You are getting this as I experience it, so you'll have to bear with me if this post is passionate, angry, biased, and/or filled with typos. Tonight at around 6 p.m., the Republican Senators of Wisconsin implemented a tactic that (although I had realized it was a possibility) I didn't truly think that they would have the gall to implement. As such, the situation in Wisconsin has dramatically evolved, and this may be the first chance that I have to document my emotions and those of my friends, family, and neighbors.
After weeks of stating that the removal of essentially all collective bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin was a fiscal issue, that it needed to be passed as part of the Budget Repair Bill, and that it could not be altered and/or removed from the Bill. After releasing e-mails yesterday that showed that Walker's staff had been in contact with the Democratic Senators in IL discussing potential compromises and stating that they were looking for a resolution to the situation. After all of this, at 4 p.m. this afternoon the Republican Senators convened a special committee to essentially 'cut out' the collective bargaining portion of the Budget Repair Bill and make it a separate piece of legislation. They then claimed that (despite their rhetoric to the contrary for over 3 weeks) this issue was NOT in fact a fiscal issue and that they did not need a quorum to vote on the legislation. The committee then approved this new separate legislation and moments later the Senate voted 18/1 and passed this legislation to strip collective bargaining from Wisconsin public employees. And, as can be imagined, all hell now has the potential to break loose.
The feelings of anger and betrayal that many people in Wisconsin are feeling right now is palpable. After insisting that this was a fiscal issue, after Majority Speaker Fitzgerald stated that they would NOT cut out parts of the bill because all of the aspects of the bill were fiscal, to have them do a complete about-face in the course of a few hours is shocking, infuriating, and leaves me with a feeling of awe at Walker's sense of entitlement and superiority. No matter what your feelings on the bill, about unions, or Walker himself, I can find no way to support these actions. And coupled with the e-mails released just 24 hours ago to show Walker's (claimed) desire to discuss concerns, the statements that he made during the imfamous 'Koch' phone call, I can only conclude that this was actually planned some time ago.
There are going to be legal challenges to the actions that happened today, and I am not familiar enough with the law to know how those challenges will be resolved. But I understand strategy enough to see that the Republican's have potentially put the Democrats in a difficult position when it comes to challenging this 'new' bill. And for that, I have to give them accolades for the catch-22 they have potentially arranged. If the Democrats challenge the separation of this aspect of the bill from the other portions, they almost have to argue that the collective bargaining issue was fiscal, which the Democrats have been arguing against since the onset of this bill fight, and that because it is a fiscal issue a vote without a full quorum is not legal. Requiring that the Democrats change their argument after all of their arguments against the collective bargaining being fiscal is (admittedly) brilliant.
Of course, the Republican's have to explain their sudden 'change of heart' in regards to the fiscal issue as well, but I'm guessing they've already thought of their defense where that is concerned. Also, in order to fight this 'new' bill's passage, the Democrats almost certainly have to return to the Capitol, giving the Republican's the quorum they need to pass the other problematic parts of the original bill, including the emergency changes to Medicaid and sale of state property provisions.
Ironically, if you visit Gov. Walker's website ( he has been posting articles for weeks that outline why (he believes) collective bargaining is a fiscal issue. Yet today, after this new bill was passed, he applauded the separation of this section of the bill as a non-fiscal issue. I'll admit that I'm going to be intrigued to see how (or if) they try to explain this backpedaling in the coming days.
Aa I write this, several friends of mine are in the Capitol rotunda. Although the Capitol building is supposed to be cleared out after the close of business each day (per a court agreement that required protesters that had been sleeping there to leave while also requiring that the governor stop limiting access to the Capitol itself), I have a feeling that there will be no leaving tonight. Originally there were reports that people had essentially rushed the doors and were going in through broken windows, but it has now been confirmed in the press (and through my contacts inside the Capitol) that the police basically didn't close the doors at 6 p.m. and were letting people enter without trying to stop them or force then to leave. There are currently thousands of people in the Capitol.
The Department of Administration states that anyone in the building currently is in violation of the court order to vacate after business hours, but I'm hoping that they are not crazy enough to actually try to make people leave. These protests have been loud, but peaceful, up to this point, but I'm fearful that this last bit of disrespect (and apparent disdain for the intelligence of the people of Wisconsin) may tip things. Emotions are high, people feel betrayed and abused, and Walker's statements have been his typical inflammatory rhetoric. In his statement he said that the Democrats had 3 weeks to discuss the bill and that he supported "the Legislature's action today to stand up to the status quo and take a step in the right direction to balance the budget and reform government".
Tomorrow I intend to go down to the Capitol, and I will loudly but respectfully let my feelings on this political maneuvering be known. Just because something CAN be done, does not mean it SHOULD be done. Politics should not be devoid of honor, and actions by your legislators should not leave you feeling like you have somehow been violated, that you have been dismissed as not being worthy of consideration.
There may be several positive outcomes to this action tonight, and I'm trying to keep these in mind. First, there was a single Republican Senator, Dale Schultz, who voted no on this bill. Sen. Schultz was also the only Republican that had offered any potential compromises on the original bill. This gives me hope that not all Republican's are blind followers. Also, it could be that now that the collective bargaining portion has been 'cut out' of the bill, the other concerning sections will recieve more press coverage and may therefore be more likely to change. Of course, the Republicans could just be high on the power trip from this successful stunt today and even less likely to be open to changing the other portions of the bill. And finally, recall actions and the removal of Republican's from the majority in state governement will probably go easier after this. But I do have to feel sorry for true fiscal conservatives, because Walker's actions these past months have killed most of their hopes to make moderate changes over the next decade.
I will try to post regularly from the heart of the storm here in Madison. Let's hope that the peaceful disobediance that has been the hallmark of these protests continues.
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