BINGO!

Further to this post, Thomas Walkom confirms what DJ! had speculated about, with regard to the sincerity of the Harper government's re-configuration of the MASSIVE Employment Insurance job training funds. 

The federal government says it is serious about job-training. It is not. 

If it were, it would not make it so easy for business to hire cheap workers from abroad. 

This is the dirty little secret about job-training in Canada. Employers don’t train workers because most don’t have to.[..] 

But employers know they don’t have to train. Instead, they need only wait until the last minute and then complain of labour shortages. 

Over the last decade, as my friends at the Globe and Mail have reported, the number of temporary workers admitted to Canada has more than tripled, from 101,000 to 338,000. 

This in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930s. Business insists that such workers are needed because skilled Canadians are unavailable. 

But far too often the real reason is that foreign workers are willing to work for less. The Conservative government has codified this practice by permitting Canadian employers to pay their foreign workers up to 15 per cent less than the going wage. 

For anyone in need of inspiration to counter the Conservatives' odious union-busting tactics, follow what's happening in Toronto, on Twitter with this hashtag: #clcctc13 and of course, Vicky Smallman @vickyatclc and Rachel @rachelmack too!

"No Free Ride" — brilliant!

From one of Canada's respected, award-winning veteran film-makers, this video about Hudak's morally vacuous ideological position with regard to Ontario workers.

Together, Hillier and Hudak make the specious argument that Ontario’s declining manufacturing sector and rising unemployment, relative to other provinces, can be blamed on unions. Their analysis ignores the upheavals of globalization, the appreciation of the Canadian dollar, and the commodity booms that benefited other regions.

And it conveniently overlooks the historical reality that in Ontario’s boom times, the private sector was far more heavily unionized than it is today. Competing against right-to-work states won’t prepare Ontario’s highly educated workforce for the high-tech, high-value jobs of tomorrow.

More here, and here.



The federal Cons who are facilitating the destruction of the Canadian manufacturing industry are now bellowing and bleating about a lack of skilled workers.  This fatuous disinformation ploy is their opening volley in a tactical attack upon post-secondary educational institutions and programs.  More spin to follow, as their disingenuous communications campaign is rolled out.

Harper and Finley's real goal is to justify their greedy grab for the Employment Insurance budget of $2.5-billion it transfers to the provinces for skills training. 

Bruce McDonald.  His impressive filmography includes many movies that I have watched, and rewatched over the years particularly _Trigger_ about two regretful punk rocker grrrls, with the luminous Molly Parker and the incandescent Tracy Wright.

What's Disgusting?

Union Busting!

First Wisconsin where union-busting won -- for the moment. Now it's breaking out all over the US.

The Ohio Senate has passed a bill that takes Wisconsin union-busting one step further, Reuters reports. The bill prohibits collective bargaining for nearly 62,000 workers and blocks 300,000 others (including firefighters, police, and public school teachers) from striking or negotiating about health care benefits. In Indiana, House Democrats, taking a cue from Wisconsin legislators, have left the state to prevent a vote on a bill that limits collective bargaining rights. Idaho has approved a measure to limit public school teachers' right to bargain collectively. Michigan is on track to approve a law that would allow the state to break union contracts. And union dues or collective bargaining are also on the line in Iowa, New Hampshire, Kansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, Alaska, and Arizona.

And you probably won't hear a peep about it from the corporate media.

So, while other bloggers are on important stories about Japan, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Canadian politics, I'm trying to follow events in the US. It's not easy, but now that the action has moved to Michigan, Michael Moore is helping a lot.

A couple of days ago, he published an open letter to his fellow Michiganders. It's titled: Do Something.

Friends and neighbors,

The call has gone out and I'm asking everyone who can to take Wednesday off and head to the State Capitol in Lansing to protest the cruel and downright frightening legislation currently being jammed down our throats.

What is most shocking to many is that the new governor, who ran against the Tea Party and defeated the right wing of his party in the primaries -- and then ran in the general election as "just a nerd from Ann Arbor" who was a moderate, not an ideologue -- has pulled off one of the biggest Jekyll and Hyde ruses I've ever seen in electoral politics.

Governor Snyder, once elected, yanked off his nice-guy mask to reveal that he is in fact a multi-millionaire hell-bent on destroying our state and turning it over to his buddies from Wall Street.

He lists what Snyder has done in the past eight weeks. Then calls for a rally today.

Yesterday, however, AARP, American Association of Retired People, bussed in about 1,000 seniors to protest at the state capitol.

Tuesday's rally organizers said Snyder wants to provide a $1.8 billion tax cut for businesses and make up the lost revenue at the expense of seniors, low-income workers and children. They don't like his idea to end a tax break for the working poor or to deeply cut services such as public education.

