Wisconsin Governor Promoted Walker Campaign With Gov't Email

 

By Jeff Simpson

The Governor of Wisconsin has been found using his official government e-mail address to promote the Scott Walker for Governor campaign. Walker is a Republican running againstMary Burke,  the Democratic Challenger. The news first emerged Thursday afternoon in my email box.. He is the Governor of Wisconsin, formerly the county executive of Milwaukee. According to the e-mail

Great Revenue Projections Show Reforms Are Working

We got some great news for all Wisconsinites this week.  The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau announced Thursday the State of Wisconsin’s general fund revenue is projected to be $911.9 million higher than previously anticipated.  This additional projected revenue is a sign Wisconsin’s economy continues to grow and add jobs, and it’s more great news for our hardworking taxpayers.

When we took office in 2011, we pledged to do away with the failed policies of the past and confront the fiscal and economic crisis we faced.  We made tough, but prudent, decisions over the last three years, and now our bold reforms are producing results for the people of Wisconsin.  While it is no doubt there will be people who want to spend the money, I believe it should be returned to the taxpayers.  My administration will work with the Legislature on the best way to move forward with our next tax relief plan. 

The days of billion-dollar deficits and double digit tax increases are over, and we have led ourselves into a new era of financial responsibility and continued investment in Wisconsin’s priorities.  Our state is heading in the right direction, and together, we are moving Wisconsin forward.

(Edit note- Scott Walker is lying)  


The campaign e-mail, which includes "office of the Governor" invites recipients to watch the State of the State address next week on his other campaign website that is paid for by taxpayers "prosperity.wi.gov ".

It appears the e-mail targets donors and adoring press, explaining that attendees can, “hear Scott's ideas about the ways we are moving Wisconsin forward.” at the event.

It is unknown just how many donors and adoring press got the e-mail from Lindgren; though it is clear that some recipients who received the political solicitation were outside of the state he leads.


An archived video of the Governor shows that he promised a "floor" of 250,000 jobs which he has fallen woefully short of.

 A career politician and a candidate for both state and local office herself, Walker knew exactly what he was doing when he explained his strategy to his boss:

 Scott Walker should have known that what he was doing was against ethics and campaign laws when he seriously considered adding violence to the peaceful protests in the Capitol.

The State of Wisconsin should understand that the only people who actually "drop bombs" are terrorists who are trying to harm you:

 
With the help of TWO of the countries top criminal defense firms(and a few hundred thousand dollars), Scott Walker was able to avoid charges in the first John Doe hearing.  Now there is a second John Doe investigation into Walker's perpetual unethical and unlawful behavior.  What happens next to Scott Walker  now appears to rest in the hands of Federal and state Prosecutors.  

Earth 420

By Jeff Simpson

For the Comic book geeks out there, you know that the way that the Marvel Universe has used to explain anomalies in the timelines of trying to keep so many stories going, is by using alternate realities. The vast majority of their stories take place in EARTH 616. It is their way of having continuity amongst their stories. When they want to tell stories that have no basis in their current reality they use alternate universes.

Well our friends on the right have joined in and created their own version of reality, which can only be described as Earth - 420.

This from Scott Walker's new ghostwritten book (H/T Barbara With):

  “As we prepared to leave, the state troopers saw that the protesters had physically blocked the entrance we had used to come onto the property. So they turned the squad car around and headed toward the other exit. We watched in disbelief as the throng of people rushed toward the second exit to block our path,” writes Walker, a potential 2016 presidential candidate.
“As we tried to pull out, they surrounded the car and began beating on the windows and rocking the vehicle. Just as we extricated ourselves from their grip, a truck pulled up and blocked our path, playing a game of chicken with the troopers. They turned the lights and sirens on warning them to get out of the way. Eventually he backed up, and we sped off,” he continued.

Now some think he might be referring to an event he held in Hudson, WI:

 

I have also heard he might be referring to a protest at Devil's Lake:

 

Does it really matter where it didnt happen?  The point is it did not happen.   Every protest at the time was the same, big crowd across the street, lots of chanting, camaraderie, and laughing, yell Shame as he leaves and go home until Walker comes back to your neighborhood.    

Scott Walker has been desperately trying to repaint the picture of the incredibly peaceful protests as being violent and ugly.   It will not work.

The reality is the vast majority of  violence and ugliness came from the right.  Who will ever forget this gem?

Murphy: Bring a baseball bat. That’s what I’ddo.
Walker: I have one in my office; you’d be happy with that. I got a Slugger with my name on it.

