Wherever he goes, Wisconsin State Senator Jon Erpenbach is greeted with chants of "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He certainly has earned them. Erpenbach led the 14 Wisconsin Democratic State Senators out of state and into hiding so that Governor Scott Walker's outrageous union-busting legislation would not have a quorum.
But as Erpenbach emphasized this week at a spirited rally in West Bend, the people of Wisconsin and all of us owe many thanks, not just to the courageous actions of these elected representatives, but to the crowds of a hundred thousand that thronged the state capitol at Madison... and to the countless volunteers who took up the challenge.
These volunteers, ordinary and unsung, have just finished collecting enough signatures to force a recall election of six Republican state senators. If just three of these recalls are successful in replacing the Republicans with Democrats, Walker's doomsday reward-the-rich and penalize-the poor-budget and union-busting will be stopped.
Tanya Lohr teaches global studies to ninth graders. Her husband teaches chemistry, but also helps raise their four children -- ages 19, 15 and the 5-year-old twins. It's a good thing he is so helpful. Every day after school and all weekend, Tanya rushes to the Clear Lake United Teachers Center.
There on the phone and in the field, she fights for her school and her family, as well as for her livelihood. Door to door, call by call, you can see the sparkle in her eye, her winning smile and hear her bouyant voice collecting signatures and coordinating the Recall Campaign in her district. She is a hero of Wisconsin.
You can see Elias Groth's car coming. It's draped with homemade signs criticizing Scott Walker and urging "RECALL THEM ALL!" Last week, as he pulled into his dad's garage, he forgot the five foot high sign bolted to the roof of the car. It tore into the garage and gave the car its red badge of courage. During the Madison demonstrations, the capital building was so crowded that he, along with countless others, had to sleep outside the building freezing everything but his determination. He is a hero of Wisconsin.
Glenn Grothman is not. He is the Republican State Senator for the staunchly conservative 20th Senate District of Wisconsin. His simplistic statements conflate, convolute and confuse. Grothman's red-baiting campaign literature accuses his opponents of trying to break down the American family. Tanya Lohr might object to this as she's seen the effects of Grothman's policies increase class sizes, cut her school's budget, lay off workers and make it harder for American families to survive.
But according to Grothman, the abolition of the family was a goal of Karl Marx and has been for "atheistic socialists" ever since. This is why Grothman proposes draconian cuts in jobs, wages and the social safety net. As Grothman recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, while justifying cuts to education, "I think early education, like any preschool program, can have harmful psychological effects."
Anthony Irwin must have surmounted these harmful psychological effects to succeed as a graduate student in Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Irwin is studying the spread of Buddhism, a generally peaceful religion, through Southeast Asia. But as he joined with thousands of others to protest the cuts in education and services, he found the atmosphere hardly peaceful.
"It was electric" Anthony said. "You could almost taste the emotions, the anger of the crowd as they surged to confront State Senator Glenn Grothman in the capital." When he appeared in the capital, Grothman was surrounded by angry citizens upset at his role in pushing Governor Scott Walker's bill to weaken unions and cut services. Grothman, who called the demonstrators slobs, seemed to be in danger of reaping what he had sown. But into this fray, stepped another hero... Brett Hulsey. Hulsey came to the rescue of Grothman. Hulsey used his strapping size, good humor and eminent good judgment to avert political disaster. But it wasn't just his infectious good nature that stopped the crowd from exacting frontier justice.
Brett Hulsey is the Democratic Assemblyman from Wisconsin's 77th District. He has worked tirelessly fighting to save money for education, seniors, workers, transportation and the environment. His actions stepping in to protect Grothman were consonant with his politics. His thanks for his good efforts was being roundly criticized by his Republican opponents. One suspects they would rather have gained a martyr by throwing one of their own to what they characterized as an unruly mob.
But rather than an unruly mob, the protesters proved to be a hard-working political force. When Republicans tried to retaliate against the Democratic Recall efforts, they could not attract enough volunteers. They had to contract out their recall efforts, including to out-of-state companies that hired convicted felons who ended up embarrassingly involved again in thefts.
Meanwhile, Tanya Lohr, Elias Groth, Anthony Irwin and thousands of other volunteers proved to be the real heroes of Wisconsin. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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Good, now move this along Judge Sumi, make the ruling you dread.
tenacious standing up for their rights.
