The Nightmare at Capitol Square: Scotty's Revenge ~~ The Massacre Continues in Wisconsin

GOP Maneuvers Push Bill Through Senate: Thousands Storm Building, Yell "General Strike!"

Those were the headlines on the morning of Thursday, March 10.

Just when I thought it couldn't get much weirder.

The last I'd heard before this, it looked like things were starting to calm down. The Fab Fourteen even sent an email asking for a Wisconsin-Illinois border meeting to negotiate.

Another judge had ruled recently that the Capitol had to be open to the public --- just like it says in the Wisconsin Constitution --- but that people couldn't sleep overnight there, and they couldn't tape signs on the walls.

Apparently the Democrats have been saying all along that collective bargaining clauses don't belong in a budget bill. That was one of the reasons the Fab Fourteen left the state. They didn't want to be forced to vote on a collective bargaining bill that was masquerading as a budget bill.

A budget bill has to have a quorum of twenty members of the state senate to be voted on. That quorum could not have been met without the Fab Fourteen.

So, last night, the majority Republicans turned around and just took out the fiscal parts of the bill and voted on the collective bargaining part --- without any Democrats present.

So, where's that alleged budget-balancing mandate they keep talking about. That's supposed to be the big urgency here.

I guess it always really WAS about busting the unions, as some folks have said right from the beginning.

There was no notice of this vote, as required by Wisconsin statute.

On the evening of Wednesday, March 9, 2011 (Ash Wednesday!) the Republicans in the Wisconsin state senate decided to take the economic and fiscal clauses in the "budget repair" bill out. This would allow them to vote on the collective bargaining aspects alone.

They would therefore not need a quorum. They needed a quorum to vote on any fiscal bill. That's why the Fab Fourteen left the state --- to deprive the Republicans of the quorum they would need to vote on the bill.

"They have been lying. Their goal is to bust up the unions," said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.

Senate minority leader Mark Miller said, "We saw the complete stripping of long-held rights before our eyes. It was stunning."

Miller and Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar said this will mean a stepping-up of recall efforts against the Republicans senators.

Senator Jauch said, "This was an act of legislative thuggery."

The Fab Fourteen returned home. They assured us all that they were going to continue to fight. The first thing we had to do is elect Kloppenburg for state Supreme Court on April 5th.

There are also efforts to recall the governor and his cronies in the legislature who "voted" to "pass" the bill in the middle of the night, without notice. Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette said he would delay getting the bill through the Legislative Reference Bureau, to give the courts time to rule on some consitutional challenges to the bill.

Reverend Jesse Jackson was here again. He started out with a prayer for the folks in Japan.

Mary Bell, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and Marty Beil, director of AFSCME Local 24 here in Dane County, both spoke of the proud history of workers' struggles --- going back one hundred years or more. They reminded the crowd that many workers have died for the right to organize.

(Mary Bell;  ----- Marty Beill -- [rhymes with "peel".] I know it's confusing.)

If you want to find out more, please be sure to read my earlier Hub on the rally and protests.

The rallies and protests started around February 14. Some folks count it from Friday, February 11, 2011, when the governor first sent a letter to Marty Beill, president of AFSCME Local 24.

Not to mention my pillows.

I still don't know where the heck they are all hanging out. Perhaps they're hiding in Illinois? No, not hiding. Just trying to prevent the quilts with the corporate backings from greasing the judges at the quilt contest.

Somebody told me they were piled up at one of the entrances to the Capitol, but that was while the Capitol wasn't accessible to the public --- a shameful day, in any event.

Somebody else told me they'd be at the museum across the street from the Capitol.

I'm finally better, so maybe I'll have to go check soon.

Meanwhile, of course, I have to get back and start protesting again.