Mayhem in Madison Wisconsin

Well, I don't claim to be an expert, though I have been to Madison many times and have even visited the now quorum-less State Senate chamber, but here are some thoughts on the unrest in Wisconsin in response to Governor Scott Walker's proposals to make state employees pay more towards health care and pensions, and to strip them of most of their collective bargaining rights.

IMO, asking them to pay more towards health care and pensions is eminently reasonable.  According to a WSJ analysis, the proposed increases would be "roughly the national average for public pension payments, and it is less than half the national average of what government workers contribute to health care".  Currently, Wisconsin public workers pay nothing towards their pensions, and a mere 6% for health-care benefits.

As for rolling back collective bargaining rights, this is a tactical political mistake and an unnecessary overreach that allows opponents, such as President Obama, to readily portray this as an "assault on unions". In the short run, the real need is to restrain costs.  Worry about obscure fine points (at least, to many outside observers) of collective bargaining rights later.  If Governor Walker had been willing to settle for a partial victory, he might have it already, as many in the union are willing to accept the cuts but not the broader provisions.

At least some rhetoric from the left has been misguided.  Democratic State Sen. Bob Jauch called Mr. Walker's move "the end of the democratic process" during the committee debate on Wednesday night.  He then showed his magnificent support for the democratic process by fleeing across the border to Illinois to deny the republican controlled senate a quorum.  Protesters, ignoring recent calls for civility in political dialog (most of which I think are misguided), are shouting "Kill the bill".  Fortunately, their actions have been civil, as there have been no incidents between them and conservative opponents.  Interestingly, even the liberal NYT admits in that article that the union's protests "have been more organized than organic" i.e. more "astroturf" than "grassroots".

Governor Walker, compromise.  Propose that the unions accept the pay cuts to pay for health care and pensions, but leave their broader collective bargaining powers alone.

For the record, I'm waiting for our newly elected California governor, Jerry Brown, to ask public employee unions to face some of the pain of the immense state budget deficit.  I even voted for him, thinking he might have a chance to succeed: just like only somebody with impeccable conservative credentials (Nixon) could open relations with mainland China, it may take a governor with solid liberal credentials (Jerry Brown) to successfully tackle California's public employee crisis regarding pay, benefits, and pensions.