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CAP TIMES: Protests expand beyond Capitol to include Walker's corporate backers

Judith Davidoff and Jessica Vanegeren Hundreds protest outside of Koch lobby office

While hundreds of people protested on the sidewalk, a maintenance worker with Urban Land Interests stood Thursday outside the building housing the lobbying offices of Koch Industries, Inc. A security guard stood inside.

HUFFINGTON POST: More Than 270 State Legislators Nationwide Declare Support For Wisconsin Protests

Amanda Terkel More Than 270 State Legislators Nationwide Declare Support For Wisconsin Protests

WASHINGTON -- More than 270 state legislators from 44 states and two territories have signed a letter standing with the Democratic state senators in Wisconsin, who left the state to prevent their Republican colleagues from pushing through a controversial budget repair bill.

WSJ: Assembly Democrats erupt in anger after Rebpublicans force a vote on budget bill

Todd Richmond Tempers explode as Assembly passes budget repair bill

Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure early Friday morning before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening.

DANE 101: Wisconsin Professional Police Association calls for Capitol to be kept open

dane101 Wisconsin Professional Police Association calls for Capitol to be kept open; announces officer sleepover

Even though efforts are being made to close the Capitol this weekend, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association has different plans. This just in:

PAUL KRUGMAN: For Walker, the number one goal is privatization and corporatization

Paul Krugman Shock Doctrine, U.S.A.

Here’s a thought: maybe Madison, Wis., isn’t Cairo after all. Maybe it’s Baghdad — specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence.

WSJ: Lawmakers approve rule that could halt sleepovers in Capitol

Clay Barbour Lawmakers approve rule that could halt sleepovers in Capitol

The protest can continue, but the party is almost over.

Come Saturday, nearly two weeks after it started, the non-stop, drum-circle chant-a-thon that has consumed the state Capitol could officially end.

HUFFINGTON POST: Private sector union members stand with public workers throughout recent uprising

Arthur Delaney Wisconsin Protests: In Madison, Public And Private Unions Stand Side-By-Side With 'Magnets In Our Shoulders'

MADISON, WIS -- For the past ten days, tens of thousands of union protesters have swarmed the state capitol building in Madison, Wis. to protest Republican Governor Scott Walker's proposal to yank collective bargaining rights from some public-sector unions.

DANE 101: Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Tammy Baldwin speak to the capitol rotunda crowd

Emily Mills Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Tammy Baldwin speak to the capitol rotunda crowd

Feb. 22, 2011 - Day 9 of the worker's rights protests in Madison, WI: The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Tammy Baldwin march in solidarity with firefighters and others gathered in the capitol rotunda, then speak to the gathered crowd. Video by Dane101's Emily Mills.

CAP TIMES: Wisconsin Wave coalition includes groups working to address poverty, immigrant rights

Pat Schneider People's groups join protest against corporate influence in budget clash

When the Wisconsin Wave demonstrates outside Monona Terrace Convention Center Wednesday against Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill at a conference of the business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, standing shoulder to shoulder in the wave will be people from local grass-roots groups that work to empower the working poor.

JS: Blogger calls Walker posing as David Koch; gets him to outline plans to trick senate Dems back into the state

Bill Glauber, Steve Schultze and Patrick Marley Caller posing as major GOP contributor dupes Walker

(Check out the original link for full audio clip)

Madison — Gov. Scott Walker, believing he was talking to prominent financial backer David Koch, revealed to a Buffalo, N.Y., blogger Tuesday his strategies to deal with public-sector unions and to lure Democrats boycotting the Senate back to Wisconsin.

DAILY CARDINAL: Former Rage Against the Machine guitarist energizes protesters in Madison

Adam Wollner Famous rockers play for protesters at rally

Standing in front of American and Wisconsin flags, former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello played to an audience of 4,000 Monday at Monona Terrace at a performance set up by AFSCME to oppose the budget repair bill.

CAP TIMES: GOP endlessly repeats disproven rhetoric about budget "repair" bill

Jessica Vanegeren GOP staying on message

Assembly Republicans didn't stray from the party message Tuesday, telling dozens of reporters packed inside a Capitol hearing room that the state is broke and, despite the tens of thousands of protesters, say a majority of Wisconsin is behind them.

