Updated - Election Day in Wisconsin

Solidarity for Wisconsin families

Update V: Live recall election results at Journal-Sentinel and Mother Jones.

Update IV: Gilbert Brown, Famed Green Bay Packer, Urges Wisconsin Voters to Recall Republicans - We Are Wisconsin released a robocall campaign on Tuesday featuring mammoth former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Gilbert Brown. The call urges voters to replace six Republican state Senators who supported Governor Scott Walker's controversial budget bill:

"Hello this is Gilbert Brown, defensive lineman for the '97 Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, calling on behalf of We Are Wisconsin. I have a message for you about Tuesday's election, I know a little bit about playing defense and right now it is time to defend Wisconsin. We are holding the line, putting our children's education before big corporate tax giveaways. It is up to voters like you to make the difference. Please gather your friends and neighbors and go to the polls on Tuesday from 7 am to 8 pm and support Nancy Nusbaum for Senate."

Update III: Walker signs gerrymandering bills redrawing political boundaries, hours before the deadline. "It is now clear that Gov. Walker signed these redistricting maps into law in a manner intended to hide his actions with only one goal in mind: giving himself and his fellow Republicans a monopoly on power in our state and dodging accountability for their anti-middle-class extremism," said Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha).

Update II: From a Fond du Lac voter this morning: "I wonder if I’m the only person who gets so upset at poll workers having to ask for picture ID.  The man behind me in line, said 'Well, there’s no trouble here, but in Milwaukee (read black), there’s thousands of cases of vote fraud.'  I told him that’s not true, and asked if he could even conceive of people wanting to vote so much that they would actually commit fraud (that’s not the right word anyway).  I told him it’s been my experience that you cannot get people to vote easily enough. I think people just  believe what they are told, don’t question anything and march in lockstep.  I guess he’s a Republican."

Update: Presidential-election turn-out level in Fond du Lac. At Rosenow Elementary School, 385 people had already voted at 10:20 A.M, with a 30-minute wait in line.

For continuous updates, see Uppity Wisconsin and look back here.

The order of the day is: Get Out the Vote [GOTV].

Today is election day for Wisconsin recalls.

In one race rated a toss-up, Rep. Sandy Pasch (Whitefish Bay) has volunteers already lining up outside the doors this morning to challenge Sen. Alberta Darling in Senate district 8 just north of Milwaukee.

Because of the enormous outpouring, an insider this morning is now saying Pasch is likely to knock off Darling.

Democracy is coming

For continuous updates, see Uppity Wisconsin and Blue Cheddar, TeamsterNation and look back here.
The order of the day is: Get Out the Vote [GOTV].

As a life-long Wisconsin citizen I can tell you the recall race for Senate district 18 (Sen. Randy Hopper's (R-Empire) seat) is a bellwether for the other five recall elections in  Republican state senate districts, all of which one should bear in mind were gerrymandered after the 2000 Census to stay Republican.

Hooper narrowly defeated Jessica King by 163 votes for the same seat in 2008, and Hopper is facing King again in this historically leaning Republican area.

Candidates - 2008 Race             Votes    Percent

Randy Hopper (R)                         41,904   50.05%
Jessica King (D)                            41,741   49.86%

Enough signature were gathered to recall Randy Hopper in just a matter of weeks after the recall registration date [from which citizens have 60 days to gather recall signatures], far early of the deadline for the required 15,269 signatures and petition to be delivered to the GAB on the deadline date of May 2.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) staff verified 23,127 signatures to recall Hopper.

Sources close to the recall effort told me that after that, signatures gathered by the 100s of the recall volunteers also served effectively as campaigning for voters hostile to Randy Hopper for the majority of the 60-days period prior to May 2.

All of the signatures are open to the public on the GAB site.

Some 55 percent of Hopper's 2008 vote total was gathered in recall signatures against Hopper alone.

Wisconsin Constitution, Article 1, Section 1

As Scott Walker and his regime, with much of the local corporate media playing along, sends out its anti-democratic message that Wisconsin must 'prepare' for the protests of its citizens, it bears repeating that Wisconsin citizens will exercise their right to decide what manner of government and policy have their consent.

This is what democracy looks like. And it scares the hell of the Republicans and Koch brothers.

