Posts Tagged ‘darling’
Recalling Wisconsin
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Oh,not so long ago Music in the air Scents of bakery,melons And flowers here and there All of a circling Saturday Around the State House Square |
Not so long ago, I would go to my face book page and read posts about new babies, a friend’s favorite music but only an occasional mention of the politics of Wisconsin. That was before Walker, Fitzgerald, and the GOP control of the legislature. Yes. That was before. Why was I so unaware of the first rumblings of the massive quake about to devastate a pattern of fair play, compromise, and respect that I had grown up with in my home State of Wisconsin? The media and the polls began to suggest that Feingold and Barrett were in trouble and this news was reinforced by an inordinate number of green “Johnson for Senate” signs along the highways and by ways of my travels. Somehow, I could not or would not believe it. Would Wisconsin really give up a leader like Russ Feingold? Would this pale, uneducated, candidate for Governor ever get more votes than Barrett? No. I would not believe it.
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Election day the numbers left us pale Swallowing hard against the news Did I somehow fail? Pray wisdom so not to lose Acceptance or hope of silver linings |
So, the people went over the loses, as after a poor round of golf, checking the score card of their district and State. We all had lost Russ Feingold to a barrage of attacks that, we thought surely, no one would believe. Some districts did fair better than others: Ron Kind over Kapanke was the saving grace of my little world. We all had to face the loss of Barrett to Walker and met the facts with attitude; we would grin and bear it. We had survived Thompson and other Governors. This would pass. We would be more watchful, and surely this would pass.
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Between Valentine’s Day and The Truth A line was crossed Like an arrow through the heart Cupid’s aim was lost Amid cold threats falling as snow |
Then it got scary. The refusal to accept the federal funding for rapid rail, and stoppage of the clean burning incineration project could almost be expected. Then came the unimaginable. The slap in the face of all that was Wisconsin; Walker’s budget repair bill that would hinge on the curtailing the collective bargaining rights for most public employees; a threat which came with a icy authoritarian stab of calling out the National Guard to curtail any public protest. At first, it was like a punch in the gut taking the wind right out of the air itself. A shock was followed by a moment of quiet disbelief. After the quiet, came the storm of unity, solidarity and protest that rocked the State.
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Total Recall When no words remain A spirit is loosened To tend to our pain With Arc bending to justice |
And no words can capture a manifestation of human truth, although we may come close from time to time, yet the scientific expression of eternity is not a digit but a looped, bow-tie symbol. Some called it “The Awakening of a Sleeping Giant” or defined the unity of spirit with slogans; “We Are Wisconsin”, “This is What Democracy Looks Like”. New worlds were created, “Fitzwalkerstan” and “Walkerville” where palm trees flourished as fire fighter’s bag pipes, and a contentious circle of drums declared the new boundaries for a longing for freedom that stretched all the way to Egypt. All I know is that times such as these, these moments, open a portal of light and hope when it is a gift to be alive.
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Fool me once… Ripped and ill marked and torn Human error to a missed moment All lost in an approaching morn Within our grasp another day |
I was so anxious get behind Joanne Kloppenburg in the first election since Walker, that I miss spelled her name in my first post. The goal was set high; to defeat a long time incumbent Supreme Court Justice. Finally, the solidarity and new activism could be put to a unified purpose to win an election against all odds… and the election was won, but only for hours, before an off hand prediction of Walker, “Votes found out of the blue”, came to pass. An apologetic County Clerk from Waukesha, found 14,000 votes…somehow. The “somehow” raised the eye brows of the national press and sparked a state-wide recount. The discovery of ripped and torn vote bags, gaping breaks in the chain of custody, and impossible comparative voter turn out numbers left questions, suspicions, and anomalies that remain unanswered to this day. The air of fraud and incompetence surrounding the Waukesha vote count seemed to trip into another dark dimension of a hidden cloak room of the Government Accountability Board, and hand to hand violence in the chambers of the highest court. Attorney Verhoff filled months with a few pages of explanation that a did not rise to remedy but left a want for justice to be reckoned with on another day.
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Faces of Recall Looking out for you You looking out for… Nothing is left to do But save precious grace |
By some secret stroke of irony the “open meetings – collective bargaining ruling” of July came after a violent encounter behind closed doors in the Supreme Court Chambers, that we would only hear of days later. Even as Walker signed his bill into law, any celebration of victory was hushed. It was a hollow fantasy of words on paper, having won the battle but lost the war, and the trumpet sounded to carry the theme of fantasy forward, before the ink had dried on paper. Dr. Seuss might have written the script. Let’s have a fake election! We will get fake GOP’s to run as fake Dems or fake candidates in a fake election. The whole fake idea failed when each Dem Candidate beat each fake in each district in every case to the tune of a wasted a non-fake $400,000. Now the real history is upon us. The real 1st in the long story of Democracy. There is no precedent for the decision of August 9. The greatest number of state legislators ever to face recall on a single ballot was two, we look at six Statewide!
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Oh, so near at hand Music in the air Scents of bakery, melons And flowers here and there All of a circling Saturday Around the State House Square |
How to steal a Wisconsin Election
I came across this paper tucked into my briefcase shortly after my return from Waukesha Count.
How We Do It
By Factor Fiction
For many decades the U.S. has spent billions of dollars each year training and maintaining agents who in the interest of …money and power have undermined democracies around the world.
Many of these people have teamed up with political operatives in our own country and they are now using their skills and techniques against our own democracy.
If one controls the government one can create loopholes, cut taxes, enact special privileges and subsidies, advance careers and let out no bid contracts and sell government property for a fraction of its worth.
They invested in voting machine technology and have made lots of money on the sale of high margin machines but they have made lots more by assuring the elections of their people.
In 2009, a spate of high-ranking election officials in Clay County, KY — including the County Clerk, a Circuit Court Judge, the School Superintendent, a former Magistrate, and several polling place officials — were arrested in a massive vote buying/selling and electronic vote-machine rigging conspiracy which netted the criminals millions of dollars over the past decade. The federal charges included the County Clerk and other members of the Board of Elections having intentionally falsified election reports to include inaccurate voting results when submitted to the state.
One Republican election official pleaded guilty after the arrest two years ago, and the other eight were found guilty and convicted last year in federal court. They were sentenced this past March to a total of more than 1,871 months in federal prison. And last week, in a separate, newly developing case, state officials impounded electronic voting machines in Perry County, KY, after Republican candidates in last November’s election complained of “vote rigging” on the county’s 100% unverifiable electronic voting machines… FRANKFORT — A former Clay County precinct worker testified Friday that top election officers in the county taught her how to change people’s choices on voting machines to steal votes in the May 2006 primary. Wanda White testified that Clerk Freddy Thompson the county’s chief election officer helped show her how to manipulate voting machines along with Charles Wayne Jones, the Democratic election commissioner. The scheme involved duping people to walk away from the voting computer before they had finished their selections, then changing their choices, said White, the Democratic judge in a precinct in Manchester. White said she stole more than 100 votes that election. “It was easy done,” she said. “There is no reason to trust insiders in the election industry any more than in other industries.” |
With the internal wireless modems and land line modems in the machines, elections are monitored in progress in enough wards to let them accurately estimate the outcome.
