On Wisconsin!

President's Day, 2011

Rachel Maddow: The Republican War On Public Employees

In a recent installment of her show, Maddow takes a look at Republican attacks on public sector jobs. "It has become mainstream, centrist Republican policy -- a mainstream, centrist Republican point even in punditry -- to congratulate any Republican politician who declares war on people who work in the public sector," she said.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Where is the counter-balance to that," Maddow asked. "Where is the liberal movement in the United States that is pulling the Democrats to take the other side of this fight now that the conservatives are unified against working people in this way?"

-- Dennis

Introducing the Electronic Bill Book

If you've been to the Legislature for a public hearing lately you might have noticed that copies of bills, bill reports, fiscal notes, and other supporting documents are no longer provided. That's because all of that, and more, is available online in the Electronic Bill Book. Legislators and lobbyists are using the EBB and so can you.

The House Democratic Caucus' official blog recently offered a nice tutorial on how to use the EBB. You can find the EBB online during a hearing by going to the committee meeting agenda and clicking on the "Committee Meeting Documents" link. You can also look up a specific bill and click on "Committee Materials" next to any committee meetings at which the bill was considered.

Once you get to the Committee Materials, the list of available documents is on the left hand side. Click on the date of the relevant committee meeting, then click on the specific bill of interest, and the documents available for that bill will appear.

Knowing how to access the EBB will make you a better-informed member lobbyist. Let us know if you have any questions about how to use the EBB or any other Legislative tools. -- Dennis

We're Dismantling Government All Across America

The Daily Show reports on the budget crisis facing state and local governments throughout the nation:

Main St. Anytown U.S.A.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
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New Political Strategy: Blame Public Employees

During the first Rachel Maddow Show of the new year, guest host Chris Hayes looked at the new scapegoat for our nation’s economic woes: public workers. Check it out:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

-- Dennis

Stop the Lies!

AFSCME President Gerald McEntee recently announced the union is launching a "Stop the Lies" campaign aimed at those who seek to degrade public servants in pursuit of their own agendas. In a column posted on the AFSCME Greenline Blog, McEntee described the union's campaign as follows:

"...By blaming public service workers and working families, the right wing tries to divert attention from the simple fact that reckless, unregulated behavior of multi-millionaires on Wall Street caused unprecedented state budget shortfalls, the loss of 15 million American jobs and the collapse of our economy.

We’re not going to let them get away with it. At this pivotal moment in the economic history of our country – indeed, the world – we cannot stand by and let corporate CEOs and their flunkies define the debate and shape the future.

Working families didn’t create class warfare. The facts speak for themselves: While median incomes in the U.S. have stagnated since the mid-1970s, incomes for those in the top 5 percent have more than doubled. In the past 10 years, with record-breaking tax cuts for the wealthy — incomes for the top 1 percent have tripled. Economic bubble after economic bubble benefited a small elite while private sector workers watched their retirement security and health care benefits dissipate.

Now, after capping private sector workers and their unions in the knees, the rich and the right have set their sights on public services and the men and women who provide them.

That’s why AFSCME has created a campaign we’re calling 'Stop the Lies'... We aim to remind the country that attacking public services and public service workers will not fix our broken economy, create jobs or solve the growing income disparity in America."

You can join the campaign by watching the new video and by signing on to the Stop the Lies open letter.



-- Dennis

AFSCME Takes On the Lying Liars

One Theory About Why Democrats Lost

Tim Eyman Wants You To Stay Home On Saturday

Tim Eyman and his corporate cronies are waging a war on public servants, as well as public services, on the ballot in 2010. If some of the initiatives on the ballot this year come to pass it will have a devastating affect on the entire state. But, thanks to the power of solidarity, we can join other union members all across the state to show ol' Eyman that we've got a lot of fight left in us.

As our old friend David Groves at the WA St Labor Council reported, "Labor Neighbor is making its final push this weekend to stress to all union members the importance of voting this election -- and supporting candidates and causes that advance their best interests."

