Wisconsin recall: Republicans hold onto Senate
Alberta Darling thanks supporters including fellow state senators Leah Vukmir, middle and Pam Galloway, 29th district (Wausau) during her recall victory party in Thiensville, Aug. 9, 2011. / AP
MADISON, Wis. - Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday, beating back four Democratic challengers in a recall election despite an intense political backlash against GOP support for Gov. Scott Walker's effort to curb public employees' union rights.
Fueled by millions of dollars from national labor groups, the attempt to remove GOP incumbents served as both a referendum on Walker's conservative revolution and could provide a new gauge of the public mood less than a year after Republicans made sweeping gains in this state and many others.
Two Democratic incumbents face recalls next week, but even if Democrats win those they will still be in the minority.
Turnout was strong in the morning and steady in the afternoon in communities such as Whitefish Bay, Menomonee Falls and Shorewood, where Sen. Alberta Darling was one of the four Republicans to hold onto her seat.
Tony Spencer, a 36-year-old laid-off carpenter from Shorewood, voted for Darling's challenger, Democratic state Rep. Sandy Pasch.
"I'm in a private union, so they haven't necessarily come after me," Spencer said. "But everybody should have the right to be in a union. I came out to stop all the union-bashing stuff."
John Gill, 45, of Menomonee Falls, voted for Darling and questioned the opposition's anti-GOP rhetoric, which went far beyond collective bargaining.
"This was all supposed to be about the workers' rights, so to speak. But that has not been brought up one time. It's all been misleading, the attack ads, things like that," Gill said. "The one reason they started this recall, they didn't bring up once."
Until this year, there had been only 20 attempts since 1913 to recall any of the nation's state lawmakers from office. Just 13 of the efforts were successful.
Also winning on Tuesday was Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse, defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke, who had been in the Senate since 2004. The other Republican ousted was first-term incumbent Sen. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac, defeated by Democrat Jessica King, the former deputy mayor of Oshkosh.
Republican Sens. Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Rob Cowles of Allouez and Luther Olsen of Ripon all held onto their seats.
The stakes in Wisconsin were clearly much larger than control of the Senate. The recall election will also help determine whether the Republican revolution led by Walker regains momentum or suffers a major setback. Both parties also were testing messages ahead of the 2012 presidential race, in which Wisconsin was expected to be an important swing state.
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past recall election.
In the end, only two of the six Republicans lost, keeping Republicans in the majority of the State Senate. And two union-label Democrats still face recall challenges of their own next week.
The union hierarchy-backed candidate won in District 32, where Barack Obama, a forced-unionism proponent, overwhelmingly won in 2008 with 61 percent of vote.
The other incumbent who lost this week had been dogged by a tawdry infidelity scandal, yet his union-label opponent only scraped by with 51 percent of the vote -- hardly a rebuke of employee freedom.
And next week, incumbents Jim Holperin (D-12) and Robert Wirch (D-22) -- who opposed the government-sector Right to Work law -- face recall elections.
It's high time we allow men and women to reject paying union dues or be forced to join a union so that they can work. It's not about being democrat or republican-it's about having the freedom and right to work.
At least say thank you.
"It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options... Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues."
S&P reply to GOP for refusing to raise revenue!
Never Trust taxpayer USA, as well as some others like him illuminate their narcissism. Even when it is put out in plain black and white written English they turn a Koch eye to everything that is not acceptable to their ideologies.
Simple observation of who is the party of NO, NO, NAY identify the culprits. Not one job have they mustered forth. Yet how many have they NAY, NAY, NO down from materializing.
S&P have a tad more experience then these individuals that continue to expose the failings of the GOP in these matters. Simple economics shows that spending cuts only in this scenario we are in now, will prove disastrous. Investors around the world recognize this as well. GOP's obstructionist political ideology is a demonstration of a failure of leadership at this time. Indicating or implying an agenda that is not in the best interest of our nation.
Next they will take FAA hostage and hold for ransom for granny to pay for their geotactic failures.
"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they've tried everything else." Winston Churchill.
Some of these Americans; well as Bill Maher would say;...
http://youtu.be/fys3MsKMpms "OR" as Noam Chomsky would explain why the elitist is not democracy [republican}
http://youtu.be/2Ux8Q3XC98U "OR" Ron Paul's thoughts on republicans failures.
http://youtu.be/3VPz7TYNM-A
The boss does nothing but sign papers, for which he then denies responsibility if caught signing BS, so at no personal risk, and at extremely overrated salaries, they represent the takers.
LOL!
You just descibed President Obama.
The Irony
look at what is happening in europe. there is no money for what you want. when the money runs out (already has), you want to borrow MORE money from generations that aren't even born.
you morons have to make this country business frendly by lowering corporate taxes so businesses will come to the U.S. instead of sending jobs overseas like the wants of you love to complain about. More jobs = more revenue = lower debt.
if you think this government is going to quit spending monies from future generations, just look at what that trillion dollar stimulus bill did for this economy. this administration made big promises about that trillion dollars and look at where your sitting now. it is YOU, younger generation, who will reap what you sow. i ain't gonna have to pay for it, i'll be dead. but, you will not only have to pay the way, you will also be responsible for what you are doing to your kids and their kids. i hope you will be happy when you are my age for what you are doing now, but i suspect you will feel quite the oppisite.
That's Democratic Underground verbage. If you clean that up like your previous post it holds more credibility among the lurkers.
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The special interests have the resources to operate a powerful propaganda machine. The corporate oligarchs and monarchs have the people working against themselves to achieve the ultimate end. The destruction of democracy. The mainstream media presents an illusion of two sides. The people are conquered and divided by the liberal/conservative media myth. The fact is, there is the non-democratic global corporate media. It's propaganda results in one thing, a concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands until the game of monopoly is won and a government of the people is lost.
The two party system has become a tool for non-democratic corporate oligarchs to conquer and divide the resolve of the people. Such entrenched power actively works to discredit any opposition to its tyranny.
Unions are too extreme and members whiny. When I lived in Florida the teachers Union was constantly protesting and constantly ignored until Charlie Christ pandered to them.
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There may very well be serious problems with some unions just as there are serious problems with the United States Chamber of commerce, a union that represents the interests of global non-democratic corporate governments that are a threat to democracy around the world.