Governor Walker’s Game of Chicken

Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker has officially threatened to lay off some 1500 state employees if he can’t get Democratic state senators to return and allow a vote on the Governor’s much-disputed state budget proposal. Beyond the implications for those who might be put on notice as early as April 4th, the move is just the latest in a game of political chicken, in which Republicans and Democrats are trying to assign the blame for the state’s troubles on the other party. Will the threat work for getting Democrats – who fled the state in order to prevent a three-fifths budget quorum – back into Wisconsin? Democratic State Senator Bob Jauch says: not very likely.   Meanwhile, recent polling in the state seems to suggest that while residents are split down the middle on many issues, Governor Walker’s numbers are slipping.