Sunday, August 17, 2014
Walker's Commits Fiscal Violence With BadgerCare Decision
Scott Walker and his Teapublican allies have a long history of committing fiscal violence against the people of Wisconsin.
It started when Walker dropped his Act 10 bomb on the state. And like a bomb, it caused and continues to cause a lot of damage to the people of the state, taking money out of their pockets and giving it away to wealthy campaign contributors and cronies.
Their fiscal violence continued with their maleficent manipulations to the unemployment compensation insurance and similar services.
However, the favored target for their fiscal bullying are the poor and the minorities. This can be seen in their cuts of $56.2 million to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Homestead Tax Credit, used by low income families.
It was also evidenced by Walker's refusal to accept federal funding to expand BadgerCare. Not only did Walker's foolish decision cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars but kept 87,000 people out of the program.
But there's more. There's always more.
It is now being reported that Walker's decision was much more harmful than it first appeared to be:
While the taxpayers are surely going to take a big hit if Walker is allowed to keep up with his folly, the real victims of his decision are the poor people of the state, many of whom are minorities.
Most of us are keeping our eyes on the events occurring in Ferguson, Missouri, where people have been holding a week of protests stemming from yet another police shooting of an unarmed black man.
Obviously, Walker is not shooting people, but his acts of fiscal violence towards the poor and minorities are no less disturbing or egregious.
It started when Walker dropped his Act 10 bomb on the state. And like a bomb, it caused and continues to cause a lot of damage to the people of the state, taking money out of their pockets and giving it away to wealthy campaign contributors and cronies.Their fiscal violence continued with their maleficent manipulations to the unemployment compensation insurance and similar services.
However, the favored target for their fiscal bullying are the poor and the minorities. This can be seen in their cuts of $56.2 million to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Homestead Tax Credit, used by low income families.
It was also evidenced by Walker's refusal to accept federal funding to expand BadgerCare. Not only did Walker's foolish decision cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars but kept 87,000 people out of the program.
But there's more. There's always more.
It is now being reported that Walker's decision was much more harmful than it first appeared to be:
Wisconsin taxpayers would have saved $206 million over two years — 73% more than previously estimated — if officials had fully expanded its main health care program for the poor under the federal Affordable Care Act, a new nonpartisan report shows.By accepting the federal funding that was offered to the state, Walker could have brought in another $500 million to the state, helped nearly 100,000 people get the health care they need and created hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs. And we're talking about real jobs that could be created right away - not the imaginary jobs that might or might not develop in ten years (as in the false promises of the Penokee mine)
If officials decide to change course and expand the program in the next state budget, state taxpayers would save another $261 million to $315 million through June 2017, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The bureau serves the Legislature and is widely respected by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
In all, the state could have saved more than $500 million over 31/2 years, the report shows. That would have allowed Gov. Scott Walker and legislators to put more money toward schools or roads or cut taxes more deeply than they did over the last year.
In addition to saving state funds, the full expansion would have served an estimated 87,000 more adults each month under BadgerCare Plus, according to the fiscal bureau.
The program provides better coverage for people with low incomes — and at a lower cost — than the subsidized health plans sold on the federal marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act.
While the taxpayers are surely going to take a big hit if Walker is allowed to keep up with his folly, the real victims of his decision are the poor people of the state, many of whom are minorities.
Most of us are keeping our eyes on the events occurring in Ferguson, Missouri, where people have been holding a week of protests stemming from yet another police shooting of an unarmed black man.
Obviously, Walker is not shooting people, but his acts of fiscal violence towards the poor and minorities are no less disturbing or egregious.
TOP SECRET
By Jeff Simpson
Scott Walker came out with a new propaganda piece, where he apparently was able to find 6 people who are doing better in WI under his watch. Kudos to the Walker team for being able to find that needle in the haystack.
When the press asked Scott Walker to provide information who the people were in the ad to confirm that Scott Walker was telling the truth, he refused. Now, out of the blue, he apparently has and they have all checked out.
Mary Burke goes to Netroots nation and we know who she hung out with - by name!
Mary Burke has a staffer quit and we know his name.
Mary Burke attends a fundraiser and we know who puts it on and who is there by name!
Mary Burke has a video conference and we know who was on the call - by name!
Mine Protestors are called out by name in the paper.
If you signed the recall petition, no matter what your position is in life, Dan Bice will let everyone know.
Heck, Dan Bice even linked to my personal facebook page, in a discussion regarding Trek's outsourcing,
The one thing that must remain TOP SECRET in Wisconsin are the names of Scott Walker supporters who willingly act in a television commercial supporting Scott Walker's re-election.
The continual acquiescence of our state's media to Scott Walkers whims is painful to watch!