Union members will be conducting neighborhood walks this Saturday, Oct. 30, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, in Bellingham, Everett, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Yakima. There are also walks scheduled for Sunday and Labor Neighbor phone banks are running every day through election day.

A complete schedule of activities, along with a list of locations and local coordinators, can be found here. For more information, contact the WFSE Legislative & Political Action Department, at 1-800-562-6002 or lpa@wfse.org, or your local WFSE field office.

AFSCME Rocks the 2010 Elections

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that AFSCME is "now the biggest outside spender of the 2010 elections..." In a year when independent expenditures have dominated the election landscape, it's heartening to know that AFSCME is in there swinging on behalf of our members.

According to the Journal, "the 1.6 million-member AFSCME is spending a total of $87.5 million on the elections after tapping into a $16 million emergency account to help fortify the Democrats' hold on Congress. Last week, AFSCME dug deeper, taking out a $2 million loan to fund its push. The group is spending money on television advertisements, phone calls, campaign mailings and other political efforts..."

Some of AFSCME's war chest has been spent here in Washington state in this ad condemning Dino Rossi and in support of Patty Murray:



The most recent series of AFSCME-sponsored political ads -- airing in Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- can be seen in a recent post at Talking Points Memo. They are powerful and, I would think, very effective.

As the WSJ reported, "the union is spending heavily this year because 'a lot of people are attacking public-sector workers as the problem,' said AFSCME President Gerald McEntee. 'We're spending big. And we're damn happy it's big. And our members are damn happy it's big—it's their money,' he said."

-- Dennis

More Endorsements In Legislative Races

Our union has continued to interview candidates for the Legislature, and some additional endorsements have been made, although it hasn't always been easy. We've had interview sessions where members have met with all the candidates and then decided not to support anyone at this time. In other instances, endorsements have only been agreed to after lengthy discussion. It's a strange year.

The new endorsements added since my last update are as follows:

3rd LD House Pos 1: Andy Billig

6th LD Senate: Chris Marr

31st LD House Pos 1: Peggy Levesque

34th LD House Pos 2: Joe Fitzgibbon

40th LD House Pos 1: Tom Pasma

46th LD House Pos 1: David Frockt

In addition, our long-term warm relationships with Sen. Karen Keiser, 33rd LD, and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, 36th LD, were affirmed when local presidents voted to endorse both.

We will continue to meet with candidates over the Summer. There are almost two dozen races we'll consider over the next few weeks. We'll try to keep you posted as we go. -- Dennis

More WFSE Endorsements

The reader(s) of this blog know that there were only a handful of politicians receiving an early endorsement at the WFSE Endorsements Conference in April. Our rules allow for additional endorsements, but it's a labor-intensive process.

There were a few candidates we endorsed for the House and who are now running for open Senate seats, and a phone poll of the appropriate local Presidents was executed to allow those endorsements to be transferred from House campaigns to Senate campaigns. This includes Steve Conway in the 29th LD, Maralyn Chase in the 32nd LD, and Scott White in the 46th LD. We're looking forward to working with these outstanding people in the Senate next year!

We've also been conducting interviews in a number of races, and some additional endorsements have been made following those sessions. Here is what has happened so far:

1st LD, House Position #2: Our members voted to endorse Luis Moscoso for this open seat. We also interviewed multiple candidates for the House Position #1 open seat, but no endorsement decision was made.

22nd LD, House Position #1: Our members interviewed multiple candidates and voted for a dual endorsement of Stew Henderson and Chris Reykdal for this open seat.

27th LD, House Position #1: Our members interviewed a number of candidates in this race and voted to endorse Jake Fey.

In the next few days we will be interviewing candidates in the open seats in the 34th LD, House Position #2, and 40th LD, House Position #1.

Lots more interviews are in the works, and we'll try to keep everyone posted as we go. Thanks to all of the members who have participated in the interviews -- and thanks in advance for helping with the interviews yet to come. -- Dennis

PS: A running list of all WFSE political endorsements (so far) can be found on our web site here.