Signals that activate vote flipping in the machines are sent to enough machines in order to change the outcome of the election.
Vote like a Pac Man Yes, that is a voting machine. A voting machine that can be hacked to load PacMan without so much as a whisper of tampering. Via BradBlog: Sequoia’s voting machines, used in some 20% of U.S. elections , employ Intellectual Property (IP) still owned by a Venezuelan firm tied to Hugo Chavez. If the machine software is altered to flip the vote, the flip must be matched with the contents of the bags; your votes. These are the same bags that were stored in Kathy Nickolaus’ office during the long and tedious Waukesha recount. Kathy and her minions had full, complete, and 24hr access to the bags of votes, machines, and software! But is the Sequoia vote system all the easy to manipulate? Really?Yes. In fact there is a list of problems with tabulation of votes with the Sequoia system in election after election all over the country. This is from a “partial list at A “partial” list |
electronic voting system is most like the machine you used to cast your vote in the last election. Many of the anomalies that have resulted from the recount in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, are the direct result of the Sequoia machine system.The vote flipping programming has been available for several years and can easily be activated using older hardware. Since ballots are counted by the machines and not by hand, the clerks and poll workers never know that a percentage of the votes were flipped.
Ballots will only be looked at and counted if a close election is “recounted.” Recounts have to be requested very soon after the results are announced. In the mean time no one can inspect the ballots in order to determine if there is reason to be concerned about the honesty of the announced results. Ballots are thrown away as soon as 30 days after an election.
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So here we are again caught in the same old stew, and it is boiling, a great time to learn from the HBO special programing documentary “Hacking Democracy” which demonstrates the long struggle by newly informed Americans to the big problems of our vote counting system in America and in Wisconsin. It is one hour and twenty minutes long and I encourage you to view it from beginning to end.
So many issues that crop up in the video are strikingly similar to those in the Waukesha recount, and you will find a guide of portions to view that are relevant to those issues. Just scroll ahead to the minute mark below the heading to view these selected portions. 1. Slide ahead to min. 13:14 13:55 – For expert opinon of the vulnerablity of electronic vote machines to hacking and manipulation. 2. Slide ahead to min. 30:05 – 33:00 – To learn about the “central tabulator” of electronic voting machines. 3. Slide ahead to min. 37:00 – 39:00 – For an account of the pressure of a candidate to concede as Kloppenburg is now facing. 4. Slide ahead to min. 52:40 – 55:00 For similarities in the recount charade now on-going in Waukesha as many of the same anomalies crop up with the same defensiveness of elected officials. 5. Slide ahead to 59:31 – 1:04:00 For a shocking discovery. A machine memory card can be programed. 6. Slide ahead to 1:10:05 – 1:16:00 For prof that a memory card CAN BE HACKED to change or flip the vote. 7. Slide ahead to 1:18:30 – 1:20:00 How your vote can be altered without leaving a trace! |
Recounts are tremendously expensive to the candidates and court challenges are even more so. If the cost is not enough of a deterrent to prevent the loser from requesting a recount, the “winners” attack the motives of the loser, accuse him/her of trying to steal the election, emphasize the cost to the public and call the opponent a “sore loser.”
If a recount is requested in one of the honest non-flipped contests, there is little chance of the flipped votes being detected because laws and rules have been enacted that limit the recount only to the race in question. Counting the votes in the non-recounted flipped election is prohibited.
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Evidence of Programing a Hack 48% 52% in Wisconsin Aug 9 Recall Election
The D2 Cowles / Nusbaum race was the first one called (approx 9:30pm CT), with the same 48% to 52% spread (Cowles) called in D10 simultaneously (Harsdorf) – the race called for Harsdorf shortly thereafter. D2 held at 48%-52% until much later in the evening when it shifted dramatically to 60%-40% (Cowles). D10 stayed at 48% – 52% for as long as I was watching the numbers (approx 3:00 am PT.) Then, as reported by others, around midnight the Darling / Pasch D8 vote spread comes in at the SAME PERCENTAGE: 48% / 52% (favoring Pasch) …by 12:20 we see the same vote spread but now in favor of Darling. |
The goal is to win the targeted flipped election by enough votes so that there isn’t a recount. In case there is a recount one has to replace enough of the real ballots with forged ones to tie out to the numbers on the tapes.
In order to accomplish this it is important to have the ballots for all elections stored centrally instead of in the individual municipalities. The ballots and the bags are ordered in sizes that allow ballots to be slipped into and out of poorly sealed bags. In training, we mention putting a numbered locking strip through the punched holes in the bags. We do not show the proper way of tucking in the flaps and we do not correct them when they get it wrong or use a common zip strip instead of a second locking numbered seal.
One starts flipping votes in the wards that do the worst job of sealing their bags. If ballots have to be replaced in bags that are sealed then some openings are stretched enough to allow the passage of ballots, others bags are torn (some taped and others left open). These problems are attributed to accidents or rough handling by the workers who transported them.
Other bags have the seals removed and replaced after the ballots have been swapped.
So if votes for the Supreme Court Justice race in Wisconsin could talk? What if the votes that are leaking out of open, winged, and unsecure bags could tell their story? What would they say?
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For immediate release;
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THE VOTE (as we know it) IS IN!
“They may very well have won all six.”
One Moment In Time
In the Wisconsin Lottery, what is the chance that 
Badger Five and Mega Bucks would produce the same winning numbers in a single draw? A similar impossible coincidence happened in tabulating the vote count in three separate Districts during the Recall Election.
Observation of Jeannie Dean in the Election Integrity group on face book.
| Jeannie Dean identical spreads 48%-52% in D2, D10, and D14 – all the repub victories outside of Waukesha’s late results…again. (See full explanation in the “comment section”) |
That’s right. The spreads were exactly the same for some time before the Waukesha results entered the picture. The Badger Five and Mega Bucks numbers were the same!
Richard Charnin
Days BEFORE the recall election Richard Charnin published a scientific,statistical analysis about what to expect in the August 9 election.See “1″ Seat or “6″ All About Turnout
The emphasis on the word “before” is to wave of the accusations of whining about the post election results.
