Democratic Senators in Wisconsin Flee State to Stall Passage of Budget Bill

Republican lawmakers called the police on Democratic state senators from Wisconsin Thursday while in the midst of reviewing a highly controversial budget bill for the state. Democrats evidently didn’t show up to complete the quorum required to vote on the bill in an attempt to stall action by republican leaders.

What about this bill makes it so controversial? The proposal, made by Republican Governor Scott Walker, would require state workers to pay for half of their pension costs and would double their health care contributions. It would also regulate the public workers unions’ ability to negotiate things like pensions, working conditions and benefits. However Governor Walker says this shouldn’t come as a surprise. He announced his intentions for the bill back in December before he took office.

Mass amounts of public workers have shown up to the state capitol to protest the measures, which they say are no more than an attack on unions. Republicans supporting the measure disagree, saying the changes still fall far below the national average, and compared to averages in the private sector, are relatively modest. However, President Obama commented that he saw it as nothing more than a union-busting bill, and alluded that the state is trying to place the blame on public workers for the budget shortfall. However it still remains that if something isn’t done, thousands of public workers would inevitably lose their jobs.

So where are the Democrats now? They all say they've left the state, and are currently gathered in a secret " very cold" place. Yep, they've fled their state in what seems to be a borderline illegal plan that basically disables the state's ability to continue the legislative session. Republicans say it's insulting to the voters, and are considering contacting the National Guard to find the senators, but should things really come to that? These elected officials need to stop acting like a bunch of school boys, get back to work and do the jobs that they were elected to do. Obviously, looking at the protests, their constituents need them negotiating with republicans instead of playing cat and mouse with them.