Walker and special interests are pushing hard to split UW-Madison off from the rest of the UW System in a plan called the New Badger Partnership. The argument, UW-Madison needs the flexibility to deal with Walker's budget cuts and rising costs. However, the New Badger Partnership creates a false dichotomy. UW-Madison does not need public authority status to gain the flexibilities it needs. Welcome the Wisconsin Idea Partnership, which keeps the UW System and the Wisconsin Idea in tact while giving the needed flexibilities to all of Wisconsin's universities.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has responded to the Wisconsin Idea Partnership by saying it doesn't give UW-Madison enough flexibility. My response to Martin, which I emailed to her, is work with the rest of the UW System to strengthen the Wisconsin Idea Partnership so that it provides the needed flexibilities. The Wisconsin Idea Partnership may not be perfect right now, but it points us in the right direction. There's no reason the needed flexibilities can't be added to the Wisconsin Idea Partnership without creating a public authority and splitting off UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin Wave is organizing a rally Tuesday at Bascom Hall from 1pm-2:30pm to protest the New Badger Partnership. As an alumnus of UW-Madison and UW-Fox Valley, this debate is very important to me. However, the New Badger Partnership will affect everyone in Wisconsin by weakening the UW System and duplicating efforts which means we get less for our tax dollar. So I'll be at the rally, and I hope you come too.
You can find lots of useful information on the New Badger Partnership and the Wisconsin Idea Partnership here, far more information than can be found on the New Badger Partnership site.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Congressman Sean Duffy Loses Cool and Disrespects His Constituents
U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy, the former MTV Real World star from Wisconsin, held a town hall last week Tuesday, April 19 in Shell Lake to promote Paul Ryan's radical budget proposal. Democurmudgeon and others have posted videos from the town hall, but I wanted to highlight one unbelievable event. At the end of this video Duffy scolds a constituent, "Let me tell you. When you have your town hall, you can stand up and give your presentation."
The constituent was polite and asked a very relevant question about what Duffy is doing to prevent fraud and abuse in Medicare. Duffy has no excuse for such a response.
Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8.
The constituent was polite and asked a very relevant question about what Duffy is doing to prevent fraud and abuse in Medicare. Duffy has no excuse for such a response.
Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Recall the Republican 8! - Final Week
I visited my family for Easter this weekend in Senator Cowles's district, and I was fortunate enough to catch an ad called "Recall the Republicans." I absolutely love this ad!
We've already submitted more than enough signatures to recall five of the Republican 8 senators, which is incredible, but the Koch brothers and the Republicans have submitted enough signatures to recall three Democrats. We've sent a strong message to Walker and the Republicans, but we need to recall all of the Republican 8 to have a shot at retaking the Wisconsin Senate for the people. Because we've already seen the Republicans don't care about us.
We figure that Walker and the Republicans are planning to introduce financial martial law legislation similar to Michigan's. We could easily stop such a law if the Republicans don't have a majority in the Senate. Not only that, we could start introducing and debating real solutions instead of false solutions such as the collective bargaining bill and the voter distraction (suppression) bill. We'd also have a much better chance of preventing many calamities in Walker's budget proposal.
The quickest most effective way Wisconsin can move Forward is to recall all of the Republican 8, but we only have until May 2nd (Sunday, May 1st really). So the remaining three efforts can use any and all help they can get
We've already submitted more than enough signatures to recall five of the Republican 8 senators, which is incredible, but the Koch brothers and the Republicans have submitted enough signatures to recall three Democrats. We've sent a strong message to Walker and the Republicans, but we need to recall all of the Republican 8 to have a shot at retaking the Wisconsin Senate for the people. Because we've already seen the Republicans don't care about us.
We figure that Walker and the Republicans are planning to introduce financial martial law legislation similar to Michigan's. We could easily stop such a law if the Republicans don't have a majority in the Senate. Not only that, we could start introducing and debating real solutions instead of false solutions such as the collective bargaining bill and the voter distraction (suppression) bill. We'd also have a much better chance of preventing many calamities in Walker's budget proposal.
The quickest most effective way Wisconsin can move Forward is to recall all of the Republican 8, but we only have until May 2nd (Sunday, May 1st really). So the remaining three efforts can use any and all help they can get
- Senator Robert Cowles - Senate District 2
- Senator Glenn Grothman - Senate District 20
- Senator Mary Lazich - Senate Disctict 28
We don't have much time, but I know that many people are working hard to recall Senator Robert Cowles, who still tells the lie that the collective bargaining bill saves money. In fact, my parents, who have already signed the recall petition for Cowles, were visited today by a volunteer. Please start thinking about making plans to spend just a few hours this weekend in one of these districts if you're not available to help during the week.
