Wisconsin judge halts governor's union law
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0
yabits
The other thing that continues to build steam is the recall effort of eight Republican senators -- while the Republican effort to get signatures to recall Democratic senators is dead in the water. The difference can be seen in the websites for each of the parties within the state. (wisgop.org doesn't even mention a recall effort.)
Here's what the Republican senators are facing:
The numbers in the two columns are the district-by-district results of the last presidential election for the eight Republican senators subject to recall:
Kapanke's just about as good as well-done toast, as are Cowles and Olsen. I suspect at least five will be thrown out -- as they should be.
0
Badsey
Scott Walker thinks he is an ultimate dictator just like Obama who ordered this Libyian war. They are not and people should be standing up and using their rights to push these dictators out. Easy since Obama is not even "a natural born citizen." With Walker you must wait a year for the recall, but I would proceed with a criminal case now (DIstrict Attorneys/Lawyers are too weak to go against the system -even with support of the people)
0
TorafusuTorasan
Yabits,
Which state senator is the one from Fond Du Lac whose mistress got a sweet government job as the assistant to an executive assistant? I read on jsonline.com that she was hired at a payscale that almost doubled the salary of her predecessor. Was it Grothman? Didn't he get the memo about the need to pretend to gouge government this year?
U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (from my district no less) sure got lambasted this week about his comments at a town hall meeting about how he and his family (six kids) can't make ends meet on his $174,000 salary. Tons of reader comments with infinite variations about going from the Real World (he was on the MTV show back in the day) to the real world or the REAL WORLD, where most of us would consider that salary luxurious.
Badsey/Trump,
Enough with the birther paranoia. Barrack Obama's mom is American, his grandma was the first female vice president of Bank of Hawaii, and the current governor of Hawaii swears that he knew the family and the President when he was little. I don't think he was some orphaned third world street kid just happening to breeze through Harvard like you would have us believe. Your long-form IQ test results please!
0
yabits
Nothing at all to do with voters recalling Republicans because of the corrupt way they went about handling the people's business.
As for the others, voters can always elect better Dems the next round.
0
TorafusuTorasan
Gee Yabits, I was just trying to back you up there buddy.
If you want to recall Walker, then why not add Duffy. Those two joined forces for a fundraiser in northern Wisconsin the day after the 3/11 tsunami. Duffy is against the health insurance overhaul, but you can bet he and his family are getting the very best regardless. Then again, he voted against cutting NPR funding, so maybe he's not such a bad guy.
Now there, Mr. Yabits, what's your stake in Wisconsin politics, exactly?
0
Lieberman2012
"Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a declaration stating in no uncertain terms that the collective bargaining law that led to weeks of large protests at the state Capitol had not taken effect, contradicting Republican arguments that it had because a state office published it online."
Luckily for the unions the media has oveerlooked Judge Sumi's conflict of interest here.Her son is the lead field manager with the AFL-CIO and is also data manager for the SEIU State Council.His new firm Left Field Strategies is a bit extreme for my tastes,but I can see how older, more stridently Leftist Democrats, and young, up and coming cultural Marxists might like his tactics.
0
Molenir
Tough to find a good Dem. There is a reason they threw em all out. Best keep that in mind.
0
yabits
Praying for the spark to light a bonfire.
0
yabits
Hilarious. What does her son have to do with the violation of Wisconsin's open meetings laws? Or the attempt by Walker and the renegade Reps to invent new rulings which circumvent the authority of the Secretary of State? (Answer: nothing)
Not even a nice try.
0
yabits
They didn't "throw em all out." But now that decent Wisconsin voters have gotten a taste of these new Republicans, the Dems will be welcomed back with open arms.
The recall effort by Republicans against Dems is going nowhere. Best keep that in mind.
0
Lieberman2012
More Americans now work for the government than work in the construction biz,farming,fishing,forestry,manufacturing,mining and utilities combined. So we will see how this works out for the people of Wisconsin.
