What happened in Wisconsin tonight  —  Here's what just happened in Wisconsin: The rules of the state's Senate require a quorum for any measures that spend money.  That's how the absence of the Senate's Democrats could stymie Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget law — it spent money, and thus it needed a quorum.

Breaking: Without Democrats Present, Wisconsin Senate Voting on Largely-Intact Budget Repair Bill  —  Update 7:33 p.m.: As I was writing this up, the state senate voted 18-1 to pass the bill described below.  —  Update 7:38 p.m.: Wisconsin senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald confirms …

Anti-Public Employee Bill Passes Senate in Wisconsin; Only the Beginning of the Fight  —  Wisconsin's Capitol dome in Madison (photo: WxMom)  —  If you've been following along in my last post, you know the news: the Wisconsin State Senate rushed through and passed a bill …

Protesters are locking the Capitol doors shut from the inside using metal handcuffs, Meade reports from the scene.  —  He told me that just now, by phone.  He got out, and is warning others not to go in.  Obviously, it's a terrible fire hazard to make it so people cannot get out of the building easily.

Why I'm Fighting in Wisconsin  —  We can avoid mass teacher layoffs and reward our best performers.  But we have to act now.  —  In 2010, Megan Sampson was named an Outstanding First Year Teacher in Wisconsin.  A week later, she got a layoff notice from the Milwaukee Public Schools.

WI Senate GOP Leader Admits On-Air That His Goal Is To Defund Labor Unions, Hurt Obama's Reelection Chances  —  A prank call from a man purporting to be petrochemical billionaire David Koch to Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) a few weeks ago revealed that Walker had crafted his “budget repair” bill in a bid to crush the labor unions.

Wis. GOP bypasses Dems, cuts collective bargaining  —  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate succeeded in voting Wednesday to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers, after Republicans outmaneuvered the chamber's missing Democrats and approved an explosive proposal …

GOP rams anti-union bill through Wis. Senate  —  End run around Democratic senators who left state to prevent passage  —  Below:  —  NBC News and msnbc.com  —  MADISON, Wis. — Republicans pushed a provision stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights through …

Wisconsin Senate Limits Bargaining by Public Workers  —  CHICAGO — The bitter political standoff in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker's bid to sharply curtail collective bargaining for public-sector workers ended abruptly Wednesday night as Republican colleagues in the State Senate successfully maneuvered …

Republican Wisconsin senators bypass Democrats in vote on collective bargaining  —  Senate Republicans abruptly passed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's plan to sharply curtail collective-bargaining rights for public employees Wednesday night, using a legislative maneuver to approve …

France recognises Libyan rebels  —  Rebels have been engaged in fierce fighting with government troops trying to regain the initiative  —  France has become the first country to recognise the Libyan rebel leadership, the National Libyan Council (NLC), as the country's legitimate government.