From the very talented Garfunkel and Oates (NSFW - language)
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
It's Hard To Keep A Good Union Down
In 2012, the state of Indiana passed Right to Work legislation in an effort to bust the unions. Things didn't work out quite the way they had planned:
But as they have been proven wrong so many times before, they are in for a big surprise.
It really is hard to keep a good union down.
Speaking of Right to Work, keep the evening of September 3 open. The Milwaukee Area Labor Council will be holding a town hall meeting, open to the public, to discuss that very topic.
Likewise, here in Wisconsin, when Scott Walker and his Teapublican cronies dropped their Act 10 bomb on the state, it was meant to bust our unions. Again, things didn't happen quite the way they planned:Two years after Indiana became a right-to-work state, the membership decline unions feared hasn‘t happened.
Unionization slipped from one in nine Hoosier workers in 2011 to one out of 11 in 2012, when right-to-work took effect. But union membership had been sliding for years before that, and in the first full year of right-to-work, membership actually rebounded by two-tenths of a percent.
During debate over the law, unions predicted their membership would decline while the number of “free riders” — workers enjoying the benefits of collective bargaining without paying dues — would rise.
Indiana AFLCIO president Brett Voorhies credits unions’ efforts to serve their members with averting those outcomes.
“In certain areas maybe right-to-work has affected some of our facilities but definitely not in a way that was predicted,” says Voorhies.
The US Department of Labor says about 10-percent of Hoosier workers represented by unions are nonmembers. That‘s the highest figure in three years.
The department says Indiana unions added about 3,000 members in 2013, and the same number of nonmembers working in union shops.
Voorhies says the organization hasn‘t changed its view that the law was a bad one.
On Wednesday, a Lake County judge became the second to rule the law unconstitutional. The Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments in September.
In 2012, Wisconsin had the third largest decrease in union membership. In 2013, Wisconsin baffled many of the "experts" by having the seventh largest increase in membership:Now that the highly politicized Supreme Court upheld Act 10, despite all legal and common sense, there has been talk about the unions being done. Furthermore, the fact is regardless of November's gubernatorial election results, the Teapublicans will try to push through Right to Work here.
There was a surprise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday on union membership: Trade unions appear to have gained ground in Wisconsin last year.But as the gentle reader knows, when it comes to all things Walker, there is more. There is always more:
Wisconsin’s union membership rate -- the percentage of wage and salary workers who belong to unions -- rose from 11.25 percent to 12.34 percent, the seventh biggest gain in the nation. This after 2012, when Wisconsin had the third largest decrease in the nation.
The report shows Wisconsin had an increase of about 24,000 union members in 2013, while the overall number of wage and salaried workers dipped by about 36,000.So while Walker's agenda was costing the state tens of thousands of jobs, those managing to hang on to their jobs or get new ones were even more eager to join or rejoin the unions.
This was also exemplified when most unions were able to recertify at the end of last year despite they way Walker tried to manipulate the voting by putting insane obstacles in the way.
I've got to hand it to Walker. That is some mighty impressive union organizing.
But as they have been proven wrong so many times before, they are in for a big surprise.
It really is hard to keep a good union down.
Speaking of Right to Work, keep the evening of September 3 open. The Milwaukee Area Labor Council will be holding a town hall meeting, open to the public, to discuss that very topic.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
David Clarke's Funniest Flier Yet!
David Clarke, the current Milwaukee County Sheriff, has been proving himself to be quite the fool and the spendthrift by sending out multiple campaign fliers to people like myself and James Rowen, who simply demolished Clarke's first mailer.
I have received three such fliers from Clarke so far. Most of them have the same talking points. He touts his education, even though he doesn't know that heroin is a depressant and not a hallucinogen. And of course, Clarke boasts of his law enforcement expertise, such as helping drunk drivers get out of snow banks.
It is Clarke's third and most recent mailer that had me laughing out loud. Take a look for yourself:
The first thing one would notice is the picture of Clarke, playing cowboy. That is one of the biggest examples of the way Clarke loves to squander taxpayer dollars. Instead of using that money for fighting crime or something, he uses it to rent a horse and pose for photo ops.
Also, if one looks at the postage mark, one would notice that the mailer originated from West Bend. Why would a Milwaukee County official seeking reelection for a Milwaukee County office send their mailers from Washington County?
But the thing that made me do a spit take was the middle paragraph in the center. It reads:
Do I really need to mention how Clarke pulled Milwaukee County deputies to escort and guard then presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Republican, for an event in Waukesha County? Or how Clarke refused to provide even basic protection for President Barack Obama, a Democrat? How is that not political? I should also point out that Clarke has a pattern of speaking at the Koch Brothers-funded TEA Party events.
Needless to say, Clarke made the office as partisan as he possibly could.
Now, if the gentle reader would like to see what a nonpartisan sheriff would look like, we can see a glimpse of the future with Chris Moews, who is the only person who could pull of being pictured with the very progressive Marina Dimitrijevic and her bipolar opposite, the plutocratic Chris Abele:
Let us be rid of that doofus Clarke once and for all. Vote for Chris Moews on August 12th!
I have received three such fliers from Clarke so far. Most of them have the same talking points. He touts his education, even though he doesn't know that heroin is a depressant and not a hallucinogen. And of course, Clarke boasts of his law enforcement expertise, such as helping drunk drivers get out of snow banks.
