Punishing Minorities!

By Jeff Simpson

North Carolina recently passed sweeping new "Voter ID" laws that are some of the most restrictive in years. 

The measure requires voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls and shortens the early voting period from 17 to 10 days. It will also end pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-old voters who will be 18 on Election Day and eliminates same-day voter registration.

Democrats and minority groups have been fighting against the changes, arguing that they represent an effort to suppress the minority vote and the youth vote, along with reducing Democrats’ advantage in early voting. They point out that there is little documented evidence of voter fraud.

 In Wisconsin, not to be outdone by crazies from elsewhere in the country, is looking to trump NC.  

Wisconsin's voter ID law is currently tied up in the courts. Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, believes his revised bill would be constitutional. Those who can't afford a photo ID would have to reveal to election officials their lack of income or sign an affidavit why they don't have a birth certificate to get an ID: “This is very similar to Indiana's current photo ID law that was held in the U.S. Supreme Court,

 As far right and repressive as it is to begin with, Glenn Grothman is always willing to pull something even further right:

A Republican legislator is circulating bills that would make it more difficult to vote in Wisconsin.

This time, state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) is trying to limit voting by early, in-person absentee voters and impose new requirements on those helping residents living in assisted living facilities to vote. A third bill would weaken big-money donors’ disclosure requirements. 

Despite the paltry 0.0000017% conviction rate, Republicans continue to spread the myth of “widespread voter fraud” and are pressing on with proposals that would solve this so-called problem. In reality, their solutions would merely disenfranchise voters who are more likely to cast ballots for Democrats.

That motivation became crystal clear when state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) stated that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have won Wisconsin last fall if the nation’s most restrictive voter ID had been in place on Election Day. When requested by OWN, Darling couldn’t provide documentation of the 200,000 illegally cast ballots that would have swung the election to the Republicans.

 Well America has been looking for someone to actually stand up for what is right and not tow the company line.  Finally we have someone when Colin Powell did just that!

Speaking at the CEO Forum, where Gov. Pat McCrory was in the audience, Powell said he believed the legislation would make it more difficult for all individuals to vote.

"I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote," he said, according to the News & Observer. "It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs... These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away."

General Powell did not stop there, he went a step further:

During his speech, Powell pushed back on the idea, which McCrory has cited, that voter ID laws curb voter fraud.
"You can say what you like, but there is no voter fraud," Powell said. "How can it be widespread and undetected?"
He continued, "What it really says to the minority voters is ... 'We really are sort-of punishing you.'"

Which explains everything in Wisconsin.  Meting out punishment to anyone who dared vote against them has been the Republican party of Wisconsin's obsession since they took over the reigns in 2010.  

Wait until you see what they have in store if they win another election!  

There is NO Jane Doe Equivalency...

Media TracKKKer's is at it again.   The right wing propagandists group led by the well known racist Brian Sikma has decided to launch an attack against Tom Barrett! Oops Sikma was not brave enough to do that so he went after Mayor Barrett's wife.  Mrs. Barrett, is a teacher who previously worked for the Milwaukee Public School System and was laid off in 2011(its NOT working).  She is now employed by the Wauwatosa School District. 

It seems that Mrs. Barrett sent out a total of 3 emails from her MPS account that could be conceived as "political".  O the horrors.  

Two of the three emails were sent in March 2011 to state Sen. Spencer Coggs and Rep. Tamara Grigsby, calling for them to vote against legislation that curtailed collective bargaining for most public workers.

"Keep up the good fight. We are all under attack," one of the emails says.

The third email sent to five email addresses in February 2011 seeks help "getting the word out" about an effort against Rep. Jeff Stone's campaign for Milwaukee County executive.

"The more people we get to protest, the better," the email says. "Everyone who can should try to come."

So of these three emails,  none of which have anything to do with the recall election, they really say  nothing.  Two out of three were to her elected officials saying good job and another asking 5 friends to protest.

I get that there is an email policy, and there needs to be one.

According to MPS' code of ethics, employees are allowed to participate in political activity, but they can't use the school system's name in a way that implies endorsement by the school system. It also violates an acceptable use policy that says the email system can't be used for campaigning, St. Aubin said.

 Of course looking at the emails, there was no campaigning so that punishment goes away, nor would any sane person think that a "keep up the good fight" to your elected rep, in an email that you personally signed and sent would "imply endorsement" by the 10,000 employees of MPS.   Is it "unethical"  - we will explore that in a bit, but first lets break the emails down a bit more. I assume they looked at all of Mrs. Barrett's emails for the year, which by my count is approximately 181 days, and lets assume 30 emails a day.   That translates into 5430 emails in a year.  Which by these calculations means Mrs. Barrett sent a total of .0005 emails she should not have sent.  

As to the "unethical" part, I want to relate personal experience.   My wife is a Social Worker in the Madison School District.   She works 80% of the time, which means that she works Monday - Thursday and has Friday off.   She leaves for work at 7:00 AM and usually comes home around 5:00 PM..  Well beyond contract hours.  She also almost always at night checks her work emails from our home computer  and makes work related phone calls and texts.   Recently I had to spend a Friday in the hospital getting a procedure done.  It took approximately 7 hours.  My wife sat with me in the hospital with her Ipad working almost the whole day sending and answering emails and making phone calls(on her day off).   I also know for a fact that she sees things on a daily basis that 98% of us will never see and only occasionally read in the paper.  I also know that 30 emails in a day is a slow day for her.  I also think that the time she puts in is the rule not the exception.

She does all of this knowing that under ACT 10 she was forced to take a pay cut for her actions once and is now close to another 30% plus pay cut and being punished for having her Masters Degree and 20+ extra credits. Our Governor and his minions have spent over a year demonizing public workers as the have's and now your going to punish a teacher for sending three emails?   This on the heels of the story breaking that the Governor of our state, who makes triple what a teacher makes, and sets the stage as the leader of our state, does not show up for work anymore.  Plus Walker received a $7000 pay raise.  And three emails are "unethical"?

