Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories

Overnight Protesters in Wisconsin Statehouse Can Stay, Police Say

1 year ago
  0 Comments Say Something  »
Text Size
Protesters who hunker down at night with pillows in Wisconsin's capitol will not be forced out, as long as the demonstration remains peaceful, state authorities said early Monday.

The announcement reversed a decision by the state agency that oversees the capitol police, which had said Sunday that the Madison statehouse would be closed overnight starting this week, The New York Times reported.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have been gathering daily outside the building to sound off against a bill pushed by Gov. Scott Walker that would strip public employee unions of most of their collective bargaining rights and cut benefits. After dark, thousands move inside the statehouse, where the hallways are lined with anti-Walker signs.

In the past few days, protesters have been forced to gather in specific areas to make it easier for crews to clean the capitol floors. Police have also banned food and sleeping bags, the Times said.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Walker indicated he will stand firm behind his budget plan, vowing to push through thousands of layoffs if the bill is not passed soon. He also repeated his call for 14 Democratic senators to return to work.

The Democrats, who fled the state to prevent a vote on the measure, said Monday they have no intention of returning until Walker agrees to back off his vow to end collective bargaining rights for unions.

"There is no time clock for our return," state Sen. Robert Jauch told The Washington Post. "We thought we would be back before now. But we also thought reasonable people would be able to reach a compromise."
Filed Under: Deficit, Jobs, Economy

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

5 Comments

Filter by:
inasctg56

The gop has the right hating autoworkers, teachers, nurses, police, firemen, snowplow drivers, and many more. I wonder who will be next just so they can continue their failed policies that allow corporations, wallstreet, and health insurers to walk away with record profits and not holding them accountable for their actions.

March 01 2011 at 10:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
oldengineera2

Reasonable people would show up to do the job they are paid to do. Irresponsible people would not. What does Wisconsin want?

February 28 2011 at 10:55 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
ettu

Just how many weeks of vacation time do these people get? Seems like they have been stomping around Wisc for quite some time.

February 28 2011 at 5:01 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
copterdude118

There is no such thing as a right by gov't workers to collective bargaining. No federal gov't employees have collective bargaining. There are unions that federal employees have the option of joining, but the unions only get involved in employee/management disputes in areas other than wages and benefits. The state public union bosses want to take away the choice of the employee to join the union or not, to pay dues or not, and want to eliminate voting by secret ballot. They are not about the interests of "the working class". It's not "all about the children". It is about union thuggery and strong-arm tactics, it's about taking more taxpayer money (including more from the middle class non-public union workers) and it is about political corruption.

February 28 2011 at 4:42 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
gimamm

Boy, I bet all you teachers are emboldened by the great support your leader in the White House is giving you. I do believe he is coming up to Wisconsin as i write this to walk the picket lines with you. Just kidding. He is going to do the same thing as he did with the tax cuts; fold like a cheap piano accordian to save his dwindling administration.

February 28 2011 at 3:48 PM Report abuse +5 rate up rate down Reply

Follow Politics Daily

  • Comics
robert-and-donna-trussell
CHAOS THEORY
Featuring political comics by Robert and Donna TrussellMore>>
  • Woman UP Video
politics daily videos
Weekly Videos
Woman Up, Politics Daily's Online Sunday ShowMore»
politics daily videos
TV Appearances
Showcasing appearances by Politics Daily staff and contributors.More>>

News From Our Partners