Archive for the ‘Elections & Voting’ Category

Wisconsin Family Action Update

AB 751 is a bill to eliminate the Electoral College and rely on the National Popular Vote for national elections.  Smaller states would loose the influence we now have as a state under the current system.

AB 751, THE SO-CALLED “NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE” BILL

We have some good news on the AB 751, National Popular Vote bill.  First of all, thank you for all your efforts to contact your state legislators and forward the information to family and friends!  You are definitely having an impact.  During the hearing this past Wednesday, we heard from legislators that they had been receiving dozens of calls and emails from their constituents.  The big news, though, is that the three Republicans who were co-authors on the bill have removed their names and support! Representative Scott Newcomer (R-Hartland), Rep. Al Ott (R-Mequon) and Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) removed their names when you called and asked them to!

We had a good showing at the public hearing on Wednesday, despite the very short notice.  I gave testimony (you can read it here) against AB 751, along with several Constitutional experts and  a few concerned citizens who drove in from various areas of the state.  Only the bill’s author, Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison) and the National Popular Vote (NPV) lobbyist spoke in favor.  (Click here to read our take on the hearing and those who gave testimony).

Petition for AB 751

I was able to inform the committee in my testimony that in less than 24 hours we had already collected close to 1,000 signatures in opposition to the billl!  We’re now well over 1,000 signatures.  Please, if you haven’t signed the petition yet, click here to sign it and forward to family and friends.  We’ve learned that supporters of NPV really don’t have any grassroots support for the bill at this time so your efforts are extremely important because your state legislators aren’t really hearing from anyone else on this issue except paid lobbyists.

What’s Next for AB 751?

The Assembly Elections Committee will likely hold an Executive Session vote (not scheduled yet) on the bill.  If the committee passes the bill, it is then ready for a vote in the full Assembly. That does not mean that vote has to happen.  It simply means it can happen.   If this bill continues to move on this ultra fast-track, both the committee vote and the Assembly vote could happen quickly.  The session ends in late April, so whatever is going to happen would need to happen fairly soon.  We expect to see the Senate version of the bill any day, and very likely a rushed Senate committee hearing.  So stay tuned!

What you can do about AB 751

1)  Sign the petition, if you haven’t already done so–and then forward it to other Wisconsin citizens. (See above for more details.)

2)  If you have not contacted your State Representative on AB 751, we encourage you to click on the link at the end of this email to send a prepared email (which you can edit) to your Representative.

3)  We encourage you to also contact all the Assembly Elections Committee members, if you have not already done so.  Click here to find their contact information. Click here to send all the committee members an email message on this issue. (Note: if you see a “+” sign in front of the email addresses in your “Send to” box, remove the plus sign before sending the message.)

For more information and resources on AB 751, click here.

You are making a difference! We encourage you to take heart, stay engaged, pray and continue to do what you can do–for the sake of your family now and for their future.

For Families,

Julaine Appling, President
Wisconsin Family Action
www.wifamilyaction.org

866-849-2536

“Strengthening and preserving marriage, family, life and liberty in Wisconsin”

Background of Assembly Bill 751 from Wisconsin Family Action:   Read the rest of this entry »

Monday evening the Vilas County GOP held their Caucus and also regular monthly meeting in Eagle River.

Jim Knuth summarized 2009 highlights by the group:

• Lincoln Day Dinner Feb 6, 2009 had 160 in attendance, Scott Walker was keynote speaker
• Last spring 3 movies were shown and public was invited - the Northwoods Patriots was born out of these presentations
• Independence Day Parades - marched in parades with float and handed out over 8,000 flags with GOP tags attached
• Vilas GOP helped with the Northwoods Patriots with the July 4 Tea Party at the Derby Track - proof that the Tea Party movement is indeed a national movement, here to stay and will be influential in future
• Numerous GOP candidates were present at our meetings during 2009 and spoke to our group

Election of Officers was held and new board is as follows:

• Treasurer:  Jim Lynn
• Secretary:  Mary Lou Hakes
• Vice Chair #1:  Kim Simac
• Vice Chair #2: Jeff Kirschmann
• Chairman:  Jim Knuth

There was no group discussion of GOP principles, but our chairman did explain that principles he believed were important were listed on the back of business cards for the group.  There was  one proposal made that would allow our group to endorse candidates before the primary election in September.  After discussion and dissent from members who said they felt the primary elections would serve this purpose and that we did not want a NY-23 situation happening here in Wisconsin, the resolution never came up for a vote.

