For those who haven't been paying attention for the last month and a half... There is an effort in Wisconsin to recall the 8 Republican State Senators who have been in office for over a year. Two of those recall efforts have so far been successful. State Senators Dan Kapanke (R-32nd Dist.) and Randy Hopper (R-18th Dist.) have to defend their seats in a pending election sometime this summer.
The deadline for ALL OF THE REMAINING petition efforts to recall the other 6 eligible Republican State Senators is fast approaching. That deadline is May 2, 2011... JUST 17 DAYS AWAY!!
That's it! After that, we're shit out of luck... If enough signatures aren't collected by May 2nd, then we're stuck with the remainder of these ghouls until someone comes up with some other plan to free us from their tyranny.
The campaigns need all the volunteers they can get to collect signatures this weekend and next.
I need to send a h/t to Steve Hanson at Uppity Wisconsin. His post yesterday (while limited in scope) brought this to my attention:
The Recall Harsdorf campaign is trying to make a big push over the next few days to gather signatures. Time is running out, and there's a big need for volunteers to collect signatures, process them, and do multiple other things. If you have some time in the next few days (and even if you don't) you can helpt to improve our state by heading over to Harsdorf's part of the state and volunteering (Dunn, Burnett, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties). More information is always available at http://recallharsdorf.com
While Mr. Hanson's blog post is fine as far as it goes, it neglects to mention the other five recall efforts that are still pending... But hey, Sheila Harsdorf is as good a place to start as any....
If you need a reason to recall Harsdorf (well, besides "she's a republican" and "because we can") the People For the American Way has some enlightening information:
Harsdorf received perfect 100% scores over the last two years from the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s chief pro-corporate lobby group. She also came out strongly in favor of massive tax breaks for corporations and loosening business regulations, even as she backed Walker’s draconian budget cuts. She even supported a business tax break that experts believed would be largely ineffective at creating jobs , and consistently opposed raising the minimum wage and supported legislation to allow businesses to escape a penalty over discriminatory pay and hiring practices.
15,744 signatures are required by May 2nd to force a recall election in Harsdorf's 10th District. You can follow the efforts of the campaign at Twitter.
Next up, we have Luther Olsen of Ripon, Wisconsin who represents the state's 14th Senate District.
Originally, Olsen refused to say whether he would support Scott Walker’s union-busting bill, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was on staying on the sidelines. “The concept is pretty radical,” he said, “It affects a lot of good working people.” Olsen, who is the vice-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, ultimately voted in favor of the bill in the name of fiscal prudence and saving taxpayer money. Despite his concern for saving taxpayer money, however, the Environmental Working Group found that one farm which Olsen had a stake in garnered $58,502 in taxpayer subsidies from 1995 to 2009, and another farm received $25,730.
He twice voted against increasing the minimum wage and also opposed compensation for discriminatory pay. Reflecting on his pro-corporate voting record, the Wisconsin lobby group for manufacturers gave him perfect 100% scores in 2009 and 2010.
14,500 signatures are needed by May 2nd to force a recall election in Luther's 14th District.
Who could possibly forget Alberta Darling of River Hills representing Wisconsin's 8th district in the State Senate:
As co-chair of the State Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, Senator Darling played a crucial role in passing the union-busting legislation. Despite her central role in shepherding through the anti-union bill, Darling says that the recall campaign “has become less about my record and what I’m doing. It’s become a national union initiative to take out the Republican senators who have been working for fiscal accountability.” Darling, who contributed $6,250 to Walker’s 2010 campaign, defended the union-busting plan by saying that “The governor is proposing that we have collective bargaining deal only with wages which is how it is, for the most part, in the private sector.” PolitiFact described her assertion as “false,” since private sector workers are allowed to organize and bargain collectively for wages, hours, working conditions, benefits and other issues.
The union-busting bill wasn’t Darling’s first vote against Wisconsin working families. She twice voted to make it more difficult for victims of medical malpractice to seek justice in court, and repeatedly opposed raising the minimum wage.
20,300 signatures are needed before May 2nd to force a recall election in Darling's 8th District.
Then there's good ole' Glenn Grothman of West Bend in the 20th District... You remember, the guy who called the protester's slobs:
Senator Glenn Grothman was a vocal supporter of the union-busting bill and didn’t have kind words for the demonstrators. The senator appeared on networks like Fox News and MSNBC defending the bill and Governor Walker while blasting opponents. Grothman dubbed the tens of thousands of protesters as “college students having a fun party” and “a bunch of slobs.” “I think if you would interview all the people who are creating a ruckus,” Grothman said, “the vast majority are either college students, college TAs, or hangers-on, or just unemployed people looking for somewhere to hang out.” Back in 2009, he criticized the people of Madison, saying that their politicians were incompetent because their “base is people who walk to their job at the co-op.”
20,061 signatures are needed by May 2nd to force a recall election in Grothman's 20th District.
Then there's little Mary Lazich from New Berlin who represents Wisconsin's 28th District in the State Senate. What do the People For the American Way have to say about her?
Senator Lazich has one of the most stringently conservative records among her peers. She was one of Scott Walker’s biggest defenders during the budget debate, and backed his threat to have a massive layoff of public workers if they did not cede their rights to collectively bargain. Lazich received a perfect 100% rating in 2010 from the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, a pro-corporate lobbyist group, and twice opposed raising the minimum wage. The senator also has an abysmal record on women’s rights, voting against compensation for discriminatory pay and opposing a comprehensive sex education measure that promotes women’s health by covering contraceptives.
20,900 signatures are required by May 2nd in order to force a recall in Lazich's 28th District.
Finally Robert Cowles of Green Bay who represents Wisconsin's 2nd District:
Even though he was known as a moderate, he has increasingly become more conservative and a loyal Republican. Cowles has a record of voting against the best interest of working families. He twice voted against raising the minimum wage, and twice voted to constrain the rights of victims of medical malpractice to seek justice in court. He even opposed allowing victims of pay discrimination to seek compensation from their employers. He calls himself a proud social conservative and has a “D” rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, but in 2008 it was revealed that he had tens of thousands of dollars invested in companies that run strip clubs. He eventually sold the stock after it was exposed.
15,690 signatures are needed by May 2nd to force a recall election in Cowles' 2nd District.
Okay, what more do you need to know? Get the hell out there and get to work people!!