One interesting fact is that the Wisconsin Senate Rule relied upon by Republicans was in fact drafted by two of the Democrats who fled to Illinois, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal:
Senate Rule 93 says that when the Legislature is in special session, "A notice of a committee meeting is not required other than posting on the legislative bulletin board."--------------------------------------------
That's the rule Republican leaders are citing in their contention that one of the votes leading up to passage of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial anti-union bill was legal.
One ironic footnote: The rule was written in 1983 by two of the Democratic senators who left Wisconsin last month to avoid voting on the bill, Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, and Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison.
The two were among 14 senators who fled to Illinois to slow down the bill, which Walker and Republican leaders were fast-tracking through the Legislature.
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What is bothering me today are comments I have read opining that the WI Republicans do not have the vote to re-pass this law. If that is true, then we can assume that they also don't have the resolve to chase this up to a higher court so this could get bogged down in court long enough to render the bill pointless.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have any information confirming or refuting this? So far, the only one I've seen with spine to carry the fight is Gov. Walker and he is being subjected to heavy criticism by pundits like Ann Coulter for failing to follow-up the vote with a campaign blitz to dominate the narrative.
Come on, everyone knows that its racist when Republicans follow Democrat rules. Fascists!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't really blame any WI Republicans if they decide to flake out. I think this entire situation is going to escalate until someone gets killed. They need to send in the troops. If Jefferson was alive he would say, "This is what I've been warning you about!"
ReplyDeleteI can blame them,and will. They are elected to do a job, and if they find themselves unable to withstand the pressures or threats to their safety that it poses, they should resign immediately. There are issues at stake here that far transcend any state legislator's sense of well being- like the rule of law and whether the government is answerable to the voters who elect them, or to violent mobs. The increase in active threats makes it all the more important that they stand firm and show that such vicious behavior simply will not prevail.
ReplyDeleteNo one drug them into office, they actively campaigned for it. It may not be the situation they wanted or anticipated, but its the one they've got. Boo hoo, such is life. They need to man up, or get out of the way for someone who will.
Ah, the law of unintended consequences strikes again!
ReplyDeleteI too can and will blame the WI Republicans if they flake out. Don't start something you aren't willing to finish. If the Colombian supreme court wouldn't knuckle under to Pablo Escobar when he killed nine of them in one bombing and if the Colombian government wouldn't knuckle under him either when he murder 3 of the presidential candidates, these guys can should find the courage to stand up to out own thugs. If they can't, they should resign.
ReplyDelete