*****Walker (R-WI) Budget Live Thread*****

[DFab420]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2011/03/watch_live_scott_walker_budget_address.php?ref=fpblg

or

www.wxow.com



Let's see if we can hear the protesters outside chanting during this schmucks speech.

I think this is gonna be a trainwreck.

[gkhouston]

1. LOL, just saw a tweet indicating that Walker can hear them and is not pleased.

Natachu: RT @PurrpleCatMama: RT @VV4Change: RT @itsghastlycrew: We learned walker is mad he can hear us. Our response: PRIMAL SCREAM #wiunion

[DFab420]

2. WTF is this love fest with the clapping

Is the chamber just filled with Repubs or what?

[Tx4obama]

3. Well the 14 democratic senators are still in Illinois :) n/t

[Tx4obama]

5. The dems that are there are furthest from the camera, not standing or clapping. n/t

[DFab420]

6. lol touche!

Although Walker just called out the Dem. Senators.

[Shiver]

8. Definitely

They packed the room with toadies and teabaggers. If they could have replaced the Dems, they would have.

I had to turn it off. I can't stand that bastard's voice, face, or existence.

[gkhouston]

10. lobbyists and teabaggers, if Twitter is to be believed.

Allegedly, Democracy Now reported that teabaggers were brought in via a steam tunnel, but I can get to that site today, so I can't verify that.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

11. Yep, it's just a Teabagger love feast.

Americans not allowed in.

[spanone]

4. there's nothing to hear, he won't negotiate, so it's pointless.

[DFab420]

7. Yea but sometimes you can't turn away you know?

It's like listening to Palin speak.

So stupid it's excellent.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

19. Car Wreck n/t

[Tx4obama]

9. Poll sez Over One Million Wisconsin Voters Ready To Sign Walker Recall Petition

Poll sez Over One Million Wisconsin Voters Ready To Sign Walker Recall Petition

Article with link to poll: http://tinyurl.com/49fzz5

[Tx4obama]

12. He's reading off a teleprompter. n/t

[Roy Ellefson]

13. Administrative Coup

Dems have to hold firm because what he is intending is the privatization of Wisconsin State Government.

[FreakinDJ]

14. DING DING DING - We have a Winner Folks - Welcome to DU

[nebenaube]

24. and raiding a pension fund worth 147 billion.

http://kristenemery.com/2011/02/23/does-governor-scott-walker-have-a-smoking-gun-buried-in-the-budget-bill/

[Skip_In_Boulder]

20. It's not like it is anything new

America has been being privatized for the last 20 years.

[WinkyDink]

39. And he is following in the UK's Cameron's footsteps:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x474726

[Tx4obama]

15. Hey Walker, read our lips: "resign now"! n/t

[DFab420]

16. He didn't take lip reading in college...

Or rather maybe he did then just dropped out of it...

[Tx4obama]

17. Well CNN, MSNBC, & FoxNews on TV aren't showing it

so he's just talking to himself.

[Shiver]

18. Our local channels have it on.

At least, PBS does. Ironic, considering that Walker's party wants to cut their funding...

[Skip_In_Boulder]

21. Well of course, they actually report news. n/t

[DFab420]

22. Like Charlie Sheen's new g/f!

:rofl: haha

[Paradoxical]

23. Could someone explain to me why the 14 Democrats are doing the right thing?

What's going on in Wisconsin is terrible. Gov. Walker is either an epic douchebag, insane or both. The bill he wants to pass would do horrific damage to the rights of workers in the state.

But I can't help but think that by refusing to come back, the Democrats are weakening the institution of representative democracy.

At the end of the day, Wisconsinites elected these idiots. And, from what I understand, Walker campaigned on the same basic premises that he is now attempting to enact. Is there absolutely no weight given to the fact that these officials, no matter how ignorant or disgusting, have been elected by the people?

Let me put it this way, if Republicans did the same thing, I think a lot of us would be out of our mind with anger; me included. It just seems like kind of a double standard to glorify the actions of these Democrats.

Maybe I'm failing to make the distinction between the philosophy of their actions and the practicality of their actions.

Maybe I'm missing the point entirely. But it would be great if someone could explain the justification.

[Doremus]

Playing by the rules has served us so well, eh?

When you're in the fight of your life you do what you need to do to survive.

And, yes, this is about survival, not tea and crumpets on the veranda.

[FreakinDJ]

25. 2 Wrongs don't make a Right - nor a quorum nor a vote

so the wrong doesn't happen

[Shiver]

26. First, there's the backstory to this whole thing.

Walker tried to force this legislation through with as little debate or scrutiny as possible. The Democrats didn't like that, especially those that weren't even given time to read the bill. The Republicans have a majority to get the bill through without needing Democrats, so the Democrats did the only thing they could to prevent the vote and get more debate, and hopefully some kind of compromise.

