The Road Runner, too. Not legally, but in practice. The State of Wisconsin acknowledges that it does not have the resources to cross check the recall petition signatures for duplicates, made-up names, fake addresses, or ineligible voters. Not even with $650,000 allocated to the Government Accountability Board for the job. GAB just won't be able to data-enter 540,000+ signatures to automate a file-check.
All their clerks can do is visually scan each sheet to determine if each box is checked, each lined filled out, and the circulator signs and dates each petition. GAB will probably scan each document for independent review. No wonder Sen. Glenn Grothman wants to tighten up the process.
That is what I learned sitting in with Brian Schimming Friday on Vicki's Up Front program on TalkRadio 1310. One caller said he told a recall petition gatherer he had already signed. "Doesn't matter," the petitioner responded, he says. Thanks to Schimming for this find (boldface is my emphasis):
From: Buerger, David - GAB
Subject: RE: Recall Signatures
To:
Cc: "GAB HelpDesk"
Date: Monday, November 21, 2011, 11:20 AM
The step-by-step processes are still be finalized, but it will largely consist of a manual review of the face of the petition. The information on the petition page is given a presumption of validity. This means the GAB staff in our review process will confirm that there is a signature, address, and date on each line; but we do not authenticate the signature, validate the address exists, or confirm that the person signed on the date listed. We presume those facts to be true until rebutted by evidence from a challenger.
If you signed the recall petition, the information on the petition is open to public inspection. We plan to scan the petitions to create a digital copy for distribution, but it is not yet determined if we will be posting those scans to our website or simply providing copies of the scans on CD upon request.
Sincerely,
David Buerger
Elections Specialist
Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
That will require the private sector, through the campaigns of the Republican party, to raise donations to scour each and every petition. Even so, I don't see how they be able to enter all those names for a conclusive computer check.
If you see any recall hanky panky, record it on your cell phone camera and contact the Recall Integrity Center. Share it with the Squire, as well.
Recall Scott Walker for a player to be named later
The Wisconsin State Journal on Sunday finally addresses an issue your Squire raised last week: Recalling Scott Walker is one thing. Replacing him is another.
Pick the wrong candidate and the Democrats run the risk of not only re-energizing the state GOP but also weakening President Barack Obama's chances to take Wisconsin in his re-election bid next year.
The Democrats' own polling shows no one can beat Walker except declared non-candidate Russ Feingold -- and he, only barely. Even if Russ Feingold repudiates his serial denials and takes the bait, what will the Democrats' platform look like? I asked that question last week. (What would Russ do?)
Clearly, government employees will want all limits on collective bargaining overturned. (They already have more collective bargaining rights than President Obama's federal employees.)
Make no mistake, they will demand the immediate revocation of contributions toward their health insurance and pensions required by Walker. (Which remains half of what private sector employees pay, on average.) Sure, Madison city, county, and school employees made a few concessions -- but only with Walker's reforms looming. Instead, they rushed, arm-in-arm with local liberals beholden to union election muscle, to ratify contracts that avoided most of the shared sacrifice. Milwaukee's teachers infamously scuttled 350 of their fellow union members rather than concede a dime.
It is fair to ask, just how high will Democrats raise taxes if Walker is recalled?
That's a question that everyone who is asked to sign a Walker recall petition should be asking. Here's the other: What, exactly, is not working?
Public-sector employee unions bid up cost of government
The government employee unions are the Democrats' new Tammany Hall, says economist Fred Siegel, former editor of the left-leaning Dissent magazine. Siegel posits that public sector unions have "become a vanguard movement within liberalism [because] the public sector comes closest to the statist ideals of [George] McGovern and post-McGovern liberals.
"That is, there's no connection between effort and reward. You're guaranteed your job. You're guaranteed your salary increase. There's a kind of bureaucratic equality."
Siegel notes that as early as 1980, half the delegates to the Democrats' national convention worked for the government. In Europe Spain, Italy, and Greece have promised to balance their books while the U.S. remain notably profligate. The only governor who has initiated real structural reform is Walker, Siegel tells the Wall Street Journal:
His move to restrict collective bargaining for state employees isn't as important ... as ending the requirement that state workers pay union dues.
Peyton Place on the Common Council
(All my cultural references are at least 30 years old.) Sex and the City of Madison's liberal hypocrisy. Ald. Tim Bruer, who knows where the bodies are buried and dug some of the graves, makes the same point your Squire made so long ago. Here is Ald. Bruer, as quoted by The Capital Times:
"It's ironic that many of the progressives on the council and in the community who are fast to be calling for state officials to resign for inappropriate behavior have not come forth and applied the same principles to Ald. [Brian] Solomon," referring to calls for conservative state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser to step down amid allegations that he put liberal colleague Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in a chokehold in June. "In fact, they have subtly rallied around Ald. Solomon."
A vigorous debate has broken out.
Human fetus has same rights as a tumor
Amend the state constitution to extend personhood to a fertilized human egg? The Progs are aghast! Cue Stu Levitan to ask how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. When does human life begin? The answer: At the beginning. Is it human? Ain't a turnip or a hang nail. As one of the sleazier Forons dismissively -- but accurately -- asserted, "A fetus is not a tumor [but] a fetus has the same 'rights' as a tumor."
When does human life begin? Watch the following and you tell me. (Tip 'o the hat to Ann of Althouse.)
