Crooked Corp Counsel Canned

As had been reported, the Milwaukee County Board fired Kimberly Walker, the head of corp counsel.  Among the reasons was that she was overreaching her authority and for advising Milwaukee County Emperor Abele on how to violate Freedom of Information Act laws:

"Please see the following below... my two-cents worth.  FYI - trying to play this forward in my mind. With the exception of my email, this email string will not be exempt from open records requests. Should you wish to preclude its disclosure, please send additional comments, revisions etc., only to me with the names of others who should see it, and I can forward. Just a thought."

Instead of apologizing for not running a clean administration in the first place, Abele stays true to form by having another temper tantrum:

The public is the loser, if Walker or Eilers winds up losing her post, Abele said.

"This is not something that's going to hurt me personally," Abele said after the board votes.

Abele strongly denounced Walker's firing and said he'll veto it. It takes a two-thirds vote of the board to override a veto, and the firing vote exceeded that.

It is striking how Abele is becoming to sound more and more like Scott Walker.
Only Walker or Abele would even have the gall to say that the public would lose by having more transparency in government instead of cover ups and avoidance of open record requests.

Even more disappointing are the allegations of racism. As Supervisors Stamper, Bowen and Rainey point out, race had nothing to do with Walker's firing. From their joint press release:

Three Milwaukee County Supervisors said today that they voted for the dismissal of Corporation Counsel because the Board has lost confidence in her ability to perform neutrally and serve Milwaukee County with appropriate and independent legal counsel.

Supervisors David F. Bowen, Russell Stamper II and Khalif Rainey said the Board could no longer trust Corporation Counsel’s ability to remain neutral. They issued the following statement:

“This is not about personalities, this is not about race, this is not about the Board’s relationship with the County Executive, this is about our confidence in the Corporation Counsel’s ability to represent Milwaukee County. We believe Corporation Counsel cannot perform neutrally.

“She abdicated her responsibility on an issue that affects the very heart of the Board’s ability to govern. The fact that she herself said there might be a perception of a conflict of interest in interpreting Act 14 – several times on the record – indicates that she does not believe the Board trusts her to represent them. We don’t.”

It must also be pointed out that Abele sent out a press release in which he pointed to the opposition from the NAACP and other groups. Funny thing is, Abele didn't give a hoot about what they had to say when they expressed their vehement opposition to Act 14, aka the Plutocracy Bill.

But I have to say the greatest disappointment is the fact that some people who condemned Scott Walker and his minions like Tim Russell for doing this sort of thing are just fine with Abele showing the same behavior.  In fact, some go as far as actively trying to defend the poor behavior by the corrupt corp council chief and the county executive.

If it's wrong for Scott Walker and Tim Russell to conspire to keep things from the public, it's just as wrong for Chris Abele and Kimberly Walker to do it.

Mike Lowe - Sinks To A Career Low!

By Jeff Simpson

Quick free career advice: 

fol·low-up or fol·low·up (fl-p)

n.

1. The act or an instance of following up, as to further an end or review new developments: The follow-up is often as important as the initial contact in gaining new clients. The social worker's emphasis on followup reassured her clients.

2. One that follows so as to further an end or increase effectiveness: The software was a successful follow-up to the original product.

3. An article or a report giving further information on a previously reported item of news.

adj.

Intended to follow up, as to reinforce or evaluate previous action: a followup examination after the surgery.

When THIS is all over the internet:

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the “no amendment” decision was made after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, made it clear that none of the Democrats’ proposed changes would fly. (Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, offered a series of amendments on his own, but all were shot down.)
“When the speaker came to our closed caucus (Tuesday), he made a very strong statement there would be no amendments accepted,” Barca said. “That sealed the deal for us.”

Why would you allow Robin Vos the ability to drone on and on without asking him about this?  A simple, why would they offer an amendment Mr. Speaker when you went to a closed door meeting and told them they had no chance to get any amendments passed?  Isn't it a tad bit hypocritical to complain about no amendments offered when  you let them know it would be a wasted effort?  

