Carrie Geenen – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The last few months in Wisconsin has been a flurry of activity, a massive building of momentum toward taking the first steps in the fight back against Governor Walker’s attack on working families. Wisconsinites have been fighting for their families and their rights for six months now and the recall elections of five state senators are the first step in getting our state back to moving “Forward.”
The “shared sacrifice” motto is not sitting well with many Wisconsinites as there seems to be very little sharing going on. Governor Walker’s budget plan called for the almost complete elimination of collective bargaining rights for roughly 175,000 workers, even after those workers agreed to increased contributions to health care and retirement plans. The budget also called for $800 million in cuts to public education and more than $450 million in cuts to health care in the state. While working families take the brunt of balancing the budget corporations are receiving hundreds of millions in tax breaks, even though two-thirds already pay no taxes in our state.
Working America members from all across the state and from all walks of life have said that eliminating collective bargaining is not just an issue for public workers, it’s an issue for all citizens as unions have made this country what it is. They also know that taking away such basic rights-or as one Milwaukee area member, Frank, called them “part of the antidote, the only thing keeping corporations in check and on their toes”-is an invitation for even less corporate accountability. Bill, a member from Fond du Lac, pointed out the irony in how hard corporations work to keep unions out “they can’t pay much, but they sure will spend exorbitantly on making sure a union doesn’t find its way in”. Workers, both public and private, know that these attacks on working families need to be stopped and that the only way to do that was to stand up and fight back.
Eliminating collective bargaining, a blatant attack on working families, may have begun this fight in Wisconsin but that is no longer what is propelling this movement. Many Wisconsin residents feel like they were ignored and the long term effects were not considered when this budget was pushed through. Working America members around the state are concerned not only for themselves but overwhelmingly for those who rely on state programs and the future of the children in the state. John, a new Working America member from Menomonee Falls, described that sentiment as one of the reasons he lives in Wisconsin “up here we are just people who care about each other and care what happens to our neighbors.” Laura, an Oshkosh area member and mother, commented that “education is one of the most important things we can do for our kids, if we don’t invest in educating all of Wisconsin’s kids, I don’t know how we can expect them or our state to be successful.”
Governor Walker may have wanted to make Wisconsin a model for the country by eliminating workers’ rights, but he failed to realize how important our rights are to us. Now, Wisconsin’s workers are making the state a model for how hard we will fight to keep the rights that we have had for half of a century and have made our state as great as it is.
David Fernandez – Orlando, Florida
Traveling circuses have historically been a way to sit back, relax and enjoy the stunts, tricks and performances put on by amazing entertainers. In Florida, a new type of traveling spectacle is touring the state in the form of Redistricting hearings, but sadly, state legislators have been putting on some poor performances. From absent representatives, to senators playing with their iPads and cell phones during hearings, it’s obvious these hearings have been more of a sideshow act than a plea to achieve effective public input in the redistricting process.
On November 2nd 2010, 63 percent of Floridians voted in favor of constitutional amendments 5 and 6. Fair Districts would set guidelines to draw lines in a manner that directly reflects the local demographic, and create compact districts that simply make sense, compared to the current cut up district lines political parties have gerrymandered for decades. On the state level, the Florida House has set aside $30 million to fight against the implementation of Fair Districts, leaving voters in an interesting position where their tax dollars are both being used to sue and defend…themselves. This assault on democracy is just another attempt by Florida incumbents to keep their gerrymandered seats and continue the same agenda attacking working families at home and in the voting booth.
Under the guise of collecting public input, legislators have been traveling the state listening to voters concerns on the redistricting process. In Orlando, Working America members helped fill the seats of the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, demanding answers and fighting back against voter suppression. Member Violeta Hernandez noted that she was “impressed, usually when they have similar hearings, just a few people show up, but this time we had around 600 people speaking their mind. It was exciting to see.”
