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Melissa Baldauff — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:31:57 -0400

After months of historic division, job loss, criminal corruption and partisan power grabs, Tom Barrett will put Wisconsin first and end Scott Walker’s ideological civil war.

As our new governor, Tom Barrett will work with all Wisconsinites to focus on education, jobs and economic security for working families, not tax breaks for the wealthy. But we need your help to make sure that happens.

That’s why we're sharing this status update - so you can see the progress we’ve made and what we still need to do in just 22 days to finish the job of recalling Scott Walker. Momentum is on our side and we have the more than 35,000 volunteers to prove it. We’ve activated our neighbor-to-neighbor program of people talking to people in their front lawns, in their kitchens, and in their living rooms about the future of our state and it’s stronger than any amount of sleazy special interest cash Scott Walker can haul in.

Scott Walker has shown time and again that he is somebody willing to divide neighbor-against-neighbor in a way that harms the working families of Wisconsin. Recently released video of Walker promising a Koch brothers strategist that he will “use divide and conquer” against the people of Wisconsin is a stark reminder that we cannot move forward with Scott Walker in office.

Tom Barrett will put Wisconsin first, but with just 22 days to go, we are in a race against not only the clock, but also the $25 million Scott Walker was able to amass from out-of-state special interests.

Please take a moment to review the attached documents, share them with your friends and chip in with a grassroots donation of $5 to defeat Scott Walker on June 5 by visiting http://www.wisdems.org/strategy.

Getting to Know Your Candidates: Mahlon Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor

Steven Potter — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:25:40 -0400

As part of a new series called "Getting to Know Your Candidates," please find an introduction below from President of the Firefighters of Wisconsin Mahlon Mitchell, the lieutenant governor candidate endorsed by the Party and many others, who will soon replace Rebecca Kleefisch.

Please, get to know Mahlon Mitchell:

Hello, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens who I haven’t had the chance to meet: My name is Mahlon Mitchell. I’m running for lieutenant governor of the State of Wisconsin and I’d appreciate your vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday May 8th.

I’m a firefighter by trade – it’s been my career for the past 15 years, and I serve as a Lieutenant in the Madison Fire Department. The job runs in my family; I have two brothers in the fire service and when I was 19 years old, I decided that I too wanted to be a firefighter.

My brothers and I didn’t become firefighters for fame or money. We do the job because we care about our communities. We don’t expect everyone to make this level of commitment – it’s a calling more than a job – but it’s a commitment I’ve been glad to make. I believe hard-working men and women deserve a fair chance to succeed, and that middle class common sense has its place in solving even our biggest challenges.

Over the past 15 months, all of us here in Wisconsin have watched events unfold in our state. We’ve watched our government grind to a halt over partisan battles as our governor and lieutenant governor divide the state on the grounds of party ideology and class. We have seen our schools fall behind and we have witnessed an unprecedented attack on the rights of women and working families. And we’ve felt the pain as our state lost more jobs than any other state in the country while corporations continue to receive millions in tax cuts.

Our state’s economic crisis impacts us all, unemployed or employed, rich or poor, secure or not. When a situation like this comes upon a state, the job of our government should be to address the crisis head on, with teamwork and creative solutions that bring us together. A year of continued job loss and a massively deteriorated political climate tell us that they have failed as our first responders. But if we want something different, we have to stop sending typical politicians to Madison. You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

Firefighters have a saying: “All Hands Working.” It is our motto when confronted with a crisis. It means that every firefighter on scene is doing a task or job to stabilize a situation. Now is our opportunity for all hands to work together for Wisconsin. We must stop fighting the same old political wars of the past. By working together, we can solve these problems and restore the Wisconsin values of fairness and hard work to government. These are values I learned growing up in Delavan and they are values that have helped my wife and I raise our children. Early on we all learn that Wisconsin is a place of opportunity, where hard work is rewarded and those willing to work hard can dream big.