See for yourself:






Michael Hastings is rolling over in his grave!

Compare/Contrast - Scott Walker

By Jeff Simpson

Candidate Scott Walker:

 Some campaign promises build in a bit of wiggle room. The one made by candidate for governor Scott Walker to “strip policy and pork projects from the state budget” did not.

Governor Scott Walker's current budget that was too extreme for some membes of the Assembly!

One of the three Republican no votes, Kestell said the policy provisions stuck in the budget were the main factor in him voting against the budget. Kestell, the chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, expressed concerns about a previous form of expanded taxpayer-funded private voucher schools.

"There are 90 some policy items in the budget. In my view, it would be hard to justify any of those being necessarily in the budget," said Kestell

Did Scott Walker have any interest in fulfilling his campaign promises?  Does he even remember what they were?  Or is WI his stepping stone for bigger ambitions?  

Milwaukee County Board Gets Late Start To Spring (Court)House Cleaning

At the beginning of May, Cory Liebmann, writing at Eye On Wisconsin, found a very troubling email from Milwaukee County Corp Counsel head Kimberly Walker.  In said email, she advocated for Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele and his crew of reprobates to send all their emails through her in order to thwart the County Board as well as any Open Records Requests.

I also wrote about this, including about the ramifications of the top lawyer for the county soliciting faulty advice on how to circumvent the law:

I would add that there is another problem with this. Walker's role is not that of a company lawyer answerable to only the CEO, as it was in her old job. Walker answers to both the county executive and the County Board.

To summarize, Ms. Walker overstepped her authority by advising Abele how to circumvent not only the Board - which is inappropriate - but also any future open records requests - which is unethical and illegal.

The fact that she wasn't actually aware of the laws and was giving not only illegal, but faulty, advise only further proves that she is not qualified for that job.

There are a couple of things that need to happen, sooner rather than later.

One, Walker needs to resign from her position. And if she won't, Abele needs to fire her. He can always sweep her under the rug like he did with Farley when things got too hot after Farley's botched attempt of framing former Supervisor Johnny Thomas.

Walker cannot effectively remain in her position given that she was providing faulty information, advising Abele to circumvent open record laws using that faulty information and was working against the Board, to whom she also reports.

Secondly, Abele needs to explain why he left her in that position for more than a year after she sent that email. It is pretty obvious that Abele thinks he is above the law, but he still needs to be held accountable, especially since he is pushing so very hard to have all the power consolidated in his hands.

As more of these stories come out, it makes one wonder what else is he trying to hide from the public he is supposed to represent.

The only thing that it doesn't make one wonder about is why people are referring to Abele as Little Walker.

Since Emperor Abele believes himself to be above the law, it is unfortunate, but not surprising, that he took no action regarding the ethical concerns surrounding Ms. Walker.

That left the spring courthouse cleaning up to the County Board, which will be addressing this issue on Thursday.

Needless to say, this set off a new round of tantrums by Emperor Abele and his court jester, Brendan Conway:

In a surprise move, Corporation Counsel Kimberly Walker has been notified that at least 12 of the 18 County Board members are planning to vote to fire her at Thursday's board meeting.

Abele appointed Walker to the $134,000-per-year job two years ago, but the board can remove her over Abele's objection if two-thirds of the members back the effort.

"The county executive is beyond surprised -- he's outraged," said Abele spokesman Brendan Conway. "There is nothing that they could find factually that she's done wrong."

Conway accused the board of carrying out a "political vendetta" against Abele for supporting Act 14, a newly passed law that curbs the board's staff and resources while beefing up the county exec's power. It would cut supervisors' pay by more than 50% to about $24,000 a year if approved in a binding referendum in 2014.

One County Board leader dismissed any suggestion that supervisors are trying to punish Abele.

"That's crazy," responded Supervisor Theo Lipscomb, chairman of the Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee. "I'm not that petty. Maybe they are."

