What Just Happened In Madison?

Yesterday afternoon, the Wisconsin State Senate, tired of dealing with the fugitive Senate Democrats, decided to deal with the union's backbreaking collective bargaining practices by separating out the money issues embedded in the GOP's controversial state bill and vote on the bill. A quorum of 20 Senators is only needed in Wisconsin State politics when financial legislation is being considered. By separating the economic matters from Governor Walker's bill, the state senate was able to continue the state's business in spite of the fact that 14 Democrat Senators (all of the Senate Democrats) had criminally vacated the state's congress, going into hiding in Illinois for the past three weeks (since February 17).

Understand the Wisconsin fugitive senators had abdicated their legislative charge in leaving the state and were no longer involved- legally - in the political process. Sneaking out of state to avoid arrest, hoping to shutdown the state's governance until a recall election could be organized, organizing riotous protests for weeks without end . . . . . these and more are not the workings of a representative democracy. Two days ago, these fugitives wanted the governor to come to the Illinois border and negotiate with them!! Stupid dumb.

Anyway, the passage of the collective bargaining legislation was both legal and three weeks in the making. The notion that this was "crammed" through the Wisconsin Senate is preposterous. Understand that an election took place last November that flipped both houses of the Wisconsin congress, gave the state a GOP governor, took Russ Feingold out of office. The state's Republican are only doing what they promised to do.

I personally applaud the Wisconsin Republicans. They tried to deal with the issues at hand via acceptable process. The Marxist Democrat opposition countered with mob rule. Law, order and due process won the day.

End notes:

Fire and police unions were exempted from the union bill reform, making the claim that this is all about "union busting" a pathetic joke. Understand that the Democrat claim that police and fire unions were exempted because of their support for Governor Walker in the November elections is not true. Of the 300 pulse fire/police unions within the state, only 4 supported Walker. They were exempted because a), they do not radically effect the economy of that state (smaller numbers) and, b), the risk to life and limb is considerably more substantial than with the 175,000 teachers and school staff.