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High Noon in Madison: Wisconsin Open Thread

Posted: March 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News | Tags: , |51 Comments

Graphic credit: Detlef.Schrempf via Flickr

This is an open thread to post on what’s happening in Wisconsin during the day.

UPDATE 2, 11 am — BREAKING:

***Senate Dems returning from Illinois***

UPDATE 1: this is Breaking news out of WI via madison.com

Capitol access denied, protesters dragged away; huge crowd outside

10:15 a.m. — Reporters are being denied access to the Capitol. The State Patrol told a State Journal reporter the building is shut down and they’re not letting anyone else in.

Four or five protesters sitting in front of the Assembly doors were dragged away, but not put under arrest, by State Patrol troopers and other officers.

Other protesters who were in the hallway leading to the doors of the Assembly left voluntarily.

(there appears to be a running live blog via The Cap Times, so check back for more updates.)

***

Robert Schlesinger has a nice wrap-up of yesterday’s developments over at US News & World Report — “Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and His Allies Drop All Pretenses“:

To review: Walker–having created a budget crisis by enacting a huge tax cut–proposed a bill to “fix” the “crisis” by not only sharply cutting the compensation of public employees, but also by stripping public unions of their collective bargaining rights. This was, Walker claimed, what he campaigned on, a declaration which PolitiFact termed “false.” It was not, Walker insisted, about breaking Wisconsin’s public unions but rather about fixing the budget. This lie was made transparent when the public unions’ offer to accept the compensation cuts in exchange for keeping their collective bargaining rights and Walker refused to budge. And a stalemate descended upon Madison as all the state senate Democrats fled to Illinois, leaving the legislature’s upper chamber without the minimum number of members required to pass a budget-related bill.

How to break the impasse? Simple: Drop the pretense that this was about the budget. They stripped out all the actual fiscal items from the law and hastily passed a bill that simply went after the unions.

There’s been a lot of buzz about the legality of what the GOP did and lawsuits, but by Schlesinger’s account, there may be only so much that can be accomplished via the legal route:

The state house Democratic leader loudly proclaimed that the passage of the law was illegal because it violated the state’s open meeting laws. The courts will decide that, but even if it so, it seems like a process issue–the GOP can presumably run the same play but correctly dot the I’s and cross the T’s.

And if the GOP was trying to trick the Wisconsin 14 into coming back to protest and be forced into providing a quorum for the whole bill, so far that doesn’t seem to be working:

“We’re not going to go back because there are still a lot of games they can play,” State Sen. Jon Erpenbach told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “We’re going to sit tight here for a while.”

Schlesinger closes with this:

There is talk in Madison of a general strike to protest the bill. And more broadly, the Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman warned on Lawrence O’Donnell’s Last Word that this could be a broader ploy to try to incite an overreaction among progressives that could be used against Democrats in swing states in 2012. Stay tuned.

Fineman is such a putz. SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

And get this —even the rightwing thinktank Cato Institute says Karl Rove’s Crossroad GPS anti-union ad is a misleading use of the Cato study the ad cites! For more info, see Greg Sergent and Talking Points Memo.

When even the Cato Institute points out that the GOP’s anti-union push is making a misleading charge “that seems intended to turn non-unionized workers of all kinds against unionized public employees,” you know you’ve gone way down the rabbithole.

Also, yesterday on Fox we heard straight from one of the horses’ mouths what this is about. This is not about any budget crisis. It’s electoral politics plain and simple.

Think Progress (video at the link):

In an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly moments ago, State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), one of Walker’s closest allies in the legislature, confirmed the true political motive of Walker’s anti-union push. Fitzgerald explained that “this battle” is about eliminating unions so that “the money is not there” for the labor movement. Specifically, he said that the destruction of unions will make it “much more difficult” for President Obama to win reelection in Wisconsin:

FITZGERALD: Well if they flip the state senate, which is obviously their goal with eight recalls going on right now, they can take control of the labor unions. If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.

So that’s a little bit of what happened yesterday.

This is from the facebook page of one of the Wisconsin 14 just this morning. Chris Larson:

3 weeks ago, we stepped away from the Capitol & family so that thousands could step up and be heard in Wisconsin. Neighbors spoke up in a way we never could have anticipated. Whatever happens next, I hope each person stays engaged by speaking against injustice, by encouraging friends to vote, by helping campaigns they believe in and by running for office themselves. Democracy is YOURS and it is what you make of it.