Richard’s comment on Election Integrity group on face book
“In a pre-election post, I indicated that only election fraud could keep the Democrats from winning three of the six GOP recall elections. They won two. This post-election analysis indicates that they did much better than that.”  They may very well have won all six.See Richard’s full post election analysis |
More and more suspicious vote return numbers.
Observation of Hannah Miyamoto in Election Integrity group on face book.
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The most suspicious thing about the Pasch/Darling race is the turnout: Waukesha Co.: 1,226 votes per precinct. Where was the “enthusiasm gap?” Are those last 12 Milwaukee Co. precincts (prob. places like Glendale and Shorewood) going to deliver even 12,000 more votes? |
Why was the turnout Milwaukee County turnout so low….or WAS the Milwaukee County turnout so low?
Darcy Gustavsson of Election Integrity group on face book, comments on another imporbability
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KN, and Waukesha County, were not the problems in this election. Washington and Ozaukee counties were. Here’s the proof: In Waukesha Cty, 69.4% of Wasserman’s ’08 voters turned out for Pasch, 78.4% of Darling’s ’08 voters returned (a 9 point difference). In Washington Cty, 61% of Wasserman’s ’08 voters turned out for Pasch, 77.1% of Darling’s ’08 returned (a 16.1% difference)! In Ozaukee Cty, 67.6% of Wasserman’s ’08 voters turned out for Pasch, 84.1% of Darling’s voters ’08 returned (a 16.5% difference)! What happened to the Dems in Washington County? In Ozaukee County? |
No word from the Pasch Campaign. Strong words retracted from the Democratic Party.
The Pasch face book and web site has gone silent since the unofficial vote tally was posted, and we can only assume that the anomalies are being investigated.
The Democratic Chairman, Mike Tate, came out with a strong statement on election night using the words “vote tampering” in reference to Waukesha. A short time later the statement was retracted saying he was out of line and responding to the pressure and heat of the moment.
Meanwhile we wait for news from the Pasch Campaign, the Democratic Party, the Government Accountability Board, Kevin Kennedy.
The only thing we know for sure is the Elections should not be this way.
Election Merry-Go-Round
Round and Round we go expecting different results?
Here we go again, round and round with impossible math coming out of Waukesha area District 8. Here is a description of “the swing” that happened on national TV.
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Um, Dems better look into what is going on in district 8! MSNBC “With 62% of the vote in the dem had a 52/48 advantage, then, with 63% in the dem had a 51/49 advantage, THEN with a 64% of the votes in the republican had a 51/49 advantage. THAT CANNOT BE! A 1% swing cannot suddenly give the republican 3% points IF previously a 1% swing took away only ONE % point from the democratic challenger. THIS is the “smoking gun” – that should be investigated by the Dems TODAY. It’s PROOF Nicholas sat on democratic votes. Someone needs to get a copy of the MSNBC tape and look at what i was looking at. Again, if a 1% swing at 10pm means 1,000 votes, then, 1% swing at 11pm CANNOT mean 4,000 votes!!!” Posted by Darcy Gustavsson of the Election Integrity group on face book. |
Another election day, another statistical anomaly. Round and round. What to do?
A very hard learned lesson came down just a short time ago after the Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Recount; once the polls are closed on the night of any given election the votes, poll books, machines, and chain of custody fall into the hands of the presiding town, city, or county clerk. The Government Accountability Board (GAB) then concedes all decision making authority, regarding the vote count and tabulation, to the presiding Clerk. End of story.
Kevin Kennedy and the GAB were shown ripped, torn, and slit vote bags – and the vote was counted. See post “Duct tape – REALLY?”
They were shown multiple instances where vote bag numbers did not match those of record sheets – and the vote was counted.
They were shown poll tapes that were dated days BEFORE the election – and the vote was counted. See “Pesky Poll Tape”
They were informed that even though Kath Nickolaus had dismissed herself from the vote count, all of the votes, poll tapes, and software were stored in her office! – and the vote was counted.
They were made aware of the statistical analysis regarding return vote from past elections compared to the Supreme Court election showing impossible departures – and the vote was counted. See Waukesha – Which Numbers Would You Bet On?
Fool me once..
As a result of this experience, a letter was written to all the campaigns to seek a court injunction to have all the votes and election materials impounded after the polls closed.
See GET INJUNCTION -Protect Recall Votee. A letter or fax was sent to each Democratic Campaign stating the importance of seeking such an injunction, along with links to the precedent of the action in an election in New York State. (The letter is included in the “comments” below the post linked above). Calls were also made and the letter was faxed to AFSME and WEAC to suggest that they get a legal team to seek an injunction.
I called the Pasch campaign and asked if they had sought an injunction for impounding the votes when the polls closed, and was told that they had the observers and attorneys on the ground to protect the vote and were satisfied with the steps they had taken to insure election integrity.
No injunction was sought or issued. The votes, poll tapes, and documentation of the election could be anywhere.
Round we go.
Now, a day after the election, anomalies are discovered and people are demanding a investigation of Kathy Nickolaus and vote tabulation in District 8. Similar demands were made to the State Department and the GAB when the 14000 votes were found in the City of Brookfield. In fact, there is, and has been, a foot dragging investigation by the GAB of Nickolaus’s election tabulation activities for months and a report was promised by Kevin Kennedy at the end of last June. (See post “Invesigation Dinasaur”) Not only was the report never issued, but the GAB refused to even acknowledge any investigation after Kloppenburg filed a formal complaint, citing Wisconsin Statutes regarding confidentiality.
The only mention of an the Nickolaus investigation came on July 13th with the announcement that Attorney Tim Verhoff (pictured right)
is in charge of conducting the investigation into the Acitivities of Kathy Nickolaus – County Clerk of Waukesha County. See “Waukesha Investigation – News at Last” for his bio and contact info.
Perhaps, the new anomalies that occurred again last night in District 8 will finally push Kevin Kennedy and the GAB to move the investigation of Kathy Nickolaus forward.
If not, it is time to change the focus of the investigation to Kevin Kennedy and the GAB itself.
Day of Reckoning Aug 9 TODAY!
FREE Senate District 8 From Darling
Alberta Darling Recall petitions filed Friday April 22GOOD BYE DARLING – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
Organizer Christopher Rowe said that they had close to 30,000 signatures. For weeks, recall organizers in Milwaukee’s northern suburbs stood on busy street corners — and went everywhere else they could think of — to collect recall signatures against Republican Sen. Alberta Darling. Darling Refuses to Debate – WHY?Darling Ducks Debates WHITEFISH BAY — After weeks of ignored phone calls, letters and media inquiries, the Darling campaign has finally admitted to avoiding debates with Representative Sandy Pasch. Alberta Darling’s campaign to retain her state Senate seat of nearly 20 years has finally replied to a debate request from Disability Rights Wisconsin and another from Advocates for Education with a firm, ‘thanks, but no thanks.’
