I'm a bit late to the party, but late this afternoon, a Wisconsin judge struck down the collective bargaining rights-stripping law, Act 10. Unfortunately, the law is still in place for state workers, but city, county and school workers now have their rights back.
The judge claimed that Act 10 created different classes of workers in part by excluding police and firefighters. The judge found that the state had no reason to limit the wages that these public workers could bargain while allowing other employees to bargain for larger salaries.
The case can still go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for appeal, but today was a win for democracy and workers rights in Wisconsin. It's just another case that shows Walker and his Tea Party legislators went way too far, creating far too many unconstitutional laws to limit the rights of particular citizens.
Showing posts with label collective bargaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collective bargaining. Show all posts
Friday, September 14, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Right-to-Work May Really Be Coming to Wisconsin
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's outright refusal to deny Tom Barrett's accusation that Walker would sign Right-to-Work legislation in the debates has made many people believe that Walker plans to make Wisconsin a Right-to-Work state, even though he says he has no "interest." Last year, Walker was asked point blank how he would make Wisconsin a Right-to-Work state by Diane Hendricks, Walker's biggest donor and who also pays $0 state taxes. Walker replied that he would "divide and conquer" starting with the public workers. Then, less than a month later, he "dropped the bomb," stripping public workers of their right to collectively bargain. There's only one thing left to do in Walker's plan to strip the rights of everyone through Right-to-Work.
Now, the Journal Sentinel has already begun priming the public by doing a PolitiFact on what should be an irrelevant statement about Right-to-Work, and they put it on their front page. Jeff Fitzgerald, a rights stripper, said that Minnesota was a Right-to-Work state, but PolitiFact corrected him. Honestly, if Right-to-Work isn't coming to Wisconsin, why should we be concerned with such a tangential lie, especially one so little publicized and so easily looked up? The Republicans lie all of the time, and that's the lie PolitiFact decided to cover?
There are far more critical and convoluted lies that PolitiFact should be addressing. Instead, by addressing the Right-to-Work lie about Minnesota, the Journal Sentinel was able to begin framing the debate on Right-to-Work. The real lie in the interview that PolitiFact should be correcting is that stripping public workers of collective bargaining rights was "a middle ground," which they repeat with no statements addressing the truthfulness. Through the PolitiFact, the Journal Sentinel is promoting the idea that stripping the rights of public workers was "middle ground," and therefore prepping the public for Right-to-Work, which is just to the right of that "middle ground," not far-right hillbilly feed where it really is.
Republicans, Right-to-Work is regulation! Not only that it regulates individual rights.
Now, the Journal Sentinel has already begun priming the public by doing a PolitiFact on what should be an irrelevant statement about Right-to-Work, and they put it on their front page. Jeff Fitzgerald, a rights stripper, said that Minnesota was a Right-to-Work state, but PolitiFact corrected him. Honestly, if Right-to-Work isn't coming to Wisconsin, why should we be concerned with such a tangential lie, especially one so little publicized and so easily looked up? The Republicans lie all of the time, and that's the lie PolitiFact decided to cover?
There are far more critical and convoluted lies that PolitiFact should be addressing. Instead, by addressing the Right-to-Work lie about Minnesota, the Journal Sentinel was able to begin framing the debate on Right-to-Work. The real lie in the interview that PolitiFact should be correcting is that stripping public workers of collective bargaining rights was "a middle ground," which they repeat with no statements addressing the truthfulness. Through the PolitiFact, the Journal Sentinel is promoting the idea that stripping the rights of public workers was "middle ground," and therefore prepping the public for Right-to-Work, which is just to the right of that "middle ground," not far-right hillbilly feed where it really is.
Republicans, Right-to-Work is regulation! Not only that it regulates individual rights.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wisconsin: Scott Walker's "Laboratory for Conservative Ideas"
What's next for Wisconsin now that Scott Walker survived his recall election?
Out-of-state corporate and rich donors own Scott Walker now that they gave him ~66% of his $30.5 million to hoodwink the state, not to mention the more than $16 million spent by outside pro-Walker groups. And these numbers are likely to increase as the final tallies are made. Even though Walker lost his party's control of the State Senate and didn't gain many votes for his rights stripping and unlimited campaign financing, receiving nearly the same percentage of votes as he did in 2010, we know Walker will act like he got a mandate.
We should be proud of what we were able to accomplish against such odds. Walker didn't receive the mandate that he wanted with all of his money, and by losing a majority in the State Senate with recalls this past year, we were able to slow Walker's reddening of Wisconsin. However, Walker won't stop now.
Dan Bice from the Journal Sentinel told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC after the election that Walker will make "Wisconsin, as he has already, a laboratory for conservative ideas." This is what Walker wants to do, and what his corporate and super rich donors like Diane Hendricks (who pays $0 state taxes) want him to do. And now, Walker is owned by these few and has little to fear from Wisconsin.
Now that Walker has significantly reduced the unions, there'll be far less funding for any progressive candidates. This was the far-right's goal, as explained by Scott Fitzgerald last year. Unions are the only special interests that share the same interests as large swaths of people, because they're democratic organizations. Unions are just groups of people working together for their collective interest. Businesses are controlled by an individual or very small group of people but with the finances of far more. The interests of business often don't align with the overall interest of a community, but unions, being part of the community, often have interests aligned with the community.
The unions have far less funding just a year after Walker stripped their rights, and they'll have even less now that their rights won't be restored any time soon. They couldn't come close to competing with Walker's corporate money in the recall election, even though their existence depended upon it. This means unions, the only significant source of money for Democrats, won't be able to provide funding for Democrats to compete with Republicans in Wisconsin. Republicans will forever have the money advantage as long as the Democrats support union rights and the Republicans don't.
The only other large source of funding for politicians besides unions are businesses and the rich. Democrats will have to choose one of two things: small people-funded campaigns or get funding from businesses and the rich as well. We saw from the recall election that small people-funded campaigns aren't easy. So, many Democrats will begin seeking more support from corporations or perpetually lose. We've basically ensured the corporate control of our government.
So, what might our new out-of-state-controlled laboratory of far-right ideas cook up?
Walker refused to say if he would sign Right-to-Work legislation in the final debate when Tom Barrett guaranteed that he would. Diane Hendricks, Walker's biggest donor, asked for it last year on video, and Walker replied with his plan to divide-and-conquer beginning with the rights of public workers. Therefore, we can only conclude that this Tea Party wish is high on his list, even though he didn't campaign on it. Wisconsin can say good-bye to good paying jobs, and say hello to your new corporate dictators.
Right-to-Work would nearly ensure Walker's reelection in 2014 by gutting all significant funding for a Democratic challenger. It would almost certainly give Walker control of the entire legislature as well.
Wisconsin is still suffering from a budget deficit. Just like Right-to-Work, Walker has refused to deny that he would sign legislation like Michigan's financial martial law. It wouldn't be beyond Walker to spin another crisis requiring "bold" action like that law.
Walker hired a deer czar who's primary accomplishments involve privatizing deer hunting. A new private deer hunting industry would be a great way for Walker to push his far-right ideals and repay his rich donors. Get ready to pay hundreds if not thousands to hunt. It's what you voted for, even if Walker didn't say he would do it. That's the way Walker operates. While not nearly as likely as Right-to-Work, it's far from an impossibility.
Walker will surely continue to reduce funding to public education in pursuit of privatization. Expect up to a 30% slash in teacher base pay, something Walker can do without any new legislation. Walker has shown he takes the easy way out, and he won't seek legislation through the now Democratically-controlled State Senate to fix the budget this year.
With the continued bleeding of jobs, Walker may try to "stimulate" the economy again by giving more tax breaks to corporations and increasing our taxes by reducing tax cuts/credits or increasing government fees.