The melodramatics continued when Abele's bought and paid for supervisor, Deanna Alexander, issued a hysterical and histrionic press release :

Members of the Milwaukee County Board have been consipiring [sic] for weeks to focibily [sic] dismiss County Corporation Counsel, Kimberly Walker.

County Supervisor Deanna Alexander has watched fellow board members hold ‘secret’ meetings and circulate signature pages calling for Walker’s firing. Alexander questions how legitimate the dismissal
proposal could possibly be. Knowing that Alexander would not support an irrational ousting of a County employee, the board’s number one rule of executing this plan was “Don’t let Alexander find out!”
Supervisor Alexander issued the following statement:

“Kimberly Walker is an excellent attorney and a model public servant. She is responsible for providing legal advice in the best interest of the county as a whole, regardless of the personal interests of elected officials. As a result of offering legal advice that the board did not want to hear, she has been placed on the notorious ‘County Board hit list.’

It is ridiculous that they are going through with this—they are making fools of themselves! It is absolutely not in the County’s best interest for the board to dismiss her. It’s as if they don’t like the fair actions of a good referee, so they have decided to gang up, kick the ref in the knees, and call for a replacement that will make calls in their favor. Let’s all do the math here: the only reason that our attorney is in hot water is because she crossed paths with some politicians looking to settle a score. Shame on them! Any board member supporting this removal does not want the best for the County – they want what is best for themselves.”

My, oh my, but there is a whole truckload of unsupported and unsubstantiated accusations in that screed, which makes me wonder if this isn't just another example of Conway literally putting the words into Alexander's mouth.

Walker does herself no favors when she accuses Supervisor Lipscomb of racism and sexism, even though he is married to an African American woman.  But that shows just how low the Emperor's minions will go.

Another bit of courthouse cleaning will come with the rejection of Kathy Eilers, Abele's appointment to be the fifth administer of the Behavioral Health Division in the past six years.  Abele wanted Eilers in the seat because he wants to close down the mental health complex (not just parts of it, but the whole damn thing), and nobody else was willing to take on the task of abandoning our most vulnerable citizens.  In fact, that is exactly why Paula Lucey, the last director, had been forced out:

Abele tapped Eilers in April, after Paula Lucey left over a disagreement on how to best transition patients from the long-term units at the complex to private facilities. Eilers, 68, was given the interim position and a salary of of $137,500 a year.

Eilers had not once met with staff at BHD, although it was reported that she had called for an all staff meeting on Thursday.  There is no report if that meeting will now happen.

It should be noted that Abele is claiming that he did a nationwide search for a new director, but no one but Eilers was allegedly found.  Then again, who would want to move to a new city for just two or three years and working for such a sociopath as Abele.

But the main reasons for the rejection of Eilers is not that she is a hatchet woman, but that she had lied to the supervisors in claiming that the results of a federal audit were not available even though they were and for claiming that they had safe plans for moving out the most vulnerable citizens at BHD when they didn't.

The really ironic part of this whole mess is that Abele, who willingly and with deliberate premeditation created the hostile work environment which permeates the courthouse, is now whining about there being a hostile environment.

Of Nepotism and Retaliation

Last week, I told the gentle reader about some mighty fine journalism by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express in which she reported about the rampant nepotism, cronyism and favoritism happening at the state's Department of Health Services in Milwaukee County.

In a nutshell, due to Scott Walker's Act 10, people in management are able to hire, promote and give raises to their family, friends and associates regardless of who has merited it and who is the better worker. In the Milwaukee Enrollment Services (what used to be the Income Maintenance Program), relatives of managers were promoted after only months on the job and over people with much more skill and ability. Likewise, it wasn't hard work that earned bonuses or raises, but who you knew and/or were related to.

This pattern is still going on. It has been reported that the current training class consists of fourteen people, eleven of whom have some sore of relationship with a person in management, such as a friend or a person from one's church.

