According to a tweet by Sarah Palin, she is not being paid for her attendance at a Tea Party rally in Madison, Wisconsin today.
There have been weeks of protest in Madison's capital square ever since Governor Scott Walker introduced his budget repair bill, which ends collective bargaining for many state workers and requires state workers to contribute to their own retirement funds.
Immediately after the bill was announced, thousands and then tens of thousands flocked to the capitol building. Some people slept in the capitol for weeks. The Madison Public Schools were closed for three days as protests continued at the capitol. Progressive talk-show and radio host Ed Schultz brought his show to Madison and aired his show live from the Wisconsin capital.
Walker's bill passed in both the Wisconsin Assembly and Wisconsin Senate, both times amidst chaos and shouts of "shame" from Democrats and citizens in the capitol.
Illinois US Senator Dick Durbin started a petition on his website supporting the Wisconsin 14. The "Wisconsin 14" are the 14 Democratic State Senators who left Wisconsin in order to try to prevent the Senate the quorum needed to vote on Walker's bill. The text on Durbin's website read: "An assault on unions anywhere is an assault on working families everywhere. That's why we must let the "Wisconsin 14" know working families across the country stand with them as they boycott against Governor Scott Walker's assault on Americans' hard-earned collective bargaining rights. Add your name to our petition today."
