Author Archive
State Democrat Legislators’ New Tactic: The Empty Chair
Last Updated on Friday, 4 March 2011 02:17 Written by rslcpol Friday, 4 March 2011 02:17
From The Washington Post:
Lawmaking can be a frustrating business, especially when you’re outnumbered. But some Democratic state legislators have recently embraced a simple tool to gain leverage: the empty chair.
The strategy was used to great effect this week, when two Maryland delegates did not show up at a committee meeting about a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. Their colleagues cracked nervous jokes for 30 minutes before the session was canceled, delaying a final vote.
The tactic is still being used in spectacular fashion by Wisconsin legislators, who fled to Illinois two weeks ago to prevent a vote on a bill that would weaken public employee unions. And Democrats in Indiana who are upset about a similar issue also have decamped to Illinois, holing up at a Comfort Suites in Urbana. They work out of the breakfast nook, subsist on Subway sandwiches and donated chili dinners, and make frequent visits to the coin-op laundry.
They took umbrage this week when Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), at his wit’s end over the inability to call a quorum and get any legislation passed, accused them of trying to legislate from a hot tub in Illinois.
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly, State Legislature News | No Comments
IN: GOP Considers Fines against Missing Democrats
Last Updated on Thursday, 3 March 2011 02:39 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 3 March 2011 02:39
From WISHtv.com:
Democrats from the Indiana House of Representatives are still in Urbana, Illinois and Republicans are prepared to take new steps designed to bring them back to the Statehouse. Those steps will be announced at 1:30 this afternoon..
Look for Republicans to call for an official censure of every absent Democrat.
That would establish a permanent record of this walkout. Republicans are also considering fines against the Democrats.The fines could be set at any amount. They are being sought because again this morning only 61 state representatives answered the roll call, six short of the number required for a quorum to conduct business. Democrats have sent word they won’t show up tomorrow, either.
“The opportunity costs of the last two weeks have taken a serious toll on the taxpayers,” says House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis,) “and we’re getting a lot of discussion from taxpayers who are insensitive about this and it’s time to compel their attendance back here.”
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
WI: Senate Orders Missing Democrats Arrested
Last Updated on Thursday, 3 March 2011 02:31 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 3 March 2011 02:00
Democrats have until 4pm to get back to the capitol.
From Wisconsin State Journal:
Republicans voted 19-0 to give the Democrats until 4 p.m. Thursday to appear before the Senate. The 14 Democrats are believed to be in Illinois. If the senators do not return by the deadline, the Senate agreed to find them “in contempt and disorderly behavior.”
Declared Fitzgerald: “They have pushed us to the edge of a constitutional crisis.”
The Senate also voted to institute a “call of the house,” which is the mechanism used to compel senators to return to the chamber.
Tags: Wisconsin | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
Dems Fail to Field Candidates in Mississippi
Last Updated on Thursday, 3 March 2011 11:48 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 3 March 2011 11:48
From ClarionLedger.com:
In a hopelessly upbeat tone, a woman answered the phone at the Mississippi Democratic Party headquarters Tuesday evening: “It’s a great day to be a Democrat. How may I help you?”
But by most estimations, Tuesday’s qualifying deadline day was not a great day to be a Democrat in Mississippi.
Though party insiders dangled the anticipation until the last minute – even former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove was floated as a potential candidate for lieutenant governor (he did not file) – Democrats failed to field candidates for three of eight statewide positions and offered up few last-minute surprises.
Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IN: Democrat Leader Returns to State to Speak with Speaker Brian Bosma
Last Updated on Wednesday, 2 March 2011 02:05 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 2 March 2011 02:05
From ibj.com:
The leader of House Democrats who left Indiana over bills they disagreed with has returned to the state and met with the Republican House speaker — but their talks ended with no agreement on ending the weeklong Statehouse standoff.
House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer drove back from Illinois and met with Speaker Brian Bosma for 50 minutes Wednesday in the GOP leader’s Statehouse office. Bauer had two other House Democrats with him in the meeting, which also was attended by four other majority Republicans.
