(At least, those of us with sense and a heart).

The demonstrations in Wisconsin against what the Governor has termed his budget repair bill, which strips public employee unions of their bargaining rights among other things [huge take-hom pay cuts, etc.], are entering their fourth full day.  The capitol building has remained open and occupied around the clock since demonstrations began earlier this week.  But it is important to understand what "occupied" means.  The capitol building has, for the first time in my lifetime, truly become the people's building.  

The law enforcement officers in the building, which consists of state troopers, capitol police, sheriffs, game wardens, and others, have transformed themselves into greeters, question answerers, and guides.  The capitol rotunda balcony has become decorated with signs nearly all the way around.  Increasingly popular is "when we're screwed, we multiply."  There have been only nine citations, and only one of those has involved an "incident."  

This is a place of children, elders, parents, and yes, college students.  There is a steady supply of free water and bratwurst (it is Wisconsin, after all).  The firefighters, who retain their collective bargaining rights under the governor's bill, appear regularly to a rock-star ovation from the gathered people.  Last night they appeared in a massive march from the capitol building down State Street, between 100-200 strong (I was on my bike and didn't have a clear view) in dress uniform, led by their bagpipers.

Then there are the high school students, who have marched from their schools, a few miles from the capitol.  Yesterday they filled two blocks as they marched around the capitol, and for those of us who are in danger of taking our protesting too seriously, we have something to learn from high school students about how to have fun with politics, even in a steady drizzle.  A whole new generation is learning about democracy.

There are also demonstrations across the state, attracting people in the hundreds of thousands.  The Democratic party senators left the state yesterday, refusing to answer the Senate roll-call and thus preventing a quorum.  There are many rumors about when they might return or how, as of it is unclear whether they can be captured, brought to the capitol in chains, and forced to submit to roll call.  As the Senate attempted to move into session yesterday there were sit-in blockade attempts, but some very smart architect designed the building in such a way that made it very easy for just a few state troopers to preserve access to the Senate chambers.

And credit to everyone involved in maintaining their cool during those moments.  The Democratic Party Assembly representatives have been taking testimony from citizens around the clock, which is ostensibly why the capitol has remained open, though a law enforcement official was quoted on one news website as saying the capitol would stay open for the time being anyway.  It has been a major organizing feat to continue to encourage people to sign up and give testimony non-stop for more than [80] hours.  And even though there cannot be a recall attempt for a full year after a public official takes office, and it will require more than a half million signatures, the sign-up sheets are filling quickly.

Saturday is going to be a very interesting day, as tea party activists are supposed to be bringing their own members to the capitol.  So far, those in support of the governor's bill have been a very small minority and I have not seen or heard of any incidents between supporters of different sides.  I don't know how much the ratio may change tomorrow.

Walker, as has been pointed out, larded the budget with some $130+ million for special interests, and then decided that the real problem was the collective-bargaining ability of the unions, and that needed to go.

Really, Scott?  Seriously?

And Obama, well, he "thrust" his toe in the water, but did his usual on-one-hand/on-the-other-hand thing, making sure to bring up the "new" fiscal realities we face, as evidenced by his own decision - I believe the frame was in terms of "have to" - to freeze federal worker pay.

So, pretty much vintage Obama, I would say; no one's going to mistake him for "Norman" Rae anytime soon, I don't think.

I hear all this talk about austerity as a path to prosperity, but I've yet to hear a Republican or Obama or any of the deficit hysterics address that theory in any credible way.

The states are in a much more precarious situation than the federal government, but the straight-faced bamboozle governors like Walker are doing, using budgetary reasons to get at the unions, just stinks.

I haven't read it all, but here's a link to a Nation article on the template Wisconsin and Walker offer to other states - and an excerpt:

Walker's gambit has rightly elicited outrage, but considering the breadth of the attack unions are facing nationally, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Right-to-work legislation has been filed in twelve states; this is in addition to the twenty-two that already have such laws on the books. In technical terms, this legislation makes it illegal for employers to condition employment on union membership or the equivalent dues payments even when a majority of workers vote to form a union; practically speaking, it makes building and maintaining a strong union very difficult, which in turn makes it harder to organize new workplaces because there are few positive examples of unions to point to. In Virginia, the corporations and right-wing ideologues decided that the existing right-to-work law wasn't sufficient, and introduced a measure to embed the right-to-work provisions in the state Constitution. Three more states--Montana, Ohio and Wisconsin--are expected to have bills introduced converting their legal status to right-to-work.

Alabama passed legislation in January that bans public employee unions from collecting dues unless the unions first prove that none of the money will be used for supporting election campaigns. In every subsequent year after the initial certification, the union must submit itemized reports accounting for how its money is being spent. This law, sold as "paycheck protection" by the right but known as "paycheck deception" among union activists, has been introduced in four other states this year, including Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi and Missouri. In California there has already been ballot initiative language submitted to do the same. Using a variety of legal tools, these measures prohibit the use of union dues for political activity. Union advocates are expecting twelve more states to file bills or initiatives banning the collection of union monies for politics.

Assembly Republicans convened their floor session a few minutes before its scheduled start Friday evening and moved Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill toward final passage before Democrats could enter the chamber, prompting howls of outrage from Assembly Democrats.

The action, taken on a voice vote, prevented the Democrats from introducing any amendments to the bill, which severely curtails public employees' collective bargaining powers.

Democrats began yelling as they entered the chamber to find the majority Republicans were voting on the bill.

"This is unbelieveable. Unprecedented. Un-American," yelled Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha. "This is just the most outrageous thing I have ever seen."

Barca called the actions "illegal" and a violation of Assembly rules.

"There is a stink in this body. There's a stain on the history of this state with what you've done."

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, responded by saying that he started early because "Honestly, I thought you guys weren't showing up."

Fitzgerald acknowledged that Barca was correct in his reading of the rules, and members allowed the bill to return to its amendable stage. Fitzgerald then moved to adjourn the Assembly until 10 a.m. Tuesday, prompting a standing ovation from Democrats, who promised to continue working on amendments to the bill.