Live Reporting from the Wisconsin Protests

It All Had to Start SomewhereSince Monday, February 14, CMD reporters have been on the streets providing live coverage of the historic protests in Madison, Wisconsin and related legal and political battles. We focus on the corporations and spinmeisters pulling the strings. CMD is supported by small contributions from people like you. Consider making a contribution today. If you have scheduling information or tips for our reporters please contact us at (608) 260-9713 or editor@prwatch.org.


GOODBYE FOR NOW

On July 13, 2011 CMD ended this on-going report into the Wisconsin protests which we have maintained since February 14, 2011. It has been an honor to report on the historic events from Wisconsin from our office 4 blocks from the Capitol and have this reporting picked up on so many sites across the country. Today we launch a new chapter in our reporting on the shadowy front groups and corporations behind the recent assault on workers rights and democracy. Visit our new website ALECexposed.org to learn more about the corporate agenda in Wisconsin and continue to visit PRWatch.org for reporting on Wisconsin. -- The CMD team.

MONDAY, JULY 11TH NEWS ROUNDUP

Wisconsin State Journal: Democrats cry foul over Republican redistricting maps

Democratic leaders expressed shock and anger Friday after Republicans unveiled their proposal for redrawing the state's congressional and legislative districts, saying the new lines favor the majority party and target Democrats involved in upcoming recall elections. But according to Republicans, 22 legislators will be affected, either by being drawn out of their district or by being paired with another legislator in their district. Of that group 12 are Republican, GOP leaders say. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Was senator threatened on budget vote?

A prominent business leader from state Sen. Rob Cowles' district was stunned when the veteran lawmaker explained why he voted in favor of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget-repair plan. Cowles had contacted the business leader earlier this year to ask for the person's support in his upcoming recall election. "He said, 'I didn't like this (bill) either. I didn't like being put in this position. I didn't like anything about the way it was done,'" the business leader quoted Cowles as saying. "'But the governor's office told us if we didn't give them our support, they would run a tea party candidate against us.'" READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Wisconsin State Journal: State gears up for recall season opener

On Tuesday, Wisconsin begins the largest recall season in its history. By the time the final vote is tallied on Aug. 16, there will have been nine recall elections; six for Republican senators and three for Democratic senators. If Democrats can hold onto their seats and take three more, they return to power in the state Senate and have a formidable weapon to use against Walker. Passage of Republican-authored legislation, which has seen virtually no opposition in the GOP-controlled Legislature, will slam to a halt. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

La Crosse Tribune: Primary to be soft test for new voter ID law

Voters in Tuesday's primary election and next month's state Senate recall won't have to show a picture ID. But they will be asked. "It's a soft implementation to give everybody a chance to get used to it," said Reid Magney, spokesman for Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections. "The idea was because this was such a big change we don't want to disenfranchise anyone by springing this on voters. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Bloomberg: Senator Johnson Says U.S. Can Avoid Default If Debt Ceiling Not Raised

The U.S. won't have to default on its obligations to bondholders even if Congress fails to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by an August deadline, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said. "If we don't increase the debt ceiling, we'll have to live within our means," the freshman from Wisconsin said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital with Al Hunt" airing this weekend. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.


Wisconsin Protests photo gallery

LIVE REPORT ARCHIVES

Comments

Keep up the good fight! Stand together, don't give up, and don't give in. Stay there as long as it takes. All the unions in America are behind you and are so proud of you.

We are watching you all from here in DC, where the Tea Party wants to throw half of our Section 8 tenants out of their homes with Federal budget cuts. Like here in DC, you are fighting Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is reported to have gotten a tax break larger than the entire Wisconsin budget deficit, meaning this is a "war of choice" for the governor and the Tea Party. All eyes are on Wisconsin right now, just as all eyes are on Bahrain and Libya in the wake of the Egyptian People's Victory. This is the "People's Super Bowl" except for one thing: It is the beginning, not the end of the season. If you all can follow Green Bay's example and sack the Tea Party in Wisconsin, all those who push austerity will be put on notice that they cannot try this without paying a price. You may even prevent a Federal government shutdown that would stop Social Security checks and Medicare checks from going out!

