Esenberg Knows Better

By Jeff Simpson 

As we have documented numerous times, JSonline keeps allowing the Bradley funded mouthpieces to push propaganda.  From Christian Schneider never making a salient point to Rick Esenberg trying to.  
The latest assault on the truth comes from Mr. Esenberg.  In a piece entitled "Free Speech for Me But Not For Thee". he attempts to make a correlation between campaigns being allowed to coordinate secretely with dark money donors and the press being allowed to keep theur sources secret.

But why should the media - corporations who already have a great big soap box - have greater rights than those who must rent that soap box? Again, it is necessary to balance the risk of corruption against the rights of persons to freely associate and speak. The strong presumption should be in favor of free expression, but, however that cashes out, it is not clear why some people called the "media" should have greater freedom than others who are not.
But even if you dispute my view of the matter, a sixty second "phony issue" ad pointing out another view would seem as relevant to the public's right to know and as much a contribution to our public discourse as anything in the pages of the Washington Post or seen during the nightly news.
Nor can we assume that the media is not a "special interest." Just about anyone - including people with a variety of interests - can own a media company. In any event, what the New York Times wants is not intrinsically of greater value than what George Soros or David Koch want. It should have no greater First Amendment rights.

 Because there is no one left (except for Rowan) on the left side of the aisle in the JSonline to dispute this ridiculousness, lets take a minute to do so.

Does anyone really think the New York Times, the supposed paper of record, has the same interests in getting a story out as Soros or Koch?  

The media's value is in their ability to give us the "news".   In order to have real value, we have to trust that what the media is giving us is true and timely(Fox News being the obvious exception).  Not only do these news organizations have to be true and timely, their reporters, have to give us true and timely news as part of their brand also.

A 60 second phony issue ad, usually has one goal in mind, to smear an opponent of the person they want to get elected.   Truth actually works against the idea of a dark money ad.   The fact that the issues are at best skewed and more likely flat out lies is why the people who fund the dark money ads do not want to be ackowledged.   It is much easier to lie and smear when no one knows who is behind it.  

Let's look at a couple examples.

In the lead up to the Iraq war, the Bush administration realized how important the NY Times was as a paper of record.  They then found a reporter, Judy Miller, who they would feed false stories too, and she would print without verification because she trusted her sources.   These stories of doom and gloom and WMD's in Iraq were blatantly false, but helped sell the public on starting the war of choice.  
We know now, that he stories were false, her informants were lying and she is now a disgraced reporter who will never write for a news organization again and the New York Times credibility took a huge hit.

Now let's compare that to a phone issue ad.

While we know WMC paid for the ad, we do not know everyone involved or who is spending the most money there.  We also know that the "information" inside this ad is as phony as any story that Judith Miller wrote.  

Yet while Judy Miller was disgraced for life, ads like this help get Scott Walker elected.  

To compare the media with WI Club for Growth, or  Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce is not only laughable, Mr. Esenberg knows better.  

Now for solutions.  While I do not think we should stop people from spending money on ads, as human beings, I do believe when we have a forum, we should at least make an attempt at the truth.

Simply by signing names and disclosing donors to these issue ads would make sure that happens.   When you have to sign your name to something then you need to take responsibility for the contents.  

The irony is not lost on me that the self proclaimed "party of personal responsibility" never wants to actually take any.  

The retaliation argument also falls on deaf ears, after the current Republican party has spent six years trying to punish anyone who signed the recall petition against Governor Walker.  

Trickle Down DIck

ICYMI  -  Doonesbury from Sunday 6/7 - The Scott Walker/Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce platform.  

Big Business Tries To Buy WI Supreme Corporate Chief Justice

In January, I reported how the corporate special interests were using a two-pronged attack against Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. One of the prongs was to put in a constitutional amendment to change the way the chief justice of the state supreme court is chosen.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee on Thursday held a rushed hearing on a proposed constitutional amendment that could create an avenue for ending Abrahamson's tenure as the chief justice. Historically, the chief justice has been the court's senior member. This has insulated the chief from disputes on the court and from outside political pressure. Under the plan advanced by conservative legislators and passed once by the Legislature, the selection of the chief justice would be politicized — with the seven justices choosing and replacing chief justices.

