A crowd of politically frustrated Wisconsin citizens literally took their brooms to the steps of the Capitol Thursday afternoon, determined to sweep away political corruption.
According to a survey released last week by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, only 6 percent of Wisconsin residents feel their elected officials are representing their interests.
The bipartisan assembly of citizens, known as the People's Legislature, delivered fliers to the state legislators' offices and the governor's office asking for a special session on campaign finance, ethics and election reform.
'There are so many people who just don't feel like the major political parties are representing them,' Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Mike McCabe said.
The group is angered with the state Legislature's failure to discuss the following statistics: over 600,000 Wisconsin citizens are living without health insurance. The unemployment rate among black men living in Milwaukee has reached 59 percent. Tuition rates have increased by 51 percent in the last four years, driving many students away from higher education.
The first People's Legislature assembly drew 1,100 people to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. The group's September meeting at Fighting Bob's Fest in Baraboo qualified as the largest political convention in Wisconsin this year with over 5,300 attendees. Many state representatives have shown their support as well.
'They're talking about bread and butter issues that people are actually talking about,' said state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison. 'I think sometimes the Legislature is more concerned about taking care of special interests than they are the public.'
In 2004, 2.2 million people in Wisconsin were forced to vote for the incumbent official in at least one house of state Legislature, according to McCabe. He said he contributes this problem to the 'huge campaign war chests' intimidating other candidates from entering races as well as the partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts.
When U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, gave the highly democratic city of Beloit to U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and added the conservative county of Waukesha, both districts were made less competitive.
'In a democracy, voters are supposed to choose their representatives, not the other way around,' McCabe said.
State Legislature is not blind to these problems. Senate Bill 1 was passed Wednesday by the Finance Committee and has been referred to state Senate. It will replace the State Elections Board and Ethics Board with a more independent agency to enforce elections and ethics corruption. Six state officials are currently facing felony charges for corruption.
'Wisconsin has always had a sterling reputation for clean government, and we have fallen from that lofty perch,' Black said.