Voters voiced their concerns about the lack of sample maps provided to the public and the millions of dollars set aside to combat Fair Districts. “Not every legislator responded to questions, some of them were not even interested in what we had to say,” said Ada Carrion, a Working America member who attended the hearing. “Some of them walked away and a few fell asleep. I was furious and felt completely disrespected.”
Who wins and who loses? If the state uses all the time allotted during session to pass the districts, the process could take up till June 2012 to have official lines drawn. This gives voters and candidates one and a half months to get out the vote for the primaries, leaves voters disenfranchised, hinders quality candidates from running, and safely secures an incumbent advantage. “Voters are not being heard. They could be drawing the district lines right now, instead politicians are playing political volleyball with our election,” says member Peter Vasquez. “Frustrated doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings, this is a circus and I won’t be distracted by the show.”
Jihad Seifullah – Columbus, Ohio
In the midst of a heat wave that has swept the country working families and constituency groups across Ohio have also continued to turn up the heat to stand up for the rights of many.
We have seen working families’ rights being threatened. Since Governor Kasich signed SB 5 into law – the bill that limits collective bargaining rights for over 350,000 workers in Ohio – Ohioans across the state worked diligently to collect about 1.3 million signatures to get the repeal of the law to a statewide vote.
On Thursday July 21 in Columbus, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga met with representatives from allied organizations from around the state for a round table discussion about the campaign and how SB 5 will hurt working families. Organizations and allies that were represented included the NAACP, Alliance of Retired Americans, Center for Community Change, IUPAT, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Shawnee Central Labor Council, North Shore Central Labor Council, Phi Beta Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, as well as Pastor Rousseau O’Neal, Rev. Susan Ritchie, and former State Senator Gene Branstool, the author of the original collective bargaining law in 1983. Also taking part in this discussion was Working America member Shonda Sneed, who has been unemployed for over a year and a half.
Shonda had a compelling perspective to add to the discussion as she has faced firsthand what so many others in this recession are going through. Shonda had worked in the engineering field for over 20 years. She was a hard working and very dedicated employee to the company she worked for.
At the round table Shonda shared her story, “On December 11, 2009 my supervisor came to my cubical and told me to follow him.” Shonda was totally shocked as she was being told that she was being laid off. “My supervisor walked me back to my cubicle; I packed my stuff and was escorted to my car.”
Others at the round table shared similar stories of the struggles that many families are facing in these tough economic times. This has been the scenario that has been played out over and over again for hard working families across the country.
Shonda also shared her father’s experience with unions, highlighting their importance: “My Dad shared with me how one of his friends was on the job, in a ditch digging, when it caved in on him and crushed him to death.” After he gained union representation, he didn’t have to live the fear of dying simply because he showed up to work at a dangerous site.
As Shonda reminds us all, the fight to defeat SB 5 and retain collective bargaining rights is about the safety of working families across the state. It is about the principle that no one should have to die just because their boss chose to risk their life needlessly, and we can’t let our government drag even more working people and their communities down to lower standards of safety, security and dignity. That’s something anyone can agree to, whether or not they have a union on the job.
Chase Brandau – Minneapolis, Minnesota
A lot of us have been sweating lately in Minnesota – but not just from record heat. Since the 2011 legislative session ended without a deal on the budget, Minnesotans across the state were left wondering: will we balance the budget fairly, or will it be done on the backs of working families?
Last week, after the shutdown ended and a budget deal was worked out, we had one answer to this question: GOP lawmakers would rather cut critical services and keep kicking the can down the road than ask millionaires to pay $1 more in taxes to keep Minnesota the kind of state we are all so proud of.
What a disconnect. Working America organizers have been talking to Minnesotans about balancing the budget fairly since January, and the overwhelming majority of people we talk to support an approach including new revenue by asking the rich to pay their fair share. When we ask Working America members what their biggest concern is, they say ‘jobs’ or ‘education’—not spending cuts to pay for tax breaks for a few of the wealthiest Minnesotans.
