Walker: pay raises for me & mine, pay cuts for you & yours

If you’ve been paying attention to goings-on in Milwaukee County, you’ve no doubt heard Scott Walker’s plan for county workers to take a 3% across-the-board pay cut, in addition to a 5% employee pension contribution, higher health care premiums and a dozen furlough days for 2010 as a part of Milwaukee County’s 2010 budget. Under Walker’s proposed budget, Milwaukee County employees would take the equivalent of a 13% to 16% pay cut through the concessions noted above. While these are certainly tough economic times, I can’t help but wonder why Scott Walker wants to balance Milwaukee County’s budget on the backs of hardworking (mostly middle-class) county employees while he continues to collect his full $119,611 yearly salary.

If Scott Walker really cared about setting a positive example of fiscal responsibility for county workers, why doesn’t he offer give back 13 to 16 percent of his six-figure salary for 2010?

Better yet, if Scott Walker really cared about setting a positive example of fiscal responsibility for county workers, why did he try to give his Chief of Staff a 26% pay raise during a time when the economy was crashing and burning?

The answers to my questions are simple, according to Cory Liebmann of Eye on Wisconsin:

Apparently Scott Walker has two tiers for Milwaukee County employees. One consists of frontline workers earning a rather modest pay. That tier has to endure never ending threats of layoffs, massive cuts in pay and even the total elimination of their jobs. The other tier consists of Scott Walker and any “yes men” that he deems worthy. Those fortunate few don’t have to worry from day to day about how to pay their bills. Those fortunate few get to live large (at our expense) while the rest continually get the shaft.

Shame on Scott Walker for trying to balance Milwaukee County’s budget on the backs of hard working middle class county employees, while at the same time not making the same sacrifices he expects those employees to make.