P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
At its meeting this week, in addition to talking about how the Governor's "Budget Repair Bill" would affect Dane County if passed, Progressive Dane's general membership voted unanimously to work to ban Elephants in Dane County and issues this short statement: Progressive Dane believes that the exhibition of elephants in traveling menageries is inherently inhumane. Progressive Dane urges the Dane County Board of Supervisors to ban the exhibition or housing of elephants in county-owned or -operated facilities. Membership also voted unanimously in opposition of the Voter ID bill as a barrier to free and fair elections. A press release will be issued on that shortly. The next general membership meeting is Wednesday, March 23, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. at Madison's downtown public library.
Regarding rallies, etc., there has been and is still much happening in Madison and around the state. There will continue to be rallies at noon and 5 every day. I've been told the big rallies in Madison on Saturday are noon and 3. The noon rally coincides with other rallies in support of workers all across the nation at other state capitols. Many people are offering rides all over Wisconsin to get people to Madison. I'm sure we will see huge rallies again this weekend.
In addition to these rallies are the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's vigils. Take a look at the article in this months newsletter. Progressive Dane membership agreed to participate as a group and Mary is collecting names of people who can commit to being at the Capitol one day each month. Please watch for more information on our members only PDComm announcement list shortly. There will also continue to be teach-ins, non-violent resistance trainings, and other actions in and around Dane County. Most of these are being posted by members on PDDiscuss, our members only discussion list and bulletin board. If you are a member, please consider joining this list. If you are not a member, please consider joining.
In the midst of all this are Spring elections. We have several races in need of volunteers. Click here to see a listed of our endorsed candidates and links to their websites where you can sign up to be a volunteer, receive a yard sign, or read more information about each candidate and their races. This weekend specifically is a lit drop for Sam with a lit pick up at 30 N Hancock from 11 to 1 p.m.
Posted by prodane at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
Wednesday, February 23rd
PD General Membership Meeting
6:30 pm
Downtown Public Library
Chair: Heidi Wegleitner
Educational: Elephant free Dane Co. (VOTE) -- Rick Bogle
Burning Issue: Updates on the Walker Administration and attack on workers of Dane County -- Heidi Wegleitner, TJ Mertz
Update on Primary Elections -- Michael Johnson
Voter ID Bill -- Dave Carrig
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Vigils at State Capitol -- Mary Anglim
Madison Trouble Makers School -- Heidi Wegleitner, Aaron Crandall
Beer Caucus, after the GMM around 8:45 p.m. at Nick's on State St.
Contact: Dace at office@prodane.org or 608-358-2940
Upcoming Events
As a service for informational purposes only, these are not Progressive Dane Events.
Union meetings are occurring in different places at different times. If you are not on your union's mailing list, go to their website and subscribe.
Vigil at the State Capitol until this is all over. This is not over with the defeat or passage of this bill, there is more to come.
~ Monday, February 21st ~
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Showdown for Democracy at the Capitol
Noon and 5:00 p.m. Rallies continue at the Capitol
5:00 p.m. Rock for our Rights at the Capitol
6:00 p.m. CONCERT FOR COMPROMISE: In Support of the Wisconsin 14 at The Majestic
~ Tuesday, February 22nd ~
10:30 a.m. Religious Communities Respond Call for Moral Budget in WI at Grace Episcopal Church
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. UW walk it out with our Professors from Library Mall to the Capitol
noon to 5:00 p.m. Rallies continue at the Capitol
~ Wednesday, February 23rd ~
Noon to 1:00pm Picket and 4:30pm Rally at Madison's Monona Terrace, MLK Blvd. entrance
Wisconsin Wave
"We won't pay for their crisis!"
NO TO THE BUDGET CUTS! YES TO DEMOCRACY!
Protest the state conference of the big corporate lobbyists, WI Manufacturing and Commerce (WMC)
Posted by prodane at 07:20 AM
Progressive Dane stands in solidarity with Dane County’s union employees
For more information, contact:
Jacque Pokorney, Co-chair of Progressive Dane
(608)843-9616, juju_jacque@yahoo.com
Progressive Dane stands in solidarity with workers of all municipalities in Dane County and abhors the actions announced by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Friday, February 11, 2011.