Murphy: Right, right. Well, we’ll back you any way we can. But, uh, what we were thinking about the crowds was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.
Walker: You know, the, well, the only problem with that — because we thought about that. The problem — the, my only gut reaction to that is right now the lawmakers I’ve talked to have just completely had it with them, the public is not really fond of this. The teachers union did some polling of focus groups, I think, and found out that the public turned on ’em the minute they closed school down for a couple days. The guys we’ve got left are largely from out of state, and I keep dismissing it in all my press conferences saying, ‘Eh, they’re mostly from out of state.’ My only fear would be is if there was a ruckus caused is that that would scare the public into thinking maybe the governor has gotta settle to avoid all these problems. You know, whereas, I’ve said, ‘Hey, you know, we can handle this, people can protest. This is Madison, you know, full of the ’60s liberals. Let ’em protest.’ It’s not gonna affect us. And as long as we go back to our homes and the majority of the people are telling us we’re doing the right thing, let ’em protest all they want. Um, so that’s my gut reaction, is that I think it’s actually good if they’re constant, they’re noisy, but they’re quiet, nothing happens, ’cause sooner or later the media stops finding ’em interesting.

Or the first time he explained his whole Governing strategy and philosophy on video:

 Walker,  even got his lapdog Jimmy Wigderson to join him in his alternate reality:  

 

  For all the talk of the Tea Party causing a civil war within the Republican Party, the attempted recall of Governor Scott Walker revealed a real ugly side to Wisconsin’s left. That ugliness has consequences.   

Apparently Wiggy looked in the mirror for the first time, but do not look for his blogging to improve from the lies and hate that he has made his trademark.   

However, the people in Wisconsin are waking up to what horrible people the republican party has elected and keeps in leadership roles and remember what life was like in Wisconsin before their vitriol and ignorance ruled the day!  

 

They found someone in Scott Walker who would cash in and prey on that hatred.  The people have had enough and need to show up next year and help escort this division right out the door.   

 

ICYWW:   Who would be the Super hero in Earth 420? Do we really need to ask?

 

Walkergate Two: John Dough

It's been almost a month since Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story of a second Walkergate investigation.

A couple of weeks later, Matt Kittle of the propagandist group Wisconsin Reporter hit the panic button and started blabbing about how this second Walkergate was targeting right wing front groups like Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and the Republican Governor's Association.

The links between these groups were fleshed out by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express.  I added to Kaiser's work, pointing out the complaint of collusion and collaboration between WISGOP, Walker's campaign and all of these right wing groups.  I also pointed out the news that similar groups in California just got walloped in court for breaking campaign laws with the illegal laundering of their dark money.

In the subsequent weeks, Kaiser has published two more must read articles on this matter.

In the first article, Kaiser goes further into the incestuous relationships between all of these sinister groups, and adds a few more, including the scandalous United Sportsmen of Wisconsin.

In her second article, Kaiser blows the doors off the story by showing that the same money laundering groups caught in California was siphoning money to their counterparts in Wisconsin.  She also shows that several of these right wing groups who donated to the Wisconsin Club for Growth.  Included in her article is this:

According to multiple reports, the committees are part of a national right-wing network of groups—some or most of them connected to the Koch brothers—that exist solely to funnel money from faceless group to faceless group, money-shuffling that grants enhanced anonymity to donors.

“It seems like this goal of this is to help disguise donors, to blow some smoke around the dark-money groups,” said Brendan Fischer, staff counsel for the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy, which has investigated dark-money groups in Wisconsin and nationwide. “These conduit groups basically provide donors with extra protection and allow them an extra layer of anonymity. Instead of the donors being listed as David Koch or Charles Koch, the donor will be the Center to Protect Patient Rights.”

These tax-exempt nonprofit “social welfare” groups must only report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which organizations they send money to; they aren’t required to report their donors.

In addition to giving big to the California campaigns, the Center to Protect Patient Rights channeled money into a major supporter of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

The IRS documents of the Phoenix-based, Koch-connected CPPR show that it donated $225,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth, one of the major opponents of the recalls of Walker and a handful of Republican state senators.

Wisconsin Club for Growth, run by Walker’s former top campaign aide R.J. Johnson, was the first group to run pro-Walker ads in 2011, after the new governor announced his plan to gut collective bargaining rights of public employees.

The group reported raising $12.5 million in 2011, its most recent tax filing on record.

Just this weekend, the story picked up even more speed.

Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin reminds us of not only Scott Walker's infamous telephone conversation with the phony David Koch, but also of the real David Koch bragging about helping Walker win the recall election:

Perhaps, had the story ended there, prosecutors could turn a blind eye. However, in early 2012, David Koch bragged to Palm Beach Post reporter Stacey Singer that he not only intended to help Walker win the recall election, but that his group had, in fact, successfully won senate recall elections:

JL: Did he explicitly say that his group, Americans for Prosperity, was supporting Walker or wanted Walker to win the recall election?
SS: Yes, in fact, he took credit, via Americans for Prosperity, for the failure of the previous recall to unseat enough state senators to undo the majority, and he indicated he was going to do whatever it took to prevent Walker from losing his seat, lest the recall energize Union Power into the presidential election. (He had enjoyed a glass of wine or two before I brought up Wisconsin.)