I mean, really, you do not piss off the wrinklies.

Last night, some people tried to occupy the building, but left peacefully when they were asked.

Today's rally has just begun. And of course the corporate media is lalalala-ing its ass off. But you can watch a shitty live feed here.

On Twitter, I'm following the hashtags #MIUnion #MadMI #MadNation and #1u (one union).

The speaker now just said: 'This is just one battle in a very long war.'

Yup. And it may get scary fast if it spreads further.

UPDATE: Oh dear. I didn't know they were going to do this. They are going to try to get into the building. Numbers range from 2,000 to 5,000. Speaker warning about provocateurs, telling people to take photos with their phones.

UPPERDATE: It's still going on. More and more people. They go outside and listen to speeches for a while. Then they come back into the building. Amazing energy.

Pedophile priests, hockey coaches, and state senators

The people power movement in Wisconsin has moved on to the next stage -- recalling the state senators whose payments come from loyalties lie with corrupt billionaires and not their constituents.

When I saw this post from my virtual roomie, I thought she was already on the topic I wanted to address. In that she highlights the frustrations of prosecutors who want to go after child molesters but are hung up by statutes of limitations on the crimes, she is.

Let's have a look at one of those Wisconsin ReThugs touting those Family Values allatime and targetted by the recall effort.

Randy Hopper is a real piece of shit work.

Protesters were outside his house in Fond du Lac when his wife came out to tell them that the 45-year-old Hopper didn't live there anymore, but rather with his 25-year-old mistress in Madison.

The blogger reports that his maid -- ooh, he has a maid! -- signed the recall petition and suggested that his soon-to-be-ex-wife would probably also sign it. (The couple filed divorce papers last year.)

In addition to exposing the usual FV hypocrisy, this situation raises an interesting legal question of being a representative from one district while living in another.

But, wait, there's more. Like all FV creeps, he natters on about protecting children.

So, how is his record there?

Not good.

It was State Senator Hopper who arranged for the controversial testimony of businessman and Catholic Right ally, now U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), opposing the Child Victims Act.

The bill, which would have extended the statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse to file lawsuits against their attackers, was vigorously opposed by the Catholic Church and the insurance industry. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice fingered Hopper as the recruiter who persuaded Johnson to help kill the bill.

Friend to the Vatican Taliban and the insurance industry? Check.

Crusader for Family Values and children? Not so much.

Wisconsin Update (March 12/11)

Yesterday photographer Phil Garlic tweeted:

So anyways #wiunion tweeps, help me get high tomorrow. Helicopter, balloon, airplane, zepplin, or tall buildings. Will deliver serious win.

Have a look. I'd say that's a serious win.



Numbers for participants are flying around of course, but none lower than 100,000.

The UpTake is now showing the press conference the now-returned Fab 14 held earlier today. I hope it will return to the protest and stream it live.

More later.

Tractorcade: The Video

Tractorcade!

Live stream here. Soon. Right now talking to a couple of Canadians.

Or live traffic cam.

Wisconsin Update (March 11/11)

Mike Elk, who along with Mother Jones has been providing great coverage of events in Wisconsin, has some details on the 'Move Your Money' campaign.

M&I Bank is the largest bank in Wisconsin, and was the recipient of $1.7 billion in TARP bailout money from the federal government. The bundled contributions from M&I executives were Walker’s second largest source of campaign funds. According to records provided by the Sunlight Foundation, executives at M&I Bank gave $46,308 to Walker’s campaign. And now, a group of local unions in Wisconsin have threatened to pull their money from M&I Bank unless it denounces Scott Walker’s attack on workers’ rights.

“Walker and his henchmen in the GOP have chosen to ignore the people of Wisconsin, but we all know now that they will listen to their big money donors,” says factory worker David Goodspeed, union member of Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 565."This is an opportunity for donors like M&I to be good corporate citizens and do what’s right for the citizens who bailed them out.”

Firefighters said they withdrew $182,000 (or $192,000 -- number varies) from the bank yesterday and are encouraging others to do the same.

When I blogged on this yesterday, I was wrong. The Bank of Montreal doesn't own M&I yet.

A senior union researcher estimates that unions have at least $1 billion invested in M&I Bank, mostly through pension funds. Discussions are going on at the highest levels of the labor movement about how exactly to leverage this financial clout in the political debate in Wisconsin. Since the Bank of Montreal is in process of purchasing M&I Bank, US unions have reached out to the Canadian Labour Congress to urge their involvement in a disinvestment campaign.

Some photos of the demonstration outside the bank here.

