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I actually do have a bit more for now, now that I think about it.
First of all, troo: "Solidarity Forever" is sung as much as any song here outside of the national anthem. I've noticed people these days are noticeably more involved in that "land of the free and the home of the brave" climax. Also popular:
I've been informed it's code red in Madison mid-post. Gotta run.
Looks like it is over, but I am willing to bet the Republicans take a really big hit over the way it went down, Sorry Kdogg, but this was always the end game, and I bet this gets held up by lawyers all sorts of ways. I have not said it yet, but I really have to hand it to you, no matter how people here feel about the issue nobody can say that what you have done was not done with all your heart. If more people were as politically and ethically conscious as you we would not be in the state we are in now. I will get you some beers on me this summer.
There are 19 Republicans out of 33 Senators (them, plus the Wisconsin14). For fiscal bills, a quorum of 20 is needed; that threshhold is lower for non-fiscal bills. They fashioned this as a non-fiscal bill (despite how many times that they said this just HAD to be in the budget? hmm...) because the quorum requirements for non-fiscal bills are lower than budgets. This just proves that this was not about the budget.
This measure was rushed through tonight. The conference committee to do this was only created two hours beforehand. Senators have said their offices did not even receive the legislation in advance; other rumors say the actual legislation was written after the vote. I, too, suspect there shall be plenty of legal back-and-forth before the dust settles in the Dairy State. But first, the Wisconsin Assembly is scheduled to vote on this tomorrow at 11am Central. Should it pass the Assembly, and I was in the gallery when the undivided version of this bill passed, it will then be eligible for Scott Walker to sign. I stayed in the capitol the night it passed the Assembly... back then, I called it the end of Act One.
I consider what happens tomorrow to be the end of Act Two. This is not over, not by a long shot. There are legal challenges. Recall efforts, both immediate and for those eligible starting in November - which includes Walker and pretty much everyone else not currently eligible - are already underway. We haven't come this far to tuck our tails between our legs just because this bill passed. Walker signing this bill is merely the end of Act Two.
Let me tell you a bit of Wisconsin history. It ties into my earlier post, with the video clips of Alice Cooper talking about Milwaukee's three Socialist mayors and then-candidate Obama promising to put on his "comfortable shoes" and walk a picket line if collective bargaining is taken away... Now, a bit of Wisconsin history for y'all: the Bay View massacre. The Bay View Massacre (sometimes also referred to as the Bay View Tragedy) was the culmination of events that began on Saturday May 1, 1886 when 7,000 building-trades workers joined with 5,000 Polish laborers who had organized at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to strike against their employers, demanding an eight-hour work day. By Monday, these numbers had increased to over 14,000 workers that gathered at the Milwaukee Iron Company rolling mill in Bay View. They were met by 250 National Guardsmen under order from Republican Governor Jeremiah M. Rusk to "shoot to kill" any strikers who attempted to enter. Workers camped in the nearby fields and the Kosciuszko Militia arrived by May 4. Early the next day the crowd, which by this time contained children, approached the mill and were fired upon. Seven people died as a result, including a thirteen-year-old boy. Several more were injured during the protest. People died for the rights being stripped here. Wisconsinites that came before us. Our veterans subsequently died defending these rights. I find it disrespectful to their memories to throw those rights out the window over a two-year budget shortfuall. I don't know how y'all in the other 49 take to that, but it doesn't fly here. Let me just say this: ^ These are printed up, ready to go, and already popping up in the vicinity of the capitol. I've been hearing those words more and more with each passing day. A whole lot of state employees are coming down with pneumonia tomorrow, if you catch my drift... Thus shall begin Act Three.
I want to say a few things before I sleep nap. The people stormed the capitol tonight. Sleeping bags, musical instruments, and other items that had been banned got through the breach. I hadn't been expecting to be allowed inside the capitol tonight, but protesters stormed the building and once again sleep there tonight. I commandeered an abandoned metal detector checkpoint inside the capitol tonight. Turned it into something you could probably call a People's Welcoming Center. On the metal detector, which we blocked off with its own roping, I attached two new signs I made. Those entering were greeted with "Welcome Back to OUR House" and those leaving were reminded that "We Are Winning!" I hadn't been prepared, but I managed to scrounge up some civil disobedience/peacefully-getting-arrested literature. I also received as donations an Ian's Pizza box with a capitol map and a copy of the judge's order opening the building to the public. I had a good run there - it was at least two hours before any state troopers showed up to shut me down, and then they really only cared about not hurting the expensive metal detector. It appeared to have been borrowed - the aisle separators had an airline company's name on them. I even had a garbage can, with designated table space for recyclables to be separated (not-so-fun fact: this budget zeros out all state funding for recycling programs.) Pics will come eventually.