On May 8th, I’m seeking to become the nominee of the Democratic Party for lieutenant governor. My intent is to bring a firefighter's mindset to how our state responds to our current crises, whether it’s getting the economy on track, keeping our schools strong and restoring the funding our kids need in the classroom or addressing the poverty that many of our fellow Wisconsinites suffer in daily.

I’m Mahlon Mitchell and I would appreciate your vote.

For more info visit www.MahlonMitchell.com

Rep. Peter Barca: "By Any Measure, Governor Walker Has Nation’s Worst Jobs Record"

Melissa Baldauff — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:17:03 -0400

Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca offered this week's Democratic Weekly Radio Address. The topic is Gov. Walker's terrible jobs record, including a review of more than 20 years of federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) seasonally adjusted job data that shows Wisconsin has never led the nation in job loss as far back the current methodology accurately accounts.

Also released this week was a report by the federal BLS showing Wisconsin is the only state to endure "statistically significant" job losses over the past 12 months.

A written transcript of the address is below:

This week, we received more startling news about Wisconsin’s jobs record under Gov. Walker. A new report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Wisconsin is the only state to endure 'statistically significant' job losses over the past 12 months.

That means we are dead last on job creation.

Wisconsin also led the nation in job losses in 2011. We researched it, and that’s the first time in more than 20 years of federal record-keeping that our state has ever had that unfortunate distinction.

And since Gov. Walker took office, Wisconsin has lost 10,200 total jobs – far more than any other state in the country.

By any meaningful metric, Gov. Walker has the worst jobs record of any governor in the nation. While the nation as a whole has added jobs for 18 straight months and neighboring states like Illinois have posted large job gains, Wisconsin continues to move in the wrong direction.

But instead of leading on this issue, Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans passed laws that are actually harmful to our workforce, like rolling back equal pay protections for women.

We must be far more aggressive in advancing policies that help create good-paying jobs for Wisconsin families. My fellow Democrats and I have proposed more than two dozen job creation bills. And I will continue to reach out and try to work on a bipartisan basis to put people back to work quickly.

Every Wisconsin worker deserves elected leaders who are working for them – not pushing an extreme agenda that does nothing to create jobs.

The governor’s approach is clearly not working. It’s time Wisconsin gets back to being a national leader in something other than job losses.

Know The Real Democrats

John Hanson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:24:07 -0400

By: John Hanson

Scott Walker and his Republican Party are up to their usual dirty tricks in a desperate attempt to cling to power and subvert the democratic process. Recently, the Government Accountability Board certified the names of Republicans – posing as Democrats – to appear on the ballot.

Here at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin we want to ensure that you know who the real democratic candidates are, and who the fake ones are. Below you will find a list of democratic candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, and the four Wisconsin senate districts.

May 8th, 2012 Recall Primary Election – Democratic Candidates

Governor:

Tom Barrett

Kathleen Falk

Doug La Follette

Kathleen Vinehout

FAKE Democrat:

Gladys Huber

Lt. Governor:

Mahlon Mitchell (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

Ira Robins

FAKE Democrat:

Isaac Weix

State Senate District 13:

Lori Compas (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

FAKE Democrat:

Gary Ellerman

State Senate District 21:

John Lehman (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

FAKE Democrat:

Tamra Varebrook

State Senate District 23:

Kristen Dexter (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

FAKE Democrat:

James Engel

State Senate District 29:

Donna Seidel (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

FAKE Democrat:

Jim Buckley

Every hour

Melissa Baldauff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:18:33 -0400

Think about what you do in a typical 24 hours.

If you were Scott Walker, you’d kill 24 jobs - a job every single hour of every single day. Since Scott Walker took office, Wisconsin has led the nation in job loss for a total of 10,200 Wisconsin jobs lost – just about a job every hour.

Scott Walker can’t credibly defend his job-loss economy to the people of Wisconsin any longer, so he’s running around the country begging for sleazy corporate cash wherever he can get it – including a staggering $1 million check from the Koch brothers.