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yabits
This has nothing to do with the people and everything to do with the conservative/libertarian, right-wing penchant for downsizing and off-shoring. Americans were told that cutting taxes on the highest brackets would produce jobs and prosperity. The people of Wisconsin and elsewhere are going to "reshuffle the deck" and there's very little that self-loathing right-wingers in "registered-Democrat" clothing will be able to do about it.
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Lieberman2012
"This has nothing to do with the people and everything to do with the conservative/libertarian, right-wing penchant for downsizing and off-shoring. Americans were told that cutting taxes on the highest brackets would produce jobs and prosperity."
Forestry, construction,mining,fishing,utilities jobs have been "off-shored"? Are you for real???
0
Lieberman2012
"When a company closes a mine in the US to increase production at a mine on foreign soil, it's the same as off-shoring. Ditto, importing lumber while idling domestic timber harvesting."
The E.P.A. LOVES it when US mines are closed.The Sierra Club and other heavyweight environmental groups that now exercise undue influence in the party LOVE it when domestic forests are 'idled.'
0
yabits
Milestone achieved (on the way to "mission accomplished")
On Friday, 4/1, the Democrats got 100% of the signatures required to hold a recall election for Wisconsin Republican Kapanke. He's toast.
One down, seven to go.
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Lieberman2012
I will reserve judgement on the recall.It is a valid option in our democracy,but I am not comfortable with the combo of 1930s machine politics (perfected in Chicago) and the radical 60s Alinski-activism
that Obama(came out of Chicago) and his type have infused into the party and American politics.
0
hworta269
I think once the people that really work in wisconsin learn that their public sector workers are making between 80k and 500k a year they wont have much sympathy for them having to pay 5 percent of their healthcare and retirement.
Bus driver in Wisconsin makes 80k plus benefits Minimum wage for a public sector college teacher 250k a year
ooh those pooor people and as soon as their money/union money laundering gets slightly threatened these school teachers get fake doctor notes and run around the capital threatening to shoot politicians while causing 7 million dollars of damage.
This law doesnt even bust any union, it only says that people can not be forced to join the union. I think if they go the recall route in Wisconsin the dems will lose because the tea party aint republicans, they will fight just as hard and dirty as liberals, which is why liberals are really mad. They are finally getting a taste of their own medicine and they hate it.
0
Lieberman2012
"I think once the people that really work in wisconsin learn that their public sector workers are making between 80k and 500k a year they wont have much sympathy for them having to pay 5 percent of their healthcare and retirement"
But you underestimate the capacity for self-delusion in the collective American psyche,in this case as it manifests among the guilty,do-good, erstwhile Christian population of o v e r whelmingly white northern states like WI.They had no problem with teachers in Oshkosh receiving 90 sick days/year,on the public dime.These teachers are noble public servants!Kids today are different,you see.Teachers have to "fight" illiteracy!They have to "fight" bullying!They have to deal with unruly and uninterested students.Crisis!
0
yabits
Another milestone achieved on the way to "mission accomplished":
In a runoff election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a Democrat, JoAnne Kloppenburg, who was unknown and a 35-point underdog a few months ago, has beaten the once-heavily favored Republican. More smack-downs of major proportions are coming.
0
yabits
The salary of the highest paid bus drivers in Wisconsin (in Madison) is a shade over $26/hr. That comes out to around $56k per year, not counting overtime. With overtime, they can indeed make over 80k. And here I thought Republicans/conservatives believed in more pay for more work.
According to a March 9 article in The Badger Herald, the average salary of a University of Wisconsin professor is: $111k/year. A far cry from the 250k figure completely made up by hworta269.
The public service employees that are under attack by Walker include Kelly Cory, who as worked as a secretary at the U of Wisconsin for 30 years. She makes just under $40k/yr, and Walker's plan is going to take nearly $5,500 out of her paycheck.
