The GOP Short Term Memory Loss

By Jeff Simpson 

The down time between election and inauguration has been way more exciting than it should have been.   First off, Robin Vos, the wanna be Whitey Bulger,  has decided since Walker went down in shame, to follow the age old adage  -  The King is Dead, Long Live the King Robin!  Doing as he was told by the boys at ALEC and Scott Jensen, Robin decided, since he has a gerrymandered legislature. to transfer as much power away from Tony Evers and into his lap as he could possibly get away with, then a little more. 

The problem is this is a new era in politics and the citizens of Wisconsin are paying attention and, all but the hardest core right wingers, are not having it.

    Republican state leaders have struggled to publicly explain laws they enacted in a recent lame-duck session, amid a national onslaught of criticism from Democrats, nonpartisan groups and even fellow Republicans.
The critics largely have offered a unified critique of the measures, signed by Gov. Scott Walker last week. They’ve called them an unprecedented power grab by Walker and legislative Republicans that defied the will of voters, who elected Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul. Both take office in January.

When something is unjustifiable, it is impossible to justify.  That is pretty simple and easy to understand. 

We are just beginning.   There are still a couple weeks before inauguration and the Republicans are having a full out assault on anytime Tony Evers Sneezes.   The attacks this week are going to come against every single person that Tony nominates to his cabinet. 

Its starting now.  Pro CAFO, and Oompa Loompa , who hasnt made a promise he intends to keep thinks that appointing someone from Madison and Milwaukee is unacceptable.

and Jim Steineke, couldnt see the crimes that Bill Kramer was committing right in front of his eyes, but can see how after four appointments that Tony Evers hates WI.

For those that may not be aware, there are good, qualified people outside of Milwaukee and Madison. Hopefully the rest of the state will eventually be represented in this administration. https://t.co/I1ao1ImT5P

— Jim Steineke (@jimsteineke) December 19, 2018

You get the idea, anyone who read the memo and does not want to upset Robin "Whitey Bulger " Vos will be in full attack and discredit mode. 

When there is an all out assault on the Democrats, expect @newsmaciver to get the call and they jumped into action...

But Evers’ lofty words of compromise and bipartisanship don’t seem to jibe with his opening appointments. The governor-elect has quietly assembled advisory committees packed with some of the most left-leaning people from some of the more left-wing organizations in the state. Nary a conservative to be found, of course, and even truly moderate Republicans are missing from the far left-heavy advisory committees.
The lineup includes big labor bosses, extreme environmentalists, social justice warriors, and espousers of socialism.
His liberal picks shouldn’t come as a huge surprise

What our friends on the right are hoping you do not remember is some of the appointments that Scott Walker originally made(all of whom they gladly voted for).

*  Dennis Smith - Smith, the married man with 4 daughters from Washington DC, was appointed head of Department of Health Services by Scott Walker.   Smith who never met an uninsured person he was not proud of, used the job basically to bring his high school crush to WI and start an affair on our dime using our resources and then resigned and took off to DC abruptly after his affair came to light.    Smith now works for a global law firm in DC - Dentons. 

*  Michael Brickman - Brickman, a degree in political science and a member of "Friends of Scott Walker" that helped get Walker elected, was named Walker's top education policy advisor.   Brickman made a name for himself, by going to the bars in Milwaukee and getting intoxicated Democrats to say stupid things that they could run to the press with.   He "disguised" himself as "Rich in retail" when talking to people at the bars.  This experience made him qualified to set education policy in the far right world of fitzwalkerstan.   Now, to the surprise of no one, Mike "Rich in retail" Brickman works for Betsy DeVos. 

 *  Brian Deschane -  Deschane, the troubled son of Big walker donor Jerry Deschane, was appointed to an $81.500/yr job with the Commerce Department.  His qualifications, as one would expect from this administration were- no college degree, no work experience and 2 DUI's. 

* Ryan Murray - Murray, the son of another big Walker donor, Mike Murray,  was appointed original head of WEDC.  Murray, whose first audit of WEDC, found that while they had created no real jobs to speak of, had invested heavily in Wisconsin Badger tickets, vacations and iTunes gift cards( you can not make this stuff up).   This of course led to nothing but a pat on the back and told to continue on until WEDC actually ended up paying off a donors Maserati(that he named Nero).  It took competent people actually quitting, over Murray's incompetence to actually force change.   Murray currently works for the unimaginatively named "The Firm" consulting firm in Milwaukee.   

