Callen Harty: Walker recall is not a referendum on collective bargaining

Callen Harty posted the following open letter, A Reply to Scott Walker, in response to a letter he received in the mail from the Walker campaign, asking "for a donation to help him defend himself against attacks from the left and the unions." Callen writes: "This is the letter I am sending out to him tomorrow (and he gets to pay the postage)."

This letter sums up so much about what is wrong with the way Walker has deceived us to the very end, and I'm honored to share it here with Callen's permission.   This is his second guestpost on MoD. The first, an open letter to Scott Fitzgerald, is worth reviewing as Fitz faces his own recall on June 5th. Please be sure to check out the original post on his wonderful blog, A Single Bluebird.

And with just 2 short weeks to go before the recall election, I encourage all of you to share your thoughts with your local papers, or send to me and I will post on the blog. Take the MoD Open Letter Challenge and speak up now against Walker's unjust, unfair and unethical governance or forever wish you had. 

May 16, 2012

Dear Governor Walker,

Thank you for your personal letter to me asking me to donate money toward your goal of $400,000.00 to help defeat Tom Barrett in the upcoming recall election.  I will tell you first of all that I am an independent voter and have voted for both Republicans and Democrats in the past, among others.  I must also tell you that I’m afraid I’m not rich enough to be one of your donors, and neither are most of the Wisconsinites I know, many of whom are suffering under the policies you have pushed through in the last year.  But even if I could afford it I would more likely donate it to a candidate who shows a little more fiscal responsibility than what your campaign has shown.

You say in your letter that the opposition is raising money in breathtaking amounts.  Yet all of the news media, liberal and conservative, has repeatedly reported that you are raising far more money than Tom Barrett and the Democrats.  You have raised more than $25 million dollars already, two-thirds of it from out-of-state donors, and I’m guessing they might be expecting something in return.  Most of that money was raised in the last half-year and most of it came from a handful of very wealthy benefactors.  Have you spent all that money already?  Are they okay with that?  How could you possibly need almost half a million dollars more?  Clearly, if you are running the state of Wisconsin the way you are running this campaign I can see why we are in so much economic trouble here.

Let me be clear about this:  I am not a huge fan of either the Republicans or Democrats, but I do not believe you when you say that the “Liberal Democrats” bent to the will of big labor leaders in Chicago and Washington.  I believe that the Democratic Party tends to be the party of the working class more than the Republican Party does, so yes, they may have supported legislation that labor may have liked.  But labor is not about union bosses—it is about the common man or woman working the assembly line or teaching or laying bricks for a living.  If the Democrats pass laws that support working class people, then I am for them.  My grandfather was a miner, my father a painter.  I come from working class people and although I have never belonged to a union I believe in the dignity of our working class and poverty-stricken citizens.  Nobody deserves to be disregarded or discarded.

In your letter you say that with “clenched fists, obscene signs, screaming chants and un-Wisconsin-like tactics, I’m being attacked with a ferocity that Wisconsinites have never seen before.”  I have been at the Capitol during the peaceful protests this past year.  I have seen thousands of people behaving well and letting their feelings be heard.  I have also seen people yelling “Shame” and other things at you and some of your legislative allies.  It is because the people of this state feel that you have attacked them with a ferocity that is un-Wisconsin-like.  Never before have we seen so much disregard for openness, so much bullying in the Capitol chambers, such rude dismissal of the other side of the aisle as we have seen under your leadership and that of the Fitzgerald brothers.  You “dropped the bomb”, you tried to “divide and conquer”, but what you did was awaken a sleeping giant.  You have united people in a way that the Democrats have never been able to do.  Yes, the people are angry at you.  They have every right to be.

The “Madison Liberals” and “Union Bosses” you speak of may be trying to make an example of you as you assert.  It is their right politically.  But for regular Wisconsinites like me this election isn’t about the unions.  Yes, I am incredibly unhappy with what you did to collective bargaining, but even moreso at the way you did it.  I am also unhappy to see my niece and her family taken off of BadgerCare because of your cuts.  I am unhappy to see what used to be the finest educational system in the country gutted because of your priorities.  When corporations are owners of our school systems and making profits off of it instead of cities and towns having local control the people of Wisconsin will see what they have given up.  I am unhappy about your horrible record on environmental issues, the incredible loss of jobs we have seen, your attacks on Planned Parenthood, your positions on LGBT issues, and more.  This election is not a referendum on collective bargaining.  It is a referendum on the totality of your short tenure.

Earlier today you released a revised set of job numbers.  You say that Wisconsin is heading in the right direction.  If backwards and downwards are the right direction then I guess we are doing fine.  Every state in the union—including Wisconsin until the numbers showed us losing more jobs than any other state in the country—has used the same set of Department of Labor statistics to show job growth or loss.  But today you released numbers showing we’ve gained 23,000 jobs (which, even if it were true, is not even 10% of what you promised us).  It is not only disingenuous, it is a lie.  The people of the state are losing jobs and suffering under your budget cuts.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs and no other state lost more than 3,500 between March of 2011 and March of 2012.  45 of the states gained jobs or stayed even in that same span.  Is the federal government in collusion with “Liberal Democrats” and “Big Union Bosses”?  How else could they come up with such numbers when you can come up with just the opposite?  Simply put, Wisconsin is not open for business.  It is open for businesses, for corporate benefactors who stand to gain from your giveaways to them and takeaways from the people who live here.

