Repudiation: Wisconsin Republican Dirty Tricks

Since Governor Walker took the oath of office, Wisconsin has been in turmoil.  The Republicans, led by Mr. Walker, endeavored to undo decades of progressive Wisconsin laws leading to huge protests back in February.  In response, this Summer Wisconsinites recalled some of their state senators.  But, it was not without some underhanded moves by Republicans.

Now, a year after Scott Walker was elected to office, it is legal to begin a move to recall him.  It has begun.  This isn't just dissatisfaction with the political success of the Republicans.  It is anger at a bait and switch tactic of numerous lies curing his campaign for governor.  From the One Wisconsin Now page:

#OccupyWalker will flood social networks with the truth about every aspect of Scott Walker's disastrous agenda, with the scores of facts uncovered by the One Wisconsin Now reseach team and the individual stories of working Wisconsin families personally harmed by Walker's anti-middle class schemes.

It's been over two years since Scott Walker stepped into the spotlight and started laying out his Koch-funded, pro-corporate agenda. The list of Walker's failures seems endliess: from his early failure to report information on $500,000 worth of his top campaign contributors, to spending 20 minutes on the phone with who he thought was billionaire David Koch talking about stripping away the rights of 175,000 Wisconsin workers, to his most recent decision to cut 65,000 of our state's most vulnerable residents - including 29,000 children -- off health care.

Then there's this latest piece we just uncovered. In 2006 during first run for governor, Walker made some pretty bold campaign promises, including this one:

"Scott Walker will not accept any campaign contributions (from any source) from the time he takes office (January 3, 2007) until the state budget is signed into law. (100 Day Agenda)" [Link to source]

Now consider this: from the time Scott Walker took office on January 3, 2011 to the time the budget was signed on June 26, 2011, Walker received $2,174,501.39 in campaign money. That would be a $2 million broken promise to the people of Wisconsin. This is all not to mention the latest campaign finance scheme, where a GOP donor nefariously filed recall petition, allowing Walker to begin raising unlimited campaign money.

Before looking at the future lies and dirty tricks, I want to mention that it took me a while to accept the title "Occupy Walker".  Normally a person is not something that one occupies (unless one is a demon that needs to be exorcised).  However, the timing of the Madison WI sit-ins as a prelude to the Occupy Wall Street movement is not coincidental.  In many ways the good people of Wisconsin inspired OWS.  The name fits.

So, after the campaign lies and the fake candidates during the senatorial recalls, it should not surprise anyone that Wisconsin Republicans plan to continue in the same vein.  Mother Jones had an article last Friday about plans to destroy recall petitions, a felony offense in Wisconsin.

These plans, discussed in Facebook posts that were first reported by the blog PolitiScoop, entail posing as recall supporters and gathering signatures, only to later destroy the petitions. They also include telling Wisconsinites that they can only sign one recall petition (which is false—they can sign different petitions as long as they each correspond to a different organization) and directing signature collectors to the homes of registered sex offenders.

Surprised?  No, I'm no longer surprised.  Offended?  Absolutely.  This is an affront to our democratic republic.  Such endeavors to interrupt legal petitions and elections are unAmerican.

Thanks to Care2 for the heads up.

30 November 2011, FollowUp 1.
4 December 2011, FollowUp 2.
11 December 2011, FollowUp 3.
14 December 2011, FollowUp 4.
15 December 2011, FollowUp 5.
30 December 2011, FollowUp 6.
13 January 2012, FollowUp 7.
17 January 2012, FollowUp 8.
25 January 2012, FollowUp 9.
2 February 2012, FollowUp 10.
9 February 2012, FollowUp 11.
12 February 2012, FollowUp 12.
18 February 2012, FollowUp 13.
22 February 2012, FollowUp 14.
6 March 2012, FollowUp 15.
12 March 2012, FollowUp 16.
16 March 2012, FollowUp 17.
30 March 2012, FollowUp 18.
31 March 2012, FollowUp 19.
3 April 2012, FollowUp 20.
4 April 2012, FollowUp 21.
11 April 2012, FollowUp 22.
14 April 2012, FollowUp 23.
17 April 2012, FollowUp 24.
21 April 2012, FollowUp 25.
29 April 2012, FollowUp 26.
2 May 2012, FollowUp 27.
6 May 2012, FollowUp 28.
10 May 2012, FollowUp 29.
13 May 2012, FollowUp 30.
23 May 2012, FollowUp 31.
24 May 2012, FollowUp 32.
30 May 2012, FollowUp 33.
2 June 2012, FollowUp 34.
4 June 2012, FollowUp 35.
5 June 2012, FollowUp 36.