Free Republic

The Obama administration weighed in Thursday on the chaos in Madison, Wis. White House press secretary Jay Carney said that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to force a bill on public employee union bargaining rights through the state Senate on Wednesday night was a clear sign that his top priority was not budget-cutting. “The actions taken last night, which divorced the issue of the state’s budget problems from the issue of the rights of public sector employees, pretty clearly showed that the actions were not following the principle that we need to all come together and work together and not...

After a wild and raucous night at the State Capitol, the scene inside the building Thursday morning looks just like it was a few weeks ago when protesters camped out overnight. At 6:30 a.m., there were dozens of people who stayed the night and were camped out in various locations in the building. Of particular concern to police are a few dozen protesters who spent the night in the antechamber of the Assembly. The Assembly is scheduled to go into session at 11 a.m. Thursday to consider the bill on collective bargaining that the Senate approved last night in mere...

...This morning, Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said in a radio interview that President Obama's political team is directly involved in burgeoning efforts to recall Republican elected officials (emphasis on the word "elected," as in chosen by the people of Wisconsin in a democratic vote four months ago): "There's many people that are beginning to believe this is a delay tactic by the Democrats in the Senate so that these recall elections can be organized by the Obama team out of Chicago, which they are, as we start to do the research on the people that have filed the...

Wisconsin GOP Senator Glenn Grothman chased, trapped by hecklers. Appearently police (who are siding with the unions) wouldn't let him in one entrance left him to the mob. Communism has come to Wisconsin.

Many Americans, perhaps for the first time in their lives, are beginning to recognize the contemptible nature of progressivism. How does one defend the total abandonment of the democratic process, occurring first in Wisconsin and then in Indiana, where Democrats legislators have literally run away from their responsibilities? One can’t—without revealing the bankruptcy of one’s own convictions. The most satisfying aspect of it all? Americans are getting a daily dose of progressivism’s only unalterable tenet: the ends justify the means. For those of us who have long been paying attention, this isn’t news. Yet plenty of Americans scoffed at the...

MacIver Institute @MacIverWisc Madison, Wisconsin, USA The Free Market Voice for Wisconsin. We are a Wisconsin based think tank that believes in free markets, individual freedom and responsible government. http://www.maciverinstitute.com Getting reports that protesters have entered the offices of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, a couple of blocks off the square.6 minutes ago

Everyone has priorities. During the past week Barack Obama has found no time to condemn the attacks that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi has launched on the Libyan people. But he did find time to be interviewed by a Wisconsin television station and weigh in on the dispute between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the state's public employee unions. Walker was staging "an assault on unions," he said, and added that "public employee unions make enormous contributions to our states and our citizens." Enormous contributions, yes -- to the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign. Unions, most of whose members are...

Facing a growing tide of opposition over the skyrocketing costs of government employee pension plans, unions in Wisconsin are striking back with underhanded tactics. Massive protests in Wisconsin’s State Capitol began last week after Republican Governor Scott Walker announced a budget on February 11, 2011 that would repeal public employee unions’ collective bargaining power to negotiate benefits and working conditions, leaving them with only wage-negotiating authority. Police and firefighters would be exempt. Governor Walker targeted pensions since their costs are rising at much more unsustainable levels than wage increases. His budget also increases public employees’ healthcare premiums to 12%, and...

Civility lacking in Wisconsin fracas STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley.cst@gmail.com Last Modified: Feb 22, 2011 02:06AM Tea Party protesters must be kicking themselves for being faint-hearted. After all, they showed up only at town halls and the offices of politicians. Angry unionists in Wisconsin took their complaints to the private home of Gov. Scott Walker in the Milwaukee suburbs. What happened to the left’s hand-wringing over a lack of civility in our political discourse? Liberal commentators seized on every ugly sign at Tea Party rallies as evidence of darker forces animating the movement. What do they have to say about a Madison...

(UPDATED AT 3:56 P.M.) Democratic legislative leaders in Ohio said Tuesday that they were prepared to ask a judge to force officials to unlock the doors to the Statehouse as thousands of union protesters gathered for a hearing on a bill that would strip public employees of collective bargaining rights. Ohio Public Safety spokesman Joe Andrews says about 1,000 people have been allowed into the Rotunda and Atrium for a committee hearing on the bill and additional visitors without appointments were turned away in the interest of safety. The heightened security came after a long President's Day weekend during which...

Raise your hand if you're disgusted with the Wisconsin school teachers who selfishly left thousands of school children and their parents in the lurch to demand protection of their contractually guaranteed goodies. Those professional educators and role models called in sick and even picked up fake doctor's notes during rallies to avoid trouble with school administrators while on their field trips to Madison to protest. The teachers were cheese-brained for walking out of work, denying schooling for four days to the very students they profess to care so much about — even after the head of the state's largest teacher's...

And so it begins. As Islamist insurrections erupt across the world, President Obama incites a battle at home between producers and parasites that his union supporters parallel with the struggle of the Egyptian people. Interjecting himself into the sovereign matters of state governments Obama moved to directly violate the expressed will of the Wisconsin People by actively mobilizing his political organization to affect contractual relationships between the state and its employees, and supporting the shut down of the Wisconsin state government - a direct violation of his oath of office. Ignited by Wisconsin Governor Scott WalkerÂ’s proposal to limit public...