Time For A Closer

By Jeff Simpson

Mike Tate is going out, the way he came in and ran the party - selfishly, condescending, and self delusional.

According to Dan Bice, which shows Tate's selfishness that he told Bice this and not any long time liberal bloggers or party members, Mike Tate is "stepping down".

“Accordingly, today I am announcing that I will not seek another term as chair at our convention in June.”
Tate, whose combative style made him a lightning rod to Republicans, leaves behind a decidedly mixed record as head of the Wisconsin Democrats. The 35-year-old party boss could not be reached for comment on Thursday morning.
A little more than two months ago, Tate’s team suffered major losses up and down the ballot, failing for the third time to defeat Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is now considering a presidential bid in 2016.
All three branches of state government are now firmly in GOP control.

Technically Mike Tate is not "stepping down" he is not running for re-election.  He is going to keep his cushy, well paying job until the very last day he can.  Besides he has one more spring election to lose.

Mike Tate relinquishing his role as head of the ole boys club, will now set  in motion a bunch of people trying to take over his seat at head of the Ole Boys table.  Hopefully whoever ends up taking his place has a firmer grip on reality.

"I have had a front row seat to all of the historic highs and lows Wisconsin has seen in the last six years. It has been a period of great upheaval and change; we have experienced heartbreaking setbacks and incredible triumphs," he wrote. He makes only a brief mention to "the lows of Scott Walker's electoral success."

 Considering when Mike Tate took over the reigns, the Democrats were in charge of all three branches of Government and now are an irrelevant minority, and lost to the most extreme Governor in our history(and one who is under a huge cloud of ethics investigations) three times, leaves one flabbergasted.



 It is interesting though that Jason Rae from Nation Consulting, wants to take his place.   Since Nation Consulting is the group that is responsible for Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, it seems like a natural thing for Tate and Rae to switch positions.  That way we can continue losing elections and not skip a beat!

Hiring lobbyist to run the party, has worked so well for us, why stop now?

No more steak knives!   

Corporate Media Tries To Cover Up Walker's Molotov Gaffe

By now, the gentle reader has probably heard about the gaffe by Scott Walker, found by the good folks at One Wisconsin Now, in which he signed a letter "Thank you again and Molotov."  The story has pretty much gone viral across the nation, including Jeff Simpson's coverage of the story at this here blog.

Unsurprisingly, the corporate media once again steps in to minimize the bad news for Walker.

First look at the coverage by Jessie Opoien from the Cap Times:

Presumably, Walker meant to write "mazel tov" and didn't intend to wish good tidings of incendiary weapons. Perhaps it was a case of AutoCorrect or that pesky Microsoft Word paperclip causing shenanigans.

Opoien then goes on to list other gaffes to show this one wasn't so bad on the grand scheme of things.

Things get ridiculous when one looks at the story by Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Walker, however, downplayed the mistake on Wednesday. He said that the letter probably dated back a decade and said he couldn’t remember if it went out in that form.

“My guess is it was a typo,” Walker said. “I figured nationally my thumb has healed up and my bald spot is boring now, so they’re going to talk about things like that.”

[...]

Walker's mistake could have been the result of Auto Correct, the program that offers sometimes not-so-helpful edits to misspelled words, even though the note to Gimbel appears to be a formal letter.

Microsoft Word doesn't have an automatic correction function. But if you type mozoltov -- a phonetic spelling of mazel tov -- Microsoft will suggest "molotov" as an alternative spelling.

The truth is that Walker really is that spelling-impaired.

As evidence, I would remind the gentle reader of Walker's tribute to Abraham Lincoln that was so strewn with spelling errors that it would give an English teacher a migraine:

Walker the historian gives us a comment on Lincoln's most famous speech, and misspells a great man's name twice in the process:

"At (sic) his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln famously said, 'Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal' This was not just lip service, as evidenced from the words of contemporaries like Frederick Douglas (sic), former slave and early civil rights leader. Douglas (sic) said Lincoln was 'the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color.'"

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Walker's screed against the Democrats, disguised as a tribute to Lincoln, goes on to say, "This sediment (sic) that all men are is equal is evidenced in the Republican Party's current platform of equal taxes on all, and opportunity for all regardless of race, gender, or age ... Contrast that with the tenants (sic) of the (sic) Barack Obama and the Democrat (sic) party ... "

Obviously, Walker isn't the brightest flame on the Menorah.  This wasn't a typo or an errant spell check.  It was just more evidence that Walker's poor cognitive skills.

Sadly, this isn't the first time Bice has done something like this.

Bice also wanted people to think that the reason he had fired Taylor Palmisano wasn't because of the infamous Black Friday fundraising email but because of some racist tweets she had made three years before, but just happened to coincidentally surface at the same time as the story about the email.

TOP SECRET

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker came out with a new propaganda piece, where he apparently was able to find 6 people who are doing better in WI under his watch.  Kudos to the Walker team for being able to find that needle in the haystack.

