This matters. The President in an interview on Wisconsin radio provided strong support for the public employees in Wisconsin in their struggle against Governor Walker:
"Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions. And I think it's very important for us to understand that public employees, they're our neighbors, they're our friends. These are folks who are teachers and they're firefighters and they're social workers and they're police officers.
"They make a lot of sacrifices and make a big contribution. And I think it's important not to vilify them or to suggest that somehow all these budget problems are due to public employees."
Greg Sergant: The Plum Line: The Morning Plum
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Faces Backlash For Threatening Public Workers With National Guard
Thousands of public workers marched in Wisconsin's capital before a legislative vote today on whether to slash public worker pensions and curb collective bargaining rights of unions. It's a scene that may be played out in many states struggling with budget deficits.
"There are thousands of people here—20,000 at least!" said Scott Favour, a Madison, Wisc., police officer, describing the crowd that surged around Gov. Scott Walker's office Wednesday.
"It's all ages, all kinds of public employees--firefighters in full turn-out gear," Favour said. "There's a lot of solidarity here."
In Wisconsin, State Workers March Over Pension Cut Vote Today ote>
"I have never been prouder of our movement than I am at this moment," shouted Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt, as he surveyed the crowds of union members and their supporters that surged around the state Capitol and into the streets of Madison Wednesday, literally closing the downtown as tens of thousands of Wisconsinites protested their Republican governor’s attempt to strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights.
Where Tuesday’s mid-day protests drew crowds estimated at 12,000 to 15,000, Wednesday's mid-day rally drew 30,000, according to estimates by organizers. Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, a veteran of 27 years on the city’s force, said he had has never see a protest of this size at the Capitol – and he noted that, while crowd estimates usually just measure those outside, this time the inside of the sprawling state Capitol was “packed.”
On Wednesday night, an estimated 20,000 teachers and their supporters rallied outside the Capitol and then marched into the building, filling the rotunda, stairways and hallways. Chants of "What's disgusting? Union busting!" shook the building as legislators met in committee rooms late into the night.
"What's Disgusting? Union Busting!" Chant Wisconsin Crowds That Swell to 30,000; Key GOP Legislators Waver
Solidarity. We all need to support the Wisconsin public workers in any way we can.
Update I: (If DK4 will let me edit this now)
From jfox in the comments, link to video of interview with President Obama.