Chef, dear, you need to do a bit more investigation! What is happening in Wisconsin IS NOT an attack on ALL unions! It has to do with the PUBLIC EMPLOYEES and the union which represents them. All he is telling them is that the State is BROKE, and all the prancing around, vitriol, and sign-waving is not going to change that fact.

Having been a member of a State union, I can tell you that they approach any negotiation in an antagonistic way, demanding this, that, and the other thing or they'll strike. That used to work, but now THERE IS NO MORE MONEY!! The Governor is merely asking them to provide a single-digit percentage contribution to their OWN health-care (which is now free) and to their OWN retirement funds. He is not trying to wipe them out; rather, he is trying to come up with a way that EVERYONE can keep their jobs! If they are UNWILLING to do the right thing to keep ALL of their colleagues working, then he will have no choice other than to lay off teachers.

What this really boils down to is that the UNION is worried that their billion-dollar gravy-train is now in danger of getting side-tracked. They see the writing on the wall, that if they "lose ground" in Wisconsin, they will be set to lose ground in the other 49 states which also, co-incidentally, are BROKE. So they are desperately whipping up their membership, creating chaos and turmoil so no one has the time or inclination to say "Wait a minute, maybe we need to take a fresh look at the role of unions in the modern world. Maybe we need to ask why, if these people are PUBLIC employees, are the taxpayers (their "employers" who are paying for their salaries and benefits) being put into the "pigeonhole" of the big, fat, greedy "boss" whenever there are contract negotiations?"