Scott Wanker signed the illegally passed union-busting bill this morning in private, but will hold a public ceremonial signing this afternoon, I guess, to rub salt in the wounds of working people.

Having lost this battle, activists are now concentrating on recalling ReThug senators.

The process isn't easy and only two pols have been successfully recalled in state history. There's a formula for how many signatures required depending on the last vote.

Signature gathering is a laborious and costly process that challenges even the best organizations. And, you can be assured that Republicans will try to disqualify as many of the petition signers as possible -- meaning that recall advocates will need well in excess of 15,000 [for each pol] just to be safe.

But, Democrats insist they are well on their way -- having already collected 15 percent of the signatures they needed over the weekend. Liberal groups say that have raised close to $2 million dollars in support.

There's an online poll there at WaPo and currently 71% think the recall will succeed.

Meanwhile, in case anyone still had a lingering doubt about what this bill is really meant to do, a dim-witted ReThug spilled the beans on live telly.

In an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly moments ago, State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), one of Walker’s closest allies in the legislature, confirmed the true political motive of Walker’s anti-union push.

Here's what the ijit said (video at the link):

FITZGERALD: Well if they flip the state senate, which is obviously their goal with eight recalls going on right now, they can take control of the labor unions. If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.

It's a two-fer! Reduce the power of unions for your political masters AND your corporate masters. Win-win.

Stay tuned. Tomorrow, another rally will be held. And the farmers are coming! On their tractors! They're calling it Tractorcade.

The hardy tweeps of Wisconsin are joking about the weather forecast for tomorrow. It's going to be warm! 40 degrees F! That's about 4.5 in celsius.

Tractorcade is slated to start at 11 a.m. (Central). I'll look for and post a live feed. The main rally is later but I don't want to miss the farmers.

Organizers are hoping for the biggest rally yet -- at least 100,000 people.

Wisconsin Update (March 10/11)

Apparently M & I Bank is a big supporter of Scott Walker. The firefighters just marched to the Capitol again. Guy got on what they're calling the 'People's Mike' and said that they'd made a short stop on the way. They stopped at the bank and withdrew $182,000.

Bank run!

Michael Moore in Madison, WI, March 5/11

Michael Moore's whole speech. Really worth listening to.

Bonus: MM is interviewed on Grit TV, which I'd never heard of. Now I have.

Wisconsin Update (March 5/11)

Still obsessed with intensely interested in Wisconsin.

Catching up:

Last night, all protesters left the capitol building. Here they are singing their way out.

Another MASSIVE demonstration is planned for today. And it has a theme -- suits! That's in reaction to ReThug senator Grothman who called the protesters 'slobs'. Such a lovely guy.

Furthermore, Grothman has opposed increased funding for anti-smoking bills and voted against the bill that was passed to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars. He argued that Martin Luther King Jr. day should not be a paid holiday. He introduced legislation that would remove the requirement to disinfect municipal water systems, although a 1993 Cryptosporidium outbreak killed 104 Milwaukee residents and made thousands extremely ill.

There are rumours that Michael Moore may show up.

There are pleas for more supplies.

@FrauMorris RT @opencapitol: Please RT: This wkend more "3M Super-Sticky" Post-Its Needed! Stores near sold-out. Help people be heard #wiunion #wearewi

(They've been leaving messages stuck to the locked doors of the capitol.)

And there are weather forecasts.

@RobinMarohn RT @muskrat_john: "Partly crowdy with a chance of bagpipes..." #wiunion

And if you love Rachel Maddow, go watch her gloat.

In related news, that $7.5 million clean up bill fell yesterday to a mere $350,000. Today it appears to have fallen even more.

@thewhereblog In 1 day, the estimate for damage to the capitol from #wiunion went from $7.5 million to $0. Now *that's* a budget repair bill

('Budget Repair Bill' is the supposedly 'minor' bill that caused the initial fuss.)

More later.

UPDATE: Confirmed. Michael Moore will be there.

Wisconsin Update (March 4/11)

A lot has happened in Wisconsin. I'll try to catch interested readers up but first, an emblematic moment of what has to be the most civil civil uprising in history.

Back here I reported on Fux News's hilarious lie about 'union thuggery' -- with the oopsie! of palm trees in the background. (Watch video here.)

Almost instantly, palm trees did sprout in Madison, captured by matt_is_a_nerdj.



To recap a little: the Capitol building was occupied -- perfectly peacefully -- for about two weeks. Before Scott Wanker Walker's budget speech on March 1, the building was mostly cleared -- again perfectly peacefully -- and cops were letting people in on a one-for-one basis. One out, one in. People had to show ID, get searched, be accompanied at all times, etc. Much confusion about which entrances were open to whom, what the new rules were.

