Running scared

Wisconsin Democrat senators have fled the state (rumor has it they boarded a bus to Iowa), rather than do their duty and vote on a bill, simply because they don't agree with its provisions.

We've really elected some wieners winners, haven't we?

The state constitution says the lawmakers can be "compelled" to be present for floor sessions.  But if the lawmakers are out of state, the state patrol won't have the authority to haul their keisters back over state lines.

The unions for government workers are complaining at the thought of their members being subject to the same types of conditions most of the rest of us are - contributing toward their pensions and health insurance (at rates well below the national average) and only having the power in the future to bargain over salaries, not benefits.  No longer will employers be required to collect and pay in union dues, and no one who opts out of the union will have to pay any of the fees to the union they currently pay.  Unions would have to undergo recertification votes every few years to remain in existence.

It's fitting this whole drama is playing out in Wisconsin; the first non-federal public employee union was formed here back in the late fifties.  They may well end - or at least have some of their power stripped - here as well.