Lets review. 

The John Doe investigation is about all of Scott Walkers top advisor's campaigning for an actual candidate in an actual election and fundraising for said candidates(Walker and Brett Davis).  During this illegal campaigning/fundraising on taxpayer time, they(Darlene Wink/ Tim Russell/ etc..) set up a secret email network so that they would not be detected by IT nor subject(they thought) to Open records Requests.  12 people have been given immunity for this months long investigation so far and counting.

Mrs. Barrett's sending three emails she should not have DOES NOT EQUAL THIS.  

For further proof, the John Doe investigation has taken a seasoned prosecutor many months and even a Scott Walker criminal defense fund.  While Mrs. Barrett's emails were discovered by a coward who used it to attack  the family of Mayor Barrett.  Attacking the wife of someone in the political game is one that the right has played before. Who is Sikma's next target?  Any young children around for him to attack?  It is a shame that the Journal Sentinel attempts to give this sleaze credibility?

More from Illy T Here!

Is Jeff Stone In Or Out?

Bruce Murphy has a very interesting tidbit at the end of the article regarding the upcoming race for Milwaukee County Executive:

Republican assemblyman Jeff Stone, who lost the race for Milwaukee County Executive to Chris Abele last spring, did not rule out running against him again this spring in a recent JS article. But at last Thursday’s Press Club event, Stone was overheard assuring Abele he wasn’t going to run.

I can't imagine what Jeff Stone thinks he would have to gain from another run at county executive. Last year, Chris Abele trounced him 62%-38%, a pretty formidable margin.

And event though Abele has been doing his best Scott Walker impersonation, sometimes even doing Walker better than Walker does himself, Abele would have two distinct advantages over Stone.

One, between his own money and the money that the Greater Milwaukee Committee would be able and willing to drop on their boy, Abele could buy the seat over and over for the rest of his life..

Two, even though Abele has burned a lot of bridges and continues to show what could be most generously called questionable judgment and in some ways has surpassed Walker in savageness, it is Stone that will be more closely tied to Walker, which will only hurt him as we enter the recall election at about the same time as the general elections.

Abele the Candidate vs. Abele the County Execuitve

On February 19th, then candidate for Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele wrote a letter to Scott Walker:

Dear Governor Walker:

Over the years, you and I have been able to work together on a range of issues and collaborate to move Milwaukee County forward. That’s why I’m writing to share my concern about the budget repair bill, and the deep divisions it is causing across Wisconsin.

Wisconsinites understand that all levels of government need to make tough choices to meet our very serious fiscal challenges. Working men and women know that wage and benefit concessions may be necessary as part of the broader solution to budget problems.

But the proposals in the budget repair bill go beyond tough choices and concessions. This legislation will end some 50 years of collective bargaining for Wisconsin workers and put at risk basic labor protections like the right to organize, and essential safeguards against unfair treatment and unsafe working conditions.

In addition, the legislative process surrounding this bill has been divisive rather than inclusive. Workers and their representative organizations have not been included in conversations or dialogue, and people don’t understand why they have been completely shut out of the discussion. This absence of any negotiations about a far-reaching, controversial bill is the cause of the passionate outpouring of opposition.

While the State of Wisconsin no doubt faces significant fiscal challenges, I believe we go further when we go together, and we can accomplish more when we sit down at the same table. Working men and women can play a productive role in finding solutions to the problems that face us all — if they are allowed to be part of the conversation. But eliminating basic labor rights and protections instead of sitting down at the negotiating table to reach common ground and shared goals stands against Wisconsin values that transcend political party or philosophy.

You have an opportunity to bring people together to make the tough choices needed to get Wisconsin’s fiscal house in order. The best resolution is one that includes the participation of all parties, and doesn’t leave one side embittered or excluded. I encourage you to change this bill and maintain the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

Sincerely,

Chris Abele
Candidate for Milwaukee County Executive

Now, a scant seven months later, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has this to say:

Meh, I didn't really mean that.

Abele also said he was running, along with everyone else, on a jobs platform.

He doesn't explain how taking $20 million out of the local economy or laying off hundreds of people are going to accomplish that, probably because it won't, as Scott Walker has amply demonstrated, much to everyone's dismay.

People voted against Jeff Stone because he was considered to be a Walker clone. Little did we know we were only getting Walker Lite.

Why is it so hard to find a honest, responsible adult to run for office?

The Ways and Whys I'll Be Voting on Tuesday

Tuesday is Election Day, as the gentle reader is surely aware.  I don't like doing predictions or endorsements much, mostly because they have a great ability to turn around and bite you, usually at the least opportune moment.  But I can tell you how I'm going to vote on Tuesday, and why I am voting that way.

Supreme Court

I will be voting for JoAnne Kloppenburg to be the new Supreme Court Justice.  She has proven herself to be a dedicated servant to the people and to the law.  She follows the law and the most her detractors can come up with against her is that they don't like the laws that she was hired to enforce as a prosecutor.

Her opponent, on the other hand, has proven himself to be unworthy of a law license, much less a seat on the highest bench in the state.  David Prosser is a career politician who isn't afraid to lean on the big, bad Koch Brothers for their help, even if it means selling out the entire state for it.  Furthermore, he has more than amply shown his lack of temperance and good judgment when he acted completely and utterly unprofessionally to his colleagues, most noticeably the Chief Justice herself.  As egregious of the other things mentioned, Prosser has made it clear he would be a rubber stamp for anything Walker or his cronies would send to the Supreme Court, which is alarming considering that even the current hot topic of the budget repair bill is against federal law.