Backers of the measure hope to place it on the April 7 ballot. If it is passed, after a campaign that could well be influenced by significant spending from out-of-state interests seeking to undermine Wisconsin’s historic commitment to an independent judiciary, critics fear that Wisconsin could see an attempt to remove Abrahamson as chief justice before the completion of the court term to which she was elected.

Understand what this means: Currently, when an individual chosen by the voters becomes the longest-serving justice, he or she becomes the chief justice. That chief justice is not subject to the ideological whims and political twists and turns of the court; rather, he or she is accountable to the voters. If the voters do not like a chief justice, they can remove that justice at the next election. If the voters want to keep a chief justice on the job, they can re-elect that jurist.

The corporate controlled Republicans did ram through this amendment and the referendum to approve this change will appear on the April 7 ballot.

The corporate special interests, which already have their dirty money meat hooks in four of the seven supreme court justices, really want to control the chief justice position as well. As The Center for Media and Democracy reports, the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has already spent big money to con the people into voting for this maleficent referendum:

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), Wisconsin's premier lobby for corporate tax breaks and low wage jobs, has unleashed a $600,000 ad blitz to strip Wisconsin's independent Chief Justice of her title just as the court prepares to take up the "John Doe" criminal probe of Scott Walker and the special interest groups that defended him against recall in 2012.

WMC's spending in the recall campaigns is one of key issues in the case. The case will be considered in secret without oral arguments by Wisconsin's Supreme Court whose conservative majority was bankrolled by WMC.

You can’t make this stuff up.

This money does not include the more than $116,000 WMC has spent on radio ads.

In comparison, the Greater Wisconsin Committee, defending Lady Justice and the constitution, have spent a relatively paltry $80,000 on radio ads, which feature the impeccable former Justice Janine Geske

WMC's claim that this referendum would bring democracy to the Supreme Court deserves only derisive laughter and a "no" vote. Their idea of democracy is to have one of the four justice they already own become Chief Justice so that they could avoid any and all responsibility for their actions, whether it be illegal politicking, polluting the environment or harming consumers through their willful neglect.

I urge all of my fellow Wisconsinites to join me in voting no on the referendum. If we are ever to get our state back, the first step is to stop ceding ground to the corporate special interests.

Just In Case!

You thought Wisconsin Eye was nonpartisan(picture from facebook):

Wisconsin Eye has a place to donate on their website, make sure and send your hard earned dollars there so next year Charley Sykes can eat the Bone-IN Rib Eye during the made up righty award show. 

Walkergate: "Pop!" Goes The Weasel

The other day, I noted that some unnamed intervenors were trying desperately to stop the release of some more of the Walkergate documents related to the ongoing investigation into illegal campaigning by Scott "The Weasel" Walker and associates.  Much to their dismay, their attempts were in vain and said documents - all 266 pages of them - were released today.

While some of the details are new and most interesting, the overall news is not new at all.

In a nutshell, the documents show that prosecutors have reason to believe that Walker and his campaign were coordinating with dark money groups like Wisconsin Club for Growth to help funnel money into state elections.  While the focus has been on the recall elections in 2011 and 2012, there are indications that this was going on for years before that.

That this was going on for a while should surprise no one. I would remind the gentle reader of the incident shortly after Walker dropped his Act 10 bomb on the state and he received a call from a person Walker thought was David Koch.  Walker showed his attitude towards illegal colluding then:

WALKER: The other thing is more long term and that is after this, um, you know, the coming days and weeks and months ahead, particularly in some of these more swing areas, a lot of these guys are gonna need, they don’t necessarily need ads for them but they ‘re going to need a message out reinforcing why this was a good thing to do for the economy a good thing to do for the state so the extent that message is out over and over again, that’s obviously, that’s obviously a good thing.

The smoking gun - or to be more exact, the smoking Howitzer - is an email from Walker to Karl Rove, the advisor to George W. Bush:

The documents include an excerpt from an email in which Walker tells Karl Rove, former top adviser to President George W. Bush, that Johnson would lead the coordination campaign. Johnson also is Walker's longtime campaign strategist and the chief adviser to Wisconsin Club for Growth, a prominent conservative group.

"Bottom-line: R.J. helps keep in place a team that is wildly successful in Wisconsin. We are running 9 recall elections and it will be like 9 congressional markets in every market in the state (and Twin Cities)," Walker wrote to Rove on May 4, 2011. Rove runs American Crossroads, which backs Republican congressional and presidential candidates.