To make matters worse, the head of this department, Ed Kamin, had ordered his management team to lean on anyone who filed a complaint about the nepotism.  This brought a strong and swift response from the union. The following is an email sent on May 9th, to Jacquelyn Koeller and Nicole Teasley, members of DHS' Human Resources:

Good Afternoon Jackie and Nicole,

On Tuesday, May 7, 2013, I had communicated with you regarding information I had received beginning on Monday afternoon, May 6, 2013. A number of MilES employees had reported to me that a meeting had been held by Ed Kamin with MilES Supervisory staff, in which the topic of a recent round of Promotional hiring was discussed. It was alleged that Supervisory staff were advised to "watch closely" individuals who had filed complaints/appeals with the State regarding being denied a promotion, and to "lean on them".

This Supervisory Meeting was said to have been held on Friday, May 3, 2013 or on Monday, May 6, 2013. This information came to me from employees both at the Call Center and the Coggs Center. Subsequently, I have received a number of reports in reference to an email that was sent to DHS DL MilES Global by Mr. Kamin on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 9:53am.and also have received hard copies of this communication. The Subject matter is titled "thought'. It asks staff to take a look at an attached poem titled "Nobody's Friend", which begins, "My name is Gossip".

When I spoke to you both on Tuesday, I expressed my concerns relative to what was alleged to have been discussed in a Supervisory Meeting and is now being circulated, discussed, and has been reported to the Union. If this is true, this information obviously leaked by Management only serves to further decimate morale and the unrest brought about by Management's promotional hiring decisions. Individuals who disagree with those hiring decisions are following the State process available to them to appeal and receive recourse. I am named as the Employee Representative on a number of those appeals. Additionally, if this action is being pursued by MilES Supervisory staff, it would violate Wisconsin State Statutes, Chapter 230-State Employment Relations-Subchapter 1-Section 230.83-Retaliatory action prohibited (1) and the Union would demand that DHS-MilES immediately cease and desist.

The Union, AFSCME, District Council 48 and Local 594 do hereby request that you
investigate these serious allegations and advise the Department if true, what is contained in the State Statutes and what the consequences of any violations would be. I have advised the affected employees as to how to proceed, and if the Union becomes aware of the alleged advice given to MilES Management staff being implemented or followed through with, the Union will assist the employees with any complaints to compel enforcement of the State Statutes, or any other action deemed necessary by the Union to aid and protect its members. Our scanner is currently down, but if you would like a copy of the email with the Gossip poem, please advise and provide me with a fax number, and I will forward to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your consideration and assistance in this matter.


David Eisner
Contract Administrator, District Council 48
President, AFSCME, Local 594

Ms. Koeller responded the next day with acknowledgement of receiving the email and a voicemail from Mr. Eisner.

However, she responded again eleven days later, on May 21st, again acknowledging the email and stating that DHS would look into it and take "appropriate action."

It has been reported that as much as the supervisors had been harassing the workers after Kamin's meeting with them, they have done a complete 180 and appear to have ceased their bullying tactics.

Unfortunately, it looks as if there is nothing that can be done at this time about the nepotism and cronyism, thanks to Walker's Act 10.  Is it any wonder why he is so anxious to get it in front of Rubber Stamp Prosser and the other corporate-controlled Supreme Court Justices?  He is afraid of the unions getting any sort of foothold in their fight to restore workers rights.

RIP Marcos

About ten days ago, I wrote about Marcos Aleman, a coworker, union brother and friend who passed away from pancreatic cancer.

Despite his death, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele wanted him fired.

Fortunately, Abele was foiled again and the charges against Marcos were dropped.

Even better, the members of the Milwaukee County Board's Health and Human Needs Committee took a few minutes to give remark and appreciation to Marcos' hard work and commitment to the community he served with pride.

I thank those county supervisors for remembering him.

I am also glad that Marcos can now finally rest in peace.

Godspeed, my friend.

nASS Wars - Episode 1 -The Phantom Menace

By Jeff Simpson

Synopsis:  One of the many neophytes in the legislature, Steve nASS, is at it again.   This time though he teams up with extreme right wing funded (anti) free market "think"(term used loosely) tank - McGyver Institute to fight a common enemy- the working people of Wisconsin!  


