Wisconsin GOPers walk back on contempt enforcement

The Rpublican majority in the Wisconsin Senate announced they wouldn't enforce the various punishments they concocted against Democrats who fled the state to prevent Walker's destruction of public unions. This comes one day after they vowed to strip Wisconsin Democratic Senators of voting privileges. However, it apparently hasn't taken effect yet.

The vote to rescind the punishments was passed 3-0 by Republicans only. The Democrats on the committee weren't allowed to vote on it. "The vote was conducted via a ballot circulated to committee members, rather than at a meeting of the committee." So as always, with GOPers, watch they do, not what they say.

Wisconsin's GOPers also voted to rescind their juvenile restrictions on Democratic staffers. These included: Limiting the staffers' access to copy machines, having the Republican majority leader approve the staffers' time sheets, and placing the staffers under the supervision of GOP senators.

One wonders how those sanctions were even legal in the first place. But in any event, it doesn't look like they'll be holding hands and singing Kumbaya together in the Madison statehouse anytime soon.