Scott Walker's Top Ten Ways To Tell You Might Be A Public Sector Worker

At the end of public service recognition week comes this fitting reminder of what Scott Walker really thinks of public sector workers:




H/T to Jud Lounsbury

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.

Quotable

From Uppity Wisconsin's own Jud Lounsbury, who takes on the fear of discussing collective bargaining among some on the left:

Some will argue that talking about collective bargaining too much will fire up Walker's base too much. It will, but it will also fire up our base.

What Cieslewicz is doing is assuming that since Walker is attacking the Democrats for being beholden to "big government union bosses" that government unions must be bad.
That's not it. The reason why Walker is constantly talking about public sector unions is because he is trying to fire up his own base and trying to persuade those that don't have an opinion about public sector unions to have a negative opinion of public sector unions.

The answer, therefore, is not to talk about public sector unions. That's the exact opposite of what we should do, because it will allow Walker to define public sector unions to those in the middle that don't have a strong opinion formed.

If Walker is allowed to fire up his base define public sector unions to those in the middle, we most certainly lose. But, if we fire up our own base and simultaneously define public sector unions to those in the middle, we have the best chance of winning.

Methinks that those who on the left who are most afraid of bringing up this topic are also those who are aware that Kathleen Falk dominates this, as well as most, if not all, of the other issues.

It's pitiful that there are those that refuse to even acknowledge them that brought them to the dance in the first place.

The Death Of Journalism In Fitzwalkerstan

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a ragtag bunch of people were protesting them. When I read the article and saw who was protesting and why they were protesting, I laughed out loud:

The local group is part of a national effort organized by the Virginia-based conservative watchdog organization, Media Research Center. The center has embarked on a program to "keep media bias out of the 2012 election."

Since 2002, the Media Research Center has received more than $1.5 million in grants from the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation.

"The Journal Sentinel never tells both sides of the story and they always show bias," said one of the protesters, Domerica Erskine, 55, a homemaker from Mequon.

Oh, puh-lease!

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which treats people like Patrick McIlheran, Christian Schneider, Rick Esenberg, and Mike Nichols as credible columnists, cannot be considered left wing (or intelligent) by any stretch of the imagination.

A paper that regularly regurgitates the corporate propaganda promoted by the MacIver Institute, WPRI, and Wisconsin Reporter cannot be considered liberal.

Another fine example is when Journal Communications - the parent company of the paper, TMJ4 and 620TMJ-AM - joined in the McCarthyism by doing their own witch hunt on their own employees:

TODAY'S TMJ4 and Newsradio 620 WTMJ discovered that several members of our staff signed the recall petitions for Governor Walker. Some of those employees play a role in our news-gathering and editorial process. Several of them also work on-air: One at TODAY'S TMJ4; four at Newsradio 620 WTMJ.

We want you to know that we consider this a serious issue. We are in the process of dealing with it internally. Our reputation of being a fair and unbiased news source is of paramount importance to both TODAY'S TMJ4 and Newsradio 620 WTMJ.

We expect anyone involved in the production of news to avoid situations that could compromise our integrity. We don't allow news employees to sign nomination papers for candidates, display yard signs or take part in a political campaign.

However, many employees told us that they felt signing the recall petition was not a political act, but instead felt it was similar to casting a vote. WTMJ does not agree and we want to assure you, our viewers, that we are taking measures to make sure all of our reporting is fair, balanced and to ensure something like this does not happen again.

This is coming from a company that allowed Charlie Sykes to give $1,700 to various GOPers, including $500 to Walker.

This is also the company whose Chairman and CEO, Steve Smith, is an officer of Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, which actively supported Walker.

Why aren't they reporting on this but are going after the people that chose to exercise their Constitutional rights? It sure isn't because they're a bunch of liberals.

MAL Contends has more on Journal Communications flagrant hypocrisy on this. And for good measure, Jud Lounsbury turns the light on the Wisconsin State Journal and their double standards.

But what MJS lacks in integrity and balanced reporting, they make up for by being wildly inaccurate.

Case in point: On their website, they have an article trying to make a normal primary look like it's an internal war among Democrats, Unions and others. Not only does it show their bias in trying to conflate things to much larger proportions than they really are, but they originally included this paragraph:

AFSCME Council 24 also has promoted a video by union activist Chris Liebenthal that suggested Barrett supported Walker's repeal of collective bargaining, even though the mayor consistently said that proposal should not pass. In an interview Friday, Falk declined to say what she thought of the criticism of Barrett.

Well, that was news to me!