Also, Latanza Joshua, a caregiver at the Southern Wisconsin Center for the mentally disabled. She's worked there for over 10 years and makes $15/hr. Brian Kaphingst is a corrections officer at the state prison in Waupun; his salary started at $11/hr and has increased to around $15/hr over the ten years he's worked there.
0
arrestpaul
The vote totals aren't even in yet. Prosser is reported to be 500 to 800 votes ahead and a close race will result in a full recount. NO winner has been declared.
0
yabits
The reports that Prosser is ahead must be coming from the same source that claims the minimum salary for a Wisconsin professor is 250k/year.
The voting is over and the unofficial "machine" count shows Kloppenburg with a lead that is greater, percentage-wise, than Bush's in Florida when he declared victory. Wisconsin, however, for the most part uses the Direct Recording Electronic voting system with voter-verified paper audit trail, so the recount will largely be a formality.
0
arrestpaul
The latest reported vote count is that Prosser is ahead of Kloppenburg by over 7,000 votes. It looks like the AP reported incorrect numbers yesterday. The spread is now too large to trigger an automatic recount.
NO official winner has been declared yet and the vote count still has to be certified.
0
Lieberman2012
"More smack-downs of major proportions are coming."
Unfortunately,it appears it is our side that will be on the receiving end of the smack-down.
If Prosser has indeed gained 7000 votes because of an oversight which can be confirmed by the proper authorities I am afraid it is over;there will be no recall.The unions will be seen to have labored mightily and brought forth a mouse,and a very expensive little mouse,a wretched and squeaky little varmint that mocks us and makes us look like fools,makes us look like Ned Lamont blowing 12 million of his own money to try and take down Joe Lieberman.[~Sigh~].
0
yabits
In all honesty, would a narrow margin by Prosser, met with a "mistake" of over 7,000 votes in a heavily Democratic district, be looked at skeptically by Republicans?
Since Kloppenburg was supposed to be defeated by a very wide margin running against the incumbent Prosser. The smackdown is indeed coming, and this apparent loss will only strengthen the efforts underway to recall the renegade Republican senators.
0
arrestpaul
Exit polls results and incorrect media reporting still do not replace actual vote counts.
Recall efforts aren't actual votes either. First, there is the recall efforts of 8 Democrats and 8 Republican Wisconsin State Senators which MAY be followed by a special election IF any of the recall efforts actually gather enough "legitimate" Wisconsin resident signatures.
Both major parties and any third party or independent can field a candidate to run for any open seats. There is no guarentee that the unions will be able to foist their preferred candidate on the Wisconsin taxpaying voters.
0
yabits
The Waukesha county clerk -- a Republican Party caucus member and someone who was audited and disciplined several times in the past for lack of security and backup in conducting election counts -- just happens to find enough votes to avoid a recall.
The recall "efforts" against the Democrats are dead in the water. They've got nowhere near sufficient signatures and the state's GOP website doesn't even mention it. Meanwhile, 100% of required signatures have been collected to hold a recall one Republican, and several others are nearing that mark. Expect that effort to intensify greatly as a result of this latest Republican fiasco.
0
arrestpaul
What "recall"? Did you mean recount?
Nobody "found" more votes. The vote totals were incorrectly reported. That's why you wait for the certification before claiming a victory that you didn't win.
The latest breaking news is that AP missed reporting another 3,000 votes. That puts Prosser almost 11,000 votes ahead.
0
yabits
My mistake. Recount.
Sure they did. The county clerk -- a Republican Party caucus member -- "discovered" that she didn't add the "votes" to the database. She's failed audits in the past regarding her security and backup procedures w/regard to her election duties.
The victory lies in a heavily-favored (by 30+ points) Republican incumbent was taken to the mat by a relatively unknown Democrat.
0
Lieberman2012
It would appear once-blue WI is now purple.Democrats would not be remiss in placing a fair amount of the blame for this on Obama.
