Wisconsin has a fairly straightforward process for recalling elected officials. You can read about how it’s done here (.pdf). I know, it’s crazy, but just imagine if Walker proposed a small increase in the vehicle registration fee. There’d be pitchforks!
BTW, I bet that application would run through the elections bureau in record time…
PopeRatzy
Straightforward after 1 year you mean?
BR
And Arianna Huffington in the recall election.
Southern Beale
Some thoughts on the reaction to the Wisconsin rally v Tea Parties with their guns and violent signs. In a nutshell: workers are threatening enough to the status quo; they don’t need to wave guns at their rallies. Conversely, by doing so the Tea Party showed what an anemic little group they are. They threaten no one and can get away with brandishing arms.
martha
It’s interesting. Until this week, I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that Wanker (thank you Stephanie Miller!!) could be recalled. But after the past few days, I’m not so sure. We were at the Capitol last night, and it was something to behold. I’m headed up at noon today–Richard Trumpka is leading the rally. The bar for recall is really high. It might actually be possible.
Chris G
Any way a recall could be timed to coincide with the 2012 general election?
kindness
A parallel I’ve had the notion of wrt the situation in Madison, Ohio, NJ where the moneyed elite are doing everything they can to free their fellow Galtians from paying their fair share of taxes and instead taking it out on the middle class wage earners & the poor is the is a link to it and what is going on in Tunisia, Egypt & the middle east.
It seems there is a point at which folks who normally would sit back and take the kick in the ass decide they won’t any longer. Both groups really are a more broad cross section of the middle of society and both are up in arms right now.
It’s a good thing. I know it’s good because it is driving Glenn Beck even more insane than he normally is.
JPL
What would if happen if you worked for a boss who didn’t meet payroll because he decided to take additional profit out of the company for his friends? That’s what happened in Wisconsin.
me
I know you’re joking but the vehicle registration fee did go up under the last governor and there wasn’t so much as a whimper.
bemused
@Southern Beale:
Also, too, Wisc protest signs are spelled correctly.
(as heard on Stephanie Miller show)
Omnes Omnibus
@Southern Beale: From what I have seen on Capitol Square, the people have been very good at directing their anger at its causes, Walker and and the Repub legislators, rather than radiating inchoate anger at any “Other” that seems to typify the Tea Partiers.
Zam
@Chris G: I’m not waiting that long.
gbear
@Southern Beale: I’ve been googling for info about the Madison protests today and one thing I found is that the Tea Party is planning a counter-protest at the capitol today. No time given. I hope that no one thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to pursue second ammendment remedies. Please, let this stay peaceful.
shortstop
@Chris G: Only the preparation for it. The petition can’t be offered until he’s been in office a year, i.e., January 2012.
Chris G
@Zam: That’s fair, but wouldn’t the 2012 general have high Dem turnout and be the best chance of cutting Walker’s term off at its knees?
Omnes Omnibus
@gbear: There isn’t going to be any space on the Square for them.
shortstop
@Omnes Omnibus: Especially since they always bring lawn chairs.
Southern Beale
@me:
He was making a reference to the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis. His vehicle registration fee hike was supposedly the catalyst for his recall.
That said, I used to live in California and vehicle registration fees are astronomical.
Zifnab
@Chris G:
I don’t think you’re going to want to wait 2 years for this sort of thing. I was predicting a recall in 2011 if they do this at all.
That said, 25% of the original voting pool in 60 days is going to require a truly heroic effort.
Zam
@Chris G: Perhaps, but the next item on Walker’s agenda is a voter ID bill.
Chris G
@Zam: Gotcha. But the one-year waiting period would mean the earliest recall would be this time next year, anyway, right?
kindness
@Southern Beale: I have a 2001 Toyota Solara. I pay $120 a year to register it. I don’t think that is astrinomical.
shortstop
@shortstop: Mea culpa; I read Chris’s question wrong and was thinking he was talking about the November 2011 elections, which are apparently taking place only inside my head. I blame the fact that we’re getting ready for a major municipal election here next week and I have 2011 elections on my mind.
Anyway, it’s unfortunate that Walker can’t be recalled for a year after taking office; it’s going to be hard to sustain the public outrage that long if he wises up and doesn’t try something of this magnitude again. Fortunately, almost no one with the GOP label seems to be able to back off or learn from his mistakes, so there will likely be a plethora of new material coming out of the guv’s office.
