Northern Illinois Patriots

 Bishop E. W. Jackson, a black former Marine Corp veteran, Harvard Graduate, practicing attorney, candidate for the US Senate, and the founder and president of STAND, is calling on all Christians, Catholics, and Protestants for an exodus of the Democratic Party.

He disavows the Democratic Party’s cult like devotion to abortion, a traditional biblical model of the family, and the hostility directed at those express a Christian viewpoint. He points to organizations such as the ACLU and the Foundation For Freedom From Religion and their law suits against displaying crosses mentioning the name of Jesus at official events.

 He is particularly incensed at the attacks on Gabrielle Douglas who dared to give glory to God for her victory in the Olympics. He considers the support of same sex marriage, a part of the Democratic platform, as a particular affront to Christians. He further stated that since the Democratic Party has turned its back on Christians it is time for Christians to turn their back on the Democratic Party.

 President Obama has already stated that, “We are not a Christian nation,” He failed to recognize our traditional National Day of Prayer while giving special observance to Muslim holidays. The push by Liberals and the Democratic Party to eliminate any reference to God and any religious symbolism has been well documented. As Bishop Jackson has aptly stated, when it comes to Christian membership in the Democratic Party, it is Time to Exit. 

By Mike Tobin

A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday ordered "no further implementation" of the Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill that limits collective bargaining rights.

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi said that her earlier restraining order saying the law shouldn't be enacted had either been ignored or misinterpreted.

Sumi stopped short of saying the law was not already in effect. She said she will take more testimony on that issue.

The Legislative Reference Bureau posted the law on a legislative website Friday, leading  Walker's administration to declare the law was in effect.

Sumi revised her original March temporary restraining order blocking the secretary of state from publishing the law, which is typically the last step before it becomes effective.

Sumi's ruling delivers a setback to Walker and his administration while Democrats rejoiced.

Earlier Tuesday, debate raged from Wisconsin state Supreme Court justices to law professors, on whether Walker is law and is in effect.

It states the obvious to say Wisconsin is now a big convoluted, partisan mess, but it is. Here is the skinny on what is happening: Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, who is a Democrat, and Assembly Minority Leader Pete Barca, also a Democrat, filed a court challenge to the budget relief bill. The challenge argues that Wisconsin Republicans violated the open meetings laws but since that has not entered into the argument, set that aside for the moment.

As the open meetings suit was pending, Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order that prevented Secretary of State Ken LaFollete from publishing the law, now known as Act 10. Publication of the law is the last step to putting a bill into effect, and Democrats argue that the law is not in effect until LaFollete issues the publication.

However, another outlet can publish the law: the Legislative Review Board. That is exactly what it did last Friday, leaving Wisconsin Republicans to argue that the law is in effect. The Department of Administration has even begun implementing the part of the law where deductions for health care and pensions are made from the paychecks of state employees.

Sumi ordered a hearing Tuesday morning to decide if LaFollete should be enjoined from publication until the open meetings case is decided. But if the law is already in effect, the injunction is moot. So the focus of the hearing was changed to answer the question of whether the law is in effect.

The hearing itself was pretty boring, filled with legal language and debate over the definition of publication. The most interesting moments came as LaFollete, a Democrat, argued that Assistant Attorney General Maria Lazar did not represent his office. The subtext, of course, was that she is from a Republican-run office and is on the other side of the battle line.

If Sumi enjoins the law until the hearing on the open records complaint, its status still remains uncertain because no one has ever seen a scenario in which the secretary of state does not publish the law and another body does. If Sumi vacates the injunction, the law is undisputedly in effect.

Now, back to the challenge over the open meetings law. There is already a request for Wisconsin's Supreme Court to hear the case and this is where the partisan rancor gets really bitter and political.

One of the seats on the Supreme Court is up for election. The incumbent David Prosser Jr. was a Republican when he served in the assembly. His campaign once issued a press release stating he would complement Walker as a justice on the court, meaning he is now linked to Walker in the public arena. He is also the subject of attack ads from the shadowy leftist organization Greater Wisconsin Committee. 

"I really am a marked man. Not a direct target, but I am the victim of a drive-by shooting," Prosser said.

His challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg, has the backing of the unions. "They're supporting me precisely because I will be independent and impartial on the court," she said.

The reality, however, is that conservatives hold sway in the Wisconsin Supreme Court by a margin of 4-3 on the seven-person court. Liberals are now energized to change the majority in the court in part to influence a ruling on Walker's budget and also to demonstrate an angry backlash for a law they don't like. 

"It is extremely unfortunate that this has been turned into a referendum on the budget repair bill. I think that raises serious due process questions," Marquette University Law Professor Rick Esenberg said.

So the fight is energized in the courts and at the ballot box with Wisconsin voters bitterly divided, and Wisconsin liberals energized to change the make-up of a state Supreme Court in anticipation of a desired outcome for a case that has not even been accepted by the court yet. 

