Wisconsin Democrats, What Did You Expect?

The union protesters are outraged that Wisconsin Republicans have voted to pass the collective bargaining measure without any of the spending provisions. This allowed the bill to be passed with a standard quorum of a simple majority rather than the larger, three-fifths majority wich is required for spending bills. Contrary to what you might read in the Washington Post, the method by which this was achieved has not been "suddenly discovered." On the contrary, many have been urging the GOP senators to use this strategy since Democrat Senators fled the state and left their obligations in the dust.

There's a very simple explanation for what happened Wednesday night.  The Republicans in Wisconsin grew tired of the Democrats thwarting representative government.  They got tired of waiting for them to do their jobs, and they finally realized the Democrats had no intention of coming back—at least not until the unions had secured cushy contract extensions.  What we witnessed tonight was the metaphorical ass-whupping of the whiny children hiding out in Rockford—all while complying with Wisconsin law and the Senate rules.  Frankly, it was about time.  One of the protesters on the live stream I've been watching claims the rioters who've stormed the capitol "are fed-up now."  I've been fed-up with the Democrats' antics for weeks.

Leftists can whine all they want about "corporatism."  The stark reality is that this bill has nothing to do with corporations.  It doesn't affect private sector unions.  It doesn't eliminate public sector unions.  Liberals can make their doomsday predictions.  In fact, I'd prefer if they did.  The more hyperbolic they are now, the more material I'll have three, six, nine months from now when I point out that the public employee unions still exist in Wisconsin.  The only way the Wisconsin unions disappear in that timeframe is if the leadership decides to close up shop and end their operations.  Frankly, they should probably do just that or else the cries of "union busting" will ring a little too hollow—even for the most ardent union supporters.

Finally, where were the handwringing Liberals when the Democrats in Congress actually ran roughshod over the democratic process.  As I said then:

Passage of the Senate Bill was the most unethical decision I have witnessed in my entire life.  With the election of Scott Brown, Democrats officially lost the debate on Health Care, and yet they proceeded anyway.  They passed a bill that they didn’t support, because the American people rejected the power-grab they desired.  There is no other way to characterize the vote.

Normally, when the House doesn’t like a bill, they amend it, and send it back to the Senate.  The Senate then either approves the legislation, or sends it back to the House.  This process is supposed to continue until both chambers agree on the proposed law.  Not so with Health Care.  The very act of passing the Senate Bill was a legislative trick in and of itself.

If we had followed the usual course, then a package of “fixes” would not be necessary until long after the legislation was passed.  Can anyone name a time in history when Congress has purposely forced through a bill they believed disastrous?  It has never happened before.  From a Congressional viewpoint, bad legislation has always been an accident, but not anymore.

I guess it's okay for Democrats to side-step the legitimate political process, but when Wisconsin Republicans follow the law to pass a bill, all hell breaks loose.

Read More in Democrats, Liberalism, Unions.

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