Wisconsin’s May 8th Primary
Posted: May 7, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Governor Walker, recall, Recall Walker, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Primary | Tags: Governor Scott Walker, Recall, Wisconsin Primary, Wisconsin Recall Leave a commentWisconsin voters will make history Tuesday May 8th when they go to the polls in our first-ever statewide primary recall election. On the ballot will be Republican and Democratic primaries for governor and a Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
In addition to the statewide primaries for governor and lieutenant governor, four state senators face recalls this year: Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau; Van Wanggaard, R-Racine; and Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls. The fourth senator, Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, has resigned her seat in the Senate.
This primary is special in that you are allowed to cross-party-vote. For example in Racine you may vote for Scott Walker on the Republican ticket and vote for Tamra Varebrook on the Democrat primary for State Senate. Below is a copy of a sample ballot.
Recall History
The right to request recall elections, which allow citizens to remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended, was added to the Wisconsin Constitution in 1926 and amended in 1981. Scott Walker is only the third governor in U.S. history to be subject to a recall election. The only other sitting governors to be recalled were in California in 2003, when Arnold Schwarzenegger won a recall election over Gray Davis, and in North Dakota in 1921, when Lynn Frazier was removed from office and replaced by Ragnvald A. Nestos.
Recall a Job Well Done?
Posted: April 19, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Governor Walker, recall, Recall Walker, Scott Walker, unions, Walker, Wisconsin | Tags: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Wisconsin Recall Leave a commentAs the June date for the recall election looms, I believe that it will be a difficult fight for Governor Scott Walker. This belief stems in large part from the boldness of Walker’s 2011 budget reforms, which made him a hero to conservatives and a hate figure for unions and the left. First, Walker ended the unions’ automatic collection of dues from members’ paychecks, cutting off a major source of union funds. Next he required state workers to contribute a modest 5.8 percent of their salaries toward their pensions and to cover 12.6 percent of their health insurance premiums, thus bringing Wisconsin closer in line with private sector and national averages and giving the state a chance to get a grip on its spiraling finances. Most controversially, he restricted most public unions’ collective bargaining to salaries, canceling a corrupt and fiscally unsustainable cycle that saw unions negotiate generous perks with the same politicians they helped elect.
None of this has gone down well with the unions. If early signs are any guide, they will do everything they can to paint the reforms as a failure. As they push ahead with the recall, Walker’s opponents claim that he has presided over the “destruction of public education;” that he has forced thousands of teacher layoffs; and that he has triggered a “political and governing crisis.” The evidence, though, shows otherwise. Not only have Walker’s reforms not brought calamity upon Wisconsin, but there is a growing body of data that shows they are working.
Public education is a great example. So far from being destroyed, the state’s public school districts have benefitted from a wealth of savings made possible by Walker’s reforms. By limiting collective bargaining, Walker freed school districts to set contracts without union pressure for the first time in decades. The benefits have been significant. Collective bargaining produced contracts that forced the state’s school districts to purchase health insurance from the WEA Trust, an insurance company tied to the largest Wisconsin state teachers union. But after Walker’s reforms limiting collective bargaining, school districts could strike that requirement and put their health insurance contracts up for bid.
The results were savings. When the Appleton School District put its health insurance contract up for bid, the WEA Trust suddenly lowered its rates and promised to meet any competitor’s price. Thanks to the lower cost, Appleton is expected to save $3 million in 2012. Appleton is not alone. Following the collective bargaining reforms, at least 25 school districts in Wisconsin reported switching health insurance carriers or plans opening bidding to outside companies. That measure will save the districts $211.45 per student. As of last September, certain school districts already had savings of $162 million dollars, or approximately $507 per student, as a result of Walker’s reforms.
These savings are very embarrassing for Walker’s political foes. After Walker’s budget passed, Milwaukee’s Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett, a challenger in the upcoming recall election, hysterically warned that the Governor’s cuts would make the city’s structural deficit “explode.” Not only did that not happen, but because the city doesn’t have to negotiate health-care benefit changes with unions, the city actually posted a $11 million net gain for its 2012 budget.
