Abele's Bait And Switch Politics

Cory Liebmann brings us some good news and some very good points in his latest post about Chris Abele's usurpation of Milwaukee County:

First, the good news:

Image courtesy of
Wisconsin Jobs Now

Today the latest MU Law Poll was released.  In it they reported that folks in the City of Milwaukee favored a full-time County Board 54-37%.  That double digit level of support in what is obviously the most population dense portion of the county most certainly does matter.  It would be nice if supporters of the special interest legislation would acknowledge that simple fact before declaring victory. But perhaps they are cynically banking on the assumption that City of Milwaukee residents wont be engaged enough.

Funny thing, in the mass email I got today from My Milwaukee, one of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) front groups, they didn't mention this good news.  All they had were opinion pieces from Teapublicans and people with ulterior motives.

Thank goodness we already had a very good idea of just how unpopular Abele's overreach is.

But then Cory brings up a very excellent point:

I'd expect that the numbers in those referendums would have been much different if they included all of the broad and sweeping measures found in AB 85. However the supporters of AB 85 won't let Milwaukee County voters have a real say on the entirety of the bill before it is actually forced upon us. 

The referendums which Cory mentions simply asked if the Milwaukee County Board should be made part-time and/or if they should have their salaries cut.

They never mentioned all the other things that Abele wants to do, regardless of how the referendum would turn out.  Now that people are seeing that Abele wants to concentrate all the power in his own hands, remove any system of checks and balances , close the door to transparency and open the door to corruption, they are becoming increasingly opposed to it.

Normally, trying to sell something and then substituting it for an entirely different thing would be called bait and switch.

But for Abele, it's business as usual.  

He hasn't been up front with us since he first started campaigning in 2011, saying he wasn't going to be anything like Scott Walker.  And his dishonesty has only gotten worse since.

Walker Again Uses Veterans As Political Props

It was recently reported that Scott Walker was kicking off something that he dubbed "Year of the Veteran":

"To me it is absolutely unacceptable to think that any man or woman who serves our country, who is deployed in places like Iraq or Afghanistan in particular as of late, would come back to our state and our communities and not be able to find work," Walker said as he greeted dozens of local veterans at the American Legion Post 449 in Brookfield.

As part of the "Year of the Veteran," which falls on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, state agencies like the Department of Workforce Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs will organize job fairs and recognition events. The Year of the Veteran website provides resources for education, training, licensing and job searching.

"Not only is it a moral imperative for employers to consider our veterans; we think it’s an economic benefit," Walker said. "We’re trying to make the connection to our employers in the state, these are exactly the kind of men and women you want working for your company."

A Walker apologist or a person who doesn't follow the news very closely might see this story and think that it shows Walker is such a nice man and a good leader.

A skeptic or cynic might think he is trying to curry favor with the veterans as he is facing a losing battle in his inevitable recall.

The rest of us know better. With Walker, there is always more to the story.

Sure enough, read down to the bottom of the article, and you catch the "something else" (emphasis mine):

As the first official step for the Year of the Veteran initiative, Walker signed into law Senate Bill 413 Wednesday, which he said codifies parts of the federal HEART Act into law.

Walker wasn't doing this because he's such a nice guy. He did it because it was federal law.

Oh, don't be surprised. It's not like this is the first time he's tried taking credit for following directives from the federal government.

It's also not the first time that he's used veterans as political props. He did that for years with "Operation Freedom" while he was Milwaukee County Executive. "Operation Freedom" was a front for Walker to use taxpayer dollars and private donations to supposedly honor veterans. But in reality, it was just another self-serving political stunt. And to make things even worse, Walker was the one who personally transferred control of the event's funding to his BFF and top political crony, Tim Russell. Russell, as you well know, is the slug who stole money from the event to help Walker's campaign as well as for personal use, such as vacations.

If you really want to know the level of disregard that Walker holds for veterans, look at what he's done to the Veterans Affair Board. Even after the guy got fired for his secretiveness, wasting money and ripping off veterans, Walker re-appointed crony John Scocos back as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Since then, no less than three honorable men, all of them distinguished veterans, have resigned in protest of Walker appointing Scocos to a job he clearly shouldn't be in.

The fact that Walker would so cynically use veterans in such a political matter shows that he will stoop to any level to try to keep control.  Well, almost any level.  The one thing that he won't do is the right thing, at least without being forced into it.

