Scott Walker

Wisconsin Recall Petitions On Governor Scott Walker: A Sign Of True Democracy!

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The movement to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who forced through cutbacks in state funding of education, and declared war on state government workers and labor rights last year in his first year in office, has led to more than one million people signing petitions for his recall, almost double the number needed to set up a recall election.

Never before have so many people in any state signed petitions for a recall vote for anyone, and only two governors in the history of the United States have been successfully recalled, but this threat to Scott Walker is real!

If the signatures are proved legitimate, at least half of them, then an election will be held in late spring or early summer, with recalls of the Lieutenant Governor and several Republican State Senators also in play.

This is a great moment of democracy, and shows that the Republicans are in danger, not only in Wisconsin, but other states that have “Bully Governors”, who have run rampant over taxpayers and workers. It is an assault on the Tea Party Movement as well, and on the power of the Koch brothers and other wealthy right wingers who think their money and the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court two years ago will be able to destroy democracy in America.

The Occupy Wall Street Movement and progressives all over the nation will fight to restore decency and humanity to politics, and the Republican Party will suffer in state after state, as well as nationally, as the people rise up against the injustices perpetrated on the middle class and the poor.

This is a moment of great triumph, but the battle has only begun, and must come in Florida with Rick Scott, Ohio with John Kasich, Michigan with Rick Snyder, and Maine with Paul LePage, and some other states as well!

Mitt Romney’s Running Mate: Who Could End Up As Vice President Next Year?

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It may seem premature to ponder who could be Mitt Romney’s running mate for Vice President, after only two contests, the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, but speculation is already beginning.

It is not an unimportant issue, as one must remember that a Vice President is one heartbeat away from the Presidency, and we have had nine Vice Presidents succeed to the office of President, mostly recently Gerald Ford, after Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.

We have now had a longer period of no Vice Presidential succession than ever since the first time the Vice President (John Tyler) replaced a President who had died after one month in office in 1841 (William Henry Harrison).

We have had Vice Presidential choices that have been nightmares, such as Sarah Palin in 2008, Dan Quayle in 1988 and Spiro Agnew in 1968, with the latter two making even opponents of George H. W. Bush and Richard Nixon wish for their continued good health!

Many individuals are being speculated about who would not be good choices in one way or another.

Among these are:

Florida Senator Marco Rubio
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

All of the above are highly controversial in different ways, and would not draw moderates or independents, crucial in an election more than a nomination battle. And all, except Santorum, have been in high office too briefly, so the lack of experience would be harmful, as each has only finished one year in his or her position in government on a national level, with the exception of Christie with two years in office. Santorum lost reelection by a wider margin than just about any incumbent senator in history, when he lost his seat in 2006.

So, a better list would be the following, all adding to Romney, rather than subtracting:

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker
Ohio Senator Rob Portman
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt
South Dakota Senator John Thune
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk

All of these nine, four governors and five senators, have had experience and come across as less controversial, and all would be qualified to take over in an emergency, if that were to happen.

Of course, all would have to be vetted, but on first look, they all seem to be capable of serving as President if need be, and far better than Palin, Quayle or Agnew!

Florida Governor Rick Scott Pitting Educational Funding Against Medicaid!

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Florida Governor Rick Scott, a favorite of the Tea Party crowd, has made a bad name for himself among many Floridians who wish they could remove him from office, but so far an attempt at a recall vote has gone nowhere, unlike what Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is facing.

After gutting educational funding in the first year of his term, now he is calling for $1 billion increase in support for the educational system under the college level, but still would leave Florida behind its all time high funding, and leave Florida one of the worst states in education support and educational results.

But what he is also doing is pitting education, the future of the young, versus Medicaid, the health care system that comes to the support of the poor, the chronically ill, disabled, and elderly.

So he is showing no conscience about the most vulnerable among us, while suddenly trying to make himself look good on education.

It is immoral and unethical for Governor Scott to be calling for drastic cuts in Medicaid spending ($2 billion), while creating the image that he cares about education!

Hopefully, the Republican controlled legislature will NOT agree to such drastic cuts in Medicaid spending, as to attack the most vulnerable among us is totally unacceptable!