The protesters need to go after the root of the issue in WI, like elsewhere in this country - corporations. In WI, it's the Koch brothers that are at the root cause of this. The governor is just a puppet of the Koch's.

"Since Tuesday, February 15, tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents have been flooding the State Capitol in Madison in protest of Governor Walker's proposed budget "repair" bill that would end 50 years of collective bargaining for Wisconsin workers." As a proud member of the TAA-Teaching Assistants' Association of UW-Madison, I would like to enter a correction to the preceding statement and opening statement on this page. The protest began MONDAY February 14 when the TAA lead students and other supporters to the office of the governor. Since then we have maintained the occupation of the Capitol bldg with the support of other unions, businesses and concerned citizens. Here is a video of the first action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-iRipbtjks Please correct this oversight. The TAA lead the way, initiating the first steps in this revolution on February 14, 2011 Proper acknowledgement is due. Thank you. Angela M. Wellman TAA member, UW-Madison

Dear Angela: Thank you for catching this. It has been corrected. Please accept our sincere apology for this oversight. TAA was indeed the initiator of this awakening and deserves credit for walking out the door for the first protest of this extraordinary response, in Wisconsin and across the nation. Lisa

There was a great turn out Tuesday, in NM, in solidarity with Wisconsin. Petitions signed to impeach new NM Governor.. Dare To Dream network discussed the importance of getting a petition moving to change laws, more teeth, to hold corporate gr$$d accountable..Over 1000 attended Tuesday. Saturday there will be an even larger turnout also addressing the Union busting tactics that Wisconsin's own face..as well as the nation on the whole.. http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=238 American's are waking up..Now to keep the torch lit... This flyer below was handed out on Tuesday and will be handed out on Saturday.. Photos of the rally here.. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=100000542183622&aid=52476#!/photo.php?fbid=196252417069496&set=a.196252360402835.52476.100000542183622&theater JOIN SATURDAYS RALLY......http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=238 Freedom means "We" discover truth for ourselves. If "We" relinquish that responsibility, "We" relinquish freedom. Corporations have become MERCENARIES under the guise of being Business people. Their pernicious actions devastated, under the Reagan administration and a Republican led congress, several countries south of America's borders. This abuse of power must be brought to a halt. Big business should never have been allowed to move in the direction of EMPIRE building. Hello! Sound familiar? Fascism anyone? Legislation must be enacted, and demanded by American voters, to put big biz Corporations, especially those mega corporations operating outside of America, ON NOTICE! American's told GWB, when he said he was going into Iraq, "Not In Our Name". Well, "We" are still here, and "We" are saying to the big biz tyrants, "NOT IN OUR NAME"!!! I sometimes wonder what it is "We" American's won after defeating Fascism/Nazism. It's plain as day that this ideology, supposedly conquered, is alive and well and biting "US", and the WORLD, were we live. Corporations were never to be allowed to create monopolies because of the ramifications that would arise, LIMITING COMPETITION. Well, that is not the way, especially since the Reagan years, it's been coming down. America's Shame is showing because there are still American's who don't get it. Corporations are taking this nation's freedoms, rights, jobs, clean air and water, and her Dreams, into the abyss. Legislation to control this abuse must be enacted! But, the question is, how do "We" go about these changes that all can believe in? Our legislators are controlled, not by the people as was the design of the Constitution, but via a gift from 5 treasonous Supreme Court Justices who crowned Corporate gr$$d, with Personhood. The Dare To Dream Network is hoping to draw up a petition addressing this issue.. Others should consider this as well. The more the merrier. We are also about to debut our latest activist website, aptly called, "RUMBLE OF THE PEOPLE" Stay tuned since we are working on a plan to do radio from this site as well. This Democracy/Republic cannot survive without the US in jUStice. Barbara/founder/dtdn.net www.TheBridgeToNowhere.org www.DareToDreamNetwork.net http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=238

