Wis. Dem Leader To Walker: Let's Meet At The State Line

[jefferson_dem]

Wis. Dem Leader To Walker: Let's Meet At The State Line
Eric Kleefeld | March 7, 2011, 10:50AM Share 2

Wisconsin state Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller, head of the 14 Democrats who have fled the state in order to block budget quorum on Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union proposals, has now sent a letter to Walker and GOP Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald offering to meet in person for negotiations -- at the Illinois state line.

Sunday night, Miller and the Dems were knocking back a report in the Wall Street Journal that they were soon to return to the state and allow a vote on Walker's plan. Instead, Miller is now reaching out to Walker to continue negotiations at the Illinois border.

Key quote from the letter:

I assure you that Democratic State Senators, despite our differences and the vigorous debate we have had, remain ready and willing to find a reasonable compromise. To that end, I would ask that you or your authorized representatives agree to meet with us near the Wisconsin-Illinois border to formally resume serious discussions as soon as possible.

The people of Wisconsin are overwhelmingly supportive of us reaching a bipartisan, negotiated compromise. Senate Democrats stand ready to do just that, we ask that you do the same.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/wis-dem-leader-to-walker-lets-meet-at-the-state-line.php

[FBaggins]

1. Clever.

I doubt that he can afford to try this, so we come off as reasonable and ready to deal... while he sticks to his guns.

[wtmusic]

2. Should be resolved by a tug o' war over the state line.

This is getting goofy.

[savalez]

3. Check for lassos!

:)

[Tippy]

4. K&R...for a smart move by Dem's

[gratuitous]

5. Walker's clearly not interested in a reasonable compromise

He's a slavering beast, temporarily checked by the Wisconsin Senate Democrats. As far as public employees go, he's gotten every concession he could reasonably expect, with pay cuts and benefit givebacks. But that's not enough for Walker and the men holding his leash. At this point, the only "compromise" is for Walker and his Senate Republican cronies (let's not leave them out of the equation) to back down completely from any further demands on public employees. Magic 8 Ball says prospects are not good.

[Andy823]

7. True, but

The longer he refuses to negotiate, and compromise, the worse he is making things for him and his party! He was going to be the first one to "BUST" the unions, and he was going to be the darling of the republican party. Now he is on the verge of getting thrown under the bus by the republican big wigs! The longer he keeps this up, the worse his numbers get in the polls, and the longer it keeps the fact that republicans are trying to bust not only the unions, but the entire middle class, and that's not going to work out well for them in the long run!

[gratuitous]

9. That would be true under most circumstances

But I get the distinct impression that Walker, his cronies and the their puppet masters aren't playing by the usual rules of politics. That is, they're using the forms and language, customs and shibboleths of politics, but it isn't really politics. As a result, they don't much care about poll numbers or public opinion, two of the great referees of the political game. When a course of action becomes as demonstrably unpopular as what Walker is doing, you'd expect to see people of his own party abandon him, but that hasn't been the case. In my review of the situation, it appears that only one Republican Senator out of 19 has made any kind of public pronouncement opposing Walker. Surely if this was a political gambit, there would be a couple more nervous nellies in the Republican caucus who would denounce this course of action.

It leads me to believe that we're seeing an existential struggle (at least on behalf of public employees and their union - the Koch brothers will still be billionaires when this is all over), and the usual "rules" don't apply. Plummeting public support, ongoing demonstrations, and the other usual tactics aren't going to be very effective against these zealots. The game has changed, even though it's using familiar forms. There isn't a long run, there's just winning or losing this battle. If the Kochs lose, they'll just reorganize, recruit a new set of pawns, and have another go at it. If the public employees lose, we're looking at the end of the middle class for a generation, possibly longer, and it will come back only with another go-round of the bloody street battles that created the labor movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On the upside, maybe those future labor leaders will do it better than the AFL under Samuel Gompers did; they could hardly do worse for all the struggle, blood and misery workers went through.

[reformist2]

6. Hmm. Either you have bargaining rights or you don't.

I don't see how you compromise on this point. I thought the Dems already conceded some big pay and benefit cuts. *That's* the compromise. It's up to Walker to accept it.

[ewagner]

8. Watch out for trickery

We know from the faux Koch phone call that he was willing to try trickery once and I'm sure he'll do it again.

Additionally, the Dems talking by phone with Walker and his staff last week found out they were being "played" for publicity by Walker.


He is totally untrustworthy.