CHICAGO — Mark Twain famously once said, “I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up.” Twain could have been speaking of President Obama.

While campaigning in South Carolina in 2007, President Obama proclaimed his support for workers being denied collective bargaining rights. “I’d put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself, I'll will walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States of America,” said then candidate Barack Obama.

Yet, with an eye towards the 2012 elections, Obama’s promise to join the picket line has yet to materialize. Is it indecision? Is it fear? Is it political calculation? Is it all of the above?

This morning, the President finally spoke up for unions in his speech to governors around the country, warning them not vilify public workers, in wake of big labor protests in Wisconsin and Ohio. “I don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or when their rights are infringed upon," he said.

His last statement of support for unions took place nearly two weeks ago when he told a Milwaulkee TV station, "Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions.”

But is it too little, too late for the President’s political base? After all, organized labor spent more than $100 million in 2008 getting him elected. Where is his show of appreciation?

Big Labor may not be the only ones displeased with the President.

According to the last Gallup poll taken Wednesday, his numbers have taken a nose-dive in all 50 states. From a 63% approval rating in June 2009, Obama’s numbers have dropped off the proverbial cliff to 46%.

Could it be that Americans don’t respect perceived indecision – whether the issue is foreign or domestic? Could it be because President Obama is not leading world and domestic events but, rather, watching them?

Much like his foreign policy approach in the Middle East, President Obama has taken a wait-and-see approach to the union standoff against Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin and the fight for the state’s survival amid a budget shortfall that ranges, according to Politifact, somewhere between $137 million and $340 million.

Decades of political pork and state pension mandates have pushed states like Wisconsin, California, and Illinois to the brink of bankruptcy. After two weeks of labor protest, Walker shows no signs of caving. The union bosses show no signs of caving.

Liberal pundits have continued to distort the state’s financial picture, attempting to paint Walker as manipulative. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow even claimed that Wisconsin was actually on track to have a budget surplus this year. Why would an MSNBC host risk being so sloppy with the numbers? Because a lot is at stake: In their view, Walker’s bill is an uppercut to the union till and its influence in Democrat political elections.

The Wisconsin bill would change the automatic deduction of union dues from state employee paychecks. In the Wall Street Journal, John Fund cites an example of what happened when the Transport Workers Union in New York lost the right to the collection in 2007. Their union coffers plummeted 35% and the practice was quickly reinstituted in 18 months. It seems that, when given a choice, state workers didn’t always choose the union.

Is this the collective bargaining “right” that labor protesters are really standing up for?

Let’s see.

For progressives, it is important to frame what is taking place in Wisconsin as an attack on “rights.” After all, if it is a ‘right” how dare anyone take it away? In the American historical tradition, once you’ve successfully framed the debate in terms of “rights,” you win. For example, animals now have rights. In some states, unborn human fetuses don’t and these “rights,” or lack thereof, vary from state to state. The Founding Fathers believed in the “natural rights” of man. However, since America’s founding, other rights have been since been added and, it seems to some, should also be considered “natural,” including collective bargaining.

My parents were both Chicago public school teachers so I understand what it means to be in a union household. I watched my mom and dad at the kitchen table with a stack of bills, always worried and concerned about the future.  However, I also know that this “pro-union” argument isn’t all about workers’ rights, their worries or concerns.

Conservatives also don’t view the Wisconsin debate in terms of “rights.” They believe that the real fight is about power, power that threatens what they perceive to be meaningful financial reform. They believe what is taking place in Wisconsin is about fundamentally changing government e.g. putting an end to unfunded mandates, the ability to privatizing services, instituting merit-based pay for teachers, and for the right for workers to choose or not to choose to be part of the union and, forceably, have your collected dues fund political causes or candidacies you may or may not believe in.

In 2009, the Wisconsin legislature implemented a law that expanded collective bargaining rights and lifted existing limits on teacher raises. For Walker, he is fighting back against this expansion of union power as it limits or prevents meaningful reform.

This is the critical debate taking place in bankrupt or suffering states across America now and it will determine whether the status quo remains in tact. Both sides – conservative and progressive – have taken a stand.

The only one who hasn’t been taken a stand on the issue is President Obama.

What could be the reason is that Obama has chosen to hide his union label? Maybe it has something to do with his prodigious quantity of mind. Or maybe he's just chicken.

Conservative satirist and commentator William J. Kelly is also a contributor to Breitbart.com and edits the Tea Party Reports for the Washington Times Communities. He is a native from Chicago's Southside.

Email questions to him at williamjkellyrebuild@gmail.com.

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Read more of Bill Kelly's Truth Squad in The Communities at the Washington Times.