Tea Party rallies were held across the U.S. yesterday with the most notable one in the heart of union thug territory; Wisconsin. Sarah Palin addressed the crowd, including the labor goons who showed up, and was not the least bit intimidated.
Sarah Palin defended Wisconsin’s governor at a tea party tax day rally Saturday, telling supporters that his polarizing union powers legislation is designed to save public jobs.
Braving snow showers and a frigid wind outside the state Capitol building, the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate told tea partyers she’s glad to stand with Gov. Scott Walker.
Hundreds of labor supporters surrounded the rally, trying to drown Palin out with chants of “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Scott Walker has got to go!” and “Recall Walker!”
“Hey, folks! He’s trying to save your jobs and your pensions!” Palin yelled into the microphone. “Your governor did the right thing and you won! Your beautiful state won! And people still have their jobs!”
Walker, a Republican, signed a bill into law last month that calls for almost all public workers to contribute more to their pensions and health care coverage, changes that amount to an average 8 percent pay cut. The plan also takes away their power to collectively bargain on anything except wages.
Walker has said the measure will help balance a $3.6 billion hole in the state budget and give local governments the flexibility they need to absorb deep cuts in state aid. Democrats, though, think Walker wants to weaken unions, one of their strongest constituencies.
Tens of thousands of people descended on the Capitol to protest nonstop for weeks against the plan and minority Democrats in the state Senate fled to Illinois to block a vote in that chamber, drawing national attention to the controversy.
……Capitol Police estimated about 6,500 people converged on the building Saturday, but said it was impossible to tell how many were tea partyers and how many were labor supporters. The Capitol Police is a division of the Wisconsin Department of Administration, a state cabinet agency.
……The tea partyers appeared clustered in front of the building, waving “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and signs that read “Public workers — the party is over,” “Thank you, Scott,” and “Tax and spend brings the end.”
……Palin said Walker is working to solve Wisconsin’s long-term budget problems so it can honor pension commitments to public workers.
“This is where the line has been drawn in the sand and I’m glad to stand with you in solidarity,” Palin said.
She segued into attacks on President Barack Obama, accusing him of failing to control the nation’s burgeoning debt, leading the country into war in Libya on fuzzy pretenses and ignoring rising gas prices.
Jeff Kuhn, 62, of Chenequa, carried a “Walker Rocks” sign to the rally. He said Palin’s speech galvanized him.
“We’re not giving up,” he said. “The government union workers shouldn’t be entitled to more benefits than us.”
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110417/APC0101/104170583/Sarah-Palin-tells-tea-party-rally-in-Madison-that-Wisconsin-Governor-Scott-Walker-is-doing-the-right-thing-with-unions/
Palin also took on the GOP slugs who aren’t in tune with the majority of Americans who want them to do what they were elected for:
In a speech in Madison, Wis. today Sarah Palin talked like a candidate, praising Gov. Scott Walker and blasting congressional Republicans for the budget deal.
“After some politics as usual and accounting gimmicks, we find out … it’s not even $38 billion dollars. It’s less than $1 billion dollars in real cuts.,” said Palin.
“That is not courage. That’s capitulation.”
Stating that conservatives would back the GOP if they fought, Palin criticized Republicans for failing to bring about change. “We didn’t elect you just to rearrange the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic,” Palin said. “We didn’t elect you just to stand back and watch Obama redistribute those deck chairs.”
“Stand up, GOP, and fight,” Palin continued. “Maybe I should ask some of the Badger women’s hockey team, those champions, maybe I should ask them if we should be suggesting to GOP leaders that they need to learn to fight like a girl.”
Palin also shot back at criticisms about her rhetoric. “Hey, media, it’s not inciting violence and it’s not hate-filled rhetoric to call someone out on their record, so that’s what we’re going to do,” she retorted, before launching into criticism of Obama’s record.
“We’re flat broke and he thinks these solar shingles and really fast trains will magically save us. So now he’s shouting ‘all aboard’ his bullet train to bankruptcy. Win the future? WTF is about right.,” Palin said.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/264938/palin-urges-gop-fight-girl-katrina-trinko
Her straightforward, take-no-bullshit attitude is why the Left has seizures everytime they hear her name. She’s a tough Republican competitor who believes in this country and tells people exactly what it will take to get it back on track and away from the “fundamental transformation” conducted by the current Marxist White House occupant.