The only thing standing in Walker's way is the Democratic majority in the State Senate, and that may not be easy to hold without any significant source of money. The middle class doesn't stand a chance against the rich in a war with money.
Unfortunately, it seems our only way to stop the corporate takeover of our government is to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that negates the Citizens United ruling. People clearly don't realize when they are voting for politicians primarily supported by out-of-state interests, probably because those interests are able to frame the debate. We *could* get behind a few nationwide PACs setup to compete with corporate donations, especially if people donate what they were paying in union dues to the PACs. It's simply very difficult for candidates primarily supported by middle class grassroots to compete with candidates primarily supported by big business and the rich.
Out-of-state corporate and rich donors own Scott Walker now that they gave him ~66% of his $30.5 million to hoodwink the state, not to mention the more than $16 million spent by outside pro-Walker groups. And these numbers are likely to increase as the final tallies are made. Even though Walker lost his party's control of the State Senate and didn't gain many votes for his rights stripping and unlimited campaign financing, receiving nearly the same percentage of votes as he did in 2010, we know Walker will act like he got a mandate.
We should be proud of what we were able to accomplish against such odds. Walker didn't receive the mandate that he wanted with all of his money, and by losing a majority in the State Senate with recalls this past year, we were able to slow Walker's reddening of Wisconsin. However, Walker won't stop now.
Dan Bice from the Journal Sentinel told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC after the election that Walker will make "Wisconsin, as he has already, a laboratory for conservative ideas." This is what Walker wants to do, and what his corporate and super rich donors like Diane Hendricks (who pays $0 state taxes) want him to do. And now, Walker is owned by these few and has little to fear from Wisconsin.
Now that Walker has significantly reduced the unions, there'll be far less funding for any progressive candidates. This was the far-right's goal, as explained by Scott Fitzgerald last year. Unions are the only special interests that share the same interests as large swaths of people, because they're democratic organizations. Unions are just groups of people working together for their collective interest. Businesses are controlled by an individual or very small group of people but with the finances of far more. The interests of business often don't align with the overall interest of a community, but unions, being part of the community, often have interests aligned with the community.
The unions have far less funding just a year after Walker stripped their rights, and they'll have even less now that their rights won't be restored any time soon. They couldn't come close to competing with Walker's corporate money in the recall election, even though their existence depended upon it. This means unions, the only significant source of money for Democrats, won't be able to provide funding for Democrats to compete with Republicans in Wisconsin. Republicans will forever have the money advantage as long as the Democrats support union rights and the Republicans don't.
The only other large source of funding for politicians besides unions are businesses and the rich. Democrats will have to choose one of two things: small people-funded campaigns or get funding from businesses and the rich as well. We saw from the recall election that small people-funded campaigns aren't easy. So, many Democrats will begin seeking more support from corporations or perpetually lose. We've basically ensured the corporate control of our government.
So, what might our new out-of-state-controlled laboratory of far-right ideas cook up?
Walker refused to say if he would sign Right-to-Work legislation in the final debate when Tom Barrett guaranteed that he would. Diane Hendricks, Walker's biggest donor, asked for it last year on video, and Walker replied with his plan to divide-and-conquer beginning with the rights of public workers. Therefore, we can only conclude that this Tea Party wish is high on his list, even though he didn't campaign on it. Wisconsin can say good-bye to good paying jobs, and say hello to your new corporate dictators.
Right-to-Work would nearly ensure Walker's reelection in 2014 by gutting all significant funding for a Democratic challenger. It would almost certainly give Walker control of the entire legislature as well.
Wisconsin is still suffering from a budget deficit. Just like Right-to-Work, Walker has refused to deny that he would sign legislation like Michigan's financial martial law. It wouldn't be beyond Walker to spin another crisis requiring "bold" action like that law.
Walker hired a deer czar who's primary accomplishments involve privatizing deer hunting. A new private deer hunting industry would be a great way for Walker to push his far-right ideals and repay his rich donors. Get ready to pay hundreds if not thousands to hunt. It's what you voted for, even if Walker didn't say he would do it. That's the way Walker operates. While not nearly as likely as Right-to-Work, it's far from an impossibility.
Walker will surely continue to reduce funding to public education in pursuit of privatization. Expect up to a 30% slash in teacher base pay, something Walker can do without any new legislation. Walker has shown he takes the easy way out, and he won't seek legislation through the now Democratically-controlled State Senate to fix the budget this year.
With the continued bleeding of jobs, Walker may try to "stimulate" the economy again by giving more tax breaks to corporations and increasing our taxes by reducing tax cuts/credits or increasing government fees.
The only thing standing in Walker's way is the Democratic majority in the State Senate, and that may not be easy to hold without any significant source of money. The middle class doesn't stand a chance against the rich in a war with money.
Unfortunately, it seems our only way to stop the corporate takeover of our government is to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that negates the Citizens United ruling. People clearly don't realize when they are voting for politicians primarily supported by out-of-state interests, probably because those interests are able to frame the debate. We *could* get behind a few nationwide PACs setup to compete with corporate donations, especially if people donate what they were paying in union dues to the PACs. It's simply very difficult for candidates primarily supported by middle class grassroots to compete with candidates primarily supported by big business and the rich.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Anti-Union Website Sponsored by Wisconsin State Journal - More Far-Right Media
Lee Enterprises, the publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal, has set up an anti-union website with many myths, have truths, and tons of spin to make you think you're better off negotiating with employers by yourself than collectively.
The site is called Lee Union Free, and is a despicable website coming from what is supposed to be an unbiased news source. Lee Enterprises recently chided their employees for signing recall petitions, as if signing a recall petition says you don't support Walker. They did this in an effort to look unbiased, but in fact their behavior just supports their bias towards Walker by chiding people who signed the petition but may plan to vote for Walker in the recall election, just like the far-right Walker supporting Gannett.
The biggest spin of them all on the site: "You don't need a union. Let your performance speak for itself." If that was true, we would have never needed unions, but that's definitely NOT true. Lee Enterprises would rather keep unions out so they can pay you what they want based on the performance they want to measure.
Their "Facts about Unions" page plays a video from the Daily Show. Really? I know they *can* be factual, but that's LE's only source of facts against unions? They're a newspaper for crying out loud! They couldn't dig up their own facts or reliable sources?
Besides the Daily Show video, they provide a link to unionfacts.com which is some non-profit in Washington D.C. The site profiles the extreme cases of union corruption, which I have deep concerns about, but it barely mentions the benefits of collective bargaining. Yes, any organization can become corrupt, and we must prevent that as best as possible, but that doesn't mean unions are bad. If anything, it means that anti-corruption policies that govern both unions and corporations are not working.
The site even violates their supposed policy: "Participation in public affairs or events that may leave the impression that news judgment is being influenced by activism is prohibited." Creating an anti-union website is clearly public and political activism biased against unions, but singing a recall petition is not biased. Signing a recall petition doesn't mean you can't support Walker and vote for him in the recall election. It means that you support Wisconsin's ability to choose in the future whether to replace an official before their term is up. So, signing a recall petition should not leave any biased impression. If Lee Enterprises wanted to assure their readers that their employees weren't biased for signing the recall petitions, Lee Enterprises could have simply reported on the facts of a recall, but that doesn't make for "attractive" headlines.
Now, it's very clear that Lee Enterprises is far-right Walker supporting media. They don't like unions or recall petition signers. They punish employees for taking part in an unbiased form of democracy, but then create an activist website that supports Walker's anti-union agenda.
If the Wisconsin State Journal, the La Crosse Tribune, and others want to appear unbiased, they need to shut this blatantly biased and spun website down! You can't have your cake and it eat, too. Either you're unbiased and show support for no particular cause, or you are biased.
NOTE: I'm not qualifying my statement about our far-right media in Wisconsin anymore, they're clearly far-right Walker-supporting media.
