Having lost the majority in both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature and the governor’s mansion – by the choice of Wisconsin’s voters – Wisconsin’s Senate “Democrat”ic caucus fled the state yesterday to a resort in Illinois, rather than do their job.
In doing so, they disenfranchised a majority of Wisconsin voters.
It is, in effect, a coup-d’etat.
The full weight of law enforcement should be used to round these puling rodents up and haul them back to Madison, first to lose the legal vote on the collective bargaining measure, and then for investigation leading to prosecution for whatever charges the State of Wisconsin gives to those who try to unlawfully seize control of the state’s rightful government and violate the will of the voters.
And WDFL had some heifer from Alma just beaming over this “brilliant move” by her elected rep, another heifer. She continued, “That’s why I voted for her, because she’s for us.”
Funny, this sound bite was taken in a bar!
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/todays-question/archive/2011/02/should-public-employees-belong-to-unions.shtml
Hot Air had a post about Tea Par-Tay’ers in IL smoking the Democrats out of their Rockford ‘resort’ yesterday. Maybe the Tea Par-Tay can crowd source the current location(s) of these folks and have a spontaneous protest where ever they are?
PS: I wonder if voting rights are being violated by the Democrats voiding the election results of last November.
Wisconsin didn’t ask for this, but they’re going to become the site of the new revolution. What happens here, now, will have ripple effects across the fruited plains. The battlefield is Madison.
Is there any longer a question as to which is party of adults and which children? Democrats did the same thing in Texas to stall a redistricting vote. No wonder Barack and the First Klingon think they have to tell everyone what to eat. They’ve been surrounded by immature babies for decades.
Great news! AFSCME is planning on holding Minnesota hostage too.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/02/17/could-minnesota-see-similar-union-fights-as-wisconsin/
The GOP is getting ready to play hardball on the budget in Washington. So Pelosi and Obama are both saying that a government shutdown is a sign of failure.
Except, that is, in Wisconsin, where it’s a sign of success.
Funny that they selected Illinois to hide out, but the state does have a history of being friendly with the Mob. Of course, the Illinois legislature just voted to solve their budget problems by raising taxes, slapping each other on the back while Walker put up “Escape to Wisconsin” signs in the business community.
The Wisconsin dems aren’t hiding out in Illinois – they’re applying for political asylum.
Fear + Hate = The Liberal Left
It’s a toxic combination, and what’s happening in WI, Idaho, Ohio, NJ and elsewhere are rumblings about what is to come when the truly monumental changes to the me-titlement system must be made (social security, medicare)
I believe the unrest in the 60s were a product of fear and hate. Either one alone isn’t sufficient to create significant unrest, but both together will. The public sector pirates, with their “me and me alone” mentality, combined with a hatred of anyone who dares get between them and the public spigot will only get worse.
There is no end to the arrogance of the liberal Dems (anywhere). Do they really expect that the GOP will buckle under from their shenanigans? I willing to make a substantial wager that their gamesmanship is going to backfire on them in the extreme. A pox on all of them!!
Indeed, that is the benefit of what is going on in WI. It’s drawn back the veil and exposed the ugliness that runs deep in these unions. Let’s put aside the happy happy joy joy talk of oh, these are our neighbors etc… Bullpuckey.
Our “neighbors” would care that we’re bankrupt, and that money doesn’t grow on trees, and we can’t afford these cushy public benefits. Our “neighbors” wouldn’t say I don’t give a rat frak, just keep shoveling it to me, and what’s more, I’ll work to elect my fellow-minded pirates to enshrine this cozy arrangement into law, so my “neighbors” are forced, on penalty of law to keep funding this.
There it is now for all to see. This is what awaits us, and you and I and our neigbors have to develop some backbone and stand up to this. This won’t go away with talks of holding hands and cooing at each other. There is a dark dark vein in our society and it is rearing its head now.
Do they really expect that the GOP will buckle under from their shenanigans?
No, they are banking on idiots and liberals (pardon the redundancy) rising up with them to defend The State. Nothing is more important than The State.
Progressive Principle #1: Everything to The State, everything from The State. Mussolini put it into practice and his little buddy from Austria perfected it.
