.
.
.
“This deal is a sugar-coated Satan Sandwich. If you lift the bun, you will not like what you see.”
– Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-MO, on the debt ceiling “compromise.”
“When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got ninety-eight per cent of what I wanted.”
– Speaker John Boehner, on the debt ceiling “compromise.”
“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming.”
– Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, on the debt ceiling “compromise.”
Weary unto death of the perpetual Washington “compromises” between our moderate Republican President, the GOP-dominated Senate, and the Tea Party-dominated House, America is now looking with hope to the Badger State, where REAL Democrats and Independents still live and fight. The tireless onslaught of Wisconsin’s reactionaries against workers’ rights and voting rights are about to provoke a GREATER and opposite reaction in favor of democracy and working people.
This TUESDAY is the big day where we (I can say “we” because I sent them money) attempt to recall six of the worst Republican State Senators. We will need to topple at least three to flip control of the Senate and put a stop to the Koch Brothers’ rape of the state. SIX would be best of course, and would teach the corporatist marauders across this great nation a salutary lesson, while giving all of us progressives something to celebrate and inspire us.
Petrified of the outcome, the Wisconsin Republicans have been rushing through draconian legislation as quickly as they can, much of it focused on making it as hard and confusing as possible for Wisconsinites to vote. (You will notice that ONLY REPUBLICANS – never Democrats – make it harder for people to vote – always justified with bogus tales of fraud, fraud that is not only infinitesimally rare but wouldn’t even be addressed by their supposed remedies.) And this is after buying themselves an extra month by admittedly running what even they called “fake Democrats” in primaries against the recall challengers. (Of course they all failed comically, but the extra month was bought.) A few of the ways Walker, Koch, and their Rethugs are trying to keep Wisconsinites from the polls:
- In a bow to old Jim Crow tradition, Walker’s gang has passed a law (as they’ve been doing in other newly GOP-dominated states) requiring a voter to show state-issued ID, which must be obtained from the DMV. What people are least likely to have such ID’s and will be forced to go to a DMV to get them? Poor people, old people, students, and black people. Ask which party these groups tend to vote for, and you will see why the GOP loves these kinds of laws.
- To add a little PUNCH to this law, the Wisconsin legislature has closed down several DMVs – mostly in Democratic districts and areas where Dems are trying to recall Republican senators – of course!
- A recent video of a voter attempting to get one of these ID’s at a DMV shows two very interesting complications – you are asked to pay $28 unless you specifically know to tell the clerk you need the ID for voting (pretty close to a poll tax for the uninformed) and, bizarrely, this applicant was told that she needed to show “recent activity” in her bank account.
- Anticipating and struggling against their imminent defeat, the Republicans are rushing through their scheduled redistricting months ahead of time with confusing new lines, one of which actually cuts a Democratic challenger, Nancy Nusbaum, out of her district by HALF A BLOCK.
- Americans For Prosperity, an admitted Koch Brothers front group, got caught last week sending out mailers to Democratic voters encouraging them to send their absentee ballots to an address which is actually a rightwing PO Box, AND to do it by “August 11,” when the elections are August 9. When caught and confronted, a spokesman claimed it was a “typo.” And all of the above is off the top of my head, the tip of the iceberg. These are dirty people we are dealing with.
The Players on Tuesday:
In order of how likely we are to succeed (going by polls at this point) –
1. Dan Kapanke to be recalled by Jennifer Shilling – latest polls show Democrat Shilling up 57% to 43%! The lackluster Kapanke who represents the bluest district of any GOP WI state senator claims to have taken up reading the Bible more than ever before once he realized his recall was imminent. “How can you go wrong following a leader that obviously gets his mission on this earth?” he remarked to the La Crosse Tribune, in an incomprehensible attempted justification of his vote stripping workers’ bargaining rights. Meanwhile, a fire last week mysteriously destroyed the La Crosse offices of “We Are Wisconsin” – the main union PAC supporting the recall.
2. Randy “Bed” Hopper to be recalled by Jessica King – latest polls show Democrat King up 54.7% to 45.3%! Randy’s nickname refers to the recent scandal of his getting his 26-year-old mistress a state job with a 35% raise. (And accidentally directed his own voters to an 800 number that was actually a phone sex line.) [Update – more recent polls seem to show this race a little closer … nail-biter!]
3. Those two should be easiest. Then there’s the priceless Alberta “Walker’s” Darling, caught recently unable to name any businesses in her district:
This account of her debate the other day with her challenger Sandy Pasch shows her to be a brainless reciter of talking points and slavish admirer of Governor Walker. But she’s been getting even more extreme and shameless in recent months:
…Darling has changed so much that even Walker isn’t sure he can control her. Some of the ideas she put in the budget – and Pasch listed several — were so obviously political and toxic that he had to veto them or force their removal, such as the tax break to moist tobacco (whose industry gave money to Darling), the payback to the bail bond lobbyists, the pay bill for fired police officers while they faced criminal charges.
There are recent polls giving each woman the edge in this Milwaukee-area district, which will be perhaps the most closely watched and hardest fought.
