They're still fighting in Wisconsin

The recall elections in Wisconsin are done but the fight's not over.

The first Monday of September is Labor Day, and every year in Wausau the unions sponsor a parade.

Guess who's not invited this year.

Community parades often feature local politicians waving to the crowds, but this year's annual Labor Day parade in Wausau may be short a few elected officials.

That's because the head of the group that sponsors the Wausau Labor Day Parade, the Marathon County Central Labor Council, is telling Republican lawmakers from the area that they're not welcome Sept. 5.

"Usually they've been in the parade, but it seems like they only want to stand with us one day a year, and the other 364 days they don't really care," said Randy Radtke, president of the council.

At least one Republican got his widdle feewings hurt:

"Having walked in this parade in past years," the statement read, "Congressman Duffy was hoping that for a moment, we could set our differences aside and simply have some fun in a family-friendly event."

Guess what, Duffy: show that you support labor and maybe you get to march in their parade. How does that sound?

Good news in Wisconsin

The first round of the Wisconsin recall elections was held today, and there's good news.

You probably recall that the Wisconsin Republican Party organized a bunch of fake
democrats to run in the primary leading up to the recall election. It was estimated that running the fake Democrats, which the Republicans didn't even bother to pretend that they weren't behind it, were going to cost the state more than $400,000.

That's right--the party that was supposedly trying to save the state money by screwing state employees out of their pensions and collective bargaining rights--is making the state throw money away.

The result, possibly inevitable, came out today. All six fake Democrats were defeated, leaving the real Democrats to move forward to the general election on August 9.

One step closer to replacing those union-busting scumbags.

Democracy in Wisconsin, again

Just a reminder of the commitment to democracy demonstrated by the Republican regime in Madison.

First off, if you're hoping to cover the political scene in Wisconsin by making a documentary film about the goings-on there, maybe you should think twice. Burlington filmmaker Sam Mayfield was arrested for doing just that at the Wisconsin capitol yesterday. In addition to Green Mountain Daily it's also being covered on Democracy Now.


Second, why would Republicans in Wisconsin work to get Republicans to run in Democratic primaries?

Pretty simple, actually. Right now six Republican state senators are facing recall elections this year, due to their undemocratic practices in this year's budget/union-busting fiasco. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that, fearing a strong Democratic campaign, the Republican Party is running fake Democrats in the primary, with the idea that if they get on the ballot they will squeeze out any real Democratic candidate.

When it comes to running fake Democratic candidates in this summer's recall contests, top state Republicans have one thought:

The more, the merrier.

Sources tell No Quarter that state Republican Party officials are aiming to line up spoiler Democrats - loyal Republicans who run as Democrats with no intention of winning - in all six recall elections for incumbent Republican senators.

Finally, a court in Wisconsin has granted a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of Scott Walker's illegally passed union-busting bill.

In what is seen as a win for public labor Unions, Governor Scott Walker’s controversial Anti-Collective Bargaining law was struck down.

Thursday Morning, Dane County Judge MaryAnn Sumi issued a permanent injunction against the bill, effectively killing it until the Supreme Court is able to act. Sumi’s 33 page decision said there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Republicans who control the Legislature violated the state’s open meetings laws. This referred to GOP actions at March 9th committee meeting where the measure was passed without providing proper notice to the public. Also at that time, the Capitol building was locked down tightly keeping many members of the public away.

“This case is the exemplar of values protected by the Open Meetings Law: transparency in government, the right of citizens to participate in their government, and respect for the rule of law,” Sumi wrote. “It is not the court’s business to determine whether 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 is good public policy or bad public policy; that is the business of the Legislature. It is this court’s responsibility, however, to apply the rule of law to the facts before it.”

That's the good news: At least one branch of government in Wisconsin still believes in the rule of law.

The Wall Street Journal: Lying in the Service of the Ruling Class

There are certain institutions in the American press that can always be counted on, and the Wall Street Journal is one of them. Here's the latest example of their overheated rhetoric.

Having lost their fight in the legislature, Wisconsin unions are now getting out the steel pipes for those who don't step lively to their cause.

What's the action the workers are requesting?

A sign that says the business supports workers' rights.

And those steel pipes?

"With that we'd ask that you reconsider taking a sign and stance to support public employees in this community. Failure to do so will leave us no choice but do [sic] a public boycott of your business."

Yup, count on the Wall Street Journal.

The Rule of Law

We actually think it's pretty important in the United States. We may have discovered the idea at Runnymede, when the barons stood up to the king and made him acknowledge that the law was more than whatever the king felt like.

