Wow.

That's kind of all I can think of to sum up what is going on right now at the capitol. Just like the entire nation, Wisconsin has a gigantic budget deficit. Everyone has ideas on how to cut down on the deficit. Our governor has proposed cutting healthcare benefits and retirement plans of state workers. Unionized state workers. Not completely getting rid of pensions and healthcare, but decreasing state contributions dramatically. Yes, this may decrease the state deficit, but it will also put thousands of struggling working class families at more of a financial burden. The bigger problem....he did this while saying that unions will not have bargaining rights regarding the changes. This leads to setting a dangerous precedent regarding unions and their ability to fight for their members' rights. Almost all area schools are closed today because the teachers are on a "sick-out." There are thousands of people at the capitol. By thousands, I mean estimated over 15,000.

Brent and I made it a point to not rely on our employers for retirement. We've been working hard to set up retirement options regardless of where we work. Healthcare costs aren't as bad for us either because we can just go off of Brent's benefits. However, as a nurse, the union is extremely important. Our union is what fought for safe staffing ratios and putting an end to mandatory overtime, just to name a few. We used to be able to take 6-7 patients per nurse. This pretty much turns into pill pushing. Especially on a neuro unit with MANY confused patients, that ratio is just plain not safe. We used to also have mandated overtime. This means that if there was a staffing hole and we were a nurse (or more) short for the next shift, we were forced to stay over to cover the hole or be reprimanded for patient abandonment. While we still had the mandated overtime, the hospital did very little to cover holes in the staffing schedule with float staff.

Governor Walker also said that by stopping unions, we'd "save" money on not being required to pay monthly dues. It could "save" us $500 a year. $500 a year. That's like spitting in the wind. This is all completely frustrating, worrisome, etc.