An Injury To One Is An Injury To All

In case anyone thought Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's "Budget Repair Bill" was actually about the budget, think gain. The state's public employee unions have agreed to the wage and benefit cuts asked for by the governor. But Governor Walker will not budge on his true priorities in the bill--dismantling the unions by stripping away collective bargaining rights and the ability to negotiate benefits and working conditions.

This should come as a surprise to no one. The right wing has made no secret that public employee unions are their next target. After destroying the labor movement in the private sector over the last 30 years, the public sector is the logical next step. But keep in mind, this assault on unions has almost nothing to do with state budget deficits and everything to do with destroying the last bits of organization and power in the working class.

What may have surprised a lot of people is how hard the workers have fought back. The pushback against union-busting Republican governors is spreading to other states in the Midwest, and solidarity rallies in support of the Wisconsin workers are taking place all over the country. There should be no doubt that the fight taking place in Wisconsin is not merely a Wisconsin issue. It really is about whether there will continue to be a middle class in this country or whether the right will mop up the last organized resistance to plutocracy.

Today, I will be at a solidarity march and rally in downtown DC. (Here it is on Facebook.) We are meeting outside the DC offices of Koch Industries. The Koch brothers are the right-wing billionaires who backed Gov. Walker's campaign, funded "Americans for Prosperity," and the Tea Party in general. We'll then march over to the Wisconsin Governor's DC office.

If you're in the area, come on down. If not, you can follow me on Twitter, where I'll be posting live updates.