In Southern Minnesota, Winona, Le Crescent, Albert Lea; throughout the Twin Cities and in St. Cloud, in central cities like Grand Rapids and Park Rapids and as far north west as East Grand Forks—people we talked to across the state expressed deep concern about cuts to education, healthcare, community services and rising property taxes. Ninety percent of the members we talked to expressed frustration with the fact that these cuts are being done to protect the top two percent from paying an equal share in taxes.
Over half our members were so fired up that they took action, many for the first time in their lives, by picking up their phone and calling their legislators: parents, students, retirees, workers and the unemployed exercised their strength in numbers, to the point where their legislators literally unplugged their phones.
Heat waves in Minnesota? For lawmakers who choose the richest two percent over working families it’s bound to get hot again; their morally bankrupt defense of the rich is no longer being tolerated by the “Other 98%” of us they keep forgetting about.
Kim McMurray – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Earlier this summer, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett passed a state budget for 2011-2012 that jeopardized the economic certainty of working families and needy citizens across the Keystone State. In this political environment, those who are least able to afford cuts are forced to absorb the pain while millionaires and billion-dollar corporations are spared from making a sacrifice.
Governor Corbett’s extreme budget made drastic cuts to education, with urban school districts in places like Philadelphia and Allentown taking the hardest hits. Basic education funding was cut by over $425 million from last year. Accountability block grants (to make sure that schools are being as effective as possible) were cut by 61%, while a state-wide tutoring program and school improvement grants were cut completely. Special education funding was flat lined for the third straight year and integral early education programs like HeadStart and PreK Counts were decreased. In total, the cuts to K-12 education programs equaled added up to well over $860 million.
Then there’s higher education. Temple University announced this week that they will be forced to raise tuition by almost 10% to offset the cuts in state assistance. They won’t be the only ones. Pennsylvania State, Pittsburgh, and Bucks Community College are all raising fees to make up for the lost revenue. State funding to public universities and community colleges was cut by an average of 18%.
Health care and public welfare programs that service the state’s most vulnerable citizens also took a big hit. Funding for county child welfare (the people who protect abused children) was cut by 4%. The Medical Assistance Transportation Program, which helps sick and disabled people (mostly senior citizens) get to and from doctor’s appointments will do without $8.5 million this year.
Another major blow came to housing services. The budget cut $8.5 million in assistance to counties providing services like housing assistance, adult day-care, and home delivered meals. In a time when foreclosures are still at a record-high, the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, which has kept scores working Keystone State families in their homes, was cut by more than 80%.
Governor Corbett’s budget is making millions of Pennsylvanians feel buyer’s remorse from the 2010 elections and Working America will continue to mobilize working class moderates from each corner of Pennsylvania to fight for a fair budget that promotes Main Street values. Already this year, Working America members attended rallies at the State Capitol, held meetings with local elected officials, wrote countless letters to their local newspapers, and reached out to friends and family to spread the word about the damage that Governor Corbett’s budget will do. We may have lost the first battle but the fight is far from over to ensure that working class Pennsylvanians get the support they need to invest in their futures, remain in their homes and support their families.
Congratulations to the thousands of volunteers, organizers, but above all the voters of Wisconsin that kicked off the historic recall election season with a string of six primary victories! And we know our fight against Governor Walker’s radical, anti-worker agenda has only just begun.
This week, the voters voted for the real deal, Walker got shouted down, robo-callers got caught red-handed…and we have our next election is four days. This is your Wisconsin roundup.
• Six for six. On Tuesday, July 12, recall season started off with a bang. Higher than expected turnout raised the profile of the primary elections, which were between the six “real” Democratic recall challengers and the six fake “Democratic” primary opponents who were recruited by Republicans to delay the general elections.
Five of the candidates won with 65 percent or higher against their fake/protest/confused opponents, not for lack of trying by outside groups to tell voters to stay home. The general election to recall the “Walker 6” – the real fight – will now be on August 9th.