It is Clarke's third and most recent mailer that had me laughing out loud. Take a look for yourself:
The first thing one would notice is the picture of Clarke, playing cowboy. That is one of the biggest examples of the way Clarke loves to squander taxpayer dollars. Instead of using that money for fighting crime or something, he uses it to rent a horse and pose for photo ops.
Also, if one looks at the postage mark, one would notice that the mailer originated from West Bend. Why would a Milwaukee County official seeking reelection for a Milwaukee County office send their mailers from Washington County?
But the thing that made me do a spit take was the middle paragraph in the center. It reads:
As you know, in Milwaukee County there is a political class that does not tolerate a different viewpoint like mine. However, I have made the Sheriff's Office nonpartisan, and I have provided high-quality law enforcement for all. This disturbs the courthouse "insiders." If they succeed in their all-out efforts to end the Sheriff's Office mission of protection, and return it to politics, you, the people, will lose your voice in public safety.Really?! He made the Sheriff's Office nonpartisan? Really?
Do I really need to mention how Clarke pulled Milwaukee County deputies to escort and guard then presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Republican, for an event in Waukesha County? Or how Clarke refused to provide even basic protection for President Barack Obama, a Democrat? How is that not political? I should also point out that Clarke has a pattern of speaking at the Koch Brothers-funded TEA Party events.
Needless to say, Clarke made the office as partisan as he possibly could.
Now, if the gentle reader would like to see what a nonpartisan sheriff would look like, we can see a glimpse of the future with Chris Moews, who is the only person who could pull of being pictured with the very progressive Marina Dimitrijevic and her bipolar opposite, the plutocratic Chris Abele:
Let us be rid of that doofus Clarke once and for all. Vote for Chris Moews on August 12th!
Rand "The Flash" Paul
By Jeff Simpson
Comic Book afficianado's all know the Flash will be a weekly television series this fall. Here at CogDis we obtained a sneak preview. I did not know though that they had cast Rand Paul as Barry Allen:
Yes that was presidential hopeful Rand Paul in your screen for one split second. Mr. Paul was engaging in the latest craze "how quick can a tea party politician run from a question" and currently holds the record. However we fully expect it to be challenged and broken many times between now and November!
PS: Yes, that is CooCoo King explaining how he loves immigrants as long as they are not drug dealers. He also has an innovative new way of finding out if people are drug dealers or not - Just ask them!
Comic Book afficianado's all know the Flash will be a weekly television series this fall. Here at CogDis we obtained a sneak preview. I did not know though that they had cast Rand Paul as Barry Allen:
Yes that was presidential hopeful Rand Paul in your screen for one split second. Mr. Paul was engaging in the latest craze "how quick can a tea party politician run from a question" and currently holds the record. However we fully expect it to be challenged and broken many times between now and November!
PS: Yes, that is CooCoo King explaining how he loves immigrants as long as they are not drug dealers. He also has an innovative new way of finding out if people are drug dealers or not - Just ask them!
Fair Goers Living With Health Insurance Changes
The latest from Senator Vinehout!
Fair-goers Living with Health Insurance Changes; Asking for More
Fair-goers Living with Health Insurance Changes; Asking for More
by
Senator Kathleen Vinehout
“The Affordable Care Act has been godsend for me,” the middle-aged, single man whispered to me at the Jackson County Fair. “I had paid $336 a month, now I pay $56 and its better insurance.”
Health insurance, and what Wisconsin should do about it, was the topic of conversation at the Jackson County Fair. A local civic organization asked fair-goers the question; is the Affordable Care Act the same as Obamacare? Three out of four who answered this unscientific poll were correct: Yes!
One woman worried about the quarter who got the answer wrong. “They agree adult children should be covered on their parents plan until age 26,” she told me. “They agree women should not pay more than men, pre-existing conditions should be covered, no life-time caps and we should have lower rates – but they hate Obamacare. They don’t know these are the same.”
I heard many whispered thanks for lower rates; whispered because it might not be socially acceptable to embrace Obamacare in mixed company at the fair. But moving from Jackson County to border counties - Trempealeau and Buffalo – I heard comparisons with Minnesota.
“My sister pays a third of what I pay,” a woman said. “She lives in Winona. Why can’t I get a better price?” Both women bought health insurance on the exchange. Minnesota has its own exchange; Wisconsin’s governor turned down that option.
Reporters at the St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed health insurance exchange rates across 36 states divided into 406 geographic areas. The Dunn County News summarized the reporters’ work:
The Twin Cities [is] a rating area that has the lowest "benchmark" premium for a 50-year-old who doesn't smoke, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services... The newspaper found that the rating area that covers Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties in western Wisconsin has the second-highest benchmark premium for a 50-year-old nonsmoker.
How can it be the Cities has the lowest health insurance rates and, just across the river, the rates are the second highest of 406 different geographic areas?
The article attributes the price difference to a lack of competition in Wisconsin and “a convergence of policy decisions” between the two states. Two reasons mentioned by the Pioneer Press are the way the two states handled high-risk pools (known in Wisconsin as HIRSP) and whether or not the state accepted hundreds of millions in federal Medicaid money for newly eligible people.
Minnesota decided to keep high-risk people in their own state-run pool – at least for now. Wisconsin chose to eliminate the pool and send high-risk people to private insurance. Wisconsin’s HIRSP program was very effective at providing high quality care while carefully controlling health costs.
Moving some 60,000 Wisconsin parents from BadgerCare to the private exchange likely raised rates for others buying through the exchange. Statistics tell us families of modest means will have higher health costs than those better off.