Back to what I wanted to say to wrap this up. I have been at Political Ground Zero before. I live in a bitterly contested swing state - I don't know how many of you can quite relate, since it seems to me most of y'all live in solid red or solid blue states. I was a precinct captain at the most recent Iowa caucuses, and continued on to volunteer for New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. I have seen presidential candidates come and go - most notably, 80-85K people turning out to see John Kerry in Madison the Sunday before Election 2004. I was an intern in a Senate office for a semester. I've stared riot police in the mask from ten feet away in my younger days. But I have never, ever, ever seen democracy in action the way I've seen it in Madison these past few weeks. Anything I have seen before has been outshined in size, scale and intensity. I somehow doubt I ever will see anything like this again after this settles, and that is a damn shame. This has made me a better citizen and member of my community, and dare I say it, maybe even a little more grown up in the process. I'm a better person because of this. These have been some of the best days of my life. If I get arrested tomorrow, so it goes... I don't want it to happen, I'm not actively seeking it, but I acknowledge it is an entirely realistic possibility at this point. Don't anybody worry about me until at least sundown Friday with no word.
Apparently the vote last night could be in violation of open meetings law. The 6pm meeting was announced at 4:09pm. State law calls for 24 hours under normal circumstances, two hours if it's deemed an emergency. If that's true, this would ideally be thrown out. I'm not so sure about our Republican attorney general, though... Anyhow, the bill has cleared both houses of the legislature. I'm surprised Walker hasn't signed it yet.
One of the unions filed a RICO complaint to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today, alleging that some of Walker's comments during the "David Koch" prank call justify racketeering charges. The final battles over this aren't going to be in the streets, they're going to be in a court room Speaking of which, the murmurs I'm hearing suggests that unions begin to vote on whether or not to strike beginning tomorrow morning. That "general strike" sign I mentioned? I saw a couple of them affixed to the capitol today. (And is it just me, or does that kinda look like it belongs on a KMFDM album cover?)
I know I said I'd share pictures. I finally got the last couple days onto my laptop, but I'm dead tired. I did upload one standout from today to throw y'all a bone.
When I stopped the girl with that sign to ask for a moment to snap a picture of that, she seemed kind of surprised and pleased that someone actually got it. That kind of surprised me... I've been wondering when something like that would pop up. Oh, and a member of the Wisconsin Assembly described my Forward cheesehead as "awesome" today
Your posts are the most in-depth coverage I've seen of this situation.
That gave me a single before many
I'm glad my work gets a seal of approval. I'm just disappointed in American media. A lot of people around Madison are becoming quite disenchanted with CNN, in particular. We've been seeing the gap/chasm between actual news and coverage of that same news, and we don't like it.
I went to the 5pm rally yesterday. This bill had passed the Assembly an hour previous; Rev. Jesse Jackson and union leaders had a sizable rally on one corner of the capitol square. (Speaking of, Rev. Jackson had to be sneaked into the Assembly gallery yesterday - that's the state of things here.) Local news was there airing Live At Five, but nobody else really covered it. After the rally, we went to the brewpub a block away. They had CNN on their television, and they were airing some YouTube clip of "mouth-to-snout" resuscitation on a dog. The gave that story at least five minutes, and we didn't even catch the beginning. Boo. Brings to memory a sign in the capitol during the occupation... drawing of a guy with a TV for a head, caption reading something along the lines of "If it weren't for CNN, I wouldn't know what was happening on Twitter." It's a sad reflection on the state of things.
I've seen MSNBC and their trucks here - hell, their anchors have broadcast live from the capitol square. They're definitely in our corner. Fox News is here, and definitely lying about it. Somewhere in the middle, CNN is sitting on their thumbs.
This goes back to Bill Clinton deserving blame, what with being one of the boys and passing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowing for increasing concentration of media ownership as it has. I think CNN is more interested in preserving billionaire Ted Turner's tax cut than they are fairly reporting what's going on here.
I'm sticking with the hometown today. My hometown's population is a little over 20K - the biggest town between the Madison & Milwaukee metro areas - and it is almost to a T the political inverse of Madison. There's a teacher spearheading a "We Are Wisconsin" March on Main Street at 5pm. There hasn't been any off-season political action in this town since 1999, when my high school class challenged the decision to relocate our graduation ceremony (long story short: my district built the first new high school in the region in about 20 years and wanted to show it off; school board used Columbine as an excuse to relocate our ceremony from traditional outdoor park to the gymnasium during a session in violation of open meetings laws.) So I got word about this earlier this week (my mother works for the district and told me) and contacted the teacher in charge... I never had this teacher, but she can't be too up to speed with technology - I had to take it into my own hands to create a Facebook event and spread the word about it. It won't look like much, but people on the streets in this small town is better than no people on the streets in this small town, which has been the status quo.
In the meantime, I am on Day 15 of a 15-Day warning to resolve some registration issues... I would love to rant and rave some more, but it's off to the DMV with me. I hope to be back with something substantial this evening, time permitting.
Tomorrow, Madison gets invaded by the Wisconsin farmers' tractorcade AND Michael Franti will be playing the rally. What a juxtaposition...
I'm glad to get updates on this. You're damn right that the news hasn't done a good job covering this. It's a sad state of affairs when Charlie Sheen and Linsay Lohan are able to get more news coverage than this.
I was told CNN was reporting on the Tea Party's birthday at the very moment we had 100,000+ on the capitol square on February 19th. Kinda funny when you think back and realize that the first Tea Party rallies took place on Tax Day 2009... in April.