Wisconsin needs you.
Wisconsin needs you.
Republican Politicians Want You To Pay More
If you're net worth is over a million dollars, this post is not for you.
We have a clear and strong argument against our Republican politicians, which is supported by their actions. Republican politicians care more about wealthy individuals and corporations than most Wisconsinites. We are the overwhelming majority, and it's time our legislators focus on our problems.
Evidence
We have a clear and strong argument against our Republican politicians, which is supported by their actions. Republican politicians care more about wealthy individuals and corporations than most Wisconsinites. We are the overwhelming majority, and it's time our legislators focus on our problems.
Evidence
- Collective bargaining bill
- Strip away workers' rights and forcibly reduce benefits. If corporations ask for the same "flexibility," will the Republicans decline?
- Walker budget proposal
- Significant cuts to most if not all vital public services. Tax breaks for corporations.
- Extension of Bush tax cuts for the very rich
- Obama agreed to this only to preserve the tax cuts for everyone else. Otherwise, the Republicans would have been happy to increase all of our taxes.
- Republican (Paul Ryan) budget
- Significant cuts to many vital public services including eliminating Medicare and Medicaid as we know them. Significant tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations.
- All but 4 Republican House Representatives voted for this proposal
The result is that all of us end up retaining less money, while the wealthy get wealthier.
This argument is simple, effective and more than barely true. This should be the argument that we reach for first. Republican politicians care more about wealthy individuals and corporations than you.
Corporations have already been bailed out and given huge tax cuts, and the stock market is up over 50% since April 2009. So we know most of them are doing quite well. Yet they're still not creating any significant amount of jobs. More tax cuts aren't going to convince them much more. In fact, I'd argue that we need to stop babying the corporations so they start creating jobs. Corporations used to pay a much larger share of taxes, and they flourished. Since they won't hire from increased profits by tax cuts, remove the tax cuts and force them to increase profits through hiring, or simply get them to hire out of fear that we'll remove the tax cuts. The CEOs could easily afford a pay-cut if it came to that (maybe a temporary CEO salary cap).
I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
We need to fight for our respect, and the most effective way to do that now is to help recall the Republican 8 before the May 2nd deadline (one week from today)!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
PolitiFact Wisconsin: One Big Pile of Dog...
These guys couldn't be unbiased if their lives depended upon it. Just look at this article as evidence. A lengthy article was written to simply throw unrelated and unsupported criticism at the Wisconsin Democrats as well as create more confusion. Their argument, that a press release was false when it described Senator Hopper as "recalled" because he hasn't yet officially been recalled.
Ok, so the press release could have been more clear. Enough signatures have been submitted to the GAB to request a recall election, but the GAB is still in the process of reviewing the signatures. However, the term "recalled" was used shorthand in the press release to describe Senator Hopper's current situation. The intent of the press release was not to state that Senator Hopper had been recalled. The Democrats were only using the term to describe Hopper's current situation while stating other new information.
PolitiFact Wisconsin points out the term recalled "suggests an official who is being brought back to stand before the people." By my interpretation, the press release is correct. More than enough signatures have been submitted to bring Hopper back to stand before the people. The GAB just hasn't made it official yet, but I highly doubt Hopper's recall will not be certified by the GAB. Maybe if there was a challenge to the recall there would be reason to doubt it, but there isn't.
I again admit that the press release could have been more clear, but I don't think the intent of the press release was to mislead or to create more confusion.
The PolitiFact article also includes a quote from Hopper's campaign manager, saying that if Hopper wins the recall election "that means he was never recalled." Using the above definition, that statement is patently false. Only if the GAB doesn't certify enough signatures for Hopper's recall election will Hopper never be recalled. Yet, PolitiFact makes no attempt to question the statement.
Calling the statement "Recalled Randy Hopper" "False" is misleading if not flat wrong, and it truly was a waste of their time to write the article and for me to read it.
How does one biased newspaper become the only "true" source of facts in our debates?
Update: (9:02am) It's ridiculous that they offer no way to comment on a PolitiFact article when you can comment on any other Journal Sentinel article. No one can directly refute their claims.
This is another example of a PolitiFact Wisconsin article that shouldn't be posted on a "fact" website. You can't claim a statement is "Barely True" simply because someone doesn't cite enough convincing evidence. If you're going to write an article and state whether something is true or not, you're expected to do the research.
Ok, so the press release could have been more clear. Enough signatures have been submitted to the GAB to request a recall election, but the GAB is still in the process of reviewing the signatures. However, the term "recalled" was used shorthand in the press release to describe Senator Hopper's current situation. The intent of the press release was not to state that Senator Hopper had been recalled. The Democrats were only using the term to describe Hopper's current situation while stating other new information.
