Earlier today it was reported that Wisconsin's Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller had sent a letter asking for a meeting with Republicans "near the Wisconsin-Illinois border to formally resume serious discussions" about Governor Scott Walker's union-busting budget bill. And given that 65% of Wisconsinites want Walker to compromise with the Democrats, surely Walker would give such a letter serious consideration, right? Not so much.
Instead, Walker held a press conference a short time ago where we learned that nothing was his fault, that "Senator Miller is misleading the public," that the letter Miller sent was "ridiculous," and as for negotiating, "We've been doing it for days."
Naturally Walker didn't address the specifics of the letter, nor did he point to when, during his almost daily proclamations that he will not negotiate, he has ever talked about negotiations he has been doing "for days."
Walker seemed particularly incensed that Sunday's Wall Street Journal article claiming that the Wisconsin 14 "planned to come back from exile soon" was quickly debunked by Democrats who said:
Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table. That could be soon based on the growing public opposition to the bill and the recall efforts against Republicans,” state Sen. Chris Larson said Sunday night. “Unfortunately, the WSJ fished for the quote they wanted, skipping this key step in logic: We won’t come back until workers’ rights are preserved.”
Given Walker's emphasis on the article, one might speculate that his office was a source.
Bottom line? The hell with what the people of Wisconsin want, the siren song of the Koch brothers is drowning out public opinion.