Yes, I did post the video in question. But as I told PolitiFact reporter Jim Nelson, I did not create nor edit the video. Mr. Nelson reported it correctly in his column.  Doesn't the paper have fact checkers anymore?

ADDENDUM: I had sent an email to the reporters who wrote the story, Patrick Marley and Jason Stein, pointing out their inaccurate reporting. Much to his credit, Mr. Marley responded promptly saying he corrected the online article and that a correction in the print copy will be forthcoming.

The sad part is that it won't keep the likes of Charlie Sykes from running with something they know to be factually incorrect and running with it.

And if it's not inaccurate or biased reporting, one has to take into account what they don't report.

I cannot count the times that I have conversations with someone, even to this day, about Scott Walker's dismal record as Milwaukee County Executive, only to have them say, "I didn't know that! Why wasn't it reported?"

Let be clear on one thing. As the example with Mr. Marley shows, there are many good journalists out there that do try their best to be as objective and factual as possible in their reporting.  No one is perfect and mistakes do happen.  But you'll notice by the examples I cited above that, it's often the people that control what gets published and how it's presented that is the real problem.

To call any news source in Fitzwalkerstan as being liberal is laughable at best.  And until the likes of MJS start coming clean with their corporate biases, expect a lot more reporting on it from bloggers such as myself, calling them out on their misrepresentations.

And until they start allowing the real news to be published honestly and objectively, be careful of what you read in them.

Walkergate: The Rindfleisch Transcripts

As I mention in Walkergate: Trouble In Paradise, Part 1 and Part 2, I referred to a set of transcripts that the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office had entered as evidence in the case against Kelly Rindfleisch.

Rindfleisch is fighting the charges she is facing by asking to have her case dismissed outright and by seeking a change of venue to Colombia County.  The purpose of these partial transcripts are presumably to show that Rindfleisch was fully aware of the residency requirements for being employed by Milwaukee County and to strengthen the already strong case that she committed the crimes she is accused of.

Until Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel posted the transcripts online for all to read, people were limited to to what the paper was reporting.

Steve Schultze, also of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a bang up job reporting on part of the transcripts, including how Kelly Rindfleisch and Jim Villa had great expectations for the roles they would play in Scott Walker's administration when he became governor.  He also told us how these two thought that Tim Russell was on Walker's bad side, although I'm not sure that's the correct interpretation of events.

But there are some interesting tidbits that either Schultze or his editors felt weren't newsworthy.

First, I would have to stop and say that these partial transcripts are infuriatingly frustrating in the sense that they are Wisconsin's greatest teases.  For example, at the bottom of page 5, the DA is questioning Villa about Rindfleisch and they have this exchange:

Q: Do you know how it came to pass that she was hired in the County Executive's Office in        2010, based upon your personal knowledge? 

A: Yes. 

Q: How did it come to pass?

And that's where they end.  It's like the season finale of one of your favorite TV shows and now you have to wait an indefinite amount of time before you find out how it comes out.

A few pages later (page 11), in the questioning, there is another teaser that indicates that Cindy Archer might have had a hand in the illegal politicking, which would not be a surprise.  I've already pointed out a communication that Cory Liebmann had found in which Archer email Walker at his campaign address as well as Walker's campaign consultant R. J. Johnson.

On the top of page 12, there is another interesting exchange between Rindfleisch and Villa.  As one of Cog Dis' astute readers had already pointed out:

Something very interesting: 

1147 FRI 05MAR2010 

Rindfleisch: Quick question, is Gerry Geishart one of your members? 

Villa: Don't think so. 

Rindfleisch: Ok.Would any of your members know what a hotel would lease for? (end of chat)

Who is Gery Geishart? He is a realtor who buys and sells properties, many of which deal directly with counties. Why is a County Executive Deputy Chief of Staff asking the former County Executive Chief of Staff? Turns out, Villa is now President of the Commercial Association of Wisconsin Realtors, thus Geishart could be "one of Villa's members". What else do we know? Andrew Jensen, a different realtor, was given immunity in the John Doe investigation and later arrested for failure to comply with authorities. Anything else suspicious? The lawyers Walker hired specialize in real estate and complex criminal law.

So, I guess the real question is, why would hotel lease costs motivate Rindfleisch to ask Villa about Geishart? I suppose the county could be interested in leasing one of Geishart's properties, assuming he is the current owner. But why? The other details seem to paint a picture of the County Executive's Office being accused of engaging in some form of real estate shenanigans. These chat transcripts are the first physical documents that link the Executive's Office, Walker's Campaign, and real estate dealings.