Scott Walker came out with a new propaganda piece, where he apparently was able to find 6 people who are doing better in WI under his watch. Kudos to the Walker team for being able to find that needle in the haystack.
When the press asked Scott Walker to provide information who the people were in the ad to confirm that Scott Walker was telling the truth, he refused. Now, out of the blue, he apparently has and they have all checked out.
Gov. Scott Walker's campaign declined to identify the six individuals who declare in his new TV ad that they had recently landed new jobs. This reluctance prompted Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate to call it a "phony" TV commercial and to ask, "Is there any reason to believe any of these stories are true?"We already know though, that one of the people does not check out at all.
But the Journal Sentinel was able to track down the four men and two women.
The result: These are not actors, even if the video was shot at Walker's advertising agency, Nonbox Inc. in Hales Corners. All six have landed jobs in the Milwaukee area during Walker's tenure, according to the individuals, their employers or public records.
Governor Scott Walker's most recent ad has an unidentified worker saying "thanks Scott" because he got a job at Mahuta Tools.One of six does not check out as able to thank Scott Walker, what about the other five? Well we have to take Dan Bice's word because he is not releasing the names.
Upon further review, however, he should be saying thanks to former Governor Jim Doyle. Here's why: A 2010 Milwaukee Business Journal details how Mahuta Tools had expanded their operation back in 2008-- under Doyle-- and had to mothball it during the Great Dubya Recession:
Mary Burke goes to Netroots nation and we know who she hung out with - by name!
Mary Burke has a staffer quit and we know his name.
Mary Burke attends a fundraiser and we know who puts it on and who is there by name!
Mary Burke has a video conference and we know who was on the call - by name!
Mine Protestors are called out by name in the paper.
If you signed the recall petition, no matter what your position is in life, Dan Bice will let everyone know.
Heck, Dan Bice even linked to my personal facebook page, in a discussion regarding Trek's outsourcing,
The one thing that must remain TOP SECRET in Wisconsin are the names of Scott Walker supporters who willingly act in a television commercial supporting Scott Walker's re-election.
The continual acquiescence of our state's media to Scott Walkers whims is painful to watch!
Walker's Honey Wagon Rides Again?
Warning to highway drivers near Racine: Watch the road and hold your nose....did you think of this story?:
Traffic was slowed on all lanes of I-94 eastbound between Highway C and Highway 20, close to Racine, for part of the afternoon due to a spill of human feces in the road, according to a release by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The release warned of a "liquid non-hazardous substance spilled across all lanes of traffic," which was reported around 2 p.m.
It all starts with a septic company called Herr Environmental, Inc. Herr Environmental was pumping out people's septic tanks and dumping the contents on farmer fields at three times the legal limits. The dumping sites were next to residential areas and could possibly affect 40 different wells for drinking water.It also makes me wonder where Joel Kleefisch was and if he was trying to fix a traffic ticket or something.
The story reports that this is of a concern because the raw sewage contains nitrates that could infiltrate the drinking water and cause all sorts of health problems. The story doesn't even go into the threat of E. coli.
To make matters worse, they tried to cook the books and had three different sets of records and over 60 inaccurate records of when, where and how much they spread.
Brad Schimel's Amazing Metamorphosis
A friend of Cog Dis tipped me off with a very astute observation.
On October 14, 2013, Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate for Attorney General, went on the radio with Vicki "wolf on back, snake on front" McKenna. The interview was a near disaster and showed just how unready Schimel was.
About the 26 minute mark, McKenna asks Schimel what he would do to fight "federal court overreach." Schimel shows how unready he was for prime time by stammering through his answer. Likewise, Schimel trips all over himself when asked about his vision for office.
After Schimel's flop on her show, McKenna states that she thinks that Schimel needed to be primaried and proceeds to rip into him, saying that Schimel would have been better off not doing any interviews until he knew what he was talking about. Considering what an imbecile McKenna is herself, that's really gotta hurt!
But it appears that Schimel did take her words to heart and notched up his rhetoric game considerable.
Six months after his flopping on the radio, he did an interview with Jessie Opoien of The Cap Times. During the interview, Schimel states that he would reallocate some of the funding for the Department of Justice to help fight the opiate epidemic. (Apparently, street drugs is only an issue when it affects white suburbanites.)
But then he adds this little tidbit:
It's suspicious that the Teapublicans ran only one candidate for Attorney General. It's even more suspicious that there hand-picked candidate for the race would be such an inept fool.
It becomes evident when one considers how easily Schimel is apparently influenced by McKenna. I'm sure that Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling would also be able to pull his strings so readily. I can just see how quickly Schimel would roll over and grovel if someone with real clout would call on him to do something, say, not pursue charges against Joel Kleefisch in an obvious case of pay for play corruption.
