Checklist: Recall Petitioners Rights

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From One Wisconsin Now

Excerpt:
• You do not need a government-issued photo identification to circulate or sign a recall petition (but you will need a photo ID to vote in the next election).

• You do not need to be a registered voter to circulate or sign a recall petition.

• As long as you are a qualified elector in Wisconsin, you can sign a recall petition whether or not you have ever voted in Wisconsin.

Check out the full list of rights here.

Project: Random Person Creates New Pledge For Congress

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For the past two decades, many Senators and House members of the United States Congress have signed a pledge that intentionally ties the hands of legislative power, making it practically impossible for Congress to exercise full fiscal authority as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

That pledge, commonly known as the Taxpayer Protection Pledge (TPP), prevents Congress from meeting its fiscal obligation as prescribed in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The signers of the TPP have in effect pledged to abandon their fiduciary responsibility to the Federal Government, and in doing so have guaranteed insufficient funds to pay the nation’s bills.

Instead of fulfilling this important fiscal obligation as prescribed in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the TPP pledge has taken on the form of an ideological based conspiracy forcing the government to borrow from third party lenders and even hostile sources, driving us deeper into an unsustainable debt spiral which in turn has weakened our government's promise to keep its obligations and ability to perform, thus endangering the American people and our nation's future. Sadly, the consequences resulting from the signers action appear to be fully intentional.

Unlike the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, this New Pledge to the Constitution is not a got'cha document designed to trap lawmakers or to drown government in a bathtub. This reaffirmation is not about whether to borrow or spend, balanced budgets or lowering or increasing taxes. The multitude of issues surrounding those decisions are far too complex to address with a simple pledge or amendment.

Also, reaffirming and adhering to powers granted in the Constitution is not about partisan politics or social and economic philosophies, or ideological principles. But reaffirming your oath to office as outlined in Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths is an American hallmark of responsibility and patriotism our Founding Fathers recognized immediately and deemed absolutely necessary for its leaders to commit to in order for our nation to survive. This new pledge is not to constituents as the author of the TPP claims his to be, instead it's to the Constitution. It must be solemn and sincere and have no superior. In short, swearing allegiance to the U.S. Constitution is not a conspiracy.

I strongly believe that the signers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge nullified orders of function set forth in the Constitution and broke their oath of office, and by doing so have committed an impeachable offense if not treasonous act. If you agree, contact your Senator and House Representative and ask them to clarify their oath and reaffirm the Constitutional Powers of Congress they were elected to exercise by sending them this petition for signing. Your help on this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Louis Kaye, a real random person
(Not a lobbyist. Not a member of a political party or special interest group.)

Will your elected official sign this pledge?

I, _______________________, of the (______ district of the) state of _______________, with my Constituents as my witness, pledge that I will: ONE, reaffirm my Constitutional Oath of Office and abide to all duties and responsibilities as described there-in; TWO, that I will NEVER pledge or act to circumvent or obstruct constitutional powers of Congress including but not limited to Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution; ”The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States and THREE, that no person, special interest, constituent or other, shall interfere, come above or between those powers of which I am duly elected and duty bound to exercise.

So help me God.

Original text published - November 16, 2011
Dedicated Web Page with sample opening letter.

Please send all signed petitions and responses to reaffirmationoath@gmail.com.

It's Bloody Friday For Wal-Mart Shoppers

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I'm amazed that they are cracking heads and using pepper spray on shoppers INSIDE the stores while outside the stores, shoppers are being robbed at gunpoint. Have we reached the point where police no longer serve the public but are instead protecting only the private registers of the wealthy?

Grandfather Roughed Up in Walmart *Language Warning*

Don't Let Republicans Tilt The Poll Workers

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I have to hand to Wisconsin Republicans, they've thought of just about everything under the Sun to rig the game and appear fully geared to neutralize Democratic majorities by diluting districts to steal elections from majority rule. Now, Republicans want to resurrect a little used state law that allows political parties to choose the poll workers. That's right.

WKOW Excerpt:
That law dates back to the 1970s, but Andrusz told 27 News she has never received a list from either political party since she started at the clerk's office ten years ago.

When we asked the Republican Party of Wisconsin why its choosing to submit names at this time, Spokesperson Nicole Larson responded in an emailed statement.

