Here are the developments in Wisconsin from over the weekend:
Six days of footage
If you haven’t seen this video of the protests set to the music of Arcade Fire, please watch it now:
I've watched it at least eight times since Saturday, and gotten choked up every time. There is a follow-up video, too.
Unions agree to all financial concessions.
This point cannot be hammered home enough—the public employee unions in Wisconsin have agreed to all of the salary, health insurance and pension cuts in the so-called "budget repair bill." This fight is entirely over the rights of workers to negotiate with their employer. It has nothing to do with money.
Walker rejects all concessions and refuses to negotiate with anyone about anything in the budget, ever
Even though the unions have agreed to all of Walker’s proposed salary and benefit cuts, Walker rejected these concessions as a "red herring." So, instead of focusing on "red herrings" like the unions agreeing to all proposed salary and benefit cuts, Walker has instead focused on the need for the unions to agree to all proposed salary and benefit cuts.
On Sunday, even Chris Wallace of Fox News had a hard time swallowing this:
Host Chris Wallace pressed Walker on why he’s seeking to end collective bargaining rights if he’s trying to balance the budget. In his answers, the guv frequently went back to talking about the pension and health care concessions he’s seeking because of the state’s dire fiscal situation.
Additionally, Walker has rejected negotiating any aspect of the bill with anyone at anytime. Walker’s spokesperson, Cullen Werwie:
"Gov. Walker has repeatedly said that we won't negotiate the budget and we can't balance the budget on a hope and a prayer," Werwie said.
Even if the unions agree to all financial concessions, Walker refuses to negotiate with them, or anyone else, about anything in the bill. Ever.
Wisconsin Senate Democrats vow to stay out of state until Walker negotiates
Our side is holding firm, too:
"We'll be here until Gov. Walker decides that he wants to talk," said state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D) in an interview with The Huffington Post on Saturday. He added that so far, the governor refuses to meet with them or even return the phone calls from members of the Democratic caucus.
"He's just hard-lined -- will not talk, will not communicate, will not return phone calls," said Carpenter. "In a democracy, I thought we were supposed to talk. But the thing is, he's been a dictator, and just basically said this is the only thing. No amendments, and it's going to be that way."
The Dems are showing real guts here, but they remain at risk. Wisconsin Senate Republicans are going to start passing through non-budgetary bills that do not require 20 Senators to be present:
With Democratic state senators still holed up in Illinois Sunday to block a vote on Walker's bill, Republicans who control the state Senate were seeking to put pressure on them by planning action on other bills for Tuesday. Without Democrats present, the Republicans have enough members to be able to hold votes on non-financial bills, but not on budget bills.
"Tuesday the Senate is going to the floor with a full calendar," said Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).
The 14 are making a bold move here, but they are likely to pay a real political price for it. This is why your continued support of the 14 is so important—we need to buck them up while the blows rain down on them. If the pain is too immense and even one of them comes back, this bill passes and workers’ rights are crushed. Please, if you haven’t already, chip in $14 to the Wisconsin Senate Democrats, $1 for each of the 14 heroes.
Winter weather returns to Madison, shrinks crowds
After a week of unseasonably warm weather, there was some snow yesterday in Madison. This shrunk the size of the crowds a bit, but they were still big:
With winter weather back in the capital city, demonstrators on both sides of Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill have a chance to show their commitment.
Union supporters were clapping and chanting "We want justice" and "We are family" Sunday in the Capitol Rotunda as heavy, wet snow and then rain fell on the square outside. Though smaller than the massive crowds of last week, the group still added up to a sizable demonstration by normal statehouse standards, filling the rotunda with its numbers and its drumming.
No matter the weather, the protests are expected to continue all day Monday and Tuesday. Teachers in the Madison public schools have said they will return to work on Tuesday, however.
We can't expect our allies in Wisconsin to keep this up forever on their own. We must share the load and start protesting ourselves. Our friends at SEIU set up a special page were Kossacks can attend a solidarity rally near where they live. Check it out, sign up, and hit the streets.
Pro-union rally far larger than pro-Walker rally
The vaunted tea party counter-protest, sponsored by the billionaire Koch brothers, was a flop. From the Wisconsin State Journal:
Early estimates of the pro-Walker crowd were around 2,000.
Maybe it got bigger than 2,000 as the day went on, but still, by way of comparison:
Police say nearly 70,000 people have converged on the Wisconsin Capitol to join in protests over a Republican bill that would strip public workers of most of their collective bargaining rights.
Undaunted by protesters, Scott Walker waxes Nixon, talking of a "quiet majority" and 19,000 supportive emails.
Wow—19,000! That’s cute. If I had a cat, it could cough up 19,000 anti-Walker emails right now. The PCCC alone will be likely showing over 100,000 today, according to an email they sent Sunday morning. The president of the Wisconsin firefighters union, speaking at Saturday’s rally, had the best response of all:
“I think I have 19,000 people behind me,” said Mitchell.
Pointing to one edge of the massive audience arrayed before him, he said: “And 20,000 there.”
He pointed to the other edge of the crowd: “And 20,000 there.”
Finally, he pointed down State Street, the thoroughfare that stretches from the Capitol to the University of Wisconsin campus, which was packed with students who have backed the unions: “And 20,000 there.”
Allies turning on Walker
Tracey Fuller, President of the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, issued an excoriating statement on Scott Walker yesterday. And he did so in all caps:
I SPECIFICALLY REGRET THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE WISCONSIN TROOPER’S ASSOCIATION FOR GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER. I REGRET THE GOVERNOR’S DECISION TO “ENDORSE” THE TROOPERS AND INSPECTORS OF THE WISCONSIN STATE PATROL. I REGRET BEING THE RECIPIENT OF ANY OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNOR’S ANOINTING.
The statement, which originally appeared on the WLEA website, has since been taken down so that it would not be construed with an official statement from the organization rather than a personal statement from Fuller. Unions are, after all, democracies. Talking Points Memo has more on this story.
Beyond the law enforcement community, the Madison Chamber of Commerce isn’t happy with Walker anymore. President Jennifer Alexander writes:
The GMCC supports the work to address the state budget deficit and the efforts toward improving the state's economy. That support ends at the adversarial way elected officials are approaching it. Public policy issues of this magnitude should not be rushed through the legislative process. Given this state's long history of collective bargaining, policy changes of this magnitude should be thoroughly debated for an adequate period of time, in good faith by both sides, with all potential consequences considered. Currently, that is not happening.
What Alexander is objecting to is how Walker introduced his plan to strip collective bargaining rights on Friday, February 11th, and then attempted to pass it into law on Thursday, February 17. No warning. No time to debate. No negotiation. That’s Scott Walker.
Club for Growth hits the airwaves in Wisconsin
According to an email from the Wisconsin Senate Democrats, the Club for Growth has started running attack ads against the unions and the Senate Democrats.
For those of you who don’t know, the Club for Growth is an arch-right-wing 527 and PAC funded by big corporations and the uber-wealthy. It’s primary purpose is to run paid advertisements attacking right-wing Republicans in primaries for not being sufficiently pro-plutocrat. Famous ultra-liberal Mike Hackabee called them the "Club for Greed" when they attacked him during the 2008 presidential campaign.
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They got the Koch brothers, Fox News and the Club for Greed. What we have is the grassroots, the blogs, and the unions. Sometimes, it feels like fighting a flamethrower with a squirt gun, but what’s happening in Wisconsin shows we can be powerful if we stand together. Please, contribute to the Wisconsin Senate Democrats. Also, find a solidarity rally near where you live. This fight started in Wisconsin, but it is spreading fast. We need to join in everywhere.