I will not be sending you a donation and I will not be voting for you.  I am confident that you will not see this letter, because you have yet to listen to regular Wisconsinites the way you listen to out-of-state millionaires and billionaires.  I wish you well in whatever you pursue after the governorship, but I hope with everything that is within me that your new career path will start in the next few weeks.

Why the Recall Primary Matters: Vote Tuesday May 8

Vote for the person you want to be governor. Not some other person.

Dear friends of MoD,

Tomorrow, we decide who faces Scott Walker in the recall election on June 5 (or if he moves on at all).  We also decide who faces Rebecca Kleefisch (Mahlon Mitchell!). And Scott Fitzgerald (Lori Compas!). And Van Wanggaard (John Lehman!). And Terry Moulton (Kristen Dexter!). And Jerry Petrowski, the Republican running for Pam Galloway's seat after Galloway retired (Donna Seidel!).  Click here to see the official GAB ballots to find out who's running in your district.

In each of these races, there are fake Democrats on the ballot in an an attempt to subvert democracy and spoil the election process.  Fake Dem Gladys Huber even gets top billing on the gubernatorial ticket.

It's been a long, exhausting road to this day and this is the beginning of our final push to get out the vote and make sure that every person in Wisconsin realizes what is really at stake in this election.  (Spoiler alert! It's not about collective bargaining!)

You have an obligation to be part of the solution. Voting is not optional. 

Vote for Mahlon Mitchell.

Even if you are on the fence (as I was until I voted early last week) about the gubernatorial candidates and just want to support "the winner" of the Dem primary, you need to vote tomorrow for Mahlon Mitchell for Lieutenant Governor. Rebecca "For Real" Kleefisch is NOT on the ballot because no one opposed her as a Republican. This means she will automatically appear on the June 5 ballot and Republicans are "free" to vote for the fake Dem on the ticket, Isaac Weix.  So we need every vote we can get to ensure that this election is not stolen by those who prefer legal election tampering to respecting the will of the people.

And here's the thing: if Mitchell beats Kleefisch but Walker wins in June, Mitchell will be governor when Walker is indicted. So please, please vote.  Because if you don't vote, you can't complain. And we have a lot to complain about.

There are a lot of hard feelings and hot heads over tomorrow's choices. I personally agonized for months over my decision and finally surprised myself at the ballot box and voted for the person I think will be the best governor on education and moving Wisconsin forward again.  I see great strengths (and weaknesses) in all of our choices.  Do any of them inspire me like Russ Feingold would have? No. Does that matter? Not in the least. We did not come all this way to be divided over who opposes Walker on June 5. We did not stand out in the snow collecting signatures to bicker about who is stronger on education or the environment when ANY of these choices is infinitely superior to Scott "Fundraising is Governing" Walker.  

We did not come together for the past year to fall apart now.  Whomever wins tomorrow, we will unite like never before to show the world that Wisconsin did not stand down.  After 17 months of being ignored, insulted and demeaned by the governor of our state, we have pressed on.  Legally. Peacefully. With determination.  We have matched the petulant obstinance of Scott Walker with determination and drive, and we have countered his every attack on the well-being of this state with focus, patience, and the knowledge that we will do what it takes in the final hour to see him out of office. At that final hour starts tomorrow.

Scott Walker sent out a fundraising letter last week telling people all over the country that  

"For the Union-paid protesters who screamed until their faces were red...all I can say is that they can yell and curse all they want but I am not going to back down."

That's right. Over a year later, he is still spreading the same tired, absurd lies about the hard-working taxpayers and public servants of Wisconsin, claiming that "Big Union Bosses" paid people from out of state to protest at the Capitol, that the recall is only about collective bargaining and differences of "opinion."  These lies might trick people in other states into pouring money into his campaign, but they aren't fooling the millions of Wisconsinites who have seen their income and security vanish under his administration.  They aren't fooling the kids asking what happened to all the teachers at their schools who have been forced into early retirement or laid off.  They aren't fooling the 17,000 people - mainly children - about to be kicked off BadgerCare even as their financial situations remain precarious.  And they certainly aren't fooling all of the non-union taxpayers (Republicans and Democrats alike) opposed to Walker's disastrous and divisive policies. Wisconsin leads the nation in job losses and cuts to education under Walker.  That fact didn't make his fundraising letter, as facts tend not to do.  He neglected to mention, for instance, that one of the main ways he stands apart from the other candidates is by being the only candidate with a criminal defense fund.

Walker's administration only points in one direction: backward. If you want to go forward, get to the polls tomorrow.  Vote. And then you can join me in complaining all you want.  I look forward to it.  Very much, in fact.

Solidarity!

Heather

P.S. Not registered to vote? No problem! You can register at the polls! Just be sure to bring proof of residency (for at least 28 days at your current address). Click here for info from the GAB on what you need to bring with you to register at the polls. And click here to find your voting location!
 