The Recall Effort Against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Begins

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After success in a recall effort against two Republican state senators in Wisconsin earlier, the move is on to recall Governor Scott Walker, who has seen his public opinion ratings collapse, and his national image rapidly decline.

The labor movement and progressives in the state of Robert La Follette Sr., the state of progressivism, has begun the gathering of signatures to put the question on the ballot. A total of 540, 208 signatures are necessary by mid January to set up a special election at the end of February.

There have been death threats against some people collecting signatures, and one can be sure that Walker’s patrons, the Koch brothers, will use all the money they have to attempt to prevent the gathering of enough signatures, and/or the success of the recall process at a special election.

IF this movement succeeds, it would be a great victory and lead to attempts at similar action against other “Bully Governors” who have taken a stand against organized labor and the progressive movement.

Let us hope for its success as a true example of democracy in America!

MASSIVE Victory For Workers’ Rights, Women’s Rights, And Voting Rights!

Ronald 1 Comment

A massive victory for Democrats, progressives and liberals, and the American people, occurred tonight on the 2011 Election Day, and it augurs a progressive victory in 2012!

In three states, particularly, conservative Republican and Tea Party forces were set back in their power grab to take away basic rights of workers, women, and voters!

Ohio rejected the anti public union bill passed by the Republican legislature with the backing of Governor John Kasich by a vote margin of about 60-40, therefore restoring collective bargaining rights for police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees. This is a warning to Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Rick Scott in Florida, and Paul LePage in Maine, who also have been working against the rights of public employees, that the people will NOT tolerate the loss of labor rights won over the years, which have helped to grow and sustain the middle class! It also shows that conservative talk radio, Fox News Channel, and even the Koch brothers and other greedy, selfish, self centered billionaires are not going to be allowed to shape the country in their image. The Republican Party in Washington, DC should see this as a warning that if they continue to refuse to help job creation and just set out to defeat Barack Obama, they will pay the price in next year’s election!

At the same time in the conservative state of Mississippi, the proposed “personhood” amendment that would define a fertilized egg as a person was also soundly defeated by about 57-43 percent, a tremendous victory for women’s rights and Roe V Wade, and a strike against the extreme anti abortion fanatics who have no concern for the health and well being of women, and wish to take away their privacy rights!

And in Maine, we saw the defeat of legislation that ended the practice of allowing registration on the day of the election, a move being copied in other states to cut back voter registration and participation. This is another Republican and conservative attempt to cut back on voting rights with the false claim of massive voter fraud, which has never occurred anywhere in reality!

So it is clear that the conservative and Republican victories in 2010 and their abuse of power in the months since has been rejected. So in a way, it was necessary to have this occur to wake people up as to the need to be involved, to participate, to pay attention, to organize, and to realize that if one does not work at protecting their basic human rights, those rights can be taken away from them!

It is certain that the 2010 Republican victories will be overcome by a tremendous counter reaction in 2012, with 2011 being the first strikes against the right wing!

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Being Wooed As The Savior Of The Republican Party

Ronald 1 Comment

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, in office less than two years, is being wooed by Wall Street Republicans and conservatives on talk radio and Fox News Channel as the savior of the Republican party, and being pressured to get into the Presidential race.

There has not been such a draft movement in the GOP since Dwight D. Eisenhower was successfully brought into the Presidential race in 1952.

But is Chris Christie another Dwight D. Eisenhower? Is he the “knight in shining armor”, or is he just the flavor of the month, a desperate attempt by Republicans to find a winning candidate who can unite the Tea Party Movement and Establishment Republicans, which no one else seems to be able to do?

After all the glamor is stripped from the excitement around Christie, is he the answer for the beleaguered GOP? The answer is NO, as despite what many might think, the odds on Christie winning the White House are extremely low!

What makes people in the party so excited about Christie?

1. He is very blunt and forceful in his language, but some would say overly confrontational and crude.

2. He attacks labor unions, which make Wall Street and big business thrilled.

3. He is the original “Bully” Governor, a model for Scott Walker in Wisconsin, John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Rick Scott in Florida, and Paul LePage in Maine.

