The Walker Budget Is Already Working! Part V

Just barely two weeks old, and Scott Walker's budget and union-busting law is already hard at work!

From BizTimesDaily:

New applications for unemployment benefits fell nationally last week to the lowest level in three months, but rose in Wisconsin.

National initial claims for benefits dropped 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 405,000 in the week ended July 9, the U.S. Labor Department said today. That’s the lowest amount of new applications since mid-April.

The decline in last week’s claims would have been even steeper if not for a government shutdown in Minnesota triggered by a budget standoff. Minnesota said 11,500 state workers filed applications for jobless benefits last week.

In most years, jobless claims tend to rise in July as many U.S. manufacturers shutter plants to retool them for new products such as the latest auto models.

In Wisconsin, initial claims for unemployment surged last week to 13,547, up from 11,973 in the previous week, according to the state Department of Workforce Development.

So now we have even more people on an already overburdened unemployment compensation system and a Republican government that wants to delay and limit these benefits.  This means less money going to local businesses, forcing them to either close or lay off their workers, further exasperating the situation.  Add to that the greatly decreased spending power of public employees and you have an economy headed for a tailspin.

But the right wingers will tell you this is a good thing because they saved a whole 40 cents on their property tax, even as their neighbors are being foreclosed on.  Is it any wonder why they are losing popularity at breakneck speed?

What? Fascism And Overreach Aren't Popular? Paint Scott Walker's Face Red!

Another poll came out today, taking a snapshot of Wisconsinites attitudes towards how things are going in our once and future great state.  Unsurprisingly, more and more people are taking a dim view of Scott Walker's and WISGOP's totalitarian ways, including, but not limited to: taking away our rights, giving away massive tax breaks and other gifts to the super rich while raising our taxes and fees and cutting our services likes schools, ignoring the will of the people, and selling our state's assets, including the workforce, to the highest bidder, just to name a few.

Here are some highlights that the pollsters found:

• The most recent UW Badger Poll finds that a majority of Wisconsinites are not happy with current state of affairs in the Badger state.

• 55% are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the state today, a new high for the UW Badger Poll.

• 81% said Wisconsin is in bad times economically and 50% expect it will be in about the same economic condition in the next 12 months, while 20% said things will get worse.
• Nearly two-thirds of Wisconsinites feel that state government is run for the benefit of a few big interests over that of all the people and can only be trusted to do the right thing some of the time.
• 59% disapprove of the way Scott Walker is handling his job as Governor.
• 60% disapprove of the way the State Legislature is handling its job.
•  56% disapprove of the job Republicans in the State Legislature are doing.
•  48% disapprove of the job Democrats in the State Legislature are doing.
• Wisconsinites overwhelming think the recall option in the state constitution is a good thing (78%), and 50% said the current recalls of state senators made them feel better about Wisconsin politics.
• 59% of residents statewide preferred that the Democratic state senators remain in office rather than be recalled and 49% said the same of the Republican state senators.

A few other numbers to note is that Walker has lost both men and women at an equal pace with a 59% disapproval with both genders.

And while the overall numbers show Walker receiving a 59% disapproval rating, with likely voters the number shoots up to 65%.

Walker has also manage to alienate almost two thirds of the all important Independent voters.

But the worst news for Walker and his GOP leggie allies isn't contained in that poll.  The worst news for him is the fact that the worst of his budget hasn't even been felt by the people of the state.  Wait until mid to late August when all of his cuts are truly felt, whether it be the loss of decent education because the kids are crammed into classrooms with outdated material, or the economy starts to tank and more and more people get laid off because he took so much cash out of circulation.

Walker's overall approval is already a point lower than Jim Doyle's lowest point.  By the time the recalls kick in in November, the full impact of his budget will be felt, Walker's approval will probably be in the 20s.  I hope the organizers are going to have enough petitions printed and the election commission buys a warehouse to hold all of them when they're signed.