Democracy is not some obscure action for which Walker, Hopper and company must prepare by expending $millions and lining up 100s of police.

Democracy in a healthy society is what people ought to do ... often.

Wisconsin Constitution

Article 1, Section 1

"All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

COWS ThinkTank: Public employees not the cause of Wisconsin's budget woes

From the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS):

A new policy brief from COWS offers data on Wisconsin's public-sector workers. They are neither the 'haves' Governor Scott Walker makes them out to be, nor are they the cause of Wisconsin's budget shortfall.

The brief, Wisconsin's Public Employees: A Foundation for Quality of Life in the State, presents information answering key questions:

•Are public-sector workers overpaid? No.
•Is the public sector bloated in Wisconsin? No.
•How do public employees' concessions affect take home pay? The less you earn, the more you lose.
•Public-sector workers: The source of Wisconsin's budget deficit? No.

Some 383,300 Wisconsin workers hold full- or part-time jobs in the public sector, and three of four of these workers are employed by local units of government. Public workers provide the education, public safety, and other public infrastructure that is a foundation for quality of life in the state.

Tom Beebe: Scott Walker Threatens Wisconsin Public Education

Tom Beebe has a must-read in The Hill on Gov. Walker's educational budget.

There’s a battle going on in Wisconsin. Actually, there are many battles going on. Public labor unions are under assault, democracy is being attacked, and good government is at risk. Republican Governor Scott Walker and his allies in the Legislature are waging a scorched-earth campaign to lock down political power for years to come.

Yet, the most important story is going under-reported. If Gov. Walker wins the battle, the best days of the Badger State’s once proud public education system will definitely be in the rear view mirror.

Randy Hopper in Weird Campaign Mode

State Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac)

State Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) is in a strange campaign mode—hiding from his constituents.

Usually, when a politician wants to run for reelection, the most dangerous place to be is between him and a camera.

But Hopper did hire a high-priced political operative and is raising money, with many political TV ads to follow. Check out the next quarterly GAB finance report.

Hopper is in the worst political shape of the eight Republican state senators who look to be recalled.

I was in Fondy quite a bit recently, and believe me the appreciation for those who protect and serve, teach, clean, and treat is very high now.

Politics needs villains in campaigns. Teachers, EMTs, police, corrections officers, cooks and janitors just do not cut it as villains.

Hopper and Gov. Scott Walker do embody the worst characteristics of villains: Lying, scheming sociopaths targeting families and communities.

As Walker said last month to the phone caller whom he believed to be rightwing billionaire David Koch: "We’d already kinda built plans up, but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb." Walker was referring to cutting the salaries and benefits of the mentioned teachers, EMTs, police, corrections officers, cooks and janitors; and using them as pawns as he bragged about coming lay-off notices.

These families whom you use as pawns; they are living, breathing people with loving families, hopes and goals.

And please note: Wisconsin citizens do not like their governor and allies to drop bombs on them.

President Obama, Come to Madison

Historical crises require presidential leadership.  President Obama, protect the people of Wisconsin and the Union [capital U]. We need you here in person to speak truth to power and restore the promise of unity.

As the "budget repair bill" was passed early this morning by the Wisconsin Assembly (Cognitive Dissidence), and the billionaires' Americans for Prosperity take to the air to lie again, President Obama, you must live up to your promise to protect the rights of Americans; and certainly not frame issues in the disingeneous manner of Republicans.

Your presidential advocacy is required. All we need is the truth about the budget, and the Wisconsin and national GOP program to rip working families away from the American dream. But we need you here, speaking on the Capital steps in Madison without fear, with the hope that there is hope.

Fox and the Republicans won't like it. So what?

This is a political-economic crisis in Wisconsin caused directly by the lies and the colossal GOP con. And the crisis most certainly is not the state budget, but rather the future of the middle class.

The Wisconsin Republicans are using the old playbook of division, eloquently described by Isthmus editor, Bill Lueders.

Of course it is possible for Walker to survive. But the only way that can happen is if he succeeds in his vile politics of division, turning citizens against citizen, neighbor against neighbor, worker against worker. He must continue to encourage people to resent the teachers who teach their children, the nurses who care for their loved ones, the social workers who offer them help in times of need, the prosecutors who seek justice when they become victims of crime, the police who protect their communities and the firefighters who are prepared to die to save their lives.

