In the wee hours this morning, legislators in Madison Wisconsin had a vote. After 61 hours of debate, they moved to vote. By a vote of 51-17 they sent a bill to Gov. Walker that will significantly reduce the collective bargaining powers, read extortion capabilities, of the public sector unions. Naturally the Democrats were not happy that debate was finally closed off and a vote called. But 61 hours? That seems to be far more debate than Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid allowed over Obamacare before they rammed it down everyone's throat.
I wonder if the missing Democrats will now run back to Madison? Their strike has failed to stop public union reform. And besides, they have to physically collect their paychecks and no Democrat likes being cut off from the public trough.
And surprise surprise, the first comment on the UPI article is from a progressive-socialist named MarcusMACV. And Marcus fails to bring anything worthwhile to the discussion, instead he attacks the intelligence of Gov. Walker and then ends with a tirade attacking former VP Dick Cheney. He obviously feels we are too stupid to know what is good for us. What a way to win friends and influence people Marcus. Not.
2 comments:
Don't get ahead of yourself. The "assembly" in Madison is the lower chamber of the legislature, i.e. the house of representatives. The bill now goes to the Senate where it is still stymied by the missing Dems.
The nuance in the process here is that the rule requiring a 20 member quorum in the Senate only applies to "fiscal" bills. The inclusion in the funding bill of the collective bargaining provision makes that operative.
Now, if the stripped the collective bargaining out they could pass that as a stand-alone piece of legislation without the 20 member quorum. Since the unions already agreed to the funding cuts, there would then be no reason for the senators to remain absent or to oppose the fiscal bill!
This isn't done yet.
Thanks for the clarification, I guess joy preceeded due dilligence. Plus still waking up while reading the news.
Lets hope it sails through.
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