4 – 6. Let me just copy the rest from The Sconz at “The Daily Page,” a progressive Wisconsin site:
In contrast, despite “shooting himself in both feet,” Fred Clark is a source of hope for Democrats in his race against Luther Olsen, and now at least some Dems are speculating that Olsen could be the second most likely victim, after Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse), whose political obituary has been ready for print ever since his vote on the budget repair bill…
Similarly, Dems are also encouraged by the poll performance of Nancy Nusbaum, who is running against Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay), who most considered to be the least likely Republican to fall. Both sides are claiming an edge in the MIlwaukee-area race between Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Sandy Pasch.
In the race between Sen. Sheila Harsdorf and Shelly Moore, Democrats feel a little discouraged about the price of advertising in the Twin Cities media market. However, I don’t think the traditional advantage of incumbency is much of a factor in these recalls, therefore, I think if the Dem groups can advertise as much or more in that race as the GOP, Moore has a fair shot.
NEXT: Defend our two Democrats on the 16th, and then Walker goes in January! In between, let’s support our Ohio brothers in September as they overturn the worker-bashing SB5!
Let not my birth state let us down! It’s unfortunate when we are down to relying on recall elections to restore our hope in this so-called democracy we call our nation.
yeah we need a recall here , brown , boxer , and all the union hack slave dems who have ruined this state . ..
Nope, they were
1) elected by big majorities of Californians, and
2) unlike Walker’s gang, have pretty much done what they said they would do.
Wow, those darn Republicans in Wisconsin. I mean, it’s not like their policies on union rights actually work – oh wait … http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/06/union-curbs-rescue-wisconsin-school-district and http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/wisconsin-schools-buck-union-cut-health-costs
And we don’t need any measures to ensure that fraud doesn’t taint the election process, since Vern claims it’s only an infinitesimal amount any way. I mean, it’s not like there’s actual documented voter intimidation from a militant group – oh wait, Eric Holder must’ve missed that easy win. And the Wisconsin recalls are totally on the up and up on the Democrat side, not like those lousy Republicans — oh wait …
http://biggovernment.com/mtrackers/2011/08/04/fraud-inundates-wisconsin-senate-recall/#more-308988
http://biggovernment.com/bhealy/2011/08/02/claims-of-election-fraud-illegal-collusion-arise-in-wisconsin-recall-election/
But paying people to vote for self-interested Democrats isn’t nearly as bad as pretending to be from the other party, because the Democrats never do that. Oh wait … http://wisconsintruthproject.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/ex-dem-caucus-employee-jason-sidener-behind-manitowoc-gop-trojan-horse/
http://www.examiner.com/will-county-libertarian-in-chicago/democrats-pretend-to-be
Vern, here’s one from Moxley in the not-too-distant past: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2007/09/agrans_irvine_machine_gets_cha.php
Best of luck to the election process in the recalls this week, it will need it with voters being paid to cast their vote for the union candidate. Nothing wrong with that, right Vern?
ha ha, you actually brought up that Scary New Black Panther Guy! He sure swung an election, looking tough in some black district once. Let’s see what else you’ve got…
Admittedly, I never can resist a clear case of liberal racism. And I knew you would get it, politico that you are. However, you conveniently ignored the more relevant stories about the positive impact the reining in of collective bargaining and other rights has already shown in Wisconsin. There are others – Fond du Lac school district was recently able to close a $4 million budget deficit and replace all 43 retiring teachers without any budget cuts. Inconvenient truths I know (to steal a phrase), but facts nonetheless.
Well, rational heads prevailed, and despite the tens of millions of extortionate union dues spent and fraudulent get-out-the vote attempts, the Republicans maintained their advantage in the Wisconsin state house. And while it was whittled away a bit (thankfully the fraudulent Pasch didn’t win), Wisconsin school children were the big beneficiaries. As noted in my post above, there are already several stories coming out of the state proving that Governor Walker’s reforms are paying dividends by saving jobs and reducing class sizes. While this is just the beginning, hopefully it will steel conservatives in other states to rein in abusive unions and acutally put the kids first for a change.
Want to know an actual Fact, Newb? As far as outside money goes, Dems were outspent over 2-to-1 by the Rethugs. (a couple of the Dems managed to raise more cash locally than their opponents.) Darling herself – Walker’s right-hand lady who tragically held on – was the recipient of over $9 million in outside cash – an astronomical record for a Wisconsin State Senate seat.
We pulled off quite a feat – not quite our goal – but defeating two Republicans in strongly Republican districts and almost getting two more – was really something! Not good news for Governor Scotty next January.
I will try to make time to explore and respond to your claims that Walker’s policies are creating any benefit for regular Wisconsin folks.
Well the Washington Post (no conservative rag) is reporting that recent numbers showed 2/3 of the nearly $30 million spent in Wisconsin benefited Democrats, so I’ll go with that number for now. Not to mention that the Republican money came voluntarily while the vast majority of Democrat money is extorted through union dues.
As for the two Democrat wins, I read that one district was Democrat leaning, and the other Republican faced a scandal that he had an affair with one of his staffers. Not too hard to win there.
