We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin
In this very important race for Governor, one of the key issues will be the Foxconn debacle. Every person running, has addressed in their key issues, how to minimize the damage to Wisconsin.
That is why it was so surprising to see Mayor Cory Mason, the former Democratic Assembly Rep, take the time out of his busy schedule, to help Scott Walker write a re-election ad to praise this awful company.
There are challenges to overcome, and there is work to be done, but I believe that the arrival of Foxconn creates the best opportunity in my lifetime to rebuild our middle class and build a stronger community for all of us.
Apparently this is Mr. Mason's view of the ideal middle class in WI.
I thank all the Republicans and Democrats who supported this bill and made the right call.
However, beyond a bunch of Republicans who know nothing of economics, and a few self serving "Democrats", not everyone is on board with the FoxConn Debacle.
The 2800 acres of privately held land in the Mount Pleasant area, was declared blighted so that the local officials could take land(and houses) held by Wisconsinites so they could then hand it to a foreign company, that turned a profit of $70+ Billion last year in the fourth quarter alone.
A local resident, Kimberly Mahoney, who recently built her dream home, only to have the Village Board declare it blighted and take it from her.
“I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ ” James said. “How can you tell us they’re taking our property? This is our property. We bought this property. How can you be taking our property with our brand new house?”
Their daughter Reese came home from school to celebrate her 12th birthday and asked her parents about it saying, “what happened with Foxconn?”
“She thought we were kidding when we told her we had to move,” Kimberly said. “She just started bawling.”
To be fair, not everyone hates Foxconn, some people heart it!
We have not even covered the 7 million gallons of water a day, that Foxconn will be taking from our greatest natural resource, Lake Michigan!
Whats 7 million gallons of freshwater from one of the biggest money making, life sustaining, tourist attractions in WI?
"It's tough to know the value of water until it's gone." Mark Udall
Well at least Cory Mason can sleep well, they did not declare his dream home blighted, he just used us all for his personal ambitions and goals, and made it that much harder to defeat Scott "John Doe" Walker in November.
I guess Mayor Mason is just trying to make Wisconsin Better!
“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Last Tuesday, Wisconsin held their primary which was the first time a partisan Presidential Primary was on the same ballot as a non partisan local and state wide election was on the same ballot.
The turnout was surprisingly high for a spring election and the ballot was confusing. For some reason there was a a spot at the top of the ballot where you could fill out Democrat or Republican. Why that would be a an option on a non partisan ballot is beyond me. That being said, lets move on to the individual races.
The Top of the ticket featured the first time there was a contested Presidential primary in ages. I Will not focus on the clown show on the right, instead lets focus on the Democratic Primary.
While the Republicans did receive more votes (around 97000) the leading vote getter in the Wisconsin Presidential Primary was Senator Sanders:
Bernie Sanders - 567,936
Ted Cruz - 531,129
Hillary Clinton - 432,767
Donald Trump - 386.370
John Kasich - 155,200
In the days leading up to the primary, Bernie Sanders was traveling the state holding rallies while Ms. Clinton was holding private events when she was not flying back to New York for a Lehman Brothers fundraiser.
Previous champions of labor like Cory Mason, Chris Taylor, Debra Kolste and Janis Ringhand inexplicably decided that the person who was in favor of every free trade deal in our history and championed the horrendous TPP would be the best choice for the people of WI.
Unfortunately Bernies strong showing showed us why the Democratic party continues to be insignificant in Wisconsin, the huge disconnect between the party and the voters!
Quick piece of advice to the WisDems - Progressive populism is not against the law! Until the state Democrats begin to make this a priority:
Over this:
We will continue to be a red state.
Things are not any better on the State party level, Martha Laning, State Party Chair, said that she would use her super delegate vote for the winner of the Wisconsin primary, and after Bernie won handily, quickly switched positions to sayings he would support whoever was winning at the end. Thus telling 568,000 Wisconsinites who braved the weather, lines and restrictive voting laws, thanks for playing but the game is over. Sit down and be quiet until we need you in the fall.
The way that the establishment circled their wagons for the Wall St. Senator did not go unseen by the people of Wisconsin. With Bernie Sanders outdrawing all candidates on a regular basis to great enthusiasm, it looked like the party establishment banded together to stop the Sanders uprising. If only they were so united for workers rights, public education and jobs.
