Posted on 03/12/2012 12:26:10 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
...One year after the Republican-controlled Legislature curtailed collective bargaining for most public-sector workers, thousands of pro-labor demonstrators converged Saturday on the Capitol in a "Reclaim Wisconsin March."
They sang songs, listened to speeches and chanted, "This is what democracy looks like," an echo of the demonstrations that clogged the Capitol during the height of last year's protests ...
Saturday's crowd wasn't as large as the throngs that showed up a year ago, but on a bright, sunny, springlike afternoon, enthusiasm was high during an event that amounted to a kickoff for an expected season of recall elections.
"It's more of a celebration," said Peg Durkin, an art teacher from Ithaca who held up a sign that said "Wake Up the Base," on one side, and "Hey Walker, Does the Recall Occupy Your Thoughts?" on the other.
~snip~
The speakers talked about union rights and potential recall elections, as labor and its Democratic allies seek to oust Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four GOP state senators.
Several speakers took verbal aim at Walker as well as David and Charles Koch, industrialists who back conservative causes.
"We're back," said Phil Neuenfeldt, Wisconsin AFL-CIO president.
"Look at what a difference a year makes," said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union. "Governor Walker and the Koch Brothers started something last year, but they're not going to like how it ends. When it ends there is going to be a pro middle-class governor and lieutenant governor."
Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin and a potential candidate for lieutenant governor, criticized what he claimed was a domination of the political process by corporate interests.
"This no longer feels like the United States of America. It feels like we're living in the United Corporations of America," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
I’m in Chicago, a guy the next block over has a “Recall Walker” sign in his yard.
I don`t doubt it.. No one will convince me the Chi-thugs don`t have some skin in that game.
Of all of the stupid legacies of the Progressive Movement of the early 20th Century, recall elections are the worst. Why should there be a revote at the convenience of those whose candidate lost the election?
The problem with two-year terms is that legislators are constantly in election mode, and, unless they are in a safe district, rarely vote their principles or get to concentrate on legislating. Four-year, staggered terms are fine by me, although I do believe that it is a violation of the one-man, one-vote principle not to elect someone to a four-year term right before redistricting (because voters who were moved into such district would go 6 years without electing a representative), so elections that year should be for two-year terms.
The CA GOP had to recall 2 RINO phonies in order to finally wrest the Speakership, by which time Willie had left to become SF Mayor and the GOP had less than a year of power before the Dems formally reclaimed the Speakership before 1996 was over.
I understand 2-year terms would mean a constant campaign mode, but that would nullify these absurd recalls. The only real justification for recall is malfeasance in office or outright deception of the voters (I would say deception in the case of the 2 apostates in CA who misrepresented themselves as Republicans). In the case of WI, there is neither, but a “I’m mad because you’re doing what I don’t want” on the part of the left.
If you have some paint, sneak over there at night and replace Walker with Quinn.
How about we keep terms at 4 years *and* get rid of recalls? Screw the Progressives.
That reminds me of our crappy new recall law.
It applies ONLY to Governor and requires the assent of a certain number of state legislators from both parties. Ensuring it will never be used.
Walker to Unions, “Bring it on, bitch!”
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