Yesterday Wisconsin's governor Scott Walker promulgated his union busting bill in violation of a court order. Will these Republicans stop at nothing in their attempts to achieve an unprecedented upward distribution of wealth? Have they no morals or ethics as they engage in an all-out war on the workers?

Today's gathering point was noon on the library mall, and the plan was to march up State Street to the capitol (a fairly standard procedure and route for Madison marches). Union Cab had organized the rally as an expression of cooperatives standing in solidarity with labor against Walker's attacks on unions, and immigrant rights activists joined in as well. At first only a handful of people were on the library mall and by the time we left at most we were a couple dozen. But somehow by the time we reached the Capitol square our numbers had grown dramatically. Although dwarfed by the rally two weeks ago, our numbers still stretched almost half way around the square, with a Union Cab in front and another parade of cabs behind the marchers.

A couple people joined the march with an arm that said "shame" (a common chant in these protests), and of course we stopped in front of M&I bank to indicate our disgust with their support of Walker's policies. An ongoing campaign continues to withdraw money from this bank. The sustained energy in these protests is absolutely stunning.

Esta es una carta para Uds. en Arcatao, que fue escrita por Marc Becker durante nuestra reunión mensual el 14 de marzo.

Nuestr@s querid@s companer@s de Arcatao,

Las ultimas semanas aquí en Madison han sido una experiencia única para nosotr@s. El noviembre pasado tuvimos una elección en donde ganó un candidato conservador llamado Scott Walker como gobernador del estado de Wisconsin. Ya antes de asumir poder el 4 de enero de 2011 él empezó a poner una agenda que solo tomó en cuenta los ricos, sin pensar siquiera en nosotr@s l@s humildes ciudadan@s del estado de Wisconsin. Empezó sacando recursos de los más pobres con la idea de enriquecer a las corporaciones que
representan los intereses de los más ricos.

Hemos visto un ataque empresarial conservador que incluye la privitización prevista de todo el sector social. Los programas neoliberales, que han sido impuestas a ustedes en otros paises se han vuelto a casa para privatizar los sectores sociales y aplastar los sindicatos aquí en los EEUU.

Entre sus políticos conservadores, una de las acciones más reaccionarias de Walker fue una presupuesta para quitar los derechos de los sindicatos de trabajadores del sector público. Su justificación era que había un vacío muy grande en el presupuesto, pero fue un vacío que Walker mismo había acabado de crear con su política de bajar los impuestos para las
corporaciones y los que tienen más recursos, que hubieran podido satisfacer las necesidades del pueblo. Pero su intención verdadera fue poner a l@s trabajadores del sector público en contra de l@s privados, con el argumento que l@s públicos cuentaban con aceso a seguros y pensiones de los cuales los del sector privado no disfutaban. Resulta que la idea es quitar recursos de tod@s nostr@s a favor de los más ricos.

El 14 de febrero, el día de l@s enamorad@s (San Valentín), un grupo de estudiantes universitarios llegaron a la oficina del gobernador con una carta de una corazón. De esta acción pequeña, el pueblo empezamos a juntarnos en el Capitolio, en contra de la política del gobernador. En seguida llegamos hasta el punto en que grupos de personas pasamos las días y noches enteras en el Capitolio. Organizamos comida y atención medica, e incluso nos llegaba apoyo financiero de todas las partes del mundo.

Para parar el ataque en contra de nuestros derechos, 14 senadores democratos fugaron al estado vecino de Illinois para que no existiera un quórum y no se pudo pasar el presupuesto. Por fin, en una acción ilegal y extra-constitucional, los republicanos votaron a favor del presupuesto sin el quórum necesario para tomar tal acción. Dentro de unas pocas horas, miles de personas tomaron el Capitolio de nuevo en contra de las acciones de los republicanos. Despúes de semanas enteras, con manifestaciones cada vez más grandes, llegamos al día sabado 12 de marzo de 2011, en que llegaron más de 150,000 personas al Capitolio para oponerse a la política republicana. O sea, tuvimos el equivalente a más de la mitad de la población de la ciudad de Madison en las calles a favor de los derechos
del clase trabajador.

A fin de cuentas, sí hemos perdido esta batalla porque los repúblicanos quitaron los derechos de negociación colectiva de los trabajadores del sector público. Pero, en cambio, hemos sido testigos de un cambio político inédito el la consciencia política, abrazando la solidaridad de las clases del pueblo, no solo aquí en el estado de Wisconsin, sino en todo el país. Estamos presenciando el nacimiento de un nuevo movimiento, en que se juntan sectores que nunca habían unido sus efuerzos, que cambiará el paisaje político un nuestro pueblo.

Ustedes estarían orgullosos de nosotr@s.

Estamos ahora en una situación en donde nos toca ver si podemos seguir adelante con el camino que hemos empezado en las ultimas semanas. Como dijo el compañero president Salvador Allende, la historia es nuestra y se hace el pueblo.

