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[Vactor]

Doesn't the democrats return run the risk that the law will be passed in a proper form now that they've returned?

Not really, the main substance of the bill was passed out of the Senate without them, The only thing that was removed with the bill to allow it to be voted on was some refinancing of bonds.  The bill could be taken back up and passed again, but it would have to make its way through the various processes all over again, something the Republicans seem loathe to do, as it would give the Democrats in both houses an opportunity to fight it every step of the way all over again.

By passing this bill without the Democrats, the Republicans opened the door for them to return to the state without betraying those they supported, if ultimately unsuccessful in changing the bill.

[Heron TSG]

Hey, I heard that a judge stopped the bill. Yay!

[Aklyon]

Hey, I heard that a judge stopped the bill. Yay!

They seem to be good at doing that lately.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Stopping terrible things is their job, so I'm glad they're doing it.

[Aqizzar]

Just because I'm in a news mood today, there's been some interesting activity in Wisconsin lately.  The very first post-union-dustup election was held last night, for a State Supreme Court seat.  The incumbent, David Prosser, had held the seat for 30 years, and had rarely if ever actually had to campaign for it.  The challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg, had already run for another Supreme Court seat a few months ago, and was blown away 65-35 in an election a couple thousand people turned out for.

At any other time, in any other state, that exact same thing would have been repeated.  But Kloppenburg became the vessel for a lot of anti-Walker funding and campaigning and promises to oppose any Walker-related labor legislation that came before the court, while Prosser quietly acknowledged his support for the governor's ongoing campaign.  Voter turnout was something like 33%, phenomenal for an off-season state election between two candidates nobody had ever heard of a month ago.  With 1.2 million votes counted, Kloppenburg declared victory when the State Department's first official final vote count said she came out 204 votes ahead.

Naturally, it's in recount, and probably will be a few times, but if she winds up winning by a single vote, with be an extraordinary event in the continuum of state politics.  It will also shift the balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from a one-seat margin in the governor's favor to a one-vote margin against, at a time when there's some huge pieces of legislation likely to be ruled on.

[Heron TSG]

Ooh, I was just about to post that. It's nice to see that people go and vote when things start getting hot.

[Aqizzar]

Just because it's already in a thread here: Wisconsin State Supreme Court race is still up in the air, and is now projected to go to the incumbent David Prosser, after a town in Wisconsin's most conservative county finally remembered how spreadsheets work.  A town's votes went unreported when the local commissioner (a partisan elected position, for some reason) failed to save a file correctly.  The theoretical first count for the vote goes from 200-ish for Kloppenburg to 7000-ish for Prosser, which is still close enough to warrant a recount.

There's really nothing to say about this, except that it's a clarion call for the state election system to actually function like a 21st century civil service.

[darkrider2]

It all sounds fishy to me.

With an issue so intense as the wisconsin battle, I can hardly see the most heavily republican county, with vote reporting worked on by a republican clerk no less, to just 'forget' several thousand votes. Then say "oh yeah, forgot to press the save button, honest mistake, nothing to see here, move on shows over."

Lets act like grown ups and admit when we've lost.

[Nikov]

Lets act like grown ups and admit when we've lost.

While I should hope the county clerk isn't running for reelection after an error that raised national scrutiny, I still think 14,000 people deserve their right to vote. The mistake will no doubt be scrutinized for electioneering. In the meantime, there's apparently no recount, according to yesterday's news.

[darkrider2]

Lets act like grown ups and admit when we've lost.

While I should hope the county clerk isn't running for reelection after an error that raised national scrutiny, I still think 14,000 people deserve their right to vote. The mistake will no doubt be scrutinized for electioneering. In the meantime, there's apparently no recount, according to yesterday's news.

She 'forgot' to submit votes in at least two other previous elections, where, a democrat was winning by a small percentage. The added votes swung each election to the right's side. This isn't just credibility, there should be a goddamn investigation.

[Nikov]

Lets act like grown ups and admit when we've lost.

While I should hope the county clerk isn't running for reelection after an error that raised national scrutiny, I still think 14,000 people deserve their right to vote. The mistake will no doubt be scrutinized for electioneering. In the meantime, there's apparently no recount, according to yesterday's news.

She 'forgot' to submit votes in at least two other previous elections, where, a democrat was winning by a small percentage. The added votes swung each election to the right's side. This isn't just credibility, there should be a goddamn investigation.

Erm, yeah. There should be scrutiny, without a doubt, to determine if this is a mistake or electioneering.

[Urist Imiknorris]

She 'forgot' to submit votes in at least two other previous elections, where, a democrat was winning by a small percentage. The added votes swung each election to the right's side. This isn't just credibility, there should be a goddamn investigation.

There should be. If it turns out to just be a really bad-looking coincidence, I will eat the first hat I find.

[Blargityblarg]

She 'forgot' to submit votes in at least two other previous elections, where, a democrat was winning by a small percentage. The added votes swung each election to the right's side. This isn't just credibility, there should be a goddamn investigation.

There should be. If it turns out to just be a really bad-looking coincidence, I will eat the first hat I find.

If it turns out to be above board, I will personally get you an audience with the Pope.

[Aqizzar]

I thought I'd bump this thread with some news from today.  After the legislative hootenanny, a bunch of Democratic political groups in Wisconsin started collecting signatures for Recall Petitions against some Republican state senators.  The deadline is May 2, they've collected enough signatures for four recalls and nearly enough for four others.  There's also some Republican groups raising recall petitions against Democratic senators, supposedly eight but they've only collected enough signatures for two of them.

I've basically just condensed all the factual stuff from the article I'm about to link.  The noteworthy part of the story is that at least one guy raising signatures for one of the Democratic-senator recalls was doing so (a while back) by offering free shots to patrons of his bar.  I wouldn't normally link to the Huffington Post, but it looks pretty legit, and there's audio - of some women who proudly have no idea what they're signing.  As well as what might be the bartender's Facebook page.  The best part is that this certainly sounds unsavory, it's probably not actually illegal.  Buying votes is one thing, but buying signatures isn't mentioned in the law.

I dunno, I just thought it was pretty funny.  Anytime alcohol is involved in politics it seems noteworthy, if only to remember what your electorate looks like.

[darkrider2]

Aqizzar, every time I come on here to say something relevant you've beaten me by at least an hour. And said it ten times better than I could ever.

I just heard about the shots for siggies thing via Rachael Maddow, and came on here literally expecting your post.