They want your children and your money, and possession is 9/10s of the law. They won’t give back either without a fight.
Now would be a good moment in history to propose tax credits and/or vouchers in the Wisconsin State Assembly. It would be political opportunism at its most naked.
But, it would be delicious irony.
Baloney, gentlemen.
Wisconsin had a modest surplus until they recently went into this current fiscal crisis by giving money they didn’t have and couldn’t afford to corporations as inducements….which look a lot like payoffs for campaign contributions.
Then they tried to make up those generous gifts by taking it out of government employees – except notably for the unions which supported the governor (and who are now uniting instead with the unions facing having their salaries, benefits and negotiating rights gutted). This is partisan politics aimed at attacking traditionally democratic voting groups, not about fiscal responsibility at all.
If they were fiscally responsible they wouldn’t have given away money they couldn’t afford.
I think this is going to work. Mostly because I don’t think Walker and his Republican buddies in the legislature ever quite anticipated this kind of uproar. They over reached – badly. The longer that the Dems can delay in IL, and the more sustained the protests, the more effective the strategy will be.
I think it was a brilliant use of parliamentary procedure by a significant minority – lessons learned from the GOP, to give credit where credit is due, although they didn’t use this particular tactic before. Dems in TX did.
I’ll be surprised if the Dems are back before next week……if then. No matter what a bunch of vigilante tea partiers try to do.
I had to laugh at Congressman Ryan comparing the protesters to those in Cairo. What does that make Gov. Walker – Mubarak? ROFL!
Wait a minute here; the tax cuts are about $100 million, but the projected budget shortfall in Wisconsin is $3.2 billion.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/102748564.html
Dog Gone, your sources are LIARS, plain and simple. How can we have a republic if one party can’t even tell the truth?
OK Dog, which corporations got money from Wisconsin, and how much? Either provide some actual facts or it’s total bullshit from a liberal hack. That would be you.
“If they were fiscally responsible they wouldn’t have given away money they couldn’t afford.”
Doggie only seeing things directly in front of her nose. A useful idiot.
Hey Doggie: WHO DO YOU THINK WAS IRRESPONSIBLE? THAT’S RIGHT…JIM DOYLE AND THE DEMOCRATS, WHO RAN THE STATE BEFORE THE ADULTS TOOK CHARGE THIS YEAR.
So if the Democrats spend us into bankrupcy, then its wrong for the Republicans to take back all those OVERPAID perks?
Idiot, thy name is Doggie.
Kerm: Don’t expect a response. Doggie is too busy preparing for the next talking points memo from George Soros.
One more thing. The average teacher in WI makes $51,000 a year in salary and $38,000 a year in benefits. That’s for nine months of work.
Cry me a friggin river.
As someone else pointed out somewhere, DG, this isn’t like Cairo – it’s more like Athens. Correct me if I’m wrong (and I’m sure you will) but the current governor and lege were not the ones that handed out the goodies.Further, the “sick-outs” and the fleeing to Illinois are illegal and/or in violation of the contract. If the AG is willing to apply sanctions this will fizzle quickly. I think a photo of any teacher at one of the weekday protests will be sufficient grounds for discipline, and when my mother was in the business, abuse of sick-days was a major offense.
And how would the schools deal with students that “walk out” in any type of school protest? You better believe there’d be sanctions on the students from the administration. Why should the teachers be treated any differently?
Whenever this thing gets back to business-as-usual, we ought to encourage the kids to call in sick. The teachers can get paid to stand in an empty classroom and talk to themselves. Might improve the GPA.
Why should the teachers be treated any differently?
Um, the students don’t have a big union that contributes to the Democrat party?
Here’s a good questions for Doggie the Village Idiot:
Why exactly did the Teacher’s Union plan out the protests for Thursday and Friday? Those Democrats were safely parked in Illinois…they apparently are not coming back today. Why?
I’ll tell you why. Because the Teacher’s Extortion Union Thugs wouldn’t have those little kiddies to haul down there to use as pawns. Do this during the week and you have pawns and ponies to trot out. On Saturday? The kiddies will be at home.
Its all about extortion. Its all about using children for their own political purposes.
