WISGOP Continues To Look Out For The Tax Payers Their Campaign Donors

From Milwaukee News Buzz regarding the GOP's decision to ax funding for an audit to see if a program is effective enough to warrant an increase in spending:

The audit was intended to evaluate the program’s spending, participation, oversight and effectiveness. Focus on Energy provides grants and rebates to homeowners, businesses and local governments that make energy efficiency upgrades (such as installing solar panels). Supporters of the audit, including State Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), said it was needed to determine whether the new funding was necessary.

[...]

These funds would come primarily from ratepayers – but the PSC estimated that increasing rebates and other programs would make homes and businesses more energy efficient, thereby lowering electric bills in the long term. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau questioned this analysis, noting that only customers who benefit from or utilize Focus on Energy programs would enjoy savings.

It's so nice to see that the GOP is looking out for the little people, especially as all of the power companies are seeking excessive rate hikes. Again.

The Most Amazing Part: He Did It With A Straight Face

Even before he took office, Scott Walker started attacking state employees.   He intentionally and illegally tried to sabotage their contract negotiations, to the point of doing some pay for play with Judas Plale.

Then, shortly after taking office, he has his cronies in the state legislature pass the specially designed union busting bill, even if they had to do that illegally as well.

He's trying to double charge them for benefits that they negotiated for in good faith (and took a lesser pay for).  Even more egregious, he is trying to strip workers of their rights that they've enjoyed for over 50 years and has led the state into being the power house it used to be.

This spurred protests of such magnitude like the state hasn't seen in decades, if ever.  And not just state workers or union members, but people of all walks of life.  Old and young, public and private sector workers, rich and poor, famous and unknown people were all joined together to tell Walker and his GOP allies not to do this, that we did not want this.

They proceeded in trying to anyway, ignoring their own constituents in doing so. Then they had the audacity to act shocked, shocked they say, to be now reaping the whirlwind that they had sown.

But the vulgarity doesn't end there.

Now Walker has come out with some lame scheme of having a "State Worker Appreciation Day,"  complete with an official certificate that he had printed up the tens of thousands. Adding this insult to injury, he has also announced a "State Employee Recognition Program," which he claims to be in order to recognize the state employees that go that extra mile in doing their jobs. And in piling up the irony, Walker made not just one, but two, videos regarding this stunt.

But we know what he is really saying in this stunt of his.  Is it any wonder that no one is taking him seriously?

But before the gentle reader starts hurling invectives at Walker (not that he's not deserving of any insults tossed his way), it should be noted that this is probably not even his idea and he is not the only governor to show bad taste.  In fact, via democurmudgeon, we learn that Governor John Kasich of Ohio is doing an employee recognition stunt as well.

Something tells me that if we follow the money trail, it leads back to the Koch Brothers.

If Walker is serious about this whole thing, though, the first winners obviously should be the Fab 14 and the Assembly Democrats, who sacrificed so much in an effort to slow down, if not stop, this atrocity from happening in the first place.

ADDENDUM: If you wish to help nominate the Fab 14 or the Assembly Democrats, go to this page, download the form and submit it in any of the ways they have listed.

If You Can't Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance...

There's and old adage that the WISGOP has been following to the letter:

If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullsh*t.

It became quickly apparent in the early days of the Walker regime that he and the Fitz boyzzz weren't dazzling anyone with their version of brilliance.  Despite their grand speeches and exuberant promises, it was easily discerned that this gruesome bunch had absolutely no interest in creating jobs or holding people's taxes down.

Indeed, it didn't not take any great power of observation to not that this overreaching bunch was more interested in doing a power grab in order to secure their positions for as long as possible and for rewarding their wealthy campaign contributors.

This did not sit well with the majority of Wisconsinites, who rapidly took to the streets and started an ongoing series of protests drawing hundreds of thousands of people from all over the state to march around the Capitol, to sleep in it and then, when their rights were further violated, to camp out around it.  When the legislators failed to listen to the people, they again took to the streets, but instead of picket signs, they carried clipboards and were successful in collecting enough signatures to recall six Republican senators as well as prepare for the gales of November, when they start in earnest in taking out the most belligerent politician of them all, Scott Walker.