I have stopped home between other errands and the DMV. I decided to restock on some sign-making materials. I don't know how well-organized a protest would be in this town when they happen so infrequently. I'm claiming a couple for myself. Some of mine have seen some weather; some of my messages might need some moderation. I know there's plenty of fancy photoshopping and printouts, but that's not my style. I'm totally DIY, Sharpies & markers on tagboard/foamboard (at some point, I upgraded to sturdier material.) My signs are double-sided. Messages I've used: "Kill the Bill" (seen in my cheesehead pics; mass produced with tagboard & spray paint on the capitol lawn back on Day Three... one of my favorite moments all this entire protest was when a woman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed me to her daughter waving around one of these at the 100k rally a week and a half later) "What Would Fighting Bob (R-WI) Do?" with five prescriptions (mentioned earlier) "Kill the WHOLE Bill" (with 5-6 bullet points on flip side listing my specific grievances with the bill; I left it taped above where I slept during the occupation of the capitol, but have the specifics in a picture somewhere) "Rage Against the Walker Machine"/"Thank You, Tom Morello" "Leave Medicaid Alone" (Heart containing "WI 14") "We Refuse To Be Sold Out Like This" "Yes Votes End Careers" "Reaganomics Failed: We Can Tax the Top 2% Again" "Koch Bros. = The Men Behind the Curtain" "Business Out Of Politics" "Resignation or Bust" "Make Walker Resign Now Before We Regret It Later" (I got creative/sassy with the coloring on that one) "Scott Walker Has A Bat, But We Have the Balls" (by far, the sign I've made with the most public support)
On the agenda after my DMV trip (I've got two hours blocked out of my schedule for this, hoping it's enough) is to crank out some less-controversial signs for this event. Some of my messages on other signs might go over too many heads here... I've got to water it down a bit both mentally and politically. "Leave Medicaid Alone" is definitely getting a remake. Possibly WWFBD? Also adding: "Labor Rights Are Human Rights" Worst-case scenario: I arrive at the rally 15min ahead of time with sign-making materials so people can make their own.
Stop me whenever I start sounding like Ignatius J. Reilly waging his Crusade for Moorish Dignity
Oh, BTW... since my last post, the Dane County (Madison's county) executive filed suit against enactment of this bill. Walker has signed it, but it does not go into effect until the Secretary of State officially publishes it. A judge has filed an injunction against publishing the budget repair bill or the more-recently passed one until constitutional challenges have been settled. (Again, Wisconsinites: voting Kloppenburg for Supreme Court on April 5th = very important)
Worked until 2am, surprised I'm still up. It's another nap-not-sleep night here. Laundry's finishing up, putting the finishing touches on a new sign or two, uploaded/updated my Facebook album...
The protest in the hometown (population ~22k & the political inverse of Madison) went surprisingly well... upwards of 500 people marching up and down the Main Street sidewalks during rush hour. I saw at least a half dozen teachers I remember just during that hour. I was surprised how instinctively the crowd seemed to know the chants in this sleepy little town. It renewed my hope, quite frankly.
Tractors descend on the capitol tomorrow. Willie Nelson will be playing this rally, not sure if that's instead of or in addition to Michael Franti. It seems to be that Michael Moore is in Madison, and I've heard tell of Susan Sarandon sightings. I'm not sure who speaks when, but the madness begins at noon - and the goal is to again make it the largest rally in state history after doing so two weeks ago. Oh... and fourteen until-recently exiled state senators will be making a 3pm appearance... It's got the makings for one hell of a day. And you doubters were talking about this run in the past tense. Ha.
A couple more things you most likely won't hear from the mainstream media: I heard a rumor about the state troopers. They kind of stepped up to fill the void left by county police, after the sheriff said they "are not the palace guard" in pulling them from duty. Allegedly, they are afraid of being sued for violating a statute preventing them from intervening in labor disputes. This would explain why the only arrests have been of persons who broke laws unrelated to labor (primarily, breaking into capitol hearing rooms that had already been closed.) This must frustrate the administration greatly, because Scott Walker appointed Daddy Fitzgerald to head the state patrol in a clear-cut case of nepotism.
A brief aside on the subject of my new location, FitzWalkerstan... the phrase was coined by Madison Assemblyman Mark Pocan on the floor before Thursday's vote. It is a reference to the Fitzgeralds, Scott Walker, and a suffix for the former SSR of your choice. Walker, of course, being the governor... the Fitz referring to three Fitzgeralds. Father is a former state elected official who had been retired until the controversial appointment; his sons ascended to Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker following last November's elections. It was trending on twitter within 10-15 minutes - another moment that highlights its power.
Last, but certainly not least... this bit of information is the rightful headliner of this post. It began with a statement released by union firefighters:
Ladies and Gentlemen, M & I Bank of Wisconsin has committed an unpardonable offense. This bank took bailout funds and thanks to the magic of Citizens United our own tax dollars flowed through their executives hands into the coffers of Scott Walker's gubernatorial campaign. We haven't dug deeply yet, but I think when we do we're going to find that we no longer have Russ Feingold's voice in the Senate because of this as well.