As our friends on right continue to criticize Governor Evers, remember they not only have no leg to stand on, their continual hiring of incompetents has cost our state millions!   

Micromanagement, Manipulation and Mischief.

By Jeff Simpson 

Add one more name to the list of old Scott Walker friends who have come out saying they won't vote for him ever again and neither should you!    This time it is Paul Jadin, who resigned a job where he was making $208,000/yr, so he could satisfy his conscience and speak his truth.  Jadin, along with former colleagues Ed Wall and Peter Bildstein sent out an open letter today explaining why they are endorsing Tony Evers!

The letter writers say they will not be voting for Walker because of his handling of transportation, education and safety issues as well as "pervasive questionable practices within the administration."
"Governor Walker has consistently eschewed sound management practices in favor of schemes or coverup and has routinely put his future ahead of the state." the letter states. "The result is micromanagement, manipulation and mischief. We have all been witness to more than our share of this."
The letter doesn't list specific examples of "mischief" or "coverup" but said when Walker was traveling the country in 2012 to raise money for his recall election he stopped attending cabinet meetings and delegated responsibilities to his chief of staff.
"When he decided to run for President in 2015 he subordinated Wisconsin interests to those in Iowa and New Hampshire and his policy/budget proposals started to clash with members of his own party who still would have to stand for election in Wisconsin," they wrote.
Jadin, Bildsten and Wall described themselves as having "served our state and local governments in many capacities over our careers and have voted for and supported Republicans." They said the decision to endorse Evers comes with "a great deal of reflection and discernment."

We have seen two different kinds of people emerge in the Republican party.  The conservative Republicans (like these letter writers) who have a set of values and want to make society and our state a better place (even if we disagree at times).   The second kind of people are the ones who have no room for values because they are loaded with personal ambition and do not care what it takes to get more money and power. 

Enough time with group 2 and group 1 was completely fed up and could not stay quiet any longer. 

While Scott Walker will go into pure smear mode on anyone who speaks up, let's take a quick look at the realities behind that.

The people speaking truth to power about Walker, like Jadin, a former Mayor of Green Bay, are people who have held major non partisan jobs and will again.  While Walker criticizes the job that Jardin has done, remember that Walker himself hired Ryan Murray to run WEDC, despite the fact that he was incredibly incompetent, because he was a donors son. 

These brave people are doing Wisconsinites a service, and yelling from the rooftops that Scott Walker is not worthy of running the Great state of Wisconsin.

The question is, will we listen?

Scott Walker: Behind the Scenes

By Jeff Simpson

Fond on Facebook, a video of the Mark Hogan interview with Scott Walker. 

Scott Walker:  Mr. Hogan, what will you do when one of my main donors....I mean job creators, comes to you and asking for a loan?

Mark Hogan:

























  


Scott Walker: Excellent answer!! You are hired! 

The Scott Walker Degree

BY Jeff Simpson 

Scott Walker, who likes to campaign Al Dente, has changed his line about not having a college degree once again.   

What about not having a college degree?"I say I’m like the majority of people in America. I’m someone who went to college, had the opportunity in my senior year to go and take a job full-time, which was not the only reason I went to college, but one of the biggest reasons was to get a job. And the American Red Cross offered me a job my senior year, and I took it, thinking someday, maybe, I’d go back. But a few years later, I met my wonderful wife, Tonette, a year after that, we had Matthew, the year after that, we had Alex. And now like a lot of folks in America, you know, your family and your job take the time away from you from finishing it up. But I don’t think anybody -- and I’ve got a master’s degree in taking on the big-government special interests, and I think that is worth more than anything else that anybody can point to."

Once you get past the fact that he changes his life story more than Robert Van Winkle ever did, one interesting line stands out.  

and I’ve got a master’s degree in taking on the big-government special interests - Scott Walker

Well we at CogDis did some digging and we found a partial course listing of classes that Mr. Walker Had to take to earn his imaginary Master's degree.  

 How to please your boss, yet look independent 202:  This course we will teach you how to say one thing to the general public while spilling your true strategy to people who pay for that privilege. By the end of this class, you will learn how to soak millions out of rich widows.  

Kiss the right rings(there is lots of money in Las Vegas) 300:  This course will show you, how to fund raise nationally while traveling secretly.  The more advanced learners in this class, will learn how you can phone reporters in your home state, while traveling, to complain about "out of state special interests".



You have access to unlimited money, use it 220:   This class will show you how to do whatever you want in office because you have unlimited access to taxpayer money to hire lawyers.  If time allows, the student will also learn how to hire consultants to keep from having to make a decision on your own.



Meet the right people - 100:  This is a refresher course to help the student understand that the person you are nice to today, could grow up to become a Supreme Court Justice, who will not only suspend ethics rules to do your bidding but be willing to choke anyone who gets in the way!



You are always, always, always on - no one is bigger than your ambition 400 :  This is an upper level graduate course for those who are willing to do anything to become President of the United States.   This course will teach you to hire felons, snakes, and loons.  You will also learn the importance of hiring your donors to major positions within the Government and the equal importance of throwing them to the wolves the second you need a scapegoat.  Students will also learn that the more taxpayer money you can give to your friends, the more money they will give you.  



You can see with five classes last semester, Mr. Walker had a full course load but it allowed him to attain his imaginary masters degree.

Congrats to you Scott Walker,

Let's hope the walk you take to get this degree involves handcuffs and disgrace!

Shopko Receives A WEDC Endorsement

By Jeff Simpson

Shopko has been a Wisconsin fixture since 1962:

 Shopko (formerly ShopKo until May 2007) is a chain of retail stores based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, near Green Bay. Shopko was founded in 1962 by James Ruben, and its first store opened in Green Bay. From 1991 to 2005, the company was publicly held, with stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SKO. In December 2005, the company was acquired by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners and reverted to private ownership. In 1999, Shopko purchased Pamida, a regional discount chain that operated mainly in smaller communities of 3,000 to 8,000 people. Shopko operated Pamida as a separate division until 2007, when Pamida was separated from Shopko and reestablished as a separate company. In 2012, Shopko and Pamida merged into one company. Shortly after, most Pamida stores were rebranded as Shopko Hometown.

Shopko, has over 300 stores in 20 states and employes 17,500 people.  That is unless the Spokesperson for Scott Walker's signature jobs agency, WEDC has anything to say about it!  

WEDC even handed Shopko $2,000,000 of our tax dollars to expand their corporate headquarters.  Apparently WEDC, was just buying election good will since they obviously do not believe in Shopko as a company.   I guess in Fitzwalkersta, $2 Million taxpayer dollars is well worth it to buy a few votes.

 Also no one should be surprised that righty blogger Ed Willing jumped on the rip on Wisconsin companies bandwagon(I feel for Caledonia businesses).  

Maybe Scott Walker and his team need a lesson on what "Open for Business" really means! 

Walker Doesn't Need No Education!

By Jeff Simpson

“Education’s Purpose is to Replace an Empty Mind with an Open One." – Malcolm Forbes

This story from WKOW:

MADISON (WKOW) -- It has been well publicized that Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) never graduated from college, but 27 News has now learned three of his top executives also lack a college degree.

At least one of those appointees was recently called out by a subordinate for being unqualified.

32 year-old Ryan Murray is a former campaign and office staffer for Governor Walker, who became Chief Operating Officer at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation in 2012, despite having no college degree and no real experience in economic development.

Former State Senator Cathy Stepp now serves as Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources.  Like Murray, she has no real background of expertise in the area of regulation her agency oversees.

The Secretary of the Department of Administration, former Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, also holds no college degree.

I know, not everyone needs a college degree.  Let's let the walker group explain it:

Regarding Ryan Murray:

 "There are many quality people that span the spectrum from folks from high school graduation to college degrees to technical degrees to post-graduate degrees.  We have people that have the whole spectrum of things," said Gov. Walker.

 See Ryan Murray needs no education, or work experience, he knows things!  Now Cathy Stepp:

 Cathy does not have a college degree," DNR Spokesperson Bill Cosh told 27 News.  "She has a tremendous amount of real world experience which includes management training with McDonald's Corporation, several management positions with various businesses including Stein Optical and Wisconsin Optical, and the experience of running her own businesses."

