Gov. Jim Doyle and state Republicans hobbled the right of municipalities to act in the best interest of their citizens with the wage bill they signed into law late Wednesday. At the same time, while progressives in Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse and Eau Claire wake up with a bad taste in their mouths, the rest of the state is waking up with a raise to $5.70 per hour that will rise to $6.50 in a year.

Dane101 took a spin around the internet to see how others are reacting. There seems to be a couple ways to argue it in the ether. Democratic blogger Badger Blue suggests that Democrats should embrace the win and the Madison "elite" should stop whining because the whole state is better off for it, not just those "'fortunate' enough to reside in Madison":

The brand new (and anonymous) blogger wrote;

While Bill Christofferson (Xoff) at WisOpinion toasts the raise - and suggests that Wisconsinites deserve more. An anonymous commenter from Madison, however, reminds us that waitresses in this city are going to be the biggest losers.

Then there is the matter raised by Madison Alderman Austin King, who contends that the wage deal amounts to illegal "logrolling." He is asking Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager to immediately launch an investoigation into the deal.

Christofferson calls King a "crackpot" for making the suggestion, and says Lautenschlager should ignore the complaint. Xoff doesn't believe there is any way the compromise could be illegal.

Conservative blogs seem to agree that the compromise is "logrolling," but that the law in general is absurd. Owen at Boots and Sabers says it appears the deal certainly was logrolling, but adds "I think the law is stupid." He goes on to argue a fairly solid case as to why the law doesn't make any sense.

Ann Althouse asks "is routine political compromise a crime?" A commenter told an interesting story about former Dane County District Attorney James Doyle, who felt an budget issue raised in the early Eighties violated the logrolling provision.

Althouse then directs readers to UW Law Professor Gordon Smith at the Conglomerate Blog, who also sees the deal as logrolling. However, he doesn't believe King's complaint will amount to much more then "a lively public debate" on the subject, adding "actually, that sounds like fun."