Open letter from 33-year educator: RECALL WALKER

Educators stand up for our kids, and their rights. Source

Jackie, a central Wisconsin educator, took the MoD Open Letter Challenge to let Wisconsin know how deep Walker's attacks on teachers and education have hurt our state.  This are wounds that can only be healed by removing the man responsible for this cancerous climate that divides the state.  Thank you for sharing, Jackie, and I hope your letter inspires others to speak up and share their thoughts on why Walker has to go.

I have been a teacher for 33 years and continue to love my job. However, what I do not love is being devalued, being forced to take a $5,000 pay cut this year, and looking at another $3,000 cut next year. At a time when I had hoped to be putting aside a good deal of money for retirement, I find that I can barely continue to put aside what I have been doing for years. I worry that when I finally can retire, my pension will no longer be there for me. I will have seen my deferred pay go into an account that will not be there for me or any of my teacher friends.

The damage Scott Walker has done to Wisconsin will take years to repair. The deep political divides in this state will not heal quickly. He has pitted working class against working class, making public school teachers and other public employees somehow synonymous with evil. He has not created jobs as he claimed he would do. He has undermined Badger Care, has worked to harm women, and has lied to the people of our state from the beginning. He continues to lie, and his friends such as the Koch brothers are all too happy to pay to spread these lies.

In order to begin the long road to healing this state, we must take the step of recalling this man whom John Dean recently said is “more Nixonian than Nixon.” We must rid ourselves of this cancer on our state.

Jackie, Central Wisconsin

Wisconsin has Walker to thank for turning would-be teacher into activist

Another fantastic submission to the MoD Open Letter Challenge!

Dear Scott Walker,

I would like to personally thank you for changing my life. Up until about a year ago I was planning on becoming a teacher, but you made me realize that my calling was at a different level. I am now one semester away from receiving my Bachelor’s degree in Women and Gender Studies at Alverno College, which I am sure, has no meaning to you since you neither value women or education. Prior to you, my life plan was to teach English to high school students in MPS, and while I still plan on working with low-income students in some capacity – you know those are the constituents you ignore. I plan on informing high school students about your platform and ethics – and guess what? These students have just turned 18 and are likely more committed to voting than they ever thought they would be, thanks in part to your dismissal of their potential as human beings.

What was I thinking? I don’t want to be a “greedy”  teacher; instead I shall become your adversary. Your lack of ethical regard for women, the poor, and anyone who doesn’t have a lot of money is what drives me. Every morning I wake up and watch the news to see what rhetoric spiel you are promoting and it never fails to inspire me. So just remember that every time you open your mouth and spew your nonsensical gibberish, you inspire me. Just remember that every time you blame others for your failure as leader and unifier you reify me as your opponent. Just remember that every time you make the claim you didn’t raise taxes, I’ll be amending your claim and calling you on your lies. Just remember that my education exceeds yours and that I am on the side of people who have been educated and still choose to work with the less advantaged in order to move Wisconsin FORWARD.

Sincerely,
Colleen Crotteau-Martinez

Brad Werntz: Dear Governor Walker: It's A Boy!

My friend Brad Werntz submitted this letter, which he posted on his blog, The Short Menu, as part of the MoD Open Letter Challenge.  In his letter, he reminds the future former Governor of Wisconsin of both the reasons we still need urgently to speak out against his administration and the ways that his policies affect real people in real communities. As a small business owner, Brad makes a powerful case for why Walker's "Open for Business" rhetoric rings hollow when he pits members of our communities against each other, writing "When you claim that you are supporting one at the expense of the other - private businesses at the expense of public infrastructure, "taxpayers" at the expense of public servants - you reveal that you don't understand that all of these things are interlinked."  Thanks to Brad for sharing his letter - I hope it inspires you to write yours!

Dear Governor Walker,

I just thought I'd send you a quick update to the testimony I gave to the Joint Finance Committee at about 1:30am on February 15, 2011. You probably missed it, and - frankly - I'm glad you did.

As a public speaker, I wasn't really at my very best that night. Part of the problem was that I was really angry that you decided to "drop a bomb" on Wisconsin.

Then I spent six straight hours watching Robin Vos act in an utterly condescending and curt manner to everyday Wisconsin citizens. It was obvious in his every movement that the hearing was merely for show, and - in fact - at one point he said just this. It was likely in this same statement that he dismissed everyone waiting to speak as being from out-of-state. 

Then the hearing room doors were shut in our faces.

Then, the first chants broke out in the Capitol, spontaneously, from hundreds of voices: "LET US SPEAK! LET US SPEAK!" 

There were students chanting this - yes - but there were also teachers, retirees, nurses, public workers, scientists, service-providers, artists, and - believe it or not - people who you might call "job creators," or "taxpayers."

You know, the people you claim to cater to when you say "Wisconsin is Open For Business." 

And that was what I was there to tell you: When you dropped your bomb on Wisconsin, you claimed you were doing it for people like me. As a small business owner here in Madison, I wanted you to know that you don't speak for me.

