Continue reading ‘Finally, some good news for Waukesha’s Golden Guernsey’ »]]> After the abrupt closing of Waukesha’s Golden Guernsey this past January, skepticism surrounding the recent sale of the plant is completely warranted. After all, the previous owner did not appear to have the best intentions for the company or its employees. But if the background and experiences of the new owner provide any indication of how the plant will be run when it reopens this summer, the recent sale of Golden Guernsey might prove to be great news, after all.

The new owner of the plant is Morton Grove, Ill.-based Lifeway Foods. From BizTimes.com:

Lifeway outbid Canton, Ohio-based LEL Operating Company, parent of Superior Dairy Inc., which submitted the initial $5.5 million bid.

The company will reopen Golden Guernsey sometime this summer and make kefir there, according to a spokeswoman at the firm.

(I love kefir!)

Julie Smolyansky is the CEO of Lifeway. And she’s really good at her job:

Lifeway makes kefir, a cultured dairy drink, and reported net sales of $81.4 million in 2012, up 16 percent from a year prior.

Smolyansky also has an interesting back story. Via The Street:

After emigrating from the former Soviet Union in the mid-1970s, Smolyansky’s father started the company 10 years later. Julie worked for her father for only a few years before his sudden death in 2002. She and her younger brother stepped into the CEO and COO positions at ages 27 and 23, respectively.

Julie Smolyansky, now 37, credits the crisis-management skills she learned while working in social services in some of Chicago’s toughest urban neighborhoods to helping her and the company through the transition. She proudly says that none of the company’s 70 employees at the time chose to depart. Since then, the company has expanded to 340 employees.

But that’s not all. Smolyansky also recently launched a nonprofit to help end violence against women. From Test 400k.org:

CHICAGO (March 15, 2013) – Julie Smolyansky, President and CEO of Lifeway Foods (Nasdaq: LWAY), today announced the launch ofTest400k, a campaign to resolve the backlog of 400,000 untested rape kits in the U.S. and end violence against women both domestically and globally. The nonprofit organization – formed by Smolyansky and her life partner Jason Burdeen – was inspired by a recent Human Rights Watch report indicating that 400,000 evidence kits collected after alleged sexual assaults in the U.S. dating back to at least 1979 have been sitting in police storage facilities around the country without processing.

Test400k will raise awareness, advocate, engage and support innovation in rapid DNA analysis. It will also mobilize communities to take action to improve the ways in which law enforcement and the criminal justice system handle the processing of evidence collected from sexual assaults in the U.S.  Financing will come from grants, corporate sponsorships, crowdfunding and other fundraising efforts…

…“As CEO of a natural foods company and a former social services counselor, I have been a long-time advocate for healthy and safe communities. When I learned that over 80% of sexual assault evidence in the U.S. is never examined for DNA that can connect the perpetrator to the crime, I was appalled. The garbage in my alley is handled better. It means that victims are denied due process and their attackers are free to cause harm again,” Smolyansky said. “Even worse, the UN estimates that one out of three women worldwide will be raped, beaten or murdered in their lifetime. Test400k aims to be a force for change.”

Indeed, Lifeway seems to make it a priority to be a socially conscious corporation. Check out its website, which details the programs the company sponsors, such as Giving Green, Going Green, Farmer Pledged Milk, and Every Mother Counts.

At this point, I’m so pleased to hear that this is the company now in control of Golden Guernsey that I don’t even care what happens to the giant cow parked on the front lawn.

That’s progress.

Photo: roadsideamerica.com

Continue reading ‘DNR official: Wisconsin waters “likely” contaminated with cocaine, chemicals’ »]]> Minnesota researchers just released the results of two new lake studies, and the findings are startling. They found all kinds of chemicals in the water, from cocaine to swine antibiotics. The head of the Wisconsin DNR’s surface water bureau, Susan Sylvester, admitted on Monday that our waters likely contain similar contaminants. She also said the state doesn’t have the budget to monitor such chemicals “right now,” which is disconcerting, to say the least.

From Kate Golden of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism via the Cap Times:

Minnesota researchers found 56 chemicals — including cocaine — in the state’s waters, according to two studies released Monday that raise questions about potential impacts on wildlife and human health.

Environmental experts said the discoveries in lakes, rivers and streams increase the pressure on Wisconsin to figure out what’s in its water. A key Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources official said the state’s waters were likely also contaminated, but that the state had no money for such monitoring.

Not good.

A United Nations report in February noted the rise in endocrine-related disorders like cancer, obesity, early puberty and infertility and identified widespread pollution as a “global threat” to wildlife and people.

While, as Golden reports, “Minnesota has one of the nation’s most ambitious state-level testing programs for unregulated contaminants in surface waters,” Wisconsin does not.

Some Wisconsin experts think our state needs to make water testing a priority:

Former Wisconsin DNR secretary George Meyer said the tests show that Wisconsin, which has not conducted similar studies on this scale, needs to develop a plan to figure out what’s in its water.

“The public needs to know what’s in the water and what the significance of that is,” said Meyer, now the executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

I’m inclined to agree. When it comes to water safety, ignorance is not bliss.

Continue reading ‘Jefferson County Democrats to host “War on Women Panel” on 5/21/13’ »]]> Some of my favorite female Wisconsin politicos will gather in Jefferson County on May 21 for a “War on Women Panel.” Included in the discussion will be “how we fight back” against the Walker administration’s anti-woman ideology. Panelists will include Rep. Dianne Hesselbein, DPW Executive Director Maggie Brickerman, NARAL Wisconsin Executive Director Jenni Dye, and Emerge Wisconsin Executive Director Wendy Strout.

Details:

Event: War on Women Panel

Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: 320 Wisconsin Dr., Jefferson, Wisconsin, 53549

For more info, check out the Facebook event page (click here).

Wendy Strout, Rep. Hesselbein, Jenni Dye, Maggie Brickerman. Photo: Jefferson County Dems

Continue reading ‘Rep. Sensenbrenner to co-lead (long overdue) over-criminalization task force’ »]]> Just two years ago, then-Senator Jim Webb (D) tried to create a national task force to investigate the possibility that over-criminalization of minor offenses was leading to packed federal prisons, but Republicans filibustered his bill. Perhaps they were afraid it would lead to the legalization of marijuana, or if they lent support they would appear soft on crime? Regardless, now that public opinion has shifted toward marijuana legalization, it’s politically safe for legislators to participate in such a committee. In fact, ultra-conservative Jim Sensenbrenner will co-lead a new over-criminalization task force created earlier this week.

From Huffingtonpost.com:

The House Judiciary Committee created a bipartisan task force Tuesday to investigate whether the federal code over-criminalizes minor offenses. Advocates and lawmakers said the move could eventually help reduce the size of the massive federal prison population.

The over-criminalization task force was created by a Judiciary Committee voice vote. Members include staunch conservatives like Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Spencer Bachus (R-Alaska), and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), along with progressives like Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Outside Congress, supporters include organizations ranging from the Heritage Foundation to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

It’s politically safe for legislators now:

The House’s task force is more of a legislative working group, not a blue-ribbon commission. Daniel Dew, a visiting fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said he believed the Republicans and Democrats sitting on the task force could find a way to work together.

