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Wisconsin House Passes Budget Reform Bill; Senate Democrats Block Vote, Blame Republican for holding things up

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Wisconsin Democrat Jon Erpenbach is a real piece of work; he flees his job as an elected representative of the people of Wisconsin’s 27th Senate district and blames the state’s Republican governor for his absence! And as he holds up the business of the chamber to which, I repeat, he was elected, he says the governor is the one responsible for the delay.

This is just rich:

Erpenbach, who was in the Chicago area, said all 14 [Democratic] senators remained outside of Wisconsin.

“It’s not so much the Democrats holding things up,” Erpenbach said. “It’s really a matter of Gov. Walker holding things up.”

Amazing, just amazing.   The cheek of this guy.  He demands the elected governor of his state yield to his demands or he won’t participate in the legislative process.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin House approved the governor’s budget plan while left-wing protestors have taken over the public areas of the state capitol, creating suck a ruckus  “pounding on drums and chanting . . . loudly that police who are providing security have resorted to ear plugs.”  If these guys were Tea Party protesters, we’d hear an earful about their antics disturbing the peace!

Oh, and these union sympathizers are overnighting on public property.

(The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel headlines its article on the vote, “Budget-repair bill approved in early-morning vote” whereas Yahoo! headlines the AP piece, “Wis. Assembly passes bill taking away union rights“.  The Wisconsin paper reports that the “61-hour debate that was the longest in living memory.”  “Democrats offered more than 100 amendments”.  He cites a diva to make his point:

Democrats launched a filibuster, throwing out dozens of amendments and delivering rambling speeches. Each time Republicans tried to speed up the proceedings, Democrats rose from their seats and wailed that the GOP was stifling them.

Doesn’t seem like the governor is demanding his “own way” as one of Erpenbach’s colleagues put it.  Instead, his  package must first pass through the legislative process.  That said, the Wisconsin House Republican leadership should have been more sensitive to their Democratic colleagues when calling the vote and made clear they knew they were voting on final passage.

Still, this is a step in the right direction.  It’s too bad truant Democratic Senators are preventing an elected legislature from doing its job.

UPDATE:  Seems I was a bit hasty in saying Republicans should have been more sensitive to their Democratic colleagues.  The minority party stretched the patience of those elected to run the Wisconsin House to the limit.  The AP, Sonicfrog writes, “altered” its “story to make the Republicans look bad.”  He cites a diva to make his point:

Democrats launched a filibuster, throwing out dozens of amendments and delivering rambling speeches. Each time Republicans tried to speed up the proceedings, Democrats rose from their seats and wailed that the GOP was stifling them.

“The Democrats,” Ann Althouse writes, “were playing games and the Republicans decided to play one of their own.”  The Democrats were trying to gum up the works and whined when Republicans tried to speed up a long-drawn out operation.

UP-UPDATE:  Ed Morrissey has fun with Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller’s statement that Governor Walker has “got to realize there’s more to leadership than just demanding your own way“:

Er … like stamping one’s feet and fleeing the state, with the minority refusing to participate and do their jobs unless Walker makes changes to a bill that would easily pass the legislature?  That kind of “just demanding your own way” is exactly what the minority caucus has been doing for over a week.  If Miller wants to negotiate, the state of Wisconsin has a forum for that: the legislature.

Comments

  4. The longer the fleebaggers stay AWOL, the worse it becomes for them. The fleebaggers are obstructing government by not participating in their jobs. I hope the people of Wisconsin, Indiana, & any other fleebagger Democrat either recalls them or votes them out in the next election.

    The Wisconsin House did the right thing; they have the votes. Likewise, they have the votes in the state Senate. Blackmail will only backfire on the fleebaggers, the Democrat Party as a whole, & President Obama, although he pretends to wash his hands of it all.

  6. AP headline manages to invert what’s going on: “Wis. Assembly passes bill taking away union rights”.

    No, actually. How about:
    – “Wis. Assembly passes bill saving State from bankruptcy”
    – “Wis. Assembly passes bill ending union stranglehold”
    – “Wis. Assembly passes bill making unions accountable”

    All of which would be more accurate. The more easily since the bill doesn’t actually “take away union rights”, it only ends forced/involuntary collective bargaining in *some* areas.

    But hey, there’s no media bias.

