February 18, 2011

In the NYT, Tobin Harshaw — who's from Madison — surveys the views of the Wisconsin protests...

... beginning with some pictures from Althouse and — after a bunch of quotes from others — ending with Althouse.

32 comments:

ricpic said...

Why can't I have everything I want all the time...isn't that democracy?

PSGInfinity said...

I hope you escape with only 10G's worth of Reality Adjustment. I'm worried that it'll end up being far, far worse...

WV: 'thint', is Sen. John trying to tell us something?

Anonymous said...

CBO today:

By repealing those coverage provisions of PPACA and the Reconciliation Act, over the 2012-2021 period H.R. 2 would yield gross savings of $1,390 billion and net savings (after accounting for the offsets just mentioned) of $1,042 billion.

I'm sure garage is now on-board...

former law student said...

Funny to think that public employee unions are more powerful than the government. And that unions are so toxic that they must be reapproved by workers every year.

Why not have a referendum every year to make sure the people of Wisconsin still want Walker as their governor?

Peter V. Bella said...

Hey, I know. How about some crazed, disaffected, insane state worker immolate himself in front of the Capitol- just like in Tunisia. Then there could be a Wood Violet revolution.

Peter V. Bella said...

Why not have a referendum every year to make sure the people of Wisconsin still want Walker as their governor?

Why not have a referendum every year to make sure the people want unions to represent their state workers.

former law student said...

Repealing Democrats' healthcare reform law would increase the deficit by $210 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

former law student said...

Funny to think that public employee unions are more powerful than the government.

Isn't that exactly what the protestors are there to assert? "We don't care who voted for you, you have to do what we want, or we'll shut you down."

Unknown said...

Glad the Gray Lady understands, Althouse is the beginning and end of all things.

former law student said...

Isn't that exactly what the protestors are there to assert?

Truly powerful institutions don't need to show up en masse. This is a last ditch effort, a Hail Mary pass.

rhhardin said...

Writers at big publications always lack a good closing line.

The WSJ is particularly bad.

It may be a column-inch effect. It's too long already and everything has already been said that's sayable.

Fen said...

Who cares what Pravda thinks.

Bruce Hayden said...

It must feel pretty good, that you (Anne) are the face of Madison to so many readers of that newspaper. You are the first one whom they think of, over time, when they think of that city.

I am not suggesting here that these photos have made Anne famous with that crowd, but rather, that her prominence today is indicia that she was already a face of this part of fly-over country with that crowd.

Chris said...

Canada went through this in the early 70's btw. It's where I developed my dislike for unions - growing up watching public sector unions hold a knife to the government's throat when our country teetered on the edge of a financial abyss. It ended with the government backing down, and a national debt that we never quite did pay fully down. I don't expect anyone to remember it, or even have heard of it. But you haven't seen the beginning of how thuggish this is going to get.

Bruce Hayden said...

Repealing Democrats' healthcare reform law would increase the deficit by $210 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

GIGO

In any case, actual repeal is dead for the moment. Instead, the GOP today just defunded ObamaCare for the rest of the fiscal year. This will, of course, be quite exciting to watch as it moves into the Senate, and thence maybe to the President.

And I would expect to see the same cast of liberal protesters, from Obama down through Pelosi, Jackson, SEIU, Code Pink, etc. as the resolution to run the government expires next month.

A couple of days ago, I don't think anyone was sure whether or not the defunding of ObamaCare was going to get into the House spending bill. It somehow escaped committee without that included. But, this seems to be another example of the new rank and file Republicans in the House flexing their muscle.

So, anyone's guess at what is going to happen when the President and the Democrats on the one side, and the House GOP on the other, play chicken with shutting down the federal government next month?

My vote is for the Democrats to flinch first. They have a lot more constituents at risk here, if the government shuts down. And, it is still close enough to the election that a lot of the newly elected GOP in the House will not have sold out yet.

Should be interesting.

Let me add that a bunch of other liberal causes have also gotten the axe in that budget bill, including Planned Parenthood.

I really don't know what the Democrats expected, when they so greatly over-played their hand last Congress, passing ObamaCare in the face of so much opposition in the American public. Sure, they could ram it through. But it also almost guaranteed that the House this Congress would be Republican, elected in many cases specifically to repeal all that odorous legislation passed by the Dems in the 111th Congress.

Anonymous said...

Former law student...

Aren't the elections for Governor every 2 years? Walker only has a very short window to work with, if the Dems don't like him, they can get things back the way they want in fairly short order.

