Zeus Gets Greedy

By Jeff Simpson 

Zeus Rodriguez, cousin to Assemblywoman Jessie Rodriguez (R-Scott Jensen), has decided to go for the money.    

Until recently, Rodriguez was president of Milwaukee's St. Anthony School, the country's largest K-12 Catholic school system.  

The standards are so high at St. Anthony School that they hired Mr. Rodriguez to run their school, despite having zero experience in education.  

He did however, have experience, and a huge conflict of interest, in running a "non-profit" Hispanics for School Choice. 

How someone could run the "largest Catholic school system in the country and also run a "non-profit" especially where the two are not exactly equal is a question that needs to be asked. 

A quick look at the results and that question is easily answered.   

Rodriguez greatly increased the numbers of students attending St. Anthony.  

He was hired by St. Anthony a year later, in 2011. Since then the school has grown from about 1,476 students in four buildings to almost 2,000 students in five buildings, plus 280 employees.

Every child in the school means more and more dollars to pay for "presidents".   However the one thing that Mr, Rodriguez did not deliver is results or a high quality education(despite making that his priority(wink wink)).   

 As president, Rodriguez said, he aimed to focus on improvement."Our model was: Let's get aggressive. Accountability. Testing. Internal reviews. Let's improve," he said.

Like most urban schools serving predominantly low-income students in Milwaukee, overall state test scores for St. Anthony were and still are low. In the fall of 2010, just 7% of children could read proficiently, and about 10% could do math on grade level.

State data shows they jumped considerably by the fall of 2013: 12% of children were proficient in reading; 19% were proficient in math. That beat the average math proficiency score for all voucher schools but was the same for reading.

St. Anthony scores about the same as Milwaukee Public Schools; score comparisons vary, depending on whether all students or just low-income students are compared

While they have improved very slightly, I would guess much of that improvement came from the extra 500+ kids they sold snake oil too and stole from the public schools.   

88% of the kids in his schools are NOT proficient in reading and 81% of his students are NOT proficient in math,   In most schools that is a very solid F.    

It could possibly be blamed partly on the massive turnover at the school or it could be blamed on hiring a president to run a school who is a college drop out with zero experience in anything but selling Snake Oil.   

Mr Rodriguez had this to say:

"I feel like I've been called to effect change for underserved kids," Rodriguez said.

The problem is we see by the (lack of ) results he has delivered  for his kids and the fact he is now expanding his reach into other states (like Wisconsin), run by anti education far right ideologues, that maybe he was misquoted.   

This seems a more fitting quote for Mr. Rodriguez:

"I feel like I have been called to collect change(and dollars) by taking advantage of underserved kids".   

 

Coppola Versus The Corporate Stooge

Both Jeff and I have written about the special election in Assembly District 21, which is coming up this Tuesday.  The race is to fill the seat of the corrupt Mark Honadel, who is resigning so that he can cash in on the political favors he did for G-Tac, the mining company that wants to rape the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

On the Democratic side is Elizabeth Coppola.  Coppola stands for the values that most Wisconsinites share

AD 21 - Your choice: Angry corporate stooge
or compassionate Elizabeth Coppola

and which are under assault from the ALEC-driven, corporate-owned Teapublicans.  Coppola wants a strong public education system.  She wants state contracts to go to Wisconsin companies.  She wants to help home owners and small business owners with tax cuts and programs that will actually help them.  Impressively, Coppola has earned the endorsements of many local community and elected leaders.

On the Republican side is Jessie Rodriguez.  Rodriguez is the wife of calumnist Aaron Rodriguez, who has, by his own admission, tied into the Walkergate scandal and is currently one of the ghost writers for plutocrat Chris Abele.

No one knows what Rodriguez' positions are on the issues facing us.  But we do know that her corporate sponsors, who have dropped more than $64,000 to support her campaign, want to keep the status quo of privatizing schools, sticking it to the home owners and the workers, more guns on the streets and supporting fetuses until they are born (at which time they can be abandoned).  She has no local endorsements except for the disgraced Honadel.  The only other endorsements she's been able to gather are from the other corporate-owned stooges who were ordered to endorse her. These include puppets like Paul Ryan, Ron Johnson (aka our dumb senator), and reality stars Sean and Rachel Duffy.