For more information on the real estate stuff, you can see what I've already written here.

The next interesting tidbit comes on the bottom of page 13, where the last arrow is pointing:

rellyk (Rindfleisch): and then I got Fran highlighting all the mistakes in the press releases that the campaign does

Fran would be Fran McLaughlin, who was Walker's spokeswoman as county executive.  Yet another name to add to the corruption list.  What is also interesting, at least for Milwaukeeans, is that McLaughlin currently is the Public Information Officer for Sheriff David Clarke, a pompous ass that has aligned himself with the teahadists and other conservative nut jobs and is more interested in politicking than actually performing the duties of his office.  One has to wonder if McLaughlin got waived through the normal screening process and background check before Clarke gave her this political appointment.

The really curious thing about the article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article is that there is not one single mention of McLaughlin or her involvement.  Why was her name omitted?

The last item involves the last few pages of the transcripts.  It shows part of the questioning of one Andrea Boom as well as a series of online chats between Boom and Rindfleisch.  Rindfleisch and Boom knew each other for years when they worked together at Wisconsin Association of Health Plans.

Andrea Boom:
Is that Walker's web of
lies she's stuck in?

The chats included were mundane chatter about Boom's apparently troubled home life and such, but do show Rindfleisch knowingly lying on official documents (her employment papers) regarding where she lived and that Milwaukee has a residency requirement.

But in the various exchanges are some interesting things.  One being that a yet-to-be-identified former GOP female state senator had held a fund raiser for Tom Barrett, who was, of course, Walker's gubernatorial opponent.  I have the greatest minds in the kingdom working on figuring this out as I write this.

The very last page shows a series of discussions in which Rindfleisch is trying to talk her old chum into taking  a new job in Milwaukee County so they could hang together and campaign together, or something.  That didn't pan out, but what is sure to be more than pure coincidence, shortly after Walker was elected, Boom ended up getting a new job as the Finance Director for Walker's campaign.

But the thing that leaves me still chortling is that, according to the court records, is that Boom is going to get a whopping $47.60 for witness fees.

Yup, Boom sold out her good friend and benefactor for less than $50.  It goes to show you what price Republicans put on friendship and loyalty.  They'll sell you out in a heartbeat if they can make a buck doing so.

It's not unlike the way that Scott Walker and WISGOP treat Wisconsin and its citizens.

For some other thought-provoking insights into this, check out Jud Loundsbury's take on the transcripts.

A Falsehood Wrapped In A Lie Wrapped In Deceit

Jud Loundsbury of Uppity Wisconsin found some amazing footage of Scott Walker interviewing with the Oshkosh Northwestern's editorial board. A key part of that footage includes this exchange:

Editorial Board Member: Before, we were talking about state employees contributing to their plan, paying their share of the pension plan. Collective bargaining come into that?
Walker: Yep (nodding yes)
Editorial Board Member: How do you get that negotiated and accepted by the state employee unions?
Walker: You still have to negotiate it. I did that at the county as well.

Loundsbury also edited the hour-long video to this:



Loundsbury's find was so notable that Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote about it.

Kudos and applause to Loundsbury for this big score.

Loundsbury goes on to point out what should be obvious, that while in the video, Walker stated that he was going to negotiate with the unions, but in the sad light of day, we all learned better when he dropped his "bomb" of the Budget Disrepair Bill on the state.

But I'm afraid that my esteemed colleague missed a couple, three things and made a glaring mistake, although it was one that most people probably would have made. In fact, of all the repostings and mentions of it, I hadn't seen anyone else catch it yet either.

One thing that should be emphasized to strengthen the argument that Walker indeed did not campaign on the union busting is Walker's own sworn testimony which he gave before a congressional committee last spring:



Greg Sargent at the Washington Post also hammered that point home.

One thing that Loundsbury and the rest has missed is that around the same time that Walker was meeting with the editorial board, just before the election, he was also contacting the unions, warning and threatening them to cease and desist in their legal efforts to reach a contract, which was already overdue. In hindsight, it's obvious that Walker did not want them to have a contract because that would have thwarted, or at least greatly delayed, his secret scheme to bust the unions.

But where my esteemed colleague went awry was by taking anything Walker says without sufficient skepticism and cynicism:

Walker then goes on to say that he has used furloughs as a bargaining tool at the county level and that "we'd approach a similar strategy for the state," but said that he was open to compromise, saying "we're not locked into saying it has to be exactly the same" and that if unions could provide alternative routes to saving money he would be willing to explore those ideas.

