Labor leaders must pay for parade if GOP banned, mayor says

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - The mayor of a Wisconsin town said on Tuesday a local labor council would have to reimburse the city up to $2,000 for a Labor Day parade if organizers exclude Republican lawmakers from attending.

The move in Wausau, Wisconsin, came after a county labor official said last week that Republican politicians were not welcome at the event due to their party's stance against collective bargaining when state lawmakers voted to curtail it earlier this year.

Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple told Reuters on Tuesday that the decision to exclude elected Republicans "flies in the face of public policy."

"This is not a political rally, it's a parade, for God's sake," Tipple said, noting that taxpayer money is used by the city to pay for staging the event. Tipple's office is nonpartisan, and he claims no affiliation with either political party.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/30/us-labor-day-wisconsin-idUSTRE77T64220110830

[Arctic Dave]

1. 2 grand? I think we can come with that on DU. Nt

[patrice]

3. I'll second that motion. nt

[Suich]

2. I'm thinking that a lot of Republicans don't know what

Labor Day is about, other than a 3 day weekend!

If Wausau has a fund drive to raise the $2000, I'll contribute!

[patrice]

4. I should deliver this info to organizers of a St. Pat's Day parade who banned me & other anti-War

sign carrying activists, including several young adults, all properly attired in Irish costumes, a few years ago.

[Kalidurga]

5. Why would Republicans want to attend....

seems like they would be facing a hostile audience.

[patrice]

11. Oh, I think they totally enjoy that in-your-face contrarian thing. All cloaked in "good manners"

of course, because it impresses the uninformed and ignorant and enrages those who ARE informed and not ignorant, but can't do anything about it. It's called "Psy-Ops" in some quarters.

[saras]

6. Yes, there are hundreds of events this could be applied to...

[patrice]

10. Their response to us was, though the event was occuring on public property, the event itself was

private property produced by a private business, so they had the right to control it.

This occurred in one of the most fashionable yuppy commercial districts in an old mid-town neighborhood. They had a big high school ROTC contingent there, composed of kids who most likely could NOT afford to shop there or hang out in its coffee shops.

[patrice]

12. Now that I think about it, what I told you in #10 would seem to destroy the mayor's case. nt

[former9thward]

15. The mayor's case is based on police and other city personnel that are used.

I don't think the city should be paying for any parades. Let the organizers pay for these things.

[guitar man]

7. Hell, let em attend

They should even make a special float just for them... with a bucket of tar and a big bag of feathers :evilgrin:

[provis99]

8. I think they should now ban the stupid mayor from attending, too.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. They should work to get a new mayor and

maybe shop in another town.

[backscatter712]

13. I'm thinking the mayor's right.

My suggestion is to cough up 2 grand.

The city officially shouldn't be taking sides in a political pie-fight.

[petronius]

14. IANAL, but I suspect the mayor may be mistaken. There seems to be a blurring

of 'attend' versus 'participate' here - depending on how the event was designed, I don't see why anyone would have an automatic right to participate...

[former9thward]

16. Parade organizers reverse. They are now going to allow GOP

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-union-leaders-say-gop-now-welcome-at-labor-day-parade-20110831,0,7345775.story

[defendandprotect]

17. Gay Pride week will have to include Rev. Phelps?

Holocaust memorials will have to include NAZI side of the story?

and ...

African American documentaries will have to include KKK sentiments?