Let me correct myself.  We do know one thing about Rodriguez:
Rodriguez says she wants to continue the legacy of Rep. Honadel who served the district for 10 years.
In other words, she apparently wants to cash in on the graft as Honadel was doing.  And she'll need that money to pay for the taxes on the residential property she owns in Racine County.

Then again, she and her husband are also good at racking up bills that they don't like to pay.  Keep in mind that I am not faulting them for racking up the bills, as they do stem from a medical issue for her husband and that can happen to anyone.  But considering they are against any kind of affordable health care that would have prevented their bankruptcy, I find that to be more than a little hypocritical.

The people in AD 21 have a pretty easy choice.  They can vote for Elizabeth Coppola and start returning our rights and our Wisconsin to us or they can vote for ALEC, er, I mean Jessie Koch, er, I mean, Rodriguez.

Dear Wisconsin Tea Party,

 

By Jeff Simpson


The Wisconsin Republican Party hates you!

Signed,

Their Money


If you want to know, how the Wisconsin Republican Party feels about the Wisconsin Tea Party, just check the last two special elections.

Wisconsin District 21 - five republicans entered the primary to replace Mark "GTAC" Honadel..  Long time right wing extremist and founder of "Grandsons of Liberty" Larry Gamble was one of them.   Where did the money go?  Not to Larry!   Two of the biggest right wing moneybags, convicted felon Scott Jensen and Julainne Appling both endorsed the eventual winner, Jessie Rodriguez.

In convicted felon Scott Jensen's case he is spending big money on Rodriguez, so she doesn't have too!  

In the 21st District race, the $45,646 spent by American Federation for Children was nearly five times more than the $9,520 doled out by the six candidates. The group is putting its money on Republican Jessie Rodriguez. It’s spending about 198 times more than Rodriguez who reported spending $231 as of October 7 – the least of all the candidates.

 Its kind of amazing how much money the pro-voucher, anti- public education groups have to spend(think about that).   I am sure though, that just because American Federation for Children is trying hard to buy Ms. Rodriguez her seat, she will not be beholden to them at all.  

Wisconsin District 69 - where four republicans stepped up to fill the small but really dirty shoes of Scott Suder.   The long time tea party activist Scott Knoble was the first to declare, and the one who did not get any Republican money.   

In this race though, Jensen backed a loser, but in the end, kept his money and dirty influence as far away from Knoble as he could get. 

In the 69th District contest, the $45,095 spent by the group topped the $39,666 spent by the six candidates. The group has sent numerous mailings – some here and here – in support of Republican Alanna Feddick. American Federation’s spending more than tripled the $13,792 Feddick reported spending as of October 7.

American Federation’s electioneering activities in these races is similar to some of the strategy in other legislative and statewide races where they’ve spent an estimated $4.4 million since 2010 – inundate areas with daily mailings and talk about every other issue – job creation, health care, taxes, etc. – except school vouchers.

The republican party has done a great job of drmming up the hatred and anger on the right into a frenzied tea party and now realize that they are a blemish on society and their party so are starting to distance themselves from the group they got elected.   They finally realize that the short term gain, was great but it might not outweigh the long term damage these guys have done to the GOP.   They are now trying to cut their losses.




 

Jessie For Assembly

Not all political campaigns are created equal.  Some are better than others.

Whatever you think of the man or his policies, an objective, honest person would have to admit that President Barack Obama had run two very effective campaigns.

Likewise, there are people like Scott Kenneth Noble who would be able to campaign their way out of a paper bag even if they had a map.

There is another campaign, although only days old, that is showing that it could be one of the worst campaigns if it doesn't prove to be too forgettable.