Debate still rages on whether or not Wisconsin should have its own exchange. I’m firmly in the “yes” camp. In the proposed law I drafted to create a Badger Health Exchange, high risk individuals would not immediately lose coverage and be sent to commercial insurance (raising rates in the entire pool). And in budget amendments drafted by my colleagues and me, Wisconsin would accept the projected $2.4 billion federal money over 8 years and keep low-income parents on BadgerCare when their children were also eligible.
Recent state health department data shows a surprisingly low number of people who lost BadgerCare actually got insurance through the federal exchange. Only a third of parents who lost BadgerCare actually got private insurance. These families all live on the edge of poverty and all have children living at home.
Fair-goers I’ve met over the past few weeks don’t understand why Wisconsin’s governor turned back hundreds of millions to keep up the anti-Obamacare rhetoric. As one farmer said, “It’s the law and we have to move on. We might not like it all, but it’s the best we’ve got.”
For those who now have affordable coverage the whispered words remain: the new law is a godsend.
Health insurance, and what Wisconsin should do about it, was the topic of conversation at the Jackson County Fair. A local civic organization asked fair-goers the question; is the Affordable Care Act the same as Obamacare? Three out of four who answered this unscientific poll were correct: Yes!
One woman worried about the quarter who got the answer wrong. “They agree adult children should be covered on their parents plan until age 26,” she told me. “They agree women should not pay more than men, pre-existing conditions should be covered, no life-time caps and we should have lower rates – but they hate Obamacare. They don’t know these are the same.”
I heard many whispered thanks for lower rates; whispered because it might not be socially acceptable to embrace Obamacare in mixed company at the fair. But moving from Jackson County to border counties - Trempealeau and Buffalo – I heard comparisons with Minnesota.
“My sister pays a third of what I pay,” a woman said. “She lives in Winona. Why can’t I get a better price?” Both women bought health insurance on the exchange. Minnesota has its own exchange; Wisconsin’s governor turned down that option.
Reporters at the St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed health insurance exchange rates across 36 states divided into 406 geographic areas. The Dunn County News summarized the reporters’ work:
The Twin Cities [is] a rating area that has the lowest "benchmark" premium for a 50-year-old who doesn't smoke, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services... The newspaper found that the rating area that covers Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties in western Wisconsin has the second-highest benchmark premium for a 50-year-old nonsmoker.
How can it be the Cities has the lowest health insurance rates and, just across the river, the rates are the second highest of 406 different geographic areas?
The article attributes the price difference to a lack of competition in Wisconsin and “a convergence of policy decisions” between the two states. Two reasons mentioned by the Pioneer Press are the way the two states handled high-risk pools (known in Wisconsin as HIRSP) and whether or not the state accepted hundreds of millions in federal Medicaid money for newly eligible people.
Minnesota decided to keep high-risk people in their own state-run pool – at least for now. Wisconsin chose to eliminate the pool and send high-risk people to private insurance. Wisconsin’s HIRSP program was very effective at providing high quality care while carefully controlling health costs.
Moving some 60,000 Wisconsin parents from BadgerCare to the private exchange likely raised rates for others buying through the exchange. Statistics tell us families of modest means will have higher health costs than those better off.
Debate still rages on whether or not Wisconsin should have its own exchange. I’m firmly in the “yes” camp. In the proposed law I drafted to create a Badger Health Exchange, high risk individuals would not immediately lose coverage and be sent to commercial insurance (raising rates in the entire pool). And in budget amendments drafted by my colleagues and me, Wisconsin would accept the projected $2.4 billion federal money over 8 years and keep low-income parents on BadgerCare when their children were also eligible.
Recent state health department data shows a surprisingly low number of people who lost BadgerCare actually got insurance through the federal exchange. Only a third of parents who lost BadgerCare actually got private insurance. These families all live on the edge of poverty and all have children living at home.
Fair-goers I’ve met over the past few weeks don’t understand why Wisconsin’s governor turned back hundreds of millions to keep up the anti-Obamacare rhetoric. As one farmer said, “It’s the law and we have to move on. We might not like it all, but it’s the best we’ve got.”
For those who now have affordable coverage the whispered words remain: the new law is a godsend.
Walkergate: Save That Date!
The local paper is saying that the next batch of documents related to the John Doe investigation could be coming out in a couple of weeks:
It will be interesting to see what is in those documents, when and if they are released.
And speaking of documents that need to be released, there still has been no word from Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele when and if the documents from the original Walkergate proceedings might be released.
Abele has been dragging his feet on this for months. He first refused to ask for the documents back even though they are property of the county and it is his job to get them back. His delaying became so egregious that the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors had to step in and tell him to do his job.
And even then, Abele dragged his feet and went so far as to suggest that Scott Walker be allowed to go through the documents to take out the things he didn't want to be made public.
There is no telling if and when Abele will release the documents or what shape they will be in when they finally do get released. I would not be surprised if they are released with more missing data than a Richard Nixon tape.
It is really making me wonder just who is Abele trying to protect? Scott Walker? Sheldon Lubar? Himself?
You can help, gentle reader, by contacting Abele at 414-278-4211 or email him at countyexec@milwaukeecountywi.gov and tell him to release the documents in their entirety and to do so immediately.
The article reports that this order was released just days after prosecutors made their strongest case yet on why the federal appellate court should overrule Judge Rudolph Randa's inappropriate ruling that the investigation end.A federal appeals court signaled Monday it would make public in two weeks nearly three dozen sealed filings in a lawsuit over the probe into fundraising and spending by Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and his conservative backers.