It is obvious that the Teapublican/Dark Money forces are pushing for Schimel because of his integrity or his intelligence. But he does apparently follow orders good enough for them.
Schimel has all the slime of J.B. Van Hollen but without the hair.
Fortunately, Tuesday's primary gave us the best candidate of not only beating Schimel but also cleaning up Van Hollen's mess - Susan Happ.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This post had been previously published but then taken down and edited to protect the innocent.
On October 14, 2013, Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate for Attorney General, went on the radio with Vicki "wolf on back, snake on front" McKenna. The interview was a near disaster and showed just how unready Schimel was. About the 26 minute mark, McKenna asks Schimel what he would do to fight "federal court overreach." Schimel shows how unready he was for prime time by stammering through his answer. Likewise, Schimel trips all over himself when asked about his vision for office.
After Schimel's flop on her show, McKenna states that she thinks that Schimel needed to be primaried and proceeds to rip into him, saying that Schimel would have been better off not doing any interviews until he knew what he was talking about. Considering what an imbecile McKenna is herself, that's really gotta hurt!
But it appears that Schimel did take her words to heart and notched up his rhetoric game considerable.
Six months after his flopping on the radio, he did an interview with Jessie Opoien of The Cap Times. During the interview, Schimel states that he would reallocate some of the funding for the Department of Justice to help fight the opiate epidemic. (Apparently, street drugs is only an issue when it affects white suburbanites.)
But then he adds this little tidbit:
A lesser-known aspect of what the attorney general does is defend the constitutional rights of the citizens of the state and defends the sovereignty of the state of Wisconsin against federal overreach. As attorney general, I will have an ability to focus more attention on this aspect than the previous attorney general, who came in with significant problems to fix. And he has had some considerable success fixing some of the internal problems in the Department of Justice. I’ll have the ability to focus a lot more on protecting our state’s sovereignty, and I conclude that the federal government has, to a great extent, slipped its leash. It’s invading rights that belong to the people of this state and to our state.It's amazing how Schimel so adeptly became a sockpuppet for the right wing extremists and learned to spout off their talking points with a straight face, no matter how inane he sounds. It's almost as if he took a crash course at the ALEC Academy for Corrupt Candidates.
It's suspicious that the Teapublicans ran only one candidate for Attorney General. It's even more suspicious that there hand-picked candidate for the race would be such an inept fool.
It becomes evident when one considers how easily Schimel is apparently influenced by McKenna. I'm sure that Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling would also be able to pull his strings so readily. I can just see how quickly Schimel would roll over and grovel if someone with real clout would call on him to do something, say, not pursue charges against Joel Kleefisch in an obvious case of pay for play corruption.
It is obvious that the Teapublican/Dark Money forces are pushing for Schimel because of his integrity or his intelligence. But he does apparently follow orders good enough for them.
Schimel has all the slime of J.B. Van Hollen but without the hair.
Fortunately, Tuesday's primary gave us the best candidate of not only beating Schimel but also cleaning up Van Hollen's mess - Susan Happ.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This post had been previously published but then taken down and edited to protect the innocent.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Quid Pro Quo
By Jeff Simpson
More proof that evolution is real. The Wisconsin republican contingent for years has been doing exactly what the lobbyists and ALEC tells them to do. They finally wised up and want something in return besides money - their time.
When you govern to please your corporate masters, it does not inspire too many people to work hard to get you elected. That means they need help with voter contact. Rep. Jim Steineke was sick of trying to find actual people to help with his campaign so he came up with the idea to make the lobbyists actually work.
Since the republican elected's do whatever the lobbyists tell them to during the year, it is only fair that the lobbyists do whatever the elected's tell them to do once every two years!
One last thing, if you see any of these people on your doorstep call the police they are extremely dangerous to the well being of middle class WI!
In one recent email, Steineke thanked several people for the help they had already provided.
Among those he thanked were four lobbyists: Jason Johns, a former deputy veterans affairs secretary who frustrated Republicans last year as he lobbied for veterans against a bill curtailing asbestos lawsuits; Scott Meyer, who represents United Sportsmen of Wisconsin, a politically active group that lost a $500,000 grant last year after questions arose about its tax-exempt status; Tom Fonfara, who represents a number of clients, including the conservative activist group Americans for Prosperity and Gogebic Taconite, which hopes to site an iron mine in northern Wisconsin; and Steve Conway, who represents chiropractors, podiatrists and Aquila Resources, which wants to develop gold mines in Marathon and Taylor counties.
Jason Johns
Scott Meyer
Tom Fonfara
The $64,000 question is, how many doors has Scott Tyre knocked on for the republican party?
