Indivisible Madison reacts to the WI GOP coup Print
Commentary
Written by Indivisible Madison, Linda Kessel   
Friday, 14 December 2018 18:04

capitol-protestMadison activist group says "We must fight any measures that put party and power before people.”


MADISON - Today, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed the extraordinary session legislation into law. The GOP power grab is complete. The conclusion is obvious – the GOP put party and power before people.

“Walker’s legacy will be that he was a sore loser who undermined democracy on the way out,” said Indivisible Madison lead organizer, Linda Kessel.

Indivisible Madison organized the rapid response that brought more than 1,400 protesters to the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) hearing on the lame-duck legislation with less than 72 hours’ notice. A rally that night on the State Capitol steps drew a crowd of 1,000. At the conclusion, the entire crowd entered the Capitol to register their opposition at the JFC hearing that was still in progress. Protesters came the next day to loudly protest as the Governor led a tree-lighting ceremony in the Capitol rotunda.

Walker’s office issued a media advisory only three hours before the signing ceremony in Green Bay. “Governor Walker signed the bills outside of Madison to avoid the protests he knew would materialize here,” said Kessel. Interestingly, Green Bay is the district of the lone Republican to vote against the lame-duck legislation, State Sen. Robert Cowles.

Walgreens Boycott The next step for Indivisible Madison is calling for a boycott of Walgreens. In a New York Times article, “When Walgreens Had a Moral Compass” (Dec. 12, 2018), we learned that Walgreens had made campaign contributions to the leaders of this GOP power grab – Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate

Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. They gave an additional $6,000 to the Wisconsin Campaign to Elect a Republican Senate.

Walgreens benefits from a property assessment loophole in Wisconsin that allows them to pay substantially less in taxes, passing the burden onto homeowners and small businesses to make up the difference. A bipartisan bill in the last regular legislative session sought to close that loophole, but Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald refused to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote. It looks like Walgreens got an excellent return on its campaign investment.

We call on Walgreens to ask for its contributions back, as they recently did when Cindy Hyde-Smith – then Mississippi candidate for U.S. Senate – made what she called a joke about attending a “public hanging.” Walgreens refused to be complicit in her racist remarks. Walgreens should be equally concerned about supporting the unscrupulous Wisconsin GOP leaders who orchestrated this legislative power grab. “We demand that they put democracy before profit, and customers before politics,” Kessel proclaimed.

Indivisible Madison will continue to resist the GOP agenda in our state and in our country. From Linda Kessel, “If anything, this strengthens our resolve. We must fight any measures that put party and power before people.”

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Indivisible Madison (IM) is one of more than 5,000 Indivisible local chapters, 100 in Wisconsin alone. We follow the wisdom of the Indivisible Guide and the national Indivisible Team. The common goal is to resist the policies of Donald Trump. Indivisible Madison and many other chapters apply the same techniques at the state level. We have strength in numbers and together, we are a power to be reckoned with.

Indivisible Madison specializes in rapid response events and actions. In addition to organizing actions surrounding this GOP power grab…

• Last month, we organized the local rally for “No One is Above the Law” within 24 hours of Jeff Sessions being fired. This was a response to MoveOn’s national call to act upon any move by the president intended to end the Mueller probe. Hundreds attended.

• We led the organizing team for Madison’s Families Belong Together protest (in one week).

• We organized the Candlelight Vigil in Solidarity with Charlottesville (in 27 hours).

• We organized an ACA Die-just two days following the House vote for repeal in 2017.