The one thing that’s been great about this whole mess is how it has clarified things. What have we learned? Among other things:
1. The civil servants of Wisconsin aren’t especially civil.
2. Elections don’t have consequences if public employees don’t accept the consequences.
3. Mrs. Teasdale is a situational ethicist of the first rank. “Brilliant use of parliamentary procedure?” Of all the risible things you’ve written in this space, that’s probably the most risible.
By the way, Minnesota has a much worse problem than Wisconsin does, but we have ol’ Marty Feldman Eyes in the governor’s chair. Don’t we all feel good about that?
That vacant, distant look from the governor; the kind of glare that looks both through you and at the horizon at the same time, is his way of telling us it’s 5:00 O’Clock somewhere.
Those Democrats were safely parked in Illinois
“I hate Illinois Nazis” – Joliet Jake Blues
“And WDFL had some heifer from Alma just beaming over this “brilliant move” by her elected rep, another heifer. She continued, “That’s why I voted for her, because she’s for us.”
Funny, this sound bite was taken in a bar!”
That is Kathleen Vinehout. The teachers unions spent $375,000 on her election last fall. This is in a mostly rural district. She barely won against a very weak Republican opponent. Kathleen is bought and paid for by Big Labor.
Dog Gone. My sister makes $60,000 a year as a teacher in Wisconsin. Plus $30,000 in benefits. She works very hard and does a good job. She could get a part time job over the summer to supplement her income. She has a 4 year degree (no masters or other advanced degrees).
My brother just got laid off from his job in Wisconsin.
I have no sympathy for teachers anymore.
I think it was a brilliant use of parliamentary procedure by a significant minority – lessons learned from the GOP, to give credit where credit is due, although they didn’t use this particular tactic before. Dems in TX did.
Run that by me again? I’m afraid my logical, mathematically trained mind won’t parse that.
Brilliant use of a parlimentary procedure from a lesson learned by watching the GOP act, but performed by the Democrats in Texas…
Yep, refusing to participate in democracy and subverting the democratic procedure is the same as voting on something and losing.
Be careful what you wish for. Where would Obamacare be if the GOP had done this in Washington?
“If they were fiscally responsible they wouldn’t have given away money they couldn’t afford.”
Giving away money? Let me see; if I take less of someone’s money I’m actually giving them money. PFFFFFFFFFFFFT… Tell me what you would equate to be an appropriate amount (%) to take from someone so it can be tranferred to feed the insatiable beast that you seem to champion?
“(and who are now uniting instead with the unions facing having their salaries, benefits and negotiating rights gutted).”
I’ll shed no tears when the extortionists are disemboweled.
Yea, Doggy, it’s all about the kids!
You are stupid enough to come on here and cheer these idiot teachers for proving over the last few days that it’s all about them and their money. They should all be prosecuted for exploiting children and for failing to do their jobs! I won’t even comment on those coward liberat legislators that went into their own witness protection progam in an attempt to stymie the vote. But in your polluted bb brain, you saw nothing wrong with ramming the 2700 page monstrosity of osamacare through the US House and Senate.
You are a pathetic, amoral hypocrite!
“No matter what a bunch of vigilante tea partiers try to do.”
Isn’t that sweet…….Thugs good, but duly elected officials are vigilante tea partiers. That’s morally bankrupt, and shameful!
Dog, go sit by your dish and take your fucking union memo with you.
Thanks.
I think it was a brilliant use of parliamentary procedure by a significant minority – lessons learned from the GOP, to give credit where credit is due, although they didn’t use this particular tactic before. Dems in TX did.
They learned it from the GOP when the Dems in TX did it. WTF?
This sounds a lot like the gibberish that reporter in LA spewed while she was having a stroke on camera.
That cheap gin is gonna kill you, dog; stick with the meth.
“prosecution for whatever charges the State of Wisconsin gives to those who try to unlawfully seize control of the state’s rightful government and violate the will of the voters”
Sadly for you Mitch, this is still a free country and legislators are not required to attend a legislative session. Legislators don’t need permission to leave. Without a quorum The WI Senate does have a vague power to compel members to attend, but no legislator would incur any criminal penalty.
As a parliamentary tactic the walkout is as legitimate as the fillibuster to which I don’t recall you objecting in the last session of Congress.