When the press asked Scott Walker to provide information who the people were in the ad to confirm that Scott Walker was telling the truth, he refused.   Now, out of the blue, he apparently has and they have all checked out.  

Gov. Scott Walker's campaign declined to identify the six individuals who declare in his new TV ad that they had recently landed new jobs. This reluctance prompted Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate to call it a "phony" TV commercial and to ask, "Is there any reason to believe any of these stories are true?"
But the Journal Sentinel was able to track down the four men and two women.
The result: These are not actors, even if the video was shot at Walker's advertising agency, Nonbox Inc. in Hales Corners. All six have landed jobs in the Milwaukee area during Walker's tenure, according to the individuals, their employers or public records.

 We already know though, that one of the people does not check out at all. 

Governor Scott Walker's most recent ad has an unidentified worker saying "thanks Scott" because he got a job at Mahuta Tools.
Upon further review, however, he should be saying thanks to former Governor Jim Doyle.  Here's why:  A 2010 Milwaukee Business Journal details how Mahuta Tools had expanded their operation back in 2008-- under Doyle-- and had to mothball it during the Great Dubya Recession:

 One of six does not check out as able to thank Scott Walker, what about the other five? Well we have to take Dan Bice's word because he is not releasing the names. 

Mary Burke goes to Netroots nation and we know who she hung out with - by name! 

Mary Burke has a staffer quit and we know his name.

Mary Burke attends a fundraiser and we know who puts it on and who is there by name!  

Mary Burke has a video conference and we know who was on the call - by name!  

Mine Protestors are called out by name in the paper. 

If you signed the recall petition, no matter what your position is in life, Dan Bice will let everyone know. 

Heck, Dan Bice even linked to my personal facebook page, in a discussion regarding Trek's outsourcing,

The one thing that must remain TOP SECRET in Wisconsin are the names of Scott Walker supporters who willingly act in a television commercial supporting Scott Walker's re-election.

The continual acquiescence of our state's media to Scott Walkers whims is painful to watch!  

Alleigh "pro-choice" Marre!

By Jeff Simpson


H/t Dan Bice:

We know that Scott Walker's hiring practices have been abhorrent, where the ONLY disqualification is "did you sign the recall".    Now it appears as Scott Walker has finally hired someone with an actual open mind.   

Walker's campaign brought on Alleigh Marre, 25, last month as the press secretary for his high-stakes re-election effort. Marre had previously worked for the National Republican Congressional Committee and former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican who is an abortion-rights advocate.
On her now-defunct blog, Marre wrote a piece in defense of Planned Parenthood after the GOP-backed U.S. House of Representatives voted to end funding for the organization.
"I'm a Republican, and I support Planned Parenthood, a woman's right to choose, access to STD testing, birth control, etc.," Marre wrote Sept. 21, 2011. "Did I mention I'm a Republican?"

Hey Julainne Appling and Barbara Lyons - Put  that in your "pro-life" pipe and smoke it.  By the way if you express concern over this and yet remain silent when the republicans stand with cancer and against treatment for cancer victims - you might want to re-think what "pro-life' stand for! 

 


PS: Tell us in the comments what day and when Ms. Marre gets jettisoned to the curb by Scott Walker.  Winner gets a shiny new no-prize!  

 

Misogyny Among Republicans Is Nothing New

Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel echoes an article he saw in the Waukesha Freeman that involves a bit of trivial gossip one might expect from a tabloid.  The story involves Fitzwalkerstan's most notorious groper, Bill Kramer (emphasis mine):

A month before he was ousted as Assembly majority leader for sexual misconduct, Kramer said Gov. Scott Walker might face a tough fight against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke later this year.

The Waukesha Republican thought it a good idea to focus on Burke’s appearance, according to the Waukesha Freeman.

“She’s innocuous, she has no record to beat him with and now that she’s had her makeover, she’s attractive, she’s a woman.” Kramer said on Jan. 31. “But maybe it doesn’t matter who she is. People already know what they think of Walker: love or hate.”

Again, this is nothing surprising. Kramer has a well-known history of making misogynistic and sexist remarks.

Nor is this the first time that the right wing has gone after Burke for her appearance.

Last fall, Bice's fellow Journal Communications employees Charlie Sykes and Brian Fraley were making comments about Burke's looks, calling it an "extreme makeover."

And sexism and misogyny from the right is nothing new.  I wrote about it six years ago, pointing out how the right has an extraordinary propensity for objectifying women.

It should be noted that it's not only Burke that has to put up with this boorish behavior.

Wendy Davis, a gubernatorial candidate in Texas, has not only had to have comments made about her looks, but the right has gone as far as attack her on her parenting style.  That is something that no male candidate has had to experience.

Likewise, Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is taking on Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, has been repeatedly attacked with sexist remarks and has been sexualized by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

I could go on for days citing examples of the rampant sexism and misogyny among Republicans - and that is not counting all the rape culture idiocy that they are so very proficient at.

Ironically, Bice said that Kramer's comments "were offensive at the time," but were now "illuminating."  Neither of those descriptions are accurate.