"In regard to the poll watchers, the Republican Party of Wisconsin is committed to a fair election process and we are in complete compliance with Government Accountability Board rules," the statement read.

Under those rules, if Republicans and Democrats both supplied names to a local municipality, election officials there would have to make sure the party which received the largest number of votes in the last presidential or gubernatorial election is entitled to one more inspector than the other party.

If the Democrats didn't supply a list of their own, the remaining workers would be appointed by local election officials.

That would be a mistake. Imagine having an army of trained Kathy Nickolauses, J.B. Van Hollens and David Prossers "poll workers" overseeing official polling places during the Recall Election. That would be the ultimate mockery of democracy in Wisconsin. Volunteers collecting signatures for the recall petitions deserve the assurance that their hard work was not in vain. I would prefer non-party officials at the polling places, but Democrats will have no recourse but to match them if the Republican party follows through on this outrageous plan.

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Walker Ad Reality Checked

Giving Thanks This Thanksgiving

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I'm thankful that we have recalls in Wisconsin and that the people will have a chance to move forward and take back this great state. The more people learn about Scott Walker, the angrier they get. Obviously, there are a lot of reasons to be angry but many realize there's too much at stake to not get involved. People refuse to give up or move out and instead are standing up shoulder-to-shoulder and neighbor-to-neighbor, many coming out and getting involved for the first time to recall Scott Walker. It's phenomenal! I'm grateful to those wonderful people working the front lines in our struggle. God bless them and ours in this glorious effort to restore those high moral values we cherish in Wisconsin. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Fitzwalkerstan Pulling Down National Economy With Job Losses

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Wisconsin had the most October job losses of any state.

TMJ4 Excerpt:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Unemployment rates fell in three-quarters of U.S. states last month, a sign that many parts of the country are experiencing modest job gains.

Unemployment rates fell in 36 states in October and rose in only 5, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Rates were unchanged in 9 states. That's the best showing since April, when rates fell in 39 states.[...]Wisconsin reported the biggest job loss, a drop of 9,700, followed by New York, which shed 8,300.

We need to stop this madness and recall Walker.

Rewrite: Gazette Opinion Editor Writes Effectionately For Buying Local

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I couldn't let this blog entry by the Janesville Gazette "Opinion" editor get past me without setting their record straight.

Asking, "Will you be trying to “buy local” this holiday season," he writes inquisitively and with a fair level of effection about a promotion for shoppers to start buying local. He rehashes, it's the "Birth of a New Tradition!" "A conservative friend sent it" and "this piece originated from the tea party folks" and "It’s time to think outside the box, people!!" and asks, "What ideas would you suggest?"

Pretty harmless stuff, right?

Yeah. Except there's a big problem with this. When it comes to "local" ideas in Rock County, Wisconsin and encouraging people to buy local, few compare to our lil' former State Senator Judy Robson, and she ain't no Tea Party. But she was way ahead of her time on this.

See, in the recent past, the anti-social, anti-union Gazette regularly bashed and ridiculed Robson for her "too liberal" ideas, and when she proposed a "Buy Local" state-wide campaign back in 2007, they offered no kind or supportive words like, "thinking outside the box," or "hey, one of our local leaders proposed this common sense idea!" Not even close. As usual for the time, the Gazette editorial staff mocked and whipped the State Senator in their editorial for her buy local proposal. Yeah, she's a Democrat and a liberal I suppose was reason enough. But they're either brazen GOP-paid political propagandists masquerading as a legitimate newspaper ... or nuts. If you're a regular reader here, you'll know the answer to that one.

Unfortunately, I do not have excerpts of the newspaper's editorial from 2007 attacking Robson's "Buy Local" in my archives.

Super Committee Was Doomed To Fail

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Regardless of where you might stand on the lack of a deal from the Super Congress Committee, they were doomed to fail from the very start. Again, that might be a good thing depending on your view. Much has also been speculated on how Obama set this up to fail in order to gain some political capital and blame it on Republicans. I'd actually like to think that was true, that he gave them a taste of their own medicine. But I highly doubt it since Republicans chose their own six members to sit on the committee. They were the ones to set it up to fail. Here's why.