Drinking Liberally: July Rendition

On Monday, July 18, will be the one and only true gathering of Milwaukee area liberals and progressives. From our gracious host, Zach Wisniewski:

Greetings one and all!

Once again the time has come for us to gather, eat, drink (of course) and talk politics. There's a lot going on right now in Wisconsin, and I hope you all will join us to discuss the recall elections, the start of the 2012 presidential race, and more importantly, how we all can get involved to make a difference.

Though we've been fortunate to have been joined by a bevy of special guests over the past few months, we will not be joined by a special guest this month, but I hope to see many of you join us on Monday, because I consider all of you to be special guests.

Here's the details:

When: Monday, July 18th from 7:00 p.m. to whenever
Where: Transfer Pizzeria & Cafe, 101 W. Mitchell Street, Milwaukee, WI

I hope to see you on Monday!

Zach & the rest of the Milwaukee Drinking Liberally crew

Isn't it nice that a rock star like Zach is so humble?!

I'm planning on being there repping Milwaukee County First. So come on down! See you there!

Disgust Of Gerrymandering Plan Is Bipartisan

When WISGOP came out with their plan that for redistricting, which can only be described as unethical gerrymandering , the Democrats, of course, called foul and raised a stink about it, as any right-minded, moral person would.

But when you have both Republicans and Democrats from one region decrying the WISGOP plan to tear their region asunder, you know they made a grave and serious error which will haunt them for years to come:

From Central Wisconsin Broadcasting: "There's something called 'integrity.' Things should be done properly," laments Bill Elmhorst, Vice Chairman of the Clark Co. Republican Party. "I would say it's unethical...They've now created a district in the 7th that is about 300 miles long and in the 3rd district, they're going all the way from Portage County, which is east central, all the way to the southwestern corner of the state...I would say it's unacceptable." Elmhorst continues in the article, saying that he's spoken with other local party members who agree with him.

"I've said many times that for us here in Portage County, this isn't about party. It's about keeping our communities in Central Wisconsin together," said Laura Hauser-Menting, Co-Chair of the Portage County Democrats. "Mr. Elmhorst is doing a gutsy thing by speaking out against his party's leaders, and I commend him for his courage. In this age of increasing polarization, I'm pleased to have the opportunity to agree with my local counterparts in the Republican Party about an issue as important as redistricting."

Elmhorst's statement comes after Chippewa County Republicans -- who see their county split by the plan -- also expressed opposition to the new map (article below). The Chippewa County split is in addition to other changes made in the Ryan-Duffy map that creates a Y-shaped 3rd District by extending a finger up through Adams County to snatch out Democratic-leaning Portage County and Wisconsin Rapids from the 7th. For the past 100 years, Marathon, Wood, and Portage Counties have been united in one congressional district because of their strong cultural and economic ties.

The GOP, in their undeserved arrogance, have forgotten that for many people, family and community comes before politics. When something is attacking their community, people will join together, despite their differences. Add to this that they've alienated many of their other traditional supporters, it's not surprise that their poll numbers are so low and dropping like a rock.

And special kudos and esteem for Vice-Chairman Elmhorst. It does take a rare courage to stand up to such a vindictive, power-hungry bunch as we see the current GOP regime. He's one Republican whose hand I would be glad to shake.

Solidarity Floats

A couple of weeks ago, the local paper, in an ongoing series of attacking public sector workers, pointed out a story in which the Racine firefighters union chose not to expend its limited resources for a non-union float, even though said float was originally designed to honor the victims of 9/11.  It's not that they were opposed to it, but they felt that they could spend their time, money and manpower more effectively on other things.

As one might suspect, the usual suspects, right wing radio squawkers and their echo chambers, chose not to present the situation honestly but rather to conflate it to try to make it look like the unions were against the 9/11 victims and thus against America. Then again, honesty has never been a friend of the right, especially for radio squawkers.

As one might imagine, the float did just fine as people gathered in support, either to genuinely honor the victims, or to take advantage of the publicity to promote their own event or their image.  

