I read Walker’s explanation about how he was approaching the lame-duck bills myself, and it was truly nauseating.

MADISON - It’s not every day that three staff members tell me that I ought to write a column about the same subject, but that happened this week after Gov. Walker posted a long explanation about how he was approaching the lame-duck bills.

So I read Walker’s posting myself, and it was truly nauseating. And when I’m feeling nauseous, I need to get it out of my system, and writing is the way I do it. Take a look:

Walker, the Weasel

Also this week, we did some research on the raft of appointees Walker recently named, and here’s what we found:

Walker Appointees Gave His Campaign $16K+

Now and again, I come upon a terrific column that I share on Facebook and that I’d also like to share with you. Here’s an example: Jim Rowen’s indictment of the anti-democratic elitism of Speaker Vos and Majority Leader Fitzgerald:

The Walkerites' Unbearable and Dangerous Elitism

I hope you like these columns.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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Madison 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.

MILWAUKEE - Scott Walker continues to make the case for why he should no longer be Governor and why we should move up the inauguration of state elected officials to immediately after elections are certified.

To be clear, this $25 million extortion of Wisconsin taxpayers through WEDC is happening for Kimberly-Clark because this highly profitable company threatened Wisconsin jobs and they are still going to fire workers. Kimberly-Clark posted a staggering $3.3 billion operating profit just last year, had their federal tax rate cut from 35.7% to 19.2% just last year, then callously decided to cut jobs and shutter plants just last year.

Their total contribution to state taxes was $1 over the last four years. But, when they saw Governor Walker and Republicans pay through the nose for Foxconn, they decided to squeeze us for even more.

This isn’t an economic development strategy, this is an extortion.

By paying this ransom to a profitable corporation, Republican economic mismanagement opens Wisconsin up to further extortion from other profitable companies. As of 2017 there were 733 other businesses in Wisconsin with similar employment numbers as Kimberly-Clark. Each of them are watching what is happening. They’d be silly not to threaten to leave unless they get a handout from us, too. If we go down this path, the total lost could exceed our states biennial budget. We need to stop investing in companies that aren’t invested in us. Instead, we need to invest in our neighbors through K-12, higher ed, and apprenticeships. We cannot afford to continue to go down this road of corporate handouts.

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Senator Chris Larson released this statement today regarding the $25 million handout to Kimberly-Clark.

We discuss the scandalous GOP lame duck, budget listening sessions with Tony Evers, the coming Inaugural events, and a special interview with Eric Genrich, who is running for Mayor of Green Bay.

MILWAUKEE - We discuss the latest on the scandalous GOP lame duck, including the pending legal action against the early voting in Wisconsin.

We welcome Citizen Action North Central Co-op organizer Joel Lewis to review the Wausau budget listening session with Tony Evers, which in openness stands in sharp contrast with the infamous GOP lame duck session.

Former podcast panelist Jorna Taylor joins us to discuss Inaugural events and how to participate. We close with a special interview with Citizen Action Northeast Co-op member Eric Genrich, who is running for Mayor of Green Bay next spring.

LISTEN NOW - EPISODE #371
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Press Clips

MADISON - State Representative Sondy Pope (D - Mt. Horeb) talks about incoming Governor Tony Evers and the statewide Building the People’s Budget tour.

Audio File of Radio Address

Hello, this is State Representative Sondy Pope with this week’s Democratic Radio Address.

Despite last week’s attempts by legislative Republicans to override the will of the people, Wisconsin will continue to move forward toward a brighter future.

This week, Governor-elect Tony Evers and Lieutenant Governor-elect Mandela Barnes announced their statewide Building the People’s Budget tour.

For the first time in eight years, Wisconsin residents will be able to attend gubernatorial pre-budget listening sessions open to the public and share their priorities.

Governor-elect Evers understands that in order to solve the problems facing our state, we need to prioritize people over politics and get down to the work of governing.

It is possible to reinvest in public education, fix our roads, and improve healthcare - but it cannot happen without you.

The best future for Wisconsin is one that is by the people of our state, and for the people of our state.

These budget listening sessions show how Tony Evers will govern - for all of us.

So get involved today and make your voice heard.

Thank you.

Madison citizen has low opinion of Republican lame duck session "power grab".

MADISON - Walker, Vos and Fitzgerald, as well as every Republican legislator that voted to advance the lame duck session "power grab" legislation overruling the decision by voters who chose Tony Evers and Josh Kaul to exercise all the existing powers of the Governor and Attorney General in Wisconsin, have demonstrated that they are Traitors to Democracy.

That label will be your enduring legacy for the rest of your natural lives and one which also will make your political lives much shorter. That will be because Wisconsin voters, whether they are Democrats, Progressives or are fair-minded Republicans disgusted by what the GOP powers-that-be have done to the Republican Party, will together rid Wisconsin of every one of you in the next election.

Furthermore, your actions in forcing through lame duck legislation overruling Wisconsin voters' decisions in the November election will lead to the downfall of the Republican party in Wisconsin. That is because you will have demonstrated to even Wisconsin voters who consider themselves Republicans, that no Republican politician can be trusted because they will not represent the decisions -- or the interests -- of voters.

