Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

09 Mar 2011 21:32

tags

Politics: Flashback: Scott Walker, circa three weeks ago

  • The bottom line is we are trying to balance our budget and there really is no room to negotiate on that because we’re broke.
  • Governor Scott Walker • After making this statement, he tried to negotiate, then stripped all budget-related provisions from the bill. Think about this next time Walker says, well, anything. source

09 Mar 2011 21:22

tags

Politics: How Wisconsin Republicans were able to pass the “budget-repair” bill

  • They removed the “budget-repair” part. The reason the Democrats left the state to begin with is because Wisconsin’s upper chamber can’t pass any fiscal bills without 3/5 of the members present, according to Senate rules. With the Democrats missing, Republicans lacked that 3/5 quorum, and couldn’t hold a vote. So, they simply stripped all fiscal provisions from the bill, eliminating the need for a 3/5 quorum, and passed it that way. What makes this extraordinarily slimy is that Governor Walker has insisted from the beginning that the bill’s purpose was to fix the state’s fiscal situation. Now, he and the Wisconsin GOP are implicitly admitting what everyone’s known all along: the bill wasn’t about fixing the budget. It was actually about busting up the unions. Good luck spinning the PR, Walker. You’ve done a bang-up job so far. source

02 Mar 2011 23:11

tags

Politics: Wisconsin Democrats attempt coup-by-recall

  • yes Wisconsin Democrats have filed papers to recall several GOP State Senators, hoping to flip control of the chamber to the Democrats and block Governor Walker’s union-busting bill
  • eight Republicans in Wisconsin’s upper chamber are now at risk of losing their jobs (Wisconsin law states that officials must serve for a year before being eligible for a recall) source
  • » This just in: The Democratic Party has grown a spine. At least the Wisconsin Democratic Party, that is: They’re supporting a grassroots effort to recall eight (!) GOP State Senators. If at least three of them are recalled and replaced by Democrats, control of the State Senate will flip, and Scott Walker won’t have the votes for his anti-union bill. The gambit might work, too, as several of the Republicans in question won election by very narrow margins, and would by no means be guaranteed survival in a recall. Union powerhouse SEIU has thrown their weight behind the effort, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the AFL-CIO does, too. This already-big story is getting huge.

18 Feb 2011 02:03

tags

Politics: Fleeing Wisconsin Democrat posts amusing update on Facebook

Be right back!
You know how a bunch of Wisconsin Democrats just fled the state in order to thwart the Governor’s anti-union bill? Well, one of them just posted this on her Facebook. We like your style, Lena. source