So failing miserably in the brilliance side of things, the Republicans decided to go with the baffling of the dwindling number of people that still believed them, much less supported them.

First they tried to BS their way by ramming their ill-spirited bills through, even if it meant breaking the law to do so.  They're hope was obviously to break the will of the people and wait for them to give up and go away. Instead, they only drew bigger crowds and were the subjects of greater outrage.  They tried to break the people's will by taking away "their house." The people responded with not broken spirits, but by breaking out tents for camping around the Capitol.

The Republicans then upped their fear and smear with finding some bullets that were mysteriously strewn about the Capitol.  This quickly turned into a non-story, especially in light of how peaceful the protests have been.

The right wing continued to hurl selective outrage after selective outrage without anything sticking.

The most recent attempt was the supposed plan of some unnamed group who was supposed to be putting stickers on items that some of the people of Wisconsin are boycotting, such as Johnsonville, Angels Soft toilet paper, etc.  As many on the left had already figured, it was just another stunt by Walker and friends that turned out to be nothing but their usual brand of exaggeration and conflation.

Scott Walker Appreciates State Workers

Here's the original video in which Scott Walker announces his new found appreciation for state workers:



Mmm, with that kind of language, maybe it's been Walker himself who's been trolling here.

H/T Uppity Wisconsin

JSOnline Has A New Comment Policy

JSOnline is trying out a new comment policy in which commenters on particular stories have to sign in via their Facebook page:

Editor's Note: You may comment on this story using your Facebook log-in. We are testing this new commenting system on selected articles in an effort to hold people more accountable for their comments. You may still comment on most other stories using your JSOnline user account.

A few initial thoughts regarding this new policy:

• What if you don't have a Facebook account? Aren't they denying those people a chance?
• Anonymity is a long cherished tradition that was used by some of the earliest leaders of this country.
• It doesn't seem to be doing much in keeping the vitriol down.
• I bet Darlene Wink et alia wishes they had this a long time ago. They might have avoided a lot of trouble.

The paper already knows what they need to do if they want to improve the atmosphere of their comment sections, but they are simply too cheap and miserly to have a person monitoring the comments coming in.

• 
  

Whereas Dan Kapanke Just Soiled His Knickers

For those that might have missed it, there were three special elections held on Tuesday, to fill the seats of legislators who were appointed to fill slots in the Walker Regime.  As you can imagine, since Walker only would appoint those loyal to his paper throne, all three appointees are staunch Republicans who have safely held their seats for years.

It was expected that all three seats would remain red.

But lo and behold, one of the seats did turn to blue. That seat belonged to Mike Huebsch, who became Walker's number one henchman.  Now it belongs to Democrat Steve Doyle.

That now make two out of the three representative districts in Senator Dan Kapanke's district a strong blue.

Well, he still has a couple of months to try to get the people to understand why his voting to take away their rights is really in their best interest.  Then he can relax as he watches Senator Jennifer Shilling get sworn into to fill his former seat.

Thank You, Natasha Chart. I Am Honored.

Natasha Chart, a woman who I greatly respect, while writing at the SEIU blog, goes over some of the bigger social media aspects of the last several weeks of Wisconsin history as people of all walks of life are joining together to oppose the tyrannical and unethical ways that Scott Walker is trying to destroy everything that is good about our great state.

As I read through her post, I found my jaw falling to the desktop as I saw that she paid me the grand honor of including me and this little old blogspot blog site as one of the top milestones in the relatively short history of our fight for our rights and our freedoms.  She gave me the third spot even, right after the infamous faux Koch phone call and Zach Wisniewski's block breaking story about Randy Randy "Bed" Hopper.

So, thank you, Natasha. It is no small honor to be included with the giants you have listed in our movement.

And thank you for your support of #wiunion.

Zombie Reagan Democrats

First there were the Reagan Democrats.

Then the Onion told us of Zombie Reagan.

Now the Republicans apparently have brought us Zombie Reagan Democrats:

Bill Pocan - father of state Rep. Mark Pocan - may have died long ago.

But that doesn't mean he can't sign the recall petition against state Sen. Bob Wirch of Kenosha.

Just check page 362 of the Wirch recall petition, and you will find the signature and address for Bill Pocan, also the father of Milwaukee County Judge William Pocan. The petition says Bill Pocan penned his support of the recall effort on March 3.