Press Secretary Jay Carney on President Obama not coming to Wisconsin (February 24, 2011):

I think what we have made pretty clear is that the President thinks and we think, he’s stated this, that obviously a lot of states in the union are dealing with fiscal issues, big problems in their state budgets that need to be addressed. And they need to act responsibly, tighten their belts, live within their means, just as we in Washington, the executive branch and Congress need to do with our federal situation.

This is not about tightening belts, Mr. President. The budget problem is under control. The GOP lie has been debunked repeatedly.

You can handle the situation in D.C. from Madison for one day.

This is about preserving the American Dream and the right to organize and collectively bargain.

Then-Senator Obama during a campaign speech in Spartanburg, South Carolina (2007):

And understand this: If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I’ll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States. (Raw Story)

Mr. President, come to Madison. The time is now.

Watchdog calls for criminal probe of Gov Walker over 'Koch' tape

Protesters at Koch lobbying office in Madison

A national campaign finance watchdog, the Public Campaign Action Fund, sent a letter to the Dane County (WI) District Attorney and Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) today urging that they open concurrent investigations into Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-Wisc.) possible double violations of state campaign finance and ethics statutes.

Washington, D.C.—National campaign finance watchdog Public Campaign Action Fund sent a letter to the Dane County (WI) District Attorney and Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) today urging that they open concurrent investigations into Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-Wisc.) possible double violations of state campaign finance and ethics statutes. The letter is in response to yesterday’s release of a taped phone call between Gov. Walker and a person he thought was out-of-state, billionaire campaign donor David Koch.

The group asked the District Attorney and GAB to look at two questions:

1) Did Gov. Walker illegally solicit political expenditures for independent spending to benefit Republican Senators from swing districts?

2) Did Gov. Walker illegally solicit donations from the state capitol using state resources?

“Governor Walker, while on state grounds supposedly doing his job, thought he was speaking to out-of-state billionaire David Koch, and over the course of that conversation he asked Koch to spend money to help Republican Senators from electorally vulnerable districts,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund. “The District Attorney of Dane County and the Government Accountability Board have concurrent jurisdiction over this matter, and both should immediately investigate whether Walker broke two state laws.”

The letters were faxed this afternoon to both offices. Download the letter to the District Attorney and the GAB [at Public Campaign Action Fund] .

The letter concludes:

“No one should be above the law. Governor Walker’s conduct in this reported conversation indicates he does not believe the Wisconsin campaign finance statutes or ethics rules apply to him. We strongly urge you to open an investigation into these violations to restore the confidence of Wisconsin’s citizens that theirs is a government of laws.”

“Of course, the bigger story here is the ease with which major donors can gain access to Gov. Walker,” said Donnelly. “While he can’t be bothered to talk to his political opponents, he found twenty minutes to spend with a wealthy oil tycoon. It’s a shameful statement on our broken political system.”

On Tuesday, blogger/reporter Ian Murphy released a recorded phone call between Gov. Walker and himself, pretending to be David Koch. During the discussion, Walker makes references to ways Koch could help state Republicans deal with the public opposition to Walker’s budget. Download the full transcript at Public Campaign Action Fund.

Walker: No Collective Bargaining or Lose Your Job

Forward!

Update II: Live Coverage from Madison-

Update: See Robert Reich: "America is the richest nation in the world, and “we’ve” never been richer. There’s no reason for us to turn on our teachers, our unionized workers, our poor and needy, and our elderly." And ThinkProgress' The Truth Behind The Anti-Union Assault; and Paul Krugman:

Walker isn’t interested in making a deal. Partly that’s because he doesn’t want to share the sacrifice: even as he proclaims that Wisconsin faces a terrible fiscal crisis, he has been pushing through tax cuts that make the deficit worse. Mainly, however, he has made it clear that rather than bargaining with workers, he wants to end workers’ ability to bargain.

Gov. Walker is threatening 1,000s of Wisconsin families. Lose your rights or lose your job.

This is not governing; this is terrorism of Wisconsin families.

See Walker warns state workers layoff notices could come next week if bill isn't passed (Bauer)