RSSUnion Protesters Cause $7.5 Million in Damages at State Capitol in Madison, WI
Could the MSM be any more hypocritical, what if the Tea Party had done such a thing?
According to reports from the JS Online, Wisconsin state officials have stated that damage to the marble inside and out the State Capitol due the the exploits of union protesters would cost an estimated $7.5 million to repair. It is one thing to use your First Amendment right to protect and make you voice be heard, it’s quite a different one to deface public property. Guess who gets this bill … all tax payers in Wisconsin. Guess those peaceful protesters have provided a gift that keeps on giving, or taking as the case may be. How disgraceful that these people deface public property; however, I am sure they will get a fraudulent note excusing them of their actions.
Cari Anne Renlund, chief legal counsel for the state Department of Administration, said in Dane County court that estimates of damage to marble includes $6 million to repair damaged marble inside the Capitol, $1 million for damage outside and $500,000 for costs to supervise the damage.
Much of the damage apparently has come from tape used to put up signs and placards at the Capitol.
Hmm, according to the video above, live ammunition was found outside the state Capitol as well as .22 caliber shells were found. More at The Lonely Conservative.
What a double standard of hypocrisy on the side of the liberal MSM. Imagine, just imagine of a Tea Party rally caused such damage, litter and ruin in its wake? It would be the headline story on every LEFTIST newspaper and leading the national news. But when union protesters do such a thing, its no where to be found. Another Black Conservative reminds us of the mess that had to be cleaned up after other LEFTY get-togethers, complete with pics too. But of course,the MSM refused to report on the Hitler and hate signsof the union protesters. Too bad they cannot say the same about the bias and fabricated agenda they tried to pass off regarding the Tea Party.
Posted March 4, 2011 by Scared Monkeys Hypocrisy, Media Bias, State House Legislatures, Taxes, Tea Party, Unions, We the People, WTF, You Tube - VIDEO | 26 comments |
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26 Responses to “Union Protesters Cause $7.5 Million in Damages at State Capitol in Madison, WI”
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$7.1 million to clean up litter?
Isn’t this just another shameful example of wasteful government spending? Wouldn’t a bogus price tag on a cleanup cost for a Tea Party rally just serve to vindicate their cause?
Do you really have that much faith in the government again after 2010?
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SM: Fro the liberal reading comprehension impaired … the article said the following. $7 million in resoration, not cleaning. Better go get the SRA’s out.
Bill the unions. This damage hurts the union’s image powerfully. Unions had a place in the past years. My family had many union members. No more. They bleed money from their members and have no place anymore. This is a perfect example. If they can’t protest peacefully, they are over. Union protests have always caused property damage which never did help their cause. My dad’s car was wrecked one time by union protestors just because it, unfortunately, happened to be parked too close to the protest.
The unions and protestors eventually had to pay for him to get a new one.
What a bunch of bullshit !!! It was blue tape that was designed to release without residue !!! If I was broke I would claim millions to !!!
…nonsense, pure and simple. A nice ploy designed to put protestors in a bad light. I am certain that the estimate was conjured and it will get worse as time goes on.
Although they may not have my endorsment regarding their position, I do see this particular group of people to be patriotic and, yes, my fellow Americans, albeit on the wrong side of the debate. I seriously question the veracity of this estimate.
Like the “ammo” found outside. Given the extent that the governor told his faux “benefactor” he would go to “…we were thinking about that” regarding utilizing “troublemakers” (agent provocateurs) to disrupt peaceful protest that may garner public support,I can actually see with no surprise either side in this debacle doing something stupid like that, so they should investigate thoroughly where that ammo came from and prosecute to the fullest extent that the law provides.
More content from the online blog:
“It was not immediately clear how the estimates were made, though the state is apparently relying on opinions by historical architects, one of whom works for the U.S. Park Service.
One concern is the residue from tape that the state says is causing damage to stone and other surfaces inside the Capitol.
EDIT … SNIP)
.”
Since the statement about cleaning estimates comes from court testimony, it is subject to potential claims of perjury. Time to get an FOIA request to the WI DOA to see the actual estimates that would support such a high-priced claim.
A little (hypothetical) math: if the cleaning service charged $200/hr, this comes to 37,500 hrs. That translates to over 18 person-years of work. If the cleaning crew was 36 people, that would be about 6 months continuous work for them to clean-up what didn’t exist 20 days ago. Sounds about right, doesn’t it?
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SM: Steve, do not copy and paste the entire content of another article. There is a reason why we take a snippet, the the entire post. I have edited your comment accordingly.
R
Wow…7.5M to clean up! The right is really smoking something on this one. Anyone with half a brain will know this isn’t true.
Round them up and force them to clean up their filthy messes then put them in jail.