Yes, you read that correctly, Walker was foolish enough to put into writing that they were breaking campaign laws.  But then again, with Walker, we always new that there was more. There's always more.

As noted above, some of the allegations is that Walker and his campaign had formed some sort of symbiotic relationship with the dark money groups in which they helped raise funds for each other and redirect those funds through a myriad of channels to help hide the source of all that dark money.  They would then use said dark money to help coordinate their campaigns to help the Teapublican politician or candidate, either by supporting them or attacking their opponents.

This is not unlike the case from California where prosecutors were able to expose and get convictions on money laundering by Koch Brothers-supported front groups.

By far, the best summary of the documents that I've seen thus far comes from Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express.  It is worth a read and I would advise the gentle reader to follow Kaiser for further updates.

There is one thing that Kaiser hadn't gotten to yet is that fact that our old friends at the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) was also tied up in this:

Schmitz said Club for Growth also gave $2.5 million to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which through its Issues Mobilization Council ran ads supporting Walker and criticizing his recall opponent Tom Barrett. Schmitz also said WMC senior vice president James Buchen participated in conference calls with Walker and others involving the Senate and gubernatorial recall campaigns.

Schmitz alleged that in their court filings Walker’s campaign and other groups “tacitly admitted to violating Wisconsin campaign law.”

WMC was none too happy about getting caught being involved with this little love nest of vipers:

The documents reveal that Walker’s campaign, Wisconsin Club for Growth, Citizens for a Strong America, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and WMC’s Issues Mobilization Council sought to halt the John Doe investigation in state court last fall.

WMC, the state’s largest business lobby, issued a statement declining to comment on the John Doe investigation, but saying it follows campaign finance law.

“WMC wants to be explicitly clear that its grassroots lobbying activities are conducted carefully within both the letter and the spirit of state law,” the statement said. “WMC strongly disputes any allegations of wrongdoing made public today and will vigorously defend itself against any such allegations.”

Oh, puh-leeze!

Finally, there is no telling where this is going to go. The prosecutors appear to be set to push this thing through and see it to an end. However, it appears to my layman eyes that their investigation and any subsequent cases might be too compromised for them to effectively carry on.

However, that does not mean that the bad guys have gotten away with anything.  The gentle reader should keep in mind that the federal government has been helping with this investigation all along - especially since Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has refused to get involved in the entire matter.

The gentle reader should also keep in mind that just two weeks ago, US Attorney General Eric Holder was in Madison to "meet with staff at the U.S. Department of Justice offices."

Maybe it's time to say goodbye to John Doe and say hello to RICO Suave?

Either way, it's most definitely time to load up on the popcorn again!

Will The Whining Never End?

By Jeff Simpson

Wisconsin Reporter and more specifically MD Kittle, have had a crazy week.   They went from outright lying, to being Scott walker's top cheerleaders to now just being an outlet for the right wing noise machine to whine about what victims they are. 

A judge has halted the politically charged John Doe investigation into conservatives, but the probe certainly seems to have frozen the speech of many of the groups that have become common players in Wisconsin’s marketplace of political ideas over the past several years.

Lets examine "frozen the speech":

 Shut down are groups like the Wisconsin Club for Growth.

Wisconsin Club For Growth has a website here, and a facebook page here.   Neither one has appeared to been shut down, or edited.    Apparently Websites and facebook pages are not speech in right wing land.  

 This year, the organization, led by conservative activist Eric O’Keefe, has been mostly silent, with the exception of a little advertising on Right Wisconsin, a conservative website led by Milwaukee talk show host Charlie Sykes.

So the website, that the biggest "news" organization in the state, started and have control to one of the biggest right wing political hacks in the country does not count as speech in today's right wing world.  

A quick check of Eric O'Keefe and we find a website, facebook page and linked in.  Mr. O'Keefe actually has written books.   Apparently websites, facebook, Linkedin and Book writing is not considered speech. 

Another target, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which spent an estimated $4.7 million in the 2011 and 2012 recall campaigns, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, but beyond spending an estimated $500,000 on the 2013 spring election the group has been mostly silent in recent months. WMC officials declined comment on the issue.

WMC is so upset that their speeh is being stifled, that when given a chance to speak, they passed.  

I didnt know serious it was that these two groups were only able to reach millions of people with the few outlets available to them, thank God for M.D. Kittle to explain it to us(emphasis mine).

