A friend of mine who lives in Madison and knows some politically connected types, told me that there may be some compromise in the offing. It basically follows the suggestions of this editorial from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the formerly liberal paper that has been supporting Walker pretty consistently.
The money quote is here:
One idea: Leave in provisions to take benefits off the bargaining table, but strip out other provisions that clearly are aimed at neutering unions. We're talking here about recertification annually, for example. Debate that separately. In other words: Declare victory. We concede that after his faux chat with "David Koch" this week, trust is a problem. But he should try.
The editorial also suggests that the ugly provisions regarding Medicaid (goevernor's control), power plants (no bid sales to private parties) and police and fire unions (they should be a part of this too) all be eliminated. Frankly, I could live with this. The problem is that these issues would be raised in subsequent bills, but at least they would be debated and perhaps some votes could be peeled off.
The idea would be that Walker would announce this on Meet the Press tomorrow morning in his national spotlight. Makes him look like a magnanimous guy.
The Journal Sentinel made the point that the Dems pushing through a $1bn tax increase a couple years ago, in a manner similar to what Walker is doing now, galvanized the GOP and led to the Republican sweep in November.
I don't live in Wisconsin so I'm not real familiar with that history, but I do know this. What Walker is doing IS galvanizing the Dems. There is a terrfic Facebook page called Stop the Bill - Recall Republican State Senators in Wisconsin Now. It's sort of a clearing house for all the recall efforts going on. Some are more advanced than others. The Alberta Darling Recall effort is having a meeting today, for example. Others are too deeply entrenched from hard red districts, but I think efforts are going on everywhere. Kind of an"Eight Senator Strategy."
Bottom line - this is a galvanizing moment in Wisconsin for progressive forces, regardless of the outcome of this specific fight. I think our friends in Wisconsin are rising to the occasion.