While Scott Walker travels the country, Wisconsin families are working harder than ever to keep their heads above water. Sign our petition today and tell Scott Walker what you’re busy doing all day while he’s killing a Wisconsin job every hour.

https://secure.wisdems.org/page/signup/every-hour

Under Scott Walker, thousands of public employees are faced with pay cuts and increased workloads, taxes have gone up on seniors and working families and vital job-training programs have been cut. Wisconsin families are working harder than ever and still have limited purchasing power in our communities as a direct result of these failed policies.

Coupled with uncertainty stemming from Scott Walker’s divisive, hyper-partisan agenda, and Walker’s devastation of critical investments in our 21st century economy, it’s clear why employers are reluctant to hire in Wisconsin, even as the rest of the nation is adding jobs and working towards economic recovery.

Add your name to our petition telling Scott Walker that Wisconsin is sick of losing a job every hour, and let him know what you're busy doing all day while he's working to kill 24 jobs.

https://secure.wisdems.org/page/signup/every-hour

Thanks for being a part of the fight to recall Scott Walker and replace him with a governor who works for Wisconsin jobs.

Scott Walker's war on our environment, families, homes

Reps. Brett Hulsey, Sandy Pasch and Jon Richards — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:43:46 -0400

Below is an Earth Day message from Democratic Reps. Brett Hulsey, Sandy Pasch and Jon Richards. This column originally appeared on Wisopinion.com and can be be viewed online by clicking here.

Walker's war on our environment, families, homes

On Earth Day, let's reflect on what we can all do to protect our lakes, land and legacy. Sadly, Governor Walker and the GOP have taken us in the wrong direction-- against protecting clean jobs and drinking water while putting corporate donors ahead of public health. Their actions actually threatened jobs and will pollute our drinking water, which is so important to life itself.

As Governor Walker gallops around the state doing green press conferences, we should remember his dirty, corporate funded deeds. Here are several examples.

Dangerous Drinking Water

One of the GOP's first moves was to push the Dirty Water Act, AB 23/SB 19 that reversed the Wisconsin DNR rules to stop communities from providing drinking water with dangerous sewage-based viruses. The folly of this is clear after the 1993 Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee that killed 69 people and sickened 400,000, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A UW study found dangerous viruses in municipal drinking water in 14 communities across Wisconsin, causing more than 10,000 illnesses a year. The DNR proposed a new rule requiring mandatory disinfection to remove these viruses, but Gov. Walker and the GOP rejected those rules. Now when you drink from small town drinking water systems, you have to wonder.

Trashing Recycling Jobs

The League of Conservation Voters reports, "...Governor Walker snuck a provision into his budget eliminating state recycling requirements and all funding for municipality and county-run recycling programs. His actions sent a clear message that Wisconsin was not open for recycling businesses. His suggested rollback of the recycling program would have cost Wisconsin 97,000 jobs and over $5.4 billion in economic activity." Fortunately, this was too extreme even for some Republicans who restored part of the money raided from the fund.

Two-thirds (67%) of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress participants recently voted to restore the $12 million Governor Walker robbed from the Recycling Fund to create jobs, promote recycling and reduce landfills needs.

Threatened Home Mortgages

One of Governor Walker's top priorities was to weaken Wisconsin's environmental health laws to promote strip mining. His bill AB 426 drafted by polluter and mine company lobbyists was so bad it would have allowed mine companies to dump waste into state and national parks.

It also allowed strip mines to put mine waste in floodplains, exempting them from state floodplain rules. Federal law does not allow states to set up special exemptions for floodplain rules, because that leads to more flooding deaths, damages and taxpayer-subsidized repair costs.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that oversees the flood insurance program and the Association of State Floodplain Managers raised concerns.

The National Flood Insurance Program provides almost 18,000 Wisconsin homes and businesses worth more than $3 billion with protection, see chart below. If the Wisconsin legislature had passed Walker's bill, state residents might not be able to get flood insurance, mortgages, and future disaster relief.

