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Wisconsin Farce Ending: AWOL Democrats Scramble Back After Republican Senate Finds Loophole To Pass Controversial Bill
And so the biggest farce in US politics so far in 2011 (absent of course from the whole debt [ceiling|target] debate, not to mention the ridiculous budget, but those are topics for another day) is about to come to an end. After earlier tonight the Wisconsin Senate used a "procedural move on Wednesday to pass the proposal without the Democrats present" thereby rendering their three week long self-appointed exile to Illinois moot, "the leader of Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate says his caucus will return to the state, but he won't say when." The loophole used by the Republicans is that in lieu of passing the full budget bill, lacking a Democrat vote for a quorum, they instead formed a
special committee to isolate only the collective bargaining portions of
the bill and passed it with just 19 votes. The Seattle Times reports: "the floor session lasted just minutes, and the state Assembly is
scheduled to take up the measure on Thursday morning. That's the last
step before it can go to Walker for his signature. Senate Democratic leader Mark Miller of Monona says Democrats will
"join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government," but he
refused to say when." In other words, the first attempt at forced austerity in the US is about to be ancted. What happens next will likely not be pretty as it suddenly becomes evident that the whole "cost-cutting" thing that is so popular in Europe is about to really come to the world's most entitled country.
To commemorate ending the Democrats' three week long vacation from , Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald issued the following statement:
After nearly a month of debate on the budget repair bill, nearly three weeks of childish stunts and delay tactics from the Democrats, the longest public hearing in state history and the longest Assembly debate in state history, the Senate met tonight to pass the non-fiscal items in the Budget Repair Bill. Sen. Fitzgerald released the following statement:
"Before the election, the Democrats promised "adult leadership" in Madison. Then a month and a half into session, the Senate Democrats fled the state instead of doing their job.
"In doing so, they have tarnished the very institution of the Wisconsin state Senate. This is unacceptable.
"This afternoon, following a week and a half of line-by-line negotiation, Sen. Miller sent me a letter that offered three options: 1) keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 2) take our counter-offer, which would keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 3) or stop talking altogether.
"With that letter, I realized that we're dealing with someone who is stalling indefinitely, and doesn't have a plan or an intention to return. His idea of compromise is "give me everything I want," and the only negotiating he's doing is through the media.
"Enough is enough." "The people of Wisconsin elected us to do a job. They elected us to stand up to the broken status quo, stop the constant expansion of government, balance the budget, create jobs and improve the economy. The longer the Democrats keep up this childish stunt, the longer the majority can't act on our agenda.
"Tonight, the Senate will be passing the items in the budget repair bill that we can, with the 19 members who actually DO show up and do their jobs. Those items include the long-overdue reform of collective bargaining needed to help local governments absorb these budget cuts, and the 12 percent health care premium and 5 percent pension contribution.
"We have confirmed with the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Reference Bureau that every item in tonight's bill follows the letter of the law.
"The people of Wisconsin elected us to come to Madison and do a job. Just because the Senate Democrats won't do theirs, doesn't mean we won't do ours."
And for those inclined to read what laws actually pass in this country, below is the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's summary of the passed bill, while the actual 138 page bill can be found here.
2011_03_09 Modification to SS SB 11_AB 11
h/t John Poehling
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I have to admit, the only exposure I get to this Wisconsin stuff is here. And man, you guys going at each other is a roll.
Ah, you should visit up behind the cheddar curtain and enjoy the dairy air. :-)
Lived there some several centuries ago. Cold doesn't quite describe it. I'll stay in the sunnier, warmer climbs.
Unless you're I mountaineer I believe you meant "climes."
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/climes
Hey Democrats!
We won.
Get over yourselves.
We = Billionaires
Congrats.
Waaaaa......Waaaaaa.....Waaaaaa
We=KOCH WHORES.
Koch underwrites PBS programming among other things. I guess that makes Bert and Ernie their whores as well.
Hey Democrats!
We won.
Get over yourselves.
Anyone who is still cheering for teams Red or Blue hasn't figured out what the real game actually is.
But I do like the cat.
Cat's funny.
^ got that write...erm...right...wait...
+1
False left vs right paradigm.
When will the sheeple eve wake up and realize the real fight is the special interests (whether they be union thugs, wall st thugs, MIC, etc) VS the People?
My guess is never.
