Republican Fantasy Land

By Jeff Simpson

While Rachel Campos Duffy feels that "political correctness" is a major problem in this country today, I believe that what might be our biggest problem in America today is how divorced from reality Republicans are.  

We all know that Ms. Duffy's husband and fellow "MTV Real World" contestant Sean, is worried because he only makes $174,000/yr. while the average salary in WI is $50,809/yr (less than a third of Duffy's).

Nationally,  Presidential would be contender and Junior Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio has come right out and said that he likes campaigning and wants to be paid his Senator's salary, but has no interest in doing any work to earn his salary.     What soured Rubio on public service?   He wanted to push a bill that made it easier to fire government workers who did not do their job, but it was blocked in the Senate.   

You can not make this stuff up. 

 Closer to home, we have our very own Governor who likes to make up stories on why we are in desperate need of civil service "reform".   Mr. Walker also made up stories about death threats to his family and himself, along  with a myriad of other half truths, false statements and pants on fire lies.  

Maybe the most egregious though, is the fact that the self proclaimed  "fiscal conservative" just finished a failed presidential run, where he spent $90,000 a day! 

In almost the same time that we found out that poverty has  increased in WI:

Five years into the nation’s recovery from recession, Wisconsin’s working families remain considerably worse off than they were before. Nearly three-quarters of a million Wisconsinites lived in poverty in 2014, according to a recent release of new Census data, which is 150,000 more than in 2007.  Poverty is more prevalent among children than adults, with about 1 in 6 Wisconsin kids in poverty last year.
The typical Wisconsin household earned significantly less in 2014 than a typical household in 2007 – about 9% less when the figures are adjusted for inflation. That drop in income makes it harder for families to put food on the table, pay car repair bills, save for their children’s educations, and make other investments that help them climb the economic ladder.

 Then JSonline PurpleWI Contributor Jay Miller tells us who cares that Scott Walker, took a full salary and benefits to campaign full time for President and blow through $7 million dollars in campaign funds in about 90 days. 

Enough already. In the last several days, the Journal Sentinel has run not one, but two, feature articles detailing how Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign ended up $1 million in debt.

 

Although it is not unusual for a candidate withdrawing from a failed race to have debts, the newspaper decided to trumpet this non-story. And, then, its watchdog columnist, Daniel Bice, provided the coup de grace with his Sunday column, “Walker mum on campaign spending”.

It is hard when people find no problem with a politician shirking his duties to campaign for a job he promised us he did not want and would not pursue, while spending $90,000/day. 

For context, that would bring two full time teachers to a public school in WI.  

Maybe the biggest problem facing Wisconsin is that the party in charge is either tone deaf or completely divorced from reality. 


Here Scott Walker partakes in an activity that 15.3 million children in the US a day do not get to. 
 

Republican Thugs - Blogger Edition

By Jeff Simpson

A Columnist, Claire Van Fossen, at Purple WI recently wrote a blog about - "what if we had a world without police".

I admire Ms. Van Fossen's idealism but she must not be aware that we were living in the Scott Walker Republican Thug era.   Where Divide and conquer is the name of the game.

As long as Scott Walker and others like him, are able to rally the hatred that has been simmering and boiling on the right, we need police to protect us    Ms. Van Fossen found that out the hard way.  Ms. Van Fossen received a plethora of hate mail from Conservatives   
Republican thugs.  Including this gem:

Just another violence and hate filled threat from the republican thugs in Wisconsin when someone dared have an opinion they disagreed with.   TGFSW.

On any given day, I would say Progressive bloggers get more hate mail than our Governor does and the biggest difference is we can document ours.  

Rick Esenberg - Man of the People

By Jeff Simpson

Rick Esenberg, using the Purple Wisconsin forum, recently wrote about the "lack of candor" of certain people who were fighting the recent wage theft bill that the Republicans in Wisconsin quickly rammed through the legislature.