Kramer's comments were offensive and still are.  The offensiveness of his comments did not go away.

Likewise, they are not illuminating.  They are just one more example of the sexism and misogyny that have become so sadly commonplace that people don't even recognize it as such anymore.

And that's got to change.

Krug's Subterfuge

 

By Jeff Simpson

H/T Dan Bice:


"My first spending cut is promising not to collect one cent of (legislative) per diem money ever," Scott Krug(R- Nekoosa)  told the Wisconsin State Journal in 2010.



Forgetting that fact that not collecting per diem's is NOT a spending cut, let's look at the definition of ever.

ev·er

ˈevər/

adverb

adverb: ever

1. 1.

   at any time.

   "nothing ever seemed to ruffle her"

   synonyms:

   at any time, at any point, on any occasion, under any circumstances, on any account; More up till now, until now "the best I've ever done"

   • used in comparisons for emphasis.

     "they felt better than ever before"
2. 2.

   at all times; always.

   "ever the man of action, he was impatient with intellectuals"

   synonyms:

   always, forever, eternally, until hell freezes over, until the cows come home More

But wait there is more:

¹prom·ise

noun \ˈprä-məs\

: a statement telling someone that you will definitely do something or that something will definitely happen in the future
: an indication of future success or improvement

: a reason to expect that something will happen in the future

 Now, as so often happens in Wisconsin, reality and the republican talking points do not match up!

 But recently released records show Krug finished in the top 20 in the state Assembly for these tax-free payments in 2013, banking $10,560 for 120 days of work in Madison. That comes on top of his salary of $49,943 per year.

Krug's explanation:

"Obviously, those first two years in office, that's a fifth of our salary, leaving it on the table there," he said. "That's a decent sacrifice to make for the situation we were in."

Who knew that campaign pledges had term limits?

"Apparently, Scott Krug's promises are only good for two years," said Scott Spector, executive director of the liberal group Wisconsin Progress.

We know that Scott Krug is not one of the brightest bulbs on the Holiday tree, so let's help him out.

 Per diem is NOT salary (you would think someone who is making major fiscal decisions would understand that).

 per diem (ˈpɜː ˈdaɪɛm; ˈdiːɛm)

adv

1. every day or by the day

n

2. (Commerce)

a. an allowance for daily expenses, usually those incurred while working

b. (as modifier): a per-diem allowance.

 Salary :  Salary is a fixed amount of money or compensation paid to an employee by an employer in return for work performed. Salary is commonly paid in fixed intervals, for example, monthly payments of one-twelfth of the annual salary.

Krug won by 100 votes in the last election, let's hope there are 50 people in Nekoosa sufficiently embarrassed by his incompetence that they switch their vote!


 Here is Krug accepting the WMC job creator award(isnt that ironic)!  




 Luckily for the people of the 72nd District, you have a real choice.  You have a real intelligent public servant running against Scott - Dana Duncan! 

You should "like" Dana Duncan's facebook page here and let's get him elected! 

In The Interest Of Full Disclosure

It's funny how some things work.

Like how every time there is a negative story about Scott Walker, Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel just happens to come up with a story to take the heat off of Walker.

For example, when I broke the story about how Walker sent out a fundraising email telling people to forgo buying Christmas presents for their children and sending him the money instead, Bice came out a few days later - just as my story was getting international attention - to say that Walker threw an aide under the campaign bus for some tweets she sent three years ago, before she was even working for Walker.

Bice's willingness to go along unquestioningly with this damage control story served it's purpose - it effectively distracted people from Walker's misstep.

More recently, a story appeared in Milwaukee Magazine which reported on the many blunders and corporate kowtowing of Walker's DNR Secretary Kathy Stepp.  This, of course, served as an embarrassment to Walker.

So here comes Bice to the rescue, by practicing some McCarthyism and pointing out that the freelance write who penned the article had signed a recall petition. The horror of it all!

Yet among all the topics covered in the the 5,600-word story, Ginsberg-Schutz makes no mention of the fact that she herself had signed the Walker recall petition in late 2011. Walker fended off an effort to remove him from office in a June 2012 election.

Asked why she omitted this detail, the writer -- who dubs herself an "independent journalist" -- referred questions to Kurt Chandler, editor of Milwaukee Magazine.

Bice went on to badger Milwaukee Magazine editor Kurt Chandler, who, to his credit, stuck to his guns and squashed Bice's attempts at getting a gotcha moment:

Chandler raised a number of questions when asked about disclosing the recall signature.

For instance, he asked, should a political writer disclose how he has voted when covering a political contest? Must a reporter make public that she has had an abortion when writing about women's health? And what are the disclosure rules for a Mormon reporting on gay rights issues?

"Reporters are citizens as well as journalists," Chandler wrote. "I don’t believe a reporter’s credibility is compromised by his or her political or moral views. My role as a magazine editor is to weed out bias without tamping down tone, voice, style and, yes, even point of view (which is much different than bias) – ingredients of a well-written and well-balanced story."

Bice ended his article by pointing out that no MJS reporters signed the recall petitions, claiming it was a violation of the "paper's ethics policy."