Milwaukee-based M&I Bank (the largest WI-based bank) claims that, as a corporation, they donated not a dollar of support to either gubernatorial candidate last year. (I'm not the definitive word on this, but this claim appears to be true as far as I can tell.) Taken altogether, however, M&I employees as a group were the largest contributor to the Walker campaign last year - more than even the Koch brothers and their front groups. I did a quick check with Wisconsin state campaign finance databases, and M&I definitely did have an overwhelming preference for Walker in number of employees donating, amounts of donations - average and maximum, and $thousand-plus donations. (I hope all of your states have something like this)
The firefighters' union gave M&I fair warning: they wanted the bank to publicly oppose the revocation of collective bargaining rights in order to atone for their support of Walker. In the absence of such a statement, the firefighters threatened to boycott. M&I issued an unapologetic statement in response.
Late yesterday morning, a group of firefighters appeared at the M&I branch on the capitol square persuading people to "move your money"... and promptly withdrew all their money from that branch. The amount of money that the firefighters withdrew from that branch in one fell swoop was $192,000. Considering that the firefighters persuaded a few hundred other people to join them, it is believed that over a half million dollars was withdrawn from M&I bank (though only firefighters kept tabs, and only on their own withdrawals) in a matter of hours. By early afternoon on a Friday, the capitol square branch of M&I Bank had closed for the day. I haven't seen this reported via actual news media, but anyone interested in further reading can read on here and here.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you do it. It's also why I think these people are fucking heroes. I'm glad I'm on their side.
When I read this thread, I see the fight in you and your fellow Wisconsin brothers and sisters. This video reminds me of where that fight comes from. This is not the original narrator, but he brings a comical aspect. I think sometimes we need to laugh and this video does that.
Keep up the fight! Many people are watching and supporting you all!
Secretary of State Doug La Follette said after spending much time talking to people this weekend and thinking over when to publish the collective bargaining bill, he'd decided the bill will be published March 25.
La Follette, a Democrat, said he wants to give local officials and employees time to sort out the ramifications of the new law.
"There literally are hundreds of school boards, municipalities, cities and their employees who are working together -- that's what impressed me, both management and labor working together -- that are tyring to sort out the best way to deal with this," La Follette said. "It seems only responsible to give them that time."
Under state law, the Secretary of State has 10 days after the office receives a bill to publish it, not including weekends. It becomes law the following day. Since March 25 is a Friday, it's unclear to La Follette if the bill would become law on Saturday, March 26 or the following Monday.
La Follette said he is following normal procedure by taking the full 10 days.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker sent the bill to La Follette on Friday and asked that he publish it today. La Follette said he contacted Walker to see what his reasons were for the expedited timeline but didn't get a response.
La Follette said the statute requires him to decide when the bill will be published today, though he said he would have rather waited until after a hearing Wednesday on a lawsuit filed by Dane County to block the bill.[/i]
This bill does not go into effect until published. Yes, he is related to Fighting Bob La Follette.
Finally catching up on some of this photo sharing slack... those of you friended with me on Facebook already have access to these and more, but I want to share with everyone. As proof of slacking, I'm just going to show you some highlights from February.
I'm sure everyone's seen photos of the capitol and/or surrounding square crammed with people; what I'm going to try here is share some pics that highlight individual trees within that forest.
This is Day Three of the protest, February 16th. I randomly ran into my boy (and fellow perennial Bonnarooer) Wyndham. He had bought a stack of tagboard and some spray paint. He asked me if I wanted to help make signs. I did. This was the particular design I focused on. I earlier told you about a mother who, a week and a half after the fact, pointed me to her daughter still carrying my "Kill the Bill" sign. This is that daughter.
Seen at 70k rally on February 19th.
Seen at 70k rally on February 19th... in Wisconsin (of course.)
This sign says so much, and it's way back on February 21st...
You may have seen this sign get a shout-out on The Colbert Report.
Be prepared.
The Fighting Bob shrine inside the capitol. I believe I posted an earlier picture of people sleeping around it.
Within minutes of this picture being taken, this Fox News correspondent went live and I blew my vuvuzela at him on camera, pausing only to shout "Fox Lies!" between blows. No regrets.
Her sign says it all. Of course I thanked her for coming out.
Protesters line both sides of the street outside the Koch lobbying firm on the capitol loop.
I wish I knew exactly whose personalized plate this was... this is definitely within the official capitol-use parking area.
"Who heard the phone call?" "WE ALL heard the phone call!"
♥
♥♥♥
From the mouths of babes... "Deaf governor area, next 4 years"
I highly recommend the peaceful occupation of one's state house. The picture doesn't do the experience justice.
10K+ citizen testimonials against the bill line the stairways of the capitol.
The girl in the blue wig asked me to be in her music video...
...and I obliged. Ran into her getting coffee a week or so later and she thanked me again. This protest is big on thanking people. It's awesome.
Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! signed my Forward cheesehead!
I didn't get a picture with her myself; I was holding up two-time mayor and current candidate Paul Soglin from having a word with her.
One of my fellow capitol sleepers.
This is where I set up camp, with a detailed listing of my grievances. One awesome thing about occupying your capitol without it getting busted up... the cops walk around and look at this stuff, planting seeds of thought. Hell, we're a month in and still average under one arrest per day.
Assembly Democrats greet protesters following the first attempt at passing this bill in the middle of the night. (This vote later proved to be irrelevant, as the bill was split into several parts for passage... OR NOT! )
Solidarity trumps sports rivalries.
There were several protesters sporting fresh Wisconsin Solidarity tattoos to forever commemorate their actions.