As a consequence of the savings, many of Wisconsin’s school districts have been able to avoid the kind of painful layoffs that teachers unions had warned were imminent. For instance, the Wauwatosa School District faced a $6.5 million shortfall and the prospect of cutting 100 jobs. But because the teachers union abided by Walker’s budget and agreed to pay a higher percentage of health insurance premiums and contribute to their retirement plans, the school was able to save all of the jobs. Similarly, the Kaukauna School District was able to transform a $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus, allowing the district to hire more teachers and even to set aside money for merit pay, something teachers unions’ had long opposed. Actually, new teacher hires outnumber layoffs and non-renewals of teaching jobs by 1,213 positions. That’s not to say that there have not been layoffs. Nearly 70 percent of those layoffs though, have come from the three school districts that rejected Walker’s reforms.
There are also growing signs that decreasing the burden of the public sector has allowed Wisconsin’s private sector to revive. In January and February alone, Wisconsin gained nearly 20,000 private sector jobs, even as its unemployment rate was around 6.9 percent – the lowest in the state since 2009. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce recently released survey results showing 94 percent of our state’s company executives believe Wisconsin is on the right track. From a budget deficit, Wisconsin is projected to post a budget surplus in fiscal year 2012.
Tax levy numbers for the 2011-12 school year show the total tax levy is down more than $47 million for K-12 schools. That translates to a 1% decrease on the school tax portion of the average property tax bill. This is only the second time the total school tax levy has dropped since 1996. Over the last five years the tax levies, on average, increased by $181 million each year. When compared to the status quo of the last five years, Governor Walker’s reforms are keeping an extra $228 million in Wisconsin property taxpayer’s pockets. In total, 269 school districts have a property tax levy lower or the same as last year.
So why this modern-day witch hunt, this race to recall a governor that is actually doing what he had promised on the campaign trail? I believe it stems from the threat Walker’s policies pose for the unions. Walker’s reforms have made national headlines and the world is watching to see what will happen in June. If Walker keeps his position as Governor of Wisconsin, it will surely send a rippling effect across the country to every state that is experiencing a deficit. It could mean the eventual downfall of public-sector unions as we know them today.
It is my personal view, that rather than “ruining” Wisconsin, as public-sector unions maintain, Governor Walker may have sown the seeds of its economic recovery. He certainly should not be ousted from office for actually doing the job he was elected to do.
Neenah School District vs. Kenosha School District
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Governor Walker, Kenosha Unified School District, Neenah School District, recall, Recall Walker, Scott Walker, unions, Walker, Wisconsin | Tags: Governor Scott Walker, Kenosha School District, Neenah School District, Recall Walker, teacher layoffs, unions Leave a commentTwo big stories came to light earlier this week involving school district budgets for next year, one for the Neenah School District and the other for Kenosha School District. As reported, one is hiring five additional teachers and the other is letting go 250 total staff members. Why the big difference? Let’s take a look…….
NEENAH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Neenah school board member John Lehman claims that laws enacted last year, when Gov. Scott Walker took away almost all collective bargaining powers from most public unions, changed the outlook for balancing their school budget. Lehman went on to say, “I know we’re going to balance the budget, and we’re going to be able to do that without decreasing 10 or 15 staff,” “We’re going to add five. To me, the most important thing is having teachers in the classroom. That makes a difference every day.”
Governor Walker’s reforms surrounding collective bargaining have given school districts flexibility with their budgets. One of those changes allowed school districts to shop for the best healthcare coverage. Many school union contracts dictated which company provided its employee’s health insurance coverage (most of the time they had to use the WEA Trust, a union affiliated insurance). This prevented districts from shopping around to save costs. Introducing competition into the process through Governor Walker’s reforms means lower costs, sometimes even without changes to coverage, premiums and/or copays.
For example, following Governor Walker’s reforms, the Appleton School District put its policy up for bid. Due to competition, their current chosen carrier offered the same policy at a cost savings of more than $3 million. That extra money can support many teachers. Across the state, savings from health care provider and plan changes alone top $75 million so far this year.
