# Wisconsin GOP passes union-stripping bill **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 10, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111 "2011-03-10T00:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/21 "2011-03-10T02:35:16Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Further, the Dems now cannot remain absent and say it is all about stripping rights. They have to come back. I agree. The next question is, What are the chances of a general strike? ---
**Author:** ![UncaThomas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@UncaThomas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaThomas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/22 "2011-03-10T02:39:27Z")
Fleeing the state really helped this whole situation didn’t it? It escalated the conflict. Now Walker and the Senators that stayed on the job have escalated the conflict. One assumes the Dem Senators/Unions will now attempt to escalate the conflict further. Then one must assume the Gov/Rep Senators will then attempt to escalate the conflict still further. Gee…this has just been a grand example of a democratic republic in action. Congrats to all involved. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/23 "2011-03-10T02:39:35Z")
Reports are that the Dems intend to contest the legality of the procedures. Which works for everybody. Billable hours will abound, the issue will be submerged in the mind-numbing processes of the law. It would enter the happy state of passed (as promised) but yet to be enforced, with a multitude of convenient methods for dragging it out long enough to a) be forgotten or b) another election. Works for everybody. The tighty righties get to tell their teahadist backers that they did as they promised, they passed it, but the activist judges got in their way. Dems can tell their base they won. Sorta. Kinda. And then the clock starts ticking until this political genius governor utilizes his deft and acute instincts to totally step on his dick again. Bet on it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/24 "2011-03-10T02:40:01Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Are you really surprised? Must you assign malign motive? They are Republicans; they have no other kind of motive. Greed and hatred and malice is all that they are. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/25 "2011-03-10T02:42:51Z")
But not sloth, lust, or gluttony? We get to keep those? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/26 "2011-03-10T02:44:12Z")
> [@UncaThomas](#): > > Fleeing the state really helped this whole situation didn’t it? > > It escalated the conflict. > > Now Walker and the Senators that stayed on the job have escalated the conflict. > > One assumes the Dem Senators/Unions will now attempt to escalate the conflict further. > > Then one must assume the Gov/Rep Senators will then attempt to escalate the conflict still further. > > Gee…this has just been a grand example of a democratic republic in action. Congrats to all involved. So it’s you contention that the Democrats are as at fault as the Republicans? You do know that the Republicans attempted to rush through a union-busting bill when they didn’t run on that, right? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/27 "2011-03-10T02:50:22Z")
> [@UncaThomas](#): > > Fleeing the state really helped this whole situation didn’t it? Yes, as a matter of fact, it did. Instead of the passage of Wisconsin’s budget being somewhere on Page 25 of the major national papers and on the CNN ticker for 90 seconds, fleeing the state has put the union debate on steady headlines on print, TV, and online news, and has made people think about the issue nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/28 "2011-03-10T02:57:14Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Reports are that the Dems intend to contest the legality of the procedures. Which works for everybody. Billable hours will abound, the issue will be submerged in the mind-numbing processes of the law. It would enter the happy state of passed (as promised) but yet to be enforced, with a multitude of convenient methods for dragging it out long enough to a) be forgotten or b) another election. > > Works for everybody. The tighty righties get to tell their teahadist backers that they did as they promised, they passed it, but the activist judges got in their way. Dems can tell their base they won. Sorta. Kinda. I really hope not. You are probably right but the unions need to take this back to a good, old fashioned fight for rights. If they limp through the courts for however long it is a matter of getting chipped away at. And they might lose there. I am uncertain anyone has the gumption for a fight like this these days. Nintendo beckons. I think it is a fight that needs fighting now though and not let it get swept under the rug. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/29 "2011-03-10T02:57:21Z")
Hell, **Frank** , it looks from here like that was the fucking plan! They’re grooming Gov Walken for the Big Time, and looked for an issue to make him all Reaganesque. They went into this expecting a landslide of public approval. Either that, or they’re dumber than gravel. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/30 "2011-03-10T02:58:47Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Either that, or they’re dumber than gravel. I’m not seeing why it can’t be both. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/31 "2011-03-10T03:00:11Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I really hope not. > > You are probably right but the unions need to take this back to a good, old fashioned fight for rights. > > If they limp through the courts for however long it is a matter of getting chipped away at. And they might lose there. > > I am uncertain anyone has the gumption for a fight like this these days. Nintendo beckons. > > I think it is a fight that needs fighting now though and not let it get swept under the rug. Maybe I wasn’t clear, I was just talking about the professional pols here, I don’t for a second think the unions are going to fall asleep. And this “Nintendo” of which you speak…? ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/32 "2011-03-10T03:02:25Z")
