"Anyone need a silver lining...?"

[ProSense]

WI: Dems Take Back State Senate!

by astronautagogo

Anyone need a silver lining, I mean like a real silver lining?? Well, I got a big one to share with you....Wisconsin Democrats have taken control of the state senate!

Yes it's true, while we were licking our wounds from being outspent 10 to 1, John Lehman (D-Racine) narrowly defeated rethug incumbent Van Wanggaard!

In a statement, Senate Democratic Leader Mark Miller said:

"Tonight, Wisconsinites across the 21st Senate District elected a new State Senator. By electing a Democratic Senate, the people of Wisconsin have opened the door to responsible dialogue and if needed provide a bulwark against continued political extremism, and restored checks and balances to the Wisconsin Legislature. I look forward to working again with Senator-elect Lehman in the State Senate in the coming months."

All is NOT lost. We in Wisconsin have taken back our state senate! This is kind of a big deal....especially considering Walker Inc is now under federal investigations...

This from the Wisconsin State Journal:

Though taking control of the Senate is a huge moral victory for the Democrats, they won't be able to do much with it, at least for a while. The Legislature isn't scheduled to convene again until January, and Democrats will have to defend their majority in November's elections.

But Democrats will be able to block any Republican legislation should Walker call for a special session of the Legislature. And if the Democrats maintain their majority, it would make life politically difficult for Walker for the first time; his fellow Republicans have controlled both the state Assembly and Senate since he took office in January 2011.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/06/1097794/-WI-Dems-Take-Back-State-Senate

[spanone]

1. k&r...

[shcrane71]

2. First order of business, investigate the election. nt

[rhett o rick]

3. Thank you for the post. nm

[lunatica]

4. Stopping Walker's destructive momentum is good

Thanks for posting that. It needs to be acknowledged because it's "a big fucking deal". It's one little step, but as good a place to start as any.

[wildeyed]

5. I was thinking the same thing. n/t

[Melissa G]

6. Thanks for posting

I went to bed depressed. This is the first thing I clicked on this morning. It helped.

[MADem]

7. Thank you!!!!! This IS a silver lining! nt

[CrispyQ]

8. Thank you for this.

And a kick for others who need a lift this morning, too.

[LynneSin]

9. As long as the senate has a stronger backbone than the one in DC - Wisconson will be fine

[hamsterjill]

10. Thanks, I needed that!

n/t

[FSogol]

11. K & R

Welcome back, BTW.

[Mockingjay]

12. The Money Game

What the Republicans spent to win this Recall election just reinforces my belief that we are one step closer to losing our democracy one step at a time. The silver linning is down the road, maybe in years to come, will be... that the people will stop being bought out and rise up against their suffering. There are seeds of revolt all over the world.....it will be violent just like all historical revolts, but that's how change realy happens with humans. I'm sorry to say I wish it could be different in this country but I just don't see the signs of peaceful change with so much greed and insensitivity growing in this country.

[OhioVoter]

13. More like a tin foil lining

Not much of a silver lining - they won't be meeting until winter and in the meantime they have to defend their seats in the November elections with districts redrawn by the GOP in August. Do you think they redrew them to favor Democrats?

[Skinner]

19. Welcome to DU, OhioVoter.

[shcrane71]

22. good point. Welcome to DU!

[JTFrog]

14. k&DUrec

[BlueDemKev]

15. Woopee.....

....after more than a year of costly recalls, the most we have to show for it is we get to have a one-seat majority in the State Senate for less than five months.

[cutroot]

17. That one seat gives them control of the Brake Pedal

They just made the kochs spend thirty million dollars. Not only that, but it drew them out onto the playing field as the agent provocateurs that they truly are. They don't like having the details of all of their dirty deals being exposed to the public like that.

There was a big win here for Democrats. It just wasn't, the whole enchilada. I think that they should hit them again. Rich folks tend to give up quickly when, they discover that the hole that they are throwing their money in has no bottom. That's why the birther (lunacy/strategy) makes sense to them. They are trying to wear you out by making you swing at ghosts. They don't care if it's true or not, they just know that you don't like it and they don't have to pay for it.

If the good folks of Wisconsin want to spend their tax dollars on a recall, so be it. It is their money, and I think that they spent their money very well.

[BlueDemKev]

20. ...For less than five (5) months.

Until the November elections.

Furthermore, I understand that Senate race is not over. We're ahead by less than 800 votes and the Republican has NOT conceded. It's been reported they are investigating for "possible voter fraud." I wonder how long it will be before some county clerk there says "Oh look, here's a thousand votes I forgot to count!"

[cutroot]

23. I'm Not worried

Politics is/are a very unpredictable business. Dust yourself off, count your blessings and get back in there and fight them any way that you can. Someone once said that the greatest joy in politics is to be left standing all alone and then one day it is discovered that you were right all along. There have been great conglomerations of powerful assholes since the beginning of time. History is littered with the ashes of their kingdoms. This will pass. Be proud of the fact that you are on the right side.

[florida08]

16. would rather hear about Walker's indictment

and this is so close that there's sure to be a recount. Wanker has 3 days to decide

[MsPithy]

18. Being a contrary bitch, let me throw this out there.

Let Walker and Republicans do there worst. Protecting the 36% of union families who voted for Walker from the reality of what Republicans will do to them means the Republicans can continue to lie, and win elections.

I do not know how bad things need to get before the middle class wakes up and they turn off the Fox channel. No unions, no pensions, no public schools, no pollution controls on corporations, no Social Security, tax increases on the middle class to support tax cuts for the wealthy, ...I could go on.

If anyone has any other ideas about how we can expose Republican lies about how they are the job creators, please, let us know.

[BlueDemKev]

21. People will never learn....

....they have this teen-age mentality of "I can take care of myself, I don't want the gov't telling me what to do!" But as soon as they're in trouble, they run to the government for help (just like uppity teen-agers).

To the average American, any gov't program that directly benefits them is vital, but any gov't program that benefits someone else is waste. And for the programs that are "vital", someone else needs to pay for it--"don't raise MY taxes!"

This mentality is what has created our national debt and it is what will destroy our country. We've done our best, but we can't force people to become mature.

[duhneece]

24. Great summary nt

[tclambert]

25. I already found my silver lining . . .

If I can get rich enough, I'll be above the law, able to buy governors, get middle class suckers to pay taxes that provide subsidies to my businesses, and generally live like an emperor. Ah, to live like one of the Kochs, that would be sweet.