If management experience at Stein Optical and McDonalds isnt enough to be in charge of the Wisconsin environment, then nothing is.    Now Mike Huebsch:

"Secretary Huebsch, the leadership at DOA, and the Administration's cabinet embody the variety of education, experience and knowledge that exists across Wisconsin," wrote DOA Spokesperson Stephanie Marquis in a statement to 27 News.  "There are thousands of professionals, entrepreneurs, and farmers that may not have gone to college, but they are competent, intelligent and talented.  Our leadership is experienced and educated, whether that's through work experience, professional knowledge or a college degree."

Marquis says Secretary Huebsch left Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma just nine credits short of a degree, because he ran out of money at the time.

I would have never guessed that the guy who testified that the protestors did $7,000,000 wort hof damage to the Capitol would have money problems his whole life.

10. “Education is Simply the Soul of a Society as It Passes from One Generation to Another.” – Gilbert Chesterton

Ryan Murray...Is Causing Deep And Lasting Harm...

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker's pet project, WEDC, has been a miserable failure in terms of job creation and a taxpayers money pit.    While there is too much incompetence to list at this time, there is one thing that really stands out!

The Incompetence of Ryan Murray.   




   

Even though we at CogDis have been pointing out that Ryan Murray is beyond incompetent.  It was not Murray's bang up job responding to "citizens policy questions" as much as it was that Ryan's daddy - Mike Murray of RJS Construction.   

When you run a business as successful as RJS Construction, you can not have incompetent boobs like Murray working in the office.   So you call in favors and get him in charge of tens of millions of tax payer dollars.  He can see the world, make a good living and not affect your family's bottom line.

On the other hand, Ryan Murray, as a child of privilege who never had to work for anything in his life, yet was handed everything.   Murray, who couldn't cut it going away to college, has always needed daddy to bail him out.   Murray, has bounced from one right wing campaign to another until Scott Walker handed him power.  Now the power that the Governor has given him has went to his head and it is  not pretty.

Lee Swindall, WEDC's vice president of business and industry development,recently quit because he could not stand Murray.   He was eventually talked into staying, but before that he sent this letter! 

"As a leader of the organization and its mission, I can no longer align with the management methods employed in policy development or deployment. I believe Ryan Murray, lacking either the talent or experience to function as the Chief Operations Officer of the WEDC, is causing deep and lasting harm through the application of control-style management rather than consultative management.

"Murray confuses rigid control with stability and sound management. What he is producing instead is instability, opposition and resentment in WEDC. This state of growing unrest will corrode the ability of the agency to perform and reach goals, not secure it. Ryan Murray is too committed to his own consolidated power to either notice or care about the swelling discontent in WEDC."

The letter came after one clash after another in which Murray reprimanded Swindall for what he saw as chronic flouting of agency procedures and rules — at a time when Murray was tasked with running a tighter ship.

Murray, called out as incompetent by a peer, is now in charge of tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money.   No wonder Scott Walker can not create jobs.   


This is what you get when Scott Walker is in charge.  Walker cares more about rewarding donors than actually governing and his appointments and actions prove it.

We do not need four more years of incompetence and cronyism.  Let's make Ryan Murray try and get a real job,disband WEDC and vote Scott Walker out of office in November

Our tax dollars and our jobs depend on it!   

WEDC - the Walker Way

By Jeff Simpson

We recently brought you yet another story of the corruption, failure and massive waste of taxpayer dollars that is Scott Walker's crowning accomplishment - WEDC. 

As expected though, "but wait there's more", lots and lots more.     

We have chronicled SOME of the wasted Wisconsin taxpayer millions, now we find out that they have spent hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin taxpayer dollars sending their staff on vacations.  

 Those documents show the WEDC spent $39,386.49 on the trip to the Middle East in January and $16,284.49 on the trip to India in April.

Maley pointed out the outing to India will end up costing closer to $29,000. Those additional expenses were not included in the open records request because some invoices have not been submitted, he said.

“The (India) trip just occurred in April and we allow 90 days before we close the books on a trip,” Maley told Wisconsin Reporter. “So there’s still some significant outstanding invoices that are out there that we’re waiting for, for us to pay.”

Of the nearly $40,000 Middle East tab, almost $30,000 was documented by the three WEDC employees who took part in the trip: Ryan Murray, deputy secretary and COO; Stanley Pfrang, market development director; and Rachel Best, senior event manager.