The site is called Lee Union Free, and is a despicable website coming from what is supposed to be an unbiased news source. Lee Enterprises recently chided their employees for signing recall petitions, as if signing a recall petition says you don't support Walker. They did this in an effort to look unbiased, but in fact their behavior just supports their bias towards Walker by chiding people who signed the petition but may plan to vote for Walker in the recall election, just like the far-right Walker supporting Gannett.
The biggest spin of them all on the site: "You don't need a union. Let your performance speak for itself." If that was true, we would have never needed unions, but that's definitely NOT true. Lee Enterprises would rather keep unions out so they can pay you what they want based on the performance they want to measure.
Their "Facts about Unions" page plays a video from the Daily Show. Really? I know they *can* be factual, but that's LE's only source of facts against unions? They're a newspaper for crying out loud! They couldn't dig up their own facts or reliable sources?
Besides the Daily Show video, they provide a link to unionfacts.com which is some non-profit in Washington D.C. The site profiles the extreme cases of union corruption, which I have deep concerns about, but it barely mentions the benefits of collective bargaining. Yes, any organization can become corrupt, and we must prevent that as best as possible, but that doesn't mean unions are bad. If anything, it means that anti-corruption policies that govern both unions and corporations are not working.
The site even violates their supposed policy: "Participation in public affairs or events that may leave the impression that news judgment is being influenced by activism is prohibited." Creating an anti-union website is clearly public and political activism biased against unions, but singing a recall petition is not biased. Signing a recall petition doesn't mean you can't support Walker and vote for him in the recall election. It means that you support Wisconsin's ability to choose in the future whether to replace an official before their term is up. So, signing a recall petition should not leave any biased impression. If Lee Enterprises wanted to assure their readers that their employees weren't biased for signing the recall petitions, Lee Enterprises could have simply reported on the facts of a recall, but that doesn't make for "attractive" headlines.
Now, it's very clear that Lee Enterprises is far-right Walker supporting media. They don't like unions or recall petition signers. They punish employees for taking part in an unbiased form of democracy, but then create an activist website that supports Walker's anti-union agenda.
If the Wisconsin State Journal, the La Crosse Tribune, and others want to appear unbiased, they need to shut this blatantly biased and spun website down! You can't have your cake and it eat, too. Either you're unbiased and show support for no particular cause, or you are biased.
NOTE: I'm not qualifying my statement about our far-right media in Wisconsin anymore, they're clearly far-right Walker-supporting media.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Federal Judge Finds Unconstitutional Portions of Collective Bargaining Rights-Stripping Law
It must be Friday in Wisconsin, because more news about Walker's illegal activities has occurred. According to the WisPolitics budget blog, "A federal judge today invalidated two provisions in Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining changes: the requirement of an absolute majority of union members for recertification and denying the voluntary withholding of union dues from workers' paychecks." The provisions were included in Wisconsin's collective bargaining rights-stripping law (Act 10) passed by Walker and the far-right Republicans last spring against the protests of hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites.
The judge "found the state provided no rational basis for requiring a majority of union members -- not just those voting -- to approve recertification." The plaintiffs' arguments are based on the First Amendment and Equal Protection.
This is just another unconstitutional law passed by the far-right Republicans in Wisconsin and stopped by Federal courts; the first two being the Voter Suppression Law and the illegal gerrymandering.
The judge "found the state provided no rational basis for requiring a majority of union members -- not just those voting -- to approve recertification." The plaintiffs' arguments are based on the First Amendment and Equal Protection.
This is just another unconstitutional law passed by the far-right Republicans in Wisconsin and stopped by Federal courts; the first two being the Voter Suppression Law and the illegal gerrymandering.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Scott Walker Campaigned On Negotiating With Unions
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says that he campaigned on stripping collective bargaining rights from our public employees, but no one has ever been able to corroborate that with audio, video or otherwise. Now, we have recently released video of Walker telling the Oshkosh Northwestern a week before his election that "you still have to negotiate" through collective bargaining.
Thanks to Jud Lounsbury at UppityWis for pointing the video out and editing it for consumption.
So, when did Walker campaign on stripping collective bargaining rights? Did he change his mind in less than a week?
If he felt he could negotiate with the unions, why didn't he ever try?
This just adds to the lies Walker spewed last spring, including that stripping the rights saved money.
Editorial Board member: Before, we were talking about state employees contributing to their plan, paying their share of the pension plan. Collective bargaining come into that?
Walker: Yep
Editorial Board member: How do you get that negotiated and accepted by the state employee unions?
Walker: You still have to negotiate it. I did that at the county as well.
Thanks to Jud Lounsbury at UppityWis for pointing the video out and editing it for consumption.
So, when did Walker campaign on stripping collective bargaining rights? Did he change his mind in less than a week?
If he felt he could negotiate with the unions, why didn't he ever try?
This just adds to the lies Walker spewed last spring, including that stripping the rights saved money.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Late Night Destruction of Wisconsin - Wetland Destruction Bill Passed
Republicans in the State Senate rammed through another bill under cover of night, the Wetland Destruction Bill (SB 368), even though the Republicans campaigned against such tactics. Just like the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill (1 AM) and the voter suppression bill (11 PM), the vote took place late at night, just past midnight.
How do you know the bill is bad? Because the Republicans rammed it through as quickly as possible when the fewest people will notice. Many people, including environment and wildlife sporting groups, are very concerned the bill if enacted would result in substantial loss of Wisconsin wetlands and wildlife.
Earlier Tuesday, Scott Fitzgerald abruptly postponed debate on the bill after Democrat Senator Fred Risser moved to vote on a bill restoring collective bargaining rights for public workers that were taken away by the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill (Act 10).
Senator Dave Hansen gave a passionate speech for the rights of workers. Then, at his first chance, Fitzgerald jumped up and ripped into the microphone, "It is the anniversary, but I'm wondering what we're talking about. Are we talking about Kathleen Falk?"
Were you listening at all, Scott? We're talking about restoring rights you took away. What does Kathleen Falk have to do with the bill Risser tried to bring to a vote?
If it's about corruption, Fitzgerald said, "I'd love to talk about that all day if you want." Is it so wrong that a gubernatorial candidate said they support workers' rights? Is that corruption? An open statement in support of rights? And secret meetings at private law firms to gerrymander your district isn't corruption?
Fitzgerald ended his tirade by slamming Senator Hansen and then moving to adjourn until 12:01 AM, "Senator from the 30th, boy I wish Senator Nygren would have gotten enough signatures to get on the ballet, because you'd be gone too right now." It sounds like Fitzgerald is worried he'll get voted out and jealous that Hansen wasn't.
Senate Republicans voted in step with Fitzgerald and the Senate reconvened at 12:01 AM and quickly moved to a vote on the Wetland Destruction Bill. The Republicans passed the bill onto the Assembly on a party-line vote. Protesters against the bill could be heard in the gallery, but I'm sure far fewer people were able to attend or watch at midnight.
I don't have a video for you, because WisconsinEye continues to lock down their videos, making it impossible for us to share videos of our government's proceedings. However, if you have a Windows PC, or are good with your Mac, you can view the videos here and here.
If you are unable to see the debate and votes, you can thank Scott Fitzgerald for his part. This is one of the reasons he has been recalled.
How do you know the bill is bad? Because the Republicans rammed it through as quickly as possible when the fewest people will notice. Many people, including environment and wildlife sporting groups, are very concerned the bill if enacted would result in substantial loss of Wisconsin wetlands and wildlife.
Earlier Tuesday, Scott Fitzgerald abruptly postponed debate on the bill after Democrat Senator Fred Risser moved to vote on a bill restoring collective bargaining rights for public workers that were taken away by the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill (Act 10).