Top Wisconsin Counties with National Flood Insurance Policies

County - Number of NFIP Policies - Insured Home, Business Value

Brown - 1,684 - $ 254,289,700

Milwaukee - 1,661 - $ 351,144,700

Washington - 907 - $ 173,705,400

Waukesha - 829 - $ 201,521,600

Winnebago - 788 - $ 141,112,700

Fond du Lac - 739 - $ 97,514,800

Ozaukee - 581 - $ 125,752,800

Total - 17,980 - $ 3,092,047,500

These are but three examples of how Governor Walker and the GOP majority have hurt our families, threatened our drinking water, jobs, and even our homes. None of these changes were necessary to get Wisconsin working again. We can do better to protect our families, freedom and future.

La Crosse Tribune: "Our View: State GOP policies hurting women"

Melissa Baldauff — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:15:20 -0400

At the same time that Wisconsin is leading the nation in job loss under Scott Walker, his Republican Party has salted the earth for economic development and instead focused on enacting extreme social policy that has devastated programs critical to women and children’s health, interfered in the relationship between women and their doctors and stripped pay equity protections for women, veterans, seniors and disabled workers.

Despite their best efforts to portray their shameful War on Women as mere "fiction," or as Reince Priebus said, an invented war akin to an attack on caterpillars, the Republican Party is unable to hide from their radical agenda that harms women and families.

The La Crosse Tribune today editorialized that Scott Walker and his Republican Party have enacted policies that harm women. The entire article appears below in its entirety, or you can read it online by clicking here.

La Crosse Tribune: "Our View: State GOP policies hurting women"

Scott Walker has masterfully followed the political tradition that governors travel around the state to announce bill signings.

Yet when it came time to signing a bill that repealed a law that made enforcing equal pay laws easier, Walker did it without fanfare. He and other Wisconsin Republicans — who pushed through the bill on party lines — should have held a ceremony surrounded by pregnant and barefoot women in a kitchen. Because that seems to be where some leaders in the party think they belong.

The 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act gave workers the right to sue employers for wage discrimination in state circuit rather than federal court. Backers of the repeal said the law left employers vulnerable to frivolous claims and harmful punitive damages.

State Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, said Wisconsin ranked 36th among the 50 states in the wage gender gap when the 2009 law went into effect and is now 24th. That’s the kind of positive progress we want in a state that should value equal pay for equal work. Nationally women are paid on average about 77 cents to every dollar men earn, and in Wisconsin it’s 75 cents.

But now we may head in reverse, thanks to the rantings of party leaders like Sen. Glenn Grothman, one of the authors of the bill. Grothman said pay discrimination is a myth perpetuated by liberal women’s groups, and he thinks the main reason women are paid less than men is because they put a high priority on raising children and homemaking. Money, Grothman said, is more important to men.

Never mind that in two-thirds of American households the mother is the primary or co-bread winner. Never mind that the quickest way for the females who draw Grothman’s biggest wrath — single mothers — to lift themselves out of poverty and dependency on welfare is through higher-paying jobs.

Wisconsin has been a proud champion of women’s rights and was the first state to ratify the 19th amendment granting women national suffrage in 1919.
That heritage came to life last week thanks to Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during their forum “Wisconsin Women: Celebrating Their Contributions” before a crowd of 150 people at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, co-sponsored by the La Crosse Tribune.
Yet in the past year there have been several Republican-led bills that seem to suggest that we’re taking a step backward. Those bills — which were signed into law by Walker — include prohibiting abortion coverage through health insurance exchanges, requiring doctors to ask women seeking abortions if they were coerced and a law that requires schools to teach abstinence only and not discuss the use of contraception.

This week Walker announced that Wisconsin first lady Tonette Walker will conduct a statewide listening tour to “develop a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to helping children and families in Wisconsin’s systems move beyond cycles of harm.” Perhaps she will hear first-hand that continuing to pay women less for their work than men will not help them move out of those cycles.

