I returned to the front this morning around 10:30 a.m. and stayed two hours before heading to the relative peace of the law school to publish this report. I can assure you, first and foremost, that the energy of the People has not diminished since Thursday night. The conviction and fervor among the masses is strong, sincere, impassioned, and peaceful. Everyone also knows that this "budget bill" by Governor Walker has nothing to do with budgets but instead has everything to do with fulfilling the long-held Republican fantasy of busting up unions. Wisconsin had a budget surplus going into this year--until Walker gave $140 million to big business. As one impassioned speaker told the crowd this morning, Walker is the emperor with no clothes. His association with the Koch brothers--the billionaire industrialists and Tea Party overlords--is notorious. As Think Progress reports, Koch Industries has a major presence in Wisconsin, and it funneled tens of thousands into Walker's campaign war chest. In return, Walker has done nothing less than prostrate himself in front of the mighty Kochs and pimp out the state he supposedly serves. A Koch-funded group advised Walker on the very legislation at issue here and the aforementioned corporate giveaways. Moreover, Walker has done everything in his power to make it easier for the Kochs to rape Wisconsin's natural resources and pillage its workforce. A Koch company just laid off 158 workers in Green Bay despite the fact that demand was steady and the Kochs themselves took home 11 billion dollars. Yes, that's BILLION.
The Kochs represent oligarchy in America, and their cancerous agenda has reached the very heart of middle class America in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin's record for valuing workers is sterling:
* First in worker's comp (1911)
* First unemployment comp. (1932)
* AFSCME (1936),
* First public workers in the nation to get collective bargaining rights (1959).
Because Wisconsin's record has been so good, there is a growing fear that "if can happen here, it can happen anywhere." Indeed, Republican governors from Ohio to Tennessee are licking their lips, awaiting the outcome of this fight. The workers here know what's at stake. They've not been spoiled by "having it so good" for so long. As many signs around square read, "United We Negotiate, Divided We Beg."
Supposedly, the Kochs had rustled up some of their teabaggers to create a counter-protest this morning. However, the first people I saw when I arrived on the Square were nice looking fellows holding "COPS FOR LABOR" signs. In fact, I saw just about everybody EXCEPT teabaggers. There were police, firefighters, teachers, nurses, iron workers, steel workers, auto workers from Flint, teamsters, doctors, and a host of other non-union private sector workers voicing support. A group of physicians in white coats were writing doctor's notes for workers who missed work to come to the rallies the past three days. The notion that this fight is about private v. public was not reflected in the solidarity of diverse voices around and in the Capitol. The efforts to pitch middle class neighbors against neighbors has been failing.
Around noon the rally really picked up steam. People filing into the Capitol were directed to the upper balconies because the lower floor was packed to capacity. People in the streets had to give way as groups 10 people wide and dozens deep paraded around the square, sometimes led by a drum brigade.
The governor, Mr. Ham Sandwich, is standing firm: "Unions have always been his pinata," said Scott Larson, one of the 14 state senators who fled to Illinois. I wonder if he's ever hit a pinata that swung back.