Nation Consulting consists of the Founder(Thad Nation), two partners and three associates. We have documented the right wing bent of Mr. Nation and one of the other partners is Jeff Blumb.
As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words, and here is Mr. Blumb:
Is this what you want running the Democratic Party? Is there any wonder Nation Consulting's Democratic clients are not successful in elections?
Please, if you are lucky enough to be deemed a delegate by your local Democratic party, do the right thing and let's star ridding ourselves of these right wing lobbyists from the leadership of the Democratic party,
Chris Dodd is a former Democratic Senator and Presidential candidate who championed himself a man of the working class. Then this happened.
Dodd listed a number of policy priorities for the
industry, from tax credits to intellectual property law, and explained:
“We need the capacity to gain and maintain relationships, and with
campaigns getting more and more expensive, fundraising does have an
impact.”
Dodd in particular encouraged industry executives to donate to Rep.
Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which
has jurisdiction over intellectual property and copyright issues
important to the movie industry. Dodd evidently had to overcome one
hurdle, however: Squeamishness about giving money directly to the
National Republican Congressional Campaign, whose goal was to increase
the GOP House majority. …
Dodd chose not to run for reelection to his Senate seat in 2010,
after revelations that he had received a special discount mortgage from
Countrywide’s “VIP program.” During his time in Congress, Dodd was a
senior member of the Banking Committee, a position that oversaw mortgage
lenders.
As he retired, he told the public he would not become a lobbyist —
though he soon signed up for the job as the movie industry’s top
lobbyist, a gig compensated at over $3.2 million a year.
There really is no hope politically for our country.....none.
You absolutely can NOT make this stuff up. While Mary Burke and the Dem party was begging you for money, her top campaign adviser was sending thousands to the Republicans! Let than sink in for a minute. In the meantime, Mary Burke was paying Ms. Bjork $10,000/Month of YOUR money to advise her.
I wonder if she sent information also or just checks?
Mary Burke has said she wants to outlaw out of state campaign contributions. While our friends on the right like to think that this is a sign of hypocrisy, but since they live knee deep in hypocrisy they can never recognize it. Its not hypocrisy when you want to change the rules of the game that you are playing because you know they are wrong.
But Burke and Leibham share a very influential donor: Lobbyist Bill
Broydrick, a former Democratic state legislator who has been a leading
influence peddler in Wisconsin and Washington D.C. since the 1980s.
Broydrick
and his wife, Cindi, who is a partner at Broydrick & Associates,
hosted a fundraiser for Burke’s gubernatorial campaign at their D.C.
home in November.
“Winning this race will take the support of
thousands of supporters from across the country just like you,” said the
fundraising letter inviting donors to enjoy cocktains chez Broydrick.
“So we'd like to invite you to hear from Mary about her commitment to
Wisconsin, why she's running, and how she will work every day to restore
Democratic values and create jobs and opportunity for everyone.”
On
July 23, Broydrick, along with other notable lobbying figures,
including former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, will be sponsoring a
fundraiser for Leibham. A fundraising appeal for the event sent out by Goeas Associates, a Republican fundraising firm, was obtained by Media Trackers, a conservative investigative group that has run a number of unflattering stories about Leibham.
The letter touted Leibham as the most viable candidate in the three-man Republican primary.
“In
2002, Joe defeated a Democrat incumbent for State Senate, giving
Republicans their first victory in that seat in over 30 years,” it said.
“Joe has been reelected twice in a swing district with over 60 percent
of the vote each time.”
The letter also highlighted the
endorsements the veteran lawmaker had received from state notables,
including mega-millionaire donors Terry and Mary Kohler.
Hmmmm why would someone want to support Leibham and Burke? Why would Burke want to hang out with someone who wants to propel an extremist like Leibham up to higher office? Mary Burke is no stranger to republican lobbyists!
Let us not forget that it was Joe Leibham who was one of the "masterminds"(termed used loosely), who devised the idea of elected officials signing secrecy agreements, and then promptly lied about it.
Do not let anyone tell you that Liebham is the pragmatic choice of this race, it just is not true.
“I will see every lobbyist who asks to see me unless I have a scheduling
conflict because I know they have a job to do and I can get important
information,” says state Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison.
