Attention! All Milwaukee And Madison Voters!

Today, the city clerk's offices in both Madison and Milwaukee are open from 12 noon to 4 pm.  If you have not done so yet, please get down to these offices and vote.

Walker Must Come Clean On Walkergate Now!

There is a reason why people refer to Scott Walker as a weasel, besides the fact that I've been doing it for years.  Walker is as unscrupulous as a person can be and despite his inability to govern his way out of a wet paper bag, he is very adept at dodging and sidestepping the truth, even when it requires talking out of both sides of his mouth.

One of Walker's most glaring examples of his skill at "weaselspeak" is the way he is now trying to address the Walkergate issue.  He alternates between being cooperative, to not being a target to being unable to talk about it because of the secrecy rules, depending on which is most politically convenient at the moment.  He often uses all of them in the same conversation which is really confusing to most people.

On Saturday evening, I had the chance to speak with former Kenosha County District Attorney Bob Jambois, to help clarify the issues regarding Walker's weaselspeak and Walkergate.  Jambois is a very astute attorney and has conducted a number of John Doe investigations while he was a district attorney.  Jambois also cosigned the letter from some of the most esteemed members of the legal field attesting to the integrity of the Milwaukee County District Attorney, the Honorable Neal P. Nettesheim and the prosecutorial process.

"I'm not the target."

Walker has often claimed that he is not the target of the Walkergate investigations.  The most recent example comes from Friday night's debate, where he claims to be cooperating again and claims to not be the target (starting about the 1:45 mark):



However, per Jambois, the only way for a person to know that they are not the target of a John Doe investigation is to be given immunity.  And when one is given immunity in a John Doe, it is easily verifiable, regardless of the type of immunity which was granted.

If Walker was given formal immunity, there would be a court record of it which would be public knowledge.  If Walker was granted informal immunity, he would have a letter from the District Attorney's office which he could legally produce to verify this claim.  However, there is no court record showing Walker was granted immunity.  Likewise, he has never produced a letter to verify his claim.

Thereby, we can conclude with confidence that Walker has not been granted immunity and thus cannot, in any conceivable way, know that he is not a target of the Walkergate investigation.

"Bound by the secrecy of the John Doe process"

When Walker is not busy professing that the he is not the target or that he has a "high level of integrity,*" he is copping out saying that he cannot talk about Walkergate because of the secrecy aspect of the John Doe proceeding, as he did in this interview, starting after the nervous cough at 1:45:



Per Jambois, the only way that Walker would be under a secrecy order is if he testified before the John Doe judge or if there is a broad secrecy order.  And even if he did testify, the only thing he couldn't comment on is his testimony.

Now, given Walker's history of micromanaging his campaign - see the infamous "we can't have another story like this" email - I reckon it is conceivable that his testimony could be rather extensive.  This is especially true when one considers all the different directions the Walkergate investigation has taken, from embezzlement to pay for play bid rigging to illegal campaigning and Lord knows what else.

Furthermore, as Jambois explained to me, if Walker was not the target and if Walker did not testify before the judge, the DA has no legal authority to forbid Walker from talking about Walkergate.  It would be especially unlikely, given that Walker is just days away from facing a recall election, that the DA would forbid Walker from clearing his name in a clear and concise way, if, as Walker claims, he is not a target.

Which is it? Secrecy or immunity?

As I said, Walker is trying to play both sides of the John Doe.  But he simply and legally cannot have both his secrecy and immunity too.  If he was given immunity, it would be public record and not a secret.  If he was ordered to secrecy, then he cannot claim not to be a target.

It is time that Scott Walker comes clean about Walkergate and his involvement in it.  He needs to answer directly to what his role is and why he has been lying to the voters regarding this.

It is also time that the press in this state start doing their jobs and asking these questions until he gives a clear and direct answer to them instead of giving him a pass on his weaselspeak.

And this needs to be done now, so that the voters have a clear understanding of just who Walker is and exactly just what role he played in the illegal activities that took place in his own executive suite and under his watch,.