Senator Dave Hansen gave a passionate speech for the rights of workers. Then, at his first chance, Fitzgerald jumped up and ripped into the microphone, "It is the anniversary, but I'm wondering what we're talking about. Are we talking about Kathleen Falk?"
Were you listening at all, Scott? We're talking about restoring rights you took away. What does Kathleen Falk have to do with the bill Risser tried to bring to a vote?
If it's about corruption, Fitzgerald said, "I'd love to talk about that all day if you want." Is it so wrong that a gubernatorial candidate said they support workers' rights? Is that corruption? An open statement in support of rights? And secret meetings at private law firms to gerrymander your district isn't corruption?
Fitzgerald ended his tirade by slamming Senator Hansen and then moving to adjourn until 12:01 AM, "Senator from the 30th, boy I wish Senator Nygren would have gotten enough signatures to get on the ballet, because you'd be gone too right now." It sounds like Fitzgerald is worried he'll get voted out and jealous that Hansen wasn't.
Senate Republicans voted in step with Fitzgerald and the Senate reconvened at 12:01 AM and quickly moved to a vote on the Wetland Destruction Bill. The Republicans passed the bill onto the Assembly on a party-line vote. Protesters against the bill could be heard in the gallery, but I'm sure far fewer people were able to attend or watch at midnight.
I don't have a video for you, because WisconsinEye continues to lock down their videos, making it impossible for us to share videos of our government's proceedings. However, if you have a Windows PC, or are good with your Mac, you can view the videos here and here.
If you are unable to see the debate and votes, you can thank Scott Fitzgerald for his part. This is one of the reasons he has been recalled.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Ohio Rejects Anti-Union Law
The people of Ohio have spoken, and they have rejected the anti-union law SB 5. The law was defeated by 61% of the vote with 83% currently reporting. That's quite a large margin. In fact, according to MSNBC, more people voted against SB 5 then who voted for Governor Kasich in 2010. The energy behind the Ohio referendum is here, it started here in Wisconsin. We start translating that energy into recalling Governor Walker and reinstating the rights of Wisconsinites next week, and the vote in Ohio will give Walker more reason to worry.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wisconsin Recall Success Spreads To Ohio
After seeing the Democrats in Wisconsin taking Governor Scott Walker's working majority away from him, Ohio Governor Kasich has backpedaled from Ohio Senate Bill 5 (Ohio's equivalent to Walker's collective bargaining rights-stripping bill), asking to work with opponents to amend the law instead of continue a voter referendum effort to repeal the entire law. The most recent poll in Ohio showed that Ohio voters favor repealing the law 56% to 32% against. The law was passed essentially the same as ours, without negotiation or any real debate, but now, just like Walker, Kasich is trying to look like he can be bipartisan.
We Are Ohio (Ohio's equivalent to We Are Wisconsin) told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC tonight that Kasich's backpedal is due directly to the success of the recall efforts in Wisconsin, and We Are Wisconsin told Rachel that they agree. The momentum is with the rights of workers and the middle class, no longer the Tea Party, and it's spreading beyond Wisconsin.
We Are Ohio (Ohio's equivalent to We Are Wisconsin) told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC tonight that Kasich's backpedal is due directly to the success of the recall efforts in Wisconsin, and We Are Wisconsin told Rachel that they agree. The momentum is with the rights of workers and the middle class, no longer the Tea Party, and it's spreading beyond Wisconsin.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wisconsin Senate Republicans Pass Radical Budget Without Change
Late tonight, the Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted to pass the radical far-right budget passed by the Assembly Republicans very early this morning without change. As a Republican act of class warfare, the budget actually increases spending over the previous year, while taking millions in tax breaks from the middle-class and poor and giving them to corporations instead. All 8 amendments offered by the Democrats were rejected, and thus none of the Democrats voted for the budget.
The Democrats offered an amendment that would have restored collective bargaining rights to all workers in Wisconsin, not just employees of corporations. However, all of the Senate Republicans voted to reject the amendment and keep those rights out of the reach of most of our public workers, even though we know stripping those rights "doesn't save any" money.
Some of the changes that the Democrats tried to make in both the Assembly and Senate:
None of these changes were accepted. No changes were accepted. There was absolutely no collaboration or compromise from the Republicans.
Thanks to WisPolitics Budget Blog for detailing much of this information! (Senate Democrat Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - collective bargaining)
The Republicans aren't as fearful of the recall elections, because they've now passed just about every far-right and corporate wishlist item from the past 50 years. Let's make sure the Republicans get what's coming to them, and vote in the July 12 and 19 recall elections (if they're in your district).
Unfortunately, far fewer people have been showing up to protest all of these radical changes than showed up during ice and snow to protest. As Governor Walker signs the budget, we could really use one last massive protest to show the Republicans just how much Wisconsin is against their far-right ideals.
I'm putting my voice in for a protest this Saturday that we all must attend!
The Democrats offered an amendment that would have restored collective bargaining rights to all workers in Wisconsin, not just employees of corporations. However, all of the Senate Republicans voted to reject the amendment and keep those rights out of the reach of most of our public workers, even though we know stripping those rights "doesn't save any" money.
Some of the changes that the Democrats tried to make in both the Assembly and Senate:
- Increase investment in Wisconsin businesses through the Wisconsin Growth Fund
- Remove all WiscNet wording from the budget
- Remove tax increases on the poor and middle-class by removing the changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Homestead Credit
- Remove the $50 reduction in unemployment benefits
- Remove changes to child labor laws that allow employers to make children work more hours during school (more than 40 if they're over 16)
- Increase public school funding by $365 million and remove expansion of the choice program
- Restore funding for gifted and talented programs and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) grants
- Fund the Wisconsin GI Bill and increase financial aid when tuition increases
- Require the state to continue operating the SeniorCare program
- Remove the enrollment cap on the FamilyCare program
- Prohibit the administration from making changes to BadgerCare without legislative approval
- Restore funding for services such as fire, police and garbage collection
- Remove the significant weakening of rules on payday loans that also allow auto title loans in Wisconsin again
- Restore funding for recycling
None of these changes were accepted. No changes were accepted. There was absolutely no collaboration or compromise from the Republicans.
Thanks to WisPolitics Budget Blog for detailing much of this information! (Senate Democrat Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - collective bargaining)
The Republicans aren't as fearful of the recall elections, because they've now passed just about every far-right and corporate wishlist item from the past 50 years. Let's make sure the Republicans get what's coming to them, and vote in the July 12 and 19 recall elections (if they're in your district).
Unfortunately, far fewer people have been showing up to protest all of these radical changes than showed up during ice and snow to protest. As Governor Walker signs the budget, we could really use one last massive protest to show the Republicans just how much Wisconsin is against their far-right ideals.
I'm putting my voice in for a protest this Saturday that we all must attend!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wisconsin Supreme Court Overturns Collective Bargaining Ruling
Late this afternoon the Wisconsin Supreme Court posted their ruling that overturns the previous ruling from Dane County Judge Sumi. The lower court found the Republicans in violation of the Open Meetings Law and prevented the publishing of the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill. The Supreme Court didn't rule on whether or not the Republicans violated the Open Meetings Law, just whether or not the law can be enforced.
The court ruled that any law passed in violation of another law is still a law, the Republicans can pass a law by violating the Open Meetings Law or any other law governing the lawmakers, and thus the lower court couldn't prevent the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill from being published. And they did this not to save taxpayer money, as Governor Walker admitted, but to take more money away from taxpayers i.e., public workers.
You read that right, the majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, including Justice David Prosser, believes that our lawmakers aren't subject to our laws.
What is the purpose of being able to create laws for lawmakers if they can't be enforced?