These statements are very problematic for David Koch because groups like his Americans for Prosperity cannot act with an intent of helping a candidate win or lose. They are supposed to do a Kabuki dance—just happening to run issue advocacy ads around election time in swing areas—without coordination with the campaign. In his interview with the Palm Beach Post, however, Koch stepped out from behind the curtain and bluntly said that he was spending corporate money via his Americans for Prosperity for or against a candidate—and that's illegal.

Lounsbury then goes on to offer even more examples of the complicity of right wing money machines and Walker and his Teapublicans during the elections.

But to get an idea of how big of a sh*tstorm this might be for the Republicans, there is an anonymously authored opinion piece in  the Wall Street Journal, in which they heavily play the victim card.  It is hard to say how much of this to believe, given that the source is an anonymous author or authors and from a right wing corporate media source.  With that caveat being made, some of the highlights we can glean from this article include:

• The investigation includes "dozens" of these right wing fake front groups.
• Said groups include Walker's campaign, WISGOP, the League of American Voters, Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity—Wisconsin, and American Crossroads. (I can guarantee that this is not the complete list.)
• The investigation appears to be focused on the money laundering activities.
• Eric O'Keefe, director for the Wisconsin Club for Growth, confirmed being served a subpoena.  Keep in mind that this does not necessarily implicate him of wrong doing.  He could be called as a witness to the wrong doing of others.  
• O'Keefe said he got his subpoena in October. Given the apparent scope of the investigation, it could be months or even years before we see any arrests or charges.

O'Keefe also claimed there were at least three homes raided as part of this deal, but I wonder if he means in relations to his new investigation or if he is referring to the ones from the original Walkergate.

I should also note that O'Keefe saying that he was subpoenaed is not against John Doe rules, as far as I can tell.  He can say he was subpoenaed, but he can't say what or who it was about.  That said, if he did tell whomever wrote the article what was in the subpoena, that might be a whole different story.

There are a couple, three other things that should give one cause to wonder:

• There's been nothing from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from Bice's first report to a cover article of the Wall Street Journal article.  Are they stifling the story for some reason?
• I haven't seen any other corporate media source cover this story.  Why not?
• Where is the outrage from Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, Media Trackers or MacIver Institute about the leaks?  First they squawk like wet hens when there were no leaks, now nothing.  Then again, people like Sykes were the fake leaks they squawked about, so odds are good they are the leakers again.

There is something to be said about this story, regardless of all else. It might have leveled the playing field a little:

Perhaps the probe will turn up some nefarious activity that warrants this subpoena monsoon and home raids. But in the meantime the effect is to limit political speech by intimidating these groups from participating in the 2014 campaign. Stifling allies of Mr. Walker would be an enormous in-kind contribution to Democrats. Even if no charges are filed, the subpoenas will have served as a form of speech suppression.

Mr. O'Keefe told us that the flurry of subpoenas "froze my communications and frightened many allies and vendors of the pro-taxpayer political movement in Wisconsin and across the country." Even if no one is ever convicted of a crime, he says, "the process is the punishment."

Now O'Keefe knows what it feels like to be in a union in Fitzwalkerstan under Act 10.

God Works in Mysterious Ways

 

By Jeff Simpson

That saying has never been more relevant than current day Wisconsin.  

Apparently, God has been having chats with our very own Scott Walker.    When Scott Walker took the phone call from (who he thought/hoped and prayed was David Koch), Scott Walker opened up like he never has before.  When your talking to your boss, its best to be honest and Scott finally was.  Walker let the fake Koch, know plenty but the biggest gem was that Scott Walker "had thought about" adding violence to what was an incredibly peaceful protest.  

Koch: We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.
Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that —because we thought about that. The problem—the, my only gut reaction to that is right now the lawmakers I’ve talked to have just completely had it with them, the public is not really fond of this…[explains that planting troublemakers may not work.] My only fear would be if there’s a ruckus caused is that maybe the governor has to settle to solve all these problems…[something about '60s liberals.]…Let ‘em protest all they want…Sooner or later the media stops finding it interesting.

We thought about that but we figured it would not help us politically so we passed. 

Well when planning violence against women and children, Scott Walker turned to the  person most people do in these situations.   Jesus the ultimate violent/political tactition:

 “I looked up and said, ‘I hear you, Lord,’” writes Walker. “God was sending me a clear message to not do things for personal glory or fame. It was a turning point that helped me in future challenges, helped me stay focused on the people I was elected to serve, and reminded me of God’s abundant grace and the paramount need to stay humble.”

