Public sector unions in Wisconsin are faltering thanks to Governor Walker’s bold and courageous reforms, but the pro-union protestors are still making trouble in the great state.

In early 2011, Scott Walker took on the unions in order to rein in public sector spending and strengthen the state.  By giving public sector workers the right to choose to be in a union, he has lessened their strangehold. Since he passed Act 10, union membership has declined in the state, in some unions, as much as 60 percent. The workers are feeling like they have an option, and they seem to be utilizing it.

Unfortunately, a small group of pro-union protestors are still causing a lot of trouble in the Wisconsin Capitol. Ever since the major protests started inside the building in February 2011, groups in size from 10 to 50 activists still gather regularly to protest Governor Walker. Recently, to combat some of the rude and disrespectful protestors, Governor Walker attempted to enforce a law that required all protestors (with a group of over four people) have a permit to protest. A federal judge struck that down, but now groups over 20 must obtain a permit to protest. The pro-union groups haven’t been too happy about that.

I went to the Capitol last week for two meetings and I witnessed the unfortunate necessity of this new law. At 10:30 AM, the Capitol was peaceful and quiet. Tourists were filtering in and out of the building without incident. By the time I walked out of my local representative’s office, I could hear protestors chanting, yelling, singing and protesting from the fourth floor. Close to 50 protestors were on the ground floor doing their best to derail productive work inside the building. Police were warning anyone on the ground or second floor that they were subject to arrest if need be.

The more I listened and watched, the more disgusted I became. Protestors were screaming, swearing, and harassing the police officers that were enforcing the new permit rule. Throughout the half hour I watched, four unlawful protestors were arrested. 

I spoke with an officer for a few minutes about the situation. He seemed uneasy about the constant protesting. He told me he had received death threats for maintaining peace inside the Capitol. He also told me a group of children had come into the Capitol recently for a summer school program and were too scared to see the beautiful Wisconsin Capitol rotunda because of the protestors. He added that the protestors are just hurting themselves, something he’s been telling them for the past two years. Lastly, he explained how he believed the the rule completely abides by the Constitution because it isn’t restricting their speech. They only need a permit, which is readily available as you walk in. Many liberal newspapers have endorsed the permit rule as well.

As I walked away from the officer, two protestors walked up to me and started following me and questioning me. They asked “were you intimidated for arrest by the police?” I said “no, I was thanking them for doing their job.” They harassed me, told me I was a “bigot” and said I didn’t care about the middle class for almost five minutes until the police stopped them. Other families and tourists were also being questioned and asked to join the protests.

Protests such as this don't accomplish their supposed goal of reinstating union influence. They are hurting themselves, the unions and the Democratic Party more than they are helping.  The rude, disrespectful and inappropriate behavior in front of/to innocent bystanders needs to stop. It has already cost our state millions and it is also tarnishing our image. The state may look beautiful outside the Capitol building, but it’s still a mess inside thanks to a small group of protestors.

In his second inaugural address on January 21, 2013, President Barack Obama stated that “we must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit.” With regard to health care, all indications are that the price of health insurance will increase as a result of ObamaCare, with the federal government attempting to pass along these costs to the states by asking them to implement state-run health insurance exchanges.

Currently, 27 states have decided to avoid implementing state-run exchanges in favor of federal health insurance exchanges. What is the motivation behind these decisions at the state level? The simple answer is that state-run exchanges are an attempt by the federal government to pass on the cost of ObamaCare to the states, while offering states no control over their own exchanges. Given the high costs of state-run health insurance exchanges and the potential for even higher costs as the price of insurance increases under ObamaCare, it is no surprise that states want to avoid the significant financial burdens associated with implementing their own health insurance exchanges.

Nebraska is a perfect example of a state eager to avoid the high costs that a state-run health insurance exchange would bring to the Cornhusker State. In the November 2012 press release in which Nebraska announced that the state would participate in a federal health exchange, it was revealed that a state-run health insurance exchange would cost the state an estimated $646 million from 2013 to 2020 for an average annual cost of nearly $81 million. For comparison, a federal health insurance exchange in Nebraska would cost the federal government only $176 million over the same period, a difference of $470 million over the course of eight years. Of the cost difference between state-run and federal-run exchanges, Governor Dave Heineman stated that “it is simply too expensive to do a state insurance exchange.”

In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie vetoed a measure passed by the New Jersey legislature which would have created a state-run health insurance exchange. Estimates show that such a state-run exchange would have cost New Jersey $100 million dollars each year in operating costs. In justifying his veto, Governor Christie wrote in his message to the New Jersey Senate that “financing the building and implementation of a State-based Exchange would be an extraordinarily costly endeavor,” and that “the total price for such a program has never been quantified, and is likely to be onerous.” By vetoing legislation which would have set up a state-run exchange for New Jersey, Governor Christie was able to avoid a burden of $100 million for the taxpayers in his state, a burden that would certainly increase over time with the rising price of health insurance as a result of ObamaCare.

Wisconsin, led by Governor Scott Walker, is another state which has acted to avoid the high costs that would result from the implementation of a state-run health insurance exchange. Estimates from the Walker administration indicate that implementing a state-run health insurance exchange in Wisconsin would lead to an annual operating cost between $45 million and $60 million. For Governor Walker, the estimated annual cost would be too much to pass along to taxpayers, saying that “if the state option is chosen…Wisconsinites face risk from a federal mandate lacking long-term guaranteed funding.” By avoiding the $45 million to $60 million annual costs associated with a state-run exchange, Wisconsin is also avoiding the potential for higher annual costs in the future, with estimates showing that ObamaCare will lead to an average increase in individual insurance premiums in the state of 30 percent by 2016.

