Wisconsin recall is high-stakes bet for unions

Associated Press ^ | April 11, 2012 | Sam Hananel

[no dems]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Unions are facing a make-or-break moment in their campaign to drive Wisconsin's Republican governor from office.

"After devoting so much effort, energy and funds to the recall, unions have to show positive results or it will be judged to be a sign of a weakened labor movement," said Gary Chaison, professor at Clark University. The recall primary in Wisconsin is May 8, and the general election is June 5.

Such massive, costly campaigns have taken a toll on unions, diverting resources they could have spent helping political allies or organizing new members. "Unions are not bottomless wells when it comes to resources.... "As we're forced to wage these fights to defend what we've got, it's a win-win for the other side because they force us to spend a lot of money to plug holes in the dike."

Unions now face a new hurdle. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced last month that he, too, would run in the Democratic primary. Barrett, has clashed with unions in the past and refused to take the unions' veto pledge. Barrett's entry into the race means unions will have to spend even more money to boost Falk's profile. It also puts them in a bind. They are reluctant to publicly attack Barrett for fear of damaging him in the event he wins the primary. They face the prospect of having to spend even more resources in the general election to support a Democrat they don't really trust.

[Jean S]

Ping!

[Jean S]

Ping!

[Pelham]

“Which marxism quote? You have an odd fascination with them. Almost a preoccupation with them.”

I do indeed, a fascination for Marx’s quotes revealing enthusiastic support for the Radical Republicans and the Union war on the Confederacy.

You know the quotes, the same ones you feign a disinterest in. Too bad for you they won’t go away.

[Pelham]

Here’s some 48er links from Rutgers:

Our ideals resemble the stars, which illuminate the night. No on will ever be able to touch them. But the men who, like the sailors on the ocean, take them for guides, will undoubtedly reach their goal. —Carl Schurz

After the failed German Revolution of 1848, thousands of German revolutionaries fled Europe and immigrated to the United States. Several of the ‘48ers came to Wisconsin, changing the culture and history of the state in the mid-19th Century.

Young and well educated, the exiled ‘48ers represented a new type of immigrant. Earlier German immigrants to Wisconsin tended to be farmers and tradesmen. The new immigrants were scholars, scientists, journalists, teachers, and lawyers. Indeed the ‘48ers that did try their hand at farming were often referred to as “Latin Farmers” because they spoke better Latin than English. The Wisconsin ‘48ers were men and women committed to freedom and liberty and came to America with these ideals intact.

Wisconsin represented a particularly fruitful state for the revolutionaries to settle in because Wisconsin’s Constitution of 1848 allowed the foreign-born to vote after just one year of residency. Thus, immigrants could play a major role in Wisconsin politics. The Wisconsin Forty-Eighters did just that.

http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~dalbello/FLVA/activists/48ers.html

[Pelham]

“Contributions of the Wisconsin Forty-Eighters

“Even though their number was small in terms of the entire German-born population in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin ‘48ers made their mark in political activism, leadership, and education.

“Political Activism: Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Wisconsin Forty-Eighters is their commitment to political activism—an activism, some would say, that is part of the fabric of Wisconsin progressivism. Exiles and revolutionaries, the ‘48ers promoted liberty and freedom in America. They were especially active in the abolition movement, denouncing the Fugitive Slave Law and championing anti-slavery ideals. While perhaps debatable, Carl Schurz is often credited with getting Abraham Lincoln elected (see Rippley, 32). The ‘48ers were also involved in the founding of the Republican party, often seeing themselves as the German wing of the Republican party...”

“Interestingly, the Wisconsin ‘48ers were often not popular with other German immigrants. This division largely stemmed from the differences between Democratic beliefs and Republican beliefs. Carl Schurz moved to the Democratic German town of Watertown, Wisconsin, where he knew fellow Germans were calling him “ein verdammter Repulikaner” (quoted in Kiessling, 78). It probably did not help that Schurz often referred to other (Democratic) Germans not only as sorcerers (below) but as “Stimmvieh” (stupid cattle blundering aimlessly in the ballot box” (Rippley, 30).

“Carl Schurz summed up his ideas about the Democrats in this 1857 speech given in Madison when he was a (unsuccessful) candidate for lieutenant governor:

‘See how far subserviency to slavery has led the Democratic party. Was it not far enough that they with more or less success, endeavored to abridge free speech and free press, for the benefit of the slave holding system? Was it not enough that they trampled upon the true doctrines of the Constitution, and violated sacred compacts and engagements? Not enough that they demoralized political life to the core by the premium paid for political baseness and hypocrisy? Not enough, that by all this they have discredited our democratic institutions in the eyes of all civilized mankind? No, to them it is not enough. A restless demon urges them forward. For Slavery, they would dig up the graves of the great Father of this Republic and pluck the well earned laurels of patriotism from their sacred brows.

‘As it is, the democratic party is like the sorcerer, who possessed the art of making a giant snake; but when he had made it he forgot the magic word that would kill it again. And the giant snake threw his terrible coils around him, and the unfortunate man was choked to death by the monster of his own creation.