Wow Anita…put them in jail for protesting something…maybe you should go join Momar.
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SM: No they have a right to peacefully protest. However, in many cases the protests were not peaceful. That and the haye speech from the signs was far beyond anything ever railed on bt the MSM of the Tea Party rallies.
However, union folks are exempt from MSM scorn.
R
#6: i didn’t know you only had half of your
small brain. i thought it much less !!
little steve and wolfie: explain why the Libyans
are begging for hrlp from President Bush .
we all know the answer do you ??
7,
If asked or if there was a volunteer sign-up to remove the signs, I’m certain that 5-8,000 citizens would be found to handle that part in an afternoon. As to any special cleanup that might be needed (still too soon to know for sure), something else might be done to help with that as well.
No need to force anyone; we love our state and its Capital. jail would take a criminal act; do you know of any statutes that were broken?
I am not a union person and never believed in the union movement.
This estimate stinks. A crew of six working for two weeks could clean this mess provided there was only tape placed on the walls. Of course, with union work rules, this may take twice as many people and twice the manhours.
Guys, no one said $7.5 million to clean up.
Have any of you ever had to restore marble? Hmm? We are not talking about weeping up the floor and taking out the garbage, GEEZ, please do not insult yourselves with such foolish comments.
Not all of the posters were hung up with painters tape. Please, the fact that the hall smelled like a toilet, I can imagine how much care anyone took in dealing with the public property.
Try ordering exotic marble and see how much it cost. Then figure out how much it cost to restore.
R
#6 Wold, it isn’t about a clean up, its about restoring the damage that was done to the floors and walls.
Good grief.
Update to the “estimates“:
“Officials have said that the cleanup of the residue left behind by adhesive tape from posters, which could cost between about $350,000 to $7.5 million.
Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said this speculated cost would be the case if there is significant damage that they aren’t aware of. Huebsch called the estimate to repair marble damaged by tape was a “high-end” estimate.”
So it now comes out that they have no real estimate of the costs. Huebsch is also concerned as to whether or not there is general structural damage due to the size of the crowd. This guy is looking for excuses to assess blame to denigrate the protesters, any way he can.
Nonsense. The DOA backpedaled on that figure within minutes of making the accusation. The protesters were very respectful of their House. They even took care that all of their signs were hung with blue painters tape so as to leave no residue. There was no damage done to either marble or wood work, except to the windows. But the damage to the windows wasnt the doing of the protesters; the Governor had ordered that the windowframes be screwed to the sills so that nobody could pass food into the protesters. Protesters, both union and non-union have volunteered to do any cleanup work that is needed. Honestly, if you can’t make your case against the protesters with facts, change your case, not the facts.
#15, Steve … no matter what the cost is, you admit there is a cost. So lets say we accept the low end at $350K. Do you have that money to pay out of your pocket?
The question that remains is why these punks should be allowed to deface any public property. I would say the same thing for any one protesting.
I am still trying to figure out why security at the Capitol allowed any of these folks to hang up signs. I find it hard to believe that there is not a law stating otherwise.
R
[...] was reported the other day that it may cost up to $7.5 million in order to clean up the mess and restore the damage done at the Wisconsin Capitol building caused [...]
17,
Why don’t we start with you admitting the figure in this article has no basis, and was not arrived at by an actual estimating process.
BTW, latest reporting says the estimate by state architect Danial Stephans “was nothing more than an educated guess.”
As I commented earlier(11), volunteering could be used to work on this effort. Guess what, it has already begun.
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SM: I will say it again to the small and simple minded … we do not know yet what the cost will be. You do realize that you cannot just rub off ink off types of marble, right? You would ruin the marble if you did so. Simple clean up and trash collecting is one thing, restoration processes are highly expensive. Obviously you have never owned a home that was on the Historical Society list. You can’t just hire joe blow contractor, they have to be approved and an expert in restoration.
Who knows, the WI rules may state that the clean up and restoration folks have to belong to a union.
The costs are much more expensive than you would think. Its not just as simple as a bucket, mop and some floor cleaner.
19(sm),
Ink on marble? That’s a new claim. Who in their right mind ever said there was ink on marble?
Clean up trash? There is none. The good folks spending the night there already took care of such chores daily.
If these are what you think is the subject of any clean-up or restoration (a poor choice of words), then your sources are pulling your leg.
BTW, whether or not any specific cost is know, the use of a $7.5M “estimate” was artificial. If you can’t admit the fakery of the number, it likely tells us something about these things.
p.s. Do you really feel better calling people you disagree with “small and simple minded“. Is that what is considered honest discussion?