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Hello Sandy Pasch! Madison — Sen. Alberta Darling is in a dead heat with her Democratic challenger in next month’s recall election, according to a new poll released by the Democratic party. Darling (R-River Hills) slightly trailed her challenger Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay), who had 47% of likely voters to Darling 46%, a difference that was within the poll’s margin of error. The poll done for Democrats by the Mellman Group showed that Pasch has closed the gap between her and Darling from another survey done in May that showed Darling with a 9 percentage point lead. |
FREE Senate District 14 from Olsen
Luther Olsen Recall petition filed April 17Good Bye Luther – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
The woman who initially filed the recall against the Ripon Republican Sen. Luther Olsen returned over 23,000 signatures to the Government Accountability Board on April 17. Luther Olsen’s Record on Women’s Health: During his career in the Wisconsin Legislature, Luther Olsen consistently voted against women’s health and for some of the most extreme anti-women’s health policies, including: Voted FOR Eliminating Funding for Planned Parenthood |
Hello Fred Clark!
Join the Fun! Clark for Wisconsin is a grassroots campaign, and we need your help to win this election. We have unlimited need for volunteers – in all areas of the 14th Senate District. If you are willing to answer the phones, |
FREE Senate District 2 from Cowles
Cowles recall petition filed Thursday April 28GOOD BY ROB – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
26,524 signatures were filed to recall GOP Sen. Rob Cowles while only 15,960 were required. Cowles name is added to the list of Republican Senators who rubber stamped embattled Scott Walkers draconian budget/union busting proposal. Voters will soon be able to show their displeasure with the Senate Majority in approximately sixty days. Cowles addition to the Historic recall list breaks all state and national records for any action of its kind in history! When the people asked you to vote against Walker’s over reaching, draconian budget repair bill back in February, you stood with him. You stand with him now. It is Summer and the ice on which you stood has melted. Republicans in Wisconsin have lashed out against the recall process, calling it unfair, and rolling out what’s become the party’s motto in the state: “Elections have consequences.” In an episode of his little-watched “Brown Bag Lunch” YouTube series (a continued gimmick of Walker’s campaign about him being a humble, fiscally-responsible guy who brings a brown bag lunch to work), the governor called the recalls “a distraction.” It’s noteworthy that Walker won his last position as Milwaukee County Executive in an election that was a technically a recall — until the scandalized incumbent resigned. |
Hello Nancy Nusbaum!Statement from 2nd Senate District Candidate Nancy Nusbaum on Recall Election Against Senator Cowles Called on July 12th DE PERE – 2nd Senate District candidate issued the following statement today after the Government Accountability Board certified a recall election against Senator Cowles for July 12th. “We need to hold politicians like Senator Cowles accountable for balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class, and slashing priorities like schools, health care and help for seniors while giving away hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to the privileged and large corporations.” said Nusbaum, “We need to bring change to Madison now, before Sen. Cowles and his party bosses do any more damage to our shared Wisconsin values, and we need a state senator who will always put the people first.” |
FREE Senate District 18 From Hopper
Randy Hopper recall petition was filed on Thursday April 7 -2011
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Hello Jessica King!
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Sheila Harsdorf (River Falls) petition filed on April 19GOOD BYE SHEILA – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
Over 110% of required signatures were gathered against her in the River Falls area. She voted with Walker and against working families of Wisconsin. She said “yes” to the vote suppression bill that will disenfranchise many poor, minority, and senior voters. It is now time for her to face the voters who she failed to listen too. The Harsdorf campaign has sunk to a new low. I received a call the other night from someone in Utah. The caller asked me a few straightforward questions. Are you Republican or Democrat? Will you vote in the recall election? Do you support Harsdorf or Moore? And then a string of questions designed to push me into changing my mind. Would you still vote for Moore if you knew that…followed by a half-truth or outright lie. |
Hello Shelly Moore!
Visit Shelly’s Supporters on Face book Shelly Moore Hailing from a family of educators, Shelly Moore, a high school English and drama teacher at Ellsworth Community High School, has 12 years of experience in the classroom. She was elected to the National Education Association (NEA) Board of Directors in 2005. Moore’s calling is teaching self-confidence and creative expression to students by directing school musicals and plays, as well as coaching forensics and other academic competition teams. She is past president of the state theatre educators association, the Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education. She also volunteers with local community theatre and arts organizations and at the River Falls domestic and sexual violence shelter. |
FREE Wisconsin Senate District 32 from Kapanke
The Kapanke recall drive broke records. His petition was the first to be filed.GOOD BYE DAN – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31 Dems and labor activists in the state collected nearly 23,000 signatures in Kapanke’s districts in 29 days — less than half the 60 allotted —which has tied the record for the fastest collection of signatures for a recall election in recent Wisconsin state history. Kapanke is another of the “Stand with Walker” legislators who went as far a breaking the law to pass the end to collective bargaining bill in the secretive meeting voted unconstituional by Judge Sumi last week. Now, it is time for the people of La Crosse to tell you what happens to Senators who fail to listen to their voices with their votes. June 30, 2011 – 9:05pm By Chris Hubbuch | chubbuch@lacrossetribune.com LA CROSSE – A new poll shows Sen. Dan Kapanke far behind his Democratic challenger in a summer recall election in which few likely voters remain undecided. State Rep. Jennifer Shilling holds a 14-point lead over Kapanke among likely voters, according to the poll commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos and conducted last week by Public Policy Polling. |
HELLO JENNIFER SHILLING!