The state Constitution has a bit in it about the Capitol and its grounds being open to the people. So, one of the big unions filed an injunction to get it open again. A judge who heard the initial pleadings ordered the building opened.

Which was promptly ignored.

Another judge took up the matter more fully. There were a lot of witnesses so the hearing continued the next day.

The proceedings were live-tweeted by two observers: Analiese Eicher and ACLU Madison.

On the open-'er-up side, witnesses said stuff like: no damage, no mischief, no problems.

On the keep-'er-shut side, witnesses had horrifying tales of intimidation (too many Dem reps wearing orange t-shirts!), debauchery (women and men using the same bathroom!!), imminent danger (buncha live bullets found on the grounds somewhere!!!), and wanton destruction (blue painter's tape holding signs on marble walls!!!!).

That witness claimed that clean-up was going to cost $7.5 million!!!!!!

Hilarity ensued on Twitter. Several people quipped that it would cost that much only if the evil Koch Industries did it on a no-bid basis. Others said that demonstrators had consulted with officials about what kind of tape to use and were told that blue painter's tape was fine.

In other words, totally typical lying bullshit.

Meanwhile, in another lovely piece of political theatre, some Dem representatives moved their office furniture out windows so they could meet constituents who couldn't get in to see them. Remember, this is March in Wisconsin.

Back at the hearings, the lawyers were getting all constitutional in their final arguments. First amendment rights vs. safety and health, blahblahblah.

The lawyer for the union, Peg Lautenschlager, herself a former Attorney General, was quite splendid.

The judge made a sensible decision that the union and demonstrators were able to accept. Building to be open during the same hours as before the ruckus, with some security measures to be negotiated. No more camping out. But reasonable access.

This was yesterday. The remaining occupying demonstrators left last night.

The big drama this morning was whether or not the building would be open and under what circumstances at 8 a.m.

It was!

Watch live-feed from a volunteer here.

No more drums or vuvuzelas though.

The 'Wisconsin 14' (the Dem senators who are denying the ReThugs a quorum on the supposedly minor bill that set this all off) remain on the lam. They've been found in contempt by the remaining senators.

The Senate resolution calls for the Senate sergeant at arms to, with or without force, and with or without the help of any law enforcement officers, take missing members into custody and bring them to the Capitol - any time of the day or night.

Beside the point of how the hell this can be done, there are questions of the very legality of the order.

Gov. Wanker has threatened 1,500 state workers with layoff notices as early as today if the delinquent senators don't return. One tweep pointed out that this is classic spousal abuse strategy: 'Look what you've made me do'.

Today there's going to be a rally with Jesse Jackson in attendance. That'll get up the Tea Baggers' noses.

More demonstrations are planned for tomorrow. No doubt with out-of-state union goons.

Speeches! Drums! Lawyers! Palm trees!

Meanwhile, the corporate feudalist agenda continues to be advanced elsewhere, including Ohio, where the Tea Baggers also have an unstoppable majority.

Excellent piece from Mother Jones on how the Wisconsin Pizza Revolution was organized.

And previous DJ! reports: here, here, here, here, and here.

Wisconsin Update (March 2/11)

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker delivered his much anticipated/dreaded budget yesterday amidst huge controversy about who was allowed into the chamber to hear it. (There were rumours -- yet to be confirmed -- that Tea Bagger supporters were being spirited into the building through tunnels.)

Canadians will not be surprised to read the Democratic reaction, including the petty bit about where it took place (bold mine).

The location for the Democratic Assembly leaders' response to Gov. Scott Walker’s budget address was symbolic of how little regard their Republican colleagues must have for them.

They were forced to use the office of the minority leader, Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha). It’s not a small office, but with about a dozen news outlets present -- half of them setting up TV cameras -- it was extremely cramped and stuffy. Several reporters sat on the floor, and others had to listen in from the next room.

Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) apologized for the small quarters and then added, "We weren’t allowed access to a larger room."

With such little power, what chance do the Democrats have in beating back against Walker’s budget, which calls for severe cuts to education and human services?

"It’s a very perilous time," agrees Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison). But, she added, "Walker has managed to do in one fell swoop probably what no Democratic politician could have, which is awaken the voices of the people."

The main strategy -- or hope -- Democrats are banking on is that the already historic mobilization against Walker’s agenda will continue and grow. Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said: "This budget is so overreaching there are going to be many more citizen groups outraged. These are such deep cuts in health care and education.... This is not a Wisconsin people will recognize."

He's slashing funds for education and health care, increasing funds for prisons. As one tweep put it: 'He wants us poor, sick, ignorant, and scared.'

