That’s because Mitchell, the telegenic, fast-talking, knowledgeable president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, is so far the only declared Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the state’s special recall election set for June 5.
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| Mahlon Mitchell |
“They’re trying to destroy us and defund us,” Mitchell told delegates, describing the GOP scheme not just in Wisconsin, but nationwide. “They said we had a $3.6 billion budget deficit, that our state is broke, and we need ‘shared sacrifice.’
“But they give two years of tax exemptions” to corporations while cutting $1 billion from the schools, he added. “This is an attack on the middle class and on our way of life. Shared sacrifice? We sacrifice and they share the gains.”
Mitchell rose to state and labor prominence when Right Wing GOP Gov. Scott Walker tried to “divide and conquer” labor in 2011 by exempting police and Fire Fighters from his law killing collective bargaining rights for 200,000 state and local workers.
“They came to us and said, ‘You can just sit this one out.’ We didn’t just say, ‘No,’ we said, ‘Hell, No!’” Mitchell declared. He led Wisconsin Fire Fighters into the mass protests that surrounded and occupied the state capitol building for months last year, and became the public face of workers whom Walker’s law trashed.
Walker’s law led to a massive labor-pushed recall drive – more than a million signatures were turned in – and the special election this June. State Democrats must find a gubernatorial nominee to oppose Walker, but Mitchell appears to be the only Democrat taking on GOP Lieut. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who also is subject to recall.
Four GOP state senators are also up for recall, on top of two Republicans ousted last year after they helped pass Walker’s law. One of the latest four has quit his seat, State Sen. Mark Miller (D), told IAFF, turning the Wisconsin legislative body into a 16-16 tie. It was 19-14 GOP when Walker jammed his law through. Miller, then minority leader, took his Democrats to Illinois to prevent a required quorum for a budget bill that then included the union-busting provisions. Walker eventually made the anti-union measure a separate non-budget bill, shoving it through without any Democrats present.
For all his exuberance and optimism, Mitchell warned his IAFF colleagues – and unionists nationwide – “that we have some educating to do” about the Right Wing-GOP-business agenda. He said 39.6% of Wisconsin unionists voted for Walker for governor in 2010. Other estimates say 45% of unionists backed Walker that year.
“That’s our problem, and we have to talk about that, because we have to make sure that we’re protecting decent American values,” Mitchell said.
And the Fire Fighters’ own magazine pointed out the governor has raised $12 million since the start of 2011. Walker himself has courted Right Wing rich donors in D.C. and New York, in addition to his top original backers, the arch-conservative Koch brothers, a pair of ideological Kansas City oilmen.
That doesn’t faze Mitchell, though. “We are a union of service providers, a union of givers – and also a union of fighters,” he said. “And right now, the House of Labor is on fire nationally, and we’re here to put the fire out. We didn’t pick this fight, but it’s one they wanted, and it’s one they’ll get.”
He got a standing ovation.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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That’s because Mitchell, the telegenic, fast-talking, knowledgeable president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, is so far the only declared Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the state’s special recall election set for June 5.
|
| Mahlon Mitchell |
The exuberant Mitchell, a Madison, Wis., Fire Department lieutenant and member of IAFF Local 311 there – and whose brothers are Fire Fighters in Atlanta and St. Paul — addressed his union’s legislative-political conference in D.C. on March 27, giving unionists even more reason to turn out the vote in the recall balloting.
“They’re trying to destroy us and defund us,” Mitchell told delegates, describing the GOP scheme not just in Wisconsin, but nationwide. “They said we had a $3.6 billion budget deficit, that our state is broke, and we need ‘shared sacrifice.’
“But they give two years of tax exemptions” to corporations while cutting $1 billion from the schools, he added. “This is an attack on the middle class and on our way of life. Shared sacrifice? We sacrifice and they share the gains.”
Mitchell rose to state and labor prominence when Right Wing GOP Gov. Scott Walker tried to “divide and conquer” labor in 2011 by exempting police and Fire Fighters from his law killing collective bargaining rights for 200,000 state and local workers.
“They came to us and said, ‘You can just sit this one out.’ We didn’t just say, ‘No,’ we said, ‘Hell, No!’” Mitchell declared. He led Wisconsin Fire Fighters into the mass protests that surrounded and occupied the state capitol building for months last year, and became the public face of workers whom Walker’s law trashed.
Walker’s law led to a massive labor-pushed recall drive – more than a million signatures were turned in – and the special election this June. State Democrats must find a gubernatorial nominee to oppose Walker, but Mitchell appears to be the only Democrat taking on GOP Lieut. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who also is subject to recall.
Four GOP state senators are also up for recall, on top of two Republicans ousted last year after they helped pass Walker’s law. One of the latest four has quit his seat, State Sen. Mark Miller (D), told IAFF, turning the Wisconsin legislative body into a 16-16 tie. It was 19-14 GOP when Walker jammed his law through. Miller, then minority leader, took his Democrats to Illinois to prevent a required quorum for a budget bill that then included the union-busting provisions. Walker eventually made the anti-union measure a separate non-budget bill, shoving it through without any Democrats present.
For all his exuberance and optimism, Mitchell warned his IAFF colleagues – and unionists nationwide – “that we have some educating to do” about the Right Wing-GOP-business agenda. He said 39.6% of Wisconsin unionists voted for Walker for governor in 2010. Other estimates say 45% of unionists backed Walker that year.
“That’s our problem, and we have to talk about that, because we have to make sure that we’re protecting decent American values,” Mitchell said.
And the Fire Fighters’ own magazine pointed out the governor has raised $12 million since the start of 2011. Walker himself has courted Right Wing rich donors in D.C. and New York, in addition to his top original backers, the arch-conservative Koch brothers, a pair of ideological Kansas City oilmen.
That doesn’t faze Mitchell, though. “We are a union of service providers, a union of givers – and also a union of fighters,” he said. “And right now, the House of Labor is on fire nationally, and we’re here to put the fire out. We didn’t pick this fight, but it’s one they wanted, and it’s one they’ll get.”
He got a standing ovation.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.