Keep in mind when you read about these primaries: everything Walker and his allies have done, from union-busting to education cuts, have used the excuse “our state is broke.” But these fake primaries that Walker’s party imposed on Wisconsin cost the taxpayers nearly $500,000, all to give Republicans a political advantage. From the taxpayer’s perspective, it’s basically setting fire to a pile of money. Not exactly “fiscally responsible.”
• Next Tuesday we do it all again. On July 19, incumbent Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) is facing Republican David VanderLeest in the first general election of the recall season. GOP Rep. John Nygren was going to face Hansen, but he missed out on the opportunity by two signatures.
So now it’s VanderLeest, who has an interesting position on tax policy: he says he won’t vote to raise taxes if elected, but he himself owes $25,000 in property taxes. I’m not sure the voters of the 30th Senate District will appreciate this contradiction.
• Can’t hear you, Scott. Filmmaker Kevin Mulvenna explains his latest video:
Despite cutting funding to technical colleges by 30% and stripping college faculty of their collective bargaining rights, Scott Walker tried to speak at a celebration commemorating 100 years of technical education in Wisconsin. Here’s how he was received.
If that reception doesn’t give you a hint that you should end your war on working families, I don’t know what will.
Have thoughts on the happenings in Wisconsin? Leave a comment here, or send us a tweet at @WorkingAmerica. See you next Tuesday!
We’ve finally arrived folks. The first round of recall elections in the most important political battle of this new decade is today, Tuesday, July 12. And there are a few signs that things are looking up for the good guys.
Unfortunately, Scott Walker is making it hard to be optimistic and easy to be nauseous – but hey, it wouldn’t be a day in Wisconsin without that!
This is your Wisconsin Roundup:
• GOP challenger fails to make ballot. Scott Walker’s allies were elated when they recruited Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) to run in the recall election against Senator David Hansen (D-Green Bay). Only one problem: due to lack of enthusiasm, poor planning, bad paperwork, or a combination of all of the above, Rep. Nygren didn’t get enough valid signatures to make the ballot, according to a decision by the GAB.
In one of the more surprising twists in the exceedingly twisty Wisconsin saga, Nygren failed to make the ballot by two valid signatures (he needed 400, he got 398). That’s an hour of work at most, or a couple of door knocks. But that ship has sailed, and the math of the recall is substantially changed.
Nygren initially submitted an appeal to the GAB, but has since dropped it. Now Hansen will face a substantially weaker candidate on July 19.
• Grassroots donors make it rain. While the Nygren incident was a hit to Walker and his anti-worker allies, this next bit of news must have them really scared. Even though the Wisconsin GOP has the backing of the Koch Brothers, the Club for Growth, and a host of shadowy corporate donors, the grassroots efforts of We Are Wisconsin and the Democratic candidates have proved once again that a large number of small donations – fueled by the Internet – can pack a powerful punch.
From the Wisconsin Democrats:
Low-dollar donations from ordinary Wisconsin citizens fed up with the extreme, divisive agenda of Scott Walker and his sock puppet senators in Madison have fueled nearly $1.6 million in contributions for Democratic challengers in the latest fundraising period for the recall elections this summer.
The numbers are pretty incredible. Nancy Nusbaum, who is running against Robert Cowles in Senate District 2, raised over $177,000. Average donation? $19.27. In fact, for five out of the six candidates, the average donation size was under $25, highly unusual in this post-Citizens United era of mega-donors and super-expensive elections.
In Wisconsin and all over the country, working families and pro-worker activists of all stripes are starting to recognize the impact that a recall victory this summer would have on the destructive agendas of Scott Walker, John Kasich, Rick Scott and the gang – and they are even willing to depart with a few hard-earned bucks to make it happen.
And if they needed some extra motivation, Scott Walker and his pal Rush Limbaugh are happy to oblige:
• Walker’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, featuring Rush Limbaugh. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining bill is now in effect, and anti-worker politicians are trying to claim that the new law caused the Appleton School District to go from a $400,000 deficit to a $1.5 million surplus. You don’t have to be an economic expert to know that’s bogus (the change is the result of concessions made by teachers far before Walker’s collective bargaining law went into effect), but it’s still been bandied about as fact by the usual reality-phobic pundits, like Rush Limbaugh.