0
yabits
Actually, the numbers don't jibe up. Nickolaus, who had failed security audits prior to this election, refused to have Wisconsin state IT personnel inspect her computer. What makes the stench even greater is the statistically warped final turnout numbers:
At about 1:15 pm on election day, the Waukesha Deputy Count Clerk reported that turnout was normal for a spring election (approx. 25 percent). With the initial, "mistaken" vote count, the turnout was raised to about 38 percent -- far higher than even Nickolaus predicted.
With the addition of these "discovered, missing votes," election turnout is raised to around 47% -- which is far higher than any Wisconsin district with a similar population, and in no way jibes with what county officials were estimating. Forty-seven percent is rarely achieved in presidential elections by the district and that kind of turnout would have been noticed and reported by poll-watchers.
The Democrat mentioned, Kitzinger, reported that she was not present until canvassing began. However, Nickolaus reported that she "found" the "error" before canvassing began.
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arrestpaul
You're wrong according to both Democrats and Republicans on the County Board. Both sides have said that they're satisfied that the actual vote count was correct. And they're in a position to know.
0
IronDome
Democrats will keep at it, trying to remake America - - of the unions, by the unions, for the unions.
0
yabits
A Waukesha county judge and former board member of the Republican Women of Waukesha, as well as a member of the Leadership Circle of Waukesha Republican Party has just been arrested for violently disorderly conduct.
Judge Linda Van De Water -- yes, a judge...a Republican judge -- demonstrates to union organizers how to act like an unruly thug.
0
yabits
One only Democrat on the Board that I know of supported Nikolaus. That Democrat needs to view the HBO documentary titled "Hacking Democracy," before rendering a more intelligent judgment. Nikolaus has a background in IT, and does not appear to be a person of high integrity.
She's been cited multiple times for problems with her process in conducting elections, and has always arrogantly sloughed off the recommendations of reviewers to improve security and backup procedures. I seriously doubt if 47% of the electorate of Waukesha County showed up to vote in a spring election with no more than two candidates on the ballot.
0
yabits
Some facts about Nikolaus:
For 13 years (until 2002) she worked for the Republican Caucus of the WI state assembly as a data analyst and computer specialist.
Nikolaus had been associated with Prosser from 89-94 and he was her boss from 95 to 96. She's hardly what one could call impartial or non-biased.
In 2001, Nikolaus was granted immunity to testify about her role as a computer analyst for the Assembly Republican Caucus, then under investigation -- along with the Senate Republican Caucus and the Democratic caucuses for both houses -- for using state resources to secretly run campaigns.
Just one year ago, county officials ordered an audit of Waukesha County’s outdated election system after Nickolaus removed election data from county computers and installed them on personal computers in her office. Even before this issue, Nickolaus was resistant to an independent and thorough review of her election system.
0
arrestpaul
What part of "the Democrats are satisfied that the actual vote count was correct" are you having a problem with?
0
yabits
The part that has conservatives so willing to accept the word of Democrats in a very selective situation.
The part that doesn't answer the question: Who signs the checks of these so-called "Democrats?"
0
Lieberman2012
As Democrats we need to accept that the unions threw unprecedented amounts of time, money and effort into a relatively minor race, and we lost.
Like the succession of Scott Brown to a senate seat in * Massachusetts * this too should serve as a wake-up call.The party is being controlled by people will values and lifestyles most of us do not identify with.
"Change" means something else to them.
0
yabits
Great news! Over 150% of the signatures have been required to hold recall elections for five Republican senators in Wisconsin.
0
yabits
Yet another milestone achieved:
The Republicans put up fake candidates to run as Democrats in the recall districts and all six of them lost handily. Running phony candidates puts the lie to any claim that Republicans believe in the sanctity of the electoral process.
The recall elections are now scheduled for August 9, and the Democrats will regain control of the state legislature. The end of the sleazy Walker regime is now within sight.
0
yabits
Equally sleazy: running phony candidates that had no chance of winning forced a primary election process that ended up costing the state around a half-million dollars.
So much for Republican claims that they care about the state's finances. All they want is power and they'll throw all the money they need to in pursuit of that end.
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