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Under heavy security and with sparse crowds at their annual convention, Wisconsin Republican leaders gave conflicting signals about the internal discord racking their party and their attempts to defend the Scott Walker-Paul Ryan overreach.

After coming under withering attacks by Scott Walker loyalists, Washington lobbyist Tommy G. Thompson apparently skipped town-and a defense of the millions in D.C. dollars he’s taken in since his time in Wisconsin.

Paul Ryan continued to defend his plan to end Medicare.

Ron Johnson, who all but said he opposed Thompson’s candidacy, praised plans to shred the middle-class safety net while preserving tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas.

But looming over the entire grim proceeding was the Scott Walker overreach which has divided a state and united working families in the effort to recall six eligible senators.

Scott Walker himself tried to rally the faithful to his extreme agenda that has caused the recall of six sitting Republican senators-and imperiling his plans to bring massive cuts to education, BadgerCare, the UW System and SeniorCare.

“Scott Walker is right to fear recall elections of his lockstep legislators because that would put an end to their rubber-stamping of his extremist agenda that is dividing Wisconsin,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Saturday. “It goes to show that Scott Walker is not focused on helping the struggling middle-class, but merely obsessed with his own power.”

From: http://www.wisdems.org/news/press/view/2011-05-gop-reeling-at-convention

Fellow Democrat,

In 60 days you can take Wisconsin back. It’s that simple.

This morning citizens from around the state took the first steps by filing recall papers against key Republican Senators who have stood with Scott Walker and pushed his partisan power grab that will strip thousands of middle class teachers, nurses, librarians and other workers of their right to collective bargaining. And we learned just last night that their disastrous budget that will cut millions from our schools and universities.

In 60 days you can take Wisconsin back by recalling the Republican Senators who have decided to push Scott Walker’s divisive attack on the rights of workers and his assault on schools, universities and local communities. Can you contribute $60 today to support the Democratic Party’s recall efforts?

Make no mistake, these Republican Senators are vulnerable to recall for their radical partisan overreach. Senator Randy Hopper won his last election by just 184 votes. And Alberta Darling won her last race by only 1,007. By recalling just three of the eight Senators we are targeting, we can regain control of the Senate.

But we need your help today. The clock is ticking and we have just 60 days to collect the signatures we need to force a recall. Every day and every dollar counts.

Scott Walker’s Republican allies in the Senate have stood by for days while Walker has refused to negotiate on his partisan power grab disguised as a budget repair bill. Walker and his allies had no intention of listening to the people. That’s why Republicans unplugged the state legislative hotline for the first time in years.

Yesterday we saw the Republicans for who they are. A party so indebted to the Koch brothers and big business that they will raise taxes on our poorest families by $41 million dollars and push our schools and communities to the breaking point. Republican Senators have applauded even as Walker proposes to end the state’s decades old recycling program, showing that they will do anything in their power to harm our environment .

Please, contribute $60 to help us recall the Republican Senators who have decided to push Scott Walker’s extreme partisan agenda that has already put worker rights at risk and now is targeting our children, families and communities.

If we can recall at least three Senators and regain control of the Senate, we can end the ugly games Republicans in the legislature have played in the last few days — unplugging phone lines, bolting windows inside the Capitol shut, and withholding the paychecks of Democratic legislators.

By recalling Republican Senators in the next 60 days and retaking the Senate, Democrats will be able to push harder than ever for Wisconsin workers and families and fight back against Walker and his Republican allies.

Sincerely,

Mike Tate
Chair, Democratic Party of Wisconsin

P.S. — Republicans made it clear whose side they are on when they refused to lift a finger to save collective bargaining, even after workers offered all the financial concessions sought by Scott Walker. We have 60 days to turn this state around. Whether you have $60 or even $6, contribute and help us recall the Republican Senators and take Wisconsin back.

Thousands of Wisconsin Jobs Headed South

MADISON - Not 48 hours after winning election and before he is even sworn into office, Scott Walker has cemented his legacy as a jobs killer by killing the Tommy Thompson high-speed rail line that both had previously supported.

The $800 million already detailed for the project, in the works since Walker first voted for it in Thompson’s budget of 1993, will likely go to Virginia or Florida, two states in line for federal infrastructure funds.

Conservative estimates had the project creating thousands of Wisconsin jobs, not to mention the improvements in infrastructure that would have benefited manufacturers, farmers and other producers who would use the rail line to ship freight. Pushed for years by Republicans and Democrats alike, it was part of a larger project to connect Western Wisconsin with Madison, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.

“Scott Walker took relish with killing jobs-creating programs in Milwaukee and now he begins his march to Madison by strangling economic development even further,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Thursday. “He claimed he would create 250,000 jobs. What he didn’t say is that he apparently is going to do it in Florida.”