PolitiFact Wisconsin points out the term recalled "suggests an official who is being brought back to stand before the people." By my interpretation, the press release is correct. More than enough signatures have been submitted to bring Hopper back to stand before the people. The GAB just hasn't made it official yet, but I highly doubt Hopper's recall will not be certified by the GAB. Maybe if there was a challenge to the recall there would be reason to doubt it, but there isn't.
I again admit that the press release could have been more clear, but I don't think the intent of the press release was to mislead or to create more confusion.
The PolitiFact article also includes a quote from Hopper's campaign manager, saying that if Hopper wins the recall election "that means he was never recalled." Using the above definition, that statement is patently false. Only if the GAB doesn't certify enough signatures for Hopper's recall election will Hopper never be recalled. Yet, PolitiFact makes no attempt to question the statement.
Calling the statement "Recalled Randy Hopper" "False" is misleading if not flat wrong, and it truly was a waste of their time to write the article and for me to read it.
How does one biased newspaper become the only "true" source of facts in our debates?
Update: (9:02am) It's ridiculous that they offer no way to comment on a PolitiFact article when you can comment on any other Journal Sentinel article. No one can directly refute their claims.
This is another example of a PolitiFact Wisconsin article that shouldn't be posted on a "fact" website. You can't claim a statement is "Barely True" simply because someone doesn't cite enough convincing evidence. If you're going to write an article and state whether something is true or not, you're expected to do the research.
Friday, April 22, 2011
STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote - Very Informative Documentary on Real Election System Issues
This week I learned of a very relevant, informative and entertaining documentary from 2008 that highlights many of the prominent issues with our modern election systems. I wanted to watch it before recommending it, but now that I have, I highly recommend this film, especially during this time when our knowledge can make a real difference. It's free to watch online. So why not make plans to watch the movie during the ugly weather this weekend, or watch it now. From the film, "It's time to wake up. What you stand to lose is everything."
The film has extraordinary reviews from many.
Some of the issues the documentary discusses are:
Some of the unresolved issues with computer election systems discussed:
The film then discusses many of the various anomalies with elections in the last decade and the need for hand recounts and paper trails. I believe that by law in Wisconsin all of our machines require a paper trail, but I'm not sure that the Optech Eagle (the machines that we lack memory for) does.
Election officials and computer security professionals are some of the experts whose testimony (some under oath) is included in the film.
There's clips from The Daily Show, and even a clip from Keith Olbermann. So progressives should find Stealing America even more entertaining.
The film contains some speculation, particularly with regard to the 2004 election, but the issues are real. The reason the speculation continues is because we don't get our relevant questions answered and the issues persist.
Here's the trailer:
Don't stop there. You can watch the film in its entirety for free at http://www.stealingamericathemovie.org/.
The more we know now, the better chance we have of actually fixing these issues for future elections. Some of these issues won't apply to us or everyone in Wisconsin, but most of them do.
I want to thank the film's producer Dorothy Fadiman for putting together such an informative documentary, making it available for free, and bringing it to my attention.
A world-renowned security expert, Bruce Schneier, has also written quite extensively on the issues with computer election systems. If you want more information, you will find his essays and op-eds on the subject very informative.
The film has extraordinary reviews from many.
Some of the issues the documentary discusses are:
- Long lines
- Reporting irregularities
- Laws that are used to "rig elections"
- Silence of mainstream media on issues, leaving bloggers digging for information
- Voter disenfranchisement
Some of the unresolved issues with computer election systems discussed:
- Errors inherit in computers and software, vote totals will nearly never match the true count exactly
- Vote switching
- Secrecy by system producers
- Ease of changing vote counts without detection
- How computers make changing large amounts of votes much easier than changing large amounts of paper ballots
The film then discusses many of the various anomalies with elections in the last decade and the need for hand recounts and paper trails. I believe that by law in Wisconsin all of our machines require a paper trail, but I'm not sure that the Optech Eagle (the machines that we lack memory for) does.
Election officials and computer security professionals are some of the experts whose testimony (some under oath) is included in the film.
There's clips from The Daily Show, and even a clip from Keith Olbermann. So progressives should find Stealing America even more entertaining.
The film contains some speculation, particularly with regard to the 2004 election, but the issues are real. The reason the speculation continues is because we don't get our relevant questions answered and the issues persist.
Here's the trailer:
Don't stop there. You can watch the film in its entirety for free at http://www.stealingamericathemovie.org/.
The more we know now, the better chance we have of actually fixing these issues for future elections. Some of these issues won't apply to us or everyone in Wisconsin, but most of them do.
I want to thank the film's producer Dorothy Fadiman for putting together such an informative documentary, making it available for free, and bringing it to my attention.
