E-LERT  February 14, 2011 ______________________________________________________________  
So this is how they think democracy works? Following up on the E-Lert sent this morning, there is important additional information to share.

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee will be holding a public hearing tomorrow at 10 a.m. in room 412 East in the State Capitol on the proposed budget-repair legislation that takes away worker rights in the name of balancing the state's books.

Trouble is, as of 1:45 this afternoon there still was no mention of the hearing on the schedule of committee activities on the Legislature's public web site. The Democracy Campaign has learned that paper copies of the hearing notice were posted inside the Capitol building earlier today, and legislative leaders claim that satisfies the public notice requirement.



Over the noon hour notices of scheduled votes in the joint finance and joint retirement systems committees were posted on the web site and the finance committee's announcement indicates the committee will vote "upon adjournment of the public hearing" without providing any information about that hearing. Yet a Republican front group called Wisconsin Club for Growth sent an e-mail to its members at 8:45 this morning informing them of the public hearing and indicating that the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity are paying to bus people to the hearing.

These two groups obviously were tipped off about the public hearing far enough in advance to arrange for bus transportation and set up an online registration system their members can use to sign up for the free bus rides. Yet as of right now there has been no notification for the general public outside of paper copies of a hearing announcement tacked to walls inside the Capitol.

Before Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak was toppled from power, it was widely reported by several news organizations that Mubarak's regime was involved in organizing counterprotests aimed at propping up the discredited government. Taking a page from Mubarak's playbook, those in charge of state government in Wisconsin are feeding inside information about their intentions to friendly groups that in turn are paying to fill hearing rooms with supporters of the regime's plans.

______________________________________________________________   Spread the word by sending this message to people you know. To support the Democracy Campaign's efforts to make people matter more than money, go here.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
210 North Bassett Street, Suite 215
Madison, WI 53703
www.wisdc.org
www.impartialjustice.org
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