Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and Columbia University Professor Dorian Warren both say the best way to solve the nation’s economic crisis is to grow the middle class rather than allowing wealth to concentrate in fewer and fewer hands. Unions, they say, will play a vital role politically and economically in building a strong middle class.

O'Malley and Warren spoke on a conference call with reporters Friday to counter recent attacks by Republican lawmakers on workers and their unions.

Check out this great video from our team here that pulls together some of the many moments of people power in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states where governors and state legislatures are trying to take away the right of public employees to bargain for good middle-class jobs. It gives a glimpse of the huge outpouring of nationwide support and solidarity for workers under siege by lawmakers who are bought and paid for by billionaire CEOs like the Koch brothers.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) claims that it just isn’t enough that Wisconsin’s nurses, teachers, snowplow drivers and other public service workers have agreed to his proposed economic concessions to help fix the state’s budget.