In my big moment before the Joint Finance Committee, I was so angry that I muffed it. But that's okay. We don't have to cover that ground again. I've done so elsewhere, many times.

But there's something I said that night that I haven't repeated, and it's a story about community. Small businesses build community, not just in the dollars they generate but in other ways, too. 

On February 13, 2011, this idea manifested itself literally when a baby girl was born to two people who had fallen in love in the community of my small business. Hers wasn't the first birth from our community, and it definitely wasn't the last. But when I sat down in front of the Joint Finance Committee, this little girl's birth was such a perfect and recent example of how small local business connects people - not just to each other but to the community in which we all live - hers was a story I wanted to tell.

Both her parents once worked at my business, although at different times. Her father worked for us in high school and through college, and eventually became a manager. Her mother worked with autistic children, and ran innovative programs for them at our facility. Before they found one another, both of her parents had dated other people in our community. In fact, her father had been married before, to a friend of her mother's.

And this is where the story - for me - gets very powerful.

You see, the woman this little girl's father married, this friend of her mother's? Well, she died. She was very young, very vivacious, truly a light for all in our circle. 

So this little girl's father faced life without his wife. Her mother went on without her friend. Both grieved, and in their grief they found solace, and eventually love with one another, in the shelter of the small community of our small business here in Madison. Their marriage was a joyous contrast to the funeral we had all attended several years prior.

In sharing this story with you, this is what I wanted you to know, Governor Walker: When you drop bombs on Wisconsin, you drop them on real communities made up of real people. 

We are connected in part by the company we choose, but we are also connected by the hubs that draw us together. These hubs are not just private businesses like mine, but also public schools, community centers, and local greenspaces. When you claim that you are supporting one at the expense of the other - private businesses at the expense of public infrastructure, "taxpayers" at the expense of public servants - you reveal that you don't understand that all of these things are interlinked.

You cannot build up one part of a community by dropping bombs on another part of that same community. 

So, anyway, this is what I wanted to be sure you knew, and it's something I didn't get out during the two minutes I testified before the Joint Finance Committee.

The reason I was reminded of all of this today? Well, that little girl in my story just today got a new sibling, and it's a boy!

I'm guessing that you don't really care, but I wanted you to know that community goes on in spite of what you've done. Oh, and that - as a community - because you dropped bombs on us we're going to recall you on June 5th.

Sincerely,

Brad Werntz

Laura Komai: "Naked Power Grab" only SOUNDS like fun

my open letter by Laura Komai (originally posted at anthology)

Well, let's face it, my sister is the one who gets letters published in the paper.  I can never pare things down enough.  But I decided to take up the challenge from Monologues of Dissent.  I am voting on June 5 to remove Governor Scott Walker out of office and here is why:

Since February of 2011, our store has sold over 23,000 buttons protesting the actions of Governor Scott Walker et al.  I will grant that most people buy more than one button, in fact, ten buttons is probably the average.  So perhaps we've only had conversations with 2300 people about the effects of Scott Walker on their lives.  Nonetheless, certain patterns emerge which have only reinforced the sentiments that prompted us to make buttons in the first place.

Now, our dad sometimes laughs and says, "you should write Scott Walker a thank-you note for the ways that he has boosted your business this year."  Ha ha.  Do I thank him for making my customers so worried about their health care, their livelihoods, their children's education?  Do I thank him for taking away the possibility of new jobs in reneweable energy sectors?  Do I thank him for threatening the quality of our waters and other natural resources?  No thank you.

Now, I know that there are those who will say that religion and politics should not mix, but I was raised in the United Church of Christ and my religion is a part of who I am.  I will admit that I might have a simplified version of Christianity, but mine is fundamentally about: "whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do so unto me."  That is about doing unto others as you'd have done to you, that is about justice and mercy and kindness, that is caring for those who might have nothing to give to you, and doing so because it is the right thing to do, not because of some eventual reward.  In that respect, I find Scott Walker unChristian and in a way that is truly offensive to me.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me, even about the existence of God, or about the value of the Church, but I DO expect people to adhere to some moral compass, whatever true north is for them.  I find Scott Walker utterly lacking in such direction.

But fine, perhaps you believe that church and state should be separate.  To that I would say that Scott Walker is also not abiding by the principles of state governance: accountability to taxpayers, transparency, the separate but equal branches of government.  I believe that all of his actions to "balance the budget" are really just an elaborate shell game to move taxpayer money into the hands of a few campaign donors, to reward these few people at cost to public well-being and to the natural resources of our state.

My sister and I own a small shop two blocks from the State Capitol.  We object to the actions of Scott Walker on some fundamental moral/religious grounds, but we also object on behalf of our customers.  What we hear from our customers is that they are worried about paying their bills, they are wondering about their pension plans that they've been paying into all these years, they are worrying about budget cuts and layoffs.  Worries such as those give lie to the notion that this state is "open for business."  I have seen very little action from the office of the Governor to allay such worries.