Legislative walkouts have a long tradition in politics and judging by this seem fairly bi-partisan:
http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2011/02/legislative-walkouts-are-nothing-new.html
Sadly for you Mitch, this is still a free country and legislators are not required to attend a legislative session
Spoken like a true union member, Rick.
Absenteeism and failing to get ones job done is grounds for termination in the real world.
no legislator would incur any criminal penalty.
I’m sure they won’t.
Which is a shame – thwarting the will of the majority by skipping town isn’t a whole lot different than keeping them from the polls with poll taxes and literacy tests.
I know you’d be singing a different tune had, say, the GOP skipped town to dodge a quorum on the vote to socialize healthcare. But the GOP, whatever their other misdeeds, is never that gutless and passive-aggressive.
They’re cowards. Scumbags. Pieces of garbage. Puling rodents. They deserve to be maced and clubbed like common criminals.
But being tossed from office as a bunch of malingering do-nothings is plenty good enough.
Sadly for you Mitch, this is still a free country
As a conservative, I treasure freedom more than I do security.
I rejoice in freedom and civil liberty.
Unlike you, who are apparently all tingly over the negation of an election to support…unions.
You know what matters, Rick.
RickDFL said:
“As a parliamentary tactic the walkout is as legitimate as the fillibuster”
Says RickDFL. I guess we can consider the source. And you link saying:
“judging by this”
So which is it, RightDFL? Is it “as legitimate as the filibuster”, or it is “capital material for ridicule”?
Argument fail.
“You know what matters, Rick.”
“(C)owards. Scumbags. Pieces of garbage. Puling rodents. They deserve to be maced and clubbed like common criminals.”
As long as they are Democrats. What a blotch of pond scum you are. The brave men and women who gave their lives to protect and defend our democracy have just been urinated on by Rick. Bravo, douche bag.
Actually, the Wisconsin Constitution specifies that legislators may be compelled to attend proceedings–I would assume that a judge familiar with the Constitution would rule that–in which case Wisconsin legislators could theoretically be imprisoned for contempt of court.
and I bet that a lot of cheeseheads are hopin’ that the legislators stay in Rockford…. :^)
Mitch:
Being a legislator is not a ‘job’ and you are not required to attend. Your only obligation is to represent your consitituents. WI is not a majoritarian democracy because they have a quorum supermajority requirement.
“I know you’d be singing a different tune had, say, the GOP skipped town to dodge a quorum on the vote to socialize healthcare.”
They did it, is called the fillibuster and I don’t remember you complaining about Senate Republicans thwarting the will of the majority then.
Two thoughts:
1) Mitch should officially make DG a co-blogger here. The comment section here has been limping along at around a dozen or less comments per post this week. Add one risible comment from DG, and voila it’s Christmas in February.
2) They don’t need all the fugitive Dems to come back. All they need is one or two. Set a snare trap with a microphone and TV camera up on a sidewalk in Illinois. They’ll quiver and shake trying to control themselves but finally one will snap and make for the microphone like a moth to a bug-zapper. Truss him up, deposit him in the Chamber and vote.
“Without a quorum The WI Senate does have a vague power to compel members to attend, but no legislator would incur any criminal penalty.
That’s OK, really. Now the question is should they be compensated by the citizens of the state when they refuse to work?
They did it, is called the fillibuster and I don’t remember you complaining about Senate Republicans thwarting the will of the majority then.
Bullshit again. Liberals and Democrats were screaming bloody murder and talking about changing Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster.
Selective memory is a real handicap when dealing with reality, but when you belong to the Party of Children ™ it must be a qualification.
Kermit:
Go back to grade school and learn the rules of pronoun reference. “You” refered to Mitch, not liberals and Democrats.
RickDFL said:
“Go back to grade school and learn …”
Funny, again considering the source.
Seriously, equating a “legislative run-away-and-hide” (“walkout”? ha!) with a filibuster is the stupidest thing you’ve said all week, RickDFL.
Rick…ah, never mind. You wouldn’t get concept if you were wrapped in it.
Troy:
Both a walkout and the fillibuster are ways to prevent the majority of a body from taking action. In effect they are fairly similar.