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BREAKING: The Wisconsin GOP has had enough.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  March 9th, 2011 at 06:30 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

UPDATE By Erick: The Wisconsin Republicans have been prevented from passing their financial reform package because they must have a super-majority quorum in the state legislature to pass financial matters. Part of the financial reform package was an end to collective bargaining on salary for public employees. Consequently, the Wisconsin legislature got tired of the Democrats hiding in Illinois. By an 18-1 vote, the Wisconsin Senate stripped collective bargaining from the financial package and passed it as a stand alone item. The portion of the financial package that the unions most objected to is now going to be the law without them present. They are, to say the least, upset.

Oh well. At least the Republicans didn’t just “deem” it passed.

—————–

They will be (at 7 PM Eastern time) voting to strip out the collective bargaining reform part of the state budget bill and passing it separately (which they can do with a quorum of a simple majority).  The Left is, of course, now going collectively insane over this.

More as we get it.

[UPDATE 6:48 PM] Tactical surprise over the unions was apparently achieved.

[UPDATE 6:51 PM] Useful links: @kevinbinversie, WisPolitics.

[UPDATE 6:53 PM] Personal note: if you are on the Left and you were surprised by any of this, please remember that this is entirely due to the fact that your regular media sources are pretty much incompetent at telling you the things that you need to know, and almost as bad at telling you the things that they want you to want to hear.

[UPDATE 6:58 PM] Multiple reports of Wisconsin Democrats throwing everybody that they can find at the Capitol building, complete with helpful self-incrimination in the case of mob violence.  One hopes that they put crowd-control people there ahead of time.

[UPDATE 7:10 PM] Actual live-blogging – well, live-tweeting via @news3jessica.  Matters are proceeding apace.

[UPDATE 7:15 PM] This is a thing that is going to happen, folks.  I suggest that the Democrats start talking their more excitable types down NOW.

[UPDATE 7:20 PM] Allahpundit makes a point that just occurred to me: “Don’t you hate it when irregular procedures are used to destroy a de facto filibuster of an unpopular bill?”  Karma.  It’s what’s for dinner, and the Democrats have earned every bite.

[UPDATE 7:22 PM] Annnnd voting has started.  No discussion: what, the Democrats wanted to?  Guess they should have showed up for work at the appropriate time like adults, then.  So sad. Annnd voting has ended, too; 18-1, Dale Shultz voting no (no surprise).

[UPDATE 7:30 PM] …Well, that was a waste of my valuable time for something that was pretty much inevitable from the start.  The next time, can the Democrats simply accept the concept of elections having consequences and act like adults?  …Well, they can: but they won’t.  Oh, well, I always did prefer incompetent opponents.  Fair fights are for suckers.

And with that, I sign off.

Moe Lane

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COMMENTS

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  • jmimac351

    Why is it that Republicans love their country but are so hesitant to bust up a few knuckles defending it against liberals? These people are playing for keeps – Republicans need to engage in hardball.

    Wisconsin is leading. Boehner and Cantor could take a few lessons on how shuffling your feet gets you nowhere fast.

  • runner12

    but in the spirit of optimism I will start working on it :) .

    Thanks for keeping us in the loop!

  • acat

    Anyone on the Left not seeing it is obviously doing oppo research wrong…

    Mew

  • http://twitter.com/biggator5 BigGator5

    Yeah, no kidding.

  • jmimac351

    is that the Dems were “sure” the Republicans didn’t have it in them. Republicans always place nicey-nice. Republicans always play by the rules and allow us to tie them in knots with it. Republicans are naiive and more worried about getting along than getting rough.

    Given that Walker had gone this long without backing down I had faith he would hold firm. He understands what is as stake. There’s a new Sheriff in town, and his name is Scott Walker.

    Meanwhile, Cantor is making a big deal about NPR funding. He always gets wee-weed up about the chump stuff. How’s ’bout that $105 BILLION being allocated each year for Obamacare, Eric?

    Take notes from a leader in Wisconsin, this is how it gets done.

  • mustango

    In the tradition of the way we “rushed” to war in Iraq, no doubt the eventual narrative will be that the GOP fairly leapt at the opportunity to shut the Dems out of the vote.

