Wisconsin Takes A Stand For Fiscal Sanity

[DaShi]

The political influence of the middle and lower class has decline considerably in the US. Just look at the response to the financial crisis: bailouts and no real regulation reform. Then there's the tea party, which one would think would be in favor of middle class interests but has regularly supported actions that harm those interests. So it's no surprise that the few workers who survived the crisis are now being targeted.

[Wezil]

What the Democrats are doing is within the law. It's not a crime to leave Wisconsin. And they won enough seats in the election to have this power.

I'd be willing to bet the State Constitution says nothing about leaving the State to forestall a vote. It apparently does speak to what can be done if they refuse to show up for work (as MM noted earlier). The use of this tactic was considered by the framers and provisions were put in place to protect from it. Apparently not stringent enough provisions.

I would argue a bi-election be held in any jurisdiction where the winning candidate leaves the state in order to not do the job they were elected to do.

[Wezil]

Yes, and the Democrats are employing a check on the power of the majority that is part of the constitution of Wisconsin to stop this abuse of power.

Cite.

Absence of mention does not imply consent. What do other sections say and what is the overall intent of the document?

[giblets]

Cite.

Absence of mention does not imply consent. What do other sections say and what is the overall intent of the document?

Who cares about intent? If they didn't want this to happen then they should have required a majority for a quorum instead of two thirds.

[giblets]

I'd be willing to bet the State Constitution says nothing about leaving the State to forestall a vote. It apparently does speak to what can be done if they refuse to show up for work (as MM noted earlier). The use of this tactic was considered by the framers and provisions were put in place to protect from it. Apparently not stringent enough provisions.

I would argue a bi-election be held in any jurisdiction where the winning candidate leaves the state in order to not do the job they were elected to do.

Obviously they couldn't make it too easy to break the quorum or it would be abused. That doesn't mean it's not a legitimate part of the constitution.

[giblets]

If the public in Wisconsin has a problem with quorum breaking then they can vote the quorum breakers out of office in the next election.

[Wezil]

Quorums are designed to ensure one side doesn't sneak something through on short notice or unannounced ("dead of night" shenanigans) or for cases when enough members are unable to attend for whatever reasons (natural disasters, health, etc). They are not designed to allow a side to simply shut down democracy when the the other side wants to enact policy.

If you decide you don't like the legislation the responsible thing to do is show up, debate the legislation, make your opposition clear on the record and then vote against it. If you are right, and the public will be outraged by the passage of the legislation, big rewards will be yours in the next election.

[Wezil]

Who cares about intent?

[Wezil]

They're getting the axe outright here:

The Ontario Public Service is bracing for job cuts that could put more than 1,000 bureaucrats out of work, as Dalton McGuinty’s government seeks to demonstrate a commitment to austerity before a fall election.

Asked for a progress report on efforts to shrink the bureaucracy by 5 per cent, a senior provincial official said the government has identified more than half the jobs being trimmed. But the process will be accelerated in the months ahead, with deputy ministers informed that they need to be more aggressive in order to reach the target by this summer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/adam-radwanski/mcguinty-aims-to-axe-1400-public-service-jobs/article1914808/

Our evil Liberal Premier is cutting jobs. I wonder if the compassionate Conservatives will run off to Manitoba?

[DaShi]

If you decide you don't like the legislation the responsible thing to do is show up, debate the legislation, make your opposition clear on the record and then vote against it. If you are right, and the public will be outraged by the passage of the legislation, big rewards will be yours in the next election.

American politics doesn't work like that. It's who can put on the better show.

[Wezil]

Yeah well, like I say, the US system is ****ed to start with. It is now approaching Theater of the Absurd levels.

[Wezil]

I will give you one thing though, the Tea Party types are a bunch of intellectually dishonest wingnuts. The idea the deficit problem can be addressed without touching defence or social programs is simply absurd.

[DaShi]

And without raising taxes.

[Wezil]

Of course.

Sadly, Obama is also refusing to face the issue.

[DaShi]

Obama's hands were tied on the tax issue. He very much wanted the Bush tax cuts to expire and issue the millionaire tax. While I do feel that he gave up too easily, his position was a difficult one.

Now if people would just stop voting for republicans, we wouldn't have any of these problems.