"It is an effort by some people to politicize this court, completely change the nature of the court and if it succeeds it will destroy the judicial independence of this institution," Prosser said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cross-posted

By James Sherk

The fight in Wisconsin is about who controls government: the voters, through their elected representatives, or government unions? Collective bargaining means the government cannot employ workers except on terms the union accepts. Government unions also politicize the civil service — the money they collect through the state payroll system makes them major political players. Unsurprisingly, unions want government to serve their interests instead of the public’s.

Fortunately, other states are following Governor Walker’s lead. Many states across the country have passed or are moving to pass legislation restoring voter control over their government:

Alabama: Alabama recently passed legislation prohibiting the use of the state payroll system to transfer money to political organizations — including government unions. The Alabama Education Association contends this will cost them millions in lost dues and is challenging the law in court. Since the Supreme Court already upheld a similar law in Idaho, they will probably fail.

Idaho: The state legislature passed a bill limiting school-district collective bargaining to just salary and wages. The legislation eliminates tenure and seniority-based layoffs. Elected school districts will now have the power to reward good teachers and remove bad ones.

Florida: Committees in both the state house and the state senate have taken important steps toward restoring a nonpartisan civil service. They have passed legislation prohibiting the state and local governments from collecting union dues through their payroll systems. If passed by the full legislature this would end a major taxpayer subsidy for union political fundraising.

Kansas: The Kansas House of Representatives passed a paycheck protection bill. The legislation prohibits government unions from collecting money used for political purposes through the state payroll system. Instead, the union would have to persuade workers to write a separate check to cover political expenses. Unions are predictably apoplectic, but the legislation recently passed a state senate committee.

Oklahoma: A state house committee passed a bill allowing large cities to choose whether or not to give unions a monopoly over municipal work forces. The Oklahoma senate also passed a bill reforming binding arbitration. Like many other states, Oklahoma prohibits government employees from striking against the public. Instead binding arbitration resolves contract disputes. With arbitration, an outside official listens to both sides and hands down a binding contract, taking spending decisions out of the hands of elected officials. The reforms change the standards arbitrators use to make them fairer to taxpayers.

Ohio: By a one-vote margin, the Ohio senate passed a bill preventing government employees from striking against the public, requiring government employees to pay more of the cost of their benefits, and taking the “binding” out of binding arbitration. Contract disputes would go to arbitrators, but local elected officials would have the final say on whether or not to accept the proposed contract. The state house is currently conducting hearings on the bill.

Nebraska: Nebraska governor Dave Heineman and many prominent legislators are pushing for a complete overhaul of government unions. One proposal would make arbitrators’ decisions purely advisory. Another ends binding arbitration altogether. Either proposal would return control over government to the voters and their elected representatives.

Tennessee: A state senate committee passed a bill restoring voter control over education policy. The legislation prohibits school districts from giving education unions a monopoly over their teaching workforces. A state house committee just passed a weaker version of the bill that gives school districts control over merit pay and firing decisions, but retains union influence over the wages and benefits taxpayers pay. A companion bill would stop subsidizing union fundraising with payroll deductions of dues.

Government unions drive up costs for taxpayers and prevent elected officials from implementing needed reforms. They are the reason the government does not fire failing teachers or abusive social workers. Now is the time to restore a nonpartisan civil service and voter control over their government.

— James Sherk is senior policy analyst in labor economics at the Heritage Foundation.

Cross-posted

by John Nolte

The fundamental issue in Wisconsin -- and states considering similar budget cuts -- is not whether government employees should contribute more (in Wisconsin's case, more being merely something) to their health or pension plans -- though that is important. Rather, it is whether workers should have the right to say no.

If passed, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's emergency budget will allow workers to opt out of joining a union and still keep their jobs. It would allow workers to vote every year on whether they want to keep their union. And it would take away the unions' ability to automatically deduct dues from workers' paychecks. All of these threaten organized labor's power by giving workers more choice.

Unions allege that, if Walker's budget bill is passed, state employees will be subject to arbitrary disciplinary actions and firings. Nothing could be further from the truth. If Walker's budget is approved, workers will still be able to join unions if they choose, but collective bargaining will be limited to pay only. Moreover, they will still be protected by civil service laws that provide job security and perks beyond anything seen in the private sector.

The majority of those benefits are mandated by Wisconsin's Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA), section 230 of the Wisconsin Code (the code) entitled "State Employee Relations," and other civil service laws. According to the State of Wisconsin Office of Employment Relations, government employees will still have:

• The right to a harassment/discrimination free workplace.

• The right to due process (prior to being disciplined).

• Grievance/appeal rights.

• Ability to compete for positions (transfer, demote, promote)

• Protection from discrimination in the hiring process because of political or religious opinions or affiliations or because of age, sex, disability, race, color, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry.

