The People vs. Scott Walker

This was intended to be included in the last post, but wound up taking on a life of its own:



Take another look and you'll notice my African-American/Filipino friend DGP in the corner there. I'll mention that he's a Muslim as well, if only because I suspect it'll get your panties in a wad.
There's obviously some diversity where you claim there is none. Your accusation is flawed.

You get downright nasty and disgusting following your flawed initial allegation. It's not a personal attack on me, per se, but I'm quoting it just to highlight the priority and preference you give to smear tactics over debating actual substance:

I'm going to start by pointing out that your remarks regarding SB1070 and similar laws have probably led many readers to have already concluded you don't particularly care for minority rights when these issues arise. You're just playing the "manufactured outrage" card that's so popular with the right. You're not doing it out of principle; you're doing it out of the political expediency of going to any length, legitimate or not, to make the opposition look bad.

That picture is about a quarter of the crowd of Democratic Party volunteers who showed up for our thank you picnic. Our office was open to all who wished to volunteer, and we tried to bring in as many people as possible. Despite trying to cast a broad net, we had no control over who ultimately came through our door. Our volunteer recruitment lists came from people who signed up at the DPW tent at the capitol rallies and from public information voting records. The ethnic/racial diversity of those lists was, again, something beyond our control. It would've been nice having volunteer demographics which reflected population demographics as a whole, but we worked with what we had. If minorities didn't attend rallies and sign up at the DPW tent, sign up at other events/online/anywhere, or vote in past elections (all criteria by which we recruited our volunteers) then these factors influenced our pool of potential volunteers.

I'm not going to deny that Caucasians were overrepresented in our volunteer base when compared to the general population, but it is blatantly false to assert that we were entirely racially/ethnically homogeneous - let alone harboring xenophobic/supremacist intentions.
This is Wisconsin, and the simple fact of the matter is that this state's population is significantly more Caucasian than the national average. We worked with the volunteers we had, and we were glad to have each and every one of them regardless of their defining characteristics.

For you to suggest that we had sinister motives coincidental to our demographics in the manner which you did is, quite simply, disgusting.
What is your justification for declaring my volunteer picnic as a racist rally? Are you trying to imply a correlation between being white and being racist? Or are you trying to imply a correlation between being a Democrat and being racist? Remind me who the president is again?

There are plenty of legitimate concerns involving race in this nation. The recall elections in Wisconsin are not one of them.
In unnecessarily playing the race card as you do, you degrade the discussion of and progress on these legitimate issues. I doubt you care, but there are many justice-minded citizens out there who do.

To borrow a phrase first used against Sen. Joseph McCarthy, one of Wisconsin's own historical right-wing firebrands:
Have you no sense of decency, sir?

Continue your great work Kdogg! We are still fighting in Ohio and are rallying against SB 5, on this years ballot as Issue 2 after 1.3 million signatures were collected. Polls have shown that only 37% of Ohioans supported SB 5, so democracy is winning in regards to this issue.

I am trying to track down a "Vote no on Issue 2" sign being passed out . I'll probably have to make one or buy one. This great little video is circulating right now and I am standing behind my friends who save lives everyday in Ohio and who deserve to maintain their rights to bargain. Once public sector unions lose power, private sectors unions will, and eventually non-union workers will. Every worker will eventually lose, unfortunately.

weareohio.com/welcomevideo3.html

Six months later and pictures of myself I've never seen still find their way to me. This sign was a reaction to a comment made by Scott Walker during the "David Koch" prank call, in which the two joked about bringing baseball bats to bipartisan negotiations. I didn't keep an exact count or anything, but it likely got the best reception/reaction of all the signs I carried. I know people wanted more pictures of me with this than any other, and I'm surprised it took this long for me to actually see one.

