On Wednesday Democratic State Senator Chris Larson issued a statement on the results of the recall elections in Wisconsin.
Here’s a snippet:
“Before passage of the budget adjustment bill, Republican legislators used every weapon in their arsenal to suppress the voices of Wisconsinites. They cut off the Legislative Hotline, shut down the public hearing, halted debate in the Assembly, took over offices of Democratic senators, closed the Capitol to the public, and jammed the bill through without proper notice.
Since January, Republican senators displayed complete apathy for the people’s will and a pattern of deceitful tactics to circumvent Wisconsin’s tradition of open government. This and Governor Walker’s extreme actions led people statewide to fight for their communities by organizing the largest grassroots effort in Wisconsin history. Democratic, Republican, and Independent volunteers worked together in a bipartisan effort to collect 136,823 signatures and force 6 recall elections.
The elections last night are the first step in reclaiming Wisconsin by restoring accountability and transparency to our government. We will continue to fight for what is best for all Wisconsinites.”
Ah, Chris “Larceny” Larson. Or is it Chris “The Thief” Larson?
The Republicans took all these steps, did they? Who was it that left the state? Perhaps that is why they “took over offices” of the Democratic senators…they were in Rockford.
He can spin this as a victory as much as he wants to, but this is a devastating blow to Wisconsin Democrats.
Somewhere between $35-$50 million came in on behalf of these recalls and Democrats still did not take the Senate. They have nothing to show for it. Why would they invest money trying to recall Walker in 6 months (especially when he will win)?
The bottom line for people like “The Thief” is that the budget is balanced without taxes being raised or services being cut. The debt to Minnesota is paid and the money from the Patients’ Compensation Fund and Transportation Fund have both been replaced after Doyle raided them (illegally…as was unanimously decided by the State Supreme Court).
What issues does “The Thief” believe his side have to run on? Fiscal austerity? Noble leadership?
The winner on Tuesday night was Wisconsin. The losers: the union bosses, their PACs, and their shills.
This is what democracy looks like! *with bongo drums*
Cameron, answer a question for me. Which number is bigger, 19 or 17?
Last time I checked, losing two seats (thus narrowing your majority) isn’t exactly a good thing.
You mean to tell me that 17 is less than 19? I had never considered that.
I would not be celebrating this if I were a liberal, Zach. I read a different number from the Journal Sentinel about how much money the unions (both from Wisconsin and out of state) raised to get three seats. $30 million! How is the Wisconsin left going to convince out of state unions to commit the same kind of financial backing that they did in this cycle?
Larson cites 136,823 signatures. Good luck getting to 500,000 to recall Walker. That is going to take a lot of money and man hours.
Also, how are you going to run against a governor that contributed to Wisconsin becoming one of the few states in the U.S. to have a surplus and a positive financial outlook? Compare that to Illinois, Minnesota, or California. By the way, California is finding out how expensive that high-speed rail is.
Your side has no issues on which to run anymore here. The average person does not care about public union employees contributing more to their pensions or healthcare. Everybody else has to do it.
Also, in 2012, the senators that are not in heavily democratic strongholds are going to have a difficult time selling their constituents on their record (especially since that included fleeing to Rockford).
Walker already got almost everything that he wanted. You have no chance of rolling any of that back for a long time.
The good news for you guys is that Illinois is only an hour away. If you don’t like what is going to come up in the next legislative session, Rockford will be able to fill two more rooms! After all, that worked out so well last time, didn’t it? Illinois just raised their taxes (in some brackets, by 40%), maybe you would feel more “at home” there?
136,000+ signatures were gathered, and yet Milwaukee and Madison weren’t even in play.
I wonder how many signatures could be gathered from Milwaukee and Madison/Dane County.
And your statement that the GOP losing two State Senate seats is a loss for the Democrats is spin, pure and simple. You know as well as I do that the GOP losing two seats in the State Senate isn’t a win for them; it’s a loss no matter how you look at it.
I will grant you that Madison and Milwaukee will generate a significantly higher number, but it will still be a pretty big task. 500,000 signatures is a lot, Zach. That’s nearly 1/10 of all Wisconsinites.
My guess is that Walker is well aware that the political landscape changes over time. That is why he acted so quickly (just like President Obama did on the federal level…before the House went to the Republicans).
But since there is still a Republican majority in the Assembly and Senate and Walker is the governor, the left is on life support in Wisconsin. As I said, a lot of money was committed to get 3 seats and they only got 2. Is the NEA going to commit as much money? How about the AFL-CIO from outside Wisconsin? George Soros?
As I said, Democrats are not going to have many issues on which to run anymore; especially when Wisconsinites get their property tax bills next year.
The biggest liability I see for Walker’s platform now is that the federal economy is in the brink of collapse. Wisconsin has its fiscal ducks in a row, but if the federal economy continues to look as grim as it has in the last week and a half, we could be in trouble here as well.
Shorter wingnuts: “Not even this magnificent vindication of Dear Leader is going to quell our exquisite bitterness and spite!”