Recall #5, WI GOP's Darling is next!

Recall petitions will be filed today against Sen. Alberta (not so) Darling, the fifth senator to face recall among the eight Republicans who voted to end collective bargaining rights for government workers in Wisconsin. The Washington Post reports:

Graeme Zielinski, the spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, confirms to me that Democrats will submit approximately 30,000 signatures for the recall of Alberta Darling — nearly 150 percent of the 20,343 required.

Already, petitions with more than enough signatures to force a recall have been submitted for Sens. Dan Hanky-Kapanke, randy Randy Hopper, Lex Luther Olsen and Subsidy Sheila Harsdorf. Now, there are just three senators left to recall. Sens. Robert Cowles, Glenn Grothman and Mary Lazich are next! Republicans will lose control of the Wisconsin state Senate if only three of the eight Republican senators are recalled.

Wisconsinites, find out how to recall your senator on the Teamsters recall page. There are 256 days left to recall Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker!

The recall filing on Darling is pretty special, by the way. Darling is the co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, the committee that passed the now infamous anti-worker bill.

Today's Teamster News 04.18.11

World Bank president: 'One shock away from crisis'  BBC   ..."The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa underscores ... the importance of citizen security, justice and jobs," he said.
WATCH: Andrew Breitbart to Wisconsin Labor Activists: "Go to Hell"  Mother Jones   ...there's nothing hypocritical about describing a movement as uncivil and then blithely telling it to go to hell...
Unions fuming over Robert DeLeo’s ‘Wisconsin-esque’ budget  Boston Herald   ...It’s almost Wisconsin-esque, I would say, that they would eliminate our right to bargain, sit down and meet with our employer on the issue of health insurance,”...
SB 5 likely to swing voting  Columbus Dispatch   ...A state law that weakens public employees' bargaining power will take center stage in Columbus' mayoral and council races this year...
Detroit Moves Against Unions  Wall Street Journl   ...Robert Bobb, the head of the Detroit Public Schools, late last week sent layoff notices to the district's 5,466 salaried employees, including all of its teachers...
Retaking state: Floridians need to get active now (opinion)  Sun-Sentinel   ...Under the pretense of achieving fiscal soundness, Tallahassee is giving Florida an extreme makeover — as a state in which corporate interests trump people's rights and religious zealots tell everyone how to live...

Today's Teamster News 04.17.11

UNION BLUES: Organized labor’s influence slipping away as tough economy erodes power  The Middletown Press   ...Dave Molster, who has worked eight years as a delivery driver for Dichello Distributors Inc. in Orange and is a member of Teamsters Local 443, said public, private and international labor groups have shown an outpouring of support since nearly 100 union members were locked out...
Sarah Palin Bombs In Wisconsin As Only 6,500 Attend Tea Party Rally  PoliticusUSA   ...Sarah Palin rolled into Madison, Wisconsin today using a Tea Party rally as an excuse to attack union members, but the wheels promptly fell off of her bandwagon as only 6,500 people showed up for the rally, and reports on the scene say that many of those in attendance were there to protest Palin...
Turnout is key to SB 5 vote  Youngstown Vindicator   ...unless the public employee unions and the Ohio Democratic Party are able to trigger much more interest in this election than there was last November, SB 5 will be upheld...
Rick Snyder’s Democracy-Busting Army on The March in Michigan  Death And Taxes   ...Benton Harbor...faced perhaps the most draconian crackdown this week, when their manager, Joseph Harris, stripped the local government of its power with an edict reading, “No City Board, Commission or Authority has authority or power to act on behalf of the City...”
Gov. Scott's decisions a disaster (opinion)  floridatoday.com   ...Never in my nearly 50 years of calling Florida home have I witnessed a governor as focused in tearing down the state as Rick Scott...
Governor's spokesman resigning from post  Maine Sunday Telegram   ...Dan Demeritt, Gov. Paul LePage's director of communications and legislative affairs, resigned Saturday following revelations that five properties he owns in the Augusta area are in foreclosure...

Rallies, recalls and Sarah Palin in WI

Never a dull moment in Wisconsin politics these days. One senator is challenging petitions for recall, SLOBS are rallying to recall another, and Sarah Palin is making up shit in Madison in front of the Koch brothers' little army.

