The campaign collecting signatures for a recall of state Sen. Bob Wirch says it has enough signatures to force that election, but will continue to collect more signatures, JSOnline is reporting.
Wirch’s 22nd Senate District includes all of Kenosha County, except Wheatland.
Wirch became a target of a recall after he and 13 other Senate Democrats left the state to avoid a quorum for a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill. That bill included among its provisions reductions in the collective bargaining power of public employees.
I find this odd..
I was out by the dog park last 2 weekends ago, and there were recall supporters for Wirch out at the park. When I saw them at about 1:00 PM, they were having real problems getting signatures.. In that they had received “0” sig’s.
I also question if their signatures are valid as they were on County Grounds (I.e Kenosha Park Grounds) getting signatures. Is this valid in this county or state? I thought you could only be on “PRIVATE” grounds?
Anyways, no matter, I believe it will be an interesting election. I also saw on the news last night that the Dem’s had collected over $250,000 for their recall efforts total, while the Rep’s only had received $20,000…
Sort of eye opening.
I too have seen the recall supporters at the dog park. I would like to think that they are not getting any more signatures because all of the people that want to sign have allready done so. As for the RULES that govern their ability to seek signatures on public property, go to the following link and you will find that while it has been questioned in the past, most of the rules for that are about who is collecting the signatures. ie; Public employees on public work time, not volunteers on their own time. For information about circulating recall petitions in public buildings and grounds Go To … http://gab.wi.gov/publications/other/circulating-recall-petitions-public-buildings#attachments…
As for the amount of money that ‘Both’ sides have collected. The dems know there is going to be a challenge so they are pulling out all the stops they can. The Gop is just waiting to see who the challenger will be. Once that is known you will see the money start to come in.
Petitioners can petition on public grounds, with limitations, and not on private without permission. All the legal details were discussed at the recall rally’s to make sure everyone was clear. For example, you can petition in front of the court house, but not block the entrance. It would be nice if the unions had to abide by a similar rule and not block access to our recall locations. It shows the disregard for the rights of others. Not good for image, one could say.
There is a lot of out of state money pouring in for the Democrats efforts. A lot more than what the R’s seem to have coming in. This is a Waterloo moment for the Democrats relationship with the union’s that feed them campaign funds. Hence, all the stops are off.
You can browse some of the money funneling here: https://secure.actblue.com/
For the Democrats, the bill is about losing power and Union dues, not union worker rights. http://tinyurl.com/3ocbgck You can listen to the worker question what good union dues are at the 12:00 mark; after listening to the union leaders explain all the concessions they made.
The more union workers realize this the worse it will get for certain people to get elected/re-elected. Democrats will have to serve the interest of the public and not the special interests of the special interest groups. This is a good thing for the public as a whole. Accountability.
Senator Wirch has a hard road in front of him; considering his reasoning for why he did this is easily refuted. Of which, in part, is being refuted by the unions themselves.
I received a letter from Sen. Wirch the other day in response to an email that I sent early on urging him to go back to work. He went on at length about why he didn’t support the bill, WHICH WAS NOT THE POINT.
He and I can agree or disagree on the specifics of legislation and that is ok – that is part of the democratic process. I had a hard time with the fact that he cut and ran. In the military (of which I am a former officer), that is called desertion. In the Wisconsin senate, that is apparently called “doing the people’s business”.
I can vote for a person that I disagree with to represent me, as long as he or she faithfully DOES represent me. Representation to me means that he/she is there to participate in the discussions and the democratic process. No matter how he tries to spin it, he was NOT THERE to participate.
To paraphrase another phrase from the military, I have lost confidence in his ability to represent me.
Dead on Darrel!
History is NOT on the side of the ‘runaways.’ The Dem Senators who ran away from Austin to Albuquerque in 2003 to prevent redistricting in Texas were basically erased from the roster of Texas legislators by 2008.
The voters sided with those who stayed, and not those who left.
How does that help the cause — it doesn’t!
Comment overheard from a gentleman asked if he wished to sign the petition to recall Wirch at the Salem Town Hall: I don’t approve of what Wirch did and I would sign the petition in a heartbeat. But I am a union member and I get in a lot of trouble if at my job if I sign the petition. The recall Wirch petitioner: thats ok, we don’t want you to get in trouble. We don’t need your signature that badly.
Very interesting, the veiled or not so veiled threats that are being delivered by the unions to their membership. Someone is out to capture the moral low ground, and it doesn’t appear to be the R’s or the recall Wirch campaign.