  Conservative targets assert the John Doe process is the punishment — and it has come with chilling effects.

We at Cogdis value free speech, so let me extend an offer to Mr. O'Keefe and Mr. Bauer and anyone else involved in these two organizations. 

Since your speech has been "completely benched", I want to extend a helping hand.   If you have LTE's or anything else you have written that no paper or website will print. I promise to put them up at CogDis unedited. 

 You now have a forum!!

Here In The Real World!

 

By Jeff Simpson

Some telling quotes recently by some of the people in charge of our state the last three years:

Republican state Rep. John Klenke will not seek re-election:

Rep. Klenke issued the following statement when he made the announcement:
"Four years ago I ran for Wisconsin's 88th Assembly District seat to support Scott Walker's agenda for Wisconsin. Today, thanks to Governor Walker's leadership and the courage of the Wisconsin State Legislature, budget surpluses are the norm, tax cuts are routine, employment is increasing, and businesses are expanding. I am honored to have served in these historic times."

 Our own Governor Walker:

We’re turning things around. We’re heading in the right direction, but there is more work to be done. Passing our Blueprint for Prosperity will help move Wisconsin forward.

Bruce Ariens, new head of WMC:

 “I know that Governor Walker and pro-growth lawmakers are committed to improving our business climate and WMC will play a leading role in developing and advocating polices that create jobs,” Ariens said. “WMC members can provide the day-to-day economic reality of what’s happening in the towns and cities and workplace across Wisconsin, one job at a time.”

Unfortunately, we live in the real world of Wisconsin and not the republican fantasy land these people live in.  

The  reality on the ground is NOT pretty!

 MADISON, Wis. -
Madison-based appliance and furniture retailer American is announcing plans to close its doors.

In a release sent Monday, the company said the business will start a going-out-of-business sale on Thursday.
The release said the 60-year-old company struggled over the last five years and described the economy as "unforgiving."

Honesty

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker is still upset that Ryan Braun "lied to us as fans".

The Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun won't be getting Gov. Scott Walker's endorsement, at least not any time soon.
Walker said he and his two sons, Matt and Alex, all big Brewers' fans, were disappointed and angry "that he lied to us as fans."
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the GOP governor said that "it was bad enough that he broke the rules, but the fact that he didn't immediately fess up to it, that he dragged it all out...It's not just what he did, it's that he strung us out for so long."

Which is very interesting, since WMC recently spent over $800,000 to flood the markets with this ad:




Scott Walker did not let Kurt Bauer do all of his lying for him, he even jumped in himself:

 Gov. Scott Walker announced in a press release Tuesday that Wisconsin is now ranked second in economic growth for the first time in the state’s history, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s coincident index.

While a second place rating is great....the problem is that Scott Walker is lying to us as Wisconsinites.  See it is a fairy tale and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia made sure to let us know:

 Top officials with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia are warning Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and others that they are misusing a monthly index produced by its top economists.
Walker in recent speeches has been touting figures from the “Philly Fed,” claiming they show Wisconsin’s economy as No. 2 in the nation. WMC has been using the same number in a series of advertising buys, thanking Walker for putting the state on the road to prosperity.
But officials with the Philly Fed, who have been following the situation in Wisconsin, issued a statement Friday saying it’s a misreading of their "Coincident Indexes" to try and compare one state to another.
They say the index — which is comprised of several different economic statistics including housing starts, unemployment claims and wages — isn’t designed as a ranking. The Fed does not calculate a ranking based on the index and never has.
Walker and WMC have also been quoting the Philly Fed’s “Leading Indicator," a 6-month forecasting of the Coincident Index for each state, to say Wisconsin’s economy is projected to show the second-largest improvement in the country.
“We do not consider state rankings based on the coincident and leading indexes to be valid,” says Paul Flora, Senior Economic Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in an email to the Cap Times.

The fact is Scott Walker's main promise of 250,000 as "the floor, not the ceiling" is one that has never had a chance to come true.  

Politifact lets us know there is no way he is going to reach it.    It is so bad that Walker's staff is trying to kill any realistic story about jobs in the press. 

While he has been a miserable failure at creating jobs in WI, Scott Walker has been successful at one thing - lying. 

 Scott Walker is the "most untruthful" Governor in the US.   

