Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I have already written three posts about Governor Scott Walker, his budget repair bill, and the protesters in Wisconsin. People have been interested in
the Wisconsin story and have left nearly 1,800 comments at my three posts. I’ve even received requests to write up another post so that we could continue the discussion on the subject. I think there are others like me who believe the Wisconsin/Walker story is not over yet.
As I did last week, I’m posting links to some articles on the subject for you—as well as excerpts from some of the articles.
Democrats immediately file suit to halt challenges (Journal Sentinel)
By Jason Stein, Don Walker, and Patrick Marley
Excerpt: Wisconsin is now among the vanguard of Midwestern states embarking on a new era with their rules for public unions. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, signed an executive order in 2005 to eliminate collective bargaining for state employees. Ohio is working on a measure to rewrite its collective bargaining law with public-sector unions.
But the fight in Wisconsin isn’t over – Democrats and unions are already filing lawsuits against the proposal and recall actions against GOP senators who approved it.
“It’s just the beginning,” said Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar). “This is the civil rights issue of this century.”
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Wisconsin’s Legacy of Labor Battles (New York Times)
By Kate Zernike
Excerpt: In her book, “Radical Unionism in the Midwest, 1900-1950,” Professor Feurer recounts how companies in the electrical industry in St. Louis started a network known as the Metal Trades Association in the first part of the 20th century to fight union organizing. The association had been alarmed by union protests that erupted violently with the Haymarket Square riot in 1886 and the demands for an eight-hour day, which started with the 1894 Pullman strike in Illinois — an early effort by Eugene V. Debs, the former Indiana legislator and future Socialist Party candidate for president.
“That left a legacy of the 1930s and ’40s for employers to form deep right-wing networks,” Professor Feurer said.
That network, she argues, was the precursor to the Midwestern groups that have now been assisting the fight against the unions in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana: the Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, and Koch Industries, based in Wichita, Kan. David H. and Charles G. Koch, the billionaire brothers behind the energy and manufacturing conglomerate that bears their name, have been large donors to Mr. Walker in Wisconsin, as has their advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, which first opened an office in Wisconsin in 2005.
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By Ryan Haggerty and Michael Muskal
Excerpt: Even as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday signed into law a bill that sharply curbs collective bargaining for most public employees, his opponents were preparing for more demonstrations, court battles and political infighting over what has become a national test of labor’s power.
Organizers were hoping to attract tens of thousands protesters to the Capitol on Saturday for a rally featuring the return of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state on Feb. 17 in an effort to block the measure from passing. Along with the rally, Democrats are planning to ask the courts to overturn the new law and they have begun circulating petitions to recall some lawmakers. GOP supporters are circulating their own recall petitions, directed at the Democrats.
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Op-Ed: The GOP’s costly Wisconsin Koch binge is a wake-up call (Digital Journal)
The Big Shakedown: Wisconsin and the GOP’s Vision for America’s Future (Common Dreams)
Dane County sues state to block budget bill (The Cap Times)
Union Bill Is Law, but Debate Is Far from Over (New York Times)
My Previous Posts
Scott Walker: A Fiscally Responsible Governor or a Politician Who Is Playing Favorites?
Is the Scott Walker Story Just the Tip of the Koch Brothers’ Political Iceberg?
Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and Protesting Workers: The Story Continues
Elaine M,
Shocking that those words came out of Angles mouth. Very reasonable, actually.
While most of the Republicans have been bashing teachers–there’s one who has spoken out in support of them: Sharron Angle.
From Think Progress (3/17/2011)
Sharron Angle Boldly Defends Public School Teachers: They Are Over-Worked And Under-Paid
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/17/sharron-angle-teachers/
Excerpt:
ANGLE: I think that improving public education in Nevada is the same as improving public education all over the nation. […] Teachers who are really good teachers do this not because of the pay, not because of the three month vacation, and not because they work a six hour day. And if you know a good teacher you know none of those things are true.
They don’t get paid like other professionals do. Their three month vacation turns out usually to be more like two months in the summer and they’re usually going back to school so they can learn more so they can stay ahead of you. Their six hour day is more like a sixty hour work week because they have more than they do than the six hours they spend in the classroom. They are dedicated professionals and they are dedicated to you. They are usually very honest, caring individuals and they want what’s best for you. When you talk about the three people who are most vested in education, that’s where our resources should be put, that’s where our concentration should be, that’s what we should be asking ‘what would make a better school?’
