrinated, goose-stepping around the Capital rotunda like automatons. Common sense? Uh huh. Respect for others? Guess not. Respect for the Capital? Not a bit. Do they have jobs? One wonders. They march in a circle, are disruptive and obnoxious, shouting and singing, and behaving in the same oppressive manner that they so vehemently decry.

This boorish temper tantrum goes on while the State of WI, school districts and municipal governments continue to rack up millions of dollars in savings thanks to the elimination of collective bargaining. I say, Right On, Governor Walker. THANK YOU. You did what we elected you to do.

"RETIRE - REHIRE" GREAT GAME IF YOU CAN GET IT!

Recently a Patriot mentioned to me that New Berlin WI teachers are retiring and then getting rehired by the New Berlin School District. They are allegedly retiring because of Gov. Walker’s “gutting” of their collective bargaining rights. Supposedly, they are afraid they will lose pension and health benefits under the Walker administration, and their benefits will cost them more. The Patriot suggested that this could not possibly be true and asked me to look into it. And so I did. Here’s the truth.

The practice is common, is not limited to New Berlin, is not limited to WI, and is not limited to teachers. It is happening in almost every state and involves all types of government workers and has been going on for years.

Baltimore, Maryland - 13 principals retired one day with full retirement benefits and were rehired the next day earning full wages and benefits.

Deer Park, Ohio – 4 teachers and administrators retired with full retirement benefits and were rehired to next day earning full wages and benefits.

Fort Kent, Maine – superintendant retires and gets rehired the next day citing changes to the state’s retirement system as his reason for “retiring.”

Salon, Ohio – 12 teachers retire one day, are rehired the next day, but thanks to Ohio State Teacher Retirement rules, these new “rehires” cannot start their “rehired” job until Sept. 1 or they would take a hit on their retirement benefits. When Ohio schools started the last week in August, guess how the school district had to fill those 12 classrooms? They had to hire substitute teachers for the first week of the school year. First graders, kindergarteners, special education students, science, social studies, German, Spanish, in all of these classes and more, the students did not meet their “real” teacher until after 9/1. Pardon Me?? A substitute teacher for the entire first week of school? This sounds like “it’s for the kids,” doesn’t it? Of course, this “rule” was negotiated by the Ohio Teachers’ Union in their contract.

Hartford, CN – A college chancellor retires on day 1 and is retired on day 2, boosting his income by 40%.

Seattle, WA – 2,000 public employees are collecting government wages and government pensions at the same time after retiring and rehiring.

The practice is known as double-dipping and is common practice throughout the country and in all areas of government employment despite some states prohibiting it. While the rules vary from state to state, the states that do say “no” most often do not enforce their own laws against it. The "rehirees" increase their income by anywhere from 25% - 75%, overnight, just by saying "I retire."

In Wisconsin there was a 92% increase in public employees retiring over the same period last year. The most cited reason for “early retirement” was “to avoid paying more for health and retirement benefits.” Last year 841 WI public employees, including teachers and administrators, retired and were immediately rehired – double-dipping to the max.

The intention of the laws that allow this was to help with employee and teacher shortages. But the “intention” doesn’t matter to those who work the system for personal gain. There are reports of principals and government administrators making sweetheart deals with their favorite employees. If you’re not on the A List you may not get rehired. But if you are on the A List, you get a verbal pre-arrangement before you announce your retirement.

Teacher/employee retire-rehire has become the drug of choice for public employees, and shameless cronyism is rampant. This double-dip policy is a temptation the crazy-like-a-fox crowd simply can't refuse.

And in the meantime, new graduates with teaching degrees cannot find teaching jobs and our unemployment rate remains over 9%.

Cost to school districts and government? Unknown. The argument is “no cost” because the vacant “retired” position would have to be filled by hiring another employee anyway. True, but all of these retirees are at the top of their pay and benefit scale. They would be replaced with employees newly entering public employment whom would be at the bottom of the pay/benefit scale. Since Americans nationwide cough up extraordinary amounts of money for these double-dippers, the savings to taxpayers is potentially huge.

There is the argument that this practice is common in the private sector also. But who cares? The taxpayers are not paying the costs of Retire/Rehire in the private sector. Private businesses can do whatever they want with their Retiring/Rehiring employees. There’s no public money involved.

So there you have it, the real truth about the Retire - Rehire scam.

Want my advice? Don’t chip in too much for the office “Retirement” gift. It appears the only real “gift” is “Rehire.”