Now It's Kleefisch That Needs My Help

Just two days after receiving an email from Scott Walker begging for my help, Lieutenant Dictator Becky Kleefisch has sent out an email for my help.   I will do so by taking part of her poorly-worded and grammatically incorrect email and edit for her:

Big –government public sector union bosses [The people of Wisconsin] and their heavily funded out-of-state interests [slashed, if not eliminated, paychecks] are sparing no expense when attacking the [lack of] leadership of [by] Governor Walker and [are] downplaying the benefits [damages] our reforms have done for the great state of Wisconsin. 

In recent months they have been running at a fever pitch to tout that their efforts will help ultra-liberal interests [like the working people of Wisconsin] [to] retake the Governor’s mansion and the halls of the legislature.

We all know that these [the Koch commercials] are nothing but grandstanding falsehoods and [but] that the true grassroots, people like yourself, are making headway daily to keep [oust] leaders [usurpers] like Governor Walker and myself firmly planted in our offices so that we can continue fighting for [against] your rights.

Every day that you talk to your friends and neighbors and continue to showcase that our reforms have made tangible and lasting changes to Wisconsin we move one step closer to shutting down the efforts of these liberal elitists [state].

This week, with your help, we are planning on increasing our presence throughout the state by identifying and reminding [trying to find and trick] the supporters of our fiscally responsible cause, that we will not allow the big-government public sector unions [people of Wisconsin] to push around taxpayers [our campaign donors] any longer.

You're welcome, Becky. But there's no need to thank me. It would sufficient if you just start packing up to move back to your old house. But make sure Joel doesn't try to steal the silverware for his sandhill crane burgers.

Holperin Introduces Anti-Dumpster Bill

State Senator Jim Holperin (D-Conover) has introduced a bill that would make state government more transparent:

State Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover) urged an Assembly committee Thursday to favorably move forward his bill to end the Legislature's exemption from the public records retention law.

Holperin testified at a public hearing on the bill before the Assembly's Committee on Judiciary and Ethics. The senator has authored companion legislation in the Senate, and is the principal author and driving force of the measures.

Holperin thanked the committee and its chairman, Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon), for holding the session. The Conover Democrat had requested a Senate hearing last Dec. 19 in a letter to Sen. Rich Zipperer (R-Pewaukee), the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, but Holperin said Thursday the committee had yet to afford the bill a hearing.

Technically, the open records law does apply to lawmakers. Right now, though, according to an analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the state Public Records Board supervises the state's public records management and preservation program and sets retention schedules for records, but none of those management and preservation procedures apply to the records or correspondence of members of the Legislature.

Hence, a lawmaker could dispose of any records at any time. Holperin's bill deletes the exemption.

This is a good bill and the State Senate judiciary committee should hold a hearing on that as soon as possible. Transparency in government, which this bill would strengthen, is always a good thing.

The Republicans probably would hate to see this bill pass though. It could be a real embarrassment given the Walkergate Dumpster and the revealing of the Super-Secret Money-Loving Voter-Hating Club they've got going on.

Walkergate: Is This It?!

As is the norm for any politician who has bad news to share and wants to try to control the early spin, Scott Walker did a Friday afternoon news dump.

In this case, his campaign sent out a very terse, carefully worded and ambiguous press release indicating that he would be meeting with the Milwaukee County District Attorney in regards to Walkergate, the John Doe probe into illegal campaign activities and other misdeeds among his office as county executive and his campaign:

Over the last 20 months, District Attorney John Chisholm has been conducting an examination of issues in connection with former employees of Milwaukee County. Throughout that time, our campaign has cooperated with requests for information.

My cooperation in this matter extends beyond a willingness to supply any and all requested documents. I have already said that I would be happy to sit down with the people looking into these issues and answer any additional questions they may have. To make that point clear, last year, my representatives voluntarily contacted Mr. Chisholm’s office to arrange a time to discuss any outstanding issues. I will be voluntarily meeting with Mr. Chisholm.

To assemble additional background information, I hired counsel to insure that I am in the best position possible to continue aiding the inquiry. These attorneys, Mike Steinle and John Gallo, have been reviewing a great deal of material from the past few years, but no public money has been used or will be used for these purposes.

While all of us need to let this matter run its course, I will continue to cooperate and provide any appropriate information that is requested.

When this news hit the airwaves, I had people, some who were off vacationing in Florida, calling me, asking me, "Is this it?! Are they going to finally nail that dirtbag scum?!"