Walker Needs To Answer To Veterans, Voters

The Cap Times has an editorial that one might have thought I wrote, calling Scott Walker out on his treatment on veterans:

But Walker took control of the “Operation Freedom” charity away from the VFW and handed it over to Russell.

Russell, who now faces multiple charges of misconduct, stands accused of diverting money to himself that had been intended for veterans.

Walker put Russell in charge of the charity.

Walker was in regular contact with Russell as the alleged thefts took place.

And Walker has hired a team of criminal defense lawyers to help him respond to questions and allegations related to the John Doe inquiry.

There are, as well, allegations that Walker and his political allies may be paying for Russell’s defense.

Veterans have every reason to ask whether Walker is trying to protect a longtime aide who stands accused of stealing from the widows and orphans of Wisconsin soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Just as they have every reason to ask: “Why?”

As for Scott Walker, he has every reason to avoid those questions, since he faces the threat of removal from office in a June 5 recall election.

There are times, however, when politicians cannot be allowed to avoid tough questions about high crimes and misdemeanors.

Those questions will have to be answered before the recall election or after it is finished.

Scott Walker has a responsibility to veterans, and to all Wisconsinites, to answer questions about the John Doe inquiry. Now.

But you can tell that I didn't write this. I cover much more ground than just one of Walker's atrocities which he's visited upon our brave veterans.

Public Servant

Yup, us public servants, we know what side we're on!

Beware The False Walkergate Story!

There is, unfortunately, a false report being spread like wildfire about Scott Walker and five of his cronies being charged in the Walkergate investigation immediately after the recall election. This story should not be believed.

The story is by H. Nelson Goodson of Hispanic News Network USA:

On Friday, investigative information released by a reliable source indicated that Governor Scott Walker (R) and up to five others in the governor’s circle while he was Milwaukee County executive will be facing several felony charges resulting from the John Doe investigation. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office (DA) is expected to file charges against Walker and five other suspects on allegations that they used county time to campaign to help elect Walker as governor while working and restricted other Walker employees from exposing alleged unethical acts to the DA probe.

So far, at least six former Walker staffers have been charged in the John Doe investigation, including one that is waiting sentencing, but has been postpone to prevent an influence of the June election.

The DA and Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered an underground e-mail network being operated by Walker staffers in an office adjacent to Walker’s Milwaukee County Executive office. Walker denied that he had any knowledge of the underground e-mail operation to elect him governor.

Walker has set up a defense fund and has hired attorneys. Speculation about Walker being charged in the John Doe probe has been circulating throughout political circles in both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Some GOP members doubt that Walker would be charged at all, but if the information proves to be reliable then indeed Walker and five others are facing charges that will no doubt set the GOP back on its agenda to make Wisconsin a Red state.

This story is at best unverified and unverifiable and at worst, a garbage post full of lies that I believe is set as a boobytrap to interfere with the recall election and John Doe investigation known as Walkergate.

First of all, consider the source.  Goodson, and the Hispanic News Network, is the same source that was claiming that there were sufficient signatures gathered in early December.  Many saw this as a thinly-veiled attempt to short circuit the signature gathering phase of the recall be getting people to stop early.

Goodson is also a known associate of Aaron Rodriguez, another pseudo-journalist who has blogged for Scott Walker's 2010 campaign and tried to misinform people regarding the actions of Walker's inner office staff, denying that they were doing anything illegal.

And consider this: If this story was true, would it be only found on a right wing site? Methinks that the Dems, the unions and Team Barrett would be screaming it from the rooftops.

Now, let's parse the story.

Goodson doesn't identify his source, which might be fine on the face of it, except that Goodson does not have a history of breaking news, much less reporting news accurately.  But besides that, Goodson uses extremely vague allegations regarding what the alleged crimes are or who the other people are involved, which only makes the story more suspect.