Only they haven't learned that lesson in Wisconsin yet.

You know what they've done so far: they screwed around with the rules to pass Scott Walker's union-busting legislation, then they decided that if you were a Democrat your vote wouldn't count.

The violations of law were so clear that the opponents of the law went to court and got an injunction prohibiting publication of the law, an essential prerequisite to implementation under Wisconsin law.

So what did the Republicans do? They went ahead and published the law anyway.

If I had been the judge, I'd be some pissed by this time, and apparently the judge who issued the order is. She really did say "Maybe you fuckers didn't understand what I was saying."

Well, pretty close anyway:

"Further implementation of the act is enjoined," said Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi.

"Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of Act 10 was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear," she said.

And:

"Now that I've made my earlier order as clear as it possibly can be, I must state that those who act in open and willful defiance of the court order place not only themselves at peril of sanctions, they also jeopardize the financial and the governmental stability of the state of Wisconsin," Sumi said.

We'll see what the next round brings, but I, for one, am looking forward to seeing Scott Walker frog-marched out of the state house to start serving his term for contempt of court.

Democracy, Wisconsin style

We already know the high regard in which Wisconsin Republicans hold the sacred forms and traditions of democracy, right?

If you recall that they railroaded Walker's union-busting bill through the Assembly and Senate, likely nothing will surprise you.

But here are some new rules from the Republicans:

1. If you're a Democrat, you don't get a vote in committee.

2. If you're a Republican, you don't have to live in the district you are elected to represent.

Let's go over that once more.

The majority leader of the Wisconsin Senate has ruled that the Democrats who boycotted the proceedings to avoid giving the R's a quorum are in contempt of the Senate, and that consequently their votes in committee don't count.

They are free to attend hearings, listen to testimony, debate legislation, introduce amendments, and cast votes to signal their support/opposition, but those votes will not count, and will not be recorded

.

Nice, huh?

Now, Number 2: Like every other state, Wisconsin's legislature has a system of districts. The voters in those districts turn out and vote for their representatives, who live in and represent those districts.

Except that that's not how it works for one of the Republicans in the Senate. Last year Randy Hopper, R, Fond du Lac, left his wife and took to living with a 25-year old aide.



As you can see from the picture, Randy is not 25 years old. If it matters to you that his new paramour is twenty years younger than he is, that is.

And if it matters to you that she now works for the lobbying firm that represents some very nasty right-wing groups.

It's certainly not unheard of for an elected official to set up housekeeping outside of his district, or even to have an extramarital affair.

What seems to cross the line for me is that not only did he move out on his wife and out of his district, but he ran for re-election. That means he undoubtedly had to sign papers with the Wisconsin Secretary of State, probably under oath, verifying his place of residence. (He conveniently includes a map of his district--I mean the one he used to live in--on his legislative web page.)

And whatever he swore to on those papers was a lie.

So it's not the sex, and it's not just the hypocrisy (nothing like those bible-believing, family values Republicans, huh?), it's the whole package of sleeping with a scummy lobbyist, leaving your wife for her, and lying about where you live when you run for reelection.

In case you're wondering, his wife says she'll sign the recall petition. His maid already has.

A voice from inside

Just a short post tonight. I came across a blog you may find interesting, written by an activist involved in the occupation of the Wisconsin State House.

The information is fragmentary, but it appears that the protesters have taken the governor to court for his actions in barring access to the capitol in violation of the state constitution.

The Blog from Inside the Capitol Endures...

My name is Jonathan Scott. I have been living inside of our Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin most days and nights since February 22, 2011. I want to give everyone a window into the real situation inside of our Capitol Building.

Keep checking back for updates.

Our newest banana republic

They used to use the term "banana republic" to refer to countries in Central America in which the government was run as a tool for the oligarchies that became rich by exploiting the natural resources of the country.

Now we have the official transformation of a state with a proud Progressive tradition into a banana republic.

Josh is reporting that after the Wisconsin Assembly concluded debate on Walker's anti-union bill, they went immediately to a vote. The vote lasted seconds, and as soon as there were enough Republican votes to pass it the Republican Speaker closed the voting.

The majority of the Democratic caucus didn't even get to have their votes recorded, even though they were pounding furiously on their electronic voting buttons.

The Democratic members of the Senate are standing firm, and there are suggestions that the vote was illegal and may be subject to a court challenge, but Wisconsin has taken one more step toward being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries.