WISCONSIN: 'NON-PARTISAN' COMMUNITY ORGANIZING GROUP A FRONT FOR SEIU'S PARTISAN STRATEGY

[Geee]

Breitbart:

MILWAUKEE - A paper trail running through state and federal agencies now shows that a self-described "non-partisan organization" may in fact be connected to partisan campaign activity here in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Jobs Now!, according to U.S. Department of Labor records, has received $769,000 in funding from the Service Employees International Union. The current address listed for Wisconsin Jobs Now! is a shared office suite in downtown Milwaukee occupied by the regional SEIU healthcare affiliate, 260 East Highland Avenue, Suite 300.

Campaign finance reports at the Government Accountability Office in Madison show SEIU healthcare's Madison office contributing significant amounts of money to the campaigns of Kathleen Falk, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary on May 8, and Mahlon Mitchell, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in the June 5 election. A total of $40,000 was transferred from the SEIU Healthcare account to the campaign accounts of Falk and Mitchell. Falk benefited the most, receiving $35,000 with the balancing going to Mitchell.

The group Wisconsin Jobs Now! gained notoriety last year when it was caught handing out barbecue chicken dinners to voters in conjunction with free rides to the polls in last summer's Wisconsin state senate recall elections. That activity landed them an investigation by prosecutors. This year the group, which bills itself as a "non-partisan organization" on its website, is leading early voting efforts in Milwaukee that predominantly benefit the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor.

Last Saturday, Wisconsin Jobs Now! held an early voting rally and march in downtown Milwaukee with Citizen Action of Wisconsin, also a non-partisan group. Citizen Action of Wisconsin shared office space with Jobs Now! during last summer's recall elections.

The website for the SEIU affiliate housing the allegedly non-partisan Wisconsin Jobs Now! declares in bold letters, "Now is the time to defeat Scott Walker" and advertises an upcoming teleconference call in which participants will be able to hear how the Democratic candidates plan to "reverse Scott Walker’s cuts." Another page on the website touts the need for voter turnout activities, something that Wisconsin Jobs Now! has made a focus of its work lately, and pleads: "Help us elect a champion. Sign up to recall Scott Walker and help Tom Barrett become the next governor of Wisconsin!"

[Draggingtree]

Barrett Can't Name Any Schools Hurt by Walker's Collective Bargaining Reforms

1:40 PM, May 30, 2012 • By JOHN MCCORMACK

 

Milwaukee

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker is facing a recall election on June 5 because of the law he signed last spring to limit the collective bargaining power of public employee unions--a reform his opponents said would be a "disaster" and destroy public education in the state. Walker's Democratic challenger, Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, acknowledged this morning that the collective bargaining issue was the "flame that started this" recall election, but Barrett couldn't point to a single public school that has been harmed by Walker's reforms.

Here's a transcript from a press conference at Barrett's campaign headquarters in Milwaukee Wednesday morning:

TWS: On collective bargaining, mayor, the governor and his campaign have pointed to a number of... schools across the state that heave benefited from the reforms in Act 10. Which school districts have been hurt in particular, in your view, by Walker's policies and his reforms? Are there any that stand out in your mind?

BARRETT: Well, I support the restoration of collective bargaining rights. And that's what this is all about--whether you support workers' rights. And I support workers rights.

TWS: But are there any school districts in particular, though, that have been hurt by Act 10?

BARRETT: I have talked to prison guards, I can tell you that, who are concerned about their own public safety because of the changes in the law, and I'm very concerned about that as well

TWS: But no school districts— Read More

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/barrett-cant-name-any-schools-hurt-walkers-collective-bargaining-reforms_646296.html

[Draggingtree]

Wisconsin recall: Two potential surprises

 

Posted by Rachel Weinerat 03:07 PM ET, 06/04/2012TheWashingtonPost

 

MADISON - Everyone who follows politics (which is everyone, right?) knows Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) faces a recall election Tuesday night.

But regardless of what happens between Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D), the results could be a split decision in a couple of ways.

The first and far more likely scenario: Democrats lose the governor’s race but win control of the state Senate.

Last summer, Democrats ran recall campaigns against six Republican state senators in response to the collective bargaining reforms championed by Walker and passed by the the GOP-controlled legislature. Two Republicans were unseated, so while Democrats failed to take over the state Senate, they narrowed the GOP majority from 19-14 to 17-16.

When they filed petitions to recall Walker himself last fall, Democrats also filed papers to recall another four state senators — Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, and Sens. Pam Galloway, Terry Moulton and Van Wanggaard, (Galloway resigned earlier this year; Republican state Rep. Jerry Petrowski is running for her seat.)

They need only win one race to take control.

Fitzgerald is likely Read More

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/wisconsin-recall-two-potential-surprises/2012/06/04/gJQAsjywDV_blog.html

[NCTexan]

If the scenario of a Walker win and a senate loss comes to pass... It will be sad for WS longer term..

 

However, the Walker win will be the only thing generally noticed... and will be good for the election in the fall for the whole country.

[Geee]

@NCTexan. Because they succeeded in recalling some senators a few months after the election there is only a one senator margin. I am very afraid that one senator from Racine may not make it as they are thinking along the same lines that you are and are targeting him heavily. The district that he lives in has a bigger minority population that many in Wisconsin and Jesse Jackson has been here pandering to them.