Hey, Tosa, Have You Helped To Reverse Citizens United Yet?

A little more than a month ago, I informed the gentle reader of efforts being made by United Wisconsin and other grassroots groups to reverse Citizens United.

I have received a note from a member of Grassroots Tosa who has been working on this campaign.  They told me that they need about another 800 signatures to get it on the Tosa ballot next year as a referendum.

So far, fifteen states have approved this referendum, sending a clear message to their federal legislators to pass a constitutional amendment to overthrow Citizens United, which eased the way of the corporate takeover of the country on all levels of government.

You can help by signing the petition.  Volunteers are at the Wauwatosa Public Library Monday through Friday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Want To Reverse Citizens United? Here How You Can Help!

As the rest of the nation is passing referendum after referendum calling for the
Constitution to be amended so that Citizens United can no longer harm our country, we in Milwaukee County have not been so lucky.

We have a county executive emperor who thinks that referendums are like Facebook polls.  Unless they are red herring referendums to distract from his overreaching power grab.

Despite Abele's corruption, United Wisconsin, along with the Grassroots Tosa and Move to Amend, is still working to reverse Citizens United:

Across the state, the grassroots campaign to restore our democracy and reverse Citizens United is heating up, and United Wisconsin is leading the charge!  

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 – and many more to come.  (Click here to email our organizer if you are interested in getting involved in the Shorewood/Whitefish Bay campaign.)

Each Saturday, United Wisconsin’s volunteer office located at 7028 W North Ave in Wauwatosa (Right next to Tosa Nails and Spa) is open from 10am to 4pm, and will be hosting door-to-door canvasses and petition signature gathering at stationary locations along with our partners Grassroots Tosa and Move To Amend-Milwaukee to collect the signatures needed to put the referendum on the ballot! 

We need people like you who care about stopping the takeover of our democracy by special interests to help us put Wauwatosa on record calling for the reversal of theCitizens United ruling, which gave corporations the same rights as people, and said that unlimited spending on elections is “free speech.”

The only way we can put an end to corporate rule is for YOU to take action. 

Sign up with us below at a day and time that works for you to meet at our volunteer office at 7028 W North Ave in Wauwatosa (Right next to Tosa Nails and Spa). We have all the supplies you need, and after a brief training, you will be out making the difference!

Be sure you stop by the Wauwatosa Public Library between 9:30am-4:30 Monday through Friday to sign the petition!

Sign up today!

We Are Honored

United Wisconsin gives us a most kind shout out:

“a man and his blog…it’s a beautiful thing.”

But sometimes a man and his blog goes beyond just a thing of beauty, and becomes a potent force for exposing the truth in a time of near-universal deceit. If any blog in Wisconsin fits this description in the age of Walker, Cognitive Dissidence is that blog.

With hard-hitting analysis of all-things Walker, Cog Dis has been a go-to resource to get the other side of the story, a side few can expose with such depth and style.

Cognitive Dissidence began in 2008 as just one man exposing and fighting the corrupt and maleficent rule of Scott Walker as Milwaukee County Executive. Cog Dis has grown and now, supported and powered by the People of Wisconsin, continues its mission with a cast of regular authors and guest contributors, exposing Walker’s malfeasance and giving the people a voice to express their outrage as we fight to take back our great state.

Thank you.

"Thanks A Million"

"Thanks a million."

Those were the words that Scott Walker uttered at the end of a conversation he had with who he thought was David Koch.

Koch is, as you all know, one half of the Koch Brothers, multi-billionaires that are throwing their considerable wealth around to buy politicians and/or buying legislative policies in Wisconsin and across the country. And as we all know, Walker is one of the more key recipients of the Koch's largesse, either directly or indirectly through one of the myriad of front groups. This is probably why Walker was so comfortable with violating campaign laws and ethics by soliciting the faux-Koch for aid during last year's turmoil.

In a moment of the sweetest poetic justice, one million also happens to be the number of signatures that recall organizers delivered to the Government Accountability Board on Tuesday.

Take a moment to soak that in.

More than one million Wisconsinites stood up and publicly declared that they are fed up with the corruption and the corporate greed that Walker and his allies have been forcing upon us for the past year and that they want their state, and their dignity, back.