In an unsigned order, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said it had received 34 fully or partially sealed documents in the case and that it planned to make them public Aug. 19 unless it receives motions to prevent the unsealing.
It will be interesting to see what is in those documents, when and if they are released.
And speaking of documents that need to be released, there still has been no word from Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele when and if the documents from the original Walkergate proceedings might be released.
Abele has been dragging his feet on this for months. He first refused to ask for the documents back even though they are property of the county and it is his job to get them back. His delaying became so egregious that the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors had to step in and tell him to do his job.
And even then, Abele dragged his feet and went so far as to suggest that Scott Walker be allowed to go through the documents to take out the things he didn't want to be made public.
There is no telling if and when Abele will release the documents or what shape they will be in when they finally do get released. I would not be surprised if they are released with more missing data than a Richard Nixon tape.
It is really making me wonder just who is Abele trying to protect? Scott Walker? Sheldon Lubar? Himself?
You can help, gentle reader, by contacting Abele at 414-278-4211 or email him at countyexec@milwaukeecountywi.gov and tell him to release the documents in their entirety and to do so immediately.
Tamra, You Have Some 'Splaining To Do!
By Jeff Simpson
What the Heck is happening in the Racine area? Are things as crazy as Jonathan Steitz appears to be? Are the republicans as unethical as we all know Robin Vos to be? Or after gerrymandering and owning all three branches of Government do our friends on the right believe that, like the Governor they all love, the rules do not apply to them?
Sorry I got ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.
Local resident Tamra Varebrook, is very involved in extremist right wing politics.
Tamra is a single mom of one daughter. After many years standing on the sidelines of the political scene, she realized things were not headed in the right direction and decided to step up.
For the last three years, Tamra has been extremely active in politics in both Racine County and Statewide. She is an elected member of the Racine County GOP board. She also sits on the public relations committee, and chairs the programs and activities committee.
During the historic recall election of the Wisconsin Governor and six Senators, Tamra and her daughter put hundreds of hours fighting against the local, state, and national union machines; even agreeing to be the protest candidate for her Senator under recall, making it necessary to force primaries in all races.
Ms. Varebrook is so involved in the extremist politics she ran as a fake democrat in the recall elections, costing local taxpayers needless thousands of dollars. No price is too high to elect republicans!
Ms. Varebrook also sees herself as a defender of the Constitution. '
Tamra is no stranger to the local media. You can see her often speaking out in support of our constitutional rights, against big government, and most recently against the indoctrination of our children in public schools. She appeared locally and nationally on “Fox and Friends”, after discovering a Civics lesson of her eighth-grade daughter’s defining ‘conservatism’ as restricting personal freedoms.The problem for Ms. Varebrook, is that she put the same attention to detail in reading the Constitution as she did in memorizing her address. It appears that Ms. Varebrook may possibly have voted illegally and misrepresented her address to polling officials.
As Tamra’s daughter grows up, and is only a few short years from adulthood, she feels the need to fight for not only hers, but her daughter’s future and freedom.
Whoops!
We at CogDis obtained a very well documented and sourced complaint that has been filed with the GAB! The alleged charges are as follows:
I allege that: Tamra L. Varebrook, who voted in the Presidential Preference & SpringElection of 2012 (April 3, 2013) in the city of Racine at the St. Edwards polling location,was not a qualified elector at that location and municipality and intentionally used a falseresidential address, which is a violation of Wisconsin State Statute 12:13(1)(a).Further, I allege that Tamra L. Varebrook worked as a paid poll worker at the HumblePark Community Center polling location for the Spring Primary Election on February 21,2012, in the city of Racine and was at the time, a resident of Union Grove. TamraVarebrook misrepresented herself as a qualified elections inspector to the Clerk of theCity of Racine, and to the Chief Inspector at the Humble Park polling location in violationof Wisconsin State Statute 12:13(1)(b).
I allege Tamra L. Varebrook voted at St. Edwards polling location on that same electionday (February 21, 2012) and was not a qualified elector in the city of Racine but insteada resident of Union Grove, a violation of Wisconsin State Statute 12:13(1)(a).
I allege Aubrey Willms knew Tamra Varebrook was using her address as her legal votingaddress and lied to protect Ms. Varebrook and herself from responsibility in violation ofWisconsin State Statute 12:13(1)(h).
I believe Tamra Varebrook may have voted illegally from this address before these twodates, no less than on six occasions according to VPA records.
See according to her receipt for being a POLL WORKER, she listed her address as:
According to Tamra Varebrook’s pay receipt from the Racine Clerk’s office, she listedher address as 1414 Orchard Street Racine, Wisconsin 53405.
Yet her actual address was in Union Grove, WI!
OOPS!
That leaves us Inquiring minds at CogDis to ask a few questions.
* "Has Tamra Varebrook been lying about her address to vote?"* Does she not know where she lives? * Does she think that her one vote in a place where she does not even live will have any kind of effect on the actual outcome?* Does she support voter ID to keep herself from voting?* Does she have a getaway planned if she gets caught?* Will Ms. Varebrook be on "Fox and Friends" to tell people how to vote illegally?
* Can I be on "Fox and Friends" for breaking the story of the tea party (alleged) outlaw?* Is she also fighting for her daughter's freedom to vote in any ward she feels like voting that day?