  • carolina

    I hope this all works out well. We’ll see if the union thugs ‘lose it’.

  • carolina
  • joepyne

    Until the actual procedure, legislation, or whatever it is called is enacted, I will remain skeptical.

    Wait till the media, and I mean all three networks, and cable news forces, get down there before we declare the Republicans gaining a backbone. I want to see how they do when that happens, and it will happen.

    If they still hang tough, and actually do what needs to be done, I will gladly say I was wrong.

    Until then, I wait to see how this plays out.

  • From ME to You

    applause

  • Spiral

    I can see the logic behind the Wisconsin GOP strategy now. Let the Democrats look like escaping ex-convicts for a few weeks. Let the recall process get underway. Then pass the bill while the Democrats are watching cable TV from their hotel rooms in Rockford, Illinois. Woo-hoo!!!

  • dkinchi

    Is this now a done deal, or does it have to pass the house & be signed by the governor to be “Finalized”?

    Are there enough members in the house to pass it if the house dem’s now run out of state?

    If, so, I hope Scott Wlaker has a pen in his coat, because I wouldn’t put it past the dems to steal all the pens in the building so he can’t sigh it.. lololol

    FINALLY!!!

  • Raven

    Will probably have a few pens in his pocket in case that happens.

  • altexas

    I have read for days in the LSM that the GOP in WIS was compromising, coniving and capitulating on their contrived concerns with the true ruling minority.

    Surely these tea drinkers do not know they have already lost and are just proceeding ahead in a futal attempt to actually keep their State out of bankruptcy.

    All they will end up doing is solving a serious budget problem and piss off some goons. What a pathetic lot they are.

  • izoneguy

    The democrats will need to come back like adults?
    and work on the budget bill or the LAY OFFS begin……

  • dkinchi

    lololol

  • rbdwiggins

    The leaked emails from Governor Walker set the current plan in motion.

    By rejecting, entirely, Governor Walker’s offer to compromise on some of the collective bargaining issues, the Wisconsin Senate Democrats and their Union Masters find themselves wholly responsible for the initiation of the constitutional option.

    Under Article VIII, ?8 of the Wisconsin constitution, only ?fiscal? bills require a three-fifths (?super?) quorum. And these aren?t merely bills that affect fiscal matters in the generic sense. As restated in Joint Rule 11 of the legislature:

    A fiscal bill is any bill which:
    (a) Imposes, continues, or renews a tax.
    (b) Creates a debt or charge.
    (c) Makes, continues, or renews an appropriation of public or trust money.
    (d) Releases, discharges, or commutes a claim or demand of the state.

    (Snip…)

    In 1971, the state legislature was considering a bill making it easier for public-sector unions to organize. The Senate obtained a formal opinion of the state attorney general that the collective-bargaining bill was not ?fiscal? in nature. In his opinion, the attorney general emphasized ?a consistent tendency to limit the definition of a fiscal law.?

    Because collective-bargaining rights and the same statutory chapter (111) are at the heart of proposed Senate Bill 11, its most controversial portions are not fiscal. These parts of the bill could be passed with a simple majority of elected members present

    (Snip…)

    Admittedly, some provisions of proposed Wisconsin Senate Bill 11 are clearly fiscal ? e.g., increasing appropriations for needy families, health care, and corrections. Yet even provisions that observers might reasonably assume to be fiscal are probably not fiscal under Wisconsin law. For example, the rule that in the future employers can agree to pay no more than 88 percent of health-care costs is neither a tax nor an appropriation.

    Although they may not yet know to what extent, the Wisconsin voters are the real beneficiaries of Governor Walker’s principled stance and the Senate Republicans newly found spine.

  • msctex

    . . .when our side is willing to manipulate idiots by using their own idiocy against them.

    FINALLY.

  • http://twitter.com/biggator5 BigGator5

    My Clap

    I like yours as well.

  • EcH90

    This is why we vote Republican (at every level). The Battle of Wisconsin isn’t finished, but this blow might just make the end come quickly. Should this victory bear out, the national repercussions will be intense.

  • lineholder

    This particular piece of legislation removes CB from the context of the situation, but it does nothing to resolve the financial issues involved.

