it was called the saturday night massacre and nothing about it will probably ever be repeated again in our history. except for one thing. it was really, really, really weird. absolute crazy business at the highest reaches of government. so crazy that it is hard to explain that it s hard to explain that this really happened, that american government went that rogue. it is that same level of incredulity that we can expect from future generations when they are told about what happened in the great state of wisconsin today. today, state law enforcement fanned out across the great state of wisconsin to find wisconsin s state senators. the democrats of the wisconsin state senate fled. they physically fled. they left. they hot tailed it to prevent the senate from reaching a quorum. so the senate republicans could not take the vote they wanted to take to strip union rights from people who work in the public sector. the wisconsin state constitution says lawmakers can be compelled to appear at
strong. and i don t see any conclusion to this story anytime soon. the governor of wisconsin today took a big political hit. he lost round one when he tried to get a vote and the democrats walked out and went to illinois. and there have been a number of people, including myself i ve called out some of the democratic leadership nationally. and to his credit, senator dick durbin answered tonight. the illinois senator went on record supporting the protesters here in madison, wisconsin, saying that workers across the country should have the right to stand together for fair compensation and a safe workplace. he went on to say wisconsin teachers and state workers should not be badgered by a governor who refuses to sit down and work out a fair compromise. and that really is what this story is all about. there s been some real heavy political browbeating on the middle class in wisconsin, going after the firefighters, going after the teachers and the nurses and also the public
billionaires on the other. that s it. this is an existential fight for the democratic party. democrats who don t get that are being willfully ignorant. this is an existential fight for the democratic party, and that s why democrats in wisconsin are doing what they are doing right now in wisconsin. that s why wisconsin looks the way it does right now. that s why the streets of madison were shut down to traffic today, because of the sheer number of people who turned out. that s why people slept in the capitol rotunda overnight. that s why the state legislature looked like this today. democratic legislators wearing orange t-shirts that read assembly democrats fighting for working families. and that is why 14 democratic state senators in wisconsin went awol today. they refused to turn up for the anti-union vote scheduled in the state senate today. right around noon, these democrats just disappeared. and in their absence, the republicans could not get a
essentially made up out of whole cloth. the only problem with a.c.o.r.n. and its voter registration is they were really good at it, and that helped democrats. you know what else a.c.o.r.n. did? really smart political organizing and really smart political strategy. they put things like raise the minimum wage proposal on the ballot in states with key elections. why is that important? first, raising the minimum wage is a nice thing do for poor people and also nice for the economy as a whole. second, when you ask people if they want to raise the minimum wage, people essentially unanimously scream yes. it almost always passes and it almost always passes by large margins. but third, raising the minimum wage is such a popular idea that there s some evidence it actually causes people to go out and vote who would not otherwise vote. it raises voter turnout, particularly among liberal voters, who then, since they re there anyway, are likely to also cast their votes for democratic politicians. i
sales versus billionaires for not only this next election but for every election here on out. republicans run the table. bake sales on one side, billionaires on the other. that s it. this is an existential fight for the democratic party. democrats who don t get that are being willfully ignorant. this is an existential fight for the democratic party, and that s why democrats in wisconsin are doing what they are doing right now in wisconsin. that s why wisconsin looks the way it does right now. that s why the streets of madison were shut down to traffic today, because of the sheer number of people who turned out. that s why people slept in the capitol rotunda overnight. that s why the state legislature looked like this today. democratic legislators wearing orange t-shirts that read assembly democrats fighting for working families. and that is why 14 democratic state senators in wisconsin went awol today. they refused to turn up for the anti-union vote scheduled in the state senate toda