DPW Chair Tate's candidate for Gov supports Geobic mine, offshoring jobs and charter schools

[Scuba]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849457

Wisconsin: Mary Burke's OK with the iron mine, just don't rush it

The only currently-declared Democratic candidate for governor says she's open to a proposed open pit iron ore mine in the Penokee Hills, but she says she would have vetoed the Republican bill passed this year that speeds up the mine permitting process.

Mary Burke was in Superior, Ashland and Bayfield over the weekend as part of her state campaign tour. She says she got an earful about mining. “People are concerned about whether we are risking the sustainability and natural resources that are such assets to the state without the needed protections,” Burke said. “People are concerned about jobs, and want to make sure we do have good paying jobs, but also want to make sure that that's balanced with protecting our resources, which are important for not only this generation but generations to come.”

Burke says she's still looking into the issue and thinks mining can happen, but only under certain circumstances, not those set by the Republican legislation. “If the conditions are right, we should be looking at opportunities that are going to create jobs, but we make sure we are protecting our natural resources.”

While in Ashland, Burke didn't meet with Bad River tribal officials, who are among the leading opponents of the mine, but she says she'd like to do that. She says it's important to meet with people who would be affected by an iron ore mine.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849526

Mary Burke Addresses Trek Outsourcing 99.5% of Their Bikes: "Trek Does What it Can to Manufacture Bikes Here"

Trek public relations manager Eric Bjorling says that out of the appoximately 1.5 million bicycles the company produces annually, about 10,000 are made in the United States. However, according to statistics from the National Association of Bicycle Dealers (NABD), because 99% of the bicycles sold in the United States are made in either China (93%) or Taiwan (6%), Trek does the have dubious distinction of being the leading manufacturer of "Made in USA" bicycles.

And, while most don't brag about being the cream of the sour milk, Democratic candidate Mary Burke does just that:
"It is the largest manufacturer of bicycles in the United States, it employs more people than any other bicycle company in the United States, so there's nearly 1,000 employees right here in Wisconsin and over the last 20 years the payroll has nearly doubled. So I think Trek works very hard to keep employment in Wisconsin."

Burke adds, "Trek does what it can to manufacture bikes here" and that bicycles "are a very competative industry," echoing Trek's public statements that they have outsourced simply to survive as a company. She also repeats the standard line that if Americans were willing to pay more for the product, they would produce bikes in the United Staes: "If there was a greater emphasis by consumers to buy American goods, I think that would also make sure that American manufacturers' products were able to garner a higher price that would reflect the increased cost,"

For a variety of reasons, including heavy self-protection, bike shops haven't experienced the price falling trends like the non-bike shop sector. Trek and other medium to high end brands sell for the same price or more than they did before the drive to move to cheap Chinese labor. For example, Trek 520 is one of Trek's best known bikes that is been around almost as long as Trek has-- since the early '80s. In 1983, the Trek 520 sold for $318 which, adjusted for inflation to today's dollars, would be $903. Today, the Trek 520 actually sells for more than it did then, $1,490. The main difference is that in 1983, the Trek 520 was made in the USA and in 2013 it's made in China.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849373

Mary Burke Promises She Won't Remove Walker's Statewide Voucher Program

In his manifesto, "Public Schools: Privatize Them," (Milton) Friedman hatched a plan to end public schools: vouchers. Vouchers, he said, were "a means, not an end" to privatize public schools and that by draining resources and allowing public schools to wither on the vine, students would gradually be lured out of public schools and into the private sector, paid for with vouchers.

That, in a nut shell, is why progressives and anyone who wants to pass on to their children and grandchildren the tradition of truly public schools, abhor vouchers. That is why the Democratic party opposes vouchers in our platform and the NEA has identified opposition to vouchers a "top priority."

So, yesterday, when Mary Burke finally made a promise and told the Wisconsin State Journal that, although she opposed Walker's statewide expansion of vouchers, she nonetheless would do nothing to remove the statewide voucher program, jaws dropped throughout Wisconsin's progressive community:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said Monday she wouldn’t have expanded private school vouchers statewide, which Gov. Scott Walker did in this year’s state budget. However, Burke said if elected she would keep the statewide program in place with a cap of 1,000 students and seek accountability for private schools receiving public funds in Milwaukee.