Instead of not voting for Scott Walker because he has been a mess for the WI economy, how about we vote Scott Walker out because he has no idea how to tell the truth?   

Scott Walker is caught in so many lies that he sets records and has not even had to call anyone to apologize..  

Let's hold the Governor of the State of Wisconsin to a higher standard than we hold the left fielder of the Brewers!  

Why Jobs Can Not Be The Main Issue in 2014!

 

By Jeff Simpson

I get it that we need jobs in Wisconsin.  Heck I am starting a business and truly truly understand how badly the walker/republican economy is hurting WI.   I also understand that scott walker is failing inadequately short of his promised 250,000 jobs promise ---

He never had any chance, or intention of keeping or getting near that promise.   This is something that has to be AN issue in the 2014 Gubernatorial race, but can not be THE issue in the race. 

The Walkerites know they lose badly on this issue, so they are already muddying the water.  Since they have unlimited millions to spend and the dems do not even have a candidate yet.   By the time the election comes, this issue will be way to confusing for the average observer.  

Scott Walker's bosses over at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce have already had a $500,000 ad buy to run this ridiculous ad(what is it about righties and their horrible lack of creativity in TV ads?):




Yes thanks to Governor Walker's policies we are 49 th in the nation in Job Growth and wikll end up wit ha bigger structural deficit than when he took office.  All of which is "lift off to WMC. 

Then this story came out today on JSONLINE. 

Plans for several manufacturing facilities and distribution centers — including a huge project likely targeting Amazon.com Inc. — are sprouting throughout southeastern Wisconsin because of continued economic growth and a scarcity of modern industrial space.
Most of the development activity is in Kenosha and Waukesha counties. But major projects also are proceeding throughout the Milwaukee metropolitan area.

You will see lots and lots of stories in the next year about all of the plans to "bring jobs" to Wisconsin.  I am sure if someone takes the time to add them up it will be in the hundreds of thousands.     The one main theme across all of them will be "Thanks to Scott Walker" and we need to "stay the course".  

Of course, no one will point out that plans for jobs and actual jobs are two completely different things.  One makes Scott Walker out to be a hero, and the other actually puts food on your table.  


Since we do not have a candidate yet able to get across this message, let's hope that our statewide media becomes more than a stenographer.  

THIS is a MAJOR Problem

By Jeff Simpson

I have always felt that politicians and public servants should be given double the penalty of any crime,since they are the ones who set examples for the general public.  Unfortunately, because it is up to politicians to set the punishment, they end up getting off with apologies for serious crimes.  Thus they continue to repeat said serious crimes with no consequences(except of course the death of good government and end of  ethical politicians).

Now we have another problem starting to sprout up that needs to be taken care of immediately.   The private market is one that is done unofficially and off the books,  It is one that helps move minor products: car, guitar, Wii, house, etc...  It helps free up money from one or both parties to then purchase other goods.   It has sprung up such immensely popular websites as Ebay and Craigslist.  It is an essential part of our national economy, and it is under attack!  

This from Milwaukee:







We do not want to see an already WMC depressed economy in WI shut down even further by people being scared to sell goods they no longer need!

WMC Wins - You Lose!

 

By Jeff Simpson

Many on the right who claim to be "libertarians", justified the big government overreach of ACT10 as needing to stop teachers unions from buying off elected officials. Of course, as they so often are, were incredibly misinformed and their logic was non-existent. All it did(which it was intended to do) was weaken republican opposition. It made an uneven playing field even more tilted to the right! This also makes sense because when your going to focus on Vagina's and not jobs, you need all of the help fixing the game that you can get! However that is a story for another time.  

What really happened here, was bait and switch.   The group that is ACTUALLY extremist AND buying legislators is Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce(WMC)! As Sourcewatch points out:

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) is a business association formed through a merger of the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, the State Chamber of Commerce and the Wisconsin Council of Safety.

They are a big business lobby group that has unlimited dark money to spend to elect republicans.   The problem though, is their track record is akin to Don Morton's.  The last two elections, they have gotten almost everything they have wanted, in all branches of government! 

It is no coincidence, that the immense success of WMC policies have paralleled the quick downfall of the Wisconsin economy.  

And then there’s the other data. In March of this year, Wisconsin plunged to 44th in private sector job growth. Also, Wisconsin came in as the fifth worst in terms of the erosion in private-sector wages.
Forbes named Wisconsin one of the “worst states” for business in December of 2012. Wisconsin is 44th for overall economic performance and 39th for business climate.

