After a marathon session (the longest ever, iirc), the State of Wisconsin Assembly has passed Scott Walker’s budget repair bill. The Senate is unable to debate the bill since a quorum cannot be met on matters financial with our state senators having fled the state. In an interesting twist, an Illinois representative has said that the senators should pay Illinois tax on their salary, akin to a football player getting paid for playing the Bears in Chicago. He has a pretty good point, and has pointed to some of our senators on TV saying that they are “working” while in Illinois.
Meanwhile the state senate has debated voter ID, but there is a cost associated with that so they can’t pass that either. I am sure they will pass everything they can while the Democrat senators are away. I sincerely hope that someone can trace the resources that the Wisconsin Senators are being provided in Illinois to find out if they are accepting illegal monies.
Walker isn’t moving. I think he will shut down the state. He is holding all the cards. I think he will win.
This is now a pure test of wills.
He should not give an inch after the response he got.
Neck or nothing.
This from WisEye on facebook:
Police are handing Capitol protesters this list of what items must be removed, starting at 4 pm today: tables, folding chairs, large boxes, mattresses, coolers, stored food, massage chairs/beds, extension cords, easels, ‘crockpots and other cooking appliances.’ The 4 p.m. ban also covers sleeping bags, mats, blankets and ‘animals/snakes,’ except for service animals. The ban of carts, alcohol and firearms continues.
Looks like we are starting to wind this thing down – inside the capitol anyways. I will probably head down there Saturday night to see what’s what. Sleeping on the hard marble floor of the capitol will be uncomfortable to say the least. I imagine the next edict will be to start enforcing the capitol building hours and no more sleeping over.
Yes, a pure test of wills. Yes, as in a hostage situation. Consider the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (I think that is what they called the American mercenaries on the Lefty side of the Spanish Civil War, Lincoln set the precedent for quorum busting, and the 14 senators are hiding out in Illinois). These guys are the hostage takers, they are holding the people of Wisconsin hostage, right? It is a test of wills, and one never gives in the hostage takers. Never.
The Republicans in the last lame duck Congress, according to the President, were also hostage takers. I am not saying this as tu quoque snark — those were Mr. Obama’s words, that he was reluctantly compromising with hostage takers. The Republicans were using parliamentary tactics to thwart the democratic (and Democratic) majority, the hostages were those of us whose unemployment money was running out, and they were protecting “the rich” against a very modest tax increase, not out of line with tax rates during a time of prosperity not that long ago.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes, the Wisconsin public employees are all a bunch of priviliged cry babies, collective bargaining for public employees is a form of legalized extortion, there is an iron triangle between public employees, government, and the Democratic Party, and the fiscal chickens have finally come home to roost.
But collective bargaining is a sensitive issue, a highly symbolic matter for generations of wage laborers. I am sure there is some Libertarian explanation that George M Pullman was doing what had to be done and is the victim of a Lefty historical smear campaign. But there is a Labor Narrative and there are a lot of people who view Right to Work in Manichean terms as being evil. Today’s situation may be nothing like the Pullman Strike, but there are many who view abolishing collective bargaining as on the slippery slope.
Why did Scott Walker pick this fight in the first place? The narrative in the Lefty papers (Isthmus, State Journal) is that the unions were pretty much ready to agree to the “increased contribution to benefits” solving the immediate Budget Repair back in the lame duck session when Governor Elect Walker demanded that negotiation be called off so he could have a crack at them.
Why are Dan from Madison, Lexington Green, Rand Simberg, the cast from Hot Air, Powerline Blog, and the whole Righty Blogosphere sticking up for Scott Walker? His cause may be righteous and just, but if effect was one big fat tactical mistake, a landing a whole Airborne Division on top of a Panzer Division level of tactical mistake, we are going to get Mr. Obama reelected in 2012 before we are through.
Mr. Obama and the entire Democratic Party along with Richard Trumka likes to scapegoat “the rich”, “the top 2 percent AGI Federal 1040 filers.” Our side has closed ranks in scapegoating “public employees” as the group meriting demonization as being privileged. This scapegoating is counterproductive when “they” do it, and it is equally so when “we” do it.
The mass of voters put Mr. Obama and Democratic Party majorities in place, not because they are idealogical lefties but because the economy was tanking and they wanted a change in “management.” The same voters swung and put Mr. Walker in charge in Wisconsin with strong Republican majorities, not because they are idealogicial righties, but because Mr. Obama seemed to make things worse, and they wanted another change in “management.”
It is the “fire the coach after a losing season” effect. We are setting ourselves up for a big time losing season, only we all know it is not Coach’s fault, it is the fault of some whiny showboating players. Doesn’t matter, it will be Coach who gets fired.