“I think that there’s wide enough consensus among the ideological spectrum that people have cover, if that makes sense, cover to not give in to the pressures of being ‘tough on crime,’” he said.

And it’s long-overdue:

Dew said both conservatives and liberals should be able to agree that federal statutes which create horror stories for the likes of Lawrence Lewis — who was forced to plead guilty to a federal Clean Water Act violation over a nursing home’s rerouted sewage system – can be reformed. Dew said he would also like to see all the federal crimes collected in one central location so that people can easily reference them.

“Unfortunately there are criminal provisions, criminal statutes, strewn throughout the U.S. Code, and one of the tenets of our criminal justice system is that people should be on notice of what’s against the law,” he said.

Wisconsin legislators such as Sen. Lena Taylor are pleased that this task force has finally been assembled. Taylor would like to see a similar group established here in Wisconsin. On Thursday morning, Sen. Taylor posted a statement to her Facebook page:

GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner will co-lead a new federal task force on over-criminalization. Perhaps he can call on Wisconsin GOP members to set up the same group and let’s get to work on sensible reforms to save taxpayer dollars, protect public safety, and reduce racial disparities. Sounds good to me!

Agreed.

May Rep. Sensenbrenner take a rational approach.

Continue reading ‘United Wisconsin launches Wauwatosa petition drive to reverse Citizens United’ »]]> Ask most Wisconsinites if corporations are people, and they’ll likely say “no,” regardless of political affiliation. The issue of money in politics is equally non-partisan. In fact, many Wisconsinites would like to see unlimited spending removed from the political equation. That’s why a grassroots campaign to reverse Citizens United is picking up steam in all corners of the state. United Wisconsin is launching its petition drive this weekend in Wauwatosa, and those interested are encouraged to join in the effort.

First, a little background on the issue, from United Wisconsin:

Since the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case January of 2010, the landscape of American politics has change dramatically. The ruling, which essentially argued that corporations are entitled to the same rights as people, and that election spending by corporations is “free speech,” and therefore political spending cannot be limited, has led to out of control spending on our elections by big money special interests, and has deepened the fundraising dependence of our elected officials on special interest groups.

In the 2010 mid-term elections, we got our first taste of life in the post-Citizens United world. Some of the staggering results were:

• Over $300 million dollars was spent on political advertising by outside interest groups
• This election saw more money spent than in every mid-term since 1990  COMBINED
• 72% of the money spent by groups would have been prohibited before the ruling
• The percentage of spending from undisclosed donors went  from 1% to 47%

The 2012 presidential election saw more special interest money than any other in history. What’s worse is the increasing control of just a few wealthy people over our elections, with over 80% of the Super PAC money is controlled by only 196 wealthy individuals.

But the situation is not hopeless:

Since the ruling, 13 states have officially called for an amendment to the constitution to reverse this ruling, with the state of Maine becoming the 13th state just this past week. It is the mission of United Wisconsin to add Wisconsin to this list.

An amendment has to be proposed either by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress, or else by a constitutional convention convened when the legislatures of 2/3 of the states so request. The amendment has to be ratified either by the legislatures of 3/4 of the states, or by conventions in 3/4 of the states, depending on which means of ratification Congress proposes.

There has already been some success here in Wisconsin:

 Just this past April, voters in Chippewa County and the cities of Whitewater and Fort Atkinson passed advisory referendums calling for the reversal of Citizens United, joining other counties and cities across Wisconsin that have taken the same action since 2010.

That’s where United Wisconsin’s petition drive comes in:

To continue this movement, United Wisconsin is kicking off petition drives to pass local referendums in cities and towns across Wisconsin, and is launching petition drives right now in Southeastern Wisconsin – starting with the City of Wauwatosa, followed by Shorewood and Whitefish Bay this July – with many more to come.

Each Saturday, starting May 11^th and running through July 6th, United Wisconsin’s volunteer office located at 7026 W North Ave in Wauwatosa is open from 10am to 4pm, and will be hosting door-to-door canvasses along with our partners Grassroots Wauwatosa and Move To Amend-Milwaukee to collect the petition signatures needed to put the referendum on the ballot.

Said Erik Kirkstein of United Wisconsin, “It has been just over three years since the ruling, and over that time, 13 states and over 500 municipalities have taken action and called for a constitutional amendment. This is nothing short of amazing.

By taking action locally, we are keeping this movement alive and strong, and demonstrating to our elected officials that the people have had enough of the corrupting influence of big money in politics, and are demanding our democracy back…This movement is only as strong as those willing to get involved and make it succeed.”

Those interested in volunteering with United Wisconsin can sign up for 2-hour shifts starting at 10am and 1pm each Saturday. Click here to sign up.

Continue reading ‘Gov. Walker to hold meeting on WEDC report in Waukesha on 5/8’ »]]> After the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) received a brutal report from the Legislative Audit Bureau last week, Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now had this to say: “Gov. Walker’s WEDC has failed to perform at even a basic level of competency — doling out improper grants and awards to ineligible recipients, failing to track how they are spending our money, ignoring state statutes and 44th in the nation and last in the Midwest in job creation.” Now, Walker will hold a meeting on 5/8 in Waukesha in an apparent attempt at damage control.

From WisBusiness.com:

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors will meet tomorrow to discuss the results of an audit that found problems with transparency and accountability within the public-private corporation.

Gov. Scott Walker said, following a press conference, that while he believes most of the issues brought up in the Legislative Audit Bureau report have already been addressed, the board should discuss the audit in-depth before moving forward.

“I think from the board’s standpoint, I and other board members would like to go through comprehensively, piece by piece, every provision in that audit, even before the audit committee, the finance committee or anyone else brings it up,” Walker said.

Gov. Walker’s meeting will focus solely on the audit, according to WisBusiness.com:

The meeting of the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation will be held on May 8, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. at the Waukesha State Office Building, located at 141 N.W. Barstow Street Waukesha, WI 53186. The items to be discussed are included below. Note that some members of the Board may attend by phone.
________________________________________
Agenda

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
Meeting of the Board of Directors

Waukesha State Office Building
141 N.W. Barstow Street
Waukesha, WI 53186

May 8, 2013

8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

This meeting is the first opportunity for WEDC leadership to meet with the Board since the release last week of the Legislative Audit Bureau’s FY2012 review. Both the Board and WEDC leadership and staff are eager to discuss the findings in the context of previous proactive audits and public disclosures by WEDC, as well as the significant changes that have been implemented throughout FY2013 to address concerns raised by LAB.

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

2. Discussion of Legislative Audit Bureau Audit

3. Adjournment

It seems to me that the damage from this audit may be irreparable…

Photo: Scott Anderson, Racine Journal Times

Continue reading ‘Gov. Walker to GOP convention attendees: “I’m making it easier to get a job”’ »]]> Governor Walker’s budget is not exactly an easy sell, even to some in his own party. Republican legislators have already spoken out against portions of it, from Sen. Glenn Grothman to Sen. Luther Olsen to Sen. Mike Ellis. (When Walker loses Glenn Grothman’s support on an issue, you know it’s bad.) So it was unsurprising that Walker used his allotted time at the 2013 GOP state convention on Saturday to dress up and peddle his budget. It was, however, surprising to hear him utter the words,  ”I’m making it easier to get a job.”

