Wisconsin Impeachment

GO HERE FOR UPDATES: www.Impeachwi.org

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Hello Peace Activists!

As you may know, Dane County, Wisc., became the second county in the nation to call for impeachment on a 20 to 3 vote with 10 county board supervisors walking out of the meeting.

If you would like help in organizing a similar effort for your community just contact me.

Below you should be able to see the You Tube video Luciano made of the Aug. 16th mock funeral march, press conf. and rally we conducted in front of the Dane city/co. bldg. prior to the County Board meeting.

If this message does not work then just go to this link and you will be able to watch the video.

Thanks very much to Luciano for all the work required to tape, edit and put this on You Tube!!!!

Buzz Davis, Chair, WI Impeach/BOTH Coalition
608239-5354 cell #

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August 17, 2007, Dane County Passes Impeachment Resolution.

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August 16, 2007, Rally for Dane County Vote.

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Impeachment Advances in Wisconsin

1. Successful Action Taken. Tonight the Dane County Executive Committee met and voted to recommend to the full board the passage of the impeachment resolution below. They modified the resolution and this is the resolution which will be before the full board at the Aug. 16th 7 PM meeting..

The vote was 5 yes: Bd. Chair Scott McDonnell, Barbara Vedder, John Hendrick, Robert Salov and Mark Opitz. Noes were: Duane Gau Abstentions were: Donna Vogel & Dave Ripp

2. Next Step. Next Thursday, Aug. 16th the full co. bd. board will debate and decide the resolution. There are 37 members of the board. To pass the resolution needs 19 yes votes if all members are in attendance.

o It will be very beneficial for YOU to contact your supervisors and cc all the other supervisors. Use this email to do that: county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us

3. Rally & Press Conference Thurs. Aug. 16th 6:00 pm in front of the City-County Bldg., 210 ML King Blvd. Come, join us and then register in favor on the impeachment resolution or speak in favor at the County Bd. meeting. Our activities start at 6 and the meeting starts at 7 pm. Now that Rep. Tammy Baldwin has signed on to House Resolution 333 calling for the commencement of impeachment investigations against Richard Cheney, Tammy needs the support of other elected officials.

Encourage the Dane County board to be the first county in WI to advocate for impeachment! Take action below and contact your supervisor and the Madison alders who will take up their impeachment resolution on September 4th.

4. Action Alert by the WI Network for Peace & Justice

Dane County Board & Madison Common Council take up impeachment
Resolutions call on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney

When: County Board meets Tuesday, Aug. 16, 7pm & Madison Common Council meets Tues. Sept. 4th, 6:30 pm
Where: Both meetings on 2nd floor of City-County building, 210 ML King Blvd.

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Peace Activists Please Take Action - Get Your Fingers Flying Over Those Keyboards!

Fr: Buzz Davis, Chair, WI Impeachment/Bring Our Troops Home Coalition, 608-873-4886

1. Background. No county board or municipal body has taken action on impeachment in WI. Dane county is the first to deal with the issue. It is important that this passes as sets a trend. The resolution being considered is at the bottom of this email.

This Thursday evening, Aug. 9th, at 6:30 PM in Rm. 309 Dane City/County bldg. the Dane Co. Bd. of Supervisors Exec. Committee will discuss and decide on whether to recommend to the full board the passage of the impeachment resolution.

A small group of us will be at this meeting to talk with the committee. Join us if you wish.

Then next week Thursday, Aug. 16th, we need many people at a rally in front of the City/Co. Bldg (210 M.L. King Blvd. in Madison). The rally starts at 6 PM with street theater YOU can participate in, followed by a press conference with supervisors, followed by a rally, followed by our presence and comments at the Co. Bd. meeting starting at 7 PM.

Note: Please remember, the latest impeachment poll shows 54% of the public favors starting impeachment proceedings against Cheney and while 45% favor impeaching Bush. For Democrats, 69% say impeach Bush and 76% say impeach Cheney. For independents, 50% say impeach Bush and 51% say impeach Cheney. For Republicans, 13% say impeach Bush and 17% say impeach Cheney. Source: http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/ (search to the end for the July 6, 2007 report) American Research Group, Inc.

