Democratic House lawmakers in Indiana walked out again to protest a right-to-work bill, after there were signs of a deal on a vote this week. Republicans in the House approved $1,000-a-day fines for the lawmakers. Understand that in Indiana, legislators only make about $23,000 a year.

Dayen gives his assessment of yesterday’s election results. Election Day 2011 is over, and the victories for Democrats – and more accurately, for liberal values – across the country largely shared a characteristic – they were successful defensive actions to stave off extremely draconian conservative objectives.

For the financial elites and many of the world’s incumbent political leaders, their world is now safe from actual democracy.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a confidence vote today, and there’s a lot of confusion over the outcome and the aftermath. One set of reports says that he will lose the confidence vote, and that he’s being urged to resign prior to it. Another set says that there’s a deal in place for Papandreou to resign after the confidence vote passes, and that a unity government will be established before snap elections within a month. This is what the opposition New Democracy party has been seeking.

Greek Prime Minister Papandreou’s cabinet unanimously approved his call for a referendum on the proposed debt and austerity deal. It’s a way to pressure the creditors for more favorable terms or create the conditions for leaving the Euro.

The decision by the Greek Prime Minister to call for a national vote on the proposed European mechanism for reducing Greek sovereign debt, rescuing banks and imposing further austerity measures on Greece is shaking up national markets. Fear of a European financial breakdown and recession, which could carry over to the US, may make Obama’s reelection chances even more uncertain than it was.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced that he would hold a referendum on the latest austerity terms – and possibly even continued participation in the euro – a move that the rest of Europe looked upon with despair.

As we’ve seen with SB5, in Ohio citizens can gather signatures and put anything that the legislature passes and the Governor signs to a referendum, a kind of “citizens veto.” Until the measure gets a public vote, the law is suspended rather than being enacted. So SB 5 is not yet the law of the state, awaiting the outcome of the citizens veto.

Labor is fired up for this fight. As with the recalls in Wisconsin there is going to be a lot of money and effort poured into defeating this bill at the ballot box. It should be a good indicator of which way the wind is blowing heading into 2012.

The passage of SB5 in Ohio triggered a 90-day period where opponents could gather signatures to force a referendum, a “citizen veto” of the law, in November. The law does not take effect until the results of that referendum. Labor and progressive activists immediately went to work to try to overturn the law, which would severely limit collective bargaining rights in the state, eliminate the right to strike and even hit public safety positions like police and firefighters.