The Republican Agenda ● Abolish Labor Unions – Below are the work force conditions set by the unions. Without the unions, corporations are free to alter or abolish set conditions as they see fit. – Collective Bargaining Rights: Bargaining covers hours, wages, benefits, working conditions, and the rules of the workplace. – 5 Day Work Week: weekends/2 days off – 8 hour work day – 40 hour work week – Workmen’s compensation – Unemployment compensation – Workers protection in the work place – Sick leave – Vacation pay – Maternity leave ● Abolish The Teachers Union [American Federation of Teachers] – Fights for the rights of teachers and higher education employees, who negotiate to protect the efficacy of education caused by random cuts imposed by protectors of tax rates. ● Raise Education Tuition – A proper education becomes harder to achieve. An unintelligent mind is an easily manipulated one. ● Abolish Minimum Wage – Control payroll wages; corporations set the minimum hourly wage. ● Abolish or Privatize Social Security – If this is abolished, no more safety net for the disabled or elderly. If privatized the corporations will control it. ● Raise The Retirement Age – Work until you perish. ● Abolish Pensions – No more retirement security. ● Abolish Child Labor Laws – Corporations decide the age at which one can work. ● Abolish or Defund Health Care [Medicare & Medicaid] – Remove affordable health care. ● Abolish Planned Parenthood – Remove abortion rights, with no exception for rape, incest, or life of the mother, and deny access to birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving care. ● Abolish Consumer Food Protections – Corporations remove government oversight on the foods we eat. ● Deport American Born Children Of Illegal Aliens – Remove the democratic minority vote. It is unconstitutional to deport an American born child. ● Alter The Constitution So That American Born Children Of Illegal Aliens can be deported – Remove the democratic minority vote. ● Abolish NAACP – Remove the Democratic minority vote. ● Defund NPR [National Public Radio] – Silence the public voice. ● Defund PBS [Public Broadcasting System] – Silence the public voice. PBS is the home of Sesame Street. ● Abolish EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] – Protects the public health & environment from unrestricted corporate control. ● Abolish The Green Movement – Stop funding for new energy technologies that would break our dependence on big oil. ● Discredit Climate Change – Despite overwhelming scientific evidence, Republicans in conjunction with Fox News have worked tirelessly to denounce and misinterpret the facts surrounding the severity of growing worldwide climatic events. Climate change has now begun effecting food & commodities pricing around the world. Evidence for climate change is mocked and cast aside by big oil corporations, their lobbyists, and special interest groups, who together with Fox News, seek to curtail the facts in order to maintain corporate and monetary control. There is a war going on that you may have felt but not heard about, a war on the poor and Middle Class. With the country sprinting to the right, the far right, and the Republicans attempting to carry out there 30 year long agenda, the very foundation of the country is at stake. Republican administrations since Reagan have fought to increase the growing division between the Middle Class, and their Upper Class minority counterparts. To make matters worse, the 2010 Citizens United landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court stating that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment has placed our electoral process in jeopardy. It means that corporations, which overwhelmingly support and fund the conservative agenda, are allowed to fund their chosen candidates without limit. This was a great victory for the Republicans, and a fatal blow to the Democratic Party, as well as the American people. It’s not that buying elections is anything new, it’s that never being able to even hear the other side is. With unlimited moneys at their disposal the GOP can drown out and silence the opposing side. Obstacles to the GOP agenda still remain; obstacles that could cause the GOP agenda to be undermined; obstacles that threaten what they now believe is their God given right to govern, and those obstacles are the above cited targets. Abolish them and nothing will be strong enough to oppose them. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was one of those obstacles effectively abolished by the Republicans. ACORN was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low-and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and a living wage that enabled an individual to afford basic necessities, and other social issues. In 2009, selectively edited videos were released by two conservative activists (posing as a pimp and prostitute) using a hidden camera to elicit damaging responses from low-level ACORN employees that appeared to advise them on how to hide prostitution activities and avoid taxes. The GOP & Fox News relentlessly targeted ACORN, using these cleverly edited videos to create a nationwide controversy in order to discredit, defund, and ultimately in 2010, take down ACORN. The truth concerning the videos were eventually brought to light but uncovered too late. The resulting loss of funding from government and private donors has forced ACORN to close their doors effectively silencing the poor and minority vote. ACORN had worked to support strict state laws against corporate predatory lending practices, organized against foreclosure rescue scams, and steered borrowers toward loan counseling. ACORN and its affiliates advocated for affordable housing by urging the development, rehabilitation, and establishment of housing trust funds at the local, state, and federal