Milwaukee County Executive

To be honest, I'm not thrilled to death with either of the candidates for this job, Chris Abele or Jeff Stone. I would have preferred someone who was more eager to being proactive in restoring the county after eight years of Scott Walker's abuse and neglect.  That said, the choice for this race is also very clear.

Stone is Walker's heir apparent, and the two of them can't get enough of singing each other's praises.  Stone thinks that Walker was just a grand county executive and is an even greater governor.  He has also said that the would continue where Walker left off.  What that tells me is to expect more sexual assaults at the mental health complex, more buildings falling on people and an ever increasing debt even while furthering the deferred maintenance and lack of repairs that have been plaguing the county.  Stone has also shown questionable judgment by regularly working with ex- and future-cons.  And he has the Walker hypocrisy displayed by calling Abele an amateur while failing to file a campaign finance report which was both accurate and on time.

While I have some concerns about Abele's plans, such as for the transit system, the parks and other important assets, I don't believe that he would willingly cause the chaos or the harm that Stone would if elected.  Abele said that he is willing to listen to all sides and work with anyone if they have a good idea.  I certainly hope he keeps that promise.

County Supervisor District 10

I don't live in this district and thus can't vote for it, but as I pointed out during the primary, Eyon Biddle is the guy to go with.

County Supervisor District 14

As with District 10, I don't live in District 14, so won't be voting in this race.  But I can tell you hands down that I would be voting for my good friend, Jason Haas.  Not only is Jason well-versed in county issues, he has some outside of the box ideas on how to get things moving in a positive direction.

His opponent, Steve Kraeger, leaves a lot to be desired.  For starters, Kraeger knows nothing about what is a county issue versus any other level of government.  But to make things even worse, there is some considerable hanky-panky going on with his campaign finances.  We already have a supervisor, Paul Cesarz, with those kind of issues. We don't need a second one.

Milwaukee Circuit Court Branch 18

This is a race between Pedro Colon and Christopher Lipscomb. Both men are currently sitting as judges, with Lipscomb presiding as a municipal judge challenging Colon.  As in the primary, I am going with Lipscomb.  Lipscomb is a straight forward judge who would show a strong dedication to the law.

Colon is first and foremost a politician.  As evidenced by a growing ado about the fact that Colon and Prosser have endorsed each other in their respective races, Colon is going to do whatever he thinks is going to be the most politically expedient, even if it means doing a mutual love with what most people consider to be an unfit judge.

 I don't want a judge that wants what is helpful to his or her career. I want a judge who will follow the law. In this race, the person is Lipscomb.

And They Shall Be Known By The Company They Keep

I don't know if it is born from their arrogance, thinking they are invulnerable, or if it is from their desperation, realizing for the first time in months that they aren't invulnerable, but the major Republican contenders in next weeks elections are making some really poor choices about whom they associate with.

David Prosser, who I heard described as the "gift that keeps on giving to Kloppenberg," is either filled with unbelievable hubris or desperation or just doesn't understand what the people of Wisconsin are thinking.

After he proves himself to be a belligerent old cuss, who likes to use the classic wife-beater defense of "she made me do it," Prosser decides to double down on the dumb.  Now he is campaigning with his good friend and colleague, Mike "Loophole" Gableman, the lying, racist justice, who is still tied up in his ethics violations case.

An interesting factoid is that the Prosser/Gableman tour appears to be only hitting Republican strongholds.  I will leave it to the gentle reader to figure out if this means that their base is the only ones that will accept them or if it means that they are in so much trouble that they need to shore up their base voters.

In the Milwaukee area, Jeff Stone isn't doing himself any big favors with whom he chooses to partner up with either.

First we learned that Stone has benefited from the muckraking of Republican operative Tim Russell, who is himself in the midst of an ongoing John Doe investigation into whether he was illegally campaigning for Scott Walker.

As if that wasn't a big enough blunder, we also learn that Stone has also hired on LaMonte Harris, and ex-con who has the stigma of having worked for the likes of Michael McGee and Gary George. The kicker of that story is Mr. Harris told them that they should check out his background, being straight up about his checkered past, and Team Stone never did even the basics regarding that.  It does put Stone's judgment into deep question.

Even though these examples show that these candidates have some questionable tastes in associates, they are probably not even the most damning.  What will ultimately prove to be the load stone around their necks that drags them down is that both of these men, Prosser and Stone alike, have chosen to sidle up to Scott Walker, whose popularity is in free fall as he continues to arbitrarily deny people their rights.

I am starting to think that we should be holding the First (and Only) Scott Walker Appreciation Dinner as a way of saying thanks for bringing the people together as never before and for giving us the inspiration for all the recall efforts and all the protests, and most of all, for giving us the motivation to go out and take our state back from him and his special interest buddies..

Point To Ponder

If Jeff Stone is willing to hire Tim Russell, who is one of the subjects of a John Doe investigation, for his campaign, would he also be willing to hire him back as a county employee if he were to win the county executive seat?

Jeff Stone: Walker Clone?

Chris Abele's campaign has been running an effective ad theme of comparing his opponent, Jeff Stone, to Scott Walker. This is effective because the majority of Milwaukeeans understand that Walker damn near destroyed Milwaukee County while he was county executive, as evidenced by the way Walker lost Milwaukee County in the gubernatorial election in a 68-32 drubbing.

Stemming from these ads has come the meme, "Jeff Stone: Walker Clone."  But is it entirely accurate?

After the first commercial, Stone had a hissy fit, stating that the comparison to Walker was "demonizing" him.  But apparently stone found himself comfortable with horns, pointy tail and a pitchfork once someone waved some money at him.  It would be safe to call this a flip flop, which is a trademark of Walker's.

