Scott Walker - See Something, Say Something!

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker, held a press conference on the day of the latest mass shootings to tell Wisconsinites to be afraid, be very afraid this Holiday season,.




As with every one of the Governor's great  ideas, I am all on board.  

Although, Mr. Walker did not tell us who we are supposed to contact when we see things that are suspicious, so let me start here. 

In the last few years, I have not seen anything as suspicious as this pic.   A group of unscrupulous, morally bankrupt people with no checks and balances and who were up to no good gathered in one spot as this right here:

 

Please feel free to forward to the proper authorities.  

But wait!  There is more! 

While that may be the most suspicious, there is plenty more like these:

       

 



Ok have to stop here.  Getting nightmares.  

If this is not enough proof that we need to be vigilant and inform authorities when we see suspicious characters roaming the streets, I do not know what is!    

Income Inequality That Your Kids Suffer From

 

By Jeff Simpson

The average teacher salary in Wisconsin is $46,000/yr.  Governor Scott Walker's signature piece of legislation ACT10 cut public workers take home pay by up to 12%.    Which for the average public teacher salary in WI comes to approximately $5520. Act 10 has been in effect for four years now which would be $22,080 in lost income(or demand in Wisconsin).


What was the motivating factor behind that?

Scott Walker in that time has received over $2,400,000 in support of privatizing schools, increasing vouchers and ending teachers unions.  This is money given by the ruling class earmarked as just donations for the politicians they own(for those of you scoring at home, that is equivalent to over 52 teachers complete salaries).     

It doesn't stop there.  

The Democracy Campaign report showed that spending by voucher supporters skyrocketed in the last election cycle, with more than half of the $9.8 million spent over the past decade coming in 2011 and 2012.

Of the spending, $7 million was for activity like independent campaign ads or mailings. The remaining $2.8 million was given in individual campaign contributions to mostly Republican and conservative candidates for office. Nearly two-thirds of that $2.8 million came from donors outside of Wisconsin.

The most donations came from billionaire voucher advocates Richard and Betsy DeVos of Michigan, who gave $337,330 to Wisconsin candidates between 2003 and the first six months of 2012.
Walker received $2.35 million from voucher supporters since 2006, but most of that came during his recall campaign. He got $1.1 million from individual school choice supporters — including $252,600 from Richard and Betsy DeVos. He got another $1.1 million from the Washington-based American Federation for Children, the report showed.

That group is the main driver of outside spending from voucher supporters in Wisconsin, accounting for $4.4 million of the $7 million over the past decade. The group’s Wisconsin lobbyist is former Republican Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen.

Two other former Republican speakers, John Gard and Jeff Fitzgerald*, work for School Choice Wisconsin.

*  total spending does NOT include salaries to the many many lobbyists they employ.  All of which make more than the average teacher does in salary for a year.

So ask yourself why billionaires, who have spent their life increasing their salary and worrying about ROI would be investing millions in privatizing our schools. 

Do you think it is because they worry about YOUR child's education or is it because they see massive return on investments by privatizing our schools?

Private Schools Dirty Little Secret

 

By Jeff Simpson

There is an epidemic going on and it is going under reported.  The epidemic I am speaking of is cheating in Voucher/private schools.   We have documented numerous times how the private school cadre is in it for one thing - profit.  Heck, even the "education reform" crowd has let it slip that they see "gold" in the classrooms.   When the ranks of the privatize school crowd is run by convicted felon Scott Jensen, and lobbied by people like John Gard - profits come first and ethics never enter the equation. 



When an industry is strictly about profits, you should expect problems and there are.  All over the country!

The first comes to us from Florida via Indiana:

Florida's education commissioner resigned today amid allegations that he changed the grade of a charter school run by a major Republican donor during his previous job as Indiana's school chief.

Tony Bennett announced his immediate resignation at a news conference, saying that he while he did nothing wrong he didn't want to be a distraction to Gov. Rick Scott's efforts to overhaul Florida's education system. Emails published by The Associated Press this week show that Bennett and his Indiana staff scrambled last fall to ensure Christel DeHaan's school received an A, despite poor 10th-grade algebra scores that initially earned it a C.

 In case you missed it:

 Emails published by The Associated Press this week show that Bennett and his Indiana staff scrambled last fall to ensure Christel DeHaan's school received an A, despite poor 10th-grade algebra scores that initially earned it a C.

Bennett, recently beaten as Indiana's head of education,  says that the charges against him are "malicious and unfounded".   Now we can look at his email and marching orders to his staff:

After Bennett learned about a likely low grade for Christel House, he fired off a Sept. 12 email to his chief of staff.