Immediately before all the members of the super committee were appointed, I recall Lawrence O'Donnell on his MSNBC Show suggesting that the only way the committee can operate as intended and negotiate in good faith with all the marbles on the table, was to make sure none of the appointees were Norquist pledge signers. Afterall, this was a debt commission and without the willingness to raise revenue to pay the bills there was no way a balanced deal could be reached.

Soon after O'Donnell's sharp observation, I wrote here that our worst fears have come true. All six Republicans appointed to the Super Congress Committee were pathetic Norquist pledgers.

On the flip side, it's worth to note how different the paid politicos and corporate talking heads viewed those chosen to serve on the committee. They predictably and laughably suggested the membership lineup on the super committee gave hope for a deal. Yeaaa rrright.

No doubt about it. For good or for bad, it was fated to happen. Republicans doomed it to fail.

Anti-American Norquist Unrepentant For Nation's Massive Debt

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Grover Norquist is the guy who collected signatures from many Republicans pledging that they will not vote to raise revenue under any circumstances. He brags that Republicans haven't voted for a income tax increase since 1990.

Believe me. We've noticed.

Politico Excerpt:
“The tax issue is the most powerful issue in American politics” Norquist said to Kroft.

Here I always thought our annual national deficits and snowballing debt was the most powerful issue in American politics.

Politico Excerpt:
“I intend to win. I intend to be part of the whole effort to crush the other team,” Norquist said.

There's something wonderfully compassionate, all inclusive and apple pie about a person wanting to crush the other team, idd'in it?

But don't worry Grover, you are not only a part of the whole effort to crush the U.S. Government and put our economic future in grave danger, you are easily ranked in the top of our nation's worst domestic enemies.

Although Dems tend to blame you for complicating the supercommittee's process, you would be little more than a unknown random person had not those foolishly misguided elected officials signed your idiotic pledge to abandon their fiscal responsibility as outlined in the U.S. Constitution. I blame them first. Without them making that leap, you would be nowhere and America for the past 20 years would have been raising the revenue and paying its bills without saddling our children and grandchildren with this huge mountain of debt. But you did it Grover and we will hold you and those traitors accountable.

You won't have to worry about that.

Video: Feingold Signs Petition

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A little more from the DailyKos.

JS Online - Recall Demonstration Photo Album

Palin Rips Millionaires In Congress For a Life Of Entrenched Corruption

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Mail Online News Excerpt:
Nearly half of Congress are millionaires - a status shared by only one per cent of Americans. According to a new study, at least 249 out of Congress’ 535 members are millionaires.

The analysis — released by the Center for Responsive Politics — is based on the average value of each lawmaker’s assets and liabilities, which members are required by law to report every year.

Granted, some members of Congress were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Others were millionaires in their own right before they were elected. But in a recent op-ed column in The Wall Street Journal, Sarah Palin took exception to those elected officials who arrived under modest means and now find themselves to be in the 1 percent. That is a select group.

NewsMax Excerpt:
“How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires?” Palin asks in her column. “How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians’ stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge fund managers?”

Palin’s answer: “Politicians derive power from the authority of their office and their access to our tax dollars, and they use that power to enrich and shield themselves.”

Who pray tell would fit that description? Why none other than our very own Paul Ryan.

No question, when Paul Ryan arrived in Washington, D.C., he was considered a young man of modest means from a solid middle-class family from Janesville, Wisconsin. His earlier story at the time was that his mom was worried he would be a lifetime beach bum. Until age 18, he collected Social Security survivor's benefits, which he put away for college. Later, he started out working as a restaurant waiter and with insider connections, moved up to office staffer for politicians such as Sen. Sam Brownback before being elected in 1998. In 2004, Ryan pointed out that since entering Congress he has had no ties to a cousin's firm, Ryan Central Inc., a construction and earth-moving company headquartered in Janesville.

Yet according to the latest report on wealth in Congress from the Center For Responsive Politics, Paul Ryan is listed in the millionaires club with an average net worth of $2,068,050.

So how did Paul Ryan become a millionaire while collecting a government paycheck?

Well, at least Sarah Palin knows.

Center For Responsive Politics - Members of Congress Enjoy Robust Financial Status, Despite Nation's Sluggish Economic Recovery

Download the full list of disclosed wealth on all current members of Congress here.