However, Mr. Esenberg had the unmitigated gall to write the following:

But no one paid me to be there either and I am a public interest lawyer and legal scholar who goes where the evidence leads me. I truly believe that and try to conduct myself accordingly.

Seriously Mr. Esenberg wrote that.  Apparently legal ethics does not transfer over to statewide blogs.

Lets break this down.

*  But no one paid me to be there either

That is actually flat our lie.  As "executive director" of W.I.L.L., which is amazingly classified as a "non-profit", Mr. Esenberg makes a minimum of $210,000/yr.  For those scoring at home, that is more than four average teachers salaries combined.  

Let's also not forget who is paying this exorbitant - Michael Grebe.  Scott Walker's campaign manager is also the man funder of W.I.L.L. (Mr. Esenberg refuses to reveal other funders).  Does anyone really think that Mr. Walker's campaign manager did not want his well funded political gopher groups there at the forefront of the battle to pass the Diane Hendricks bill?  

 *  I am a public interest lawyer and legal scholar who goes where the evidence leads me.

Mr. Esenberg recently sued the Kenosha School district using new union boss Kristy laCroix as a prop.   Thanks to Ms. LaCroix's step father, he was voted a huge settlement of public education tax dollars to be split between himself and Ms. LaCroix.  

Feeling empowered, and well funded by Mr. Grebe, he also grabbed a new tool - David Blaska, and sued the Madison Metropolitan School District because they actually sat down at the table and negotiated with the Madison Teachers to agree on a new contract(while ACT10 was stayed).   

They were incensed that MTI was able to negotiate a .025% raise for its members.  Yes you read that right .025%.  After two years of wage freeze, now teachers in madison will be getting about a $60 salary increase for the year.   

Apparently, the "evidence led" to Mr. $210,000 yearly non profit director. who lives in Milwaukee to find that unacceptable in Madison.    

Mr. Public Interest lawyer, felt it was in the public's interest to force MMSD into court where they will spend a needless few thousand dollars, and win in the end.   

*  I truly believe that and try to conduct myself accordingly.

If that what it takes you to tell yourself to sleep at night, so be it.  However we have show that you have a high propensity to mislead if not flat out lie.


It amazes me that David Haynes would allow such misleading and dishonest tripe in his newspaper.



 

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

The gentle reader is aware that the education profiteer group School Choice Wisconsin sent out a massive amount of open record requests to school districts across the state to troll for information on the children that attend school in those districts.  Fortunately, due to public outrage, the profiteers modified their requests, at least in Green Bay.

Over the weekend, Molly Beck, of the Wisconsin State Journal, wrote about the "creep factor" of the these requests.  Overall, it's a pretty decent article.  However, there is one part that needs to be corrected.

Beck wrote this:

The matter was brought to light in February after liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now disclosed that the Green Bay School District received a request from the voucher advocates.

“I think this points to a larger concern that public education advocates have about the unaccountable privatization movement and that is they see children as commodities and our children’s education is a product to generate profit from,” said OWN executive director Scot Ross.

Because some school districts either allow a student’s information to be included in all directory data requests or none, Ross said “it doesn’t seem fair a kid can’t be in a yearbook just because they don’t want to get calls at their house from some private entity.”

Now, I love me some One Wisconsin Now and have relied on their research and reporting a lot.  I have the highest esteem for Scot Ross. I consider myself to be fortunate to call him my friend.  Trust me, the state would be in even more dire straits if it weren't for these good people.

But Ms. Beck is incorrect in stating that OWN, as wonderful as they are, broke the story.

That was actually my friend and colleague, Jeff Simpson, who wrote about the creep factor first, first at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Purple Wisconsin blog page and then at this here blog.

Now, Jeff and I have been doing this long enough to know what it feels like to have someone else use one of our stories without being given credit for it.  But I have to call this one out, especially since Jeff was the one that had to deal with all the faux outrage to the point at losing his privileges at Purple Wisconsin.

If a person has to go through all that crap, he should get some acknowledgement for it.

Purple Vindication!

