On the Weekly Standard blog over the weekend, former U.S. senator Spencer Abraham reminded us that the raucous situation in Wisconsin isn’t unique. Twenty years ago, Michigan went through a remarkably similar time when then-governor John Engler decided to start cutting taxes and spending:

As is the case in Wisconsin, the vested interests went nuts. Protest marches on Lansing were followed by huge demonstrations on the state capitol lawn. Soon Jesse Jackson arrived on the scene to lead the demonstrators and decry the “draconian” cuts that would most certainly lead to death and ruin. The more zealous protesters pitched tents on the capitol lawn and moved in. They named their impromptu community Englerville and asserted that the governor’s policies had made them homeless (although the evidence suggested that the inhabitants of the makeshift community were either already homeless, paid protesters, or volunteers who returned to their own homes after a few nights helping the cause). Soon nearly every piece of bad news in the state was being portrayed as stemming from Engler’s reckless changes.