Overnight Engine-Starter: Guess How the AP's Scott Bauer Answered His Own Question About Wis. Dems
You knew, based on his track record of biased and inaccurate reporting during the Badger state standoff that Scott Bauer's Thursday attempt to explain the state's situation and events occurring up to that point ("Key questions surrounding Wisconsin union fight") wouldn't exactly be fair and balanced.
But it's Bauer's answer to one of his own crafted questions that revealed as much as anything I've seen in the past few weeks about where he's really been coming from.
The question is:
So when the Democrats come back to the Capitol, what's to stop the Republicans from passing almost anything they want?"
What do you think Bauer's answer was? The answer, and a link to the AP item, are after the jump. No fair Googling or search for an answer.
So I guess any time his side is about to lose, cutting and running is perfectly okey-dokey. Never mind oaths to uphold the law, legal requirements to attend meetings, and the vast majority of voters' expectations that if you promise to attend legislative sessions (which is something inherent in running for office and asking for citizens' votes). If it's not going your way, you just leave. Great, Scott.
For at least the third time (two others I know of are here and here), Bauer gave readers who haven't been following the situation closely the impression that all collective-bargaining rights were about to be vaporized, writing that:
The final version of the (GOP-passed) bill would:
- Remove collective bargaining rights for most public workers, including teachers, starting in July. Workers could no longer bargain over benefits, vacations and workplace safety.
That's clever, Scott. Wages are still negotiable up to the rate of inflation, and wage increases above that can still be achieved if voters approve. Yes, Bauer got to this later, but this material will be left on the cutting-room floor at many AP-subscribing publications and in related radio and TV broadcasts, and I believe he knows it.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
Can't all workers bargain?
Submitted by JakeMo on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 1:01am.
Workers could no longer bargain over benefits, vacations and workplace safety.That's weird. I'm able to bargain for all of those things and I'm not in any union at all. Does being in a union cause the bargaining muscle to atrophy?
Great point
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 1:21am.
If a union is decertified, each worker gets to bargain for his or her best deal ... or go elsewhere for a better deal. If there isn't one, that must mean the current deal is pretty decent. Imagine that.Or maybe you are pretty bad at the job you do
Submitted by TheHistorian on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 5:17am.
is another reason that you can't get a better deal. But if you belonged to a union, you would get cost of living and step increases because you are senior.Dennis Prager
What School Bds need to do now come
Submitted by dirtydan64 on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 10:35am.
July is start reducing these wages of Teachers until they start quiting that will tell Tax Payers how much is too much to pay these teachers. Has anyone heard of a Teacher whose currently employed that they quit because there being paid too much or the benefits are too generous ? So start reducing the wages & Benefits until they start dropping like flies.union rules destroy bargaining room
Submitted by mzk1 on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 4:51am.
Let's say a person has religious holiday on which they may not work. (This is true for religious Jews like myself.) In a normal job, they can go to a co-worker, trade shifts, and get it approved by management. But if the union is in the way.....Know the labor laws
Submitted by Denny Crane on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 5:47am.
If you inform your employer that you need a certain time or day off for religious purposes, they must do there best to accommodate you. It doesn't matter if you are union or not.
But you are correct the unions get in the way of individual bargaining room.
We Are The 53%
Great point
Submitted by JakeMo on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 1:04pm.
Great point. When I started my job I bargained to have the benefits kick in immediately. I demanded and got vacation time during the first 3 months (I had already paid a hefty deposit for trip that I didn't want to lose). And as for workplace safety, the first day on the job I demanded a new chair because the one they gave me was killing my back.
I got all of that because my qualifications and proven skill were in demand. But if I were in a union, I would have had to accept whatever the union had bargained for. No exceptions.
In a union instead of my excellence being rewarded, I would have been pulled down into the lowest common denominator. Most likely, my subsequent performance would have reflected that dissatisfaction.
Like most socialist schemes, unions actually foment the very dissatisfaction they capitalize on to attract members.
WTF is a Scott Bauer
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 2:18am.
Seriously, folks, we need to stop giving some of these rat turds more than 10 microseconds of attention.A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
Bauer ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 2:43am.
... gets the attention of millions as a result of writing for AP, whether those millions know it or not. His slant needs to be countered, and the refutations widely disseminated.Too true
Submitted by Denny Crane on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 5:49am.
If you look at just about any online news source, they have breaking news feeds. Most come from either the AP, Reuters, or Bloomberg. Isn't CNN trying to get their own wire service going? I thought I saw that somewhere a few months ago.