Wisconsin voters will not forget. You Traitors of Democracy have sealed your own fate.

Randall Schumann
Madison, Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE - We just had an election wherein the outcome was clear, the people of Wisconsin sought change and elected a new Governor. Now should be a time of peaceful transition, but instead we have just witnessed an unprecedented power grab by Republicans in the state legislature.

The recent passing of President George HW Bush is a stark reminder of how far our country has come since the days when good people from both sides of the aisle could work together in mutual respect.

In his note to his successor, President Bill Clinton, President Bush wrote, “Your success now is our country's success. I am rooting hard for you.”

After a lifetime of service to his country, President Bush understood what most of us take for granted: Democracies are only functional when citizens are confident in the peaceful transfer of power after the conclusion of an election.

Eight years later, President Clinton would write to President Bush’s son, George W, the following: “And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness.”

My sympathies are with my Republican colleagues; I know too well the pain of losing an election. As state Senator, I have had the privilege of serving when both my party held power and when it lost it.

But when I entered office in 2011, I swore to uphold the constitutions of the United States and the state of Wisconsin. I pledged, just as Scott Walker did, to respect the rule of law and the democratic process.

In an unprecedented move, Scott Walker’s Republican-controlled legislature pushed a series of bills in a lame-duck session to remove checks and balances from our state government.

This package of bills, rammed through committees in the dead of the night, are designed to rig elections and consolidate power in the hands of a few. Never in Wisconsin’s history have we faced such an attack on our state Constitution and the democratic process.

On Monday December 3rd, prior to the lame-duck session, Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald stated “We trusted Scott Walker and the administration to be able to manage the back and forth with the Legislature. We don’t trust Tony Evers right now in a lot of those areas.”

It is important for elected officials to remember that we can disagree with each other on policy, but elections are never about one person. We were elected to serve the people of Wisconsin regardless of who is elected alongside us. Taking extraordinary measures to limit the power of an office because we might not “trust” the person that was elected to that office is a slap in the face to the citizens of Wisconsin that voted for change on November 6th.

We must never make the mistake of thinking that we were only elected to serve the voters who agree with us. Wisconsin’s working families deserve a legislative body where elected officials can work across the aisle and with the governor to solve Wisconsin's toughest problems.

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State Senator Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, released this opinion editorial on the transition of power and the unprecedented measures taken by Republicans to limit the power of the offices of Governor.

The lame-duck session that the GOP leadership presided over this week turned Wisconsin into a national embarrassment.

MADISON - We’ve witnessed a crime this past week: the stabbing of democracy in Wisconsin.

The lame-duck session that the GOP leadership presided over was a subversion of the will of the people, and it’s turned Wisconsin into a national embarrassment.

But it’s just the latest in a series of grave assaults that Scott Walker, Scott Fitzgerald, and Robin Vos have carried out, as I point out here:

Walker, Fitzgerald, and Vos Stab Democracy in Wisconsin

Meanwhile, our research director, Mike Buelow, dug into a couple of the more obscure bills that were passed, and what he found was not pretty. Big business was behind two of these:

WMC Behind Lame-Duck Anti-Regulation Bill

Anti-Prevailing Wage Bill Part of Lame Duck

I took a break from covering and protesting this power grab last Monday and ran up to Baraboo to give a talk on Trump and the assault on our democracy nationally. I touched on the high school students giving a Nazi salute, and I mentioned that this was not a reflection of Baraboo but a reflection of America in the Age of Trump. Here’s an account of my talk and a video recording if you have the time:

UW-Baraboo speaker: Democracy is 'hanging by a thread'

Video: How Democracies Die/How to Combat Fascism Here at Home

I hope you find these articles and my talk of interest.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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Discussion of the GOP Lame Duck power grab, and interview of State Supreme Court Candidate Justice Lisa Neubauer.

MADISON, WI – Senator Mark Miller (D-Monona) offered the weekly Democratic radio address today.

The audio file of this week’s address can be found here.

A written transcript of the address is below:

“Hello, this is Senator Mark Miller with this week’s Democratic Radio Address.

“An extraordinary session was convened this week by Republicans for the purpose of disrespecting the voters of Wisconsin by removing certain powers of their newly elected governor and Attorney General and transferring them to the legislature.

“The voters of the state of Wisconsin elected Democrat Tony Evers to be their new governor and they elected Democrat Josh Kaul to be their Attorney General; in spite of the considerable advantage of incumbency and in spite of the barriers to voting designed to reduce Democratic voter turnout. They have stolen from the voters.

“This session would not have been called if Scott Walker had won. These bills do not serve a public purpose. They serve a blatantly partisan purpose.

“This session was extraordinary in more ways than one. Not only was it officially designated extraordinary, it is extraordinary because of poor loser mentality, chutzpah, peevishness, spite, and disrespect for democracy by shafting the voters of Wisconsin by passing legislation to thwart the people’s choice for the next governor.

“Republicans already tilted the legislative elections to their partisan advantage, now they have refused to accept the decision of the voters in elections they cannot gerrymander. Wisdom is knowing the right path to take, integrity is taking it. Scott Walker would be wise not to sign these bills.

“I’m not holding my breath.”