4. He attacks public education in favor of charter schools, which pleases many conservatives.

5. He promotes budget cuts, which ultimately means the promoting of cuts in state support of social services, a popular move with the right wing nationally.

But why is he a horrible choice for President?

1. His “in your face” personality is precisely what we do NOT need in the White House!

2. His anti education, anti teacher, anti union agenda would solidify the right wing agenda in other states and harm the nation’s future.

3. His personality would undermine American foreign policy, as he would antagonize even friendly nations with his pompous, aggressive manner.

4. While a federal prosecutor in his past, he has only been Governor of New Jersey for less than two years, giving him very little elected experience, far less than Barack Obama, who had been in elected office for twelve years in Illinois state government and the US Senate.

5. He would be a terrible choice on the basis of physical fitness and health, has obvious health issues including a recent asthmatic attack, and while it could be said that we had William Howard Taft and Grover Cleveland in the past, it would not be a positive to have a person of his girth in the White House.

While many would see Christie as the ideal choice, he would be a bad model for the nation’s future in so many ways, and might even flop, as Rick Perry seemingly has, once we and the party and the nation had a better look at him!

Christie is more realistic than most when he says he is not ready for the Presidency, so let’s take him at his word and stop wooing him to enter the race!

The Republicans, Barack Obama, And The 2016, NOT 2012, Presidential Election!

Ronald 1 Comment

All of America is focused on the 2012 Presidential Election, as the Republicans compete over who should oppose President Barack Obama for re-election.

There are a lot of people who seem to think that Barack Obama will be easy to defeat, because of the high unemployment rate, which will be the highest for a President running for re-election since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

But these are not ordinary times, and the thought that Barack Obama is going down the road of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush is a false premise!

Remember that Ford, Carter and Bush I all had strong primary challenges, with Ford having to deal with Ronald Reagan, Carter with Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown, and Bush I with Pat Buchanan in the primaries and Ross Perot in the general election.

Also remember that none of those three Presidents had a record of domestic accomplishments that Barack Obama has!

Also remember that none of those three had the charisma or oratorical ability of Barack Obama!

Also realize that Obama has foreign policy accomplishments in the fight against terrorism, unmatched by any of those three, except briefly with the Gulf War under George H. W. Bush!

Although there are those competing for the Presidency in the Republican Party, actually, on the sidelines, there are others who desire the job, but either are not ready yet to run for the office, or are smart enough to realize that the odds of ultimately defeating Obama are long, so better to wait to 2016, when Obama would be finishing his two terms of office, if he is reelected.

It is a gamble, of course, to sit back and wait, but likely a good gamble, and if it is an open Presidential election, the odds of success for the Republicans grows by 2016.

So who is sitting on the sidelines, salivating for the Presidency, and secretly hoping no Republican is elected in 2012?

In no special order, here is a list of ambitious Republicans:

1. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
2. Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
3. Former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida
4. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
5.Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts
6. Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia
7. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin
8. Governor Rick Scott of Florida
9. Governor John Kasich of Ohio
10.Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina

Notice particularly THREE Floridians who have ambitions–Bush, Rubio and Scott, and realize the fact that Florida will have 29 electoral votes, the fourth largest number, as Florida is the fourth largest state.

So, particularly among Republicans in Florida, there are those who secretly hope that 2016 will be an open election, and are willing to sit back and wait for just that reason!

The Republican Center Trying To Save The Republican Party With New Yorkers George Pataki And Rudy Guiliani?

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What remains of the Republican Center–what the author would call the Rockefeller-Bush wing of the party–is exasperated by the Republican Presidential contenders!

They are not happy with Mitt Romney, and wonder if Jon Huntsman can become a major factor, although Huntsman is starting to get noticed and being more aggressive in his criticism of the far Right trend of the party.

So as a result, speculation is growing that former New York Governor George Pataki and or former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani may enter the race very soon, with both not discouraging mention of their names.

Pataki is the new face on the block, as Guiliani is famous or infamous for his total collapse during the 2008 Presidential campaign.