Visit Jennifer’s Web Site In addition to her work in the Assembly and as a mother of two, Jennifer is very involved in the La Crosse community. She serves on the UW-La Crosse Alumni Association Board of Directors the UW- La Crosse Chancellor’s Community Council, the Viterbo University Board of Advisors, the Family and Children’s Center Community Board, the La Crosse County League of Women Voters, and volunteers for the United Way. She is also a founding member and co-chair of the La Crosse Area Dental Care Advocacy Coalition, which is dedicated to increasing access to dental care for all Wisconsin residents. |
Democratic Recall Candidates
Senator Dave Hansen – 30th District – DemocratDemocratic Sen. Dave Hansen defeated Republican recall organizer David VanderLeestduring the first of those elections with 66 percent of the vote. But unlike VanderLeest, who raised only $2,000 compared to Hansen’s $318,000, candidates challenging the other two Democrats and six Republicans facing recalls have far more money and party support. Visit Dave’s web pageDave Hansen was first elected to serve the 30th Senate District in November 2000. In November 2002, he was elected Senate Assistant Minority Leader by his colleagues. In November 2006, Dave was elected Senate Assistant Majority Leader. He is a former teacher, truck driver, and lifelong Green Bay Packer fan. He co-authored the 2009 Labor History in the Schools Act, saying “at a time when people are hurting, primarily as a result of a Wall Street dominated culture that promoted greed and get-rich-quick schemes over the value of hard work, it is important for our young people to learn about the important role that organized labor and working men and women have played in helping create the middle class. Senator Hansen currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Joint Finance Committee. |
Keep Wisconsin Senate District 12 FREE on August 16
Jim Holperin, Democrat – Conover, Visit Jim’s Web Site Elected to Assembly 1982-1992; elected to Senate 2008. Majority Caucus Sergeant at Arms 2009. |
Does Kim Simac Think the United States is on the Path to Becoming Nazi Germany? Outrageous Tweet Raises Serious Questions MADISON-The Kim Simac story gets weirder and weirder with news of a Tweet that appears to say she thinks the United States is on the path to Nazi Germany. “Suggesting that America is on the road to becoming the Third Reich raises serious questions about the character of Kim Simac, who has a history of outrageous behavior already,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Thursday. “Just what does Simac see “clearly” that leads her to believe our great nation could replicate the horror of Nazi Germany? This demands an answer.” |
Keep Wisconsin Senate District 22 FREE on August 16
Bob Wirch, Democrat – Kenosha RECENT NEWS Compare the ethics of Bob vs. his opponent Wirch Will Join Other Legislators Taking Furloughs to Assist in Helping Resolve the State Budget Deficit Faced with a $6.6 billion budget deficit the State Legislature was faced with difficult choices in the 2009-2011 State of Wisconsin Budget. Every state agency, including the Legislature are forced to make cuts. The state constitution does not allow legislators to be furloughed, but I will write a check to give back what other employees are being asked to give up. |
Kenosha attorney Jonathan Steitz Attorney Jonathan Steitz has won a Republican primary in a Wisconsin recall election, and now advances to challenge Democratic state Sen. Robert Wirch Steitz, an international capital markets attorney who practices in Chicago, joins Kenosha County Board Vice Chairman Fred Ekornaas in what will be at least a two-way Republican primary, provided the state certifies a recall election against Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie. They are facing off in the 22nd Senate District, which includes all of Kenosha County except the town of Wheatland, plus the city and town of Burlington. Steitz said he brings a new generation of leadership to the prospective race. The 38-year-old Pleasant Prairie resident is making his first dive into politics. “I decided to run because I strongly believe Madison needs leaders who have real-world, private-sector experience, not career politicians,” Steitz said. Experience Like how to get around paying sales tax?
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Koch (Darling) Tentacles – Crawford County
Absentee Vote Mailing FRAUD
Koch Brothers – Americans For Prosperity – Out to Fool You
Darling Accused of Criminal Felonie
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Darling has colluded with right wing front groups Right to Life, Wisconsin Family Action, Americans for Prosperity, and American Federation for Children.
In a conference call just moments |
When Charles Shultz received an absentee ballot application form with a request to mail it in two days 
after the Senate District 10 recall election, he thought something was fishy.
When Charles Shultz received an absentee ballot application form in the mail on Thursday, July 28, it didn’t take long before he found something fishy with it.
The mailer, sent by conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) to his North Hudson home, included directions to mail the application to Madison instead of his village clerk.
http://hudson-wi.patch.com/articles/north-hudson-man-files-voter-suppression-complaint-against-americans-for-prosperity
Crawford County is NOT Free of the Koch Bros. Tentacles
From the Crawford County Independent – Thursday, August 4, 2011
by Erin Martin
Robocall, repeat surveys,and confusing absentee ballot applications are all part of the new politics as Wisconsin heads toward an unprecedented eight recall elections in the next two weeks. What to do? You might try to ignore them all and follow your commons sense.
Rolling Ground Resident Displays Fraudulent Mailing
Lamar Janes holds the 
suspicious absentee ballot application received by his wife on Saturday. Neither Janes nor his wife Lynda Shaller are members of American For Prosperity as the accompanying letter states. The application he’s holding states clearly absentee ballots must be submitted to “city clerks” by August 11. However, absentee ballots cannot be submitted after the election, which is scheduled for this Tuesday, August 9.
This Fraudulent mailing is showing up in county after county throughout the state of Wisconsin in a attempt to suppress the vote for the recall elections.
The tentacles of the super wealthy Koch Brothers 
can even reach into the smallest townships and communities to advance their endless greed for profit. They have their followers in the Wisconsin legislature in the form of Kapanke, Cowles, Darling, Olsen, Hopper, and Harsdorf, and they want to keep there YES men and women Senators right where they are at all costs.
The same tactics of rule bending and deceit are being employed in the recall elections that prompted the people to circulate the recall petitions in the first place!
Vote against the Koch Bros., Americans For Prosperity, Dan Kapanke tactics on TUESDAY, AUGUST 9.
Moving Right Along – SP for SC
The Arc of the Moral Universe is on the Move
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From Jsonline Madison – Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Monday he will request a special prosecutor to make charging decisions regarding a physical altercation between two state Supreme Court justices. Ozanne – who was involved in the litigation the justices were arguing over during the incident – announced the plan just days after receiving the investigative file from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday. Investigators made no recommendation on whether to charge anyone, Ozanne said. “I will be requesting Dane County’s chief judge (William Foust) to appoint a special prosecutor to review and make any determinations necessary in this matter due to this office’s prominent role in the litigation connected to this incident,” said a statement Ozanne issued. “Process matters. How we do our jobs is just as important as what we do in our jobs. The people of this state deserve to feel confident in the rule of law and the exercise of discretion by their constitutional officers. I take this action not because I feel this office wouldn’t be fair, but so that any decision can be free from accusations to ensure the public’s trust in the system and to allow the incident to be reviewed on the merits with no appearance of political motivation for any decisions or outcome.” Justice Ann Walsh Bradley has alleged Justice David Prosser put her in a “chokehold” during a June 13 argument, while others have said Bradley came at Prosser with her fists up and he raised his hands to block her or push her back. Four of the other five justices were nearby when the incident occurred in Bradley’s suite of offices in the Capitol. The incident occurred a day before the deeply divided court issued a 4-3 ruling upholding Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s legislation curtailing collective bargaining for public employees. The case started when Ozanne, a Democrat, brought a lawsuit claiming a legislative committee violated the state’s open meetings law in March in forwarding the legislation to the state Senate. Ozanne sought to invalidate the law, and implementing it was delayed for months while the case was pending. The high court ultimately ruled key aspects of the meetings law do not apply to lawmakers. |
Good News at a Very Good Time.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Theodore Parker
The quote is often attributed to Martin Luther King when it reflects the words of Theodore Parker as explained in detail Here
The altercation in the Supreme Court Chambers can be seen as the lance in the wound of the GOP tactical obliteration of political ethic and the kind of decency of human interaction we teach our children.