Goodson's poor reporting is evident with the claim that "six Walker staffers" have been charged.  This is a false statement.  Only three of Walker's aides - Tim Russell, Kelly Rindfleisch and Darlene Wink - have been charged so far.

The other three people never worked for Walker directly.  Brian Pierick helped with Walker's campaign, but never worked for Walker per se.  Kevin Kavanaugh was a political appointee of Walker's, but again, never worked for him directly.  The third, William Gardner, is a railroad tycoon, for heaven's sake, and was convicted of making illegal campaign donations.

Goodson is also inaccurate in saying the FBI helped discover the secret router system.  They have helped get evidence in searches of people's homes, like Cindy Archer's, and have helped analyze the data coming from the confiscated computers, but did not help find the router.

I have reason to believe that this is an effort to hurt the recall election as well as the Walkergate investigation.    I believe that Goodson is trying to mislead the reader to think that A) there's no sense in voting because Walker's going to jail anyway and B) the Walkergate investigation is nothing more than a political stunt to hurt Walker and that they are leaking information like a sieve.

If we don't oust Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch, and he does get indicted, we are looking at Governor Kleefisch.  She will not only continue with the ALEC agenda of making Wisconsin a right-to-work-for-less state but she will probably pass a law that all floor lamps and end tables have to be draped in heavy cloth so people don't fall in love and want to marry them.

And despite the right's repeated attempts to smear Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, his staff and the investigation, they have yet to do more than offer vulgar innuendo which is unsubstantiated.  But, like Goodson, their job isn't to prove anything is wrong, just to give people the doubt in the proceedings.

In summary, be careful of what information you believe and share with others.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  There is enough factual evidence regarding Walker, whether it's about his criminal activity in Walkergate or the atrocities he has done to our great state, that we don't need to go chasing after falsities like these, no matter how alluring they might be.

That said, I do believe that Walker and several others will be indicted, but I have no idea as of when.  All indications point to it being after the election, but that could change if Chisholm feels his case is solid enough to proceed, or something happens that makes him feel that the case could be jeopardized otherwise.

And you know damn well that Dan Bice and/or I will be breaking that story.

Until that time, or even after, if you hear a story and aren't sure (i.e. it didn't come from me), drop me a line. I might not be able to answer right away due to being at work and whatnot, but I'll be glad to help.

But to tide you over until the day justice comes, we can also look at this picture of Walker and his new cufflinks:

Celebrating Freedom

From our friends in Sun Praire, WI:

Celebrate your freedom, and Recall Walker! This video is a discussion involving concerned citizens around the Sun Prairie area, regarding the current political climate in Wisconsin. Get involved, and vote Tom Barrett for Governor and Mahlon Mitchell for Lieutenant Governor on June 5th!

Also H/T to Monologues of Dissent!  Check it out if you haven't already and bookmark it!

Attention, Milwaukee Voters!

You can vote this holiday weekend, including the holiday itself! (emphasis mine)

With the recall election 11 day away, one area absentee ballot polling place will stay open through the Memorial Day weekend because of the high demand.

A line of voters were already waiting outside the Zeidler Municipal Building Friday morning, and Milwaukee's election commission said traffic has been busy all week.

"I was going to be out of town and I wanted to make sure I got my vote in because it's a very important election," said Jim Singer of Milwaukee.

And while other city departments are already closed for the holiday weekend, executive director Sue Edman said her office will actually extend their hours.

"We had a lot of calls this week," Edman said. "Are we going to extend our hours? Are we going to be open later?"

Edman said the office in the Zeidler Building will be open until 7 p.m. Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday and from 9 a.m. to noon on Monday.

Barrett vs. Walker - The First Debate

Just after the primary election, Tom Barrett challenged Scott Walker to four debates.  Walker would only agree to two.  Tonight's debate shows why Walker was afraid to debate Barrett and why Walker probably wishes he didn't agree to any.

