Scott Walker’s proposed budget bill is increasingly unpopular with millions of his own voters, many of whom are having Walker’s Remorse as they see their choice’s agenda in action. But with billions of the Koch brothers' money backing him, Walker isn’t remorseful at all.
Kossack lil bird, has posted several diaries condemning Walker’s union-busting bill and describing the mass mobilization from the front lines. Yesterday I received this text from her:
Hey FYI I’m one of the 120-150 people or so that stayed the night in the WI capitol and is still here. Things are nuts. I can’t easily get online, but if you or any other bloggers would like to cover what’s going on here feel free to give me a call. I have been here since the first night, sleeping here for most and one of the people organizing things.
We arranged a one-hour phone interview, passed a few drafts back and forth and, with a few links of my own added, this is that interview in full.
Interview with Kossack lil bird from the Madison State Capitol
Last night the word was you were going to get kicked out of the Capitol. You’re still there but the situation seems in flux. What happened Sunday night?
Governor Walker wanted to kick us out yesterday. He is presenting his proposed budget for the next two years on Tuesday here in the Capitol, and of course he doesn't want the protests still going on when he gives his speech. So the announcement came that by 4pm on Sunday the Capitol was to be cleared. But we refused - there were many hundreds of us that risked arrest rather than leave. We stood our ground. And after a couple of hours, singing together in solidarity, the police decided to let us stay.
Some of the law enforcement community endorsed Walker’s campaign. We know from the news that many of the police are sympathetic to your cause. How are relations with the police there?
Most of the police, on a personal level, are solidly on our side. They’re getting hurt by this bill, too. When they're not on duty, lots of them have been out protesting with us. When they are on duty they have to follow orders, of course, but they have been very respectful, and after the first day or so newly arrived officers warm up and are quite friendly to us. The Madison Capitol police (whose jurisdiction this is) have been especially awesome, but lots of police from other jurisdictions, plus sheriffs and state troopers, are here too - and they are friendly once they get to know us a little. The police, firefighters and state troopers are left out of this union-busting bill, presumably because they endorsed Walker in the election. But now the Wisconsin Troopers Association has actually announced that they are sorry they endorsed him, and the firefighters and police have been out in force whenever there's a rally - so it's clear that these folks are angry about the bill too.
And the crowds have been well-behaved?
Very much so - the law enforcement officers have been really impressed by this. Last night I was talking to a group of sheriffs, and they said that we are the most peaceful large crowd they’ve ever policed. This past Saturday, there were maybe 100,000 people here, more even than the weekend before. To my knowledge, there hasn’t been one arrest since this process began. A couple of unions, including my own, have set up a constant volunteer marshal force to help keep the peace, disseminate information, and generally make the lives of the police easier - and I know the officers appreciate that.
So the police let you stay and many are friendly to the union cause. Unfortunately, it’s not their call, but the Governor’s. How did he respond?
Well, a whole range of strange restrictions have been handed down over the last couple of weeks, such as not sleeping in certain areas for "cleaning" (though usually no cleaning happens), taking down our signs, banning tables in the hallways, not bringing bedding materials into the building, etc. The source of these restrictions has often been hazy, and once we check with the police chief whose jurisdiction it is here, many of them get dispelled as rumors - but they are rumors that officers from the other jurisdictions have taken to be orders. My guess is that Walker or his people are probably behind them in some way, though I don't know the details.
What do you do to maintain good relations with the police and staff at the Capitol?
We do everything possible to be courteous, helpful, orderly and safe. We’re helping the police and staff in many ways. Besides the volunteer marshals, volunteer cleaning crews have been picking up trash, washing floors and sanitizing sinks. We have also coordinated with the professional cleaning crews, moving people out of the way when the floors actually need to be cleaned. We have also held a series of nonviolence trainings to make sure everyone in the building every night knows what to do in the case of police action to remove us.
What are conditions like there?
I've been here for two weeks – I haven't slept here every single day, but most of them for sure. Marble floors aren't the softest sleeping surface, and like me, most others are tired and kind of grimy. But the sense of togetherness, of solidarity, is amazing - a real community has developed. People here are calling it "Capitol City". Also, tonight there is a new development - a tent city outside for the people who really wanted to come in but were prevented from doing so. The tents got taken away from people, and so 50 folks were left sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags in the cold - and remember this is Wisconsin in February, so it's pretty cold. We put out a call to get blankets and winter clothes to them maybe an hour ago, and the response has been amazing. It ended up on the radio, and last I heard there were lines of cars bringing blankets, clothes, and tubs of hot chocolate. I just got this text from my friend Mindy, who is out there: "We are sooooo stocked out here, it is really amazing. I am under about six blankets. I wish you guys were as comfortable." I mean, seriously - wow.
Sunday night ended well. You were still in the Capitol. But when you woke up on Monday, the battle began anew.
Last night when we learned that we could stay, we were also told that the building would open its doors to the public at 8am this morning. This was expected, since the Wisconsin Constitution specifies that the Capitol must be open to the public during business hours. But that's not what happened at all - this place has basically been on lockdown all day, with very limited access. They even put screws in the windows to block them from opening, and then sawed off the screw heads. This was presumably to keep us from moving in supplies or people through the windows, but people are concerned because it is a fire hazard.