Jim Lynn listed the 30 delegates and 30 alternates for the Vilas GOP, who has 30 votes to represent our county at the 8th District Caucus March 6 and at the State Convention May 21-23.  Any members are invited to attend these functions - please contact a board member if you have interest in attending.

During the GOP Regular Meeting, Knuth reported that 180 were in attendance at the Lincoln Day Dinner Feb 5, 2010 at the Whitetail Inn in St. Germain.  Numerous speakers were well received by the group and the evening did turn a profit for the Vilas GOP so thank you to all who attended and helped in any way to make the evening a success!

He asked for assistance with various initiatives including publicity chair, hospitality chair, awards chair (to handle state GOP awards efforts), campaign headquarters leader, and a resolutions committee were all requested to move the group forward in 2010.  Jeff Kirschmann came forward suggesting that a membership committee be formed too and he agreed to chair that effort.

Discussion then focused on future efforts of the group and events we would participate in during 2010.  Please watch our event calendar for upcoming meetings, events and candidate visits in the coming months!

Kim Simac then spoke and told the group of the Northwoods Patriots meetings every 2nd and 4th Tuesday and that Marc Savard and Roger Roth were two upcoming candidates to attend those  meetings.  The Republican Women of the North will hold their next meeting March 10 at 9am as a meet/greet with Roger Roth and to conduct a meeting to plan for the May 8 Candidate Debte that the Republican Women will be hosting.

Danny Tarkanian is running against two other Republicans in the Nevada primary election, for the chance to defeat Harry Reid in the general election.

The American Spectator called me “Harry Reid’s Armenian Nightmare.” Why? Because I’m a true conservative, and in the latest poll, I’m crushing Harry Reid by 14 points.

I’m writing because I need your help - to defeat the establishment in my Republican primary, and then to finish Ronald Reagan’s last campaign mission — to DEFEAT HARRY REID.

I want to put the defeat of Harry Reid in proper historical perspective, so I’m releasing a video about a single, critical day: November 3, 1986. It was the last day… of Reagan’s “last campaign.”

Maybe you remember where you were that day. You see, in 1986, Harry Reid first ran for the U.S. Senate, and on that fateful November day, President Ronald Reagan came to Las Vegas to stop him.

Ronald Reagan always knew Harry Reid was a danger to our nation. He told us Harry Reid was a tax and spend liberal. He told us that he opposed a balanced budget.

It took 24 years, but now we’re only months away from achieving one of Ronald Reagan’s final campaign goals: defeating Harry Reid.

But I need your help today. You see, I’m locked in a pitched battle for the conservative soul of the Republican party against a wealthy liberal establishment Republican who is trying to buy the primary with a million dollars.

My Republican opponent just doesn’t get it. Before running for Senate, she was a regular contributor to Harry Reid’s campaigns, and she actually called Harry Reid a “Reagan Democrat.” Even today, she defends Harry Reid’s vote for the bailouts, saying she might have voted the same way herself. With that attitude, you could argue it’s just as important to defeat her as it is to defeat Harry Reid.

The fact is, we are on the brink of finishing the job Ronald Reagan started on that fateful November day, but it will be a hollow victory indeed if we replace Harry Reid with an establishment Republican who defends the bailouts and the tax and spend establishment agenda of Harry Reid.

Let me be blunt. If you are interested in merely changing the name of Nevada’s Senator, I am not your candidate. If you are interested in standing for something - or fighting for a return to the conservative, Constitutional values that made this country great, then I want your help - I need your help NOW in this primary.

Don’t let a wealthy Republican bailouts apologist buy the Nevada primary, and don’t let Harry Reid’s left wing lobbyist money deny us a conservative victory in Nevada.

Join my conservative campaign to defeat Harry Reid in Nevada and together we will realize the dream of Ronald Reagan’s last campaign.

Please watch the video, and contribute today.

Danny Tarkanian

Paid for and authorized by Tarkanian for Senate

Conservatives Don’t Always Vote Republican

 by Kerry Thomas
November 1, 2009

Republican party leaders across the country, and particularly here in Wisconsin’s 8^th Congressional District, should heed the warning being sent by conservative voters, especially in light of developments in New York’s 23^rd Congressional District race.

 For those of you who haven’t been following that race, the not-so-conservative Republican candidate, Dierdre Scozzafava, abruptly suspended her campaign just three days before the election, after a Siena College poll showed she was supported by just 20% of the voters.  Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman and Democrat nominee Bill Owens were nearly even, with 35 percent and 36 percent voter support respectively.