Mike Tate thinks that backing a candidate that is for everything we are against is the way to win. More on Mike Tate's sellout to the Republicans here: http://bloggingblue.com/2013/11/senator-vinehout-versus-mike-tate/

[dembotoz]

1. fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me all the fricken time

i must be pretty damn stupid.

i supported mike because i can remember some truly god awful state chairs

and tate seems to be able to at least walk and chew gum at the same time
which in all honesty some chairs in my memory had trouble with......

but i find myself quite disappointed
quite disappointed.

[HelenWheels]

2. Terrible choice for Dem. Gov. nt

[riversedge]

4. Burke supports marriage equality, opposes voter ID...

I was able to find a few of her positions--waiting for more to come filtering out:

http://www.forwardlookout.com/2013/10/pro-tip-for-certain-mary-burke-supporters/20088#comment-1096018038

........*Mary Burke supports marriage equality and voting against the bigoted ban on gay marriage......
*She opposes voter ID.....
*She opposes the Republican proposal to let universities, technical colleges and educational service agencies create charter schools......

Reference: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke: I wouldn’t have expanded vouchers................................



http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/democratic-gubernatorial-candidate-mary-burke-i-wouldn-t-have-expanded/article_231cf1ce-1685-5d48-bf04-34fbb158e0de.html

[Scuba]

5. She also won the endorsement of Planned Parenthood, but a half-progressive platform ....

... is still only half good, if that. Supporting the Geobic mine is a deal breaker for me and many others.

Being progressive on a few social issues while being a hard-line conservative on fiscal issues just isn't good enough. This is falling right into the neo-cons trap: move the line so far to the right that middle-right starts to look good.

There are better candidates available.

[Viking12]

6. ..and you support a candidate that

Voted to create obstacles for women wishing to obtain birth control drugs.

Voted for the castle doctrine and conceal carry (and has the audacity to say she did so in the name of hunting and fishing traditions).

No candidate can pass these ridiculous purity tests. Please stop.

[Scuba]

7. Why don't we all just vote Republican then?

Are you speaking of Vinehout? She's not perfect, no, but much much better than Burke.

I'm not looking for purity, just the best candidate. Burke is miles away from that.

[dragonlady]

8. Some clarity on the birth control issue

Kathleen Vinehout supports the ability of women to get the birth control they want without a hassle. For some reason, misinformation has gotten out in the wild and keeps popping up.

The issue was whether the duty to fill a prescription for birth control should fall on the individual pharmacist or the pharmacy business as a whole. Vinehout believed (with justification) that because of the Wisconsin constitution and precedent in other states, requiring the individual to go against conscience would be ruled unconstitutional. She supported and helped to pass the alternative that would require the business to fill those prescriptions, putting it into effect sooner than if it went through a court challenge.

http://kathleenvinehout.org/2012/03/what-was-the-controversy-over-filling-prescriptions-for-contraceptives/

This other page on her website lists many votes she has made in favor of women's reproductive health: for funding Planned Parenthood, for requiring hospitals to provide rape victims with emergency contraception, against criminalizing doctors who give Plan B, against abortion restrictions and mandatory ultrasound, among other matters.

http://kathleenvinehout.org/2013/10/what-is-sen-vinehouts-position-on-abortion-contraception-and-other-womens-health-issues/

[Scuba]

10. Thanks dragonlady, I really appreciate your adding this!

[Viking12]

12. Wait, wut?. There's nuance in a candidate's positions?

It'd be nice if Scuba would recognize that instead of this "if your not pure you're a republican", attack dog mentality.

[HereSince1628]

9. Tate thinks just like the DNC tells him...principles be damned this is about MONEY

that should more properly be spent on candidates for national office.

All of which contributes to Tate's reputation as being the worst democratic state operative in the nation.

[Scuba]

11. From here, Tate looks like a Republican mole.

[dembotoz]

13. he is not a republican .... he just gets his marching orders from the corporate wing of the party

problem of a big tent and all

[Scuba]

14. The "corporate wing" is made up of Republican moles.