Fun fact: Wisconsin's capitol building has, by volume, the largest dome of any state capitol building in the country and is mere inches shy of the national capitol's.
Hallways were lined with donated Ian's pizza boxes turned protest signs. (Thanks again, those of you who donated... I know some of you are out there reading this.)
Too subtle?
I don't care if the younger kids don't get it - this sign is one of my favorites of this month-long protest.
This was the first recall sign I'd seen the entire protest, on Feb. 25th.
A good deal of Star Wars imagery has turned up, not just the obvious Imperial Walker reference.
I've talked about Indigo before. Press people I know were surprised I knew his name, when they couldn't get a word out of him. Indigo is one of my new solidarity friends I wouldn't know if not for this protest. (Brief aside: anyone familiar with Bowling Alone? At least in Wisconsin, America's decline of social capital is being undone by these protests ;D )
Self-explanatory, big-ass sign.
I know I probably say it a lot, but this is my hands-down absolute favorite sign I've seen out there. It encapsulates so much in so few words.
While looking for a bathroom, I stumbled upon Shabbos services. Has anyone else ever seen a protest large and sustained enough to have its own internal religious services?
I was so happy to see my list of grievances still on the wall the next day, I took another picture. Posting this one because I've specifically mentioned it earlier in this thread.
When you want to raise a ruckus, vuvuzelas should be up near the top of the list. This particular one is being blown in the general direction of the governor's office during one of his press conferences. Local club DJ Nick Nice purchased and distributed orders of at least a hundred of these - TWICE. I facetiously asked for a vuvuzela for Christmas and got one... it was so awesome to get reinforcements.
Unintended consequences?
This sign... oh my... I hope whoever made it is doing okay. This was too WTF? not to stop and photograph. (Note: This isn't trash. Signs on sticks weren't allowed within the capitol. The protest also had its own sign storage cans so people could grab them on their way out, or let others use them.)
Remember the Obama "comfortable shoes" comment I posted earlier? I'm not the only one who did...
This is Dan the Button Man. He usually sells his buttons at Madison events and in the downtown area. Here, it is mid-100K rally and his business is booming.
Lady Liberty looks over the crowd marching on the capitol.
Madison's Union Cab has probably had the biggest organized presence of any non-public sector workers.
I saw this guy by himself and asked for a picture...
...he had found some friends (?) within minutes.
The Wisconsin flag flies high over protesters. One hundred thousand people came out in a snowy sixteen degrees that day. It was beautiful.
Around that time, a local blogger took this picture of me, put it on Twitter and said she loved the cheesehead. This is while Bradley Whitford was speaking. Next to me are my boys Nate (with megaphone) and Drew Dogg between us... good men both. I got a call from Drew Dogg, who lives up in Green Bay, last night... all I heard was "RECALL WALKER!" being chanted by roughly five thousand people within Walker's own earshot.
Lady Forward stands out above the crowd at the 100K rally on February 26th.
Fighting Bob La Follette statue - I think the exact same one as in the national capitol - within the Wisconsin Historical Museum, where Drew Dogg & I stopped in to warm up.
I took this picture from the fourth floor of the Wisconsin Historical Museum at the height of the rally. This picture blew up and got 25K hits. I had no idea anybody was really listening. Between the aforementioned picture of myself getting to myself and this, I kind of got sucked into Twitter that day. A shout-out from Keith Olbermann sure helped ;D
This has nothing to do with the protests. This was on the way out of the Wisconsin Historical Museum. An NES? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scattered on the floor? My childhood is a museum exhibit!
I saw this sitting outside a bar and laughed for about thirty seconds straight before I could stop to take a decent picture.
These guys are out in this gear every day. We blow our horns at each other. In this picture, they have invited me to go drink at a dive bar with them. We got separated when a cute drunk girl wanted to blow on my vuvuzela. I later saw these guys, partially costumed, stepping out of the gay bar next to the intended dive bar.
I don't know what possessed me, but they were letting anyone up to the speaker's line. I'm not much of a public speaker, but I still went for it and spoke to this crowd. (Facebook friends: you might want to search videos I'm in... as I said, I'm not much of a public speaker so I'm not making that available to all...)
This is the emcee on The People's Mic, whose name unfortunately escapes me. He is the man who bestowed upon me the moniker Mister Forward.
This is Assembly Democrat Kelda Helen Roys. I have developed a massive crush on this woman the past month.
I spotted my boy Phil, whom I've known since our dorm days in 1999, doing his thing near the back of the crowd. As he puts it, he represents a growing grey area between citizen journalism and professional journalism. He has press passes through the local alternative weekly newspaper Isthmus and prominent local blog Dane101. In the course of all this, he's gotten enough YouTube traffic to be included in Google's revenue sharing program. When I go to Madison I am usually crashing at his place two blocks from the capitol square, if not the capitol or Walkerville. I think the least I can do is send some traffic his way in return.
That's most of the notable stuff from the first two weeks. I think it's bedtime for me.
Ugh, sorry those wound up so small... I forgot to change my resizing settings before I uploaded all those.
