It's simple logic. When public employees have the choice of whether or not to pay union dues -- as opposed to having them automatically pulled from their paychecks -- the number of dues-paying union members shrinks. But these dramatic numbers out of Wisconsin are still remarkable:

The state's second-largest union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, had membership fall to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March 2011, the Journal said Thursday. The organization's Afscme Council 24, composed of state workers, fell more than two thirds to 7,100 from 22,300 last year.

A key reason that membership dropped was because the labor law, championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, forbids automatic collection of union dues. Instead, workers must voluntarily say that they want to continue paying dues to remain members of the union.

Union workers have also dropped out because of high pension and healthcare costs, and others believe that the unions are no longer influential.

More here

And all we've got is a liberal wuss from Ann Arbor whose "Reinvention" solution is nibbling around edges, relentless Kumbaya and expanding the role of fat Jim Blanchard EM's?