Madison gone mad: The Wisconsin followup

Made me laugh, too.

 

Sure it is. It's the people who make less than State workers who are the most worked up by their salaries & benefits.

 

They couldn't even clean the Capital building which is one of the most beautiful in the nation.

What's the current estimate of the dollar cost of the damages done to the building?

They could have easily left each night and returned in the morning.

 

And the people who have taken colossal hits to their income over the last few years don't exactly take to well to the sense of entitlement the state workers have. In this economy with the number of people that are unemployed, not showing up to work doesn't endear them to some people either.

 

AP says the Wisky 14 are coming home.

 

Cleaning up the Capitol? LOL ... from a story March 4:

http://www.wisn.com/r/27087388/detail.html

MADISON -- Department of Administration officials who initially estimated that cleaning the Capitol from the protests would cost $7.5 million said Friday it might cost less.

... At a news conference Friday afternoon, Secretary of Administration Mike Huebsch said the cleanup cost could range from $347,500 to $7.5 million.

Don't sully the conversation with these ridiculous red herrings.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy 12 bananas, which will cost me anywhere from $2.50 to $54.

 

They're off until April 5?

Who do they think they are? Only schoolteachers get that much time off.

 

Interesting you point out that the protesters are mostly white. Kind of a non-point since Wisconsin is an absurdly white state to begin with.

 

It's Capitol.

 

Stupid facts, getting in the way.

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/mar/08/mike-huebsch/wisconsin-officials-claim-cleaning-state-capitol-w/

 

Now that the collective bargaining aspect has been passed separate of the rest of the budget (and therefore not requiring the Democrats to be present), what reason is there for the Democrats to stay away? They'll trudge home sooner rather than later, realizing that, despite a willingness to play hardball that Democrats so often lack, they got outmaneuvered.

If the Democrats in Wisconsin are serious about recalling Walker and the GOP senators, they'll need to be prepared to spend tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars on non-stop TV ads from now until the recall election, if it happens, takes place. They'll need to get on the Sunday talk shows. They'll need to deliver snappy, powerful, provocative soundbytes that articulate the same consistent message, and they'll need to keep doing so over and over and over again.

In short, they'll need to do what the Republicans and their allied interest groups did during 2009 and 2010, particularly after the health care bill passed. The next time Democrats have the nerve, flair and message discipline to do that will be the first time.

 

Exactly. Just because "your side" is in the minority doesn't mean its voice is silenced until it happens to win an election again. Our voice isn't confined to Election Day. If people don't like what those in power in doing, they're allowed to speak up, no matter how dumb and ill-informed they might be.

Also, there are all sorts of legislative checks and balances in place to prevent (in theory) a tyranny of the majority. It just so happens that one in Wisconsin (and Indiana, and a few other states) is that you have a minimum number of legislators present for a quorum (budget issues only in Wisconsin's case). If you don't feel like the majority is listening to you at all, you have the option to beat feet, whatever the consequences may be. Certainly, Republicans can use that option, too. (And did once, in Indiana, in a fight over redistricting).

As for Walker and Kasich and the like, what they're doing is very Obama-esque, in that they're trying to get through anything and everything on their wish list as soon as possible, because they know full well that in two years they are not going to have the majority they need to get it done then. It's a calculated risk, because you might end up paying a big price politically if the voters decide you've gotten too far ahead of them. And part of that price might be thousands marching in the street.