There was recently a summit held downtown Madison called Fighting Forward- A Labor and World Class Summit! It was a series of seminars about the Labor movement, not only in Wisconsin but country wide.  they focused on the history of the labor movement and where do we go from here. 

You would think that a state that has fallen to the bottom 5 in job growth and most all other economic indicators, that 1.  the legislators would be too busy trying to turn our state around than to worry about a few hundred people discussing labor and 2.  they would welcome any and all input on how to do it!  

You would be wrong! 

Steve nASS and Brett Healy said "Wonder twin powers activate" 

Steve nASS followed up with "form of an angry old uninformed" dinosaur:

 Representative Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) chastised UW-Madison on Thursday for their sponsorship of the Fighting Forward Conference, calling the event "higher education prioritizing liberal indoctrination of students instead of the concept of educational sifting and winnowing."

Then, wonder twin Brett Healy said " form of Judith Miller"!  

 Mcgyver spent all weekend trying to get outrage going on the FALSE premise that taxpayers were paying big money for this summit(in fact ZERO  tax dollars were used)!  

The MacIver Institute began investigating Fighting Forward after learning that multiple UW System departments were co-sponsoring the event and that many UW professors would be leading certain workshops.
Some of the UW organizations that are co-sponsors include the Havens Center, the UW-Madison Community and Environmental Sociology Department, and the UW-Madison Gender and Women's Studies Program.
Both the Community and Environmental Sociology Department and Gender and Women's Studies Program denied any direct funding for the event. They both claimed that their sponsorship only entailed verbal endorsement of the conference, which includes a link on a university-run website.

Realizing their lies on taxpayer dollars were going no where, they had a hard hitting update where they pulled the most outrageous quotes from the weekend's summit(such as this):

 Bob Peterson, President of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, compares the expansion of school choice to opposing civil rights in the 1960's.

 "Public schools have huge problems. A lot of them are based on the fact that the schools are in communities which have suffered years of depression-like conditions," Peterson said. "When children come from families that are beleaguered, families that are struggling, obviously it makes my job as a teacher much more difficult."

 The horror!  




Stay Tuned for Steve nASS starring in nASS Wars - Episode 2 - The Clone Wars - where a bunch of bought and paid for republican legislators take on the big bad public schools! 

Senator Ellis Vs. The Constitution - The Movie

From a Facebook friend:



Ellis: "See. The place is going to Hell."

Indeed.

The Other 44% Are Paying Attention

I find these statistics remarkable and more than a little disappointing:

According to the Wisconsin Economic Scorecard for the second quarter,
while a majority of residents (56 percent) say Wisconsin is “headed in the right direction,” only 28 percent view the economy as “good” and just 1 percent say it is “excellent.”

By comparison, 61 percent of the residents believed the state was headed in the right direction in the first quarter.

The proportion of Wisconsin residents who characterize the state economy as “poor” increased to 23 percent, up from 18 percent last quarter.

The Wisconsin Economic Scorecard is a quarterly poll of Wisconsin residents conducted by the Center for Urban Initiatives and Research (CUIR) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in cooperation with WisBusiness.com and Milwaukee Public Radio (WUWM 89.7).

When every reliable and meaningful way of measuring our economic shows Wisconsin to be consistently in the bottom 10, regardless whether one is discussing job creation/loss or economic activity.

This number shows that importance of messaging. While the Republicans stick to the same two or three talking points, no matter how false they are, the Democrats are still running around like a herd of cats. I understand the strategy of not having a named candidate so that Team Walker doesn't have a target to aim at, but it also doesn't give their base anyone to rally around. The random and scattered press release isn't cutting it.