"This will be a HUGE problem for us," Bennett wrote. "They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work."

                           

While he has been disgraced in two red states now in his quest to "reform" education has two supporters left - "Waiting for Superman" right wing movie star - Michelle Rhee.  

Bennett’s leadership in IN showed his commitment to kids. With better grad rates & fewer failing schools, IN kids benefited from his tenure.
— Michelle Rhee (@MichelleRhee) August 1, 2013

Florida Governor and Medicare Fraud recipient Rock Scott, doing his best George Bush impression, said that Bennet is doing "A great job"!

After a couple days of radio silence about the scandal involving Florida's education commissioner, Gov. Rick Scott finally has something to say. He told Channel 5 in West Palm Beach that Tony Bennett is "doing a great job."
Scott praised Bennett for being "very focused on accountability" and reiterated how well Florida's students are doing. Scott didn't say whether Bennett's job is secure, however. See the interview here. Scott has been through several education commissioners during his tenure as governor.

Yes this is the future of public education money in the hands of the anti education republican party!  We have seen it enacted all over the country and we are seeing it right in front of our own eyes in WI.

We can stop it in Wisconsin, in the next election.     WE MUST STOP THIS IN 2014!  

if we allow republicans to maintain total control of our state after the next election, be prepared for more stories like this one.....lots more stories like it actually!  

A Milwaukee County judge has ordered the operator of a defunct private voucher school to repay about $300,000 in taxpayer money, after the state sued him for falsifying documents and forging his college diploma to get into the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, court records show.

But Wisconsin may not be seeing that money anytime soon from Corey C. Reed Daniels, who operated the disastrous Milwaukee Institute of Academic Achievement in 2011-'12 before reports of student endangerment prompted the Department of Public Instruction to terminate it from the choice program.

 His institute, which enrolled between 100 and 180 students in kindergarten through eighth grade at 4920 N. Sherman Blvd., is not the first private voucher school to get shut down by the state. But it remains one of the most recent examples of how quickly an operator — given the right circumstances — could start a private school, enroll students and receive hundreds of thousands of public dollars before being cut off after allegations of impropriety.

 

1,500,000 Wisconsinites

By Jeff Simpson

In the latest debate going on where the republicans are in closed door meetings deciding how many of our public education dollars they will be giving to private for profit education, one thing is missing from the talks - a single democrat.  

While one thing (a single democrat) was noticeably absent from these closed door discussions, one thing was conspicuously in attendance(no not real media coverage, no one expects that),  Private Education Profiteer Lobbyist  John Gard!  

Seriously, not a single democrat is in the room and the for profit well paid lobbyists are!  

For those of you scoring at home, in the 2012 elections; 

Democrats received the votes of 1,500,000 Wisconsinites.  

John Gard received 0.0! 

In other words anyone who voted anywhere in the state for a democrat is being completely shut out of the debate while John Gard gets to sit in and decide how many of OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS, get funneled away from our children and into his and his clients pocket!

The Wisconsin republicans are not, just far right extremists, they are zealots! 

There is a reason that the Wisconsin is rated 49/50 for the next 6 months economic outlook! 




H/T Rebecca Kemble for this picture of former Republican Assembly leader praying they can steal all of our childrens public education money before anyone notices!   

Walker Puts A Chokehold On Lady Justice

A lot of times, when a shady deal involving a politician is revealed, it's a matter of quid pro quo, or in more vernacular terms, one hand washing another. However, in Fitzwalkerstan, the ruling class' hands are so filthy that they will never be washed clean.

And as it seems to be the trend in Fitzwalkerstan, another new day exposes another new scandal.Or at least a new turn in an old one.

In 2011, David "Chokehold" Prosser made a statement that he would be "a complement" to Scott Walker's administration.

And by complement, he meant rubber stamp.

Shortly after his seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was securely bought and paid for, with the help of thousands of suddenly found votes, Prosser made good on his words.  He rubber stamped Act 10 into law. As I wrote at the time:

Now word as come out that the "Supreme Court" of Wisconsin has, without apparent deliberation or research of the law, has ruled the open meetings laws to be invalid and that our elected officials (or at least the Republican ones) are above the law and don't need to adhere to the laws that they themselves had passed. Needless to say, WMC spent tons of money in making sure that Annette Ziegler, Michael Gableman and David Prosser were on the bench, just so that they could shred the Constitution and the law books and make irresponsible decisions like this one.

And if you don't want to listen to me, Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson said pretty much the same thing:

Justice Shirley Abrahamson accused the majority of reaching a hasty decision that’s light on legal analysis, opening them up to the unnecessary charge that they “reached a pre-determined conclusion not based on the facts and the law, which undermines the majority's ultimate decision.”

