Boehner likens state budgets to hostages with machine guns at head

[ProSense]

Source: The Hill

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) likened state budgets to a hostage with a machine gun held at its head by public worker unions

Boehner, in an interview from Sunday, an excerpt of which was released on Tuesday, invoked graphic imagery in describing the ongoing labor dispute between public employee unions and Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

"In some of these states you’ve got collective bargaining laws that are so weighted in favor of the public employees that there’s almost no bargaining," Boehner told "The Brody File" of the Christian Broadcasting Network. "We’ve given them a machine gun and put it right at the heads of the local officials and they really have their hands tied."

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Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) had to apologize last week when he told union supporters that it's sometimes necessary to "get out on the streets and get a little bloody," in reference to the debates in Wisconsin.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/146699-boehner-likens-state-budgets-to-hostages-with-machine-guns-at-head

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Via Think Progress: Boehner Says Public Employee Unions Have ‘A Machine Gun’ Pointed ‘At The Heads Of The Local Officials’

In a weekend interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) described state-level clashes between conservative politicians and public employee unions as one part of a “giant fight over the future for our country.” In this fight, Boehner said, public employees are armed and dangerous:

Governors are trying to find ways to balance their budgets, which they’re required to do. In some of these states you’ve got collective bargaining laws that are so weighted in favor of the public employees that there’s almost no bargaining. We’ve given them a machine gun and put it right at the heads of the local officials and they really have their hands tied. And I think what you’re seeing in these states is they’re trying to bring some balance to these negotiations that when you look at the pay of public employees today and you look at their retirement benefits they are way out of line with many other working Americans. So all of these Governors are going to have big challenges and it’s not just going to be the Governors. You’re going to see every political jurisdiction in America grapple with what do we need to do as opposed to what do we want to do. All of them are going to go through a very difficult period.

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Time for Boehner to apologize.

[jpak]

1. More republican political gun imagery/wacko dog whistle

yup

[qanda]

2. He must be nuts!

How about he give up his pay and his benefits. Let's start there!

[chelsea0011]

3. Do these clowns know that they are also state and federal employees?

They also have pensions and benefits won via collective bargaining. So when will they all quit because they hate themselves?

[Shadowflash]

7. This x 1000!

[Powdered Toast Man]

4. Is nobody angry about the machine gun reference?

Seriously? I am furious over that... so much so I called and started yelling at the receptionist. Yeah... I shouldn't have yelled at her, but I was literally shaking.

[Major Hogwash]

5. He's sick. Boehner is one sick puppy. This is outrageous.

I don't know why he even thought to say it, Giffords is a member of the House of Representatives who was shot in the head.

[jpak]

6. Boner is just celebrating his second amendment rights - chill

:sarcasm:

[zbdent]

8. Actually, during the Health Care reform "debate", I made the point

that Republicans were holding a gun to 40 million uninsured "hostages" ... (published in a Letter to the Editor)

Some a-hole said "Gee, how did the Repugs, who aren't 'in power', get this much power?" (Of course, that was from people who don't get that the minority party in the Senate holds "filibuster" power ...)

[Thav]

9. And GOP tax breaks for corps and the rich

are storm troopers bursting into the houses of the working class, hog-tying them with zip ties and pointing assault rifles at them, while looting their houses of anything of value, taking their vehicles and then leaving them with a bill for "services rendered in plundering your possessions for the rich people of the USA."

[Sam1]

10. Research Report on Public Worker pay

See this report http://epi.3cdn.net/8808ae41b085032c0b_8um6bh5ty.pdf which shows that adjusted for educational and experience levels employees in the public sector average less pay then those in the private sector.

[bemildred]

11. So, the people that work for state governments are the enemies of state governments.

Have I got that argument right? Employees are the enemy?

[IrishBuckeye]

12. Members of the House and Senate make $174,000 time to roll it back to $50,000!!!

House and Congress members work for us so why do they make far more than us!?

Why does the Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker is paid $137,000, use of a car and a home while demanding other workers make far less sacrife benefits!? The average salary for teachers in Wisconsin is about $48000.

The Governor of Ohio, John Kasich is paid $141,708, has use of a house, and who knows what other benefits while the average Ohio teacher salary is $50,300.


These jokes feel they deserve this kind of money but us lowly worker don't deserve even half of what they make!? FK THEM!

[yurbud]

13. a more accurate analogy: the budget is a check that the rich won't pay

even after they ate the meal.