Updates
Wisconsin Legislature is Back in Session.... kind of.
The Assembly and state senate, both still under Republican control, have but one day of business scheduled on their calendars the entire month of September. That day was today.
The state senate was meeting for the first time since the recall elections changed the composition of the body from 19-14 to 17-16. Their only item on the agenda was the ceremonial swearing-in of new Sens. Shilling and King.
The Assembly passed a few measures. Most noticeably, Wisconsin's 2012 Republican presidential primary would be moved back from its usual February to April. Another legislative item they have in the works is stripping the Government Accountability Board of many of its authorities to investigate/require/etc the reporting of campaign donations (and violations) in this state. Also, in possible violation of state statutes, individuals were arrested for filming the proceedings. One of them was Jenna, who you may remember as Batman from my Fort Atkinson pictures. I'm told her arrest was just the "catch-and-release" type, which are often made just to get people away from the situation with charges later being dropped. She says that, while in jail for filming the Assembly herself, she saw CJ on the news being arrested - for filming the Assembly.
It is notable that a Democratic amendment to a bill was actually considered and passed. It simply renamed a bill under consideration after a recently deceased Democratic legislator.
One Democratic motion that was tabled: convene next week to introduce/debate jobs bills


2012 Senate Race
I've mentioned earlier that Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl will not seek reelection in 2012, leaving the field wide open. Adding to the power vacuum in Wisconsin's Democratic hierarchy was Russ Feingold's decision not to seek public office of any kind in 2012.
In addition to a presidential election and an effort to Recall Walker, on top of the usual legislative elections after all we've seen, this turns up the political heat in this state even more.

Three Republicans have announced, or are expected to announce, plans to seek the party's nomination.
Tommy Thompson: four-term former governor, Bush administration Health & Human Services secretary, and one-time presidential candidate.
Mark Neumann: Former Congressman who preceded Paul Ryan in Wisconsin's 1st District, leaving that seat to unsuccessfully challenge Russ Feingold in the 1998 U.S. Senate race, and lost last year's gubernatorial primary to Scott Walker.
Jeff Fitzgerald: Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly

In the Democratic primary, only Rep. Tammy Baldwin of the 2nd District (including Madison) has announced her intention to run for the seat. If she's expected to face a serious challenge, I haven't heard about it with the exception of a long-shot possibility of one of the WI14 state senators. Baldwin vacating her seat means an open Congressional seat in the Madison area - which pretty much ensures Democratic victory.

Thus far, there are two announced Democratic primary candidates: Mark Pocan and Kelda Roys, both representatives in the Assembly. The domino effect will only open up one Assembly seat, as Rep. Roys was redistricted into the same district as another Democrat who just won a special election while we were doing GOTV in July.
I unfortunately won't be represented by either of these two without a change of address.
I like them both. They both had high profiles during the protests, especially in the absence of the Wisconsin 14. They both were involved with our office, visiting and speaking at our volunteer picnics.
Mark Pocan coined the term "FitzWalkerstan," went to New Orleans to try to infiltrate the ALEC conference, shares a birthday with me (even wished it on my Facebook wall ;D ) and donated a whole bunch of his office pens - I must confess I swiped a few. He won his Assembly seat when Tammy Baldwin vacated it to run for Congress in 1998.
Kelda Roys is more of a newcomer in her second term, was out in the streets with protesters, was on The People's Mic the same day I was, has been another of the more vocal Assembly Democrats... and DGP has taken a position as deputy director of her campaign.

Those two candidates have officially announced, but that might not complete the field. Wisconsin 14 Sen. Jon Erpenbach may or may not declare himself, which could especially shake things up.

Wisconsin usually holds its gubernatorial elections during midterm years, staggered with presidential elections. A potential Walker Recall makes for a rare year in which President, Governor and Senator are all on the ballot. If Wisconsin has been described as a swing state in recent years, we're going to be a full-on battleground in 2012.


