Hello, Wisconsin!

I fully admit to not being as politically active as some of my politically-minded friends. But I cannot continue to remain silent about the gross injustice that has occurred in the state I was born in. I wish there was an easy, bullet-pointed timeline to explain what all has happened, but it's all happened so quickly that no one has had the time to make one, I guess. So I'll do my best.

Gov. Walker (R) submitted a state budget. In that budget, he called for the unionized state employees to take cuts in benefits (such as health care premiums) and, the real kicker, it called for the removal of collective bargaining. (What is collective bargaining, anyway?)

The state Assembly passed it.

The state Senate tried discussing it.

At some point, the members of the unions effected by this budget bullet point agreed to make all concessions (even though some hadn't seen a pay raise in 2 years) excepting the right for collective bargaining. That, they wanted to keep.

The 19 Republicans in the state Senate wouldn't hear of it.
"We aren't going to negotiate. Why should we negotiate?"

The 14 Democrats in the state Senate fled to Illinois because they did their math homework. A quorum of 20 was necessary to vote on the budget and a majority is needed to pass it.

At this point, the only thing admirable was the solidarity amongst the bullies and the bullied.

People protested in parades, held signs, chanted, bringing the atmosphere of the 6 blocks between the Capitol building and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (affectionately referred to as "State Street") to something MLK, Jr. likely had in mind when he said "peaceful protests." (I have neither heard nor seen of any serious injuries as a result from protesting.)

Some stuff happened that would be funny if it weren't reality.
Like the prank phone call made to Walker.
Or when Walker sent State Troopers to the homes of AWOL Dems, convinced they were coming home at night and leaving for Illinois in the morning.
Or the guys who literally threw it out the window. (By "it," I mean their desks and maybe a little dignity.)
Or when Walker, on a Friday, said, "If those 14 Democrats don't come back by Sunday, I'm cutting 1,500 jobs on Monday!"
Or the accusations that protesters were chipping away marble inside the Capitol, causing damage that would cost oodles and caboodles to fix. (Protesters were using tape that could have left residue.) Members of the Marble Cleaners Union offered to fix it for free. (Okay, that last point is kind of made up. My dad said his sister heard about the offer while protesting.)

Then, a Republican tactic ended the stalemate. They tweaked the measure in such a way that made it not a budget issue, which meant a quorum of 20 was not needed. So they didn't need no D Senators in there, votin all up in their bizness.


Now, I will admit, I care slightly more than the average American about this issue, but much less than the average Wisconsinite. What concerns me is not so much what was passed, but how it was passed. Walker spearheaded his Republican gang into bullying the Democrats. Then, while the outnumbered Democrats were cowering under the bleachers, their lunch money was stolen by the Republicans. For some people in Wisconsin (many of my dad's siblings and siblings-in-law) have literally, in a figurative way, had their lunch money stolen.

If there is any hope, it's that not every place is like that. Shortly after these protests began, I read an article about Omaha mayor Jim Suttle sitting down for an hour-long discussion with the man who spearheaded a recall campaign a month earlier. Now, that's what I call government!

(Oddly enough, all this searching for links for you people has calmed me down enough to realize I haven't eaten dinner or got my lunch ready for tomorrow.)