Gov. Walker's announced “Budget Repair Bill” will severely cut benefits, wages, workplace regulations, and the right to bargain collectively for public employees. These workers are dedicated to providing quality public services to Wisconsin's families and deserve to be treated and compensated fairly for their hard work.
Public employees including nurses, administrators, teachers, and construction workers are already suffering from pay cuts, mandatory over time, lost benefits, and hiring freezes. These workers need to retain their right to bargain collectively to ensure that they can provide for their families. Gov. Walker's attack on their livelihood will not be tolerated.
At the same time he has announced that he will impose those same concessions on university, city, village, town, county, technical school, and local school district employees. Additionally, he has proposed repealing collective bargaining rights entirely for child care workers and home health care workers. These proposed changes will adversely affect some of our most vulnerable workers across the county and those same workers who care for our other vulnerable populations—our children, our disabled, and our elderly.
The Economic Policy Institute just released a new study that concludes that public employees in Wisconsin are under-compensated by 8.2% compared to private-sector employees doing similar work. View the report: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/6759/.
Walker also stated he is prepared to call out the National Guard if state workers engage in job actions to protest his proposals. Progressive Dane is appalled at this attempt of bullying local workers who may be compelled to direct action because of the proposed cuts.
Progressive Dane strongly supports and encourages your direct action over the next few days to fight back against this draconian proposal that will hurt working families in Dane County and across the state. The “trickle down” effect to local businesses will also be devastating to our local and state economies.
We encourage not only your participation but also that of your friends, neighbors, and family. Additional information regarding local actions including emails, phone calls, and rallies can be found at the website for the South Central Federation of Labor http://www.scfl.org/.
Posted by prodane at 12:31 PM
Progressive Dane proudly endorses these three candidates with primary elections this coming Tuesday. Please help however you can to get them through to the general election in April! Tell your neighbors, tell your friends, and come out to put elections fliers on every possible door in these districts.
Literature drops are being coordinated for Kyle Szarzynski in District 8, Brian Solomon in District 10, and TJ Mertz in District 13 this weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 11 - 13, 2011. It will be so warm compared to these last few days that I’m sure you’d rather spend it outside ensuring a truly progressive future for our city and county, than inside cleaning or some other weekend task that can surely wait until next weekend. The time commitment is about an hour and a half each.
Together we can do this!
For TJ Mertz in District 13
WHEN: Pick up lit and maps between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM on Saturday
Noon and 1:30 PM on Sunday (or by special arrangement) to be delivered before Tuesday
WHERE: 1210 Gilson St
RSVP: Please let Dace know if you’re planning on coming – you can email her at dzeps@sbcglobal.net or call 358-2940. Otherwise just show up for a route; it will be greatly appreciated.
For Brian Solomon in District 10
WHEN: Pick up lit and maps at 12noon on Saturday to be delivered before Tuesday
WHERE: 2148 West Lawn Ave
RSVP: Please let Leslie know if you’re planning on coming – you can email her at leslie_mcallister@hotmail.com or call 213-3009. Otherwise just show up for a route; it will be greatly appreciated.
For Kyle Szarzynski in District 8
Campus is always difficult. So there is a lot to do here. Please call Adam Porton at 630-596-3226 to let him know what you can do and find out where to be.
Friday, 3-5pm: Lit-Drop; various locations around district
Saturday, 1-5pm: Lit-Drop; various locations
Sunday, 1-3pm: Lit-Drop; various locations
4-7pm: Phonebanking; location TBA (probably near union)
Monday, 3-5pm: Postering/Chalking; meet up near the Union
6-9pm: Phonebanking; location TBA (probably near union)
Tuesday, February 15th: Election Day!
7am-8pm: GOTV visibility work; 100 ft. from various polling locations
Posted by prodane at 08:33 AM