Keep it up, the Republicans will be relentless
in their lust for money and power.
It is both inspiring and disgusting to witness.
But seriously, I have new faith in our country. Since mid-February, I've learned that there really are good people out there, and they will stand up to the bullies and fight back. It's an awesome feeling of empowerment.
As my favorite post on HP said:
"I almost gave up on America, then came WISCONSIN"
They really are awesome and I hope when this is over....for the most part.....that they are seen on television talk shows, morning, noon and night. What a great lesson for our children and grandchildren.
Being a student from the 60's, I can remember when young people were encouraged to THINK!
This IS what democracy looks right!
Good on you, Scott!
Wisconsin has a 3 billion dollar plus budget deficit. Their next door neighbor, Illinois, imposed a 2/3rds increase in income taxes. The Democrat governor and Democrat controlled state legislature in California have already raised taxes to tackle a 9 billion dollar deficit. Do public unionized employees pay for the uncontrolled spending by Democrats…no. We do.
Gas prices are nearing $5 a gallon. Groceries increased 4% in the last two months. Exactly, how does that help the middle class and the elderly on a fixed income? The only solution for Democrat controlled states is to continue to raise taxes so the elderly will either die from starvation or die from freezing since they can’t pay their utilities. Under these conditions, there is no need for death panels. After all, the elderly are unproductive and useless members of society. Look at the advantages: population control, lower health care premiums, and less government spending.
Who knew Walmart supported unions???
They are clearly marked by the stores so that you know who you are buying from.
Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes
All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:
Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)
FibreStrong Rim board
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,
Some may decry it was only 18 ballots, however, that is one of numerous flaws and flies in this ointment.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/news/local/chibrknews-nuns-votes-tossed-in-wisconsin-recount-20110505,0,5693301.story
The nursing home my mother was in, in Georgia, proclaimed she would be able to vote. Knowing the administrator, I'm afraid, as it was over 60 years ago here in the south, that probably meant that she "got voted".
I even saw ballots on-line, before the Wisconsin election that could be printed out.
I'm totally shocked that we are still having to question the reliability of the D i e 8 o l d machines that are continuing to be used. I want to dip my thumb in ink and a paper receipt.
ON WISCONSIN.
I can't wait for Scott Walker to be recalled!
yes. afflictions like rationality and moral compass are frequently observed in those nurtured from early childhood to believe in such vaporous concepts.
it's obvious that cutting off all educational access for those under 21, and then letting them fend for themselves as adults would accomplish all the goals of the so-called neo-cons: afghanistan at home.
The only harmful effect is that Republicans don't want to fund it.
And Walker kept trying to say that most of the protesters were from out of state. He is just not in touch with the people of Wisconsin at all. He needs to get better informed.
http://www.lakelandtimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=111&ArticleID=13124
You can bet she'll be well funded by You-Know-Who.
MADISON – A formal challenge ...against Republican recall petitions asks the Government Accountability Board to disqualify thousands of invalid signatures, and reject recall elections against three Democratic state senators, because widespread and systemic election fraud has tainted the entire GOP operation.
"The overwhelming evidence clearly shows a pervasive pattern of election fraud committed by the shady out-of-state organization hired by Republicans to collect recall petitions," said Senate Democratic Leader Mark Miller. "Thousands of Wisconsin citizens fell victim to lies and misinformation spread by the circulators, and the papers submitted by this operation contain a river of omissions and wrong information."
He stated in the “prank” phone call that he was “changing the course of history.”
I definitely think he has changed the course of history for his political future.
The struggles of Wisconsin and the mid-West are the epic struggles of our time. This is not hyperbole. I went South for the Civil Rights movement. But justice and equality were on the march then. Now we are fighting a rear guard movement against forces that threaten to reshape our country. Breaking the last strong unions will leave the very rich as the main contributors to our elections, probably insuring mostly Republican victories or weak Democratic candidates, similarly beholden to big money. One could argue that this is already the case. But clearly, without a spirited opposition, we are on the way to one party rule in this country, with a class system as skewed as the countries we always prided ourselves on being more egalitarian than. If you can go to Wisconsin, GO! If you can contribute, please DO! If you live in Ohio, PA, Michigan . . . we are with you!
Her campaign Web site: http://sandyforsenate.ngphost.com/
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