State Employee Fired for Disseminating Voter ID Information
A low-level state employee, mail room worker Chris Larsen - not to be confused with WI14 Sen. Chris Larson, was fired from his job after sending an email informing coworkers that photo identification is available for free. This was addressed by an amendment to the Voter ID bill which passed. The original bill did not include this, which would have run afoul of federal laws. "Poll tax" implications. However, DMV employees have been instructed to only issue such identification at no charge if specifically requested.
The full text of the offending email:



Another Fake Democrat?
The 95th Assembly district's seat is currently vacant, with Rep. Jen Shilling's ascension to the state senate following the successful recall of Dan Kapanke. Contenders have emerged on both sides of the aisle, but not really.
Republican David Drewes has announced his candidacy for his party's nomination. Running for the Democratic nomination is Nick Charles.
Nick Charles ran for this seat in 2010... as a Republican, challenging Rep. Shilling. He received 36% of the vote then.
I am disturbed that this happened at all during the recall process, and I am disturbed that this seems to be becoming a regular page in the Republican playbook.


No video clip this update - CJ & Robin Vos was golden enough.

Upcoming: Fighting Bob Fest, in its tenth year, moves from its usual county fairgrounds in Baraboo to a larger venue in Madison this Saturday. Speakers include Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, former Rep. Dave Obey, Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West, radio host Thom Hartmann, author/commentator Jim Hightower, journalist John Nichols, the Raging Grannies and a whole list of other whistleblowers, activists and agitators. In addition to most of them, I'm hoping to see some of the old faces from around the office in attendance. I haven't seen anyone but Nick & DGP since we closed up shop.

Now a current member of IBEW 26 (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). I've been at it for about a month and so I must answer this.

Don't you get, UNIONS are good for BUSINESS, they wouldn't be hired if they weren't. Businesses like experience and specialized skills. When a corporation builds an office, who constructs the building, powers the electricity, set up the walls and flooring. Specialized unions for different tasks.

Businesses don't wanna deal with the hiring of labor workers, they call a contractor and specialized union workers get called up.

It's a general rule of industry. Unions provide labor, companies provide capital.

ChicagoRooer: Union made USED to mean something. Now we know it's all BS...most of them are in the parking lot smoking up or drinking on lunch...I support the workers not the thug union leaders

Damn right you better support the workers, It's fulltime from 6 am-2. And we break for only 20 minutes. And we bust our asses during those hours.

Thug union leaders, as with all positions of power. Can be glorymonging and entitled. But i offer a more discerning eye on corporations. Greedy capitalists who will sell the American flag. Like companies who don't hire American textile workers but those in China and India because they make an hour's pay in a U.S day. And on top of that relax the foreign taxes, so they can keep more of said money generated. And for the personal income, they stash away money from U.S in Switzerland and Caribbean banks. Often to avoid taxation, it's tax fraud but because only the wealthy can afford those accounts. It's become ignored.

Ross Perot warned about the job market being shipped overseas and he was right. Mr.Forward reminded me of that. It's time to take a look at the business model and reorganize it. And overlook and help education so Americans are the best skilled. We need to make it clear that investing in American infrastructure is the best solution. Job growth in America means higher revenue for the state, lessen our debt and our trade with China. I totally support a lower corporate tax with higher taxes on foreign income. Also a better balance of taxeable income and tax breaks. It just disappointing to see how Americans are losing jobs and some blame it on immigrants or unions but not a few (maybe more) US companies who SOLELY exist on profit. Not caring about democracy or America. Mercenaries who have no nationalistic pride. Deserters. As a member of the Commonwealth, I cannot accept that contract.

So what exactly IS a voter ID card? This is new to me. We have a Voter Registration Card here in Podunk Alabama...but you have to prove residency AND provide a birth certificate or visa/green card to get it. And really, the card is nothing. It just basically gets your name added to the "official" voter register for your voting district/place/location. If you show up to the wrong polling place, it's a mess....it's more for making sure you can vote where you think you are supposed to than any "regulatory" thing. When you register to vote period you have to show that you are a valid resident of the city/county/state/district you live in. And yeah...it's FREE to register to vote. I think the Constitution or Bill of Rights pretty much made that a mandate to keep the Rich from ruling the world or government. Though the rich find MANY workarounds...like having corporations and PACs identified as "personal donors" for campaign purposes. Yeah, me and Apple are certainly on the same level playing field there...