My answer to them was that it sure didn't look good for him, but cautioning that you never could be sure.

In his press release, as is always the case with Walker, what he doesn't say is at least as important as what he does say.

Walker basically admits that, contrary to what he's said before, he's been in contact with the DA's office at least two months ago regarding the investigation. He's also tells us that he had retained these two top-gun attorneys a while ago for them to pore over everything and develop a defense strategy.

Maybe the real tell to the release was the way Walker emphasized that no public money was going to his defense. By this, he's basically admitting that Walkergate is weighing heavy against him.

Also significant is who his attorneys are.

One of them, Mike Steinle, has quite a legacy. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he has a prestigious heritage and that his father defended crime boss Frank Balistrieri. Likewise, the Wisconsin State Journal reports that he also represented a Fox Point teen who killed his grandfather with an ax.

One Wisconsin Now also pointed out to the way Walker is lawyering up in a really big way with this interesting tidbit (emphasis mine):

Gov. Walker’s announcement that he’s beefing up his legal team with attorneys specializing in complex criminal law and real estate is just the latest twist in the scandal that’s engulfed his administration over these last twenty months.

The fact that one of them is a specialist in real estate law raises a red flag.

Not too long ago, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported about an angle of the Walkergate investigation that involved a shady bid-rigging and pay-for-play politicking. The story is fairly complex, but to simplify it, investigators were looking into some suspicious behaviors regarding a decision on where to house the Milwaukee County Department of Aging.

The Department of Aging was housed at the Reuss Federal Plaza in downtown Milwaukee from 2005-2010. In 2010, the county moved out of the Reuss building and into a county-owned building. However, in 2005 and again in 2010, there was some suspicious things being done to first get the agency to move in and then to stay.

And the agents in the case are people the gentle reader should already be aware of. One of them is Andrew Jensen, the commercial realty broker who was a guest of the county jail for a couple of days last year for not cooperating with the investigation. Another player was John Hiller, who was Walker's campaign treasurer for 18 years until mysteriously leaving last spring. (Hiller's departure was not even known until the fall, that's how secretive it was.)

Also entangled in this deal was Timothy Russell who seems to be in just about every mess there is in Walkergate and Bob Dennik, another Walker campaign worker turned county staff person. Both of these men wee also into realty. (I believe that Jim Villa, who was named in the Kelly Rindfleisch complaint, and is also a realty broker, was Walker's Chief of Staff at time.

I would take this moment to remind the gentle reader about the cozy relationship the realtors have with each other as well as with Walker.

So, to recap, Walker has both his campaign as well himself personally well-lawyered with some of the highest profile attorneys in the Midwest. His former and current staff, up to the highest levels, have either been charged or given immunity in relation to the John Doe, which has gone everywhere from illegal politicking to illegal donations and possibly pay-for-play.

While his apologists will be quick to point out that Walker himself has not yet been charged with any wrongdoings, there are a few facts to keep in mind:

• He is surrounded by the people being charged with wrongdoing or given immunity,
• In the things we do know for certain, there are holes in the story.  These holes appear to be most logically filled by Walker's involvement, 
• There was the infamous email from Walker to Russell, after Russell has already left the county executive's office, mentioning specific issues such as laptops and websites,
• There are some very questionable, even incriminating, emails that Walker had in 2009 involving both his county and campaign emails and the intermingling of the two.

Overall, it's pretty damning.

But it doesn't necessarily guarantee that this is Walker's Waterloo.

One must remember that the John Doe has already taken surprising twists, such as the recent charging of Supervisor Johnny Thomas, for allegedly taking a bribe to get a contract with the county approved.  There also may be other supervisors who under investigation.  But this still wouldn't necessarily exclude Walker from also being in deep water.

Another possibility is that Walker is going to be testifying against some of his former and/or current staffers and/or campaign workers.  The problem with that theory is that it doesn't explain the high level of lawyers.

Overall, one could safely say that Walker is a person of interest.  Whether he's John Doe or not has yet to be seen.  The same goes for whether this actually means that Walker is going to even get charged.  The events of Friday don't prove that.

But they sure make it seem likely, don't they?

On The Next Edition Of "Do You Know Where Your Governor Is?"

Yes, folks, another edition of Wisconsin's favorite game show, "Do You Know Where Your Governor Is?" is coming up.  It is programmed for Wednesday, February 8.

And just to give you a hint, the secret location of your governor is Naples, FL.