In typical NeoCon double-speak, Walker claimed that cutting money for cities and municipalities gives them the 'tools' to get their budgets under control.

In a 'take-that-you-pinko-commie' fit of juvenile pique, he also cut the state's recycling program.

To which, tweep FreyaFoust replied:

WI kills recycling program. Please send all used toilet paper to Koch Industries corporate office for recycling.

Koch Industries owns Georgia Pacific, huge manufacturer of paper products including Dixie cups. Good background on them in The New Yorker.

And in a move the so-conned won't like, he plans to close the female juvenile detention centre and mix the bad boys with the bad girls. Given that he's also axed funding for contraception, that oughta go well.

Other sorta random observations from your obsessed humble observer:

In a show of balls, solidarity, and disgust: Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney said he pulled his officers from barring the Capitol's entrances because he didn't want to put them in the 'position of being palace guards'.

Fucked News is doing its usual sterling job of making shit up reporting. First, a reporter who first claimed he had been 'punched' by a demonstrator, had to recant a little when the video demonstrated that the punch was, at worst, 'a pat'.

Same reporter was on the air when Fux aired footage of 'union thuggery' -- except, whoopsie! -- there were palm trees in the background.

Other Fux claims that 'union thugs' were bussed in are neatly spiked by zinovy08, who said: 'The bused in union thugs brought palm trees with them to Madison, WI.'

And, of course it continues. The hearing yesterday to open the Capitol to its people, as stipulated in the state constitution, is continuing today. It is being live-tweeted by two people: Analiese Eicher and ACLUMadison, who's having twitter problems at the moment. I'm following and will update.

In the meantime, watch working people and unions fight back.



Like Cons everywhere, these ReThugs are simply bullies. And pretty quick with the 'thug' word, all things considered.

UPPERDATE: BoingBoing confirms: Tea Bagging ringers snuck in through civil defense tunnels.

Wisconsin Update (March 1/11)

I'm torn, I'm torn. Got things to do, but want to continue to witness the awesome people power on display in Wisconsin.

So, for those who might also be obsessed interested, here are a few links.

First, an interview with someone who's still occupying the Capitol and has been from the beginning.

Next, an illuminating read on why the Right is attacking unions, ACORN, and Planned Parenthood.

And here's some very good news. The tide may be turning in favour of the unions.

By a modest margin, more say they back Wisconsin’s public employee unions rather than the state’s governor in their continuing dispute over collective bargaining rights. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say they side more with the public employee unions, while 31% say they side more with the governor, Scott Walker, according to the latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted Feb. 24-27 among 1,009 adults.

To catch you up on overnight developments: There are about 100 people still inside. More wanted to get in but weren't allowed, so they pitched tents outside. They were then told they couldn't pitch tents there. Tents were taken down and about 50 people slept outside in February/March in Wisconsin with just sleeping bags and blankets.

They are using pizza boxes from donated pizza for insulation.

Those Sconnies, as I now know to call them, are some tough mo-fos.

UPPERDATE: Judge has issued an order to have the Capitol open to the public! Effective immediately. The people are winning. A little.

Corporate Feudalism Is on Its Way

As if we need any more proof how fucking useless the MSM is, have a look at Wisconsin.

Millions of Americans were out in the streets this past Saturday, participating in the largest flare-up of labor protests the nation has seen in decades -- yet images like these were conspicuously missing from the major television news networks.

At the rallies' epicenter was Madison, Wisconsin, where over 100,000 gathered in below-freezing temperatures to show solidarity with American workers' right to organize.

The state's newly elected Republican governor, Scott Walker, has proposed legislation that would effectively destroy the public sector unions.

The photos below come from places like Green Bay, Wisconsin; New York, New York; Washington, DC; Springfield, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; Tallahassee, Florida; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah and many more.

Or, as a tweep put it: 83,000 fat asses on lawn chairs in August v. 100,000 peaceful protesters in February in a snow storm.

Oh, yeah, the media is all over anything to do with TeaDoucheBaggery, but totally ignores hundreds of thousands of people who have a righteous reason to be very angry and scared.

And, as Politicus USA points out, it is NOT just Fux News. It's all the networks and cable channels covering their ears and going lalalalalalala. (If you need to have it explained why, Politicus does a good job on that.)

And it's not much better up here in Canada. Our 'State TV' ran a shortish AP story on Saturday's protests. CTV ran a longer piece, but still from AP.

Global? Don't make me laugh. Two stories -- at least not AP -- from Feb. 18 and Feb. 22. Zip on the nationwide protests on Feb. 26.