The Supreme Court Race:
Wisconsin, despite already electing Mike Gableman to the Supreme Court has now elected someone even less qualified. In doing so, there is much blame and self reflection to go around and none of it belongs to Bernie Sanders.
First, Judge Kloppenburg made it clear that she did not really want the help of the Democratic party since this is a "non partisan" race and the Democratic party gladly obliged. Her opponent, was handpicked by the GOP, coordinated her campaign with the GOP and even let it be known that there was no need to even listen to oral arguments just rule how they tell her to rule.
The two parties are playing different games by different rules and as long as that continues to happen the GOP will continue successfully stacking the courts.
Secondly, many people loved that at the insider dinner in Milwaukee before the election when Hillary laid into Rebecca Bradley. While it was very much justified it hurt the cause.
No sane person would think that Ms. Kloppenburg was as hyper partisan as Ms. Bradley but when the establishment Democrat, with record negatives, lays into one candidate that confirms to people throughout the state that one candidate is an R and one is a D.
Now Ms. Kloppenburg is associated with all as the Democratic candidate and is twisting in the wind with no help from the Democratic party.
Again different games, different rules, same results.
Which brings us to the Milwaukee County Executive race.
While I live in Dane county and am not effected on a daily basis of Mr. Abele's poor policies. However as an observer from afar I found something interesting that no one seemed to talk about.
By all accounts, Mr. Abele spent approximately $5 million dollars smearing former Democratic Senate minority leader Chris Larson. What is important to note is that Mr. Larson was the former Democratic leader of the Senate when Mike Tate was the chair of the Democratic party. In all of Mike Tate's elections, Chris Larson was one of his biggest supporters.
Chris Abele hired Mike Tate to help him run his campaign. Mike Tate then promptly went to work smearing his old friend and supporter. Everyone knows that when Mike Tate took over the party, the Dems held both houses and the Governor's mansion and during his tenure they lost all three and have become irrelevant. We see with Tate taking a few pieces to smear a friend, the lack of values and ethics and character, and a good part of the reason why the party is no longer relevant.
One last observation. In the five million dollars that Tate/Abele spent to keep his $130,000/yr job, how many times did they mention the importance of electing JoAnne Kloppenburg? The same amount of times that anyone in the establishment has spoken up about Chris Abele working against the party.
My first recommendation for the party is to have Peter Barca resign his leadership position immediately and place Rep. Jonathon Brostoff Assembly minority leader.
"I don’t know too many Wisconsin families who would rush out to spend
money they don’t have, particularly when they’ve already put more money
on the credit card and they have more bills coming due," Burke said.
While it is not surprising that the republicans voted in lockstep with the Governor, thinking for themselves is not their strong suit. What is surprising though is that Governor Walker found two Democrats who were more than happy to join him in increasing our spending and harming our public schools:
Their constituencies must be very proud. Maybe they can send them thank you cards for all of the teacher's in their district that are laid off next school year.
Assembly Democrats pushed a plan similar to Burke's that would put
more money into the state's rainy day fund, recast the property tax cut
to increase the average savings per homeowner to $231 and nearly triple
money for job training.
"When are we really going to focus on the middle class?" said Rep.
Cory Mason, D-Racine. "When are we going to get people back to work?"
The Assembly, where Republicans hold a 60-39 majority, rejected the Democratic alternative on a party line vote.
The republicans will never cross party lines to be responsible but two dems could not sign on to Scott Walkers irresponsible spending bill quick enough.
What is the next trick of Vruwink/Smith? Co authoring a bill with Joel Kleefisch?
Ok I get it they are "fiscal conservatives", as Blaska wrongly puts it(when speaking of the potential Madison School Board tax hike):
Any company that hiked prices by 7.4% would meet massive customer
resistance unless it faced a shortage caused by some natural disaster.
(Edit note: 1. Schools are not companies(nor do they want schools to act like companies they just use it as a stupid talking point), 2. Companies raise prices all the time and shrink services(do you pay attention to the Canadian twinkies you just bought and handed out to your 8 friends?) 3. When you need to use the service/product you have no choice when it goes up(have you seen gas prices lately?) 4. Public workers, while performing services for the PUBLIC, already make less than private workers! 5. HOWEVER for the sake of this argument we will take Blaska at his word).
