Wisconsin Protests

Lost in the constant news about the recall of Governor Scott Walker is the fact that four Wisconsin Senators are facing recall as well. Today, political neophyte Lori Compas will declare her candidacy against Wisconsin's Senate Majority Leader, rounding out a slate of candidates who are attempting to wrest control of the Wisconsin State Senate away from Republicans.

On January 17, 2012 the recall petitions for four Wisconsin state senators were delivered to the Government Accountability Board (GAB) along with recall petitions for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. The Senate recalls are targeting four Republicans; Senator Pam Galloway (R-Wausau), Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), Senator Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls), and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

Last week, the Center for Media and Democracy reported on the amusing mistake made by a Politico reporter who misidentified the blue Wisconsin state flag as a "union flag" that signaled President Obama's support for the Wisconsin labor struggle. The story rocketed around the state and caused many chuckles.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald are pushing for radical changes in Wisconsin's current mining law to benefit a single out-of-state company.

Gogebic Taconite, based out of Florida, has proposed a massive twenty-one mile long iron-ore strip mine in some of the most beautiful and pristine land in the northern part of the state. Walker and the GOP are promoting the mining bill as the most important "jobs bill" of the session. Since Governor Walker's austerity budget kicked in on July 1, Wisconsin has lost jobs for six straight months, the worst record in the country.

The Assembly proposal (PDF) would make numerous changes to current law, including regarding how mines can affect waterways, wetlands and groundwater. The new bill drastically limits the time available to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for processing permit requests to 360 days. Similar permit requests in Minnesota took between two and four years. The new bill also places a two million dollar cap on the amount a company must reimburse the DNR for costs associated with processing a request. Any expense beyond the two million dollar cap would come from the DNR's budget. Similar mining permits elsewhere have cost between three and four million dollars, and the DNR already faces severe cuts.

Leaked documents show that the Chicago-based Heartland Institute is planning to spend $612,000 supporting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and four GOP Senators in their probable recall elections. It is the second nonprofit group known to be active in the Wisconsin recalls, and comes as secretly-funded nonprofits are playing an increasingly important role in elections across the country.