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Fourteen Wisconsin Democrats are still on the lam, allegedly out of state, to avoid a quorum necessary for the Wisconsin Senate to vote on a bill to abolish collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin teachers. Governor Scott Walker and his Republican supporters in both the State Senate and the State Assembly (Wisconsin State Representatives) hold significant majorities and a vote would ensure passage of the measure.

The Governor claims that he is not primarily out to bust state employee unions, but that he is concerned that runaway salaries and benefits that endlessly accrue from limited power of the government and too much power from labor unions in contract negotiations. As some experts put it, legislators are only in office for a limited period, but union officials and remain in place much longer. These same union officials often times use dues for political activities to force officials from office with whom they disagree in order to force taxpayers to feed, beyond their means, an insatiable beast of greed and corruption in exchange for less than expected overall performance, particularly with school districts.

In Wisconsin, the Senate needs 20 members to reach a quorum. Currently, only 19 Republicans are available and 14 Democrats are in hiding, allegedly out of state, leaving the body 1 person shy of a quorum. The Democrats are charging that the measure they are avoiding is union busting and has little effort on the budget. However, much of the activity by these Democrats is nothing more than political Kabuki Theater.

“The state constitution requires lawmakers to fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities and allows the legislature to “compel the attendance” of absent members to reach a quorum, though the documents do not spell out what types of compulsion can be used.

But (sic), the state constitution also prohibits lawmakers from being arrested during a legislative session, unless they’re accused of “treason, felony or breach of the peace.” ~ University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist, Dennis Dresang

None of the missing Democrats are wanted for “treason, felony or breach of the peace”. Most experts see the measure as raw politics and find validity in both sides of the argument.

As an example, teacher employee unions in Wisconsin generally fund Democrat candidates, and if the Governor is successful in stripping unions of collective bargaining rights; dues collected from members who disagree with union leadership positions, will no longer be available in support of particular candidates or causes without the member’s specific consent.

Wage and benefit concessions cited as imperative by Republicans and the Governor have already been agreed to by the teacher’s union. This latter makes the Republican argument of essential budget control that gives government the power to order specific wage and benefit changes unilaterally to limit the debt a much weaker one.

The fact remains, however, that should the teacher’s union retain collective bargaining rights; they will soon demand the same sort of concessions that they have in the past, and in short order, any concessions unions make today; they will gain back in sort order as the budget situation improves. So there is an element to control the budget now, and to ensure as much control as possible tomorrow. Most communities, under current wage and benefit negotiations, are forced to spend more than half of their local budgets on an education system that has been, for the most part, failing students.

Another inherent disadvantage states generally encounter occurs when contract negotiations reach an impasse. This disadvantage is the use of federal mediators who, throughout history, have generally demonstrated the pro-union perspective of current federal leaders.

“All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public-personnel management. The very nature and purposes of government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people.” ~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

In other words, government employees are, by definition, servants of the people. The people who pay taxes to fund the government are their employers and by giving employees the right to collectively bargain deprives the people of a proper voice and authority while giving too much of a voice and power to those hired to serve. To work in a public sector job intended to serve the public or in support of those who actually provide services is a choice. No one is compelled to work for government. As stated by “jazusamo“, a writer for Pajamas Media:

“Public servants — meaning government employees — don’t work for greedy miscreants exploiting them for personal profit. They work for democratically elected officials representing the will of the people. This is just one reason why there is no legitimate role for government unions, and there should be no collective bargaining rights for public servants…If public servants do not like the pay, benefits, and working conditions offered to them by the people as determined through the democratic process, nothing requires them to be public servants. This is why public servants are not slaves without collective bargaining, as soon-to-be-unemployed collective bargaining agents have suggested.”

The debate will continue to rage on a bit longer. Ultimately, the Wisconsin State Senators who are AWOL will either have to come back and allow a vote, remain out and force thousands of public service layoffs (estimated to be 5 – 6 thousand), or find themselves the subjects of recall elections. By hiding out, Democrats are ignoring the will of the people as expressed in the last election as a repudiation of Democrat policies and a desire to try following those of Republicans. The vote and accepting the will of the people is the essential element of a representative Republic.

But, did you know…

In 1942, Democrat United States Senator Theodore Bilbo led a filibuster against ending the racist poll tax, and he urged fellow senators who agreed with him to go home so that an adjournment cold be forced by lack of a quorum. The House Majority Leader, Senator Alben W.Barkley, also a Democrat, ordered the Sergeant at Arms to arrest eight senators who remained in the city. J. Mark Trice, Assistant Sergeant at Arms arrest and return Tennessee Senator Kenneth McKellar (D) to the Senate. Sergeant at Arms Trice, with the help of hotel management, got Senator McKellar to return to Congress and give the number needed for a quorum.

In 1998, Republican Robert “Bob” Packwood was seized by Capital Police after hiding out in his office and was carried feet first into the Senate chamber to establish a quorum and allow a vote on Campaign Finance Reform. In a bit of irony, this time, it was Senate Majority Leader, Robert C. Byrd, (D-WVA) who, with a Democrat vote of 45-3 in support, ordered the arrest of all missing members and to compel them to return. Unlike the Democrats, however, the Republicans did not leave town but rather retreated to cots within the Senate building.

The most recent event of hiding politicians occurred in May, 2003. That was when Texas Democrats fled to Oklahoma to kill a Republican redistricting bill that allegedly would have cost them 5 seats in the United States Congress. Republicans mocked the Democrats who fled as “Chicken-Ds” and printed playing cards with their faces on them – a play on the wanted cards used by the Department of Defense to help find terrorist leaders.

So, how many of you think you are getting what your taxes are paying for from our political “leaders”? Perhaps, we should start preparing buttered popcorn and a favorite beverage before turning on CSPAN.