I think above all, what I have learned from this last year, is our utter dependence on each other.  We talk as if taxpayer is separate from state worker or consumer, but they are really all connected, if not residing in the same body.  We as consumers and voters are an important part of the picture, the well-being of workers is intimately connected to the well-being of the state as a whole.  Just ask whoever is in charge of collecting state income- and sales- taxes.  Yet Scott Walker behaves as if the well-being of this state can be parsed out into little packages, appeased with tax breaks for a few corporations, weakened air- and water-quality rules for a few others, the promise of school vouchers for a few families, a few roads for some construction companies.  Never mind that doing so threatens the livelihood of small businesses who depend on tourists swimming in clean waters, the education of the very many children who will still be in public schools, the need for our state to start facing up to the realities of climate change and the majority of people who will never make large campaign donations to be rewarded by tax breaks and special favors.

We ARE all in this together.  We know it; Scott Walker seems unable to face up to the entirety of the state he was elected to govern.  He is not fit to remain in office.

 ______________________________________

Have YOU taken the MoD Open Letter Challenge challenge yet?  It's not too late!  The recall election will be held on June 5, 2012. Make your case for the recall today and share your concerns with your friends and neighbors. Every voice matters! Make sure yours is heard in time! 

Picking Our Ponies: Recall Primary Edition of the MoD Open Letter Challenge

Since I put out my Open Letter Challenge to share your reasons for deposing Scott Walker and the other Wisconsin legislators up for recall, I have received a number of replies have been endorsements of specific candidates.  I will post all such letters here, and invite those who have a strong opinion - or strong reasons for remaining undecided - to share their views.

I myself am undecided.  I see strengths and weaknesses in all the candidates (save Scott Kevin Walker, who has only weaknesses, and money).  I have been going back and forth for weeks agonizing over this, but I think it boils down to knowing that I will support whomever emerges from the primary so fully that I don't really want to invest much energy or commitment to any candidate before then.  The bottom line is that Scott Walker must be recalled if we are to restore the rule of reason to Wisconsin and protect the future of our schools, and any of our choices to oppose him in the primary would be infinitely better than the man who thinks cuts to education are a fair trade for corporate tax breaks and out-of-state fundraising is more important than addressing the needs of  his constituents and actually serving the people who pay him to do a job he does not do.  So pick your pony and vote. You can early vote at your city clerk's office until Friday, May 4, or you can vote at the polls on May 8. The winner of the primary will face Walker (or Arthur Kohl-Riggs) on June 5.  Maybe some of these letters will help you decide if you're still on the fence like I am.

Lou Anne Roby, whose "Democracy in a Box" story was been featured on Monologues of Dissent this winter, submits the following letter in support of Senator Kathleen Vinehout, which she published in The Capital Times:

Dear Editor:  In 2011 Wisconsin citizens rose up and revived our American democracy as no one else could. Our generation of Wisconsinites stood up to Gov. Walker’s attack on worker’s rights. More than 100,000 people marched in our state’s Capitol. People from differing political perspectives joined forces to right the wrongs against our state. We did it the Wisconsin way. Everyone was welcome. People from all walks of life participated. What happened in Madison was far more than a union disagreement. We the people changed the world around us.

Our roots run deep in this great state. We are proud of our quirky pioneer spirit and generally tolerant nature. We put children first and expect our taxes to include a good education. The fact that our firefighters and policemen stood side by side with teachers, farmers and city workers is not a surprise if you are from Wisconsin. Being a good neighbor really means something here.

Scott Walker changed all of that. Commercials encouraged us to begrudge neighbors good pay and benefits. Instead of encouraging people to be the good people we know each other to be, the Walker ads have encouraged some of us to find hate and jealousy deep within ourselves. These are not the values that have seen us through the tough times and made Wisconsin what it is.

Scott Walker’s political values may have taken us here, but it is up to each of us to decide which direction we take. We can no longer afford politics as usual. Nor can Wisconsin meet the future as a divided state.

I think that farmer, professor, senator and nurse’s aide Kathleen Vinehout can lead us forward as a governor who represents everyone’s best interests. Please be the change you want to see.
Vote Vinehout on May 8.

Lou Anne Roby
Mondovi

The next two letters present very different opinions on former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

E. O'Sullivan is skeptical of Falk's chances:

I am very, very concerned that we are going to lose this Recall election.  I don't think we are looking at this situation for what it really is, but rather are pretending that it's a normal election.  We have already been told flat out that the Republicans are going to cross over and try to mess up the primary, so why are we acting like it's really a serious choice that we are making?  We have a golden opportunity to take Walker out in his own primary, thanks to Arthur Kohl-Riggs, so why are we beating up on each other instead?  It's just foolishness, in my opinion.  Kathleen Falk came on too strong, too early, and convinced the unions that she was our big white hope.  But now that Barrett is in, it's very clear from the polls that his chances of beating Walker are better, and we need to change our direction -- fast!

Below is the gist of what I keep posting wherever I find a discussion on who should win our primary, but it doesn't seem like anyone is listening.  Does anyone out there agree with me?

Falk is Dane County, and woman. She also has a strangely overconfident manner about her. She won't be winning anything statewide. She needs to withdraw now, and so do the other two. Let Barrett take it, better or worse, and let us mess up the Republican primary instead of the other way around. It's not looking good right now, folks. If we don't get down and dirty here, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.

