In a bizarre attempt at furthering the difficulties in exercising our free rights, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has put a price on them. How much? $50 per hour, to be exact. $50 per hour PER Capitol Police officer. This and a wide range of other regulations went into effect immediately this past Thursday. The move is a pretty direct attempt to negate the inherent rights granted by the first amendment and to put a price tag on free speech.
Groups holding demonstrations could be charged for the costs of having extra police on hand for the event. As well as handling responsibility for costs for any counterportests, police officers from outside agenceis, and may have to pay all of it in advance. Groups are constituted by 4 or more people. That is quite a stiff pricetag and sequence of penalties to impose on people looking for a way to express their discontent. The regulations do not only apply to protests but to a wide range of groups.
There is a move to recall Walker in response to this and many issues which have become points of concern for the population since he has assumed his position. So far, efforts have led to over 300,000 signatures for the recall in 12 days. The recall requires the collection of 540,208 valid signatures by Jan. 17 to be successful. Walker is well known for his previous faux pas, when he thought he was speaking with David Koch, in a 20 minute recorded prank call. The discussions of which, included references to punishing lawmakers leaving the state and breaking up protests.