But the next question is why would Scott Walker go to Naples, FL?

Would it be to visit the jobs he's been chasing out of Wisconsin for the last six months?

In a word, no.

Is it because he got screwed up on the dates and was going to surprise everyone by entering the Florida presidential primary?

Well, he might have dreams of being President of the United States, but I don't think a recalled and/or indicted former governor would have much of a chance.

Is he going to invite all the fleeing Wisconsin retirees back to the state to invest their hard earned money in his corporate welfare scheme?  He did promise to do that, you know.  Instead, he's tried to kill SeniorCare and Family Care and other services they would need., which I'm sure will draw them back in droves.

No, no, and no.

If you haven't guessed, he'll be abandoning his duties here in Wisconsin for yet another big-money, out-of-state fund raiser:

Yup, while more people are losing their jobs, falling behind on their bills and losing their homes because Scott Walker thinks that they made too much money and were leaving the poor multimillionaires behind, Walker will be yucking it up at a luncheon 1,500 miles away from Wisconsin.

And he wonders why people want to recall him.

Medicaid Shortfall Less Than Half Originally Reported, Kids Will Still Pay

State officials have reported that the Medicaid shortfall is less than half of what they had originally estimated. But despite all of the "found" savings, they still plan on throwing 60,000, almost half of the children, under the bus:

A letter released Tuesday to lawmakers from Dennis Smith, secretary of the state Department of Health Services, said the two-year shortfall is now expected to be $232 million. Enrollment is rising slower than expected, and costs per patient are lower, he said.

But "it is important that the department continue to pursue the various savings measures that we included in our September report," when the gap was estimated at $554 million, Smith wrote.

The cuts include higher premiums, changes in eligibility and required shifts to employer insurance for some with state coverage. The changes would cause nearly 65,000 people, nearly half of them children, to leave or be turned away from Medicaid, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau said.

So why won't Eagle Scout Walker do the right thing and restore some of the needless cuts? There is a number of possible different answers:

One is that there really never was a deficit and that the planned all along to raid the fund to pay for holes elsewhere in his budget. He's done that before.

Or he could have "found" the savings to make himself look better to his base in the upcoming recall election. He's done that before.

Another possibility is that he needed to come up with some quick cash to dole out to campaign donors to help fund his flailing recall campaign. He's done that before as well.

But no matter the reason, the one thing that is clear is that walker has again abdicated his role as a responsible leader, as a former Eagle Scout, and as a human being.

Walker Adds Insult To Injury For State Correction Officers

When Scott Walker was Milwaukee County Executive, part of his areas of jurisdiction within the county was the House of Correction.  However, his myopic adherence to a destructive ideology prevented him from doing a very good job of it.

Due to Walker's inability to budget his way out of brown paper bag, the House of Correction suffered from many problems.  Most of these problems stemmed from the fact that Walker refused to adequately staff the facility.  This chronic understaffing led to many problems including a large number of escapes, higher worker turnover rates, an increase in injuries to correction officers and inmates alike, and despite Walker's insistence that he was saving money, excessively high overtime expenses.  Needless to say, morale was at an all time low:

So now you have officers that are working 12 to 16 hours a day, six to seven days a week, week in and week out. Officers are getting so burnt out that they are purposely disrespecting superior officers, or violating other policies, just so they can get suspended and have a day off. (This also adds to the shortage of officers, and causes even more forced overtime for the others.) 

When you have people working these many hours, without a day off or even enough time to do more than catch five hours a sleep before going back to work on a daily basis, mistakes are going to happen. People aren't as alert or as careful as they should be, especially in a prison setting. 

The chronic fatigue, the inability for officers to see their families, and the increasing risk of injury has caused an all time low in morale. This is exasperated when they have people threatening their job security with talk of privatization.

Things got so bad that the facility got very low marks from a federal audit looking at all of the problems Walker had created.  Things were so far gone that the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisor felt compelled to take the HOC away from Walker and put it under the oversight of the Sheriff's Office.

Fast forward five years and it quickly becomes apparent that Walker has learned absolutely nothing from his previous mistakes.  In less than a year, he is making a shambles of the state's correctional system.

Due to his punitive Act 10, Walker has inspired a higher number of retirements than has been seen by the state before.  And because of the poor way he treats public employees, they are having a very difficult time filling the empty positions.  And even when they do find someone to try the job, they do not have the experience of the officers they're replacing.

