there are moderate members of the caucus. just to be fair here, we get along with them very well outside of the capitol mostly, but get along with them fine. i know that as a fact, if collective bargaining were taken out, voted separately, it wouldn t pass the senate. there would be five or six republicans that would vote against it. obviously it is causing a great deal of concern. they seem to be under more pressure than we do, based on the comments of senator fitzgerald at the press conference. we are going to do what we ve been doing. we are staying here, we are going to reach out, try to come to a compromise so we can come home and vote. one other thing i want to ask because you seem closer to this than i am, and neither of us are in wisconsin. we hear rumors there will be a tractor motorcade saturday. are you hearing these rumors? yes, i am. as you know, we have a strong ag community in wisconsin. very politically involved on both sides of the aisle. they are going to join the
asking of this administration, that s exactly what this administration is doing right now and what we are negotiating with the 14 democrat senators for. bill: i m getting word now, tell me if this is true or not, that the governor has received a letter from leading democrats, requesting a meeting, is that the case? yes. we know that leader miller has sent a letter, and it was addressed to both the governor and the majority leader in the state senate, senate scott fitzgerald. he says that he is eager to negotiate and so i m excited about that. i think that that is a positive move toward their return to this building. bill: okay. this is a development then. would the governor be willing to go near the wisconsin-illinois border and negotiate face-to-face? i could only hope that they would want to be on the wisconsin side of the wisconsin-illinois state border. i would only hope that they would want to return to madison. we know that these negotiatings have been ongoing for the past se
thinking they were close to coming back, only to find senator miller standing in the way of that progress. they met at the mcdonald s in kenosha and they even had some hot cocoa along with the other folks. they had a good, lengthy decision, one that created the framework that would be a pathway home. my staff was so optimistic they called me about 11:45 and woke me up on wednesday night to talk through exactly what had been discussed at that meeting to tell me they were optimistic we were on our way to coming home thursday and friday. so we had progress. we thought we had the framework of a pathway home for the 14 senate democrats. again, senator miller stood in the way. senator fitzgerald has comments on that as well. when you have a meeting where reasonable senators feel like they have an agreement with our
who have refused to return to the badger state to vote on a republican budge it bill now say they want to resume, quote, serious negotiations with governor scott walker. at a press conference, walker told reporters the letter means nothing. we ve got have leaders who are willing to stand up and stand in the way of those who are trying to block this from happening, and that s why this letter is just absolutely ridiculous, because psq and time again, we have met the very person who wrote this letter to myself and senator fitzgerald, mark miller, the person standing in the way of that progress and we needed to have a change so that we can move this state forward. a poll found 65% want governor walker to pros my while 33% say he should hold his ground. 51% disapprove of the 14 state democrats leaving wisconsin while 47% approve of the tactic.
reverend sharpton for weighing in on it. it s an important conversation in this country and we thank you fork here. thank you. bill: that is one view. we ll get to peter king later in our week here also. he s heading up these hearings and they will be front page news when they begin in washington. so the wisconsin 14 are missing. reports that at lease some are ready to come on back to work is that true? the governor s second in command is here live to answer whether or not the reports are true or not. senator fitzgerald and members of my administration have been reaching out to some of the more reasonable members of that senate caucus. i have to tell you like people across the state, we re frustrated. up, but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.75% at lendingtree.com, where customers save an average of $293 a month. callending tree at. today.