Wisconsin Democratic Senators Have 'Pretty Much Given Up On The Governor'

WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin's public employee unions have agreed to cuts to their health care and pension funds, and a moderate Republican state senator has offered a compromise that would temporarily, not permanently, strip their collective-bargaining rights, but Gov. Scott Walker (R) refuses to budge on the latter issue. Now, state Senate Democrats say they're done with Walker and seek ways to work around him.

"We had a Senate Democratic caucus last night, and we've pretty much given up on the governor," said state Sen. Jim Holperin (D). "I think this is a governor who is a very stubborn individual and maybe does not understand fully the collateral consequences of his stubbornness. So we've decided to refocus on the people we believe may be flexible to some degree, and that's Senate Republicans. A lot of those Senate Republicans have been around a long time, and I think understand the gravity of eliminating rights from people."

Holperin and Wisconsin's other Senate Democrats remain in Illinois, a move that prevents their Republican colleagues from reaching the quorum needed to move forward on budget bills like Walker's. So far, Democrats said, Walker has ignored all their calls and requests to meet together.

State Sen. Dale Schultz (R) recently introduced legislation intended as a compromise, which would temporarily bar public employees from bargaining collectively but would restore those rights in 2013. Holperin declined to say whether he supported that bill but called it "a reasonable idea that merits additional discussion" -- though, as he noted, the governor has vowed to veto such a compromise bill.

Democrats, public employees, and even groups like the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce have expressed frustration that Walker and some Republican legislators have tried to pass the governor's bill with what they say is too little public review.

The original GOP plan was to introduce the bill Feb. 14, hold a public hearing the next day and hold a vote two days after that.

Another provision in the budget-repair bill calls for restructuring state debt, which would save $165 million for the remainder of the fiscal year, but only if it passes no later than Saturday. Walker has warned that if the bill is not passed by then, public workers may start getting layoff warnings early next week.

Comments

[Philclock]

08:18 PM on 03/01/2011

"A lot of those Senate Republicans have been around a long time, and I think understand the gravity of eliminating rights from people"

T'ain't eliminating rights from PEOPLE, it's negotiating contracts with UNIONS.

HUGE difference. 

This argument's between UNIONS and Wisconsin. Unions will do ANYTHING to retain their power, and their stranglehold on workers.

[trismeg]

10:36 AM on 02/25/2011

What an argument in defence... your gonna have to wait a year to kick him out of office. really? Not an argument in favor of the actual issue at hand but a nener nener nener to an opposing view. Perhaps your memo was sent out late about adult conversations. Now son, go sit in the corner till you have something pertinent to add. If your can't do that I'll spell somethang wrong so you can jump at the chance to correct yet another useless item.

[MosesMa]

11:40 PM on 02/23/2011

You can sign a petition to start the recall process: http://www.change.org/petitions/recall-scott-walker

[thirdcloud]

08:11 PM on 02/23/2011

Its not that Walker does not understand fully the collateral consequences of his stubbornness He doesn't care which is why Wisconsin resident's should begin the recall campaign now. He is acting in self interest only and putting the national conservative agenda in front of the interests of the residents of Wisconsin.

Walker said it himself, "My sense is, hell. I'll talk. If they want to yell at me for an hour, I'm used to that. I can deal with that. But I'm not negotiating."

Republicans are going to shut the federal government down anyway. Republican leaders have openly declared their hostility to compromise because they know that their support base, unlike moderates or even liberal Democrats, oppose compromise and as a matter of self interest and preservation the writing is on the wall, Republican’s will shut down the Government. Keep your eye on the political ball, here comes the shutdown; Tea anyone?

http://lawscout.blogspot.com/2011/02/heres-why-republicans-will-shut-down.html

[leonel]

06:39 PM on 02/23/2011

Look at his beady eyes. He is on tranquilizers or something. Obviously his power playing has got to have made him nervous.

[Greg Petty]

01:47 PM on 02/24/2011

The unions gave in to all concessions,now he backed up and will not deal in good faith

[guilatty]

03:33 PM on 02/23/2011

Scott Walker is finding out that standing on the sidelines spouting inconsistent rhetoric is much easier than actually governing. When you are a demagogue you are stuck unless you have the powers of a Roman emperor. At 40 % approval and dropping like a stone he is down to lame duck power and headed for recall vote power. To all my Tea Party friends. Did you think you could just insult people for two years and they were not listening? You have no solutions. That is your problem. It is not your style, it is your lack of substance. Walker is demonstrating Tea Party "leadership", a bunch of noise, a bunch of "poor me" and no results. It is different speaking to people who aren't conditioned to agree with every bromide you spout and every dog whistle you toot.

