How is what the GOP did during the Gore/Bush election, "anti democracy"? That election DIDN'T result in a Democratic win. Bush won Florida. The result was challenged by Democrats who then tried several different recount scenarios to come up with a different result of which none were successful. They then took their case to the courts and once again they were unsuccessful.
During the run-up to the election, voter rolls were purged using a process that resulted in many legitimate voters being scrubbed from the rolls. For example, Martin Lloyd is a legal voter, but his name is similar to Lloyd Martin, or to Martin Lloyd, Jr, and they are not legal voters, so Martin Lloyd gets scrubbed.
Gore filed for a complete recount in certain counties-it wasn't legal to ask for a state wide recount. While those votes were being recounted, Bush's team went to the Supremes. The Supremes halted the process.
Further, during the recount, the GOP bused people in from out of state who went to the location where the votes were being recounted. These folks staged what has been called the Brooks Brothers Riot.
None of that shows the slightest respect for the voters, or for our democracy.
Now contrast that with what's happened in Wisconsin. The Democrats LOST in an election and they immediately responded by occupying the State House with protesters so that legislators couldn't do their jobs while Democratic lawmakers fled over the State line so that they couldn't be compelled to come in and make up a quorum so that voting on legislation could take place. At the same time recalls were started for every GOP politician that they could.
So you tell me who's "anti democracy" here, Sat...because I'm just not seeing it...
The protests were in response to the union busting legislation, not to the election. You don't have your timeline straight.
I guess we could spend hours comparing what "our" Federal Government spends in contrast to other governments but what's the point? The fact is that everyone knows "our" Federal Government has grown into a bloated, inefficient entity that unless we undertake some serious corrections will bankrupt us as a country. We give lip service to making cuts and reforming entitlements but nothing ever really happens. So instead of wasting our time contrasting what we spend compared to other "modern, successful nations"? How about we spend that time figuring out how to get our spending under control so we don't become one of the "modern insolvent nations"?
Tea Party rhetoric. Blah, blah, blah. "Bloated, inefficient entity", "bankrupt us as a country", "reforming entitlements". That translates into further privatizing legitimate functions of government, further tax cuts that we cannot afford, and privatizing social security and Medicare.
And I honestly don't know where you're going with the whole modern world thing? 200 years ago? What does that have to do with living within your means budgetwise?
It means that the TP, and the GOP, talk about the USC as it was at the time of the founding, and not as it is today.
The DEMOCRAT governor Doyle used the stimulus funds as the stop gap.
I see other things you've gotten wrong but they're more complicated than I'd care to take on given the assumptions I see you working with. This one was easy to comment on. So there you go.
You missed the point. Walker is being given credit for what he's done with the budget, when what he's really done is 1] use stimulus funds like the rest of the governors, and 2] try to bust the unions.
As for my "claim" that teachers in Wisconsin have lavish pay and benefit packages? If you took the time to read you own cite from FactCheck you'd see that the average salary and benefits for teachers in Milwaukee was $100,000. I think that fits the definition of "lavish"...don't you?
I read it. I think that's a professional salary and benefits package. Ask your HR department about what it costs to employ you-they will generally add in the costs of their contributions to SS for you, and the portion of their insurance that they pay. You will be surprised at what the figure adds up to.