TPMDC
Madison On The Potomac: Labor Protesters Storm Lobbyists’ Lobby In DC
By Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 17, 2011
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/madison-on-the-potomac-labor-protesters-storm-lobbysts-lobby-in-dc.php?ref=fpb
Excerpt:
For about 30 minutes Wednesday afternoon, a group of a couple hundred union workers, labor activists and progressives turned the lobby of a DC office building into a mini-Wisconsin State Capitol.
In a microcosm of the fight between labor and the Republican-led government in the Badger State, union protesters (and their progressive allies) stormed the lobby of a downtown DC office building that hold the headquarters of BGR Group, a lobbying firm that was hosting a fundraiser for, among others, several of the Republican state Senators who just voted to strip collective bargaining from thousands of Wisconsin union workers.
The protestors occupied the high-roofed marble lobby for about 30 minutes. They chanted, they spoke and they waved many of the same signs they’ve been waving across the Midwest for weeks. And upstairs, just as in the state Senate chamber in Madison, the targets of the protest said they were unfazed.
The demonstration was put on by a slew of progressive and labor groups. The largest contingents were workers from the AFSCME union and the AFL-CIO. But there were plenty of supporters on hand as well.
“He’s trying to break the poor people from political power,” Lisa Werth, a DC nanny and the daughter of two Wisconsin union workers said of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). “People I know back home voted for Walker because of his pro-life stance. But he doesn’t have a pro-living stance.”
From Huffington Post (3/17/2011)
Conservatives: We Are Being Outworked And Out-Organized In Wisconsin Recall Campaigns
By Sam Stein
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/16/conservatives-we-are-bein_n_836794.html
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — Both national and Wisconsin-based Republican operatives tell the Huffington Post the party is being dramatically outworked and out-organized by Democrats in the recall campaigns being launched against state Senators.
The operatives, who raised their concerns out of hope it would jar the GOP into assertiveness, argue complacency has taken over after Governor Scott Walker successfully shepherded his anti-collective bargaining bill into law. While the Wisconsin Democratic Party, with major assists from progressive groups and unions, has harnessed resentment towards the governor into a full-throttled effort to recall eight GOP Senators, neither the enthusiasm nor organizational acumen exists on the Republican side of the aisle.
“It’s clear that Democrats and liberal organizations are engaging in an attempt to make recall more than a mere hypothetical possibility for some Wisconsin Republicans,” said Liz Mair, Vice President of Hynes Communications and former RNC Online Communications Director, who has worked closely with officials on the ground in Wisconsin. “Even though Governor Walker acted to end the impasse, Republicans and conservatives should not be acting like this is done and dusted.”
A conservative activist working inside the state on recall efforts was even more explicitly distraught. The Wisconsin Republican Party, the operative said, was not lending resources to the recall campaign groups had launched against Democratic Senators, in turn causing those groups to narrow their target list down from eight lawmakers to just three.
“It would be nice if the Republican Party, operatives, etc, would step in with a little money,” said the activist, who asked to remain nameless lest he draw the GOP even further away from the recall effort. “But they are talking about doing radio and I’m not sure that gets you signatures.”
“Sure, the first battle was won with the passing of the bill,” the activist added, “but the war is not won. If they come in and recall some of those state senators and none of the Democrats get knocked out, that’s not good for the republicans at all…it is a bit of a mystery to me. You would think they would want to make sure all these [recall] efforts are successful.”
http://www.truth-out.org/the-corporate-gop-attack-americas-middle-class68434
Wed Mar 16, 2011 at 09:10 PM EDT.
Large, dynamic solidarity protest in DC outside Wisconsin GOP fundraiser
by Chris Bowers for Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/16/957161/-Large,-dynamic-solidarity-protest-in-DC-outside-Wisconsin-GOP-fundraiser
Excerpt:
The days when Democrats faced an enthusiasm gap are gone. The Republican tea party mojo of 2009-2010 has disappeared, replaced by a new protest movement of union members, students, and progressive activists of all stripes. We’ve seen it in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and in solidarity protests around the country. Today, it was out in force in DC, too.
The occasion for the protest in DC was the arrival of the Wisconsin Republican state Senators facing recall. They were in town for a $1,000-per-head fundraiser, hosted at the offices of corporate lobbyists. They must have felt right at home, given what was happening both inside and outside the building.
In character with the new labor-fueled protests rallies the country, this protest was a dynamic, almost unpredictable event that far exceeded expectations. It began with students, union members, and activists taking up about half the sidewalk of 13th St NW, between G and F. Before long, it not only took up the entire block, but it also stretched around the block:
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Check out the Daily Kos post to see a few pictures of the protest in DC.