Sincerely,

E. O'Sullivan
Whitewater

Kris Abelman writes in support of Kathleen Falk:

Victor Hugo said "There is one thing stronger than every army in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.

I like to study people's life path and see how, step by step, they are being prepared for their destiny.

Kathleen has always been ahead of the times and has experience and has helped people on all the issues we are concerned about in this election. As a child in the 50s she started a ecology group. As Public Intervener one of her responsibilities, for example, was to evaluate proposed mining projects to be sure they met standards that respected our beautiful Wisconsin. She was a single mom and is familiar and has worked on all aspects of education and women's issues. Last week Representative Chris Taylor, formerly Public Policy Director of Planned Parenthood, told me how wonderful it has been to work with Kathleen. Kathleen was the first woman to hold most of the positions she has held. She was so honest and efficient as Public Intervener Governor Tommy Thompson had her position eliminated. "Thanks" to that, she became Dane County Executive and gained  the executive and management experience necessary to be ready to be an effective Governor on day one on June 6.

I am honored to work for and support Kathleen Falk and encourage you to also, on the campaign for the soon-to-be first woman Governor of Wisconsin.

Remember to vote for Kathleen Falk in the primary election on May 8 and then again against Scott Walker on June 5.

Kris Abelmann
Rock County

Finally, Bryce Crunkilton published this letter in the Stevens Point Journal to show his support for Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett:

Barrett best candidate to defeat Walker

Former state senator and representative, currently mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, is by far the best candidate to replace Scott Walker and move Wisconsin forward. Barrett is the most qualified, realistic, well-known and popular candidate running in the Democratic gubernatorial primaries. Barrett has served both in the state senate and assembly as well as the House of Representatives. Now mayor of Milwaukee, Barrett has the experience from many different legislative sectors and also his current executive position.

When Scott Walker and his allies eliminated collective bargaining rights as part of his supposed "budget repair bill," Wisconsinites were outraged. Not only was that a step backward for Wisconsin but rights have nothing to do with the budget and so should not be part of it or a "budget repair bill." Candidate Kathleen Falk has promised to veto any budget that does not reinstate these rights. Collective bargaining had nothing to do with the budget when it was taken away and the same holds true now, so why on earth would you attach that to a budget. There is no way a budget that reinstates collective bargaining would pass our Republican-controlled assembly so with Falk our state would not pass a budget.

Barrett realizes that it is vital to reinstate these rights but he is not willing to hold our budget (and economy) hostage until he gets what he wants. That's what the Republicans did during the debt ceiling debate last summer. C'mon Democrats, don't stoop to their level!

Barrett is much better known than another of the primary candidates due mainly to his experience in many various executive and legislative processes. Also, he is the candidate most likely to defeat Walker based on the most recent poll numbers. Walker must be recalled, but a governor that is willing to hold the budget hostage unless her demands are met is hardly an improvement in my eyes. Tom Barrett is the best candidate both philosophically and in terms of defeating Walker. Vote Barrett May 8.

Bryce W. Crunkilton

Stevens Point

Dee Ives: Walker's War on Women and Veterans

Dee Ives is a United States Air Force veteran who became a nurse in the 90s to protect and serve her fellow veterans in the state nursing homes. She got involved in the uprising not only because of Act 10, but because many veterans like her gain civilian employment in Federal, State & Local governments after returning to civilian life and in the Walker Budget the veterans trust funds were given to DPSP.  She writes that it's "bad enough that Russell stole vets charity funds for his illegal campaign website, they literally stole our veteran assets in the Budget."  For Dee, an outspoken Republican who feels her party has been hijacked by Walker's anti-veteran and anti-worker agenda, "it's always about my vets."

Dee presented the following speech at the April 28, 2012 Unite Against the War on Women Rally in Madison (see clips of the rally here). She published it first on the Wisconsin Citizens' Media Cooperative page and shares it again with us here as her "open letter" to the people of Wisconsin:

Solidarity Wisconsin! As an SEIU “Union Thug” nurse and veteran, I spoke last year about how Governor Walker’s Act 10 would amount to a War on Women and veterans by using his religious right wing TEA Party to crush our female-dominated teachers and nurses unions, and assault women’s equal workplace protections under the law.

Walker’s new state of Fitzwalkerstan mirrored strategies used by extreme Taliban jihadists as they took over Afghanistan: They had declared a TEAhad on women’s constitutional rights. My fear manifested as his Fitzwalkerstan regime, those TEAhadist Taliban, passed the onerous Voter ID bill. This cost veterans, seniors, minorities and students their ability to vote in the Spring elections.

Women veterans who served in the Mid-East and had seen the Taliban there strip Afghan women of their rights to vote, own property, be educated, or hold gainful employment, now saw correlation at home as our Fitzwalkerstan TEA Taliban decreed our Wisconsin women to be second class citizens.

