Walker Losing Support Among Rep. State Senators

Wisconsin State Sen. Bob Jauch, Democrat from Ashland and Bayfield, said on Wednesday that Gov. Scott Walker may not have unanimous support among Republicans in the state senate for his assault on unions.

“There are six to seven Republican senators that hate this bill, really hate this bill,” said Jauch on WOJB radio this morning. Republicans outnumber Democrats 19-14 in the state senate, so if three vote against it, the bill would die.

Jauch says he’s been in touch with his Republican counterparts and they are “trying to come up with an alternative.”

Jauch called Walker’s bill “The Worker Retribution Act,” and said the governor is “attacking workers to benefit the Koch Brothers,” the rightwing billionaires in Texas who lavishly funded his campaign.

Jauch added: “Walker wrapped this bomb in a package and called it a cake.”

Jauch also predicted that some Republican legislators who support Walker’s bill would face a recall effort.

Unlike the Republican senators, Jauch says the Democratic senators are united.

Speaking from an undisclosed location in Illinois, he said none of them wants to be the one who hands Walker a victory.

(Full disclosure: I was on the same radio show with Jauch when he made these remarks. The host was Eric Schubring.)

If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story "Snapshots of Tea Partiers in Madison."

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