Democrats on the run in Wisconsin avoided state troopers Friday and threatened to stay in hiding for weeks, potentially paralyzing a state government they no longer control.
The party's stand against balancing the state's budget by cutting the pay, benefits and collective bargaining rights of public workers is the boldest action yet by Democrats to push back against last fall's GOP wave.
But the dramatic strategy that's clogged the Capitol with thousands of protesters clashes with one essential truth: Republicans told everyone unions would be a target, and the GOP has more than enough votes to pass its plans once the Legislature can convene.
The 14 Senate Democrats left the state Thursday, delaying action in that chamber on a sweeping anti-union bill. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who was among those who fled, said Friday that the group was prepared to be away for weeks, although he would like the standoff to end as soon as possible.
"That really, truly is up to the governor," he told The Associated Press in an interview Friday at a downtown Chicago hotel. "It's his responsibility to bring the state together. The state is not unified. It is totally torn part."
Erpenbach accused new Republican Gov. Scott Walker of trying to rush the legislation, calling the governor's style "dictatorial" at times.
All 14 lawmakers planned to meet somewhere near Chicago to discuss their options, said Erpenbach, who said he had not spoken to any Republican lawmakers since leaving.
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The party's stand against balancing the state's budget by cutting the pay, benefits and collective bargaining rights of public workers is the boldest action yet by Democrats to push back against last fall's GOP wave.
But the dramatic strategy that's clogged the Capitol with thousands of protesters clashes with one essential truth: Republicans told everyone unions would be a target, and the GOP has more than enough votes to pass its plans once the Legislature can convene.
The 14 Senate Democrats left the state Thursday, delaying action in that chamber on a sweeping anti-union bill. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who was among those who fled, said Friday that the group was prepared to be away for weeks, although he would like the standoff to end as soon as possible.
"That really, truly is up to the governor," he told The Associated Press in an interview Friday at a downtown Chicago hotel. "It's his responsibility to bring the state together. The state is not unified. It is totally torn part."
Erpenbach accused new Republican Gov. Scott Walker of trying to rush the legislation, calling the governor's style "dictatorial" at times.
All 14 lawmakers planned to meet somewhere near Chicago to discuss their options, said Erpenbach, who said he had not spoken to any Republican lawmakers since leaving.
Read more
4 comments:
These cowards should be fired for thwarting the will of the people. Who do they think they are?
This is what happens when you let too many Public (i.e., Government) Sector employees unionize. The Public Sector was created to provide services to the Private Sector. NOT the other way around.
I hope Wisconsin gets Reagan gonads and fires them all. I also hope we are able to do the same to Liberal elected officials that literally hide to avoid facing the obvious.
They need to grow up and do the job they were elected to do.
Teachers are who are teaching our kids. They are twisting our morals on these kids, they are twisting the constitution and want kids to think the way they do. They are there to make all kids Democrats.
Teachers are no longer there for kids, they are in schools for their selfish little selves. Their ego's are unreal and they have more rights than a factory worker, more time off than most Americans and think they deserve everything.
We cater to teachers now not kids in schools, and they have no standards really... There are some good teachers swamped by a bad system...
FIRE THEM ALL, Firefighters cant protest take off, Cops cant protest take off, Air traffic are not allowed. WHY wont OBAMA step in on these idiots like Carter did?
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