The Whole Wisconsin Thing
Feb. 20th, 2011 09:10 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theferrettSo if you haven't been paying attention - I hadn't, I'm visiting family - it turns out that the governor of Wisconsin is trying to gut union power, and the Democrats are trying to stop him. Since they were outvoted on every front, their current plan was to fly to another state and hide, because without them the legislature wouldn't have enough people there to achieve quorum. No Democrats, no vote at all.
Here's the thing: I'm not happy by the way the Democrats are abusing a loophole to fuck with the process.
I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, if it was the only way (which it looked like it was) and if a sufficient amount was at stake (which it most certainly is). But basically, this retreat is a rules-lawyer dick move designed to gum up the works at a time when they didn't have the votes or the public support. I imagine how I'd feel if the Tea Partiers pulled a similar trick in some Democratic state in order to block, say, a strengthening of union rules, and I'd be pretty pissed off.
I dig why the Dems are doing it, but even so I can't bring myself to go "Rah! Rah! You're my heroes, guys!" because essentially, they're using edge cases to block the will of legislature. Which just encourages more of this type of technical dick-pokery on both sides and makes it harder to compromise when they're literally going to take their ball and go to (not)-home if they don't get what they want.
Like I said. If my back was against the wall, I'd do it too. But I wouldn't think it was a grand thing to do - only a necessary one.
Here's the thing: I'm not happy by the way the Democrats are abusing a loophole to fuck with the process.
I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, if it was the only way (which it looked like it was) and if a sufficient amount was at stake (which it most certainly is). But basically, this retreat is a rules-lawyer dick move designed to gum up the works at a time when they didn't have the votes or the public support. I imagine how I'd feel if the Tea Partiers pulled a similar trick in some Democratic state in order to block, say, a strengthening of union rules, and I'd be pretty pissed off.
I dig why the Dems are doing it, but even so I can't bring myself to go "Rah! Rah! You're my heroes, guys!" because essentially, they're using edge cases to block the will of legislature. Which just encourages more of this type of technical dick-pokery on both sides and makes it harder to compromise when they're literally going to take their ball and go to (not)-home if they don't get what they want.
Like I said. If my back was against the wall, I'd do it too. But I wouldn't think it was a grand thing to do - only a necessary one.