A couple situational updates:
This was sent out by Sen. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's office yesterday. State Senate leadership had actually gone so far as to deprive 14 of 33 Senators of their voting rights... effectively stripping some 2+ million residents of this state of their representation. Despite proposing this, Republican leadership was quick to backtrack... the standing sanctions including contempt of Senate, daily absence fines, denial of office equipment/parking to WI14 staff, and other restrictions were lifted today just as suddenly as this vote-denying scheme was suggested. I suspect the only reason they backtracked was how quickly this went public and the ensuing backlash. It's worth noting that the two Democrats present today were unable to vote on this.
Republican state senator Randy Hopper represents the Fond du Lac area. He campaigned as a big family-values candidate. Sometime last week, there was a protest outside of his listed address. They were surprised when Mrs. Hopper came out to speak to protesters. Her later public statement explains the situation: "It is correct that my husband, Randy Hopper, started an affair in January 2010 with a then-25-year-old Republican aide. This affair has caused great emotional pain for my children and me. Randy moved out, without attempting marital counseling, as of May 2010 and now lives mostly in Madison." Oh, and it is worth mentioning that Hopper is one of the senators facing recall. Living outside of his district, not to mention the affair/hypocrisy itself, did not sit well with a lot of constituents. This particular recall has gained a lot of traction since this incident. The Hoppers' maid signed a recall petition at their door; Mrs. Hopper was not home but has also indicated a desire to sign his recall petition.
There are eight recalls on each side of the aisle now. As I've mentioned, all Democratic recall efforts have out-of-state groups' involvement with filing them. Wisconsin residents filed for the recall of all eight Republican senators. Just because there are enough signatures to institute a recall does not mean there is necessarily enough electoral support for recalling that incumbent. Public opinion is still heavily against the GOP on this. As I see it, not every one of these efforts may succeed - and it's worth noting that only one recall per term can be filed against a candidate. However, not every one of these recalls needs to be successful. The Wisconsin Senate can flip through three successful recall efforts. The three most successful recall attempts thus far are all against Republicans. There is the aforementioned Sen. Hopper, for starters. Sen. Alberta Darling, representing an area southwest of Milwaukee, is another prime target - she won her last election by a little more than one thousand votes, and opponents gathered 10% of the needed signatures their first day (of sixty maximum) collecting them. The recall effort against La Crosse-area Sen. Dan Kapanke has gained enough steam that the Democratic Party was able to reopen their campaign office from the fall. Republicans currently hold a 19-14 majority in the Wisconsin Senate. If just the three leading recall efforts are successful, that 19-14 GOP majority becomes a 17-16 Democratic majority. The rest of Walker's term (it's kind of assumed around here he's out in a recall) won't go nearly as easy as it began.
The campaign off-season pretty much only lasted from the day after the election through a month ago. It's been ridiculously short. Ads are being aired at a rate approaching that of an actual impending election, and I've heard pro-Walker robocalls going around. Because nothing says "People support me" like having an automated recording do it for you.
Anyway, I'll wrap this up by sharing a few dueling ads to show y'all what I see on TV every commercial break.
Stand With Walker is one of the many astroturf groups set up by the Koch brothers.
This ad is paid for by Karl Rove's political action committee. Even conservative-leaning Rasmussen polling took issue with the numbers cited in this ad, and they're (theoretically?) on the same side.
This ad is co-sponsored by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Howard Dean's organization Democracy for America. This is the most-frequently aired ad of them all by a long shot; I've seen it more than any number of pro-Walker ads combined. All the footage here is from the 100K-strong rally on February 26th, when it was sixteen degrees and snowing outside.
1. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order Friday, barring the publication of a controversial new law that would sharply curtail collective bargaining for public employees.
Sumi’s order will prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law until she can rule on the merits of the case. Dane County Ismael Ozanne is seeking to block the law because he says a legislative committee violated the state’s open meetings law.
Sumi said Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits.
J.B. Van Hollen, Wisconsin's Republican Attorney General, has decided to defend the administration rather than prosecute a violation of open meetings law. Add another name to the recall list. (Personally, I think he has the previous Democratic AG's drunk driving arrest while operating a state-owned vehicle to thank for his victory in 2008.)
2. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who signed sweeping curbs on public unions into law on March 11, may be emerging as a potential 2012 Republican presidential contender, according to a poll issued on Thursday.
The phone survey by Public Policy Polling of 642 registered voters on March 10-13 found that Walker's favorability among Republican voters was 55 percent positive and 11 percent negative, a spread of 44 points.
That pushed Walker ahead of other possible Republican contenders like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
"That makes him already more popular with the party base than Mike Huckabee (+42 at 58/16), Sarah Palin (+40 at 63/23), Mitt Romney (+21 at 47/26), and Newt Gingrich (+19 at 49/30)," the polling group said in a release accompanying the results. Per this article.
Al Gore failed to carry Tennessee. Just sayin...