Well, it looks like the Republicans got what they wanted out of Prosser. We all knew he would vote against the rights of Wisconsin citizens. Prosser was the key vote. The vote was 4-3 to overturn the previous ruling. Justices Prosser, Gableman, Roggensack and Ziegler concurred with the majority opinion, while justices Abrahamson, Walsh Bradley, and Crooks dissented.
If the Republicans didn't get their way they were going to add the anti-collective bargaining measures to the budget through an extraordinary session. That wouldn't have gone down well for the Republicans, and they know it, which is why they have avoided voting on the bill a second time.
The court didn't conclude that the Republicans followed the rules, just that they don't have to follow them. The Republicans violated the Open Meetings Law when they passed the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill, there's just nothing we can do about it. Unless I'm wrong, the Wisconsin Supreme Court just set legal precedent to allow our lawmakers to violate any law they like.
The collective bargaining rights-stripping bill still isn't law, but there doesn't seem to be anything left to prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from being forced to publish it - which will then turn the bill into law.
This was a rushed ruling (less than a week) with very coincidental timing and results. Several justices note the rush to release an opinion in their dissents.
The short decision basically invalidates the Open Meetings Law by making it unenforceable, and the ruling begs more questions than it answers. In my non-legal opinion, the Supreme Court didn't properly address the issues in this case, they barely addressed them at all.
Looks like political collusion to me!
Come to the Capitol to protest this ruling and the Walker budget, a massive protest is happening right now!
The court ruled that any law passed in violation of another law is still a law, the Republicans can pass a law by violating the Open Meetings Law or any other law governing the lawmakers, and thus the lower court couldn't prevent the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill from being published. And they did this not to save taxpayer money, as Governor Walker admitted, but to take more money away from taxpayers i.e., public workers.
You read that right, the majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, including Justice David Prosser, believes that our lawmakers aren't subject to our laws.
What is the purpose of being able to create laws for lawmakers if they can't be enforced?
Well, it looks like the Republicans got what they wanted out of Prosser. We all knew he would vote against the rights of Wisconsin citizens. Prosser was the key vote. The vote was 4-3 to overturn the previous ruling. Justices Prosser, Gableman, Roggensack and Ziegler concurred with the majority opinion, while justices Abrahamson, Walsh Bradley, and Crooks dissented.
If the Republicans didn't get their way they were going to add the anti-collective bargaining measures to the budget through an extraordinary session. That wouldn't have gone down well for the Republicans, and they know it, which is why they have avoided voting on the bill a second time.
The court didn't conclude that the Republicans followed the rules, just that they don't have to follow them. The Republicans violated the Open Meetings Law when they passed the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill, there's just nothing we can do about it. Unless I'm wrong, the Wisconsin Supreme Court just set legal precedent to allow our lawmakers to violate any law they like.
The collective bargaining rights-stripping bill still isn't law, but there doesn't seem to be anything left to prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from being forced to publish it - which will then turn the bill into law.
This was a rushed ruling (less than a week) with very coincidental timing and results. Several justices note the rush to release an opinion in their dissents.
The short decision basically invalidates the Open Meetings Law by making it unenforceable, and the ruling begs more questions than it answers. In my non-legal opinion, the Supreme Court didn't properly address the issues in this case, they barely addressed them at all.
Looks like political collusion to me!
Come to the Capitol to protest this ruling and the Walker budget, a massive protest is happening right now!
Friday, May 13, 2011
The Fight Is Not Over, Wisconsin - Massive Rally at the Capital Saturday!
The Wisconsin Wave and We Are Wisconsin are organizing a massive rally this Saturday in Madison at the Capital from 2:30-4:00pm with music and speakers. Come show Walker and the Republicans that we care deeply about Wisconsin's future, and we won't stop fighting until they start talking about real solutions to balance the budget and most importantly create jobs.
From the Wisconsin Wave:
Help take a stand against extreme-right policies and for real solutions! Join us this Saturday at the Capital from 2:30pm-4pm.
Don't forget to bring your friends and family, because these rallies have been peaceful and fun community events with many different people from all over Wisconsin.
From the Wisconsin Wave:
Walker and legislative allies plan to bypass courts, jam rights-stripping measures through with their budget proposal!Buses will be driven in from all over Wisconsin. See the Wisconsin Wave site for more details.
We Are Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Wave will host a rally on the Capitol steps on Saturday, May 14, to send Scott Walker and his legislative allies a resounding message: stop your attacks on working people.
RSVP here: http://wisconsinwave.org/rsvp-may-14th
(please see the bottom of this event posting for info about buses coming from outside of Madison)
Wisconsinites have joined together and prevented Scott Walker’s radical plan to take away worker rights for three months, but he is not done. As we learned from their illegal attempt to jam through the budget repair bill in the dark of night, Walker and his allies are so hell-bent on taking away the rights of Wisconsin workers that they are prepared to use any and all means necessary to achieve their goals.
Now, with their first cynical attempt at union-busting tied up in the courts, Walker’s allies now say they’re ready to add the rights-stripping measures to the state budget now flying through the legislature.
Reintroducing plans to take bargaining rights away from workers into Scott Walker’s fatally-flawed state budget would consolidate Walker’s attacks on Wisconsin’s middle class into a single, horrific piece of legislation. Scott Walker’s budget:
- Raises costs in health care and food assistance programs that are relied upon by 1.2 million workers, unemployed, retired and disabled people in Wisconsin
- Breaks up and corporatizes the UW System, raising tuition and threatening closure of campuses
- Guts the ability of Wisconsin Technical Colleges to prepare and retrain working people
- Eliminates advanced placement and science and technology course in schools
- Rolls back recycling and conservation programs throughout Wisconsin
Despite all of this, Scott Walker’s fatally-flawed budget still has plenty of room for gifts for his dearest friends. Containing $200 million of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in giveaways to his largest donors, Walker’s budget is a bonanza for the donors and corporate lobbyists who surely wrote it.
The legislature must reject this horrifying budget and start over. The attacks on working families, seniors, students, the poor, and the environment and our rights must end. Join We Are Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Wave at the State Capitol at 2:30pm on Saturday, May 14, because our fight continues and we will not be silenced.
Help take a stand against extreme-right policies and for real solutions! Join us this Saturday at the Capital from 2:30pm-4pm.
Don't forget to bring your friends and family, because these rallies have been peaceful and fun community events with many different people from all over Wisconsin.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Walker To Jam Extreme-Right Crap Down Throats of Wisconsinites
Well, now that the recall campaigns have ended, the Republicans have ended their "quiet period" (you know that period before an election in which they don't tell us what they're planning to do later). According to the AP, Walker and the Republicans are planning to introduce and quickly pass a whole host of extreme right-wing candy, none that will help fix the budget. This includes the Voter Suppression Bill, which will likely pass the Assembly this week, strip collective bargaining rights, legalize concealed weapons, increase charter schools, deregulate phone companies, and end early release of prisoners. The Republicans plan to rush all of these bills through before they will likely lose their power with the recall elections this summer.
None of these bills deliver on the promises these Republicans made to us last November, those of delivering jobs and fixing the budget. The Voter Suppression Bill is conservatively estimated to cost taxpayers over $5 million to implement and then over $2 million yearly, yet it doesn't do anything - it doesn't solve any actual problems. Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen has been investigating voter fraud for years, and has only found 11 improper votes. That number of votes couldn't swing any election in Wisconsin, but besides that, the Voter Suppression Bill wouldn't have prevented any of them.
Yes, the Republicans still haven't learned their lesson from the many thousands who protested and from the recall of six senators. Even though Walker admitted under oath that stripping collective bargaining rights "doesn't save any" money, they plan on tacking the anti-collective bargaining bill to the budget if they don't get their way through the courts. I wish the media would ask them why when the Republicans tell them of this plan. Since it doesn't save Wisconsin any money, why strip rights away from our public workers?