So Mary Burke, David Blaska and a host of others think that we should scale back public service pay because we are "broke".
And the list goes on and on and on in Scott Walker's Wisconsin. All to deafening silence from the "fiscal conservatives".
Now I understand why Blaska parrots and covers for the righties. He got his pension and state pay and wants to make sure no one else does. While I do not understand the hypocrisy, ignorance and selfishness, I do get it.
I also do not expect Mary Burke to be the leader on standing up to all of this abuse, UNLESS, she wants to be run for Governor. If so then the only story I can find on her doing a google search should NOT be that she wants to cut teacher pay again! She needs to take an active and vocal leadership role ....YESTERDAY!
I also do not hold Burke solely accountable for this.....where is Chris Larson, Peter Barca, Cory Mason, Kathleen Vinehout, et al... If you want to be our next Governor(and I would prefer that you become Governor in 2014), then it is time to stop the backroom discussion and step up front and center!
While the republicans pretended they cared about the poor(at least in their talking points if not their actions), the reality was they set the hook for democrats to bite. After talking to some who voted for this ridiculous bill, their "reasoning" was they wanted to continue the debate(which is BS we can continue the debate and NOT vote for it) and that they wanted to bring attention to the fact that Foodstamps is a pittance and doesnt come close to feeding hungry families(which IS true).
However the real reason, which no one will admit too publicly, is they did not want to have to deal with this republican talking point when they run for re-election:
The Democrats want to spend your tax money on the poor eating potato chips and Dorito's!
See with the current batch of republicans, it is ONLY about the next election! However the correct response here, is that Democrats do not believe in controlling your life to the miniscule point of deciding what you buy at the grocery store. Democrats also like having Frito Lay jobs in Beloit and Poore Brothers jobs in Menomonie.
After minority leader Peter Barca and 12 other democrats took the cowardly way out, it is easy to see why we are in the minority. Every Democrat knew what the republicans were doing. It is not hard to realize that Dean Kaufert does not have the people on FoodShare's best interests at heart. However they jumped on the bandwagon and joined in on the piling on the poor bill. However, many did not(a few posts from facebook):
Chris TaylorIt was my pleasure to vote against that horrible bill Karen!
Have
you ever had a gift card for an out of town restaurant? There's been
one on my dresser for three months now. This is what the "healthy
eating" food stamp bill does to so many people. The idea isn't so bad,
but we need to first increase access to healthy food in many areas where
people use food stamps. There has to be access in terms distance, as
well as affordability, or else you're simply targeting the poor.
I
didn't run for the state Assembly to scapegoat people who are
struggling to put food on the table, so I'm not supporting AB 110, which
is a bill that forces unreasonable and counterproductive dietary
restrictions on the purchases of FoodShare beneficiaries.
Additionally, and in the words of the Wisconsin Council on Children and
Families, "We will be more successful in addressing obesity if we
develop and implement policies that improve the nutritional quality of
food, improve access to healthy foods in low-income communities,
encourage physical activity, and educate our society at large about the
high costs of obesity and the importance of a systemic approach to
obesity reduction."
Maybe it's asking too much, but I'd like to
see the obesity epidemic addressed in a reasonable way, in a way that
recognizes the societal nature of the problem, and in a way to applies
policies equally to all Wisconsinites.
The point is, we have maxed out our effectivness with the old guard at the helm. Barca, Mason, Jorgenson, etc... have all served the people very well and will continue to serve the people of WI. However, internally its time for a change. The Senate made another up and comer, Chris Larson, their leader and its time for the same to happen in the Assembly.
While the Democrats lost seats in the last election, strictly due to Gerrymandering, the people of Wisconsin overwhelmingly supported progressives. They sent many young, progressive, intelligent, talented people to the Assembly and its time to draw upon their expertise and enthusiasm!
Mr. Barca, it is time to step aside and let the young stars of the party take a more active leadership role.
Let's give Mandela Barnes, Chris Taylor, Melissa Sargent, Eric Genrich, Dianne Hesselbein and Katrina Shankland(among others), a chance to guide our party into the 21st Century and back to the majority!