Print media is doing a bit better, but with the exception of Mother Jones and Paul Krugman, they're getting the story wrong or at least wildly distorted.

Here's Krugman yesterday.

That Iraq Feeling

I don’t watch cable news, or actually any kind of TV news. But I gather that there’s a virtual blackout on the huge demonstrations in Wisconsin, except on Fox, which portrays them as thuggish and violent.

What that makes me think of is January-February 2003, when anyone watching cable news would have believed that only a few kooks were opposed to the imminent invasion of Iraq. It was quite spooky, realizing that hundreds of thousands of people could march through New York, and by tacit agreement be ignored by news networks whose headquarters were just a few blocks away.

And it’s even more spooky to see it happening all over again.

Spooky? You betcha.

It is NOT just about union-busting. Though that is definitely included as a key ploy to defund Democrats and strip the rest of us from the only organized force standing between us and corporate feudalism.

Also included are corporate goodies like executive powers to sell state assets on a no-bid basis with no legislative input.

It is a naked corporate power grab by TeaBagging pols, bought and paid for by corrupt billionaires like the Koch brothers, who are also major forces in Americans for Properity, the astroturf org behind the TeaBaggers.

How conveeeeeenient.

Lies from the Right are flying fast and furious and from the comments sections at most 'centrist' news sites, they're sticking.

Daily Kos debunks the top ten lying lies.

Michael Moore, who is not in Wisconsin, but in Thompson, Manitoba, calls it a 'global war on the middle class'.

That's why people everywhere need to support Thompson. As Niki Ashton - the MP who represents Thompson and the second-youngest woman ever elected to the Canadian Parliament - says: "It Was Flint Yesterday, It's Us and Wisconsin Today, and Tomorrow It's Going to Be Everyone."

I just went to CBC's contact page and left this message:

Why Isn't CBC Covering Wisconsin?
What's going on there is a war on democracy and the middle class. The US media is virtually ignoring the largest protests since the Viet Nam war. I expected Canadian media to have more balls. Especially our 'state' media.

AND there is a Canadian connection. See Michael Moore (link included). CUPE sent a delegation too.

Go to Twitter and see for yourself.

Tons of video! Great signs! Singing! People power! Energy! Firefighters! Bagpipes! Pizza donated from bloody Egypt!! Great television, in short. And Madison is not far away.

Get some reporters down there. Don't rely on US news wires.

Do I sound pissed off? I am.

By the way, the Wisconsin state legislature building is still occupied, albeit by far fewer protesters and the cops aren't letting any more in. They've bolted the bathroom windows shut and removed the tops of the bolts, so food can't get in as it did on Saturday. There are people outside trying to get in but they need appointments and have to show ID. Earlier today, 150 off-duty firefighters tried to get in and were not allowed, but seven lobbyists waltzed through.

See where this is going?

There's a call for a rally outside today at 6 p.m.

Here's a (pretty shitty) live traffic cam feed* of the people outside the building.

Sure, Merkin rightwingnutz are nuttier than ours and there are more of them. But isn't what Stevie Peevie's been doing for five fucking years merely a slow-motion version of exactly the same thing?


Previous DJ! posts on the matter here and here.

ADDED: I forgot this bit. In a fit of spectacular pettiness, the GOP House Leader is denying access to photocopiers by the absent Dems' staff.

*Sorry about link. It seems not to be on Capitol anymore.

Wisconsin Pizza Revolution Update

Since I'm not getting much else done, I figured I'd blog on the Pizza Revolution in Wisconsin again.

We progressives have always snorted beer out our noses when we hear the phrase 'left-wing media bias', but it seems maybe the message is getting through to Americans.

Titled 'TheWisconsin Protests Shatter the Myth of Liberal Media Bias', the blogger writes:

Something has happened in the last two weeks that should dispel the widely held misconceptions that the “mainstream” media is liberal and generally supports Democrats. For the second weekend in a row, no labor leaders, such as the AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka, have been invited (as of now) on the Sunday morning shows.

He lists who is booked, rightwingnutbar governors from Wisconsin, Indiana, and New Jersey, union-busters all.

Notice what was missing? The opposing view point. Why might that be? Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO and probably one of the most charismatic leaders Big Labor has had in ages, has never been on any of the Sunday morning bobblehead shows. Wouldn’t a “liberal” “mainstream” media have had Trumka on at least once by now? He’s been AFL-CIO President since September 16, 2009, and was President of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995.

Then an update: Trumka will appear.

Update: After a coordinated campaign of Tweeting and phone calls to Fischer and show host David Gregory, there was a late change Thursday evening for Sunday’s Meet the Press. The President of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, will be one of the guests for the show, along with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker(R). The change was sent out by Meet the Press’ Executive Producer Betsy Fischer. It’s telling that it took a herculean effort from bloggers and unions supporters to even have Mr. Trumka given the union side of the argument this weekend.