And as Bruce Murphy points out in this week's column, Stone has been voting in 100% compliance with Walker's proposals and has expressed full support of Walker's budget, which is one of the most devastating that Milwaukee will have ever seen. However, during the few times that this has been brought up, just like Walker, Stone will talk in circles and try to act like devastation is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Yesterday, Dan Bice broke the story that Stone has another similarity with Walker, in that they both like to use Tim Russell as an political operative.  (Has anyone heard from Darlene Wink lately?)  This should really raise questions about Stone's judgment, since Russell is one of the key subjects of a John Doe investigation into his role of politicking for Walker with county equipment and/or while on county time.  Then again, as Cory Liebmann points out, Stone has a long history of using "campaign volunteers" that were not quite reputable or were performing unsavory acts on his behalf.

But there is one significant difference between Stone and Walker.  On all of his campaign literature and on his web site, Stone boasts of being a small business man.  Walker, as we all know, is just another career politician.  We'll believe that about Stone, even though no one seems to be able to find his license anywhere.  (This could be explained if Stone chose to go with the sole proprietor option.)

What Stone doesn't mention is that his father-in-law, just like Ron Johnson's, was the money behind his "successful business."  Word is that his father-in-law is the one that plopped down the cash for their first home.  Probably bought their first Xerox copier too.  Another thing that Stone doesn't mention is that he got into a little legal problem due to his running a business in a residential zone.

So does all of this make Stone Walker's clone?   Well, a clone is supposed to be a duplicate of the original. But whether it's a photocopy or genetic clone or a political clone, the duplicate rarely, if ever, is an exact match.

I reckon that would make calling Stone a Walker clone a pretty accurate description, including being bad news and a bad leader for Milwaukee County.

Now the clincher would be if someone could find a picture of Stone with a mullet...

Jeff Stone Fails His Health Care Check Up

JSOnline reports on how each of the candidates for Milwaukee County Executive would approach the skyrocketing health care costs for the county.

Of course, the real solution is in the governor's hand, which would be to undo the deregulation passed by Tommy Thompson.  But Scott Walker isn't about to do anything that will actually help the tax payers, especially if it could harm his relationship to one of his big campaign donors.

Chris Abele touts a plan that would pool Milwaukee County's health care coverage with the states, in order to provide a larger pool and thus the ability to demand a better price from the insurance companies.  Abele also suggests that the state offer increased aid to local governments that also join this pool, thereby increasing the purchase power even more.

This is interesting plan, but I would be leery just because of who is in control of the state, for at least this very moment.  Walker has consistently shown he cannot effectively govern in an honest manner, and thus would probably refuse to do anything good with it.  If anything, I could see Walker raiding this fund to pay off one of his campaign donors, like selling the power plants to the Koch brothers for a song.

What is funny is the give and take between Stone and Abele as Stone tries to attack the plan:

The health care consolidation idea for public employees advanced by Abele also could backfire on others, Stone warned. By forcing insurers to compete on price for the business of covering public workers, the insurers would likely shift costs to private companies, Stone said. 

Abele said Stone was "more worried about insurance company profit margins than taxpayer savings."

Yeah, I can't imagine too many people would be crying if the fat cats in Big Insurance didn't make that $10 million bonus mark for a year or two and had to settle for only nine million.

Stone, on the other hand, has his own plan to address this issue.  His plan consists of two main points.

One point is taking advantage of the unethical and unconstitutional plan that he help ram down the collective throats of all Wisconsinites, despite the overwhelming outrage of the people and increasing unpopularity of their thuggish and dictatorial attitude.

The other part of his plan would consist of a wellness program.  A wellness program is a program in which employees are encouraged to choose healthy lifestyles including quitting smoking, eating properly and getting exercise.  The employees are often given monetary incentives to join.  The thought behind these programs is that by making the employees healthier, they won't need to put in as many claims and thus save money through the lower claims.

Any thinking, morally upright person is opposed to Stone's first point.  It is simply wrong to take away someone's rights just to pander to some well-moneyed special interests.  And to be honest, it is that bill that will probably cost Stone this race.  During the gubernatorial election, Walker lost in Milwaukee County by a landslide.  This bill has made Walker, and subsequently Stone, all the more unpopular.

That said, Stone's second point makes perfectly good sense.

How can I say that?

Well, because Milwaukee County has had a wellness program for the past five years.  As I have mentioned several times, in 2006, after Walker was forced out of his first gubernatorial run, his former political opponent, David Riemer came in and negotiated a contract with the unions.  This contract, at the insistence of the unions, included a wellness program that offered participants $100 each, and another $100 for a spouse, that participated in the program.

Stone, in an effort to shore up his case, cited Quad/Graphics, which also offered a three tier system which charged more for the more expensive kinds of health care coverage.  Likewise, Milwaukee County offered a two tier system, a HMO and a PPO plan, with the more flexible and more expensive PPO plan costing employees more in premiums and deductions if they chose this plan.

Ironically, the unethical bill that Stone just helped ram through the legislative system could wipe out the option of a tiered system, since the contributions could be the same, regardless of the plan..

You know, for someone who thinks he should be county executive, one would think that he would have done his homework a little bit better than this.  This is just another example of how out of touch Stone is with what is really going on in the world around him.

But there is a bright side for Stone, despite this bungling of a basic issue.  Stone is livid about how he is being coupled with Walker, even though he's marched in lockstep with him during the past several years.  Stone feels that pointing this fact out "demonizes" him..

As I pointed out earlier, the union pushed for this and Walker opposed it.  So now Stone can claim to be siding with the unions and against the governor.  I wonder how that will play with his base.

Jeff Stone Thinks You Make Too Much Money

No, really.

Jeff Stone thinks you make too much money, and he wants to put a stop to that anyway he can.

Jeff Walker Or Scott Stone? How About Just Stalker?

Chris Abele takes good advantage of Walker Clone Jeff Stone's ideological myopia to point out what a bad county executive he'd make:



It's good to see Abele taking some right-minded stances.  It's a refreshing breath of fresh air after the noxious fumes coming from Walker and his squadron of flying monkeys.