I listened to Michael Moore’s reaction to the GOP’s crazymaking from yesterday on Democracy Now, and he thinks Saturday is going to be big:

“This is a turning point. I feel it deep in my heart right now. […] This is our moment. Everybody up off the couch now.”

Below is the song that came to mind when I heard the news… it’s cheesy, and I figure that’s appropriate for a cheddar revolution.

What song are you thinking of right now?

51 Comments on “High Noon in Madison: Wisconsin Open Thread”

  1. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:20 am

    Working Class Hero:

  2. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:25 am

    BREAKING:

    http://host.madison.com/ct/email/breaking_news/article_1bde688e-4b23-11e0-a0e3-001cc4c03286.html

    Rep. Parisi, Jesse Jackson denied entry to Capitol; huge crowd outside

    10 a.m. — Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, said he and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were denied entrance to the Capitol at both the King Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard entrances.

    “We were told the building is closed to everyone right now,” Parisi told large crowd outside the King Street entrance. “I’d like to be let in so I can at least vote on this bill.”

    Meanwhile, reporters trying to cover a press conference Thursday morning by Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, were denied entry to the Assembly parlor where the press conference was scheduled.

    Barca was quoted by JSOnline, “This has never happened before.”

    Wisconsin State Journal reporter Mary Spicuzza confirmed reporters were not being allowed into the press conference.

    Barca had protested loudly on Wednesday night when the conference committee passed the revised budget repair bill and sent it to the Senate.

    • madamab's avatar madamab says:
      March 10, 2011 at 10:27 am

      They’re not even trying to hide their fascism any more. It’s good, in my opinion. Let them come out of the closet in the most disgusting way. They are signing their own electoral death warrants.

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 10:35 am

        Another update, added this up top, but I’ll go ahead and put it here too:

        10:15 a.m. — Reporters are being denied access to the Capitol. The State Patrol told a State Journal reporter the building is shut down and they’re not letting anyone else in.

        Four or five protesters sitting in front of the Assembly doors were dragged away, but not put under arrest, by State Patrol troopers and other officers.

        Other protesters who were in the hallway leading to the doors of the Assembly left voluntarily.

  3. madamab's avatar madamab says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:25 am

    I actually watched Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz last night for the first time. One of the Wisconsin 14, State Senator Lena Taylor, cautioned against a general strike because she said it would “play into Scott Walker’s privatizing agenda.” In other words, the union workers might never get their jobs back. She urged people to “think about what they’re doing and be strategic in their protests.” All the State Senators on the show (there were 12) stated that the Wisconsinites should protest at the ballot box by recalling the Republican State Senators who voted for this atrocity.

    I found that reasoning far more compelling than Finaman’s wussy “oh, think about the swing states” bullsh*t.

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 10:57 am

      I didn’t catch much cable news yesterday but I did pick up some of the cautioning about a general strike. Thanks for filling in the gaps with that, madamab. That makes much more sense than Fineman’s blather.

    • paper doll's avatar paper doll says:
      March 10, 2011 at 1:04 pm

      she said it would “play into Scott Walker’s privatizing agenda.” In other words, the union workers might never get their jobs back”

      The problem is nothing is going to save their jobs or stop the privatizing agenda. Nothing…..but this street action they are constantly being cautioned against by those supposedly working for them. But don’t make me laugh. The Dems and the unions are not fighting for the workers…but for themselves. I don’t blame them, but let’s be clear. The rank and file is not at the top of the list here for the Dem 14….or even rights . What’s at sake is the Dems and union’s role to put over roll backs for capital. Walker and the Overlords are now trying to fire them….oh now we have a crisis! But Twenty five years of roll back was okay and even todays give back is fine by them….but don’t remove them from their roll of coat holder for the bosses!

      • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
        March 10, 2011 at 2:56 pm

        I agree. I would go for the general strike regardless of fears about my job.

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 3:03 pm

        I think it’s completely up to the grassroots now. The Ds aren’t going to call for the strike, they’re going to throw cold water…the people have to do it for themselves.

  4. Pat Johnson's avatar Pat Johnson says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:27 am

    America, Wake the Hell Up!

    We are being hijacked by a bunch of corporate shills working on behalf of their “masters”.

    The only thing missing are the blackboots. Kind of reminiscent of the 1930s from where I sit.

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 10:54 am

      And, we have a McCarthy trial going on too. The “masters” also trying to force us back to a pre-50s mindset on public employee unions. So basically the world ended then I guess. Maybe the whole “2012 end of the world” thing just meant literally going back to where our society is forever stunted and stuck.

