Newsflash:

Win or Lose, Wisconsin Gives Progressives Something to Build On

Tuesday, 05 June 2012 16:21 Written by Katrina vanden Heuvel | Washington Post

WI-RecallWalker400

Today, all eyes will be watching to see whether Wisconsin voters will keep labor-bashing right-winger Scott Walker (R) in the governor’s mansion. But win or lose, the real story is the 15 months of people power leading up to this day. The real lesson lies in more than a year of progressive organizing, petitioning, canvassing and campaigning for the cause. The real result is a progressive movement that is deeper and broader than before.

When Walker’s opponents needed 540,208 signatures to trigger the recall election, Wisconsin’s progressives responded by collecting more than a million. They filled 152,000 pages — weighty evidence of the power of a group of people determined to right a wrong.

And the effects have rippled outward. The sight of 70,000 protesters — teachers, firefighters, nurses, students, parents with children – occupying the Wisconsin State Capitol in February 2011 ignited activists around the country. Just as the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt motivated people around the world, including in Wisconsin, the occupation of the Madison statehouse helped inspire the occupation of Wall Street a few months later.

Let me state the obvious: I want the recall to succeed. A victory for Democrat Tom Barrett would not only create an opportunity to roll back Walker’s worst anti-labor, budget-slashing measures, but would also send a clear message to those who are masquerading as deficit hawks around the country: We’ve had it with starve-the-beast politics. We’re done with leaders whose idea of austerity is to cut education, health care and vital public services in order to give more tax breaks to their millionaire friends.

Walker’s GOP legislature, like so many Republican statehouses around the country, has pursued a “divide and conquer” strategy, as Walker himself admitted to a billionaire donor. His legislative efforts, backed up by the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, and the extremist, corporate-funded group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are meant to cripple labor unions and disenfranchise poor and minority voters.

Make no mistake — Walker knows his recall has the potential to be a resounding progressive victory. That’s why he’s raised $31 million to stay in office, compared with $4 million raised by his opponent. Two-thirds of Walker’s money has come from outside Wisconsin, and his donor list reads like a list of Who’s Who of America’s Billionaires. Sheldon Adelson — Gingrich’s Daddy Warbucks — and Amway founder Richard DeVos have each given Walker $250,000. And remember the “Swift boat” ads against Kerry? Houston home builder Bob Perry, who backed that smear campaign, wrote Walker checks totaling $500,000. As the recall fight comes to an end, this record amount of money from ultraconservative outsiders has kept Walker alive.

Money in politics is nothing new. In 1816, Thomas Jefferson lamented that corporations that “challenge our government to a trial of strength” were undermining the will of the people. But the battle lines have radically shifted. Ever since the Citizens United ruling welcomed unrestricted corporate money into our elections, the interests of the 99 percent have been badly outmatched by anonymously sourced dollars.

Indeed, we are witnessing the first major battle between astronomical numbers of people and astronomical amounts of money.

As I write this, Walker leads in the polls, and if progressive turnout is merely ordinary, he will likely win. On the other hand, if we see the same groundswell today as on the days that led to this one, Walker can be defeated. Yet, big as this election is, it is only the first test of the progressive response to an electoral landscape overrun with money from corporations and wealthy individuals.

By attacking labor unions, flooding Wisconsin with outside cash and trying to cleanse the electorate of people who don’t look, earn or think like him, Walker has taken aim at more than a single campaign cycle or a series of policies; his real targets are the pillars of American progressivism itself. With the Romney campaign gearing up, and super PACs taking to the national airwaves, we face an unprecedented, well-funded assault on our basic values.

But progressives aren’t backing down. They’re just getting started.

So when the results come in, reflect on the vast organizing effort that brought Wisconsin to this moment — and imagine where it still has the potential to go. Elections are over in a matter of hours, but movements are made of weeks, months and years. The Declaration of Sentiments was issued at Seneca Falls in 1848, yet women did not gain the right to vote until seven decades later. The Civil War ended with a Union victory in 1865, yet the Voting Rights Act was not passed until a century later. Auto workers held the historic Flint sit-down strike in 1936-37, yet the fight for a fair, unionized workforce persists 75 years later.

