Posted on 03/01/2011 8:19:14 AM PST by bigbob
To say that 14 Wisconsin Democrats are on the lam in Illinois is an understatement. Relentlessly hounded by Illinois Tea Party members, they are truly, on the run.
No matter which podunk border town the senators try to hide in, they are running all the time thanks to highly effective efforts of conservative activists who have streamlined their search party by utilizing Facebook, email blasts and quick video posts. Who knew the Tea Party would be so good at bounty hunting 2.0?
On Thursday, The Missing 14 unsubtly crashed the Clock Tower Resorts Chocoholic Frolic in Rockford, Ill. David Hale, the Rockford Tea Party, and his camera began stalking the resort pestering the senators. By Saturday, some of the Missing 14 had skipped over to the citys Holiday Inn and were reportedly seen at Hooters having a last supper of sorts when Hale waltzed into the hotels lobby and confronted them with his camera and questions like, Senators! Why wont go home and do your job.
Probably aware that a posse of 14 pasty bureaucrats will stick out in a crowd, the senators did what any fugitive chain gang would do: They cut the links and went in separate directions. One did the smart thing and disappeared into the polished back alleys of the Windy City, where only the New York Times could find him.
By the following Monday, eight of the 14 had gone 30 miles northeast to the two-hotel town of Harvard (Pop. 9,000ish) thinking it might be a good place to hide. It took just one tip from a concerned citizen, however, before a few amateurs Illinois activist descended upon the hotel, causing enough trouble commotion for the senators to quickly pack it up.
Mary Alger, the coordinator of the Crystal Lake Tea Party was was grocery shopping when she got the tip. Dropping off the produce, making a quick sign and skirting 15mins Northwest to Harvard, she met up with Doc, a member of the Northern Illinois Tea Party who holds down a full-time job when hes not hunting Democrats. Lori White, a Spring Grove resident, showed up after responding to a Facebook post on the Rockford Tea Party site asking if anyone near Harvard was willing to drop by the hotel, preferably with a video camera.
The hotel called the cops on Doc and Mary because they were trespassing, so Doc skedaddled and at a nearby McDonalds Mary waited for White to arrive into town. Unfortunately, White got there just in time to see four senators piled into a tiny Mazda behind her the make, model and license plate shed gotten after responding to the Facebook post. As she fumbled for her video camera, the senators sped off, up Highway 23. Though she tried to follow, White eventually lost them. Not that shell stop helping out in the other bounty hunters.
Meanwhile, a local paper published a picture of one of them Democrats. Northern Ill Tea Party board member Joe Terrell had not only set up a Flee Party Tracker Facebook page but was able to do some magic thanks to information sharing and basic internet research.
Based on that picture, a list of Democratic donors and Google Earth we were able to identify where it was taken, said Terrell. And with that, he posted the citizens equivalent to what the police like to refer to as an APB an All Points Bulletin.
For the past week and a half, this has been the regular rhyme and flow of both the Wisconsin state senators and the amateur bounty hunters tracking them down. Each time the senators find a place to hide, some local resident sends a quick Facebook note or records a few minutes of footage so that tea party members around Northern Illinois can coordinate confrontations no more dangerous than a slightly pushy reporter asking, Why are you running?
Yes, the WI AG is a Republican. Good luck trying to get the hyper-corrupt rodent gov’t in IL to force their fellow rodents back to work across state lines.
Im the chairman of the Illinois Center Right Coalition, a conservative, statewide group that was founded in 2003. The steering committee has included about 40 people, including John Cox, Pat OMalley, Mike Psak, Norm Hill, John McNeal, Scott Bludorn, Gary Dunlap, Ray True, Jeff Sykuta, Craig Simmons, and Liz Eilers. Our site is www.illinoiscenterright.com.
The ICRC will hold a meeting on March 5, noon-2:00, at the Old Country Buffet, at 551 E. Roosevelt Rd., Lombard. Well discuss the results of the Feb. elections and whom we should endorse, in the April elections. Will you attend? I reserved a room for free because each attendee is expected to buy lunch, which costs $9.99 + tip.
If you listen to the fake Koch call with Walker, he discusses ethics and felony investigations into the conduct of the Wisconsin 14 - they are taking financial considerations in exchange for political action. It is bribery, plain and simple.
Is there anything at all that stops these 14 Wisconsin fleebaggers from just staying away the entire term?
As best I can tell, so long as public opinion in their districts support their actions, these 14 senators who effectively subverting a Democratic election could simply remain in Illinois till the next election.
These 14 are liberals from liberal districts who survived the GOP sweep. Public opinion is mixed at best, and may even be on the unions/democrats side at the moment - so what compels them to come back?
Additionally, since the mainstream media seems to have declared this subversion of democracy a legitimate tactic, might it become necessary for us to do the same thing in states where we are a minority? If this is now how the game is played, we may need to begin considering similar actions. For example, had the GOP left Wisconsin last session, could be have effectively blocked all the Democrat tax increases? Not saying I support these tactics at all, but if the rules of the game have changed, I don’t see how we can avoid playing without using all the same tools the Democrats will use.
Taking this to its logic conclusion, could a minority party simply get elected in a state they can’t win a majority in, and simply fly out of state for the entire term to avoid allowing quorum’s? So long as they are in partisan districts that are happy with the obstruction, what stops this from happening? Hell, the Indiana fleebaggers can’t even explain what they are hiding from, and they are in a red state - yet they are still getting away with it because they have support in their own districts. This could degenerate into the new norm if it is allowed to succeed anywhere.
Nana-the Wisconsin statutes allows for the Governor to declare vacant the position of any state Representative or state Senator who fails to present themselves for business in their appropriate chambers for 30 or more days.
In that case, a special election can be declared and an interim placeholder appointed until the special election.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, the clock is ticking on these idiots. My guess is the Gov is keeping this ace up his sleeve until the deadline draws nearer.
Perhaps, if they stay away long enough, they may not meet the residency qualifications necessary to run in the next election.
And they may be required to pay IL state income tax.
Yes! They’re liars.
I work Saturdays so I cannot attend. Thanks for the offer though!
Good idea ... Worth doing it again in Wisconsin.
Very good points. I have been pondering them as well. So far nobody has any answers. One other thing the WI GOP is up against, the WI Supreme Court is left-wing and will rule in ways to benefit the socialists.
Organization of legislature; quorum; compulsory attendance. 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.
I looked this up in the WI Constitution. It appears that the Senate could actually compel the presence of the absent members and penalize their absence if they come back across the state line. I'm surprised that I haven't heard this before.
I really don't think, at least from my small bit of research, that there is anything that really compels them to come back. They really could just stay out the entire term - at least so long as public opinion in their own districts allows. And since Republicans did so well in many states this past cycle, it strikes me that if this succeeds then Democrats will be replicating it everywhere.
Oddly enough, because of the risk this tactic will be used again and again if we cave to it, the Wisconsin Republicans actually have less room to negotiate than if the Democrats had stayed - which may be a good thing from our perspective.
OUCH !!!
Many Wisconsiners are learning they don't need the government to survive &
Every day the Democrats are gone is one less day the Wisconsin state government can mess up people's lives.
Those are not necessarily bad things.
Might even make the shutdown of the federal government more palatable.
I really want to chase these bastards but unlike them I actually have to go to work and run a business while these fools are fleeing from motel to motel. I hope the bums get bed bugs.
That's why they left the state.
Exactly right. And if anybody with a real job pulled this, they'd be summarily fired.
Just fired a guy today with a combination problem of not showing up for work and not calling in.
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