Well they are back and if this is not the most telling  condemnation of the Governor's Budget, I do not know what is.  Here four ex-republican aides and current WMC lobbyists, tell us how great the Governor's budget is and they do it with a passion that is hard to match:

H/T Jack Craver :

 “Gov. Walker introduced his budget in February and, really from our perspective, introduced a pro-growth budget that makes an investment in personal income tax reductions, continues his freeze on property taxes and makes critical investments in our state’s infrastructure system,” said Scott Manley, the group’s vice president of government relations, to begin the video, before asking his colleagues to explain a number of economic policies that he described the organization as being "very excited" about.

 While I do not think this video will pull "Gangnam Style" numbers, it marks WMC's initial efforts into Social Media.  What it really shows is the fact that they feel that they have put enough impediments up actual democracy that they can come out of the shadows and not worry about a voter revolt!  It isalso sad that these are four of the people who are pushing for right-to-work(for less) and merit pay legislation!

For the record, what the budget really means to you:

If Wisconsin had representative democracy that reflected the will of the people – via proportional representation – the state would have a very different Assembly. And a very different budget.
As it is, the Assembly that was elected with a minority of the vote has enacted a budget that fails the majority of Wisconsinites.

Of course this budget is even more devastating to public schools than the last one:

 The plan that Gov. Scott Walker introduced in February had little added funding for public schools; no increase in their revenue limits, which means their budgets couldn’t grow; an expansion of the voucher program, in which state money is used to send students to private schools, based on a flawed formula and a new rating system for public schools; a new voucher program for special-needs students, despite overwhelming opposition from their parents; and a new board that would oversee charter schools, including an opening for independent charter schools, which aren’t connected to public school districts and could be run by for-profit companies.

 

 

China Meets with Wisconsin (Manufacturers and Commerce)

A month ago, I questioned who were going to get those mining jobs in Northern Wisconsin - if they ever do materialize.  In said article, I referred the gentle reader to the fact that Canadian mining companies were bringing Chinese miners to do the work, instead of hiring the local miners:

A major B.C. labour organization denounced on Monday the “mass importation” of Chinese workers to mine coal in the northeast part of the province, saying it is “preposterous” to suggest British Columbians don’t have the skills to fill close to 2,000 full-time jobs destined for foreign workers.

“We want to register our grave concerns about the uses and abuses of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program as it relates to projects in British Columbia,” the organization told Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Christy Clark in an open letter.

It was issued by the Bargaining Council of the B.C. Building Trades Unions, made up of 15 unions representing 35,000 craft construction workers, including underground miners.

“We believe this mass importation of labour is completely unnecessary and is simply a strategy to employ lower-paid workers who are compliant with the culture of coal mining in China,” wrote BCBCBTU President Mark Olsen.

“The coal mining in that country is patently unsafe and the industry there shows little regard for the life, health and well-being of the workers in that country.”

It's a serious enough concern that Senator Dave Hansen is asking for answers.

The answers are starting to look not so good, especially when we see something like this:

On March 18, Chinese Consul General Zhao Weiping met with Mr. Kurt Bauer, President of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce in Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin. They exchanged views on the trade and investment cooperation between China and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) are huge proponent of the mine.  I'm sure that there was a lot of discussion regarding that.

It's bad enough that it looks like the Chinese are looking to invest and/or mine our natural resources.  They are going to be much less prone to worry about the environment impacts - even with the Republicans having loosened all the safety nets - since they won't be here to deal with the impact of the mining.

But I can't help but wonder if Scott Walker gave WMC permission to speak on the state's behalf, or whether WMC had included that when they bought Walker in the first place.

The WMC Burlesque Show

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) has become a parody of itself!   As Capper pointed out, Scott Walker, who promised 250,000 new jobs under his tenure, has done even worse than politifact said he has done(and their number wasn't pretty). 

Their number of jobs created in over two years of being Governor is 25,411 private sector job, which is an incredibly dismal job record.   However Capper makes a strong case that in the end he has a net loss of jobs under his tenure.   However you look at it, 225,000- 250,000 new jobs in WI in the next two years seems like a pipe dream.  Especially when you never show up to work! 