Ironically, one of the people that came out to "support" the float was Vicki "Wolf on back, snake on chest" McKenna, nee Pyzynski.  This is the same woman who took to calling the firefighters thugs, despite their hero status, just because they simply opposed the Republicans' abuse of office and unilateral stripping people of their rights.

But how do the victims of 9/11 fell about this whole thing?  Are they mad at the unions for dissing them? Do they feel that the unions were wrong for standing up for their civil rights like that?

Apparently not, according to this news story:



Did you notice that the firefighter highlighted in the clip, claimed to be a Republican? Did you catch when he said that the GOP's attack on the working classed superseded politics or the union/anti-union debate?

So why are right wingers like Charlies Sykes so anxious to make this such a big deal? The answer is simple. They know that they are, once again, on the wrong side of history. So they conflate and exaggerate a non-story in an effort to distract the public from what's really going on.

And thus they make themselves truly the ones that are disrespecting those they pretend to defend.

Cross posted at Whallah!

Hopper - Out Of Touch With The People

The second ad against Randy Randy "Bed" Hopper came across my mailbox tonight:



But I do have one criticism.

The ad ends with the slogan of "Send Hopper Home," but do we even know where that is for him?

Remember Your Goal When You Get To The Poll: Democratic Primary Rhymes

Rhyming has always proven to be an effective mnemonic device, and in that light, Joanne Staudacher, part June Cleaver and part meat cleaver, prepared this helpful reminder to avoid voting for the fake Democrat in Tuesday's primary on her Facebook page and republished her at her request:

Concerned that your family and friends may be confused about how to vote in the Democratic primaries tomorrow, especially with reports of automated phone calls giving false information? This note is visible to everyone, so please share/link it widely today and tomorrow! These rhymes endorse the real Democratic candidates.

District 18 - Jessica King is the real thing!

District 14 - Democrats: It's a walk in the park if you pick Fred Clark!

District 10 - Democrats adore Shelly Moore!

District 32 - Democrats: It would be thrilling if you pick Jen Shilling!

District 8 - In the district eight clash, pick Sandy Pasch!

District 2 - The Democrats fancy for you to pick Nancy! Vote Nusbaum!

Just Who Paid For Paul Ryan's Wine?

We all know the story of how Paul Ryan and a couple of right wing friends went out to enjoy $700 of wine as they celebrated cutting people off of Medicaid.

But whose money was spent on this wine?

According to news stories, Ryan put one of the bottles on his credit card, so his defenders say he paid for it.

But hold on a minute.

 It is these very same people who accused me of spending "their" money on things they didn't approve of, like my membership to the union or to the political arm of the union.  In their hate-filled minds, the fact that I'm a public employee and paid with tax dollars means that they can dictate what I do with my money.

Well, guess what - Paul Ryan is also a public employee and gets paid with tax dollars (as well as a lot of lobbyist cash and kickbacks, I'm sure).  That means his money is ours and instead of spending it on overpriced grape juice, he should use it to restore some of the damage he's done in his years in Washington.

Koch Operative Pretold Their Prosser Tactics

While researching the Koch sock puppet piece, I was referred to this article with some telling projection in it:

On an estimated more than 10,000 ballots in Dane County, Wisconsin, where the state capital Madison is, voters selected only a pick in the Supreme Court race, while leaving even the hotly contested mayoral and county executive choices blank. That raises red flags for election experts like Scott St. Clair of the Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank.

“This is the state that wrote the book on squeaker elections,” St. Clair told The Daily Caller. “I wouldn’t put it past somebody in Wisconsin to be selectively revealing ballots or conveniently finding ballots because this is the kind of stuff we’ve seen in the past before. I think it’s also important to note that Wisconsin and Illinois are neighbors and how they vote in Chicago doesn’t necessarily stop at the state line.”

Sure enough, there was all sorts of shenanigans and during politicking, but just not the way St. Clair predicted. It was all on Prosser's side.

