Update: Wausau, Wis. Mayor Tells Labor Day Union Sponsors to Invite GOP Pols or Pay All Costs
The plot thickens. On Sunday (at NewsBusters ; at BizzyBlog ), I noted that “GOP politicians aren't welcome in this year's Labor Day parade” in Wausau, Wisconsin, because, according to the Marathon County Central Labor Council, which until today apparently thought it was the only sponsor of said parade, “organizers choose not to invite elected officials who have openly attacked worker's rights.” The Labor Council found out today from Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple that they are not the parade's only sponsor, as a video replay of a local station's news segment at Breitbart (HT to NB commenter ” DaChew “) informs us (transcript follows the jump; bolds are mine throughout): … Wausau's mayor is now calling on Labor Day parade organizers to let Republicans participate. We first broke the news last week that Marathon County labor leaders had decided not to include the GOP in this year's parade. Well now Mayor Jim Tipple says the city is a cosponsor of the parade because it pays the insurance premium, builds a stage and provides city services during the parade for free. Tipple released a statement this afternoon saying, quote: “The banning of a political party at any event co-sponsored by the city is against public policy and not in the best interest of all the citizens … we encourage the event organizer to invite all interested parties, or reimburse the city for other costs.” Reuters also has coverage
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on August 30, 2011. Filed under