Meanwhile, in the mailbox this afternoon was a flyer from Stone, who apparently can't even drum up enough support for a TV commercial yet.

In this flyer, Stone/Walker writes (emphasis his):

"As a State Representative for 12 years and a former Greenfield Alderman I understand how government can and should work for the people."

Let's call that Lie #1, shall we?  Unless he is blind and deaf and as stupid as a fence post, he couldn't have helped but notice that the people were outside his office for the past three weeks telling him what to do, which he not only willfully failed to do, but did so in a legally and ethically questionable way.

He then follows up with this tax wasting plan to sell the county out to the highest bidder (Koch anyone?):

Each of the major expense areas of the County budget will be thoroughly evaluated by an independent third party.  This will be done in an open and transparent manner with the recommendations being fully evaluated by a team of business and community leaders.

Gee, those audits sound awfully much like what Walker promised to do eight years ago, but never did.  Instead, he went straight to selling off county assets, neglecting the ones he kept and raising our taxes.  And Stone wants to be just like Walker?!

On the back, Stone shows how out of touch he is by having photos of him with Ron "Where's Washington DC" Johnson and Alberta "Golf Course Gerty" Darling.  Apparently Stone is not aware of the Recall Alberta Darling movement that's already exceeding even their wildest expectations.

Stone is clueless and out of touch, and quite frankly, Milwaukee County can't afford another career politician turned corporate shill.

Quotable

From the one and only xoff:

JeffAStone: I stand with @GovWalker and am in Madison waiting to vote for his fiscal responsibility bill. 

TRANSLATION: Jeff Stone's nose is so far up Walker's rear end he can't see that this union-busting will not play well in Milwaukee County, where he hopes to be elected county exec in 6 weeks.

Primary Primer: Another Way To Make Scott Walker, WISGOP Hear Your Voice

With all of the hullabaloo that Scott Walker has caused with his egregious and malicious power-grabbing and union-busting proposal is the fact that Tuesday is Primary Election Day.  This is also a powerful way to send a message to Madison by electing people that will work to stop and even reverse the damage that Walker and his cronies have caused and want to cause.

Supreme Court


There are four contenders for this seat.  The incumbent is David Prosser, who has been bought and paid for by the same people that gave us Michael Gableman and Scott Walker.  Due to his obligation to these special interests, he's turned a blind eye to Gableman's unethical lying.  And if that isn't enough to not vote for Prosser, it turns out that he likes to go soft on child molesting priests as well.

That leaves Joel Winnig, Marla Stephens and Joanne Kloppenburg.  Winnig won me over when I read how he took it to the vile Gableman.  However, after giving it some thought, I believe the best choice would be Joanne Kloppenburg.  Not only is she independent and willing to be thoughtful to the law, she is also willing to hold culprits like Gableman accountable.

Another reason is that it is safe to assume that WMC has, through talk radio and puppet groups like Wisconsin Club For Growth, enough people will be duped into voting for Prosser.  I believe that Kloppenburg is the best choice to overcome the smear job that will start on Wednesday.

 Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 18


There are three contenders for this spot,  Roy Korte, Christopher Lipscomb and Pedro Colon.  A lot of people that I respect are backing Colon, either out of name loyalty or some other reason.

This is where I am going to buck the trend and recommend Christopher Lipscomb.  I believe that Colon will have too much mud on him for that he might get bogged down in the general election.

Lipscomb also has the experience that would make him worthy and qualified to take it to the bench in Branch 18.

County Supervisor District 10


There are two very respectable candidates in this race of many, Eyon Biddle and Cavalier "Chevy" Johnson.  I believe that the constituents of District 10, as well as all of Milwaukee County, would be well served by either of these gentleman.  However, if I were a voter in that district, I'd have to give the edge to Eyon Biddle.  As I said, they are both good men, but Biddle appears to be a little more experienced in the body politic and would have a better shot at hitting the ground running.

County Supervisor District 14

As with District 10, I am not a voter in that district.  However, I would give the hands down vote to my good friend Jason Haas.  I've known Jason for a few years and I am quite impressed with his devotion to making Milwaukee County the best it can be, especially in these trying times.  Jason is already showing a willingness to look outside the normal routine of things to find new revenue streams, such as increasing tourism, both with County residents and visitors with his "SuperPass" plan.

Milwaukee County Executive

There are currently five people vying for the unenviable position of having to start cleaning up Scott Walker's mess in the county while simultaneously dealing with the mess he will be throwing at us from Madison.  It will take someone with a clear vision of where they would like to take the county and a willingness to take the county to that place.

The five people who think they are that person is Ieshuh Griffin, County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, State Representative Jeff Stone, philanthropist Chris Abele and former State Senator Jim Sullivan.  I will start out by saying that not one of these candidates have completely won me over.

Ieshuh Griffin, once one can get past her unfortunate decision to label herself with the slogan "Not the whiteman's bitch," does appear to have a good grasp of county issues and some ideas on how to solve them.  Unfortunately, she will present a good idea and then say something totally whacked, like that the Court System is out to get black people.

Lee Holloway obviously has the knowledge of the county ways and needs and how to meet those needs.  However, it's pretty clear that Holloway is unelectable.  First, he has the albatross of the pension scandal around his neck.  Secondly, he's made some questionable decisions, such as the hiring of Renee Booker as Director of the Department of Administration or for becoming too chummy with Walker while he was county executive.  Holloway's problems only increase when one takes into consideration the problems with his rental properties.

Jeff Stone is Scott Walker's heir apparent.  He is also a rather drab, boring man.  He hopes to gain his office by appealing to the extremists and those who just weren't paying attention for the last eight years and thought Walker was a good leader.  He also has the advantage of having talk radio practically begging voters to support him, even though they can only do it in a half-hearted sort of way.  But besides being a Walker crony, Stone paints himself in a worse light by saying that he would follow Walker's footsteps.  I'm sorry, but I for one have had more than enough buildings falling down, female patients at the mental health complex being raped and enough of people kicking the fiscal can down the road.