That surprised the hell out of me. I wasn't aware that the paper even had an ethics policy. I mean, come on, this is the paper owned by Journal Communications which teamed up with the Koch-funded Wisconsin Club for Growth to produce White Wisconsin.

But it also surprised me that Bice would add that since he is guilty himself of not practicing full disclosure.

If full disclosure was truly such a big issue, Bice would have included in his article - and every article he wrote defending Walker - that Steve Smith, CEO and Chairman of the Board for Journal Communications, which owns the paper, is also a member of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC).  He would also disclose that not only did MMAC strongly support Walker directly with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations, but was so zealous in their donations that they broke campaign finance laws by donating more than the allowed amount.

But full disclosure at the paper has never been their strong suit, making Bice's article not only ironic, but rather hypocritical.

And for the purpose of full disclosure - and to head off the McCarthyites - I not only proudly signed the recall petition, I collected signatures for it as well.  So there!

More Fundraiser Follies: The Corporate Media Edition

Anyone that has even the least bit of involvement into politics knows that the silly season is upon us.  And right now, it's the fundraising festival season.  For the past several weeks, I have been so inundated with
invitations to fundraising parties and received so many fundraiser emails that I had to keep double checking my checkbook, wondering if all these pols knew something about my financial status that I didn't.  Alas, there wasn't the millions that all these pols thought I must have.

Anyway, Mary Burke has apparently come out with her first fundraising email.  This was enough to cause Dan Bice of the corporate media giant Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to rush to report on it because....well, I'm not really sure why:.  From Bice's article:

In her first fundraising letter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke has launched an attack on Gov. Scott Walker, labeling him a "Tea Party hero" who treats women like second-class citizens while currying favor with radicals by slashing public school funding to pay for corporate tax breaks.

And that's just on the first page.

Hmm. Calling Scott Walker is "an attack" now? I guess that means that ABC News and Yahoo News have been attacking him to since they referred to Walker as a "Tea Party hero" in their news stories.

It also means that Walker has been attacking himself, since he referred to himself as the "Original Tea Party in Wisconsin."

Bice goes on to admit that Walker has been attacking Mary Burke for months, although Bice states that Walker never refers to Burke by name.  Well, that might be true for the hard copy fundraiser letter, but it sure isn't true for the fundraising emails he sent out a few weeks ago.

But the article doesn't come without a bit of irony, this time in the form of Joe Fadness, director of WISGOP and former Walker campaign staffer (Walkergate, anyone?):

Republicans were quick to suggest that Burke, a member of the Madison School Board, was trying to shift the focus from herself.

"Burke's divisive rhetoric comes at the same time she runs from her failed record of voting to raise taxes and implementing policies in the Doyle-Burke Administration that left Wisconsin with billion-dollar budget deficits and massive job loss," said Joe Fadness, executive director of the state Republican Party. "Wisconsin deserves better."

The irony of that statement is probably a thousand times the recommended daily allowance.  Given the fact that Walker is Mr. Divide and Conquer, Fadness can't really complain about divisiveness.  Nor does Walker have a very good record on job creation or balancing budgets.

But to be fair to Fadness, I'm sure he is feeling the pressure from the Son of Doe investigations, which is not only targeting Walker's campaign but also WISGOP and their illegal collaboration with the dark money groups.

But the real kicker is how Bice and the paper had to rush this non-story story out.  These are the same people that didn't even mention Walker's Grinch fundraiser email until the day after the story had gone international and four days after I broke the story.  And even when the paper got around to reporting the email, they buried the lede in favor of the cover story on why Walker's campaign fired the staffer who agreed to have her name put on it.

Remind me again how liberal the corporate media is. For some reason, I keep forgetting.

Sacrificed at the Altar of Ambition

By Jeff Simpson

Taylor Palmisano, the author of the send us your kids Christmas money, was sacrificed this afternoon at the alter of Scott Walker's ambitions.   

Luckily for Scott Walker, Dani Bice did some digging and found a couple racist tweets in her past.    Which led to her being dismissed immediately, with a health dose of fake outrage thrown in:

"Taylor Palmisano has been immediately removed from her position with the Friends of Scott Walker campaign," said spokesman Jonathan Wetzel. "Both the Governor, and the campaign, condemn these insulting remarks which do not reflect our views in any way."

They were so outraged by her tweets that they waited three years to fire her?  Granted she had only been in her current position of collecting kids Christmas presents for 6 months but I would think she went through an interview process.   Did anyone in the office follow her on twitter?   

I am sure it is coincidence that she was fired shortly after the Christmas present story was picked up by ABC news.   Yes purely coincidence!   

 

Besides if Scott Walker is so against racism....he will veto the nASS racist mascot preservation bill sitting on his desk.  

She immediately disappeared from twitter and facebook.     One thing to look for, is where she resurfaces.   She was a good little soldier before she disappeared.

"I deeply regret these offensive and irresponsible remarks," she said. "I sincerely apologize, and understand the consequences of making such unacceptable statements."
Palmisano shut down her Facebook account and Twitter account on Tuesday.

