Vote on April 5th

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Vote on April 5th

2 April 2011

Once again the African American community will have the opportunity to exercise their power through voting.

This Tuesday, April 5, 2011 people in Milwaukee will head to the polls, and this time efforts have to be made to get it right. The U.S. Census Bureau has confirmed that African Americans are Milwaukee’s largest ethnic group. And combined with the Latino population, Milwaukee is a ethnic majority city.

We have the numbers, now we need to exercise the power through voting. No more excuses…not only does the African American vote count, it can dictate the future of Milwaukee. Now more than ever this community has to stand up and demand that voices are heard, but it all begins at the polls.

We are now finding ourselves fighting against an all out assault on Milwaukee and Milwaukee County from the new administration. In the short time that Walker’s administration has come into power, Milwaukee’s education system is under attack and Milwaukee’s longtime residency rules are being attacked, just this week, the state legislature is rushing to push through Assembly Bill 65, this bill wants to eliminate the residency rules for Milwaukee sworn police and fire personnel. Mayor Barrett released the following statement regarding this move:

“WOW! They really don’t care about local government, do they? Or maybe they just don’t care about local control in Milwaukee. Today the Assembly Committee on Labor and Workforce Development is holding a hearing on a bill to eliminate the City of Milwaukee’s right to require residency as a condition of employment for sworn police and fire personnel. The Assembly bill was introduced Monday and today’s hearing was announced on Tuesday. This is an extraordinarily fast-tracked schedule. The bill is being rushed through the normal legislative channels to negate a Milwaukee ordinance that was enacted in 1938. That’s right. In two days, the Assembly Republicans are trying to rush legislation that has been the local law of the State’s largest city for more than 70 years. So much for good government. So much for local control in Milwaukee.”

Walker has also dismissed many strides that the previous administration worked hard to instill: he single-handedly stopped the high speed rail project and the state lost the $810 million that were granted through the efforts of the Doyle administration, has halted the Wisconsin Covenant for education, cut BadgerCare for families and last week quietly suspended the order requiring minorities and women participation in construction jobs, all of this in addition to the striking of collective bargaining rights. How do we stop this run away train? We Vote…We Recall… and We Vote again!

We have the power within our reach, and we must use it. No more excuses. If you don’t believe how powerful your vote is, then why do you think the GOP and again folks like Jeff Stone are trying to make it as difficult as possible for you to be able to do it. Mr. Stone for those who may not be aware is an author of the legislation that is doing exactly that…trying to stop you (the minority who is the majority) from voting. This candidate for Milwaukee County Executive is running for an office and he does not even respect the majority that make up this county. For those who are sleeping… Wake up! For those who don’t care…Wise up! And when you refuse to go out and vote, you lose the right to complain…so Shut up!