As one of Wisconsin’s 28,000 Women Warriors who volunteered to serve our country, swearing to defend our constitution against ALL enemies both foreign and domestic, to preserve freedom and democracy, I believe a critical denial of a woman’s constitutional right to freedom exists when her rights to vote or to join unions are denied. They are also denied when access to affordable education is restricted through budget cuts, or when many of the 25% of unemployed returning veterans can’t start businesses due to cuts in Wisconsin VA loans, or when women cannot obtain access to health insurance that preserves patient confidentiality and freedom of choice regarding reproductive rights.

Women lose the ability to go to college, pursue a career outside the home, or even join the military as they lose their ability to obtain contraceptives or reproductive healthcare options that allow them to choose when or if to start a family. The only cure for this Traumatic Scott Walker Syndrome infecting Wisconsin is to vote for politicians who support Wisconsin ratifying the ERA and our Wisconsin women’s right to choose. Women can win this War. I hope this Ode To Fitzwalkerstan inspires each and every Wisconsin woman to become a Warrior, and join this battle to recall any politician, male or female, who voted to deny Wisconsin Women their Rights this year.

I awoke to Fitzwalkerstan, yes it is done
The John Birch TEApubliCONs crow they have won
Koch addict Scott Walker & Fitzgeralds, two
Shout “We’ve beaten the unions” and they’re coming for you!

Think they crippled the unions, squashed them like bugs
Imply teachers & nurses are “Slobs”,”Union Thugs”
Emblazoned by recalls, TEA Assembly one day
Sold ALEC Corporations the right to deny women equal pay

Ignoring Grandmothers voices, treating mothers with scorn
Deny contraceptives to our daughters crying “Protect the unborn!”
The doorway they need to deny prescriptive care
To our mothers, wives, daughters & de-fund BadgerCare

Impudently passed law, like a dagger you see
Denying worker discrimination suits based on equality
Affecting all women, next they come for our vote
Progressive Lady Forward to violate, and on this note

Remember last spring, just a scant year agone?
Supreme Court election was flipped as Democracy was undone?
By their touchscreen machines & by voter ID
Seek to silence our voice in WI Democracy!

The names Prosser & Jensen, Ms Nickolaus too

Parts of the last Caucus Scandal our WI knew
Votes lost & found, the open recount bag seals
And touchscreen machines WI elections all steal.

Those unions they target, our nurses & teachers
Show the ignorance of these TEA-Party over-reachers
We voted collectively , with great accolade
“Union” said our 6 who have proud Union Maids!

WI women are voters whom they would deny the right
To have freedom of choices, or voice in our life?
The Rove machine tied to our Governor’s name
In the FBI probe of John Doe, yet un-named

Koch minions target WI, our Progressive State
By attacking our women, trying to dictate our Fate?
Like cowards pass laws in the dark of the night
Deny assembly to silence our 1st Amendment Right!

Lady Forward to pillage & rape they do seek
Passing destruction of wetlands & mining this week
Despite 1 million voices raised up to recall
In desperation Fitzwalkerstan’s grabbing it all

Our message TEApubliCONs ,tis to no avail
This Fitzwalkerstan I woke to is doomed to fail
Your mothers & daughters now join in this fight
We are ALL Lady Forward post what you did that night

No more shall you abuse our sisters & daughters
Or sell out our land, or our air, or our waters,
Or undo a century of our Progressive fight
To steal our voices or deny our rights!

Rise up now my sisters of frozen tundra fame
Get your voter ID’s this injustice to tame
Remember LaFollette’s sweet Progressive call
And become Lady Forward as you vote to RECALL!

Have YOU taken the MoD Open Letter Challenge challenge yet?  It's not too late!  The recall election will be held on June 5, 2012. Make your case for the recall today and share your concerns with your friends and neighbors. Every voice matters! Make sure yours is heard in time!

Under Walker, widowed educator loses almost everything - except her strength to fight for public ed

 

 
An educator from southeast Wisconsin, who wishes to remain anonymous, took the MoD Open Letter Challenge to present this incredibly touching and heartfelt story of what Walker's cuts have meant to her life and her work, and her commitment to moving Wisconsin forward. I am honored to share it, and hope it inspires you to share your own story, pass it on, and - most of all - VOTE on May 8 and June 5.

My husband, Andy, died almost 3 years ago. He had always supported me in everything I ever wanted to do, even if it meant my being away from home a little bit more. He was disabled and wheelchair-bound for the last 10 years of his life, even though he and I went many places together every weekend. I went to work for Kerry in 2004 and Obama in 2008 - he was so proud of me for working for what I believed in.

When he died, to use a cliche, I was lost, even though I knew it would come eventually. So, I rescued another dog to keep our other baby company while I was at work. That helped, and I love her, but it wasn't fulfilling enough. So, finally, in the fall of 2010, I decided to go back to school for a masters in Secondary Math, starting in January 2011. I had gotten a math minor 2 years before he died in a two year program paid for by the district and he was so supportive of that because he knew that's what I'd always wanted to teach. So, in my view, he helped support me in that decision to go for a masters and I knew he was smiling down on me and telling me to go for it!  I could still feel his pride.

So, I took out loans (had never had to do that before since I went to college when dinosaurs were still walking the earth) and started weekend classes in January. I was so proud of myself! Then, February 2011 came and all hell broke loose. I was on my own with only my income, Bank of America had been dragging its feet for years to modify or refinance my house, and I was afraid of losing not only my home, but my last connection to my husband.