So now Scott Walker can play the victim and blame this poor girl for all of the bad press about wanting to take your kids Christmas money.   

 It is really too bad though that Taylor was fired.  Palmisano's pure unadulterated greed, ignorance, selfishness and lack of empathy were gifts that would have put her on the fast track in the Walker Administration.    

Walkergate 2: John Doe's Chess Game

Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a column up celebrating the fact that the Teapublicans are trying to bully their way out of the latest developments of the Walkergate investigations.  To put it kindly, it is not his best work.

First off, he compares the right's reaction to the investigation now to when the first Walkergate was going on:

The first time Milwaukee County prosecutors launched a secret criminal investigation of allies of Gov. Scott Walker, those on the right were largely silent.

There were no online attacks, no litigation and few talk-radio rants — until charges were filed. Conservatives took their lead from the governor, who said he would trust the process to clear him.

A new investigation has triggered a wholesale change in tactics.

Last month, No Quarter first reported that prosecutors had launched a second John Doe investigation into the recall elections. The response from the right has been swift and aggressive.

I can speak to personal knowledge that that assertion by Bice is inaccurate. Even before the John Doe investigation - which ended up with convictions of Walker's staff and associates - had even become public knowledge, Walker and his supporters were on the offensive.

 And I was their target.  And there were the usual attacks from Sykes and company, complaining that Walker's staff was being prosecuted and I wasn't, while ignoring the fact that I hadn't committed any criminal acts.

Bice also notes that these money laundering/propaganda groups are bringing out big guns in their effort to disrupt the proceedings.  Again, this is nothing new.  Walker had big guns in to defend him and his campaign during the original investigation.  What would be more interesting - and probably much more telling - would be who is funding these high priced defense attorneys.  I'm sure if I gave the gentle reader three guesses, with the first two not counting, they could still get it correct.

Heck, even the notion of running interference and trying to disrupt the proceeding is nothing new.  During the first round, these faceless entities gave money to the misnamed Citizens for Responsible Government and former Walkersha County District Attorney Paul Bucher so that they could run a seminar on how to attack John Doe proceedings.

Well, as much as the Teapublicans might be cheering on this offensive offense and the heavy hitter attorneys, it's not doing them too much good.  As the attorneys have thrown everything but the kitchen sink in an effort to stop the investigations, they have come up pitifully short:

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals declined late Friday to temporarily halt a secret investigation of campaign fundraising and spending during Wisconsin's recent recall elections.

The court also immediately denied the requests of three unnamed petitioners to have the judge in the case disqualified because of his status as a reserve judge and to prohibit the judge and special prosecutor in the case from using a post office box instead of local court clerks. But the court granted the anonymous plaintiffs' request to file a sealed petition and asked for more information before it decides on several more claims by the people caught up in the probe.

The court's order also made clear for the first time what the unnamed petitioners are arguing. In a half-dozen claims in their sealed filings, the plaintiffs are arguing that the judge and special prosecutor in the case don't have the authority to carry out the secret probe that is ranging across five counties in southern Wisconsin.

The unsigned order was issued by three judges on the District 4 Court of Appeals: Brian Blanchard, Paul Lundsten and JoAnne Kloppenburg.

"Given our outright denial of two of the petitioners' six claims, and the uncertain factual basis for the remaining four claims, we are not persuaded that a stay is warranted," the order reads.

David "Chokehold" Prosser

Jud Lounsbury thinks that this new aggressiveness by the Teapublicans is a precursor to have the whole Son of Doe investigation brought before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  He accurately points out that the make up of the appellate court made it unlikely they would succeed but it was a formality they had to go through to get it to the higher court, where justices like David Prosser, whom, we just learned, was getting money and other aid from these right wing groups during his election, would make a decision.  We all pretty much know that the four corporate owned justices sitting on the high court already have shown they are not going to give a damn about the law unless it came from ALEC.

Indeed, the Franklin's Center's Wisconsin Reporter - two groups that are probably part of the investigation - is reporting that one of the lawyers, Dean Strang, asked for the case to go directly to the Supreme Court.

On a side note, Lounsbury also has a post showing Walker on the Sean Hannity Show, stating that this is the first time he's hearing or seeing of these investigations or legal proceedings.  This is hilarious given the fact that since the initial reports came out, his campaign as been noted as one of the targets.  I guess cooperating doesn't include knowing what he is cooperating with.

I believe Lounsbury analysis is sound, but incomplete.  If I were the investigators and/or prosecutors for this investigation, I would be counting on and hoping for the Teapublicans to take it to the  Supreme Court.

Consider these facts:

• The special prosecutor, Francis Schmitz, used to be a federal prosecutor.
• FBI agents have been used in the raids on suspects' homes.
• FBI agents have assisted with going through the computers for emails and other documents.
• As reported by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express, this money laundering crosses state lines.

It's pretty obvious that if the feds aren't actively involved with the investigation that they are monitoring it very closely.  So if the Teabaggers go running to their puppets in the Supreme Court, things could get very interesting.  