The goal of the state’s supplemental food program is stated plainly on its website: “FoodShare Wisconsin was created to help stop hunger and to improve nutrition and health.” Unfortunately, what’s missing in the program is the promotion of good health. Instead, the FoodShare’s QUEST card is a cash card for junk food. The simple reality is that people buy cakes, candy, chips and sugary drinks with their benefit cards. Of course, these items lack nutritional value and are hardly a recipe for good health.
A recent study from Yale University showed that billions of tax dollars each year are spent on sugary drinks through the food stamp program. The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University estimates $2 billion in benefits are spent on high-calorie drinks bought in grocery stores. Those figures don’t include purchases from every store. At a time when our country is battling an obesity problem, it’s not right that our tax dollars are being spent on items that doctors say clearly contribute to a national epidemic.
The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee inserted a provision into the state budget Thursday that would ban counties and municipalities from restricting the sale of food and beverages based on calories, portion size or nutritional quality. The change would not interfere with local governments to put limits on alcoholic beverages.
Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend), the backer of the measure, called it an "anti-Bloomberg bill," referring to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who championed limiting serving sizes for soda. Strachota said she was backing it because she'd heard officials in Madison and Stevens Point were discussing similar limits. She said people should be able to buy any size soda and popcorn at movie theaters.
"I want to make sure I can continue having that experience and don't have government telling me I can't have that experience," Strachota said.
Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) called the proposal ironic because it came two days after the Assembly passed a bill requiring that food satamp recipients spend two-thirds of their benefits on health food.
"It makes it seem you were really going after the way poor people behave and not everyone else," Mason said.
The measure passed 12-4, with all Republicans for it and all Democrats against it.
We brought you the ridiculous story of Dean Kaufert and Robin Vos wanting to tell people on food stamps what they could and could not buy at the grocery store.
Wisconsin's AB 110 would mandate that two-thirds of a person's
FoodShare benefits could be spent only on foods on the WIC-approved
list. Exemptions have been added so recipients can also purchase fish,
beef, pork, chicken, and potatoes. Strangely, exemptions were not added
so that the "healthy" two-thirds could also be spent on a full range of
healthy Wisconsin farm products and fresh food.
The result is that the bulk of your FoodShare dollars can be spent on
milk, but not organic milk; on eggs, but only on white eggs by the
dozen, not on brown, free-range, or organic eggs; on 100 percent whole
wheat bread, but not on gluten-free bread for those with Celiac disease;
on slices of American cheese, but not sharp cheddar. FoodShare dollars
can be spent on dry beans, but not if they come from a money-saving bulk
bin at your local food coop. You can get juice boxes for your children,
but only Juicy Juice brand juice boxes.
But WAIT there's more, its NOT just those foods there are so many more, as an anonymous source told me:
THe WIC list is terribly restrictive. I know a lot of people have been
talking about the fact you can’t buy brown eggs, but the list does not
include many basic foods.
The WIC list had no oils, margarine or
butter. It has no spices, herbs, sauces, mustard, catsup or salad
dressing.It has no flour, baking soda, sugar or
honey. It has no pasta, noodles, canned soups, canned beans, or canned meat like chili etc... crackers, bagels. It only allows 100% wheat
bread. It does not take into effect anyone with a gluten free diet.
So we have decided that the poor people in our community do not deserve to eat soup, frozen foods, crackers or frozen dinners. Who eats frozen dinners in 2013 you say, well my source answered that:
The last 4 are especially important to the elderly, disabled and ill
people who get FoodShare. These individuals may not be able to cook a
meal "from scratch" or even have access to a full kitchen.
These
people depend on "ready to heat" meals, but they may not be able to
purchase as many "ready to heat” meals as they need because AB 110
restricts ALL of Non-WIC foods to a mere 33% of their monthly FoodShare
amount.
On the healthy foods bill, no studies have looked at the spending on
different kinds of groceries within Wisconsin's FoodShare program,
according to the state Department of Health Services. That means it's
unclear whether the bill would actually increase the amount of money
spent on healthy food in FoodShare.
Kaufert said that the bill should be passed because a substantial
amount of FoodShare benefits is clearly being spent on junk food. But
Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) said that's due in part to the fact that
needy families in areas such as Milwaukee's inner city don't have ready
access to stores stocking fresh fruits and vegetables.
Well there are no studies but everyone Kaufert knows poorer than him, is fat and no where near the physical fitness specimen that he is so they must be eating junk food!
