The Bernier Bolt

 

By Jeff Simpson 

Republican Assembly member Kathy Bernier (R-Lily liver) walked out of a Monday meeting with representatives of three local school districts, upset when an Eau Claire School Board member stated that Wisconsin’s economy compared unfavorably with Minnesota’s.

Some local school districts got together and invited their local elected officials to eat breakfast and discuss the issues, especially around public education.   One of the local school board members had this to say:

“Fundamentally, Minnesota is beating us,” said Wendy Sue Johnson, citing a Jan. 20 article written by state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), who also attended the meeting.
“Our (school) funding formula is broken,” Johnson added.

What did Majority member Republican Bernier have to say about this?    Nothing.

She turned tail and ran out of the building.

Seriously!  

Bernier then got up to leave the “Breakfast with Our Legislators” session involving the Chippewa Falls, Altoona and Eau Claire School Districts at the Avalon Hotel and Conference Center in Chippewa Falls.
“It is not helpful to compare Minnesota and Wisconsin,” Bernier said, remarking that this is what she experiences with Altoona, Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls each time she attends the districts’ breakfast.
Bernier later said she hears the same theme when she meets with representatives of the three districts: “We want more money, we want more money and we don’t like this or that.”
She compared that with her meetings with rural superintendents in her Assembly district, where she said she receives helpful suggestions.

When asked about it, she had this to say.

“This vile political speech is not helpful,” Bernier said before leaving.

Apparently discussing real results of the policies that the Republicans have enacted, is now "vile speech"....

If you look at her website, Ms. Bernier has this to say:

My top priority is serving the residents of my district. Your input and comments are invaluable to me as I serve in the State Assembly. I encourage you to contact my office with any concerns or opinions that you wish to share.

She wants to hear compliments but the complain department is closed for repairs, obviously!

So sick of elected officials who are cowards and run from discussion and debate. We have a party that gets their exercise by running away from constituents!  

I guess the WISGOP need tunnels everywhere they go to escape in!

 

Steve nASS (R - Fraidy-Cat)

By Jeff Simpson 

This latest legislative session in Wisconsin, started exactly how you think it would.  A sham hearing, lots of not listening going on and it ending abruptly with the Republicans running out of the room. cowering in fear

Steve nASS gets a special mention for his incredible feat of cowardice, all he was missing was the "Bawk, Bawk" sound effects.

The committee chair, Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said he was concerned a planned protest would become unsafe.
Nass cited an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying union groups planned to peacefully protest the end of testimony at 7 p.m., calling that a credible threat to the safety of the people at the hearing

Steve nASS was sprinting towards the exit so fast, you would think someone was trying to collect past due child support from him.  

Who scared Mr. nASS so badly that he had to call the police and run and hide?

She did!




Mr. nASS can never claim to be #unintimidated.  It is amazing his district, as badly gerrymandered as it is, would want such a milksop as its Representative.  

WaPo: Walker Is Spineless

As the gentle reader is aware, Scott Walker was recently in New York for yet another fundraiser. Walker was there with Rudy Guliani, who did what he does best - putting his foot in his mouth by accusing President Barack Obama of not loving America.

When asked about it, Walker did what he does best - he punted. Walker tried to dodge the question by saying that Guliani can speak for himself, as could Obama.

On Friday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel again asked Walker about Guliani's idiotic comment and again, Walker punted:

Walker was asked if Giuliani crossed a line by saying – at a Walker reception in New York – that “I do not believe that the President loves America.”

Walker said, “no” to that question.

“I’ve said repeatedly that (Giuliani) can speak for himself. The president can defend that,” Walker said.

Asked, “Do you think the President loves America?” Walker said the following:

“I assume most people in this country love America. And to me I don’t think it’s worth getting into the battle over whether he does or he doesn’t. He can handle that himself. I know I do. And I know there are great people in this country who love this country and who ... feel this country’s exceptional and it doesn’t necessarily align by party. I think there are Republicans and Democrats and plenty of people in between. I’ve never asked the President so I don’t really know what his opinions are on that one way or another.”

The editorial board at the Washinton Post has had enough of Walker's wishy-washiness and called him out on it:

Mr. Giuliani has dived off the deep end before, so there was nothing all that surprising in his latest poison. But as Post columnist Dana Milbank points out, his remarks presented an early test of character for Mr. Walker, and Mr. Walker failed spectacularly. At the dinner, the governor said nothing. Even the next morning, having had a night to ponder, Mr. Walker chose not to lift himself out of the Giuliani sewer. “The mayor can speak for himself. I’m not going to comment on what the president thinks or not. He can speak for himself as well,” Mr. Walker said on CNBC. “I’ll tell you, I love America, and I think there are plenty of people — Democrat, Republican, independent, everyone in between — who love this country.”

