More justification that republicans have no interest whatsoever in helping anyone but themselves - and burning the rest of us to the ground. From HP:
Everything from taking away computers to denying a year of service in the state retirement system was considered to punish the 14 Wisconsin Democrats who fled to Illinois for three weeks to block passage of a bill taking away union bargaining rights, newly released emails show.
Members of Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's staff bounced ideas off one another and the Legislature's attorneys for days about how to penalize the Senate Democrats for leaving and pressure them to return, according to records released Wednesday by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
So, in lieu of trying to find a compromise or an understanding with the party they're supposed to work with, instead of helping their governor find a budget solution after he threw billions to his multimillionaire friends and accompanying corporations, and instead of doing their fucking jobs in the Wisconsin State Senate, Scott Fitzgerald and company decided playing games was what the voters wanted from them.
"I say we not only make it hurt for them, we have to make it hurt for their staff as well," Richard wrote on Feb. 20.
One idea Ottman suggested in a Feb. 20 email was cutting the size of each Democratic senator's staff by one person "since one person from each of their office is failing to show up for work (the Senator)."
That's a creative idea. Don't terrorists do the same sort of thing in a hostage situation?
"I would just be somewhat cautious in whatever we do so that it doesn't end up creating sympathy for the Dems," Tad Ottman, a Fitzgerald aide, wrote to his chief of staff John Hogan on Feb. 20.
No. We don't want sympathy for people who want to do good for thousands of union workers who gave up a lot only to find out they need to give up more.
What's happened in Wisconsin is not only tragic but infuriating - but it's origins began earlier.
Thank you, George W. Bush, for pushing your "us against them" attitude so harshly during your eight year reign that you've managed to poison your party's opinions of the democrats - and those who support them - for decades. Sure, there's always been a little bit of animosity, but in a decade, thanks to your personal issues and how they've influenced the zeitgeist of the nation, it's gone into overdrive.
Does this toxic hatred you've championed make you proud? I understand that those who follow you have hate and anger in their hearts already - and your "way" gave them the full approval to act on it in every way possible - but was it worth it? This is the legacy of Bush and the republican party:
No won wars.
No brilliant legislation.
Not anything that's made the world better for Americans.
It's loathing and hatred of anyone different. Democrats. Gays. Blacks. Unions. Artists. Workers. Americans.