Enter WMC, whose bills itself as "Wisconsin's leading business advocacy organization".  You would think that such an incredibly dismal jobs record in WI for the last two years would raise their dander and they would demand change.  After all what businessman does not want people working so they can buy his products? 


Of course when it comes to WMC, you would find a group of business people who put party over business and onoy care about electing republicans, no matter the cost!  

So instead of demanding we stop the crazy social agenda and start focusing on improving our economy and creating jobs, they instead decide to give an "award" to fare right fringe assemblyman Steve nASS!  Then to add partisan insult to Wisconsin's injury, the award they gave him was for "job creation votes"!

Ummm guys......

What's next for nASS?  Focus on the Family giving him a father of the year award?  

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLVIII

Today's economic news from Fitzwalkerstan is mixed.

The good news, if you believe Scott Walker, is that exports are expected to break the state record.

The bad news is that the top two exports are our jobs and our tax dollars:

Wisconsin business leaders say the state is headed in the right direction, yet one in five plans to cut staff in the next six months, the largest percentage in more than three years, according to a semi-annual survey conducted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.

Twenty percent said they plan layoffs in the first half of 2013, the highest since June 2009, when 41 percent expected job cuts.

One in four chief executives, or 24 percent, said they will add employees, down from 44 percent a year ago and 62 percent last June.

It's enough to make a person sick, but don't you dare, because they're also taking away your healthcare coverage:

Health care is the No. 2 business concern, after the economic slowdown, the poll showed.

With 13 percent saying their health insurance costs have increased more than 20 percent in the past year, up from 8 percent a year ago, more employers say they are dropping health coverage for their workers. Five percent say they do not offer health insurance now, and 9 percent say they will end health benefits, up from 2 percent a year ago.

So, we're losing even more jobs, our healthcare coverage and our tax dollars. How do the folks of WMC, one of Walker's major supporters and drivers of his agenda feel about this?

CEOs were gung-ho on the state, though, with 93 percent saying "things in Wisconsin are going in the right direction" and 40 percent describing state government as "very pro-business."

Where's John Doe when you really need him?

Hostility In The Workplace: A National GOP Strategy?

Last night, I wrote about Mike White, the idiot at Rite Hite who thought he was about the law and decided to send a threatening email to his employees on what he would do to them if they voted for Obama.

I have now heard from various sources that the employees at Schneider Trucking Company heard the same thing, almost verbatim. The only difference between the two companies being that Schneider was stupid enough to put it in writing.

It is highly unlikely that this is a coincidence, especially given that there are reports of similar statements from all over the country.

This is probably coming from the US Chamber of Commerce through their subsidiaries, like Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce.

This also seems like a logical conclusion given their habitual use of fear and smear campaign techniques, since their real agenda simply won't sell except with the greediest of the greedy and the densest of teahadist.

The best way to counter that is with all boots on the ground and sharing the truth with everyone and anyone, and then get their butts to the polling station.

WMC Shows Their True Colors

They are UGLY!  

H/T Jessie Opoien!


Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce(WMC) recently put out an anti-Jessica King TV ad.   The problem is the person who they used against her, supports her!  

If you’ve seen an ad attacking State Sen. Jessica King, D-Oshkosh, for voting against the northern Wisconsin mining bill, you probably think a man named Lyle Balistreri is very angry with the senator. You might even think he wants her out of office.

It’s a reasonable assumption. Balistreri, the president of the Milwaukee Building and Construction Council, is seen on screen, in old interview footage. His face is juxtaposed with a picture of King, her phone number and the words, “Tell her to stop playing politics with our jobs.”

There’s just one problem. Lyle Balistreri supports King.

Balistreri says his comments were taken out of context by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the group behind the ad.

“It is unfortunate that these comments were taken out of context,” Balistreri said in a statement. “Politicians need to put aside partisan politics and do what voters elected them to do — create jobs. Few industries have been hit harder by the Great Recession than the building and construction trades and as President of the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, I fight every day in every way for the working men and women of this state. I support Jessica King and know she will put working Wisconsinites first. Wisconsinites are tired of the same old partisan politics, we need to put our differences aside and create jobs.”

The question you have to ask is, if WMC is that dishonest and unethical, why would anyone want to do business with them?  


Contact WMC President Kurt Bauer and ask him to be honest in his ads!  

Phone: (608) 258-3400
@Kurt_R_Bauer


Finally support Jessica King if you can, to help her fight off this ridiculous attacks!