As WisPolitics reported from the convention:

Walker hit on many of the themes that have been at the heart of his recent speeches. That includes a push from Republicans to make Americans truly independent by weaning them off government assistance and giving them the skills to care for themselves.

Walker said that principle was at the heart of his decision to push for more educational opportunities, be it in traditional public schools or charter schools, and to turn down federal money to expand the Medicaid program. Walker also said it was behind his efforts to reform the food stamps program to require program participants who are out of work to be in job training programs to receive the benefit.

Walker mocked claims from critics that the change was a sign he hates poor people. He said instead it was a sign of how much he loves Wisconsin.

“I’m not making it harder to get government assistance. I’m making it easier to get a job,” Walker said.

Unfortunately for Wisconsinites, the numbers tell a different story.

The reality is, Governor Walker has not made it easier for anyone to get a job.

Just last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released the findings of its annual Enterprising States report: Wisconsin ranked dead last in the nation in short-term job growth, 44th in overall economic performance, 45th in long-term job growth, and 47th in new business start-ups.

Governor Walker can profess to care deeply about Wisconsin and “everyday” Wisconsinites until he turns blue in the face, but it won’t change reality.

When it comes to job creation, the only thing that truly matters is reality.

The reality is that it’s not working.

It’s really, really, not working.

Gov. Walker. Image: Fox6Now

Continue reading ‘As Chronic Wasting Disease spreads, Walker’s deer czar recommends “a more passive approach”’ »]]> The state of Wisconsin has struggled to control Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) since 2002, when it was first discovered here. Regulatory programs were implemented in an attempt to lessen the spread of disease. But the Walker administration eliminated some of those regulations in 2011, and now that the disease has spread, some are concerned that human health could potentially be affected should legislators continue to take the “more passive approach” recommended by Gov. Walker’s deer czar, James Kroll.

On Friday, Bill Lueders reported via LaCrosseTribune.com that Patrick Durbin, an outdoor recreation writer based in Waupaca, has been shouting from the rooftops, so to speak, about “the state’s inadequate response to the threat posed to deer by chronic wasting disease, or CWD.”

Lueders reports:

(Durbin’s) April 21 column, carried in papers including the Wisconsin State Journal and Green Bay Press Gazette, looked at a CWD hot spot in north-central Iowa County near Spring Green. There, the annual growth rate for the fatal brain disease has reached 27 percent among deer 2½ years or older.

This finding, for the reporting year ending March 31, is “unprecedented,” “frightening” and “disturbing,” various experts told Durkin. He lambasted state policymakers and hunting groups for doing virtually nothing to stop it, or even to fund basic research.

“There’ll be no shortage of shame as this stench spreads,” Durkin warned.

Durkin provided his rationale:

He notes that programs like Earn-A-Buck, meant to contain the spread of the disease, have been beaten back by politically connected groups like the Hunters Rights Coalition, made up of hunting and firearms advocates.

“These aren’t Wisconsin’s best scientific minds blowing this off,” Durkin fumes. “The best scientific minds are using words like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘frightening.’”

Here’s the rub:

Politicians including Gov. Scott Walker have put the kibosh on CWD-eradication strategies seen as detrimental to herd size. And James Kroll, Walker’s deer trustee, has recommended “a more passive approach” to the disease.

DNR wildlife health section chief, Tami Ryan, acknowledged that politics have stymied efforts to control CWD:

“There are objectives and actions in our CWD Response Plan that we have been unable to implement, and that’s due in part to social and political factors.”

As Lueders reports, the effects are evident:

An analysis of CWD test results reported on the DNR’s website shows that the number of deer being tested has gone down while the rate of infection has gone up.

Between 2002 (the first full year after CWD was discovered in Wisconsin) and 2006, an average of more than 25,000 deer a year were tested. Between 2007 and 2012, the average was just over 8,000.

Meanwhile, the incidence of CWD-infected deer has risen steadily from .5 percent in 2002 to a 5 percent in 2012 — a tenfold increase in 10 years.

Dave Clausen, a veterinarian and member of the Natural Resources Board, doesn’t expect anything to change as long as the Walker administration’s policies continue:

“All indications are that under current policy, CWD will continue to spread across the state and will increase in prevalence where it is established,” he wrote to the DNR in February.

Additionally, Wisconsinites could start getting sick. Writes Lueders:

This could have a potentially devastating impact on the state’s deer population — or worse. Scientists have not ruled out the possibility that CWD, caused by an infectious malformed protein known as a prion, could be transmitted to humans.

CWD has not been proven to make humans sick…yet:

The DNR asserts that “CWD has never been shown to cause illness in humans,” but notes that public health officials advise against eating meat from CWD-infected deer.

But some are not placated by such statements from the DNR. John Stauber, who resides in Richland County and co-authored the book, “Mad Cow U.S.A.,” claims that state officials have gone to great lengths to make it appear as though CWD doesn’t affect the health of humans.

Stauber also says officials are not doing enough to prevent Wisconsinites from potentially getting sick, and that all dead deer should test negative for CWD before processed.

“If enough people are consuming affected deer, ” he says, “eventually you’re going to have a transmission.”

With so many concerns and so much at stake, “a more passive approach” to this problem does not seem prudent-far from it.

Continue reading ‘Mike Tate, Lori Compas to speak at Drinking Liberally Waukesha on 5/6’ »]]> Drinking Liberally Waukesha (DLW) has hosted a variety of guest speakers since its inception a year and a half ago. From John “Sly” Sylvester to (now) Senator Tammy Baldwin, DLW has provided an opportunity to connect with speakers in a relaxed and informal setting. On Monday, May 6th, guests will include both Lori Compas and DPW Chair Mike Tate. Compas will talk about the Wisconsin Business Alliance, and Tate will discuss the Democratic Convention taking place in Waukesha County in June.

Details:

Event: Drinking Liberally Waukesha

Date: Monday, May 6, 2013

Time: 6:30-9:00 pm

Location: People’s Park, 337 W. Main St, Waukesha, WI, 53186

Special guests: Mike Tate, Lori Compas

For more information about Drinking Liberally, see the national website, the Wisconsin page, and the Waukesha page.

Continue reading ‘Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) speaks out against provision in Gov. Walker’s budget’ »]]> It’s probably safe to say that Wisconsin liberals are not big fans of Sen. Glenn Grothman’s legislation; his viewpoints are to the far-right of the far-right, and he’s not shy about expressing them to anyone who will listen (like Sly). Personally, I cannot recall a time in recent history when I’ve agreed with Glenn Grothman on any issue. Until this afternoon.

On Friday afternoon, Senator Glenn Grothman (R) joined Senator Lena Taylor (D) at a press conference in Milwaukee to speak out against a provision in Governor Walker’s budget that would appear to allow rent-to-own businesses to operate in Wisconsin with special privileges.

From WisPolitics:

Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, continued his 18-year fight against rent-to-own business practices by joining Dem Sen. Lena Taylor of Milwaukee and prominent clergy and consumer rights activists today in an impassioned rally calling for the removal of a provision in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget that he says not only allows such businesses to continue to operate in the state, but gives them special exemptions and privileges.

