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The War on Wisconsin
Townhall.com ^ | March 28, 2012 | Michelle Malkin

Posted on 03/28/2012 12:14:23 AM PDT by Kaslin

Now is the time for all good tea partiers to come to the aid of Wisconsin. Fiscally conservative leaders in the Badger State are under coordinated siege from Big Labor, the White House, the liberal media and the judiciary. The yearlong campaign of union thuggery, family harassment and intimidation of Republican donors and businesses is about to escalate even further. This is the price the Right pays for doing the right thing.

The most visible target is Gov. Scott Walker, who faces recall on June 5 over his tough package of state budget and public employee union reforms. Three state GOP legislators -- Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Sen. Van Wanggaard and Sen. Terry Moulton -- also face recall. A fourth target, staunch union reformer and Second Amendment advocate Sen. Pam Galloway, announced she was stepping down last week -- leaving the legislature deadlocked and Democratic strategists salivating.

Walker and the GOP majority ended the union compulsory dues racket, allowed workers to choose whether to join a union, curtailed costly bargaining rights and enacted pension and health contribution requirements to bring the government in line with private-sector practices. The Walker reform law helped prevent massive layoffs in public education by saving tens of millions of dollars in bloated benefits bills. Ending the state union monopoly on teachers' health insurance plans allowed dozens of school districts to switch their coverage to more competitive bidders.

The free-market MacIver Institute reports that at least 25 school districts did so, saving the districts more than $200 per student. Hundreds of millions more in savings are in the works as school districts and local governments turn deficits to surpluses. And Walker's actions have nearly wiped out the nearly $3.6 billion deficit he inherited from his free-spending predecessors.

New poll data released on Tuesday show two potential Democratic rivals neck and neck with Walker. Wisconsin politicos tell me his national name recognition has bolstered public awareness and fundraising efforts. He's currently sitting on a $5 million war chest. Walker supporters believe the Big Labor-fueled fight will be dirty, but with vigilant backing, he'll survive.

The outlook for the unhinged Left's secondary targets, however, is not so bright. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, a tea party candidate who is not part of the GOP establishment, is being treated as collateral damage by the party. Outside of Wisconsin, most conservative activists are not even aware that she may be booted from office for simply doing her job. Kleefisch told me that on a recent fundraising swing in D.C., national GOP leaders were shocked to learn of her plight.

While Democratic femme-a-gogues continue their plaintive wailing about a "war on women," Kleefisch has battled vile misogyny from liberal detractors. When lefty Wisconsin radio host John "Sly" Sylvester accused Kleefisch of performing "fellatio on all the talk-show hosts in Milwaukee" and sneered that she had "pulled a train" (a crude phrase for gang sex), feminists remained silent. A former television anchor, small businesswoman and mother of two, Kleefisch's quiet work on economic development has reaped untold dividends for the state. But if conservatives who preach the gospel of fiscal conservatism do not act, the profligate progressives' vendetta against Wisconsin may result in the first-ever recall of a lieutenant governor in American history.

Kleefisch, a 36-year-old colon cancer survivor, is a fighter who points to her two young daughters when I ask why she's in the political arena. What message would it send to young tea party moms across the country if Walker survived but Kleefisch was hung out to dry? Will Beltway Republican strategists and donors who constantly harp about the need to diversify the party step up to the plate?

President Obama, the AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME and left-wing operatives know that Wisconsin is Ground Zero in their battle against limited-government activists. Their demagogic propaganda war against Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan, who is leading entitlement reform and budget discipline efforts in Washington, is of a piece with the campaign to overturn the popular elections that put Walker, Kleefisch and the GOP majority in place. If they can chill fiscal responsibility and free market-based reforms in Wisconsin, they can chill it everywhere. Will movement conservatives let them?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: april3; biglabor; eaglesup; santorum; scottwalker; wisconsin; wisconsinshowdown

1 posted on 03/28/2012 12:14:30 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Bump


2 posted on 03/28/2012 1:13:48 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (WISCONSIN Apr. 4: It is YOUR CHOICE: Romney as Nominee, or CONSERVATIVE Upset? Whatchya' Gonna' Do??)
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To: Kaslin

GOPe throwing the Tea Party under the bus. Big shocker.


3 posted on 03/28/2012 1:25:18 AM PDT by trappedincanuckistan (livefreeordietryin)
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To: All

Bump. Super Bump. April 3 Primaries. Send a message. Vanquish ROMNEY.


