Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson voted yesterday against the American Jobs Act. Big surprise! All the Republicans voted against it. But this bill would have brought upwards of 20,000 jobs to the state. It would have helped with our decaying infrastructure, it would have cut taxes for the middle class, and it would have supplied a quick fix of construction jobs - yet he voted against it.
People are hurting in this state and we need jobs. Especially in Milwaukee.
A rally was called for people to meet outside of Johnson's Milwaukee Headquarters at 11:30 today and protest his intransigence. About forty people showed up. It irked people that Johnson (who has never seemed like the brightest LED on the array) was citing Einstein's definition of insanity ("doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results") as an "oh snap" critique of Obama's bill regarding the economy. He's a smug and clever climber, that Ron Johnson!
When protesters went inside the building, they were immediately confronted by police officers with billyclubs and loc-tights. Nineteen people were quickly arrested. I'm not sure what the charges are, but they are still in jail.
Johnson is so busy mounting the legislative ladder that he clearly has no time for his constituents back home. He sides with millionaires and billionaires, not us. He's neither paying attention to the people in his state, nor to all of those people camping out in NYC, DC, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, (and coming soon to a city near you!).
I spoke with Todd Sprewer, a young African American man who was at the protest, and asked him why he went:
"I was upset that Johnson didn't support this jobs act.. I have a van and needed to pick up some people because my friend's truck was in the shop… I came down to carry a picket sign because this is ridiculous… we need jobs! I'm not part of an organization, but I've become active in this struggle. This was my first time witnessing civil disobedience first hand and it is a real different feeling than just carrying a sign!"
I asked him why people were arrested:
"I don't know why people were arrested. They wanted to speak with their senator. Everyone was calm and respectful. The people inside the building wanted to see him face to face, or at least talk with his staff, and see why he is turning his back on the state."
After speaking for a while longer, I asked him if he had anything else to say about the event:
"What I got out of it is a statement: "We're not putting up with this crap anymore…!" This is the tip of the iceberg! I see the numbers growing because people like Ron Johnson don't get it. We need jobs. People are really struggling. I got creative and started my own business because waiting on them is a fool's game. But we can't do it alone. They need to start paying attention to the people they are supposed to serve."
Amen to that! Perhaps the definition of insanity should be "not doing anything at all, over and over again, and expecting results!"