Cyber Attack To Promote Walker's Book Traced to Billionaire's Astroturf Organization

By Jeff Simpson

Head on to Amazon and check the reviews and read the book if you want.  We all know there is "no there, there.  

However if you do need a good read  - Check out Unintimidated! 

Scott - The Reason For The Season!

 

By Jeff Simpson

Capper brought us the story the other day of the fundraising email where Scott Walker suggested you skip your kids Christmas and give the money to him!   Thanks to that let me suggest this campaign slogan and commercial for the upcoming Gubernatorial and Presidential campaign that Scott will be running:

Of course what better time to fundraise and ask for your chidlren's money than Christmas, the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus:

God Bless Us everyone, especially ME .  Now send ME your money! Here is Scott Walker with his version of the true meaning of Christmas! At least George Bush's biggest policy idea was to tell people TO shop, while Walker is telling people NOT to shop! 

If there was every a more greedy, ambitious, selfish career politician than Scott Walker, I hope I never meet them.  

PS:   The "friends scott walker" staffer that sent the email - Taylor Palmisano.   This is from her twitter:

WAHHOOOO!!! #GeorgeZimmerman the LAW prevailed!
— Taylor Palmisano (@itstaytime) July 14, 2013

Wahhooo for George Zimmerman.  He must be one of Santa's elves!  

Walkergate 2: Michael Grebe and the Sockpuppets of Manipulation

Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express has another must read installation of her ongoing series on the second John Doe investigation.  This week, Kaiser looks at the way the right wing groups would pump money into their front groups to come up with bogus studies and even more bogus reporting in order to further their agenda.

Per Kaiser, the largest of these malefactors is Michael Grebe and the Bradley Foundation:

With more than $550 million in assets, the Bradley Foundation sunk at least $31 million into its voucher studies and programs, according to a report by One Wisconsin Now (OWN). But its funding is sent to other conservative, free-market foundations and think tanks around the country.

“They are the biggest funder of right-wing causes in the nation,” said Mike Browne, OWN’s deputy director. “They spend more money than the Koch brothers.”

The Bradley Foundation is a huge supporter of members of the State Policy Network in Wisconsin and elsewhere. According to OWN’s research, the Bradley Foundation has given more than $16.5 million to the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and $635,000 to John K. McIver Institute for Public Policy. The two groups are SPN members that have provided voucher-supporting studies and analysis at the same time they attempt to pass themselves off as independent, straight-shooting think tanks.

WPRI, which bills itself as “Wisconsin’s Free Market Think Tank,” has precious few scholars on staff—none, in fact. Its president is former Journal Sentinel columnist Mike Nichols and its lead commentators are WTMJ’s Charlie Sykes (whose current wife works for the Bradley Foundation), political consultant Deb Jordahl and former Department of Administration Secretary George Lightbourn.

WPRI’s board is dominated by the state’s corporate chiefs, including Tom Howatt, chair of Wausau Paper Corp.; Bank Mutual President David Baumgarten; ex-MillerCoors Vice President Michael Jones; former Thompson administration official and We Energies Senior Vice President James Klauser; Milwaukee investor David Lubar; and Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) President Tim Sheehy.

So it’s no wonder why WPRI has churned out studies supporting the agenda shared by Walker and the Bradley Foundation, including attacks on public schools, climate change, public employee benefits and the state’s renewable energy targets while promoting highway expansion, commercial bail bonds and fracking.

The board of directors of MacIver Institute includes Milwaukee businessman Fred Luber; Michael, Best and Friedrich attorney James Troupis; and former Republican First Lady Laurie McCallum. Its president is Brett Healy, a former aide to disgraced Republican Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, now a school voucher lobbyist.

Other Wisconsin partners of SPN are the Lucy Burns Institute, Bradley Foundation-funded Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin, the Dick Armey-led FreedomWorks-Wisconsin, the Taxpayers Network Incorporated and the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

Then again, not much of this should surprise the gentle reader. I've been writing about this for years, both at this here blog and even once for the Shepherd Express.


Here's how it works:

One of the right wing "think tanks" would come up with some cockamamie, convoluted study that will support one of the maleficent schemes, such as privatizing education is actually good for the kids and the taxpayers.  Then one of the right wing propagandist groups would "report" on the story.  This would give it enough faux credibility for the mainstream corporate media to run with the story  The story would be echoed by other propagandists, right wing bloggers (many of whom have suddenly, mysteriously and suspiciously shut down their sites)  and squawk radio..  The average consumer of the corporate media wouldn't know of the falseness of the reporting and would just accept it as truth.

By adding all the layers and multiple front groups, it was easier for the money machines, like the Bradley Foundation and the Koch Brothers, to keep things churning and to cover up their finger prints in the whole sordid mess.