* How would she handle it if she were to ever catch someone on the left illegally voting?* Will the GAB do anything about this?* Why are these stories always always always about hardcore far right republicans?* Was Glenn Grothman referring to Ms. Varebrook specifically when he discussed single mothers?
* Would voting in the wrong precinct and lying about where you live to poll workers, officially be considered a Bozo No - No?
* Since Ms. Varebrook is such a strong supporter of "school choice" could she just be supporting "voter choice" here?
* Are there any laws that you feel applies to both Democrats and Republicans alike?* If you spent time in prison, heaven forbid, what is the one food you would hate having to give up?
* Finally, if you are a "conservative" what exactly are you conserving?
We at CogDis await with bated breath to see how this plays out and will bring you more details as they become available!
Monday, August 4, 2014
The Company He Keeps
By Jeff Simpson
You can tell a man’s character is known by the kind of company he keeps.
In a recent fundraising email, Scott Walker sent out:
Millions of Americans tune in to hear Rush Limbaugh every week. When he talks, conservatives listen and liberals shudder. He has single handedly revolutionized conservative talk radio and recently he gave us an extraordinary compliment that I want to share with you.
He asked why our political rivals and their friends in the liberal media didn't defeat me in the recall race in 2012 and he said it was because "the reality is he is a hugely successful governor. He has fixed a lot of things that were broken in that state."
In a nutshell, Rush is advancing the argument that the reason the Big Government Labor Bosses and the Obama Machine were unable to beat me is because of our results.
Nothing like touting a compliment from the imbecilic hate monger himself. In case you have not heard him for a while, today Rush said:
But wait, there's more:
“If there is Ebola in the world, it might as well be here so Obama can strut his stuff.”
"f you feed them, if you feed the children, three square meals a day during the school year, how can you expect them to feed themselves in the summer? Wanton little waifs and serfs dependent on the State. Pure and simple." -Rush Limbaugh, December, 2011
"[Obama] wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black. Somebody asked me over the weekend why does somebody earn a lot of money have a lot of money, because she's black. It was Oprah. No, it can't be. Yes, it is. There’s a lot of guilt out there, show we're not racists, we'll make this person wealthy and big and famous and so forth.... If Obama weren't black he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu or he'd be teaching Saul Alinsky constitutional law or lecturing on it in Chicago." --Rush Limbaugh, July 6, 2010
"Holocaust 90 million Indians? Only four million left? They all have casinos, what's to complain about?" --Rush Limbaugh in 2009
Yes that is the guy who Scott Walker is proud to call friend and supporter!
By the way what does Scott Walker have to say about that?
Asked how voters might judge governors who bid for the presidency, the Wisconsinite replied, “Governors should be defined not just by what they do and say, but who they surround themselves with, making sure to have the smartest person for a particular task or to head a specific agency. They should be judged on that basis and who they take advice from.”
D'oh!
Bruce Walkner - Scott Raulkner
By Jeff Simpson
Sometimes it is hard to tell the players apart.
In Illinois there is a gubernatorial race between Incumbent Pat Quinn and 1%er Bruce Rauner. Rauner, perpetually states his low expectations for his success by letting everyone know his role model is Scott Walker.
Now we see that he truly means it:
Sometimes it is hard to tell the players apart.
In Illinois there is a gubernatorial race between Incumbent Pat Quinn and 1%er Bruce Rauner. Rauner, perpetually states his low expectations for his success by letting everyone know his role model is Scott Walker.
“Rauner says he would model his governorship after those of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.” – Associated Press, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/illinois-voters-pick-gop-governor-nominee
Rauner “calls Scott Walker and Mitch Daniels his political mentors” – National Review, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373679/illinoiss-scott-walker-eliana-johnson/page/0/1
Chicago Magazine: “Which governors do you admire?” Rauner: “… Scott Walker in Wisconsin has done good things” http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2013/Rauner-Interview/
Now we see that he truly means it:
Rauner said: "We may have to go through rough times. We may have to do what Ronald Reagan did with the air traffic controllers. Sort of have to do a do-over and shut things down for a little while. That's what we're gonna do."
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Dem of the Day - Joel Gratz
By Jeff Simpson
The Democrat of the day today is Joel Gratz!
Joel Gratz is head of the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee. Gratz was charged with recruiting candidates and turning the assembly blue! Gratz also runs a polling & campaign services company(how convenient). Even though I do not own a polling and campaign service company, I am pretty sure when you let 25 of 99 seats go unchallenged, that's 25 seats you can not win.
The son of a lobbyist, who has been in this position since 2011 has a passion for
Meanwhile, here is a snapshot of his work.
In the 47th Assembly district, Gratz successfully challenged and was able to get a Green party candidate kicked off the ballot to allow Robb Kahl to run unopposed!
In the 33rd Assembly district, Steve nASS's old seat, Gratz left that seat completely unchallenged. The candidate there sure has some great ideas:
Good job Joel, keep up the great work, Robin Vos appreciates it!
The Democrat of the day today is Joel Gratz!
Joel Gratz is head of the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee. Gratz was charged with recruiting candidates and turning the assembly blue! Gratz also runs a polling & campaign services company(how convenient). Even though I do not own a polling and campaign service company, I am pretty sure when you let 25 of 99 seats go unchallenged, that's 25 seats you can not win.
The son of a lobbyist, who has been in this position since 2011 has a passion for
My passion throughout my career has always been most focused on the importance of democratic majorities in the legislature.You do the math.
Meanwhile, here is a snapshot of his work.
In the 47th Assembly district, Gratz successfully challenged and was able to get a Green party candidate kicked off the ballot to allow Robb Kahl to run unopposed!
