New Democrat Tactic? ... Not Really

On Thursday, Wisconsin Democrats fled to Illinois to avoid voting on a bill that would in effect make Wisconsin a Right-To-Work State. They are using a political tactic (trick) called breaking a quorum. A quorum is the minimum number of representatives that must be present in order to hold a vote. This number differs from legislature to legislature. The rule was established to prevent a party from holding a meeting in the middle of the night (not inviting the opposition) and passing legislation. It was not meant to avoid votes that the minority party would lose. These rules also apply to businesses and are called "Roberts Rules Of Order".

This is not the first place that Democrats have used this tactic to avoid a vote. I remember back in 2003, 11 Texas Democrats left the statehouse in Austin and went to Albuquerque, NM (twice). This was to avoid a redistricting plan that would have decreased their power. The plan was to stay out of state till the legislative session was over, and return after the new elections when they would hopefully have enough votes to win. This didn't work, as the Governor kept calling special sessions until enough of them returned to have a quorum.

What's next for the Democrats? Is it possible in 2012 we will see them leaving the Senate to go to Canada to avoid a vote on repealing Obama-Care? When will the public finally have enough of their shenanigans and march in the streets to demand that their representatives get back to work? There is a tea-party rally in Wisconsin today to counter the public employees that have been on a wild-cat strike (I think they should all be fired - by the way) ... This could get interesting.

We live in interesting times ... Scary, but interesting

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