And for the skeptics on whether this kind of manipulation occurs, I can assure you it does, as I reported on during the 2011 recalls, when these front groups used it to attack former Senator Jessica King:

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. 

Short of the John Doe investigation being successful, there isn't really any way to shut down these groups. And even if the Son of Doe is successful, the Kochs and Bradley Foundation will only create new front groups and start their operations all over again.

But there are things that we can do to help control the damage done by these groups, such as putting pressure on the corporate media who regurgitate this foul propaganda as legitimate news.

But the more important thing we can do is to keep ourselves educated and organized.  Learn the truth of what is happening, the lies behind their deceitful stories and the consequences of what would happen if these would be corporate overlords would get their way.  Then share this knowledge with your family, your neighbors, your friends and your coworkers.  Politely but firmly confront the falsehoods and back them up with the hard truth.

The most important thing we can do is not give up.

Unintimidated is Unaccountable

 

By Jeff Simpson

The Steve nASS(R-I dont pay child support)  racist protection bill is sitting on the Governor's desk, he thinks! 

“I have nothing to do with it,” Walker said. “Other than that I have to choose whether or not I am going to sign it or veto it, it is nothing that I have advocated. In fact, all the while they were debating it I was asked at press conferences what I thought about it, and I would say, ‘It is not on my radar. If it is not about jobs, lower taxes, improving schools, it is not on my priority list.’”

Adding, “I don’t know exactly what I am going to do with it,” Walker suggested that he favored simply repealing the 2009 law and leaving the decision up to local school districts rather than signing into law the “weird hybrid” that passed this month.

Apparently, since Scott Walker only cares about jobs

But what didn't change is the fact that Wisconsin continues to be the worst economy in the Midwest since Walker and WisGOP came to power in January 2011. 

Lower taxes :

 Gov. Scott Walker's plan to shrink the state's BadgerCare program could end up costing the state about $250 million more by 2020, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo.

and improving schools:

 

The number of teachers working during the 2012-13 school year marks the first time in about 15 years the number of positions has dropped below 66,000. From 2000 to the 2010-11 school year, the number of licensed staff in public schools held steady around 68,000 with its peak during the 2002-03 school year when 70,079 teaching positions were recorded. In the last five school years, the state’s teaching ranks have decreased by about 3,000 positions.

“(Student) enrollment, over the last five years, has gone down by three-tenths of a percent,” said DPI spokesman John Johnson. “That’s about 3,000 kids, but we’ve lost about 3,000 teachers in the same time period. That’s almost a teacher per kid, which is unusual.”

 The three things that Scott Walker has made a "priority" he has failed miserably at all three.

When exactly, was the last "jobs" bill that Scott Walker signed?   I can not think of one! 

Another Fundraiser Folly From Team Walker

Team Walker sent out a fundraiser on the day before Thanksgiving.  While it's not quite as egregious as the one they sent Friday when they suggested that people forego buying their children Christmas or Channukah presents and send the money to Walker's campaign, it still can cause a nasty spit take.

So put your beverage down now before reading any further.

Now that you put your beverage down, here is the email (emphasis mine):

Friend -

The Clinton machine has turned its focus on Wisconsin.

Just yesterday, it was reported that a super PAC lead by members of the Clinton inner-circle will be joining the big-government Union Bosses and Russ Feingold’s special interest group by spending millions to distort Governor Walker’s positive record of job creation and reform.

We’ve already started seeing false attacks start to appear online and we need your help to counter these slanderous claims.  Unfortunately, building an online presence is expensive. Even the smallest donation can make a big difference.

A contribution of $25 can provide the campaign with:

Over 5,000 online advertising impressions,
50 hours of web server time,
or 1,000 email sends
Will you join the fight by contributing $25 to help us increase our online presence and show the Clinton machine, the government union bosses, or any other liberal special interest group that they cannot buy Wisconsin?

Governor Walker continues to move Wisconsin forward, but he can’t do it alone. The out-of-state special interests will not rest until they once again control the state. Mary Burke knows she has the support of these big-government groups and is planning on adding $5 million of her personal fortune to assist them.

The only interests Governor Walker cares about are those of the people of Wisconsin. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Matt Oczkowski
Digital Director

I am not aware of any unions that are gung ho about Mary Burke. Heck, I don't know many people outside of Democratic Party officials that are very gung ho about Burke.  But that is by far not the most ironic part.

Note the parts that I have emphasized:

Governor Walker continues to move Wisconsin forward, but he can’t do it alone. The out-of-state special interests will not rest until they once again control the state.

The only interests Governor Walker cares about are those of the people of Wisconsin.