Something I almost included in yesterday's Updates but didn't. I thought it was a typical tale of cronyism but the story has snowballed in the past 24 hours.

Here's what I would've written yesterday:

Cynthia Archer, one of Scott Walker's longtime aides who followed him from Milwaukee County to Madison, was deputy secretary at the Department of Administration until recently. She resigned from this post on August 19th, citing "family matters." It came to be known that she was appointed by Walker to a post in the Department of Children and Families on August 18th, one day earlier, and would begin the job on August 20th. While the change in position meant a net $25K pay cut ($125K to $100K,) Archer is receiving over 50% more salary in this new position than several of her immediate predecessors.

What gives it that extra "oomph" which makes it worth mentioning today:

This morning, FBI agents raided the home of Cynthia Archer on Madison's East Side, in what a reporter was told was "a law enforcement action." Agents were present at the residence for about three hours and left with a banker's box of evidence. The raid is believed to be associated with an ongoing investigation into activities within Scott Walker's previous Milwaukee County executive office. That investigation concerns itself with Walker employees' use of county time during Walker's campaign for governor last year. It was alleged that while on county time, members of Walker's staff were directed to write messages supporting Walker and criticizing his opponents on newspaper comment sections and online forums. The investigation already gave similar attention to two other Walker Milwaukee County employees before the raid on Archer's residence today.
No comment from the FBI, Dane County police, Gov. Walker's office, Archer herself, or either of the two state agencies with which she has been employed.

well mr forward not sure why you want to label me a republican b/c I am not. I do support their positions for the most part but far from a member.

what else can I say congress state and federal represent nobody but themsleves and special interests. ...

In this thread I have simply tied together congress and labor unions. I know how much you guys hate special interests well unions are the biggest.

Congress needs to get back working for the people
I dont know enough on the jobs bill to comment either way
Lets just hope we dont give anymore funding to bankrupt solar lanel companies

Sounds like a good lineup there. I've seen Sanders and Hartmann once before, at a Sanders townhall in Montpelier VT. They're both really good.

Today in Lexington, Kentucky outside a Walker speech.
I don't know how I feel about the "Walker, go home!" chants


I received at 10:11PM yesterday the following text message while I was out with my Democracy Addicts:
"Just went to best western and poured a beer on rep. voss nygren and sudder on film ha ha ha ha"
(I get some interesting random texts knowing some of the younger/radical members of the movement...)
I don't condone these tactics, but it happened and it's making news.

From the Madison police report about the incident:
Incident Type Disturbance
Incident Date 09/14/2011 - 10:24 PM
Address 22 S. Carroll St. (Inn on the Park)
Suspect(s) A 26-year old Madison man has been identified as a suspect.
Victim Male, age 43, Burlington, WI
Male, age 47, Marinette, WI
Male, age 42, Abbotsford, WI
Details Madison Police responded to a disturbance at the Inn on the Park, 22 S. Carroll St., Wednesday night after a man dumped a beer over the head of a state lawmaker. The bartender said the man yelled out something like, "Money" and "Damn Republicans." The beer was poured atop a 43-year old Burlington, WI man. It also splashed onto two other state lawmakers. All indicated the suspect swore at them, and called them criminals. He was accompanied by a man with a video camera. The bartender asked the videographer to turn it off. She says following the request, the suspect then took the glass of beer and emptied it onto the lawmaker’s head. The suspect then fled. The lawmaker, who took the direct hit, indicated the suspect has been harassing him since February, but up until this point, it had only been verbal. He did not know the suspect's name, but a female State Capitol employee, who was with the group, was able to provide police with a name, and said Capitol Police would have his contact information. The MPD called Capitol Police and obtained a couple of possible addresses for the suspect, as well as a couple of possible phone numbers. Officers attempted to find the suspect, but could not locate him. He will likely face a tentative charge of disorderly conduct.
Male, age 43, Burlington, WI = Rep. Robin Vos
Male, age 42, Abbotsford, WI = Rep. Scott Suder
(These two were in the video I posted a few days ago.)
Male, age 47, Marinette, WI = Rep. Dave Nygren
(Remember when a sitting member of the Assembly was two signatures short of getting on the recall election ballot because he & his wife did not sign his own petition? Yeah, that guy )

