Republicans Make a Move

The three week stalemate in Wisconsin had been going on since the senate's democrats left the state, making it impossible for republicans to pass a bill curtailing collective bargaining. However, republicans altered the bill to the point where it was no longer necessary to have 20 senators present. Then, with no democrats present to debate the bill, they pushed it through in under half an hour.

Mr. Walker, a Republican whose efforts to diminish collective bargaining rights have placed him firmly in the national spotlight during his less than three months in office, applauded the Senate’s move on Wednesday night, and said it brought the state a step closer to balancing its budget. “The action today will help ensure Wisconsin has a business climate that allows the private sector to create 250,000 new jobs,” Mr. Walker said, in a statement released minutes after the unexpected vote.

Although the bill still needs approval from the State Assembly on Thursday morning, that chamber already approved the bill once before. The democrats were outraged saying that the bill undid 30 years of civil rights and that it is unfair to working families.