And in the last 15 months, Wisconsin’s progressives have shown us that the battle against bankrolled austerity can be bravely waged by an army of dedicated people committed to protecting working families. They’ve reminded us that good organizing is our only chance to withstand the blitzkrieg of corporate funded advertising — and better yet, leave a lasting mark. Their movement, with thousands of new Wisconsin activists mobilized, energized and educated, can be permanent — and it can keep growing.

Link to original article from The Washington Post

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Each team hosts a monthly conference call. Calls feature legislators, staffers and other policy experts. On these calls we determine PDA legislation to support as well as actions and future events.

WI Legislators with ALEC Ties

Assembly

Rep. Tyler August (R-32), ALEC International Relations Task Force/Federal Relations Working Group Member
Rep. Joan Ballweg (R-41), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Alternate, Public Safety and Elections Task Force Alternate
Rep. Kathy Bernier (R-68), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
Rep. Mike Endsley (R-26), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
Rep. Paul Farrow (R-98), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (R-39), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member,
Rep. Mark Honadel (R-21)
Former Rep. Michael Huebsch (R), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member and former State Chairman^[189]
Rep. Andre Jacque (R-2), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
Former Speaker Scott Jensen (R), ALEC Member^[190]
Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-33), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Alternate
Rep. John Klenke (R-88), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
Rep. Joseph Knilans (R-44), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
Rep. Dan Knodl (R-24), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Alternate, Public Safety and Elections Task Force Alternate
Rep. Dean Knudson (R-30), ALEC Education Task Force Alternate
Rep. Bill Kramer (R-97), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
Rep. Scott Krug (R-72), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Alternate
Rep. Mike Kuglitsch, ALEC International Relations Task Force/Federal Relations Working Group Member
Rep. Tom Larson (R-67), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
Rep. Daniel LeMahieu (R-59), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
Rep. Michelle Litjens (R-56), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Alternate
Rep. Amy Loudenbeck (R-45), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Alternate
Rep. Howard Marklein (R-51), ALEC Education Task Force Member
Former Rep. Phil Montgomery (R) (head of the Wisconsin Public Services Commission as of 2011)^[22],Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
Rep. Stephen Nass (R-31), Education Task Force Member
Rep. John Nygren (R-88), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member^[191]
Rep. Warren Petryk (R-93), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
Rep. Roger Rivard (R-750, ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
Rep. Erik Severson (R-28), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
Rep. Jim Steineke (R-5), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
Rep. Patricia Strachota (R-58), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
Rep. Scott Suder (R-69), ALEC State Chairman,^[21] Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member and Co-chair of the Homeland Security Committee in 2007^[192]
Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-52), ALEC Education Task Force Alternate
Rep. Travis Tranel (R-49), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Alternate
Rep. Karl Van Roy (R-90), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member^[22]
Rep. Robin Vos (R-63), State Chairman,^[21] Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member, and attended 2011 ALEC annual meeting^[193]
Rep. Chad Weininger (R-4), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate
Rep. Evan Wynn (R-43), ALEC Education Task Force Alternate

Senate

Sen. Alberta Darling (R-8)^[19], ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate, Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-13), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member and former State Chairman
Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-20), ALEC Education Task Force Member, International Relations Task Force Member
Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-10)
Sen. Frank Lasee (R-1), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Alternate
Sen. Mary Lazich (R-28), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member, Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
Sen. Terry Moulton (R-23), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-5), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Co-chair
Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-21), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member^[194], Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
Sen. Rich Zipperer (R-33), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
Former Sen. Pam Galloway (R-29), ALEC International Relations Task Force Member (resigned from office on March 17, 2012)
Former Sen. Randy Hopper (legislator)|Randy B. Hopper]] (R-18), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member, International Relations Task Force Member, Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate, Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member (recalled and removed from office August 9, 2011)
Former Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-32), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate (recalled and removed from office August 9, 2011)