The debate started with each candidate giving an 90 second opening statement.  If I was playing any sort of drinking game, I would have been blotto by the end of Walker's opening statement.  I counted no less than sixteen separate lies in those ninety seconds.  That's a lie every 5 seconds.

The lies went everywhere from his disproved claim of creating jobs to balancing the budget to not raising taxes. To be honest, when he said he was glad for the opportunity, I think that might have been a lie, but I didn't count that one.

I lost count of Walker's lies after that, because I wasn't sure if I should be counting repeated lies or not.

Walker's nightmare started right way when they started talking about the reason for the recall.  Walker tried to paint it as that it's working (it's not, but you already knew that) and saying his own mistake was not talking about it enough before he "dropped his bomb."  Considering that it was recently discovered that he was working on his bomb within days of the election, the only way he could have talked about it beforehand was if he campaigned on it.  And he admitted, under oath, that he didn't do that.

That said, it would've been nice if Barrett had figured out that he needs to stand with the working people of the state if he wants to win this thing.  If he continues to ignoring those that brought him to the dance, he's gonna be in for a long walk home on June 6th.

The next thing, Walker was telling his fable about how he supposedly balanced the budget without raising taxes.  Barrett countered with the fact that not only did Walker raise taxes, he did so on the elderly and the poor by cutting the Homestead Credit Act to shreds.

I missed the rest because I was busy screaming about how Walker's budget cut $5,500 out of my salary, cost my wife her job and our taxes still went up by 5%.  (I would love to see one of his supporters, like Owen Robinson or James Wigderson give up more than 40% of their income, on top of a tax hike, without a say in the matter and  say that it was a "reasonable" share.)

I then got distracted for several minutes by Walker's body language, which was giving the tell that he was lying - things like his eyes becoming hooded, the drop in his chin and the sloop of his shoulder.  I was then distracted by several minutes more by how much his bald spot has grown.  The stress of perjuring himself to Congress, having Walkergate breathing down his neck and trying to spin the entire disaster his administration has been is catching up to him.  It was almost like watching the "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," but through his hair - or what's left of it.

Then John Doe joined the debate.

Walker tried desperately to spin it, claiming he did nothing wrong, that he asked for the investigation and that  he had the high integrity of an Eagle Scout.  Barrett countered with the fact that he is the only sitting governor with a legal defense fund and the secret router. (That brought a cheer from me!)  But there was a few points that I had tweeted regarding Walker's claim:

• We know that the investigation started before Nardelli met with the DA, so that is a lie.
• We also know about Walker's email to Tim Russell, showing that not only did he know what was happening, but he was directing it.
• Why would he initiate an investigation into the veterans fund when he knew he was violating the Ethics Board directive to get the fund away from his control?
• Was it's Walker's Eagle Scout integrity that got him kicked out of Marquette University for violating the election laws and displaying his boorish behaviors when he unsuccessfully ran for student body president. (He lost that race in a 4:1 ratio to a guy running as a write in candidate.)

The rest of the debate was much like this. Like when Walker was trying to spin something, like adding money to Medicaid and Family Care and Barrett pointing out that the federal government had to order Walker to put the money back in and that he was still kicking tens of thousands of people off of Medicaid.  Of course, this doesn't mention all the tax dollars going to social workers like myself as we put in overtime to clean up Walker's mess.

One last thing from the debate stood out to me.  In his closing statements, Walker gave his usual spiel about putting the power back into the hands of the taxpayers.  I found this very odd, since Walker has put the control of the state directly into the hands of his corporate sponsors and under his budget, they don't pay taxes.

Overall, Barrett owned Walker at almost every step of the way.  Barrett's greater experience and formal education as a lawyer shone against Walker's innate corruptness and poor understanding of what was going on in the state, outside of the talking points which are spoon-fed to him.

Barrett was able to successfully state his positive image for the future of the state and calling Walker out on his wrongful acts, whether it was the damage done due to Walker's policies or Walker's breaking the public trust with his criminal acts.  