On top of that, Walker's push to repeal the early release program has only made things worse.  Recently, four officers at the Dodge Correctional Institute were injured.  The inmates no longer have a reason to be on good behavior and are taking out their frustration on anger on the only people available to them, the correction officers:

“With changes in sentence structure due to Truth in Sentencing laws and the recent repeal of Act 28 (a provision that allows for the early release of some inmates), many inmates feel they have no options,” said Phil Briski, union president at DCI. “The inmate that left one of our officers with serious injuries said he had no hope of getting out of prison and was going to assault a staff member no matter where he was (incarcerated). They’re stuck in here for longer periods of time, and we’re the ones who are going to pay for it.” 

Briski thinks the low incidence of uprisings in Wisconsin correctional institutions over the years has been due to a highly trained, experienced staff. 

“With the contempt that’s been shown to us, people don’t care as much. They figure there’s no benefit to being above average,” Briski said. “Things are going to slip, and there’s going to be mistakes made due to the turnover in staff, overcrowding of prisons and the legislature’s failure to deal with the issues.”

I wonder what how a federal auditor would rate DCI now, even with less than a year of Walker's misguided policies.

But just when it appeared that morale among the correction officers couldn't get any worse, Walker adds insult to the injuries they've already suffered.

Through his Secretary of Corrections, Gary H. Hamblin, Walker has released a new set of rules over the work place.  All of them are aimed at further breaking the unions and, apparently, the spirits of the correction officers.

Some of the new rules were to be expected, such as limiting the ability of the unions to defend it's members against frivolous complaints or ensuring work place safety is being enforced.

But others are nothing more than the punitive actions of an insecure bully.  One of the more ridiculous changes is the removal of the union bulletin boards:

All union material on bulletin boards should be removed and returned to union representatives.Keys to the bulletin boards should be returned to management (Regional Chief, Superintendent,Warden, etc.), however, I am requiring each DOC work site to have at least one Employee Services Board. The current union bulletin boards may be repurposed as Employee Services Boards (if one does not exist) or used as general use boards.

o Material posted on the bulletin boards will be reviewed by management, but most information will be permitted, including notices of union meetings outside of DOC work spaces. Material deemed inappropriate will be removed. Individual work sites may determine their review or approval process for posting material

Despite this statement, correction officers are having to take down ALL union related materials. Per an email I received from a correction officer, these threatening things include plaques and certificates from the community, groups such as the Boys and Girls Club, thanking the union local for their support.  Another thing that Walker's administration is frightened of is a sign saying "Correctional Staff Support Workers Rights."

I have news for Walker and Secretary Hamblin - if you're scared of such innocuous items, you've already lost the battle and are now only fomenting the resistance of more and more people.

Another peculiar rule they decided to enforce is the abolishing of "paid professional days or training days."  It is curious how they expect the correction officers to maintain required standards of ongoing training and certification if they do not allow time for such trainings to take place.

Earlier in this piece, I said that it appeared that Walker learned nothing from his mistakes as county executive.  I may have to retract that statement.  Given these course of events, plus the impending doom when the current budget implodes, Walker apparently did learn something from his previous mistakes.

He has shown a marked improvement in efficiency, as evidenced by the fact that he is making even bigger mistakes at an even faster pace than he did as county executive.

Wisconsin's Favorite Game: Do You Know Where Your Governor Is?

Thursday is the day that the court case of Scott Walker vs GAB is being heard in Waukesha County (and you wondered why Walker had that law changed!). But Scott Walker won't be there.

The state's economy is dead last in the nation and the state is losing more jobs than any other. But on Thursday, Walker won't be in Madison working on finding ways to really fix the problems which he created.

Facing sure recall stemming from an amazing upswell of grassroots groups who are refusing to allow him to continue to ruin their state, Walker won't be taking time to talk to the people of Wisconsin.

Nope, he won't be at any of these places

So where will Dearest Leader be?

Well, in the morning, he will be getting smarmy with Morning Joe.

Then he will be jetting off to sunny California:

Controversial Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be the guest of honor at a Thursday fundraiser in Newport Beach hosted by county Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh and the GOP’s 400 Club. The event is free and open to members of the club, which costs $100 to join.

Poor guy apparently can't find any support in Wisconsin, so he is forced to seek the comfort of large, gratuitous donations from the arms of people on the other side of the country.

Either that or he just never gave a fig about the people of Wisconsin, which we already knew, didn't we?

Who do you know wants to sign a recall petition?

