More union busting in Wisconsin

[Shryke]

There already is a group trying to recall Democratic state senators:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-wisconsin-recalls-idUSTRE71N8DR20110224

If many of these recalls pan out, just the expense of holding all the recall elections will become a factor in Wisconsin's budget.

Good to know the people of Utah are still hard at work, making the US a worse place:

A Utah group trying to recall the Arizona sheriff who complained of "bigotry" in the wake of the Tucson shootings has also launched recall efforts against seven Wisconsin Democratic senators.

The senators are among 14 who left the state to avoid a vote on a Republican-sponsored bill to limit collective bargaining rights for state workers.

The American Recall Coalition of Salt Lake City has registered electronically to set up recall committees against Democratic senators Bob Wirch, Mark Miller, Lena Taylor, Fred Risser, Julie Lassa and Dave Hansen. The Coalition also wants to recall Spencer Coggs, but needs to register using a local representative.

I'm not sure how successful recalls on Democrats would be though. I know the Republicans being targeted won by fairly small majorities.

[davos]

I apologize for not providing a real update for a few days. I've been a bit under the weather and simply not had the energy to make the kind of thoughtful post I really wanted. Perhaps I've come down with the protest version of con crud (though there is a really nasty cold making the rounds as well so perhaps its unrelated).

About 70 people remain inside the capital. The Department of Administration has greatly limited access to the building, even during business hours. This is being challenged in court since the state constitution guarantees public access to the capital and its grounds. The administration is doing what it can to delay a decision by the judge but that will hopefully finally be made tomorrow. The likely ruling from everything I've read is that the public access to the building has to be restored during business hours or when public business is being conducted (hearings, the legislature is in session, ect..) but that people can not typically sleep there. This is not necessarily surprising. The reason the sleep-overs gained momentum in the first place was that the protesters were using what was intended to be a short public hearing on the bill put together with little notice into a marathon session by providing a continuous stream of people to testify. I believe this started on February 16th and actually continued through to the following tuesday, 22nd (though my time line could be slightly off). Since the building has to be open during public business people were able to stay the night. Once the hearings were finally done the democrats in the assembly were able keep debate going for several days, resulting in the longest single session of the assembly in Wisconsin history. that ended last thursday. At that point continuous occupation of the capital probably turned completely legal to entering a rather gray area. I fully supported it, and still do, as an act of protest against this rather extreme bill, but it has become an act of civil disobedience.

Protests outside the capital continue. There are people outside during the day almost continuously with a peak of at least a few thousand in the evening. There are a few brave souls who are sleeping outside the building on the steps and paved areas (sleeping on the lawn would be problematic since its rather muddy right now). I can't verify those numbers since I've not been at the scene since this started late enough to see the people bedded down. I've been told its at about 50, which is actually an impressive number given that its rather cold out (its suppose to get down to 18 C, -7 C for the rest of the world) I would take part in this but being currently ill I don't want to risk turning a moderate cold into something serious. I'm committed but this is going to be a long fight.

The 14 Senators remain out of state. I wonder how much longer they are going to be able to remain away. Sooner or latter one of them is going to crack. They all have lives they have to get back to at some point. I recognize their sacrifice. Right now they are the damn holding back what seems like an inevitable flood. That flood is going to come though. I don't see a way to win this battle but we will keep fighting to the bitter end. Then we will move to the bigger battle, which is to remove the governor and change the composition of the state legislature to have all this undone. I strongly suspect that the budget speech that the governor gave this past week will provide further momentum for more large protests this weekend.

Let me stress,as I have so often before, that these remain peaceful protests. Everything i hear getting out of the building is that the relationship between police and the protesters still inside remains cordial if not downright friendly. There are some tensions on the outside because people are being keep from entering the building. Those remain well with bounds though. Nothing I've seen or heard of even approaches violence.