And should we even bother wondering who funds this Freedom Foundation?

Lady Of The Monarchs Now A Cover Girl

My dear friend, Barb Agnew, head of the Monarch Trail and wise in all things buggy, has made it to the big time.

She is this month's cover girl for the magazine Country Woman, and there is a nice article about her work to preserve what she could of the Monarch Trail in the face of ruthless land developers.

I am proud to know so many heroes and it does my heart good to see them get the recognition they deserve.

Congratulations to Barb!

The Koch Brother Sock Puppet Show Hits The Road Again

In the spring, with the help of a reader, I was able to show you how the Koch brothers used their heavy hands and poured money into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race through their various front groups.  The Koch-purchased David Prosser paid off in spades almost immediately by ignoring the laws of the land and rubber stamping Scott Walker's union-busting bill without hesitation or thought.

With the help of several friends and allies, we now find that the Koch Brothers Sock Puppet Show is on the road again, this time interfering with the recall elections.

Greg Sargent tripped the whole thing with this article showing that John Buckstaff, the fake Democrat in the race is actually a Republican backer and has donated money to Randy Randy "Bed" Hopper.  Furthermore, Sargent tells us that a flyer that they've been distributing telling people to vote for Buckstaff is aimed at getting Republican voters to cross over in the primary and shut the real Democrat, Jessica King, out of the race immediately.

Also remarkable about Sargent's findings is that the flyer is paid for by a group called "Patriot Advisors."

And this is where we go into the same sordid incestuous intermingling that the Koch Brothers are known for.

Patriot Advisors is headed up by Tim Dunn and Denis Calabrese.

Calabrese, the former Chief of Staff for Dick Armey, is also on the director of the Sam Adams Alliance, yet another Koch Brother front group and money chute. This Sam Adams Alliance also funnels the Koch dollars to other groups like Americans For Prosperity and the Franklin Center for Public and Government Integrity*.

The sharp-eyed reader might have already noticed, but it was the Franklin Center which is quoted in the anti-King flyer.

Just to be clear, the Sam Adams Alliance, Patriot Advisors and Franklin Center are all Koch-funded groups with incestuous ties to each other. One of them is using the other to justify voting for the fake Democrat instead of trying to defend the Republican and his boorish behavior or facing the consequences for his actions.

Or in other words, the sock puppet on the Kochs' right and hand makes some statement, regardless of the whether it's true, half-true or a bold faced lie, and then they have the sock puppet on the left hand repeat the lie in order to reinforce it and give it false credibility.

And I'm sure this scenario is being played out in the other races as well.

And this is exactly why the "get out to vote" over the next few days is so important. We can't let the Koch Brothers continue to screw with our elections. And despite their money and their deceitful practices, we have three things they will never have.  We have the boots on the ground of true Wisconsinites. we have the truth and we have the strong desire to defend our homes from the corporate overlords and their malevolent ways.

As a reminder, here is the list of who's who in the primaries, including the Koch funded phonies.

*To show you the irony of the name of Franklin Center for Public and Government Integrity, look at their most recent hire, Kevin Binversie, who likes to slander people, even the disabled, and makes decisions based on the whims of twenty-something year olds.  Perhaps they should look up the definition of integrity before they start demanding it of others.

...And Starring Gerry Manders As The Weasel

Late on Friday afternoon, when politicians typically release news that they know will be unpopular and/or make them look bad, the Republicans announced their redistricting gerrymandering.  It is just yet another example of their overreach.  It is also a tell that they know damn good and well that their agenda is extremely unpopular and bad for the state, so they are doing everything they can to make sure the will of the people are thwarted so that they may keep power in order to form a more perfect oligarchy.

Methinks that they will find that the more they overreach and power grab, the bigger the flashback will be against them.

The Republicans did this with the help of a high-cost private law firm and in complete secrecy.  They did not once consult with the Democrats or with local officials.  They will find that this will bite them in the rear as well, and it is my understanding that at least one law suit has been already filed.