Private business representatives who attended that trip were Khemissa Bejaoui, a human molecular geneticist with PreventionGenetics in Marshfield; Todd Muderlak, president of Xela Innovations in Glendale; and Tanya M. Salman, an attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP.

Reports for the India trip list a $13,600 generic expense, $1,080 in driver fees and $1,592 for flights.

That is a lot of our money to be spending to get no results.  Thank Goodness they are such fiscal conservatives that three people from the office ONLY spent over $10,000 a piece.   Where the heck did they eat?  Jiro's place?    I wonder how much they would have spent if they were not such fiscal hawks?  I also wonder how much they would have spent if they were actually able to help create jobs in WI.   

(Edit note: also not sure why an attorney from Michael Best would need to go to China on our tax dollars except for payback).  

 

But wait there is more, and this will come as a huge surprise I am sure.

 MADISON (WKOW) -- Nearly half of Governor Scott Walker's campaign fundraisers since April 1st have been hosted by people whose companies received financial awards from his administration.
 
Jack Link, the owner of Jack Link Snacks of Minong, joins Chris Shult, the proprietor of Bevco Engineering of Waukesha County, and Jon Hammes, the developer of the Edgewater Hotel project, in hosting fundraisers for Gov. Walker within the past three months.

Each has also directly or indirectly benefited from financial awards doled out by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), which Gov. Walker chairs.

 It makes it so much easier to raise funds when you can promise even bigger taxpayer rewards in return.


 

Inside WEDC

By Jeff Simpson

We brought you the story of how Scott Walker's key job creation agency - Wisconsin Economic Development Committee(WEDC), has been a massive failure.   This was one of Scott Walkers big campaign ideas, to replace the accountable Commerce Department with the unaccountable WEDC.

Unfortunately, this is one promise he actually kept.   WEDC's failings are grand, costly and well documented but there is so much more.  

Let's look at the WEDC mission statement that comes from Scott Walker himself:

 Mission
To elevate the Wisconsin economy to be the best in the world by providing a positive business climate, world-class support services, and economic development tools to accelerate business start-up, attraction, and growth.
Core Values
INTEGRITY. We will hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards.
HONESTY. We will tell the truth without qualification.
ACCOUNTABILITY. We will honor our commitments to ourselves, our partners, and our investors.
RESULTS-FOCUS. We will add value in every action.
CUSTOMER-CENTRIC. We will put the needs of the customer first.

Then he goes directly against everything he has written out here(career politician Scott Walker is Chairman of the Board) by appointing young, no business experience, political hack Ryan Murray as Chief Operating Officer .  Nothing like trusting a multi million Wisconsin taxdollar budget to a kid(Ryan Murray) who has a Poly Sci degree and an extensive history of making copies and stuffing mailers, for the "friends of scott walker" campaign.

But wait, there's more(thanks to an astute reader of this very blog):

I was curious to know who is Ryan Murray, chief job creator. He has no business experience. But Murray has worked for disgusting right wing politicians with questionable ethics.

Then there is Murray’s conflict of interest as a Member of the Board of Directors for Brightstar Wisconsin Foundation, which “accepts charitable donations as a 501(c)(3) organization and uses them to take equity positions in for-profit early-stage companies.” WEDC gave Brightstar $300,000. How much profit is going into Murray’s pockets as a member of the Board?

The explanation on Brightstar’s website about this conflict of interest does not pass the smell test.

Apparently the one thing he did master, while working for Scott Walker, was how to leave your ethics at the door.  It is not that big of a deal anyway, its only tax dollars!

But Wait there is still more!  Small Government republican Scott Walker better look up what the word small means!

The Legislative Audit Bureau found that as of November 2012, eight WEDC officials received salaries of more than $100,000, with a ninth at $98,500. The audit notes that several top level position holders at WEDC are paid less than their industry peers.

By comparison, at the former Wisconsin Department of Commerce, the state agency that Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican majority replaced with WEDC in 2011, just two employees topped $100,000 in 2010, according to payroll data collected by Wisconsin Reporter through an open records request.

WEDC CEO Reed Hall, reportedly was set to make $120,000 when he took the full-time position in January 2013. In February, he received a $65,000 raise.

The agency has around 90 employees, including regional account managers through the state.
About a fifth of WEDC employees received “merit awards” from management, the audit notes. Board members at WEDC may not have even been aware of the policy.