Yes dear Servant do not attack women and children for personal glory and fame.....stay your veer humble self, was the message that Jesus sent!  

Hallelujah!  

Yes it is hard for some who is perfect in every way, like Scott Walker to be humble!  Luckily he has a pipeline to God to keep reminding him to be so.  

Let's hope that God calls Scott Walker in a John Denver Oh, God! kind of way and not in a BTK killer fashion!    Maybe its time we take a lesson from 70's Movie and lock all of these politicians who talk to God and have them answer some questions:

The question I want the Scott Walker / Jesus team to answer is:  Why did God direct you to cover up the death of 15 year old Jared Kellner? 

Real Tea

 

By Jeff Simpson

 H/T Thom Hartmann!


 There was a recent study published in the scientific journal, Tobacco Control, that tells us EXACTLY where the "tea party" came from(its been around longer than you think):

Starting in the 1980s, tobacco companies worked to create the appearance of broad opposition to tobacco control policies by attempting to create a grassroots smokers’ rights movement. Simultaneously, they funded and worked through third-party groups, such as Citizens for a Sound Economy, the predecessor of AFP and FreedomWorks, to accomplish their economic and political agenda. There has been continuity of some key players, strategies and messages from these groups to Tea Party organisations. As of 2012, the Tea Party was beginning to spread internationally.

 By the way guess who founded Citizens for a Sound Economy(CSE).....this guy:

 

Then in 1993, a Philip Morris PR flack wrote a memo outlining a strategy of fighting any new taxes by joining up with other anti-tax groups to create a “New Boston Tea Party.” 

The memo reads, “Grounded in the theme of ‘The New American Tax Revolution’ or ‘The New Boston Tea Party,’ the campaign activity should take the form of citizens representing the widest constituency base mobilized with signage and other attention-drawing accoutrements such as lapel buttons, handouts, petitions and even costumes.”

 

Fast forward ten years and the Koch's still had not given up on trying to create astroturf:

But in 2002, the David Koch’s CSE purchased a website, USTeaParty.com. Eventually, plans for this Tea Party were put on hold. After all, A Republican corporatist, George W. Bush was in the White House, and Republicans were in control of Congress. 

Only after the banksters crashed our economy, and Democrats swept into Congress, would the so-called Tea Party be revived. And sure enough, it was revived by CSE. Only, by now, CSE had split into two Astroturf corporate-funded organizations: Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works.

This billionaire anti- American founded astroturf organization would make the Founders roll over in their graves:

Of course the original participants of the Boston Tea Party 240 years ago would have been horrified by this.

Many people today think that the Tea Act—which led to the Boston Tea Party—was simply an increase in the taxes on tea paid by American colonists. That’s where the whole “taxation without representation” meme came from. 

Instead, the purpose of the Tea Act was to give the East India Company full and unlimited access to the American tea trade and to exempt the company from having to pay taxes to Britain on tea exported to the American colonies. It even gave the company a tax refund on millions of pounds of tea that it was unable to sell and holding in inventory.

In other words, the Tea Act was the largest corporate tax break in the history of the world. And since, at the time, most of the British government and royalty were stockholders in the East India Tea Company, it was also a classic example of crony capitalism. 

The purpose of the Tea Act was to increase the profitability of the East India Company to its stockholders (which included the king) and to help the company drive its colonial small-business competitors out of business. Because the company temporarily no longer had to pay high taxes to England and held a monopoly on the tea it sold in the American colonies, it was able to lower its tea prices to undercut those of the local importers and the mom-and-pop tea merchants and teahouses in every town in America.

In response, the colonists dressed like Indians in the middle of the night, boarded ships, and commenced the dumping of hundreds of chests of tea overboard – an act that would eventually light the fuse to war.

As Hartmann sums up:

So this is an appeal to all the Americans out there who consider themselves proud Tea Partiers. Don’t be duped! The Boston Tea Party wasn’t started by a tobacco company – it was against a tobacco company. 

The original Boston Tea Party wasn’t just against a tyrannical monarch across the Atlantic. It was also against transnational corporate power that was ruining the economy here in the colonies.

The Kochs Can Paaaaaarrrrteeee!

By Jeff Simpson

We know that the Koch Brothers, like to have retreats for republican elected officials, where are two friends paul ryan and scott walker are always special guests!

 ThinkProgress has now learned of another attendee addressing the Koch meeting: House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan’s office confirmed his attendance this afternoon to ThinkProgress. Ryan, who has a long record of flying off to junkets for groups of bankers like the Club for Growth, is pushing forward with radical cuts to Medicare and Social Security in his “Roadmap for America’s Future.” In line with Koch’s peculiar supply-side side ideology of soaking the the poor, Ryan’s budget idea also calls for increasing taxes on the middle class, while cutting them for the rich. Other Republican legislators were at the event, including Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

We also know that one of the ways to get an invite, and not be an elected officio, is to be part of the Million dollar club(which Wisconsin's very own Diane Hendricks and John Menard belong too)!