Con un abrazo fraterno y revolucionario,

El comité Madison-Arcatao
Madison, Wisconsin

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Here is the letter i wrote tonite about events in Madison. marc. March 14, 2011

Our beloved compañeros in Arcatao,

The last weeks here in Madison have been a unique experience for us. Last November we had an election in which a conservative named Scott Walker became the governor of Wisconsin. Even before he took office on Jan. 4, he began implementing an agenda that favored the rich rather than taking into account us common citizens, with the idea of enriching the corporations that represent the interests of the wealthy.

We have seen a conservative business attack that aims to privatize the entire social sector. Neoliberal programs, such as were imposed on you and other countries, have come home to roost, to privatize social sectors and quash unions here in the US.

Among his conservative policies, one of Walker’s most reactionary was a proposal to take away the rights of public sector unions to engage in collective bargaining. His justification was that there was a big hole in the budget, but it was a hole that Walker himself had just created with his policies of lowering taxes for the corporations and the people with the most resources, and taking those resources away from those who needed them the most. His real intent was to set public sector workers against private sector workers, with the argument that public workers had benefits and pensions that the private sector did not. The idea was to take resources away from all of us and give them to the rich.

February 14, Valentine’s Day, a group of university students came to the governor’s office with Valentine’s Day card. From this small start, we the people began to gather in the Capitol building to protest the governor’s policies. Soon we reached the point where groups of us spent days and nights in the Capitol. We organized food and medical attention, and we even received financial support from all parts of the world.

In order to stop the attack against our rights, 14 Democratic senators left for the state of Illinois so there would not be a quorum here and the budget could not be passed. Finally, in an illegal and extra-constitutional move, the Republicans voted in favor of the bill without the necessary quorum. Within a few hours, thousands of people converged on the Capitol in opposition to the Republican actions. After whole weeks, with ever growing demonstrations, on March 12 more than 150,000 people rallied at the Capitol in opposition to the Republican policies. In other words, we had the equivalent of more than half the population of Madison out in the streets to stand up for working class rights.

When all is said and done, we did lose this battle because the Republicans took away the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers. But, in exchange, we have witnessed an unprecedented change of political consciousness that spread throughout civil society, not only here in Wisconsin, but throughout the country. We are seeing the birth of a new movement in which different sectors that never before had united in their efforts are coming together to change the political landscape of our society. You would be proud of us.

Now we are in a situation in which we will have to see if we can proceed forward on the path that we have started out on these last several weeks. As the former Chilean president Salvador Allende said, history is ours, and we people make it.

I sat down by my computer to prepare the news for Third World View tonite on WORT. I looked out my window to see a large group of people coming up the sidewalk. The people grabbed my attention because as a heavily trafficked thoroughfare, Atwood does not get a lot of pedestrian traffic. When I saw that they were carrying a banner I ran outside in my stocking feet to ask if they were the POWER walk from Milwaukee. When I found out that they were I grabbed my shoes and bike and joined them.

The walk was another example of the powerful and encouraging movements that Republican Governor Scott Walker's war on the workers has triggered in Wisconsin. As we marched toward the capitol others continued to join us. Workers came out of buildings and cheered us on. Ken Lonquest brought his guitar and sang us a song. Restaurants brought out food and drink. We passed a fire station and a firefighter brought out freshly baked brownies. At the capitol square, we joined the Saint Patrick's Day parade where more people cheered us on.

And the WORT news? Well, when I was a college student, my roommate God Garth suggested I write the historian I most admired to ask him for advice. That historian, of course, was Howard Zinn. He suggested that I stay out on the streets making history rather than retreating into the ivory tower to study it, sound advice I always wished I would have followed.

Some people say that Madison proves that God must be a liberal, and today was one of those days. The weather forecast was for a cold, cloudy, blustery day with spits of rain and snow. Instead, the sun came out and being packed around the capitol with 150,000 of my closest friends it was really quite comfortable.

Over the past several days, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and his Republican allies in the assembly and senate pushed through mean spirited legislation in a highly illegal and unconstitutional manner that was designed to create an unprecedented upward redistribution of wealth while at the same time knocking the knees out from any attempt to halt their attempts at corporate greed.

In response we had a massive rally today at the capitol. I went thinking I would find one of two possibilities: either everyone would be discouraged and the square would be empty, or everyone would be pissed and the square would be packed. As it turned out, it was the largest mass mobilization of people in Madison's history.

Walker and his corporate backers badly miscalculated in their greedy grab for the whole bloody bakery. Just over the past several days we have seen a seismic shift in political consciousness in Wisconsin that will have repercussions throughout the the United States. Momentum is on our side. We will win.

I have some photos from today at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152625&id=36107131&l=97e676523f.

