From POLITICAL HOTSHEET at CBS NEWS:
As the conflict in Wisconsin shifts from a battle over budget deficits into an ideological debate, some high-profile Republicans — potential presidential contenders — are lining up behind Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
…snip…
Former Minnesota governor and possible presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty released a video today that uses dramatic music and quick cuts of protest footage to show support for Walker. At the end of the minute-long video, Pawlenty is shown on a news program saying, “It’s really important that America stand with Walker, stand with Wisconsin.”
Pawlenty also launched a petition on his political action committee website to gather public support for Walker.
…snip…
Pawlenty’s website fails to mention the unions’ willingness to compromise, or the fact that Wisconsin’s budget problems could be solved with other, non-controversial measures.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, another potential GOP presidential nominee, just published a public appeal on the conservative website Human Events for support for Walker.
…snip…
“In Madison, Wisconsin, we are witnessing a profound struggle between the right of the people to govern themselves and the power of entrenched, selfish interests to stop reforms and defy the will of the people,” Gingrich writes. “However, through a campaign of intimidation and cowardice, the government employee union bosses and the Democratic Party that is beholden to them, are trying to thwart the will of the people.”
He calls the conflict “one of the most important struggles in modern America,” as well as a “life and death struggle with the forces of the old order.”
Gingrich also notes that he was an early supporter of Walker’s and blasts President Obama for supporting the unions.
In an interview on CBSNews.com’s “Washington Unplugged” yesterday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he would advise Walker to “stand tall, stay firm.”
…snip…
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, meanwhile, is giving $5,000 to the Wisconsin Republican Party through his political action committee, Politico reports.
“Liberal big government interests are fighting efforts to rein in out-of-control public employee pay and benefits in Wisconsin,” Romney said in a statement today. “It is critical that we stand with the Wisconsin GOP as it stands up for the rights of the taxpayer.”
Yesterday, the Hotsheet reported on the support Walker has received from conservative groups like the Tea Party and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity.
…snip…
Walker said this week he communicates regularly with Republican Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Brian Sandoval of Nevada, suggesting he isn’t the only governor willing to take on public unions.
“There’s a lot of us new governors that got elected to do something big,” Walker said [during a prank phonecall he thought was from
his bossbillionaire David Koch] this week. “This is our moment.”Similar protests over anti-union bills have erupted in Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere, but not all Republican governors are following Walker’s lead. Yesterday, Indiana Republicans dropped their controversial bill after Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said it wasn’t worth pursuing at this point.
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
Right on the frontpage of http://www.gop.com you can donate to destroy unions.
Shameless greedy evil people…
either they can’t read polls, or they set this up so the koch brothers can make huge donations, and the rethugs can lie and say that the money came from millions of people.
The second. 😡
that’d be my guess.
“either they can’t read polls”
ha, nonnie!
i was just going to start off with my feeling sorry for Tim Pawlenty: the poor sob suffers from the WORST timing ever! in politics, that’s worse that palin-scale stupidity or bachmann-scale craziness. you can’t win with bad timing. he launched his tour at the wrong time, bachmann screwed up his Iowa tour and CPAC timing and now this.
the day Timmy announces support for Walker, even the Faux News poll shows 13 pt edge in support of unions vs Walker in WI poll. Lawrence O’Donnell just reported this on MSNBC an hour ago.
in short, LMAO
couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
~ L
timmeh is such a schlmiel, and he’s such an opportunistic asswipe that i can’t feel even a tiny bit sorry for him. he even looks like a weasel.
i never thought of myself as compassionate, nonnie, but there you have it! good morning. lmao yet again.
remember your Laverne and Shirley poster for Palin/Bachmann (we still have the protest one in our house and use it to block our pugs from the verbotten areas)? time to remake it for schlemiel/shlemuzel, or, better yet, schlemiel/mishuganah for the gov pair of Pawlenty/Walker as Lenny and Squiggy? (yeah, all my creative ideas ARE derivative 🙂
~ L
oh, c’mon, latte. admit it, you’re compassionate and empathetic. that’s why you could never be a rethug. 🙂
😆 you use my poster to scare the puppies? well, as long as it’s doing something to keep them safe, it’s okay. if you want a poster with timmeh and walker, i can do that. it won’t be lenny and squiggy, but i hope you’ll like my idea. i’ll use it for tonight’s post.
“..entrencheched, selfish interests”…(I had to read that back several times to know who he’s refering to). With everything going on these days, the clarion call from the Party of God is: Let the Culture Wars begin! Working people have been getting away with too much for too long. This must stop. We’ll start with a sixty hour work week for less pay. And we will thank them mightily until they kick it up to 80. Get those little kids back in the factories and mines. And then go back and remove all those pesky laws and regulations. One of the first dealt with sanitation (pee and shit in the water). The government just used its heavy hand in the matter claiming that all those foul things like dyptheria and typhus were making people sick and killing the kids. How dare they! Now word is going around that they want to make government small enough to place it in a womans uterus. Which brings us to the ultimate question to ask Bearwoman: “What is your opinion of all the unrest in Labia?
you’re so funny, jerry! 😆 i love how the rethugs love to talk about class warfare. they’re so tone-deaf. don’t they realize that there are a helluva lot more working people who are hurting out there than there are millionaires and billionaires? do they really think that the average joe (other than the plumber, of course) is going to feel sorry for the koch brothers?
Gingrich: “However, through a campaign of intimidation and cowardice, the government employee union bosses and the Democratic Party that is beholden to them, are trying to thwart the will of the people.” Interesting, huh? All those thousands of people protesting at the capital were union bosses and the Democratic Party? They’re people, Newt, people. Working class people – people you don’t come into contact with much and, perhaps, that’s why you didn’t recognize them. And using intimidation – is that what you call free speech, Newt? It’s ok when the Tea Party shows up in mass at the capital to complain about PPACA, but everyone else should just stay home and suck it up. Why are we still even aware of Gingrich on this planet? Stick a fork in him. He’s done.
well said, sds. the rethugs are sooooo pissed off that the protesters keep growing in numbers and dwarfing those of the teabaggers.
It’s amazing how these Kochsuckers can still frame the argument as protecting the people from the vested interests of the Union bosses and some people are still buying that shit.
the fact that the rethugs keep screaming louder and louder makes me believe that they know that they’re losing.
What a load of horse shit!
I see the Teacher’s Unions are in an uproar.
Gingrich is sure turning up the crazy. Maybe that’s good, because he has presidential hopes swirling in his head. He’s shooting himself in the foot for his presidential dreams, which of course would be our nightmare.
Go Newt! Knock yourself out (of the presidential race).
His whole “will of the people” schpeal seems to contradict the thousands of people in the streets protesting the plan to reduce the rights of Union Workers.
i think newtie knows that he’ll never be president, so he just tries to be relevant so he can sell books and get booked for speeches. he has to keep trying to out-crazy the crazy just so he can get some attention. the same goes for most of the others. they keep ratcheting up the insanity just so someone will tweet about them.