It is a fitting time for the dominoes to begin falling along the bend toward justice and right into the tensions of the Recall Elections. Just as the Supreme Court Chambers became the pressure point of release for the months of struggle for preserving the right of people to bargain collectively, so the recall elections will be the point of release for the months disgrace of the Rules of the Legislature, Wisconsin Statutes, and the Wisconsin Constitution by Walker and the march-in-step GOP legislature.
August 9 is a week away. Let the dominoes fall
Kapanke, Darling, Harsdorf, Olsen, Hopper, Cowles were one-and-all deaf to the people of Wisconsin who spoke at public hearings, who showed up at the Capital in the thousands, week after week, and who finally braved the March wind to gather signatures as the only way to make themselves heard.
Front to back Prosser, Walker, Kathy Nickolaus, Fitzgerald, Kevin Kennedy, Van Hollen, Darling
Call it Kharma, Divine Intervention, or Yin Yang, but there is a balance of truth over deceit.
It is the driving force in the plots of countless stories, books, films and in our own experience of life. We in Wisconsin have been waiting for some point of transition or shift in this balance to manifest itself. I don’t know how many times I have heard or read words like, “You can’t make this up.” or “Is there no shame?”, in desperate reaction to the unethical and manipulative maneuverings of the supporters and followers of Governor Scott Walker. Since February we hoped and prayed for a break in the political storm so we could dig out of the pallor that has covered the Wisconsin we know and love. Then finally, it came.
As is the case with most “straw that broke the camel’s back” moments, it came from a place you might least expect and in a manner few would predict. If the author of a court suspense novel where to introduce a character who is a justice in the highest court and who would attack and choke a fellow justice in her chambers, an editor would suggest a rewrite. It would seem a manipulative plot twist that the reader would never swallow and the editor would suggest, “Take it out”.
But it happened.
The story of JusticeProsser’s physical, and angry attack on a Justice Bradley broke yesterday.
Prosser responded with statements that carried the rhythm of broken bat on a full count fly ball. First he said, “No comment.” then late last night he suggested the incident was a defensive one and he would be exonerated.
Then came the high fly ball catch, with 2 out, and in bottom of the ninth.
Justice Bradley Speaks out
Madison Wisconsin — Justice Ann Walsh Bradley came forth with a statement late Saturday saying that fellow Justice David Prosser choked her and refuting claims that she attacked him first.
“The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a choke-hold,” she said. “Those are the facts and you can try to spin those facts and try to make it sound like I ran up to him and threw my neck into his hands, but that’s only spin.
“Matters of abusive behavior in the workplace aren’t resolved by competing press releases,” she said.
“I’m confident the appropriate authorities will conduct a thorough investigation of this incident involving abusive behavior in the workplace.”
Read the full article in Poliscoop
Walker GOP Out of Control
Many writers suggest
that the GOP is coming apart at the seams; not surprising considering the cloth they chose to cut their banner for a “Balanced Budget” and “Open for Business” is stitched together with the stuff that is breaking the backs of Wisconsin families. The strangle image of Prosser’s attack on Justice Bradley is somewhat ironic. It echos the very pressure Walker has applied to working families, teachers, and all of Wisconsin. The image of strangulation fits the fear and frustration the people of Wisconsin have been experiencing since February. Only some higher force or power could have created the coincidence of it’s manifestation in the hands of Prosser.
The Truth Will Out
No doubt his hand in Waukesha “found votes” episode has taken a toll. The truth will out. We can only hope this opening of the true character of the man will spill into a full explanation of why he went of Delafield in Waukesha County when he was losing the election. What was the subject of his meeting with Walker about? What was the true nature his relationship with his former
employee Kathy Nickolaus?
“THE TRUTH WILL COME TO LIGHT” and “THE TRUTH WILL OUT”
-both from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, scene 2-are based on proverbs dating from at least the eleventh century.
Wisconsin a Division of KOCH INDUSTRIES
Here Comes The Koch Money
Why are the Koch Brothers interested in Wisconsin’s Recall Elections?
Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity Begins Six-Figure Ad Buy for GOP Recall Candidates
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Wisconsinites See Why ‘David Koch’ Was Told ‘Thanks a Million!’ By Walker During Prank Call As Pro-Republican AFP Spending Tops $500,000 in Wisconsin This Year
Madison — Americans for Prosperity, the organization funded by big oil billionaires David and Charles Koch, has just purchased over $150,000 in television ad time for Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee in what could be a new wave of spending to try and save the six Republican state Senators who are being recalled for their support of Gov. Scott Walker’s reckless attacks on public education, health care, workers’ rights and the middle class. This is in addition to $380,000 Americans for Prosperity previously spent this year to support Walker’s agenda. |
They don’t care about the seniors, families and or children of Wisconsin, why would they?
They have funded ALEC Read – ALEC Anti Labor Elderly and Children which, until recently, 
was a covert and secret organization that entertained legislators from state governments at lavish resorts for the purpose of training them to write legislation. Legislators left with notebooks of model legislation to enact in their various states. Did the model legislation deal with the people’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness? No. It was written to change laws on the State level for their pursuit of higher profits and even greater wealth.
The Supreme Court “Citizens United” ruling allowed the wealthiest to buy elections. Before the ruling Supreme Court Justice Claire Thomas attended one of the Koch Bros. lavish gatherings to serve their agenda.Read “Who are the Koch Bros. Why Should I Care? What Country are we living in? Justice is blind to the power of money? Why are the wealthiest people of this country, who already possess clear advantage on an already lop sided playing field, being granted the even greater power of buying elections?
Recall the Koch Bros. Influence on Wisconsin
Regardless 
of party or political philosophy, the real choice voters are making on August 9 is whether they agree that the wealthiest 1% of Americans, many of whom do not even live in Wisconsin, should hold unfair influence on the lives of Wisconsinites. A vote for Darling, Kapanke, Olsen, Hooper, Harsdorf, Simac is an agreement to the means by which Wisconsin has been divided as they have followed the lead of the Kock Bros., Americans for Prosperity, Walker, and ALEC. It affirms a belief that the wealthiest 1% regardless of their agenda, should be allowed to buy our elections, dictate legislation for our State, and that the power of wealth trumps the power of the people.