Walker on the other hand, failed to respond to any questions in a forthright manner, ducking them or ignoring them completely as he went on a talking point tangent.

Barrett clearly send the more positive message and showed a lot more leadership than Walker did.

Help Lori Compas Be Our Voice In The Senate

Lori Compas has this great ad ready to go:



The only thing is, as great and powerful as Cog Dis is, we don't quite have the reach of public television. We're getting closer every day, but we're not quite there yet.

So, please help Lori out yourself by donating to her campaign so that she can buy some air time!

Team Barrett vs Team Walker In Post Debate Debate

During the debate, Mayor Tom Barrett deftly handled Scott Walker.  You could see from Walker's nonverbal communications, i.e. body language, that he knew he was getting his ass handed to him.  But more on that later.

Both campaigns sent out press releases after the debate, which, in all likelihood, were written long before the debate started.  You can tell who won the post-debate debate in just the language they used and the message they sent.

From Team Barrett:

Barrett Puts Wisconsin First in Debate Win

Tom Barrett won the first general election debate against Scott Walker in overwhelming fashion by focusing the discussion on critical issues of jobs, honesty, trust and the people of Wisconsin. The debate drew a strong distinction between their approaches to leadership.

Barrett highlighted his experience bringing people together, listening to all sides, making tough decisions and taking responsibility. Walker continued to duck responsibility for his actions. He dodged such issues as who is funding his criminal defense fund, why he won’t release emails from his time as county executive and why he refuses to release records of his extensive time spent outside of Wisconsin on political fundraising trips around the country.

After the debate sponsored by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Barrett for Wisconsin communications director Phil Walzak released the following statement:

“Tom Barrett let the people of Wisconsin know that his priorities are creating jobs, strengthening education at all levels and being open and honest with the people of our state. In contrast, Scott Walker time and again flatly refused to answer questions on being the only governor in the country to have a criminal defense fund related to the ongoing John Doe investigation and his extensive travel for his own political gain.

“Tonight’s debate showed the people of Wisconsin they have a very clear choice on June 5 - a leader they can trust to focus on the people of Wisconsin, create jobs and heal the division, or the current governor whose divide-and-conquer approach has resulted in record job loss, undermining education on all levels and pitting people and communities against each other.

“Tonight’s debate showed it is clearly time for Wisconsin to have a new governor that focuses on our state.”

While Team Barrett claimed victory in the debate, they also kept the focus on making things better for all of Wisconsin - creating jobs, strengthening education and honesty and trust building. Overall, a confident, positive message.

Now Team Walker delivered this:

Governor Walker Wins Debate!

With just over a week to go in the most important election in Wisconsin’s history, Governor Scott Walker clearly and decisively handed failed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett another defeat in a head-to-head debate this evening.

The two-time statewide loser Tom Barrett continually attempted to run away from his failed record in the state senate, congress and as the mayor of the state’s largest city. He dodged questions concerning his plan for a state budget, how he would have dealt with the $3.6 billion deficit, or his incessant need to cite proven false crime statistics in order to hide the truth from the people he was elected to represent.

In stark contrast, Governor Walker laid out his plan to continue moving Wisconsin forward based on the solid financial foundation that has been set due to the bold reforms he has put in place.

The governor has once again proven that he is a man of his word and will do everything it takes to keep Wisconsin from returning to the days of billion-dollar budget deficits, double-digit tax increases and record-setting job loss.

Since taking office, he put forth a plan to turn the state around from the brink of insolvency by eliminating the Democrat spawned multi-billion dollar budget deficit, investing in the job creators of the state and putting the people of Wisconsin ahead of the political aspirations of out-of-state special interests and Washington insiders.

During these final days of the campaign, we must work tirelessly to make sure that the governor’s office is not removed from the will of the people and handed directly into the greedy hands of the out-of-state special interests funding this baseless recall effort for their own benefit.

Make sure to visit scottwalker.org/victorycenters and find your local victory center where you can become directly involved in the final push toward victory on June 5th.