On the bright side of things, people are figuring things out in other areas:

Other major findings on the Scorecard included:

• While spending on non-necessities such as restaurants and entertainment has increased slightly, so has the incidence of serious personal financial problems, such as affording home payments and paying for retirement.
• Delaying work on major road construction projects is the most-preferred option for covering the shortfall in the state’s transportation fund; specifically, delaying an expansion of I-94 between Milwaukee and Illinois is supported by a majority (51.6 percent) of registered voters. Gasoline tax and passenger vehicle user-fee increases and the introduction of toll roads on some Wisconsin highways are the least-preferred options for covering the transportation fund shortfall.
• Public confidence in the ability of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to fulfill its mission of bringing jobs to the state has decreased from 52 percent in November to 40 percent in June.

Now if we could find away to overcome the corporate media and their constant barrage of lies, maybe we could really make some headway in restoring our state.

The Kochs Can Paaaaaarrrrteeee!

By Jeff Simpson

We know that the Koch Brothers, like to have retreats for republican elected officials, where are two friends paul ryan and scott walker are always special guests!

 ThinkProgress has now learned of another attendee addressing the Koch meeting: House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan’s office confirmed his attendance this afternoon to ThinkProgress. Ryan, who has a long record of flying off to junkets for groups of bankers like the Club for Growth, is pushing forward with radical cuts to Medicare and Social Security in his “Roadmap for America’s Future.” In line with Koch’s peculiar supply-side side ideology of soaking the the poor, Ryan’s budget idea also calls for increasing taxes on the middle class, while cutting them for the rich. Other Republican legislators were at the event, including Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

We also know that one of the ways to get an invite, and not be an elected officio, is to be part of the Million dollar club(which Wisconsin's very own Diane Hendricks and John Menard belong too)!

 At a secretive retreat held in June, Charles Koch thanked his 32 biggest supporters who gave more than $1 million. Our local billionaire made the list: "The Menards: John Menard of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is the founder of Menards, the country's third-largest hardware company. He's worth a reported $5.2 billion and has donated about $80,000 to his state's Republican Party and federal candidates, mostly Republicans, according to FEC records. His company backed a recent anti-union program that was linked to the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity and supported by Gov. Scott Walker" (Mother Jones).

We know they have these retreats in the nicest of locations!  

Next week, hundreds of business executives and wealthy conservative donors will arrive in Palm Springs, California, at the behest of Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and older half of the Koch brothers duo. The occasion is the latest Koch donor retreat, dubbed the "billionaires caucus" by some, an exclusive, two-day confab with a speaker list that features governors, senators, and members of the House Republican leadership. It is the first Koch retreat since the 2012 elections.

NOW, we know what they do at these retreats(hint its crazier than we thought)!

 The bitter falling-out between Carmel businessman Stephen Hilbert and billionaire hardware chain owner John Menard Jr. was initially portrayed as a deal gone bad from misspent millions. 

A lawsuit suggests a more unseemly origin for the split: sexual extortion.
Hilbert’s wife, Tomisue, charges that Menard tried to extort sexual favors from her two years ago while he was visiting the Hilberts’ Caribbean home in Saint Martin. 

When she resisted his sexual demands — then and later — Menard launched a vindictive effort through the courts and his businesses to “crush” the Hilberts, the lawsuit says. 

The allegations, worthy of a grocery store tabloid, are contained in a 24-page lawsuit filed in Hamilton Superior Court in late May

If that is just his business partner, what do the politicians have to do to get their millions?

Shame on Rep Steve Kestell

During the Republican's all out assault on women's rights last week, Rep. Steve Kestell (R-3rd Grade) made a rather insulting comment.

Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, did a much better and more appropriate response to Kestell's adolesence than I would or could:

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Condemns Representative Kestell’s Insensitive Comments
Abortion Bans and Sex Selective Abortions Are No Laughing Matter

Madison, WI – NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin condemned the Assembly’s passage of AB 217 and its author’s insensitive and outrageous comments during discussion of AB 217. The bill would create a cause of action to allow abortion providers to be sued by the mother, father or grandparents for providing a sex selective abortion and places the penalty for a sex selective abortion solely on providers.

