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Arguing for passage, Republicans outrageously claimed worker are too powerful. Opponents call the measure unjust and unconscionable, stripping them of hard-won rights. Independent observers expect an anti-Republican backlash.
Democrats vow to re-fight the measure by ballot referendum this fall. Unions call the law the biggest blow to public worker rights since 1983 legislation protected them.
On March 2, Washington Post writer Greg Sargent headlined, "Four national polls show solid support for public employees" by a nearly two-to-one margin for collective bargaining rights.
Senate Democrat Nina Turner said, "This bill seeks to vilify our public employees and turn what used to be the virtue of public service into a crime."
Hardball in Wisconsin
Addressing the state legislature on March 1, Walker announced $1.7 billion in budget cuts over the next two years, hammering school districts, teachers and social services, the same scheme playing out across America - rewarding corporate favorites and the wealthy at the expense of ordinary workers.
Class warfare is alive, spreading and deepening, inflicting enormous harm on working Americans losing out, mostly affecting low-income employees, many already earning poverty-level wages.
In Wisconsin, proposed cuts will heavily impact education, deny healthcare to those uninsured, and increase tuition cost at state universities. State worker jobs, wages and benefits are also affected, Walker claiming overall pay and benefit compensation is "out of line with the private sector" when, in fact, it's nearly 5% less on average.
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