(I’ll admit, I didn’t realize that Sen. Grothman has been fighting predatory rent-to-own practices for 18 years, and I give him props for that.)

…Grothman blasted Walker, saying that the guv ran for office on a platform of reducing the amount of policy issues in the state budget.

Said Grothman:

“This time around, there are a variety of economic initiatives Governor Walker could choose to support. He could have put policies in supporting the manufacturers or the farmers or the restaurant owners or whatever in the budget. Instead in this budget, we’re trying to open up the state of Wisconsin to the Rent-A-Center chain. There are a variety of chains, but the one I think they really want this badly is the Rent-A-Center chain out of Plano, Texas.”

And:

“I assume Governor Walker does not know how predatory and just plain evil this chain is,” Grothman said. “I hope we can get Governor Walker to change his mind. I assume that if this chain comes in here, they will be bleeding millions of dollars every year from our most vulnerable citizens.”

“It’s just horrible that of all the things you can do in the Legislature, you would say we’re going to let these guys in the state of Wisconsin,” said Grothman.

Grothman said he will continue to express his viewpoints on this issue to Governor Walker, although “he would not say whether he would vote against the budget if the provision were to remain,” according to WisPolitics.

Grothman said he knows that “several” other GOP lawmakers are privately in agreement on the issue, but he did not name names. He said it would take at least five Republicans to join Dems in a JFC vote to remove the provision because Republicans have a 12-4 majority on the committee.

Sens. Grothman and Taylor have until June to convince their colleagues to vote against the provision.

Click here to read the full story.

I agree with Sen. Glenn Grothman. Pigs have flown.

Continue reading ‘Vote Jeff Christensen for 2nd Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’ »]]> Jeff Christensen has become somewhat of a legend among Waukesha County Democrats; his willingness to challenge the Republicans on their own turf has essentially changed the culture here. So when he relocated from the Waukesha area to Madison recently, it was a loss. But Christensen is not giving up politics. In fact, he’s currently running for the 2nd Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. On Tuesday afternoon, I connected with Jeff to learn more about his candidacy and to ask him what the 2nd Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin actually does.

First, a little background info on Jeff Christensen:

Despite taking an early interest in politics, Christensen had not always been actively involved. He was motivated to take action in 2006, after he moved to Waukesha County and “took one look at the ballot.”

By 2009, Christensen was elected Chair of the Waukesha County Democratic Party.

From 2009-2010 he served on the Executive Committee of the (statewide) County Chairs Association, “to modernize that operation and make it a more effective conduit between the state party and the county parties.”

In 2011, Christensen served as the 5^th CD Chair,  was appointed to the Executive Committee and Budget Committee to the state party, and led an ad hoc committee for the state party, essentially a special committee on membership, “to work with staff to make sure we were modernizing the way we looked at memberships and make sure people saw more value out of their memberships.”

Incidentally, there were over 14,000 members in the state party last year, the highest level in 50 years. “Of course, it helps when Scott Walker is recruiting for you as well,” Christensen quipped.

It should be noted that all of Jeff Christensen’s efforts have been volunteer; he has not received compensation from DPW. It’s “a labor of love.” The position he’s currently seeking is also unpaid.

So what does the 2^nd Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin actually do?

Christensen said the position is “unique” in that, “constitutionally, you have no defined duties; you’re serving at the pleasure of the Chair.”

The vote will take place at the 2013 DPW State Convention (June 7-8).

Since Christensen is not the only contender vying for this position, I asked him why he thought he was the best candidate for the job.

“Certainly anyone who wants to be a party officer is a dedicated Democrat,’” he said. “To me, it just comes down to an issue of resume and the value you can bring.  Just from an operational perspective, I think I bring a strategic eye with really that long-term look of, how do we do things in our congressional district, in our county party level that helps us to build a farm team and be effective right now…and I don’t think there’s another candidate that brings those things to the table.”

Waukesha County Democratic Party activist Kristin Hansen concurs. “I think that the best thing Jeff brings to the table is professionalism,” she explained. “Under his leadership, the 5th CD created a strategic plan for the first time – a real business model for attaining goals that included step-by-step plan. We all know that turning Waukesha County purple is not going to happen overnight, but it’s also not going to happen by accident. We needed a strategy, and Jeff provided that.”

“We’ll all be better off if we invest in a farm team,” Christensen explained. “Encouraging people, especially young people, to become political candidates and providing them with opportunities for the future will also provide the party with credible candidates,” he said.

To that end, shortly before leaving Waukesha and relocating to Madison, Christensen created a matching funds program for counties so they could send interested citizens to training programs, such as Camp Wellstone, to build their farm teams.

“It’s always been about having a strategic plan made up,” Christensen said, because that “makes it easier to help people do their daily activities and do them well.”

Matt Lowe, Youth Outreach Director of the Waukesha County Democratic Party and 2012 Male College Democrat of the Year, best summed up Christensen’s qualifications.

Christensen “took a mess of loyal activists” with a “short-sighted” focus, he said,  and “set up a long-term game plan to stabilize the group and develop the future leaders to make sure we will be in a position to win tomorrow, not just today. In short, Jeff took a dirt road and made it into a modern highway system.”

Vote Jeff Christensen for 2nd Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Jeff Christensen. Image via twitter, @demjeff.

Continue reading ‘Waukesha Democrats seek volunteers for 2013 State Convention’ »]]> We Democrats may be in the minority here in Waukesha County, but that doesn’t mean we’re just going to willingly concede the entire county to the GOP. No way. In fact, as I mentioned back in March, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin will hold its annual statewide convention in Oconomowoc this year from June 7-8th, for the first time in decades. But conventions don’t run themselves, and Waukesha Dems are seeking volunteer assistance.

According to Waukesha County Dems Chair Dick Pas, there are 150 volunteer shifts that will need to be filled between Thursday, June 6th and Saturday, June 8th. Additionally, the 1st CD is looking for a male to assist with credential verification at sign-in (a female volunteer for that position has already been secured because, you know, it’s the Democratic Party).

For more information about assisting at the convention, please contact volunteer coordinator Emma Gibbens at Emmag@wisdems.org. And Click here for detailed information about the convention itself.

Image via DPW, wisdems.org

Continue reading ‘Dear Sens. Baldwin and Johnson, please reject CISPA’ »]]>

Here’s a copy of the email I have sent to Sens. Baldwin (D) and Johnson (R) regarding CISPA.

Dear Senator,

The current CISPA legislation (H.R. 624: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) is unacceptable as it stands. I ask that you inquire with the technology industry in order to craft a bill which does not garner opposition from more than 34 civil liberties organizations, hundreds of technology services corporations, and millions of citizens.

Consider the language being put forth by Birgitta Jonsdottir, member of the Icelandic Parliament, who is technologically savvy and interested in upholding high standards of privacy for citizens.

It would be an act of courage and a show of wisdom to ask for help, to admit this may not be your field of expertise, to cooperate and listen to the communities and businesses which have insight, knowledge, understanding and vested interest in the outcome of this legislation.