But both of them have major problems in being accepted by the GOP primary and caucus electorate. They are simply too “liberal” on social issues, including abortion, gay rights, and union rights. In the party of Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Rick Scott, John Kasich, Rick Snyder, Paul LePage, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, et al, how could they possibly win the Republican nomination for President?

Ironically, were they to win, they would have a real chance of defeating President Obama, but the road to the nomination just simply seems impossible.

It is, however, a sign of the recognition by the Bush-Rockefeller wing of the party that the future of the Republicans is clouded, indeed, unless they come to their senses and go toward the center, where the general electorate is!

President Obama: Why Are You MIA, When We Need You To Demonstrate Courage And Conviction For The Middle Class And The Poor?

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As anyone who reads this blog knows, the author is a great fan and supporter of President Barack Obama.

The author is very pleased with a lot of the reforms that President Obama has helped to bring about in his two and a half years as President, but it is disturbing that he seems to be MIA (Missing In Action) at a crucial time like now, when the stock market is going awry after the Debt Ceiling Controversy, and the decision of Standard and Poor’s to lower the credit rating of the US government from Triple A to Double A Plus.

President Obama, you are rapidly losing the faith and support of many labor union members; blacks; Hispanics and Latinos; the young; the progressive base in the media, the universities, and Hollywood; Independents; suburban voters; the unemployed; those losing their homes; and all others who were inspired and motivated to vote for this passionate, seemingly committed progressive, when he ran for President in 2008.

What has happened to this man? He is not out there fighting against the Republicans like Harry Truman would. He is not committing himself to help the Democrats in the recall elections going on this week and next in Wisconsin, where if he had intervened in the past week, we might have seen THREE Democrats or more win, instead of two, leaving the State Senate in the hands of the Republicans who are loyal to Governor Scott Walker. Obama always said he believed in labor rights, but has done nothing this whole year to step into the battles in Wisconsin or in other states, such as Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, and Maine. What is he afraid of? That he might be attacked for speaking his mind and showing his principles and beliefs regarding the middle class and the poor?

It would be far better for Barack Obama to fight tooth and nail than to seem ineffective, seem wimpy, seem scared of a challenge from the extreme Right, seem defeatist!

How can he expect us who want to support him to back him if he will not openly back us and give the opposition HELL as Truman did, or welcome the attack of his critics as Franklin D. Roosevelt did during the Great Depression!

Mr. President, respectfully, it is time to get out of the White House and show the fighting spirit we expected from you, and have not seen occur!

It is time to fight for the American people, and even if you lose the Presidency in 2012 for some reason, you would go down as a statesman who did his best, rather than go down in history as a loser in every respect!

Mr. President, IMMEDIATE ACTION for a jobs program proposal and fighting openly for the people in Wisconsin and elsewhere is REQUIRED NOW!

The Wisconsin Recall Elections: Good Sign For The Future

Ronald 1 Comment

In the past 100 years before yesterday, there were only 20 state recall elections, and only 13 officeholders were removed.

Yesterday, in Wisconsin, in reaction to Republican Governor Scott Walker’s anti labor, anti education, and anti public worker legislation forced through the legislature, we saw six Republican state legislators in the state Senate face a recall, and two were defeated, narrowing the Republican edge to one vote, 17-16.

While it was disappointing that the Democrats failed to win control of the state Senate by one vote, needing three seats, and only winning two, one must recognize the massive amounts of money brought in by corporate interests, including the Koch Brothers, and the fact that the six state Senate districts had been solidly Republican for years, in some cases more than a century.

So winning two seats was close to a miracle, and it shows that the labor and progressive movement in Wisconsin begun more than a century ago by Robert La Follette, Sr. is alive and well.

It is a sign that when people organize and fight, progress can be made, and the hope is that the recall movement can lead to an election to attempt to force Governor Scott Walker out of office next year, instead of completing his term at the beginning of 2015.

It is also a warning to John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Scott in Florida, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and Paul LePage in Maine, as well as Chris Christie in New Jersey, that the middle and working class will fight their reactionary, fascist like attack on ordinary citizens and workers!