Government by runaway GOP party

Some over-the-top governance by Republicans in states such as Wisconsin as of late could very well backfire in more ways than one.

The GOP Senate in Wisconsin decided Wednesday to unilaterally end bargaining rights for public employees since a quorum-denying pack of Democratic senators fled to neighboring Illinois. The Republicans stripped the union-busting legislation out of the budget bill and passed the cherry-picked portion, claiming they could do it since it does  not require a quorum that includes the 14 missing Senate Democrats. The manner in which it was done reportedly violates that state’s open meeting rules. So there may be civil ramifications as well as criminal ones that GOP legislators face. One thing for sure, the Republicans disabused the notion that the whole thing was about budget and not union busting.

This all seems to be a new wave over a number of states with Republican legislative majorities. All of this is to pay back the people who hate unions, those who spent millions upon millions to get the GOP leaders elected  such as the Koch brothers. Operatives such as Karl Rove also are counting on opponents overreacting such as those who have been protesting at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, this according to Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman, speaking on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” Wednesday evening. Fineman believes Rove is betting on overreactions which could turn to something ugly and ultimately could cause a backlash with voters in 2012. It’s still a long way. And Karl’s not been batting 100 percent lately.

Even though the Republicans may be running roughshod over the citizens of those states, and perhaps even acting illegally, it is hoped that folks will keep their cool. Here is hoping the backlash will be on the draconian politics employed by an increasingly fascist-acting number of Republican-controlled state legislatures.

Those a**holes like Rove and others who have no respect for democratic government should be sent a message as well: That it’s time to retire for good.