INFORMATION ABOUT CISPA:

Cybersecurity Bill FAQ: The Disturbing Privacy Dangers in CISPA and How To Stop It
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/old-cybersecurity-bill-faq-disturbing-privacy-dangers-cispa-and-how-you-stop-it

What is CISPA, and what does it mean for you? FAQ
http://www.zdnet.com/what-is-cispa-and-what-does-it-mean-for-you-faq-7000013965/

34 Civil Liberties Organizations Oppose CISPA After Amendments
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/04/33-civil-liberties-organizations-oppose-cispa-after-amendments

The CISPA Government Access Loophole
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/02/cispa-government-access-loophole

CISPA: The rhetoric vs. the reality
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/11/cispa-the-rhetoric-vs-the-reality/?fromcat=all

CISPA Remains Fatally Flawed After Secret Committee Markup (ACLU)
http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security-free-speech/cispa-remains-fatally-flawed-after-secret

H.R. 624: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr624

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
L.M.

Find your local politicians: http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/

H/T Blue Cheddar

UPDATED 4/25/13: “US News reports that the Senate has decided not to take up CISPA. In short, CISPA is dead.”- WebProNews.com

Continue reading ‘Protest planned at Sen. Ron Johnson’s office on 4/20’ »]]> Many constituents, myself included, were furious with Sen. Ron Johnson after he voted against expanded gun background checks earlier this week, and took to his Facebook page to let him know it.  Now, the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort has planned a “We Will Be Heard” protest for this Saturday, 4/20, in front of Sen. Johnson’s office in Milwaukee.

Details:

Event: WE WILL BE HEARD Protest

Organizers: Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort

Date: Saturday, 4/20/13

Time: 12:00 pm-1:00 pm

Location: Senator Ron Johnson’s office, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI

Image: Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort

UPDATED 4/20: Click here for pics from the protest via Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort.

Continue reading ‘Protecting the right to vote in Wisconsin’ »]]> “If we truly believe the right to vote is sacred, then the attacks on this right by the Republican legislature under Gov. Scott Walker are profane.” So said Scot Ross, Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, before joining other citizens, community activists, and voter rights advocates at the Capitol on Wednesday in an effort to protect our right to vote. As Ross explained,”Governor Walker and his Republican allies are the making the right to vote, the fight to vote.” And he can prove it.

One Wisconsin Now recently published a comprehensive report that shows how Governor Walker and his Republican allies are, indeed, making the right to vote, the fight to vote. Here is the report in its entirety, reformatted and re-posted (citations included) with permission from Scot Ross:

PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN WISCONSIN | BY ONE WISCONSIN NOW

INTRODUCTION

Voting is not only our right; it is our duty.

It is how we have a say in the direction of our community, our state and our country.

Voting is the one time everyone is equal. Young or old, rich or poor, on Election Day everyone gets the same say.

That’s why it is important that the rules for voting are straightforward – so voters can understand the rules, know how to register and show up at the right polling place on Election Day.

Our votes can and do make a difference, and if you don’t show up and vote, you can’t complain.

Government ought to be about protecting and expanding our rights, not taking them away or unnecessarily limiting them.

THE REPUBLICAN ASSAULT ON THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Republicans have systematically sought to make voting more difficult for certain demographic groups and otherwise manipulate state law related to elections to give themselves a partisan political advantage.

Fortunately, they have not been entirely successful. The state constitutional right to vote contained in Article III is currently preventing the implementation of the voter ID law, and the dedication of Wisconsin residents to doing their civic duty and voting meant our state had the second highest voter turnout percentage in the country in the November 2012 elections.[1]

However, the GOP’s controversial partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts meant they gain seats in the Assembly, despite garnering approximately 174,000 fewer votes than Democratic candidates, and retook a Senate majority.[2]

The following are some lowlights of the GOP’s most recent efforts to skew election law to their advantage:

VOTER ID

Upon taking legislative majorities and the Governor’s office in 2011, Republicans quickly passed a photo identification law, estimated to present additional, if not insurmountable, barriers to the franchise for an estimated 300,000 otherwise legal voters.[3]

Enforcement of the law is currently enjoined by decisions issued by two circuit court judges hearing two separate cases.

One Wisconsin Institute filed an amicus brief in the NAACP v. Scott Walker case, which was accepted by the courts. In its brief, the Institute noted among other facts:

[Wisconsin] DMV services centers are open for limited hours. Indeed, 41 are open just two days each week, seven are open just a few hours for one day each month, and three are open just one day every quarter. Other significant accessibility issues lie with the nature of the hours kept by Wisconsin’s DMV service centers. Only one DMV service center in the entire state of Wisconsin is open on a Saturday. No other DMV in the entire state operates in the evenings or on weekends. Nearly all of Indiana’s 140 DMVs are open five days a week, Wisconsin has only 33 full-time sites; Indiana has 124 that are open on the weekends, Wisconsin has one.[4]

In 2011, One Wisconsin Now conducted comprehensive research on the disparity between DMV hours in Wisconsin and Indiana.[5]

At the time, One Wisconsin Now noted “Wisconsin and Indiana have similar voting age populations (4.35 million vs. 4.8 million), but Wisconsin is 50 percent larger geographically than Indiana (54,314 sq. miles vs. 35,870 sq. miles). Indiana not only provides its residents 50 percent more DMV offices than Wisconsin does (140 to 91), but also nearly three times the total hours these facilities are open.”

WISCONSIN AND INDIANA HAVE SIMILAR VOTING AGE POPULATIONS, BUT WISCONSIN IS 50 PERCENT LARGER.

In the short time the Wisconsin Voter ID law was in effect, before being suspended by the courts, the fallout included a U.S. service veteran being prohibited from voting[6] and potentially barring a local elected official who had cast a vote in every election since Harry Truman was President from ever voting again.[7] In addition, the new residency requirements – extending the period one needed to be a resident of the state from 10 days to 28 days, caused problems in particular for students who wanted to exercise their right to vote. Unfortunately, the residency requirement changes are still in effect.

Assembly Speaker Vos has indicated he could like to pursue a state constitutional amendment to implement a photo ID requirement[8], a potential end run around successful legal challenges to the law in state courts.

ELIMINATION OF SAME DAY VOTER REGISTRATION

Shortly after the November 2012 election, Gov. Walker indicated support for changing state law to eliminate same day voter registration.[9] A number of other top GOP legislators including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Joint Committee on Finance cochair Alberta Darling joined the call.[10]

Because the elimination of same day voter registration would trigger provisions of the federal Motor Voter law requiring multiple state agencies to allow people to update their registration or register to vote when filling out other state forms, state election regulators determined there would be a significant state fiscal impact.[11]

Gov. Walker and GOP legislators have indicated they would not pursue the elimination of same day voter registration based on the current cost estimate – but they have never explicitly denied they have dropped their interest in repealing the law. In fact, any “costs” could be eliminated by simply requiring state agencies to absorb any additional costs in their existing budget.

It is rumored Republicans are concocting an alternative that would still allow same day voter registration, but would require voters to go to a special location or make a second stop in addition to their area’s polling location.

EARLY VOTING RESTRICTIONS

Rep. Duey Stroebel has proposed legislation (AB 54) that would limit the hours during which local election clerks could offer early voting[12]– specifically ending evening and weekend hours for early voting.

