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Link only - Richard Trumka: Today's Heroes: The Wisconsin 14

The resolution notes that the lawmakers have "fled the state of Indiana and issued press announcements indicating that they would not return unless eleven specified bills were removed from consideration by the House of Representatives for the rest of the session..."

Stung by allegations of incendiary, racist and homophobic rhetoric at tea party rallies last year, conservative activists with flipcams and camera phones have circulated at the union protests sprouting up across the country in hopes of catching violent or abusive behavior by their liberal adversaries. The resulting photos and videos have ricocheted around the conservative blogosphere in recent days, prompting mounting outrage on the right.

Bounty Hunter Offers Services to Find "Missing" LawmakersSam Cohen FOX40 News 6:04 p.m. PST, February 25, 2011 SACRAMENTO A Sacramento bounty hunter is offering his services to track down Democratic Lawmakers from Wisconsin. The lawmakers have reportedly fled to neighboring Illinois to delay a vote on a bill that would cut public employee benefits and take away collective bargaining rights. The bill was suggested by Governor Scott Walker to help the state of Wisconsin balance their budget. But it has split the legislature along party lines, and Democrats fled the state last week to boycott the bill. Bounty hunter Leonard...

Indianapolis - With Indiana House Democrats camping out in Urbana, Illinois, we have had a lot of questions about their salary. Lawmakers in the House receive $152 per diem. That's seven days a week during the session. They also receive expense pay of $60.80 a day, seven days a week, when they are not in session. House Speaker Brian Bosma suspended that pay as of last Sunday with one stipulation. Lawmakers must be in the Statehouse in order to be paid. Lawmakers also receive an annual salary of $22,616.46 a year. Half of that salary is paid in January and...

MADISON -- The 14 missing Senate Democrats have until 4 p.m. today to return to the Capitol or face apprehension tantamount to arrest “with or without force." GOP Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) ordered the apprehension of the senators who fled the state two weeks ago to Illinois to avoid a vote on Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill. Republicans voted 19-0 to give the Democrats until 4 p.m. Thursday to appear before the Senate. "They have pushed us to the edge of a constitutional crisis," Fitzgerald said. "We simply cannot have democracy be held hostage because the minority wants...

Link only - 8 Wisconsin Republicans, 5 Democrats targeted by recalls in fight over Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill

Wisconsin stalemate could drag on for monthsBy: SCOTT BAUER 03/02/11 2:33 PM Associated Press Wisconsin's budget stalemate over union bargaining rights shows no sign of resolution — and it could be a long wait. The governor isn't budging. AWOL Democrats aren't planning to come back. And, despite talk of deadlines and threats of mass layoffs, the state doesn't really have to pass a budget to pay its bills until at least May. Even then, there may be other options that could extend the standoff for months. "This is a battle to the death," said Mordecai Lee, a political scientist at...

WI Dems made a PREGNANT WOMAN hide?Posted by Moe Lane Tuesday, March 1st at 2:00PM EST I just found out about this from Fox Nation (via Hot Air), as part of a breaking story that possibly the hiding Wisconsin state senators are starting to crack under the strain of not doing the jobs that they were elected to do: State Sen. Julie Lassa (D) is pregnant and “extremely unhappy” about being on the run. Those twisted, sadistic FREAKS in the Wisconsin Democratic party really and truly made a woman with child go into interstate exile for two weeks? So that...

Senate majority leader meets with some of the missing Senate DemocratsMonday meeting lasted roughly two hours Tami Hughes FOX6 Reporter 5:24 p.m. CST, March 1, 2011 MADISON (AP) — The Republican leader of the Wisconsin state Senate met secretly with some of the 14 Senate Democrats who left the state to avoid voting on a bill taking away public employee collective bargaining rights. That meeting took place Monday morning. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald revealed few details Tuesday about the meeting. He says the Democrats discussed with him ways in which they could return to the Capitol. **SNIP** Democratic Sen....

DA: No Criminal Investigation Into Walker or DemsPosted at: 03/01/2011 1:53 PM MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne says he won't launch a criminal investigation into either Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker or the 14 Democrats who fled the state. Ozanne says there's no evidence that Walker broke the law when he said "we considered" planting agitators in the crowd of protesters. Walker made the statement during a recorded phone call with a blogger who posed as campaign contributor David Koch. The prosecutor says there's also no evidence the 14 Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin committed...