KENOSHA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Kenosha Unified School District reported that it expects to cut more than 250 employees to help close a $28 million budget shortfall for next year. The district said Tuesday, April 10th, it expects 209 layoffs, 21 retirements and 23 jobs to be reduced through non-renewal of one-year appointments. Eight administrators and 13 secretaries will be eliminated.
The staffing reductions amount to $15 million. Another $10 million is expected to be saved by closing a middle school and reducing school operating budgets, among other things. Gary Vaillancourt, a school district official said.“The majority have been teachers, because that’s the largest portion of our workforce. Nearly everyone in the district will be impacted by these cuts, and class sizes will increase. It’s unfortunate, but there’s no way to get around that when you have to come up with the money to make up for that deficit.”
Kenosha Education Association Executive Director Joe Kiriaki has claimed that the lay-offs in Kenosha are a direct result of budget cuts by Governor Walker. However Kiriaki does not mention that there was a 90-day window starting last November when the district and the union could restructure their current contracts. It would have meant teachers contributed more to their insurance and pensions, which came out to saving the district $15 million. The union however, declined, which actually resulted in the layoffs. I am quite certain that these Kenosha School District employees would gladly pay a little more for their insurance and pensions now, than be faced with no job at all. It is clear that the union doesn’t care about the individual worker as they claim. Unions are going to continue to play hardball at the cost of the average worker and of course the students of these school districts are definitely left to suffer as well.
The facts are that the three districts with the most teacher layoffs in the state (Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Janesville) didn’t adopt the reforms put in place by Governor Walker. Those districts account for 68% of teacher layoffs for the entire state, but only contain 12.8% of Wisconsin students.
School Worker Fired for Displaying Pro-Walker Sign
Posted: April 2, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Governor Walker, recall, Recall Walker, Scott Walker, unions | Tags: Governor Scott Walker, Mary Taylor, public unions, Recall, Whitewater High School, Wisconsin Recall 1 CommentOn March 15th, Mary Taylor, an employee who worked as a custodian at Whitewater High School, was sent home after school employees complained to her supervisor about a pro-Walker sign that she had placed in her car parked in the school parking lot.
Cindy Wiedenhoeft, custodian supervisor at the school, acknowledged that she discussed the removal of the sign with Taylor and ordered her to remove it. Taylor refused to remove the sign because she claimed that it was within her rights to display the sign. Taylor went even further to compare her act with those of many other school employees who display “Recall Walker” signs in their cars. She was told by her employer that they were getting complaints about the sign and she had to remove it. When Taylor refused, she was fired.
Little did Cindy Weidenhoeft know that Mary Taylor would not only not cower to the schools heavyhanded demands, but that she would take her story to the press. Conservative radio host Mark Belling covered the story on his program and since then, Taylor has been given her job back, but in another district.
Who is Mary Taylor?
- Taylor is 68 years old and works 2 part-time jobs.
- She works seven days a week.
- Taylor is a single mother, raised several children, all grown now.
- She’s a conservative and supports Governor Walker.
What is the Problem?
The issue I have with this story is not just the infringement on Taylor’s freedom of speech, but the heavy-handed way with which the public sector union employees are using muscle and influence to lay down their own brand of law. I myself have sat in a college classroom where I was subjected to repeat disparaging remarks about Governor Walker from my instructor. I finally spoke up when my college instructor deemed it necessary to pass around his union rule book on the last day of class (which had nothing whatsoever to do with the subject matter) just so that he could get this last chance in of student brainwashing.
More importantly is the question, Where is this story in the local newspapers? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has written several articles about a man getting his house egged for displaying a Recall Walker sign, but doesn’t mention one word about this big story. Wauwatosa Now Newspaper covered a story about a man who was receiving threatening letters for displaying his Recall Walker sign, but not a word is mentioned about Mary Taylor.
