[img_assist|nid=41526|title=Scott Fitzgerald|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=100|height=187]With all the problems and challenges facing our allegedly bankrupt state, where joblessness is rampant and major infrastructure projects on hold, why is the Wisconsin Senate planning to "earn" its pay by meeting only one day in the entire month of September?
According to Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, it's the fault of, who else, the Democratic Party.
Fitzgerald, a Juneau Republican, explained it to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this way:
[He] said the Senate is slow to get started because of the recalls. Senators didn't have time to work on legislation as they focused on campaigns, and leaders had to reshuffle committees after the elections reshaped the makeup of the Senate and narrowed the Republican majority to one vote.
"It literally is going to be kind of jump-starting the Senate agenda after the recalls are behind us," Fitzgerald said. "It really took us off track, which might have been the goal of some of the people who launched them."
Uh, well, but, you see, the problem is, Republicans started the recall wars by attempting to recall a whole bunch of Democratic state senators who left chambers for Illinois to block a vote-enabling quorum on Gov. Walker's union-busting bill.
True, Democrats and other progressives then began their own effort to recall Republican senators. But the bottom line is this: Republicans forced recall elections, and even recall election primaries by getting GOP friendlies to pretend to be Democrats and run against real Democrats. Now, Fitzgerald wants the citizens of this state to forget anyone other than a Republican was forced into a Senate recall election.
Thus, even if you believe Fitzgerald's totally lame excuse, his own party is at least half responsible, but he refuses to take half the responsibility.
Indeed, if you look at the motivating influences -- namely, Walker's take-no-prisoners political strategy -- the majority GOP's own ideological and highly partisan approach to govenring arguably was the prime reason for last spring's political uproar and the resulting recalls. Moreover, to swipe Fitzgerald's language, now that Democrats working with moderate Republicans may hold the balance of power in critical votes, taking the Senate off track "may have been the goal of some of the people" -- i.e., shocked Republican strategists -- "who launched them."
Get thee to a nunnery, Fitz. The fault doesn't lie in the stars, but in your own abusive, imperious, obstinate political behavior. And, meeting in the Senate just once this month is just more of the same from you guys.
Give Fitzgerald this much: Confused and dazed Republicans indeed must be regrouping and trying to figure out how to pass more anti-social, special-interest legislation now that their chief weapon -- abuse of power and naked authoritarianism -- has been denied them. Boohoo, the Democrats didn't meekly go away, but actually put up a fight, and now governing unilaterally will be harder. Boohoo!