Do democrats even need to show up in Madison?

This is what is wrong in Madison. Our lawmakers aren’t really interested in hearing good ideas, unless they come from members of their own party. They continue to march in lockstep, following the orders of their party bosses who tell them what to think and how to vote. And sometimes the other team would rather just take their ball and go home. That seems to be the case now with comments from State Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse. When asked about a democratic plan for solving the state’s transportation budget crisis, Shilling punted, saying it is not her party’s responsibility to come up with a plan for fixing and paying for our roads. She admits the state needs a long-term, sustainable plan for paying for our roads, but thinks only republicans should be responsible for coming up with that plan. To be fair, republicans control the legislature, and likely would refuse to even allow a vote on any democratic solution. But if we are going to follow that logic, then democrats can just coast for the next two years. Why not just take the next two years off then? Our political parties need to work together, each coming up with ideas, and then debating those ideas fairly for the benefit of all Wisconsinites, regardless of which party is in control in Madison.