My feeling is that Instead of showing concern for Sandra Fluke, Georgetown law student pushing for religious institutions to provide insurance that covers contraception and other procedures in violation of their beliefs, Obama should be calling Mary Taylor.
What she did was truly courageous. Nevertheless, I don’t think Mary Taylor will be invited on MSNBC and The View.
No one I know of is calling Mary Taylor a hero, except me.
Where do I Find Pro-Scott Walker Yard Signs?
Posted: March 24, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Governor Walker, recall, Recall Walker, Scott Walker, unions, Walker, Wisconsin | Tags: Governor Scott Walker Recall, scott walker Leave a commentYou can obtain Scott Walker signs by stopping at your local GOP headquarters, or you can also purchase yard signs, t-shirts, etc. at the official Scott Walker campaign website. http://shop.supportwalker.com/
All purchases count as a donation.
Information by county
Clark CountyCall Debra at 715-965-3961Stand with Walker yard signs |
Polk CountyCall Sandy at 715-268-9602 Scott Walker 2010 yard signs and bumper stickers for free
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Dane County437 S. Yellowstone Dr. (suite 205) Madison, WI 53719 or The Victory Office directly next door from the Fitchburg Great Dane off Fish Hatchery Road. Yard signs, place cards and bumper stickers
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Portage CountyRepublican Party HQ Call 715-498-5606 Email: kathyolsz@charter.net
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Eau Claire CountyVictory Center Office: 2237 Brackett Ave Eau Claire, WI 54701 Call: 715-835-3277
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Rock CountyPaul Ryan’s campaign office 39 Main Street, Janesville Scott Walker Yard Signs – $3.00 each
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Green BayScott Walker signs. Please email murph@greenbayteaparty.org
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Sheboygan CountyRepublican Party HQ 2125 S. Memorial Place Sheboygan, Wisconsin Call 920-452-0010 Email: webmaster@sheboygancountygop.com
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Jefferson CountyEmail Matt at MattBanaszynski@yahoo.com or call (920) 723-6121
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St Croix CountyAnnette Glenwood City annette-eaf@centurytel.net I Stand With Walker yard signs -$2.00 Bumper Stickers – $1.00 Dianne Hudson dckiel@sbcglobal.net I Stand With Walker yard signs -$2.00 Bumper Stickers – $1.00
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Kenosha CountyCall Matt at 262-498-1612 Scott Walker Yard signs- $5.00 each
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Washburn CountyContact Dan at hubinshelllake@aol.com
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La Crosse CountyVictory Center Office: 58 Copeland Ave La Crosse, WI 54603 Phone: (608) 788-5244
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Washington County519 Hickory Street West Bend, WI 53095 (262) 334-4150 Call ahead to see what is in stock.
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Marathon CountyVictory Center Office: 540 S 3rd Ave Wausau, WI 54401
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Waukesha County1701 Pearl Street in Waukesha. .Located in Unit #5 Phone: 262-522-2889 “I support Scott Walker” yard signs, bumper stickers & T-Shirts.
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Milwaukee CountyOffice: 1488 So. 84th St. West Allis, WI 53214 Phone: 414-727-1220 “I Stand with Walker” Yard Signs – $5
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Winnebago CountyJudy South of Oshkosh, Town of Blackwolf 920-688-2876 Michael Town of Oshkosh, Rushford, Nekimi, Utica, Black Wolf, Rosendale, Eldorado, Omro 920-267-0217 Barb or Bob Menasha 920-725-3293
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Outagamie CountyRepublican Party HQ 2508 N. Richmond St. Appleton, WI 54911 Appleton Victory Center
5337 Grand Market
Grand Chute, WI 54913
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Ozaukee CountyW62 N248 Washington Ave. Suite 5 in Cedarburg just south of McDonald’s Limited number of Scott Walker Yard Signs available. Contact Jeff at chairman@ozaukeecountyrepublicans.com or 262-376-9410.
