It would only have been news if Republicans had fled the state or better yet, George W. Bush had declared war on a country without Congressional approval - even Dennis Kucinich and Michael Hippocrite Moore are pitching fits and no one is covering that either.

"'This is a defense against an oppressive majority,' said House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer at the Comfort Suites in Urbana, Ill., where Democrats have been staying for the past month."

So, a supporter of state-enforced compulsory membership in a labor union is a defender against an oppressive majority? Curious.

Talk about sore losers! I doubt the Dems ever have qualms about being an "oppressive majority" when they are in charge. Why is the daily fine only $350 a day? It should be $3,500!!

This is not "extremism". Extremism is taking away the rights of the people and destroying the education system to protect tax cuts for the rich and the corporations. What the democrats are doing is fighting for everyone who has a stake in a livable society for everyone; not just the people in the country clubs.

At my Ohio college, the full-time faculty is saying what "justice" says above. The part-time faculty (not country clubbers) are looking at life and their paychecks (often from more than one institution as they scrabble to stay alive) and say that Democrats are not fighting for them, just for the people in public service unions. Since states are in arrears, the alternative to cutting state budgets is to raise taxes. Everyone is already hurting from inflationary pressures on the cost of things like gasoline food. Those who are not protected by union contracts do not have automatic cost of living increases in their pay and wonder why they have to pay more to provide those pay increases for unionized public sector employees. Justice, it is simply another kind of club.

The Democrats' attack is not on the state, but on all who pay taxes and will (voluntarily, of course) have to make up budgetary shortfalls. Collective bargaining (among other things) has made those in unions a protected class. Most Americans are not sympathetic to government protecting certain classes of people.

As to schools: The people are looking at a public school system that no longer produces educated citizens and and are looking at why that is true. They see unions protecting the status quo. Even if the people could afford to pay for the system as it is run now, they would be asking questions.

I used to be questioning if you would like to be a visitor poster on my web site? and in trade you may embody a hyperlink your post? Please reply when you get an opportunity and I will send you my contact particulars - thanks. Anyway, in my language, there aren't much good source like this.