The candidate is Jessie Rodriguez, the wife of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blargher Aaron Rodriguez, aka The Red Fox, Hispanicon and A-Rod. (Not to be confused with the PED-using ball player - the local A-Rod could never hit one out of the park, no matter what).  Jessie is running for Assembly District 21, whose seat is being vacated by the retiring Mark Honadel who was snubbed by Scott Walker but still wants his slice of the pie and thus is going into lobbying or something.

So even as she hits the ground running, she is disadvantaged with the craziness of her husband.  Aaron Rodriguez has such claims to fame as:

• Claiming that one should listen to what Scott Walker said he said and not actually what he said.
• Either lying about knowing facts regarding Walkergate or knowing about the criminal activities and doing nothing about it.
• Being one of Chris Abele's ghost writers.

Unfortunately for Jessie, it looks like she might be using her husband as her campaign manager.

If one looks at her Facebook campaign page, the first thing one might notice is that it's rather stark:

Click to embiggen

The second thing one might notice is that it doesn't even give her last name.  How is anyone supposed to know who she is. Thirdly, the page is missing any "paid for by" information.  Who is running her campaign? No one knows.

If you check her "About" page, one will find that it also doesn't include the "paid for by" information.  But it does show she's as whackadoodle as her husband:

Again, click to embiggen

Yes, she really said that the state was moving in the right direction on job creation and education.  

On the bright side, she's already gotten the support of such winners like Dan Sebring, whose running for the umpteenth time against Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Chris Abele's very own personally bought and paid for supervisor, Deanna "Purple Unicorns" Alexander.

After several minutes of searching, I did manage to find Jessie's campaign website, which is most definitely not ready for prime time yet:

Now, as I've stated at the beginning, this campaign is only a few days old, but with her loadstone of a husband and the apparent lack of knowledge of whoever is running her campaign, I hope she hasn't gotten her sights set too high for this campaign.

Privatization Ploy

By Jeff Simpson

Not that we need a study to tell us that voucher schools do not perform as well as public schools, we have the test scores to prove it.   Professor Gordon Lafer gave us one anyway:

A new report reveals that legislative moves to convert struggling public schools in Milwaukee into private charters─whether for-profit or non-profit─may actually damage the academic futures of far too many of the city’s children.

The report, “Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” was written by Professor Gordon Lafer in conjunction with the national think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

A special briefing on this provocative study will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, in the ground floor rotunda of Milwaukee City Hall, 200 East Wells Street. You can join Dr. Lafer and public school supporters from the area to hear about the growing private charter industry and its impact–often negative–on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and students.

There was a strong push by Wisconsin legislators in the last session to enact bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with less accountable, privately-run and often-for-profit enterprises. Considering many of the unanswered questions, EPI commissioned Prof. Lafer to actually look at the impact these privatization efforts would have on MPS.

The report is an eye-opening investigation into the rapidly growing private charter industry and the effects profit motivated schools can have on the depth and quality of education children receive.

Voucher and for profit schools perpetually get outperformed by public schools, and yet almost like clockwork, the tea party shows up to argue the wrong side of the issue(facts be dammed)!

 

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a prospective presidential candidate in 2016, will be in Milwaukee next week hosting a school choice roundtable at St. Anthony School.

The event will follow a Chicago roundtable the day before and will be held at St. Anthony School's middle school campus April 23. The event is co-hosted by Hispanics for School Choice and the Libre Initiative, a national conservative Hispanic organization whose spokeswoman, Rachel Campos-Duffy, is married to U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.).

Paul, son of former Texas congressman and libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul, is a Tea Party Republican, self-described "constitutional conservative." He's considered a likely 2016 presidential candidate.

St. Anthony's is Wisconsin's largest Catholic school. St. Anthony School president Zeus Rodriguez is also president of Hispanics for School Choice, a Milwaukee-based organization designed to reach out to and represent the Hispanic community on issues of school choice.

Milwaukee's school choice program is the country's largest and first for low-income students. It allows low- and middle-income students to attend participating private schools using state-funded vouchers to pay tuition.


