While Recall of Scott Walker in WI moves forward, Workers need to Organize and Mobilize for their Rights.

February 20, 2012

The news out of Madison, WI is reassuring so far. A Dane County Circuit Court Judge, Richard Niess ruled that there would be no further extensions beyond the already 30 day extension granted for the GOP forces supporting the Governor to challenge the validity of over a million signatures collected by the recall campaign forces last year. Early vetting of the signatures by pro- Walker forces have turned up no more than 10% to 20% of the already 330,000 counted signatures as worthy for challenge. Since the required number of signatures is 540,208, Judge Niess ruled it would be impossible to frustrate the will of the people who signed on to the recall and certainly not by the February 23rd deadline.

Though this campaign to recall the viciously anti-labor, anti-democracy Walker is not remotely a done deal, at least the will of the people so far will go forward. All labor, worker, student, progressive groups across WI will need our support and backing to send this clown packing. The infamous Koch brothers, who have pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars to defeat President Obama, have made it quite clear that Scott Walker is their boy and they will cover Wi air waves with anti-labor, anti-teacher and and progressive lies in an effort to frustrate the will of the majority of hard-working WI voters.

But whatever the outcome of this campaign, which we naturally hope recalls Walker and four other GOP State Senators, workers and labor groups across the country need to become more proactive in how we retake our voice and power in this country; not look to the forces of reaction and corruption to make such hostile and egregious moves as to motivate WI style recall campaigns in response - empowering as they might be.