I just hope the Democrats up north watch the Lassa petitions closely. For all you know, Osama bin Laden signed one today.

Best Photoshop Of The Day

Did someone order an accomplished mission?

Best Bumper Sticker Of The Day

H/T The Political Carnival

Walker Starts His Own Rally

But if he's trying to take a page from the unions, he's doing it wrong:

But then again, he's never been too bright.

What A May Day It's Been!

Sunday was a May Day that will go down in the history books.

In Milwaukee, tens of thousands of people marched and rallied to support all the workers of the world. Large numbers were also gathered in Madison to celebrate as well.

But all of this was washed under the waves of current events, when President Barack Obama, in an unusual late night press conference, announced the death of Public Enemy #1 - Osama bin Laden.

A few thoughts and facts regarding this epic news:

• It was sixty years to the date that Americans had learned of the death of Adolph Hitler.
• It was eight years to the date that George W. Bush announced Mission Accomplished.
• After 9/11/01, America was united. On 5/01/11, the divisiveness remains, with many conservatives able to bring themselves to congratulate President Obama, and some getting down right petty.
• While, as in capital punishment, I don't celebrate bin Laden's death, but do take grim satisfaction that what needed to be done was done.
• I hope that this helps bring healing and closure to the the survivors and surviving loved ones of the victims of 9/11 and the two wars.
• Twitter is an awesome tool for getting news out fast, but it also has to be taken with a grain of salt, as a photo of the dead bin Laden has been circulating, but appears to be photoshopped.
• Obama could have handled the news release a little better, seeing the mass anxiety it was causing a lot of people, first with the odd hour of the release, then with being so darn late to it.
• I gave Obama the perfect excuse for his tardiness, tweeting that he was running late due to having to change after Biden dumped Gatorade on him as he was about to walk in the news conference.
• Thank you Gold Star Mothers.
• Congratulations and deepest gratitude to President Obama who pulled the proverbial trigger and the Navy Seals who pulled the actual one.
• I would hope that this means we could go back to being just Americans, but I am not that naive.
• If you cannot celebrate bin Laden's death, celebrate the lives of those spared from his evil ways.
• They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth that and so much more:

I cannot even begin to imagine what they are feeling right now. Whatever it is that they are feeling, judging from my own, must be absolutely overwhelming.

Alberta Darling Snubs Local Businesses

This morning, on the Charlie Sykes Incite show (which was mercifully without Sykes, who was no doubt enjoying some union-won time off), Alberta Darling repeatedly complained about the people's boycott of Johnsonville products, as well as Coors, Angel Soft and all the other companies that chose to support the anti-worker, anti-middle class, and anti-freedom Scott Walker.

Darling repeatedly stated that not buying Wisconsin made products was wrong and told people to buy some Johnsonville brats and Coors beer.

Perhaps some intrepid reporter should ask Darling what she has against buying from local companies.

Klement's also makes very tasty brats which are made right here in Milwaukee and don't have the same taint as the corrupt Johnsonville leaders permeating everything about them and their ties to WMC.

And Coors isn't even made in Wisconsin.  It's merged partner, Miller, is still made here, but even then, they moved their headquarters out of Milwaukee County and into Illinois.  So why in heavens is she saying that we should buy a beer brewed in Colorado and headquartered in Chicago, even while she's saying how we need to buy locally?

If Darling was really pro-Wisconsin, she would have recommended something like Sprecher, the brewery that is wholly right here in Glendale.

To recap, Alberta Darling, who is supposed to be the state senator for the Milwaukee area, in an effort to bash the working class people of all of Wisconsin, is telling people to buy brats made in Sheboygan and beer brewed in Colorado, instead of supporting local companies.

Is it any wonder why people are finding her to be clueless and in desperate need of  having to leave her office?

And as an extra dose of the cognitive dissonance from the right wing, neocon Fred Dooley, worried about a non-existent plan to sticker up grocery stores, goes out to show them union thugs by shopping at Pick'N'Save, which is a union shop.  Thanks for supporting your local union members, Fred!

Cross posted at Whallah!

WisDems Founders Day Dinner

Last night, we had the pleasure of attending the WisDems Founders Day Dinner, courtesy of Progressive United, the PAC formed by Russ Feingold.