  5. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:48 am

    I wonder what Howard Fineman imagines “progressives” could do that could possibly be an “overreaction” to Scott Walker and his Republican followers’ overt fascism.

  6. foxyladi14's avatar foxyladi14 says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:57 am

    disgusting.we are losing our rights more and more 👿

  7. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 11:11 am

    “We Have Reached a Turning Point”: Journalist Frank Emspak Says Protests Will Grow in Response to WI Anti-Union Bill

    Democracy Now:

    We speak with Frank Emspak of the Workers Independent News in Madison. “We’ve had democracy by deception here,” Emspak says. “You’re talking about disenfranchising millions of people, not only in Wisconsin, but also throughout the Midwest, and basically saying that working people, in an organized fashion, have no right to participate in the electoral process. That is what the Republicans are doing.”

  8. Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:
    March 10, 2011 at 11:16 am

    DefendWisconsin Defend Wisconsin
    by StatsKing
    Photo of police carrying people out of the Assembly Parlor (5/5) #wiunion #peacefulprotest http://twitpic.com/486mf5

  9. Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:
    March 10, 2011 at 11:32 am

    😯 Oh, my goodness–>

    ScottWalker Says DavidDuke a “Media Creation” and Duke’s Issues “Not Extreme” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR5uwAx-Lds&

  10. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 11:35 am

    BREAKING

    Senate Dems returning from Illinois

    http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_e026bccc-4b38-11e0-8e55-001cc4c03286.html

    11:05 am:

    Wisconsin Senate Democrats who fled to Illinois three weeks ago are coming back.

    Sen. Jim Holperin said Thursday that he was on his way home to Conover and other Democrats were either on their way back or would be leaving soon.

    He says there was no reason for them to stay away any longer since Senate Republicans passed the bill without them on Wednesday night.

    He says he didn’t think any of the other senators would return to the Capitol since the Senate wasn’t scheduled to be in session again until April 5.

  11. renartthefox's avatar renartthefox says:
    March 10, 2011 at 11:35 am

    This is so sad. Once it happens here in Wisconsin, it will spread like fire across the rest of the states. Do not think you are safe where you are.

    • paper doll's avatar paper doll says:
      March 10, 2011 at 1:09 pm

      Protests need to continue….it’s actually good they will be unconnected to the Vichy Dems…who are now free to openly shill for Walker’s roll backs

  12. Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:
    March 10, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    SunFoundation Sunlight Foundation
    Who’s influencing the Wisconsin Senate? Frank Lasee’s Influence Explorer profile http://snlg.ht/eLGL7h #wiunion

  13. renartthefox's avatar renartthefox says:
    March 10, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Another protester dragged out today.

    http://twitpic.com/48715y

    wi-protester-dragged

  14. paper doll's avatar paper doll says:
    March 10, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    Howard Fineman warned on Lawrence O’Donnell’s Last Word that this could be a broader ploy to try to incite an overreaction among progressives that could be used against Democrats in swing states in 2012

    overreaction among progressives??? I have been waiting for ANY action . As son as the left says” …ah..pardon me.” its accused of overeating…funny how no one says that about the GOP rampages though the body polatic

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 2:23 pm

      What about the overreaction of rightwingers to Muslims? Oh right… Muslims bad, workers bad, unions bad, taxes bad, women bad, socialists bad, homosexuals bad–it’s the GOP redmeat checklist.

  15. hj's avatar hj says:
    March 10, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    much as I hate giving links to huffpoo, this story relates to what’s happening in Wisconsin in a BIG way:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/09/nlrb-white-house-muzzled-_n_833354.html?ref=email_share

    • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
      March 10, 2011 at 2:10 pm

      NLRB: White House Muzzled Us In Budget Debate

      Obama told everybody who he was in 2008. A lot of people didn’t listen.

      • paper doll's avatar paper doll says:
        March 10, 2011 at 3:02 pm

        Again at some point, the movement must divorcee itself from the current Dems and this White House .

        Today they exist only to stifle the people’s natural protest of this cancer.

        At some point there will be a divorcee even for the congress level Dems. Because at some point they will finally realize they WILL NOT be rewarded for their compliance with their own destruction

        WILL. NOT. REWARDED.

