Obama Defeated Again; Collective Bargaining Crushed In Wisconsin

Wisconsin's cowardly Senate Democrats fled the state nearly three weeks ago in hopes that a procedural trick—not having having enough senators present for a quorum—could keep the Republican majority from passing a budget bill that would cripple the corrupting power of public sector unions.

Wisconsin's Senate Republicans used a procedural trick of their own, and have now passed the part of the bill the Democrats most wanted to block.

Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers after discovering a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats.

All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" - a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall.

The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, which spends no money, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved the bill a short time later.

The lone Democrat on the Senate floor howled that the vote was unfair. I'd have a bit more sympathy for him if his allies hadn't spent the last three weeks trying to screw overburdened taxpayers out of their money in order to keep union coffers flush with cash to fund Democratic campaigns.

The vote was also a clear defeat for President Barack Obama, who had agitated against Gov. Walker and had his campaign organization, Organizing for America, at the forefront of trying to defeat the measure.

Perhaps the Democratic Party will learn tonight that you cannot claim to be taking part in a democracy by running away from your responsibilities.