Among the first reactions is that the Republicans have shown that they have no faith in the starving reality star, Sean Duffy, being able to win another election unless he is well protected.  To do so, they've cut out three counties, despite 100 years of tradition of them being in the same district of the far northeast.  By doing this, the Republicans have succeeded in alienating and disenfranchising all the voters in those counties, who rely on Wausau for their TV news.

On a state government level, they Republicans have managed to do their redistricting gerrymandering to almost all of the Democrats involved with the various recalls, either by making those districts much more conservative or by cutting them out, even if by only half a block.

If you want to see what they are doing to your representation, you can find it in these maps.

On a personal level, they would change both my state representative and state senator.

If this is passed as is, my state rep would be first (and last) termer Mike Kuglitsch, whose claim to fame appears to be the successful owner of a glorified bowling alley/banquet hall in the New Berlin industrial park and puppet for the GOP agenda.

Even more exciting, my new senator would be Mary Lazich, known as being one of the worst legislators in the state, as ranked by her peers, who's claim to fame is utter stupidity and a really, really, really bad taste in legislative aides.

A Rare Gem

Since I started blogging, I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of wonderful people, from all walks of life and from all over the political spectrum.

I won't go into name dropping, since that's not what this post is about and not something I care to do.

But sometimes you meet someone that just really stands out for whatever reasons.

I've had that chance this past Thursday.

I had the opportunity to spend a few hours over coffee and good conversation with Lisa Mux, author of Waukesha Wonk (a new blogroll addition).

Lisa is a beautiful and charming young lady who comes from a family of politically savvy people. But it was neither her beauty, her charm, her enthusiasm or her well-versed knowledge of Wisconsin politics and bloggers that made her stand out to me, although they made three hours seem like three minutes.

It wasn't even the fact that she is one of the rarest of all demographics, a liberal in Waukesha County who isn't afraid to speak out against the overwhelming numbers of the fanatical and fatalistic believers of right wing politics, which made her so astonishing.

Lisa's most amazing gift, in my humble opinion, is her impeccable judgement of character.

Keep your eye on her. She's going places, I can tell these things.

Ye Olde Tip Jar

On the sidebar to the right, you will see that I have added a Pay Pal donation button.

It was a move that people have been encouraging me to take for months, but one which I have been loathe to make.

Sadly, reality has had other things in mind. 

Because the Freedom of Speech isn't free after all and because it has been decided that I really don't need twenty percent of my pay (because there are starving millionaires out there that need that money more than my family) or my rights, things are getting pretty difficult to maintain around here.  Add to that that this old computer that I'm banging away on is getting awfully long in the circuit board and I would like to eventually set up this blog as a stand alone site, among the other mundane factors of life, well, it became all too obvious something's got to give.

Hopefully that will be you, gentle reader.

So if you're a progressive and appreciate the information and entertainment I provide, hopefully you'll be able to find some spare money to help me out.

Likewise, if you're a conservative, you could donate and give me gas money to go up north more often and away from the keyboards.

Or for either side, any money you give could keep me from resorting to a second job as a Chippendale dancer, something the entire world would thank you for.

And if someone would happen to know George Soros, since the right wing is always mewling about how he throws his money to liberal causes, maybe you could point this out to him too.

Thank you in advance for any help you could give.

Ryan's Wine Stains

Ryan and friends wining and dining.*

TPM is reporting that Congressdweep Paul Ryan was recently seen wining and dining with a couple of "economists" (or more likely lobbyists) at a swanky DC eatery.  This in itself isn't a problem for me.

The outrage came from the fact that these three moneybags swilled down two $350 bottles of wine during the time, even as Ryan is trying to cut Grandma and Grandpa off the public dole to which they have paid their whole working life.

Not only that, but how can Ryan squander that much money when there are reality television stars starving to death out there?!

* Photo courtesy of TPM