When will the sheeple eve wake up
I walked into the barbershop the other day and sat down. Guy in the chair who I never met before was bitching about the economy, the banks and the Rothschilds. I said, "The problem is there isn't any liberty or freedom in this country anymore," and everyone in the house let out a cheer. A couple of the guys were about eighty so the cheer was a bit raspy but spirited nonetheless.
Regular folks do get it. It's just that nobody knows what to do about it.
So, the right thing (limiting unions' power) is being done for the wrong reasons (furthering the destruction of the middle class and creation of permanent debt-serfs).
I hate unions, and I would be more than happy to see them outlawed. But I think everyone needs to open their eyes and see that the stated motives of fiscal prudence are, at best, a thin smokescreen for the real "make the rich richer" motive.
It's time to take the country back from ALL special interests, including the monopolizing rich and the metastisizing unions.
Limiting the leeches in goobermint destroys the middle class. Interesting theory.
Hmmmm. Do the Banksters pay the unionists wages? That's new. It IS an interesting theory.
Doesn't the government work for the banksters?
I need a betting sheet for all this stuff.
You are focusing on a very narrow issue, just as the union-busters on the right want you to.
People who will shout you down are likely focusing on an equally narrow issue, just as their union-boss tools on the left want.
Both sides are picking the carcass of the middle class private-sector worker, they are just doing it from opposite directions.
Yes, many government employees are paid much better, counting benefits and vacation, than their private sector counterparts. A lot of this is due not to increases in their real wages, but substantial declines in the real wages (including benefits) of the private sector.
But, by all means, do the bidding of those who seek to enslave you.
+1
Well said.
+100. Amen Brother...
Unions have already been removed from the private sector, and the results are there for all to see.
Exploding corporate profits, coupled with stagnating wages.
This is what you want, because you're a corporate whore.
I'm still waiting for you to send me a check. I've gone to all the trouble of not providing you a service and like a hypocrite or a Wall Street shill you haven't paid me.
Send the check request to Jamie Dimon - I've got enough problems filling up my gas tank.
After all, he owes you for all that fellatio, anyway.
When did anyone limit the leeches? The TBTF hogs are still feeding at the trough.
There is a trend in this image. As if they were at odds, it is almost as if two of the lines mirror one another. http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1993/437555310201145105am.png
look the socialist ponzi needs to implode; and I would start with gobernment workers.
they will drag this out until the Squid has fully feasted, and then it will be game over
these entitled gov workers are not doing god's work, so they will get stiffed sooner rather than latter
and arm yourself, as these zombies are likely to try flagerant expropriation locally
March 26, 2011: Anti-zionist, anti-banker Revolution comes to... London?
http://www.cveitch.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO9JHgttoUo
Citizen calls for Brits to stop paying mortgages, stop feeding the banks March 26.
Calls for solidarity from Americans.
He can count on this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UskdzE8_Sc
Max Keiser's take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyVGdC7RoY#at=81
Now we're rolling, the Jew hater is here.
mother of all legal battles coming
corruption of the third branch of government to be exposed for all to see
All the wasted time and effort on the piddly junk. The real issue is at the base of the system. Our Education system is a total failure.
Only in your case.
Only a product of American public education could believe that it's been successful.
See: "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America," free on scribd. Take a look at what people like John Dewey, father of American public education, actually thought about the purpose of public education. It isn't education, it's conditioning. How strange is it that socialists will point out correctly (though they don't really understand the issue) that the government is owned by and for corporations, yet they somehow believe that public education and other social services are for the benefit of the people? What, Wall Street cronies can be in control of Treasury, Defence, and Commerce but somehow the Department of Education is offlimits? ROFL...idiots!
In exclusive 19 sec video clip Wisconsin democrats voice speaks out their objection to republican legislative end round.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfXdaE7ph_I
An ACLU like organization to deal with financial and government entities?
One can hate the banking cartel and still disagree with the demands, and even the existence, of public sector unions.
Private sector unions negotiate with management in a certain spirit of cooperation, because it is understood that if costs get too high, the company goes bankrupt, or is subverted by a more efficient competitor, and everyone loses. In the public sector, unions do not negotiate in good faith because they don't care about insolvency. They use union dues to simply elect politicians who will raise taxes and always demand more, more, more. There is no end to it because there is no point at which management can make the case that further concessions will hurt both parties. The public sector unions do not care who they hurt, as long as they get theirs.
In short, fuck the banking cartel, but fuck all public sector unions as well (private sector unions are another story entirely).
Absolutely correct, Juggs.
