The Great Union-Busting Thread

[DGuller]

People are interested in what a professor wrote when it's not required reading? 

[garbon]

Something that could be taken out of context, maybe?  Not that GOP a political party would ever do anything like that, of course.

But then I fixed it for you.

[Valmy]

LOL. The GOP is playing hardball.

Still, the request on its face seems to be perfectly legal.

Cronon should take the high road and simply turn over the requested records. What could he had to hide anyway?

Just further why you should never use your work address for anything but work.  You use your yahoo or whatever address to take down your political enemies.

[MadImmortalMan]

LOL. The GOP is playing hardball.

Still, the request on its face seems to be perfectly legal.

Cronon should take the high road and simply turn over the requested records. What could he had to hide anyway?

Just further why you should never use your work address for anything but work.  You use your yahoo or whatever address to take down your political enemies.

True. Just about everywhere there is zero expectation of privacy in institutional communications. This is certainly no violation of anything. It does stink though.

[derspiess]

LOL. The GOP is playing hardball.

Still, the request on its face seems to be perfectly legal.

Cronon should take the high road and simply turn over the requested records. What could he had to hide anyway?

Looking at his blog, not turning it over apparently has given him enough material for like 80 posts.  He succeeded in boring me to the point of not giving a shit about this particular issue.

[Berkut]

LOL. The GOP is playing hardball.

Still, the request on its face seems to be perfectly legal.

Cronon should take the high road and simply turn over the requested records. What could he had to hide anyway?

Something that could be taken out of context, maybe?  Not that GOP would ever do anything like that, of course.

Of course they could and would. So what?

Trying to fight it makes him look like he really DOES have something to hide.

[Berkut]

LOL. The GOP is playing hardball.

Still, the request on its face seems to be perfectly legal.

Cronon should take the high road and simply turn over the requested records. What could he had to hide anyway?

Looking at his blog, not turning it over apparently has given him enough material for like 80 posts.  He succeeded in boring me to the point of not giving a shit about this particular issue.

True - climbing up on his martyrs cross is probably way too tempting to pass up.

[Hansmeister]

Fleeing the state was, going to the court was not.  Wisconsin law says you have to post notice 72 hours before a vote; they didn't do that.

The part about this story that has me scratching my head is the fact that the teachers' union has already signed contracts with some jurisdications (school boards I assume).  If a given school board wants to pay each teacher a million dollars, why should the state government care?  The only explanation I can come up with is that the state is on the hook for a set percentage of each school board's payroll.

You are correct about the State being on the hook for promises of local gov't, which is why they care about this issue, it also reveals that the Union promise of concessions was a lie. You're incorrect about the 72-hour notice prior to a vote, it is only a two-hour wait in case of emergencies as determined by the legislature (as being in an emergency session would qualify). Little noticed has been the fact that the son of the Judge is a high-ranking Union official, which meant she probably should have recused herself from the matter.

[DontSayBanana]

You are correct about the State being on the hook for promises of local gov't, which is why they care about this issue, it also reveals that the Union promise of concessions was a lie. You're incorrect about the 72-hour notice prior to a vote, it is only a two-hour wait in case of emergencies as determined by the legislature (as being in an emergency session would qualify). Little noticed has been the fact that the son of the Judge is a high-ranking Union official, which meant she probably should have recused herself from the matter.

Was a union official.  That's a pretty big difference to start with.  Conflicts aren't a bright-line test, Hansi- it's not just whether the individual was exposed to a person who could be a potential conflict, it's also whether the individual may be prejudiced as a result of that exposure.  Parents don't routinely consult their children about career decisions, and if you were going to force recusal based on similar associations alone, you'd have to axe damn near all the family court judges.

Sorry, Hans, but this stinks of a witch-hunt for purposes of "judicial shopping."  It's a page right out of the divorce law playbook, where a bitter spouse makes interview appointments with all the best law firms to conflict them out for their spouse and make sure the spouse doesn't have as good an attorney.

[garbon]

Parents don't routinely consult their children about career decisions

But it is the case that they often take steps to ensure their children's position and happiness.  Not that I think that is going on here but I think you are overstating in the case in the face of Hans.

[DontSayBanana]

But it is the case that they often take steps to ensure their children's position and happiness.  Not that I think that is going on here but I think you are overstating in the case in the face of Hans.

Possibly.  I just get really irked with fishing expeditions to get the most sympathetic judge; of course, given how much the Republicans have flouted the system in this case, why not milk a little more?

Honestly, while I'm irked by the attempts to circumvent the established legislature, mostly I just pity the Republicans.  Obviously, certain elements of the Republican Party feel they've got sufficient moral high ground to get away with all kinds of dirty politics, and I'm relatively sure it's going to come back and bite them in the voting booth.

[garbon]

Oh wait, no disdain for the party who sought to cripple the legislature by having their legislators flee?

[derspiess]

Honestly, while I'm irked by the attempts to circumvent the established legislature, mostly I just pity the Republicans.  Obviously, certain elements of the Republican Party feel they've got sufficient moral high ground to get away with all kinds of dirty politics, and I'm relatively sure it's going to come back and bite them in the voting booth.

The GOP has tried taking the high ground in the past-- that did not turn out too well.  If the Dems are going to play dirty, you can't expect the GOP not to adjust their efforts accordingly.

[Berkut]

Yeah, I don't think there is much high ground for anyone to be taking.

[garbon]

Yeah, I don't think there is much high ground for anyone to be taking.

I guess the defense could be that the Dems were simply trying to prevent a genuinely evil set of legislation by the Republicans.