The costs of implementing the program have also been a concern for
grocery store owners, who would need to make significant computer system
changes to do that. Kaufert's bill has drawn outright opposition from
other groups, including Kraft Food Group - the food giant whose holdings
include Oscar Mayer Co. in Madison - PepsiCo Inc. and state
associations representing food processors, convenience stores and
retailers.
So when we desperately need jobs we are forcing an unfunded expensive mandate on some of our biggest employers.....brilliant strategy!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the FoodShare
program, isn't commenting on the Wisconsin bill. In the past, it has
rejected proposals in other states restricting the sales of soda or
candy using public benefits, including Minnesota in 2004, New York in
2010, and Mississippi in 2012.
It will probably be rejected. So we are spending all of this time and wasting money implementing a new restrictive big government intrusion law that will in the end be rejected. At least we let the poor know that they have been living the good life by eating honey, Ketchup and Mustard far too long.
You lazy bastards have had dressing on your salads for long enough! We are gunning for you!!
The worst part is when the 858,000 Wisconsinites who received some form of FoodShare benefits needed someone to stand up for them. The democratic party went AWOL.
When 858,000 Wisconsinites needed someone to explain that the problem is the healthy food costs too much and many people do not have access to real grocery stores anyway, these 13 democrats said too bad for you!
When 858,000 Wisconsinites, were saying, in a very LOUD chorus, we NEED JOBS, these 13 democrats stood shoulder to shoulder with Robin Vos and said - we have other priorities!
When 858,000 Wisconsinites are working their butt's off to get by and raise their families, these 13 democrats said - "shame on you - get a job!"
When 858,000 Wisconsinites had no where else to turn, these 13 democrats looked them in the eyes and said "you are not deserving of butter, soup, ketchup or Spices."!
Do not fear though, in a year those same democrats will be asking you to give them donations, volunteer for them doing doors, and answering phones. 858,000 people in a state of 5.7 million is a significant amount of votes(to put this in context, Pat "I see nothing" Roggensack's total vote was 482,696) and the dems will be asking you for their help.
They will need it!
Remember this day, I will!
If one of these democrats is YOUR rep, call them. If not call Peter Barca and express your outrage that he would support such big government, intrusive legislation in WI!
Democratic JFC members note the Walker budget repeats the mistakes of the last budget that left Wisconsin 44th in the nation in job creation
MADISON – The first day of the Legislature’s budget committee process showcased two starkly different perspectives on the budget while the briefings with Walker Administration officials left many important questions unanswered.
Today the JFC heard testimony from the Department of Administration, the Department of Justice, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Workforce Development.
“Wisconsin is faced with a budget that shifts taxpayer money to unaccountable private schools, sells off public assets without requiring a bidding process and gives tax breaks to the wealthy,” said Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine). “It increases spending, increases debt and fails to restore damaging cuts to public education and job training that are hurting our state’s economic recovery.”
“What we do not have is a budget targeted at helping the middle class by supporting public schools, providing the best access to quality healthcare, creating family-supporting jobs and helping working families,” added Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee). “But it is not too late for the Legislature to reverse these shortsighted plans.”
Legislative Democratic Joint Finance Committee members pushed for a reversal of some of the most draconian budget provisions, such as taking tax dollars away from public schools across the state and freezing their resources while giving a more than 30% increase in tax dollars to unaccountable, private voucher schools. Democratic members also opposed giving a tax break to the most wealthy Wisconsinites, while a Republican member actually pushed for increasing money going to the highest income families.
“The more we analyze this 1,080 page bill, the clearer it becomes that it is not targeted toward helping the middle class, will not put people back to work and further jeopardizes our public schools,” Richards noted.
Democratic JFC members also raised questions on several items in the budget where the intent is not clear such as:
Selling off state and University of Wisconsin property, which could include dormitories, highway rest stops or even the highways – without any the university or state agency approval and without requiring bids.
Changing statutes to allow land ownership by foreign corporations.
Cracking down on people earning low wages who Republicans raised taxes on last budget.
“Wisconsinites deserve to see a clear budget plan that lays out a new path that will raise Wisconsin from 44th in the nation in job creation by supporting our working families,” Mason added. “But all we heard today was more of the same failed policies of last time.”
Posts