I've had the opportunity to meet Chris briefly a few weeks ago.  He is an affable young man and is easy to like.  He has a wonderful skill of putting people at ease and making it seem like he is really listening.  And therein lies one of the rubs against him.

I would rather have someone that actually listens to the people and not to just himself or to his group of wealthy friends.  When it comes to ideas, he comes up very short on specifics or even ideas that will actually do much to save the county.   For transit, his idea is to shuffle some routes around and move some times.  However, it's already been shown that our transit system is already at near maximum efficiency.  His other plans may sound populist, but also have very little meaning.

Even more disturbing was the news that came out today that the Greater Milwaukee Committee, of which Abele is a leading member, introduced a new plan for Milwaukee County.  Their plan, which I will parse at a later date, is basically raising our taxes, cutting our services, taking away our representation and, like Scott Walker, take away some of our basic rights.

I tried to like Chris Abele. I really did. Many of the people whom I hold in the highest of regards are in support of him.  But I, for the life of me, cannot see what his appeal is.  Yes, he has lots and lots of money, and he is, more likely than not, able to buy his way past the primary.  But when it comes to ideas, he seems to be overly vague about what they are, and the ones that you can discern aren't very promising.

That brings us to Jim Sullivan, who I will be voting for in the primary.

I have not always agreed with Sullivan, such as his pushing for the desecration of the county grounds.  However, I had a chance to speak with him for a short time.  He impressed me with a clear cut, defined vision of what he saw for Milwaukee County and how to get from where we are to where he would like us to be.  Sullivan is realistic enough to know that we aren't going to survive just by cutting things.  He told me that is what Walker did due to his blind ideology and that is why the county is in such bad shape.  It's hard to disagree.

He wants to join with the County Board to push for a sales tax just for the transit system.  He said that the problems with the last one is that they were trying for too much at once, which spooked off many law makers. He also pointed out that that the Board and Walker were giving mixed messages to law makers, allowing them to mess things up as they wanted to.

As for mental health services, he wants to increase community-based services, much as was recommended by the Public Policy Forum report.  He also recognized the need for a facility to house the people that couldn't be safely moved into the community.

He also would like to start fixing the parks system which has been neglected for so long, but he said that will have to wait until we can get the economy moving back in a positive direction.

In my opinion, Sullivan beats the rest hands down.  He might not be able to flood the TV and radio airwaves like Abele, but he does have a clear and defined vision, which is worth much more to someone like me, who wants the best for their community.

County's Transit System Is A Mess - Who Can Fix It?

The Milwaukee County Transit System is like the HMS Titanic, taking on water and sinking fast.

So what do the potential captains propose to do to fix it?

Jeff Stone wants to turn the ship around and hit the iceberg a few more times.

Chris Abele wants to rearrange the deck chairs.

Jim Sullivan wants to fix the hole, pump out the water and invite everyone to the captain's table for dinner.

The choice couldn't be any clearer.  I want to survive and I want Milwaukee County to survive.

On transit, Sullivan wins, hands down.

Stone Is Misrepresenting Himself

Check out Jeff's Stone's letterhead:

Not the lack of words such as elect or for in the letterhead.  It should read either "Elect Jeff Stone..." or "Stone for Milwaukee County Executive."  This makes it seem like he has already been elected.

Not that that is likely to happen.  Milwaukeeans are tired of getting crapped on and don't want another Scott Walker.

Sullivan Picks Vital Topic As Campaign Theme

Jim Sullivan, candidate for Milwaukee County Executive, has picked a vital theme for one of the main planks of his campaign - the failing transit system:

Today, Jim Sullivan announced a plan to save our transit system and lower Milwaukee County residents property taxes.

Sullivan will enact the referendum passed by Milwaukee County voters in 2008 and create a dedicated funding source for Milwaukee County Transit System. Dedicated transit funding will allow the county to invest in public transportation and will save property taxpayers thousands of dollars by taking transit off the property tax rolls.

"Milwaukee County is in dire need of a renewed, vibrant transit system and property tax relief. This plan will provide both," candidate for Milwaukee County Executive Jim Sullivan said. "A revitalized transit system is an investment in our community that will attract business and create jobs across our County. I call on all of my opponents to join me in standing up for real solutions to restore our disappearing transit system."

Sullivan for Milwaukee released a petition today, "Save Our Transit," calling for the dedicated funding source that Milwaukee County voters supported in the 2008 referendum.

Jim Sullivan is a common sense leader fighting for working Milwaukee County residents to create jobs, revitalize Milwaukee County services and infrastructure and to ease the tax burden on working families.

The online petition takes only seconds to sign.

I had an opportunity to chat with Sullivan a few weeks ago, and he told me that this was one of his top concerns.  He called the transit system the "lifeblood" of Milwaukee County.  He accurately pointed out that without a healthy transit system, any efforts to restore the regional economy would be greatly hampered, if not impossible.  Sullivan further stated that with a healthy transit system, other things, such as economic development and increased revenue for things like the parks and maintenance of county buildings would become available.

Sullivan also said that one of the main reasons that the transit sales tax failed in the state legislature for the past two years is because Milwaukee County officials were presenting mixed messages to the legislators.  While the County Board actively pursued a viable remedy to the ailing transit system in the form of a dedicated sales tax, former County Executive Scott Walker was more concerned with his political image and how such a sales tax might affect his gubernatorial campaign.  Sullivan said he would work with the County Board to present a unified front and a consistent message in an effort to put pressure on state legislators to do the right thing and honor the people's will.