It is funny to me that a serial plagiarist would talk about school choices.  Since he is not a serious student I would guess he does not care too much about your child's education.  

Also full disclosure, Zeus Rodriguez is the brother-in-law of  Assembly rep Jessie Rodriguez (R- Scott Jensen) whose seat was bought and paid for by the formerly convicted felon.   The Rodriguez has ALOT of personal money riding on the perpetual expansion of using public school dollars to line their pockets.

I will give them some credit though, they have not cashed in on our public school dollars the way their peers at Lifeskills Academy have! 

Also full disclosure, Mr. Rodriguez once invited me to come speak at his school and when I accepted promptly disappeared and apparently rescinded the offer.   I wonder how many on the roundtable will be anti voucher schools?

The Scott Jensen Employee Caucus

By Jeff Simpson

The story that has met with great glee by our friends on the right was one of recently elected republican rep Jessie Rodriguez.   She has said that as the second Latina in the legislature and the first republican minority(as far as I can remember), she will NOT be joining the Black and Latino Caucus:

“As an immigrant, I’m proud of my Salvadorian heritage. I’m also proud of the work I’ve done with low-income Hispanic parents across the state helping them invest in the future of their children.

“And so with due deference to Representative Mandela Barnes and his group, I don’t need to be a part of a minority caucus to understand communities of color or find ways to empower them.

Rodriguez is very proud of her Heritage but it is best not to highlight it if you want to advance within the republican party.   Besides as she acknowledges, she owes other people her allegiance.  

“The voters of the 21^st Assembly District sent me to Madison, not to be bogged down by identity politics, but to work with my colleagues and Governor walker to continue making Wisconsin a great place for everyone.”

 Meaning Rodriguez owes the people who sent her there too much to spend any time on minority issues or working to make Wisconsin equal for all.   As we reported here at Cogdis, Scott Jensen bought this seat and he demands a return on his hefty investment.     When Scott Jensen spends over $100,000 to win a seat there will be no room for helping minorities in Wisconsin anywhere in your job description.   Ms. Rodriguez has to run again in November(her seat was a special election) and there is no way she wants to turn the Walton family/Bradley Foundation spigot of free cash off.    

While I do not blame her for that if she wants to continue being elected(who doesn't really, I hear the ALEC conventions are great), let's  not pretend that it is a move of independence, when in reality it is a gesture of pure dependence.   

 

 

Here is Ms. Rodriguez with formerly convicted felon Scott Jensen who is banned from running for elected office in WI but unfortunately not banned from buying politicians who can.   

 

Maybe she can start the Scott Jensen employee Caucus!    

 

 

   

Three's Company

 

By Jeff Simpson

As we get closer to election day and the chance to get our state back on the right track, it is time to showcase some more talent that we need to send to Madison.  

We will start out in Hayward, WI where Elizabeth Riley is running for the 87th Assembly seat against Jimmy Boy Edming.   Jimmy boy is known for one thing, being the first person in WI to endorse The Donald.   Yes THAT Donald,and the reason he gives is brilliant (in a Sarah Palinesque kind of way).

Mr. Edming said he hasn’t been in touch with anyone from the Trump campaign and doesn’t have any plans to attend any presidential campaign events. He’s not looking for a job in Washington, though he said “if a good promotion came along, I’d take a look at it.”
He said the news Tuesday that that Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with battery for an incident with a reporter only made Mr. Trump more appealing.
“I had one gal around here saying, ‘He’s attacking the women and he’s attacking all this,’ and I said, ‘You’re listening to the malarkey from the opposition,’” Mr. Edming said. “I think he’s going to make it.”
Mr. Edming said his position is common in his part of the state.
“I’ve talked to a kazillion people here in the last two to three weeks,” he said. “The more and more that they attack Trump, the more people are going to vote for him.”

 The guy from an unincorporated area of 92 people has talked to a "kazillion" and they all agree, the more that people get upset at The Donald for his sexual assaults, the more Jimmy Boy is on his side! 

Women need to know their place in Jimmy Boy's and The Donald's world and what do they have to get mad about anyway, he had his tic tacs! 

Ms. Riley, is running on a public education, save the land, and an equal opportunity for all.   My family has owned a cabin on Lake Owen in Cable, WI since the 1930's and I know first hand what an amazingly beautiful place the 87th Assembly district is. We can not continue to let big money treat the environment as a nuisance.     

Please Vote Elizabeth Riley on Tuesday.  "Like" her Facebook page, go to her website, send her a few dollars and give her some time walking the district during this beautiful last weekend. 

  

Another great woman that we can send to Madison is Nanette Bulebosh, who is a writer, teacher and community activist who will represent the 27th Assembly District more than Rep. Tyler Vorpagel (R- who ever heard of this guy).  

Here is Ms. Bulebosh's website, and please "like" her Facebook page.  

While it is time to send more women to to Madison, it is also time to retire one.  Jessie Rodriguez in the 21st Assembly District.   No one exemplifies what is wrong with politics in Wisconsin more than Jessie Rodriguez,   She is elected to serve Scott Jensen, and not our state and certainly not her district. 

 It is time we stopped slashing our public schools budgets and start representing the people of Wisconsin and not the Billionaire education profiteers!  Let's send Jack Redmond to Madison next Tuesday! 

Here is Jack's website, like his Facebook page, and give him a couple hours of your time walking the neighborhood for our kids! 

Republican Debate Distress

By Jeff Simpson 

There is a trend happening around the country, the Republicans are ducking debates.   It has even reached Texas where Ted Cruz has pulled out of a debate with his opponent Beto O'Rourke. 

Brownsville, TX - CNN reports Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has backed out of a debate between Democrat challenger Beto O'Rourke. The debate has changed to a town hall set for thursday, October 18, at the McAllen Performing Arts Center. According to CNN, "Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign initially accepted CNN's invitation to participate" but has since declined. CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash will moderate the one-hour town hall live at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.

So now Beto gets an hour of TV, all by himself,  talking directly to the people of Texas,   The guy who cowered to The Donald, also runs from Beto.   Let's hope the good people of Texas, see his cowardice, and send Terrible Ted packing.

While the cowardice bug afflicted Ted Cruz, it is widespread in Wisconsin.   We will try and address the widespread problem soon, but there is one specific instance I wanted to address, 

The 60th Assembly district.   

Republican Rob Brooks, who is currently was the Assistant Assembly Majority Leader,  is the current Representative of the district.   He is also the only Republican in my memory that Scott Walker has asked to resign.   The blatant racism of Bob Gannon, the fact that Robin Vos was sleeping with someone who reported to him, His right hand man trolling teens online, Wild Bill Kramer a known sexual predator, etc... and Walker was always quiet as a church mouse when asked about them. 

This time it is different.  In the home stretch of this election season, Scott Walker is obviously worried about how he polls with women and decided that for the first time in his political life, he was offended by something a fellow Republican did or said. 

"Representative Brooks' comments are offensive and disrespectful," Walker said in a tweet. "They have no place in our society and are inconsistent with the high standards that must be held by those in public office. He should resign from office, period."

What did Brooks do that upset this guy? 

Brooks attended a GOP function in the Wisconsin Dells (probably paid for by all of us) and decided to get drunk as Dale Kooyenga on budget voting day.   The problem with Brooks getting drunk, the real Rob Brooks apparently came out:

Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville) directed a racial remark at fellow GOP Rep. Jessie Rodriguez of Oak Creek — the only Hispanic Republican in the Assembly — at a restaurant after an Assembly GOP caucus event in Wisconsin Dells, according to sources familiar with the incident.
An obviously inebriated Brooks said he was buying drinks for everyone "except Jessie because she's Hispanic," said one source.
Some at the gathering thought it was a really bad joke by an intoxicated individual because it was not delivered in a hateful way. But sources said Brooks proceeded to purchase alcohol for several Republicans. Rodriguez was not among them.
Brooks also made sexual comments to Republican Reps. Cindi Duchow of Delafield and Amy Loudenbeck of Clinton at the restaurant, but it is not known what exactly he said to them.

We will not know what is said because the Republicans, in the heat of the #metoo movement made a rule that they will not disclose any information about any harassment to the public.  They decided the best way to handle, for the long term health of their gerrymandered majority, is to take care of it internally with a slap on the wrist and a vow to never speak of it again. 

This was tried in this case but somehow word of his misogynistic sexism and blatant racism leaked out.  All of the women who were victimized by Brooks, all "want to put this behind them".  It will be interesting to see as we move forward, what exactly Robin Vos offered them to "put it behind them".

Which leads us to the reason of this post.   While Brooks had a few drinks and was not scared to say anything, now he is ducking debates with his opponent Chris Rahlf.   

The people of the 60th district deserve better than a rep who will only talk when he is drunk and then say things that no one should be saying. 

They deserve to be able to see both candidates, together discussing the issues and then decide. 

If  Rob Brooks is refusing to give his constituents that, then he has the same disgust for them that he has for women. 

Tell Rob Brooks to Debate Chris Rahlf. 

Campaign
204 East Dekora Street
Saukville, WI 53080

Capitol
State Capitol, Room 309 North
Post Office Box 8952
Madison, WI 53708-8952
Phone: 608-267-2369
Fax: 608-282-3660
Toll Free: 888-534-0060

@RepRobBrooks

If he still refuses, then let us help Chris Rahlf actually represent everyone in the 60th.  

Go to her website, like her Facebook page, follow her on twitter, give her a few bucks, or a few hours and for sure, call everyone you know in the area and tell them to get out and vote on November 6th for Chris Rahlf.  

Chris grew up in a military family.  Her father, a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant who served in Vietnam, taught her that leadership means putting the needs of others before yourself.   That is a lesson she took to heart during her service in the Navy and subsequent civilian  business career.
Unfortunately, it seems that state government has forgotten for whom they serve.  They put the interests of out of state donors and corporations before the people of Wisconsin.  They play partisan politics with important issues that affect every Wisconsinite's well-being like healthcare, education, and the environment.  
We need leaders like Chris who will stand up to the dysfunction and divisiveness rampant in our state capitol and work with all sides to solve the problems facing our state.   She will put people before politics.

The 21st Has One Clear Choice!

By Jeff Simpson

Who keeps company with wolves will learn to howl” Proverbs

There is an interesting race shaping up in the 2st district of WI.  Jessie Rodriguez,. with lots of help from American Federation for Children, recently came through a 5 way republican primary for the opportunity to face Elizabeth Coppola on November 19th.

This seat is open because Mark Honadel, the person who was sold his soul to Gogebic Taconit and advanced the mining bill at his boss's blessing.   Honadel, left the assembly for secret greener pastures.  

Now the 21st has a chance to actually be represented in Madison.   Unfortunately, you only have one choice in this election to be represented.  Ms. Coppola. 

Let's take a look at who is pulling Ms. Rodriguez's Strings:

1.  Convicted felon, and Walmart family Gopher boy, Scott Jensen is the ultimate special interest(guests speaker at ALEC convention) and political insider.  Scott Jensen, has a lot of money at his disposal and cares about Scott Jensen.  Not someone who you want advising your candidate!

Excellent rundown here!

2.  Next up is the Congressman from the first district and former Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan(R-Wall St.).  Fresh off causing the US Economy to take a $24 BILLION dollar hit, Pink Slip Paulie, whose policies have devastated the 21st Assembly district, was very eager to endorse:

3.  Another major endorsement was Julainne Appling.  Julainne Appling is the head of the mislabeled "Wisconsin Family Action", Julainne's group is responsible for the gay hate amendment and has spent her time fighting the equal rights for all, supporting republicans who like to joke about rape, and anything else they can think of that does not benefit straight white couples - All in Jesus's name!








We see from her main endorsements that if she gets sent to Madison, she will owe some not very good people, some very serious favors. 

  "you can tell a lot about a person from the company they keep",

The people of the 21st can end that cycle....by going here and giving here!

Elizabeth Coppola for the 21st!

The Scott Jensen Legacy

By Jeff Simpson

I finally figured out why new Assembly rep Jessie Rodriguez does whatever formerly convicted felon Scott Jensen tells her to do:

1.  He was a convicted felon before blind to republican crime Brad Schimel, gave him a get out of jail free card.

2. She knows that if she does not do what he says, he will send his goons over to rough her up!

WIsconsin political aide pleads guilty to disorderly conduct chargeA state legislative aide accused of harassing a news cameraman at the capitol building in Madison, Wis., pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on April 25.Steve Baas, communications director for Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, was referred to a first offenders program for his actions inside the state Capitol on Jan. 30. Steve Cady, a cameraman for WBAY-TV in Green Bay, claimed Baas collared him by the necktie while he and a reporter attempted to interview another Jensen aide.Cady claimed Baas spun him around by his necktie and let go of him only when Cady shouted that he captured the incident on videotape. Baas said he tried to move Cady from blocking the hallway and claimed Cady tried to hit him during the confrontation. After the incident, Cady said the videotape exonerated him from Baas' claims.In accepting a plea agreement, the misdemeanor charge will be expunged from Baas' record after he completes the first offenders program. Baas will not have to serve jail time or pay a fine.Although she did not file a complaint, reporter Natalie Arnold said in an interview with The Green Bay News-Chronicle that other Jensen staff members "manhandled" her by shoving her against the wall in an attempt to prevent the interview.The scuffle occurred when Cady and Arnold went to the Capitol to question R. J. Pirlot, another aide to Speaker Jensen, about his involvement in a campaign against state Rep. Lee Meyerhofer (D-Kaukauna). WBAY News has been investigating allegations that Pirlot anonymously provided court transcripts to an independent campaign group. The group has been accused of producing a campaign radio spot that portrayed Meyerhofer as a "wife-beater." (City of Madison v. Baas)-

The question I have, is why in the world would anyone hire a thug like Steve Baas to represent them?  Especially the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, no wonder unemployment is so high in Milwaukee.

Here is Baas getting the name of the next person who asked the wrong question to rough up:



If you see this person stand clear he is known to be dangerous!  

Edit Note:  Scandal Plagued Scott Jensen is the one person in the state of WI leading the voucher expansion.  Do you really think he has the best interest of your children in mind?  Is he someone you would want your children to look up to or role model?  We all know the answer to that!   

Koch-Funded AFP Gets Routed In Iowa

In case you missed, the news out of Iowa in last week's elections has great meaning for more than just the town of Coralville:

The mayoral and City Council candidates in an Iowa town who were most closely aligned with the message promoted by Americans for Prosperity, the deep-pocketed conservative political group, were roundly defeated on Tuesday in a sharp rebuke of outside influence in local politics.

The group, founded by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, did not back specific candidates, but it targeted incumbents in the town, Coralville, for their role in running up a $280 million debt. Yet the involvement of an outside group provoked so much anger that the race became as much a referendum on the group’s involvement as on the issues themselves, and it captured national attention, including from the White House. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called the newly elected mayor, John A. Lundell, who was a City Council incumbent, on election night to congratulate him for overcoming the outside influence.

If anything, people in Coralville said, Americans for Prosperity’s efforts backfired and helped the candidates whose positions it was criticizing.

“The intrusion of the Americans for Prosperity pretty much poisoned the water of what we were trying to do for the last couple of years,” said Douglas Paul, a member of Citizens for Responsible Growth and Taxation, a group made up mostly of area business owners that also spoke out against the debt and the town’s economic development strategy.

Although his group agreed with Americans for Prosperity on many of the issues, Mr. Paul said, their positions came off as frightening.

“They were pretty much like bringing a loose cannon into the room,” Mr. Paul said. “They pretty much were a benefit to the incumbents.”

This is exciting in that it shows that the Kochs and their billions of dollars are not invincible.