Elaine M,
“Walker’s become a hero among leaders in the conservative movement, and elected Republicans genuinely seem to admire his willingness to go to the wall to undermine public sector unions. But it’s not clear they realize that Walker’s become a national lightning rod — and deeply unpopular among his constituents to boot.”
I think this is just indicitive of the fact that for as much as Republicans claim they are listening to the American people, and doing the peoples work, that they don’t get that what they are doing is the complete opposite of what people want.
Take, for example, that poll after poll shows that people do not want healthcare reform repealed; poll after poll that shows that people want unions to have the right to collectively bargain; poll after poll that shows that people want Congress to focus on jobs, not abortion, not the deficit, not gay marriage.
Either Republicans are truly clueless, or they say one thing for the cameras, yet behind closed doors shake in fear because they recognize that they’ve dug themselves far too deeply in the hole and will look like fools if they change course now. For as much as they crow, it is the Republican’s who don’t listen to the people; it is the Republican’s who are not doing the people’s work.
From The Nation
Wisconsin Senators “Sell Out” to Corporate Interests as DC Crowds Pick Up the Chant: “Recall!”
By John Nichols
March 17, 2011
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159289/wisconsin-senators-sell-out-corporate-interests-dc-crowds-pick-chant-recall
Excerpt:
Wisconsin Republican state Senators, fresh from passing draconian anti-labor and privatization legislation, jetted into Washington, D.C., Wednesday night to collect tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from the one constituency group that approves of what Governor Scott Walker and his GOP allies are doing: corporate lobbyists.
But if Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Joint Finance Committee co-chair Alberta Darling thought they could get away from the mounting campaign to remove Republican state senators and shift control of the chamber to the Democrats — creating a check and balance on Walker — they were mistaken.
Outside the offices of the BGR Group — the “B” stands for Barbour, as in Mississippi Governor and potential GOP presidential candidate Haley — as many as 1,000 workers, students, union activists and allies filled the streets of downtown Washington. Many surged into the building where the senators met with lobbyists who paid as much a $5,000 to “host” the gathering to thank the Wisconsin Republicans.
They DC protesters chanted many of the same unions slogans that have been heard at mass protests in Wisconsin. And they picked up a political slogan as well: “Recall!”
Across Wisconsin, citizens are gathering petition signatures to force recall elections that could remove as many as eight GOP senators who backed the governor’s anti-union bill. If just three seats (including Darling’s) flip to the Democrats, Fitzgerald will no longer be majority leader and Walker’s agenda will suddenly face serious legislative hurdles.
Mocking the Tea Party rhetoric about gunplay and “Second Amendment Solutions,” one protester in DC held a sign that read: “We Don’t Reload, We Recall!”
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has filed a lawsuit asking for an injunction to keep the union busting bill from being published by the Wisconsin Secretary of State on the 25th. Ozanne is alleging the state’s open meetings law was violated. Here is the article from the Wisconsin State Journal:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_19b9492e-500b-11e0-911b-001cc4c03286.html
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse has an article up this morning on DKos. She is an attorney and has been following these developments closely. Note that Ben Masel is a commenter in the comment thread. Ben is a Wisconsin attorney who is a declared Democratic candidate for the US Senate.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/17/957243/-Wisconsin-DA-Lawsuit-To-Void-Walkers-Anti-Union-Bill
TPMDC
National Republicans Rally Around Scott Walker
Brian Beutler | March 16, 2011
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/national-republicans-rally-around-scott-walker.php?ref=fpa
Excerpt:
Ahead of yesterday’s House vote to fund the federal government, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) painted the Republicans rebelling against Speaker John Boehner from the right as Scott Walker Republicans — uninterested in compromise, single-minded in pursuit of a right-wing policy agenda.
The statement quickly diffused through the Capitol, and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) — an influential conservative and former Republican leader, who voted against the spending measure — took kindly to it. On Twitter, Pence joked, “Sen. Schumer called us ‘Scott Walker Republicans?’ That’s the nicest thing anybody has said about me in a long time!”
Turns out this is a view shared by both the so-called “Scott Walker Republicans” themselves, and Republicans who voted to pass the compromise plan.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), who supports a grand bargain on spending, and voted with his leadership, put it bluntly. “I understand why Schumer would fear Scott Walker,” Kingston said in a brief interview in the Speaker’s Lobby, just off the House floor. “That’s his — what he doesn’t understand is that’s a pretty damn good compliment so people will take that.”
On the other side of the GOP divide, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who strongly opposes passing any spending measure unless it’s used as leverage to gut the health care law, had a similar view. “If I had to choose, I’d a lot rather be Scott Walker than Schumer,” King told me. “I don’t take that as an insult, and there are a lot more that are sympathetic and in Scott Walker’s favor in our own conference.”