According to Milwaukee Mayor Barrett, roughly 3,000 voters per day voted early in Milwaukee in the three weeks in advance of the November 2, 2012 election day.[13]

STATEWIDE IN NOVEMBER 2012 NEARLY 665,000 WISCONSIN RESIDENTS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF EARLY VOTING AND ROUGHLY ONE IN FOUR BALLOTS CAST IN 2008 WERE CAST EARLY.[14]

Non-partisan voter drives in African American churches would be severely impacted by the Stroebel bill, as it would end weekend in-person early voting. Churches have traditionally assisted non-partisan, civic engagement with events like “Souls to the Polls,” where buses are provided after Sunday church services to assist people of faith in casting their early votes at municipal polling places during early voting periods.

VOTER ROLL PURGES

Republican State Sen. Mary Lazich and Republican Rep. Kathy Bernier have requested an audit of election practices to include voter roll purges for minor conflicts or data entry errors or based on matches with other databases with criminal conviction and legal residency status records.[15]

Similar “purges” in other states have resulted in legal voters being removed from polling lists without their knowledge due to minor data entry errors or “false positive” matches for criminal convictions or other problems, creating chaos and long lines at poling places on election day.[16]

POLL WORKER RESIDENCY CHANGES

GOP election observers have engaged in extremely aggressive tactics at targeted polling places on election day — challenging and harassing legal voters, bullying volunteer poll workers and generally attempting to create long lines and unnecessary delays to discourage voters from voting.

Assembly Bill 18, authored by Rep. Don Pridemore and Sen. Glenn Grothman would, as is allowed under current law, let political parties name local poll workers.[17] However, the bill would now only require these poll workers to reside in the county, not the municipality, in whose polling locations they would work. The bill would further allow the political party to specify which wards they would like their designated poll workers to be assigned.

This would allow, for example, the state GOP to place individuals residing outside of the City of Milwaukee but living in the county, as poll workers at inner city polling locations. Having no connection to a community reduces accountability for those who interest is causing chaos to create long lines that result in disenfranchisement.

ELECTORAL COLLEGE CHANGES

Republicans in several states and at the Republican National Committee suggested changing the way Electoral College votes are allocated in several swing states including Wisconsin[18]. Instead of the “winner-take-all” system currently in place for Presidential elections, the electoral votes would be awarded on the basis of the vote total in each Congressional district.

Using Wisconsin as an example, President Obama would have received 5, instead of 10, electoral votes from Wisconsin in 2012, despite winning the state by 200,000 votes.

“COMPREHENSIVE” ELECTION LAW OVERHAUL

The spokesperson for Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald suggested the Senate could consider an omnibus package of as-yet unspecified changes to state election law.[19]

THE FACTS ON THE MYTH OF VOTER FRAUD IN WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Republicans have attempted to justify placing additional restrictions on the right to vote by claiming these are necessary steps to combat pervasive, widespread improper voting.

The facts show exactly the opposite to be true. There has never been widespread voter fraud in Wisconsin. Since 2004, there have been 34 people killed in six Wisconsin mass-shootings. This tragic number is actually larger than the number of people who have been convicted of voter fraud over the same time period.[20]

The continual Republican attacks on the right to vote in the face of these sobering statistics are incontrovertible proof this calculated assault on the right to vote is a conspiracy to deny legal voters access to the franchise and a clear and present danger to democracy in the state of Wisconsin.

SINCE 2004, 14 MILLION VOTES HAVE BEEN CAST IN WISCONSIN. WITH
LESS THAN TWO DOZEN CONVICTIONS FOR VOTER FRAUD, THIS IS A RATE
OF LESS THAN 0.0000017 PERCENT.[21]

The vast majority of the cases in question have involved felons released from their term of incarceration but still “on paper,” serving the community supervision portion of their sentence. None of the GOP proposals to restrict early voting, limit or eliminate same day voter registration or require photo identification would prevent this from occurring in the future.

When directly challenged to prove their claims of widespread improper voting,
Republicans have been unable to do so.

According to statements reported by the national media, Sen. Alberta Darling claimed President Obama’s 200,000-vote margin of victory in Wisconsin in 2012 was wholly or partially due to improperly cast votes. In response to an open records request by One Wisconsin Now for her proof to back up this fantastical claim, she reported “my office has no documents matching your request.”[22]

Sen. Glenn Grotham advocated for the legislature to take up a repeal of same day voter registration as soon as possible to stop improper voting in Wisconsin. Yet when asked to give an example of this behavior, Grothman was forced to admit, “I can’t prove it.”[23]

Even the author of the state voter ID law, Sen. Joe Leibhman responded that he had no evidence of specific instances of improper voting in his possession.[24]

In all, One Wisconsin Now made open records requests of 65 GOP state legislative offices for, “all evidence in possession by your office of voter fraud in the state of Wisconsin.”

In response, 50 offices reported they had no documents matching the request.[25] The remaining 15 offices provided copies of various newspaper accounts reporting the fewer than two-dozen cases of voting impropriety found since 2004, a widely discredited, anonymously written “report” on voting impropriety in Milwaukee and a handful of unconfirmed constituent complaints.

Most importantly to note, the U.S. Department of Justice, released a report on voter fraud in 2007 citing the lack of voter fraud prosecutions as evidence there is no widespread fraud. The report, completed during the tenure of President George W. Bush, concluded that voter fraud is one of the easiest crimes to prove.

• There are several reasons why election crime prosecutions may present an easier means of obtaining convictions than do other forms of public corruption:

• Election crimes usually occur largely in public.

• Election crimes often involve many players. For example, successful voter bribery schemes require numerous voters; ballot box stuffing requires controlling all the election officials in a polling location; illegal political contributions generally involve numerous conduits to disguise the transaction.

• Election crimes tend to leave paper trails, either in state voting documentation or in public reports filed by federal campaigns.[26]

The real election fraud in Wisconsin today is not occurring on polling places on Election Day, it is happening in the State Capitol and is being perpetrated by politicians attempting to manipulate the rules to gain a partisan advantage.

THE FACTS ON SAME DAY VOTER REGISTRATION IN WISCONSIN

Wisconsin has allowed legal voters with proper documentation to register to vote or update their registration information at their polling place on Election Day since 1976.

According to a Pew Foundation study of state elections, laws such as this are what make Wisconsin among the best states for voting in the country.[27]

This is born out by Wisconsin’s consistent performance as one of the highest percentage turnout states in the country. In the 2012 Presidential election, Wisconsin’s turnout percentage of roughly 70 percent was second in the nation.[28]

OF THE TOP TEN STATES FOR VOTER TURNOUT IN NOVEMBER 2012, SEVEN
ALLOWED SAME DAY VOTER REGISTRATION.[29]

According to data compiled by the state Government Accountability Board (GAB), ten to fifteen percent of voters take advantage of Wisconsin’s same day voter registration law to register to vote or update their information for things like address and name changes. Over one million Wisconsin voters registered to cast their ballot on Election Day in the November general elections in 2006, 2008 and 2010, including over 460,000 alone in the 2008 presidential election.[30]

The GAB estimated repealing the law would cost the state $14 million, and nearly $2 million every two years thereafter.