Abrahamson agreed in her opinion that the the challenge to the legislation raises fundamental constitutional questions. But she did not join the majority opinion because she believes the court should follow its own rules and the constitution in such a case. Thus, she believes the case should have followed the normal appeal route rather than the court taking original jurisdiction and issuing a decision that gives the case “short shrift.”

Now, Prosser's poor judgment, or utter lack of any judgment, is also in hot water. No matter how much the Bradley Center's Christian Schneider might try to obfuscate the issue, if not just fabricate things out of thin air, Prosser is still facing an investigation into the allegations that he put a chokehold on Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Well, Scott Walker wasn't going to just idly stand by and let Prosser fall victim to his own intemperate temper. No sirree, Bob! A tool like Prosser's rubber stamp was too valuable to let go that easy. After all, without Prosser on the bench, who knows what could happen? Walker might actually have to start following the law and the people might actually have their constitutional rights upheld. Walker couldn't have any of that!

In a shocking article* by Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we learn that Walker consulted with former state legislator and former Prosser aide, John "Hand me another brewski" Gard for names to be appointed to the commission investigating Prosser's assault on Justice Bradley.

Walker made his appointments within days of getting the names from Gard, without even the formality of an interview.

So who are these legal scholars that Walker appointed to the commission to investigate Prosser? Well, they're not exactly legal scholars. Walker appointed an anesthesiologist, a dentist and a housewife. Previously, Walker had appointed a Spanish translator and a dean from Marquette University.

But if they're not legal scholars, what are their qualifications to set on a commission investigating a Supreme Court Justice? Gard explained it this way in an email he sent to Walker:

"These are not people who require any hand holding - they are fiercely conservative and will never wimp out," Gard wrote. "There will be no surprises."

Of Barrette, Gard wrote: "I laid out what we were looking for and (he) said he would do it if needed."

Obviously, Walker's goal was not to have a qualified commission, but to stack the deck so that the commission could rubber stamp the human rubber stamp as being innocent. Given Prosser's impulsiveness and lack of forethought, Prosser could easily prove to be his his own worst enemy in an honest investigation.

With these appointees, Walker's hand-picked, "fiercely conservative" minions who "will never wimp out" have a 5-4 majority on the commission.

I think the gentle reader can deduce what kind of outcome Walker expects from his appointees to the commission, and it doesn't necessarily have to do with upholding the law and or delivering justice.

The gentle reader should also not be surprised at the level of corruption coming from Walker and his administration.  The revelations so far from the Walkergate investigation are ample indication that Walker has no concern or regard for the law or for ethics.

But these furthering shenanigans could go to explain why the federal investigators are taking so long to issue any indictments or bring Walker in for arraignment.  There's already so much criminal activity that it boggles the mind, and as I always say, when it comes to Scott Walker, there's more.  There's always more.

*The article is not shocking that Walker would be this corrupt. What is shocking is that the corporate media would allow it to be published.

Election News From The Northern Land

Despite the right wing meme that Obama doesn't relate to the country folk, I am glad to report that in the area of me northern castle, which lies in the shadow of the GOP's breeding ground, otherwise known as the Fox Valley, there are at least as many, if not more, Obama yard signs as there are McCain yard signs.

I realize that yard signs don't vote, but the people that put them on their lawns do. What is funny is that many of the McCain signs were in front of empty fields or forested regions. Read into it what you will.

I also saw this Kagen ad on the local TV stations up there:



I thought it to be a pretty powerful ad, and also probably helps explain why Kagen enjoys such a large lead over Gard at the moment.

Tell Us Something We Don't Know

Keith Olbermann has a segment on his show in which he calls out the "worst persons in the world." Good old John Gard made it to the list recently. From All Politics, the JSOnline political blog:

On the show, Olbermann said the Gard campaign had been caught earlier this summer distributing flyers that said Cuba was drilling for oil in the Florida Straits. Olbermann said Gard stopped making the claim when advised that was "horse hockey" but has recently come out with an ad saying Cuba was poised to drill for oil off their shores. Olbermann dismissed that claim, saying Cuba had entered into lease agreements with foreign countries to explore for oil on land.

Here's what is actually happening. No one is drilling off the coast of Cuba. But the communist island has entered into exploration contracts with companies in Norway, Malaysia and Spain to drill for oil off its shores. Norway is expected to begin exploratory drilling in 2009.

While Olbermann thought Gard was bad, he called Gen. David Petraeus, the commanding general in Iraq, "worser" and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh the "worst."

Nothing we didn't know, but it's nice to hear others confirm it.