It’s not just on a state level. U.S. Senate Republicans voted unanimously in 2010 to block the Paycheck Fairness Act that would have updated the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Apparently it has now become a platform of the party — gender pay gap is acceptable.

It’s become a talking point on the presidential race as well, with President Barack Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith recently attacking Mitt Romney’s public support of Walker.

“Mitt Romney has repeatedly dismissed the effect of Republican efforts to roll back access to contraception and other health care services on the women’s vote, saying that he would appeal to women by talking about their economic concerns,” Smith said. “If this is the case, does Romney think women should have the ability to take their bosses to court to get the same pay as their male coworkers? Or does he stand with Governor Walker against this?”

The impact of the female vote in the Wisconsin governor recall race and in the fall presidential race will be large. Yet this is an issue that women and men should be concerned with.

There’s a large fundamental shift occurring in our workforce. The decline in manufacturing — jobs that were once the mainstay of working-class men — is continuing. If trends continue, women will make up the majority of breadwinners in this country in a generation.

Unless we’re not interested in better lives for our children and grandchildren, we all should care about equal pay issues.

Our Strategy: Phase Two

Melissa Baldauff — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:31:10 -0400

The grassroots effort to collect and turn in nearly two million signatures to recall Scott Walker, Rebecca Kleefisch and four extreme right-wing state Senators has already been the most successful and participated-in recall in the history of the United States. But that was just Phase One.

Now we’re in Phase Two, and we only have 47 more days until the people reclaim Wisconsin from the mismanagement and crookedness of Scott Walker.

Two weeks ago, we put out a strategic plan to remove Scott Walker from office. It relies on the strength of the Democratic Party -- people power. You downloaded the plan, participated in a Google hangout along with Democratic Strategist Paul Begala and offered great feedback online and at our 18 field offices.

We’ve implemented your suggestions, and now we are ready to put the plan into action by hiring a new wave of field organizers to help support our grassroots efforts.

Click here to chip in what you can to help us execute Phase Two of the plan to defeat Scott Walker.

Time is of the essence, so it is imperative that we capitalize on every opportunity we have to remind Wisconsin voters that Scott Walker has lead the nation in job loss and shattered our traditions of good, clean government. We need at least 1.1 million votes against Scott Walker, and the best way we can work to make that happen is by putting more field organizers on the ground to work with our 33,000 volunteers to knock every door and talk to every voter.

Please help us put more boots on the ground to execute Phase Two of the plan to defeat Scott Walker by making a grassroots donation today.

With your dedication and hard work, we can overcome the millions of dollars being spent by Scott Walker and his corporate special-interest backers, and we can remove Scott Walker from office. Then Wisconsin will move on to Phase Three – working together to rebuild and repair our state.

Letter: Scott Walker Showing Illinois "exactly how not to do things"

Steven Potter — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:00:14 -0400

By Steven Potter

As residents of Springfield, IL woke up this morning to news that Scott Walker was in town to wax on erroneously about his failed reforms and anti-family agenda, they may have also found a Letter to the Editor in their daily newspaper, The State Journal-Register, with a stern warning against Walker.

Written by a businesswoman, the letter describes in detail to the people of Illinois why they should be leery of Walker's double-talk and lies.

"Unless he’s telling your state what not to do to lose jobs and create a lousy climate for job creation and businesses, I have no idea why (the Illinois Chamber of Commerce would) invite him," states the Wisconsin resident. "Scott Walker began his term literally by killing thousands of infrastructure jobs that were sent to Illinois."

Well, maybe that's why — to thank him for sending all of those jobs south.

The writer, who's a Milwaukee resident, also pokes holes in Walker's impossible-to-fulfill promise of creating a quarter-million jobs during his first term.

"Walker came into office promising jobs and to improve the job climate — but he’s done neither, mainly because he never had a credible plan to begin with," she writes.

Read the entire Letter to the Editor here.