Walker's Plan: Locals Save Millions, But Lose Thousands of Jobs

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Another month, thousands more jobs lost.

Money msn Excerpt:
The public sector, including federal, state and local governments, lost 400 jobs. Local governments reported lost 1,900 positions, the federal government in the state lost 300 jobs and state government added 1,800 jobs.

Wow. It couldn't be more clearer than this. Walker withheld hundreds of millions in state aid from local governments and kept the money for his own administration, forcing many local communities to cut hundreds of employees from their payrolls. However, with millions more shifted to Walker's moneybag, he was able to hire 1,800 at the state level while local taxpaying jurisdictions lost almost the same number, job-for-job and dollar-for-dollar. So we're still paying the same budget bill to keep Walker's state patronage army well funded while we have thousands more out of work paying into local general funds.

This can't last long.

In the meantime, you can bet Walker will swear local communities and school district budgets "saved" millions by using his scalpel cutting "tools."

Well THAT didn't take long. In this video, Walker is interviewed by Faux News serial liar Sean Hannity and talks about all the local jobs he saved in municipalities because ...they were going bankrupt.



Of some local interest here in Janesville, near the start of this video a Waukesha school board member (supposed to be non-partisan) appears in a political ad supporting Scott Walker. You might recall the dust-up that happened in Janesville when a city council member quietly and almost unnoticed, walked out of an auditorium dinner engagement when Walker walked on stage to speak. Some of the local GOP whackjobs including the Janesville Gazette and another (non-partisan?) city council member went bazooka over his departure from the dinner.

Obviously, the Janesville incident doesn't come close to the militant Waukesha school board hack appearing in and speaking in a full blown political campaign ad for Republican Scott Walker. But it's worth the irony.

Democurmudgeon - More on the Waukesha School Board Member Featured in Walker Ad

Man Who Ripped Up Recall Petition Could Face Felony Charge

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They got his vehicle plate number so it should be only a matter of time. But this is Fitzwalkerstan.

Channel 3000 Excerpt: Madison police said a man suspected of ripping up a petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker could face a felony charge.

Citizens soliciting recall signatures contacted Madison police about 10:30 a.m. Thursday after a man ripped up one of their petitions, according to the Madison Police Department.

Police said the citizens were holding signs and having vehicles pull over into a parking lane in the 800 block of Midvale Boulevard around 10 a.m. Thursday.

A driver in a red pickup truck was one of those who stopped. When the driver was given a petition to sign, he instead ripped up the document, police said.

Janesville - Sign and Drive Recall Petition Today

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4-8 PM * Sign and Drive Today! Labor Temple Parking lot.

Corner of Center Avenue (S. Hwy 51) & Joliet Street.

You may pull in and sign to RECALL WALKER & KLEEFISCH without getting out of your car!!!

Olbermann: NYC Mayor Bloomberg Becoming Accelerant For OWS

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Keith Olbermann said almost every American protest and historical movement for change had authority figures step in at the middle of the game and throw fuel on the simmering fires. This time, Olbermann suggests Mayor Bloomberg is it.

Rip Rap

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OccupyNYC Livestream

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Ten Reasons The Occupy Movement Changes Everything

"Before the Occupy Wall Street movement, there was little discussion of the outsized power of Wall Street and the diminishing fortunes of the middle class... Occupy Wall Street changed that. In fact, it may represent the best hope in years that 'we the people' will step up to take on the critical challenges of our time. Here’s how the Occupy movement is already changing everything."

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Ten Top Stories Of People Moving Their Money Out of Big Banks

Banks are shrugging off the 700,000 accounts they've lost the last six weeks and claim they don't want your business. That's right. 700,000 accounts is nothing to them. That's why we should aim to close out 2 million.

Check out the Top Ten Stories here.

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Five reasons Why Veterans Are Part Of Occupy Wall Street

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Story About Wisconsin Soldier Scott Olsen - Veterans Occupy Wall Street

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When it comes to Women in the Workplace, Herman Cain Always Stood Up For Equal Opportunity Jobs

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America Haters Bash OWS As UnAmerican

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Businesses Got Every Favor and Incentive, It's Never Enough To Bring Back Jobs When Competing Against Devalued Currency

Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm Explains:

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Dylan Ratigan's Take Money Out is teaming up with a group called United Republic, who noticed the same thing we all did – our government is bought.