Sincerely,

Dan Blum
Deputy Campaign Manager
Friends of Scott Walker

P.S. The Washington insiders and out-of-state special interests funding this baseless recall effort will stop at nothing, spending millions upon millions of dollars to distort the positive record that Governor Walker has boldly put forward. Can we count on a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or anything you can afford to help us beat back their thinly veiled attempts to steal your government from you?

You'll notice that Walker's tone is a lot more negative than Barrett's. It's not about what he'll do for Wisconsin, but trying the Republicans' favorite tactic of fear and smear.

Furthermore, while Barrett talks about helping Wisconsin, Walker, who already has more than $25 million from his out of state benefactors, not to mention the scores of out-of-state political hacks invading our state, is telling Wisconsinites what he wants them to do for him, including giving him yet more money. Funny thing is Walker and his allies have spent well over $20 million and is happy not to lose more ground with each poll. He's reached his plateau and it's going to be all downhill for him the rest of the way.

In other words, Barrett is saying let me help.  In contrast, Walker is saying you've gotta help me!  And that only goes to show that Walker doesn't have the leadership skills he needs to be governor.  All he can do is try to manipulate the system and grab enough power to keep his ill-gotten seat as governor.

Say what you will about the debate itself, Team Barrett won the post debate bout.

Did Scott Walker Lie Under Oath?

Why yes he did! Look here and decide for yourself! We know that just prior to the election, Scott Walker said that he would be tough but he will negotiate with unions. Then in February, he dropped the bomb of ACT 10 on the people of WI. In the craziness of last year, Scot Walker ended up testifying in front of Congress at a hearing titled “State and Municipal Debt: Tough Choices Ahead”. Thats where, under oath, Governor Walker was asked, when he got the idea for ACT 10.

“In December, after the elections, but before I was sworn into office,” Walker said(under oath).

There was one problem with that:

Records obtained by FOX6 News show it was actually November when the Legislative Reference Bureau – the state office that essentially creates bills – was directed to start drafting what would become Act 10. An internal memo entitled “Alternative Approach to Collective Bargaining” sketched out plans to require unions to recertify every year, and to prohibit them from collecting dues. An email spells out a strategy for “prohibiting public employee unions from collectively bargaining over health care benefits.” This all occurred before Walker had taken office.

Thankfully, Mike Lowe asked him about this very issue last night and here is the report. The timeline is there for you to decide if Scott Walker lied under oath to Congress. Can we really elect a Governor who plays this loose with the truth and being under oath does not matter to him?

One thing for sure is that Governor Walker's answer to this question seriously rivals Miss South Carolina's:

Walkergate: Same Names, Different Scandal

Ten years ago, Wisconsin was rocked as the caucus scandals were uncovered and reported on.  The scandals involved the members of both the Democratic and Republican caucuses and how they were using taxpayer money to run their political campaigns.  Investigations were done, immunities were handed out, charges were filed and hearings were held.

Scott Walker was apparently not involved in those scandals, or if he was, he was never caught.  If he had been, a lot of grief might have been avoided.  It might have ruined his career, sparing us all from the damage he has caused.  And even if he survived, it might have even sunk into his thick cranium that this was a bad thing and he wouldn't do it.

But he wasn't and now we have Walkergate, son of the caucus scandals.

I was reminded of this when a friend of Cog Dis sent this list of all the people, from the left and right, that submitted their legal bills to the state for the taxpayers to cover.  There are some repeated names there.

The first name is John Scocos, then deputy secretary of the state Department of Veterans Affairs and former Assembly chief clerk.  From the caucus scandal, he asked taxpayers to pay his bill of $44,411.  His bill was for legal bills for open records lawsuit filed by newspapers to get names released and legal fees incurred in lawsuit filed by Common Cause of Wisconsin to get a judge to order Scocos and Senate Chief Clerk Donald Schneider to stop paying legal fees with taxpayer money.