In the 33rd Assembly district, Steve nASS's old seat, Gratz left that seat completely unchallenged. The candidate there sure has some great ideas:
Describe one area in which you differ from your party leadership.
Bill Lurvey: I differ with leadership on right to work. I would be interested in passing a bill to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state.
Good job Joel, keep up the great work, Robin Vos appreciates it!
Sunday, August 3, 2014
They Can't Say We Didn't Warn Them
When Scott Walker was running for governor, some of the police and firefighter unions supported him because he was promising to end residency rules, something they wants for a long, long time.We warned them not to trust him but they ignored us.
When Walker dropped his Act 10 bomb on the state, the same groups continued to support Walker because he told them that they would be exempt from the law.
We warned them not to trust him but they ignored us.
Now that Walker is sniffing around at a presidential run, he is considering making Act 10 apply to these groups as well.
Needless to say, they're not happy:
Responding to statements made yesterday by Gov. Scott Walker before the Governmental Research Association Conference in Milwaukee that he would consider signing legislation to expand Act 10 to include police officers and fire fighters, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association’s executive director, Jim Palmer, issued the following statement:I am not happy that the police and firefighters might have to face the same misery the rest of the public sector is dealing with under Act 10, they can't say we didn't warn them.
“Upon the introduction of his Act 10 legislation in 2010, Gov. Walker publicly expressed his belief that because public safety was so fundamentally important, police officers and fire fighters ought to maintain their rights to bargain over their wages, hours, and working conditions. If his comments yesterday were a trial balloon for a possible presidential run, then Gov. Walker has made a serious misstep. Law enforcement across the state supported the Governor in his last budget because he clearly had made law enforcement a top priority. Given that law enforcement officers and firefighters are almost universally paying towards their pensions and can no longer negotiate over their health insurance, there is no genuine need for a further expansion of Act 10. It is disappointing that public safety now appears to be taking a back seat to partisan presidential politics, and we hope the Governor reconsiders his unfortunate position on this issue.”
We knew what a weasel he is all along.
Dan Adams Makes Last Minute Change To Campaign Strategy
Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele convinced Dan Adams (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abele Party) to run for the Assembly District 19 seat, which was opened up when Jon Richards chose to run for Attorney General. Abele wanted to increase his "sphere of influence" in Madison, because the Teapublicans he was paying off just wasn't enough.
Adams started running his campaign with a platform of being against potholes and for buy-partisanship.
Predictably, that agenda did not go over well in one of the most progressive areas of the state.
So the Abele/Adams campaign decided to change their strategy from winning the race to running a "anyone but Marina Dimitrijevic" smear job.
It started a couple of weeks ago when a "concerned citizen" supposedly did an open records request and found that Dimitrijevic didn't use the courthouse parking lot very much. This "concerned citizen" then leaked this information to members of the corporate media, like Dan Bice and Charlie Sykes, who exclaimed that this showed she wasn't working hard enough!
Of course, this was nonsense. Being a county supervisor is hardly a 9-5 office job. Dimitrijevic is well known for being in the community a lot, holding hundreds of town hall meetings and attending numerous events. Also, Dimitrijevic is known for being a big supporter of the transit system and often rides the bus. For people to jump to such silly conclusions without doing basic research is simply irresponsible.
But there's more. There's always more.
It turns out that the "concerned citizen," Joe Trawitzki, didn't actually do the open records request. That was done by Attorney Sam Hall, who is a supporter of Adams.
So not only Adams tried to smear Dimitrijevic, he also tried to cover up his role in the dirty deed.
A few days later, Bruce Murphy of the blog Urban Milwaukee, who has been a long time fan of all things Abele, launched a screed against Dimitrijevic, accusing her of "sheer ambition." Although it's hard to tell what Murphy is angry about, it appears that he is upset because she would leave her job as a county supervisor if she wins the election. Murphy apparently wasn't aware of this and took away one of his attack points, although he sure tried to use it anyway.
I must add that I am disappointed in Murphy's choice of words. All too often, when a woman politician seeks higher office, people use words like "sheer ambition," which they never would use for a man doing the same thing. Then again, this isn't the first time that Team Abele has shown misogyny towards Dimitrijevic. His mouthpiece, Brendan Conway, referred to Dimitrijevic as a "mean girl," something for which Abele's office still needs to apologize. Abele also attacked Dimitrijevic, saying she was only concerned about not getting paid as much. He did this on Equal Pay Day, an event to draw attention to the fact that women don't get paid as much as men.
The Abele Party's attack on Dimitrijevic when used the Greater Milwaukee Committee's PAC, Forward Milwaukee County, to send out this ridiculous flier:
There is so much wrong with this flier, it's hard to know where to begin. Heck, it's difficult to just get past the immaturity and poor quality of the flier.
They obviously are so desperate to keep Dimitrijevic and couldn't find suitable headlines to support their baseless attacks that they had to make up their own headlines and cherry pick the quotes used.
I have no clue as to why they chose to add Jonathan Brostoff to be a victim of their pettiness. Brostoff hasn't been with the county for years and even when he was a county worker, he was a legislative aide to Chris Larson, and never an elected official.
I should also note that Forward Milwaukee County has had done Abele's bidding before, even if it meant breaking the law and sending emails to county workers and officials at their county email addresses, telling them out to vote on the red herring referendum last spring.
All of this negativity, immaturity, misogyny and out right lying show that neither Adams nor Abele or really fit for public office.
That said, I also want to congratulate Dimitrijevic and her two other opponents, Brostoff and Sara Geenen, for running positive campaigns focused on their own qualifications and agendas and not responding to the mud being flung by the Abele/Adams campaign.
At least Abele has dropped the fallacious line about this not being personal. It's obviously very personal for him.
That is why, while I am supporting Dimitrijevic in this race, I won't be disappointed if either Brostoff or Geenen would win.
 |
| Adams and Abele So happy smearing together |
Predictably, that agenda did not go over well in one of the most progressive areas of the state.
So the Abele/Adams campaign decided to change their strategy from winning the race to running a "anyone but Marina Dimitrijevic" smear job.
It started a couple of weeks ago when a "concerned citizen" supposedly did an open records request and found that Dimitrijevic didn't use the courthouse parking lot very much. This "concerned citizen" then leaked this information to members of the corporate media, like Dan Bice and Charlie Sykes, who exclaimed that this showed she wasn't working hard enough!
Of course, this was nonsense. Being a county supervisor is hardly a 9-5 office job. Dimitrijevic is well known for being in the community a lot, holding hundreds of town hall meetings and attending numerous events. Also, Dimitrijevic is known for being a big supporter of the transit system and often rides the bus. For people to jump to such silly conclusions without doing basic research is simply irresponsible.
But there's more. There's always more.
It turns out that the "concerned citizen," Joe Trawitzki, didn't actually do the open records request. That was done by Attorney Sam Hall, who is a supporter of Adams.
So not only Adams tried to smear Dimitrijevic, he also tried to cover up his role in the dirty deed.
A few days later, Bruce Murphy of the blog Urban Milwaukee, who has been a long time fan of all things Abele, launched a screed against Dimitrijevic, accusing her of "sheer ambition." Although it's hard to tell what Murphy is angry about, it appears that he is upset because she would leave her job as a county supervisor if she wins the election. Murphy apparently wasn't aware of this and took away one of his attack points, although he sure tried to use it anyway.
I must add that I am disappointed in Murphy's choice of words. All too often, when a woman politician seeks higher office, people use words like "sheer ambition," which they never would use for a man doing the same thing. Then again, this isn't the first time that Team Abele has shown misogyny towards Dimitrijevic. His mouthpiece, Brendan Conway, referred to Dimitrijevic as a "mean girl," something for which Abele's office still needs to apologize. Abele also attacked Dimitrijevic, saying she was only concerned about not getting paid as much. He did this on Equal Pay Day, an event to draw attention to the fact that women don't get paid as much as men.
The Abele Party's attack on Dimitrijevic when used the Greater Milwaukee Committee's PAC, Forward Milwaukee County, to send out this ridiculous flier:
There is so much wrong with this flier, it's hard to know where to begin. Heck, it's difficult to just get past the immaturity and poor quality of the flier.
They obviously are so desperate to keep Dimitrijevic and couldn't find suitable headlines to support their baseless attacks that they had to make up their own headlines and cherry pick the quotes used.
I have no clue as to why they chose to add Jonathan Brostoff to be a victim of their pettiness. Brostoff hasn't been with the county for years and even when he was a county worker, he was a legislative aide to Chris Larson, and never an elected official.
I should also note that Forward Milwaukee County has had done Abele's bidding before, even if it meant breaking the law and sending emails to county workers and officials at their county email addresses, telling them out to vote on the red herring referendum last spring.
All of this negativity, immaturity, misogyny and out right lying show that neither Adams nor Abele or really fit for public office.
That said, I also want to congratulate Dimitrijevic and her two other opponents, Brostoff and Sara Geenen, for running positive campaigns focused on their own qualifications and agendas and not responding to the mud being flung by the Abele/Adams campaign.
At least Abele has dropped the fallacious line about this not being personal. It's obviously very personal for him.
That is why, while I am supporting Dimitrijevic in this race, I won't be disappointed if either Brostoff or Geenen would win.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Chris Abele's Very Bad, Rotten, No Good Day
Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele spent the day Thursday touting a blog post from OnMilwaukee.com naming him as one of Milwaukee's 12 most important people. I won't get into the fallacious reasoning behind that finding for now, outside of noting that he is right next to Scott Walker on that list.
Despite his best efforts to squash democracy once again, the Milwaukee County overrode three of Abele's vetoes regarding referendum questions that will appear on the ballot in November. The questions are pertaining to whether the state should raise the minimum wage, whether the state should accept federal funds to expand BadgerCare and whether the state should change state laws to allow Milwaukee County to have a county administrator instead of a county executive.
The reason that Abele was pushing this was to try to control the damage he suffered the rest of the day.
Despite his best efforts to squash democracy once again, the Milwaukee County overrode three of Abele's vetoes regarding referendum questions that will appear on the ballot in November. The questions are pertaining to whether the state should raise the minimum wage, whether the state should accept federal funds to expand BadgerCare and whether the state should change state laws to allow Milwaukee County to have a county administrator instead of a county executive.
Even though Abele claimed to support the first two items, he didn't support them enough not to veto them. Abele has been studiously avoiding discussing the third question even though there is video of him saying he would support this.
I have long advocated for getting rid of the county executive position. The last three people who have held that position - Tom Ament, Scott Walker and Abele - have shown that this position is wide open to corruption and to the abuse of office.
Abele stuck to his tired line of it costing too much money to add a few lines of ink to the ballot. Not many people believe that it would cost nearly as much as Abele is trying to claim. And even if it did, it is small potatoes compared to the amount of money Abele has squandered all by himself, with nothing to show for it.