No suspects were apprehended last night, and I haven't properly followed up since I worked tonight, but... I was told a group of approximately fifty people were going to show up at the Madison police department at 5pm to turn themselves in for the crime.

[quote}If what you're trying to do is tie Congress to labor unions, can you please explain to me how a minority of donations can purchase a majority of power? Or why an even larger amount of special interest money has no relevance or influence in the face of union special interests?

If special interests are the problem, and labor unions compose a minority of what you believe to be the problem, why do you pay no heed to that which composes a majority of what you believe to be the problem?

I know how you feel about special interests and the influence they hold over our government. What I'm trying to tell you is that there are other special interests who have union special interests outnumbered and outspent. Why do you not show them a similar (or better yet, proportionate) degree of fear and loathing as you do the unions?[/quote]

sorry still not good at the quote thing but I tried here

1) simple!! The MAJORITY of donations (non labor unions) are spread around to republicans. green party all over the place. The minority (labor money in this instance) is ALMOST ALL focused towards the democractic party. Labor doesn't donate to anybody but democrats for the most part. The majority (non labor) money will donate to dems, republicans green party ect...Unions support democrats...Your question wrongfully assumes ALL non labor organizations support republicans. However I can see the confusion since almost all labor does support democrats only. I never stated once that the (non labor special interest groups dont yield any power) However I am not paying the salary of non union workers

2) I certainly do. I have mentioned the need for term limits to help reduce the impact that special interest groups have on congress. However I don't jump all over the evil corporations simply b/c they are a private company. While in wisconsin and many other states the public workers are union and recieve it's funding from MY tax dollars. SO I care about who my tax payer dollars go to. Since I am not paying for comcasts healthcare, pension and salary I don't have the right to bitch about how they spend their money. That wouldn't be very american. Are you suggesting I shouldn't focus on who my tax dollars go to

Thanks for the facts. It's very interesting to see "sheet metal workers union" and others on the list. So six out of the top 20 contributers don't make a product, good or provide a service. ALL they simply do is collect union dues??? Then take this union dues and give it ALL to democratic canidates. ..Look at the electirc workers THEY give 2% to republicans>> The list is clear unions are biased against republicans while major corportations dondate on a more even level..certainly not as lop sideded as labor unions

That shows the power these middle man thugs have. Not only do they wedge themselves in between business and employee BUT they also manage to be able to raise enough funds to donate at such a level with major corporations that have products, good and services ranging in the billions.

That to me is very surprising

Donations made by unions: $3,380,430
Donations made by all non-unions: $9,592,816

What % on the union $'s went to a democrat..what 90 plus percent??....how much of the non-union labor went to democrats..40-50%.. This is the real answer.

You failed to realize non union shops donate at a higher clip to democrats that union shops do to republicans...It's not even close.

This makes sense. Non-union shops (corporate america) don't push a political agenda all day everyday at the office. You can be dem, rep, whatever you like. THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN LABOR UNIONS. THEY are all democrats and they ALL vote democrat or else they won't have a job

I don't care who learns something new from one of my posts, so long as someone does. So, I guess you're welcome?