Most House Democrats have been staying in Urbana, Ill., since last Tuesday, when they began boycotting the House to derail labor and education bills they’re against by denying the House the quorum needed to conduct business. The boycott already killed a “right-to-work” bill that unions opposed.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
RSLC Will Defend Incumbent Republicans in Wisconsin
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:38 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 2 March 2011 01:29
From The Hill:
The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), the group chaired by former Republican National Committee head Ed Gillespie, is preparing to jump into the ongoing budget battle in Wisconsin.
With activists on both sides already starting to organize recall efforts for members of the state Senate, RSLC president Chris Jankowski told The Ballot Box the group will do “whatever it takes to protect our incumbents.”
He said the RSLC, which spent millions in 2010 to help Republicans win control of more than 20 legislative chambers across the nation, will fund efforts to defend Republican state senators who may become recall targets, and that it will go on offense — supporting efforts to recall Democrats with paid media campaigns.
Currently, as many as eight of the Democratic state senators who have fled Wisconsin in the budget standoff, could be recall targets, with a Utah-based conservative group already organizing toward that goal.
“You can expect to see some aggressive radio, TV and mail campaigns from us,” Jankowski said.
Tags: Wisconsin | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
RSLC President Chris Jankowski now on Twitter
Last Updated on Tuesday, 1 March 2011 02:39 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 1 March 2011 01:38
Follow new Republican State Leadership Committee President Chris Jankowski on Twitter here: @RSLC_president
You can also follow everything RSLC on Twitter: @RSLC
Posted under Blog | No Comments
WI Dem Behaving Badly – Tells Republican She’s Dead
Last Updated on Tuesday, 1 March 2011 01:37 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 1 March 2011 01:37
Last week, we heard that State Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) had been busted in a prostitution sting.
State Rep. Gordon Hintz was issued a municipal citation in Appleton earlier this month for violating a city sexual misconduct ordinance.
Appleton police said the citation was issued Feb. 10 in conjunction with an ongoing investigation of Heavenly Touch Massage Parlor, 342 W. Wisconsin Ave., in Appleton. Police searched the business and a nearby residence in the 1300 block of North Division Street Jan. 28, after investigators had staked out the properties for several days after receiving a tip.
**
Last Friday…. after the Assembly voted to engross the Budget Repair Bill, Hintz turned to a female colleague, Rep. Michelle Litjens and said: “You are F***king dead!”
New tone, indeed. Will he be held accountable?
Posted under Blog | No Comments
Washington Post: RSLC efforts and the GOP Revolution
Last Updated on Monday, 28 February 2011 01:21 Written by rslcpol Monday, 28 February 2011 01:13
Great article highlighting the GOP and RSLC’s unprecedented efforts and success on the state level.
From Washington Post:
The spectacle of Democratic state legislators from Wisconsin and Indiana washing their underwear in motel sinks across state lines in order to avoid casting their votes back home is extraordinary. These desperation tactics highlight the precarious state in which Democrats find themselves in state capitols across the country. Voters drove so many Democrats out of state office last fall, it seems the only way the remaining Democrats can stop Republicans from enacting conservative reforms is to go on the lam to deny them a quorum.
Republicans made historic gains on the national level in November, securing the largest turnover of seats in the House of Representatives since 1948.
But these gains pale in comparison with those Republicans made at the state level. Backed by an unprecedented $30 million effort by the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), headed by former national GOP chairman Ed Gillespie, the GOP picked up 690 seats in state legislatures in 2010 – outpacing the previous record of 628 seats won by Democrats in 1974 following the Watergate scandal.
Republicans wrested 20 state legislative chambers from Democratic control and now have majorities in both legislative chambers in 25 states (up from 14 before Election Day). There are now more Republican state legislators in office than at any time since 1928.
Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
Recall process Begins in Wisconsin for Seven Democrats
Last Updated on Monday, 28 February 2011 01:58 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 24 February 2011 02:55
From JSOnline:
The groups need about 16,000 signatures to force a recall election for a senator, Magney said. The exact number will vary from 11,000 to 21,000 signatures, he said, depending on how many votes were cast in the 2010 governor’s race in the targeted district.
All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois last week to prevent their Republican colleagues from being able to push through Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill. That measure would curb collectiv-bargaining rights for state workers and require them to pay toward their retirement and health care costs.
Democrats and labor unions are also weighing whether to recall up to six Senate Republicans for supporting Walker’s plan. Among those being targeted is Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills.
Tags: Wisconsin | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments