Republican Politburo

By Jeff Simpson


Robin Vos (R-adulterer) has decided that his version of small government is to tell the University of Wisconsin system that they are allowed to have any speaker they want, as long as he agrees with their message.

"Perhaps what could be most worrisome about going to college these days is the plague of political correctness that creates an environment that ends up stifling free speech," Vos wrote. "I challenge the UW System this school year to find more ways, beyond a two-page policy statement, to ensure that all perspectives, including conservative ones, are present in the classroom."

Vos spokesman Kit Beyer told the Wisconsin State Journal that Vos directly expressed his concerns to UW System President Ray Cross in a meeting Tuesday.

Mr Vos did an open records request(which he expects fulfilled, unlike the same requests that have been asked of GOP legislators) and found out that the top two highest paid speakers were:

The largest amount paid for a single speaker was at UW-Platteville, Vos said. The speaker was Kathy Ober, a former professor at University of Massachusetts-Amherst and co-founder of the Social Justice Training Institute -- who reportedly spoke three times for a total of $45,000.Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, spoke at UW-La Crosse in December and also was one of the highest paid speakers, according to Vos.

Mr. Vos admits that he has no interest in Social Justice and listening to what someone from the LGBTQ community has to say.  Who knew that those two issues are partisan?  

Of course Mr. Vos has a history of being inherently lazy and did not offer up any suggestions, so that is where we are going to come in,  

We at CogDis are nothing if not here to help our friends on the right.  

Let's give some suggestions on who the UW System should bring in to speak to our college kids!

Let me start with a few:

1.   Number one on my list is Jonah Goldberg, of the National Review.  Jonah Goldberg is such a prolific writer, that he gave himself two Pulitzer nominations.   That takes skill!   What aspiring writer would not want to find out how to nominate yourself for the most prestigious awards there are?

2.  Everyones favorite right wing political pundit, Captain 9/12 Glenn Beck.   I would recommend that Mr. Beck be paid to speak to the school of social work so they can better learn how to deal with grief!

“When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I’m just like, ‘Oh shut up!’ I’m so sick of them because they’re always complaining.” ~ Glenn Beck

3.  The Scientists in the UW System will surely want to hear from Michelle Bachmann, since I am sure none of their professors taught them this!

“Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.” ~ Rep. Michele Bachmann

3. Best Selling "conservative" author and pundit Ann Coulter could be another that the UW System brings in.  The tall blonde has been preaching about liberal indoctrination for years.  

"If you wanted to teach people about the great things about America, a college campus is the last place you’d send them. Even fanatical Muslim terrorists don’t hate America like liberals do." Ann Coulter -- CPAC conference, 2002

Preach Ann, Preach!!   

4.  I would also recommend that Assembly Rep. Bob Gannon (R-White Hood) be allowed to speak also  He can speak to history classes about the Good ole days of the 1920's!

5. I also highly recommend that they have our Governor speak to the Engineering schools about how to build massive walls!

Finally #6, I would recommend they bring in Republican nominee for President, The Donald, who speak on numerous issues, from how to look presidential, to the plight of the disabled!

There are 6 different suggestions from us to Mr. Vos and University President Ray Cross to consider bringing in to speak this year on the UW System campuses.  

Help us out and give us some more suggestions, and I will make sure that Mr. Vos and Mr. Cross get this information!

Master Chief Petty Governor of Wisconsin - Scott Walker

By Jeff Simpson

The University of Wisconsin System has been holding no confidence votes in President Ray Cross and the Board of Regents.   Since Scott Walker has packed the Board of Regents with unqualified cronies, he took it personally.

That led Scott Walker to channel his inner 6th grader and write(have ghost written) an op-ed heavily criticizing, one of our finest public institutions in the state, that he laughingly titled

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Faculty Fuss Leaves Out Important Facts

“The facts speak for themselves,” Governor Walker said.  “The bottom line is UW System funding stands at an all-time high, spending per student at UW-M is up more than 40 percent since 2002-03, and faculty is spending less time in the classroom.   We want to preserve the world-renowned quality of the UW System while protecting students and taxpayers.”

I say laughingly, because Walker's press release where he fills in "important facts", was given a "pants on fire" rating by Walker friendly politifact.

It was not just Scott Walker either, Career criminal and GOP assembly majority leader Jim Steineke. warned the faculty about these no confidence votes that they had better shut up.

On Tuesday, Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, defended Cross and the Regents, described the changes to tenure as "minor" and criticized faculty for bringing the no confidence vote.
“This action ... shows an arrogance that doesn't serve the university or its students well," Steineke said. "It’s a clear example of the complete disconnect between UW-Madison faculty who seem to expect their job to come with a forever guarantee and the average Wisconsin family struggling just to make ends meet.”

A college dropout, who was part of an incredible unethical redistricting of Wisconsin to make sure that he has a job for life telling Phd level world renowned professors that the changes to tenure were minor.

If only we could mine irony.

These attacks on the UW system and Professors, went unanswered by the Administration but not by the Professors.

Ironically, it is Walker himself and the rest of the GOP who are preventing the University of Wisconsin from offering a competitive product in a global marketplace.
Let’s start with price. Businesses charge market rates for their products and services. Top-tier private colleges and universities right now are charging $44,000 or more in tuition each year, more than four times the rate of in-state tuition for an education at the UW-Madison,ranked in the top 50 universities around the world.
Why are prices so low? Because politicians have put a cap on tuition.
It’s like telling Toyota that they must charge a particular price for their cars, while letting Honda and General Motors and Hyundai sell the same — or inferior — vehicles to the same customers at four times the cost.