For Berceau, the problem is that lobbyists have no interest in
speaking to her anymore. Their avoidance of her and other Democrats
reflects the perception that Republicans will be running the show in
Wisconsin for many years to come. Unlike in past years, when the balance
of power in the Capitol was more delicate, lobbyists no longer see an
incentive to cultivate relationships in both parties.
“There’s
been a notable change this year,” Berceau says. “I have always been
visited by lobbyists, even when we’re in the minority. They’re not even
bothering now.”
We should be in a rage over the widespread attempts to disenfranchise voters,
from the gutting of the Voting Rights Act to the rise of the Voter ID
movement — a near-naked attempt by conservatives to diminish the number
of Democratic voters.
We
should be in a rage over Republican efforts, particularly on the state
level, to drag the range of women’s reproductive options back to the
1960s.
We
should be in a rage over the extraordinary pressures facing ordinary
families. According to The New York Times’ Economix blog, college costs have risen over 500 percent since 1985, medical and gas costs more than 300 percent. And, the Pew Research Center reported Tuesday that “in inflation-adjusted dollars, average weekly child care expenses for families with working mothers who paid for child care” rose 70 percent from 1985 to 2011.
And
yet, a report last week from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
found that “some 69 percent of the cuts in House Budget Committee
Chairman Paul Ryan’s new budget would come from programs that serve
people of limited means.”
We should be in a rage over the fact that people in this country can work a full-time job and not earn a living wage. We
should be in a rage that this country’s infrastructure is literally
crumbling beneath us. The “2013 Report Card for America’s
Infrastructure,” produced by the American Society of Civil Engineers,
gave our infrastructure an overall grade of D+ and estimated that $3.6 trillion would be needed by 2020 to fix it.
But where rage should be, there is too often a whimper
Blow also summed it up perfectly:
When will we demand the country we deserve: reflective of its people, protective of its people, simply of
its people? When will the young and the poor and the aggrieved and the
forsaken walk abreast to the polls and then to the public squares?
If we don’t like the government we have, we can change it. If we don’t like the path we’re on, we can alter it.
I am here to Beg Mary Burke to get serious about running a real campaign. One that can actually beat Scott Walker. One that a majority of Democrats and independents are asking and hoping for.
Let's connect with the people of WI and not WMC. Let's explain why Walker has been such a failure, in terms of our ideas not their failures. Let's fire up the base, let there be no doubt or blurred lines on your support for labor, public education and the middle class.
If you think high school dances are the same as 20 years ago, get
ready for some shocking news. After witnessing Homecoming last fall I
thought this kind of dancing can’t be real and I tried to forget what I
saw. Then, this weekend, was another dance. The only way I can describe
it is an orgy with clothes on. And that is an understatement.
This is in every school, in every state. Yes, that means your kid's school too.
Yes, attending parts of two high school dances, and Google images are all noted family values expert Ms. Litjens needs to know what is happening in every high school in Wisconsin. Then her small government "conservatism" kicks in and she calls for the end of all high school dances!
Parents can’t bury their heads in the sand. Prom is just
around the corner. Parents need to stick around at dances and tell
schools that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. It is easy to drop
girls off at the mall to buy a dress you won’t see till the night of the
dance. Parents need to make sure these dresses are appropriate.
Parenting isn’t always easy, but a little investment today will pay off
tenfold tomorrow.
And if that means no more school dances, then so be it. It may be the right thing to do.
Hasn't Michelle read the Bible?
Maybe Ms. Litjens thinks we should all follow her example and save the horizontal bop for late nights in the People's House(as long as they are not singing)!
PS: H/T @rightwisconsin for this hard hitting piece of Litjens wisdom!
The Nation's most recent employment report, which examines job creation in
all 50 states, raises a familiar question with renewed urgency: Why is
Wisconsin a chronic laggard?
According to Wednesday's report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Wisconsin gained 23,963 private-sector jobs in the 12 months
from June 2012 through June 2013, a 1.0% increase that ranks the state
37th among the 50 states in the pace of job creation during that period.
The state's ranking slid from a revised rank of 32nd three months earlier, which covered the 12 months through March 2012.