A world-renowned security expert, Bruce Schneier, has also written quite extensively on the issues with computer election systems. If you want more information, you will find his essays and op-eds on the subject very informative.
Will Scott Walker Request An Investigation Into "Shots for Signatures" Scandal?
One Wisconsin Now issued a press release Friday asking Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to call for an investigation into the "Shots for Signatures" scandal. I think they have a very valid point, and so here is the press release verbatim.
Update: (2:33pm) Just in case you're looking, here's Scott Walker's email address: govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Will Scott Walker File Complaint With District Attorney over Recall 'Shots for Signatures' Like He Did in 2000?
After Leading Republican Prosecution Efforts Then, Walker Silent on 'Shots for Signatures'
Gov. Scott Walker, who filed the complaint with the Milwaukee County District Attorney in 2000 over charges cigarettes were provided to a handful of potential voters, has remained uncharacteristically silent on evidence released this week that people were being promised liquor to sign recall signatures against a Democratic State Senator.
"In 2000, Scott Walker personally filed the complaint with the Milwaukee County district attorney calling for an investigation into what he called bribery, but 'shots for signatures' appears to be fine with him now," said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. "When will Gov. Walker file a complaint with the District Attorney?"
Walker's unwillingness to comment on the recall signature allegations contradicts his unequivocal statements in 2000, including:
Allegations of numerous improprieties surrounding recall efforts against Sens. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), Jim Holperin (D-Conover) and Bob Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) were leveled yesterday, including an out-of-state felon collecting recall signatures, citizens being deceived about the intent of the documents they were signing and charges that signatures were being traded for shots of alcohol.
- "Let me qualify that since we brought the original episode of the cigarettes-for-votes issues to the attention of the district attorney's office on Monday, they have been aggressive in seeking to follow up on that..." [Walker Press Conference, 11/10/00]
- "Even aside from the law itself, I just think most people on a gut check level would say that's wrong. One has to question if they were going to be voting anyway, one has to question why would the campaign, the Gore campaign, be giving anything out, other than a ride to vote." [Then-State Rep. Scott Walker, WISN-TV, 11/6/00]
- "Anything that gets something of value, be it a $20 bill on the street out here, or a pack of cigarettes, we think is wrong....The trading off of anything, something of worth, in exchange for someone's vote -- not only is it ethically questionable, we believe it's a violation of the law." [Walker, WISN-TV 11/5/00]
"We know Gov. Walker was hoping David Koch would dump his money into saving the state Senate for his Republican allies," said Ross. "But that should not stop Gov. Walker from calling for investigation and prosecution as his did in 2000."
Update: (2:33pm) Just in case you're looking, here's Scott Walker's email address: govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Five Republican 8 Senators To Face Recall Election - Many Recall Efforts Questioned
Organizers for the recall of Wisconsin State Senator Alberta Darling filed their overwhelming collection of signatures today according to the AP. The announcement was hinted at on Tuesday by Ed Schultz on his MSNBC show, The Ed Show, and Uppity Wisconsin spotted the organizers' announcement last evening.
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 Monday and the filings Tuesday from the recall campaigns for Senators Luther Olsen and Sheila Harsdorf, half of the Republican 8 senators will face a recall election. Now, five of the Republican 8 senators will face a recall election, and that means there's a good chance the Democrats can retake the majority of the Senate. However, that does depend upon the success of any recall attempts by the Republicans.
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, just two weeks since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, it's unbelievable that three more senators have been added to the list. It shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senator Robert Cowles is thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell as I've been saying this for a while now.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. According to the AP article, three of the efforts have resulted in enough signatures to file petitions with the Government Accountability Board. However, as I spotted earlier, the Wisconsin Democrats are calling into question the means for which the signatures were collected. Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Mike Tate said that he guarantees "there will be fraudulent signatures turned in." There's also this article from Slate. From a TPM article,
The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:
I should mention that Republican Senator Dan Kapanke also believes he has a case against his recall, because he feels sufficient paper work wasn't filed. I'm not sure how much legal weight there is behind his argument. He filed a challenge on April, 15th and the organizers filed a rebuttal Tuesday saying the claims were "insubstantial potshots." The deadline for Kapanke to respond is today, but I can't find any news regarding his response. So it's likely he's given up.
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 Monday and the filings Tuesday from the recall campaigns for Senators Luther Olsen and Sheila Harsdorf, half of the Republican 8 senators will face a recall election. Now, five of the Republican 8 senators will face a recall election, and that means there's a good chance the Democrats can retake the majority of the Senate. However, that does depend upon the success of any recall attempts by the Republicans.
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, just two weeks since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, it's unbelievable that three more senators have been added to the list. It shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights.