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Wood County801 11th St. Marshfield, WI 54449 Call 303-905-0363 Scott Walker Yard signs – $3.00 each
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Wisconsin Voter I.D. Law
Posted: March 16, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Recall Walker | Tags: Election, Recall, scott walker, Wisconsin Voter I.D. Leave a commentIn May 2011 Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a new voter law requiring photographic identification such as Driver’s license, Passport,
Since then, the NAACP and immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, filed complaints challenging Walker’s photo ID requirement.
On March 6, 2011 Judge David Flanagan then issued a temporary injunction, which essentially freezes the law until trial on April 16th. At which time the NAACP must prove that a large number of people will be “irreparably harmed” by the new law. This shouldn’t be too difficult since they’ve got research from Wisconsin political science professor Kenneth Mayer who found that over 220,000 people in the state lacked the kind of ID needed to vote under the new law.
Wisconsin Republicans then filed a complaint against Judge Flannagan arguing he couldn’t be a neutral arbitrator because he signed a petition calling for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker. The complaint, filed with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, said that Judge David Flanagan should have excused himself from the case or at least disclosed that he had signed the Walker recall petition. They pointed out that the group circulating the petition listed the voter ID law as one of the reasons to recall Walker. “In signing this document, the judge seemingly made a public statement against the defendant and the Voter ID law in question in the case, and thus removed his ability to appear in an impartial manner and could be found by a reasonable person to be biased under the circumstances,” the complaint stated. Flanagan’s wife circulated six copies of the petition and gathered 37 signatures, according to the complaint. The Republican Party of Wisconsin’s Ben Sparks said in a statement that Flanagan had “made his bias clear” and asked the commission to investigate the allegations “as soon as possible.”
A second Dane County judge, Richard Niess ruled March 12th that the photo identification requirements of the state voter ID law are unconstitutional and permanently barred further steps to enforce those provisions. Circuit Judge Niess wrote in his decision that the photo ID requirements are “unconstitutional to the extent they serve as a condition for voting at the polls. Without question, where it exists, voter fraud corrupts elections and undermines our form of government,” Niess wrote, adding that leaders may take action to prevent it. “But voter fraud is no more poisonous to our democracy than voter suppression. Indeed, they are two heads on the same monster.” A government that undermines the right to vote imperils its own legitimacy as a government “by the people, for the people and especially of the people,” Niess wrote. “It sows the seeds for its own demise as a democratic institution.”
The judge’s order affects only the photo ID requirements of Act 23, which made many other significant changes to Wisconsin’s election laws. Other requirements of Act 23 are still in force, including 28-consecutive day residency, poll list signing, shortened timelines for absentee voting, and the prohibition of the use of a corroborator in lieu of proof of residence.
Through a spokesman, Gov. Scott Walker said he is confident the voter ID law will stand. “It’s a shame activist Dane County judges continue to stand in the way of common sense,” said Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie. “Gov. Walker looks forward to implementing common-sense reforms that protect the electoral process and increases citizens’ confidence in the results of our elections.”
Personal thoughts on voter I.D.
- I believe that in today’s world we need voter identification to uphold election integrity.
- Other states have implemented programs that offer in-home I.D. assistance to those that cannot travel to obtain an I.D.
- Valid forms of picture I.D. are required at the library, airport, rental car companies, hotels, and at the drug store to purchase cold remedies. It seems to me that voting to elect a public official should be on par with these activities, if not above them in importance.
- This law would reduce corruption from people using outdated information to vote several times.
- I believe that if you are a legal resident of the state there shouldn’t be a problem with obtaining an I.D. Mine took twenty five minutes.
- It would improve the public’s confidence in the election process.
Two Factors Will Decide Walker’s Fate in Recall Election
Posted: March 9, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall, Governor Walker, recall, Recall Walker, Scott Walker, unions, Walker, Wisconsin | Tags: Governor Scott Walker, Recall, walker, Wisconsin Leave a commentMarquette University Law School conducted a statewide poll last week to establish how the citizens of Wisconsin feel about the Walker recall election.