  16. renartthefox's avatar renartthefox says:
    March 10, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    “Live” stream of Wisconsin Protests

    http://networkedblogs.com/fgD5h

  17. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Apparently law enforcement has cuffed the doors!

    Brief Video of what the scene looks like…

    2:04 pm madnewsboy:
    At the entry to the assembly chambers http://t.co/dmRX844

    There are going to be tractors on Saturday?…

    Teryl Franklin/WSJ: Here’s what I’m hearing about Saturday’s rally: Tractors are expected to be on the Square between 10 and 11.

    From Nick Heynen:

    For those looking to see what is being voted on and how it differs from the original budget repair bill, here are three links:

    • Budget repair bill as originally introduced Feb. 15, 2011: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/data/JR1AB-11.pdf
    • Amendments adopted by the Assembly: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/data/lc_amdt/jr1ab011.pdf
    • Conference committee version, adopted by the Senate March 9, 2011: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/data/JR1AB11-CSA1.pdf

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
      March 10, 2011 at 2:35 pm

      I thought a judge just ordered them to keep the building open to protesters when it’s open for business. Isn’t that contempt of court?

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 2:43 pm

        Well they were denying access this morning and dragging protesters away (see the pics embedded here in the comments).

        Then came the headline that the Capitol was open but with weapons screening.

        I went away for a bit and came back and saw the tweets about cuffs on the doors.

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 2:49 pm

        11:20 am:

        But others were having trouble getting into the building. At least one, Rep. David Cullen, D-Milwaukee, said he had to climb through a window in the office of Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee.

        Jesse Jackson is in now, I saw him there, but he was turned away earlier….

        10 a.m. — Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, said he and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were denied entrance to the Capitol at both the King Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard entrances.

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 2:56 pm

        via twitter

        rseely:
        Wis Democratic Rep. Corey Mason: Capitol access restrictions worse than after 9/11.

      • Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
        March 10, 2011 at 2:57 pm

        MSpicuzzaWSJ:
        RT @MissPronouncer: Cory Mason: Mr walker. Open. These. Doors. Ala reagan’s tear down these walls.

  18. Nijma's avatar Nijma says:
    March 10, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Sorry off topic, but it looks like the Arab war against women is spreading:
    http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/saudi-paper-bans-two-female-writers-2011-03-07-1.364834#add-comment

    Alwatan stopped its well-known female journalists from writing without giving any reasons for its decision,” the online Kolwatan Arabic language daily said.
    “The move followed growing attacks through the internet against Saudi female journalists as some consider this against Islam and local traditions.”

    The paper quoted Saudi minister of information and culture Abdul Aziz Alkhoja as saying recently that he does not mind a woman heads a local newspaper.
    But he added:”The problem is that there are no qualified women to take up that post plus the fact that the editor’s job appears to be confined to men in most other countries, including advanced nations.”

    Ha. Try Rana Sabbaugh, who was the acting editor of The Jordan Times for a loooong time.

  19. fiscalliberal's avatar fiscalliberal says:
    March 10, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    I am from upstate WI, my mother was country school teacher in the 50’s and 60’s. My wife and kids lived in Madison for 10 years. Wisconsin always was progressive with its educaiton system. Times are changing

    I wonder how a guy like Walker gets in and have come to the conclusion is he did not tell all the story while running. Also Obama apathy was a factor. So the shouting is over, Walker won. The only recourse is to wait two years and if Walker balances the budget and increases employment, he is golden. If he does not, he will be out.

    We will see if the Democrats are able to counter.

    So the financial crisis takes another toll on the country. Except for Milwaukee, Wisconsin had a pretty good education system. The Republicans have a knack of taking things out of context or misrepresenting things. The Democrats seem to be incapable of meeting the challeng.

  20. fiscalliberal's avatar fiscalliberal says:
    March 10, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    If the tractorcade comes off big, that will be significant. Just got a note from a teacher and her special needs program is wiped out.

    My view is class size will be the deciding factor

  21. purplefinn's avatar purplefinn says:
    March 10, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Thanks for this post, Wonk. “High Noon” and it also feels like “the straw that broke…” This one is resonating. Farmers joining union members is a big deal.

  22. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    We Shall Overcome — Joan Baez

  23. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Wonk the Vote says:
    March 10, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    Wisconsin State Journal: Wisconsin Assembly passes collective bargaining bill

    More at NPR.org:

    The Wisconsin state Assembly voted to approve a plan that would end nearly all collective bargaining rights for public workers, as angry protesters packed hallways at the state Capitol.

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