3. Republican state senator Grothman, who famously (at least around here) called protestors "slobs," received an unwelcome hug from a protester, which I find to be just hilarious. Story
Post by arlenefavreau1 on Mar 18, 2011 19:27:34 GMT -5
What I'm about to say is'nt going to carry well here but here I go. I'm against unions because I live in the adirondack park (north eastern ny) and thanks to APA we have had a difficult time keeping a hold of jobs due to the laws that say "FOREVER WILD" . N,Y, took six million acres and made sure the people below Albany have a place to come and play yet kept industry out. So jobs have been tough to get. Yet the people below Albany get to have a summer camp here and because its a summer residence they dont pay full tax's yet the people who scrape a liveing here year round pay full share and more cuz we are told how we are supposed to care for our land. If the APA doesnt like whay your doing they get N,Y to come in fine you and make you fix it how they like it. I've been in construction for twenty years and have had my anual winter break due to lack of developement and what unions there are tend to care more about down state where they know they can keep more people working steady than getting more work up here. Yet they have enough nerve to want you to join and keep up your dues and still be out of work from christmass untill april. Your states are BROKE so where is the money your demanding comming from , oh yeah thats right guys like melaid off for 3 or 4 momnths every year yet still paying ouur tax's our union dues. Don't wine about what your loosing unless your willing to give more than the next guy.
What I'm about to say is'nt going to carry well here but here I go. I'm against unions because I live in the adirondack park (north eastern ny) and thanks to APA we have had a difficult time keeping a hold of jobs due to the laws that say "FOREVER WILD" . N,Y, took six million acres and made sure the people below Albany have a place to come and play yet kept industry out. So jobs have been tough to get. Yet the people below Albany get to have a summer camp here and because its a summer residence they dont pay full tax's yet the people who scrape a liveing here year round pay full share and more cuz we are told how we are supposed to care for our land. If the APA doesnt like whay your doing they get N,Y to come in fine you and make you fix it how they like it. I've been in construction for twenty years and have had my anual winter break due to lack of developement and what unions there are tend to care more about down state where they know they can keep more people working steady than getting more work up here. Yet they have enough nerve to want you to join and keep up your dues and still be out of work from christmass untill april. Your states are BROKE so where is the money your demanding comming from , oh yeah thats right guys like melaid off for 3 or 4 momnths every year yet still paying ouur tax's our union dues. Don't wine about what your loosing unless your willing to give more than the next guy.
My problem IS with people who don't pay their full taxes! My fellow taxpayers aren't the problem; OUR problem is tax evaders. Why do people on the right seem to be of the mindset that cutting expenses is the only way to balance a budget? There is clearly a "revenue generation" aspect on the other end of this. I do not think this aspect of balancing budgets has received enough attention - notice that I've made statements like this and plugged organizations such U.S. Uncut in this thread. I do not think it is coincidence that those who ignore the "revenue generation" side of the argument are the same ones who perennially receive campaign donations from the nation's leading tax evaders.
You say I'm not willing to give more than the next guy... but I already do in some cases - more than I should! I have $3 in my wallet, and that's more than the tax liability of ExxonMobil, GE or any of the majority (83, if my recollection is correct) of the top 100 profit-making corporations in this country. COMBINED. Why no complaints about the upper echelon not wanting to contribute? It's kind of hard to say that someone's being taxed fairly when they don't pay taxes at all, isn't it? And aren't you kind of defeating your point of unions being the problem, when you yourself admit that unionists pay their taxes?
I'm going to finish this as politely as I can: your post makes a very good argument against cutting education by $550 per student per year. Can we get a teacher (union or otherwise) and a red pen up on that post, please?
Post by arlenefavreau1 on Mar 18, 2011 20:41:45 GMT -5
Oh I know teachers pay tax's my sister is a teacher who has free health care for the rest of her life as well as she can NEVER be fired due to ten year. Oh yeah we have the highest paid bus garage superintendant cuz he was a princaple who was very selective in administering punishment to certain students. A group of students broke into a rival school all got caught (11) only 3 were suspended out right four cant play sports ever again and the remaining four were suspended for three games. Yes they're parents have money. But all 11 were caught on camera doing distruction and stealing from this rival school. GREAT TEACHER!!!!! Can never be fired cant loose ANY pay with his demotion so we pay a hundred k a year for our bus garage super.
Post by suspendedzen on Mar 18, 2011 21:14:31 GMT -5
"Palm Trees" has become my go-to meme any time I hear some ridiculous Fox/radio gibberish about how the health care for teachers/ nursers/lunch ladies/etc is 'free,' they get paid too much, they have short days, etc.
Today, Walker again traveled to La Crosse on the taxpayers' (reality: this includes school staff, nurses, plow truck drivers, EMTs, etc) dime. This time he came to deliver a half million taxpayer dollars to a brewery, a 'private' business.
Note to Walker, Fitzgerald Family, Fox, Tea Party and anybody who swallows their cartoonish dogshit: if you constantly have to prop up corporations with the money of the working class, that is NOT a free-market.
Post by arlenefavreau1 on Mar 18, 2011 21:38:47 GMT -5
For teachers with ten year in N,Y they're health care DOES'NT come out of they're pay. If you work for a school for ten years it's FREE to them when you don't have the money come out of your paycheck and you still receive health care it's FREE.
Post by suspendedzen on Mar 18, 2011 22:09:15 GMT -5
No. If somebody pays taxes and then receives a benefit for doing a service out of the pool of tax dollars they already contributed to, it is not free. You can't make people pay into something and then turn around and say they got it for free.