The effort to collect enough signatures for Senator Robert Cowles is thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell as I've been saying this for a while now.
In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. According to the AP article, three of the efforts have resulted in enough signatures to file petitions with the Government Accountability Board. However, as I spotted earlier, the Wisconsin Democrats are calling into question the means for which the signatures were collected. Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Mike Tate said that he guarantees "there will be fraudulent signatures turned in." There's also this article from Slate. From a TPM article,
"On a conference call with reporters on Thursday morning, state Dem chair Mike Tate and attorney Jeremy Levinson predicted that they would able to successfully challenge the validity of much of the signature-gathering effort by Republicans -- which Tate repeatedly called a "racket."On the other hand, as Tate stated, signatures to recall the Republican 8 were almost entirely collected by volunteers with paid organizers there to oversee. The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming very clear. Keep up the good fight!
[Tate said,] "In the coming days, you will see affidavits from citizens in these targeted districts who were deceived into signing petitions by the Republican roadies who often refused to identify themselves by their real names."
"In addition, Tate said that the Dems had stories on hand of people being misled into signing: "We've had people lying saying this is in support of [Democratic state Sen.] Dave Hansen, not to recall Dave Hansen. There are going to be examples of these mercenaries who are paid to collect as many signatures as possible, not valid signatures."
"Also, Levinson said that Democrats would not even necessarily have to scrutinize all the individual signatures, looking for ones to disqualify. "We know as fact that they have had people circulating signatures who are legally prohibited from doing so. Those signatures should all be tossed," said Levinson, also adding: "To circulate a petition, you either need to be a qualified elector [voter] in wisconsin or eligible to be a qualified elector in Wisconsin."
"In particular, Tate said that the Republicans brought in paid signature gatherers from out of state, who were paid on a per-signature basis, and that some of these gatherers had criminal records."
The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:
- Senator Robert Cowles - Senate District 2
- Senator Glenn Grothman - Senate District 20
- Senator Mary Lazich - Senate Disctict 28
Even though the recall campaigns have been going extraordinarily well, these remaining efforts need all the help they can get because the deadline to collect signatures is quickly approaching - May 2nd.
I should mention that Republican Senator Dan Kapanke also believes he has a case against his recall, because he feels sufficient paper work wasn't filed. I'm not sure how much legal weight there is behind his argument. He filed a challenge on April, 15th and the organizers filed a rebuttal Tuesday saying the claims were "insubstantial potshots." The deadline for Kapanke to respond is today, but I can't find any news regarding his response. So it's likely he's given up.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates Agree To Hand Recount in 31 Counties
As I reported earlier, 31 Wisconsin counties don't have enough memory to run an electronic recount while preserving the data from the original count. The Government Accountability Board did in fact request permission to delete the data, which bewilders me. However, the candidates agreed in court to a hand recount in those 31 counties in order to preserve the vital original data. Only the parts of those counties that lack enough memory will undergo a hand recount.
The voting equipment in question is the Optech Eagle, and the needed memory cartridges are no longer manufactured. In the private sector, we get contracts that specify how long hardware will be manufactured, and we don't select hardware that can't be maintained for the desired length of time. The military also requires strict hardware contracts, stricter in most cases. So, it's not unusual to demand memory for the expected life of a machine, it's required in many situations. We definitely have some serious issues with our computer election systems in Wisconsin.
The Government Accountability Board lists very little information about our computer election systems on their website, but there doesn't appear to be any information on the Optech Eagle beyond which municipalities use it.
The candidates were right in agreeing to a hand recount, just as Kloppenburg was right for requesting a recount.
The voting equipment in question is the Optech Eagle, and the needed memory cartridges are no longer manufactured. In the private sector, we get contracts that specify how long hardware will be manufactured, and we don't select hardware that can't be maintained for the desired length of time. The military also requires strict hardware contracts, stricter in most cases. So, it's not unusual to demand memory for the expected life of a machine, it's required in many situations. We definitely have some serious issues with our computer election systems in Wisconsin.
The Government Accountability Board lists very little information about our computer election systems on their website, but there doesn't appear to be any information on the Optech Eagle beyond which municipalities use it.
The candidates were right in agreeing to a hand recount, just as Kloppenburg was right for requesting a recount.
Kloppenburg Was Right To Request A Recount
Kloppenburg was right to request a recount. I don't know who wouldn't request a recount in such a close election. Wisconsin State law provides for a "free" recount when the result is this close. There's even a level in between "free" and having to fully finance a recount. Also, past elections do not necessarily predict future results. Just because most recounts in previous elections haven't changed the winner, it doesn't mean that there's any less of a chance of a recount unveiling a different winner. Mathematically, there's a much higher likelihood of the recount showing that Kloppenburg truly won than you winning the jackpot from that lottery ticket you bought earlier today.
