PolitiCal Roundup: Jerry Brown plays hardball with tax extensions; all eyes on Wisconsin union battle

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-- No gimmicks, says Gov. Jerry Brown: If he doesn’t get approval for tax extensions, he’ll hack state spending -- really hack it. So make a deal, he urged Republicans. He even suggested putting public-employee pensions on the table.

-- Speaking of which, the Wisconsin state Assembly approved a controversial measure to end most collective bargaining for state employees in a speedy, surprise vote that caught Democratic opponents off guard. But the state’s senators remain in self-imposed exile, so the drama continues to unfold.

-- That fight, and similar ones brewing elsewhere in the country, ‘could fundamentally change the practice of politics in this country,’ says The Times’ Mark Z. Barabak. At stake is the Democratic Party’s bankroll.

-- Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s lawmakers-on-the-run got an invitation that would seem irresistible to people normally condemned to wintering in Madison, Wis.: A San Diego teachers’-union local has invited to fly them out and stay, all expenses paid.