Wrestlin' in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – The leader of the Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state nearly three weeks ago asked Gov. Scott Walker on Monday for an in-person meeting to discuss Walker's budget proposal that would strip most public employees of collective bargaining rights.

The Democrats also planned to meet among themselves Monday to discuss their next move and ways they could return to Madison.

"This is watershed week," said Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee, a member of the AWOL group. "I think we've had some pretty big victories. Obviously bringing the attention of what this legislation does to the state is pretty key."

The stalemate has drawn national attention and placed Wisconsin at the center of the debate over the future of union rights. Walker's proposal, which he says was designed to balance the state's budget, remains in limbo because without the 14 Democrats, the state Senate does not have enough members present for a quorum.

Democratic senators said Monday that pressure is mounting on Walker and Republicans to compromise after weeks of protests that have attracted tens of thousands of people to the Capitol. In addition, polls show substantial opposition to the governor and his plan, and recall efforts have been launched against Republican senators. Recall efforts have also been launched against the Democrats.

Walker's proposal would remove most collective bargaining rights for public employees, except over wage increases no greater than inflation. Police and fire departments would be the only exemptions. The legislation would also require state workers to start paying more for their pension and health care benefits starting in April, which amounts to an 8 percent pay cut on average.

The unions have agreed to the pay concessions as long as they can retain their bargaining rights. Rallies the past three weekends at the Capitol in opposition to the bill have grown as large as 80,000 people.

"We want to come back to the state of Wisconsin and stand with these hundreds of thousands of citizens who are now engaged," said Democratic Sen. Bob Jauch. "Every day I feel like I'm closer to getting back because there has to be a transition from us to the rest of us. This isn't our fight. This is the citizens' fight."

Since last week, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller has been talking about the importance of returning to oppose Walker's larger budget bill, which cuts about $1 billion from public schools and local governments to deal with a projected $3.6 billion shortfall.

"I don't think a lot of us have the stomach to stay away and watch our state plummet off a cliff," Larson said.

Miller sent a letter Monday to Walker and the Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald asking for an in-person meeting "as soon as possible to resume negotiations" on how to resolve the impasse over the bill.

Both sides had been talking last week, but negotiations broke down Thursday.

Walker and Fitzgerald did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"What we have been doing from the beginning is trying to reach out and find some sort of compromise," said Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach. "I think the pressure is really on them to find and forge some way to resolve this this week."

He and other Democrats said they were optimistic a deal could be reached soon.

"I don't think anyone expects us to stay here forever," Jauch said.

Among the 14 who fled the state is Sen. Julie Lassa, who is pregnant, and Sen. Fred Risser, who at 83 has been in the Legislature since 1956. He is the longest serving lawmaker in the country.

"There are some realities that have to be faced," Jauch said, referring to the fact that Lassa is now more than seven months' pregnant.

If Democrats return without meaningful concessions, the protests will only intensify, he said.

"It's very difficult because I realize even though we didn't plan it this way, people are resting their hopes on our decisions," Jauch said. "I know that at the point we return some people are going to be terribly let down. We have to communicate with them that we stand together."

There are multible reports that the Dems will allow the vote, and then try to bash the GOP with it in recalls and the next election cycle now that they think the public supports them. However, the Dems are denying this.

The question that the Dems need to ask themselves is the one I asked a while back, which is "how much do people care about this issue?".

Turns out they care a lot. That's why Walker's numbers have sank badly and the Dems' have not

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Turns out they care a lot. That's why Walker's numbers have sank badly and the Dems' have not

We dont know that yet, approval ratings means something but not as much as you think they do.

The fact that this story is now mostly ignored by the press is not a good sign for the dems, as journalism is now a supply and demand business.

The status of the recall efforts against the 8 Dems and 8 GOP Senators is meaningful, but we dont know how they are going.

Ignored? It's one of the top stories on Google and the story about the Dems' latest demand (meet us at the border to negotiate) is on the front page of CNN. It's discussed every day on both the left and right-wing blogs I read.

I know how the status of the recall of Walker himself and the 8 GOP members is going

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Ignored? It's one of the top stories on Google and the story about the Dems' latest demand (meet us at the border to negotiate) is on the front page of CNN. It's discussed every day on both the left and right-wing blogs I read.

Both Yahoo! and Google run a counter of mentions of search terms on their news sites, I have not looked at Google but Yahoo! has that this story has disappeared.

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I know how the status of the recall of Walker himself and the 8 GOP members is going

Considering that there is no effort to recall Walker so I know that you are lying about that I doubt the entirety of your claim.

Walker can't be recalled legally until 11/3/11, a year after his election. So, they are gathering pledges for signatures now, so they can get them all pretty quickly by that date.

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Walker can't be recalled legally until 11/3/11, a year after his election. So, they are gathering pledges for signatures now, so they can get them all pretty quickly by that date.

That is as meaningful as a facebook "like", as in not. There are several sites were people are asking for commitments to recall, but that is not a recall effort. They dont even have the time frame right, as signatures cant be collected till Jan 2012, not "in the fall". You have heard how the abstinence and drug free pledges work in practice, have you not? Getting people to make a claim for future behaviour has no effect on future behaviour, and does not help predict what that future behaviour will be.

because less and less people bother to "talk" to him

Egos like yours prove my point. Gaddafi also said "my people love me!"

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker says a request from the leader of Senate Democrats to meet along the Illinois-Wisconsin border is ridiculous.

Walker said Monday that Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller has been standing in the way of progress on negotiations with other Democrats to end an impasse over a bill taking away collective bargaining rights from public workers.

Walker says he doesn't know who is in charge of the 14 Democrats who fled to Illinois to block a vote on the measure.

Miller says Walker can talk with any Democrat he wants if he doesn't want to deal with him.

. You just don't "get it."

Madison, WI —
TV exclusive interview, determined Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday began the legal notification process that could lead to 1,500 state employees losing their jobs in April. He also said that President Barack Obama should stay out of his state’s fiscal crisis and instead ought to focus on “the much, much graver budget crisis we have in our nation’s capital, which he’s failed to lead on.”

I said from day one that I am a radical