Reverse Robin Hood Visits Banks Near WI Capitol
This afternoon, the People's Rights Campaign, a coalition of labor and community organizations, organized a community action on Madison's Capitol Square.
Democracy
Walker Promotes Education Privatization in D.C. Amid Protests
It seems wherever Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker goes, protesters seem to follow. This rule held true earlier this week in Washington D.C., when Walker used his newly burnished credentials as an extremist to address a forum promoting the privatization of public schools.
The American Federation for Children (ACF) promotes school privatization and voucher schemes that take away critically needed funds for public education to fund private schools. Inside the Marriott, The American Federation for Children's "School Choice Now: Empowering America's Children" policy summit attracted voucher boosters like Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett and Michelle Rhee, the former controversial head of the Washington D.C. public school system. Outside the Marriott, there were around 200 protesters with signs that read "Public Education Not Privatization," "Save Our Schools," and "Vouchers Aren't the Answer."
Voter Suppression Bills Sweep the Country
A wave of voter suppression legislation is emerging from newly elected GOP governors and Republican legislators that would make it much more difficult for traditional Democratic constituencies to vote -- just in time for the 2012 election. About a dozen states are are actively considering legislation that would make voting much more difficult for college students, minorities, the elderly and the disabled.
Wisconsin Recalls Are Heating Up
Recall elections loom on the horizon as petitions against nine Wisconsin state senators were recently submitted to the Government Accountability Board (GAB). Each successful petition must include 25 percent of the total number of votes cast in that senate district in the last election.
The recall efforts of Republican senators who supported Gov. Scott Walker's Budget Repair Bill, and the Democratic senators who left the state to delay voting on the bill, are a result of the political firestorm that quickly flared up over the bill that sought to eliminate almost all collective bargaining rights for public workers.
Currently, the Republican senators who are facing a recall election are Alberta Darling, Robert Cowles, Sheila Harsdorf, Luther Olsen, Randy Hopper and Dan Kapanke. Democrats are facing recall efforts are -- Dave Hansen, Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch.
Big Bank Backlash: From Coast to Coast People are Moving their Money
As the economy continues to sputter and new unemployment claims surge to an eight-month high, it hasn't escaped the notice of people on Main Street that the folks on Wall Street are back in the black.
According to Fortune magazine, profits of the 500 largest U.S. corporations have surged 81 percent this past year. Fortune's editors write, "We've rarely seen such a stark gulf between the fortunes of the 500 and those of ordinary Americans."
When Fortune is standing up for the workers, you know it's bad.
Scott Walker Champions State Employees?
Submitted by Jennifer Page on
In an alternate universe scenario, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker released a video this week thanking Wisconsin public workers and asking the public for nominations for "public servants showing outstanding innovations, exceptional service and ongoing dedication." Just months after the governor spearheaded a bill that would take away almost all collective bargaining rights and slash benefits and pensions for unions and public workers, The Daily Cardinal reported that Walker announced May 4th a State Employee Recognition Day. "In challenging economic and budget times, state employees continue to cut costs and gain efficiencies in the delivery of essential services by utilizing taxpayer resources wisely and seeking better ways to provide high-quality services," Walker said in the proclamation."
No
Main Source:
Wisconsin Special Election Seen as a Bellwether for Future Recall Elections
Yesterday three special elections were held in Wisconsin to fill the
seats of legislators tapped by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to fill
vacancies in his administration.
In a special election, Democrat Steve Doyle defeated Republican John Lautz for the Wisconsin District 94 Assembly, flipping a seat held by Republicans for 16 years. The hot topic in the race was Gov. Scott Walker's plan to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Protests in Benton Harbor follow Martial Law Enforcement
The stripping of all power of the local government in Benton Harbor, Michigan has brought the national spotlight to the tiny town on the shores of Lake Michigan. The first city to be declared in a "financial emergency" by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, CMD reported that Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) Joseph Harris was assigned to the city back in 2010 by then-Governor Jennifer Granholm. But it wasn't until March of this year that Harris essentially disbanded the local government and boards.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. responded to this takeover while on a tour of the state, calling for a rainbow coalition to organize against the EFM bill and others that Snyder and the Republican-led Senate has passed. At a protest in Benton Harbor, Jackson said that he, along with Michigan Congressman John Conyers, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and Benton Harbor Mayor Wilce Cook will file a lawsuit to challenge the law's constitutionality.
Colvin on Comparing the Constitutional Amendments Proposed after Citizens United
By Greg Colvin
Among those who feel the only way to overcome the Citizens United decision, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending on elections, is to amend the U.S. Constitution, the question on everyone's mind is: "So what's the language?"
I offered a version of my own, the Citizens Election Amendment, posted three months ago at this site. It got a pretty good response (over 400 people "liked" it on Facebook) and last week I was in Washington, DC, talking to several members of Congress about it.
The main approach I take is to build upon the individual citizen's constitutional RIGHT TO VOTE (a right that Americans have shed blood and died for), protecting and expanding it to give citizen human beings the right to be the sole source of funding for election campaigns.
Leader of Utah Recall Group Exposed
Back in February, CMD wrote that a little-known Utah group was behind many of the recall campaigns in Wisconsin targeting Democrats. The story about the American Recall Coalition left many Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin scratching their heads. Now more is being discovered about this mysterious group and its leader Dan Baltes.
The Salt Lake City Deseret News has done an in-depth profile of Baltes. For starters, Dan Baltes isn't his real name. His real name is Daniel Arthur Elliott. The Deseret News says, "He took his third wife's last name after they married about 3 ½ years ago. He said he wanted to distance himself from an ex-girlfriend and an ex-wife."
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