“We found that WEDC’s full governing board has not always been informed about certain personnel policies and practices, including the amounts and types of compensation and fringe benefits provided to WEDC staff,” the audit states.

In December 2012, 17 staff members received merit awards totaling $59,500. Six of those awards were for $5,000 each.

Eight executives making well over $100,000/yr, and have given out numerous merit awards.  All while the agency itself has lost MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars.    I would be curious to see what in their job description would make them worthy of merit pay INCREASES.  

That does not even include the other perks like a taxpayer funded iphone, ipad and we will even foot the bill for their members to come down to Madison on football Saturdays and catch a game(we even provide the tickets):

Among other notes, the audit found $1,109 spent from three transactions for rooms rented in Madison for unspecified meetings. Taxpayers also picked up the $1,789 tab for six season tickets to UW-Madison football games.

WEDC seems like a great place to hide Big Walker donors children, so much easier than having them attempt to survive in the real world.


The punchline of the audit though, is this:

  The audit notes that several top level position holders at WEDC are paid less than their industry peers.

A gold-plated, marvelous no-prize awaits if you can find anyone in Wisconsin, who is a peer to Ryan Murray and whose salary is higher than Ryan's. 

Contest entries  - jeff_simpson7@yahoo.com or @jeffsimpson7

Thank God For Mary Burke!

By Jeff Simpson

Uline Inc announced an expansion and future job creation of up to 500 Wisconsinites!  

Thank God that Mary Burke had the foresight as a Commerce Secretary to help bring Uline to Wisconsin!  

In January 2008, a couple of months after Mary Burke exited, Uline officials announced they were moving the corporate headquarters from Waukegan, Ill., to Pleasant Prairie and building a warehouse there. Uline said it would invest $100 million and employ 1,000 people at its 200-acre campus, which opened in mid-2010.
To help pay for the move, the company took state government incentives that were later calculated to be worth up to $18.6 million over nine years.

It was not surprising at all to see Scott Walker at Uline for the announcement, with a tied race and a failed jobs agenda, he needs to grab as much credit as he can, even if it doesn't go to him.

May I suggest a better use of the Governor's time?   I would suggest that instead of chasing Mary Burke's successes around the state, he head up to Superior, WI to collect on the $4,000,000 Wisconsin taxpayer dollars that he handed Kestrel Aircraft Company, that they defaulted on.  



Public education could sure use those $4 million dollars now!  

Here is another suggestion.   Voucher schools do not get a cent from public education budget, instead they can keep all of the money they can collect from the millions of dollars in defaulted loans that the failed WEDC has handed out!    

WEDC - Still Failing After All These Years!

By Jeff Simpson

Everyone remembers that the key promise in Scott Walker's campaign was - JOBS!

One of the key cogs to this promise was ending the publicly accountable Commerce Department for Wisconsin Economic Development Committee.  A private - Government crony partnership that was going to help him create jobs.   

They both failed miserably!

We have written about the failings of WEDC extensively, here at CogDis, but thanks to our friends at One Wisconsin Now, we find out even more.

The Key Takeway:   Sixty percent of WEDC money (about $600 million of $1 billion given out) has gone to Walker/RGA donors.

Just to be clear, that is $1,000,000,000 of Wisconsin taxpayer money that is being funneled back to Scott Walker's donors, with no expectation of results!  

That is the kind of fiscal conservatism we have had for four years, it is time for something better!  

WEDC Continues Their Incompetence

By Jeff Simpson

For some reason, maybe its ego, the Walker Administration loves to blow our tax money on television ads.  We saw the incredible waste of money that the WI Department of Tourism had with their desire to pump up right wing Hollywood types and play out 30 year old fantasies.  

Now , what might be Governor Walker's biggest failure, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, has decided to also jump in the - let's waste more taxpayer money on TV ads game.

 The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. will use close to 10 percent of its $5.75 million annual marketing budget — itself more than triple last year’s $1.5 million budget — for the two ads, which feature brief testimonials from business executives touting the state’s “pro-business climate” and “strong workforce.”

Ignoring the fact that these are just Walker campaign commercials that we the taxpayers are funding(Walker is an expert at using our $$ to get elected), these commercials on their face value are utterly ridiculous. 

Does anyone with an economic clue in their head really think that watching a 30 second silly commercial is all it will take for a company to relocate into Wisconsin?   Of course not, but that is why WEDC has been such a failure.   Had Reed Hall been smart enough to just spend ten seconds on Google, and realized what a waste of taxpayer dollars this is.

