Governor Scott Walker is afraid. He’s so afraid that he’s talking about the National Guard to put down what he thinks state workers’ reaction will be for his attempts to pay for his tax breaks for millionaires by gutting their pensions, cutting their benefits, and forbidding them their right to bargain collectively. What worries me most is that US National Guard troops have not always shown the same restraint Egypt’s military recently has. Do you remember Kent State? If killing government workers will help the rich, that’s OK with the Republican leadership.

Last month, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said that if employees strike, “they should be fired,” and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) wrote in an op-ed that the moral case for unions “does not apply to public employment [Murdoch delinked].” Now, facing a $137 million budget deficit, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has proposed a “ budget repair bill ” that would severely limit collective bargaining , eliminate the right of unions to negotiate pensions, retirement and benefits. Walker is facing fierce criticism for this all-out assault against state workers, especially after he insisted that the “ National Guard ” will be used against a walkout: When asked by a reporter what will happen if workers resist, Walker replied that he would call out the National Guard. He said that the National Guard is “prepared…for whatever the governor, their commander-in-chief, might call for. … I am fully prepared for whatever may happen.” Traditionally, the National Guard is called to assist Americans in times of crisis; so Walker’s attempt to use the National Guard as a tool to suppress dissent is particularly deplorable… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Ed Schultz covered this story very well in two segments of last nights show. In the first, he gives an overview and interviews two school teachers.

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In The second, he interviews Wisconsin AFL-CIO President, Paul Neuenfeldt about union busting through budget cuts.

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