By Jeff Simpson

It has been an interesting week, first I posted this one Purple Wisconsin. 

Jim Bender is the President of the poorly named "school choice" Wisconsin.  Mr. Bender is also the face of the "For-Profit" School movement.   While Scott Jensen actually calls the shots, Jensen's tarred history makes it impossible for him to be the face of anything.   

Mr. Bender has decided to make the public schools, and public money continue to work for him.  Mr, Bender is paid a King's ransom to take as much Wisconsin taxpayer public education dollars as he can get his hands on, and funnel to the private/voucher schools.  A parasite is someone that exists to take from another. 

Mr.  Bender however, has reached a new low.   He wants to know everything about YOUR children.  

School choice advocates have requested the names, addresses, phone numbers and grade levels of every student enrolled in 30 different public school districts, gearing up for a marketing campaign should lawmakers lift the enrollment cap on Wisconsin's statewide voucher program.

Directory information includes information such as students' names, addresses, telephone numbers, date and place of birth, major field of study, height, weight, athletic team participation, awards achieved and schools attended.

The information is key to rounding out important school items such as yearbooks, playbills, sports rosters, announcements to the media about student accomplishments and contact lists that help families communicate with each other.

Being exposed to the light is not something that plays particularly well, it led to incredible faux outrage by Mr. Bender, a hissy fit a 12 year old could be proud of by Charley Sykes and Jimmy Wigderson spinning it in an incomprehensible garble of words that we have come to expect from him.     

The Faux outrage was strong in these ones.  

However, Simpson's post at Purple Wisconsin was enough to send Bender on a bender.  Bender went whining and crying to Ernst-Ulrich Franzen, a member of the paper's editorial board, complaining that Simpson compared him to a pedophile.  Even though Simpson went to great pains to do just the opposite, Franzen jumped on the chance to stifle the truth and took down the blog site.

On Monday, squawk show host and adulterer Charlie Sykes went on a rampage against Simpson.  With the sound of his spittle hitting the microphone, Sykes said that Simpson lived in a "fever swamp" and called him "demented," "sick," and "a liar."

Sykes went on to say how MJS was wrong for ever giving Simpson their format to use and that he should be banned from the site.

 Then this happened:

 Green Bay, Wisconsin, February 18, 2015 - School Choice Wisconsin has revised its original open records request made on February 9, 2015 to the Green Bay Area Public School District for student directory data in order to address concerns that were raised by parents, legislators(progressive bloggers) and the Green Bay Area Public School District.

If Mr. Bender can release a press statement, so can I:

This doesnt happen without public pressure.  I am proud that I had a hand in this,even if it meant that Jim Bender & Wisconsin School choice got me kicked off of JSOnline, because Charles Sykes and Jimmy Wigderson had a hissy fit.
I will stand up for the kids every single time. It is unfortunate that standing up for the privacy rights of our children, and against the privatizing of our public education, is something that comes with consequences. EVERY word I wrote was the truth, and the truth was too much for them.

Make sure and ask David D. Haynes, who in our media will now stand for the truth and the kids, regardless of the consequences. It sure isnt Christian Schneider or Rick Esenberg .

I get that Purple Wisconsin wants to promote a nicer agenda, and my passion comes through too strong at times, but I think they should make truth and facts equal to niceties.

Thanks to Cognitive Dissidence & Chris Capper Liebenthal and John 'Sly' Sylvester for allowing me to have a forum to get the real truth out there!

Now lets help Dave Hansen and Eric Genrich pass legislation to stop this from happening in the future.

Vindication and Onward!

 So thanks to Charley Sykes and Jim Wigderson also for helping put the spotlight on the despicable acts School Choice WI was attempting to get away with.  If this ever happens in your district in the future, let us know and here is Mr. Bender's contact information:

No media interviews will be granted by GBAPS or School Choice Wisconsin. Clarifying questions should be directed to GBAPS Director of Communications Lori Blakeslee at 920-448-2025 or School Choice Wisconsin President Jim Bender at 414.319.9160.