They prevented quorum. The State Senate cannot vote on fiscal matters without a quorum, and the Repubs need at least 1 Democrat to reach that quorum. By preventing the vote, they have allowed the people to see the bill in it's entirety, and they've been protecting the interests of their constituents in the only way they can.

It's in the state constitution for this reason.

Also, Walker did not campaign on stripping public unions of the collective bargaining. Never mentioned it once before being elected. That's been proven to be a lie.

[hatrack]

27. Garden-variety parlimentary maneuver, nothing new . . .

It's called "politics" - and that's how you have to play it sometimes.

[DFab420]

28. Well.

I tend to think that since NONE of the other state officials are listening to the THOUSANDS of WI protesters, that they are also weakening the institution of representative democracy.


The 14 Dems are representing their constituents well by not allowing a farce of our democratic process to move forward.

Think about it this way. Doing the right thing doesn't necessarily mean doing it the right way. I means doing it by whatever means it takes to get the voices heard.

If Gov. Waler wasn't a stubborn child, and the WI R Senators weren't sheeple for the Koch's, then MAYBE I would say the Dems need to get back and play the game. But if you know the dice are rigged, why would you role with cheaters?

[Tx4obama]

29. There is NO law that says they have to come back and vote.

So, the dems are actually playing by the rules, in my opinion.

p.s. And actually it looks like it it Gov Walker that is breaking labor law by not sitting down and negotiating with the unions.

[Paradoxical]

30. The lack of law doesn't mean endorsement...

I think it's absolutely wrong to say that the Democrats are playing by the rules. I didn't even know that was up for debate.

What I'm pondering is whether or not they should play by the rules.

My instinct is to side with them because they are doing what is necessary to protect the workers. But the doubtful part of my brain is saying that such actions only encourage others, who we disagree with, to do the same thing.

Take, for instance, the filibuster. It has been so destructive to congress over the years. Look at how many times it has damaged our cause.

But, like I said, maybe I'm looking at this from the wrong perspective.

[FreakinDJ]

32. Why does your argument sound so Right-Wing

[Paradoxical]

33. How so?

[WinkyDink]

40. "My instinct is to side with them": "Instinct"? Not Party principle? Or legal understanding?

[annabanana]

41. Their job is to represent their constituents. They are doing that right now

by not allowing this destructive bill to be rammed through.

[rbixby]

31. One has to remember who the senators serve

They serve their constituents, and the best thing they can do to serve them is to prevent this bill from being railroaded through the state house. If they return, the quorum happens, and suddenly everything goes straight to hell.
Democracy is served when both sides come to the negotiating table and hash out an agreement, not when one side crams its agenda down the throats of the other.

[Paradoxical]

34. I guess this makes sense....

I was under the assumption that Walker was doing exactly what he said he was going to do during his campaign.

And I wasn't aware of the fact that they tried to push the bill through without proper debate.

[Doremus]

44. You "weren't aware"???

Were you aware that the teabaggers cried like babies that healthcare reform wasn't given enough time for debate and was, in fact, given a whole freaking summer and then some??

But you "weren't aware" this radical usurpation of workers' rights is being rammed through in a miniscule fraction of that time, i.e. days?

I blame it on Faux. About time you guys found a new playground, btw. This is beyond old.

[Paradoxical]

46. Yes and yes.

Also, you seriously need to chill out. I don't remember the last time I watched Fox News. And I'm definitely not the opposition.

I was misinformed. Apologies.

[Critters2]

35. You need to get your news somewhere besides Fox. He didn't mention

ending collective bargaining in his campaign. Not a word about it. This whole "he's doing what he said he would do" meme is a right wing lie. Why are you repeating it?

[Paradoxical]

36. Well, apparently because I didn't know it was false.

[Critters2]

37. "from what I understand, Walker campaigned on the same basic premises that he is now attempting"

The only way you would "understand" it in that way is if you've been listening to Fox and their ilk.

[Paradoxical]

38. Definitely not true at all.

Clearly I had a poor source for information. But that source was most certainly not Fox News.

Most of my understanding of this situation comes from discussions in a couple of my philosophy/political science classes.

[WinkyDink]

42. I Googled and found out.

[Viking12]

43. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker DID NOT campaign on killing collective bargaining rights

[Paradoxical]

47. "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Didn't Campaign on Union-Busting"

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2011/02/28/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-didnt-campaign-on-union-busting

It is now understood.

[mdmc]

45. its a filibuster

there is a way to stop this law and they are utilizing it.
the justification is in the result -
the proof of the pudding is in the eating..