To Mike Tate, Peter Barca and Chris Larson! Please Do The Right Thing!

By Jeff Simpson

After a recent election drubbing, its time to lick the wounds and move on.   It is also time to move on with new leadership all across the board! 

That starts especially in the State Assembly where Peter Barca has overseen a complete transformation from being the majority party to being a party that hold the same amount of power as the office cactus(water rarely but usually pretend its not there).    Barca, overseeing the Assembly races, let 26 of the seats go unchallenged.   Does he even try anymore?  

Why in the world with that record he would want to continue on is beyond me.  Unfortunately for the left side of WI he does.   Fortunately though Evan Goyke is stepping up to challenge him!  if you are lucky enough to live in one of the few districts represented by a Democrat that is left, call your rep and say  - "Please for all that is Holy do NOT vote for Peter Barca to be Minority Leader.  Fine Assemblyman, horrendous Minority leader." (or something to that extent). 

Chris Larson, fresh off the Pat Bohmack debacle, is running again.  While Mr. Larson blatantly mishandled this Senate race and cost the dems a seat, he has only done it one term.   I would not be opposed to giving him another chance, BUT Jennifer Schilling is challenging him(sad Kathleen Vinehout isn't).  I highly recommend voting Schilling!  

Which bring us to Mike Tate.    Mike Tate has a long record of massive failure and this years election was no exception.  As Callen Harty pointed out, his record is not pretty!

Below are some of the highlights of Tate’s career.
He was the State Field Director for Kathleen Falk’s losing bid for the governorship in 2002. In 2004, a year before he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in political science, he was named the Deputy State Director of America Coming Together (ACT). The national organization disbanded in 2005.
Also in 2004 he served as the State Director of Dean for America. Howard Dean had lost several primaries by the time Wisconsin’s came up. Dean had pretty much listed Wisconsin as a must win and indicated he believed that a win in Wisconsin could turn his entire campaign around and lead him to the Presidency. Under Mike Tate’s leadership of the state campaign Dean finished third here with only 18% of the vote. It pretty much ended his campaign and any chance of becoming President.
Fair Wisconsin in its desperate bid to defeat the 2006 Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the state of Wisconsin hired Mike Tate to lead the campaign against it. The citizens of the state voted for the amendment with just under 60% of the voters supporting discrimination against their fellow citizens.
In 2008 he was the Executive Director of Advancing Wisconsin, a group that funneled money into the 2008 campaign to elect Barack Obama. Obama did win Wisconsin that year, one of the few things Tate has been associated with where his candidate or position fared well. According to an NPR special series called “secret money project” by Will Evans (11/3/08) Tate was quoted as saying that instead of the group fading away after the election he wanted to create “a permanent grassroots field-organizing infrastructure in Wisconsin.” Great idea if it were true. The organization’s website is no longer active and they are no longer registered with the Internal Revenue Service.
After his service with Advancing Wisconsin Tate became the chairman of Wisconsin’s Democratic Party. There has not been much to cheer about during his tenure. Wisconsin lost one of its most popular Senators when Russ Feingold fell to Ron Johnson. Also in that time Scott Walker won the governorship in 2010, became the first governor in U. S. history to survive a recall election, and proceeded to win re-election in 2014. The Democrats put forth Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett against Walker in 2010 and tried him again in the recall. This year the party, under Tate’s leadership, got behind the virtually unknown businesswoman Mary Burke almost as soon as she announced her candidacy. It was clear they had handpicked her and while Tate denied the party was endorsing her they did everything but come out and say it. Party regulars were denied a meaningful primary and never got fired up for her candidacy. She lost by 5%. Madison and Milwaukee voters did not turn out for her.

The amount of pain his incompetence has cost this state is almost unimaginable.   One good thing to come out of this though, is we finally found a way to bring the state together.  Start a petition to get Mike Tate to resign and people from all over the state will gladly sign it! 

I Signed and I recommend you do too!

It is time that Mr. Tate, Mr Barca and Mr. Larson  do the right thing. Step aside and clear the way for new leadership in our rudderless state.   Continue serving your constituents as well as you have been, work with the new leaders to advance our party, but please do not get in the way of needed and necessary change!

No Soup For You!

By Jeff Simpson

We brought you the ridiculous story of Dean Kaufert and Robin Vos wanting to tell people on food stamps what they could and could not buy at the grocery store. 

It was such a Big Government, intruding in your life laughable ridiculous bill that we made fun of it here a few days ago.   As we know on Cog_Dis, there is more and boy is there!

It turns out this bill of Kauferts, who pretends to represent Wisconsinites, actually classified brown eggs, sharp cheddar and organic milk as "junk food".

Wisconsin's AB 110 would mandate that two-thirds of a person's FoodShare benefits could be spent only on foods on the WIC-approved list. Exemptions have been added so recipients can also purchase fish, beef, pork, chicken, and potatoes. Strangely, exemptions were not added so that the "healthy" two-thirds could also be spent on a full range of healthy Wisconsin farm products and fresh food.