That line Walker used as the furloughs being a bargaining tool, in itself, is the dead giveaway for anyone who works or had worked for Milwaukee County.

For the last two years as Milwaukee County Executive, Walker never once sat down at the negotiating table and offered a contract. He would only make his demands known through the media, trying to gain popular opinion on his dictatorial ways, instead of negotiating anything in good faith.

Despite refusing to negotiate with the unions, he still included the concessions in his budget, thereby making it an illegal budget which would never be balanced:

This brings us to the big black hole that is found in both the Executive’s proposed budget and the Board’s amended version.

In Walker’s proposed budget, he is counting on some 16% pay cuts from union workers, as well as laying at least 200 workers. The Board’s amended version is less drastic, but still requires a considerable pay cut and the lay off of a couple dozen workers.

The expectation of concessions by the unions is completely understandable, and to be expected, especially when one looks at what has happened in other bodies of government such as the City of Milwaukee, Dane County and the State of Wisconsin and their respective unions.

However, terms of the contract between the unions and the County, as well as state and federal labor laws intervene with their plans. The County and AFSCME had reached a Tentative Agreement based on good faith bargaining. Through a series of poor choices, this Agreement was put on hold, and eventually denied by the Board as a whole.

The actions and statements made by Executive Walker, the County Board, and Supervisor Johnny Thomas basically constitute bad faith bargaining and prohibited practices, as defined by the contract and the law.

It is my understanding that AFSCME has already filed lawsuits against the Board and Supervisor Thomas, and other suits are being contemplated at this time.

It also, ironically puts the County in a bargaining disadvantage. Supervisor John Weishan, who sits on the Personnel Committee, pointed out that Walker’s own labor negotiating team admitted that Walker’s proposal has a zero chance of winning in arbitration. That means that as long as AFSCME did not propose anything unreasonable, the odds of the union winning an arbitration was all but guaranteed. To make things even more likely to fall in the union’s favor was the fact that most of all the other local governments had successfully reached negotiations with their unions offering modest raises, along with other concessions from the unions. Milwaukee County did the same thing with the nurses union, eroding the County’s position even further.

It is expected that due to this artificial budget and its faulty suppositions, that there would be anywhere from a $15 million to a $32 million deficit on January 1, 2010. It is further expected that Executive Walker will use this contrived deficit as a reason to call a fiscal emergency and lay off workers.

Walker did impose his furloughs, as many as 26 for one year for some workers (including yours truly)as a punitive measure for failing to concede to the demands he never even once put on the negotiations table.

But even the furloughs were illegal and now cash-strapped Milwaukee County has been ordered to pay back all the furlough time, which comes to millions of dollars, plus 12% interest compounded daily. For every day that the county delays in paying this bill, the taxpayers are getting pounded for some $30,000 in interest.

If someone knows the current Milwaukee County Executive, Chris Abele, tell him I've got a way for him to resolve this crisis without sticking it to the taxpayers.

In summary, even while he was telling the editorial board he was going to negotiate concessions from the workers, he was already threatening the unions in order for him to implement his plan to bust the unions. And he was completely dishonest when he made claims that he negotiated things with the unions in Milwaukee County. The truth is he was trying to extort things from the unions and using them as political pawns.

As a savvy politico once pointed out, Walker's refusal to negotiate with the unions wasn't a sign of a leader, but of a petty little man who had to resort to bullying in place of the leadership skills he lacked.

What Walker did wasn't simply bait and switch. What Walker committed was outright fraud.

Walkergate: But There's More. There's Always More.

When Kelly Rindfleisch was arrested and charged last week for illegal politicking, I pointed out the following email from Scott Walker to Tim Russell, which he sent just after Darlene Wink got caught posting comments on JSOnline and other sites:

I pointed out that this showed that Walker knew exactly what was happening and what his county staff was doing.  It does this by being very specific about the laptops and websites and other activities.  

Also very telling is that Walker sent this email, which one would think would actually be county business, from his campaign email address, during what would be considered work time.  This shows he was more concerned with the damage Wink's outing did to his campaign than there was anything illegal actually going on in his executive office.

The astute Jud Lounsbury noticed that when Walker sent that email to Russell, Russell was no longer in the county executive's office.  Two months earlier, Walker had transferred Russell to the Department of Housing, meaning that he was no longer in any authority of what happened in the executive office, unless it was to oversee the  illegal campaigning that Walker denies knowing anything about.  I would only add that was Russell no longer in the executive office, he was no longer in the courthouse, but had been moved to the Coggs Building, one mile away.  Although Russell didn't seem to be in his office all that often.

