Mary Spicuzza and Clay Barbour

Wisconsin State Journal

In a surprise move late Wednesday, Senate Republicans used a series of parliamentary maneuvers to overcome a three-week stalemate with Democrats and pass an amended version of the governor's controversial budget repair bill.

With a crowd of protesters chanting outside their chambers, Senators approved Gov. Scott Walker's bill, which would strip most collective bargaining rights from public employees. The new bill removes fiscal elements of the proposal but still curbs collective bargaining and increases employee payments in pension and health benefits. The changes would amount to an approximate 8 percent pay cut for public workers.

After the session, Senate Republicans scattered, leaving no one to explain how they managed to pass components of the bill that seemed to have a fiscal impact, including changes in pensions and benefits, without the 20 senators needed to vote on fiscal matters. In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he had consulted with the Legislature's attorneys and "every item in tonight's bill follows the letter of the law."

The move ended a bizarre two-and-a-half hour legislative sprint in which the Senate hastily gaveled in and sent the measure to a Senate-Assembly conference committee, which typically works out differences between similar bills passed by the two houses.

Although the Senate hadn't yet passed the bill, Senate rules allow the Senate president to move a bill to a conference committee if the Assembly's intent is clear and it's past the amendable stage — a step the Senate took last month.

Word quickly spread… http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8747fa04-4a74-11e0-8e6b-001cc4c03286.html

• First, a plea: If you have not yet viewed Naiomi Wolf’s talk on “The End of the American Dream: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot”, do so today. At a time of crisis clear vision is your strongest tool and remember, understanding a problem is the first step toward resolving it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc&feature=related

• You will not be surprised to hear I have little faith in the mainstream media. (Why else would I be up at such an hour typing away?) Monitor the American media, but understand it will become more manipulated than usual. The size of the corporate cash-in poised to tumble to Wall Street (as in all our wealth and civil liberties) is huge. Information is power so expect the information to be heavily massaged to the point of turning into gruel. Check foreign press, like the The Guardian. If you do not have one, buy a shortwave radio today! Radio Shack as a number of models. They aren’t expensive, a good thing to have in any event but if what I fear could happen comes to pass all of our media will look like People magazine and Fox News pretty quickly. While it would be more difficult here, remember what they did to the internet inEgypt.

• Call your representative’s office and express your outrage; let them know you are watching. My guess is this assembly vote is a done deal, but perhaps a few votes could be swayed and at the very least they can’t say later they were acting on the “will of the people”.

• If you can get to a rally, go. I know I sound like a broken record, but this is the biggest crisis in American democracy since Ft. Sumter. I know, I know, I sound like a loon – watch the Wolf video above. Go online and Google some combination of “steps to fascism”. She isn’t the only one. This information has been around for years – from both the right and left, by the way.

• If you go to a rally, take a camera – video preferred - to record any disturbances that might happen. Walker is a thug and the Koch brothers are thugs and the republicans voting all this in are good little reflexive soldiers. We know Walker already considered turning loose hooligans in the peaceful protests. If anything happens start taking pictures.

• Though I am convinced it is a lost cause to get them to do anything calling for moral bravery at such a time, call the White House, Sen. Kohl’s office and Ron Kind’s office and tell them to get their sorry, poll-sniffing asses to Madison. Press releases aren’t enough. A namby-pampy quote of “concern” in a news interview is a sham replacement for leadership. They need to be feet-on-the-ground in support of the patriots marching on the Capitol. There is nothing else more important nor any place on the planet more central to the future of this country than being on the Square in Madison. Call, so they, too, can’t later say they didn’t know. They are such a sorry, sorry lot.

• My, what timing! My point has been proven. I just got an email from Ron Kind: “Where are the Jobs?” Not a word about what has just happened in Madison. Now there’s the kind of leadership you yearn for in an emergency! Hey, Ron, where is our democracy … not to mention your spine?

• I don’t know when I will get back today, but when I do I will send a “Daily Call” update of what I saw to give you a sense of the experience on the ground on such a historic day. Feel free to send me information, but please understand, I will be exhausted when I get home. If you send something you feel is important, please write a summary paragraph or two. If you just send me a link I won’t have the energy or time to wade through it all. Don’t worry about great writing. Remember “Dragnet’s Joe Friday: “Just the facts, Ma’am.”

• I know a few folks are attending the rally in LaCrosse. See today’s full “Call” for details. If you go to a rally write down a few paragrahs and send them to me.

Mark L. Taylor MA LPC
RoundRiver Institute LLC
PO Box 35
Genoa, WI 54632-0035