BREAKING: New Information Answers John Doe Question; Reveals Scott Walker Was Solely Responsible for Hire of Figures Charged In Corruption Probe

Melissa Baldauff — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:39:13 -0400

New research obtained by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin reveals that Scott Walker alone was responsible for the hire and promotion of Tim Russell and Kelly Rindfleisch, two key figures in the John Doe criminal corruption probe that has, to date, charged six close Walker aides and supporters with 15 felonies, resulted in two convictions and required Scott Walker himself to establish a criminal defense fund.

Personnel records obtained through an Open Records Request from the Milwaukee County Department of Human Resources show that Scott Walker was solely responsible for hiring Kelly Rindfleisch and Tim Russell, and for their subsequent promotions to increasingly trusted, responsible and lucrative positions in the Walker administration. Russell, charged with embezzling charitable contributions intended for wounded veterans and families of fallen military servicemembers and using the money, in part, to finance illegal corporate contributions to Scott Walker’s campaign, is well known as a longtime aide and adviser to Scott Walker who served in a number of roles in the Walker administration, including Deputy Chief of Staff. Scott Walker alone signed off on Russell’s hire with the County – available to view here.

Rindfleisch’s hire to the County Executive’s office, however, has been wrapped in suspicion. In court documents released in the criminal investigation into Rindfleisch’s alleged felony misuse of public office, Walker’s then-Chief of Staff Tom Nardelli stated that he had been unaware of the circumstances of Rindfleisch’s hire to the office he ran. Rindfleisch stated that she was hired to the office to do political work on Walker’s campaign, under the direction and supervision of Tim Russell.

Milwaukee County personnel records indicate that Scott Walker alone signed off on both Rindfleisch's initial hire to his administration and her subsequent promotion to Deputy Chief of Staff.

Scott Walker has continually avoided and dodged repeated point blank questions about what role he played in Rindfleisch’s hire. Now it is clear that Walker’s evasiveness was an attempt to distance him from the criminal activity perpetrated on his own behalf that was going on nearly constantly right under his own nose by people he put into power.

The John Doe criminal corruption probe has raised serious questions about Scott Walker's truthfulness, his willingness to use taxpayer resources for his own benefit, a pattern of ethical transgressions that remove any doubt about his knowledge of the improprieties, his close association with individuals loyal to him who now are accused of serious crimes and his own part in a conspiracy to hide these activities from the public.

Blog

Download our status update

Getting to Know Your Candidates: Mahlon Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor

Rep. Peter Barca: "By Any Measure, Governor Walker Has Nation’s Worst Jobs Record"

Know The Real Democrats

May 8th, 2012 Recall Primary Election – Democratic Candidates

Governor:

Tom BarrettKathleen FalkDoug La FolletteKathleen Vinehout

FAKE Democrat:

Gladys Huber

Lt. Governor:

Mahlon Mitchell (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)Ira Robins

FAKE Democrat:

Isaac Weix

State Senate District 13:

Lori Compas (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

FAKE Democrat:

Gary Ellerman

State Senate District 21:

John Lehman (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

FAKE Democrat:

Tamra Varebrook

State Senate District 23:

Kristen Dexter (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

FAKE Democrat:

James Engel

State Senate District 29:

Donna Seidel (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

FAKE Democrat:

Jim Buckley

Every hour

Scott Walker's war on our environment, families, homes

Walker's war on our environment, families, homes

La Crosse Tribune: "Our View: State GOP policies hurting women"

La Crosse Tribune: "Our View: State GOP policies hurting women"

Our Strategy: Phase Two

Letter: Scott Walker Showing Illinois "exactly how not to do things"

BREAKING: New Information Answers John Doe Question; Reveals Scott Walker Was Solely Responsible for Hire of Figures Charged In Corruption Probe

Tom Barrett

Kathleen Falk

Doug La Follette

Kathleen Vinehout

Mahlon Mitchell (Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin)

Ira Robins