100,000 Protest for Union Rights in Wisconsin

AlJazeeraEnglish--February 20, 2011--Budget problems are forcing state governors across the US to propose drastic measures to balance the books. In the state of Wisconsin, roughly 100,000 people turned up for a fifth straight day of protests. Public sector workers accuse the state's Republican governor of using the crisis as a reason to attack their union rights. Roger Wilkison reports.


None of these public sector employees could figure out that it was in large part the private sector manufacturing jobs that payed thier wages. As those jobs where being destroyed by the tens of millions the public sector didn't think for one minute that the financing for thier wages was being shipped out of the country. The only thing they could see was what foreign made crap was on sale at Walmart? Class War 101, divide and conquer

Wisconsin Budget Battle

Feb. 18 2011 | Protests roll in Wisconsin, with Zac Schultz, WMTV reporter; Robert Reich, UC Berkeley; and Rep. Scott Suder, (R-WI).

Initial Jobless Claims Higher Than Expected

410,000 people filed for unemployment benefits during the week of February 12th. That's an uptick from the prior week's 383,000 filings, which was the lowest level in 2.5 years. Economists were spot-on in their projection of the latest claim number. Analysts attribute the latest rise to winter weather, which delayed the filing and processing of many claims.

The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 9.8%.