The Republican Governors Association is running the spot, which twice mentions Senate Democrats' childish field trip to Illinois. It also praises the governor for trying to balance the budget without raising taxes and defends asking unions to contribute to their generous benefits packages "just like everyone else." Interestingly, there's no mention of the collective bargaining language in Walker's bill, which is an obvious sticking point in the larger discussion.
Feel free to tweak the RGA for sidestepping that sticky issue in their ad, but also remember that Republicans have every right to dictate the terms of this debate. Democrats knowingly relinquished any legitimate say in the matter when they, you know, literally ran away from it.
The fleebaggers' pathetic tactics are understandable on one basic level: They're merely using any and all methods to protect the hand that feeds them:
The 14 Wisconsin Democratic senators who fled to Illinois share more than just political sympathy with the public employees and unions targeted by Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill.
The Senate Democrats count on those in the public sector as a key funding source for their campaigns.
In fact, nearly one out of every five dollars raised by those Democratic senators in the past two election cycles came from public employees, such as teachers and firefighters, and their unions, a Journal Sentinel analysis of campaign records shows.
UPDATE: Fox Nation says that "dissension in the ranks" may be brewing among the 14 AWOL Democratic Senators, and that their stunt may soon be coming to an end:
State Sen. Julie Lassa (D) is pregnant and "extremely unhappy" about being on the run. State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D) has been hit particularly hard by his paycheck being withheld. Wisconsin State Senate leadership is currently negotiating with eight of the fourteen to come home. Gov. Scott Walker (R) has declared today the deadline for action on his budget repair bill and plans to give a budget address at 5 p.m. ET. A deal may be announced around that time.
@news3jessica: Sen Fitzgerald says he met in person at the state line with some Sen Democrats about possible return.
What a farcical scene that must have been.
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