Chaos in Wisconsin as Assembly Passes Union Reform Bill

I just saw some video taken on the floor of the Wisconsin Assembly as the Republican majority called for a vote on Gov. Walker's budget repair bill.  Pure chaos.  Democrats and their supporters in complete meltdown.  Dave Wiegel reported it on Twitter this way:

Rumor spreads that Assembly is voting, crowd is shouting "This is not democracy."

Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard called that the funniest tweet of the night.

The whole process in the Assembly was pretty weird:

Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure early Friday morning before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening.

The vote ended three straight days of punishing debate in the Assembly. But the political standoff over the bill — and the monumental protests at the state Capitol against it — appear far from over.

The Assembly’s vote sent the bill on to the Senate, but minority Democrats in that house have fled to Illinois to prevent a vote. No one knows when they will return from hiding. Republicans who control the chamber sent state troopers out looking for them at their homes on Thursday, but they turned up nothing.

“I applaud the Democrats in the Assembly for earnestly debating this bill and urge their counterparts in the state Senate to return to work and do the same,” Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said in a statement issued moments after the vote. ...

 Walker issued a statement Friday praising the Assembly for passing the bill and renewing his call for Senate Democrats to return.

“The fourteen Senate Democrats need to come home and do their jobs, just like the Assembly Democrats did,” Walker said.

With the Senate immobilized, Assembly Republicans decided to act and convened the chamber Tuesday morning.

Democrats launched a filibuster, throwing out dozens of amendments and delivering rambling speeches. Each time Republicans tried to speed up the proceedings, Democrats rose from their seats and wailed that the GOP was stifling them.

Debate had gone on for 60 hours and 15 Democrats were still waiting to speak when the vote started around 1 a.m. Friday. Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, opened the roll and closed it within seconds.

Democrats looked around, bewildered. Only 13 of the 38 Democratic members managed to vote in time.

Republicans immediately marched out of the chamber in single file. The Democrats rushed at them, pumping their fists and shouting “Shame!” and “Cowards!”

The Republicans walked past them without responding.

Democrats left the chamber stunned. The protesters greeted them with a thundering chant of “Thank you!” Some Democrats teared up. Others hugged.

“What a terrible, terrible day for Wisconsin,” said Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee. “I am incensed. I am shocked.”

It may not have been pretty, but democracy isn't always pretty. At some point obstruction has to end.

My guess is the Fleebaggers will now be even more motivated to stay away since the scene this morning in the Assembly was so crazy. But Gov. Walker shows no sign of backing down and he can wait longer than the Fleeing Fourteen Senators probably can. All it will take is one Senator returning to the chamber to allow the bill to be voted on in the Senate. Since the Senators won't be paid unless they pick up their checks in person in the Senate, it's going to get pretty expensive to keep hanging out in Illinois motels. They'll cave.