 At a secretive retreat held in June, Charles Koch thanked his 32 biggest supporters who gave more than $1 million. Our local billionaire made the list: "The Menards: John Menard of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is the founder of Menards, the country's third-largest hardware company. He's worth a reported $5.2 billion and has donated about $80,000 to his state's Republican Party and federal candidates, mostly Republicans, according to FEC records. His company backed a recent anti-union program that was linked to the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity and supported by Gov. Scott Walker" (Mother Jones).

We know they have these retreats in the nicest of locations!  

Next week, hundreds of business executives and wealthy conservative donors will arrive in Palm Springs, California, at the behest of Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and older half of the Koch brothers duo. The occasion is the latest Koch donor retreat, dubbed the "billionaires caucus" by some, an exclusive, two-day confab with a speaker list that features governors, senators, and members of the House Republican leadership. It is the first Koch retreat since the 2012 elections.

NOW, we know what they do at these retreats(hint its crazier than we thought)!

 The bitter falling-out between Carmel businessman Stephen Hilbert and billionaire hardware chain owner John Menard Jr. was initially portrayed as a deal gone bad from misspent millions. 

A lawsuit suggests a more unseemly origin for the split: sexual extortion.
Hilbert’s wife, Tomisue, charges that Menard tried to extort sexual favors from her two years ago while he was visiting the Hilberts’ Caribbean home in Saint Martin. 

When she resisted his sexual demands — then and later — Menard launched a vindictive effort through the courts and his businesses to “crush” the Hilberts, the lawsuit says. 

The allegations, worthy of a grocery store tabloid, are contained in a 24-page lawsuit filed in Hamilton Superior Court in late May

If that is just his business partner, what do the politicians have to do to get their millions?

The Beloit Daily News Shills for MacIver

By Jeff Simpson

We brought you recently the good news that a judge ruled for the people of WI against the far right wing propaganda organization that calls itself MacIver.   The MacIver institute tried to get Senator Jon Erpenbach to turn over 26,000 emails he received from his Constituents, which he did. 

However, the macgyver group had no interest in the actual emails, they wanted names and contact information to start a statewide harassment campaign that would have made James O Keefe proud.   So when Senator Erpenbach redacted all names and contact numbers,  the "free market voice" did what they do best and sue the state to try and get their way. 

Luckily the judge stopped this witch hunt in its tracks! 

However the judges order was not good enough for the Beloit Daily News, they want to dish out punishment!

However let's be perfectly clear - They want to dish out punishment to the poor and middle working class public workers ONLY!    

The judge said no. “The senator’s concern that his constituents might face retaliation must be considered in light of the nuclear environment that existed when he made the decision to redact the email addresses,” Grant County Circuit Judge Robert P. VanDeHey wrote in his ruling.

BOTH THE SENATOR and the judge may be within their rights, but it’s bad law nonetheless.
It’s common for private businesses to have policies restricting personal use of electronic company equipment. People can get fired for violating those policies.
Likewise, public employees are not supposed to use taxpayer-owned equipment for personal use. Nor are they supposed to engage in political activities during hours they are paid to work for the taxpayers. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office spent years investigating just that sort of activity in the John Doe case recently concluded.

Then they doubled down(emphasis mine).  

The judge’s ruling essentially says it is more important to protect the workers from any consequences for such behaviors, than it is to block them from engaging in the behavior in the first place. That’s a license for workers so inclined to use public computers for political activities whenever they please, knowing any evidence identifying them and exposing the behavior can be blacked out by political friends.

Before I address that, I want to clear something up quickly.  The behaviors that they want punished in this instance is people sending their legislator such emails as these:

“We appreciate the historic stand you are taking for worker's rights in our district.” and

“I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for doing your jobs and representing the people of Wisconsin. I am not alone when I say that what you did means a lot to us. Thank you!”

O the horror, a 12 word email of support to their legislator and we need to harrass them if they sent it at 9:15 am.   They must be punished!  Seriously?  Now let's take a little closer look. 

The Beloit Daily News Scorecard:

1.  Since they compared this to the John Doe investigation, how many editorials upset that Scott Walker would politic from his office using a secret router on taxpayer owned equipment?  - 0 

2.  Editorials calling for the release of all john doe documents that were turned over in the case, so we would know who was doing and knew what on their taxpayer -owned equipment? - 0

3. Editorials complaining that John Doe investigation was a partisan investigation with no substance? - 1

4.  Outrage that Scott Walker used taxpayer-owned equipment to discuss his plans to lie to the democrats to get them to come back to the state and also talked about adding violence to the peaceful protests?  - 0

5.  Editorials complaining about former Secretary of Health Services Dennis Smith allegedly using his taxpayer- owned computer and cell phone to carry on an affair with his high school crush (and subordinate). - 0 

6.  Editorials complaining about a mining company writing a bill that directly benefits their own company - 0

7.  Editorials calling for the ouster of any elected representative who signed a secrecy agreement in the redistricting mess - 0 (they actually endorsed all local reps who did)! 

