The bill that restricts collective bargaining for public service unions has been passed in the Wisconsin Senate and the protesters were carried out of the capital building by Madison police, while Wisconsin Republicans receive death threats and there are rumblings of a general strike.
There is no question that this is a front in a larger war. How bad it will get is anyone’s guess, but the unions big shots are well aware of what is at stake. That’s why so much outside money and so many outside agitators have been thrown into the fight. It’s also why Democrat senators have been so desperate to get their way that they’ve taken the unprecedented step (at least, as far as I know) of leaving the state rather than let the democratic process go forward in the usual manner. And although President Obama has been silent lately (as is often his wont), he tends to go quiet while letting others do the dirty work for him.