On one hand, the puppet justices might throw their benefactors under the bus and actually uphold the law.  They don't want to be tied up with this mess anymore than they already are.  On the other hand, if they go along with their benefactors, the justices could very well get swept up when and if the feds cast their nets and haul them in.

What I get out of the aggressiveness of the Teapublicans legal maneuverings and the heavy spin they are already putting on it is that they are indeed scared to death.  And they are not scared of just the legal consequences for their illegal behaviors, but that as this information comes out, it will not only severely cripple their attempt at buying elections, but that this will also spread like wildfire from state to state where they have been tampering with democracy.

In this game of legal chess, it looks like the good guys have the bad guys in a potential checkmate.  

Unions And Act 10: Value Versus Ability To Pay

In Sunday's paper, Dan Bice had a column reporting on the drop in membership of public sector unions since the passage of Act 10, noting that most unions have lost 30% to 60% of their member.

Bice went to Scott Walker regarding this and let Walker spew the standard party line about the drop in numbers:

Reached earlier this month, Walker said he was not surprised by the numbers.

"We were trying to empower workers and give them a choice," the first-term Republican governor said. "If workers saw value out of their union, then they have every right to stay put. But if they didn't, they could make that choice."

Walker rejected any suggestion that he had effectively handicapped the once-powerful labor groups with his legislation.

"People said at the time, 'Oh, you're trying to get rid of the unions,'" Walker recalled. "I said, 'No, I'm trying to have them show value.' Workers are making their value assumptions."

Needless to say, Walker is so full of it, he could fertilize 40 acres of farmland by himself.

First of all, one would have to be totally oblivious to the fact that it is a federal law that requires an opt out choice for union members.  Act 10, in that sense, is a needless redundancy.  This alone shows that Act 10 was designed to do much more than empower workers.  If anything, empowering workers is about the only thing it doesn't do.

What it comes down to is not so much the value of the unions, but the ability to pay the dues to be a member.

VALUES

Bice also spoke to labor law expert Paul Secunda regarding the drop in membership numbers.  His answers go part of the way:

One labor law expert challenged Walker's statement on his motives.

"Absolutely disingenuous," said Paul Secunda, an associate professor at Marquette University Law School.

Secunda, who hasn't given to Democratic or Republican candidates in recent years, said it's clear that Act 10 was part of an orchestrated effort to undermine public employee unions, noting that GOP governors in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan had made similar proposals.

Walker's plan, the professor said, contains such punitive measures as requiring unions to recertify annually and barring employees from paying their union dues through payroll deductions.

Beyond that, the governor reduced the importance of these unions by prohibiting collective bargaining on anything but wage increases — and then only up to the rate of inflation. Secunda said even those public employees who agree with the idea of unions must be asking why they should pay dues to get the same pay raise as everybody else in government.

"It's not about liking or disliking unions," Secunda said.

Secunda is correct in what he says, but his answer is incomplete.

The unions provide much more value than the limited amount of negotiating.

The unions are still representing their members in grievances and in disciplinary hearings.  They can still make sure that the workplace is safe, that the rules are being applied fairly and that workers are treated equally.

The unions still protect the workers, as they have done in Milwaukee, where there is at least five or six lawsuits pending, all of which deal with the restoration of things that were wrongly taken from them.  And mush to Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele's chagrin, the county has been squandering tens of thousands of dollars in appealing the rulings against them, only to lose them again.

It's not only public sector workers who gain from their unions.  The unions have been involved in community gardening, hygiene supply drives, fundraising for charities or for individuals in need.

Needless to say, the public sector unions still offer great value to their members as well as to the members of the community.

ABILITY TO PAY

Since we can now clearly see that unions do indeed show value, why is membership numbers so low?

The answer is simple.  Follow the money.  Or the lack thereof.

I addressed this issue when former blargher Owen Robinson was celebrating the impoverishment on tens of thousands of workers were already having ripple effects throughout the state:

As Jeff pointed out the other day, Act 10 has serious financial consequences for working families across the state.  And it's not just the public sector workers who have had their wages docked by as much as 10 to 20%, but are also facing higher costs to see the doctor or to get medication.  There are public sector workers that now qualify for financial aid and food stamps because of Act 10. 

People in the private sector, most notably the service industry, are also getting hurt as the demand dries up as the cash is being taken out of our economy.  This is why we're seeing more businesses shutting their doors and more and more people getting laid off.

Another way that this malicious sabotage of our economy is hurting is by driving highly qualified people from their fields, because they can no longer afford it or deal with the stress of it:

Stephanie Kline resigned from her position as an 8th grade math teacher at New Richmond Middle School in Wisconsin. Her last day of teaching is June 6, 2012.  A final straw for Kline came when her 5-year-old son was refused services at her New Richmond Clinic for an outstanding medical bill accrued this past year.  Her medical deductible increased $3,500 coupled with a salary decrease of $2000 in the 2011-2012 school year.  The decreasing ability to support her family, along with stress, uncertainty, and lack of communication has pushed her out of the teaching profession. Her story may resonate with many workers around the state who have experienced changes in their profession due to public policy choices. However, Kline’s story is a personal one.  She states several times throughout this interview that she is “only speaking for myself, and not other teachers.”

