The overhaul of collective bargaining in Ohio, much like Wisconsin, could put federal transportation money in jeopardy, costing the state much of its $171 million annual haul. So this hardly has anything to do with the budget. Instead, it’s part of a pattern of new right-wing governors taking advantage of their opportunities to force through ideological policy they have long sought.

Libyans who planned to protest in Tripoli after Friday prayers were met with gunfire as they left their mosques.

The Wisconsin State Senate “engrossed” the budget repair bill today, which includes the provision to strip the collective bargaining rights for public employees. This means that the bill, which came from the Assembly, can no longer be amended.

If Obama assumed the economy was growing steadily, he might have thought it could easily handle some immediate cuts that are basically just PR stunts to show how “serious” Obama is about the deficit. Given that the economy isn’t as strong, this, as well as previously sought immediate cuts, are going to be more damaging.

Thousands of people have turned out in Madison today to protest the budget repair bill, which passed the State Assembly in a wildcat vote Thursday night. Members of several unions, most prominently the Plumbers and Steamfitters union of Madison and Milwaukee, were out in force. Madison schools are closed today, so many teachers and students are out as well. And while labor has brought numbers, the students really kicked this all off and still are the nominal leaders of this movement. The local teaching assistant’s association at UW-Madison has done a lot of the ground-level organizing work as well. It’s odd yet inspiring to see students walking and leading the crowd in union chants.

The High Court in Spain has decided that it can proceed with its investigation of the torture that Lahcen Ikassrien alleges he suffered at Gitmo.

Assembly Republicans, after calling for and casting a quick vote on the budget repair bill at 1:00 in the morning, then immediately ran out of the Rotunda, escaping the protesters as they were waking up to the news.

Even with the al Maliki government imposing a curfew on Baghdad, raiding organizers offices, and warning that protests might be the site of car bombs or might be the work of “Saddamists” and “Al Qaeda,” thousands gathered in the streets across Iraq to demand clean water, food, electricity and an end to corruption.

It should come as no surprise that Paul Broun wouldn’t angrily dismiss the question, “Who’s going to shoot Obama?” — because I believe he was the first elected Republican to publicly compare Obama to Hitler.

In which I ask the question: If Stephen Colbert won’t show you Mike Huckabee squirming, can we really hope that anyone in the “serious” media will?