However, as I've stated before, closeness shouldn't be the only reason to request a recount. There are many reasons that a reasonable person might think the official vote counts using tallies from the election computers are incorrect, because there are many ways for that to happen and the election computers in Waukesha County are extremely suspect. To my knowledge, the GAB didn't fully inspect their integrity - an example of the very little clarity in this situation. I'm not going to enumerate here all of the various questions and ways vote counts could be changed, because I've already posted more than enough times, and so have many other people. Kloppenburg shouldn't have been expected to make a decision to recount without more clarification about what happened in that county, and there are many reasons to think that a recount will uncover serious discrepancies in at least Waukesha County.
Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus could have prevented a lot of criticism by simply telling the public about the error when she verified it occurred. It only hurt her by waiting, and I still can't understand why she did. Even still, Nickolaus had nearly two weeks to address the questions regarding her explanation, but she didn't once. Not only could Nickolaus have prevented criticism by offering further explanation, she may very well have prevented a recount by doing so. However, that isn't to say there aren't or may not be significant issues in other counties, but the lack of clarity in Waukesha and her refusal to offer any further details magnified the concerns that something could have happened there as well as other counties.
Republicans bring up issues with elections all of the time. Although they tend to focus on voter fraud. Voter fraud is easier to detect than computer errors and manipulations, but voter fraud hasn't been shown to be a factor. Republicans should be just as suspicious of what may have happened in Waukesha County and around the state, because any deliberate actions or incidental errors that change the count could easily be repeated in a Democratic controlled county unless we determine exactly what happened and put prevention measures in place. And who's to say something didn't happen in a Democratic controlled county? I argue that it's out of ignorance or selfishness that a Republican would deny there are real issues that require impartial investigation and a recount, because they yell so loudly about much smaller election issues.
Waukesha County was just one example of how computer errors can skew elections, and we don't even know exactly what happened there. People who say this recount is unwarranted and point to Waukesha County saying it's resolved are wrong, and you can tell by their weak statements. We don't know for sure the vote counts from any count match the actual vote counts. Nothing has been resolved in Waukesha County, and the Government Accountability Board (who may be suspect in this as well) is still not finished with their investigation.
In Kloppenburg's announcement of her request for a recount, she listed several other reasons to suspect that the official vote counts from other counties don't match the actual counts. From long lines to photo-copied ballots, we'll be given more details about these issues in the coming days. We must carefully examine the issues in all counties, because we want to ensure the integrity of our elections.
With the closeness of this election, the relevance of these anomalies increases. Every vote counts, but in wide elections, a few thousand votes don't change the outcome. They do in this election. We'd like to think anomalies always matter, and I argue they do, but people are reluctant to spend money to look into them unless they could potentially change the outcome. Since Kloppenburg requested a recount, we have a chance to determine what the issues are and hopefully fix them in future elections. This is how the recount can benefit the entire state of Wisconsin.
We need to know our elections are fair, accurate and secure, and the only way to determine that in this election is to do a statewide recount and investigate at the very least Waukesha County's system and processes. We need some clarity, we must ensure our elections are in fact fair, accurate and secure. Don't you want to be sure of that?
If Prosser is shown to be the true winner, I will be one of the first to congratulate him and his supporters. However, right now there's absolutely no proof that Prosser is the winner.
Update: (12:26pm) I just saw this at WisPolitics, and I didn't think to consider the recount wouldn't be a hand recount. At the very least, we need to inspect the way election computers are inspected and verified, but the only way we can know the true vote count is to do a hand count. There's no way around that fact.
Update: (3:32pm) Other people have noted that this recount will likely cost Kloppenburg a lot of money. However, she can accept donations for the recount to ensure the integrity of Wisconsin's elections on her website http://kloppenburgforjustice.com/.
Update: (4:10pm) The candidates have agreed to a hand recount in the 31 counties that didn't have the memory to run an electronic recount. This will go a long way in helping to ensure the vote-counting machines are accurate. Proving an electronic vote-counting machine can be inaccurate or potentially compromised is not difficult. If there are other suspicions, we must make them heard now.
However, as I've stated before, closeness shouldn't be the only reason to request a recount. There are many reasons that a reasonable person might think the official vote counts using tallies from the election computers are incorrect, because there are many ways for that to happen and the election computers in Waukesha County are extremely suspect. To my knowledge, the GAB didn't fully inspect their integrity - an example of the very little clarity in this situation. I'm not going to enumerate here all of the various questions and ways vote counts could be changed, because I've already posted more than enough times, and so have many other people. Kloppenburg shouldn't have been expected to make a decision to recount without more clarification about what happened in that county, and there are many reasons to think that a recount will uncover serious discrepancies in at least Waukesha County.
Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus could have prevented a lot of criticism by simply telling the public about the error when she verified it occurred. It only hurt her by waiting, and I still can't understand why she did. Even still, Nickolaus had nearly two weeks to address the questions regarding her explanation, but she didn't once. Not only could Nickolaus have prevented criticism by offering further explanation, she may very well have prevented a recount by doing so. However, that isn't to say there aren't or may not be significant issues in other counties, but the lack of clarity in Waukesha and her refusal to offer any further details magnified the concerns that something could have happened there as well as other counties.
Republicans bring up issues with elections all of the time. Although they tend to focus on voter fraud. Voter fraud is easier to detect than computer errors and manipulations, but voter fraud hasn't been shown to be a factor. Republicans should be just as suspicious of what may have happened in Waukesha County and around the state, because any deliberate actions or incidental errors that change the count could easily be repeated in a Democratic controlled county unless we determine exactly what happened and put prevention measures in place. And who's to say something didn't happen in a Democratic controlled county? I argue that it's out of ignorance or selfishness that a Republican would deny there are real issues that require impartial investigation and a recount, because they yell so loudly about much smaller election issues.
Waukesha County was just one example of how computer errors can skew elections, and we don't even know exactly what happened there. People who say this recount is unwarranted and point to Waukesha County saying it's resolved are wrong, and you can tell by their weak statements. We don't know for sure the vote counts from any count match the actual vote counts. Nothing has been resolved in Waukesha County, and the Government Accountability Board (who may be suspect in this as well) is still not finished with their investigation.
In Kloppenburg's announcement of her request for a recount, she listed several other reasons to suspect that the official vote counts from other counties don't match the actual counts. From long lines to photo-copied ballots, we'll be given more details about these issues in the coming days. We must carefully examine the issues in all counties, because we want to ensure the integrity of our elections.
With the closeness of this election, the relevance of these anomalies increases. Every vote counts, but in wide elections, a few thousand votes don't change the outcome. They do in this election. We'd like to think anomalies always matter, and I argue they do, but people are reluctant to spend money to look into them unless they could potentially change the outcome. Since Kloppenburg requested a recount, we have a chance to determine what the issues are and hopefully fix them in future elections. This is how the recount can benefit the entire state of Wisconsin.
We need to know our elections are fair, accurate and secure, and the only way to determine that in this election is to do a statewide recount and investigate at the very least Waukesha County's system and processes. We need some clarity, we must ensure our elections are in fact fair, accurate and secure. Don't you want to be sure of that?
If Prosser is shown to be the true winner, I will be one of the first to congratulate him and his supporters. However, right now there's absolutely no proof that Prosser is the winner.
Update: (12:26pm) I just saw this at WisPolitics, and I didn't think to consider the recount wouldn't be a hand recount. At the very least, we need to inspect the way election computers are inspected and verified, but the only way we can know the true vote count is to do a hand count. There's no way around that fact.
Update: (3:32pm) Other people have noted that this recount will likely cost Kloppenburg a lot of money. However, she can accept donations for the recount to ensure the integrity of Wisconsin's elections on her website http://kloppenburgforjustice.com/.
Update: (4:10pm) The candidates have agreed to a hand recount in the 31 counties that didn't have the memory to run an electronic recount. This will go a long way in helping to ensure the vote-counting machines are accurate. Proving an electronic vote-counting machine can be inaccurate or potentially compromised is not difficult. If there are other suspicions, we must make them heard now.
Walker May Really Be Planning Wisconsin Financial Stress Test Legislation
Rick Ungar from Forbes, who has previously reported on the possibility of Walker and the Republicans introducing financial stress test legislation similar to the law in Michigan, has written a new article on the topic called "What Is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Not Telling Us About Financial Stress Test Legislation?" I'm really not on a hunt for "dirt." I refrained from posting anything on this until now. Because I wasn't sure how much there was behind the discussions on the topic, I didn't want to add nothing to what others had already done well covering.
One of the new revelations is that Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald allegedly discussed speculation on who leaked the information. If that allegation is true, it means the Republicans have been planning to introduce a financial stress test similar to the law in Michigan. There are other revelations as well, and I suggest reading the article for yourself.
Ed Garvey has also written on the topic on his blog Fighting Bob.
Walker needs to be asked directly what he thinks of such a law and whether he would veto such a law. That should hopefully stop this in its tracks.
One of the new revelations is that Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald allegedly discussed speculation on who leaked the information. If that allegation is true, it means the Republicans have been planning to introduce a financial stress test similar to the law in Michigan. There are other revelations as well, and I suggest reading the article for yourself.
