that was protesters in the state capitol in madison, wisconsin today. protesters like that can spread all over america if other heartless republican governors get their way. that s the game plan. later this week the ohio senate will start to debate a bill that will eliminate collective bargaining for all state employees. governor john kasich fully supports the bill and is working on putting it in his budget. kasich wants to eliminate binding arbitration and have the ability to fire any public worker who goes on strike. this is how he put it last year. if they want to strike they should be fired and under this, you know, you should not allow, look. you can have the change in the law that says, again, these decisions are not finally made, but there are ways to say that
wisconsin, is john nichols, political reporter for the nation magazine. good evening. good to have you with us tonight. before we talk about other states, your take on what unfolded today and what the most recent comments were in that last interview by that state senator. well, it s been a remarkable day, ed. i wish you could have been here physically because this is one of those things that television can communicate at least to some extent but seeing it in real life that the incredible passion, the intensity of what s going on here, tells you how amazing this is. we had about 15,000 people out at a noon rally outside the capitol. tonight another 8,000 to 10,000 folks, mostly teachers out there, including teachers talking about having to give up their careers because of the pay cuts and benefit cuts they re being threatened with. it was stunningly powerful. but senator grothman was speaking as if anybody can take an 8% or 9% pay cut. what about that? well, it is simply not tru
the taxes and the fight of the wealthy should pay more and the rich get richer and the poor get poorer but again it all comes back to the governor is not willing to talk anymore. and he isn t just not talking to state workers. he s going to slam it all the way down to every local municipality. everybody you see in our county, there is a good share of government workers that aren t even state workers. janice, what are your political leanings here? what are my political leanings? you know, at this point, i want a fair chance. us workers want a chance to talk. we re reasonable people. we ve demonstrated that at the capitol today. we re reasonable. you can talk to us. but governor walker doesn t want to talk. he says talking doesn t work. i think, ed, you will find the vast majority of government workers that i talked to understand that in the economic crisis we re in if their take home pay drops 8% or 9% like my own take home pay will that s reasonable.
who was the grand wizard of the ku klux klan. this is the story that has me fired up tonight. in my heart, there s no bigger story in america. for middle class americans, there is no bigger story than what is unfolding in wisconsin because other states will follow. the turnout today was fantastic. on the grounds of the state capitol in madison, wisconsin. today the crowd is fighting governor scott walker s attempt to bust unions and take their hard earned money. that s the bottom line. the wisconsin state journal reported more than 10,000 protesters gathered on the south side of the capitol building many carrying signs and chanting recall walker. well, in many ways, this is the american version of what we saw in egypt when it comes to crowds isn t it? workers are taking it to the streets, calling for the ouster of a politically elected leader who is taking money out of their pocket and expecting them to have more obligations. at this point the protests in
next election? okay, rush. we ll hold you to that. and governor haley barbour won t take a stand against a proposal for a state license plate honoring a confederate leader who was the grand wizard of the ku klux klan. this is the story that has me fired up tonight. in my heart, there s no bigger story in america. for middle class americans, there is no bigger story than what is unfolding in wisconsin because other states will follow. the turnout today was fantastic. on the grounds of the state capitol in madison, wisconsin. today the crowd is fighting governor scott walker s attempt to bust unions and take their hard earned money. that s the bottom line. the wisconsin state journal reported more than 10,000 protesters gathered on the south side of the capitol building many carrying signs and chanting recall walker. well, in many ways, this is the american version of what we saw in egypt when it comes to crowds isn t it?