I'm too tired for a lengthy reply to Chicagorooer right now, so this video will have to suffice:

I might take this arguement into consideration except...it's becoming apparent to everyone watching the markets and world economies today that China and the other outsourcing outlets that have always provided cheap labor for American Companies are starting to level out to the point that labor and goods coming from outside the US are quickly becoming competitive with products made within the US under UNION rule. How do you explain that? I think it's pretty simple economics 101...when demand is high, then the market sets the price. At first, the outsourcing made sense because the American companies could fulfill large quantity orders at a low cost per item. But as the technology and skill of the overseas workforce grows, they have realized they can charge a higher price for their goods and so they have put themselves in direct competition with American manufacturers. The fact is, unskilled labor is NOT what drives economies. Economies can benefit from the explotation of unskilled and uneducated workers, but only for a limited period of time. In the end, as usual with most things, it all evens out and then it's just a matter of WHO and WHERE you choose to buy your goods.

Don't worry, if it's not China then there will be some other third world country to exploit. Whether it be Mexico, Vietnam, somewhere in Central America, maybe an African country without constant warfare.

Fighting Bob Fest took place on Saturday. It is an event which bills itself as "a Progressive Chautauqua." This was the tenth annual event, held for the first time at the Alliant Center in Madison instead of a county fairgrounds further north.

To give some frame of reference, it's the third-largest venue in Madison behind UW's Camp Randall and Kohl Center, capacity 10K without floor seating. I'll say for reference that it's the place where the top acts on a Bonnaroo lineup would play (Dylan, Petty, NIN, Beastie Boys, weezer, Tenacious D, Tool...)

For what should be obvious reasons - growing attendance in general, an expected spike in interest this year and proximity to the capitol - the event was relocated this year. It was my first year going myself, but I'd been interested for a while.

Finishing a cigarette before I went inside, my high school history teacher called my name and yelled at me for smoking. Love it.

Speakers included:
Sen. Bernie Sanders - independent of Vermont
Rep. Tammy Baldwin - Madison's Democratic Congresswoman & U.S. Senate candidate
Dr. Cornel West - Princeton professor, author, activist
Thom Hartmann - progressive talk radio host & author
Jim Hightower - author/columnist & former Texas Agriculture Commissioner
Dave Obey - former WI Democratic Congressman & Chairman of House Appropriations Committee

As well as BBC reporter Greg Palast, Mike McCabe of watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, John Nichols of The Nation/The Capital Times, a farmer, a feminist, the firefighters' union president, a Fighting Bob biographer, a few other Democratic elected officials, the mayor, the Raging Grannies, and a few others on the bill.
I arrived shortly after noon, so I mostly caught the bigger names on the bill.

The organizers claim it's the largest annual political festival in the country. Despite being in direct conflict with the Badger game, it brought I'd say 7500 people. There were enough there that the upper level of seats had to be opened up because the lower level & floors were full.

Themes that sprung up throughout the day (though it was officially "Class War: Fight Back") were increasing wealth inequality, concentration of wealth/power, corporate irresponsibility, open/transparent government, populist appeals for citizen action... aside from the protests and the recalls, topics that came up included the Occupy Wall Street protest beginning that day, Fukushima, the Keystone XL pipeline, and Rick Perry. There were also side sessions taking place opposite the main speakers, but I didn't catch any of them.

Sen. Bernie Sanders was the headline speaker, and though everyone was scheduled for a half hour he went for more like 45 minutes. Bernie is the new favorite Senator of many Russ Feingold fans in his absence from the chamber.
His entire speech is here, and various other speakers from the day are also on that channel.
Pretty much the entire hallway was lined with tables representing various merchants and organizations. Just walking through, I knew the guys working the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Progressive Dane party tables. Among the more popular tables, from what I could tell, were United Wisconsin's Recall Walker table, the ALEC Exposed table, a meet & greet with the editor of the We Are Wisconsin book, and one particular merchandise table.

I kind of splurged.
I got the book signed by the editor.
I finally got myself a "Recall Scott Walker" shirt to wear while collecting signatures, and while I was it it I couldn't not buy a shirt with Prohibition protesters marching with "We Want Beer" signs.
The hottest-selling item there was this limited-edition board game:

I got it, but haven't played it yet.