Within hours of dropping out of the race, Scozzafav endorsed the Democrat Owens, leaving national Republicans who had endorsed her candidacy and supported her to the tune of over $1 million with egg on their faces.

 The New York race has been widely viewed as a battle between conservatives and the Republican Party for conservative voters, who don’t always blindly vote for the Republican candidate.

“It’s time for us to send a message to Washington - we’re sick and tired of big-spending, high-taxing, career politicians,” Hoffman said in a statement released after Scozzafava’s announcement, the AP reported.

Indeed!

Here in Wisconsin’s 8^th District, self-serving career politicians have been busy behind the scenes, working with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to recruit no less than four potential candidates to run on the Republican ticket against incumbent Democrat Congressman Steve Kagen.

They’ve even recruited one candidate, one of their own long time political supporters, who doesn’t even live in the district.  For the moment, he appears to be their chosen candidate, being circulated around the inner circles of power brokers in Washington.  So far, more than 88% of his donations have come from outside the 8^th District, according to his FEC reports.

Conveniently left out of this recruiting drive has been conservative Terri McCormick, a former member of the Wisconsin Assembly who ran in the 2006 primary race against them Assembly Speaker John Gard.  That race left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Republican voters on both sides.

If McCormick decides to enter this race, she’ll again be the most qualified conservative candidate in the field, with a proven record of actual accomplishments in both the public and private sector.

She’ll also be the only conservative Republican who can win against Kagen.

There’s just one problem:  McCormick won’t play political games.

That’s what NRCC and the self-serving career politicians are trying to marginalize her even before she gets into the race.  One high-ranking Republican “leader” has even vowed to “bury her if she dares to run again.”

The NRCC is fast building a record – for choosing losing candidates.  Despite the millions of dollars they’ve spent in recent elections, their record isn’t very good.  They’ve shown a preponderance of picking game players instead of principled conservative candidates.

Maybe the voters know something the NRCC doesn’t.  Maybe voters are smarter than we’ve been given credit for.

The big question is what will conservative voters in Wisconsin’s 8^th district do?  Will we blindly go with whoever the NRCC anoints as the Republican candidate, or will we take the time to examine the candidates and support the candidate who best represents our conservative principles?

http://kerrythomas.com/Archives/ConservativeRepublicans.htm 

“We’re Watching…Wisconsin Elections” is an initiative endorsed by the Wisconsin Federation of Republican Women for election integrity and against voter fraud in our state.  Now is the time to come forward and participate in the next election cycle.  Here are some ways to act now toward this end: 

by Kerry Thomas  http://kerrythomas.com/
September 17, 2009

During the 2008 Presidential election America was introduced to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, commonly known as ACORN.  We’ve learned that members and employees of that organization and it’s more than 230 affiliated organizations have been investigated and charged with numerous crimes across the country ranging from voter registration fraud to financial mismanagement and embezzlement.

Recently investigative journalists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles have come forward with undercover videotaped interviews, posted on biggovernment.com, which they conducted in ACORN offices in Baltimore, Washington, New York, San Bernadino and San Diego.

In these investigations the journalists posed as a pimp and a prostitute.  ACORN members explained to the journalists how they could go about obtaining funding to buy a house that they would then use as a brothel, and how to claim underage teenage prostitutes as tax dependents.  One ACORN member even went so far as to offer to assist the journalists in bringing teenage illegal aliens into the country to work as prostitutes.  Another ACORN member revealed how she killed her husband. Read the rest of this entry »

Voter Fraud is indeed a problem in Wisconsin and around our country. There are things we can do:

• Become Poll Watchers
• Become Election Observers
• Become Special Registration Deputies (SRDs)
• Watch for legislation as it pertains to voting and elections and communicate concerns with members and legislators

Join the Republican Women of the North on September15 from 5-7pm in Rhinelander, WI for Special Registration Deputy Training!  You will learn to register voters and can then register them under the GOP banner at area events, schools and even the GOP offices as we head into the 2010 election cycle.  You must register now and get certified to participate.  Here’s how:

Tuesday, September 15
Special Registration Deputy Training

Republican Women from the Milwaukee Suburbs introduced us to their We’re Watching Campaign, to combat voter fraud and educate members about the election process.

• 2-Hour Training Session 5-7pm
• Wolff’s Log Cabin Restaurant, Rhinelander
• Get certified to register new voters, make an impact in the 2010 elections
• Invite your friends, anyone with interest is invited to register for this training
• On-line Registration is required… at http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=17539&locid=47 
• General information about Special Registration Deputy Training - click here

Problems registering call Allison Koakle 608-261-2033