Historic Protests Against Scott Walker's Agenda

This has been a big week in Madison, WI. Big enough to get Sandy and I back on the blogging horse. Recently elected governor Scott Walker has made a big splash in his short time. Wisconsin is facing a challenging deficit and Walker has proposed sweeping changes to the way public employees are compensated in this state as part of his solution. Sandy and I went out to the site of the protest at the capitol yesterday. The movement has been growing for a week and there were over 60,000 people there on Saturday based on CNN estimates.

I'm going to spend a paragraph on personal opinion and then get to some images and video of the ongoing event. My family has deep roots in Wisconsin. I'm proud of the fact that my grandparents farmed the land here and worked on the highway system. I'm proud of my mother's work in the school districts and my father's work in the private sector of Janesville. This state has a great history of progressive values thanks to leaders like LaFollette and Feingold. I was raised to believe that Wisconsin was special in that it cared a little more about education and the well-being of its community. I don't accept Walker's bill as anything other than an assault on the institutions he doesn't like in this state. Sure, I understand why labor unions are unpopular. Sandy and I would both like their benefits. We need to sacrifice somewhere, but I think there is lower hanging fruit than our public employee's right to organize. For example, Wisconsin corporations currently owe 1.2 billion in unpaid taxes. Mmm hmm. One other note: In a particularly cynical move on his administration's part, the police and firefighter unions were spared from the bill because they are seen as a Republican stronghold. It was inspiring to see that those unions were out protesting with their fellow public workers regardless of the bribe.

Alright so two paragraphs... One protester had a great sign that read, "A 3% increase in taxes on the rich is called socialism, but reducing middle class wages by 15% is called 'doing our part'." That's acurate and disgusting. For a further sickening feeling, check this out. Our leaders do a good job taking our eye of the ball and setting worker against worker. That's what I saw out there yesterday. No one showed up in their Bentley to protest public employees' right to organize.

I've said too much and can feel my collar heating up. Let's get to the images. They are impressive, but can't capture the power of the event as you're out there. It was emotional for both Sandy and me. Thankfully it was also very peaceful, even after the Tea Party showed up to express their views. Let's hope that continues.