On progress, continued.

The Godwalker, from Thursday:

I'll always be willing to cooperate and communicate with the Democrats, but that has to happen at the state Capitol in Madison.

Today, by means of a voice vote, Senate Republicans summarily prevented any potential amendments to The Godwalker's bill from even being introduced, let alone voted on.  The same Senate Republicans who take their marching orders from The Godwalker.  It is with melancholy one observes 'always' apparently means 'one day' to The Godwalker.


But what must be noted is that the Senate Republican's don't wholly take their orders from The Godwalker: a lone Republican Senator, Dale Schultz of Richland Center, wrote a compromise amendment to the bill. While the compromise increased the salary-and-benefit concessions being asked of the public-union employees, it did preserve their collective bargaining rights.

Schultz, however, with no public support from the rest of his peers, failed to introduce his amendment on Friday, saying, "With the minority party gone, bipartisanship is certainly unattainable."

But compare that to what Senator Mary Lazich of New Berlin had to say: "Our Democrat senators not only ran away from the state, they ran away from their responsibility."


While Lazich shows an uncompromising, celebratory lack-of-nuance of ignorance-is-bliss fashion, Schultz shows at least a personal willingness to not be party to a bill railroaded into law totalitarian-style.  While he must quip about the Senate Democrats being out of state, it's as a qualifier to bipartisanship being unattainable, not as a standalone smear.  While The Godwalker displays overt contempt for our intelligence by claiming a willingness to cooperate and communicate and while the rest of the Senate Republicans are content to march in lock-step to the whims of a man who fancies himself doing work akin to the crumbling of the Berlin Wall, Schultz presents a message that perhaps the fourteen Senate Democrats won't be alone upon their return.  Maybe not publicly, maybe not in a vote, but in the backroom of Wisconsin politics, Senate Democrats are now one step closer to success.

Schultz joins the 4 Republicans--of those who voted, one must hysterically note again--who broke from party ranks during the early Friday morning state Assembly vote.  Of what was strictly a party-line vote not even a week ago, tangible gains can now be seen.