Republican Recall Sen. Cowles said Walker's Office Threatened a Tea Party Opponent if he Broke Ranks on Collective Bargaining.

The radical Tea Party movement is more than a bunch of hard line extremists, they're being used as a political sledgehammer against straying Republicans who feel some sense of moderation. 

jsonline-Dan Bice: A prominent business leader from state Sen. Rob Cowles' district was stunned when the veteran lawmaker explained why he voted in favor of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget-repair plan. Cowles had contacted the business leader earlier this year to ask for the person's support in his upcoming recall election.

"He said, 'I didn't like this (bill) either. I didn't like being put in this position. I didn't like anything about the way it was done,' " the business leader quoted Cowles as saying. " 'But the governor's office told us if we didn't give them our support, they would run a tea party candidate against us' … the leader asked not to be identified.

Not surprisingly Cowles office didn't recall such a conversation, and Walker's office wouldn't think of  bullying anyone like that. You can draw your own conclusions on that one.

But the business leader didn't think the budget-repair bill was the solution to the state's troubled finances. The individual favored bringing all sides together to negotiate a deal … the business official recalled telling the Allouez legislator that he should have voted his conscience and ignored the talk of a tea party challenger. "It did surprise me because I've always known Rob as a man of principle," the leader said.