Wisconsin continued to trail the national rate of job creation, as it
has since July 2011. The United States created private-sector jobs at a
rate of 1.9% in the latest 12-month period, nearly double Wisconsin's
1.0% rate, the data show.
D'OH!
Robin vos is as good of a legislator, as Homer Simpson is at his job!
The lobbyist said that Republicans have become much more creative
with fundraising events than Democrats. In July, for instance, RACC held
a paintball outing to raise funds for Rep. Travis Tranel, R-Cuba City,
that pitted lawmakers against lobbyists.
“It was the first time I did paintball and it was absolutely fantastic,” recalled Tranel, who was reached by phone.
“As
far as I remember (the legislators) won, of course,” he said.
“(Assembly Speaker) Robin (Vos) is seriously competitive, as you know,
and he was the commander.
Since his fellow republicans in the assembly have to call him Commander, I wonder what his mistress/lobbyist girlfriend calls him?
Before we get into today's lesson, we need to clarify something. There was some sloppy criticism of my post about Tanya Bjork's association with the Wisconsin Hospital PAC. Apparently she gave all of the money to their Conduit. A conduit is set up(and quite possibly illegal) for someone like Tanya Bjork to give money to Wisconsin Hospitals PAC and then direct that money elsewhere. That way if you want to give more than the max. You can funnel your money through their PAC allowing you to give more than the legal amount, and hope the media stays lazy and does not track your donations.(*clarification, I am not accusing Tonya Bjork of doing this, I am merely pointing out that I do not see any other reason for a conduit. If you want to give money to a politician give money to them. No need to give it to someone else to give to them).
Just some more context, before we move on(H/T one of our readers). Wisconsin Hospitals PAC, of which Tanya Bjork was a major player and fundraiser for, gave approximately 80% of their donations to the red team. Would you belong to an organizations that so directly conflicts with your values? I would not.
National Association of Professional Employer Organization
SC Johnson & Sons Inc.
Superior Services, Inc
TDS Telecom
US Oil
Water Remediation Technology, LLC
Webber Merritt
Wisconsin Bankers Association
Wisconsin Cable Communications Association
Wisconsin Cluster of YMCAs
Wisconsin Early Autism Program
Wisconsin Hospital Association
Before we go any further, let me address the first objection. That this is her husbands firm. 1. Wisconsin is a 50/50 state, if they were to get divorced she would be part owner of it real quick(just ask Robin Vos) and 2. She lists her employer as (drum roll please) Capitol Navigators!
Yes, I understand that the donations under her name are all Democrats, but let's take a look at a partial list of the rest of the people that Capitol Navigators have donated too(recognize any of these names):
*Robin Vos *Jeff Fitzgerald *Scott Fitzgerald *Committee to elect a Republican Senate *Republican Assembly Campaign Committee * Scott Suder * Mike Huebsch
"Dont play both sides of the fence because one day your leg is going to get caught trying to get over on the other side." Unknown
Nothing says progressive champion like sending $500 to Robin Vos! Let's be real, CapitolNavigators has made lots of money suppressing and squashing progressive legislation and helping get the current extreme right wing legislation passed. Hey, whatever makes you a buck. Its a tough economy out there(thanks in part to the legislation you lobby).
Now to my conclusion, We have a very vindictive and petty republican party running our state government. Tanya and her husband make a very nice living with their lobbying firm, lobbying both parties. DO you trust Tanya Bjork to do the right thing and attack Scott Walker, when and where he needs to be attacked, to win? Knowing that her living depends on playing both sides in the Capitol? Do we trust that when there comes a time, when her career and her current job, collide, that the people of Wisconsin will not get the short end of the stick?
Looking back at her career, from the caucus scandal(which still disgusts me) through her time at Wisconsin Hospitals PAC and beyond, she has a definite pattern of having an ambitiously me first attitude. Her willingness to break the law to advance her personal career in the Caucus scandal, and her apparent willingness to suppress her personal beliefs and values, with Wisconsin Hospitals PAC in order to pad her resume speaks volumes to me.
When it comes down to making the tough call, one that might win the race but cost her Lobbying firm business in the end - Whose side will she be on?
I think we know the answer to that. I also think we do not like the answer!
Draw your own conclusions.