Republicans Sow More Confusion With Voter Suppression Law

You need a photo ID to get a photo ID

I think it's a fifty-fifty chance that the Republicans made the voter suppression law intentionally vague and ambiguous, just to give them a loophole when the inevitable happens and Scott Walker is recalled.

Then again, they have also offered more than ample proof that they're just not very bright either.

Scott Walker Is Such A Bad Governor...

Let's make this an interactive post:

I say, "Scott Walker is such a bad governor..."

You, gentle reader, say, "How bad is he?"

And then I say, "He's so bad, he won't even attend his own support rally!"

Then we all laugh at him.

H/T Illy-T

Walker's Play With Pay: Nothing New Under The Sun

In 2008, as the recession was hitting full swing, Scott Walker, then Milwaukee County Executive, falsely claimed that the county budget was in a crisis and illegally forced workers to take furlough days.  Years later, Milwaukee County tax payers were left on the hook to pay for the excessive and illegal furloughs to the tune of more than $6 million plus interest.

At the same time, that Walker was crying budgetary wolf, he was also handing out lavish raises to his cronies and yes men:

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker wants a 26% pay raise for his chief of staff, former Ald. Tom Nardelli, while bypassing traditional County Board approval in quietly issuing large pay raises over the summer to several other top aides.

Nardelli would get the biggest pay increase of top-tier county officials, a nearly $20,000 raise to $95,000 a year. Seven county administrators also scored increases of up to 12.5%.

Some supervisors are upset about being left out of the decision-making process for many of the raises and say Walker's timing couldn't be worse. Heavily rewarding a few top managers while Walker puts final touches on a 2009 budget that's expected to call for scores of layoffs of union workers sends a message of callous disregard, critics of the raises say.

Among the other big winners among Walker's top aides was Mitchell International Airport Director Barry Bateman. His pay rises $13,595, or 11%, to $136,299 a year. Facilities Management Director Jack Takerian got an $11,771 (12.5%) raise, to nearly $106,000.

At the same time, he was also laying off workers and demanding excessive concessions from workers, he was taking an automatic raise. And that's not counting the $50,000 raise he gave himself by breaking yet another campaign promise.

Given that sordid history and complete disregard for the truth, recent events were no big surprise to me.

Walker announced today that he was again going to stick it to the workers.  Only a few months after he cut their pay by hundreds of dollars a month - all so he could give tax breaks to his campaign donors - Walker decreed that state workers would not get a raise for at least the next two years.

As you absorb that tidbit, please remember that we already knew that he had been rewarding his cronies and yes men by appointing them to political positions, often at a much higher pay rate than their predecessors had been making.

To exacerbate this issue, via both Jake and Man MKE, it is noted that Walker is giving himself a $7,500 raise.  Not only is he being overly generous to himself, but he is also lavishing the love on some of his top henchmen like Becky Kleefisch, JB Van Hollen and Mike Huebsch.  You can see it all in this chart which can be found in the Statement of Benefits (Section B, page 5).:

I wonder who told him this was going to be a smart move with the recall about to start in just a few weeks.  Nothing like adding fuel to the fire.  He is either feeling very assured that the Koch Brothers will be able to buy his seat back from the people again or he's just not very bright.  While we already know the latter is true, I suspect that the real answer is both.

And if this pillaging of the working people of this state weren't enough, he also changed the rules about how state workers are going to be allowed raises, if that ever happens again under his regime.

Instead of having a worker's performance evaluated by their supervisor, all raises are going to go through the   Office of the State Employment Relations.  This flies in the face of Walker's talk about raises being done on a merit system.  Raises, as well as scheduling and assigning overtime, will be solely based on cronyism and who toes the party line instead of their actual job performance.

I have no doubt that they will also be monitoring any extracurricular activity to make sure that the workers are being good boys and girls.  Say anything disparaging about Walker or the Republicans on Facebook or Twitter and there goes your raise or your vacation request.

This sort of bullying has become a trademark for Walker and the Republicans.  Never did it cross their minds that if they had actually done their jobs by creating jobs instead of the full blown effort to turn Wisconsin into a corporate state, they wouldn't have had to resort to such base behavior.

But that's OK. Once we oust them from office, they'll have plenty of time to think about where they went wrong.

Give Paul Ryan Something To Listen To

Even though he might not like what we have to say, give Paul Ryan something to listen to:

Dear Friends and Neighbors -

Come join me this week or next for one of my listening sessions.
I want to hear from you and have important information to share as I continue to work for you in Washington.
Looking forward to seeing you.