Quid pro quo ("something for something" in Latin[1]) means an exchange of goods or services, where one transfer is contingent upon the other. English speakers often use the term to mean "a favour for a favour"; phrases with similar meaning include: "give and take", "tit for tat", and "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
More proof that evolution is real. The Wisconsin republican contingent for years has been doing exactly what the lobbyists and ALEC tells them to do. They finally wised up and want something in return besides money - their time.
When you govern to please your corporate masters, it does not inspire too many people to work hard to get you elected. That means they need help with voter contact. Rep. Jim Steineke was sick of trying to find actual people to help with his campaign so he came up with the idea to make the lobbyists actually work.
Republican leaders in the Assembly are urging lobbyists to help them knock on voters' doors in an effort to strengthen their majority.
They've dubbed the effort "Leggiepalooza."
Rep. Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) this summer has regularly emailed supporters to tell them when and where to meet for the door-knocking program, and already some lobbyists representing key industries are participating.
The push comes at a time when Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has stepped up efforts to get lobbyists to personally give to candidates. In the past, legislative leaders had asked lobbyists to help raise money for candidates but had not coordinated a detailed program to get them to dip into their own wallets for the effort.
That changed two years ago, with Vos' push to have lobbyists give to the Majority GOP Conduit. That fund — which collects donations and then distributes them to candidates — helps candidates for both the Assembly and Senate.
The conduit is holding a Sept. 2 fundraiser with Gov. Scott Walker at the Madison Club. Republicans control the Assembly 60-39 and the Senate 17-15 with one vacancy.
Since the republican elected's do whatever the lobbyists tell them to during the year, it is only fair that the lobbyists do whatever the elected's tell them to do once every two years!
One last thing, if you see any of these people on your doorstep call the police they are extremely dangerous to the well being of middle class WI!
In one recent email, Steineke thanked several people for the help they had already provided.
Among those he thanked were four lobbyists: Jason Johns, a former deputy veterans affairs secretary who frustrated Republicans last year as he lobbied for veterans against a bill curtailing asbestos lawsuits; Scott Meyer, who represents United Sportsmen of Wisconsin, a politically active group that lost a $500,000 grant last year after questions arose about its tax-exempt status; Tom Fonfara, who represents a number of clients, including the conservative activist group Americans for Prosperity and Gogebic Taconite, which hopes to site an iron mine in northern Wisconsin; and Steve Conway, who represents chiropractors, podiatrists and Aquila Resources, which wants to develop gold mines in Marathon and Taylor counties.
Jason Johns Scott Meyer Tom FonfaraThe $64,000 question is, how many doors has Scott Tyre knocked on for the republican party?
Friday, August 15, 2014
The Company They Keep!
By Jeff Simpson
A while back, tape was released that was somewhat damaging to Senator Mike Ellis. In a drunken stupor he let his feelings fly, and they were not as hardcore right wing extremists as the folks in Fitzwalkerland prefer so he was forced to retire.
Mike Ellis was well covered(they wanted him out), and Judi Rhodes Engels(they need her to do the dirty work) was given a free pass for her role in the alleged illegal and smear campaigns. One thing that was pretty much overlooked was the role that Project Veritas and Smear merchant James O Keefe played.
While O'Keefe refuses to say why he came up here and attacked small fish Ellis, it does not take much effort to connect the dots. One of the biggest items on the republican agenda in the next session is vastly expanding for profit education, irregardless of the results.
The face of education profiteers in Wisconsin is formerly convicted and ex-Speaker of the Assembly Scott Jensen.
Scott Jensen is such a powerful figure in Wisconsin politics still that when the republican party, made elected reps sign secrecy agreements to be let in the redistricting meetings(Not a single elected Democrat was consulted), Scott Jensen did not have to sign one and had to sign off on any new map they came up with. Scott Jensen also stands to profit personally the most from raiding our public education funds. Scott Jensen also had no problem buying the Assembly, he bought an Assembly seat in a special election(Jessie Rodriguez) who answers pretty much only to him.
The problem of course was the state Senate. The republican majority was fragile, and while lightweights(figuratively only) like Rick Gudex will do whatever he told him to, the republicans did not have a solid enough majority to push things through. Especially on the rare occasions when Senator Ellis actually represented his constituency. One of those occasions has always been around the raiding of public education money. Senator Ellis knew it was bad for WI and that the people in his area were against it.
Jensen and his ilk have no concern for the people of WI or what the people in WI care for or stand for, they enjoy profit. That meant Ellis was an obstacle between our public education money and their bank accounts. An obstacle that had to be removed.
I have no doubt that all bases are covered and there is no actual ties directly between Scott Jensen and James O Keefe. The guys with the power rarely get their own hands dirty. However, following the bread crumbs of logic, we know right where that leads us.