Say NO to the Koch Bros., ALEC, and the Tea party Fringe on AUGUST 9
The Day of Reckoning – AUG 9
FREE Senate District 8 From Darling
Alberta Darling Recall petitions filed Friday April 22GOOD BYE DARLING – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
Organizer Christopher Rowe said that they had close to 30,000 signatures. For weeks, recall organizers in Milwaukee’s northern suburbs stood on busy street corners — and went everywhere else they could think of — to collect recall signatures against Republican Sen. Alberta Darling. Darling Refuses to Debate – WHY?Darling Ducks Debates WHITEFISH BAY — After weeks of ignored phone calls, letters and media inquiries, the Darling campaign has finally admitted to avoiding debates with Representative Sandy Pasch. Alberta Darling’s campaign to retain her state Senate seat of nearly 20 years has finally replied to a debate request from Disability Rights Wisconsin and another from Advocates for Education with a firm, ‘thanks, but no thanks.’
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Hello Sandy Pasch! Madison — Sen. Alberta Darling is in a dead heat with her Democratic challenger in next month’s recall election, according to a new poll released by the Democratic party. Darling (R-River Hills) slightly trailed her challenger Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay), who had 47% of likely voters to Darling 46%, a difference that was within the poll’s margin of error. The poll done for Democrats by the Mellman Group showed that Pasch has closed the gap between her and Darling from another survey done in May that showed Darling with a 9 percentage point lead. |
FREE Senate District 14 from Olsen
Luther Olsen Recall petition filed April 17Good Bye Luther – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
The woman who initially filed the recall against the Ripon Republican Sen. Luther Olsen returned over 23,000 signatures to the Government Accountability Board on April 17. Luther Olsen’s Record on Women’s Health: During his career in the Wisconsin Legislature, Luther Olsen consistently voted against women’s health and for some of the most extreme anti-women’s health policies, including: Voted FOR Eliminating Funding for Planned Parenthood |
Hello Fred Clark!
Join the Fun! Clark for Wisconsin is a grassroots campaign, and we need your help to win this election. We have unlimited need for volunteers – in all areas of the 14th Senate District. If you are willing to answer the phones, |
FREE Senate District 2 from Cowles
Cowles recall petition filed Thursday April 28GOOD BY ROB – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
26,524 signatures were filed to recall GOP Sen. Rob Cowles while only 15,960 were required. Cowles name is added to the list of Republican Senators who rubber stamped embattled Scott Walkers draconian budget/union busting proposal. Voters will soon be able to show their displeasure with the Senate Majority in approximately sixty days. Cowles addition to the Historic recall list breaks all state and national records for any action of its kind in history! When the people asked you to vote against Walker’s over reaching, draconian budget repair bill back in February, you stood with him. You stand with him now. It is Summer and the ice on which you stood has melted. Republicans in Wisconsin have lashed out against the recall process, calling it unfair, and rolling out what’s become the party’s motto in the state: “Elections have consequences.” In an episode of his little-watched “Brown Bag Lunch” YouTube series (a continued gimmick of Walker’s campaign about him being a humble, fiscally-responsible guy who brings a brown bag lunch to work), the governor called the recalls “a distraction.” It’s noteworthy that Walker won his last position as Milwaukee County Executive in an election that was a technically a recall — until the scandalized incumbent resigned. |
Hello Nancy Nusbaum!Statement from 2nd Senate District Candidate Nancy Nusbaum on Recall Election Against Senator Cowles Called on July 12th DE PERE – 2nd Senate District candidate issued the following statement today after the Government Accountability Board certified a recall election against Senator Cowles for July 12th. “We need to hold politicians like Senator Cowles accountable for balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class, and slashing priorities like schools, health care and help for seniors while giving away hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to the privileged and large corporations.” said Nusbaum, “We need to bring change to Madison now, before Sen. Cowles and his party bosses do any more damage to our shared Wisconsin values, and we need a state senator who will always put the people first.” |
FREE Senate District 18 From Hopper
Randy Hopper recall petition was filed on Thursday April 7 -2011
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Hello Jessica King!
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Sheila Harsdorf (River Falls) petition filed on April 19GOOD BYE SHEILA – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31
Over 110% of required signatures were gathered against her in the River Falls area. She voted with Walker and against working families of Wisconsin. She said “yes” to the vote suppression bill that will disenfranchise many poor, minority, and senior voters. It is now time for her to face the voters who she failed to listen too. The Harsdorf campaign has sunk to a new low. I received a call the other night from someone in Utah. The caller asked me a few straightforward questions. Are you Republican or Democrat? Will you vote in the recall election? Do you support Harsdorf or Moore? And then a string of questions designed to push me into changing my mind. Would you still vote for Moore if you knew that…followed by a half-truth or outright lie. |
Hello Shelly Moore!
Visit Shelly’s Supporters on Face book Shelly Moore Hailing from a family of educators, Shelly Moore, a high school English and drama teacher at Ellsworth Community High School, has 12 years of experience in the classroom. She was elected to the National Education Association (NEA) Board of Directors in 2005. Moore’s calling is teaching self-confidence and creative expression to students by directing school musicals and plays, as well as coaching forensics and other academic competition teams. She is past president of the state theatre educators association, the Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education. She also volunteers with local community theatre and arts organizations and at the River Falls domestic and sexual violence shelter. |
FREE Wisconsin Senate District 32 from Kapanke
The Kapanke recall drive broke records. His petition was the first to be filed.GOOD BYE DAN – RECALL APPROVED MAY 31 Dems and labor activists in the state collected nearly 23,000 signatures in Kapanke’s districts in 29 days — less than half the 60 allotted —which has tied the record for the fastest collection of signatures for a recall election in recent Wisconsin state history. Kapanke is another of the “Stand with Walker” legislators who went as far a breaking the law to pass the end to collective bargaining bill in the secretive meeting voted unconstituional by Judge Sumi last week. Now, it is time for the people of La Crosse to tell you what happens to Senators who fail to listen to their voices with their votes. June 30, 2011 – 9:05pm By Chris Hubbuch | chubbuch@lacrossetribune.com LA CROSSE – A new poll shows Sen. Dan Kapanke far behind his Democratic challenger in a summer recall election in which few likely voters remain undecided. State Rep. Jennifer Shilling holds a 14-point lead over Kapanke among likely voters, according to the poll commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos and conducted last week by Public Policy Polling. |
HELLO JENNIFER SHILLING!