Legalizing concealed weapons will only increase violent crime. I'll bet my life on it, and so do many police officers! I read a Journal Sentinel article that said the Milwaukee Police Department was in favor of such a bill if it provided some much needed changes when it comes to licensing and punishment. However, I don't see the logic in creating a bigger problem in order to solve other problems. Fix the holes in the system without adding new ones. I don't want to live in fear that the guy next to me at the bar is carrying a weapon. I like that we all (except for a few, e.g. law enforcement) must make our possession of weapons blatantly obvious. I won't feel more secure knowing anyone could be carrying a weapon, I'll feel less secure.
Republicans don't want to just make our cities less safe, they want to make us more dumb. Sure, charter schools can be good, but our public schools are already quite good and can be improved using less money than creating new schools. Diverting money across more school systems will only decrease the efficacy of our school systems on average. You can't reduce money in one system and expect it to improve, and you also can't expect the charter schools to be able to do any better than a public school. Let me say that another way so the point hits home. Anything a charter school can do for students, a public school can do as well. Reducing the amount of money that all of our schools get (charter schools won't be living fat either) will only reduce the effectiveness of our schools as a whole.
The effort to increase charter schools in Wisconsin just doesn't have any logic to it. The only "selling point" of charter schools with any relevancy is that they can be a bed for experimentation. But experimentation just to experiment isn't helpful, especially to our children. Public schools and teachers have a long history of experimenting, and there are processes and channels to facilitate the experimentation and sharing of results. Of course public schools aren't perfect, but that's no reason to give up on them, it's reason to improve them.
In short, charter schools concentrate the quality of schools to small pockets, whereas public schools have more uniform quality. If you increase the money to charter schools, you'll decrease the overall quality of public schools and concentrate the quality of Wisconsin's schools in a few choice charter schools. If you increase the money to public schools and decrease it to charter schools, you increase the overall quality of Wisconsin's schools. Charter schools will never be able to do what our public schools do as a whole, and creating them just wastes taxpayer money.
Charter schools are just another example of a fake solution that can only make things worse. If you want to improve our schools, improve our schools.
The Republicans also want to deregulate phone companies in Wisconsin, so we can all pay more for even crappier service. Thanks, Walker, for looking out for the citizens of Wisconsin! There's nothing more that can be said about phone company deregulation, besides welcome back Ma Bell!
Lastly, the Republicans want to end early release for low-risk prisoners. Regardless of what you may think of the idea of early release, as illusory tenant points out, it saves Wisconsin quite a bit of money. Not only that, but I believe these programs have been shown to improve the success of rehabilitating prisoners. So, the Republicans plan to make us pay more so that our prisoners are more likely to commit crimes again.
It's clear that these ideas are against the wishes of most Wisconsinites, because the Republicans are trying to pass these bills before they lose their majority. If their ideas were inline with our ours, they wouldn't have to rush these bills through now. They could just pass them with bipartisan support. However, these ideas are from the top of extreme-right wish lists, and they should be treated as such. They should be left to the fringe of political conversation, not the center.
None of these ideas or bills will save us money, solve any problems, create jobs, or reduce the budget. I'm absolutely appalled that Wisconsin is considering such "solutions," especially when we're not broke but short on money. The only thing they do is make us pay to look more like a hill-billy state. The grass really will be greener somewhere else if this crap falls on Wisconsin. What do we have to do to get some real solutions around here?
We the people of Wisconsin need to wake up now and stop this crap before we have to eat it!
(I glossed over many of my conclusions, but I can provide further facts and detail if desired.)
None of these bills deliver on the promises these Republicans made to us last November, those of delivering jobs and fixing the budget. The Voter Suppression Bill is conservatively estimated to cost taxpayers over $5 million to implement and then over $2 million yearly, yet it doesn't do anything - it doesn't solve any actual problems. Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen has been investigating voter fraud for years, and has only found 11 improper votes. That number of votes couldn't swing any election in Wisconsin, but besides that, the Voter Suppression Bill wouldn't have prevented any of them.
Yes, the Republicans still haven't learned their lesson from the many thousands who protested and from the recall of six senators. Even though Walker admitted under oath that stripping collective bargaining rights "doesn't save any" money, they plan on tacking the anti-collective bargaining bill to the budget if they don't get their way through the courts. I wish the media would ask them why when the Republicans tell them of this plan. Since it doesn't save Wisconsin any money, why strip rights away from our public workers?
Legalizing concealed weapons will only increase violent crime. I'll bet my life on it, and so do many police officers! I read a Journal Sentinel article that said the Milwaukee Police Department was in favor of such a bill if it provided some much needed changes when it comes to licensing and punishment. However, I don't see the logic in creating a bigger problem in order to solve other problems. Fix the holes in the system without adding new ones. I don't want to live in fear that the guy next to me at the bar is carrying a weapon. I like that we all (except for a few, e.g. law enforcement) must make our possession of weapons blatantly obvious. I won't feel more secure knowing anyone could be carrying a weapon, I'll feel less secure.
Republicans don't want to just make our cities less safe, they want to make us more dumb. Sure, charter schools can be good, but our public schools are already quite good and can be improved using less money than creating new schools. Diverting money across more school systems will only decrease the efficacy of our school systems on average. You can't reduce money in one system and expect it to improve, and you also can't expect the charter schools to be able to do any better than a public school. Let me say that another way so the point hits home. Anything a charter school can do for students, a public school can do as well. Reducing the amount of money that all of our schools get (charter schools won't be living fat either) will only reduce the effectiveness of our schools as a whole.
The effort to increase charter schools in Wisconsin just doesn't have any logic to it. The only "selling point" of charter schools with any relevancy is that they can be a bed for experimentation. But experimentation just to experiment isn't helpful, especially to our children. Public schools and teachers have a long history of experimenting, and there are processes and channels to facilitate the experimentation and sharing of results. Of course public schools aren't perfect, but that's no reason to give up on them, it's reason to improve them.
In short, charter schools concentrate the quality of schools to small pockets, whereas public schools have more uniform quality. If you increase the money to charter schools, you'll decrease the overall quality of public schools and concentrate the quality of Wisconsin's schools in a few choice charter schools. If you increase the money to public schools and decrease it to charter schools, you increase the overall quality of Wisconsin's schools. Charter schools will never be able to do what our public schools do as a whole, and creating them just wastes taxpayer money.
Charter schools are just another example of a fake solution that can only make things worse. If you want to improve our schools, improve our schools.
The Republicans also want to deregulate phone companies in Wisconsin, so we can all pay more for even crappier service. Thanks, Walker, for looking out for the citizens of Wisconsin! There's nothing more that can be said about phone company deregulation, besides welcome back Ma Bell!
Lastly, the Republicans want to end early release for low-risk prisoners. Regardless of what you may think of the idea of early release, as illusory tenant points out, it saves Wisconsin quite a bit of money. Not only that, but I believe these programs have been shown to improve the success of rehabilitating prisoners. So, the Republicans plan to make us pay more so that our prisoners are more likely to commit crimes again.
It's clear that these ideas are against the wishes of most Wisconsinites, because the Republicans are trying to pass these bills before they lose their majority. If their ideas were inline with our ours, they wouldn't have to rush these bills through now. They could just pass them with bipartisan support. However, these ideas are from the top of extreme-right wish lists, and they should be treated as such. They should be left to the fringe of political conversation, not the center.
None of these ideas or bills will save us money, solve any problems, create jobs, or reduce the budget. I'm absolutely appalled that Wisconsin is considering such "solutions," especially when we're not broke but short on money. The only thing they do is make us pay to look more like a hill-billy state. The grass really will be greener somewhere else if this crap falls on Wisconsin. What do we have to do to get some real solutions around here?