But what it does take to win is people giving a damn about their communities and their lives and taking a stand for them.

Wisconsin's next chance to show that we are not caving in to our would be corporate overlords comes in just over a week in the race between Elizabeth Coppola and the corporations' candidate, Jessie Rodriguez.

The Company They Keep!

By Jeff Simpson

A while back, tape was released that was somewhat damaging to Senator Mike Ellis.  In a drunken stupor he let his feelings fly, and they were not as hardcore right wing extremists as the folks in Fitzwalkerland prefer so he was forced to retire.

Mike Ellis was well covered(they wanted him out), and Judi Rhodes Engels(they need her to do the dirty work) was given a free pass for her role in the alleged illegal and smear campaigns.  One thing that was pretty much overlooked was the role that Project Veritas and Smear merchant James O Keefe played.

While O'Keefe refuses to say why he came up here and attacked small fish Ellis, it does not take much effort to connect the dots.   One of the biggest items on the republican agenda in the next session is vastly expanding for profit education, irregardless of the results.

 The face of education profiteers in Wisconsin is formerly convicted and ex-Speaker of the Assembly Scott Jensen.



Scott Jensen is such a powerful figure in Wisconsin politics still that when the republican party, made elected reps sign secrecy agreements to be let in the redistricting meetings(Not a single elected Democrat was consulted), Scott Jensen did not have to sign one and had to sign off on any new map they came up with.   Scott Jensen also stands to profit personally the most from raiding our public education funds.   Scott Jensen also had no problem buying the Assembly, he bought an Assembly seat in a special election(Jessie Rodriguez) who answers pretty much only to him.

The problem of course was the state Senate.   The republican majority was fragile, and while lightweights(figuratively only) like Rick Gudex will do whatever he told him to, the republicans did not have a solid enough majority to push things through.  Especially on the rare occasions when Senator Ellis actually represented his constituency.     One of those occasions has always been around the raiding of public education money.   Senator Ellis knew it was bad for WI and that the people in his area were against it.

Jensen and his ilk have no concern for the people of WI or what the people in WI care for or stand for, they enjoy profit.   That meant Ellis was an obstacle between our public education money and their bank accounts.   An obstacle that had to be removed.

I have no doubt that all bases are covered and there is no actual ties directly between Scott Jensen and James O Keefe.   The guys with the power rarely get their own hands dirty.   However, following the bread crumbs of logic,  we know right where that leads us.

That being said, let us look at the person that "someone" hired to come to WI and remove Senator Ellis - James O' Keefe.   See James O'Keefe was Andrew Breitbart's protege, until he was too disgusting of a human being even for Breitbart.   Now that Breitbart has moved south, O'Keefe is trying to establish his own legacy and apparently, with customers like the Wisconsin republicans, it is working.


O'Keefe you might recall, almost singlehandedly took down Acorn.  After the initial fake outrage, we found out that Mr. O Keefe was lying and he ended up having to pay the Acorn employee $100,000.

O'Keefe is back at it again with his trademark, half truths and outright lies.  This time Jimmy dressed up as his hero, Osama Bin Laden(not understanding the irony or stupidity) and crossed the Mexican border into the US.



Here is the kicker though:

Update: "To complete this investigation, Project Veritas spent over $74,242 in legal fees, investigators salaries, and travel expenses... Please help me replace these funds." ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

O'Keefe does not have any money, so he needs to fund raise to do these silly video's and gotcha moments.   The story was not Ellis's loose lips, when the liquor flows those have always been there.  The story is who in Wisconsin has money to burn to bring Jim O'Keefe to Wisconsin to help push through an agenda?  We also know our Governor likes to be involved in all aspects of his campaign, was he aware that Mr. O'Keefe had been hired?  Did the same person(s) hire Mr. O'Keefe who advocated bringing in violence to the peaceful protests in the Capitol?   Are James O'Keefe and Scott Jensen friends?

The republicans in Wisconsin know no level low enough that they will not stoop to to continue in power.

The real question is why would you reward that behavior at the polls?