Well, No Reason Anymore For An Extraordinary Budget Session In Wisconsin
Since the rumors were true (wink, wink) - - WTMJ-AM talker Jeff Wagner said at the handoff from Charlie Sykes at noon today that he thought the ruling was still coming later Tuesday, and how right (Right!) he was - - and the GOP legislators got the ruling they were waiting for all afternoon in 'caucus' (wink, wink some more), there's really no reason now for the Legislature to hurry up and approve Scott Walker's budget as if there was any sort of emergency or uncertainty hanging over the Capitol.
The pressure is off.
The Court bailed the Legislature out - - affirming how little independence it has and how narrow is the separation of powers in Madison these days.
The deed is done. Collective bargaining is history, here, where for public employees it began, and the Open Meetings law is still there - - but with holes for power-mad legislators to exploit.
My guess is that the Fitzgeralds will continue the budget meetings in extraordinary session, living in their whipped-up, cotton-candy, synthetic paranoia, afraid of genuine debate, content to have the public locked out of most Capitol entrances, and more interested in hustling home so their recalled colleagues in the Senate can proceed with the slowed-down and costly defensive elections that Republicans are twisting with fake opponents.
A bad day for democracy in Wisconsin, but it's more fodder for turning six recalled Republicans into retired Republicans.
2 comments:
Yeah, separation of powers is a pretty sweet concept. Democracy as a whole is a glorious concept.
Abuses get to be too much and the power to recall our unwanted leaders lies in the hands of we the voters.
It's sort of like how Journal Communications were the first to know about Kathy Nickolaus' magically-found votes in the SC election. It's almost like they're working on the same team or something!
And given the one-sided "Politicr*p" that the JS has been trying as a way to pay for WisGOP campaign ads, I almost don't think it's an "almost" on the same team.
Post a Comment