To update the situation there: the ReThuglicans in the Assembly pulled a fast one at about 1 a.m. last night and passed the bill. But, it needs Senate approval and the 'Wisconsin 14' are still hiding out. (The Senate needs a quorum of 20. ReThugs are one short.)

Rumours are flying on Twitter about whether the protesters who are still occupying the legislature will or will not be moved out tonight.

Mother Jones who has been all over this story launched a million sniggers and retweets with this:

Police say they're planning to sleep with #wiunion protesters tonight, demand capitol stays open http://bit.ly/e4KG8w #wiunion

And, in case you missed it, Gov. Walker got punked yesterday by a blogger from Buffalo, NY, pretending to be one of the evil billionaire Koch brothers on the phone. The whole idiotic dealie was recorded. Among other things, Walker responds to fake-Koch's suggestion that they send 'troublemakers' into the protests with: 'we thought about that'.

Oh, really? asks the mayor and police chief.

“I spent a good deal of time overnight thinking about Governor Walker’s response, during his news conference yesterday, to the suggestion that his administration ‘thought about’ planting troublemakers among those who are peacefully protesting his bill,” Police chief Noble Wray said in a statement.

“I would like to hear more of an explanation from Governor Walker as to what exactly was being considered, and to what degree it was discussed by his cabinet members.” Wray added.

“I find it very unsettling and troubling that anyone would consider creating safety risks for our citizens and law enforcement officers. Our department works hard dialoging with those who are exercising their First Amendment right, those from both sides of the issue, to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure they can demonstrate safely,” he said.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz also noted that he found Walker’s comments disturbing. He said Walker’s statement was “deeply troubling” especially because of the way the governor followed up by “brushing it off”, referring to Walker’s refusal to address the issue in press conferences and appearances on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The governor of Wisconsin actually thought about planting people in the crowds who might turn these peaceful protests into something ugly?” Cieslewicz asked in a statement.

Hmmm. And there may be further legal trouble for Walker.

"If Wisconsin law forbids coordination with political donors similar to federal law, Gov. Scott Walker is not just in political trouble, but in legal hot water,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for the Public Campaign Action Fund, in a statement.

More demos are planned for tomorrow right across the US. And 'The West Wing' is coming to Wisconsin. Actor Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lyman and who is also a native of Madison, is going to emm-cee the rally.

The pizza part is continuing too. Ian's, the pizza joint taking orders from around the country and the world, has discontinued regular business to serve only the protesters.

You gotta admit -- Wisconsinites (?) really know how to protest. And party.

ADDED: I'm so wound into this, it just occurred to me that people might not understand that this battle is NOT just about union-busting. It's about far more. It's Shock Doctrine come home to roost, according to Paul Krugman.

The Pizza Revolution

Again, I'm transfixed by a revolution being tweeted, only this one isn't in North Africa or the Middle East.

It's in Wisconsin.

Here's some background by Joshua Holland.

What's happening in Wisconsin is not complicated. At the beginning of this year, the state was on course to end 2011 with a budget surplus of $120 million. As Ezra Klein explained, newly elected GOP Governor Scott Walker then "signed two business tax breaks and a conservative health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax revenues (among other things). The new legislation was not offset, and it turned a surplus into a deficit."

Walker then used the deficit he'd created as the justification for assaulting his state's public employees. He used a law cooked up by a right-wing advocacy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC likes to fly beneath the radar, but I described the organization in a 2005 article as "the connective tissue that links state legislators with right-wing think tanks, leading anti-tax activists and corporate money." Similar laws are on the table in Ohio and Indiana.

Walker's bill would strip public employees of the right to bargain collectively for anything but higher pay (and would cap the amount of wage hikes they might end up gaining in negotiations). His intentions are clear -- before assuming office, Walker threatened to decertify the state's employees' unions (until he discovered that the governor doesn't have that power).

In short, Walker is union-busting.

And looky at whose behest. The über-evil Koch brothers who have a lot at stake in the state as well as an irrepressible urge to harm people. (Mother Jones has been all over this story and has a reporter on the ground, tweeting like mad.)

There have been growing protests. People have been peacefully occupying the state capital building all week. DJ! reported on the arrival of the firefighters -- exempt from this legislation, by the way -- a few days ago.

Then 'The Mubarak of the Middle West' made a bad situation worse. He went on CNN and claimed he had received 19,000 emails from the quiet majority -- where have we heard that before? --backing his position.