I would like to make an aside comment. The signage used by the protesters, particularly those posted in the building itself, covering almost every available wall space, (using blue painters tape so that they can be taken down without damaging the building or requiring significant scrubbing to remove residue) are an interesting reflection of culture. Many are obviously very basic and not noteworthy while a small minority cross the line into being unnecessarily nasty. Many are down right funny and witty. I would be surprised if any person has been insulted in so many creative ways as Scott Walker has in the past 3 weeks. Of particular note to me are the signs that make geek references. A few choice examples:

-This is our Minith Tirath.

-A picture of Gandalf saying "This Bill Shall Not Pass"

-A sign saying "Stop the Imperial Walker" with a picture of such.

-A sign saying "Enterprise, please beam up Scotty" someone else attached another sign to it which said "The Enterprise signaled back, they don't want him."

I could go on. Its really something that would have to be experienced to be appreciated. Preserving the signs by this past sunday, when we were discussing being ejected, had become a significant issue for the protesters. We know they will have to come down sometime but we don't want them thrown away. Apparently arrangements have been made with the Wisconsin Historical Society to have them gathered and the ones people don't want to claim will be cataloged and stored for posterity.

I will try to update more when events warrant and when I have more on the ground information to provide.

-

[davos]

Ok, I also have to share

. Generally I've strongly objected to anything comparing Walker to Nazis. This actually doesn't do that (though it flirts with it), resurrects a wonderfully amusing mean, and is just damned funny. Maybe a bit in bad taste. A bit.

[TrackerNeil]

The argument is that Gov. Walker has a pattern of claiming a budget emergency and then trying to circumvent the lawful union in place. We're just hammering home the message that this has zero to do with the budget or deficits (despite how Walker tries to re-spin a new argument every few days). In either situation, Walker could have called the local union business agents and worked toward a compromise, but he chose not to. Some of us believe that's because he's a conniving, union-busting douchelord.

I don't understand why Walker hasn't done the sensible thing: Use this kerfuffle to pressure the unions into greater-than-normal concessions, back off the original bill and declare victory. Wisconsin voters forget about the whole thing by the time 2012 rolls around and all is well for Republicans in the Badger State. Instead, he's made the unions look like martyrs when smarter pols try to paint them as money-grubbers, and turned off a majority of Wisconsin-ers to boot. I don't get it.

Maybe all of this will prove an electoral boon come 2012, but I don't see it.

[Shryke]

I don't understand why Walker hasn't done the sensible thing: Use this kerfuffle to pressure the unions into greater-than-normal concessions, back off the original bill and declare victory. Wisconsin voters forget about the whole thing by the time 2012 rolls around and all is well for Republicans in the Badger State. Instead, he's made the unions look like martyrs when smarter pols try to paint them as money-grubbers, and turned off a majority of Wisconsin-ers to boot. I don't get it.

Maybe all of this will prove an electoral boon come 2012, but I don't see it.

Because it's about crushing the unions first and foremost.

He even turned down another Republicans suggestion of a temporary suspension of collective bargaining rights.

[Arthmail]

I think this is entirely a good thing. This is the Republicans shooting themselves in the foot. As long as the electorate can actually hold a continuous thought until the next election, you are going to see a large group of people shifting demographics, or at least, so i think. Because this is the sort of thing that is a transparent grab at middle class rights.

[Edward the Great]

You really ought to read up on what happened in December/January before he took office. The union's claim that all they really want is to talk and be reasonable is bullshit.

Negotiation is a lot like lying. Negotiation works when you threaten something severe, and then compromise. Maybe the unions wouldn't be willing to compromise if the governor weren't threatening their collective bargaining rights. Fine. But the sane outcome is that the governor gets his wage and benefit concessions and then moves on and starts governing instead of turning the government of Wisconsin into a circus.

My knee jerk reaction is to do whatever it takes to balance the budget, but the Republicans always manage to convince me they are nothing but a bunch of crooks.

[awesome possum]

Maybe all of this will prove an electoral boon come 2012, but I don't see it.

I don't think he lasts far into 2012. In Wisconsin you can recall the governor after he's been in office a year. Unless something ridiculous comes along to take the public's mind off the way Walker has tried to rape them, then yeah, he's getting recalled.

[Inigima]

I want to believe this but historically the electorate has been distracted by bits of string and shiny objects