I salute the Wis Senate Republicans for being able find a way to navigate around the Dem blockade. All the Dems did was delay things for three weeks which ended up costing the state another $7 MM for damage caused by the demonstrators. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/33 "2011-03-10T03:02:30Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I’m not seeing why it can’t be both. 😃 Exceeds theoretical limits of cognitive density. Threatens the very fabric of space/dumb continuum. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/34 "2011-03-10T03:02:59Z")
Since the legislature has decided that public employees shouldn’t have collective bargaining, I think the logical next step is for every public employee to demand individual contract negotiations. And if the individual employees want Section C, paragraph 2, clause iii to read “will” instead of “shall,” then I guess it’s only fair that all 64,000 state employees will have to have individual meetings with their supervisors to go over their contracts line by line. ---
**Author:** ![UncaThomas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@UncaThomas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaThomas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/35 "2011-03-10T03:05:18Z")
Well, it’s probably a long way from over. I don’t think any of it, start to finish, has reflected any positive credit on either side. I think it will devolve into an even more disappointing spectacle and will cast government even further into the _just doesn’t work_ image with a resulting decline in the electorate’s respect for both state and national government. Reducing the electorate’s belief in their established governmental institutions doesn’t really benefit Wisconsin or the Nation. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/36 "2011-03-10T03:09:39Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And this “Nintendo” of which you speak…? I’m saying I doubt my fellow Americans’ will for a knock down, drag out, strike for months, walk the picket lines, shut down government fight at this point. Wisconsinites have done a great job keeping the pressure on. Admittedly better than I expected at the outset. I hope the prove me wrong again…I really do. I just think the outrage may not quite be enough to continue to stand in the cold when they could be at home awaiting the outcome of a trial that will last years and in the meantime doesn’t affect them because an injunction is in place. I think going that route the Republicans walk away from this relatively unscathed. They were facing a serious black eye and they ducked it. (for now) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/37 "2011-03-10T03:09:59Z")
> [@UncaThomas](#): > > Reducing the electorate’s belief in their established governmental institutions doesn’t really benefit Wisconsin or the Nation. Well, which party, precisely, gets elected on the “Government doesn’t work!” platform, and then proves it? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/38 "2011-03-10T03:11:38Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I salute the Wis Senate Republicans for being able find a way to navigate around the Dem blockade. > > All the Dems did was delay things for three weeks which ended up costing the state another $7 MM for damage caused by the demonstrators. Does it bother you that your beliefs are based on lies? From: [http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117409458.html](http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117409458.html) > [@](#): > > Madison - Officials charged with overseeing the state Capitol Friday backpedaled sharply from their estimate - delivered in a high-profile court case only the day before - that demonstrators did more than $7 million in damage to the building and grounds during the tumultuous yet peaceful protests that erupted Feb. 15. > > Touring the building on Friday morning with state architect Dan Stephans, who oversaw the Capitol’s restoration that concluded in 2001, Jeff Plale said he had not immediately observed any damage from demonstrations over Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill. Plale is a former Democratic state senator and now the state facilities administrator. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/39 "2011-03-10T03:12:32Z")
Politics is a spectator sport for a game played by weasels. It’s a football game that never ends… As for trust in the electorate, the public couldn’t possibly have a lower opinion of the weasels (all parties involved) than it already does. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/40 "2011-03-10T03:14:11Z")
> [@UncaThomas](#): > > Well, it’s probably a long way from over. > > I don’t think any of it, start to finish, has reflected any positive credit on either side. > > I think it will devolve into an even more disappointing spectacle and will cast government even further into the _just doesn’t work_ image with a resulting decline in the electorate’s respect for both state and national government. > > Reducing the electorate’s belief in their established governmental institutions doesn’t really benefit Wisconsin or the Nation. > > IMO. How would you characterize the labor disputes of the past? Everyone should have stayed home because it was a spectacle (often a spectacle that makes this look like a dispute in a kindergarten playground)? The electorate’s belief in their established governmental institutions has been distinctly smashed by Walker & Company. None of this was a platform he ran on. No one saw it coming. He made a power grab. What would you have people do? Roll over to avoid a spectacle? Hell, this IS democracy in action. How do you think this country got started? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111.md?page=3)