Ceramics 271 Journal
Ceramics 271 Journal
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
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
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
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
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