4 posted on 03/28/2012 1:51:20 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (WISCONSIN Apr. 3: It is YOUR CHOICE: Romney as Nominee, or CONSERVATIVE Upset? Whatchya' Gonna' Do??)
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To: Kaslin

If Wisconsin overthrows Walker, Kleefisch and the three legislators remaining, it`ll be proof positive that state is heavily populated by needy idiots who wish to kneel at the feet of the unions and the state.

Are you REALLY going to revert to the bad old days of union thugs running the show, Wisconsin?


5 posted on 03/28/2012 2:56:20 AM PDT by ScottinVA (A single drop of American blood for muslims is one drop too many!)
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To: Kaslin

We shall overcome!


6 posted on 03/28/2012 3:44:07 AM PDT by damncat
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To: Kaslin

Napoleon once said he does not need a good general, sometimes a lucky general will do. Question for most conservatives is this country still “lucky”? I associate US good luck with God’s grace on this nation as long as Americans are still Godly in nature. Through out US history there are numerous examples of luck falling on US favor when our enemies had the advantage and should have decisively defeated the US. Today the US is riddled with consumerism (spending on items that they do not need or have already despite the lack of money or income), God is no longer honored in practice (less then half go to church regularly, sizable number of conservatives (libertarians) accept gay lifestyle and exhibit anti Jewish/Israel sentiments (Jews have too much influence in our Congress), do we control our language in private (swearing and using God’s name in vain), do we have self control on lust and meet the Christian standards? Like in the past when our nation reached a critical crossroad, we always manage to cross it safely with a miracle (God’s favor), and now can we say the same thing?


7 posted on 03/28/2012 4:43:28 AM PDT by Fee
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To: AmericanInTokyo

Heard from a reliable source in city hall that the plan is to announce criminal charges against Walker just before the election and have Tom Barrett run again.

Milwaukee DA and Milwaukee Mayor to the rescue. Might as well try since Madison DA and Madison County Exec isn’t going so well.


8 posted on 03/28/2012 4:55:18 AM PDT by sbMKE
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To: afraidfortherepublic; Jean S; Diana in Wisconsin

Wisconsin ping


9 posted on 03/28/2012 5:02:26 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued (A chameleon belongs in a pet store, not the White House)
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To: Fee
Question for most conservatives is this country still “lucky”?

Reminds me of a wonderfully thought provoking quote by Robert Heinlein...

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded- here and there, now and then- are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.This is known as "bad luck.".”

10 posted on 03/28/2012 5:09:19 AM PDT by 6SJ7 (Meh.)
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To: Kaslin

Support Scott Walker

11 posted on 03/28/2012 5:26:52 AM PDT by rhema ("Break the conventions; keep the commandments." -- G. K. Chesterton)
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To: Kaslin

Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch

12 posted on 03/28/2012 5:37:58 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell)
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To: Kaslin

I live in Florida and have already contributed to Walker, may do so again although income is Social Security and a small pension. Relative went to U of Wisconsin - can no longer tolerate his political thought. Although a confessed liberal and “open minded”, he refuses to allow anyone in family to view any news other than NBC and MSNBC. See any similarities in his attitude and Main Street Media reporting?


13 posted on 03/28/2012 6:27:05 AM PDT by Boomer One
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To: Kaslin
Excerpted from an article about Sly Sylvester's remarks: Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), who along with democratic lawmaker Marc Pocan called for more civil political discourse in a news release last week, said he would not condemn Sylvester's decision to include sexual remarks in Sylvester's on-air critique of Kleefisch's work. "He has every right to do it. And the only thing that can happen is we use our free speech to say either we disagree, or we turn the channel."

Too bad they don't feel the same about Rush!

14 posted on 03/28/2012 6:33:24 AM PDT by NRA1995 (I'll cling to my religion and guns till they're pried from my cold dead fingers!)
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To: Clintonfatigued; Hunton Peck; Diana in Wisconsin; P from Sheb; Shady; DonkeyBonker; ...

Wisconsin Liberals Declare War on Wisconsin ping

FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.


15 posted on 03/28/2012 7:55:19 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: All

If Rick Santorum wins, or even does well in Wisconsin, we have a good chance of stopping Romney.

Support Rick now, and if you can’t afford to contribute, call a talk show that airs in Wisconsin.


16 posted on 03/28/2012 9:32:11 AM PDT by Sun (Pray that God sends us good leaders. Please say a prayer now.)
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