Posted on 02/21/2011 7:46:40 PM PST by Libloather
Wisconsin senators living day-to-day south of border
Escape to Illinois to avoid vote on budget leaves lawmakers short on essentials
By Dawn Rhodes, Hailey Branson-Potts and Erin Meyer, Tribune reporters
8:05 p.m. CST, February 21, 2011
**SNIP**
Neither the Illinois nor the Wisconsin constitutions allow for the arrest of a member of the state legislature during the session unless the lawmaker is being charged with a felony, treason or a breach of the peace.
"Gov. Walker has said in the last few days that he has no intention to order police to arrest lawmakers," said his press secretary, Cullen Werwie.
Mordecai Lee, a professor of government affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and former Democratic state senator, said that on several occasions during his Senate career, the sergeant-at-arms came to his office to tell him it was time to vote, escorting him to the floor.
In a "Call of the House," the sergeant-at-arms locks the doors to the Senate chambers with the lawmakers inside while searching the Capitol to make a quorum, Lee said.
Lee said Wisconsin police have no power to take the lawmakers into custody as long as they remain out of the state.
Even so, the senators remain mum on their exact locations in Illinois.
"There's no point in issuing a press release about where I am," said Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison. "I'm not necessarily in one place."
Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Eagle River, said they don't want protesters showing up at their doors.
"We are at work and we do need to have the ability to do that without distraction," he said.
While in their self-imposed exile, the lawmakers are trying to stay connected to home.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagobreakingnews.com ...
The AWOL Wisconsin Dems deserve all the hardship and inconveniences that they get. They brought this on by their cowardly actions. Now when they decide to come back they’ll all cower back with their tails in between their legs, just like a dog that just peed on the rug and got caught at it?
Sorry for the double post. Hit wrong button.
“The governor needs to declare on all of the local TV stations that those RATS On The Run are barred from returning to the state or stepping foot on the capitol grounds.”
Can he do that? I love the idea, but just asking. I mean, are there only certain reasons that justify doing so or not?
Yeah, I was kinda glued to the TV for a few minutes there.
Duh, I’m a little slow tonight - I thought you were serious (wishful thinking on my part)! :-)
That's part of why unions exist too.
If their state-supported phones, credit cards, and internet access had been cut off, we’d know who was paying
Article IV:
Section 7. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.
Section 8. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish for contempt and disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause.
I can just hear them say on the first day they return, if they do return:
We’re not real senators, but we did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Now I’ll have “Band on the Run” in my head for a while. I hear a parody song here.
“Rats on the run, rats on the run”
Rockford, IL - Wisconsin DemocRAT Sanctuary City.
LOL!
Give me a frickin break! Like we’re supposed to believe that these “fugitives” can’t have their wives or flunkies simply FedEx them anything they need that that they’re not willing to buy locally.
And what’s the deal with roughing it in “survival mode” in Chicago, anyway? No stores? No restaurants? No five star hotels? I guess not. I really had no idea that living in Chicago or the rest of Illinois amounts to being in “survival mode”. Guess they’ll really be glad to get back to civilization when they leave the Serengeti, uh I mean Illinois, and return to Wisconsin, hey?
I don’t know about WI, but most state legislators don’t make a lot of money. I imagine the wives would not be too happy if their paychecks were cut off, however temporarily, as their bills become due.
SECTION 15.
Members of the legislature shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest; nor shall they be subject to any civil process, during the session of the legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session.
“Maybe the governor an temp.jhir some homeless people to sit in the RATS seats for the voting”. LOL, Jack, LOL!!!
Oops: typing errors. But you know I was trying to quote you!
Too hilarious imagery...
I’m sure they can find these guys if they really want to find them. They claim that they’re charging their rooms on their Wisconsin state credit cards so it shouldn’t be hard to track them.
Not guilty.
Ya ever notice... lotsa libs have that problem. At least he's honest about it.
bump
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