Wisconsin Re-Ignited: A "Monumental Act of Republican Folly" Renews the Battle over the Unions
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 18:03UPDATE 1800 GMT: Live coverage of protests in Wisconsin against the measure ending collective bargaining rights for state workers, signed into law earlier today by Governor Scott Walker:
On Wednesday night, in a procedural move that surprised many, Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate Republicans passed their controversial bill ending collective bargaining rights for most state workers.
US Politics: A Beginner's Guide to the Wisconsin Uprising
Amidst conflicting reports over the return of 14 Democratic State Senators to Wisconsin, and farcical scenes at the capital building on Thursday --- two of the Democrats who ended their out-of-state boycott were forced to enter the building through a first-floor window --- only this much is clear: the political trickery of the Republicans, or "political thuggery" as it has been described by some Democrats, has re-ignited the protests over the original bill. There is new life in a movement which the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Sentinel Journal reported on Wednesday night “had quieted somewhat in recent days".
First, the political drama on Wednesday:
Republicans, frustrated at the latest message from Democratic Minority Leader Mark Miller that the 14 Senators would not return while an end to collective bargaining remained in the bill, decided to expedite matters and end the impasse. The GOP members separated the non-fiscal collective bargaining part of the bill from the larger budget-repair law. As the revised legislation did not authorise the appropriation of state funds, a vote could be held without a quorum of three-fifths of senators present. The nineteen Republican Senators --- one short of the number required to act on fiscal legislation --- voted 18-1 to send the law for final approval by the State Assembly on Thursday, where it was passed by a Republican majority.
This political sleight-of-hand might be legal, but here's the kicker that makes this a monumental moment of folly: not only does it give credence to Democratic arguments that Republicans were out to 'bust' the unions by whatever means necessary, including "stealing democracy" if needs be, it has also opened the door to stall the legislation in the Wisconsin courts. Suspending the law temporarily through a legal challenge gives Democrats to challenge eight Republicans with "recall", winning the three seats required to regain the Senate majority, and permanently derail Governor Scott Walker's measures.
Under Wisconsin Law, meetings of governmental bodies are open meetings, and at least 24 hours' notice must be sent to relevant parties, unless there are unusual circumstances, in which case two hours' notice must be given: "The public is entitled to the fullest and most complete information regarding the affairs of government as is compatible with the conduct of governmental business.”
Some Democrats in the Assembly claim they did not receive an e-mail warning them of a 6 p.m. meeting to begin the process of passing the new law until 4:20 p.m., thereby violating the absolute minimum of two hours' notice. But even if those claims are unfounded, Democrats are confident that they can start a legal challenge to the law over the 24-hour requirement. On Thursday, Representative Peter Barca, the Democratic Assembly Minority leader, filed an official complaint with the Dane County Attorney General, citing that cause among others.
It is likely that the case will be argued before the State Supreme Court, which is where this controversy gets particularly interesting. Currently there are 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats on the Court, whose members are all elected. On 5 April, an election is due for one of the Republican-held seats.
So a judicial election is sure to see an influx of national money and national organisation, to help the respective sides in Wisconsin. And that is linked to the effort to recall Republican State Senators. Moveon.org are aggressively promoting a fund established to help the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and in 12 hours on Thursday, it raised an additional $150,000 to add to the $750,000 already pledged. Thursday also saw fundraisng e-mails for the recall campaign sent out by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Organising for America, and the SEIU.
On the other side, by Thursday night the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, a project of Our Country Deserves Better PAC --- the group behind the Tea Party Express organisation --- sent out an e-mail with the subject headline, "Urgent: Liberals Raise $1.5 Million to Recall Wisconsin Republicans", and asking for donations to counter Democratic campaigns
This leads us to what may come to be known as The Great Wisconsin Recall Battle of 2011. As Wisconsin law stands a legislator may not be recalled until a year after an election. Governor Walker, elected in November 2010, cannot be recalled, but eight Republican senators and six Democrats, all elected in 2008, are eligible.
A recall in Wisconsin is initiated when a petition is signed by a number of inhabitants of a district totalling 25% of the vote cast in that district for the governor's race in the last election. With the current coverage of this controversy, including international interest, and the efforts that national Democratic groups are going to bring to the campaign, that high threshold seems sure to be reached. Using the figures supplied by ''The Wisconsin Voter' blog at the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Sentinel Journal, this indicates the six Republicans who won in districts where President Obama out-polled John McCain in the 2008 Presidential elections could be in jeopardy of being recalled and defeated. With 19 Republican and 14 Democrats in the Senate at the moment, the defeat of three of those GOP Senators would swing the chamber to a Democratic majority.
At first sight, Governor Walker and the Wisconsin GOP appear to have committed a terrible blunder in the public relations battle. They have ceded the moral high ground to the unions, and even some conservatives are struggling to understand why the law was passed in this precipitous manner.
They are right to worry. Wisconsin was, up to Wednesday, largely a "done" story. As soon as one Democrat Senator cracked and returned home to his/her family, the law would have been passed legitimately, and the issue would have largely gone away. The upcoming recall campaigns would have become a parochial issue, when compared to the bi-partisan debt negotiations that have to take place sooner rather than later. Even the most committed of progressive organisations would have struggled to keep a nationwide focus on Wisconsin when, and if, politicians in Washington begin discussing reforms to Social Security. But by passing this law, through what some unions are describing as the “nuclear option,” Republicans have created a sense of injustice that will spur interest in the legal challenges and recall campaigns.
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