Free Republic

Labor secretary: GOP governors asking workers to give up their rights By Michael O'Brien - 02/26/11 10:36 AM ET Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is trying to force workers in his state to give up their rights, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Saturday. Solis, speaking at the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Winter Meeting, accosted Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) for their efforts to reform collective bargaining rights for public workers in their states. "We know that many states are facing tough budget decisions. We know there's room for shared sacrifice," Solis said. "But the governors in Wisconsin and...

The Communist Party USA is promoting widespread protests across the United States in support of leftist and labor protesters in Wisconsin. Reports Ohio Communist Party leader Rick Nagin reported from Columbus; Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, the state AFL-CIO and its affiliates have called for a massive turnout for a rally Tuesday at the Statehouse in Columbus to protest a Republican bill to repeal collective bargaining for public employees. In robocalls and emails sent throughout the state, Strickland said "the fate of Ohio's middle class is on the line" and urged people "to join with the thousands who will gather...

Attention, taxpayers and Tea Party activists. The Purple Army is coming to your town. Don’t let these Big Labor goons monopolize the protest square like they monopolize government workers. Here’s there current schedule over the next four days nationwide via the SEIU website. All hands on deck: 2/21 – Helena, MT 2/21 – Carson City, NV 2/21 – Raleigh, NC 2/21 – Austin, TX 2/21 – Madison, WI 2/22 – Sacramento, CA 2/22 – Denver, CO 2/22 – Des Moines, IA 2/22 – Annapolis, MD 2/22 – Boston, MA 2/22 – Springfield, MA 2/22 – St. Paul, MN 2/22 –...

Message to Wisconsin taxpayers: President Obama and the Democratic National Committee have declared war on you. Message to other states: You’re next. The political unrest in Wisconsin, billed as some kind of grass-roots uprising, is being organized and directed by Barack Obama‘s Organizing for America and the Democratic National Committee. This development is consistent with Mr. Obama‘s instructions for supporters to “get in the face” of those who oppose them, but in this case, they are seeking to derail a lawful legislative process. On Thursday, 14 Democratic state lawmakers fled Wisconsin’s capital to prevent the legislature from conducting official business....

The hypocrisy of the American left is on full display in the heart of America, as the teachers’ union in Wisconsin continues to show how it will use any tactic, no matter how reprehensible, to try and get its way. Threats, intimidation, violent imagery and inflammatory rhetoric – all of the sorts of tactics that the left and the mainstream media routinely accuse conservatives of using – are on full display in Madison. But, rather than condemning such behavior, left wing champions from Barack Obama to Michael Moore are falling over themselves to show solidarity with the teachers’ union. Protesters...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT Folks, I don't think the people in Wisconsin, the unions, the teachers, and some of the protesters, I don't think they got the memo on civility. Have you seen what's going on? I mean this is Greece! It's Greece. All of these people who live off the largesse of taxpayers are just marching in the streets, calling in sick. Schools have been closed in parts of Wisconsin today for fog. There isn't any. Well, there's certainly not enough in these areas where it's been canceled. We have some photos I want to show you from the protests in...

The public-sector union tantrums, meant to make lawmakers wobble, have an inadvertent message for the rest of us: Voters can vote all they want. We can elect a cheapskate governor and a Legislature to match. But come the moment, unions will have the last, loudest word. They'll have it if takes marches. They'll have it if it takes what amounts to an illegal strike, with so many Madison teachers calling in sick Wednesday that the district closed schools. If it takes showing up for a we-know-where-your-family-is protest on Walker's Wauwatosa lawn while he was at work, the unions are sure...

Behind closed doors, Scott Walker, the Republican who has been governor for about six weeks, calmly described his intent to forge ahead with the plans that had set off the uprising: He wants to require public workers to pay more for their health insurance and pensions, effectively cutting the take-home pay of many by around 7 percent. ... Scott Fitzgerald, the Republican leader in the State Senate, slipped out of the Capitol Wednesday morning with his sunglasses on, head down. Protesters had gone to his home earlier in the week, forcing his family (including his wife, a school guidance counselor)...