Crush Liberalism

WI governor calls out Obama on hypocrisy over union benefits

Wanna see how draconian the federal public employees union is?

It will no doubt surprise you to learn that President Obama, the great patron of the working man, also happens to be the great CEO of one of the least union-friendly shop floors in the nation.

This is, after all, the president who has berated Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to limit the collective bargaining rights of public employees, calling the very idea an “assault on unions.” This is also the president who has sicced his political arm, Organizing for America, on Madison, allowing the group to fill buses and plan rallies. Ah, but it’s easy to throw rocks when you live in a stone (White) house.

Fact: President Obama is the boss of a civil work force that numbers up to two million (excluding postal workers and uniformed military). Fact: Those federal workers cannot bargain for wages or benefits. Fact: Washington, D.C. is, in the purest sense, a “right to work zone.” Federal employees are not compelled to join a union, nor to pay union dues. Fact: Neither Mr. Obama, nor the prior Democratic majority, ever acted to give their union chums a better federal deal.

Scott Walker, eat your heart out.

What WI is proposing is to remove collective bargaining power for WI public employees’ benefits, not their wages…they would still be free to collectively bargain for those.  Plus, WI is proposing an increase in WI public employees’ contributions to their own health care, a contribution level that is still worlds lower than that of federal employees unions.

In other words, WI isn’t being so cold as to ask their employees to emulate the federal employees union.  Yet B.O. is asking the governor to stop villifying state employees?

So, Oba-Mao is being a hypocrite.  No big shocker there, right?  Well, how about a little red meat from WI Governor Scott Walker?

Gov. Scott Walker on Monday afternoon responded to comments President Barack Obama made earlier in the day about the protests in Madison:

Walker’s office issued this statement:

“I’m sure the President knows that most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay. And I’m sure the President knows that the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking for in Wisconsin. At least I would hope he knows these facts.

“Furthermore, I’m sure the President knows that we have repeatedly praised the more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin.

“I’m sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn’t acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another.”

Heh. 

February 28, 2011 Posted by crushliberalism | hypocrisy, Obama, unions, Wisconsin | 12 Comments