He also got his TeaBagging buddies to organize a counter-demo. The Teabaggers were bussed in and held their rally yesterday. The most generous estimate of the number was 1,000 people, described as all white. One tweep reported that s/he was standing 20 feet from their bleating bullhorn and couldn't hear any of it over the real protesters' noise.

But the good, progressive people of Wisconsin weren't having any of this crap. Yesterday, they turned out for what can only be described as a MASSIVE demonstration. Teachers, nurses, snow-plow drivers, students, firefighters. Working people. Ordinary people.

Numbers were bouncing around yesterday, but today there seems to be a consensus on 80,000.

And it was a party. The signs were hilarious. (My fave: 'If you can read this, thank a teacher'.)

And, not surprisingly, spelled correctly. Unlike this classic from the Tea Baggers. It reads: 'Your fired!'

A protester in Egypt's Tahrir Square sent his message of support: 'Egypt supports Wisconsin. One World. One Pain'.

Protesters were angry, but also good humoured.

Mahlon Mitchell, the president of the Wisconsin Professional Firefighters Association, which has been a high-profile participant in the demonstrations, surveyed the crowd while recounting Walker’s boast about the 19,000 e-mails.

“I think I have 19,000 people behind me,” said Mitchell.

Pointing to one edge of the massive audience arrayed before him, he said: “And 20,000 there.”

He pointed to the other edge of the crowd: “And 20,000 there.”

Finally, he pointed down State Street, the thoroughfare that stretches from the Capitol to the University of Wisconsin campus, which was packed with students who have backed the unions: “And 20,000 there.”

On Twitter, Tea Baggers were spreading lies about violence, doctors signing sick notes for protesters, homeless from Chicago bussed in (the 'outsiders' dictators love to invent), and so on.

Today, the City of Madison issued a statement, saying that there had been not one single arrest and thanking the people for their good order. It included this:

As previously indicated, the goal of law enforcement has been to provide a safe environment for democracy to take place. That goal has been realized for yet another day.

(If that statement were a brick, I'd throw it through Toronto Chief Bill Blair's window.)

So, the pundits are punditting: Will this movement of real, working Americans take fire as in North Africa and the Middle East? In Ohio or Indiana, maybe, where similar legislation is pending.

Obviously, I dunno about that, but it certainly captured the imaginations of a helluva lot of Americans, Canadians, and at least one Egyptian.

For me, the most heart-warming part was this. Someone had tweeted that two restaurants -- one a pizza place -- had been delivering food to the protesters occupying the legislature. The phone number of the pizza place was posted. People from around the country and at least three other countries, Canada among them, ordered and paid for $2,500 worth of pizza to be delivered.

People power! Solidarity! Social media! Pizza!

All great and important and exhilarating.

But the most important part is that the Tea Baggers are totally exposed for what they are: bigoted idiots in thrall to evil billionaires who pay them to protest FOR government, specifically for Republican government, AGAINST working people. They can never be taken seriously -- if they ever were -- again.

Egypt in Wisconsin?

Some Merkins seem to be clueing in to the deep deep ugliness that is Teabagging, and in particular, its loathing for unionized workers. Well, except for firefighters.

Wisconsin is leading the way.

In all, Republicans now hold five of seven governorships in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Last year, they held two.

The story is the same for legislatures in those seven states. Republicans now hold power in six of the seven lower chambers of the legislature (called the House in some states and the Assembly in others) – up from one last year. They also hold five of the seven state Senates. Only Illinois has bucked the trend, with Democrats controlling the General Assembly and the Senate and Democrat Pat Quinn the governor.

Walker [Wisconsin's governer] was the first of the Midwest’s four new Republican governors to push for weakening collective bargaining. But Ohio and Michigan already have bills targeting unions in the works, too.

. . .

In a time when large and tense demonstrations have become increasingly rare in America, the Wisconsin protests could provide an Egypt-like moment, says Norman Ornstein, a fellow at the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"If there's a big tea party demonstration in Madison, we may see a direct clash, just as we had in the streets of Cairo," he says.

One protester's sign at the capitol said, "Impeach Scott Mubarak" – a direct reference to protests that led Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign last week.

As it gains momentum, the union protest movement is likely to draw in young social-justice activists, Obama supporters, and even religious groups who fight for the dispossessed, says Bruno.

Last night, in Madison, the state capital, there was a huge demonstration. The place went nuts when off-duty firefighters marched in support -- complete with bagpipes! Note that firefighters, along with police and state patrol, were specifically exempted from the legislation.

Solidarity!



For another innovative ploy, the state's Democratic senators have fled the state to deny the legislature the necessary quorum to pass the bill. Creative.