On the bright side, Scocos isn't part of Walkergate, but he is apparently corrupt enough to make it to Walker's current, albeit very temporary, administration.

Another name I recognized is Judith Rhodes Engels, who put the tax payers on the hook for $6,349 for the caucus scandals.

While we don't know what she did then, we know that Rhodes Engels is now Scott Fitzgerald's primary fundraiser, among other things.  She also partook of the infamous Harley Davidson ride as well as shared Fitzie's list of donors with Walker's fundraiser, Kelly Rindfleisch.

And speaking of Rindfleisch, we all know that she was campaigning for Walker and Brett Davis, his first choice for lieutenant governor, while on the taxpayer-funded payroll. And from the criminal petition against her, we know she learned how to do this during the caucus scandal, where she was given immunity:

And Brian Fraley, the person that taught her all she knows, is the former ALEC employee who is chief propagandist at the disgraced MacIver Institute.  Fraley also has close ties to Walker, which might explain how Walker came to hire Rindfleisch in the first place.

Fraley's actions in the caucus scandal was worth $2,128 in legal fees, paid for by us.

There is one last name on the list that has a role in Walkergate as well, but one that is not really known.  That person is Greg Reiman, who worked in Walker's office during the scandal.  His bill came to $1,410.

Reiman followed Walker to Milwaukee County, and even though he wasn't in Walker's inner circle, they apparently stayed in close contact, as shown in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report on Reiman's possible involvement in Walkergate:

On April 15, 2010 - months before any formal competition or public request for bids had been formulated - a county Aging Department official involved in office-space planning sent an email to a commercial real estate broker.

In the email, obtained by the Journal Sentinel, Gregory Reiman alerted commercial real estate broker Scott Revolinski of RFP Commercial that the county was discussing moving workers from the county-owned City Campus to the Reuss Federal Plaza, which already housed the Aging Department.

He wrote that the county was willing to sell City Campus, an aging former hospital at N. 27th and W. Wells streets, for $1 to avoid maintenance costs.

"Not very many people know about this yet," Reiman wrote. "I believe they have only talked to the City of Milwaukee Dept of Development and possibly David Boerke (who manages Federal Plaza). I am also telling one other developer I know about this opportunity."

Reiman added: "I told Scott Walker that I would mention this opportunity to you and see if RFP might be interested in this building. If you are interested I will put you in touch with Scott's Chief of Staff, Tom Nardelli."

A county employee, concerned that Reiman might be revealing insider information, turned the email over to the district attorney's office in August 2010.

As I said above, one would have thought that even if Walker wasn't directly involved in the caucus scandals - something which I personally would find highly doubtful - one would think that he would have at least learned that it was not a good idea to keep doing it.

Obviously he didn't.  Whether it's because he is so dense that he just doesn't pick up on things easily, or whether it's because he is simply that megalomaniacal that he didn't think he also had to follow the law might not ever be known.  But either way, it shows why he shouldn't hold any public office.

Walkergate By The Numbers

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin did some cyphering and came up with some astonishing and shameful numbers regarding Walkergate:

2: Convictions to date
6: Walker aides and associates charged
15: Felonies committed by The Walker 6
77: Days since Scott Walker started his criminal defense fund
91.5: Years in prison The Walker 6 could face
1,000+: Number of emails Kelly Rindfleisch exchanged with Walker’s campaign managers while on taxpayer time
1,380: Number of fundraising emails Kelly Rindfleisch exchanged on taxpayer time
$62,232: Amount stolen from veterans and the families of fallen soldiers by Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh
$192,178: Stolen from Milwaukee County taxpayers by Tim Russell and Kelly Rindfleisch to run Scott Walker’s political machine
$270,000: Amount in fines The Walker 6 could face

And this is still just the preliminary numbers.  They will be going up at a frightening rate as more of the crimes committed by Walker and his rogue band of malefactors are revealed.

And if you want, you can print these findings out and used it to leaflet areas in your GOTV effort.