    The layoffs are still in picture. I don’t see how the Dems can play this one off as positive leverage.

  • bens
  • phenry

    That’s what I’m talking about. I was just thinking that they GOP had nothing to lose at this point; might as well go nuclear.

  • jmimac351

    …

  • jmimac351

    Let the Liberal freakout begin!!!

  • carolina

    Tomorrow is the last day for this session of the WI legislature until April 5th.

  • carolina

    Tomorrow is the last day for this session of the WI legislature until April 5th.

  • rbdwiggins
  • thurman

    They were head-faked on this vote and caught off guard, brilliant move

    But I predict they will call in sick tomorrow and cause all kinds of chaos for the other chamber vote

    Fake bomb threats, blocking entrances, disrupting the chamber, etc– shameless losers

    After the Wisci-leaks of the emails Walker had no choice– he has basically exposed their true motives here and checkmated them.

  • RealQuiet

    n/t

  • jmimac351

    and it’s really funny. Apparently this is a “civil rights” issue now.

    What these libs fail to realize is that the people in Wisconsin who actually pay the bills for the Dem slacker base are pretty happy right now.

  • earlgrey

    I was actually a little depressed about it. Not any more.

  • Thomas_Alan

    They Democrats are “winning”.

  • Hiloconservative

    Just like with Bush’s Supreme Court do-over, the Krauthammer option comes to the rescue. Strip out the stuff that doesn’t need the RATS present to pass and pass it. Doing it right after the release of those emails that had folks thinking the GOP was about to cave makes it even sweeter. This is a great time to let Governor Walker and the good guys know we’ve got their back when they show courageous leadership. Next up Ohio?

  • carolina

    http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=14221624

    It is so wonderful to have an end to the stand-off. I’m sure many of the folks in WI just really want this to be over.

  • carolina

    http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=14221624

    It is so wonderful to have an end to the stand-off. I’m sure many of the folks in WI just really want this to be over.

  • proudgop

    I want to thank every strong Wisconsin Republican who showed true political courage

    Here is the Wisconsin Dem statement via political wire
    Greg Sargent has a statement from Wisconsin Democrats: “We now put our total focus on recalling the eligible Republican senators who voted for this heinous bill. And we also begin counting the days remaining before Scott Walker is himself eligible for recall.”

  • http://www.deanticks.com digitaldean

    I truly am proud of what has happened. Listening to the leftists like Eliot Spitzer and Larry O’Donnell go apoplectic makes it all the more enjoyable.

    Listening to Sen. Chris “the shoplifter” Larson saying this is a mockery of democracy is beyond laughable. This coming from a senator that acts like spoiled little kids when they run for the border.

    Listening to the local talk shows in the mainstream is a little disconcerting, though. It is amazing how many in my state are SO ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS about what is going on and how the unions are gaming the system. If I hear another reference to the “Brave 14″, I’ll wretch.

    I agree this was a de facto filibuster by the Dems. My concern is that the squishy ones or easily fooled people in my state will look at this and say it was a “travesty”. Never mind that the gov’t was held hostage by the 14 cowards for nearly 3 weeks.

  • IJB
  • kowalski

    And neither did the rest of the (R) Wisconsin Senate.

    They are heros. Each one of them. And they’re people who will need and deserve our support.

    I think I just fell in love with Wisconsin and I haven’t been that interested in cheese in a long time.

    Thinking of that, I think everyone who reads Redstate should buy some Wisconsin Cheese from a nonunion farm in Wisconsin and help them celebrate. I’m doing that this weekend.

  • melbedewy

    That they are whining about on MSNBC?
    If this is going to be an issue, why not give 24 hours notice and vote tomorrow night?
    What’s going on with Ohio and Tenneseee?

  • lineholder

    One question though….how do you tell if it’s union cheese or nonunion cheese?

    And are there any products specific to Wisconsin that could be substituted instead?

  • From ME to You

    but does he mean it?????

