Friday, February 4, 2011

State Republicans Act Carelessly With State's Resources

As everyone knows, Tuesday night, the southern half of Wisconsin got caught up in the Groundhog Day's Blizzard.  Due to the blizzard, most people were solely concerned with just making it home or somewhere where they could safely ride the storm out.  Things were so bad, that the groundhogs couldn't make it out of their holes on their big day.

But it has become apparent that not everyone was that concerned about the weather.  And instead of groundhogs popping up on Groundhog Day, Madison was overtaken by weasels.

The state legislature decided that while the state's buildings were closed to the public, they would still hold session in their special (not creating any) jobs session.  So much for openness and transparency in government or listening to the people.

In their session, they passed the anti-wetlands bill that will make an exception for a land developer who wants to pave over paradise in order to put up a glorified strip mall.  The state legislature did this despite being aware of the fact that instead of a Bass Pro Shop, this wetland is being sacrificed for an empty box store.  To add insult to injury, they not only did this skulduggery under the cover of a blizzard, they did so on World Wetlands Day.

In related news, the only gleam of hope that has come out of Madison recently was the fact that Walker's proposed bill to push the wind power industries out of the state fell flat on its face.  Apparently the Republicans are feeling some heat from their jobs-destroying agenda and didn't have the stomach to push this entire industry out of the state like Walker did with the high speed rail and related businesses.

Unfortunately, that gleam of hope quickly faded as Walker promised to instead go through the back window by changing the rules of the Public Service Commission (which explains why he made the power grab on of his top priorities).  To add to the bad news, some Republican legislators are threatening to again raise this damaging bill for no reason other than they can and to appease their wealth campaign donors.

To top off the day's affronts, Scott Walker disregarded the fact that Emergency Management personnel issued a rarely used Civil Danger Warning, and told workers that they were still supposed to report to work, unless they were able to use some of their personal time to make up for the day.  If Walker shows that much disregard for the very lives of the people that work for him, why does anyone think he gives a damn about anyone else in this state?  The only thing Walker cares about is to conciliate his owners like the road builders, the land developers, the big banks and the Bradley Foundation.

While the rest of us are gearing up for Superbowl Sunday and everything is coming up green and gold, Scott Walker and his fellow weasels are squandering our green to get their hands on some of the gold.  

4 comments:

  1. So, you are saying that State workers should get paid for not working? What's wrong with using a vacation day or even a sick day for not coming in to work.
    And from what I have heard, Madison was not that hard hit as compared to Milwaukee. I listened to fire calls in Madison that day and the fire and EMS trucks were having no problems.

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  2. What's the Open Records Law say about holding a session in a building that has been declared "Closed To The Public?"

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  3. Dan, State workers aren't allowed to use sick leave when they don't go to work due to bad weather. Also, a large percentage of state employees travel from other communities--Lake Mills, Belleville, Mt. Horeb, Evansville, Stoughton, Monroe, etc.--into Madison to go to work. Many rural roads were not plowed out on Wednesday at all. Comparing the amount of snow Madison got vs. Milwaukee is a meaningless comment. Just sayin'!

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