The last time Democratic legislators fled their home state they we’re trying to thwart Tom DeLay’s corrupt redistricting plan. This time they’re from Wisconsin:
As government workers flooded the state Capitol to protest, Wisconsin legislators were tripped up in attempts to vote Thursday on a game-changing law that would force public employees to pay more for pension and health benefits while limiting their union’s power to negotiate.
Police officers were searching for Democratic state lawmakers who had not shown up for a vote on the sweeping legislation, and one Democratic lawmaker said he and his colleagues had left the state.
Sen. Jon Erpenbach told the Associated Press that he and his fellow Democrats hoped to force negotiations over the Republican-backed bill, but he would not say where the group had gone. The state Senate Democrats did not show up when they were ordered to attend a midday vote on the legislation. Though Republicans hold a 19-14 majority, they need at least one Democrat present to vote.
The bill is “tearing the state apart,” Erpenbach said.
Those Democrats should probably spend the next two years in exile. It’s getting crazy out there.
I’m totally on board with the principles of this matter… I just wish I had the faith that the Union Leadership was and is working all above-board for the interests of their rank-and-file.
As shown by the Teamsters and AFL-CIO in the past, this is not something that should be blithely assumed as true, and I’ll be up-front and say that I really don’t know how things are in Wisconsin with their Union leadership and rank-and-file.
the Dems are probably doing the only sane thing: refuse to show, and, without a Quorum, the measure cannot come to vote. I just hope the protests might possible force some resignations, or at least some Investigations of the bozos who proposed this odious legislation, that might lead to charges or resignations…
i think it’s hilarious, but on point.
Those Democrats should probably spend the next two years in exile.
what would happen if they did? if the senate never had a quorum, then they couldn’t pass a budget and the state would shut down, forcing a layoff of many of those unionized employees.
don’t get me wrong, i think the walk out is great. i’m just afraid that in the end the governor ultimately holds the trump card. unless the stunt can somehow change the minds of some GOP legislators or governor, eventually the dems will have to come home.
I was joking.
yeah, i understood that. it’s just that whenever i get involved with a walk-out, my first question is: if this doesn’t resolve which side has more to lose?
in the short term, this is a win for the dems. they stop the walker plan from passing. but they also stop everything else. and eventually wisconsin will have to pass a budget. if walker realizes that the dems can’t stay out that long without hurting the same people they are trying to protect, that gives him an incentive to wait them out rather than dealing with them.
on the other hand, if WI teachers are on strike and close the schools while this goes on, that’s going to piss off parents across the state, in dem and GOP households. so that could end up backfiring on walker.
Even some of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers (and former Packers) are speaking out on this issue.
Based on what I know of Wisconsin and Packer fans, that may actually be an important piece of news.
It appears the new WI guv is behind much of the union busting rhetoric. Lots of good links here at The Capital Times
more at Campus Progress
<snip>
From Madison, local ABC TV news is estimating a crowd of 25,000 at the capital this afternoon:
25,000, eh? Wisconsin National Guard? I’m stocking up popcorn, this may develop into something very interesting.
And a note to Madison police officers, you might want to consider standing in solidarity with your union brothers and sisters in this. If you don’t… guess who will be next?
Wanna take bets on how long it will take President Obama to nationalize the Wisconsin guard after the governor calls them out?
Whatever takes place, its “interesting times” indeed.
the police, firefighters and state troopers are exempt from this onerous bill…a situation that kevin drum over at mother jones finds interesting.
moreover, the union busting isn’t the only thing at stake here. this bill is a full frontal assault on a whole host of teagger and ratpublican targets:
like tarheel points out below,…If Walker gets away with it and busts the union, it is bad news for states in which public employee unions don’t have as much public support.
wait’ll redistricting lands on the table, they may have to flee to canada.
“the police, firefighters and state troopers are exempt from this onerous bill”
As the Zen master once said, “Wait and see”.
Cue the conservative complaining about these protests yet the steadfast belief teabaggers are upstanding patriots in 5,4,3,2 ….
The Wisconsin Democratic Party executive thinks that Walker is being coached by Mitch Daniels (the budget genius) and that there are several other GOP governors watching to see what happens. Wisconsin is a one of the stronger union states in the country. If Walker gets away with it and busts the union, it is bad news for states in which public employee unions don’t have as much public support. Ths Wisconsin Democratic Party executive also said that there were demonstrations in Green Bay, Lacrosse, and some other cities that had brought out several thousand in each place. Not all of the action is in Madison.
TPM reports that some of the Dem Senators are in Rockford, IL. These guys should take some time to go to other states to rally Democratic legislators there. Make some good use of their time away from the Senate. However, it takes only one turncoat to break the walkout. I wonder who the weakest Dem Senator in the Wisconsin legislature is. Some folks should help him or her find the necessary backbone for this fight.
I’m beginning to think that corruption might be a winning issue in 2012. Folks are getting tired of their tax money going for shenanigans and stunts.
Interesting fact about Wisconsin’s budget for 2011. It will have a surplus and would have had a larger surplus were it not for the tax cuts that Republicans have already slammed through the legislature.
Look familiar?
Kasich tried a similar, but less klutzy maneuver. Ohio public employees are taking to the streets.
Watch to see what happens in Hoosierland; Mitch Daniels has been all over teachers unions for years. Now they might find their voice. If Wisconsin is Tunisia, Indiana is Egypt.
Oh, by the way. Folks have asked for this to go viral.
“Ich bin ein Cheesehead!”
Mitch got rid of the state employee union contracts a couple of weeks into his first term and I don’t recall there being a whole lot of fuss made over it at the time. Now he’s full-court press on the teachers. He has an entire GOP general assembly to toady for him here as well as the Wisconsin jerk does up there.
I was happy to see the Packers stand up. After their recent success, their fans are probably ready to follow them anywhere. I have some friends who are really rabid Packer fans, so I’ll have to pass on the “Cheesehead” thing to them. I think I recall seeing a similar sign at their establishment, last I was there.
Then watch for non-union teachers and other public employees in Indiana to start getting active. Even the nonunion folks are beginning to feel pushed around too much.
The “Ich bin ein Cheesehead” slogan is in solidarity with the Wisconsin public employees.
In other words, is there a period in WI law that if a legislator fails to perform his/her duty, he can be declared absent and a special election ordered?
The enforcement of that period is probably limited by how many hundreds of thousands of people are in the street, and how many pitchforks, torches, and ropes are available.