  • lineholder

    State law generally requires a 24-hour notice for public meetings, but can be called with just two hours notice when more notice is impossible or impractical, said Dreps, who has represented the Journal Sentinel in the past

    http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/09/breaking-wisconsin-senate-gop-to-split-off-collective-bargaining-bill-from-budget-pass-it-separately/

  • carolina
  • rbdwiggins

    Only those dispossessed of any critical thinking skills embrace such truly self-defeating concepts.

    Greed, and the law of unintended consequences, exposed the left’s redistribution/money-laundering scheme.

    Gov. Walker and the Senate Republicans chose to end it.

    The “winner” is the Wisconsin taxpayer.

  • marshmom

    What is this nonsense about recalling the (R) senators? Can the left really accomplish this? And on what grounds to they think they have the right to recall? The democrats are the ones who fled their job responsibilities.

    Does anyone know anything about this?

  • gekster
  • earlgrey

    Some that he isn’t winning. Hopefully his hysteria will be over soon. It was a god thing to see how caring and sympathetic the media can be– even to a lefty. Why then are national republicans so drawn on by the desire to be liked by these vultures?

  • http://twitter.com/biggator5 BigGator5

    When I post it, he does. Oh yes, he does.

  • edwyrd

    sweet justice, there before god and man, sweet justice. it brings peace to the land and makes the nation great

  • edwyrd

    sweet justice, there before god and man, sweet justice. it brings peace to the land and makes the nation great

  • carolina

    Entrance doors have been breached.
    This is against the Court order that the capitol be emptied each night. I guess there may soon be some full jails in Madison…..

  • carolina

    Entrance doors have been breached.
    This is against the Court order that the capitol be emptied each night. I guess there may soon be some full jails in Madison…..

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Where we’ll find out what will really happen.

    Frankly, I would have preferred to have seen Walker call in the union and give them two choices: 1-rewrite the contracts modifying pay, benefits and work rules, 2-Layoff X thousand people.

    That would be non-contestable. I’ve got 8 to 5 says a stay on legislative action is ordered within 24 hours of Walker signing the legislation.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    The police will stand by and let them sack it.

  • congressworksforus

    Then Joe Wisconsinite will truly see the evil that these unions are…

  • congressworksforus

    Idaho, Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee… 46 to go…

  • roguebeaver

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law#U.S._states_with_right-to-work_laws

  • smagar

    They’ll spend millions of dollars to do it. All of labor’s power, nationwide, will be focused on it. They’ll want symbolic scalps for Richard Trumka to wave around.

    I have to think there are a few GOP Senators who won’t be able to withstand the onslaught.

  • RealQuiet

    Makes five

  • smagar
  • smagar
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Here.

    Bottom line, there’s a blogger in the building with a video camera. According to Althouse, the protesters don’t (at this point) seem “angry” and there are basically no police in or around the building.

  • brandonqwerty

    …and I know this state. I can tell you this will not go well. They should have made a deal. I know we’re all happy and behind Walker now, but remember this in about a year. Walker will be gone. Mark my words. This was a big mistake.

  • http://charlemagne-the-hammer.blogspot.com/ DerKrieger

    …the provisions elimating mandatory union membership and the state collecting dues on behalf of the unions?

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • chipbennett

    Republicans have started recall efforts for 7 of the 14 democrat state senators also.

    The media narrative is that the nation is against what’s going on in Wisconsin – but the media narrative fails to recognize that Scott Walker ran on a platform identical to the one he is now enacting. In other words, Wisconsin voters support what is going on right now.

    Good luck with those recalls, George Soros and Michael Moore.

  • chipbennett

    Walker ran on a platform of what he’s now doing.

    Wisconsin voters agreed with that platform, and elected him.

    Stop listening to the media narratives.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Again, at Althouse…

    Protesters are locking the Capitol doors shut from the inside using metal handcuffs, Meade reports from the scene.

    And no security to be seen anywhere.

  • ktsub

    N/T

  • edwyrd

    if you are a conservative, you’re an awfull squishy one.

  • kestrel

    You’re out of your mind if you think he’ll be gone. Just what are you suggesting???

  • shaitra

    Culvers is also on the boycott list and is a great place to eat.

  • SoFiMil
  • SoFiMil
  • lineholder
  • romeg

    A governor with the courage to stand up to the the most favored special interest group in the nation, a special interest group to which the Democrat Party is so beholden that they have completely abandoned all objectivity and sense of duty to the TAXPAYERS, their actual constituency.