We Are The 53%
I think the dems and unions
Submitted by Richard B. on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 2:40am.
I think the dems and unions are winning the disinformation war. The have more money, the present administration, and the MSM for support.They were
Submitted by Denny Crane on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 5:50am.
But the more people start to look at different sites, the less misinformed they are. More and more are doing that now.We Are The 53%
Really?
Submitted by almostacowboy on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 11:09am.
Really? I don't.The first order of business for Wisconsin
Submitted by johnsonl on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 7:00am.
should be to pass legislative rules that prohibit lawmakers from avoiding votes. Anyone who absconds would automatically forfeit their vote to the governor.The second order of business for Wisconsin
Submitted by Red Jeep on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 8:07am.
Recall election for the Democrats who fled..Guess who is trying to introduce legislation to stop future FLEE
Submitted by 1dottiemarty on Wed, 03/16/2011 - 9:08am.
I live in WI. Heard yesterday from Mark Belling (he's radio rockstar) (belling.com) that one of The FLEEBAGGERS (yes, a DEMOCRAT) is going to try to introduce some type of legislation to prevent WHAT THEY DID from happening in the future. With all the recalls, etc. they think they are going to take the government back into democrat rule and do not want REPUBLICANS to flee like THEY DID!! Can you BELIEVE THAT? I live in bizarro world. If people only knew what was going on here. Kids 6-8 yrs. old being led out of class by teachers to march to the capital and chant "this is what democracy looks like!" in response to teacher chanting thru a bullhorn "what does democracy look like?". THIRD GRADERS!! 300+ WI businesses and the charities they support, being threatened and boycotted by the PRESIDENTS of the WI Police, Fire, and Education unions. Employees being told do tow the line and do the same. Their goal is to take these businesses down if they do not PUBLICLY denounce what the Gov. is doing. It is SICK!! Where is a journalist? They could win a Pulitzer on all of the insanity taking place here. If anyone is interested I recommend "newstalk1130" website. Mark Belling, Vicki McKenna, Jay Webber. Also Charlie Sykes is good. You would not believe what is going on here. It is madness. We are being bullied and told to submit by thugs. Children are being told they are going to lose their books, desks, etc. because of Scott Walker. Teacher telling kids in class they are going to lose their rights, money, etc. Glenn? Rush? Anyone? Help.It's the same liberal thought process
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 7:45am.
that decides that:
Denial of federal funding for it outlaws abortion.
Denial of federal funding for it outlaws embryonic stem cell research.
Another Q/A (emphasis mine):
Q: If most collective bargaining ends, how will employees seek pay increases to keep up with the cost of living?
A: Unions would still be authorized to seek higher pay but only up to the rate of inflation......
Why, that's......outrageous!!
The biggest disinformation
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 8:52am.
that I keep reading the use of the term "unions" in stories from Wisconsin. It's like the immigration debate, there are legal and illegal immigrants. By the same token, we must keep straight that the current fight is about Public Employee Unions. Since taxpayers are the "check writers" for public employees, they are the opposition to their union. When any public union contract is due, the negotiated contract should be voted upon not only by the public employee union, but by the voting public too.Not true for many "teachers' unions"
Submitted by Ole_Sarge on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 9:13am.
In some areas, the only "holy days" that a person may have (for religious reasons) are the ones on the school districts' calendar... and if you take-off a day that is not on the calendar as a "sick-day" or "personal" day you may be subjected to "adverse personnel actions."One reason WHY the infighting over adding Islamic "holy days" to the calendars, usually a Christian or (more l likely) a Jewish holy day is taken OFF.
Is that why
Submitted by mom_rox on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 10:15am.
there are no religious days on our local district's calendar (in Texas)? April 22nd is listed as a "Holiday".edit: this was meant to be a reply to Ole_Sarge's comment.
Creative Writing
Submitted by almostacowboy on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 11:22am.
"Yes, Bauer got to this later, but this material will be left on the cutting-room floor at many AP-subscribing publications and in related radio and TV broadcasts, and I believe he knows it."
I agree. Most AP writers understand exactly how their subscribers edit reports and format those reports accordingly. And those that don't, don't last long.
Maybe too obscure for many...
Submitted by bobdog on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 1:03pm.
Reminds me of an old dirty joke about a married couple and a homeless guy that ends with: "...give him a buck. I did what you said. The breakfast was my idea."