Ditto!
hhhh
[]
Well Gov. Fascist Walker will now be in the history books alongside all other fascists.
Glass-Steagall makes Walker's cuts moot, but when does reality ever come into play with fascist fucktards?
I would say go to hell fascist TRAITOR, but you seem to enjoy such company already.
But at least now Wisconsin's can get a good look at the fascism that is running rampant within the tea party (brought to you by Brawndo)...it's got collective bargaining rights cuts.
Bet you won't vote fascist again. If you do, you're a fucking idiot.
But I guess we should let the fascists have their moment in the sun. Because all you fascists are about to lose.
Gov. Mubarak Walker, enjoy your seat at the head of the bankster buffet table.
Invoking the word taxpayer does not make him more right. It just makes Walker that much more wrong.
I thought Walker was the main course.
you ARE A FUCKING idiot . . .
take all your fascist nonsense and shove up it up your ass
I would suggest the same for you.
Walker's thuggery knows no bounds or respects any laws. Let him know that invoking the magical word "taxpayer" doesn't make a bad concept correct. It just makes him that much more gone.
Waiting for 3 weeks for a vote is thuggery? The democrats' propaganda cries about the people of Wisconsin not wanting this is utter crap. The day I'm allowed to boycott taxes and get away with it is when I excuse the democrats for a blatant circumvention of demcratic process. The simple fact that the democrats were gutted in November's elections is a testament to how fed up people are with government spending. If the republicans make good on deep spending cuts and not just shuffling the money around, the people of the state will love them for it.
Perhaps you can try a better argument.
If it was so good, there wouldn't need to be any cloak and dagger by Walker's men. Nor would you have to violate the law. Excuse Walker's thuggery all you want, but you are on the wrong side of history.
They could have simply deemed it passed. Well within the law.
Explain to me how cutting spending is a benefit to me, you, or anyone else? Are you thinking that reduced spending will equate to a tax reduction for the average taxpayer? What are you going to do when your taxes go up? I'll be real surprised if spending even goes down. They'll just transfer it from the workers to the top 20%. Where were all you morons in 1994? I was up to my eyeballs in the republican revolution and the contract with America, which turned out to be the contract on America. I helped a congressman and a senator get elected, both republican. Liars like Rush and Beck were pushing the same BS then that they are pushing now. I have a flash for you yeniuses, taxes and spending went up pretty much every year after the great republican landslide in 1994. If you don't like the public school system you might want to thank King George the second. He came up with this no child left behind crap. He increased the spending for education too. Oh, I about forgot he and the republicans passed the bill that repealed debt forgiveness in bankruptcy for the average guy. Only the wealthy get that little perk. If the republicans are running the same scam as they did in 1994 they'll run a loser for Pres in 2012 like the did with Dole in 1996. You see the republicans don't want to stomp the demos, they want to steal all your money to give to their rich bosses, they want to lower wages so their rich bosses make more profit, and they want to ship your job off to China so their rich bosses can make more money selling cheap Chinese made crap to Americans. The same people promised us a cap on spending, a reduction in illegal workers, and protection for consumers from the banks. Obviously none of it happened.
You boobs just got taken like we did in 1994. One more thing, that old power suck Gingrich is trying to take the credit and elbow his way into the front of the line again. Bwahahah
No. Voiding contracts is thuggery. Contracts are SOOOO sacred to fake Capitalists ... until they're not anymore!
As is having the PIGS forcibly remove citizens from the legislative office.
the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.....
the problem with banksterism is that you eventually run out of taxpayers....
the wealthiest may pay 43% of all personal taxes but they receive 86% of its benefits....the marines don't fight for poor ghetto children.....they fight for banksters and oil.....
I'm still trying to figure out why the cheeseheads use wood for their sign posts.
Now that's entertainment!
The dems should dial up 1-800-waaaaah.
If so many are unhappy with the governor and the legislative process-- why don't they just recall his ass. It doesn't sound like a good situation for anyone.
He can't be recalled yet. It takes a year of service.
The bankers steal the billions and leave us peasants to fight over the millions. Perhaps those union workers should mosey on down to the Fed and find out why money that could have went to them was extracted for the past two years in Pomo premiums. It is much better to divide the masses over the crumbs I suppose.
When will middle America see this all begins and ends with the banking cartels and the politicians on both sides who enable and enrich them.
Education of the sheeeeple is only to follow the leading.....Baaaaaah!
+ 100
Fifty Cairos Now !
"Does this mean I have to go to school tomorrow, Mommy?"
