Wisconsin: Dems lost well

As I come from a parliamentary system where the first-past-the-post electoral system has through most of my life resulted in majority governments both provincially and federally who can rule quite broadly for their terms, perhaps my perspective on the Wisconsin legislative outcome is somewhat less bleak than many US liberals I read.  Walker the state Republicans passed their desired bill completely on Republican votes against the most strenuous and unrelenting opposition that the minority party could muster.

They get their way, but now may face some blowback from voters at the earliest electoral opportunities.  The recall system allows those to be rather sooner than later for some of the people responsible, but in principle they will all at some point have to face the voters for this.

It would have been splendid had the Republicans relented under the storm of opposition, but I think I'm glad there wasn't a deal among "moderates" in the State senate.  Such deals tend to still be bad deals for workers, if slightly less odious than the initial demands and they leave the voters with no clear villain to blame.  This at least means the State Democrats have clean hands and clear consciences over the matter and for voters a bright line has been drawn that does not need any caveats about some Lieberman faction.

I lived through an extreme right wing government in Ontario and while some of the damage they did still hasn't been undone (hello privatized for a song toll highway 407) much of it has.  The nice thing about the union rights being stripped under the auspice of having "no fiscal impact" in order to elide the three-fifths quorum requirement is that those rights can be restored by majority vote too.

This is what liberals have repeated asked from Democrats at the national level, particularly when in opposition, make them pay a price for doing what they do.