‘Liberty is valued most when lost, but then it is too late, and I tell you, your institutions do not stand as firmly as the pillars of heaven. You are free yet, men of Wisconsin. You are wielding yet the formidable mace of self-government. Lift it high and throw it down with a crushing blow on the head of the serpent! (Daily State Journal, Madison, October 19, 1857)’

“Other groups were also not thrilled with the Wisconsin ‘48ers, namely Irish Catholics. By and large, the ‘48ers saw the Irish as holding onto papist beliefs and as unwilling to become American. Newspaper man and ‘48er Bernhard Domschke put it this way in 1854: “In our struggle we are not concerned with nationality, but with principles; we are for liberty, and against union with Irishmen who stand nearer barbarism and brutality than civilization and humanity. The Irish are our natural enemies, not because they are Irishmen, but because they are the truest guards of Popery” (quoted in Rippley, 30). Ironically, the only Wisconsin monument to Carl Schurz was erected by an Irishman.

“The ‘48ers present an interesting case in American immigration history because they remind us that there is not one “German” experience, let alone one immigrant experience. All in all, Schurz did see an extremely positive role for Germans to play. In a speech on “Political Morals” given in Milwaukee on November 18, 1858, Schurz summed up the widespread contributions Germans could make to American politics and American life:

“Look over this broad land: at Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, aye, and Milwaukee also, the German together with the Americans, crowding around the banner of liberty. See there the old Germanic idea showing its true identity in all the branches of the good old German stock....Let this alliance spread and flourish all over this State, all over this Republic—and the cause of liberty will triumph and our honor will be safe.”

http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~dalbello/FLVA/activists/48contribs.html

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks no dems.

[AuH2ORepublican]

LOL!

[Traveler59]

Why are white people in Wisconsin and Minnesota more likely to be statist oriented and fairly politically correct?

I've lived in both states for many years and can tell you that when it comes to radical politics these states are at the top. If you look at the voting demographics in Wisconsin, you'll see there is a correlation with the population density. The cities vote liberal democrat (larger population) and the urban/rural areas vote conservative republican. Regrettably the cities combined population is greater than the urban/rural population. And don't forget, the Republican party was formed in Ripon, Wisconsin.

If you think a Packers vs Vikings game can get nasty, just get into a discussion of politics 'across the river'. Minnesotans were fed up with the national parties and started a few of their own at the state level. There is the Democratic Farmer Labor party and the Independent Republican party. Both of these loosely based on the national political parties. Along with this is the normal Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The voting ballots can really be a handful if you're not keeping track of who's on first.

So radical politics in MN & WI has been going on for a long time. I guess to sum it up, if you don't like the party then change the dance tune.

[Carry_Okie]

You have an odd fascination with them. Almost a preoccupation with them.

There were a surprising number of radical Republican who were fans of Karl Marx in the 19th Century. Among them was a Supreme Court Clerk (John Chandler Bancroft Davis) who fabricated the precedent giving corporations the protections of citizenship under the 14th Amendment.

[uncommonsense]

"This will be a preview of the kind of election fraud tactics they have lined up for November"

Very true and needs to be broadcast from the rooftops. I'm glad I live in Texas, but no right-to-work state is immune to various fraud tactics like international financing for BHO's campaign in 2008 (using a payment processing system that didn't use basic card authorization services).

[no dems]

The General Election, June 5th, IS the Recall Election. The Primary, May 8th, is just that. A Primary to see which Dems will run against the Pubbies they are trying to recall. Once the candidates are established, then the actual General (Recall) Election is June 5th.

Hope this helps.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Wisconsin Union Recall Fiasco ping

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

[rockrr]

Can pubbies cross over and vote dhimmi in the primary?

[sgtyork]

yes. and discussions are ongoing

[rockrr]

While I personally find the practice unseemly the pragmatist in me says “Turnabout is fair-play”. In my state (Washington) they changed the rules in order to prevent it. I guess they decided that the pubbies were such an endangered species that they no longer needed to meddle in our elections ;-)

[Lmo56]

I don't see Walker losing this - he will prolly scrape by with 51% or better.

Reason is that [with the new laws and policies]:

1) Unemployment is under 7% ...

2) State tax receipts are up [more money for state services] ...

3) Businesses are being persuaded to locate in the state [which decreases #1 and increases #2 even more, above] ...

People are gonna vote their pocketbooks in the recall election - and they are gonna vote for Walker ...

[ThE_RiPpEr.]

“I don’t see Walker losing this - he will prolly scrape by with 51% or better.”

I pray that you are right.

Do you still see that happening when the DemocRAT DA from Milwaukee issues criminal charges against Walker (that will later be proven false) a couple of weeks before the election? The media will be in a full feeding frenzy over the seriousness of the allegations.

Do not underestimate the commie union rats. They are going to use every trick, legal or illegal, to overturn the will of the Wisconsin taxpayers.

[no dems]

You Tagline sucks big-time.

[aces]

Indeed, let’s pray that Scott is not recalled for the sake of the people of Wisconsin..

[no dems]

Can pubbies cross over and vote dhimmi in the primary?
______________________________________________________________

Not sure. I don’t live in WI.