Ever visit our state Capitol in Olympia? Ever see crowds like this? No, of course not. But the only Wisconsinites who don’t appear to be packing into their state Capitol today is the Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Caucus, who all became fugitives after walking out of session, thus denying their Republican colleagues the three-fifths quorum necessary to revoke the right of public employees to bargain collectively. Republicans outnumber Democrats 19 to 14 in the chamber, but the state constitution requires 20 members to be present to pass a budget bill.

Law enforcement officers are searching for Democratic senators boycotting a Senate vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair plan Thursday in an attempt to bring the lawmakers to the floor to allow Republicans to act on the bill.

One Democratic senator said that he believed most of the members of his caucus have gone to another state to prevent enough lawmakers from being present in the Senate to take a final vote on the controversial measure.

That’s right, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has threatened to call out the National Guard to help impose his usurpation of basic worker rights, while Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has instructed the state patrol to track down his Democratic colleagues and bring them to the chamber floor by force.

You know… Democracy in action.

35 replies on “Wisconsin Democratic Senators Walk Out, Denying GOP a Budget Quorum”

  3. Nice to see the Democrats finally making use of some of the well-loved obstructionist tactics that have kept the Republicans’ agenda on the table these many years. Although I am sad for democracy. Well, swings and roundabouts.

  6. The Senate Majority leader called upon the head of the state police, HIS FATHER, to hunt down the Democratic senators. And who’s the Speaker of the House? His brother.

    Those three positions should not be held by close family members.

  10. He’s been threatening to call in the National Guard for the past week, which is part of what angered so many folks and sent them into the streets. This call to the National Guard is just a continuation of that, one that veterans groups are trying to counteract by reaching out to the NG members and asking them to refuse to get involved.

  11. So Goldy, what’s your take on abolishing or weakening the filibuster in the Senate? Many on the left are pushing for that right now, arguing that it’s undemocratic to have a mechanism whereby the minority can block the majority from voting. This quorum denial effectively does the same thing.

    So which is it: are you for filibusters/quorum-denials, or against? Or does it depend on who’s in the majority?

  12. In fairness, the use of law enforcement to force a quorum (“call of the house”) is neither new nor totalitarian. Senate Democrats used it in 1988 to issue arrest warrants for 45 Republicans who boycotted a vote ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum ).

    Favorite part of that Wiki article: “After a cleaning woman gave a tip that Senator Robert Packwood of Oregon was in his office, Giugni opened the door with a skeleton key. Packwood attempted to shove the door closed, but Giugni and two assistants pushed it open. Packwood was “carried feet-first into the Senate chamber by three plainclothes officers” and sustained bruised knuckles”

    Good for the Democrats here; they’re doing the right thing. But the response is neither extra-legal nor unprecedented. Of course, if you just want to demonize opponents (like the Republicans need any help!), don’t let these paltry facts get in your way.

  14. Still, it’s telling that state troopers (conveniently exempted from Walker’s draconian union-busting bill) appear to be siding with the rest of organized labor.

    Goldy, any comment on the TPM report from this morning that alleges Walker’s “budget shortfall” was created by the governor himself, apparently as a justification for his current actions?

  15. If so many Wisconsinites are against this, how the hell did Walker ever get elected in the first place?

    Is Wisconsin seriously that divided?

  16. i don’t think anyone in Washington state has tried anything as drastic as this Walker punk. i’d like to think that if someone did, the people would show up in Olympia like this too.

  18. Is there any word on how likely it is the Guard is actually going to be called in? And are the corporatists going to find a way to sidestep the quorum issue?

  19. I have seen something like this before; it was at the capitol building in Olympia in 1991, just before Operation Desert Storm. There was a march and rally by a bunch of people, about half people from Evergreen, and about half high school students who were looking for an excuse to skip school. Afterwords, we proceeded into the capitol building and pretty much filled the whole thing to the gills. There were some people there who misbehaved, but from their age it was pretty easy to peg them as high school students; of course the vandalism was blamed on the Greeners.

    (And yes, I recognize that storming a state building in protest of a federal action was and is pointless.)