That being said, let us look at the person that "someone" hired to come to WI and remove Senator Ellis - James O' Keefe. See James O'Keefe was Andrew Breitbart's protege, until he was too disgusting of a human being even for Breitbart. Now that Breitbart has moved south, O'Keefe is trying to establish his own legacy and apparently, with customers like the Wisconsin republicans, it is working.
O'Keefe you might recall, almost singlehandedly took down Acorn. After the initial fake outrage, we found out that Mr. O Keefe was lying and he ended up having to pay the Acorn employee $100,000.
O'Keefe is back at it again with his trademark, half truths and outright lies. This time Jimmy dressed up as his hero, Osama Bin Laden(not understanding the irony or stupidity) and crossed the Mexican border into the US.
Here is the kicker though:
The republicans in Wisconsin know no level low enough that they will not stoop to to continue in power.
The real question is why would you reward that behavior at the polls?
A while back, tape was released that was somewhat damaging to Senator Mike Ellis. In a drunken stupor he let his feelings fly, and they were not as hardcore right wing extremists as the folks in Fitzwalkerland prefer so he was forced to retire.
Mike Ellis was well covered(they wanted him out), and Judi Rhodes Engels(they need her to do the dirty work) was given a free pass for her role in the alleged illegal and smear campaigns. One thing that was pretty much overlooked was the role that Project Veritas and Smear merchant James O Keefe played.
While O'Keefe refuses to say why he came up here and attacked small fish Ellis, it does not take much effort to connect the dots. One of the biggest items on the republican agenda in the next session is vastly expanding for profit education, irregardless of the results.
The face of education profiteers in Wisconsin is formerly convicted and ex-Speaker of the Assembly Scott Jensen.
Scott Jensen is such a powerful figure in Wisconsin politics still that when the republican party, made elected reps sign secrecy agreements to be let in the redistricting meetings(Not a single elected Democrat was consulted), Scott Jensen did not have to sign one and had to sign off on any new map they came up with. Scott Jensen also stands to profit personally the most from raiding our public education funds. Scott Jensen also had no problem buying the Assembly, he bought an Assembly seat in a special election(Jessie Rodriguez) who answers pretty much only to him.
The problem of course was the state Senate. The republican majority was fragile, and while lightweights(figuratively only) like Rick Gudex will do whatever he told him to, the republicans did not have a solid enough majority to push things through. Especially on the rare occasions when Senator Ellis actually represented his constituency. One of those occasions has always been around the raiding of public education money. Senator Ellis knew it was bad for WI and that the people in his area were against it.
Jensen and his ilk have no concern for the people of WI or what the people in WI care for or stand for, they enjoy profit. That meant Ellis was an obstacle between our public education money and their bank accounts. An obstacle that had to be removed.
I have no doubt that all bases are covered and there is no actual ties directly between Scott Jensen and James O Keefe. The guys with the power rarely get their own hands dirty. However, following the bread crumbs of logic, we know right where that leads us.
That being said, let us look at the person that "someone" hired to come to WI and remove Senator Ellis - James O' Keefe. See James O'Keefe was Andrew Breitbart's protege, until he was too disgusting of a human being even for Breitbart. Now that Breitbart has moved south, O'Keefe is trying to establish his own legacy and apparently, with customers like the Wisconsin republicans, it is working.
O'Keefe you might recall, almost singlehandedly took down Acorn. After the initial fake outrage, we found out that Mr. O Keefe was lying and he ended up having to pay the Acorn employee $100,000.
O'Keefe is back at it again with his trademark, half truths and outright lies. This time Jimmy dressed up as his hero, Osama Bin Laden(not understanding the irony or stupidity) and crossed the Mexican border into the US.
Here is the kicker though:
Update: "ToO'Keefe does not have any money, so he needs to fund raise to do these silly video's and gotcha moments. The story was not Ellis's loose lips, when the liquor flows those have always been there. The story is who in Wisconsin has money to burn to bring Jim O'Keefe to Wisconsin to help push through an agenda? We also know our Governor likes to be involved in all aspects of his campaign, was he aware that Mr. O'Keefe had been hired? Did the same person(s) hire Mr. O'Keefe who advocated bringing in violence to the peaceful protests in the Capitol? Are James O'Keefe and Scott Jensen friends?complete this investigation, Project Veritas spent over $74,242 in legalfees , investigators salaries, and travel expenses... Please help me replace these funds." ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
The republicans in Wisconsin know no level low enough that they will not stoop to to continue in power.
The real question is why would you reward that behavior at the polls?
Thursday, August 14, 2014
The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CCXXXI
Scott Walker has started a new tactic with his five thousandth commercial of the campaign, claiming that his agenda has been good for business and has created all sorts of jobs.
