Who's Right in Wisconisn?

For weeks now, the Republican governor and the majority of the Wisconsin legislature have fulminated in frustration (if you'll pardon the alliteration), over the states Democrats' tactics in a battle over the right of state workers to bargain collectively. Governor Scott Walker says that state workers' unions, especially the teachers' union, costs the state too much in salaries and benefits. His intention has been to remove their right to negotiate as a union.
To combat this change, the Democratic legislators fled the state so there could be no legal quorum. State law requires that all major budget statutes be made in the presence of 60% of the full house -- the equivalent, in a sense, of the federal Senate's ludicrous filibuster rule. So they all went to Chicago, where they could not be compelled by Wisconsin state police to return to the chamber.
Walker's actions also triggered massive protests in Madison, as state workers and their supporters chanted opposition to the proposed law.
I happen to think Walker's idea is foolish. Like New Jersey Governor Christie, who is slashing the state budget there, Walker thinks that deficits are the root of all economic evil. In the long run, he may have a point, in that deficits can be destructive to the whole economy. But at the moment, when employment is down and interest rates are low, governments should be spending more, not less. The state sector could actually help revive the economy by putting cash into it. To reduce salaries and benefits -- particularly health care -- for so many people is ass-backwards.

But for the Democrats to flee the capital is an act of cowardice and silliness. They may not be able to win a vote, but to entirely subvert the system when they are supposed to be upholding it is an abdication of responsibility. What Walker is doing is mean and short-sighted, but it's not unconstitutional, and the Democrats have to stand and fight it, not run away.