We the people of Wisconsin need to wake up now and stop this crap before we have to eat it!
(I glossed over many of my conclusions, but I can provide further facts and detail if desired.)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wisconsin Republicans Planning To Strip Collective Bargaining Rights In Budget
According to The CapTimes, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans still haven't learned their lesson, even though at least six Republicans who voted to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers will likely face a recall election for doing so (Republicans will likely do the same to at most three Democrats). They're planning to add the bill to the budget if they don't get their way through the courts. In fact, Tuesday, Republicans voted against another collective bargaining measure that would have restored those rights for some employees. On top of everything, the bill itself may be unconstitutional.
Republicans, why do you insist on stripping these rights away? What is the purpose, because we know and you admitted stripping those rights doesn't save any money?
Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8.
Republicans, why do you insist on stripping these rights away? What is the purpose, because we know and you admitted stripping those rights doesn't save any money?
Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Wisconsin Republicans Still Vote Against Collective Bargaining Rights
Even though everyone admits, including Governor Scott Walker, that stripping collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin's public workers doesn't save money, Republicans are still voting against collective bargaining rights. According to the WisPolitics budget blog, a motion to restore "collective bargaining rights for the Wisconsin State Public Defender Association, the Association of State Prosecutors and the Wisconsin State Attorneys Association" failed today on a party-line vote.
We still haven't been told the real reason why Republicans voted to strip collective bargaining rights from our public workers.
At least six Republicans will be recalled this summer, quite possibly more, but they still haven't learned their lesson. We're the overwhelming majority, and we deserve respect!
Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8
We still haven't been told the real reason why Republicans voted to strip collective bargaining rights from our public workers.
At least six Republicans will be recalled this summer, quite possibly more, but they still haven't learned their lesson. We're the overwhelming majority, and we deserve respect!
Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8
Thursday, April 21, 2011
"Wisconsin Is Just The Beginning"
Wisconsin's been all over the national news, whether it's the recalls of the Republican 8, the controversial Supreme Court election, or Paul Ryan's budget plan. I think all of this focus on Wisconsin is helping us move Forward past the ridiculous plans of Scott Walker and the Republicans, and it's also helping to spread Wisconsin values across the nation. Some of these national news shows have been doing great reporting on Wisconsin, and I'd like to share with you some very interesting and informative reports from Wednesday evening.
The Rachel Maddow Show ran two segments on Wisconsin. In the first, Rachel discussed the latest news on the Supreme Court election and summarized its ramifications. She ended the segment saying, "the Democrats in that state are turning political outrage in their state into political outcomes in their state."
In the second segment, Rachel discussed how the momentum in Wisconsin is gaining and spreading beyond our borders. Rachel showed a very informative map of Wisconsin indicating all of the counties that voted more for Kloppenburg than they did for Walker just a few months ago. There was very little momentum gained by the Republican-backed Prosser, and almost every county in Wisconsin voted more for Kloppenburg than they had for Walker. In fact, the districts that swung against Walker include all of the districts of the four Republican 8 expecting a recall election. This is significant, but elections and particularly a small election like this one are not good indicators of overall state mood.
Rachel's interviewee, Dante Chinni from Patchwork Nation, said Wisconsin contains many "service worker centers." Chinni defines these places as having lots of good jobs in the public sector with fewer in the private. He said he thinks the momentum is coming from the attacks on those jobs by politicians, particularly collective bargaining. Chinni said, "Wisconsin is just the beginning." They called it the "Wisconsin Effect" and said that Republicans are very afraid. In Wisconsin, we've been calling the "Wisconsin Effect" the Wisconsin Wave.
Later, Ed Schultz showed the most footage from Paul Ryan's town hall on his The Ed Show on MSNBC. Ed shows a very great question from a resident, Ryan's response and the reaction from the crowd. Ryan got "smacked down" by the residents for giving tax cuts to the rich while asking others to pay more.
Ed interviewed the person from ThinkProgress who shot the video, Scott Keyes. Keyes gave a very informative account of Ryan's town halls. Laura Flanders said, "It's the super rich against everyone else," and Ed noted that it appeared Ryan supporters were at the meeting trying to tell him he's wrong. Keyes agreed and said he saw "a lot of anxiety there in the crowds." Later, Flanders said, "The seniors are not buying what Ryan is selling."
Then, in another segment, Ed continued his coverage of politics in Wisconsin. Ed said, "I'm not gonna get off of this story because I think fundamentally this is one of the biggest stories in America. This is change. This is change you can believe in."
Ed attacked Walker's statements that the recalls are being driven by Madison, and then interviewed Adam Green of the Progressive Change Committee. They discussed the recalls, the process, and possible ramifications. Then Green said there will be a really important conference call Thursday at 9:30am from Mike Tate, head of the Wisconsin Democrats, regarding the Republicans' efforts to collect recall signatures for Democrats. He said that Tate will be alleging "outright fraud."
It sounds like this conference at 9:30am will be interesting. I was wondering why the Republicans were holding off on their announcement, waiting until enough signatures were collected for three Democrats. Just didn't seem politically intelligent. Now it sounds like they may have been holding back because of nefarious actions.
The Rachel Maddow Show ran two segments on Wisconsin. In the first, Rachel discussed the latest news on the Supreme Court election and summarized its ramifications. She ended the segment saying, "the Democrats in that state are turning political outrage in their state into political outcomes in their state."
In the second segment, Rachel discussed how the momentum in Wisconsin is gaining and spreading beyond our borders. Rachel showed a very informative map of Wisconsin indicating all of the counties that voted more for Kloppenburg than they did for Walker just a few months ago. There was very little momentum gained by the Republican-backed Prosser, and almost every county in Wisconsin voted more for Kloppenburg than they had for Walker. In fact, the districts that swung against Walker include all of the districts of the four Republican 8 expecting a recall election. This is significant, but elections and particularly a small election like this one are not good indicators of overall state mood.
Rachel's interviewee, Dante Chinni from Patchwork Nation, said Wisconsin contains many "service worker centers." Chinni defines these places as having lots of good jobs in the public sector with fewer in the private. He said he thinks the momentum is coming from the attacks on those jobs by politicians, particularly collective bargaining. Chinni said, "Wisconsin is just the beginning." They called it the "Wisconsin Effect" and said that Republicans are very afraid. In Wisconsin, we've been calling the "Wisconsin Effect" the Wisconsin Wave.
Later, Ed Schultz showed the most footage from Paul Ryan's town hall on his The Ed Show on MSNBC. Ed shows a very great question from a resident, Ryan's response and the reaction from the crowd. Ryan got "smacked down" by the residents for giving tax cuts to the rich while asking others to pay more.
Ed interviewed the person from ThinkProgress who shot the video, Scott Keyes. Keyes gave a very informative account of Ryan's town halls. Laura Flanders said, "It's the super rich against everyone else," and Ed noted that it appeared Ryan supporters were at the meeting trying to tell him he's wrong. Keyes agreed and said he saw "a lot of anxiety there in the crowds." Later, Flanders said, "The seniors are not buying what Ryan is selling."
Then, in another segment, Ed continued his coverage of politics in Wisconsin. Ed said, "I'm not gonna get off of this story because I think fundamentally this is one of the biggest stories in America. This is change. This is change you can believe in."
Ed attacked Walker's statements that the recalls are being driven by Madison, and then interviewed Adam Green of the Progressive Change Committee. They discussed the recalls, the process, and possible ramifications. Then Green said there will be a really important conference call Thursday at 9:30am from Mike Tate, head of the Wisconsin Democrats, regarding the Republicans' efforts to collect recall signatures for Democrats. He said that Tate will be alleging "outright fraud."