What Robinson is celebrating is not the liberation of thousands of people suddenly freed from a tyrannical union, but people having to drop their memberships because they need that money to put food on the table, keep a roof over their head and make sure their families get the medical care they need.

What Robinson is celebrating is the impoverishment and indenturing of tens of thousands of families, just so that he can save a whopping $12 on his property taxes.

Bice noted in his article that AFSCME District Council 48, representing workers in Milwaukee County, was hit hardest. That would only follow logic, since Milwaukee County workers have been given the squeezed

more than twice than any other public sector worker in the state.  Currently, Milwaukee County is requiring it's workers to pay 25% towards their health insurance, about twice any other public sector employee pays.  And even that wasn't enough for Abele.

If one doesn't have enough money to pay for one's groceries without public assistance, how is one supposed also afford their union dues?

Before any of our conservative readers start to gloat about this, remember that it is Walker's legalized robbery of public sector workers which has caused the state's economy and job market to sink like a rock.  If your wages and/or hours get cut, if your business starts to flounder, and if you start struggling with your bills, you can trace it all right back to Walker and Act 10.

In summary, the drop in membership is not a reflection of people opting out of the union as Walker and his apologists claim.  It is a measurement of just how afraid the corporate puppet of a governor and his masters are of the unions, that they would make it so that the workers are lucky to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, much less be able to pay their dues.

And it verifies Thomas Donahue's famous quote: "The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor."

Walker's Unwanted Campaign Companion

On Thursday, Urban Milwaukee published a rather odd op-ed piece by George Mitchell.

The gist of the rather histrionic and wildly inaccurate column was that he was sorely vexed by Dan Bice, reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  Mitchell was so beside himself that he even felt that Bice should lose his job because of his coverage of the Walkergate investigation and subsequent trials.

The op-ed struck me as very odd, and not only for its blatant falsehoods and inaccuracies.

Walkergate was closed months ago.  So why was Mitchell resurrecting the ghost of John Doe now?

At first, I though it was Mitchell, who is one of the leading profiteers pushing for the privatization of education, lashing back at Bice for breaking the story on how the Bradley Foundation has spent more than $31 million in the effort to privatize education in Wisconsin.

But then, as I kept rereading the article, I realized what Mitchell was attempting to do.

To see what Mitchell's objective was, first look at what he actually was writing.

First Mitchell starts kvetching about the fact that the paper reported that the authorities had raided Cindy Archer's home and other story lines related to the ongoing Walkergate investigation.  Apparently in Mitchell's pea brain, news should not be reported, especially if it has bad connotations for Scott Walker.

Mitchell then goes on to start whining about the supposed leaks that were happening in the case.  This again is so much malarkey, since some of the greatest legal leaders in the state of Wisconsin, including retired Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, said that the investigation was on the up and up.  Furthermore, and a point that Mitchell studiously avoids, any "leaks" were actually coming from the lawyers of Walker's cronies as they stood trial.

Then Mitchell gets to the heart of his grievance:

The Journal Sentinel’s stunning malfeasance should not diminish a broader issue, namely, that state law even allowed the out-of-control John Doe to occur.  The chaotic process, overseen by District Attorney John Chisholm and presiding Judge Neal Nettesheim, should prompt a legislative review of the statutory authority that was so clearly abused in this matter.  A supposed premise for secret John Doe proceedings involves the need to protect individuals from selective, incriminating leaks and innuendo.  While many of those vulnerable to leaks have done nothing wrong, they lawfully are prevented from responding in public.  The result, when the likes of Bice and Stanley are involved, mocks what supposedly is an independent, impartial judicial proceeding.

So, what Mitchell was griping about is that Walkergate happened at all and that the paper, and Bice in particular, would dare to cover it.  But  why bring it up now, two months after the investigation was closed?

As I noted, Mitchell is a leading advocate for the privatization of our schools so that he and others like him can profiteer off our kids.  Unfortunately for us, Walker is advancing his cause a long way.

And now Walker is making it even more obvious that he is running for president, despite all of his disqualifications.  Mitchell would be in full support of this, since he could become even more wealthy at our expenses and the expense of our children's education.

However, as Walker keeps trying to find some traction for his national race, he is having a lot of problems.  Walker is continuously getting bogged down in his own abhorrently poor record of job creation and the shameful way he continues to drive the state's economy into the ground.

And casting its shadow over all that is the blatant corruption of him and his administration, such as the recent push to allow Walker to sell off public assets without even going through a bidding process.  Adding to the self-smearing is the fact that his staffers just keep running afoul of the law.

Well, apparently, the specter of John Doe is still tarnishing Walker's already
tainted image.  So, Walker's handlers, like Mitchell, apparently feel that if they smear the messenger enough, that this will blur the fact that Walker and his minions were up to their armpits in illegal and unethical activities.