[I wrote this for The Monitor, the alternative student newspaper at Truman State University.

Labor protests stretched on for weeks at Wisconsin's state capitol building in Madison after the Republican governor Scott Walker and Republican-controlled senate and assembly pushed for legislation that would eliminate most collective bargaining rights for most public workers.

This assault on workers' rights is an assault on all of us. We all need to pay attention to what is happening in Wisconsin and fight against it.

Republicans rule on the principle that poor people have way too much money and corporations do not have nearly enough. Their solution to that problem is to give humungous tax breaks to wealthy corporations and then claim a budget crisis to reduce the wages and benefits for public workers. That is exactly what Walker did in Wisconsin.

Downward pressure on the wages of public workers in one state creates downward pressure on workers everywhere. A strong union and collective bargaining rights, on the other hand, increase income for everyone and is what made the middle class possible in the United States.

In Missouri, Truman State University faculty are not unionized and among the worst paid faculty members not only in Missouri but throughout the United States. Across the border in Iowa, faculty members at the University of Northern Iowa, an institution very similar to TSU, have collective bargaining and therefore receive much higher salaries.

Wisconsin governor Walker plays on a politics of fear in which he wants the rest of us to resent public employees who have collective bargaining rights and as a result receive higher compensation packages than those of us who do not have those rights. The reality, however, is that those collective bargaining rights put upward pressure on everyone's salaries. If it were not for collective bargaining at UNI, TSU faculty would be paid even less. And that is why Republicans are so desperate to break unions.

When Republicans promise to create jobs, they envision creating low-wage jobs to replace ones that paid much higher wages with better benefits. Their goal is to increase corporate profits, but even that goal is shortsighted because law-wage laborers have less money to spend.

The country is not broke. We are only seeing an unprecedented upward redistribution of wealth. The result is skyrocketing income inequality, with worker wages stagnating and even declining as the wealth of the upper one percent of the population rises quickly. The result will be the destruction of the middle class. Republican policies assure that this happens not only in Wisconsin but for everyone across this country.

Cheryl says I should be blogging about what is happening in Madison, even tho apparently she is not doing so. I don't know that anyone ever reads these blog posts which makes me wonder whether it is worth the effort. Plus I'm not very well positioned to give a full or authoritative vision. I missed the first several weeks because of my day job and family obligations, and then I left all of my equipment (big Nikon camera, Zoom H2, flipcam) that I would normally use to document these events back in Kirksville. I'm really kicking myself for not having what I need to capture this incredibly rich material, but I assume others will be writing books and creating audio and video documentaries about the fundamental shifts that have taken place over the last month.

For those who don't know what is going on: Republican are undertaking an all-out assault on workers' rights in Wisconsin. Gov Scott Walker says that decreasing benefits for public workers is necessary to fill the budget hole he had just created by giving away huge tax breaks to his corporate backers. He wants to destroy labor unions that he sees as the base of the Democratic Party and the only serious obstacle to his plans for an unprecedented upward redistribution of wealth.

Constant protests have been ongoing since Walker planned to strip most public worker unions of most of their collective bargaining rights, but the issue reached a melting point Wednesday nite when in an illegal maneuver Republican leaders jammed his law through a conference committee and senate vote. In a matter of hours, thousands of people descended on the capitol. The police had the building under lockdown, which was illegal because it is supposed to be open while the government is in session. People started pounding on the doors. We came in through the women's bathroom window.

Finally at 8pm the cops decided it was more dangerous to let people build up outside than to let them in, so the doors opened and the capitol quickly filled up. The chants and drumming bounces around the marble walls and reaches very loud decibel levels. After awhile my ears ring as if I were at a rock concert.

I finally left at 1am, but others stayed all nite. They promised to open the building again at 8am on Thurs, but when we arrived it was under lockdown. The police were not even letting in Democratic assembly members who were to vote on the illegal bill the senate had passed the previous evening. Somehow the Republicans did not face the same problem, having come in through a rat hole.

High school students walked out of classes. We went to the east side of the Capitol to greet the students as they came up East Washington. They infuse the rally with a good deal of new energy. The numbers grow.

Finally they opened the building, but the cops had TSA-style security which assured long lines and delays in being able to enter. By late afternoon, the Republicans passed the illegal bill to the shouts of "shame! shame!" from the Democrats and the rest of us crowded outside the assembly hall.

People are angry, but incredibly restrained and peaceful. Much of the media looks for a sensationalistic story and so misreport this. Maybe we midwesterners are polite to a fault (a very common chant was "thank you thank you"). Beside me in the capitol a CNN reporter that there was pushing and shoving to get in the building, but people challenge him on his report. People start joking with him that maybe he reported that because he was the one pushing to get in.

We had another huge rally at 5pm outside of the capitol, and another one is scheduled for tomorrow. We lost this battle, but energy and spirits are high and we will win this war.