Ed Garvey has also written on the topic on his blog Fighting Bob.
Walker needs to be asked directly what he thinks of such a law and whether he would veto such a law. That should hopefully stop this in its tracks.
"Really Important" Conference Call Regarding "Outright Fraud" In Wisconsin Recall Efforts At 9:30am
As I first mentioned here, Wednesday evening on MSNBC's The Ed Show, Ed Schultz interviewed Adam Green from the Progressive Change Committee. Green said there will be a "really important conference call" Thursday morning 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."
Green said they will be talking about some "very serious charges," and "in some cases illegal practices that the Republicans are using as they try to whip across the finish line with a lack of grassroot support that they're making up for by cutting corners."
Green hinted that the allegations span from convicted felons trying to collect signatures to outright fraud. In one case, Green said collectors tried to trick voters into signing by first saying things such as "Do you support Senator Dave Hansen?" and then saying "Sign here to see him on the ballot." Green added, "Lots of reports across the state have been coming in."
I haven't been able to find an announcement anywhere else yet, but based on Green's statements, I would expect to hear something soon.
Also, if you missed this, the Government Accountability Board is planning to request permission for counties to violate Wisconsin law by deleting the information contained on voting machines during a recount. That information would be very useful in determining what happened, and if serious discrepancies are found we must have the information. If the companies supplying our election systems cannot provide us with sufficient memory, we must seriously reconsider who we do business with.
Update: (10:08am) This was actually posted last night on Democurmudgeon. The only additional information I've seen is this earlier article at the Huffington Post and a single tweet by the State Journal saying, "Wis Dems accuse those gathering recall signatures against Dem senators of sloppy, shady practices & say they will submit complaints to GAB." There may not be "illegal practices" as Adam Green hinted at, but we shall see.
Update: (1:48pm) Finally, someone with knowledge of the conference call has written something about it! Here's a TPM article. I'm reading it over now and will post more shortly. Tate said, "I guarantee to the reporters on this call, there will be fraudulent signatures turned in."
Update: (1:55pm) There's a lot of issues that Mike Tate mentioned in the conference call, and a lot more information will be coming. From the TPM article,
Green said they will be talking about some "very serious charges," and "in some cases illegal practices that the Republicans are using as they try to whip across the finish line with a lack of grassroot support that they're making up for by cutting corners."
Green hinted that the allegations span from convicted felons trying to collect signatures to outright fraud. In one case, Green said collectors tried to trick voters into signing by first saying things such as "Do you support Senator Dave Hansen?" and then saying "Sign here to see him on the ballot." Green added, "Lots of reports across the state have been coming in."
I haven't been able to find an announcement anywhere else yet, but based on Green's statements, I would expect to hear something soon.
Also, if you missed this, the Government Accountability Board is planning to request permission for counties to violate Wisconsin law by deleting the information contained on voting machines during a recount. That information would be very useful in determining what happened, and if serious discrepancies are found we must have the information. If the companies supplying our election systems cannot provide us with sufficient memory, we must seriously reconsider who we do business with.
Update: (10:08am) This was actually posted last night on Democurmudgeon. The only additional information I've seen is this earlier article at the Huffington Post and a single tweet by the State Journal saying, "Wis Dems accuse those gathering recall signatures against Dem senators of sloppy, shady practices & say they will submit complaints to GAB." There may not be "illegal practices" as Adam Green hinted at, but we shall see.
Update: (1:48pm) Finally, someone with knowledge of the conference call has written something about it! Here's a TPM article. I'm reading it over now and will post more shortly. Tate said, "I guarantee to the reporters on this call, there will be fraudulent signatures turned in."
Update: (1:55pm) There's a lot of issues that Mike Tate mentioned in the conference call, and a lot more information will be coming. From the TPM article,
"On a conference call with reporters on Thursday morning, state Dem chair Mike Tate and attorney Jeremy Levinson predicted that they would able to successfully challenge the validity of much of the signature-gathering effort by Republicans -- which Tate repeatedly called a "racket."Update: (April 22, 2:10am) I haven't been able to find much more information at this point. Here's a Slate article by David Weigel with a little bit more detail.
In particular, Tate said that the Republicans brought in paid signature gatherers from out of state, who were paid on a per-signature basis, and that some of these gatherers had criminal records."
Also, Levinson said that Democrats would not even necessarily have to scrutinize all the individual signatures, looking for ones to disqualify. "We know as fact that they have had people circulating signatures who are legally prohibited from doing so. Those signatures should all be tossed," said Levinson, also adding: "To circulate a petition, you either need to be a qualified elector [voter] in wisconsin or eligible to be a qualified elector in Wisconsin."
"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.
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