Paul

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Paul Ryan Listening Sessions

MUSKEGO:
10:30am - 12:00pm
High Tides Banquet Hall, 17745 W. Janesville Road

OAK CREEK:
2:00 - 3:30pm
Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 South Howell Avenue

Friday, October 21, 2011

Paul Ryan Listening Sessions

RACINE:
9:00 - 10:30am
Cesar Chavez Auditorium, 2221 Douglas Avenue

-
Friday, October 28, 2011

Paul Ryan Listening Sessions

JANESVILLE:
9:00 - 10:30am
Pontiac Convention Center, 2809 North Pontiac Drive

ELKHORN:
12:00 - 1:30pm
Monte Carlo Room, 720 North Wisconsin Street

KENOSHA:
3:00 - 4:30pm
Gateway Technical College, Madrigrano Auditorium, 3520 30th Avenue

Paid for by Ryan for Congress

Randy Hopper: Republican Poster Boy

Hopper's mug shot - Photo
courtesy Fond du Lac County Jail

If one looks at the past couple of years of Randy Hopper's life, you would realize that he is the perfect poster boy for the Republican Party.

In January 2010, Hopper betrayed his wife and started having an affair with a lobbyist half his age, destroying his marriage as well as any credibility regarding his position of an elected leader.

In order to be close to his adulterous paramour, he moved out of his district, making a mockery of our electoral system.

He then made a sham of the civil service code by coaching and helping his mistress to get a cushy state job at an elevated pay scale.

During this time, Hopper joined his Republican cohorts in systematically attacking all that is good in Wisconsin, ramming through bill after bill destroying workers' rights, destroying women's rights, disdaining human dignity, removing ecological protections, widening the gap between the rich and the poor, raising taxes and fees on those least able to afford to give more, re-victimizing those that had already been victims of the poor economy (which they made so much worse) and performing almost every other conceivable evil deed they could think of.

Despite the Koch Brothers and other special interest groups like the private school profiteers and the anti-women and anti-gay groups pouring tons of money into the race and fellow Republicans going on squawk radio and making appearances to support him, he was rightfully recalled by the people of his district and replaced by a much better representative for the people, Jessica King.

Since his ouster from government, Hopper continued with his destructive ways, but turning them inwards.  On Sunday night, he not only got busted drunk driving (with his mistress in the car - who promptly bailed on him) but then refused to comply with a breathalyzer test for several hours.

Now, when I first heard this news early this morning, I will admit that I felt a bit of schadenfreude, but did not consider it to be worth writing a post about.

But that changed when I saw this post by MAL Contends which is reporting that the radio station that Hopper owns, KFIZ, was blocking the story regarding his arrest.  This is so very typical of the Republicans and the corporate media (in this case the Republicans and the corporate media are one and the same), reporting only the news they see fit to allow the public to know.

I don't understand what Hopper was trying to prove by blocking this news story since it was being reported by every other news source across the state.

In summary, Hopper portrays the very worst and increasingly typical aspect of Republicans.  He is hypocritical and will say whatever he thinks the public want' to hear whether he means it or not. He only cares for himself and his rich friends, but doesn't give a hoot for the people, even those he is supposed to represent.  But most typical of today's Republicans, their desire to destroy anything and anyone that gets between them and making a buck is so strong that they'll even turn upon themselves and the things they claim to hold so dearly like marriage or freedom.

It's really very sad for them.  But it also exemplifies with crystal clarity why they are not fit to lead this state.

The Absentee Supervisor

Milwaukee County Supervisor Paul Cesarz - the next missing person that will be found on a milk carton.

He must be searching for his missing campaign financial account's balance.

You know it must be bad when even CRG turns your back on him.

A Busload of Baloney

What is it with conservative politicians and their love of showboating?  People would be much more impressed with them if they actually did the people's work instead of just hamming it up for the cameras.

Scott Walker is a primary example.

But three local stooges - Supervisor Mark Borkowski and Aldermen Joe Dudzik and Bob Donovan - make a good showing at being useless or worse.

Because the Republicans Are Really, Really, Really Serious About Creating Jobs

Dreading his upcoming recall, Scott Walker called for yet another special session of the legislature to finally, after nearly a year, to get around passing some bills that may or may not create jobs.  Because, y'know, Walker and Cronies, Inc., are really, really, really, really, really, really serious about creating jobs.  Then again, maybe not:

The special session to get Wisconsin back to work opened briefly Thursday before going on hiatus.

