Editor's note: The Heritage Foundation's Conn Carroll sums up the Wisconsin victory yesterday in typically adroit fashion – his article is excerpted below – please follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Bravery and Common Sense Prevail in Wisconsin
By Conn Carroll
In what Reuters is calling “a confrontation with unions that could be the biggest since then President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers nearly 30 years ago,” the Wisconsin Senate approved a scaled-down version of Governor Scott Walker's (R) budget-repair bill last night that would rein in government union collective bargaining powers.
After securing approval from three widely respected nonpartisan agencies-the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Legislative Council, and the Legislative Reference Bureau-Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald removed the appropriations measures from Walker's budget, thus eliminating the need for any of the 14 truant Democratic Senators to be present for the vote. The State Assembly will take up the new version of the bill at 11 a.m. today, and if it passes, Walker will have achieved a significant victory for taxpayers everywhere.
The courage of the Wisconsin Senate conservatives cannot be understated. Before the vote, lawmakers were threatened with death and physical violence. After the vote, thousands of protesters stormed into the capitol building, ignoring announcements from police that the building was closed.
