Wisconsin Republicans decided to use some spending chicanery to bypass the quorum short-circuited by absent Wisconsin Democratic Senators. Now the anti-union bill goes back to the Assembly.
It was not the first time that either party used legislative chicanery to pass a bill: but this one stinks to high hell.
Senate Republicans quickly assembled in the Senate and passed the bill by stripping it of any spending provisions, allowing them to effectively bypass the quorum needed to convene. The move apparently surprised the Assembly members, which are now expected to vote on the Senate’s bill before sending it to Governor Scott Walker for final passage.
The reality is that no one should be surprised that the Senate Republicans used such a tactic: they no doubt had a team of lawyers looking for the most iron-clad way of passing the bill without Senate Democrat presence. One ray of hope is that this tactic might be illegal and thus void, according to ThinkProgress.
According to the Chicago Tribune, after Republican Senators passed the bill, ”a group of about 150 protesters jammed the Assembly foyer on Wednesday evening, debating whether they should occupy the space indefinitely. They had written the phone number for the American Civil Liberties Union’s local chapter on their arms, ensuring they could call a lawyer if they were arrested.”
What is troubling in all of this is that Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans have simply ignored the protestors, ignored the Assembly and Senate Democrats, and operated unilaterally.
If the state labor unions had any will, they would go on strike. Their ability to collectively bargain is gone (unless the Senate move is found illegal), but let the Wisconsin Republicans see what it is like when the policeman, the fireman and teachers decide not to show up to work.
And after that is done, Wisconsin voters should seriously consider recalling Governor Scott Walker for his actions.
[Image via AP]
March 10, 2011 at 4:33 pm, Bill said:
They wwere voted into office by a majority. The dems were voted OUT of offices by a majority. They wanted change, well now they have change. What they did was perfectly legal and in the books. Period. No one lost any jobs here – the union lost some money, and state workers have to pay more for THEIR retirement like we all do.
March 10, 2011 at 4:34 pm, john charles webb jr said:
The WMD is to fire all Government Employees who walk-off their jobs and screw the citizens of Wisconsin :
Chess Game
the issue is >>> Should people employed to run the government have the power to paralyze the democracy (?) by walking off the job ?
and then pick-our-pockets by demanding more …… ? I think of all the times i waited for service @ the DMV .
I am a friend of labor , but NOT SO MUCH when it comes to the bargaining rights of government employees .
So much power in the hands of so few (mafia bosses of unionized labor) to call for a strike against a Governor with no balls :
.
March 10, 2011 at 4:36 pm, john charles webb jr said:
DJ Pangburn , thank you for presenting this issue :
fair and balanced reporting is the goal :
March 10, 2011 at 4:36 pm, Anonymous said:
Not that fleeing the state to avoid a vote is a dirty trick. Republicans finally decided to jump in the mud and get the job done.
March 11, 2011 at 1:18 pm, Backnny1 said:
yep. and governor Walkers 60% disapproval rating proves how “happy” Wisconsonites are of his actions.
March 12, 2011 at 2:39 pm, dkw said:
Hey, if you said 40% approval rate, I’d have believed you. As it stands, no one measures a politician by a “disapproval” rating.
What crazy sideways math made that figure?
March 11, 2011 at 1:13 pm, Backnny1 said:
that is exactly how coorporations want us to think. they want us to think that unions make too much money when it is acctually the rest of us whom are making too little money. they want to give us the bare minimum while increasing each individuals work load. the gap between production and wages has been dramatically increasing. the top five percent of the wealthy have fifty percent of Americas wealth. America is not broke the money is just being contained.
March 11, 2011 at 4:09 pm, Joel C Staley said:
Trickery? Chicanery? What about the Democrat senators that skipped town denying a VOTE by democratically and duly elected officials? How quick these words come from the media in reference to Republicans, but when Democrats deliberately try to thwart an important VOTE, not a DICTATE as the protestors claim, but a VOTE of fairly elected officials, then instead of being accused of trickery or chicanery, they are lauded as being noble and brave. The media are guilty of either gross incompetence or being complicit with the Left’s agenda. It’s disgusting and shameful either way.
March 11, 2011 at 5:25 pm, Backnny1 said:
What you dont seem to get is that those who voted for these democratic officials are proud of what they did, the ones who voted republican and follow their agenda to a T are the only ones disappointed by the actions of the democrats. What about the republicans the past two years and their record setting breaking use of the fillibuster. they did what they could to get a bill thrown out, and so did the democrats.
March 11, 2011 at 5:25 pm, Backnny1 said:
What you dont seem to get is that those who voted for these democratic officials are proud of what they did, the ones who voted republican and follow their agenda to a T are the only ones disappointed by the actions of the democrats. What about the republicans the past two years and their record setting breaking use of the fillibuster. they did what they could to get a bill thrown out, and so did the democrats.
March 12, 2011 at 2:37 pm, dkw said:
We PAY those Democrats to form an opinion and cast a vote.
I fell for those Dem Senators. Really. If they vote for the bill, their labor union overlords who dump MILLIONS into their campaigns will cut them off, and they’ll be unable to run for reelection. If they vote against the bill, the people of Wisconsin will not vote for them again and they will not be reelected.
The solution WASN’T to run away and refuse to do their job. Bravo to the reamining Senators, who figured out a way to keep the shop open.