I believe that what I'm seeing on ZH is the breakup of the coalition that brought such a diverse group of political malcontents together and it is following an old, old script. The Leftists and Marxists on ZH are attempting their usual take over routine by hammering the language into their Kantian framework and shilling it over and over until others leave or give up.
Thr Righists are clawing back with, "So's yer ol' man" and we are left with crumbs for facts and an amalgam of Libya/Stalin/Palin/Freedom/Paranoia/Wisconsin, etc...
Leftists: Give up your copies of Northern Neighbors, all right? You still don't apologize for Stalin and Mao. You read Shawcross' _Sideshow_ but you wouldn't be caught dead reading his followup, _The Quality of Mercy_. SHAME!
Rightists: Quit arguing last hour's Leftist's Points. The purpose (Remember "Civility"?) was to get you to play "Mullet" and just jump in the fisherman's net. It works so often against you guys it's no longer even funny. Pass your laws, move on and hope it all works out.
ZH may be done. The masks are coming off and the real agendas of people are now coming to the fore. Just as if it was pre-ordained.
CW
Thanks!!!
Edit: I think you meant "were"
hey tyler get a clue as to some of your facts.
1) corporate taxes are at a record low as a percent of GDP
2) corporations are sitting on lots of cash
3) we just passed tax cuts for the rich
yes we have to end the insane nature of some of these handouts. I know them well as a town of 50 thousand where the police chief makes more than the NYC police commissioner. But, lets be clear, it has been the gutting of private worker wages and benefits, plus less taxes on those who hold the most influence via their outright purchase of american government that is making these cuts necessary. Two 10 year long foreign wars, a financial crisis caused by the very people who are getting the most out of government and aren't in jail.
We must never forget that these budget crises are largely the making of poor government and financial terrorism.
Yes there are other factors, and cities and states must learn to live within reasonable means. But this article ignores the other major factors in america's death spiral
The Empire Strikes Back.
Mahatma Gandhi's seven deadly sins, which he said would destroy us:
wealth without work;
pleasure without conscience;
knowledge without character;
commerce without morality;
science without humanity;
worship without sacrifice;
politics without principle......
Yep....we're fucked
Unions have been the bane of the US economy for most of my lifetime, and their infiltration of the public sector is nothing short of sinister. Teacher unions have done more to destroy public education in the United States than any other factor, and we now have "dumbed down" schools which cannot meet needs.
at times, just need to junk for stupidity.
+1 to TexDenim
Unions have clearly denigrated U.S. education...As outgoing Chicago Mayor Richard Dailey (Democrat) said last week that he asked Chicago teachers to take an additional 15 minutes a day out of their 30-hour work week to help struggling children in their classes, and the Teachers Union said, "No way." Now THAT is the essence of GREED !
Anybody notice that Obama's kids attend a PRIVATE SCHOOL in Washington D.C. Even the President does not believe public education is good for his family.
Amen to that!
BOzo talks the talk but wouldn't let a unionized teacher within ten miles of his kids. It's disgusting how two-faced that clown is. One termer for sure, I truly hope.
Maybe the bootlickers, and lap dog Repukelicans and Tea Baggers of the Koch brothers will call off the storm troopers ( I mean state troopers) now that mien fuherer Walker has burned down the Reistag and blamed the unions.
Ah but alas, wait to see if Walker is indicted for his comments to the prank caller with hard evidence of Walker violating his oath as governor. If they dont get him on his the tea baggers will be sent packing on the next election. Hopefully the boot lickers wont sell of the state parks and lands to the KOCH brother before that happens.
I'm no democrat (or republican either anymore), but I want to see the fed closed down and bankster criminals on the perp walk before I would EVER condone this assault on the working class. Irrespective of the union boss corruption - which should be quashed, there is simply too much collateral damage to the honest worker. If this sham of a system ever turns around, non-financial sector labor will be thrust back to the 19th century.
It's time to angle all the red herrings once and for all.
Fuck you too, asshole.
Make them the working class, and they will demand the perp walk, instead of going along to get along.
Public sector employees are bribed to keep the corrupt system going. As long as they get their's they won't care. Time for them to feel the pain of the private sector.
Public sector employees already have a union, it's called one person, one vote. What you don't understand is that public sector unions are not organizating against the government, they are organizing against the public sector which pays their salary, their medical care, and their retirement.
Wisconsin union leadership sounding off on 9th hour republican manewver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfXdaE7ph_I