Walker’s become a hero among leaders in the conservative movement, and elected Republicans genuinely seem to admire his willingness to go to the wall to undermine public sector unions. But it’s not clear they realize that Walker’s become a national lightning rod — and deeply unpopular among his constituents to boot. And yet, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette claims that “after the face-off in Wisconsin between the public and public-employee unions, the odds-on favorite for the party’s vice-presidential nomination may be that state’s fighting governor, Scott Walker.”
I have a question that perhaps somebody in the law school could answer for me regarding what took place in Wisconsin.
In doing some research I found that “Expressive associations” are groups that engage in activities protected by the First Amendment—speech, assembly, press, petitioning government for a redress of grievances, and the free exercise of religion. The United States Supreme Court held in NAACP v. Alabama that the freedom of association is an essential part of the Freedom of Speech because, in many cases, people can engage in effective speech only when they join with others.
Furthermore; In the international labour movement, the freedom of association is a right identified under international labour standards as the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain. Freedom of association, in this sense, is recognized as a fundamental human right by a number of documents including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Labor Organization Convention C87 and Convention C98 — two of the eight fundamental, core international labour standards.
My question is how is what took place in Wisconsin NOT a violation of the First Amendment rights of the Union members right to speech, assembly, and pettitioning of the government for redress of grievance’s?? Is this action by the Governor of Wisconsin and the Rupublican Senators in Wisconsin blatently unconstitutional? This action in Wisconsin is now taking place in other states. I have not heard any mention of this in the media. It would seem that with all the attention that was paid to the protests, the issue of the 1st Amendment would have been brought up? Am I missing something here??
rafflaw,
“Stamford,
The tax slashing is all part of the nationwide plan to bankrupt state and local government to go along with the obstruction on the Federal side and the Teapublicans are creating governments that will no longer be able to function. Then here come the private contractors!!”
I really wish we could just cordon off part of the country, rename it “Dumbfuckistan” and let the Republican’s and teabaggers can have at it. Seriously.
eniobob,
I think it is intentional on the part of the MSM. They make a habit of skipping issues that their Republican masters don’t want addressed.
Have to go to C-SPAN off and on to see whats going on in the House and the Senate,with all the stations trying to out do one another with the Tsunami coverage a lot is going on here at home that no one is talking about,if it weren’t for the internet here we would be lost on a lot of issues.
Elaine,
That is amazing story about the corporations receiving government contracts and yet are delinquet on their taxes! How in the hell do they still get contracts? Now that we know the problem, is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration doing anything to collect on the taxes or to rescind the contracts?
Stamford,
The tax slashing is all part of the nationwide plan to bankrupt state and local government to go along with the obstruction on the Federal side and the Teapublicans are creating governments that will no longer be able to function. Then here come the private contractors!!
Elaine M,
“REPORT: In 12 States, GOP Plans To Slash Corporate Taxes While Increasing Burden on Working Families”
As my father would say, “Holy shit on a shingle.”
By this time next year:
The disparity in income will be much higher than now;
More people will be living in poverty and on the streets; and Crime will increase nationwide.
And then the GOP will:
Whine about the homeless, the unemployed and the poverty-stricken;
Whine about the increase in crime; and
Whine about the increase in juvenile delinquents who will ultimately become wards of the state.
The GOP has absolutely no clue as to what havoc they are unleashing.
The momentum is building at a constant, steady pace.
There is a bridge somewhere missing its troll.
Anoying You:
20% more troll, on the all troll all the time network.
From Think Progress (3/16/2011)
In 2009, U.S. Gov’t Awarded $3.7 Billion In Contracts To Almost A Dozen Corporate Tax Delinquents
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/16/fed-awarded-tax-delinquents/
Excerpt:
Right-wing state and federal lawmakers all over the country are asking Main Street Americans to sacrifice their education, health, and wellbeing by ramming through massive budget cuts and even tax increases on the working and middle class to finance tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.
And at the same time, corporate tax dodgers are getting away with paying little to nothing. For example, megabank Bank of America paid literally nothing in 2009 in corporate income taxes.
Now, a new audit by the Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration finds that almost a dozen federal contractors that were delinquent on their taxes in 2009 nevertheless received billions of taxpayer dollars that same year:
For Tax Year 2009, we identified that 10 of the 11 contractors owing delinquent taxes also received payments totaling approximately $3.7 billion from other Federal agencies. To identify the Federal agencies and the payments made, we researched the contractors’ tax accounts. These agencies included the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture, General Services Administration, Department of the Interior, and Department of Veterans Affairs.