GOOD STUFF HAPPENING IN WISCONSIN

TUESDAY'S WI RECALL ELECTION - -

REASONS TO KEEP THE REPUBLICAN SENATORS IN MADISON: Walker and the Republicans put into place reforms that are producing tangible results in a short period of time.

EXAMPLES OF GOOD STUFF HAPPENING IN WISCONSIN:

Ashland School District - saved $378,000 on health insurance;

http://www.ashlandwi.com/articles/2011/07/18/news/doc4e24f08b80b26580859031.txt

Kimberly School District - saved $821,000 by dropping WEA Trust Insurance;

http://maciverinstitute.com/2011/07/wisconsin-school-districts-are-switching-health-care-providersplans-to-create-savings-in-2011/

Edgerton School District - dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $500,000;

http://gazettextra.com/news/2011/mar/15/edgerton-reaches-teacher-contract/

Here are additional examples. I won't include all of the links, but this information is easy to check on Google.

Baraboo School District - dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $660,000;

Dodgeland School District - dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save $260,000

Elmbrook School District - changing health care provider, savings estimated at $878,000;

Mequon-Thiensville School District - saving $49,000 on dental insurance coverage;

Marshfield School District - saving $850,00 by dropping WEA Trust;

City of Sheboygan - Mayor Bob Ryan says collective bargaining reforms will provide enough savings to make up for the reduction in state aid;

Wauwatosa School District - tax levy decreasing, no programs will be cut, class sizes won't increase, thanks to the reforms in collective bargaining;

Manitowoc - Laid-off city workers may get their jobs back due to the wage/benefit reforms contained in Walker's budget. Changes to overtime rules saving the county $100,000;

Pittsville - will see a 9% decrease in the school portion of their property tax levy. "This is the first year we have not needed to short-term borrow," stated Board President Strenn;

Appleton School District - will save $3.1 million just in health insurance costs due to being able to bid out the coverage and being able to drop WEA Trust;

Racine County - inmates can now be used to perform tasks such as landscaping, painting and shoveling sidewalks. Executive Ladwig states this is a win/win for the inmates and the county. It frees up county employees for other tasks, gives the inmates a sense of value, and helps the county maintain property that has been neglected."

Kaukauna School District - hiring additional teachers, reducing class sizes, enacting a merit pay system, and due to Walker's Budget Bill, Kaukauna's operating budget has moved from a negative $400,000 to a positive $1,500,000. Much of this savings was due to being able to drop WEA Trust.

Hartland School District - switched from WEA Trust and saved $690,000;

Hudson School District - saved $832,000 on health insurance due to ability to bid the insurance.

KSTP did a study of the savings in Sheila Harsdorf's 10th Senate District. They found that Ellsworth, Prescott, Menomonie, Somerset and Hudson school districts are all reporting large savings due to the changes signed into law by Walker.

Keep in mind, WEA TRUST is Shelly Moore's union insurance company, a company that has obviously been ripping off the school districts for years, thanks to collective bargaining that prohibited school districts from seeking insurance coverage from any company other than WEA Trust. How much tax money would we have saved if school districts had been "allowed by the unions" to bid out their insurance over the years? I'd say probably many, many, many millions statewide. It's the union money train running off the tracks, finally, and Shelly and her union don't like it.

WANT MORE GOOD NEWS??

Walker just signed an Unemployment Insurance extension adding 13 weeks of UC benefits.

Passed a state budget on time, without tax increases, that leaves WI in the black for the first time in over 10 years.

Turned a $3 billion deficit into a $300 million surplus.

Cut bonding by nearly 20%.

Cut more than 1,000 government jobs, including 735 long-term vacancies.

In the first 6 months of 2011 WI showed job growth more than twice the national rate.

Protected our votes by requiring a picture I.W. at the polls.

Became the 49th state to recognize our 2nd Amendment right to carry concealed weapons.

Paid off WI's $60 million debt to MN under the former tax reciprocity agreement.

Paid back over $200 million to the Injured Patients and Families Fund. This is money that Gov. Doyle unconstitutionally raided from the Patients' Compensation Fund.

Walker expanded the prohibition against tax money being used to subsidize abortion.

Now, if you go to the polls tomorrow and vote for Shelly Moore, a staunch union and WEA Trust advocate, or any of the other union supported candidates, you will set back all of the progress listed above. Do you want to see WI's credit rating destroyed also? Do you want to see WI follow CA to bankruptcy?

Walker and the Republicans are doing the tough work that needs to be done to put WI in a sound financial position. And it's working. Please support the recalled Republicans in tomorrow's election.

AND BE SURE TO VOTE. EVERY SINGLE VOTE WILL COUNT!