But even the triumph of democracy over plutocracy wasn't Abele's biggest problem of the day.
It was the Supreme Court's ruling upholding Act 10.
One might think that Abele, being as anti-worker and anti-union as he is, would be elated at the ruling. But the fact is that actually puts him in a hole due to 1,200 Milwaukee County employees suddenly becoming eligible for the Rule of 75, where they can retire once their age and years of service add up to 75. That could cost as much as $60 million, money which he had earmarked for his rich friends for no bid contracts and sweetheart deals on county assets.
No wonder Abele felt the need to flee the state for a while. He's had a very bad day and needed to get away for a while.
Supreme Sophistry
The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued their decisions on three major cases on Thursday morning. The cases were about the same sex registry, voter ID and Act 10. The results weren't anything that we didn't expect, but it did show just how much of a joke that the Supreme Court has become with four of the "justices" being nothing more than sock puppets held up by the dark money special interests.
The small victory that humanity won was that the Supreme Court upheld the same sex registry. While it was nice to see one decision go according to the Constitution, it's small potatoes considering that the same sex marriage ban was found to be unconstitutional, not only in Wisconsin but in state after state across the country. I look forward to the day when people realize that bigotry in general isn't a constitutional right.
The Supreme Court also chose to uphold the Voter ID law, even though it has been found to be
unconstitutional in federal court. The rationale they offered was that it would help prevent the voter fraud that doesn't exist. Justice Pat Roggensack even rolled out the old rigmarole about needing a picture ID to go traveling, at the bank, etc. What she failed to understand is that none of the activities she cited are constitutional rights like voting is. As Justice Shirley Abrahamson correctly pointed out, this is the modern day version of Jim Crow.
Fortunately, because of the federal case, which is under appeal, there is a stay on the law for now. That said, soon to be former Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has declared that he will use the Supreme Court ruling to try to get that stay lifted in time for November's election. They must be really afraid that Mary Burke will bring a high turn out, which was supported in the most recent Marquette University poll numbers.
Last, but not least, the conservative faction of the Supreme Court followed their benefactors directions in supporting Act 10, even if they had to ignore entire sections of the case and the Constitution in order to do so.
As Justice Ann Walsh Bradley points out, Act 10 is a textbook case of unconstitutionality:
They are also saying that this is the death knell for the unions, which is as fallacious as the the rationale for the Supreme Court's decision. If I may remind the gentle reader, Wisconsin saw the seventh highest gain in union membership in the nation in 2013.
So while the rulings might be disappointing, they are not surprising. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work in fighting to restore our state to the greatness it once had and to return to the progressive standards that we have been known for.
The small victory that humanity won was that the Supreme Court upheld the same sex registry. While it was nice to see one decision go according to the Constitution, it's small potatoes considering that the same sex marriage ban was found to be unconstitutional, not only in Wisconsin but in state after state across the country. I look forward to the day when people realize that bigotry in general isn't a constitutional right.
The Supreme Court also chose to uphold the Voter ID law, even though it has been found to be
Fortunately, because of the federal case, which is under appeal, there is a stay on the law for now. That said, soon to be former Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has declared that he will use the Supreme Court ruling to try to get that stay lifted in time for November's election. They must be really afraid that Mary Burke will bring a high turn out, which was supported in the most recent Marquette University poll numbers.
Last, but not least, the conservative faction of the Supreme Court followed their benefactors directions in supporting Act 10, even if they had to ignore entire sections of the case and the Constitution in order to do so.
As Justice Ann Walsh Bradley points out, Act 10 is a textbook case of unconstitutionality:
Bradley writes in the dissent that the majority ignores the plaintiffs’ claim that Act 10 infringes on the constitutional right to organize into a collective bargaining unit, and erroneously focuses on the right to bargain as a collective bargaining unit, and then determines no such right exists.The right wing has been making a big deal out of this, saying that taking billions of dollars out of the economy, losing thousands of experienced workers and a decrease in services is somehow a good thing.
[...]
A constitutional right to organize as a collective bargaining unit is a well-established premise, the “sacredness” of which was stressed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court as early as 1902 and which the U.S. Supreme Court has declared a fundamental right, Bradley writes.
The First Amendment protects not just against prohibition of the right of association, but also from discouraging union membership or association, Bradley writes.
Act 10 discourages organizing by increasing its cost through the added expenses involved in preparing for annual elections and paying a certification fee, Bradley writes. In addition, revenues are reduced by the elimination of fair share agreements requiring members to pay a proportionate share of union costs, and by prohibiting municipalities from taking union dues out of workers’ pay checks, she adds.
“There is no doubt that these provisions act to discourage membership,” Bradley concludes.
Act 10 also creates unconstitutional conditions by barring workers organized under a collective bargaining agreement from negotiating anything other than an increase in base wages up to the amount of inflation, Bradley writes.
“This is the textbook definition of an unconstitutional condition,” she concludes. “By permitting such a statute to stand, the majority greatly dilutes the First Amendment on the right to freedom of association.”
They are also saying that this is the death knell for the unions, which is as fallacious as the the rationale for the Supreme Court's decision. If I may remind the gentle reader, Wisconsin saw the seventh highest gain in union membership in the nation in 2013.
So while the rulings might be disappointing, they are not surprising. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work in fighting to restore our state to the greatness it once had and to return to the progressive standards that we have been known for.
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