Wisconsin State Senate. Photo by Callen Harty.
Wisconsin is in danger of becoming the 25th “right to work” state by early March, with hearings held today, a Senate vote coming later in the week, an expected Assembly vote at the beginning of March, and an assured signature from the governor as soon as possible after that.
It’s possible to convert one of the Republican Senate votes so that it doesn’t pass and one would think that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin would be doing everything they could to make that happen and to educate the public and encourage contact with legislators.
One would think.
Instead, I got the following e-mail today from Mike Tate, chairman of the state party:
“It’s today, Callen.
“The state Senate is set to take up legislation that would make Wisconsin a right-to-work state. They’re attacking our state’s working families. We HAVE to fight back before Scott Walker and his GOP allies succeed.
“But we can’t fight back alone. We need your help. We have to raise $5,200 before COB today if we want to keep the pressure on the GOP to stop them from passing right to work legislation.”
That was followed by several links allowing me to instantly donate money to the cause and then a signature of “Solidarity, Mike”.
I was so irritated I hit reply and sent the following response:
“Dear Mike (or whomever reads this for him),
“Must you use every bill that comes up, every event that occurs, every possible angle there is in order to continue raising money? What do you do with all that money? I would think you could use it to actually fight the things that you use as excuses to raise more money.
“Perhaps you could occasionally send an e-mail to those on your lists that serves to educate the public about the nuances of a bill or how to get in touch with their legislators.
“You say that Republicans are attacking working families, but you don’t say how. Maybe there are people who need to understand the issue better. You put in bold letters that we have to fight back, but you neglect to mention what the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is doing to fight back. You note that you need to raise $5,200 before the end of the business day in order to keep pressure on the Republicans over this, but you don’t tell us what you are doing to put pressure on them.
“I wish you would please quit appealing to our emotional responses to bad legislation in order to raise more money and instead tell us what you are doing to fight bad legislation. If I knew that you were at the Capitol today protesting with my brothers and sisters, or that you were meeting with one of the handful of Republican senators who could possibly be convinced to vote against their party, then I might be willing to send you a check without you even having to ask.
“The only communications I ever get from you are pleas for more money in order to fight the evil Republicans. I will not be sending you a check until I know what you are doing with the money (other than throwing it at hand-picked candidates who have no realistic chance of winning) and what you are doing (other than campaigning) to seriously fight the draconian actions of the governor and legislature.
“I’m guessing I’m not the only one who feels this way. Your requests for donations would be far more effective if they weren’t the only things you ever sent. Mix it up a bit. Tell us what you are doing for us. Show us concrete ways that the money will be used. Maybe then my first reaction would not be to hit the ‘trash’ button on my computer.”
A Single Bluebird 
What was the date and time stamp on that email? Was it sent out early in the week or during the RTW hearing?
Tues, 2/24, @ 11:24 a.m.
So the email was sent on the day of and during hearing testimony on Tuesday.
Revealing.
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