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SM: yes I do consider it an honest discussion because you are sugar coating the damage that was done. The extensiveness of the surface area that was affected is huge. Check out the post below and the VIDEO … it clearly shows that in some cases, the protesters defaced property with markers and sharpies. Think that is not going to be costly to restore? Like I earlier stated, it is not just about posters taped up. However, I would really like to know why that was even allowed by the police.
Clean Up Day in Wisconsin: Tea Party Members Plan “It’s Time to Take Out the Trash Day” at Wisconsin Capitol
http://scaredmonkeys.com/2011/03/05/clean-up-day-in-wisconsin-tea-party-members-plan-%e2%80%9cit%e2%80%99s-time-to-take-out-the-trash-day%e2%80%9d-at-wisconsin-capitol/
sm(20),
That video doesn’t show any sharpie or marker damage, despite what the Fox News liars say. Claiming their voice-over is proof of anything is laughable. Clearly shows? Give me a break.
Oh, yeah; the Tea Party clean-up day. They claim they were going to do an “extensive” clean-up around the Capital Square (which is not related to anything inside the Capital). Unless they litter first, there will be nothing to pick-up.
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SM: Um, you can see the marker on the marble in the video.
As proven on the related article, the story line about there being any graffiti (sharpie or marker lines) cited in comment 20&21 above is nothing but myth (or lies, if you prefer).
Additionally, the “Take Out the Trash” mega-cleaning crew was all noise, and no action. It doesn’t really matter; the Capital Square is remarkably clean and generally free of trash even without the help offered by these folks.
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SM: You still have not actually answered my question. Why did anyone have to clean up after the union folks. Or was it not in their collective barganing contract to pick up after themsleves?
Just to close another gap, there has been no mention about the false nature of the $7.5M “estimate” provided by the Walker administration.
It is one thing that they were able to fool anyone with this hyped claim, it would be more foolish to still support this extraordinary amount as valid and not admit it was pure fakery by Walker in a now obvious and blatant political move.
Should we have to wonder where the line falls for this blog?
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SM: YAWN … blah, blah, blah.
sm(22),
I’d be happy to answer that question, which is a good question.
First, the sleep-over protesters (some unionists, some students, some citizens, some police and fire fighters, etc.) had daily clean-up activities inside the Capital to pick up debris, trash, and move their “bedding” to more out-of-the-way areas away fro the rotunda. They were themselves responsible for seeing that the vast majority (likely 80-90% or more) of signs were put up with blue painters tape; out of respect for the building.
They established a family-friendly area for those inside with little kids, needing a place for naps and other down time. They established an Info Center, where anyone could go to be informed of a variety of things related to the protests and resources made available to people in need. They established charging centers, where electronic devices could be plugged in. I dare say people would more than likely walk away and return later to get their device, without much thought to any theft occurring.
To the main point of your question; The Governor tried to clear the capital overnight on or about 2/21; thousands left, but several hundred remained. Walker illegally locked the Capital to WI citizens the next day. When a court order was issued to reopen the doors to the public; he basically refused and kept it in lock down mode. This dragged on for three days while the court held hearings on appeal (I think) of the initial court order. Over that time, there was natural attrition as people inside had to leave for personal reasons. By the end of the week, the number was likely in the range of a hundred or so.
When the court hearings were done, the closing was ruled unconstitutional, and an order to reopen on Monday 2/28 was given. However, to allow there to be a reset of the normal protocol, the judge ordered all protesters to leave overnight. I believe they had little more than 15-30 minutes to vacate.
Since there were few people who could even begin to address the protest signs, I believe there was an agreement that the Capital staff would take care of this, and store the signs for later recovery. In any case, the people were kicked out, without a chance to return and do any clean-up.
I won’t claim this is journalistic quality reporting; I wasn’t taking notes when this was happening day by day. But this is the general recollection I have of the events on the question you asked.
These protestors are an angry mob of ignorant people. They have been frightened by the unions/mafia into thinking that they will lose services, benefits, and money. They are afraid of losing seniority but they don’t realize that it’s a trap to keep the unions taking their dues and acting as if they are being protected. My husband and I were both union workers in PA and I know from first hand experience how hard it is to leave the union.
Right to work gives you the right to leave and the right for companies to let go of unproductive personnel to give everyone the chance to work hard and be rewarded for it!
This protest can’t ever be compared to a tea party protest because the tea party is there to represent each individual and each individuals rights. Not to mob our government and its buildings like a gang of thugs/kronies sent by the mafia, I mean unions.
Good Luck Governor!
25,
I see your not from WI; we don’t denigrate strangers with random comments.
I disagree the WI movement is different than the Tea Party movement. Each group is composed of individuals that share common ideas and aspirations. We each come together to leverage our combined voice, and participate in our political system. The two groups peacefully coexisted a few weeks ago, with spirited debate for our respective positions.
No thugs, no cronies, no mafia (on either side).