The evening started out on great footing see how we shared the table with Zach Wisnewski of Blogging Blue (he's really a big thing, if you weren't aware) and the wise and entertaining Tom Foley of Illusory Tenant fame.  I felt humbled in the presence of such greatness.  Also floating around was another friend, Keith Schmidt.

This year, the dinner was held at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. The food in itself was edible, but not the sort of fair that I would write home about.

The speechifying started off with Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.  Nelson had a great line about how Scott Walker had promised local leaders the tools to address the severe cuts Walker wants to impose.  Nelson said that every time he looks into Walker's tool box, all he sees is a screwdriver.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele spoke next and promised to fix what Walker had broken by actually working with the Board and the people of Milwaukee County.

U.S. Representative Gwen Moore, who was introduced as the person who beat Walker before it became popular,  She said that Walker and the Republicans were hoping that we'd stay asleep while they did whatever they wanted, but we were all woken up by the Wisconsin 14.  Moore then emphasized that Walker could be beaten, and that she was living proof of that, having beaten him soundly for the seat she now holds.  She ended up with saying that she was jealous of an unknown person who was asked to sign the recall for Senator Lena Taylor.  She said she really wanted someone to ask her to do that so she could give them what for.

The next speaker was Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who gave a fiery speech. The kind of speech I wish he gave more of during the campaign last year, so we could have been spared all of this.

Barrett said that he didn't remember Walker mentioning that he wanted to drop the bomb on the working men and women of this state.  He then gave one of the more memorable lines of the evening:

What happens when you drop a bomb on someone is you either obliterate them or they survive and they come back and fight like never before. Governor Walker, we have survived and we are coming back to fight you.

Barrett then promised to be with us come what may over the next several months.

They then showed a very moving video in tribute to all of the people who have spent the last two and a half months of their lives showing up at the Capitol to make their voices heard.

Representative Peter Barca was up next and was also all fired up.  His key moment was when he mentioned a person who has been showing up at the Capitol marching nearly every day, with a sign that red "Wisconsin - Now making Chicago look clean for four and a half months."

Senator Miller spoke next, but half of his time was taken up telling people how important it is to donate to the cause and pointing out donation envelopes on the tables.

Finally the keynote speaker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, got up to speak. He gave a very impassioned speech, full of wonderful and worthwhile goals and statements, but during his speech, I couldn't help but feel more than a bit melancholy that Massachusetts has such a positive, people-orientated leader whose state is among the tops of the nation in health care provision and education, and we have Walker who has not created one job, but has instead turned and attacked the workers, the middle class and the vulnerable citizens of his state.  Some of Patrick's comments:

• Republicans are more concerned about keeping in their jobs instead of doing them. (So true. Look at how Walker et alia have done everything they can to squash our voices and take away our rights.)
• I am the governor for ALL the people in my state.
• It's time for Democrats to get a backbone and stand up for what we believe in.
• In a time of crisis, we turn to each other, not on each other.
• Government is the name we give to the things we do together.

And for the right wingers who were so concerned, he did bring up the fact the Massachusetts legislature is trying to imitate Wisconsin.  He pointed out that the wasn't going to let it happen in his state.

One of the things that I picked up during the evening was that Sheldon Wasserman has not ruled out a run for the soon to be recalled Alberta Darling's chair, but was hedging his answer by saying he expected Republicans to draw up the new district lines by cutting him out of that district.  I expect Sandy Pasch to be the new senator for that district.

One of the nicest parts was getting to chat with Dominique Paul Noth, Editor and Communications Director for AFL-CIO Labor Press. The bad part is I forgot to ask if he was looking for some help...

All in all, a very good night. Thanks again to the folks at Progressives United for the invite.

RIP Ben Masel

Ben Masel, Wisconsin icon and activist, has passed away from lung cancer on Saturday.

One might have agreed with everything that Ben had advocated for, but almost everyone respected his passion for free speech and for his dedication to all the causes he advocated for.

And his passion was undeniable. Courtesy of blue cheddar, you could see he was willing to take it to them even in his last days:



Thank you, Ben, for your tireless fight and may you find peace.

And may we all share the same inexhaustible passion in the fights yet to come.