Taking a Page from the Republican Playbook

(Corrects Governor Pat Quinn's party affiliation in the second paragraph.)

The quest to control public worker benefits and wages has been defined this year by high-profile clashes over collective bargaining rights in Republican-dominated Wisconsin and Ohio. Now, in Illinois, it's the Democrats who find themselves playing the heavy when it comes to reducing the state's pension burden. Public sector unions, the party's traditional allies, have returned fire with a million-dollar ad campaign. Meanwhile, Democrats in states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts are pushing for similar concessions.