Monday, March 18, 2013

Lena Taylor: No One's Senator But the Special Interests'

Over the weekend, I reported how Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor was in full-throated support of privatizing our schools.  I also pointed out how she was receiving a lot of support from the special interest groups in favor of selling out our children so that they could profiteer off of them.

Image courtesy of WISN
It now appears that the education profiteers are not the only ones that hold influence over the way Taylor votes.

Last week, I questioned what Taylor might be hiding by not even acknowledging - much less responding to - an open records request she had gotten from Cory Liebmann.
Shortly after Liebmann and I published our posts, Taylor's office finally responded.  What Liebmann has found so far only serves to raise more questions:
One of the records that I requested from Senator Taylor was her official calendar. In that calendar there were a number of things that stood out including in the last days of January. I've included a copy of that page HERE.

You will notice that on January 29th from 2:30-3:00 p.m. Senator Taylor was scheduled to participate in a conference call with Michael Greebe [sic].
Liebmann goes on to point at all of the things that Grebe has his fingers in and all of the right wing groups he helps to fund with Bradley Foundation lucre. He also points out that Taylor also spoke with Scott Walker two days later.

Liebmann then questions why Taylor would be speaking with Grebe and rightfully so. It should raise anyone's eyebrows.

Taylor's Chief of Staff, Eric Peterson, commented on Liebmann's blog in an effort to explain Taylor's conversations with both Grebe and Walker:
Comments from Eric Peterson, Senator Taylor’s Chief of Staff on this blog posting.

Mr. Michael Grebe was appointed to Bradley Center Sports & Entertainment Complex Board by Governor Walker in 2012. His appointment was referred to the Committee on Economic Development & Local Government, on which Senator Taylor sits, for consideration. Senator Taylor discussed that appointment with Mr. Grebe on their phone call on January 29th. Mr. Grebe contacted our office to discuss his appointment and requested that phone call. A public hearing and vote were held on Feb 5th. Senate confirmation was acted on February 20th with all Senators, including all Democrats, voting in favor of Mr. Grebe’s appointment. Mr. Grebe’s official file with the Senate with dates can be found at: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/executive_appointment/ea_grebe

Senator Taylor responded to a request of the Governor for a phone call which led to their conversation on Thursday, January 31. Senator Taylor and the Governor discussed mining legislation at the Governor’s request. As you are aware, Senator Taylor voted against the mining legislation (SB 1).
It's a rather plausible rationale, and it might also be true.

But we also know to be true is that just two weeks after Taylor's conversation with Grebe and Walker, she came out in support of the assault of democracy in Milwaukee County. And we know that Grebe is a board member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, who is strongly pushing for the dismantling of Milwaukee County. And Walker has come out in support of this measure as well, which is not surprising given how many times they prevented Walker from doing even more damage than he already has.

It's up to the gentle reader if they wish to give Taylor the benefit of the doubt on this.  But given the multiple other examples of the way she has betrayed her constituents and Milwaukee as a whole - from concealed carry to the Castle Doctrine to supporting the privatization of schools - I personally wouldn't be so quick to trust her on this issue either.

8 comments:

  1. Two years ago, I thought she was really good. Could all of this be a recent development because somebody is putting some kind of pressure on her?

    She has some powerful symbolism that would make her quite the prize catch for the right wingers. Just as they believe that if they can have their way with Wisconsin's senate they can have their way anywhere, I think they might believe that if they can have their way with a minority woman senator from Milwaukee, they can have their way with any politician.

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  2. I still have Sen. Taylor's picture on my wall for voting for the so-called "Cable Competition Act" (to dismantle Wisconsin's consumer protection system for cable customers and public, educational, and government local channels). It's a wall of shame. Sorry to say that there are quite a few Democrats there, but at least Decker and Plale are gone.

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  3. Anon...I second your comments. I had respect for her then. Not so much now.

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  4. Just a disgrace they way a self-proclaimed "solidarity" guy disses and slimes one of the only African American women to ever elected to Wisconsin senate.

    Via innuendo and bogus false dichotomies, you are trying to equate her with scott walker -- more than unfair.

    Its actually blatant racism -- but then many of the self-proclaimed "liberals" and "progressives" in Wisconsin are only interested in their own entitlements and priviledges.

    You're jumpin' the shark with this almost daily line of attacks now.

    Surely, after falling flat-on-your-face with your endless john doe speculation, you can find something meaningful to blog about instead of outright slandering one of the key players in allowing the Wisconsin occupation to occur in 2011.

    Just shameful the way you attack her because she does overwhelmingly get the support of her constitutes, these are some of the most loyal voters in the progressive base, their experiences does matter, and they deserve to be represented by a strong advocate.

    Just what do you have up your colon about her anyhow? The tripe you post here does not deserve the bile you spew even if your intentions were to educate on progressive issues.

    But that is obviously not your intention with these rants.

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  5. Your abuse of a studio pic where Sen. Taylor was schooling little wing-nut scottie walker is offensive.

    Sure you don't believe your readership is dumb enough to believe that somehow these 2 are in agreement on the koch brother's economic terrorism?

    Your use of that picture, entirely out of context and intentionally so, is PROPAGANDA that would make hitler's henchmen proud.

    Disgusting -- let me spell it out for you one more time:

    P-R-O-P-A-G-A-N-D-A

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    Replies
    1. You, sir troll, are in violation of Godwin's Law. You would have lost all credibility, but you never had any to begin with, being but a troll.

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    2. You're right Capper, ANON @ 6:17 PM response fits perfectly within the criteria of Godwin's Law. So much so, that it could even be used as an example of the 'Laws' definition. Great call. Also, I agree that the actions of Sen. Taylor have become very suspect. I feel as though she's become lost and has begun to veer from her original path of intent. Temptations of money, power, prestige, and the like, can bring on a heavy fog and cause one to lose their way. But if they have their moral compass with them, they'll find their way back on track.

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