Visit Jennifer’s Web Site In addition to her work in the Assembly and as a mother of two, Jennifer is very involved in the La Crosse community. She serves on the UW-La Crosse Alumni Association Board of Directors the UW- La Crosse Chancellor’s Community Council, the Viterbo University Board of Advisors, the Family and Children’s Center Community Board, the La Crosse County League of Women Voters, and volunteers for the United Way. She is also a founding member and co-chair of the La Crosse Area Dental Care Advocacy Coalition, which is dedicated to increasing access to dental care for all Wisconsin residents. |
Democratic Recall Candidates
Senator Dave Hansen – 30th District – DemocratDemocratic Sen. Dave Hansen defeated Republican recall organizer David VanderLeestduring the first of those elections with 66 percent of the vote. But unlike VanderLeest, who raised only $2,000 compared to Hansen’s $318,000, candidates challenging the other two Democrats and six Republicans facing recalls have far more money and party support. Visit Dave’s web pageDave Hansen was first elected to serve the 30th Senate District in November 2000. In November 2002, he was elected Senate Assistant Minority Leader by his colleagues. In November 2006, Dave was elected Senate Assistant Majority Leader. He is a former teacher, truck driver, and lifelong Green Bay Packer fan. He co-authored the 2009 Labor History in the Schools Act, saying “at a time when people are hurting, primarily as a result of a Wall Street dominated culture that promoted greed and get-rich-quick schemes over the value of hard work, it is important for our young people to learn about the important role that organized labor and working men and women have played in helping create the middle class. Senator Hansen currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Joint Finance Committee. |
Keep Wisconsin Senate District 12 FREE on August 16
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Jim Holperin, Democrat – Conover, Visit Jim’s Web Site Elected to Assembly 1982-1992; elected to Senate 2008. Majority Caucus Sergeant at Arms 2009. |
Does Kim Simac Think the United States is on the Path to Becoming Nazi Germany? Outrageous Tweet Raises Serious Questions MADISON-The Kim Simac story gets weirder and weirder with news of a Tweet that appears to say she thinks the United States is on the path to Nazi Germany. “Suggesting that America is on the road to becoming the Third Reich raises serious questions about the character of Kim Simac, who has a history of outrageous behavior already,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Thursday. “Just what does Simac see “clearly” that leads her to believe our great nation could replicate the horror of Nazi Germany? This demands an answer.” |
Keep Wisconsin Senate District 22 FREE on August 16
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Bob Wirch, Democrat – Kenosha RECENT NEWS Compare the ethics of Bob vs. his opponent Wirch Will Join Other Legislators Taking Furloughs to Assist in Helping Resolve the State Budget Deficit Faced with a $6.6 billion budget deficit the State Legislature was faced with difficult choices in the 2009-2011 State of Wisconsin Budget. Every state agency, including the Legislature are forced to make cuts. The state constitution does not allow legislators to be furloughed, but I will write a check to give back what other employees are being asked to give up. |
Kenosha attorney Jonathan Steitz Attorney Jonathan Steitz has won a Republican primary in a Wisconsin recall election, and now advances to challenge Democratic state Sen. Robert Wirch Steitz, an international capital markets attorney who practices in Chicago, joins Kenosha County Board Vice Chairman Fred Ekornaas in what will be at least a two-way Republican primary, provided the state certifies a recall election against Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie. They are facing off in the 22nd Senate District, which includes all of Kenosha County except the town of Wheatland, plus the city and town of Burlington. Steitz said he brings a new generation of leadership to the prospective race. The 38-year-old Pleasant Prairie resident is making his first dive into politics. “I decided to run because I strongly believe Madison needs leaders who have real-world, private-sector experience, not career politicians,” Steitz said. Experience Like how to get around paying sales tax?
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ALEC – Anti Labor Elderly Children
What if the wealthiest Americans formed a secret organization designed to write legislation that would serve to increase profits?
They already have.
It is called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
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Even though the wealthy already have a distinct advantage on the political playing field with the ability to contribute to candidates, form PAC’s, hire lobbyists to sell policies to legislators – all that is not enough. They have moved into a new and dangerous territory of covertly training elected officials to write legislation that furthers their goals and raises the bottom line of the businesses they own.
How does this activity differ from legislators meeting in party caucus, or designing a party platform for legislative action?
- The workings of ALEC are secret. In fact, the existence of the “council” was all but unknown until the past few months even though its influence on Wisconsin legislation can be traced back to the Thompson Administration.
- The workings of ALEC have nothing to do with “we the people” or promoting the general welfare, but focus firmly on the “pursuit of happiness” for the already most privileged and wealthy top 1% of the population.
The Walker Policies never seemed a match for the historical character of Wisconsin.
They had nothing to do with Wisconsin. They were hatched as part of an national agenda for the wealthy.
At the time Governor Walker first took office as Governor, little or nothing was widely known about ALEC. It turns out that most of the controversial legislation passed ending collective bargain, requiring a picture ID to vote, and concealed carry were scripts from ALEC that had been tucked in the locked drawer of their desk on the day they took office.
Wisconsin politics has never seen such a one-sided, highly controversial barrage of legislation that has been passed with historic disregard of the State Constitution, Rules of the Legislature, and State Statues. It is the ALEC way or the highway. It isn’t about “the people” it is about giving more power to the powerful. It isn’t about following the rules or regarding ethics or statesmanship, it is about being swept into the current of a greed which remains incomprehensible to most of us.
Legislators have gone so far with this enchantment with sheer power that they have charged fees for membership back to the tax payers!
The People of Wisconsin Pay for the Membership Fees of Kapanke, Darling, Fitzgerald.
Senate Republicans Make Taxpayers Finance Corporate ALEC Group
Despite Claims ‘We’re Broke,’ Nine Senate Republicans Forced Taxpayers to Pay For Their ALEC Membership This Year, 12 Total Have Current Membership Paid for by Taxpayers
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Madison — Twelve current Wisconsin Republican state Senators have forced taxpayers to finance their private membership in the corporate special interest group, the American Legislative Exchange Council, according to documents obtained through an open records request by One Wisconsin Now. The list includes nine Senate Republicans who had taxpayers finance their ALEC memberships this year at the same time they were voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers and planning drastic cuts to education, health care and public services, claiming the state is in fiscal crisis.
“Senators like Dan Kapanke and Alberta Darling claim the state is broke, but they use our tax dollars to pay for their private membership in a corporate special interest group,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “The American Legislative Exchange Council is nothing more than a corporate propaganda machine and Kapanke, Darling and the other 10 Senate Republicans should immediate return the taxpayers’ money and apologize for this improper use of our tax dollars.” ALEC was founded nearly 40 years ago to create pro-corporate legislation at the expense of the middle class. Among the many corporate and conservative interests to finance the group is the Koch Foundation and Milwaukee’s Bradley Foundation. All 23 members of its public board are identified Republicans and 71 of its 73 state legislative chairs are Republicans. [ALEC website; Media Matters Conservative Transparency] According to records obtained by One Wisconsin Now through an open records request with the Senate Chief Clerk’s office, the following current Republican Senators have used taxpayer dollars to pay for the memberships in ALEC: [Wisconsin Senate Chief Clerk] |