  8. Are You serious. At 5am I typed Wisconsin house passes, skimmed the name of your site looking for news, and I’m reading a contorted mess. I feel so sorry that you think tea party rah rah and unions are terrible. Either You, your family, or someone you know has benefited from the protection of a union in history. You expect 2 days off and a 40 HR work week to be normal? Are you the slightest excited when wages are raised in your industry? Or more health benefits are added and addressed? Unions.

    Do none of you remember reading about the triangle shirtwaist fire? And the benefits of union uprising to protect us common man?

    Please get educated. We pay taxes. We ARE the taxpayers. We aren’t stealing from ourselves with this benefit. Don’t let them brainwash you these changes were put into effect for a reason. If you want corporate America do it for yourself to take rights away and always protect the small business for capital, you are hurting yourself and family – because I promise you.- if You any 6 year old who has played monopoly can tell you- it is simply impossible for us all to own Amex Plum Cards.

    By the way. It is totally ignorant to say that gay and conservative values can’t jibe. I know that. But everyday I get so mad watching the Republicans act like gay rights don’t matter. And when I go out with my war paint yelling at the top of my lungs for equal freedoms for my family and strangers alike, I never feel I’m doing enough. Its hard to see the picketing of other issues I guess when you can see how unreasonable that side is for rights and equality of not only gays but workers, women, and African Americans through the years. History repeats itself. 🙁
    I hope at least we meet across the aisle that we want equal rights. I have never heard so many voices banded together to TAKE AWAY rights. AND FOR PROFIT.(How would you feel if these were rights your ancestors worked for?)hope Wisconsin families pull through whatever the outcome.

    Peace. Have an awesome weekend.

  9. @ ilc.

    Union strangle hold and bankruptcy? Wolf in sheep’s clothing. If you can’t see that he is unwilling to negotiate concessions for ulterior motives then you definitely vote for your party and not the issue. – he didn’t even want a temporary idea that could stave off hurting union rights. He is collectively working with other goberners. Which means he must stick with this grandiose plan- its bigger than his constituents and right and wrong and God forbid Ethics- he cares half as much about the budget as he does being monumental breaking down unions in the the union birthplace.

    You heard his conversation. He sounds 100% legit to you? Honestly. If so, I know why you “love capitalism” and you are oblivious to truth. God have mercy on your souls at the pearly gates.

    Can you spell Koch-whore?

  12. Came back for true discussion. Just realized this blog has the same commentators over and over and no real depth. Just 1-2 liners that have a dash of hate. No deep thought or conversation is present here for intelligent political stimulation.
    Too bad the developer wasted all that time and money for an empty thread.
    The site itself is actually composed well.

    Goodbye.

  13. Union strangle hold and bankruptcy?

    That’s right.

    he is unwilling to negotiate concessions for ulterior motives

    That is a highly condensed conclusion. As it leaves out all the intermediate steps that got you to it, I have no idea what you are talking about. If (note IF) you mean to have a conversation here and not just spew propaganda, you’ll have to detail what in hell you’re talking about.

    Ditto for most of your statements (which, therefore, I won’t re-quote).

    You heard his conversation. He sounds 100% legit to you?

    That’s right. Can you prove otherwise?

    you definitely vote for your party and not the issue

    Registered independent here. Ex-longtime-Democrat; after finally seeing through the Democrats, it is likely that I will never again join any party.

    Kindly try “not making sh*t up” about me.

    Can you spell Koch-whore?

    Sure, Lauren. K-o-c-h-w-h-o-r-e.

    There. Now: What does it have to do anything? If you just want to play a game, I can play it with you. Like this, Lauren. Can you spell Soros-whore? Can you spell Left-wing-nut-job? See, like that.

  17. Lauren,

    While your post is not as over the top as some recent visitors, I have to ask this.

    Should a Union cut off a limb in order to postpone the inevitable? Unions may have done a great deal in the past, but so did the Pony Express.

    Mother Jones herself said that the Unions have two enemies they must watch for. The corporations and their own leadership.

    Also we are talking about government unions. If a union’s ‘job’ is to protect their workers from oppressive bosses, are we then assuming that we, the people, are oppressive and corrupt?

    A public employees union is different than a private union. A private union doesn’t lobby for a CEO or campaign for a CFO.