2. ACTIONS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY. It is time for Dane county residents to act and tell their county board supervisors that you would like them to vote yes. Non-Dane county residents can email all the supervisors at once and explain how you hope Dane co. will lead the way on impeachment in WI. county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us Dane co. is the first county in WI to consider such a resolution.

Below are the supervisors that need to be contacted before tomorrow.

Dave DeFelice (District 16) - his district is south of Monona in Madison, town of Blooming Grove (look at the map on-line). defelice@co.dane.wi.us (608) 222-0319

Bob Salov from towns of York, Deerfield, Medina and Christiana and the villages of Marshall, Deerfield, Cambridge and Rockdale (District 37). salov@co.dane.wi.us 608/423-4358
Mark Opitz from city of Middleton (District 26). opitz@co.dane.wi.us 608/836-7890

Or, you may write an email to the above three and cc all county board supervisors by addressing your email to this address: county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us

3. ACTIONS NEEDED BEFORE AUG. 16TH. Below is a memo from Supervisor Barbara Vedder who is leading the impeachment effort on the board along with Sup. Ashok Kumar. Her memo lists all the other supervisors who need to hear from people before the meeting on Aug. 16th.

The Dane County Board of Supervisors will be voting on urging Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. The meeting will be held on Thursday, August 16 at 7pm in Room 201 of the City County bldg in Madison (210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd).

We need as many possible emails and phone calls made to each and every supervisor. To find out who your representative is, call the county board office at 608-266-5758. You can also email all supervisors by writing to county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us.

The following supervisors especially need to be contacted (be aware that the county districts probably are NOT the same # as the city districts):

Richard Brown, 274-1814, 829-0159, brown@co.dane.wi.us
Dave DeFelice, 222-0319, defelice@co.dane.wi.us
Patrick Downing, 527-2472, downing@co.dane.wi.us
Brett Hulsey, 238-6070, hulsey@co.dane.wi.us
Jeff Kostelic, 825-2156, kostelic@co.dane.wi.us
Mark Opitz, 836-7890, opitz@co.dane.wi.us
Rich Pertzborn, 205-2086, pertzbporn@co.dane.wi.us
Paul Rusk, 249-9667, rusk@co.dane.wi.us
Bob Salov, 423-4358, salov@co.dane.wi.us
Matt Veldran, 271-0722, veldran@co.dane.wi.us
Dave Worzala, 255-3278, worzala@co.dane.wi.us

Others to contact:

Carousel Bayrd, 442-6294, bayrd@co.dane.wi.us
Elaine DeSmidt, 246-2700
Chuck Erickson, 251-3622, erickson@co.dane.wi.us
Scott McDonell, 259-9506, mcdonell@co.dane.wi.us
Patrick Miles, 838-6866, miles@co.dane.wi.us
Tom Stoebig, 222-6429, stoebig@co.dane.wi.us
Shelia Stubbs, 223-1684, stubbs@co.dane.wi.us

4. RECENT OP ED PIECE BY SUPERVISORS. You may wish to read this to get a few ideas for your emails.

Source: http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/index.php?ntid=204244

The Capital Times Saturday, August 4, 2007
Vedder, Kumar and Rummel: Local government must join impeachment drive

Barbara Vedder, Ashok Kumar and Marcia Rummel, guest columnists
August 4, 2007

The future of our nation is hanging by a thread. The U.S. Constitution is being shredded before our eyes. For far too long, the American public has been aware of and fed up with being led into and continuing to fight an illegal war in Iraq.

We are fed up with ordering the use of torture, which violates the Geneva Convention, our Constitution and federal law. We are fed up with an administration that uses illegal surveillance of the private lives of innocent citizens.

The Constitution provides for impeachment of high government officials for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The American people are calling out for just that.