[nanimal]

01:09 PM on 02/23/2011

Maybe Gov. Walker should not have given his special interest campaign donors a tax holiday and then try to take the money to pay for it from the State workers. Have his special interest buddies pay their own way and stop being free loaders on the tax payers dime...at least the State employees provide a public service for their money. When do the top 2% have to sacrifice...why is it always on the backs of the workers...this is why incomes have been going down since Reagan and will fall even farther if this goes through.

[Greg Petty]

01:51 PM on 02/24/2011

The unions agreed to 121/2 percent cuts,now Walker is walking backwards and says he will not compromise, This how the Walkers of this country operate ,You are witnessing "Why you need representation"

[Mark701]

12:05 PM on 02/23/2011

"Suspending" their rights even temporarily is a terrible idea. It's like stating you're only going to raise taxes until the economic crunch is over. Once done, the GOP will claim that the budget can only be balanced as long as these folks never get their collective bargaining rights back. Who do they think they're kidding.

[hippitydoodah]

11:29 AM on 02/23/2011

This scared, tiny man, is just another tentacle of the "Kochtopus" reaching for the last bits on the table, ghetto-izing middle-class America with all the callousness of their Zombie overlords. After all they find it far cheaper to buy a few peepsqueeks like Walker and Bachman than to obey the law, pay their fair share of tax burdens so we can continue to protect their foreign holdings with the blood of our young people, the very people Walker seeks to deny collective bargaining rights from.

[evelyn49]

03:22 PM on 02/26/2011

Right on!!! Tell it like it is.

[hannahsophie]

11:12 AM on 02/23/2011

Will he try to bargin with the people to give him a larger salary because his social security has been cut, his state pension plan eliminated, his state approved travel budget will only allow money enough to ride a bus to work, and he will have to terminate the home staff in the governors mansion in order to make ends meet. And there will be no comprimise.

[dmsdzinr]

10:36 AM on 02/23/2011

Walker will be walking out of the Governor's Mansion forever before the end of 2011.

[Cronous]

10:42 AM on 02/23/2011

Umm how exactly? He can't be recalled this year.

[dmsdzinr]

10:48 AM on 02/23/2011

OOPS! 2012

[lesterbud]

09:52 AM on 02/23/2011

Baggers are finding out that government offices are their roach motels - they were able to get in, but they had no idea what to do once they got there. All are failing completely.

That's what you get when you run against ideas of your enemies, but have none of your own.
You sit down in the big chair and go DUH?

[Bystander]

09:19 AM on 02/23/2011

It's time for the petulant dems to come back and do their job. Recess is over.

[poochytown]

10:53 AM on 02/23/2011

The Dems ARE doing their job, at last: doing whatever is necessary to stop conservatives from delivering our country to the super-rich on a platter.

[RapidProf]

12:20 PM on 02/23/2011

x2 --- Hang in there!

[Bystander]

12:25 PM on 02/23/2011

Careful, your class envy is showing! The good thing that these absentee legislators are accomplishing is putting on display their inability to make tough decisions. I anticipate that the 2012 elections will further thin the ranks of liberals, such as these absentee legislators, replacing them with adult conservatives.

[deb0214]

05:01 PM on 02/23/2011

The Dems are doing the job they were elected to do...take a stand for those they were elected to represent !

A whole concept lost on the Republicans for many, many years.

[softvoice]

07:47 AM on 02/23/2011

I watched Gov. Walker give his little "fire side chat" and it was just bizarre. He has the coldest eyes I have seen and he never seems to blink. It almost looks like he is void of human emotion. If his heart is half as cold as his stare, then I doubt anything will change his mind. Also when he issued the threat of firing people if he did not get his way, it sent a chill up my spine. The people of Wisconsin have a real problem with this man as their Gov.

[mnnyer]

08:46 AM on 02/23/2011

#234 Nailed it.

[nuppup]

08:49 AM on 02/23/2011

I'm afraid it's the cold reality of running out of money. You may not want to fire the maid but if the maid insists you also support her brother-in-law's family as a requirement of her employment, you dump the maid.
And now in addition to the obscene demands of the union, the runaway senators are preventing him from refinancing debt. The reality is that if the debt is not refinanced by the end of the week, that opportunity will be closed causing the state more financial problems which necessitate the additional layoffs.

[jlmmed]

09:19 AM on 02/23/2011

Well if you have to fire the maid because of "costs," then you fire the butler, too. If this is really about fiscal responsibility, you fire BOTH and don't pit one against the other, which is exactly what your boy Walker is trying to do.

[lesterbud]

09:58 AM on 02/23/2011

Maids?
Brother-in-Law's family?
Obscene demands?

You left out communists, lazy, underworked, incompetent and a number of other prescribed bits of rhetoric.
If that is all you want to do - spout rhetoric instead of understanding the situation and using your own (albeit withered) mental capacities to form your own conclusions, you might try to use more of the mindless menu items given you.