  20. @11,

    I am all for US Senate rule reforms that puts the onus on those sustaining a filibuster rather than those attempting to break it. I am also for eliminating the filibuster entirely on procedural votes.

    @14,

    I’m working on that post.

  22. Reminds me of 2003, when 11 Texas Democratic Senators left the State to stop the vote on redistricting. The vote heavily manipulated district lines to favor Republicans and was widely viewed as gerrymandering. It came out later that the bush administration illegally used Homeland Security to help track down the Senators.

    Good for the Wisconsin Senators! They should leave the state and let the stand off begin against this abuse of power.

  23. “Ever visit our state Capitol in Olympia? Ever see crowds like this? No, of course not.”

    Palm, meet forehead.

    There isn’t a difference in culture, just a difference in intensity of feeling. The WA legislature rarely makes proposals that get so many people upset.

    I feel stupid even having to point this out.

  25. They’re welcome to move to our state.

    After all, Washington is the 5th fittest state in the nation, and we already got the high speed rail funding that was going to WI and NJ and FL so they’ll like it here.

  28. “Ever visit our state Capitol in Olympia? Ever see crowds like this? No, of course not.”

    Maybe some journalists should have taken a visit to Olympia on MLK day.

  30. I’m guessing the silent majority who elected this guy approves of what he’s trying to do which is actually tackle the deficit. People who actually go through life on their own (i.e. not on the government teat) are tired of funding excessive benefits for these people. I’d be interested to see what these guys poll numbers are right now – I’ll bet still pretty high. It’s kind of nice to see someone actually take a stand instead of all the blah, blah, blah.

  31. Unions corruption politicion corrruption. Tenur and job security with pay increase,plus benefits sounds good to me . Lower education scores who cares lets not fix a broken system and give more to those who broke it. Look around label it what you want but not much difference with the union bosses and the politicians that left the state.Democrats are gutless fighting for more payouts to the unions that are bringing down our standards of education and work ethic .

  32. TIME TO FIRE THE DEMS AND REPLACE THEM WITH SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO DO THEIR JOB AND NOT RIP OFF THE TAX PAYERS BY HIDING. HOW CHILDISH CAN THESE GOONS BE! YOU WERE ELECTED TO DO A JOB GET IT DONE. THEY ARE WASTING MORE OF YOURS AND MY TAX DOLLARS WITH EACH PASSING HOUR. GET BACK TO WORK WERE YOUR BELONG.

  33. Wisconsinite here. Thanks for the support guys.

    @15, yes we really are that divided and it’s been that way for a while. Basically, there’s Madison and Milwaukee, and then there’s the REST of Wisconsin. Although this bill has serious opposition from all corners of the state, even the most conservative areas. Those are not all Madison people in those pictures you’re seeing.

    Even those who voted this idiot in can see what he’s trying to do here: we had a surplus, and then he spent all our money in less than two months in order to manufacture a financial crisis upon which to base his attempt to bust up the unions.

  35. to all you leftist retards who support the democratics walkout, you all do realize that other themes are playing out in tandum with this one dont you? that the unions are being used by the other geo. soros and other left wingers would could care less aboutthe outcome of who gets what so long as they can destablize the government in order fortheir agenda to come out?

    and so what is wrong with this picture. i will tell you.
    if nobama was not voted in office, would you all then walk out and do what you are doing?
    it is called fairness in voting, and if you dont like it, then vote scott walker out next term. otherwise you retarded deomcratic people so called, need to understand that this is waht democracy is all about, majority wins. i do not like obmama but he is in office until the the next vote. so does this means i get to protest his being being in office now and have government agencies walk off thier jobs because they dont like him or his policy? no. they still have to do their jobs. we us tax payers are tired of getting the life blood sucked out of us to pay for your pensions when the rest of the people lose theirs to people like enron, etc. so how long you unions gonna hld US tax payers hostiage for over this before they voted senators do theri job and go back to work and cast their vote, be it yah, or nay. ya’ll need to come clean this is how it is. lots o people lose their jobs and pensions, so why should you unioners be any different, i hope he does begin a lay off of jobs, screw you al, you stink.

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