    If this bill is so bad (and it’s a piker compared to Issue 5 in Ohio, which I do support and hope Gov. Kaisich stays strong), then surely in a civilized world, the Democrats in in the senate currently hiding in Illinois would do the adult thing, protest their votes, then run on the reprecussions of their actions.

    Unfortunately we don’t have adults. We have children. or addicts worried their fix of union cash will dry up.

  18. The chuztpah of these guys is amazing. Like the guy who murders his parents and then claims mercy cuz he’s an orphan.
    about 20 years ago the Menendez brothers did that here in CA, now our elected officials are doing the same.

  20. Chutzpah, for me, is exemplified by serial killer Randy Kraft, who was pulled over by the police with the last victim in his car — dead — and photographs of 37 previous victims in the backseat of his car, who went to his execution still proclaiming his innocence.

    There is at minimum a touch of the sociopath in every politician. They believe they can get away with anything. And they believe that other people are less-than-human.

  24. Either You, your family, or someone you know has benefited from the protection of a union in history. You expect 2 days off and a 40 HR work week to be normal? Are you the slightest excited when wages are raised in your industry? Or more health benefits are added and addressed? Unions.

    I forget where I read this, but a commentor on one of the blogs I visit rightly pointed out what a non-sequitor this line of reasoning is. I’m grateful for the influence and legacy of the Magna Carta, but this doesn’t mean I submit to everything the landed aristocracy believed in; I’m grateful for the abolition of slavery, but do not agree with everything the Republican Party stands for; I agree with FDR and Doug Wilder, the former whom opposed public sector unions and both of whom strongly opposed collective bargaining by such unions, but trust me when I say that in no way does this mean I agree with either of them on everything. I could go on and on with such examples but I believe you get the point. The unions are flat-out wrong about this and their greed is helping to bankrupt cities and states with trillions of dollars of obligations they cannot possibly meet.

    I get so mad watching the Republicans act like gay rights don’t matter.

    As do I. Ditto for Democrats who stand with them publically or in private. Both parties have exploited gays for a couple of decades at least. In a generation or so I expect this will lose any political clout it once had. Certainly gays are much more accepted now than at any other point in US history to date.

    And when I go out with my war paint yelling at the top of my lungs for equal freedoms for my family and strangers alike, I never feel I’m doing enough. Its hard to see the picketing of other issues I guess when you can see how unreasonable that side is for rights and equality of not only gays but workers, women, and African Americans through the years. History repeats itself.

    Thank you for your efforts but I for one do not subscribe to the stale Democrat schtick of victim groups trading favors by agreeing to work for issues they do not necessarily agree with or have anything to do with them. To make it more relevant to recent news events: union support for gay rights I agree with is welcome but doesn’t change my mind that public sector unions are wrong and must be neutered lest we saddle the next generation with a debt they cannot possibly handle.

  28. Either You, your family, or someone you know has benefited from the protection of a union in history.

    My grandfather was a lineman with Southern Bell. As a supervisor, he had to work during strikes because somebody had to. After all the tires on his car were slashed, once, he would sit up at night with a shotgun making sure his home wasn’t vandalized again. He also had a habit of sharing his money with his friends who got basically squat from the union. It infuriated my grandmother, but he did it anyway.

    So no, we don’t benefit from union thuggery. Especially when they destroy businesses, increase the costs of businesses, run protection rackets, launder money for democreeps and push jobs overseas.

    The “union lable” is now “Out of Business” signs and it doesn’t do us a damn bit of good.

  30. 40 HR work week… health benefits… Unions

    I skipped over that because I recognized Lauren as a troll. But let me state particularly now, that that it is false.

    Capitalism (or economic development, under freedom) is what enabled those things. Not unions. Unions never enabled/created anything. They only either ratified progress that the market was already making… or they held back progress.

    As I’ve said before and will say again: If the union is backed by force of law, then it can raise total real compensation above what the market wants to pay. In that case, it destroys jobs.

    Think about it. The company gets tons of value from its 1st desperately needed welder, but very little value from its 50,000th welder. If a moderate and/or legally weak union serves to ratify the free-market wage of (say) $15/hr on a 40-hour week plus certain benefits, the company will hire plenty of welders from the market until that last one is worth the market rate. Say the company hires 20,000.