I couldn't believe the words out of Scott Walker's mouth. I kept thinking that something, anything, would stop the insanity and whole idea of taking money and collective bargaining would go away. But it didn't, and it kept getting worse.

I finally moved in April 2011 and just waited for BoA to take my house. They finally did last month. I took what I wanted from the house, including my precious memories, sold some of it, and left the rest for those bastards to clean up.

Although I'm one of the "lucky" ones who have a good contract through June 2013 (We signed it in October 2010, so it is a regular contract with protections and a 3% raise), our superintendent (who was new last year) is totally incompetent and she and the school board act like we don't have a contract. She usually ignores the union and either doesn't answer their requests or lies. She treats us like second-class citizens, hardly even acknowledging our presence or our hours of dedication day in and day out. Needless to say, morale is not good.

Unfortunately, I chose to leave the masters program because I saw the writing on the wall after about 120 teachers were let go last year and another 260 have been let go for next year. Not only was I in fear of being let go (I only have 10 years in the district and state), but I knew I'd never get paid for that extra education since we wouldn't have a contract anymore. Now, I get to pay loans for 3 semesters of classes that will never be used. I wish I could retire, but I'm in the same mess as many teachers - old enough, but not enough years. Most teachers have enough years, but aren't old enough, and they're also stuck. Thank you, Scott Walker.

Last year, 98 district employees retired, when the usual amount was 50. This year, 94 are retiring. They're not doing this because they suddenly decided they wanted to retire. They did this because they saw the writing on the wall. They had a future of a pension (however long it remains), healthcare, and no headaches anymore.

This wasn't just caused by our superintendent. This was started by Scott Walker himself when he declared teachers and other public employees as the "Haves" in February 2011. This by a man without even a college degree because he was expelled by Marquette for cheating on a campus election. Every teacher in every public school in this state has more education that he does. Every teacher in every public school in this state loves their students, respects them, and wants them to be tomorrow's leaders. Teachers only want respect and recognition in return.

Scott Walker respects neither teachers nor their students. If he respected teachers, he wouldn't be calling them the "Haves" and taking their hard-earned income from them, far less than other professions with the same education. If he respected the students of this state, he wouldn't be taking 1.6 billion dollars from public education and millions more from the state college system and the technical college system.

Scott Walker is a con man. He conned uninformed people with his slick commercials (bought by multi-billionaires) and catchy slogans (250,000 jobs!). It's time to call his bluff and let him see how it feels to have the rug pulled out from under you.

I can see Andy smiling down on me now. He's so proud that I'm standing up for what I believe in!

Save our schools. Recall Walker. Vote May 8 and June 5.

guest post: Walker's Right. The protesters are to blame. For everything.

When Politicus USA published a provocative article titled "Scott Walker Blames Protesters for Wisconsin's Highest in Nation Job Losses," my friend Meg from Cambridge had to share her thoughts...

Ah yes, it's all our fault. We started it. Businesses would have been busting down the doors to the state if we, the protesters, hadn't said no to stimulus money for high speed rail, health care, and green energy;

if we hadn't tried to stop wind farms, coal plant conversions and infrastructure updates intended to clean up the environment;

if we hadn't removed the money from our pockets so we no longer spent it on discretionary items like coffee and movies and restaurant lunches;

if we hadn't insisted on cutting our effective take home by thousands of dollars and making our jobs less stable;

if we hadn't defunded our school systems to make our colleges and school districts less competitive and less able to educate;

if we hadn't taken funding from communities and stymied their ability to meet services;

if we hadn't slashed our own morale by accusing ourselves of being thugs, miscreants, selfish haves sucking at the teat of the taxpayer (us!);

if we hadn't started calling ourselves whiners and started pitting ourselves against other struggling families (the non-whining patriots);

if we hadn't decided to line the pockets of the rich with funds we took from safety nets that prevent the poorest from falling through the cracks;

if we hadn't decided to throw thousands off of Badgercare;
if we hadn't decided to grab power for ourselves and usurp the power of state government so that the regulators become enablers;

if we hadn't made it so towns and local governments couldn't exclude certain industries like frac sand operations from operating in their communities;

if we hadn't violated open records laws, tried to limit voting rights, demanded loyalty oaths of lawmakers drafting gerrymandered voting districts;

if we hadn't tried to lock the public out of the public's house, made the act of carrying a camera illegal, and silenced public discourse;

if we hadn't done these things, certainly business would be flocking to Wisconsin.

And it's Walker's total lack of curiosity and critical thinking skills (or just plain lying) if he thinks unemployment rates have anything to do with more people working, when we, of course, it's always us, cut the number of weeks people remain eligible for unemployment. 

And, of course, it's we who had to hire a criminal defense team for our John Doe investigation. Uh-huh. That's a good one governEr, a real knee-slapper.

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Have YOU taken the MoD Open Letter Challenge? The recall election will be held on June 5, 2012. Make your case today for why Scott Walker and the other candidates should be recalled from office.  We have 5 weeks. Let your voice be heard.