Except for when it has failed yet again:
Due to the lower income and failing economy that Walker's agenda has created, people can't afford to have niceties like home decor that doesn't come from a thrift store or garage sale.
Except for when it has failed yet again:
Fine home decor store Cranston will close shop in late August or early September, bending to economic pressure after 10 years in business.No one should be surprised by this.
"After the crash, we did the best we could to hang in there," co-owner Mark Van Ess said.
Due to the lower income and failing economy that Walker's agenda has created, people can't afford to have niceties like home decor that doesn't come from a thrift store or garage sale.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CCXXX
As Wisconsinites were glued to their TVs and computer monitors, Scott Walker's agenda continued to have it's predictable and predicted results, with another 42 jobs lost:
Lorman Education Services, 2510 Alpine Road, is laying off 42 employees.If this is Wisconsin moving in the "right direction," I would rather be wrong and have jobs being created.
The move is “due to changing business circumstances,” according to filings with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
The permanent layoffs are expected to be completed on Oct. 6. Employees were notified Aug. 6.
My Election Thoughts
By Jeff Simpson
Election results here!
1. Brett Hulsey had a solid showing receiving almost 52000 votes. Brett Hulsey did not deserve to win, ran a solid campaign, brought up issues that needed to be brought up and did not deserve to be treated as poorly by the party as he was.
2. Mary Jo Walters was the story of the night. 116,006 votes as a relative unknown, who was completely shunned by the party she tried to represent, with no money against the political insider, long time WI Senator who refused to acknowledge her existence. Congrats Mary Jo and thank you for what you have done.
3. I have not decided if the 116,006 people who voted for her were saying F U to the Democratic executive committee that endorsed her opponent and shunned her or the Democratic Executive committee and Chairman Tate who treated her like a second class citizen and shut her out of the Democratic convention were saying FU to the 116,006 Wisconsin voters who supported Mary Jo Walters. Either way it is up to them to heal and bridge the divide NOT the other way around.
4. When the race is so close, maybe the people did deserve a debate.
5 This cracked me up. Apparently he forgot to put in the asterisk. * Only applies to people I approve of running.
6. The overwhelming win by Rob Zerban surprised me, the overwhelming win by Paul Ryan did not. I always thought Jeremy Ryan's best chance to win would be to get on the ballot then disappear. Not a second of campaigning and hope people checked the wrong box.
7. Every vote matters, ask Janis Ringhand and Ernie Wittwer.
8. The Democratic establishment lost, ask Pat Bohmack, Jon Richards and Tom Rayome.
9. Mike Sheridan's political career is over while Robin Vos was given a promotion and I can not figure out the difference between the two.
10. The extreme's on the R side of the 6th Congressional district were not distinguishable.
11. Triple dipping Van Wanggaard won, despite the fact he advertised that he had the old Knotsies as supporters. I would hope that the fact that he is running on a I got mine and now want to pull the ladder up" campaign will be noticeable to the voters in his district!
12. How in the world can Sheriff Clarke win? Seriously? If it was all cross over votes and you did not see that coming, whose fault is that?
13. Susan Happ will make a great Attorney General.
14. The low turnout still fails to amaze me and the fact that it is not addressed by the Democratic party also amazes me. Why go after the imaginary Walker/Obama voters and not after the 80% of the people who did not choose to vote in the primary? Give people a reason to vote and they will!
15. Congrats to Dana Duncan, no support from the Dem party, shunned by Wisconsin Progress and won handily. Now its time to retire Scott Krug.
16. Scott Walker is beatable, no excuses from the team trying to do so allowed!
Election results here!
1. Brett Hulsey had a solid showing receiving almost 52000 votes. Brett Hulsey did not deserve to win, ran a solid campaign, brought up issues that needed to be brought up and did not deserve to be treated as poorly by the party as he was.
If Mary Burke wins tonight, I support her to beat Scott Walker in November.
3. I have not decided if the 116,006 people who voted for her were saying F U to the Democratic executive committee that endorsed her opponent and shunned her or the Democratic Executive committee and Chairman Tate who treated her like a second class citizen and shut her out of the Democratic convention were saying FU to the 116,006 Wisconsin voters who supported Mary Jo Walters. Either way it is up to them to heal and bridge the divide NOT the other way around.
4. When the race is so close, maybe the people did deserve a debate.
5 This cracked me up. Apparently he forgot to put in the asterisk. * Only applies to people I approve of running.
6. The overwhelming win by Rob Zerban surprised me, the overwhelming win by Paul Ryan did not. I always thought Jeremy Ryan's best chance to win would be to get on the ballot then disappear. Not a second of campaigning and hope people checked the wrong box.
