Buffalo Beast News Today

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a Russian businessman (or tycoon) who began amassing his fortune in the go-go days of the mid-1990s, when the Russian economy wa...

They werent home. that tactic seems drastic for a governor whos trying to coax lawmakers back to the bargaining table, a day after a liberal prank caller punked governor scott walker into seemingly admitting he is going after unions. >> this is about public sector unions. you essentially are having taxpayers money being used to pay to l]bby for spending more on taxpayers money. its absolutely ridiculous. >> david walker thought he was talking to this man, david koch, oil billionaire and conserva...

Things i said publicly all along. people have brought up all sorts of different options. in terms of other ways to come on in, its not a trick. we have said it point blank. talk about it. im willing to talk about it. im willing to talk about it but i believe it ultimately needs to lead to a vote. thats something ive said time and time again in front of all of you and stated very frankly. i wont allow one prank phone call to be a distraction from the reality. >> hey, alex. is that really the pres...

>> the governor of wisconsin still refuses to back down, but now hes having to explain a phone call. >> i take phone calls all the time. >> scott, david koch. >> the call has been verified. >> youre not talking to any of these democrats, are you? >> he talks about his plans to squeeze workers and to squeeze democratic lawmakers. >> might ratchet it up a little. >> it was actually a frank pulled by a website the buffalo beast. >> screws have been tightened a little today. >> what are you going to...

Left-leaning blog called "buffalo beast "masquerading as biliary david koch" to get through, and he didnt need to product much to get him to talk and talk and talk. >> what we were thinking about the crowds was planting some troublemakers. >> you know, well, the only problem, because we thought about that, the problem with or my only gut reaction to that would be right now, the -- the -- the lawmakers ive talked to have just completely had it with them. >> well, whats fair in politics anymore? a...

>> i had the governor of nevada called me, he was in the lincoln day circuit, and he was kidding me, he said scott, dont come to nevada, i would be afraid youd beat me running for governor. thats all they want to talk about, what are you doing to help the governor from wisconsin. i talked to kasich. john has to stand firm in ohio, rick scott in florida, i think snyder, if he got a little more support, probably could do that in michigan. theres a lot of new governors got elected to do something b...

Nevada, i would be afraid youd beat me running for governor. thats all they want to talk about, what are you doing to help the governor from wisconsin. i talked to kasich. john has to stand firm in ohio, rick scott in florida, i think snyder, if he got a little more support, probably could do that in michigan. theres a lot of new governors got elected to do something big. >> youre the first domino. >> yep. this is our moment. >> joining me, ian murphy from the buffalo beast.com, and the most imp...

A political backer, a liberal blogger from the website buffalo beast got republican governor scott walker to speak candidly about this political confrontation, and this comes as the fight for workers rights is spreading in a growing number of states. [ chanting ] >> reporter: meltdown in the midwest. from fleeing state senators in wisconsin and indiana to thousands of pro-union protesters in ohio.ç the fight for labor rights is spreading. amidst voices of so many, one is suddenly taking center...

Absolutely not. there was a prank phone call by a liberal blogger, fellow from the buffalo beast by the name of ian murphy. among other things, it was very revealing what the governor was going to do and ultimately, a lot of people are saying hey, wait a minute, how could the governor of this state get pranked? is david coke on the line, this conservative billionaire, better talk to him. >> heres what happened, david coke, a well known conservative, rich guy here in new york, he apparently -- >>...

When comes to money to help out the state budget but dont end our rights when it comes to collective bargaining? are we seeing the same sort of differentiation that were seeing in wisconsin? >> reporter: were definitely seeing that here in ohio. and the key for this crowd here is the collective bargaining rights. but when you hear the speakers on the podium behind me talking, its all about kill the bill. there doesnt seem to be a whole lot of room for compromise in this crowd here. these people ...