    Which of the newly elected Republican Governors will stand with Scott Walker and say to their own deeply entrenched special interest Government employee unions that the era of unions holding the taxpayers hostage to their endless demands is, at long last, over.

    This is the beginning of the end of the Government Employee unions. With the loss of the ability to have the state collect their dues which are then funneled directly into the campaign coffers of Democrat candidates, Union members will begin to ask themselves “Why the hell are we funding these idiots’ campaigns?”

    Come on Governors Kasich and Daniels. Stand up for the people of your state and not just the 12% to 15% who are members of Government Employee Unions. Do the Right Thing. Put an end to collective bargaining, the one-sided conspiracy to deprive taxpayers of limited government at a sensible, sustainable cost.

  • carolina

    These are OK in this bill because they are NOT appropriations.
    So, NOW, the unions can’t do quicky new contract negotiations and end-run the plan. That’s BIG news for WI!

  • carolina

    These are OK in this bill because they are NOT appropriations.
    So, NOW, the unions can’t do quicky new contract negotiations and end-run the plan. That’s BIG news for WI!

  • ktsub

    My bet is Brandon is no conservative. If he is, he would be happy. What does he want to preserve? There was nothing to loose here.

  • SoFiMil

    Too bad.

  • The_Gadfly

    why Walker didn’t go this route for at least the last week. This move should have been about as surprising as Joe Pa calling a run straight up the middle for the first play of the first game of the Penn State football season.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

  • The_Gadfly

    If we played a really nasty game, Walker would have agreed to meet with the Dems to discuss terms. And after they showed up, he would have had a cadre of State Police on hand to detain them all and escort them directly to the State House.

  • gekster

    Didn’t Walker run on doing just this, and got elected.
    Why would the people change thier mind now that he has done what he said he would do.
    Are you saying that Wisconsonites won’t back up who they elected for doing what he said he would.
    You say it was a mistake to actually do what he ran on.
    Are you SURE you are conservative?

  • bs61

    to see the whiners/losers! :)

  • The_Gadfly

    I’d say they had more than 24 hours notice about the meeting. In fact, they were the ones who purposely ran away from it for two weeks.

  • The_Gadfly

    From what’s been reported, the petition count to start the recall is fairly high for such things. I’d bet that while they may be able to get a few recall votes started, the Republicans will win hands down. They did what they said they were going to do in the election. That’s a rare thing in a politician.

  • msctex

    Careful, idiots. Your faux-revolution is being televised.

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/watch-live-angry-protesters-pour-into-wisconsin-capitol-building/

  • msctex

    . . .Footage of a wannabe mob from a building CNN apparently described as “empty.”

  • The_Gadfly

    is even moderately competent, he’ll point to the Beck decision and tell the judge the State is only codifying what is already the law of the land.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    1. Beck doesn’t apply to “public employee” union.
    2. Even if it did, all Beck does is give an individual union member to find out how much of his dues are spent for “collective bargaining” activities and reduce his payment to that, effectively eliminating the political action portion of the dues. They are still deducted from payroll.

  • banzaibob

    Had to give them every chance to return including some compromise which the dems turned down.

    Greta had a WI-Sen Dem talking about Democracy being stolen. I guess he would know since he is a dem.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Bye, retread!

  • Change Jar Conservative

    From a PR point of view, this can go both ways.

    Walker needs to burn up the phone lines to New Jersey and listen to what Christie has to say.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    The only thing that was missing from tonight’s win was that I hadn’t gacked a troll who wasn’t as clever as he thought that he had been. Your timing was exquisite.

  • rightwingmom52
  • silentcal2012

    What he should do is move on and announce of new legislative initiative on Monday, somthing involving “jobs”. Move on, and let the unions and liberals wallow in the past, fight in courts, recalls. The swing voters will move on. Plus, it will demonstrate how all the protesting delayed the peoples business.

  • rightwingmom52
  • travelguy

    You pass this bill to get the WI Dems all riled up and the rogue senators to return. Then you pass the original bill…

  • antisocial

    Here is a post from Moe The Evil Giraffe :-)
    http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2011/02/17/wi-showdown-democrats-not-needed-for-regular-business/

    There were tons of similar comments on hotair too around same time.