But their plan won't work.

First of all, Bice and the paper didn't break all the stories and they didn't make up the stories.  We already know the truth and we will keep on telling it.  The John Doe investigation might be dead, but the reasons he existed still are there and thus they can never really kill John Doe.  They can't kill Doe, because Walker is Doe, and no matter how many campaign stops he makes and how fast or how far he flies around to get to his campaign stops, he can't escape himself.

And if they haven't figured it out yet, those of who know the truth, well, we're just not going away.

Or it could be that I'm totally off base and the reason Mitchell wrote his bizarre op-ed piece was to set up a defense for a big story that might be coming down the pike at Walker.

Chris Abele's Emails

During the Walkergate investigation, the few emails that the DA's Office released through the court proceedings showed a glimpse of some of the backroom dealings and illegal politicking that Scott Walker and his minions were involved with.  It was said emails that were enough to convict Kelly Rindfleisch as well as show that with Walker, there is always more and still even more.

Recently, some of Milwaukee County Executive's Chris Abele's emails were also revealed.  They really reinforce Abele's claims that he admires Walker and the work he has done, if you know what I mean.

Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covers one part of the emails, showing that despite Abele's claims of wanting civility and that nothing is personal, Abele is a huge hypocrite:

"The Sheriff is crazy but that press release is bonkers," Abele wrote to Moreen on July 17, 2012. "He is so embarrassingly a childish bully." 

In the email, Abele then encourages his staffer to raise some issues with Weishan and a Journal Sentinel reporter about the usefulness of the handguns, which cost $75,000.

My esteemed colleague and friend, Cory Liebmann further addresses Abele's emails in his must read post.   Liebmann points out that in one email that Abele had  one of his mouthpieces, Brendan Conway, send talking points to attack and undermine Senator Chris Larson, who opposes Abele's Plutocracy Bill.

Does anyone really consider Abele to be a Democrat when he is backstabbing the Democratic Minority Leader of the State Senate?

Liebmann also points out that the Plutocracy Bill was actually conceived in 2012, long before Sanfelippo was elected.  The creators of the bill, as if we didn't already know, was Abele, Julia Taylor and the rest of the GMC.  No one else had any input into this plan for this hostile takeover of Milwaukee County.

But bless his heart, Liebmann also gave us a link to a few pages of information which reveal a bit more than covered by Bice or Liebmann.

The first page shows Abele's schedule for June 25, 2012.  As Liebmann had noted, part of his morning was meeting with Julie Taylor, the head of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC).

It should be noted that the purpose of the meeting with Taylor was to discuss the "Agenda from Julie."

Um, excuse me?  She's setting the agenda, which includes county policy as well as their legislative strategy for ramming through the power grab bill.  That's strikes me as being very similar to Michael Grebe of the Bradley Foundation and Walker's campaign ordering Walker's county staff on what to do.  It's even more disturbing when one remembers that Taylor was upset when Tim Russell was fired for his misconduct in office.

The second page is the start of an email between Abele and Amber Moreen, his Chief of Staff.  The first thing that should be noted is that Abele used his private email to discuss county business:

Well, well, isn't that a lot like Walker's infamous email to Tim Russell, chastising him after Darlene Wink got busted.

The next point of interest is his condescending and whiny tone towards Barbara Beckert, the head of Disability Rights Wisconsin (DRW).  DRW has been heavily involved in trying to correct the multitude of problems at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex:

Thanks for the Barbara Beckert forward.  I'm happy, of course, to sit down with the task force, get an update, etc.  I still don't care for her tone that sometimes seems to presume or imply more decision-making authority over county resources than she has, though I'll always listen to her input.

In reality, he doesn't have much choice.  DRW is the authority when it comes to issues dealing with people who have a disability, including mental health issues.  Considering how bad Abele and Walker allowed things to get, they should be glad to be getting help instead of fines.

Near the bottom of the second page, Abele makes a reference to a press release sent out by a number of supervisors who showed their support for the workers at Palermo's.  Abele, who is very anti-worker and anti-union, was upset by this.

I wonder why he is so concerned about the labor relations at a private business, unless it's because he's personal friends with the owners of Palermo's.  Ironically, he snipes at the supervisors for not contacting anyone at Palermo's, despite that it's obvious that Abele didn't do his homework either.

It should also be noted that to help with the situation, he "connected with Giacomo and connected him with Aaron."  Aaron would be Aaron Rodriguez, of course, who is Abele's ghost writer and has weighed in repeatedly with his propaganda and lies to attack people who dare to want to get paid a living wage.

In summary, through the articles by Bice and Liebmann as well as the few points that I have made here, as well as the other ones that the gentle reader is more than clever enough to pick up on their own, we see that Abele is a horrible hypocrite, a master manipulator, an egregious egocentric, a petty tyrant and a pitiful sockpuppet for well-moneyed special interests.

Or in other words, Abele is really living up to his courthouse nickname of Little Walker.  All he needs is a secret router.