Sen. Dan Hanky-Kapanke, the first of the eight Republican senators in Wisconsin to face recall, has challenged the petitions. Hanky-Kapanke inspired the fastest recall filing for a senator in Wisconsin history.

Hanky-Kapanke's lawyers are claiming a required registration form wasn't filed with the paperwork and challenged more than 900 signatures. There are 22,975 voters who signed the recall petition on Hanky-Kapanke, out of the only 15,588 signatures required to trigger a recall.  The LaCrosse Tribune reports:

Graeme Zielinski, spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, called the challenge "perfunctory and desperate."

 "There's nothing here. There's no merit to the challenge," he said. "For all the money that this guy has, you'd think he could get better lawyers."

You'll recall Dan Kapanke is nicknamed "Hanky-Kapanke" because, well, he's sleazy. Last year he admitted he funneled money from a nonprofit foundation to pay for lights for the minor league baseball team he owns. Hanky-Kapanke was identified as the Republican most vulnerable to recall. Signature gatherers completed the petitions ahead of schedule -- and with more than enough votes to trigger a recall election.

Hanky-Kapanke's lawyers are claiming Pat Scheller, a recall organizer and LaCrosse banker, never filed the required form. Scheller's response:

"Dan should simply stand for election and not hide behind legal maneuvering. Let his constituents decide if they support him."

Recall organizers have five days to file a rebuttal, after which Kapanke will have two days to respond. Election officials will have 14 days to approve or reject the petition.

Already, Sen. randy Randy Hopper has had recall petitions against him filed. More recall filings are expected soon for several of the remaining six senators who voted to end collective bargaining rights for workers. Find out how to recall your Wisconsin senator here.

And don't forget, there are 260 days until Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker is eligible for recall. (We can't wait.)

Meanwhile, today a SLOBs (Supporting Labor Over Billionaires) rally was held in Saukville, Wis., in support of efforts to recall Sen. Glenn Grothman.

Sen. Chris Larson (of the "Fab 14") tweets:

At Recall for Glenn Grothman. Great crowd of non-slobs!!!

Sen. Grothman infamously referred to the nurses, teachers, fire fighters and other workers rallying at the Statehouse in Madison this way:

"We can no longer continue to have all these slobs in the building." 

Finally, a rally is taking place in Madison today. It's sponsored by the Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity (aka, the Tea Party). Tea Party mama, Sarah Palin, is there in all her shrillness, telling followers Koch whore Gov. Walker "isn't trying to hurt union members."

Say what? He's not just hurting union members, he's destroying Wisconsin's middle class. He's proposing budget cuts that kill 20,000 government jobs; another 9,900 private sector jobs will be lost due to the reduced economic activity. He pulled the plug on a high-speed rail project that took 15,000 jobs along with it. And he's proposing restrictions on wind energy that already deep-sixed a wind farm in Green Bay.

But back to Palin. For some reason, Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." is blaring in the background.

Frequently mistaken as a patriotic tune, the song is actually about a war veteran who comes home....

.....and can't find a job.

Another GOP WI senator prepares for recall

Soon-to-be unemployed senator

Wisconsin Sen. Glenn Grothman doesn't sound too confident he'll overcome the recall efforts against him. Grothman told Patch.com:

“I guess this is a very serious, determined group of people, and I have to raise more money and recruit more volunteers," he said, after hearing of the rally. "I’m having a fundraiser — maybe I should have another fundraiser to get the money in case they get the signatures."

More than enough signatures to trigger a recall election have already been filed for Grothman's colleagues, Sens. randy Randy Hopper and Dan Hanky-Kapanke. This week, Sen. Alberta Darling was questioned in a TJ Maxx parking lot by a working mother of four and recall effort volunteer.

Republicans will lose control of the Wisconsin state Senate if only three of the eight Republican senators who voted to end collective bargaining rights for workers are recalled.

Wisconsin voters will rally on Saturday, April 16, in Saukville, as they continue to collect signatures to recall Grothman. Speakers at the SLOBs (Supporting Labor Over Billionaires) rally will include Sen. Chris Larson of the Fab 14, as well as rank-and-file workers.

Grothman memorably referred to the diverse group of workers who rallied at the Statehouse in Madison, including nurses, firefighters and snow plow drivers, this way:

"We can no longer continue to have all these slobs in the building."

Rest assured, these so-called "slobs" will have the final word. To find out more about how to recall Grothman, go to the Teamsters recall page.