Although polls repeatedly put their number at between 3 percent and 6 percent of potential voters in a Walker recall election, the Undecideds will be one of two factors deciding whether the first-term Republican governor stays on the job or is the third governor in U.S. history to be removed. The other factor deciding Walker’s future will be how well each side executes its get-out-the-vote drives.
Those two factors could determine Walker’s fate because other Wisconsin voters have their minds made up on Walker and are equally divided on him. Variations in answers to poll questions on Walker often fall within that poll’s margin of error.
The first factor that will decide Governor Walker’s fate will be the success or failure in swaying the undecided voters.
The second will be how each side executes its get-out-the-vote campaigns.
Two examples of questions from the Marquette poll are as follows:
- Question #6: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Scott Walker is handling his job as Governor? Results: Approve, 47%, dissaprove, 47%, don’t know, 4%, refused, 1 %.
- Question #12: Please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Scott Walker, or if you haven’t heard enough about him to have an opinion. Results: Favorable, 46%, unfavorable, 48%, haven’t heard enough, 4%, I don’t know, 1%.
Who are the undecideds? The limited poll data suggests that that they are of all ages and only slightly interested in politics.
Concerning the undecided, UW-Madison Political Science Professor Barry Burden says, “the state electorate has developed strong opinions on Governor Walker, with equal numbers supporting and opposing him. This makes the movement on the margins all the more important for winning public opinion and elections.”
“The 5% that are undecided will get a lot of attention in the upcoming recall election because of the pivotal role they play. They are generally less interested and informed than the rest of the electorate, but they are also less swayed by simple cues such as partisanship and ideology.”
“They are more likely to vote on how the incumbant is performing, particularly on the economy.”
“Voter turnout may be more of a decisive factor than the undecideded votes. It is easier for a party to mobilize its supporters than it is to persuade and turn out undecideds. We should expect a lot of concentration on the get-out-the-vote effort and negative ads to lower the enthusiasm levels of the other side.”
Seven Senate recall elections last summer attracted an average of only 62 percent of voters who participated in the last regular elections in those districts, for example. In one of those districts—the 30th, where Democratic Sen. Dave Hansen kept his seat—the vote total in the recall was only 40 percent of the number of votes cast in the 2008 regular election.
Wisconsin Governor Will Not Challenge Recall Petitions
Posted: February 28, 2012 Filed under: Governor Scott Walker Recall | Tags: petitions, Recall, walker, wisconsin walkergate Leave a commentGovernor Walker had until the end of the day on Monday to contest signatures, but there was not enough time to properly review the petitions for duplications and fraudulent names.
The Government Accountability Board, which oversees Wisconsin elections, has until March 19 to rule whether enough signatures are valid to trigger an election involving the governor. Of the 152,000 pages of signatures filed in January by those who hope to recall Governor Walker from office, there were addresses of signers turning up as vacant lots and the unquestionably fraudulent signatures of Donald Duck and Adolf Hitler. Apparently even Scott Walker signed his own recall petition nine times. Other interesting findings include:
- More than 4,700 signatures on the Walker Recall were from out of state
- Nearly 15,000 signatures came from dates outside the recall window
- A signature by Donald Duck. Mr. Duck’s address is a Starbucks in Appleton
- More than 5,000 duplicate signatures
- Officials have identified more than 228,000 additional signatures that, they say, merit investigation.
Republicans say plenty of errors were discovered, but volunteers were only able to fully review 400,000 signatures in the time allotted. Out of those reviewed it highlighted numerous mistakes. The review board found between a 10 and 20 percent error rate in those signatures.
Walker’s campaign had sought two additional weeks to complete its review. That request was denied by the courts.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin meanwhile released its first anti-Walker commercial. They chose to focus not on the budget repair bill that prompted the recall in the first place, but the John Doe investigation surrounding some of Walker’s former staffers and associates when he was the Milwaukee County Executive. The ad compares Walker to the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon.
Walker has denied any wrongdoing and says he’s cooperating with the investigation.
A link to view the “Walkergate” commercial is below. Feel free to post your thoughts about possible similarities between Scott Walker and Richard Nixon.