Obama joins Wisconsin's
budget battle, opposing Republican anti-union bill
By Brady Dennis and Peter Wallsten
Washington Post Staff
Writers
Friday, February 18, 2011; 12:00 AM
MADISON, WIS. - President Obama thrust himself and his political operation this
week into Wisconsin's broiling budget battle, mobilizing opposition Thursday to
a Republican bill that would curb public-worker benefits while planning similar
action in other state capitals.
Obama accused Scott Walker, the state's new Republican governor, of
unleashing an "assault" on unions in pushing emergency legislation that would
nullify collective-bargaining agreements that affect most public employees,
including teachers.
The president's political machine worked in close coordination Thursday with
state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather
in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals.
Their efforts began to spread, as thousands of labor supporters turned out
for a hearing in Columbus, Ohio, to protest a measure from Gov. John Kasich (R)
that would cut collective-bargaining rights.
By the end of the day, Democratic Party officials were working to organize
additional demonstrations in Ohio and Indiana, where an effort is underway to
trim benefits for public workers. Some union activists predicted similar
protests in Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Under Walker's plan, most public workers - excluding police, firefighters and
state troopers - would have to pay half of their pension costs and at least 12
percent of their health-care costs. They would lose bargaining rights for
anything other than pay. Walker, who took office last month, says the emergency
measure is needed to save $300 million over the next two years to help close a
$3.6 billion budget gap.
"Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where they're just making
it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally, seems like
more of an assault on unions," Obama told a Milwaukee television reporter,
taking the unusual step of inviting a local station into the White House for a
sit-down interview. "I think everybody's got to make some adjustments, but I
think it's also important to recognize that public employees make enormous
contributions to our states and our citizens."
The White House political operation, Organizing for America, got involved
Monday, after Democratic National Committee Chairman Timothy M. Kaine, a former
Virginia governor, spoke to union leaders in Madison, a party official said.
The group made phone calls, distributed messages via Twitter and Facebook,
and sent e-mails to its state and national lists to try to build crowds for
rallies Wednesday and Thursday, a party official said.
National Republican leaders, who have praised efforts similar to Walker's,
leapt to his defense.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio) issued a stern rebuke of the White House,
calling on Obama to wave off his political operation and stop criticizing the
governor.
"This is not the way you begin an 'adult conversation' in America about
solutions to the fiscal challenges that are destroying jobs in our country,"
Boehner said in a statement, alluding to the president's call for civility in
budget talks. "Rather than shouting down those in office who speak honestly
about the challenges we face, the president and his advisers should lead."
Unsustainable costs
The battle in the states underscores the deep philosophical and political
divisions between Obama and Republicans over how to control spending and who
should bear the costs.
By aligning himself closely with unions, Obama is siding with a core piece of
the Democratic Party base - but one that has chafed in recent weeks as the
president has sought to rebuild his image among centrist voters by reaching out
to business leaders.
Republicans see a chance to show that they're willing to make the tough
choices to cut spending and to challenge the power of public-sector unions,
which are the largest element of the labor movement and regularly raise tens of
millions of dollars for Democratic campaigns.
Governors in both parties are slashing once-untouchable programs, including
those covering education, health care for the poor and aid to local governments.
Some states, such as Illinois, have passed major tax increases.
States face a collective budget deficit of $175 billion through 2013. Many
experts say state tax revenue will not fully recover until the nation returns to
full employment, which is not likely for several years.
Beyond their short-term fiscal problems, many states face pension and retiree
health-care costs that some analysts say are unsustainable. Some states already
are curtailing retirement benefits for new employees, although many analysts say
it will take much more to bring their long-term obligations in line.
The huge debt burdens coupled with the impending termination of federal
stimulus aid later this year have spurred talk of the need for a federal
bailout. The White House has dismissed such speculation, saying states have the
wherewithal to raise taxes, cut programs and renegotiate employee contracts to
balance their books.
No-shows
In Wisconsin, Democratic senators were able to block the bill's passage
Thursday by not showing up for an 11 a.m. quorum call. Republicans hold a 19 to
14 edge in the Senate, but 20 votes are required for final passage.
"I don't know exactly where they are, but as I understand it they're
somewhere in Illinois," said Mike Browne, spokesman for Mark Miller, the state
Senate's Democratic leader.
Democratic legislators in Texas employed a similar tactic in 2003 to try to
stop a controversial redistricting plan that gave Republicans more seats in
Congress. It passed a couple of months later.
The organized protest at the state Capitol drew an estimated 25,000 people,
and long after the quorum call, thousands remained on the grounds, from children
in strollers to old ladies in wheelchairs.
Inside the Capitol, the scene late Thursday night was part rock concert, part
World Cup match, part high school pep rally and part massive slumber party.
The smell of sweat and pizza drifted through the building's marbled halls. A
drum circle formed inside the massive rotunda, and scores of university students
danced jubilantly to the rhythm. There were clanging cow bells and twanging
guitars, trumpets and vuvuzelas.
Outside, another throng had gathered to cheer and chant before the television
cameras, and to break constantly into the crowd's favorite anthem, "Kill the
bill! Kill the bill!" And everywhere were signs, each with its own dose of
disdain for Scott Walker's budget bill: "Scotty, Scotty, flush your bill down
the potty." "Walker's Plantation, open for business." "You will never break our
union."
Many of the protesters, such as 51-year-old Laurie Bauer, had been on hand
since Tuesday, with no plans to leave until the issue is resolved.
"It's one thing about the money. We'd be willing to negotiate the money,"
said Bauer, a library media specialist at Parker High School in Janesville. But
"he's trying to take away our human rights. … I don't want my kids living in a
state like that."
Loren Mikkelson, 37, held the same position - budget cuts are negotiable, but
collective bargaining rights are not.
"We can meet in the middle. We're willing to give. … He's acting like we've
never given anything; we've given," said Mikkelson, a airfield maintenance
worker who said he has endured furloughs and pay cuts in his county job. "We
just want a voice."
Implications for Obama
The state-level battles and Obama's decision to step into the fray illustrate
how the budget choices state leaders are facing probably will have direct
implications for the president's political standing.
Wisconsin and Ohio are likely battlegrounds for Obama's re-election effort.
Mobilizing Organizing for America around the budget fights could help kick-start
a political machinery that has been largely stagnant since the 2008 campaign and
reignite union activists who have expressed some disappointment with Obama.
But by leaping in to defend public workers, the president risks alienating
swing voters in those states and nationwide who are sympathetic to GOP governors
perceived as taking on special interests to cut spending.
Obama, in his comments to the Wisconsin TV reporter, tried to walk a fine
line - noting that he, too, has taken on the unions.
"We had to impose a freeze on pay increases on federal workers for the next
two years as part of my overall budget freeze," he said. "I think those kinds of
adjustments are the right thing to do."
Walker, meanwhile, called his proposals "modest" and appeared to be trying to
show distance between public employees and workers employed by private
companies, who he said expressed support for his policies during visits he made
to manufacturing plants this week.
"Many of the companies I went by, like so many others across the state, don't
have pensions, and the 401(k)s they have over the last year or two, they've had
to suspend the employer contribution," Walker told Milwaukee radio station WTMJ.
"So, not a lot of sympathy from these guys in private-sector manufacturing
companies who I think reflect a lot of the workers in the state who say what
we're asking for is pretty modest."
dennisb@washpost.com wallstenp@washpost.com
Wallsten reported from Washington. Staff writer Michael A. Fletcher in
Washington contributed to this report.