7. Every vote matters, ask Janis Ringhand and Ernie Wittwer.
8. The Democratic establishment lost, ask Pat Bohmack, Jon Richards and Tom Rayome.
9. Mike Sheridan's political career is over while Robin Vos was given a promotion and I can not figure out the difference between the two.
10. The extreme's on the R side of the 6th Congressional district were not distinguishable.
11. Triple dipping Van Wanggaard won, despite the fact he advertised that he had the old Knotsies as supporters. I would hope that the fact that he is running on a I got mine and now want to pull the ladder up" campaign will be noticeable to the voters in his district!
12. How in the world can Sheriff Clarke win? Seriously? If it was all cross over votes and you did not see that coming, whose fault is that?
13. Susan Happ will make a great Attorney General.
14. The low turnout still fails to amaze me and the fact that it is not addressed by the Democratic party also amazes me. Why go after the imaginary Walker/Obama voters and not after the 80% of the people who did not choose to vote in the primary? Give people a reason to vote and they will!
15. Congrats to Dana Duncan, no support from the Dem party, shunned by Wisconsin Progress and won handily. Now its time to retire Scott Krug.
16. Scott Walker is beatable, no excuses from the team trying to do so allowed!
Tuesday's Biggest Loser Wasn't Even A Candidate
Tuesday's primary is finally over and the people have chosen their champions that they want to represent them in November's general election. Some of the primary races ended up in routs while others were painfully close.
But the biggest loser on Tuesday wasn't even a candidate.
Milwaukee County Emperor Chris "Boss" Abele wanted to expand his "sphere of influence" by running a couple of hand-picked candidates and investing heavily into another. But instead of gaining more power like he wanted, Abele went 0 for 3.
In Assembly District 19, Abele chose Dan Adams to be his representative of the Abele Party. For whatever reason, Abele and Adams thought it would be a good idea to run an anti-union, pro-poverty campaign in a very progressive district. To make matters worse, they also thought it would be a good idea to launch a series of highly negative and immature attacks against the two favored candidates, Marina Dimitrijevic and Jonathan Brostoff.
Brostoff managed to eke a victory over Dimitrijevic, winning by a couple of hundred votes. Adams came in a distant third.
Likewise, in Assembly District 10, Abele chose to run his own staffer turned campaign manager, Tia Torhorst against Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen. Torhorst wasn't much better than Adams, getting caught in lies and boasting of her support for her support for Act 14, which reduced the amount of representative government in Milwaukee County.
Torhorst came in second in this race, but got less than half the votes that Bowen did.
As bad as it was that Abele tried to buy these two elections - and failing miserably - that wasn't the worst of it.
Abele, who has had a longstanding feud with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, decided to intervene in this race by dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of Clarke's opponent, Chris Moews. Abele had the local airwaves flooded with ads filled with flimsy talking points and misleading attacks.
Instead of helping Moews, all he did was rile up Clarke's base so much that numerous Republicans chose to cross over and vote on the Democratic side in order to support Clarke.
Moews ended up losing by about 4,000 votes, sticking Milwaukee County with another four years of a loud-mouthed, ineffective and incompetent fool for a sheriff.
Abele's problems don't end with losing three races that he had invested in so heavily..
In his power grab attempt, Abele has burned a lot of bridges behind him.
Not only has Abele attacked fellow Democrats, but he has gone as far as supporting some of the most rabid Teapublicans over good Democrats, just in an effort to get his way. As one might expect, this has made a lot of people angry and leery of him. And this doesn't mention the other groups that he has alienated over the course of the last year or two, including veterans, park lovers, art lovers and the unions, to name just a few.
Abele has painted himself into a corner that he doesn't want to be in with his own reelection coming up in a year and a half.
That said, it's nice to see Abele screwing himself instead of everyone else for a change. And he's doing it like a boss.
But the biggest loser on Tuesday wasn't even a candidate.
Milwaukee County Emperor Chris "Boss" Abele wanted to expand his "sphere of influence" by running a couple of hand-picked candidates and investing heavily into another. But instead of gaining more power like he wanted, Abele went 0 for 3.In Assembly District 19, Abele chose Dan Adams to be his representative of the Abele Party. For whatever reason, Abele and Adams thought it would be a good idea to run an anti-union, pro-poverty campaign in a very progressive district. To make matters worse, they also thought it would be a good idea to launch a series of highly negative and immature attacks against the two favored candidates, Marina Dimitrijevic and Jonathan Brostoff.
Brostoff managed to eke a victory over Dimitrijevic, winning by a couple of hundred votes. Adams came in a distant third.
Likewise, in Assembly District 10, Abele chose to run his own staffer turned campaign manager, Tia Torhorst against Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen. Torhorst wasn't much better than Adams, getting caught in lies and boasting of her support for her support for Act 14, which reduced the amount of representative government in Milwaukee County.