It sounds like this conference at 9:30am will be interesting. I was wondering why the Republicans were holding off on their announcement, waiting until enough signatures were collected for three Democrats. Just didn't seem politically intelligent. Now it sounds like they may have been holding back because of nefarious actions.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Fourth Republican 8 Senator To Face Recall Election - Sheila Harsdorf
John Nichols hinted last week that more recall petitions would be filed for the Republican 8. Yesterday, Senator Luther Olsen became one of those senators, and Steve Hanson at Uppity Wisconsin reports that today Senator Sheila Harsdorf will become the fourth. Volunteers announced last evening that they will be filing the recall petitions with the Government Accountability Board today.
Before this week, petitions were already filed to hold a recall election for two of the eight Republican senators. Senator Dan Kapanke was the first senator whose district gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall, and Senator Randy Hopper was the second. With the announcements from yesterday and the filings today, half of the Republican 8 senators will face a recall election.
The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures was quite amazing. Now, with just over a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, it's unbelievable that two more senators have been added to the list. It shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell.
The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!
The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:
Before this week, petitions were already filed to hold a recall election for two of the eight Republican senators. Senator Dan Kapanke was the first senator whose district gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall, and Senator Randy Hopper was the second. With the announcements from yesterday and the filings today, half of the Republican 8 senators will face a recall election.
The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures was quite amazing. Now, with just over a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, it's unbelievable that two more senators have been added to the list. It shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell.
The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!
The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:
- Senator Robert Cowles
- Senator Alberta Darling
- Senator Glenn Grothman
- Senator Mary Lazich
Monday, April 18, 2011
Senator Luther Olsen Becomes Third Wisconsin Republican To Face Recall
John Nichols hinted last week that more recall petitions would be filed for the Republican 8. Today, Senator Luther Olsen became one of those senators, making him the third Republican senator to face a recall election. Volunteers filed the recall petitions with the Government Accountability Board today.
Already, two of the eight Republican senators will face a recall election. Senator Dan Kapanke was the first senator whose district gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall, and Senator Randy Hopper was the second.
The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures is quite amazing and shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights. Now, with just over a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, another senator is added to the list.
Also, Saturday, Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin spotted this in the Inter-County Leader, "Those gathering signatures to force incumbent State Senator Sheila Harsdorf into a recall election in June have indicated they have collected more than the 15,000-plus signatures needed." The recall petition organizers still want to collect more signatures to "provide a safe margin" before submitting the petition. So, Senator Harsdorf is likely the next Republican senator to fall.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.
The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!
The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:
Don't forget about a little known but important battle, the Voter Distraction Bill (Senate Bill 6).
Already, two of the eight Republican senators will face a recall election. Senator Dan Kapanke was the first senator whose district gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall, and Senator Randy Hopper was the second.
The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures is quite amazing and shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights. Now, with just over a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, another senator is added to the list.
Also, Saturday, Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin spotted this in the Inter-County Leader, "Those gathering signatures to force incumbent State Senator Sheila Harsdorf into a recall election in June have indicated they have collected more than the 15,000-plus signatures needed." The recall petition organizers still want to collect more signatures to "provide a safe margin" before submitting the petition. So, Senator Harsdorf is likely the next Republican senator to fall.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.
The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!
The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:
- Senator Robert Cowles
- Senator Alberta Darling
- Senator Sheila Harsdorf (though very close)
- Senator Glenn Grothman
- Senator Mary Lazich
Don't forget about a little known but important battle, the Voter Distraction Bill (Senate Bill 6).
Wisconsin Republican State Senator Rob Cowles Still Telling Lies
When the Republicans voted for the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill, we knew that stripping those rights didn't save any money, because otherwise the Republicans wouldn't have been able to vote on the bill without the Democrats. However, when Governor Scott Walker admitted to that fact in front of the U.S. Congress the news still made big headlines. Now, I read an article from Sunday in which Senator Rob Cowles is still perpetuating that lie from two months ago. The article says that Cowles "believes the changes [in the bill] were needed to deal with the state's financial problems and doesn't hold Scott Fitzgerald responsible for angry blowback."
This is why Senator Cowles is one the of the Republican 8 being recalled. He is either lying or unwilling to listen to reason, because he continues to spread lies directly in the face of clear facts. We need representatives who will reason and vote based on facts not political friendships, and we need representatives who will take the time to learn the facts relevant to an issue. Senator Cowles does not provide the kind of leadership we need to solve the complex problems of today.
Senator Cowles, why do you insist on perpetuating this lie, and now that you know collective bargaining doesn't cost Wisconsin, why did you vote to strip those rights away?
Update: (1:49pm) Signatures are still needed for the recall of Senator Cowles. For information on how you can help, see the event calendar here and other information at www.recallrobertcowles.com.
This is why Senator Cowles is one the of the Republican 8 being recalled. He is either lying or unwilling to listen to reason, because he continues to spread lies directly in the face of clear facts. We need representatives who will reason and vote based on facts not political friendships, and we need representatives who will take the time to learn the facts relevant to an issue. Senator Cowles does not provide the kind of leadership we need to solve the complex problems of today.
Senator Cowles, why do you insist on perpetuating this lie, and now that you know collective bargaining doesn't cost Wisconsin, why did you vote to strip those rights away?
Update: (1:49pm) Signatures are still needed for the recall of Senator Cowles. For information on how you can help, see the event calendar here and other information at www.recallrobertcowles.com.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
More Wisconsin Republican 8 Recalls Likely Coming Very Soon
John Nichols, of The CapTimes and The Nation, who has worked very hard the last few months to keep us informed, said Monday on MSNBC's the Ed Show, "There will be more recalls filed in coming days." The announcements have probably been delayed until all of the canvass boards have completed. So, I expect to hear the news soon.
The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures is quite amazing and shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights. Now, with only a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, at least one more senator will likely be added to the list.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell who of the remaining six Republicans will be next.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.
The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!
Another important battle, in my book, is the Voter Distraction Bill (Senate Bill 6).
Update: (April 17, 2:27am) Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin spotted this in Saturday's Inter-County Leader, "Those gathering signatures to force incumbent State Senator Sheila Harsdorf into a recall election in June have indicated they have collected more than the 15,000-plus signatures needed." The recall petition organizers still want to collect more signatures to "provide a safe margin" before submitting the petition.
"I think that people who aren‘t in Wisconsin often think wow, they took another hit. They found 14,000 votes in Waukesha County. People are going to get frustrated and give up.Already, two of the eight Republican senators will face a recall election. Senator Dan Kapanke was the first senator whose district gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall, and Senator Randy Hopper was the second. Randy Hopper's recall was hinted at by John Nichols on MSNBC's Ed Show the day before the petition was filed.
It is quite the opposite. On election day last week, there were people at polling places all over the state collecting recall signatures. Those signatures are piling up. There will be more recalls filed in coming days.
And there are now candidates stepping up. Jennifer Schilling, a terrific state representative, who you may not remember, Ed—she actually appeared briefly on your show when you were in Wisconsin—has announced that she is going to take on Dan Kapanke. And she is a very strong candidate.
So far from the enthusiasm going [this way], there is an awful lot of evidence that people are getting into these recall races and saying, you know, look, if we‘ve got to pile up an extra 14,000 votes to ensure a victory, we‘ll do it."
The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures is quite amazing and shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights. Now, with only a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, at least one more senator will likely be added to the list.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell who of the remaining six Republicans will be next.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.
The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!
Another important battle, in my book, is the Voter Distraction Bill (Senate Bill 6).
Update: (April 17, 2:27am) Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin spotted this in Saturday's Inter-County Leader, "Those gathering signatures to force incumbent State Senator Sheila Harsdorf into a recall election in June have indicated they have collected more than the 15,000-plus signatures needed." The recall petition organizers still want to collect more signatures to "provide a safe margin" before submitting the petition.
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