The rally was the largest of the week-long series of events, by far. If legislators truly care what the citizens think, they had to notice. The buses began arriving at the Capitol early, long before the rally. The throngs of machinists, musicians, ironworkers, firefighters and others were ready to create some noise. The estimates ranged from 7,000 to 12,000; but, whatever the actual number was, it was impressive.
"Working families didn't create this mess, and we are not just going to sit by and get blamed for it", 
came the call from IAM General Vice President Gary Allen. "We didn't walk away with billions in bonuses and tax breaks, and we shouldn't have to pay for their mess. Working families are not the enemy". The crowd of nearly 10,000 cheered, a huge crowd, and it was a weekday! They were determined to have their voices heard.
“We do not have a budget deficit,” Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, one of the rally’s main organizers, told the crowd. “We have a social services deficit, we have a jobs deficit, we have a revenue deficit, and we have a deficit of leadership.”
Dan Twohig, a worker from the state ferry system said "corporations walk away with billions of taxpayer dollars every year, while working families are forced to make do with less and less. The state would do well to stop attacking the workers, we aren't the ones with the money.”
Wisconsin state Sen. Spencer Coggs, one of "Wisconsin 14," got the biggest applause. He said it was labor groups across the country who “had our backs.”
The rally appeared to be the largest at the Capitol in a decade. The crowd displayed signs calling for fairness and sharing of the pain caused by corporate excesses, legislative blindness, and the lack of sensibility in trade policies.
Protesters hoped to remind lawmakers of who they truly work for, and force them to think of the faces in the crowd as they made decisions affecting the next two-year budget.
The state budget is a mess, but the people being asked to bear the brunt of repairing it aren't the ones who put the billions into their bank accounts. Federal budgets, state budgets, counties and cities are all in trouble; but instead of fixing the problem, they appear to be more interested in pointing the finger at the victims.
This day in Olympia might have been the day when sensible citizens, the progressives who yearn for a tomorrow where their children have a chance, finally found their voice. Ten thousand voices is a good start, and it is long overdue - let's hope they all vote