You get the point.  

Could it possibly be that because you have a personal interest in the Walker Administration staying in power, its better to black out bad behavior of political friends? Or is it just that you hold the nurse, teacher, firefighter, snow plow driver, janitor, prison guard, to a much higher standard than you do your Governor and elected officials? 

The Beloit Daily News can reconsider their support of the very far right, republican front group, MacIver.   We hope they do!  

Koch/Walker Fundraiser Gets Rained Out

From PRWatch:

A Scott Walker-David Koch fundraiser has been sunk by "Superstorm Sandy."

Walker was scheduled to headline a New York Republican State Committee fundraiser tomorrow in New York City hosted by Koch, among other well-heeled GOP bigwigs. A New York State Republican Party notice today informed participants that the event has been postponed.

The event was to feature not only a $1,000-a-plate lunch at the famous '21' Club on Manhattan's Upper Westside but a $2,500 combo deal that gets the donor lunch along with a photo op. What's unknown is how much a picture of Walker and Koch will be worth afterwards.

Do read the whole article to get a load of the who's who of the rich and infamous that were also supposed to be at this shindig.

But now what is Walker going to do?

Destroy more jobs? Pass more unconstitutional laws? Prepare for Tim Russell's trial? Or maybe prepare for his own trial? Finally get his trip out to Cali?

Gee, don't ya feel sorry for the poor guy?

Compare/Contrast - WI Senate Edition!

Here is another stark contrast between the two parties, especially in terms of the Senate Candidates!

Tammy Baldwin is thought so well of by the national Democratic party that she was given a prime time speaking spot on the biggest night of the convention.

Now, let's compare that to her opponent in November Tommy G Thompson.   Tommy recently barely escaped a primary where 2/3 Republican voters voted against him and he almost lost to Washington DC resident and intellectual lightweight Eric Hovde.  Then during the convention, Thompson was not allowed anywhere near prime time or the camera's.  Except for this one exception:








Where someone caught Tommy begging David Koch for some more money.   You know this is an important conversations for Tommy because he does not have a drink in his hand!   

However, I will give credit where it is due,  whoever planned the convention has heard Tommy speak before and wanted no part of it.   Especially with this on his resume:

Yes, sadly the 1990's Tommy G Thompson is no longer and he has been replaced with the hate filled, crazy, greedy version you see above.   Tommy is so desperate these days, his main campaign focus now is trying hard to let everyone know that Tammy Baldwin is gay.   What a truly sad figure Tommy has become.  

:There truly is no comparison anymore, let's make sure we send Tammy Baldwin to Washington DC in November!  

Paul Ryan the $100 Million Man

According to an embedded republican insider, David Koch bough the Vice Presidency for Paul Ryan (R - Ayn Rand). H/T Cenk Uygur and Current TV Paul Ryan(R - Wall St.) is master of the oldest profession in the world.... It also goes to show how completely incapable Paul ryan is, that it takes $100 Million to get him on the ticket and nothing to get Sarah Palin on the ticket!

AFP - Americans for (middle class) Poverty are Coming!!

The extreme right wing the Koch Brothers front group Americans for Prosperity is flooding our great state with money and out of state right wing thugs.   Since we do not have Paul Revere to warn us when the redcoats are coming, we at CogDis will.   And the correct answer is ONE if by land as Americans for (middle class) Poverty already have an unheard of 70 field organizers running around corrupting our state, there is never enough for the billionaire leeches of our society so now they are recruiting a bunch of poor suckers and violent thugs from IL to bus into WI . 

The Americans for Poverty crew have not been this excited to screw over Americans since they spent millions trying to make sure you do not have access to healthcare! 

6 Minutes of Reality!

Amidst all of the noise that the republicans led by Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers are filling our airwaves with, comes Billionaire venture capitalist Nick Hanauer.  Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) should put down Atlas Shrugged for a few minutes and watch this video. It would be life changing for him.

"It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and it's policies." Nick Hanauer

An Undeniable Pattern

Last evening, I had been interviewed by an out-of-state reporter who was trying to get a grasp of the timeline and the expanse of Walkergate.

As we were discussing the course of events, a larger picture of things occurred to me and a pattern of poor behavior from Scott Walker became undeniable.

