Some quick observations -
Walker is attempting to break the current stalemate with the threat of layoffs; furthermore, there is a Friday deadline for refinancing $165 million of debt - the single largest financial component of the budget repair plan (http://www.jsonline.com/business/116632753.html<http://www.jsonline.com/business/116632753.html>). There is also some degree of confusion about how exactly the concessions demanded from teachers will actually affect state and local budgets; either way, the administration's justification for undoing collective bargaining rights for teacher unions is that the state will likely reduce funding to districts by $500 *per pupil* and individual districts need to be able to push drastic changes (layoffs) without resistance. With his credibility compromised recently, it will be interesting to see how he follows through with his layoff threats.
Some of the demonstrations, while smaller, have been more targeted (e.g. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the local Koch office) while general demonstrations around and inside the capitol continue. There are constant rumors that the capitol will be cleared of occupiers on this or that night - the latest is that, according to an exchange between a reporter and somebody (?) from capitol police, the capitol police may attempt to retake the capitol at 2am on Sunday morning, but many such rumors have passed without incident.
It had been encouraging to see how the signs and posters evolved over last weekend to be more aggressive and less personal. On wednesday 2/16 it seemed like many of the signs and chants were about how terrible Scott Walker was; by saturday and sunday, a larger proportion of signs, chants, and conversations were infused with messages of class, solidarity, and more cogent, organized attacks on the bill - we saw signs that read "World Wide Class War", "working class kicking ass", "Class warfare, ground zero madison", "got class warfare?" (after the Got Milk? add campaign - perhaps regional?), "This is what class-consciousness looks like!" and "This is what class warfare looks like!" (each of these possibly modeled after the call and answer chant "tell me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like!"). I'm excited to see how, if it all, things have changed when I return Friday evening.
I'm sure LBO-sters have heard about a regional AFL group's endorsement of a general strike (they can't call the strike) - for more see http://www.scfl.org/ - note that their opposition to the bill is not limited to the collective bargaining language but also extends to attacks on medical assistance, funding for school districts, etc.
In my own neck of the woods, the teacher lounges where I work are filled with relevant highlighted, underlined, and bookmarked literature. Last week, one teacher emailed several others, addressing them as "comrades" - tongue-in-cheek, I'm sure, but still caused me to do a double take. There are occasional blanket emails coordinating carpools to madison (4 hrs). one of the district principals (sympathetic to the unions) warned some of the support staff (guidance, nurses, social workers, etc) that if the bill passes they should trust none of the administrators, including himself.
As for the Pizza, it's hard to get sick of Ian's. Furthermore, there was (as of Monday night) a whole hall devoted to community food, much of which actually looked edible - not sure how it looks now.
Perhaps others who have been there can update us on the tenor of things over the past couple days. I'd love to hear some other perceptions.
joshua
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 3:47 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Feb 24, 2011, at 4:42 PM, Joshua Morey wrote:
>
> > Who has been spending time in Madison? It might be fun to meet, share
> > analyses, etc, this weekend.
> >
> > I apologize if this is poor web etiquette.
>
> It's not at all. Quite the contrary.
>
> So what's new in Madtown these days?
>
> Doug
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>