levels. ACORN had aided thousands of poor and low income families, but because they frequently endorsed Democratic candidates and helped with voter registration, they became a conservative target. The Republican strategy is a simple one, a tried-and-true tactic reminiscent of every authoritarian state’s rise to power throughout history. Position the players, begin a propaganda campaign, create a fiscal crisis that forces intense pressures upon the masses, inject controversy that draws battle lines dividing its citizens, foment anarchy, and with expediency drive forth, passing sweeping legislation in the name of correcting the problems that they themselves created. The outcome of this strategy then diverts all the wealth and power to the upper ruling class. Same old, same old, but for some reason we always forget. The current propaganda arm of the Republican agenda is the GOP/Fox News Machine. Their constant incessant fear mongering, half truths, carefully crafted spin, and disdain for everything democratic worked so smoothly in the 2010 General Election that most of the US voted Republican. Although the current Republican agenda has been around since Reagan, the Republicans no longer feel the need to hide it. Attacks on Democratic issues began the moment they took office. The Labor Unions, Planned Parenthood, Social Security, health care, as well as funding for the poor are but a few Democratic targets the Republicans are tirelessly working to abolish. The Republican’s are not the good guys. They have conspired with billionaires and corporations to shift all wealth and power to the upper class. What has stood in the way of their objective is the Democratic Party. Although the Democratic Party is not perfect, they do tend to fight for the American poor and middle class people; even while the Republicans are off concerning themselves with corporate interests, seizing and maintaining power, acquiring vast wealth for their corporate masters, and launching the latest war. What we’re witnessing now is the implementation of a well thought out intensely coordinated Republican attack on the Democratic Party. Take the Democratic Party down, and the poor and middle class people fall with them. That’s why the Unions are under attack. Abolish them, as well as every low income and minority organization whose vote supports the Democrats, and Republicans and their rich backers gain total control. Generation after generation would then be living under a one party corporate state with a ruling body having total control over every aspect of their lives. Generations would be subject to a government beholden to the multi-national corporations of which their only loyalty and consideration would be to their shareholders. Eventually we will become China; which is what the corporations wanted in the first place; a ruling class riding high on the backs of low wage workers. This war between classes is an ideological one that will break the country’s back. What’s at stake now is everything; everything that the working class has worked so hard to gain for the American people over the last hundred years. It is the dismantling of the New Deal, and it begs the question of whether or not there will even be a middle class in the near future if the Republicans are successful in their attempt to usurp power. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. That’s not just a cliché, it’s a fact. Wages are falling behind inflation, social mobility is at an all-time low, and a chasm between the haves-and-have-nots has become wider than at any point in our history. We must stand now while we still have the ground, and the voice to do so. While the rest of the world fights for individual human rights, Republicans seek to curtail the rights we here in America have fought so hard to achieve. This is why your vote matters. Pay attention. Learn the facts on both sides. Get involved, because what’s at stake is your future. One last thing: ask yourself this question. Why have the Republicans asked the Poor & Middle Class to sacrifice so much while the top 1% hasn’t been asked to sacrifice anything? Wake up America and pass this on to everyone.

If that is truly the Republican agenda I support them. You need to depend upon your own merit and labors. The sky is the limit in the USA but you can't depend upon unions, help from government or charities.

The top 2% pay 80 percent of all federal taxes. Consider fact checking and then form an opinion on facts. The wealthiest Americans own businesses, they build new buildings and, they buy things, etc and that all equals JOBS; union jobs! Obama set unions back further than any other elected official or group of elected officials in this country's great history. Remember the auto industry? Obama put Chrysler out of business, permanently shut down Amercian union auto plants and those workers are still out of work. He put Mexican and Canadian auto plants back on line! He closed successful Chrysler dealerships all over the country and put entire business districts out of business in the process. Obama did fund Goldman Sachs while putting their biggest competitor, Lehman Brothers, out of business. How pepople did he put out of work there? For how much? Where did all of the money go for the stressed subprime homeowners that were facing foreclosure? Any clue? Here's a hint; it did NOT go to those intended. Foreclosures continued and those folks who should have received assistance are HOMELESS! Look it up and start dealing in reality. Or you can continue slandering and blaming the right with your empty rant while this President stands on the backs of organized labor and on the backs of the poor and tells you its the fault of the conservatives. Stop falling for Obama telling you to look over there, not over here.

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