Reject Costly Recall Attempts in 2012 by Not Signing Petitions

Less than three months have passed since the Wisconsin State Senate recalls and preparation is already underway for a recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, state senators who were not eligible the last go around, and some Wisconsin State Assembly representatives. I have been asked by many when the recall process begins. Recall committees can be formed and will most likely be formed in November. These committees, according to the Government Accountability Board (GAB) can start collecting signatures in early November, but cannot be considered for submission to the GAB until January 2012 (The governor has to be in office one year to be eligible to be recalled.). 

It is my hope that the recalls don’t go through, but I am a realist. According to a poll taken by Douglas E. Schoen LLC 44 percent of the public does not support the recall of the governor. Even if that number was below 40 percent, the recall would still be likely. The recall rule, according to the GAB, states that a committee needs only, "one-quarter (signatures) of the number of votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election." That’s not 25 percent of eligible voters or the voters who voted in 2010. If that were the case, recall committees would need over 1 million signatures to recall the governor.

We often complain (we being citizens of Wisconsin) that our representatives are not honest with us. Well, we got a strong dose of honesty with the disclosure of soaring state debt and budget shortfalls when the legislative session started in January 2011. The payback for the honesty and decisive action was attacks in Madison (and in St. Croix County) on our elected officals. The union machine fired up and went on the offensive by spreading lies and misinformation about Act 10 (Budget Repair Bill).  

I honestly sympathize with the change in disposable income for families of public workers. When changes like this occur, it does affect family budgets. With that said my family, like many families, have gone through huge changes in order to maintain quality health care. Premiums skyrocketed while increase in income remained stagnant due to the recession. What the governor, the Assembly and the Senate did was save thousands of jobs by asking for public employee participation in their health care insurance, and minimizing public unions’ ability to bargain.

The public unions were ready to concede pension contributions and insurance premium participation, but not their monopoly on health insurance coverage. The competitive bidding for health care insurance would have never been allowed under union power. saved more than $1.5 million by negotiating with Delta Dental and Health Partners while continuing to provide an excellent health care plan. That translates into saving quality teachers in our school district. We want the best for our children but we can’t provide that by laying off teachers.

The Republican Party of St. Croix County will fight the recall elections and we will win. The cost to taxpayers for a recall election will be significant. The recall will cost the state well over $3 million and over $30 million on campaign fundraising and when it’s all over you will be hit with a 2012 presidential election and its costs.

So I ask you to help us spare the citizens of this state the wasteful spending and time by not signing the recall petitions that will surely be coming. The knock on your door in November and December will not just be Christmas carolers, so it’s up to you stop the recall election before they start by not signing the petitions. Democrats and Republicans alike should reject the efforts and get back into the honest dialogue of moving Wisconsin forward.