Everything next week is just gravy, and if both fleebaggers lose, the status quo will be in effect, showing a colossal waste of time and money by the left.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-wisconsin-recall-vacuum/2011/08/08/gIQAn3eH4I_blog.html
Vern, here’s a good story for some of your research on Walker’s policies (bad news for your side I suspect):
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/127339738.html
Yeah, I’m not expecting next week to be too difficult or suspenseful … the Dem & independent voters who elected these Dem “fleebaggers” are not generally upset with what they did.
Oh, Vern, you are upset that your union thug buddies LOST! Are you upset that the people of Wisconsin ar’nt as stupid as you HOPED they would be?
What happened in WIsconsin is the direct result of a people who have seen in a short amount of time polices that work!
$30,000 new jobs created, schools that are actually getting more funding for the class room instead of funding corrupt educational admin’s and fat lazy, lousy, fraud teachers. Wisconsin educational system will continue to thieve, especially when vouchers are brought into the mix…Just watch all those lousy, lazy fraud teachers either head for the door, or start actually teaching for their pay and the union will have NO say in the class room!
Hooray, for the intellect and resolve of the Wisconsin public;0)
horray for wisc . the good guys won . these union thugs went down . . now they are up to stopping the signature process with their so called identy fraud comercial .. these guys will do anything and stoop to the lowest level , lying to the people to get their lib agenda . more taxes , more spending for public service employees .
Yeah, right, big victory for Scott Walker – he lost two of his Rethug Senators, in what USED to be very red districts. He’s going DOWN in January, Little one!
31 million to buy two seats….Thats kind of a loss, would you not agree?
LOVE IT!
Actually your side (the Koch Brothers and other billionaires) spent over twice that much to LOSE two seats. So, yeah, I’d say we came out on top.
The liberal twist of the truth….The union wanted to win at least 3 seats to give them a minority…I DID NOT HAPPEN! Thats the truth! Why did it not happen? The Wisconsin people said NO!
HA HA HA!
And another wee FYI for people….The fact that Hemorrhoid (Orange Country head of the Department of Sub-Par Education) wants a waiver for the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT in Orange country has something to do with the fact that the idiot that is now the Superintendent of Santa Ana will not be able to bring scores up enough in the worst federal preforming school district….NO REALLY? The Public Eduction in this County is Corrupt on all levels!
vern the people spoke last election , lib policys are not wanted anymore , look what is going on in the country now , nobama is toast , the rest of the usa can change and calif with all the libs can stay in the ruins .
The people spoke in 2006 and 2008 as well, against useless Republican policies. We’ll see what they “speak” these next couple years.
they spoke in the last election and nobamas policys ARE WORSE .. his liberal agenda has ruined this country he is toast .
Is signing a bill that John Boehner says gave him “98% of what he wanted” a liberal agenda? Is extending the Bush tax cuts a liberal agenda? Is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in 2009 a liberal agenda? Is signing a healthcare bill that doesn’t even include a public option a liberal agenda? Is maintaining most of Bush’s national security policies a liberal agenda? Is using the “state secrets” reasoning to dismiss ENTIRE civil liberties cases brought against the government a liberal agenda? Is failing to close Guantanamo a liberal agenda? Is killing bin Laden a liberal agenda?
Had enough? I could go on if you’d like me to. You are freakin’ clueless!
signing the bill is called a RINO agenda, extending Bush cuts is called wanting to keep the economy afloat agenda, Sending 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan is a stupid agenda, a public option agenda to allow a bunch of losers, drug addicts and losers free health care off the backs of workers is a STUPID agenda, and the civil liberty cases brought about by out of work liberal head cases of the ACLU is a destructive agenda… The moral of the story is that liberals are stupid and have no place leading the blind and unfortunately in todays society, “lets dance” is more important!
As far as 30,000 more troops, I would rather just stop the monkeys flying the friendly skys!
And of course Anon you are the one who is clueless….Go back to shopping:0)
I know sexist, but the truth!
Let me know when you’ve stopped drinking and can put together a coherent argument.
Woman, even with drink in me, I would blow you out of the water! And ya know it;0)
I’m not a woman. And you’re not a lady.
Well, good for you for being in touch with your fem self and your right, I am no lady, never wanted to be, I am what I am!
And would Grating One care to comment. Or is “it” more comfortable having MQ attempt to stand up for “it”?
The great one can stand up for himself DEAR, he is like myself, not formally educated, but brains to match any academic!
Are you afraid to debate me….EVEN AS DRUNK AS YOU PERCEIVE ME TO BE?
Of course you are!
There’s nothing to debate. Half of what you said supports the “non-liberal” points I made, and the other half is, predictably, gibberish.
OK MR /or misses what ever you are . spending is out of control . spending= dems = nobama , nobama care is a total disaster , people wont hire because of the cost , nobamas spending is out of control , we tried it your stupid way and it does not work = liberal policys have never worked , see euorpe , this change crap has change for the worst .. now go back to watching ed schults on mshatebc you can be their one and only person to watch him ..