Here's an example of something being given for free: WI state senator Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) makes his money via two avenues: his legislative job (50k per year, health care, franking, etc) and a baseball team with a stadium built on public land with taxpayer dollars. The kicker here is that Dan Kapanke has not had to pay taxes (fun loopholes for certain people!) in several years. He is an actual example of a person receiving worker-subsidized benefits without being among the pool of workers to pay into the system.
Again: if you pay into a pool that is used to provide benefits for services rendered, you did not get the benefit for free. However, if you are like Dan Kapanke (or the Koch Bros, etc) and are receiving benefits and subsidization without any contribution to the tax pool, you are in fact getting something, unearned, for free.
Yes, tenure. Also, principal and taxes and don't get me started...
If you not only misspell the pluralization of the word "tax," but additionally transform it into a possessive in the process... how am I supposed to trust your position on the economy, which is far more complicated than elementary school spelling and grammar?
I'm going to call out a misstatement from someone who agrees with me while I'm at it. I saw suspendzen use a misconception I would like to clear up:
Here's an example of something being given for free: WI state senator Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) makes his money via two avenues: his legislative job (50k per year, health care, franking, etc) and a baseball team
Franking privileges - the ability to send mail without charge - are a source of neither profit nor loss for an elected official. Franking privileges are granted not to an individual elected official, but to their office. Not all pieces of mail are allowed under franking privileges; they are restricted to official office business, i.e. constituent correspondence and other defined legitimate purposes necessary to operate an elected official's office. The most common use of franking privileges is to cover the expense of mailing constituent newsletters; franking privileges also cover returning letters written by constituents to the office or RSVPing to event invitations. I personally take issue with the fact that this happens at a well-above-average frequency as elected officials come up for reelection, which I feel slightly abuses them, but feel that franking privileges overall are too valuable to throw that baby out with the bathwater. Theoretically, without franking privileges, postage expenses could actually be used against an official by political opponents seeking to drain their allotted annual office operating budget. Without franking privileges, there is actually a financial disincentive for elected officials to communicate with constituents, which seems contrary to democratic ideals. So, yay franking privileges. Also, franking privileges sounds dirty but isn't, which makes it one of the more entertaining phrases in the governmental lexicon. Oh, and I think I'm smarter than your average bear when it comes to the inner workings of an elected official's office: ^ Yours truly's official intern portrait with... Wisconsin's next governor?
I've been slacking on the March pictures, sorry, but I've got one that seems too relevant to this post to not include it in this post. This is from outside the capitol last Thursday, the day after the bill (in its second, "non-fiscal" incarnation) passed the Wisconsin Assembly. It was the first time I'd seen pro-Walker demonstrators in this protest on a day the Koch brothers' front groups didn't bus them in from around the state. There were three of them who had gathered together around the time this was taken. I had seen one of them separately earlier that day, so I imagine those three did not coordinate their efforts but rather found strength in numbers only after arriving at the capitol. The man I'd seen earlier was wearing a Marine Corps baseball cap (he's beneath the Wisconsin-as-fist sign) and holding a sign that said "Collective Bargaining Is Not A Right" who was at least willing to engage protesters in what appeared to be civil conversation. The other guy, the guy holding the sign in the center of this picture? He wasn't so civil. He was a bit rude and rather vocal about his opposition to protesters. A few minutes after I noticed and photographed this sign, his taunts were being shouted down... with chants of "NOVEMBER HAS A B!" ;D
This was the marquee on the Orpheum Theater on State Street, two blocks from capitol square, last Saturday. I think it's appropriate to go with this update.
Recall update: After last weekend's efforts, supporters of the movement to recall the eight Republican Senators claim to have 45% of the total signatures needed to recall all eight. They further state that three particular Senators - they won't specify which, but I assume Kapanke, Hopper & Darling - already have more than half of the signatures needed for recall. This was two weeks into the recall process, about a quarter of the way through the sixty day limit for circulating recall petitions. In the meantime, those trying to recall eight Democratic Senators refuse to reveal any numbers.
For some balance, Scott Walker wrote a Washington Post op-ed piece which was published earlier this week. I wouldn't be able to completely rip into this one before sunrise, but I wanted to put it out there. A few quick points, though: Is it just me, or is Walker trying to pooh-pooh the fact that some federal employees get to collectively bargain? His estimate of the proportion of federal workers who can collectively bargain includes our entire military, which cannot collectively bargain. He seems to sidestep the fact that, as governor, he is not in charge of a standing army. Our state budget shortfall is more than double the $1.5B Walker's concessions generate. Walker talks about what Wisconsin union leaders wanted in contrast with national leaders; Walker never sat down at ANY negotiating table with union representatives before proposing this bill... how would he know? Walker refers to unions rushing to negotiate new contracts as if his bill has nothing to do with it.
Last, but certainly not least, Scott Walker's PolitiFact ratings True 4 Mostly True 3 Half True 2 Barely True 6 False 10 Pants on Fire 1
On a plain True/False split, he's 15-11. That gives Mostly, Half and Barely True parity with flat-out True; I'm not so sure I concur with that. Splitting it into True/Mostly True versus Half/Barely True, his record is 7-8. His statements are most frequently False.
I would love to see how much money the uprising against his bill and the ensuing security, lawsuits, etc. cost the state above and beyond our normal operating costs... not to mention that recall elections don't come cheap...
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strength in numbers 