• After passing a probationary period, attainment of a permanent status similar to tenure.

• Protection during times of workforce reductions by a clear set of seniority-based rules and procedures for both layoff and recall.

Seniority rules are particularly troubling. If the 14 missing Wisconsin Senate Democrats do not return from their "undisclosed location," Gov. Walker may be forced to lay off 1,500 workers to balance the budget. The layoffs will likely be done according to seniority, due to the state's last-in-first-out system, whereby newly hired employees must be the first to be let go, regardless of performance. (This led to Wisconsin's Teacher of the Year being laid off last year.)

 Section 230.34 of the code clearly states, "An employee with permanent status in class… for a continuous period of 12 months or more may be removed, suspended without pay, discharged, reduced pay or demoted only for just cause." [Emphasis added]

The Wisconsin civil service  code gives government employees -- including those not covered by collective bargaining agreements -- vacation and sick leave far more generous than what's found in the private sector. Every new employee who has worked one to five years automatically receives 104 hours off annually, with the vacation time increasing substantially every five years. Those working for over 25 years get a whopping 216 hours off each year -- almost five and a half weeks!

Union claims of government employees being reduced to penury are hogwash. A reduction in state employees' take-home pay could be as low as 4.2 percent, according to Wisconsin State Rep. Kevin Petersen. For a state worker making $50,000 in base pay, not including benefits, this could be $175 a month. Given the option to not pay mandatory union dues -- Wisconsin teachers pay between $700 and $1,000 a year -- the reduction in take home pay could be even smaller. According to the Maclver Institute, the average teacher in Wisconsin makes $56,500 in wages and over $100,000 in total compensation, including salary and benefits.

Democrats claim they are defending the "right" of unions to collectively bargain with the government. Wisconsin State Senator Jim Holperin said, "We are dealing with a matter of principle here, a matter of people's rights." These rights are in fact privileges, granted by the government, and existing only within a government context. The real right at stake is the fundamental and constitutionally enshrined right of freedom of association. Workers should be free to either join or refrain from joining any group, based on individual choice.

For all their talk of "rights" and protecting workers, unions are more concerned with protecting their own power. Gov. Walker's budget does not take away worker protection and privileges but transfers them to the rule of law, and away from union bosses.

Cross-posted

Rasmussen is out with a new poll showing that likely Wisconsin voters remain opposed to "weakening collective bargaining rights" by a 57 to 39 percent margin.

It's not suprising that support for collective bargaining is that high. First, people generally don't favor "weakening" any "rights" (for that matter, Wisconsin Republicans would dispute that collective bargaining is a right, rather than a privilege). Second, most people are not members of unions, so they might not know what collective bargaining really means. To them, "weakening" collective bargaining "rights" probably sounds an awful lot like simply diminishing a group's ability to assemble and negotiate.

What collective bargaining has frequently meant in practice is that unions never have to concede any of the benefits they've won through a collective bargaining agreement unless they want to do so. In other words, when there's a budget crunch, the union--not the school district or  local government--gets to choose between massive layoffs and slight benefits reductions. For example, in June 2010, long before Scott Walker was elected, Milwaukee Public Schools fired 482 teachers--including Megan Sampson, a young educator named an "outstanding first year teacher" by the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English.

Sampson and 481 other teachers were laid off for two reasons having to do with collective bargaining:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a controversial labor bill Friday that severely limits the collective bargaining powers for the vast majority of the state's public employees, quietly capping weeks of contentious debate and delivering an epic defeat to the labor movement with a private bill signing.

Walker planned to hold a public ceremonial signing later in the day.

The proposal has touched off a national debate over labor rights for public employees, and its implementation is a key victory for Republicans who have targeted unions in nationwide efforts to slash government spending. But labor leaders said they plan to use the setback to fire up their members nationwide and mount a major counterattack against Republicans at the ballot box in 2012.

The measure passed the state's Assembly on Thursday following more than three weeks of protests that drew tens of thousands of people to the Capitol in opposition. The Senate cleared the way for passage with a surprise move Wednesday that allowed them to move the measure forward without 14 Democratic senators present.

Walker told unions last week that he would have to lay off 1,500 workers if the bill didn't pass. He rescinded those layoff notices Friday.

The bill forces state workers to pay more for their pensions and health care benefits, which is estimated to save Wisconsin $30 million to help pay down a $137 million budget shortfall projected by July 1. The higher payments for state workers will take effect over the coming weeks.

But portions of the proposal had to be removed in order for it to pass the Senate without Democrats, meaning the Legislature will have to take more action later to balance the budget.

Walker had repeatedly argued that ending collective bargaining would give local governments the flexibility they needed to confront the state aid cuts necessary to fix Wisconsin's deficit, which is projected to grow to $3.6 billion deficit over two years.

