Democrats need to gather more than 550,000 signatures; Republicans vow to document “foul play by Wisconsin Democrats or big government union bosses.”
The White House congratulated Ohioans for “standing up for workers and defeating efforts to strip away collective bargaining rights.”
The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) voted on Friday to oppose a ballot measure that, if approved by the voters 2012, would place a ban on same-sex marriage in the Minnesota Constitution. MAPE’s board of directors voted unanimously on the issue.
By a unanimous vote on Monday, the Minnesota AFL-CIO agreed to oppose a ballot measure that would add a ban on same-sex marriage to the Minnesota Constitution.
The hundred-thousand-plus crowd that filled downtown Madison, Wisconsin, this weekend is being touted as an answer to the Tea Party rallies that cropped up around the country last year. The pro-labor Madison crowds were larger than any of the Tea Party rallies last year, including the one hosted by Fox personality Glenn Beck in Washington on 12 September 2009.
Rep. Michele Bachmann told radio host Mark Levin on Friday evening that in facing protests by labor supporters Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans are like President Abraham Lincoln, who fought the Confederacy, and President Reagan, who contended with the Soviet Union. But contrary to Bachmann’s assertion, Lincoln had more in common with the 14 Democrats who left the state to avoid a vote on the GOP bill to cut collective bargaining for Wisconsin workers: In 1840, he jumped out a window to avoid a vote on a bill he didn’t like.
Presumed 2012 presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty released a new highly produced video called “Stand With Scott” on Thursday. The video throws support behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and attacks the motives of protesters voicing opposition to the Republican’s plan to curtail bargaining rights for the state’s public employees.
Tim Pawlenty slammed Wisconsin Democrats on Wednesday for leaving the state to prevent the passage of a bill that would curtail collective bargaining rights for the state’s public employees. Pawlenty called them “ninnies” who “skedaddled,” and he said the controversy is not “Fantasy Island” but “Alice in Wonderland.”
As protests in Wisconsin continue over a proposed scaling back of collective bargaining for the state’s public employees, Minnesota’s elected leaders are weighing in on both sides. Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz have sent their support, while Gov. Mark Dayton said that curtailing workers rights would not happen in Minnesota. Potential presidential contenders Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann have sided with Wisconsin’s Republican governor, Scott Walker.
In a Friday afternoon interview with Fox News, Rep. Michele Bachmann took on the White House for siding with tens of thousands Wisconsinites who are protesting a proposed repeal of bargaining rights for the state’s public employees. Bachmann called President Obama’s support “shocking” and said the protests remind her of those in Greece last year. She also said teachers who called in sick to protest are doing it “so they can make more money.”
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