This, quite frankly, is unbelievable. If you've been paying attention to the news, you have heard that the state Senators of Wisconsin have fled the state (to a state controlled by a Democrat Governor*) to avoid voting on a bill that would require public unions to conduct annual recertification votes, limit collective bargaining to wages only, and eliminate "closed shops" in the government sector (i.e., employees aren't forced to join a Union against their will). Among the other considerations, is making Union dues voluntary, and forcing the Unions to collect their own dues rather than having the state do it for them.
Since the Democrats lost badly in Wisconsin during the last election, they understand that a vote on this bill (along with a Republican Governor) will guarantee that it passes. To stop this, the Democrats have fled the state of Wisconsin to avoid a vote altogether.
Calling in to CBS, from god knows where, was Wisconsin Democrat Mark Miller who stated that Republican Governor Walker, "needs to recognize that this is a democracy, and in a democracy you negotiate.”
Now, I realize this is a tough concept to grasp for a state Senator such as Mark Miller, but Wisconsin is not a democracy. It's a representative democracy. A distinction, with quite a big difference. If Wisconsin were a democracy, then every bill would have to be put to a vote of the entire Wisconsin voting public. Instead, Wisconsin (like every other state in the union) votes to elect representatives who in turn debate and vote upon the issues (many times, the debates happen during campaign season as they run for election/re-election). This is why we use the phrase, "Elections have consequences."
In this particular case, the public sector unions were a HUGE campaign piece in the elections that handed the Republicans their current majority. Mark Miller, and the other Democrats, have decided that the voice of the people is not as important as their big money unions and the power they control.
Now, to join Wisconsin, Indiana Democrats have fled the state to avoid voting on measures dealing with private sector unions. So, as I saw someone write, we now have the Hoosier Hightail to go along with the Badger Bolt.
Interestingly enough, watching all of this unfold, I can't help but think of the movie, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." More specifically, the part with Brave Sir Robin:
Brave Sir Robin ran away
Bravely ran away away
When danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Yes Brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly he chickened out
Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat
Bravest of the brave Sir Robin
Packing it in and packing it up
And sneaking away and buggering up
And chickening out and pissing about
Yes, bravely he is throwing in the sponge
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