It sounds like Walker is breaking the law to have his way.
He is. Today there were thousands of people outside demanding to be let in, which is their right, but nearly all were denied that right. There was a one-in-one-out policy, and for a while legislators could escort individuals in for meetings, but there was a point when even that ended. The Democrats set up public hearings starting at 2:30pm to allow any members of the public wanting to come testify about the bill to do so, but even this was prevented - only 40 people were allowed to come in at a time. They were led to a desk where they received special passes, escorted up to the hearing room, and then escorted out of the building... and after a while no one already in the building was allowed to go upstairs to testify and no one new was allowed to enter - so the hearings ended for lack of people to speak, even though there were thousands of people outside clamoring to get in. This was highly illegal, since Wisconsin's Open Meetings Law dictates that meetings shall be open to all citizens. Former WI Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager has filed a restraining order in an effort to keep the building open, so we'll see where that goes.
So now it’s Monday evening. What is the atmosphere there tonight?
As of midnight, there are maybe 100 protesters left inside the Capitol. Earlier there were two or three officers for every one of us, but now I think some of them have gone home - or maybe they are just in other parts of the building. But we know we are not alone, even though Walker has tried hard to reduce the number of people here. There have been rallies across the state and country in solidarity, and people from all over have been sending us messages, food and supplies. I mean, people have been ordering us pizza from Egypt - how cool is that?
The question I keep coming back to is – What was Governor Walker thinking when he decided now was the time to try and roll back fifty years of labor law?
Good question. I think he sees the world through a very radical, right-wing, black-and-white lens, and he wanted to be seen as strong and decisive and roll back these rights all at once. This is what that phone call with the blogger Walker thought was David Koch makes it sound like. (CSK: Here’s the call transcript and audio.) Of course, Walker also tried to ram this bill through the legislature very quickly with little public scrutiny, so he probably thought that most of the backlash would come once it was a done deal. But the people of Wisconsin did notice, and have mobilized themselves in amazing numbers to stop this terrible bill.
What are the chances of one or more Republican senators flipping their votes?
Word is that a number of GOP senators don't like this bill and are wavering, but they are afraid to break ranks. One of our main goals is to organize phone-banking to get concerned constituents to call their moderate Republicans senators and ask them to do what's right. If anyone wants to help out with this effort, no matter where you are, you can sign up here at defendwisconsin.org.
What about recalling Republican senators and Governor Walker?
There are several efforts already afoot to recall senators who vote for this bill. And it's a credible threat - though there are 60 days to gather the signatures needed for a vote on whether to recall any particular senator, I think it is entirely possible that volunteer signature gatherers could get enough in a week, or even in a weekend. Of course folks also want to recall Walker, but we need to wait until next January (one year after Walker took office) to gather signatures for that (not that people haven't already started on that - many folks have already signed up to help). I think a recall vote on Walker is very likely, with him losing that vote is very likely as well.
Of course, two can play the recall game…
Sure, but although the Republicans may want to recall some of the “Wisconsin 14” - the Democratic senators who fled the state to stop this awful bill - honestly I think that's likely to fail. Sure, the Republicans may be able to get enough signatures for a recall vote - since even if you don't have many volunteers, you can pay people to gather signatures for just about anything. But these Democratic senators are considered heroes by a lot of people across the state, so I think it will be a tough fight to get them voted out. Of course, in this post-Citizens United world we live in there is a ton of money on the Republican side, so if they do end up facing recall I really hope people will step up and volunteer time and money to help them out. They certainly deserve it - talk about backbone.
When did opposition to the bill grow into such a huge movement?
Well, the first people on the ground were students, mainly graduate assistants from my union, the Teaching Assistants' Association (TAA), but also undergraduates and others - about 1000 people delivered valentines to Walker with the message "don't break my heart". That was two weeks ago, on the Monday after the bill was announced. The next morning the only planned public hearing on the bill began - which had barely been announced to the public outside of radical right-wing groups. That hearing continued into the night, and so the TAA and other groups, such as the Student Labor Action Coalition, called for a sleep-in so that people could come and keep testifying. The Republican leadership told everyone repeatedly that the hearing would continue until everyone signed up had spoken, but in the wee hours the Republicans quit and refused to reconvene the next day, despite there still being a large number of people signed up to testify. The Democrats stayed on, hearing testimony through the night. The next day more people came to sleep and testify, and even more the next night. The hearings continued for several days, and when they finished the people had moved into the Capitol and the occupation of the building was well underway. There were large rallies outside during this whole time, and they just kept growing. It has been amazing to see the square around the Capitol packed with so many people, all peacefully walking and singing together in protest.
What would end this stand-off?
Well, if the bill is voted down in its entirety, that would certainly work - of course that's my preferred outcome. The bill could also be passed in a modified form, but unless the worst parts are removed, I think the protests will continue. When the Governor's budget proposal is unveiled tomorrow, things are only likely to heat up, because word is that there are some very bad things in there. Whatever happens, I think Walker - at the very least - is going to be facing recall.
What can people not in Madison do to help?
The best thing right now is to sign up for phonebanking to encourage people in moderate Republicans' districts to contact their senators. And then, of course, to spread the word about this. Again, to sign up, folks can go here.