  • antisocial

    I can’t imagine the rats beating them with money. VRWC members will be out in full force.

    Let the fun begin.

  • http://twitter.com/biggator5 BigGator5

    Ann Althouse’s husband is at the Capitol and is warning people to stay away. The take-away quote:

    “ANYBODY CAN GET IN AND ANYBODY CAN BRING ANYTHING IN. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SECURITY WHATEVER.”

    Will update.

  • http://twitter.com/biggator5 BigGator5

    Both Instapundit and Allahpundit are covering the chaos.

    A read of Instapundit asks: “Will the governor call in the National Guard? He’s not getting any support from the police.”

    The idea that the police have sided with the protestors is… scary, to say the least.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    First of all, your “reporting” is a tad lacking.

    The “ANYBODY…” quote at Althouse’s blog was appended at least two hours ago with this, which would really be the “takeaway”…

    AND: Meade ? who just got home at 9 CT ? says the police have the “fairly calm jocose” attitude that they’ve had all along. They have no riot gear, he said. The place is “swarmed” with protesters. Photos and video soon.

    If you look at the photos, the state police are standing by, watching. Apparently, while the crowd is very noisy, there’s no violence. I’m guessing the organizers schooled people to keep their cool so if the Governor sends in troops any violence will be attributed to them.

    Secondly, all Instapundit is doing is linking to Althouse.

    The real action will be tomorrow if the unions call a general strike. That has the potential to really “get it on” because at that point the state could legally fire striking workers.

  • gekster

    We won’t adhear to what the people voted for, so we will foment violence to get what we want.
    To hell with democracy, anarchy is better.
    Look for the union label.

  • Doc Holliday

    I don’t get why the cops don’t just toss some CS. What about rule of law?

    http://www.livestream.com/theuptake?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=ui-play&utm_campaign=click-bait&utm_content=theuptake

  • acat

    So far, as long as they’re peaceful in their attempts to intimidate … the GOP has to let this play out.

    A good reminder to all conservatives – we don’t get to throw the first punch.

    Mew

  • Doc Holliday

    I am not from Wisconsin. Maybe it is legal for mobs to enter the Capitol Building and stay there as long as they wish? I guess from what I have seen the last few weeks it is. I feel bad for the janitors.

  • acat

    and, as long as the protestors are not violent, there’s not a huge reason to throw that punch.

    Let them throw the first one.

    That’s my point, Doc. I mentioned the GOP as the governor is a Repub.. one with some serious stones, too.

    Mew

  • Doc Holliday

    I said one way to make the crowd leave would be to pop a couple CS canisters. The police said they needed to leave, CS would expedite the process. I am not seeing anymore new updates so I don’t know if they emptied the place or not, I am guessing the protesters left.

  • acat

    This is a balancing act. Wisconsin citizens are fairly pro-union, there’s a good bit of unionized heavy industry in the State. To someone not from the northern rust belt, this may seem odd but .. unions are much more entrenched culturally up here than in, say, Texas.

    The Governor has to not piss off Joe Sixpack, who either is in a (private sector) union, or has family in one, or has friends in one if he wants to actually end collective bargaining for state union employees, and save the state budget.

    Therefore, while this may look like chaos, as long as it’s not *violent* chaos, the Governor doesn’t have much choice but to let it happen ..

    You had made the point that the police should Do Something. My point is that IF the police are not able to handle the situation, the next step is for the Governor to call in the National Guard, and this would likely cost him the approval of enough Joe Sixpacks that he’d have to back down.

    Again, this is only IF the Governor escalates the enforcement before the Lib/Dem/Union protestors turn violent.

    Mew

  • writeblock

    The GOP is as usual late to realize how the left plays the game. It goes for the kill every time while gentlemanly Republicans dimly assess the chaos they churn up before belatedly coming to realize we’re in a war that you can’t win by being nice. Our side needs to go for the jugular just as the left does–and earlier. Delay only weakens us and encourages more chaos. In Congress right now the GOP needs to draw a bright line–the fiscally responsible against their spending as usual. Right now our guys are bargaining away their chips. They are showing weakness by pulling punches. We’re in a cold civil war. It’s time the GOP realized it. We need warriors, not gentlemen–and I include guys like Walker and Boehner in the latter category. Walker won, but he allowed a mess to happen that didn’t have to happen.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    writeblock, I agree.