The first thing I looked for when I turned on the computer this morning was to see what had happened in the Assembly. I hope that the Governor [and Conservatives nationwide] have learned the appropriate lesson from this marathon session.
From yesterday:
# Cousin Dave Says:
February 24th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
I thought I read that they had reached an agreement this morning limiting the number of amendments and the debate time for each. The math worked out to the Democrats running out of time sometime after noon, depending on what time the session started. Was that not true?
and
# Dan from Madison Says:
February 24th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Cousin Dave – that is true, but the speaker has been very generous in letting the Democrats speak. Both sides are in partisan caucus as of now. Probably nap time.
I am assuming that since you both are there and able to follow this far more closely than we outlanders, that they had “agreed” to the limitation on amendments and debates, that since it went 17-18 hours past the agreed deadline and they had to catch them while they are dozing to call the vote; that the agreement was a deliberate lie. The lesson is, reinforced by the additional demands by the Indiana Fleebaggers after Governor Daniels surrendered, that no agreement with the Democrats is possible. They lie. Consistently. On every subject. In the name of achieving power. Call it hudna, call it Taqqiya, call it “dialectical context”, the word of a Democrat politician is automatically worthless.
A couple of questions. If they are handing the protesters lists of things they have to pull out, and may be even in the process of prepping things for a removal of those who have occupied the Capitol; is there any sign that the police in the Capitol will enforce it? After all, they did just stand by while vandalism and assaults took place right in front of them. While their collective bargaining is not affected by the bill, they are Unionized. Do their sympathies seem to lie with their Oaths, or with the Unions?
Subotai Bahadur
Subotai Bahadur – “…is there any sign that the police in the Capitol will enforce it?” That is one of the reasons I will be going down there on Saturday. I will again collect photo and video evidence. The prohibitions begin today at 4pm so I will give them a day to clear out the rubble.
As a side note, I read somewhere that the cops are now using ear plugs. Told you it was loud.
Paul Milenkovic – “Why are Dan from Madison, Lexington Green, Rand Simberg, the cast from Hot Air, Powerline Blog, and the whole Righty Blogosphere sticking up for Scott Walker? His cause may be righteous and just, but if effect was one big fat tactical mistake, a landing a whole Airborne Division on top of a Panzer Division level of tactical mistake, we are going to get Mr. Obama reelected in 2012 before we are through.”
The presidential election of 2012 doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is that the state of Wisconsin is totally broke. Scott Walker has said over and over that his goal is to get Wisco out of the hole and moving in the right direction. The wage decrease and insurance premium donations that the unions conceeded to are great, but if the union has collective bargaining powers each municipality gets steamrolled on the benefit end when it comes time to negotiate. Walker has said this over and over and has never wavered. I believe him, therefore I support him.
Dan, is this true?
“The Wisconsin police have the legal right to arrest the legislators and physically force them to attend votes, as under Wisconsin law they are obliged to vote if summoned to do so. However, the Wisconsin police do not have the power to do this outside the state of Wisconsin. ” (Michael Jennings’comment @Brian Micklethwait )
Following the story online I understand that policemen were dispatched to “missing-in-action” Democrat legislators’ homes but not to arrest them, only to “encourage” to return to their duty. Do they, in fact, have a right to arrest?
I am almost positive that the State Police CANNOT arrest the senators in Wisconsin even if they find them. Everything I have read says they cannot. This is the first time I have seen this.
I call B.S. on the claim that the unions were ready to give on those benefits. If they were, why didn’t they quick finish up their contract negotiations under Doyle? Probably because they thought their guy was going to win for governor. Also, let’s say the unions were ready to make those concessions. It would have probably taken (based on past experience) 1.5 years to go through the whole negotiation routine. The look on the Dems faces when the assembly passed the bill was priceless. The Dems will have their chance to put it back the next time they are in control. Crybabies
“Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.”
I still think Walker should declare the absentees seats to have been abandoned and issue writs of election for them.
I am with you Robert Schwartz. Another thought I had – I wonder if they find a hotel a senator is staying at in Illinois if they could pack the Republicans in a bus and catch the guy walking to his car or whatever and open the senate session in the parking lot or wherever with the quorum and then go back to Senate chambers to finish it. Probably can’t do it but wouldn’t that make for good TV.
Mark – that footage of the Dem assembly members screaming in their stupid orange shirts after the vote is priceless. Talk about a bunch of third graders.
“I call B.S. on the claim that the unions were ready to give on those benefits.”
Me too. Anything they might have been willing to give on this year (just to take the heat off), they’d do with the full expectation that they’d get it all back plus some in another year or two.
Is it uncivil to hope the renegade senators pick up bedbugs while they are gone?