Sullivan strongly emphasized that his plan would adhere to the original intent of the referendum and not only provide a dedicated funding source for the transit system, but would also give home owners a much needed break by taking the transit system off of the tax levee.

To further exemplify his support for transit, he told me that he had taken the bus to the first debate, which was held downtown.

The only other candidate that has advocated for fixing the transit system is the beleaguered County Board Chairman, Lee Holloway.  However, even Holloway has shown a wavering support for the sales tax.

Ieshuh Griffin has stated opposition to the sales tax, but has not proffered any other solution that I am aware of.

Jeff Stone has also expressed opposition to the sales tax, and like Griffin, doesn't offer any alternative solutions.  Given that Stone has nothing but praise for the way that Walker mismanaged the county, I would not look to him to have a vision, much less a plan.  He is much more likely to let the transit system, as well as our regional economy, go to hell in a hand basket, just to preserve Walker's false image of being a leader if nothing else.

Chris Abele has also expressed opposition to the dedicated sales tax.  I had the opportunity to chat with Abele as well, and had asked him the question of how to fix transit.  His simplistic answer was to simply reconfigure the routes and times of service to increase their efficiency by having them "go from where the people are to where the jobs are and have them go when they're most needed."  I didn't even bother to point out that Milwaukee County has transit riders from all over the region, not just inside the county, that utilizes the transit system to get to all different points of the county.  His stated solution would be the equivalent of picking winners and losers as far as workers as well as businesses.  If you happen to live in an unfavored part of town, or have your business in an area that is deemed not to be of sufficient value, under Abele's plan, you would be out of luck.

Another concern is that Abele has also touted a plan to save tax payers $2 million in taxes in short order, but never goes into specifics on how he would do that.  However, Abele is also on the board for the Greater Milwaukee Committee, which commissioned the Public Policy Forum to conduct a very specific study regarding county finances and the results of various privatization plans.  In this study, one of the possible scenarios outlined (Scenario 3, for those following along at home) would correspond to about $2 million is projected savings.  This option would include spinning off the transit system, as well as the airport, the zoo and the parks, into special districts/ separate taxing authorities with their own.  Given Abele's first TV commercial, in which he is touting these studies that he and the GMC commissioned, there is no reason to believe that this report won't be among his plans for Milwaukee County.

I don't see the need or the appropriateness of having four more unelected taxing authorities to oversee any of these functions.  The problem is not the management of any of the systems, but simply the lack of funding.  By allowing these programs to go under the auspices of independent bodies, it not only takes any say away from the tax payers, but greatly increases the risk of having their taxes skyrocket.

In summary, we have five candidates with different plans when it comes to the Milwaukee County Transit System:

• Ieshuh Griffin opposes a dedicated funding, but offers no other solutions
• Jeff Stone not only opposes the sales tax, but is more than willing to help the transit system, and the economy with it, to the breaking point
• Lee Holloway is taking the spaghetti approach, flinging everything out there in hopes that something will stick
• Chris Abele would spin off the transit into an unelected taxing authority, with the only option to be to raise property taxes to the detriment of home owners and no guarantee of better service.
• Jim Sullivan would join with the County Board to put pressure on the state legislature and the governor to finally provide a dedicated sales tax as voters called for more than two years ago, which would not only restore the transit system but give tax payers a much needed break.

Obviously, the best choice would be Sullivan's, which would provide ample funding to get the transit system, and subsequently the local economy, back to healthier times as well as give a break to home owner's across Milwaukee County.  And while you're at it, don't forget to sign the petition for a better transit system and a better, job creating economy.

Should Milwaukee County Privatize Mitchell Field.?

In a word; NO.

Milwaukee County Executive Race Finally Heats(?) Up

The candidates for Milwaukee County Executive, with only three weeks until the primary, are finally showing signs of life.

Jim Sullivan has been going around the county campaigning in the old-fashioned way, actually meeting with the voters, listening to their concerns and priorities and offering up his ideas.

Jeff Stone has sent out the first mailer that I've heard about, and the first message he sends is that he would be the one that will save Milwaukee County from "99 days of runaway Holloway."  Too bad for him that it will be only 30 days of Holloway as County Executive, and that Holloway didn't do any running away.  Unless, of course, Stone thinks that Holloway's cleaning out the Courthouse of Walker's corrupt cronies and taking measures to get the airport straightened out is outrageous, which he might since he somehow thinks that Walker had done well as County Executive.

Chris Abele, keeping as ambiguous as ever, ran the first TV ad.  About the only thing he said in it was to make the claim that he saved the county some $200 million on the questionable pension obligation bond scheme.  But even that isn't without controversy,  Holloway is contesting that claim, saying if the County had followed this advice when it was given, the results would have disastrous.

But for Abele and Holloway to be fighting over the questionable and unpopular pension obligation bonds seems to make as much sense as the Skipper and Gilligan fighting for taking credit for shipwrecking the Minnow.

I certainly hope the race takes a turn for the better and soon.

A Good County Executive Is So Hard To Find

Six weeks ago, I took a preliminary look at the potential field of candidates for Milwaukee County Executive. It was a heady time, when people were looking forward to starting to heal after a decade of abuse and neglect.

But then, a couple of weeks ago, Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that philanthropist Chris Abele was going to get into the race. This bombshell of an announcement changed the entire landscape of the race, but not necessarily for the better. Abele is a multimillionaire who also runs a multimillionaire charity group called the Argosy Foundation. Abele is known not just for his charity work, but is also a contributor to many political campaigns, with the vast majority of his beneficiaries being Democrats. It was reported that Abele was ready and willing to drop at least one million of his own money to fund his campaign, and that he was hoping to raise another half a million in donations.

When his candidacy became known, other candidates, mostly from the left side of the aisle, started dropping out like flies. Sheldon Wasserman said he wasn't going to run. John Weishan said he wasn't going to run. Joe Czarnezki dropped out. Johnny Thomas dropped out. Sue Black never really got in before she got out. Dan Diliberti dropped out. Marina Dimitrijevic, whom I thought to be one of the best candidates, dropped out.