 Businesses commonly cite five main reasons for moving, according to Sharon K. Ward, an economic development consultant in Allentown, Pennsylvania. These are labor and work force issues, the desire to reach new markets, the need to upgrade facilities or equipment, the desire to lower costs or increase cash flow, and considerations about quality of life. For different businesses and at different times, certain concerns are more important than others, Ward notes. But just about all moves can be attributed to some combination of these issues.

Because they watched a television commercial did not make the top five.  Who knew?

However tragically sad this whole story is, the Walker administration is always good for a laugh.   WEDC deputy director Ryan Murray does not disappoint.

The ads don't mention Minnesota, Illinois or any other state. Kelly Lietz, WEDC's vice president of marketing, said agency officials aren't looking for a border war or to insult anyone. Still, WEDC Deputy Secretary Ryan Murray acknowledged Wisconsin is competing with neighboring states.
"I'm sure my counterpart in Illinois won't be happy to see these ads running in his state," Murray said. "But it's a competitive environment."

 Apparently Ryan Murray said that with a straight face.  See Ryan Murray is Deputy Secretary of WEDC and has a combined amount of real life business experience of - take it away Dean Wormer:

 See Ryan Murray's resume is loaded with stints working the Randy Hopper, Terrance Wall and Scott Walker campaigns. As Marc Eisen in the Isthmus wrote ;

That would be Ryan Murray, 30, who in July was named by Gov. Scott Walker to be the chief operating officer of the quasi-public Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., the state's principal jobs promoter. (Paul Jadin is its CEO.) Murray's resume (PDF) shows him to be conspicuously devoid of any private-sector experience, but well schooled in the political arts.

Murray studied political science at UW-Superior and Macalester College (no degree is noted), and then blazed like a meteorite from the 2004 Bush-Cheney presidential campaign through multiple Republican legislative offices to a series of senior positions for Walker, culminating as director of policy and legislative affairs.

Ryan Murray defines crony capitalism and the failure of WEDC to be anything more than a very costly arm of the Friends of Scott Walker campaign.

That is the problem that Ryan Murray does not understand.    His counterparts in Illinois and Minnesota are working on campaigns where they belong, not handing out I-tunes gift cards to their friends.  

Coffee Can Health Care - Ch. 4

 

By Jeff Simpson

Tim Alsip, from Portland Oregon needed help, and he had no where to go to get it.   See Mr. Alsip has a  history of mental illness, addiction and dental problems(anyone who has ever had a toothache knows how terrible this can be).


Now turn quickly to Washington DC, where Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and John Boehner are in the midst of a five week paid vacation.   Before they left for their FIVE week paid vacation, they took up the very important business of voting to repeal Obamacare for the FORTIETH time!    Of course, Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) had to check in with his bosses before he took his paid vacation, but that is another blog!

 

Now we switch back to Portland, Oregon.  While the republicans in Congress, have made their sole priority, making sure President Obama has no successes, Mr, Alsip was in too much pain and in need of so much help, that he had no where to turn.  So he turned, in desperation, to a crime.

He decided to rob a bank!   

On Friday morning, 50-year-old Alsip walked into a Portland-area Bank of America and calmly handed the teller a note: “This is a hold up. Give me a dollar.” Alsip then took his single dollar bill and sat quietly in the lobby, waiting for police to arrive. According to The Oregonian, he has a history of mental illness, addiction, and dental problems that seem to have gone untreated. Sacrificing his freedom was the price Alsip felt he had to pay to receive medical care.

Alsip is currently homeless and has no past criminal record in the state. He was arrested without incident and charged with second-degree robbery and bail set at $250,000.

 Things are so bad, in the real world, that an American, desperate for health care and homeless had no where to turn but to crime.  Luckily, for the people of Portland, Mr. Alsip's desperation, couple with mental illness, did not decide to arm himself with 6000 rounds.

 

Instead he choose to get help the only way he knew how.  Now the man who asked peacefully for $1, will be sitting in a jail cell with a $250,000 bail.   Hopefully he gets the medical help he so desperately needs, then they drop the charges.   

However, when will people ever learn?  Steal $1 go to jail, "lose" $80,000,000 and you get elected Governor.