Wisconsin's budget stalemate over union bargaining rights shows no sign of resolution - and it could be a long wait.Just think, no new laws, no new regulations and no new taxes can be passed in the state of Wisconsin. If Scott Walker wins, this blissful state of being is over. Power to the jammers!
The governor isn't budging. AWOL Democrats aren't planning to come back. And, despite talk of deadlines and threats of mass layoffs, the state doesn't really have to pass a budget to pay its bills until at least May. Even then, there may be other options that could extend the standoff for months.
"This is a battle to the death," said Mordecai Lee, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "Unless one party can come up with a compromise that the other party will buy, which I doubt, this really could go on indefinitely. I could see this going on until the summer."
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Walter Block Heaven: The Wisconsin Government Is Jammed
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I can't understand how people still disagree with this position!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's worth to point out the case of Belgium.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't formed the government for almost 300 days (or even more now, I am not sure). It is record in the modern world. Even Iraq managed to form the government under 300 days.
Most likely Belgium will fall apart to two smaller states.
I think we should start this process across the country in every state... and every country and province around the world.
ReplyDeleteI rise in a toast, to the Agorists!
This is awesome! Anything that prohibits government growth and promotes shrinkage is wonderful. Smaller is beautiful. Nonexistent would be perfect.
ReplyDeleteHere's one of the reasons why I want this to end, as a resident of the state -- Wisconsin is one of the two states that doesn't allow concealed carry. The last governor vetoed a concealed carry bill. His veto was within two votes of being overridden. This Republican legislature should be able to easily pass the bill now. They probably will, but not until the current issue is resolved.
ReplyDeleteConcealed carry is an important issue to me. I want to be able to defend myself and my family outside of our home. With the current status quo, which you seem to be fine with, I don't have that basic freedom.
In the case of Belgium it's just that the Parliament isn't in session, right? The government still functions (firemen, police, etc), right?
ReplyDeleteCheers to complete, total gridlock based on lack of quorum. If it could permanently torpedo legislative and executive branches. The only branch that needs be active on any significant is the judicial.
ReplyDeleteA standoff is just about the ideal solution, and I give major kudos to Walter Block for publicizing it first, and you Robert, for supporting it. Being open to ideas like this has really helped me in my own evolving outlook on economics.
ReplyDeleteRE: Anonymous #1
ReplyDelete"I can't understand how people still disagree with this position!!!"
If you read all of the comments appearing on posts tagged with "Walter Block on Wisconsin" (it's a little painful), with a few exceptions, you'll see those who disagree fall into 3 categories.
The first category doesn't "disagree with this position" at all. They have a hard time dealing with anything outside of the left vs. right (union vs governor) paradigm so, when presented with an argument that falls outside of that paradigm, they create a straw man to argue against. The most common seem to be "you want the unions to win" or "you think the unions are the lesser-evil but Walker actually is".
Then there are the big-L Libertarians (along the lines of Boortz, Root, Barr, etc.) who are republicans that don't like calling themselves republicans. Since Obama became president, almost every popular libertarian website has been flooded by these types (not necessarily a bad thing). They tend to be pro-business (as opposed to pro-market) and, from what I can tell, don't seem to be aware that, other than its roots, the LP has nothing to do with libertarianism. Their arguments tend to be some variant of "we can't shrink the state until the unions are gone". Many of them also seem to naïvely believe that the miniscule cuts proposed by Walker will fix Wisconsin's fiscal situation or even, more naïve, that the tiny cuts will actually have an effect on their personal "financial interests".
Then there are the trolls. Their comments are the easiest to spot since they contain nothing of substance. They tend to be something like "you hate the Kochs" (even on posts that don't mention the Kochs). At least one of them has enough pride to actually feel embarrassed by the words they typed while others actually go as far as to say the Kochs are libertarians because not everything they support is un-libertarian (which is also true of Soros, Buffett, Beck, Maher and many more non-libertarians).
Lol, I am not embarrassed of what I wrote. I support gridlock. I am just not interested in this bickering about who is holier than whom. This discussion just divides us, see the previous post for an excellent illustration.
ReplyDelete@Ben Osborne
ReplyDelete"Concealed carry is an important issue to me. I want to be able to defend myself and my family outside of our home. With the current status quo, which you seem to be fine with, I don't have that basic freedom."
You don't NEED permission to BE FREE!! JUST F***ing DO IT! Before Arizona finally condescended to recognizing MY NATURAL RIGHT, I was able to defend myself and my family--anywhere! If it really IS and important issue to you, stop whining and Free Yourself!