Wisconsin Legislators With ALEC References in Blue Books

Sen. Donald K. Stitt (R) – State Chairman of ALEC (1987-1988), Member (1991-1992 and 1993-1994) (also State Chairman in 1986^[195])
Rep. Susan B. Vergeront (R) – WI Chairperson (1989-1990 and maybe 1991-1992)
- Task Force on Empowerment, Family and Urban Planning
- ALEC Legislator of the year (1991)
Rep. Marc C. Duff (R) - (1991 – 1998)
Rep. Annette P. Williams (D) – America’s Outstanding State Legislator Award (1990)
Mary Lazich (R) – Member (1993 – 1998)
Timothy T. Hoven (R) – Member (1995-1998)
- Task Force Commerce and Economic Development (1997-1998)
Michael D. Huebsch (R) – Member (1995-1996)* Huebsch was the state co-chairman in at least 2010 if not before, until he became an appointee of Governor Scott Walker in 2011
Mark A. Green (R) – State Chairman (1995-1998)
Jeffrey T. Plale (D) – Member (1997-2010)
Tommy Thompson (R) – Thomas Jefferson Award Winner (1991)
Neal J. Kedzie (R) – Member (1999-2010)
Jeff Fitzgerald (R) – Member (2001-2011)
Bonnie L. Ladwig (R) – Member (2001-2002)
Steve Wieckert (R) – Member (2003-2004)
Scott Walker (R) – Member (1995 – 1998)
Judith Klusman (R) – Member, Task Force on Telecommunications and Agriculture
David A. Zien (R) – Member (1995 – 1996)
Scott Suder (R) – Criminal Justice Task Force Co-Chair (2002-2004), Member (2002-2010)
Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine)^[196]

Wisconsin Legislators Mentioning ALEC in their Statements of Economic Interest

2011 Senate

Scott Fitgerald (R) - Received $1,529.93

2011 Assembly

Jeff Fitzgerald (R) - Received $1,329
Dan Knodl (R) - Received $2,000
Patricia Strachota (R) - Received $1,404
Robin Vos (R) - Received $? (No specific amount)

2010 Senate

Scott Fitzgerald (R) - Received $1,466.93

2010 Assembly

Scott Suder (R) - Received $1,200 from ALEC and $1,400 from the Heartland Institute
Michael Huebsch (R) - Received $2,000

2009 Assembly

Kitty Rhoades (R) - Received $575
Jeffery Stone (R) - Received $1,200
Scott Suder (R) - Received $2,200

Wisconsin Legislators Paying ALEC Membership Fees with Tax Dollars

Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse): $100 – 2/1/2011
Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin): $100 – 2/1/2011
Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls): $100 – 2/1/2011
Van Wanggard (R-Racine): $100 – 2/1/2011
Rich Zipperer (R-Pewaukee): $100- 2/1/2011
Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau): $100 – 1/1/2011
Pam Galloway (R-Wausau): $100 – 1/1/2011
Glenn Grotham (R-West Bend): $100 – 1/1/2011
Frank Lasee (R): $200 – 1/1/2011
Alberta Darling (R-River Hills): $200 – 1/1/2009
Mike Ellis (R-Neenah): $100 – 1/1/2009
Neal Kedzie (R-Neenah): $100 – 1/1/2007
Mike Ellis (R-Neenah): $100 – 1/1/2007
Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau): $200 – 1/1/2007^[197]

References to Wisconsin ALEC Members in the Cap Times

From the Capital Times (2011):

“These days, a lot of it is health-related. ALEC, a strong believer in state's rights, federalism, and the free-market, is fighting federal health care reform tooth and nail. (It also opposes various state efforts to crack down on the health insurance industry and expand coverage.) Since 2005, 38 states have passed legislation crafted by its Health and Human Services Task Force, according to the ALEC guide. Wisconsin promises to soon be one of the star performers. 'There have been boilerplate bills that have similar characteristics to what has been passed here in Wisconsin,' Fitzgerald says. In December, he says, he and 20 to 30 other Wisconsin GOP lawmakers attended ALEC's national meeting Washington D.C. (emphasis added), where a key topic of study and conversation was federal health care reform. The 'State Legislators' Guide to Repealing Obamacare' was handed out at this meeting, and its model legislation discussed. 'A good example of that is a bill Joe Leibham is working on right now,' Fitzgerald says. "Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan, and Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, introduced the bill Fitzgerald is talking about on Thursday. The 'Health Care Freedom Amendment' would change the Wisconsin constitution to prohibit the government from forcing anyone to participate in any public or private health care or insurance program. The amendment is meant to block the implementation of federal health ^{Information from Sourcewatch:}

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WI Legislators with ALEC Ties

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Wisconsin Legislators Mentioning ALEC in their Statements of Economic Interest

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Wisconsin Legislators Paying ALEC Membership Fees with Tax Dollars

References to Wisconsin ALEC Members in the Cap Times

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