These protests are really about fear. Fear that the people of Wisconsin really want the teachers to earn less and pay more for their benefits. Fear that the people of Wisconsin are paying attention to how much it costs for all of these government services.

I don't know what they think they will accomplish with these protests. They've already lost by causing the schools to be shutdown. Then the protest is saturated with hateful signs instead of "Help Our Children" type of signs. The rhetoric is all wrong for the times. Unions win by pointing out the dickishness of the corporate owners. But right now, the tax payers are realizing that they are the owners of the government.

Which is why I can't understand how these protesters can compare themselves to the Egyptian protesters. The protesters in Egypt are trying to reclaim their lives from an all-encompassing bureaucracy built through patronage that uses thuggish violence to wring all the money it can from the people. So...err...

Fen said...

I am not suggesting here that these photos have made Anne famous with that crowd, but rather, that her prominence today is indicia that she was already a face of this part of fly-over country with that crowd.

And I think its cool how her photography and political chat have intersected for this event.

But please don't give any air to Pravda. They're part of the problem.

Fen said...

if the Dems don't like him, they can get things back the way they want in fairly short order.

Nope. Things can't go back to the way they were. The party is over. There is no more money. The era of Entitlement Spending is coming to an end.

Its amazing how so many on the Left refuse to see this.

Better get your butt back into school, FLS. We're not going to carry you anymore.

MadisonMan said...

Wisconsin Governor terms are 4-year.

former law student said...

Let me add that a bunch of other liberal causes have also gotten the axe in that budget bill, including Planned Parenthood.

Good. We need more poor women having children they can't afford to raise. Makes it much easier to repeal the Clinton era welfare "reform." Glad to see the GOP is willing to pay to raise other people's kids. Pretty sure that's what Jesus would have wanted

former law student said...

passing ObamaCare in the face of so much opposition in 20% of the American public.

America's chattering classes all listen to Rush Limbaugh.

former law student said...

But it also almost guaranteed that the House this Congress would be Republican, elected in many cases specifically to repeal all that odorous legislation passed by the Dems in the 111th Congress.

To borrow a phrase: It was the economy, stupid.

Fen said...

FLS: We need more poor women having children they can't afford to raise.

What about the sick kids? You think we should kill them too?

Christopher in MA said...

"We need more poor women having children they can't afford to raise."

Then they should shut their damn legs. Or, perhaps, work (oh, gosh, such a racist word!) at improving their skills so they will be attractive to an employer who wishes to hire people, and then be able to afford a family.

Jesus fuck, FLS, are you determined to race Garbage to the finish line in an "I can beshit myself in 10 seconds" race?

Fen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

How about we also kill all the kids that failed out of law school. Clearly, they too are doomed to a worthless life of poverty and dependency.

Any conservatives here want to take Former Law Student in?

Anonymous said...

Good. We need more poor women having children they can't afford to raise

And the truth always outs.

I guess what we need is liberal do-gooders such as you telling people if they can "afford" children.

'Cause you're like super duper smart and stuff.

Anonymous said...

Repealing Democrats' healthcare reform law would increase the deficit by $210 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

The CBO said no such thing.

DADvocate said...

Interesting how Harshaw equates politics becoming personal with money. There's plenty of truth to that. It's personal when the government takes my money to provide cushy benefits that I don't have for public employees. The money matters in lots of other ways too.

But, politics are personal for a lot more reasons than money. It's personal because schools treat my daughters better than my sons, because politicians want to rob me and my kids of our rights, because they want to regulate what we eat, drink and smoke. Eventually, all politics are personal.

DADvocate said...

We need more poor women having children they can't afford to raise.

Ever drive through the projects or take a back roads trip through Appalachia? Planned Parenthood ain't doing any good either place.

Ironic how some blacks believe AIDS, crack and other stuff are a result of a white man plot to destroy the black race while Planned Parenthood with it's eugenics philosophy poses just that threat.

I know you said "poor women" not "black women," but we know what you mean.

former law student said...

Impact on the Federal Budget in the First Decade

CBO and JCT estimate that, on balance, the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting H.R. 2 would cause a net increase in federal budget deficits of $210 billion over the 2012-2021 period.

http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=1844

vw:wisocc

Althouse reporting from OCCupied WISconsin.

Unknown said...

FLS: I guess that "law school" you went to didn't have a reading comprehension course... the budget deficit would ocxcur upon the ENACTMENT of HR 2... not the Repealment... Learn to read.