The 8 keys to survival for runaway legislatorsThe "Texas 11" who fought Tom DeLay by fleeing to New Mexico have some advice for their Wisconsin counterparts By Teresa Cotsirilos Monday, Feb 28, 2011 20:30 ET The future of American unions might come down to a game of political chicken. Unmoved by historic demonstrations against it, the Wisconsin state Assembly passed Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill last Friday amid raucous protests by Democratic lawmakers. Now, all that's preventing public sector workers in the state from losing their right to bargain collectively are the 14 Democratic state senators holed up across the...

Reuters) - Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday that absent senate Democrats have 24 hours to return and vote on a measure to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state will miss out on opportunity to refinance its debt. "Now they have one day to return to work before the state loses out on the chance to refinance debt, saving taxpayers $165 million this fiscal year," Walker's spokesman Cullen Werwie said in a statement. "Failure to return to work and cast their votes will lead to more painful and aggressive spending cuts in the very...

Missing senators rely heavily on union campaign dollarsBy Daniel Bice and Ben Poston of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 28, 2011 12:20 p.m. The 14 Wisconsin Democratic senators who fled to Illinois share more than just political sympathy with the public employees and unions targeted by Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill. The Senate Democrats count on those in the public sector as a key funding source for their campaigns. In fact, one out of every five dollars raised by those Democratic senators in the past two election cycles came from public employees, such as teachers and firefighters, and their unions, a...

Wisconsin Democrat tells the Associated Press his party’s campaign committee is funding the fleeing fourteen’s sojourn in Illinois: Four Democrats who were reached by The Associated Press said none of their daily expenses would be charged to taxpayers, and none will accept any per diem funds. [State Senator Chris] Larson did say his hotel room Monday was paid for by the State Senate Democratic Campaign. He said the group might pay for more nights depending on how long he stays. Others have donated food, he said, but he declined to name them. “Let’s just say the senators have friends over...

Taxing Hiding SenatorsPosted: 11:53 AM Feb 28, 2011 ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- As Illinois becomes a haven for Democrats on the run. Some Northern Illinois Senators think the legislators should be taxed for the time they spend in the Land of Lincoln. Republican State Rep. Mike Tryon of Crystal Lake says he plans to introduce a measure to the legislature to tax the Wisconsin senators for their time working in Illinois. The 14 democrats have been spotted several times in the Stateline over the last week after fleeing the badger state to stall a vote that would strip unions collective bargaining...

WI Senate Dems still AWOL after Assembly passes budget billGov. says layoffs will come next week if bill isn't passed. Bill Kissinger, Judy Wang, WGN-TV 1:08 p.m. CST, February 25, 2011 MADISON, Wisc. — The Wisconsin state Assembly has passed a budget bill that strips state workers of their union bargaining power, but it's still not a done deal. Republicans passed the measure in Madison early Friday morning over loud protests from opponents. But the bill has hit a roadblock in the state Senate because 14 democrats fled the state to stall the vote. **SNIP** "Without the labor movement, what...

The clock is now running for groups trying to collect enough signatures to trigger recall elections against seven Democratic senators, state officials said today. Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said local groups have officially registered recall committees with his agency to try to recall Sen. Bob Wirch of Kenosha and Jim Holperin of Eagle River. American Recall Coalition, has registered electronically to set up recall committees against Wirch and five other Senate Democrats - Lena Taylor of Milwaukee, Mark Miller of Monona, Julie Lassa of Stevens Point, Fred Risser of Madison and Dave Hansen of Green Bay.

Local Ad Pokes Fun at Wisconsin SenatorsReported by: Alex Shabad It's gone from a state-wide search to a city-wide joke. The 14 runaway Wisconsin senators probably never knew they'd be part of a marketing campaign called "Hideaway in Rockford." "In the video you never find anyone who's a senator but you do find people getting away from the work place world" says John Groh, President of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. It's meant to highlight "getaway spots" and deals at restaurants, sporting events. And of course, the clock tower where the senators first arrived. "It’s very very cute,...

Wisconsin contentious bill stallsState assembly passes bill but it is stalled later in day due to Senate Democrats boycotting vote. Last Modified: 25 Feb 2011 22:06 GMT **SNIP** System 'under attack' Based on a similar refinancing in 2004, about two weeks are needed after the bill becomes law to complete the deal. That means if the bill is adopted by the middle of next week, the state can still meet a March 16 deadline, the Fiscal Bureau said. Jon Erpenbach, a Democratic senator, said he and his colleagues would not return until Walker compromised. The showdown in Wisconsin between Republicans...