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post wrote:
Walker’s premature declaration of victory — and the right wing echo chamber’s flacking of it — could look awfully silly when the full bill for his policies really comes due. And the notion that this one school district’s fiscal success is in any way a referendum on the most controversial aspect of Walker’s union busting proposal is laughable. This fight has never been about public employees’ unwillingness to make fiscal concessions — and always about stripping them of their rights.
He’s right. It’s never been about jobs for Scott Walker. It’s about ideology, personal prestige, and the bidding of his corporate donors.
And that’s why today, Tuesday, July 12, 2011, Wisconsin will start the process of removing Walker’s rubber stamp senators from office. Stay tuned.
Kim McMurray – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Karen Traylor could not stop beaming as she talked about her son’s recent graduation. “I even brought his diploma with me,” she said, passing the framed certificate over to the legislative assistant. This may have been the first time anyone ever brought a high school diploma to a lobby meeting, but Karen had a good reason.
For the past month, Philadelphia-area Working America members have been visiting local district offices and lobbying against the upcoming budget cuts to education and social services. They have urged their elected officials to use the $540 million in surplus to fill some of the holes in education. They have demanded that corporations pay their fair share, that the Pennsylvania legislature close corporate tax loopholes and enact a natural gas severance tax so that education and social services can be funded the way they are meant to be funded. They put a face on these cuts.
It started three weeks ago at southeastern Senator’s office. Our entire field team plus a few members descended on the office to deliver over 350 handwritten letters from his constituents. This Republican Senator has stood strong against these budget cuts and we showed him that his constituents are behind him in this fight. The Senator was taken aback by the sheer volume of the letters, but was truly touched by our member’s passion and our organizer’s stories from the field. One member, Kristina Smith, pulled him aside to tell him about her middle son. Jacob is on the autism spectrum. He was only diagnosed about a year ago when a teacher at school picked up on the symptoms. Since then, he has received amazing support from his school, and his speech and social interactions have improved dramatically. Kristina is worried that his autism programs might be cut as schools struggle to make ends meet.
Next, our members visited a district office in Philadelphia. “You guys just need to keep doing what you are doing,” said the Senator’s legislative assistant. “Keep talking about the cuts, keep talking about the surplus, and keep talking about the corporate tax loopholes. Maybe the Governor will start to listen.”
That brings us back to Karen at the third stop on our lobbying tour. Karen’s son struggles with learning disabilities and graduated from high school with the help of programs for kids with dyslexia. In the fall, he is hoping to attend Temple University. “When my son graduated, it was the happiest day of my life. He would not have been able to do that without special education programs,” she told the legislative assistant. “Sure, he is done with high school now, but what about the rest of those kids? What about their parents? That’s why I am fighting against these cuts.”
This month, our members put a face and personal story on the budget cuts for elected officials around Philadelphia. With only a couple days left until the budget deadline, let’s hope they listen.
What’s the world coming to? In Scott Walker’s Wisconsin, it’s harder to sell craft beer, you don’t get your state Earned Income Tax credit, and you can’t sing a song in the Capitol without getting punched in the face.
Going after beer and music in a state that loves both – stay classy, Scott! This is your Wisconsin roundup:
• Bad budget or worst budget? Walker’s budget proposal passed both houses of the legislature on party lines. It includes: cuts on corporate income taxes, weaker tax reporting standards, cuts to the state Earned Income Tax Credit, a $76 million cut to local governments, force new public safety workers to increase contributions to their health care and pensions, and mess with Wisconsin’s prized craft beer industry (more on that later).
If you’re a Middle Class individual and not a corporation, there’s a lot in this budget that makes it harder to work and live in Wisconsin. Nowhere in this budget is a provision that will directly spur job growth or directly put Wisconsinites back to work.
