Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

Imagine a plant in your state announcing it was closing and taking 5,000 jobs with it. That is the shock to the economy that Arizona can expect with budget bills introduced yesterday by the Republican tea party majority legislature. The bills were rushed through committee hearings with less than 24 hours notice to the public. The 5,000 state jobs cut or lost through attrition is just the start of it. Here are some other lowlights of the GOP proposed budget:

UPDATE: Metro DC Communications Director Chris Garlock send us this more detailed report from this afternoon’s actions.

Chanting “Whose America? Our America!” as many as 700 labor and community activists turned out in force earlier this afternoon outside the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), shutting down Woodley Rd. with an impromptu sit in and brief takeover take-over of the Mariott Wardman Park Hotel driveway.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) will get a warm labor union, progressive welcome tomorrow at its annual conference in Washington. D.C., and we will keep you updated with a live Twitter feed ( hashtag #OccupyCPAC ) courtesy of  Metropolitan Washington [D.C.] Council AFL-CIO.

This week in Washington, D.C., thousands of conservative, very conservative and downright OMG extreme conservative activists will gather for the Conservative Political Action Committee’s (CPAC) annual choir session.