Apparently we are supposed to ignore that the majority of his support - both legal and illegal - have come from the Koch Brothers, the Bradley Foundation and numerous other corporate special interests.

As outrageous as those statements are, the frightening part is that there are actually people that believe that garbage.

Bill Williams: International Man of Misery

Bill Williams, President of Gogebic Taconite (GTAC), is a very unpleasant fellow.  His disposition appears to be one of an assaultive nature.

He assaulted Wisconsin's democracy and legislative process by buying off State Representative Mark

Honadel and the other Teapublicans in order to get a mining bill, which is company wrote, passed despite the overwhelming opposition to it.  I would be remiss if I also did not bring up the matter of the armed mercernaries that Williams hired to threaten and intimidate Wisconsinites who might approach the area.  I should also remind the gentle reader that these Penokee Pinkertons were here illegally.

During the process, Williams is accused of assaulting an opponent to the mine:

An opponent of the proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) mine in Ashland and Iron counties has filed a report with City of Ashland Police, alleging he was assaulted by GTAC President Bill Williams on Thursday at the Ashland County Courthouse after the Ashland County Board overwhelmingly approved a pair of mining-related ordinances.

David Joe Bates, a Bad River Tribal member from Odanah, said Williams snatched a cellphone he was using to record a conversation between Williams and Ashland County Administrator Jeff Beirl following the meeting.

“Bill Williams was angry with the passage of the zoning ordinance and he took his rage out on me,” Bates said in an email to The Daily Press. “By the way, I have been diagnosed with a hyperextended shoulder as a direct result of this assault. I’ll be lawyering up!”

Bates asserted on a Facebook posting that Williams “ripped the cell phone right out of my hand.”

As it turns out, it appears that Wisconsin isn't the only place where Williams has wrought his mayhem.

In the past few days, it has come out that there is a great likelihood that Williams will be facing charges in Spain for damaging the ecology near a copper mine and injecting arsenic-rich water into the groundwater, as reported by Barbara With at Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative:

In breaking news yesterday, a federation of over 300 environmental groups in Spain called Ecologists in Action (EIA) announced that Gogebic Taconite (GTac) President Bill Williams is facing criminal trial in Spain for multiple environmental violations committed while he was director of the Cobre Las Cruces (CLC) copper mine in Seville Province. Charges include the illegal pumping of arsenic-contaminated water into the local aquifer and other criminal damage to public property. Also being charged are François Fleury and Paz Cosmen, also employees of CLC.

Williams previously denied any involvement with the environmental problems at Cobre Las Cruces, claiming that he left the mine before the damage was done. On July 19, 2011 Williams addressed a crowd at the Deep Water Grill (see video below), citing Cobre Las Cruces as an example of a successful application of the “dry stacking” technology GTac claims would eliminate toxic runoff from waste rock at its proposed Penokee Hills iron mine. The Spanish court case, however, makes it clear that operations at Cobre Las Cruces caused significant environmental damage and that this damage occurred on Williams’ watch.

According to an article in No A La Mina, in 2008 EIA requested an outside hydrologist be brought in to monitor the water management system of the Cobre Las Cruces mine. At that time they also requested that judicial proceedings be opened against CLC for alleged crimes against the environment.

I would strongly suggest that the gentle reader also read the reports by Tony Stella at Stella Reports, who feels that it is all but a matter of time before Williams gets charged. Stella also provides a concise summary of the situation:

The court has concluded a preliminary period of investigation which included written responses from Bill Williams and others. It was determined that sufficient evidence exists to proceed with charges against three of the defendants, including Mr. Williams. One defendant was found to have joined the company after the violations took place, and he was dismissed from the proceeding.

The defendants subsequently appealed. A panel of judges has denied that appeal, finding enough evidence or "reasonable suspicion" to proceed, and no further appeals are allowed at this stage, meaning the prosecutor and Ecologists in Action have the green light to proceed with the charging documents. The court is now merely awaiting the charging documents, similar to our "information" or "indictment," and a trial will take place based on those charging documents, according to the individual quoted above, who has been closely involved in the case.

Mr. Williams will be subpoenaed to appear at the trial, but extradition is not guaranteed in this case, and it is possible he could be tried in his absence if the court so decides. The initially stated charges do carry the possibility of prison sentences.

Via Stella, there is also a link to an Spanish news article on the subject (which is poorly translated).

I would also recommend that the gentle reader follow Woods Person who is also following the story very closely.

No matter which way you look at it, the story is the same.  Williams is a soulless, greedy thug that is only concerned with increasing his wealth through corruption and exploitation.  He is a poor steward of natural resources and is selling the state a maleficent bill of wares which will leave our environment in ruins and the state to pay for the mess he is being allowed to cause.