A call to arms.....

...sort of.  A call for all who are able to participate in democracy, carry their weight and carry the day.  We are on the verge of toppling Travis Tranel and installing our own Jesse Bennett in the Capitol Building in Madison.  But it isn't going to magically happen by itself.

We need all who are able to, to help us maintain our winning momentum.  With less than forty days until the November 8th general election, it is going to take our combined effort to guarantee our victory over the incumbent.  A career politician, born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

A career politician who plans to cut even more money from our children's public schools so that our tax dollars can be sent to private voucher schools in Milwaukee, Waukesha and elsewhere.  With the profits (yes profits made from our tax dollars) from those schools going to their owners in Texas and elsewhere.

No matter where you live in Grant County, you are doubtless feeling the numerous and negative effects of the Scott Walker/Travis Tranel and Republican/Tea Party austerity cuts to our state and local budgets.

Cuts which don't reduce our state's spending or it's debt.  But only serve to allow our tax dollars to give breaks to multi-millionaires and billionaires.  Breaks we the hard working citizens, have to make up for.

Jesse Bennett will restore our school's funding without increasing taxes.  Restore funding to our roads, bridges and infrastructure without increasing taxes.  Restore faith in government by removing dark money and the influence of billionaires and corporations in our halls of government.  Restore Grant County for it's citizens by removing the big money incumbent, Travis Tranel.

But Jesse needs your help in order to make sure that it all can happen.  And the Democratic Party of Grant County needs you to help Jesse and other Democratic candidates as well. We need people power to break the stranglehold of the power of corporate money.

You can help by volunteering a little of your time at the Democratic Party's field office now open in Platteville.  Just stop in at 960 Washington street.  We are open Monday through Friday from 4 - 7 pm.  Or email us at demvictory@yahoo.com.  We are looking for people to help us with:

Sign up to volunteer for Jesse Bennett

General office staffing

Data entry

Phone banking, no asking for money just reminding folks to vote and locating sign locations.

Writing letters to the editors of local papers.

Dropping off campaign literature door to door.

Becoming trained to register voters in your area.

Giving votes rides to the polls on election day.

Our office is open now.  So stop in to say hi and volunteer or just to grab some t-shirts, bumper stickers and more.

We also have yard signs for all the candidates.  Russ Feingold and Hillary Clinton, Ron Kind and of course....

                                                       

Jesse is looking for folks to walk in the upcoming parades with him, your friends and neighbors.  To join in meet us at:

Lancaster on Saturday October 1st.  10 am on Elm Street by the library.

Map:  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8499701,-90.7131782,17z

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1749362358661452/

Jamestown on Sunday October 2nd,   11:00 am at 3410 County Rd HHH

Map:  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.5881147,-90.5953993,17z

On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1258362244187735/

Platteville Homecoming Parade on Saturday October 8th at 9 am.

Map:  https://www.google.com/maps/place/1+University+Plaza,+Platteville,+WI+53818/@42.7338148,-90.4871556,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x87fd2508e4af4461:0x6e9c1a24251627d!8m2!3d42.7338109!4d-90.4849669

On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/365703023819962/


If it is going to happen, it will happen because all of us made it happen.  Thank you.

Matthew Schauenburg, Chair
Democratic Party of Grant County

                                             

40 days and 40 nights

Please read this important message from Jesse Bennett.

https://gem.godaddy.com/s/ce65c8?o=fm 

The future of your Social Security dollars and retirement plans.

"Crippling Social Security’s ability to function just when it’s needed most is the epitome of what Republican public policy has become.

It’s part of a familiar right-wing strategy to degrade the quality of government services, then use that degradation to argue for privatization."