Torhorst came in second in this race, but got less than half the votes that Bowen did.
As bad as it was that Abele tried to buy these two elections - and failing miserably - that wasn't the worst of it.
Abele, who has had a longstanding feud with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, decided to intervene in this race by dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of Clarke's opponent, Chris Moews. Abele had the local airwaves flooded with ads filled with flimsy talking points and misleading attacks.
Instead of helping Moews, all he did was rile up Clarke's base so much that numerous Republicans chose to cross over and vote on the Democratic side in order to support Clarke.
Moews ended up losing by about 4,000 votes, sticking Milwaukee County with another four years of a loud-mouthed, ineffective and incompetent fool for a sheriff.
Abele's problems don't end with losing three races that he had invested in so heavily..
In his power grab attempt, Abele has burned a lot of bridges behind him.
Not only has Abele attacked fellow Democrats, but he has gone as far as supporting some of the most rabid Teapublicans over good Democrats, just in an effort to get his way. As one might expect, this has made a lot of people angry and leery of him. And this doesn't mention the other groups that he has alienated over the course of the last year or two, including veterans, park lovers, art lovers and the unions, to name just a few.
Abele has painted himself into a corner that he doesn't want to be in with his own reelection coming up in a year and a half.
That said, it's nice to see Abele screwing himself instead of everyone else for a change. And he's doing it like a boss.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Today's Political Ad Is Brought To You By The Letter "E"
The Republicans are circling their wagons fast and hard around their favorite cowboy, Sheriff David Clarke.
Among his biggest supporters is the ALEC/dark money group, NRA, which has been running ads left and right.
That said, one has to wonder how much they really support the cowboy. Take a look at these screenshots of the ads they've been running on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's website:
The gentle reader will notice that not only is the "e" in Clarke silent, it's gone missing!
You would think that if they wanted to support the guy, they might want to at least spell his name right.
I reckon that we can say that NRA should really stand for Not Real Astute.
Fortunately, after Tuesday, we can learn how to spell Moews, as in Chris Moews.
Or is it Chris Meows?
Among his biggest supporters is the ALEC/dark money group, NRA, which has been running ads left and right.
That said, one has to wonder how much they really support the cowboy. Take a look at these screenshots of the ads they've been running on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's website:
The gentle reader will notice that not only is the "e" in Clarke silent, it's gone missing!
You would think that if they wanted to support the guy, they might want to at least spell his name right.
I reckon that we can say that NRA should really stand for Not Real Astute.
Fortunately, after Tuesday, we can learn how to spell Moews, as in Chris Moews.
Or is it Chris Meows?
Dan Adams Embraces His Inner Republican
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| A picture really does say a thousand words. |
I totally get where he is coming from. Just because he supports school choice, is anti-union and has meet and greets hosted by Republicans, there is no reason to think he is a Republican.
Well, on the day before the primary election, it seems Adams has chosen to embrace his inner Republican.
On Monday morning, he was running an ad on WTMJ radio, boasting that he is the "only fiscal conservative" (read plutocratic pawn) and was proud to support the diminishing of representative government in Milwaukee County.
On Monday afternoon, he was running ads on Mark Belling's show on WISN, saying that since there is no Republican in the race, conservatives should just vote for him.
Apparently he is hoping to cash in on all the Republicans that are going to cross over to vote for David Clarke. It's too bad that Republicans make up less than 15% of the entire district. Even if all of them crossed over and voted for him, it wouldn't be enough to help him.
I just wonder how his boss, Boss Abele, feels about his hand-picked candidate schmoozing up to David Clarke, whom Abele hates most of all - after Marina Dimitrijevic, that is.
Methinks that Adams is about to find out the hard way what a Boss Abele tantrum looks like.
Monday, August 11, 2014
RIP: Robin Williams
Robin Williams was found dead Monday morning from an apparent suicide.I was shocked and saddened when I heard the news. Not only was Williams a comedic genius and one of the funniest people of our generation, he was also a skilled dramatic actor.
Sadly, Williams had a long history of alcohol and drug addictions, which were symptomatic of an underlying mental health problem.
At first, I thought my grief was just because the world had lost a talented soul.
But then I realized that it was more than that. I remember when I was a boy and Williams first appeared on the show "Happy Days" to set up the spin off hit "Mork and Mindy." After that, Williams hit the big screen starring in several movies - from comedies to award winning dramas. I grew up with Williams always there to entertain us.
And now he is gone, and with that, so is part of my younger days. It makes me remember my own mortality.
As I tried to find the right video to commemorate William's life, I was torn between his younger years and his later movies. Then I stumbled across this, which seems so appropriate on so many levels:
I wish strength and peace to Williams' family.
I wish strength and peace to us all.
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