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12 Fish You Should Never Eat

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Brave New Foundation Asks: Who are the Worst of the 1%. You decide. So far the Walton Family Tops the Charts Followed by The Koch Brothers.

Janesville Rally Planned For Walker Recall Kickoff

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PLEASE COME: JANESVILLE RALLY TO KICKOFF THE RECALL !!!

Tuesday, November 15 · 4:30pm - 7:30pm

Location IN FRONT OF ROCK COUNTY JOB CENTER
1900 CENTER AVENUE
JANESVILLE, WI

More Info Facebook

THE PEOPLE SPEAK!!!

WHY DO YOU WANT TO RECALL WALKER?

BRING FRIENDS!!!

6 PM VOLUNTEER TRAINING UAW HALL TO FOLLOW

Reminder

Potluck, Training and Brainstorming Scheduled for Today!

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Odds and ends

Wisconsin State Journal Massive Recall Effort's Humble Start

Wichita - Walker Dodges Protesters In Kansas

Politiscoop - Tea Party Plans Premeditated Felony

Need a one-of-a-kind, locally hand knit Recall or Occupy cap?

Visit the SnB Warm Up Your Winter Sale at Basics, 1711 Lodge Drive, Janesville, Saturday (11/12 or 11/19) from 10-2 where you'll find these unique caps as well as other items including socks, hats, scarves, mittens, fingerless mitts, and more to keep you warm while you collect petition signatures. Thank you volunteers!!!! Facebook

Buffoon Congressman Walsh Shouts Down, Heckles Constituents

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The only difference between Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Reprobate) and our own Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Randroid) is presentation. The talking points and message are exactly the same.

In the video below, watch Walsh spew the same old nonsense about how government regulations and arm twisting caused the mortgage crisis meltdown. Question is: What is stopping Big Banks from lending to people today despite tremendous arm twisting from the government to do so? Same as it always was before ...

Later on, Walsh offered a phony apology (blamed his empty head on an empty stomach) for his moronic behavior but still sticks to his retarded political views.



Check out another view on Walsh's comments at the Democurmudgeon with additional supporting videos.

Catholics: Looking For a Christmas Gift Idea?

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Here's an old idea from Rep. Paul Ryan sure to be a hit today.

There’s nothing more Christian-like about a devout Roman Catholic celebrating that newborn baby laying in the manger than by snuggling up to a warm fireplace early Christmas morning and sharing precious moments from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” with the entire family. You'll be able to discuss and enjoy such timeless passages like ...

"When one acts on pity against justice, it is the good whom one punishes for the sake of the evil; when one saves the guilty from suffering, it is the innocent whom one forces to suffer."
-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Ch. 6

and...

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Part 3, Ch. 1

and...

By the grace of reality and the nature of life, man–every man– is an end in himself, he exists for his own sake, and the achievement of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose."
-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Part 3, Ch. 7


Reviews

About Jesus Christ and Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand and Jesus Don't Mix

Frum Forum - Rand Crashing The Tea party

"The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand." - Cong. Paul Ryan,

Janesville City Council President Resigns After Altercation With Police

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George Brunner, former police chief and current president of the Janesville City Council resigned from his council post. Brunner was arrested Friday at his home on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after striking a police officer.

Read resignation statement here.

Ohio Voters Reject GOP's Class War Assault

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Woo - woo!

Ohio's collective bargaining law was resoundedly defeated Tuesday after the Koch-backed GOP-party campaign failed to derail the will of the people. The people have had enough! It's game on!

We know Ohio isn’t Wisconsin and Wisconsin isn’t Ohio, but the similarities abound when it comes to the ALEC written Koch-sponsored nation-wide budget scheme to fuel wage and benefit envy between everyday middle-class wage earners and taxpayers. Both states passed their class war budget bills on GOP party-line votes. The main difference is the people of each state decided to take different routes to solve what is basically the same problem.