The esteemed Jay Bullock, formerly known as the blogger named folkbum, took Lounsbury one step further.  Bullock points out that the same day that Wink was outed, the official unofficial Walker campaign website up and disappeared - poof!  As Bullock states, this email shows that Walker knew exactly who to go to when he wanted it stopped, even though that person wasn't even in that office or that building.

Now, some of the Walker apologists might argue that the email shows that Walker ordered the illegal activity stopped and fired Wink, and that shows that he is a straight shooter.  Of course, to believe that, they would have to ignore the issues described above and the fact that Wink resigned on her own and there is no evidence that she was asked to do so.

But there's more.  There's always more.

If you take a closer look at Walker's email, he sent it on Friday, May 14, 2010.  Yet on the very next day, Saturday, May 15, Walker left Milwaukee on his infamous Harley Davidson "Executive Ride."  This ride, which was purportedly to promote tourism for Milwaukee County, was nothing more than a poorly disguised campaign event for Walker. He moved the ride up from it's usual time at the end of June because, get ready for this, it was too warm then to go for a motorcycle ride.  In what I'm sure is a coincidence (meaning it was anything but a coincidence), Walker's bike ride led back to Milwaukee just in time for the Republican state convention, in which the party nominees were named.  Shazam! How'd that happen?!

This campaign bike rid is also what led the DPW to file a complaint against Walker, first with the GAB and then with the Milwaukee County District Attorney, based in part on the fact that Russell, who went along on the ride as a county employee, was apparently doing what appears to be campaign work.

Walker didn't even wait a day before he violated his own directive.

Fun fact: For some reason, Walker didn't take a bike ride in 2011.  I can't imagine why not.

But there's more. There's always more.

Via Lounsbury again, we learn that as recently as this past October, Walker again crossed the line between government duties and campaign work when he had a WISGOP staffer sending out his official state press releases:

I had a rather strange exchange with the spokeswoman for the Wisconsin GOP yesterday morning as I tried to get Walker’s side of the story. First, Walker’s press secretary had emailed that the trip was not official state business and the Wisconsin GOP was handling everything.  Nicole Larson, deputy director of communications for the WISGOP, called me back after I left a voice mail message. 

“His schedule’s actually completely booked while he’s in Iowa,” Larson told me. “But what we can do is, I mean, since you’re radio I’m sure this might not be helpful, but we can send you the statement from his office.” 

I asked: “The statement from his office, that’s not handling his trip?” 

“Well, technically, I’m doing his communications,” Larson said, pausing before she added: “Because I am. We can send you a statement, but that’s all we can do because he’s booked.”

Let's recap for a minute.  There's some illegal politicking going on in the Walker's office while he was county executive.  He knows what's going on but doesn't do anything until one of his staff gets busted.  And then when he finally does act, it's only to do damage control and not address the personnel issues occurring, meaning he's still OK with it as long as no one gets caught.  The day after issue his edict to stop, he violates his own orders.  And he continues to do the same illegal politicking as governor.

But there's more.  There's always more.

One Wisconsin Now and We Are Wisconsin are calling for Walker to ask for the resignations of Cullen Werwie and Brett Davis, who were caught being involved in Walkergate and doing illegal politicking, just like in the caucus scandals of ten years ago.  They are basing their demands on Walker's very own words regarding another one of his scandalous friends, Darlene Wink:

“Had we been aware of anyone else who violated the…policy [against campaigning on taxpayers’ dime], we would have taken the same action [that we took against Darlene Wink and requested their resignation].”

Let me take a second to interject that Walker's email to Russell shows he knows Russell was in on the scandal, not to mention was with him during the entire campaign bike ride, but he never did fire him.  Russell stayed a county employee until he was fired by Walker's immediate temporary replacement, Lee Holloway.

But there's more.  There's always more.


Walker himself has violated this policy time and time again, both as county executive and now as governor.

But to be honest, unless the public outcry becomes so great that he can't conceivably ignore it, don't expect him to ask for anyone's resignation.  If he let's them go, he loses even the pretense of being able to influence their testimony in any upcoming trials.  And he doesn't dare risk anything more incriminating come out about him, between the Walkergate investigation and the recall election coming up.

Likewise, Walker will never resign.  Like most megalomaniacs throughout history, he is unable to conceive the fact that he could do wrong or is any way vulnerable.  Besides, if he resigned now, it would be effectively an admission of guilt.  And owning up to anything he did wrong is something that he has never done in his entire life.  I would not be at all surprised in the event of his recall and/or indictment, he will go down blaming others and accepting no responsibility himself.