Another Walker Attack Backfires

For the past several weeks, Scott Walker has been trying to hammer Tom Barrett on the state of Milwaukee, blaming him for anything and everything he can think of.  Then he uses a tagline to the effect that voters shouldn't let Barrett turn the state into another Milwaukee.

Walker hopes that the voters don't remember that he was Milwaukee County Executive for eight years and was the one that inflicted the most damage of anyone in Milwaukee's history on this community.

Another thing Walker hopes for is that no one looks at how the rest of Wisconsin has been doing for the past year.  I got bad news for Walker. Conservative economist William Fruth has and the news, as we already knew, is not good:

As you can see, every Wisconsin city is dropping like a rock.  The only exception is La Crosse, probably because they can go across the river to Minnesota where the jobs are.

The smaller towns aren't faring any better, as Jud Lounsbury explains:

Every single one of Wisconsin's micropolitan areas had huge drops as well: Baraboo dropped from 21st to 47th, Beaver Dam dropped from 64th to 107th, Marshfield/Wisconsin Rapids dropped from 43rd to 51st, Watertown/Ft. Atkinson dropped from 22nd to 74th, Whitewater dropped from 37th to 89th, Stevens Point dropped from 112th to 133rd, Manitowoc dropped from 74th to 151st, Monroe dropped from 87th to 153rd, Merrill dropped from 117th to 158th, Menomonie dropped from 174th to 196th, Marinette dropped from 238th to 304th and Platteville dropped from 352nd to 392nd. 

Scott Walker is taking Wisconsin in exactly the wrong direction and we need look no further than this ranking from a Republican economist to see the extent of the problem.

Wouldn't it be great if Barrett or WisDems came out with a commercial hitting Walker back, saying how we don't need Wisconsin to be like Fitzwalkerstan?

Hauser-Menting Stands Up For Workers

Laura Hauser-Menting, running for the 71st Assembly District, shows she gets it and is willing to take it to the Republicans by standing up for working families in a press release she issued today:

Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner and State Rep. Chris Kapenga held a listening session earlier this week in Delafield, Wisconsin -- and now, according to two attendees, it appears Kapenga openly admitted that the GOP has plans to make Wisconsin a "right-to-work" state and they’re just waiting for a politically opportune time.

"This is just another example of Republicans here in Wisconsin not getting it," said Laura Hauser-Menting, Democratic candidate for the 71st Assembly District. "Instead of taking a break from dividing our state, Republicans are doubling down on more partisan policies."

Two days later at a debate in Wausau, Kapenga's colleague in the Assembly, Rep. Jerry Petrowski -- also a Republican candidate for State Senate in the recall election -- was asked about "right-to-work" legislation. According to the Wausau Daily Herald, Petrowski claimed, "...I don't believe there is the support for it."

Yet at the meeting in Delafield, according to some in attendance, Petrowski's colleague Rep. Kapenga responded to a constituent by saying, ”We have right-to-work legislation in (three) different offices ready to go. If we had done it earlier, when we wanted, then Prosser would not have been elected. Right now is not the right time. We have to wait until it is politically feasible.” Another constituent at the meeting also heard Kapenga say, “…if we did it now, we’d be burning political capital, and we just don’t have excess capital to burn now.”

And despite Petrowski claiming there is no support for this issue, Petrowski's own leader in the State Assembly, Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, stated recently about Gov. Walker's collective bargaining proposal that "My caucus wanted to go further. I had people in my caucus that was, you know, were wondering if we were going to do Right to Work in this state."

"It seems like what Republicans say about this divisive issue depends on whether they sit in a safe, right-wing area like Rep. Kapenga and Speaker Fitzgerald do, or whether they're in the middle of a heated political race in a more moderate area like Rep. Petrowski," said Hauser-Menting. "Either way, these folks voting together lockstep the past year and a half, and they should get their stories straight and be honest with the people of Wisconsin before the recall happens."

This is the kind of understanding and courage that I wish more of the Democratic politicians and candidates would show.