It started some 25 years ago, when Scott Walker ran for President of the Student Government at Marquette University.  Even then, he violated election laws, campaigning where he wasn't allowed to.  He then tried to smear his opponent.  On top of that, when the school paper, the Marquette Tribune, retracted their endorsement of Walker and called him "unfit", he and his buddies grabbed all the issues of the paper that they could and destroyed them.

In 2004, when Walker was running for his first re-election as Milwaukee County Executive, the question came up whether he kept a campaign promise of having his at-will staff sign waivers regarding the enhanced pensions.  He hadn't.  But to cover it up, once an Open Records Request had been filed, scrambled to get the promised signatures.  He then submitted a form in response to the ORR, written in such a way to disguise the fact that they hadn't signed it until then.

For this unethical act, he received a severe dressing down by the Department of Justice.  As Bill Christofferson, who worked for Walker's opponent in that race, put it:

The indisputable point is that Walker himself ordered his staff to engage in cover up and deception to keep the public -- the voters, since this was in the midst of an election campaign -- from learning the truth. [Dave Umhoefer, a Journal Sentinel reporter, uncovered the truth after the election.] 

The dishonesty was deliberate. It was calculated. It was wrong. And it was ordered by the guy at the top of the chain of command, Walker himself.

Over the years of being a career politician, Walker has also demonstrated a continuing problem of being unable to file a legal campaign finance report.

And who could ever forget the way he acted as the sycophant to a caller whom Walker believed to be David Koch.

Most recently, in the unfolding Walkergate saga, it is becoming increasingly evident that Walker did not win the Governor's office by honest means, having surrounded himself with ne'er-do-wells who have been charged, and some already convicted, of illegal politicking.  And it has gotten to the point that the only time a Walker staffer hasn't been charged, convicted or granted immunity  is because they're still being investigated.

And now, as governor, it appears that Walker still hasn't earned his Eagle Scout badge for integrity yet.

Case in point is Jocelyn Webster (emphasis mine):

Late last year, the governor's office announced it had hired 28-year-old Jocelyn Webster to serve as communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA). The department manages the state buildings where most of the anti-Walker protests have been held, and its duties include setting rules for protests. Webster started her career with Rove's notorious Office of Political Affairs in the George W. Bush administration 

A congressional investigation of the activities of that office yielded allegations -- including specific allegations against Webster – that Rove's team was involved in partisan campaigning on the public dime, a claim also leveled at aides of her newest boss during his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive.

Well, as least she should fit in real well with the rest of this boogle of weasels.

Over the span of decades, Walker has shown an undeniable pattern, not of leadership, but of deceit, dishonor, bullying, manipulation and an utter and complete disregard of the law.

In other words, Walker has shown that he is completely devoid of any ability to be a leader worthy of respect, much less any position of authority.

Walker Expresses Remorse About Koch Call - But For What?

Over the weekend, the Appleton Post-Crescent ran an article stemming from an interview with Scott Walker. In said article, Walker reportedly expressed remorse about the infamous phone call he had from whom he thought was David Koch:

Asked about the now-infamous Feb. 22 call with a prankster pretending to be billionaire David Koch, Walker was also uncharacteristically remorseful, agreeing with a friend who has said that Walker "felt badly that he did something so stupid."

"Accurate summary," Walker said. "It was stupid."

This would lead one to believe he was sorry he made the comments that he made, or how he, while in a government building on a government phone during work hours had solicited "Koch" for help in the recall elections, admitted he considered using plants in the protests to give the protesters a bad name or any of the other unethical things he said that day.

But no, that's not what he is sorry for:

The call, Walker said, "diverted attention from a debate that needed to be focused on the facts and instead got off into this hysteria and everything."

In the call, Walker boasted about his national media appearances, referred to his plan regarding collective bargaining as dropping a bomb, and admitted he had thought about but rejected the idea of planting troublemakers in the protest crowds.

Walker said his comments during this call "were not inconsistent with anything else I said" in other contexts. But "just the fact that I was duped … that I would go off and talk about stuff like that, yeah, it was stupid."

All those unethical and illegal things, he's OK with that.

He's only sorry it wasn't the real David Koch and that he got caught showing his corruption in such a blatant and egregious manner.

The man is utterly asocial and amoral. He has no conscience to speak of if his only regret is getting found out.

It is no wonder that the recall petitioners have already collected over 600,000 signatures with three weeks to go. It is also no wonder that there is an extensive John Doe investigation going on into the way he runs his campaign or his administration.

The only wonder is which one will catch up to him first.

The Walker Budget Is Already Working! Part XLIV

And the hits just keep on coming:

Trane Co. plans to lay off about 100 workers this month, though labor analysts say the regional manufacturing sector is stronger now that it was a year ago.

The company will let go 48 hourly production workers Dec.12 and 50 more Dec. 19.