In Ohio, estimates from the state’s Department of Insurance indicate that setting up a state-run health insurance exchange would cost as much as $63 million, followed by costs of $43 million to run the exchange each year. Among the reasons why Ohio decided to avoid a state-run exchange, Governor John Kasich lists “higher health insurance costs, significant uncertainty in [Ohio’s] insurance market and major new costs to states.” Instead, it will cost the federal government only $21 million to set up its health insurance exchange in Ohio, with smaller operating costs than those which the state of Ohio would have incurred with a state-run exchange. In addition to avoiding the cost of implementing ObamaCare from being passed along to them by the federal Government, Ohio is also avoiding the possibility of higher annual operating costs in the future. According to projections from the Ohio Department of Insurance and the actuarial consulting firm Milliman, it is estimated that individual health insurance premiums in Ohio will increase by 55 to 85 percent by 2017.

When ObamaCare became law, no funds were authorized by congress to pay for federal health care exchanges, a major reason why the federal government is attempting to pass along the cost of ObamaCare to each individual state. Despite President Obama’s goal to reduce the cost of health care, ObamaCare is poised to do the opposite, increasing the cost of health coverage for individuals across the United States. As a result, states which have refused to set up a state-run exchange have put themselves in a position to avoid already-high exchange implementation costs, as well as future operational costs, which will undoubtedly increase as the price of insurance increases across America.

Democrats had such high hopes just weeks ago that they would recall Governor Scott Walker and oust him from office. But their dreams are fading fast. With just two weeks to go before the election, Governor Walker holds a six point lead in the latest Marquette poll. This past weekend the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, by no means a conservative paper, endorsed Scott Walker in the governor's race.

Last February THOUSANDS of Tea Party Patriots turned out in Madison, Wisconsin, to support of Republican Governor Scott Walker. The tea party still supports Scott Walker.

And, there is more good news for Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin. The reforms passed by Governor Walker and Wisconsin Republican lawmakers saved the state one billion dollars.
This comes from the Wisconsin Reporter:

While a lightning rod for controversy and recall, Wisconsin's Act 10 has paid significant dividends to taxpayers, according to a new analysis by the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research, at Suffolk University in Boston.

Act 10, which curbed collective bargaining for most unionized public employees, in the whole has saved taxpayers more than $1 billion, according to The Economic Impacts of the Wisconsin Budget Repair Act. The study is slated for release this week by Beacon Hill Institute, a prominent free market think tank.

What the analysis found is that without the law, which in part requires covered public employees to contribute more to their benefits and holds wage increases to the rate of inflation, Badger State governments would have been forced to raise taxes or make deep job cuts to meet budget expenses.

As it was, Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed through reforms and reductions that filled a $3.6 billion budget shortfall, although organized labor asserts Republicans balanced the budget on the backs of public employees.

The measure drew the ire of organized labor and the Democratic Party, with tens of thousands of protesters packing the Capitol. Ultimately, it was the Walker-led reforms that launched a recall campaign in which the governor in two weeks must defend his term at the polls, facing Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a historic gubernatorial recall election.

The Beacon Institute analysis argues the law may have been controversial, even divisive, but there’s no disputing its benefit to taxpayers.

The vote is two weeks away.
Let's all do what we can to help move Wisconsin forward.

The Obama administration has announced it may create a new government department focused on job creation. The new department would be named something along the ilk of the Department of Jobs or Department of Competitiveness. President Obama still thinks he can manage the economy through central planning, simply by creating more bureaucracy to regulate and ‘stimulate’ economic growth.

The new department is going to have disastrous effects on the economy. A top-down approach to managing the economy is only going to stifle job creation. If the economy is to prosper, government needs to implement policies that reduce its involvement in the market. Lower taxes and less burdensome regulations will help the economy create jobs and an environment where businesses feel confident. These policies have been proven to work in Wisconsin. More than half of all new jobs created in June were located within Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker attributes this to conservative policies he and the legislature have passed since the beginning of the year. In fact, Wisconsin has added 39,000 private sector jobs since Governor Walker took office and unemployment hovers around 7.6 percent compared to the national average of 9.2 percent.

By creating a new department, President Obama undermines economic growth and deflects on providing real solutions. The belief that a few newly appointed bureaucrats in Washington will be able to elevate the economy into prosperity is not only foolish, but also ineffective.

Early this year, Wisconsin found itself with a $3 billion budget shortfall. To fix this, Governor Walker worked quickly to enact important public sector union reforms to halt the abuse of union power and get the state's budget under control. 

As a result, Democrat State Senators fled to Illinois and stayed at resorts for weeks while the Republicans upheld their responsibilty to Wisconsin voters. Reforms were passed. Cuts were made. The unions responded furiously, and have waged a campaign to recall 6 Republican state Senators over the next two weeks. Millions of dollars have been poured by unions - many out of state - to punish those who fought to get Wisconsin's budget under control. We cannot let this happen. 

The elections start this Tuesday, and we've joined the coalition aboard the Tea Party Express to push back on the abuse of union power and support the bold reforms of Scott the Republican legislature.

We're traveling across the state this week in support of these reforms. Check us out if you're in the area!

I'll be tweeting and blogging from the tour all weekend. You can follow @freedomworks and @pinkelephantpun for updates, and stay tuned on our site for blog posts!

Restoring Common Sense Tour: Aug 5th - 8th!

Over the past week, two pieces of legislation that FreedomWorks supported passed.
Check out the roll calls votes below to see how your representatives voted!

H.R. 830 FHA Refinance Program Termination Act
See our Key Vote.
See Roll Call. Passed 256- 171.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's Budget Repair Bill to Remove Some Collective Bargaining for Select Public Sector Employees
See our Key Vote.
See Roll call. Passed 51-17.