    Now suppose that an aggressive, government-backed union can effectively dictate a wage of (say) $30/hr plus generous pensions. The company must then either go bankrupt, or cut back on its hiring until that last welder it hires is the one who was worth $30/hr plus generous pensions. Say the company cuts back to 8,000 welders. Congratulations, union! You just destroyed 12,000 jobs. You caused unemployment.

    In all cases, the company creates a productive livelihood for workers. The union does not.

    In the best scenario, the union passively ratifies what the company would pay anyway under market conditions. In the worst scenario, the union actively holds back progress and CAUSES UNEMPLOYMENT. Most real-world are something in between; still no net gain.

    So Lauren, there you are. For yet another reason here, kindly stick it.

  33. Troll.

    Well lets just say this troll loves being protected. I work for an amazing airline with an amazing machinists union and have been way more protected than colleauges from different carriers with weaker or no union support. Our rights work hand in hand with our company needs and our employees are extremely happy. Love our jobs. And one of the top reasons is the union.

    And why hasnt anyone been kind enough to address 150million in corporate tax cuts by walker that got wi in this mess.

    Please.

    You are all brainwashed.

  34. Um, Lauren, the issue in Wisconsin is public employee unions. So, when you saw your “rights” work in hand with your company needs, you’re dealing with a company that has to survive in the marketplace competing against other companies. Should it fail, it won’t have enough money to pay you, hence incentive to do well.

    All that said, can you make your points without insulting us? I laugh when I read your use of the left-wing insult de jour and call my defenders (and presumably myself as well) brainwashed.

    Think about it for a second, ok? You use a standard left-wing insult unrelated to the actual argument of the blogger or substance of the various commentary and assume we’ve all been brainwashed to toe a certain line.

    The cheek.

  36. And why hasnt anyone been kind enough to address 150million in corporate tax cuts by walker that got wi in this mess.

    Already did. As I documented a couple of days ago, the tax cuts were blowback from all the tax increases Democrats have put in place over the last four years. What brought Walker to power was a Tax Revolt.

  37. Well lets just say this troll loves being protected.

    Of course you do, hon. A person always does. Always. But: *Do you merit it?* I bet you rarely consider that question. Perhaps you do, but based on your behavior here, forgive me if I’m skeptical. And: *What about all those jobs that are being destroyed, to pay your generous “protection”?* I bet you never consider that question, either.

    And before you lodge any language objection (“troll”), Lauren, remember this: You were the one who marched in here to call people “whore” and to call this blog a “hate” site. Which you’ve now topped with other things. While pretending that in doing so, you somehow want “a real conversation”! LOL 🙂 Well, you’ve got one. In a real conversation, Lauren, people tell you the truth and several people here have now certainly told you the truth, about Wisconsin and other things. I’m sure you don’t care to hear it.

  38. In WI, fringe benefits cost more than in other places – nearly as much as the teacher’s salary:

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164290717724956.html

    They cost 74 cents for every dollar paid in salary. In private firms, they cost 24 cents on average for every dollar paid in salary.

    Why so much? In part, because the union (the WEA) is also in the insurance business. Yes, you read that right. It acts as a provider of benefits. Through mandatory collective bargaining on benefits, it gets itself cozy, sweetheart deals in which it (the union) is paid for its workers’ insurance… and paid alot.

    WI *cannot* balance its State and local budgets without ending that costly corruption. It is why any budget repair deal in WI must restrict collective bargaining to the question of WI employee salary/wages. And it is the real reason why the WI PEUs (Public Employee Unions) are fighting so hard.

  39. And note how when Lauren finally returns, she can’t even address points made to her.

    She talks about how her union ‘protects’ her from the company.

    So tell me Lauren, why do public employees need ‘protected’ from the American people?

  40. I work for an amazing airline with an amazing machinists union and have been way more protected than colleauges from different carriers with weaker or no union support. Our rights work hand in hand with our company needs and our employees are extremely happy. Love our jobs. And one of the top reasons is the union.

    I used to work for one of the legacy carriers. We had free EMPLOYEE representation. No thugs, no forced elections, no intimidation, no forced dues funneled to radical liberals etc. and we were extremely happy, loved our jobs and DIDN’T ADD COSTS to destroy the company as had happened twice before.