However, there is enough bad, evil, slimy, play both parties evidence there for me to far outweigh the non existent progressive credentials of this supposedly democratic lobbyist, that I know what side I believe she will pick!
If you're going to connect with the good people of WI, a well connected, political insider who makes a living lobbying, and was in the middle of the biggest political corruption scandal, is probably NOT the best choice to do that.
I was also hoping, that one of the campaign issues would be Walkers cronyism and incompetent politically motivated hires, one that we would easily win. Unless, we allow Tanya Bjork to run the campaign and we send the message that cronyism is alive and well in our party also!
I personally would rather this Bjork be running the show, at least she understands marketing:
It has been made perfectly clear to me, by party members, that no amount of grassroots support matters. So the only thing they will listen to is our pocketbooks.
For me personally - No Money for Burke until Bjork is gone. I prefer my Democratic Candidates sans republican lobbyists on their staff.
PSS: To the people on the Burke Campaign, you might want to add Mary Burke's twitter account to the website contact info. It is the year 2013 after all.
Asked before the recent Democratic state convention what he expected to hear from that event, Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
“What they are going to do, because they have nothing to offer in
response, they are going to attack and attack and attack and attack, and
then attack again.”
So Walker uses the word “attack” five times, which sounds like pretty
much all of the chapter titles in Scott Walker’s complete guide to
governing.
Beating Walker is possible. This isn’t Alabama. It is a swing state that elected Tammy Baldwin.
In the end, I think there is a critical mass of voters who are not
active combatants who yearn for a new path, one that the right
Democratic candidate could chart. Put another way, when it comes to taking down Scott Walker, the high road is open for business.
We have established that the High Ground is a winning strategy and one that is completely wide open. Unfortunately somewhere along the way Mary Burke has decided to take a different path. Check out Team Burke!
Burke’s campaign team includes fundraiser Katie Boyce, a Doyle
fundraiser and deputy chief of staff in his second term. Her treasurer
is Sheila Conroy, who led the Office of State Employee Relations for
Doyle (and is married to Madison biotech CEO Kevin Conroy, who was
mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate before Burke got in the
race).
Burke’s senior political adviser is Tanya Bjork, whom Doyle
hired as national liaison. The appointment was controversial partly
because Bjork was convicted of two misdemeanors related to the caucus
scandal for campaigning on state time and trying to cover it up. She
also was senior adviser for President Obama’s Wisconsin campaign in 2008
and 2012.
Tanya Bjork, 38, was convicted of two misdemeanors in 2005 for her
role in the largest political scandal in state history. Bjork served as a
chief of staff to former Sen. Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee), who was
convicted of a felony and misdemeanor in 2005 as part of a widespread
investigation that uncovered political campaigning using taxpayer
resources. Before she worked for Burke, she worked for the Assembly
Democratic Caucus.
Bjork pleaded no contest to charges that she altered records and illegally solicited campaign funds in the Capitol.
Why would anyone think, that hiring someone who was guilty in the last Caucus Scandal, was a good idea? I have criticized the way that Mary Burke has run her campaign to date, saying that she has gotten really bad advice. I did not know at the time that she was getting really bad advice from a bad apple!
That would be just crazy for me to point out that if we lose next November, while you are here:
She will be here:
I would NOT suggest any of that so I hope you do not think it either!
I have met Mary Burke and find her to be very intelligent, friendly, smart and passionate for making Wisconsin a better place. Mary Burke is ethical and full of integrity. The last thing that Mary Burke needs, is the dead weight of the Capitol Scandal on her back.
Mary Burke goes into her race against Scott Walker with the decided advantage in accomplishments, intelligence, personality, desire to help Wisconsin, business sense and many others. Ms. Burke also has the clear advantage V. Mr. Walker in ethics, morals and integrity. That is why it is imperative that she not sully her reputation or spoil this advantage by associating with anyone from the Caucus Scandal.
In a state that leads the country in incarceration of black males, we allowed the group of caucasions involved in the caucus scandal were allowed to skate virtually punishment free, because they set the rules. The only way to stop that is if the people say enough. Here is a good spot to draw that line!
You would make an excellent Governor of Wisconsin, show us that you want to change the way we have done things and it is a new era. Show us you are serious about the divisiveness, cronyism and corruption that has become everyday occurrences are over.
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