As Brian notes, the Wisconsin Senate Republicans have passed an amended version of the budget-repair bill by a vote of 18-1 (wobbly GOPer Dale Schultz fell over).
It’s a Stage Five political cliche to say of your opponents that they “rammed through” a piece of legislation. But in this case it’s especially stupid. “Ramming” implies resistence, like a running back taking the ball up the gut and into a defensive line. But you can’t ram it through a defense that’s not even in the stadium. If anything, the Republicans floated the bill through. Positively waltzed it.
There’s already a lot of crowing about the Republicans using an amended version of the bill to get around the 3/5 quorum needed on fiscal measures. But the Wisconsin legislature’s nonpartisan version of the CBO/CRS — the Legislative Fiscal Bureau — gave the maneuver a clean bill of health, and I’m sure a GOP lawyer or two checked the subsections and clauses twice and thrice for good measure.
As for the quote from Matt Miller. . .
Thanks to this bill — which doesn’t touch any of the civil service protections afforded public workers, nor any private-sector unions — public sector workers will have a choice over whether to join a union. Thanks to this bill, public workers who elect not to join a union won’t be forced to pay dues anyway. Thanks to this bill, elected officials won’t be negotiating away taxpayer dollars with the people who finance their campaigns. So, naturally, the Democrats call it the the undoing of fifty years of “civil rights.”
The beauty of this is the irony inherent in parliamentary procedure.
"Take that evil, awful collective bargaining part out of the bill and we'll compromise on the pay and benefits numbers!" shouted the Dems.
SO....they did. (smile) And passed it all by itself.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd the emails released over the past day show Walker tried to negotiate with the Dems. And the Dems blew it and ended up with egg on their face.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAny time Union leadership is mad, that means it's good for the rest of us! Amen.
The great Gaylord Nelson is weeping...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseExcellent point Hope!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWilson put the ball in their court and they didn't want to play - nicely done.
Hurray! This Illinoisian just might have to wear a cheese head hat in honor of my new friends to the north!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWomen, children, and minorities will suffer the most.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBen Murphy - what a tired cliche. Everyone knows thats fiction and the words from sore losers who have gotten away with gaming the system for years. Get over it man. Time to man up and all that.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt will be interesting to watch union leaders in WI explain to their rank and file that they left all the concessions Walker was willing to make on the table because he would not give up the ban on compulsory union membership. They were less interested in "workers' rights" than they were in the union's own income stream. Have to preserve those mid-6-figure leadership salaries plus benefits, bonuses and perks so that leaders have the freedom to rail against the "greedy rich."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKnow the union members can finally go home, wherever that may be, and the capitol be cleaned and repaired at tax payers expense. Everything with these unions is at tax payers expense.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGood news that the WI Senate passed the bill, but do they still have the votes to pass it again in the assembly?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWomen, children, and minorities have been suffering mightily because of the public sector unions.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBen - you forgot kittens, puppies, baby rabbits, baby ferrets, baby goldfish and baby unicorns.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis potential victory over fiscal insanity calls for some (unsubsidized) Cowboy poetry (Apologies to Ned Washington for messing up his lyrics):
(Tune - High Noon)
Do not forsake me, O State Senate
On this our voting day.
Do not forsake me, O you darlins'
Move it along.
The noonday train might bring more trouble.
If you're a man you must be brave
And we must face Wisconsin unions
Or lie as cowards, as craven cowards,
And find our budget troubles grave.
O to be torn 'twixt ease and duty
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseS'posin' we lose our political beauty!
Look at that big hand move along
Once more high noon.
The 3/5 quorum rule applies to any bill with fiscal implications. Governor Walker has argued that this legislation is necessary precisely for its fiscal impact. A visit to his website shows a four-part article entitled "Collective Bargaining Has a Fiscal Impact": External Link
Either Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans have been lying that stripping collective bargaining rights is a fiscal issue (which would seem consistent with the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's clean bill of health) or Walker is right and this bill did not meet quorum rules. This would seem to be a case of either lying or union busting for its own sake.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseShort term victory...for long term disaster.
On the heels of his dropping poll numbers (Rasmussen had him in the mid-40s), it's going to look like a "trick" and give fodder to the idea, since financial matters were stripped from the bill, that it was what the liberals claimed it was about..."union busting".
Pyrrhic is the word that comes to mind, unfortunately.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Short term victory...for long term disaster."
Long term disaster for democrats.
For walker - it means a bigger victory in 2014, just like he enjoyed every time as Milwaukee County executive - where he was warned that all his tough stances would lead to disaster.
As for the walker recall in 2012, the powers behind this - obama's OFA and the unions - will be too busy worrying about Obama's reelection in 2012 and trying to hold control of the US senate in 2012 than worry about blowing millions of dollars losing a recall election in Wisconsin.
The dems lost. All that is left now are the temper tantrums you see going on in Madison now - which will only hurt the democrats.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBeware the ghost of Terry Schiavo.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTHIS IS SO HUGE. IT WILL NOW SNOWBALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND STATES THAT WISH TO REMOVE THESE UNION THUGS AND THEIR ENTITLEMENT AGENDA FROM UNDER THE GOVERNMENTS WING AND PROTECTION.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFreedom is never easy. I am glad to see such courage with the Wisconsin GOP. May God protect them and our great country.
This is a Watt's Riot rerun, I fear. It is going to get ugly, especially if there is an illegal national strike.
Will Dear Leader soothe the masses tomorrow with his trusty teleprompter and words of wisdom? Fake outrage at the riots and the lack of police protection? The fact that unions and fleebaggers are impeding democracy and policy? Or real outrage at the GOP (where his anger usually centers). I am reading that firefighters are driving ambulances around with sirens on,no security at Capitol building with possible collapse of walkways inside the rotunda, doors being handcuffed closed by rioting students, union thugs and old hippies... don't know if this is true. Meanwhile, Michael Moore has elected himself spokesman for union workers. What could go wrong?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAll you liberals who are ranting - if you had read the piece by the good law professor from Northwestern University, who is quite familiar with the Wisconsin Constitution and its meaning, you would have realized that the split out piece on collective bargaining is NOT "fiscal" as that term is defined in that Constitution. Scott Walker may have been wrong about the law, but he is right about one thing - the power of these unions is excessive and must be reduced for the sake of state budgets. So it is union-busting, for a very good reason. The party is over, boys. If you don't like that fact, well, as Barack Obama said, "that's what elections are for."
But, good luck with all that. After this wretched performance by 14 cowardly runaway anti-Democratic senators, I think the voters of Wisconsin - and thinking voters around the nation - are going to hand the anti-Democrats another drubbing in 2012. They have no standing to complain about process or anything else. They have no credibility about budgets, either.
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