A few notables either chose to stay in or to join in the race despite Abele's presence. These include Republican Jeff Stone, Jim Sullivan and Lee Holloway. There is also a field of a half a dozen or so lesser known names, including the controversial Ieshuh Griffin, who apparently can't make up her mind what she wants to run for.

When one looks at the four better known candidates, one finds that it leaves a lot to be desired.

Chris Abele

Chris Abele, who only made his formal announcement this afternoon, is really starting off on the wrong foot. Outside of being a millionaire by the graces of good inheritance, there is little know about him. He makes only vague statements of "bold and innovative reform," but won't offer anything of substance. Even his website is devoid of any information and is utterly useless unless one is in the habit of donating to or volunteering for a candidate just for the heck of it.

Abele also has some questionable allies, namely Sheldon Lubar, who is a strong advocate for the wholesale destruction of Milwaukee County, even though this would only serve to raise taxes and greatly reduce services. Lubar said that he is supporting Abele because "Chris and I agree that there are some specific changes that are needed, and we have a man who's governor who knows what they are better than anyone else."

Abele did tell the media today that he is open to further privatization (read higher taxes for lesser quality service). He also mentioned that the would consider consolidating services with other municipalities, which is not as bad. He also said that he was opposed to the dedicated sales tax to bolster the parks and the transit systems, but offers no other solutions on how to stop their slow deaths.

I also find it more than a little off-putting that a candidate that won't present any stances on any issues, is personally wealthy, and possibly wants to finish the destruction that Walker had started would send out mass emails begging for money, especially to those he would harm the most.

Until Abele can come up with something - anything - that would let people know where he stands, and if that thing is polar of what the signs indicate about him, he is not really worth consideration for county executive.

Jeff Stone

Stone is currently a Republican in the State Assembly for the Greendale area. He is also Scott Walker's chosen heir apparent. Stone returns the love by saying that he would continue where Walker left off, namely, bankrupting and killing off the county, regardless of how many people it hurts or even kills. But lacking even as much as Walker's vanilla personality, Stone is more like Walker Lite than anything else.

Stone's only claim to fame is the failed attempt at a back door privatization of the airport. Stone, backed up by the conservative paper, makes claim that he never tried to privatize the airport. he only wanted to take control of it away from the county and give it to a private entity. Yeah, that's a big difference. That's like saying he wasn't driving a car, he was driving an automobile.

With the county literally crumbling around us, we don't need a guy who would only try to exasperate the problems we are currently facing.

It will be interesting to see how Stone does in the race though. He has Scott Walker's war machine which is still running from the November elections. However, Walker has become so unpopular on a local level that he lost Milwaukee County in that election by a 62-38 margin. I don't see how a Walker wannabe will fare much better.

Jim Sullivan

Sullivan is the former State Senator for the Wauwatosa area. While in the Senate, he did a few good things, like giving Wisconsin an uniform policy against smoking in work places. But despite his good deeds, he still managed to lose to Leah Vukmir in November's election. That is not an easy task, even with the Republican surge across the state.

However, there is reason to doubt Sullivan's worthiness to run the county, since he was also a player in making a push for the sale and pillaging of the county grounds, endangering one of Milwaukee County's greatest treasures, namely the Monarch Trail. Not only that, but this gift to the private land developers will now cost Tosa residents $12 million in the form of a TIF. That is something that can't be popular in the current political climate.

Sullivan could have be a good candidate, but he doesn't have much time to ensure which candidate he is going to be.

Lee Holloway

It is nearly impossible to living in Milwaukee County and not know who Lee Holloway is. Holloway is the Chair of the Milwaukee County Board, and at the moment, he is also the interim County Executive. Holloway says a lot of the right things, such as how he wants to make the county grow, get a dedicated funding source for the transit system and the restoration of full service at the airport.

However, during the last few years, Holloway has repeatedly let the county down. When he's had the opportunity to stand against Walker and Walker's path of destruction, Holloway had instead chosen to stand side by side with Walker. Not only did he fail to protect the county and its tax payers, but he gave Walker a handy foil to push the blame at when things went sour, as they inevitably would.

Holloway also has the issue of his private property and his failure to maintain them properly. To make things even worse, these properties are the homes of people with chronic mental health problems. He already lacked a lot of support in the suburbs, and this has alienated a lot of the city voters and the black community.

***

What Milwaukee County really needs is a strong leader with bold, progressive ideas of how to re-establish the county as a leader after a decade of one scandal after another, and one detrimental decision after another. It needs someone who would work hard to restore the transit system, reverse the decline of the parks and strengthen the safety net for its most vulnerable citizens.

It also looks like Milwaukee County will have to wait another year before it might have that person.

Talk About Your Media Bias

Yesterday, my good friend Jay Bullock pointed out how the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is getting pretty dang atrocious with their reporting skills or lack thereof. Jay showed that their article about the judge's ruling on health care was sensationalism and just plain wrong.

I noticed another glaring example of bad journalism in one of their stories that I had linked to in my previous post. The story is about Jeff Stone's unsurprising announcement that his running for county executive. The problematic part is here (emphasis mine):

He joins a crowded field of prospective candidates, but Stone's expected announcement would make him the first current officeholder to officially take the plunge.

Others mulling the race include former Democratic state Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, County Supervisors Marina Dimitrijevic and Johnny Thomas, County Clerk Joe Czarnezki, County Treasurer Dan Diliberti and former County Executive Tom Ament.

Last time I checked, Holloway, Dimitrijevic, Thomas, Czarnezki and Diliberti were all currently in office. Gee, do you think that this "oversight" might have to do with any sort of vested interest in the outcome of the spring elections?