The report begins: "Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate dropped a threat on Tuesday to deny 14 Democratic counterparts the right to vote in the chamber because they fled to Illinois last month."
The 'Wisconsin 14' democratic state senators return to a hero's welcome at the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, 03/13/11. (photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Wisconsin 14 Won't be Sanctioned by GOP Senate
15 March 11
epublicans in the Wisconsin state Senate dropped a threat on Tuesday to deny 14 Democratic counterparts the right to vote in the chamber because they fled to Illinois last month.
In an e-mail sent late Monday to his 18 Republican colleagues, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald claimed the 14 Democrats were still technically in contempt and that any votes they made in standing committees would not be counted.
"They are free to attend hearings, listen to testimony, debate legislation, introduce amendments, and cast votes to signal their support/opposition," Fitzgerald wrote, "but those votes will not count, and will not be recorded."
But on Tuesday, Fitzgerald and Senate President Mike Ellis backed off that claim, which the Democrats, who collectively represent about 2.2 million Wisconsin voters, had blasted as "the height of arrogance."
Andrew Wellhouse, a spokesman for Fitzgerald, reiterated the claim that the 14 remain in contempt, and a resolution of the Senate was needed to lift it. But because the Senate is not scheduled to reconvene in full session until early April 5, that will not happen any time soon.
So in the meantime, all the penalties the Republicans slapped on the Democrats in an effort to get them to return to the state, which included $100-a-day fines and a ban on their ability to vote, have been lifted, Wellhouse said.
In late February, the 14 Democrats fled Wisconsin to Illinois to deny their Republican counterparts the quorum they needed to pass the anti-union bill. In response, Senate Republicans held the Democrats in contempt and then used a legislative maneuver to pass the measure without a quorum.
The 14 returned to the state late last week and were greeted as heroes by the estimated crowd of up to 100,000 people who protested the measure in Madison on Saturday.
The protests came after Republican Governor Scott Walker signed into law the measure, which imposes sweeping new limits on collective bargaining for public sector workers and has sparked a national debate over labor relations.
Walker has said the bill, which sharply limits the union rights of public workers and requires them to pay more of their health insurance and pension costs, was needed to help the state close a $3.6 billion budget deficit over two years.
Reporting by Jeff Mayers and James B. Kelleher; writing by James B. Kelleher.
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I wish the Republicans had tried to pull that off — at least their open disenfranchisem ent of 2.2 million Wisconsin voters of representation would have been "open," and it would have invited a continuing rain of wrath from the Wisconsin electorate.
But the mere flaunting of the Republicans' consideration of such an egregious act of political hostility has to remind those in Wisconsin — and the rest of the nation alike — that the Republicans are hell-bent on using their elected positions to undermine democracy and set the stage for a permanent Republican majority — just like W. Bush, Karl Rove and the neocons tried to do for eight years.
The Republicans are always trying to get people to believe they are the ideological embodiment of the forefathers, so the appropriate symbols for the effort to recall these impudent, audacious. scorched-earth thugs should be a pot of tar, a bale of feathers, and long rails — THAT'S what the forefathers would have done.
Thanks for the needed humor, Cpl. Pierson-although like all good satirists your not that far from the truth.(See 80's policy in Central America.)
Simple vocal opposition on the floor of the state capitol would have accomplished nothing.
Others may disagree with their reasoning or their conclusions, but it does seem to me that theirs was an act of conscience.
Really? You must surely know that the US Senate Republicans set all-time records filibustering almost every piece of Senate legislation since Obama became president — bringing the legislative process TO A HALT.
The Wisconsin 14 were protecting the rights of their constituents and ENSURING AS BEST THEY COULD THAT THE WILL OF THE MAJORITY WOULD PREVAIL ON THIS ISSUE. The majority in Wisconsin is AGAINST the actions of Walker and the Republicans on this issue. The electorate does not abdicate its will until the next election.
Walker and his crony Republicans assaulted democracy by putting the will of the corporations over the will of the people, making THE VERY PURPOSE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AN ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY. In addition, he purposefully misled and misinformed the electorate, and a knowledgeable electorate is fundamental to a democracy.
WALKER broke the budget (with his corporate tax give-aways), not the public unions. His efforts to turn Wisconsin into a banana-republic plutocracy SHOULD SHAME US ALL, or at least every Republican — the REST of us are only ashamed that Republicans call themselves Americans.
Walker stepped outside his role as a governor and leveraged his office to play politics to break the unions - AFTER they made budgetary concessions. The democrats played politics right back - touche! - and did everything in their power to protect the rights of their electorates.
Now we see comments like yours that are essential saying "How DARE the Democrats not follow specific protocol when we Republicans are trying to crush the little guy! How dare they go rogue when we go nuclear!" So remember your concern for parliamentary procedure when the whole Republican cynical circus is challenged in court. And by the way, I find it laughable that the same Republicans who now are getting their panties in a wad about the "illegality" of the Democrats' walk-out have no concern whatsoever about the illegality of the Iraq War, torture, giving no-bid contract power to Walker in Wisconsin, etc. There's character for ya.
They essentially 'taught' the Democratic members of the WI assembly to use such tactics ....
"Fascism should rather be called corporatism, as it is the merging of government and corporate power." --Benito Mussolini
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