Click on the link below for full story of the Tea/GOP plan for your Social Security dollars.

http://www.salon.com/2016/09/24/behold-the-gops-not-so-secret-plan-to-dismantle-government-services-defund-degrade-and-then-privatize/ 

A message from Senator Kathleen Vinehout

How to Fund Our Roads: A Balancing Act

Funding roads is an important job for state leaders. Nine cents of every state budget dollar goes towards transportation. In the vagaries of Wisconsin state budgeting, this includes dollars the feds send Wisconsin (about forty cents of every road dollar comes from Uncle Sam). A prudent fiscal manager must balance several factors to make wise transportation decisions. He or she must maintain our current investments, plan for future growth, pay scrupulous attention to efficiencies and quality construction, and reconcile spending with revenue. In short, a prudent transportation budget is a balancing act. Recently Governor Walker and Secretary of Transportation Mark Gottlieb released a 2017-19 transportation budget proposal. In this proposal, major interstate construction projects are delayed, causing some to claim harm to Southeast Wisconsin. This new proposal is a departure from record borrowing levels seen in the last budget. An increase for local government road funding is a welcomed sight too. For many years, big interstate construction projects in Southeast Wisconsin took a larger slice of the road budget. Past budgets froze funding for local roads while maintenance costs increased. To make matters worse for local governments, majority lawmakers passed a law forbidding cooperation between counties. Lost efficiencies and rising costs meant locals were left with two choices: borrow or cut back on maintenance. Some did both. Over the years, prior governors pushed to eliminate state transportation workers. Fewer employees resulted in private firms replacing state workers, often at higher cost. In budget year 1987-88, spending on private construction engineers was only 8% of all construction-engineering costs. Ten years later, spending jumped to a third of all dollars spent on private construction engineers. By fiscal year 2009-10, three quarters of all spending on construction engineers went to private firms. Data I analyzed from a 2009 limited-scope review by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) showed a 68% cost increase per project over five years for projects that involved private engineering consultants. Further, a 2009 report to the State Engineering Association found outside consultants didn’t save the state money; in some cases, private engineering firms cost up to 19% more than in-house state engineers. I strongly support the move to fund our local roads along with smarter transportation spending. Let’s look for efficiencies in-house. An easy first step is passing my bill to repeal the 2011 law forbidding local governments from collaborating on transportation projects. No one can deny the money funneling into our Transportation Fund, largely gas tax and motor vehicle registration fees, has not kept up with the cost of maintaining our roads and bridges. Governor Walker is ideologically opposed to raising taxes or fees, yet knows our transportation budget lacks the revenue needed. The prudent executive should not let ideology cloud important financial decisions. Some road delays may be in order, but cutting back on construction already in progress comes with a price tag. User fees acknowledge the cost to maintain and improve services. For example, the state owns, or is a substantial owner of, over 700 miles of freight rail. In a previous budget, Secretary Gottlieb proposed charging a $10-a-rail-car fee for use of taxpayer-funded rail lines. The Governor failed to take up this modest charge. Taxpayers – you and me – continue to subsidize railroads use of our state-owned lines. The release of the transportation budget is only the beginning of a long process. Budget debates in Madison will begin in earnest next spring and likely culminate with the passage of the 2017-19 budget by July. Earlier this year the Joint Committee on Audit (of which I am ranking minority member) took the important step of directing the resources of the LAB toward a comprehensive audit of the Department of Transportation. I expect the release of this audit to coincide with the spring budget debate. The audit will add important nonpartisan information to our decision making process. The transportation budget will be the biggest decision we face next year. Take some time to engage in this critical debate. We all have a stake in transportation – and we all must work together to find solutions. Here’s to safe traveling!

Russ Feingold in Platteville

          Phone Bank with Russ Feingold @ UW-Platteville
                                       Date: This Sun‌day, Sept‌ember 2‌5
                                            Event starts at: 5‌:‌00 PM
                                   Where: Markee Pioneer Student Center,
                                 Platteville Room (1313) 1 University Plaza
                                                Platte‌ville, W‌I 53‌818

Hello everyone. Just a quick reminder that the next meeting of the Democratic Party Of Grant County will be Wednesday the 14th of September at 6 p.m. Meeting will take place at our new field office which is located at 960 Washington in Platteville.

Also we will be having a very special presentation this coming Saturday the 17th, starting at 5:30 p.m. and this will also be in our field office.

At Saturday's event there will be a very powerful presentation by Senator Kathleen Vinehout on the subjects of public education, the Wisconsin economy and how legislators such as Travis Tranel send our tax dollars out of state and sometimes overseas, rather than spending those dollars here in Wisconsin.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1274013512610874/

Also featured will be Jesse Bennett, the candidate running against Travis Tranel in the 49th district. Plus info on the upcoming event which will bring Russ Feingold to Platteville in just a couple of weeks.

We look forward to seeing you there and thank you.