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Ceramics 271 Journal

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Ceramics 271 Journal

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J A P S
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Christopher Edwards

CERAMICS

CERAMICS_271_JOURNAL

Ed Schultz of MSNBC's The Ed Show appeared live outside the Wisconsin State Capitol on

February 17 and 18.On February 18, the AFL–CIO president, Richard Trumka, and other

state labor leaders addressed the protest crowd on the Capitol lawn.Trumka asserted that

Governor Walker's plan was part of a larger national Republican strategy.The number of

protesters in Madison grew to over 70,000 on February 19, including some who supported

Walker's plan.On February 19, 11 faculty members from the University of Wisconsin's

School of Medicine and Public Health established a "medical station" at the capitol, and

signed sick notes for public employees abandoning their public post in order to protest.This

shut down several school districts in the state.By February 20, protestors had undertaken a

physical occupation of the Capitol building, establishing a fully functioning community

within the public spaces of the Wisconsin State Capitol, including an information center, a

sleeping area, a medic station staffed by members of the Madison Community Wellness

Collective, and food stations with food for protestors supplied by local

businesses.Protestors also covered the walls of the Capitol with thousands of homemade

signs.On February 20, a union organizer participating in the protests said that the protests

would continue "as long as it takes."Other union leaders called for teachers to return to

work.During this timeframe several members of the teaching and project assistant union of

UW-Madison (TAA-Madison) designed and implemented "Defend Wisconsin"[usurped], a

web site to help coordinate rallies, publish video footage by protesters, and relay general

information about the bill and protests.On February 22, Assembly Republicans began
procedures to move the bill to a vote while Democrats submitted dozens of amendments

and conducted speeches.Also on February 22, Walker delivered a state address on the

Budget Repair Bill.On February 22–23, the public information officer for the Madison Police

Department (whose union was participating in the protests), claimed "almost all" of the

protesters were from Wisconsin, while an independent reporter from the Daily Cardinal

estimated one in four of the protesters were from outside the state.On February 23, Buffalo

Beast editor Ian Murphy placed a prank telephone call to Walker claiming to be billionaire

David Koch, one of Walker's largest corporate supporters.During the 20-minute call, Walker

discussed a method of getting the absent Senators to return, rejected placing agent

provocateurs among the protesters, and that he spoke daily with like-minded Ohio

Governor John Kasich.Walker's office later confirmed that the recording of the call was

genuine, and stated, "The phone call shows that the Governor says the same thing in private

as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin

is having."Two local public officials, including Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, expressed

concern that Walker's comments could be considered ethics violations.In the aftermath of

the call, Senate Democrats refused requests from Governor Walker to return to Wisconsin

and negotiate a compromise.Some characterized their wariness as a consequence of the

fake call.On February 23, the 14 Senators who fled the Wisconsin Capitol were seen at a

hotel near Chicago.At 1:00 am on February 25, following sixty hours of debate, the final

amendments had been defeated and the Republican leadership of the Wisconsin State

Assembly cut off debate as well as the public hearing and moved quickly to pass the budget

repair bill in a sudden vote.The vote was 51 in favor and 17 opposed, with 28

representatives not voting.The final vote took place without warning, and the time allowed

for voting was so short (lasting only 5–15 s) that fewer than half of the Democratic

representatives were able to vote; many reportedly pushed the voting button as hard as
possible but it did not register.Four Republican representatives voted against the bill.On

February 25, following rumors that the Capitol building would be closed and the protesters

moved out, the head of the state's largest police union issued a statement urging Governor

Walker to keep the Capitol open.Jim Palmer, the executive director of the Wisconsin

Professional Police Association, went on to state that his organization stood with the

protesters, despite the fact that law enforcement officers were exempt from the budget

repair bill's collective bargaining changes.Palmer then called on off-duty officers to sleep in

the Capitol that evening.Later that day, the Department of Administration announced that

the Capitol building would remain open.On February 26, between 70,000 and 100,000

protested the proposed budget in Madison.They were joined by thousands at state capitals

around the nation.Out of state union supporters continued to join the protests to show their

support, with hundreds of protesters being bused by New York Teamsters.Appearing on

Meet the Press on February 27, Governor Walker said he did not believe the unions were

sincere in offering the pension and health care concessions because local unions had

recently pushed through contracts with school boards and city councils that did not include

contributions to the pensions and health care, and that in one case, the contract actually

included a pay increase.On February 27, it was reported by the media that Republican State

Senator Dale Schultz would not vote for the bill.However, Schultz refused to let his own

intentions be known regarding the bill; he had previously attempted a compromise budget

plan, which was rejected by Governor Walker.On February 28, Democratic Representative

Gordon Hintz formally apologized for threatening remarks made to Republican

Representative Michelle Litjens on the Assembly floor following the vote.

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