Ohioans chose to repeal their budget law through referendum. We’re doing it by recall. Wisconsin state republicans and Scott Walker, like their counterparts in Ohio, balanced the state budget selectively on the backs of public employees. Instead of allowing them a seat at the table to help shore up the state's budget, they were attacked from behind with a baseball bat. Instead of dealing with his own state budget directly, Walker found his revenue by simply choosing to shortchange local governments millions of dollars in state aid and then giving those tax paying local communities "tools" to cannibalize their own to offset the difference.

Even worse, after balancing his budget on the backs of state employees and school teachers in a publicized "Brown Bag campaign," Walker took those savings and increased spending by $1.1 billion and later accepted a scheduled pay hike for himself without showing any sign of remorse.

The jig is up. It's Recall Walker Time - Onward Wisconsin!

Toledo Blade Excerpt:
With nearly 89 percent of the vote reporting, 61 percent of voters rejected Issue 2, the referendum on Senate Bill 5, compared to 39 percent who supported the law passed solely with Republican votes.

The "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" Bill

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A bill has passed both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature that would allow municipal governments and union employees to reopen and renegotiate contracts. Walker is expected to sign the budget flexibility bill.

Reminder: Walker To Wall Street Forum

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ALSO:

You can watch the previous "Recall Elections" forum sponsored by the Rock County Progressives on cable this weekend. This program stresses the importance of citizen involvement needed to recall Gov. Walker. Originally taped Oct. 12. 57 min.

It will be repeated both days: November 12th & 13th - SATURDAY & SUNDAY!

Scheduled times are 9 am, 3PM & 9 pm.

It's on Charter Cable channels 98 (analog) or 994 (digital)

Lobbying and Campaign Donations Pay Off Big For The One percent

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Meet the 0.01 Percent: War Profiteers



Rob from the poor, Give to the Rich

Care 2 Excerpt:
The list of tax avoiders and subsidy recipients includes a lot of familiar names, such as Boeing, Yahoo, Yum Brands, Marathon Oil, FedEx, Hewlett Packard, American Express, and Time Warner. Corporations point out they are doing nothing illegal paring their taxes to nothing and receiving rebates. They are merely abiding by tax laws. However, as the report points out, “The laws were not enacted in a vacuum; they were adopted in response to relentless corporate lobbying, threats and campaign support.”

Halliburton CEO
- $29.4 million compensation. Halliburton enjoyed a NEGATIVE tax rate of 5.3% during 2008 - 2010.

Hewlett-Packard CEO
- $34 million compensation. Hewlett-Packard received $2.7 billion in tax subsidies during 2008 - 2010.

Proctor & Gamble CEO - $25.6 million compensation. Proctor & Gamble collected $3.2 billion in tax subsidies during 2008 - 2010.

Citizens For Tax Justice - Corporate Taxpayers and Tax Dodgers (2008 - 2010 Full Report)

Video: America on The March!

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Paul Ryan and The Streets - A Simple Illustration

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Whacky Republicans No Laughing Matter. Wisconsin Under Siege

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Regressives in Wisconsin continue to roll the state back to the 1840's.

Guns, Welcome. But leave cameras at the door.

The Progressive Excerpt:
This is how nutty it’s gotten.

It’s now legal to carry a concealed weapon in the gallery of the Wisconsin State Assembly, but it’s not legal to carry a concealed camera or smart phone or to carry a sign or to wear a shirt with the First Amendment attached to it.

PR Watch Excerpt

The protest was organized through a Facebook event called "Concealed Camera Day at the Capitol!" The event coincided with the implementation of Wisconsin's new concealed carry law, which allows residents to carry a concealed firearm -- including inside the Assembly gallery.

Stephen Colbert said Governor Walker was bringing "a new freedom to America's dairyland" with the concealed carry law, but said people would not see "images of gunfire in the statehouse" because of the camera ban. "Thank God. Cameras are dangerous," he said.

You never know when some fist-bumping t-shirt wearing menace will whip out their Canon EOS Rebel loaded with an EF-S Zoom lenses and start shooting. God forbid anyone would try to record government process.

Or even wave a miniature American Flag in the Assembly gallery. Too theatrical for Wisconsin State government. Heck, this ain't America. It's Fitzwalkerstan! You'd think we were in Communist China.