NYT: Koch brothers' money behind efforts to pass budget bill in Wisconsin

Eric Lipton Billionaire Brothers’ Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute

WASHINGTON — Among the thousands of demonstrators who jammed the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds this weekend was a well-financed advocate from Washington who was there to voice praise for cutting state spending by slashing union benefits and bargaining rights.

JOHN NICHOLS articulately dismantles the fiscal case for Walkers budget "repair" bill

John Nichols Wisconsin's Political Crisis Is a Good Deal More Serious Than Its Fiscal Crisis

Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau was created in 1968 by a Republican governor, Warren Knowles, and a Republican-controlled state legislature.

AL JAZEERA covers the ongoing protests in Madison

Al Jazeera Ideologies clash in Wisconsin

At least 55,000 demonstrators have taken to the streets of Madison, the capital of the US state of Wisconsin, where supporters of legislation to reduce public employee union bargaining power were outnumbered by their opponents.

Green Bay Packer speaks out in support of working families

Jilane Rodgers Charles Woodson Supports Wisconsin Working Families

STATEMENT FROM GREEN BAY PACKER CHARLES WOODSON IN SUPPORT OF WORKING FAMILIES IN WISCONSIN

Last week I was proud when many of my current and former teammates announced their support for the working families fighting for their rights in Wisconsin. Today I am honored to join with them.

POLITCO: People from all over the world stand in solidarity with Wisconsin by ordering Ian's pizza for protesters

Meredith Shiner From Cairo to Madison, some pizza

MADISON, Wis. — Someone in Egypt has been paying attention to what’s happening in Madison and wanted to send a message of solidarity from across the globe — so they ordered a pizza.

PAUL KRUGMAN: "what’s happening in Wisconsin isn’t about the state budget...It is, instead, about power."

Paul Krugman Wisconsin Power Play

Last week, in the face of protest demonstrations against Wisconsin’s new union-busting governor, Scott Walker — demonstrations that continued through the weekend, with huge crowds on Saturday — Representative Paul Ryan made an unintentionally apt comparison: “It’s like Cairo has moved to Madison.”

WSJ: Madison city council extends collective bargaining agreements

Samara Kalk Derby Madison city council extends collective bargaining agreements

Hurrying to approve contracts for Madison workers before Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill can be enacted, the City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to extend a number of the city's collective bargaining agreements to the end of 2012.

Live blogging of Saturday's protests from the WSJ

State Journal Staff State budget crisis: A special report

As of 5pm.  Click on link for latest updates

4:31 p.m.:State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, says from his Chicago hotel room this afternoon that he and 13 other Democratic senators are willing to remain missing as long as Gov. Scott Walker refuses to budge on his proposal to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees.

 

CNN: Abe Lincoln, others, left legislative chambers to block unjust bills

Phil Gast Wisconsin legislators aren't the first to walk out, leave town

While in the Illinois House, Abraham Lincoln jumped out of the building in a futile bid to prevent foes from getting a quorum.

This week's bitter budget showdown in Wisconsin isn't the first time state legislators have fled a state, left a building or refused to show when votes were called.

 

CNN: Ohio residents protest against anti-union bill similar to Wisconsin's

Marina Landis Debate over workers' rights heats up in Ohio

A bill to limit the collective bargaining power of some public-sector workers has sparked protests in Ohio this week.

CAP TIMES: Dem Senators block vote on budget bill by leaving state

Jessica Vanegeren Senators' run to Illinois gets cheers from supporters, a blast from Walker

The gambit by 14 Democratic state senators to leave the state Thursday instead of being outvoted on a hugely controversial budget bill has drawn national attention, cheers from supporters and a tongue-lashing from Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

CAP TIMES: Local firefighters join protests despite being exempted from bill

Susan Troller Firefighters heat up Capitol

One of the most emotional moments of the budget repair bill protests in Madison came Thursday night as off-duty union firefighters marched through the Capitol in full regalia.

NYT EDITORIAL BOARD: "unions should make their voices heard and push back hard"

New York Times Editorial Board Gov. Walker’s Pretext

In a year when governors across the country are competing to show who’s toughest, no matter what the consequences, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin stands out as the first to bring his State Capitol to a halt.

CAP TIMES: Chancellor Martin backs Walker's proposal to split off UW-Madison

Todd Finkelmeyer Biddy tells UW System leaders not to oppose split

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin sent an e-mail Wednesday night to the UW System's Board of Regents, and to other chancellors across the system, asking them not to oppose Wisconsin's flagship university breaking away from the system.

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