Republican senators, following Gov. Scott Walker's call Wednesday for a special legislative session on job creation, convened long enough to open business, then quickly adjourned, asserting many of the nearly 30 bills Walker wants the Legislature to focus on have yet to be drafted.

The Legislature will begin work in earnest Oct. 18, running its regularly scheduled fall session concurrently with the special session.

The Republicans are so serious about creating jobs that they came to work two whole days this month, this being the second one.

So if they didn't have anything ready, why go through the pomp and circumstance of having a not-so-special special session? Walker's immunity-bearing spokesman gives us the answer (emphasis mine):

So, some have asked, what's so special about the special session, particularly because there doesn't appear to be an urgency to begin the business of debating and passing laws?

"The reason we called the special session was to highlight (the subject) and bring the legislation back on job creation," Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie told Wisconsin Reporter on Thursday.

In other words, it's part of the plan to do anything to distract everyone's attention from his failings and, even more so, from Walkergate.

Robin Vos: No Fan of Thomas Jefferson or Dale Carnegie

State Representative Robin "Bud" Vos has shown that he is a petty, little man.

Apparently heartbroken that Randy Randy "Bed" Hopper was recalled this past summer, Vos has gone beyond the pale by declaring that the ability of the people to exercise their rights by choosing their leaders and rejecting them when they abuse their power to is a "cancer."

To further his image of  a reprobate, he wants to provide "chemotherapy" to the state by removing more rights from the people.  He feels that recalls should only happen when a politician is convicted of a misdemeanor, charged with a felony or having been ruled of ethical violations by the Government Accountability Board.

The man is an idiot twice over.

First of all, as Bruce Murphy points out, the history of recalls show that this past summer was a diversion of the general rule.  Before the summer of the recalls, it had only been tried four times before.  Out of those four, only two were successful.  Murphy also goes on to make some excellent points, citing George Petak and Tom Ament, as how hypocritical the Republican stance about whether recalls should be about "policy decisions."

Apparently he doesn't like the famous quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson:

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

In Vos' world, he feels that if people get to uppity, the proper reaction is to act like a craven bully.

The other way Vos proves himself to be a vile creature is just the comparison to cancer.

Jeff Simpson points out that millions of people, including himself, are affected by cancer each year.  My family too has been hit by that scourge. It claimed my mother at the too young age of 55, just weeks before my marriage.  My wife is a survivor of two bouts of cancer.

I too take it personally when Vos compares the rights of a free people to something that has hurt my family so badly.  I also take offense at the fact that he feels protecting the adulterer Randy Hopper and the corrupt Dan Kapanke is more important than the lives of my loved ones.

But to show that I not a petty man like he is I am willing to sit down and talk about this with him.  We could have our own little beer summit.  I'll even further the cause of peace by bringing Vos a book of which he is in obvious and immediate need.

Scott Walker: Outside Agitator

Scott Walker, for unknown reasons, but believed to involve looking for the thousands of jobs he's chased out of the state or to raise money for his defense fund, was in Kentucky.  He was given the welcome he so richly deserves:



When you have millions of people around the state and the country telling you that you're in the wrong, and you're up to your armpits in scandal, you might just want to rethink what you're doing. But that might be just me.

Paul Ryan Is A Disgusting Boor

Paul Ryan also one of his constituents a public apology. Watch this video as he has a 71 year old man thrown to the ground and arrested, then jokes about medication which he would make inaccessible with his cuts to Medicaid and Medicare: This poor senior citizen is obviously scared for his life and is angry at Paul Ryan for being the one that is threatening it with his proposal of irresponsible and draconian cuts.

 For Ryan to not only have him arrested but then to joke about the poor treatment the man receives is simply inexcusably boorish behavior. Ryan needs to make a public apology for his behavior. Nothing less will suffice.

 And whether Ryan tries to defend his current seat or gets picked to run for Vice-President, which he is hoping for, I hope that the Democrats use this footage to saturate the airwaves so that people know how putrid the real Paul Ryan is.

 POSTSCRIPT: I also don't want to hear any complaints from the right wingers about the people protesting Ryan or Scott Walker or any of these other bullying miscreants. They lost that right when they cheered on the teahadists who were doing the same thing to Russ Feingold last year.

H/T Mal Contends