    Are you in the fight?

    In your precinct?

    Are you a member of the Republican Party?

    I hope so.

    Thank you.

    ColdWarrior

  • writeblock

    I supported local candidates financially, I supported Toomey financially, I even supported Brown of MA financially–but I won’t give a dime to the RNC. I’m sick of spineless Republicans. I want people like Walker to do more than talk. I want some arrests made!! How is it Andrew Cuomo arrested 17 protesters for blocking his legislative building in Albany–but Walker has not made a single arrest? What’s in Republican DNA that makes them so unwilling to fight fire with fire? How come the first thing Boehner does as speaker is make nice with the Dems? We’ve had 8 years of that with Bush. A lot of good that did–and I supported Bush, too, btw. I got a lot of nice photos in the mail–but I wound up taking his picture down from the wall of my office. Let’s see some action.

  • writeblock

    He’s going around talking about defunding NPR when he should be talking about defunding the entire CPB rip-off–to the tune of some half-billion dollars, I believe. He should be looking to ax the whole tree, not just one branch of it. I don’t get the House leadership at all. There’s no fire in the belly. They don’t act like people who understand the enormity of our situation. I want them to sound as angry as I feel. I want them to threaten the left forcefully, not plead with it.

  • grammy1

    Do you mean “winning” in the Charley Sheen sense?

  • averagevoterdotcom

    Give Walker a break. He knows the voters in that state better than we do. His offers to talk to them, etc now look brilliant. I think his instincts are excellent and he is playing this the best way he knows to play it.

    There is value in letting these now marginal protesters blow off steam. The protests are now the freak crowd that everyone in the state sees on their TV every night. The Dems now look even worse – childish and undemocratic.

    As the reality of the inevitability of the law in place takes root daily, this crowd will diminish. Then their energies will go into recall efforts which will take as long as it takes for Walker to put the fiscal affairs in order.

    Walker wins. Tea Party wins. Voters win. Business wins. The unemployed wins.

  • edintexas

    Frankly, I’d be surprised if that isn’t the way it is spun sooner, rather than later.

  • melissatx

    Good for him.
    I wouldn’t worry about recall elections…..the crowd you see there are all rent-a-thugs bussed in and cannot vote in Wisconsin.

    Way to Go, Scott!

  • melissatx

    Good for him.
    I wouldn’t worry about recall elections…..the crowd you see there are all rent-a-thugs bussed in and cannot vote in Wisconsin.

    Way to Go, Scott!

  • tadams1138

    Thanks for the leadership. I decided to become a PC after I read something you wrote 6 or more months ago. [/threadjack]

  • no2nt

    CW – appropriate questions:

    Here in South Carolina we recently had republican precinct reorg. I attended our precinct reorg since I want to get involved. There were four others in attendance, probably 20 years my elder. In our conversations, it was bemoaned several times that my age group has very little involvement and concern for politics and the need for new blood going forward.

    I invited a friend to attend his precinct’s reorg meeting and he mentioned the same thing. At least 9 people attended the meeting he was at but compared to the number of registered Republican voters in his precinct, it was demoralizing.

    I echo writeblock’s comment “…but I won?t give a dime to the RNC. I?m sick of spineless Republicans. I want people like Walker to do more than talk.”

    I’ve had to challenge my friends, family, and myself that even though “We the people” are angry, frustrated, distracted, saddened, confused, “…disgusted” by the direction our political party and politics in general, “WE THE PEOPLE” ARE THE ONES WHO ARE ALL TALK, AND VERY LITTLE ACTION. If we would get involved, even locally, to influence how the Republic party acts and thinks, what a refreshing change could be brought to the table at the higher levels.

    – out of time to finish this thought –

  • mspector

    kept chanting the refrain “we’ll come back to return democracy to the people”. So it comes to this: if you are in the minority party and you don’t like what’s going on and run away from home so that the state cannot conduct its business, that’s democracy. If the state majority then goes about its business anyway, that’s dictatorship.