Same day voter registration is an incredibly successful law that has helped literally millions of legal state voters to vote.

In the November 2012 election, 11 percent of voters registered using same day. In 2008, over 450,000 individuals registered to vote using same day.

It allows people who have moved, people who have changed their name or who need to correct minor data entry errors to show up on Election Day and cast their vote.

Wisconsin is rightfully proud of our high rate of voter participation, second highest in the nation in November 2012.

And the local officials we rely on for smooth running elections favor the law. The law works, the law has widespread support, and there’s no good reason to repeal it.

Voters in the City of Milwaukee and Dane County overwhelmingly approved advisory referenda on same day voter registration on April 2, 2013 with 73% and nearly 82% respectively in favor of keeping current law.

THE FACTS ON EARLY VOTING IN WISCONSIN

Wisconsin law allows people to vote “no excuse” absentee voting.

IN NOVEMBER 2012 NEARLY 665,000 WISCONSIN RESIDENTS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF EARLY VOTING AND ROUGHLY ONE IN FOUR BALLOTS CAST IN 2008 WERE CAST EARLY.[31]

Several local clerks, including those in the City of Milwaukee and Madison, responsible for administering elections offered extended hours for voting to allow working people to participate in democracy and cast their vote after work or on weekends.

Every legal voter in Wisconsin, whether they live in a city or a rural community, has the right under the Wisconsin State Constitution to make their voice heard by casting their vote and having that vote counted.

DISINFORMATION AND VOTER SUPPRESSION IN WISCONSIN BY THE RIGHT WING

There have been multiple documented efforts to suppress the vote and engage in systematic disinformation to ultimately deny legal voters their access to the franchise.

Many of these efforts have been supported and promoted by the Republican Party of Wisconsin. They have also been financed by the highest levels of the Republican infrastructure – most notably the Bradley Foundation, run by Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign co-chair, Michael Grebe.

Grebe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Bradley Foundation, a Milwaukee-based 501c3 organization with income of over $550 million. Since 2000, the Bradley Foundation has handed out nearly $500 million in money to support the national right wing infrastructure[32], making it one of the largest pipelines for conservative money in the nation – far surpassing the foundation giving of even David and Charles Koch. In building this rightwing empire, Grebe has also been instrumental in the ascendency of Wisconsin’s most prominent Republican players: Scott Walker, Paul Ryan and Reince Priebus.

In recent years, Bradley has begun supporting organizations front and center in the war on legal voters. Organizations such as the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, American Majority and even the blatantly racist True the Vote have received support from Bradley. Among some of the most notorious voter suppression and disinformation campaigns executed by Bradley-funded entities in recent years:

VOTER SUPPRESSION BILLBOARDS

In 2010, billboards appeared in minority communities in Milwaukee reading “Voter Fraud is a Felony”. They were “Paid for by a Private Family Foundation,” and although organizations mobilized against them, they  remained up until after the 2010 November elections. In October 2012, the billboards reappeared. One Wisconsin Institute joined a coalition of organizations and were able to pressure Clear Channel through media and online organizing to remove the billboards. But the question of the anonymous, cowardly funder remained unanswered. Weeks of painstaking research, cross-referencing political donations and even an important clue gleamed from comments by the state’s most influential right wing radio host, Charlie Sykes-led One Wisconsin Institute to one suspect – who in partnership with NBC News’ theGrio.com was able to confirm as a Milwaukee family foundation who financed the billboard with a $10,000 grant from the Bradley Foundation.[33]

VOTER CAGING

In 2010, One Wisconsin Now obtained recordings and documents from a secret Tea Party meeting that outlined a specific voter caging operation[34]– the operation involved the Republican Party of Wisconsin, then-headed by Priebus, who is referred to by name, the Americans for Prosperity, and the various state Tea Party groups.

One Wisconsin Now obtained an audio recording verified as authentic from a June 12, 2010 meeting between the leaders of the state’s Tea Party movement, led by Tim Dake, head of the GrandSons of Liberty. Dake serves as a regular spokesperson for Wisconsin’s Tea Party organizations and is widely viewed as the movement’s Wisconsin leader.

According to the statements made on the recordings, Dake lays out the plans, detailing contact between himself and Priebus and Mark Block, former state director of Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin.

• The Republican Party of Wisconsin would use its “Voter Vault” state-wide voter file to compile a list of minority and student voters in targeted Wisconsin communities.

• Americans for Prosperity would use this list to send mail to these voters indicating the voter must call and confirm their registration information, and telling them if they do not call the number provided they could be removed from the voter lists.

• The Tea Party organizations would recruit and place individuals as official poll workers in selected municipalities in order to be able to make the challenges as official poll workers.

• On Election Day, these organizations would then “make use” of any postcards that are returned as undeliverable to challenge voters at the polls, utilizing law enforcement, as well as attorneys trained and provided by the RPW, to support their challenges.

According to the recordings, Dake told the assembled Tea Party members he leads:

So, what we’re hoping is that the various groups in the coalition plus Americans for Prosperity and Mark Block, who has been in on this, and the Republican Party, and this is coming all the way from the top: Reince Priebus has said, “We’re in.” And there’s a reason why these guys are volunteering to work with us. They have access to what they call Voter Vault, you know the records of voting.

They can go in there and look for lapsed voters. They can go in and compare lists of voters and say, “Oh look at this. This person is registered in this county, this county, this county, and this county.” And do something about this. So we’re talking about a broad based support behind this idea. What they’re offering is training.

Dake continues in the recording to outline the plan:

[RPW is] offering to do the training; it’s not going to cost anything, but what we’re looking at is statewide getting our groups involved, getting people, like my group has a 2,700 person email list. We want to hit that and see how many of these people we can get involved in this one project. The idea being at some point to go in on September 14 and November 2 and have these people involved and doing poll watching and checking. There are some consultants that have offered to step up, “We’re Watching” is stepping up; attorneys from the Republican Party.

Later in his presentation, Dake adds:

Okay, poll watchers what you can do is you can call in a lawyer. The Republican Party, this is one of the things they’re offering, they’re saying they’ll have their lawyers standing by so that if you call, let’s say you’re poll watching in say Hales Corners and you see something really fraudulent, they will send a lawyer out right away and be able to say, “Here’s the deal, here’s the law, this is what we expect.” Bring the police in and make your complaint that sort of thing.

Dake goes on to outline Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin’s role:

So we’re talking about AFP is willing to fund doing a mass mailing to registered voters on this, about getting them involved with this, making sure that their information is current, because people periodically need to go back and check.

Federal law prohibits racially targeted caging operations. Statements made during the June 12 meeting make clear that race is a motivating factor in the planned caging and challenge effort. Any efforts to deter qualified electors from voting based on their race must be immediately investigated and, if substantiated, stopped.

Federal law makes clear that elector challenges cannot be based solely on returned mail. The organizations’ plans to recruit individuals to become poll workers in order to conduct challenges based on the returned mail would result in individuals acting unlawfully under color of state law.

