Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Saturday rejected a compromise on a budget repair bill under which Democrats offered to accept cuts in health and pension benefits for public employees in exchange for retaining their right to bargain collectively.

Wall Street Journal

“Gov. Walker has repeatedly said that we won’t negotiate the budget,” Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Mr. Walker, said. The Democrats “should stop shirking their responsibilities” and “come back to Wisconsin to do their job.”

The rebuff comes on the fifth consecutive day of protests by public employee union members who were joined on Saturday by several thousand counter demonstrators from the tea party waving “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and shouting “Pass the bill!” Officials estimated the total number of people in and around the statehouse near 70,000.

The clash of ideologies and values between the groups made for a loud and rambunctious afternoon which saw red-faced protesters screaming at — and frequently past–one another.

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