"This is ultimately about a commitment to the future, so our children don't face even more dire consequences than what we face today," Walker said at a news conference in the West Allis community of Milwaukee on Thursday.

The Wisconsin Assembly voted 53-42 Thursday to pass the bill after about three hours of discussion, far less than the 61-hour, three-day marathon it took to approve a previous version two weeks ago.

The passage drew shouts of "shame, shame, shame" from protesters in the gallery and came only a day after the dramatic action in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Republicans said they were simply doing what voters wanted.

In last year's election, "people spoke very clearly and very loudly and said they wanted government to change here in Madison," Republican Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald said. "It's a tough vote, but it's the right vote. People are sick of the status quo."

Shortly before the vote, police had to move dozens of protesters who were sitting just outside the Assembly chamber doors, blocking the way for lawmakers. Officers dragged many of them away, but there were no arrests.

The following is a shocking, scary e-mail sent to Wisconsin GOP senators last night at around 9:30 pm, shortly after the Senate passed an anti-union bill. Not only does the e-mail threaten the senators with death, but it also vows “your familes [sic] will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks.”

Local station WTMJ in Milwaukee obtained the e-mail, and has redacted the sender’s name pending an investigation by the police (emphasis added and spelling and grammar mistakes have not been corrected):

From: XXXX
Sent: Wed 3/9/2011 9:18 PM
To: Sen.Kapanke; Sen.Darling; Sen.Cowles; Sen.Ellis; Sen.Fitzgerald; Sen.Galloway; Sen.Grothman; Sen.Harsdorf; Sen.Hopper; Sen.Kedzie; Sen.Lasee; Sen.Lazich; Sen.Leibham; Sen.Moulton; Sen.Olsen
Subject: Atten: Death threat!!!! Bomb!!!!

Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your familes
will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks. Please explain
to them that this is because if we get rid of you and your families then it
will save the rights of 300,000 people and also be able to close the deficit
that you have created. I hope you have a good time in hell. Read below for
more information on possible scenarios in which you will die.

WE want to make this perfectly clear. Because of your actions today and in
the past couple of weeks I and the group of people that are working with me
have decided that we’ve had enough. We feel that you and the people that
support the dictator have to die. We have tried many other ways of dealing
with your corruption but you have taken things too far and we will not stand
for it any longer. So, this is how it’s going to happen: I as well as many
others know where you and your family live, it’s a matter of public records.
We have all planned to assult you by arriving at your house and putting a
nice little bullet in your head. However, we decided that we wouldn’t leave
it there. We also have decided that this may not be enough to send the
message to you since you are so “high” on Koch and have decided that you are
now going to single handedly make this a dictatorship instead of a
demorcratic process. So we have also built several bombs that we have placed
in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent.
This includes, your house, your car, the state capitol, and well I won’t
tell you all of them because that’s just no fun. Since we know that you are
not smart enough to figure out why this is happening to you we have decided
to make it perfectly clear to you. If you and your goonies feel that it’s
necessary to strip the rights of 300,000 people and ruin their lives, making
them unable to feed, clothe, and provide the necessities to their families
and themselves then We Will “get rid of” (in which I mean kill) you. Please
understand that this does not include the heroic Rep. Senator that risked
everything to go aganist what you and your goonies wanted him to do. We feel
that it’s worth our lives to do this, because we would be saving the lives
of 300,000 people. Please make your peace with God as soon as possible and
say goodbye to your loved ones we will not wait any longer. YOU WILL DIE!!!!

Cross-posted

Bypassing Democrats hiding out in Illinois, Wisconsin Senate Republicans voted Wednesday night to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Republicans voted 18-1 to pass the stripped-down budget bill in a hastily arranged meeting. None of the Senate Democrats were present.

The State Assembly is expected to vote on the bill Thursday.

All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" -- a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall.. 

The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved that bill a short time later.

Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader Mark Miller said Wednesday Democrats will "join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government," but he refused to say when.

The lone Democrat present on the conference committee, Rep. Tony Barca, shouted that the surprise meeting was a violation of the state's open meetings law but Republicans voted over his objections. The Senate then convened within minutes and passed it without discussion or debate.

Spectators in the gallery screamed "You are cowards."

Before the sudden votes, Democratic Sens. Bob Jauch said if Republicans "chose to ram this bill through in this fashion, it will be to their political peril. They're changing the rules. They will inflame a very frustrated public."

Walker praised the legislative action.

"The Senate Democrats have had three weeks to debate this bill and were offered repeated opportunities to come home, which they refused," he said in a statement. 

"In order to move the state forward, I applaud the Legislature's action today to stand up to the status quo and take a step in the right direction to balance the budget and reform the government," he said. "The action today will help ensure Wisconsin has a business climate that allows the private sector to create 250,000 new jobs."

State Senate Democratic Minority Leader Mark Miller issued a statement saying, "Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.