Picketing WMC meeting in LaX and Eau Claire this weekBy borges, Section City Hall
[This is an adaptation of a piece written by Paul Soglin for a similar action in Milwaukee.]
Picketing at the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) Meeting in La Crosse and Eau Claire this week. *ACTION IN LA CROSSE THIS WED., MAR. 5TH -- 8 AM to 10:30 AM: We will meet on the road in front of the at the Gundersen Lutheran - Onalaska Clinic, 3111 Gundersen Dr., Onalaska. We will be there from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM. Join us later if you cannot make it at 8 AM.* *ACTION IN EAU CLAIRE this Friday., March 7th -- 8 to 10:30 AM at the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, 101 North Farwell Street, Suite 101, Eau Claire These are informational pickets at a WMC meetings to coincide with their hosting a meeting designed to raise money to influence the Supreme Court race. This week WMC is hosting a seminar designed to enlist opposition to the candidacy of Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler. It is estimated that WMC will attempt to raise between $2.5 and $4 million in an effort to defeat the distinguished jurist, Justice Butler. Those picketing today are making it clear that the people's Wisconsin Supreme Court is not for sale. Members of labor and professional organizations are opposed to these efforts. We do not have the legal means to find out which WMC members fund these attack ads. But we do have access to the WMC board of directors and can identify the people who are responsible for the decisions to raise the money and to buy the advertising. They can enjoy their right to raise money for issue ads and we have the right to note who is legally responsible for taking out the ads. Again, we cannot name the individuals and corporations that contribute to the WMC Issues fund; that information is not available to the public. Only WMC can tell you who contributes to their political advertising. We wish to make it clear that this is not a picket of Gundersen Lutheran or the Eau Claire Chamber. The board members from the companies attending have the power to either stop the ads or at least reveal who pays for them. More links below the fold...
WMC is certainly the most influential lobbying organization in our state. It claims over 4,000 member businesses--and they make the biggest contributions, indirectly, to politicians' campaigns through their issue ads they purchase at election time.
WMC, through its Issues Committee has played a prominent role in a number of state wide elections including the last campaigns for Governor, Attorney General, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It does this by soliciting funds and then purchasing issues ads which do not support a specific candidate but which attack the candidate WMC opposes. While WMC does not have to reveal its contributors, television stations are required to make public ad purchases. Last July the Democracy Campaign estimated that WMC spent $2.2 million on television and other advertising in an effort to defeat Annette Ziegler's opponent in the Supreme Court race. (The Capital Times, July 24, 2007). Ziegler was subsequently found to have ruled in cases where she had a conflict of interest and now faces discipline from her colleagues on the Supreme Court BACKGROUND INFO ON ISSUE FROM PAUL SOGLIN
* Here is the link to WMC's website for more information as to what
* Dave Zweifel: Shining the Spotlight on WMC Below are some other articles and editorials. (We picketed WMC in Madison, Wausau and Green Bay in the past two weeks.)
Our Legal System Shouldn't Be For Sale <http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080224/WDH06/802240396/1637/WDHopinion> -Wausau Daily Herald *editorial
...By the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's calculations, almost $6 million was spent -- most of it by special interest groups, and $2.2 million of it by one group alone. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, which represents businesses and chambers of commerce, buried television stations with that much cash...
Group protests business lobby <http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/WDH0101/802150587/1981> *Wausau Protesters target WMC <http://www.madison.com/tct/news/272316> *The Capital Times - *news
Associated Press: Protesters Picket WMC Over Funding Of Political Ads <http://www.channel3000.com/politics/15294135/detail.html> |
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