Unfortunately the Professors that are fighting back, are doing so as they are packing their cars to go to greener pastures.

I myself am now leaving the University of Wisconsin after 14 years. At my new university in another state, I will have stronger tenure protections than I now have here. I will earn about 50 percent more than my current salary for the same job. And I will be free from the strange crazy-making double-speak that on one hand demands that higher education deliver value like a business, and on the other hand, methodically prevents it from doing so.
Caroline Levine will be resigning from her job as professor and chair of the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this summer.

These continued acts of telling the truth about whats happening in their workplace finally drew a response from the administration and sadly, it was directed at the faculty.

The adversarial relationship between the University of Wisconsin and Gov. Scott Walker is perilous, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank told faculty Tuesday.
“It makes me really worried going into this budget round how we maintain a civil and useful conversation,” Blank said at a session of the campus Faculty Senate. Beyond that, a strained relationship with the governor jeopardizes the long-term prospects for investment in and future strategic growth of the university, she said.
And the kind of war of words in the media that emerged recently between the governor and UW faculty is “dangerous, should it continue,” Blank said.

Let me translate for you.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank told faculty that they need to stop telling the truth because Scott Walker and the GOP Legislature are a petty vindictive, childish bunch that will punish them in the next budget for daring to fight back.  

The attacks on the University of Wisconsin system have had real and long last effects.   The University of Wisconsin system is truly the engine that drives our economy and for someone in a position as Scott Walker to punish his perceived enemies, because they have a differing opinion while making the whole state suffer for years shows you exactly who Scott Walker and his allies are.

That an op-ed written by a Professor would have any effect on the UW-System funding in the next budget shows that they are not fit to be on a Junior High Student Council.

We need to show them in November that pettiness makes one unemployed!

Jim Villa - VP of Scott Walker's Campaigns

By Jeff Simpson 

Scott Walker recently pointed out that even though he planned on cutting $300 Million(later trimmed to $250 million) from the University of Wisconsin system budget, they could easily make up the difference if each professor taught one more class.

Walker said UW campuses might be able to tap into their reserves to offset the cuts, but he emphasized “it will make them do things that they have not traditionally done.”
“They might be able to make savings just by asking faculty and staff to consider teaching one more class per semester,” Walker told reporters Wednesday in Madison. “Things like that could have a tremendous impact on making sure that we preserve an affordable education for all of our UW campuses, and at the same time we maintain a high-quality education.”

Even though that showed a complete lack of understanding what the UW System does(he did drop out of Marquette after all), logic, common sense and economic sense, Scott Walker was unbowed and went forward with his cuts.  

Some thing that only got a little bit of press at the time, and none during the time of cuts, is that Walker got his good friend Jim Villa hired to a VP position at UW Madison, making well over $200,000/yr of taxpayer money.   

Jim Villa, who was almost arrested, was tapped to be VP of Office of University Relations, despite the fact that everyone on the interview committee said specifically - DO NOT HIRE JIM VILLA!

Jim Villa, as most incompetent ass kissers are want to do, has kind of stayed under the radar and not so outwardly political.

Thanks to his bosses blind ambitions, that all was about to change. 

 It was a painful turn for Walker, who had quickly vaulted to the top of the Iowa polls, powered by a fiery January speech in Des Moines, only to drop precipitously in the summer amid Donald Trump’s rise. He had gone from front-runner to also-ran in a matter of months.So on Monday morning, the group of advisers — including veteran Walker hands John Hiller, Bill Eisner, Ed Goeas, and Jim Villa — huddled with Scott and Tonette Walker. The top of the agenda, according to campaign sources: polling and fundraising. And the numbers were bad.

 There it is in black and white. 

 Jim Villa, VP of University Relations(at taxpayer funded UW-Madison) dropped what he was doing(on a Monday morning) to head to the publicly funded Governors Mansion to discuss Scott Walker's plan for his next phase in the Presidential election.   

This brings up many questions:

Is that what WE pay him over $200,000/yr for? To help Scott Walker campaign?  Did Ray Cross know?  Will Scott Walker ever learn to stop campaigning on the taxpayer dime?  Does Jim Villa really represent the UW at this time or is he eyes and ear for Scott Walker in the liberal institution. What was discussed at this meeting that the public should know about?  How many other of these meetings has Jim Villa attended?  How many during the work day?  Is Jim Villa also a paid adviser on the campaign?   How would you feel if a Democratic administration member tapped into an Administrator or Professor at UW-Madison, to actually step up and help during business hours? Do you think taxpayer resources should be used to help Scott Walker keep his job? Will anyone even question him? 

Unfortunately, the guy ahead of University Relations, has not found the time to answer my questions I emailed him directly, but I do not expect an answer.  

However if you think that it is OK for the Governor is telling Doctorate Level Professors to "teach another class" to save money, but he can have his crony, the $200,000/yr Vice President, on call to help him where ever and whenever he needs help campaigning, then our priorities are shot.   

If you think this is wrong then voice your displeasure at how these people are spending/wasting our valuable tax dollars!  If you are an alumni, is this really who you want representing your great University?  

Your voice matters!   

James Villa

Vice President for University Relations

Contact

1760 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Dr.
Madison, WI 53706
Telephone: (608) 262-4464
jvilla@uwsa.edu

@Jim_Villa 

Or else contact his Boss at UW Ray Cross(or both):

Ray Cross, President
1720 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Dr.
Madison, WI 53706
Call: (608) 262-2321
Email: president@uwsa.edu