In committee, the proposal’s author, Representative Steve Kestell made light of the abortion ban, commenting that the bill was necessary because if sex selective abortion occurs it can create a “quite a mismatch.” Kestell then chuckled and asked, “can you imagine being a fourteen year old guy in school looking to ask someone to prom?” The Assembly passed his bill on Thursday evening.

“Representative Kestell’s comments about sex selective abortion are outrageous. If even one woman chooses to end a pregnancy because of coercion or pressure to have a child of a certain sex, that represents a departure from true freedom of choice and is one woman too many. This is not a laughing matter,” said Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.

“It is unbelievable that we are even having to point out that this issue is more serious than prom dates. Insensitive comments such as Representative Kestell’s—justifying a sex-selection ban so young men will have more dating options—demonstrate how little thought he has actually given towards women.”

“Meanwhile, abortion bans do nothing to change underlying cultural norms of sexism and gender bias that place greater value on boys over girls. Representative Kestell should support bills that promote gender equality, rather than making flippant comments,” added Dye.

A 2011 report on sex selection from the World Health Organization and other international-health groups indicates that restricting access to abortion services without addressing social norms and cultural factors is likely to result in a greater demand for unsafe, clandestine procedures that place women’s health and lives at risk. Anti-choice proponents are using the unfortunate circumstance of gender bias and inequality that may lead to sex-selection abortion as justification to advance their longstanding goal of banning abortion.

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLXXXIX

By now, the gentle reader has probably already seen this chart from Pew's news service:

Click to embiggen

As can clearly and easily be discerned, Wisconsin is one of only three states to lose jobs.  The other two states are Maine and Wyoming.  But even then, those two states don't even come to half of the jobs lost by Scott Walker's agenda of austerity for all who aren't wealthy campaign donors.

How bad is it? Regionally speaking, Walker's agenda sucks:

The graphic shows Wisconsin with 6,800 fewer total non-farm jobs in April 2013 compared to April 2012. Wyoming and Maine also lost jobs over the period, each down by 1,500 jobs.

By comparison, all of Wisconsin’s neighbors added jobs over the period, according to cited figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Illinois added 40,300 jobs; Michigan added 32,300 jobs; Minnesota 22,700 and Iowa 11,900 over the period.

As others have come to notice, Walker is also all too clearly trying to shift the public's attention with his sleight of words. Instead of having a laser sharp focus on job creation, Walker is resorting to claiming a lower unemployment rating from the time he decided to run for office to today. Instead of talking about the state's actual economy, Walker is trying to baffle people with saying what CEOs (most of them coming form Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce - which are part owners for Walker) feel how the state is doing.

In other words, Walker is following the old quip "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."

It's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for Walker to keep up the charades for another year and a half, especially without an opponent to take any kind of heat from him.

Walker's Father Day Burn

This is just too funny not to share:

You can just smell the singed weasel fur from here.

Name that Psychosis!

You can't count on Scott Walker creating a job, but you can count on him to screw up his social media.

Today's entry:

Do you suppose that the "our cabinet" is a version of the royal we, showing his delusions of grandeur?  Or is it just good old fashioned multiple personality disorder?

Then again, he could be simply referring to himself and the Koch Brothers.

Which is the Bigger Sin?

By Jeff Simpson


Fresh out of Texas:

Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX) on Monday asserted that he witnessed male fetuses pleasuring themselves as early as 15-weeks after conception, RH Reality Check reported.
His comments came during a House Rules committee debate on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

“This is a subject that I do know something about,” Burgess said, citing his experience as an OB/GYN. “There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks.”

“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” he continued. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to think that they could feel pain?”

Burgess said the Supreme Court would be forced to reconsider its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling due to legal fights over anti-abortion legislation like the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. He suggested the justices would be far less permissive of abortion thanks to modern sonogram technology.

 Leaving us to answer the question - What is worse?

A.  That this guy could pass Med School? 

B.  That this guy actually believes the stuff he is spewing?

C.  That people actually look at a guy like this and think "he represents me" and votes for him?