Mr. Walker likes to present himself as a man of courage, based on his record in Wisconsin, but maybe facing down public-sector unions doesn’t tell you all that much about the bravery of a Republican governor. On two occasions in recent days, he has proved himself incapable of saying basic truths that might offend some of his potential voters: First, that evolution is real, and second, that an honorable politician criticizes his opponent’s policies, not his patriotism. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) showed his understanding of that principle Friday when he said, “I believe the president loves America. His ideas are bad.”

Any reader of this page knows that we find plenty to criticize in Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. But the questions about his patriotism that emerge from a venomous stew of racism, xenophobia and echo-chamber cable television chatter are ludicrous and say a great deal more about the critics than about the object of their criticism. It was particularly pathetic to see Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), another would-be president, scrambling to steal some of the spotlight of Mr. Walker’s cowardice by issuing a statement titled, “Gov. Jindal Refuses to Condemn Mayor Giuliani.” The only response to that can be, who cares?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Walker has to maintain the facade of being an intelligent, respectable person with leadership skills for a long time. That is something he is simply incapable of doing.

Cowardice as an Art Form - Updated!

As Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.), has been saying, "courage is on the ballot".  Scott Walker and all of his supporters failed massively in Janesville(ironically Paul Ryan's home town) over the weekend.  This full page advertisement appeared out of the blue ON people's Janesville Gazette all over Janesville.

For those that can not see, it supposedly lists all of the teachers in Janesville who signed the recall petitions, and their salary and then has a form to sign on the bottom asking to opt out of these "radical teachers" classroom.   They then use Verify the Recall as their source.

And who put out this ad, calling teachers out by name and salary?  Why the people are anonymous of course.  

Scott Walker and his cronies have outdone themselves this time.  Their cowardice, attempts to Bully and Intimidate and  Divide and Conquer are on display for everyone in Wisconsin to see.   When you see the kind of people the Walker brigade are, you realize it is not a pretty sight!  

I guess Paul Ryan supports Tom Barrett after all.  

Do not worry, we at Cog_Dis will continue investigating until we find the cowards behind this ad!!    if you have any information, let us know!

Stay Tuned!   

UPDATED:  The Janesville Gazette brings us more to this story and a little about who was behind it:

Citizens for Responsible Government, also known as CRG Network, filed a freedom of information request with the School District of Janesville on March 29, said Brett Berg, spokesman for the district. Those figures were used to create the flier, said CRG Executive Administrator Chris Kliesmet.

"The group and its representative, Orville Seymer, filed a freedom of information request for a list of all Janesville district teachers, their job titles and annual salaries," Berg said.

When contacted by The Gazette, Seymer said he knew the names of local participants but was asked not to release them.

"They want to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation," Seymer said. "However, this is all public information."

The flier lists the names and salaries of 321 teachers whose salaries range from $59,344 to $75,695. The district employs 765 teachers; the lowest salary is $34,676.

"We did most of the grunt work at the request of people over there," Kliesmet said. "We did the freedom of information request and gathered the data. People in the area printed the flier and distributed it."

At least Superintendent Karen Schulte stepped up:

Schulte said she was shocked when someone showed her the flier Saturday. She said it was interesting that she saw the flier at Craig High School, where 400 people—including teachers—were volunteering to package food to be sent to feed the hungry in Haiti.

"I think it's wrong to go after any group that has an honest profession," Schulte said. "I don't understand where this intense anger is coming from."

so while this hate group was distributing anonymous hate fliers over the weekend,  the teachers that they are attempting to demonize were busy organizing a food drive for the people of Haiti.   Nuff Said


One last thing though, about those exorbitant have's of the Janesville School District:

 Only two teachers make more than $74,000. Salaries are based on a salary schedule that awards pay raises for years on the job to a maximum of 17 years and for continuing education up to the doctoral level. Teachers pay out of their own pockets to take the graduate courses. Teachers also receive extra pay for additional duties, such as coaching.

 765 teachers in the Janesville School District and only 2 make more than $70/k year.  The nerve of them...

CRG contact info:

 crg@crgnetwork.com   |   414-801-0800