Merry Christmas!

OK, OK, to be honest, this batch might not be Walker's fault.

But this isn't the first time they've laid off people either:

Coupled with 87 layoffs in April, Trane will have laid off at least 185 workers by the end of this year.

Christmas is going to stink for a lot of people this year.

I wonder if Scott Walker will use the holiday break to jet off to Cali to visit his buddy, David Koch, so he doesn't have to be bothered with us.

Plant vs. Person

Accusations of wrongdoing are flying fast and furiously from the Republicans and Walker apologists.

There are accusations of "cigs for signatures," which makes no damn sense since people are still lining up to voluntarily sign petitions and asking where to go.  I can't even count how many people have asked me where the Recall Walker offices are. I keep asking myself if the event really happened, why didn't the cameraman report it to the authorities?

I even saw one wingnut claim to have "found" a Facebook posting of a person openly admitting to forging her parents signatures, only to have the whole account "disappear."

But there's one thing to remember when they come out with these accusations. That thing is a phone call that their hero, Scott Walker, had a few months ago (emphasis mine:

KOCH: Right, right. We’ll back you anyway we can. But uh, what we’re thinking about the crowds was, a, was planting some troublemakers.

WALKER: You know, the well [sighs] the only problem with – because we thought about that. The problem with, my only gut reaction to that would be right now the, the lawmakers I’ve talked to have just completely had it with them. The public is not really fond of this, uh the teacher’s union did some polling of some focus groups I think and found out the public turned on them the minute they closed school down for a couple of days. The guys we got left are largely from out of state and I keep dismissing it in all my press conferences and saying uhh, they’re mostly from out of state. My only fear would be is if there was a ruckus caused, is that that would scare the public into thinking that maybe the governor has got to settle to avoid all these problems. Where as I’ve said, hey, ya know, we can handle this, people can protest, this is Madison, ya know, full of the 60s liberals, let ‘em protest. It’s not going to affect us and as long as we go back to our homes and the majority of people are telling us we’re doing the right thing, theall they want. So, that’s my gut reaction, is I think it’s actually good if they’re constant, they’re noisy, but they’re quiet, nothing happens, cause sooner or later the media stops finding them interesting.

Are the accusations from the right real things or are they plants. Who knows? But I do find them to be a wee bit too convenient.

But what we do know is that Walker, and his supporter/apologists, have a long history of not exactly paying fair.  After all, Walkergate didn't happen because he sold the most popcorn tin to support his kids' boy scout troop.

Methinks these are the actions of some very desperate people who expected us to lose our will and cave in months ago.  The fact that not only have we not caved, but are actually on the verge of taking our state back for the people, has them literally terrified and willing to anything, and I do mean anything, to stop us.

Walker Phones It In With "Job Hotline"

When Scott Walker first traded in sacking Milwaukee County in favor of pillaging the State of Wisconsin, he made a grand showboating affair of setting up a "Jobs Hotline" for businesses to call in with suggestions and/or questions.  The premise was that he was going to smooth the way for business to relocate to Wisconsin or for companies already here to grow and bring in his 250,000 jobs he promised.

Many observed at the time that he was treating businesses better than the citizens of this once and future great state.

Well, it turns out that his hot line is a cold fish:

Few leads and apparently no jobs have come from a hotline for businesses looking to expand or relocate to Wisconsin that was set up as part of Gov. Scott Walker's plan last year for creating 250,000 jobs during his first term.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained the hotline's log from its creation on Jan. 28 through Aug. 25 through an open records request. The newspaper reported that no jobs appeared to have been created as a result of the 113 calls logged.

That's about one phone call every other day. And even with that low amount of calls and the fact that he had a full time staff person for the phone, a whopping 39% of the calls to the "hot line" got a call back in less than 24 hours, another thing that Walker had promised.

Boy, doesn't that bring back the memories?!

It seems just like yesterday, when then County Executive had willfully chosen to ignore and neglect the people who were losing their jobs as the recession was start to reach its full impact. Back then, he would only have five to ten people working in the call center even though he had enough money to pay for 30 workers. This led to only a small percentage of calls being answered, much less any of them being returned.

Perhaps the problem with answering the phone for the jobs hotline is not that the person was overwhelmed, but the underwhelmed with the quality of calls:

But not all calls were as promising. One caller in the hotline's records for the first week let Walker's staff know that she "wants to be president of the United States," according to the call logs. Another woman called in to say she had a "turkey recipe" and wanted to start a business, according to the phone log.

Then again, given Walker's arrogance and slow learning curve, it could have been that that poor staff person was too busy to answer the phone because they were busy commenting at JSOnline or working on getting campaign donations for his defense against the recall or in regards to Walkergate.  Or maybe they were afraid to the leave the Koch phone in case the real David Koch were to call.