    The liberal mind is a strange and wondrous thing to behold.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    Others have made this observation about the Republican Party: it’s “100 per cent strong” in all the leadership slots, but at less that half strength where it really matters — at the “we the people” level, where the rubber meets the road, where the Get Out The Vote really matters and where the voting for the leadership BEGINS: at the precinct level.

    RNC level? All the RNC delegate slots are filled, of course.

    State level? All the state committee elected positions are filled.

    County level? Virtually all of the county committee elected positions are filled.

    Legislative District/town level? Virtually all of the elected positions are filled.

    But, at the most basic level, in “we the people’s” respective precincts, there’s a huge power vacuum. That’s where over half of the precinct committeeman slots are unfilled. And THAT’S where “we the conservative Republican people” can REALLY make a difference. Because it’s the precinct committeemen who elect the leadership. If we conservative Republicans would get off our collective arses and actually go to the local committee meetings and unite politically where we live, in our respective local committees, we could fix this government in one election cycle. But that would mean the following:

    - actually going to monthly meetings

    - reading and studying a few pages of state, county and local bylaws

    - maybe, depending on the state, having to gather up to ten(!) signatures on a nominating petition

    - helping with Get Out The Vote activities

    - knocking on a few targeted doors to help get out the Republican vote during the days leading up to the primary and general elections

    - making a few phone calls

    And, yes, I don’t advocate giving money to a Party that is filled with spineless Republicans. Give it instead to your local candidates and your local committee. And give your “sweat equity” to your local Party committee by joining it and becoming a precinct committeeman.

    I keep trying to push this strategy, but for some people, they’ve always got an excuse. Believe me, I’ve heard them all.

    - I’m better at writing.

    - I can do more with a blog.

    - I don’t like to go to meetings.

    - I don’t have time.

    - I can’t make a difference.

    - I give money.

    - I make phone calls and send e-mails.

    Etc. I’ve heard them all.

    Believe me, I understand there are some people who just can’t do it. And I don’t fault them. But most conservative Republicans just haven’t been moved to actually get involved in Republican party politics at the local level because, I believe, things just haven’t gotten bad enough for them to act to help themselves and the futures of their children and grandchildren. They are playing a game of “chicken.” They are willing to hope that some other guy or gal will get involved so they don’t have to.

    Thomas Paine called them “sunshine patriots.”

    Thanks for getting involved.

    For Liberty,

    ColdWarrior

  • jrnlz

    Remember this?

    http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/08/14/the-orchestrated-campaign-to-shut-down-glenn-beck/#comment-29345

    Then again, maybe it’s a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” regardless of the past.

  • sootsme

    This from Drudge:

    ht tp://www.6 20wtmj.com/news/local/117732923.html

    Looks like conservatives have literally been bringing knives to a major gunfight.
    I wondered how long it would take for these thugs to show true colors.

    Stay awake, stay safe, keep yer powder dry.

  • sootsme

    Incumbents- the “Politically Correct” Endangered Species!

    Just keep voting them out until they perform. Dem, Repub, no matter, just can them unless they’ve demonstrated integrity & performance. Probably easier to run recalls than to fix party machines…

  • sootsme

    So, elect someone else who thinks the same way. This took years to get here. Likely to take years to fix. The wingnuts are counting on us to get tired & go home. We’ll just have to see how it goes. If they’re right, it serves us right. “The cost of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance.”

    Incumbents- the “Politically Correct” Endangered Species!

  • soljerblue

    that’s exactly what the WI GOP senators did — figure out a way to slip the key part of the bill past the thugs and whiners, using a parliamentary move that would do credit to Reid and Pelosi. Next step — the dark side is trying to trap GOP lawmakers in their offices so they can’t get to the chamber to vote on anything — 12:30 Central Time — wonder what’s next with these thugs.

  • proudgop

    So now that these 14 fleabaggers will be returning what will happen to them once they enter Wisconsin?

    They should be arrested. I wish a lot people on border off Illinois are on look out for them they need to face what Republicans in Capitol are facing