The result is that the bulk of your FoodShare dollars can be spent on milk, but not organic milk; on eggs, but only on white eggs by the dozen, not on brown, free-range, or organic eggs; on 100 percent whole wheat bread, but not on gluten-free bread for those with Celiac disease; on slices of American cheese, but not sharp cheddar. FoodShare dollars can be spent on dry beans, but not if they come from a money-saving bulk bin at your local food coop. You can get juice boxes for your children, but only Juicy Juice brand juice boxes.

 But WAIT there's more, its NOT just those foods there are so many more, as an anonymous source told me:

THe WIC list is terribly restrictive. I know a lot of people have been talking about the fact you can’t buy brown eggs, but the list does not include many basic foods.

The WIC list had no oils, margarine or butter. It has no spices, herbs, sauces, mustard, catsup or salad dressing.It has no flour, baking soda, sugar or honey.  It has no pasta, noodles, canned soups, canned beans, or canned meat like chili etc...  crackers, bagels. It only allows 100% wheat bread. It does not take into effect anyone with a gluten free diet. 

 So we have decided that the poor people in our community do not deserve to eat soup, frozen foods, crackers or  frozen dinners.   Who eats frozen dinners in 2013 you say, well my source answered that:

  The last 4 are especially important to the elderly, disabled and ill people who get FoodShare. These individuals may not be able to cook a meal "from scratch" or even have access to a full kitchen.

These people depend on "ready to heat" meals, but they may not be able to purchase as many "ready to heat” meals as they need because AB 110 restricts ALL of Non-WIC foods to a mere 33% of their monthly FoodShare amount.

More info on WIC here! 

Well Sorry Grandma, its Darwin's theory in WI.  Only the big dogs eat here!

Headache yet?  Sorry....as you guessed, there is more:

What have the studies had to say about this?


On the healthy foods bill, no studies have looked at the spending on different kinds of groceries within Wisconsin's FoodShare program, according to the state Department of Health Services. That means it's unclear whether the bill would actually increase the amount of money spent on healthy food in FoodShare.

Kaufert said that the bill should be passed because a substantial amount of FoodShare benefits is clearly being spent on junk food. But Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) said that's due in part to the fact that needy families in areas such as Milwaukee's inner city don't have ready access to stores stocking fresh fruits and vegetables.

Well there are no studies but everyone Kaufert knows poorer than him, is fat and no where near the physical fitness specimen that he is so they must be eating junk food!




Sorry my friends, but we are NOT even done yet!  What is the cost of implement this program?  Surely the deficit hawk, fiscal conservatives would have done a cost benefit analysis before ever bringing this bill to a vote right?  right?   ummmmm....

 The costs of implementing the program have also been a concern for grocery store owners, who would need to make significant computer system changes to do that. Kaufert's bill has drawn outright opposition from other groups, including Kraft Food Group - the food giant whose holdings include Oscar Mayer Co. in Madison - PepsiCo Inc. and state associations representing food processors, convenience stores and retailers.

So when we desperately need jobs we are forcing an unfunded expensive mandate on some of our biggest employers.....brilliant strategy!

And yes there is more!How does this compare or conflict with federal mandates?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the FoodShare program, isn't commenting on the Wisconsin bill. In the past, it has rejected proposals in other states restricting the sales of soda or candy using public benefits, including Minnesota in 2004, New York in 2010, and Mississippi in 2012.

It will probably be rejected.  So we are spending all of this time and wasting money implementing a new restrictive big government intrusion law that  will in the end be rejected. At least we let the poor know that they have been living the good life by eating honey, Ketchup and Mustard far too long.

You lazy bastards have had dressing on your salads for long enough!  We are gunning for you!!

The worst part is when the 858,000 Wisconsinites who received some form of FoodShare benefits needed someone to stand up for them.  The democratic party went AWOL.

When 858,000 Wisconsinites needed someone to explain that the problem is the healthy food costs too much and many people do not have access to real grocery stores anyway, these 13 democrats said too bad for you!  

When 858,000 Wisconsinites, were saying, in a very LOUD chorus, we NEED JOBS, these 13 democrats stood shoulder to shoulder with Robin Vos and said - we have other priorities!

When 858,000 Wisconsinites are working their butt's off to get by and raise their families, these 13 democrats said - "shame on you - get a job!"

When 858,000 Wisconsinites had no where else to turn, these 13 democrats looked them in the eyes and said "you are not deserving of butter,  soup, ketchup or Spices."!

Do not fear though, in a year those same democrats will be asking you to give them donations, volunteer for them doing doors, and answering phones.   858,000 people in a state of 5.7 million is a significant amount of votes(to put this in context, Pat "I see nothing" Roggensack's total vote was 482,696) and the dems will be asking you for their help.

They will need it!

Remember this day, I will!  



If one of these democrats is YOUR rep, call them.  If not call Peter Barca and express your outrage that he would support such big government, intrusive legislation in WI!

Madison Office

Room 201 West

State Capitol

P.O. Box 8952

Madison, WI 53708

Telephone

(608) 266-5504

(888) 534-0064

Fax

(608) 282-3664

Email

Rep.Barca@legis.wisconsin.gov

Twitter - @peterwbarca

Voting Address

1339 38th Ave.

Kenosha, WI 53144