The DailyKos Excerpt
"Your Flag is a prop." That's what the flustered young page in the Wisconsin Assembly gallery told me last light. She told me I had to stop gently waving my 8 x 10 inch American flag in front of me while I watched the Assembly pass bill after bill destroying more of Wisconsin's social safety net. Tenant rights...gone. Grants for minority college students...on life support. Employment rights for felons trying to get their lives together...gone.

...and shackling locals from instituting their own tenant laws...

Uppity Wisconsin Excerpt
More egregiously, the Assembly voted to not allow local municipalities to have any laws that protect tenant rights more strongly than the provisions in state law.

As expected, they are pushing a bill putting polluters over people.

Wisconsin League Of Conservation Voters Excerpt:
We knew Governor Scott Walker and his friends in the legislature were planning to give handouts to an out-of-state mining company in the form of a conservation roll back bill. We knew that bill would weaken clean water protections. We knew that bill was going to be bad for Wisconsin citizens. But we didn't know it was going to be this bad.

Special Session Bill 24 will sell out our natural resources statewide - not just to mining companies, but also to power plants, developers, and other polluters.

It might be too late...Republicans have poisoned the wells of public discourse.

Townhall Report Pt.2: Provocative Congressman Earns 30 Police Officers At Townhall

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I've been to plenty of Paul Ryan's so-called "listening sessions" in hometown Janesville over the years and knowing that those in attendance were mostly his committed supporters (hundreds of cousins) sprinkled with a few free thinkers like myself, the crowd reactions were often enthusiastic. But something was very different at his most recent listening session held at the Pontiac Center in Janesville.

When I arrived at the event, there were several police officers directing vehicles in the parking lot while there appeared to be two more watching the dozen protesters carrying signs on the nearby public sidewalk of the facility. After talking to a friend in the lot for a few minutes, I entered the facility a few minutes late passing a couple more plainclothes police officers in the lobby. Unfortunately, I missed the very beginning of the session where, according to the Janesville Gazette, a Janesville police official took the stage and gave district constituents a verbal warning that anyone speaking out of turn or ignoring their warning would be escorted out.

That explains why I felt constituents seemed to be raising their hands sheepishly like small children do in school after they have been scolded by a paddle waving teacher. Even the GOP's south-central propaganda machine and one of Ryan's most powerful media enablers in the district seemed surprised that there were no angry outbursts and only "smatterings" of polite applause, both for and against. These subdued and shackled reactions coming soon after Ryan proposed the starvation and eventual dismantlement of Medicare and Social security and his connections to hedge fund managers on Wall Street did not seem right, even from a typical Ryan majority Townhall. As reported in the Gazette, it turns out somebody deemed it necessary to assign 30 police officers for the event and also had a "wagon" bus ready to hold multiple arrests. That explains everything.

When people feel like they might be targeted by the local police if they utter a boo, move or say something they may not like or agree with at a Townhall - something is desperately wrong with our democracy. Clearly, many law-abiding citizens and peaceful protesters felt extra-conscious and unnerved by the heavy police presence. On the other hand, the Janesville police must know the obnoxious congressman provokes outrage. Why else would they think they needed 30 officers assigned to this event? For the twelve protesters peacefully assembled outside the door? Oh please.

Ironically, the penny-pinching conservatives at the Janesville Gazette made no mention about who will foot the bill for the estimated 60 man-hours of police security for the townhall meeting hosted by Ryan, who often detaches himself from local issues by referring to himself as a federal guy.

Unfortunately, if squelching dissent and natural public discourse was their goal, they've accomplished it in aces. However, this is no way to hold a townhall meeting where constituents attend and attempt to speak their minds freely without being in fear of being arrested. This will not likely change until Paul Ryan is removed from occupying our congressional district office.

Quote From The Gazette Comment Section...

YKM - "If only Paul Ryan would not have spent the last twelve years in Congress sponsoring and voting for tax exemptions, credits, loopholes, subsidies and tax shelters, he would not be here today under heavy police guard blaming government for leveraging winners over the losers with tax exemptions, credits, loopholes, subsidies and tax shelters."

Additional:

Rock Netroots - Janesville Townhall Report

The Paul Ryan Watch - Elkhorn Townhall Report by Dave, Down With Tyranny