AkaDad
Walker should be recalled for being a RINO.
meh
Sully is being awfully quiet about this – although it’s not that surprising now that he has re-discovered his neo-con mojo…
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
What does Walker intend to replace the collective bargaining agreement with? Still makes no sense to me that he thought all public employees in Wisconsin would just roll over and take it.
ETA: BTW what do people think of Russ Feingold’s new group, Progressives United?
JGabriel
@Chris G:
Later. The earliest they can start collecting petitions is January 3rd or 4th, 2011. Then they have to collect as many as they can in 60 days. That takes them to around March 5th.
Then there’s probably some legal action with Walker trying to invalidate signatures or something like that — if they even get enough signatures. They’ll need about 510,000 signatures, minimum.
Walker got 1,128,887 votes. If it’s doable, you’d want to collect 1.2 million — just so you can say you’ve collected more signatures who want to kick him out than actually voted for him.
Assuming you’ve successfully jumped through all the hoops, now you need to schedule a election, give candidates enough time to get on the ballot, then probably schedule a run-off.
So, it is possible that your desire to see it coincide with the 2012 general election will be fulfilled. If it happens at all, that is. It might be hard to sustain the outrage needed to get there for that long.
.
PonB
@Southern Beale – You are partially correct; that was one issue. The other main one was Davis’ response to the Enron-caused rolling blackouts of 2000-2001. The entire episode was facilitated by the very low bar for recall (less than one million signatures, which you can gather falling out of bed in a state this size).
All of that to get an aging action hero in office who castrated himself politically halfway through his term – woo hoo!
– PonB
evinfuilt
@meh:
Are you saying he’s not making his page green and yellow to be in solidarity with protestors?
For shame Sully… He can’t even do something trivial for his adopted country.
Karen
Now the Green Bay Packers are stepping into it.
7 current and former Packers signed a letter to Walker in support of the AFL-CIO. According to TPM: Those who signed include: Curtis Fuller, Chris Jackie, Charles Jordan, Bob Long, Steve Okoniewski, Brady Poppinga and Jason Spitz.
Meg
@meh: I am thinking about that ,too. The silence is deafening especially he is all fired up about the protests in foreign countries.
jayjaybear
@kindness:
PA vehicle registration fee is something like $35.
S. cerevisiae
@Karen: I was hoping for that. Now if they can get Aaron Rogers to speak half the state would be there.
Chet
@AkaDad: Don’t know if that’s meant to be snark or not, but in any case it does encapsulate one of the truths about the Right: the only crimes that crowd gives a tinker’s damn about are ideological ones.
kindness
@jayjaybear: Welcome to California. No one said living here is cheap. If they ever tell you that, call them a liar on it right away.
Now new cars they kill you for. Registration fees are about 0.5% of the price of the car, but they depreciate the amount relatively quickly so I’m not complaining.
meh
@evinfuilt:
No but I would be interested to hear his take on it, or at least see if he can defend the WI Gov’s fuckover job on the unions better than Fox News is doing.
lllphd
petitions should be starting to circulate as soon as someone up there can manage it. don’t have time to determine what 25% of november’s electorate would be, but it’s not insignificant, so the petition needs to start moving now.
and would someone start printing up the FEINGOLD FOR GUV posters asap!!??!
Maude
@meh:
Doesn’t Sully have a sign that says: What would Thatcher do?
Greg
Walker’s recall can’t happen until next year (btw, I agree we should get it on the Nov ’12 ballot) but the state Senators who were elected in 2008 who support the bill can be recalled immediately. Their year is up already. There are enough Republican Senators in blue districts from the Class of 08 that we could conceivably take back the state senate a few months from now. And one advantage of a recall is that it’s a freebie for the Assembly reps in the districts who would otherwise have to give up their seats to run. We’d be looking at 1. a mobilized base 2. blue districts, 3. great recruitment and 4. a national fundraising base inspired by the efforts of the Wisconsin 14. I like our chances.
Southern Beale
@kindness:
For a 10-year-old car? I have news for you, hon. That IS astronomical. A brand-new car is $70 in Tennessee.