Those one million signatures make the recall of Walker the largest in the history of the United States. From a list of facts from United Wisconsin, they include these key points:

• In the unprecedented turn-out of signatures collected to recall Walker,
more than 46% of the electorate signed. By contrast, in the only other two
successful gubernatorial recalls in American history, almost 32% of the
electorate signed in North Dakota in 1921 and 23% of the California
electorate signed in 2003.
• And this year, 32% of the electorate in Ohio signed the petition to overturn
the Republicans’ union-busting SB5.
• During the summer recalls, approximately 9% of the signatures were
found to be invalid -- nearly 50% of the signatures collected for Walker
would need to be found invalid to stop a recall

Or, if the gentle reader prefers visuals to help appreciate what has transpired, they also provide those here and here.

To me, one of the most telling stories comes from Green County (with a H/T to Democurmudgeon):

Coordinators Amy Sloan, Monroe, and Tim Sager, Belleville, say more than 9,000 signatures have been collected in Green County since the petition drive began Nov. 15. The petition drive wrapped up this weekend.

This represents about 43 percent of all registered voters in the county (20,725 as of July 2011) and eclipses votes cast for Walker (6,391) and Barrett (6,567), according to data from the Government Accountability Board (GAB), the nonpartisan panel that oversees Wisconsin elections.

And the good news didn't stop there.

We also collected 845,000 signatures to recall Rebecca "Now it's going to get real" Kleefisch and more than enough to recall all four targeted Republican state senators, including Scotty "Too Snotty" Fitzgerald.

On a personal note, after all that Walker and his people have put me and my family through, I will admit I teared up when I first heard the news. And to my fellow Wisconsinites who stood up for themselves and their state, all I can say is "Thanks a million for the million."

But now the work continues.

We must make sure that everyone can exercise their right to vote, despite the Jim Crow laws and gerrymandering that Walker and his ilk have foisted upon the state. We must counter all the lies and misdeeds that will come from the right. We must continue to point out the damage that Walker has done and continues to do to our state, our ecology and our people.  We must keep Walker's benefactors from buying this election as well.

By all means, take a day, two even, to savor this moment. You've earned it. God knows you've earned it. But then roll up your sleeves and get back to work.

 We still have a state to save.

Every 3.5 Seconds

United Wisconsin and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin released their amazing news tonight - that we've collected over 300,000 signatures in just the first twelve days of the recall.

My good friend and mentor, Jay Bullock, who had the foresight to unleash me on the world, started to do the cyphering of what it means.

Let's take it a little further.  The number that I've heard is actually 301,000, but we'll go with the 300,000 for the sake of simplicity.

300,000 signatures in the first 12 days comes to:

• 25,000 signatures per day
• 1,042 signatures per hour
• 17 signatures per minute

That comes to a signature about every 3.5 seconds.

There is no way an honest person could describe that as anything but remarkable.

And while there is little doubt that the majority of signatures came from Milwaukee and Dane Counties, signatures have been collected in each of the 72 counties. United Wisconsin provides some examples:

• 10,033 residents from Columbia County signed recall petitions
• 4,713 Pierce County residents have signed so far
• 3,698 residents in Oneida County have signed
• 16,845 Eau Claire County and Chippewa County residents have signed
• 8,540 residents from Portage County have signed

I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed by Portage County.  With Stevens Point there, I thought they'd have a better showing.  I guess I'll have to go over there to help when I'm up to the castle next weekend.

WISGOP could only muster up a statement that shows that even in the face of the whirlwind they have reaped, they are in complete disconnect with the people of Wisconsin, and would rather listen to the out of state big money donors, like the Koch Brothers.  Most right wing pundits are choosing to stick their heads in the sand.  The ones that keep their heads up seem to have them exploding.

But I touched on the right's fanaticism towards Walker and his maleficent ways, so this should really surprise no one.

And in a way, I can't blame them for their ineffective coping skills.

I can hardly believe it myself.  Just think about it.

Every three and a half seconds, someone is stepping forward and saying, "Enough! I want my Wisconsin back!"