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Early this morning, the Wisconsin State Assembly abruptly cut off 60 hours of discussion over the controversial budget proposal to undermine unions by taking a vote. The 1 am vote of 51 to 17 in the Republican controlled lower house was, according to the LA Times, “taken so quickly that most Democrats didn’t have a chance to vote.” Democratic Assembly members were so enraged that they screamed at GOP members as they filed out with police protection. Democratic State Senators are still staying out of the state to avoid a vote in the Senate. Union members of all stripes, unified by the assault on workers have been camping out at the State House for days now. Their movement has been fueled by the recent prank call made by a journalist posing as billionaire Tea Party financier David Koch to Republican Governor Scott Walker who has led the union-busting measure. Walker’s penchant for the top 1% wealthiest of America was on full display in the 20-minute phone conversation that has gone viral online. The prank elicited damning remarks, including Walker expressing an interest in taking “Koch” up on his offer to fly Walker out to California for a good time after the protesters were silenced.

GUEST: Bill Fletcher, co-founder of the Center for Labor Renewal and author of the book “Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice,” an editorial board member of BlackCommentator.com, and Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies