Walker supporters demand union labor sink into the mire of the rights deprived, low wage private sector work force. Don't they get it?

The theme you might have seen over and over in protester interviews are the private sector victims of our declining corporate economy, whining about their dismal lot in life, and how everyone else must share in the pain.

As a private business owner and independent contractor, I don't sit around envying and bashing union workers for having it better than me. Instead, I am trying to convince small government conservatives that when they give up their constitutional control of services, the for profit private sector steps in. What happens then? They slowly replace and become...our government.



The arm of big business, The Club for Growth, appears in the following ad to defend the poor, lowly, tread upon American worker. Many conservatives will see the ad and believe it.  The Club is running the ad all the while they fight to take away worker rights, do away with the minimum wage, smash unions and demand deregulation. Groups like The Club for Growth have ushered in the current difficult and uncertain labor conditions. Now they're our biggest defenders?

jsonline: The south side of the Capitol, where the tea party and pro-Walker groups were assembled, the shouting from both sides rose in intensity. Some of the signs read, "Do Your Job" and "The Gravy Train is Over." 

At 6 feet, 8 inches tall, Jory Mikkonen of Milwaukee stood above the crowd and shouted loudly at the pro-union sympathizers, "Unions go home!" 

Another protester yelled in response: "Get a degree!" 

Mikkonen said, "Bring your legislators back, so we can pass the bill." 

Yet another protester yelled to him, "You're ignorant." 

"Maybe you should have voted on election day," Mikkonen shot back. 

Mikkonen, a Marine Corps veteran, said he lost two jobs in manufacturing and now holds three different jobs, including working as a waiter and pizza deliverer, to support himself. 

"Jobs are hard to come by, but I found something in less than a month," he said. "And these guys want more benefits at our expense." 

But not all exchanges were so heated. Walker supporter John Poehling, 57, debated intensely but amiably for 10 minutes with a public employee. They shook hands and walked away. 

"We had a dialogue, but we didn't change each other's mind," Poehling said with a smile.
Pete Skaar, 48, said he was a conservative who drove from northeastern Wisconsin to protest Walker's policies. He stood on the square with a sign that read, "Conservative Ashamed of Walker." 

"I just believe he's taken advantage of the crisis to push his political agenda, just like Obama with health care," Skaar said. Skaar works with the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles in Peshtigo. He is represented by a state union, the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, but is not a member.