Federal law also makes clear that private actors are similarly prohibited from challenging voters based solely on undelivered mail. Even if a challenge comes from a volunteer election observer, the challenge is unlawful if it is based on the voter’s failure to respond to the mailing. Any challenge to an elector’s eligibility based on such unreliable grounds is an abuse of the right to challenge and violates state and federal law, subjecting the challenger to removal and other sanctions.[37]

ATTACKING LEGAL VOTERS THROUGH DISINFORMATION

Grebe has spent $658,000 supporting an organization out of Purcellville, VA, called American Majority.[38] American Majority worked with True the Vote to recruit poll workers around the country, including in Wisconsin, for the November 2012 election.

In addition to the this work, American Majority started an organization called MediaTrackers, which has repeatedly and falsely attacked legal voters in Wisconsin in an attempt to both intimidate voters, and provide a false case that there is voter impropriety in Wisconsin to justify unconstitutional voter restrictions and voter suppression activities.

Among Trackers’ false attacks:

• Falsely accusing a community organization, based on the reports of a MediaTrackers employee, of requiring people in heavily minority populated areas of Milwaukee to vote in order to get a ticket for free food and prizes.[39]

• Falsely accusing an African-American State Senator and her mother of being accessories to voter fraud.[40]

• Falsely accusing two African-American women who signed Gov. Walker recall petitions of being under the age 18.[41]

• Falsely accusing four members of the Judicial Commission, who filed an ethics complaint against conservative Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, of signing the petition to recall Gov. Walker.[42]

• Misleading the public that “newly discovered” provision in state law put signers of Gov. Walker’s recall petition at risk.[43]

ABOUT ONE WISCONSIN NOW & ONE WISCONSIN INSTITUTE
One Wisconsin Now is a statewide 501(c)(4) progressive advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin with more than 52,000 online supporters across the state. OneWisconsin Institute is a 501(c)(3) research and education organization based in Madison, Wisconsin.

CITED SOURCES

1 Wisconsin State Journal, 3/13/13; http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/news/reportwisconsin-has-second-highest-eligible-voter-turnout-in-nation/article_739705e0-8bb8-11e2-b833-0019bb2963f4.html

2 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/5/12; http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/dec/05/sandy-pasch/pasch-saysdemocrats-outpolled-republicans-statewi/

3 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/17/12; http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/second-judgerejects-
state-voter-id-law-ea65kqh-162799866.html

4 Complete brief available at: http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/files/IOW%20District%20II%20Brief.pdf

5 Indiana: http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/files/inBMW_daysOpen.pdf; Wisconsin:http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/files/wiDMV_daysOpen.pdf

6 Racine Journal Times, 2/21/12; http://journaltimes.com/news/local/mount-pleasant-manrefuses-to-vote-after-finding-veteran-s/article_03e78de0-5cf8-11e1-a5e2-01871e3ce6c.html

7 Wausau Daily Herald, 12/4/11;
ttp://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20111204/WDH06/112040373/Voter-ID-becomes-lawunintended-consequences

8 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/19/12; http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/walker-callsfor-changes-to-sameday-voter-registration-rules-hk7n9e8-180010171.html

9 Ibid.

10 Wisconsin State Journal, 12/11/2012; http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-andpolitics/elections/ending-same-day-registration-would-cost-state-m-right-away/article_29c55b88- 4333-11e2-b76d-001a4bcf887a.html

11 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board; http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/publication/65/final_edr_report_02_18_2013_pdf_86368.pdf

12 Wisconsin State Journal, 3/5/13; http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-andpolitics/elections/republican-s-bill-would-limit-hours-for-in-person-absentee/article_6411ab88-8524-11e2-80d0-001a4bcf887a.html

13 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/23/13; http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/199004381.html

14 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, Wisconsin Voter Registration Statistics for Fall General Elections, 1984- 2012; http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/page/wisconsin_voter_registration_statistics_for_fall_g_14622.pdf

15 Capital Times, 12/20/12; http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jessica_vanegeren/latestelection-controversy-brewing-over-idea-to-ferret-out-non/article_f607def6-49ea-11e2-a788-0019bb2963f4.html

16 HuffingtonPost.com, 9/28/12; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/florida-voterpurge_n_1921530.html

17 AB18: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/proposals/ab18

18 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/13/13; http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/reincepriebus-backs-electoral-vote-change-but-its-states-decision-fp8bqc3-186720481.html

19 Capital Times, 12/13/12; http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/capitolreport/professional-backgrounds-of-gab-judges-show-half-with-previous-gop/article_a5de4f8e-43da-11e2-ba42-0019bb2963f4.html

20 WTMJ-TV, 12/14/12; http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/183548731.html?lc=Smart

21 Review of election statistics Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, gab.wi.gov

22 One Wisconsin Now, 12/18/12; http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/-senator-albertadarling-admits-no-proof-of-fraud.html

23 One Wisconsin Now, 12/11/12; http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/top-republican-admitshe-cant-prove-voter-fraud-allegation-still-wants-to-make-it-harder-for-million.html

24 One Wisconsin Now, 1/10/13; http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/senate-author-of-voterid-bill-admits-he-has-no-evidence-of-fraud.html

25 One Wisconsin Now, 2/8/13; http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/gop-legislatorsresponse-to-request-for-proof-of-widespread-improper-voting-we-got-nothing.html

26 Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses, U.S. Department of Justice, 5/07; http://www.justice.gov/criminal/pin/docs/electbook-0507.pdf

27 Pew Foundation Study: Elections Performance Index, February 2013, http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elections-performance-index-85899445029?p=1

28 2012 Presidential Election Turnout: G.A.B. Certifies Fall 2012 Election Results, 11/29/12,http://gab.wi.gov/node/2677

29 Elections Performance Index, February 2013; http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elections-performance-index-85899445029?p=1

30 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board; http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/publication/65/final_edr_report_02_18_2013_pdf_86368.pdf

31 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, Wisconsin Voter Registration Statistics for Fall General Elections, 1984-2012; http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/page/wisconsin_voter_registration_statistics_for_fall_g_14622.pdf

32 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/19/12, http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/from-localroots-bradley-foundation-builds-conservative-empire-k7337pb-134187368.html; Review of IRS FORM 990

33 One Wisconsin Now, 10/30/12; http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/einhorns-confirm-onewisconsin- nowthegrio-investigation-admit-purchase-of-voter-suppression-billboar.html

34 One Wisconsin Now, 9/20/10; http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-nowexposes-voter-suppression-plans-between-republican-party-of-wisconsin-americans-fo.html

35 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973(a); 1973gg

36 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg; Tiryak v. Jordan, 472 F. Supp. 822, 824 (E.D. PA 1979)

37 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973

38 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/19/12; http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/from-localroots-bradley-foundation-builds-conservative-empire-k7337pb-134187368.html; Review of IRS FORM 990

39 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/6/11; http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/groupsaccused-of-voter-bribery-cleared-by-das-investigation-953bdus-135147838.html

40 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/5/11; http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/exconeligible-to-vote-conservative-outlet-didnt-check-kt39tu3-135004073.html

41 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/21/11; http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/134251858.html

42 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/24/11; http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/144048626.html

43 PolitifactWisconsin, 12/1/11; http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/dec/01/media-trackers/conservative-groupmedia-trackers-says-wisconsin-r/

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