The Madison City Council and the Dane County Board will be voting on resolutions pressuring higher officials to begin impeachment investigations of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Should we deal with these matters on the local level? Absolutely yes. Over 300 U.S. municipalities have already taken action on troops home and/or impeachment resolutions or referendums. The men and women who serve in Iraq come from our communities. They are our neighbors or our loved ones. Their concern, distress and pain impact us. Altogether, Wisconsin communities have lost 76 men and women, and more than 485 have been wounded.

About 8,000 Wisconsin National Guard members and 8,000 Wisconsin Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Reserve members have served or are serving in Iraq. When the television news comes on and says more Americans were killed today in Iraq, each of us with a friend or relative there is fearful.

Many part-time Guard members and reservists are also first responders working as police, fire, public health, and emergency medical technicians. When such people are called up to active duty in Iraq, the gap they leave is not easily filled. Also the military vehicles, radios and equipment needed here may be in Iraq.

Another issue is the economic impact that the Iraq war has had on our communities. Dane County's portion of the cost of the war is over $1.8 billion, and the estimated cost for Wisconsin is about $6.9 billion. Money spent on war is being funded in two ways: by ballooning the national debt for our kids and by cutting the federal monies going into social programs, education, farm programs, and so forth. We on city councils, county boards and school boards are faced with the choices of short-funding these programs or raising property taxes.

We believe all our colleagues wish to serve their constituencies to the highest standard. It is our duty to advocate for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. We take an oath of office that we will support the U.S. Constitution and perform the duties therein to the best of our abilities. Citizens of Dane County have been demanding that the House of Representatives commence impeachment investigations, and now Tammy Baldwin, our congressional representative, has responded affirmatively by signing on to a resolution sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to impeach Cheney.

Illegal wars, illegal torture and illegal wiretapping must not be condoned. The rule of law, constitutional democracy, representative government, and the separation of powers must be restored. A presidency run wild with stolen powers must be pared back so the presidents elected in 2008 and thereafter do not have those same powers.

Baldwin was elected to do her duty, and that she has done. Now it's our turn to support her, and we hope our fellow elected officials will each state a resounding yes when the impeachment resolutions come to a vote on Tuesday and Aug. 16.

5. COPY OF CO. IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION.

RES. 60, 2007-08

URGING CONGRESS TO BEGIN IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATIONS
AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH AND VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY

The Constitution provides for impeachment of high government officials for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Conduct that undermines the integrity of a public office or is in disregard of constitutional duties or involves abuse of power is generally regarded as grounds for impeachment.

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading Congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371.

President George W. Bush violated the United Nation’s Charter and the United States Constitution by launching an illegal "War of Aggression" against Iraq without cause in violation of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 3314, Article VI, paragraph 2 of the US Constitution and U.S. Federal Law 18 U.S.C. § 2441 (War Crimes Act of 1996).

President Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805.

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the “Federal Torture Act” Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of “the supreme Law of the Land”.

In all of this, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of Dane County and the United States of America.

The cost of war is enormous in both the loss of lives and in dollars. Thus far the number of Wisconsin troop deaths is 74 and 486 wounded for a total of 560 persons. Dane County’s portion of the cost of the war is over $1.8 billion and the estimated cost for Wisconsin is approximately $6.863 billion.

The Constitution specifies that "the House of Representatives...shall have the sole power of impeachment" while the “the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.” To begin the impeachment process, the House of Representatives would refer the investigation to its Judiciary Committee, which reviews the evidence and may conduct hearings. It determines whether an official impeachment inquiry is warranted and, if so, asks the House for permission to proceed. An official investigation follows, with the Committee deciding whether to offer articles of impeachment to the full House. The House then votes separately on each of the articles, with a simple majority needed to impeach the official. Articles of impeachment approved by the House are then presented to the Secretary of the U.S. Senate for trial.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment investigations and trial.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Dane County Clerk be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to the Speaker of the House of Representatives a copy of this resolution and its adoption by Dane County, as a petition, and request that this petition be delivered to the Office of the Clerk and entered into the United States Congressional Journal.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Dane County Board of Supervisors urges the United States House of Representatives to begin the impeachment process by referring the investigation to the Judiciary Committee.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Senators Herb Kohl and Russell Feingold.

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