• Peaceful singer punched in the face. During a regularly scheduled Solidarity song session at the Capitol in Madison, a group of men accompanying former-Senator Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire) became violent, and were trying to drape flags over the heads of singers, presumably in order to silence them. One of the singers, Michael J. Dickman of Madison, grabbed a flag, at which point, according to observers, Henry C. Rahr of Green Bay punched him in the face.
Rahr was charged with battery, and both Dickman and another man were charged with disorderly conduct (although I’m not sure how being on the receiving end of a punch is deserving of punishment). While he was not charged, former-Sen. Zien was filmed yelling at protestors and trying to run over their toes with his wheelchair, and songleader Chris Reeder told the Wisconsin State Journal that Mr. Zien was “definitely being very, very aggressive.”
Whatever the specific details of the incident, it is disheartening to see this kind of violence introduced into the already-tense situation in Wisconsin. Hundreds of thousands of people have been involved in protests in Madison, and there have been very few violent outbursts of this manner. Here’s to hoping this isn’t the beginning of a trend.
• Breweries of the world, unite! Governor Walker’s budget proposal was already controversial for its provisions hurting working families, but then the story broke about a provision that would favor huge beer retailers over Wisconsin’s local breweries. Alex Seitz-Wald writes at ThinkProgress:
The new provision treats craft brewers — the 60 of whom make up just 5 percent of the beer market in Wisconsin — like corporate mega-brewers, forcing them to use a wholesale distributor to market their product. Under the provision, it would be illegal, for instance, for a small brewer located near a restaurant to walk next door to deliver a case of beer. They’ll have to hire a middle man to do it instead.
It hits the local brewers hard, but one company will surely benefit: the large international beer behemoth MillerCoors. As Alex points out, MillerCoors gave $22,675 to Walker’s campaign in 2010. Just saying.
While that story is unusual enough on its own, what came next was even more surprising. A bipartisan collection of state legislators is lobbying Gov. Walker to veto the provision. That’s right: they’ve been bitterly divided on partisan lines all year, but that goes out the window when Wisconsin craft beer is threatened.
Got a tip about what to include in our next Wisconsin roundup? Leave a comment below, or shoot a tweet over to @WorkingAmerica. Till next time – On Wisconsin!
Vanessa Miller – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
When I was in school, we had civics class. We were assigned to bring a news story about the community and we all discussed it. We were taught to take pride in our neighborhood, to ask questions about our government, and to take an active part in our communities. Now, my grandchildren barely have to take history or social studies class.
When I was in school, we had arts and music classes. Kids were able to express themselves through paintings, singing, or playing an instrument.
When I was in school, we had physical education. We had time to exercise our bodies and get our energy out. Now we have an obesity crisis, and gym classes are being cut by overstressed budgets. Kids’ frustration levels are so high because they don’t have a structured outlet.
We even had a banking program. You could start with a quarter, and add to it every week or every month. We were proud to have a banking book to show us how to save. We were introduced to finance at an early age and taught about the importance of money management.
School in Pennsylvania is different now and this year we are in a crisis. With Governor Corbett’s atrocious budget cuts- arts, music, physical education, and advanced programs are all being cut. Taking a note from Tom Ridge-even funds for school buses are on the line- and as we close more and more neighborhood schools and gas prices continue to rise, kids will no longer be able to get to school.
Yet Governor Corbett wants to push more money into our prison system. We are cutting money from education, yet increasing funds for jails. To me, this seems like it is done by design. If they are taking education away from children, if they are taking opportunity away from children, they are expecting them to turn to crime. This budget says that they are anticipating a flood of crime into the community- a flood of citizens to be locked up and put away.
Are they expecting people to go to jail because we aren’t planning on bringing any jobs back?
Are they willing to sacrifice a generation of people who aren’t educated, who will turn to crime because they have nothing left?
If we truly are America, the land of opportunity, how have we allowed politicians (that we elected into office) to sacrifice our kids? How have we allowed our country to become a place just for corporations and the rich, where the rest of us don’t matter?
Corporate CEOs can afford private school for their kids.
