Delicious

By Jeff Simpson

We take time to from reading the Walker docs, to check in on Scott Walker's brother in arms (well not arms anymore) Indicted Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry! 

One of Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry’s charges comes with a possible prison sentence of 99 years behind bars, but that might not be his biggest hardship. According to Texas and federal law, NRA dreamboat Perry has probably lost the right to buy guns or have a concealed carry permit during the period of his indictment. Should he get convicted, he’ll lose his right to own guns altogether for at least five years after he gets out of prison. The Perry family asks for your prayers during this troubling time.

According to an article published in the Austin American-Statesman, federal law prohibits a person under indictment from carrying a concealed weapon or from acquiring new weaponry (whether by purchase or as a gift) if their charges call for more than a year in prison – a margin Perry’s charges beat by roughly 98 years.

By the way, Sean and Rick:

Just Sayin --- The Sequel!

By Jeff Simpson

H/T Bob Cesca -  

Recently we brought you Just Sayin!, now we bring you Just Sayin! - The Sequel!

EVENT, October 22, 1983 — The administration began planning its military incursion into Grenada.
REAGAN OPTICS, October 22, 1983 — Reagan remained on vacation at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Repeat: golf resort. Here are three strikingly presidential photos from Augusta — the golf resort! First, Reagan in his jammies being briefed on the Grenada plans, then, later hitting the links. Where were the Republicans of 2014 to scold him?

   

  

 

President Reagan was still on vacation at the GOLF! resort the next day when the Marine barracks in Beirut were bombed, killing 241 Marines.
 

    

And to think, once President Obama did not wear a tie!  

Austerity And The Mental Health System Equals Expensive

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele is so set on closing the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Complex - even though there's not enough community beds to support the people that need help - that he had his bought and paid for state representative Joe Sanfelippo push through a law to make sure that these vulnerable citizens were thrown to the corporate wolves.

Likewise, Scott Walker is implementing austerity measures and has already started putting limits on one of the state's mental health hospitals, forcing Dane County law enforcement officers to transport people two and  a half hours away.

Walker and Abele try to spin their austerity as being cost-saving measures that will allow more freedom and independence to these vulnerable citizens.  Abele also likes to pretend that these are best practices for those involved.

I would strongly suggest that these two reprobates pay attention to the State of Washington, where austerity and the mental health system is costing taxpayers $30 million and counting:

Gov. Jay Inslee has approved spending as much as $30 million to start meeting a state Supreme Court order to add more psychiatric evaluation and treatment beds around the state, officials said Friday.

In addition, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a motion Friday asking the high court to delay the effect of its decision by 120 days so the state can implement a plan to ensure alternative care is available.

On Aug. 7, the Supreme Court ruled that the practice known as "psychiatric boarding," or holding mentally ill patients in emergency rooms, was unlawful. The state estimates the ruling applies to about 200 people.

[...]

The justices ruled that mentally ill patients who are involuntarily committed cannot be "warehoused" in emergency rooms or acute care centers as a way to avoid overcrowding certified mental health facilities. Patients have a right to adequate care and individualized treatment, and state law required that they be detained in certified evaluation and treatment facilities, the court said.

The state's involuntary-treatment law passed in 1973 allows people to be committed to a mental hospital or institution against their will for a limited period of time. The purpose is to evaluate and treat people with a mental disorder who may be gravely disabled or pose a danger to themselves.

The state has been using "single-bed certifications" as a way to temporarily hold involuntarily committed people in hospitals that aren't certified to evaluate or treat their mental illness.

[...]

The department's mental health program will have to seek a supplemental appropriation in the 2015 budget to avoid other mental-health reductions in this fiscal year, the agency said.

It should be noted that the $30 million is just to act as a stopgap to fix what they broke. It does not include the cost of any crimes that were committed, the police and court costs or the cost of any litigation that might develop from this violation of civil rights.

And to think that Walker and Abele like to paint themselves as fiscal conservatives.  The sad part is that the will probably get away with their malfeasance.

Walker has already proven that "no one cares about crazy people."

The Romney/Ryan Bromance Still Lives

It's always nice to see a cute couple stay together.  It's even better when it is the bromance between Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan:

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said Thursday he would love to see Mitt Romney run again for president and teased the GOP's former nominee at one point that the "third time's the charm."

Appearing with Ryan at a public event for the first time since their ticket lost two years ago, Romney offered his own good-humored praise by saying that Ryan "wouldn't be a bad president" himself.

Well, isn't that just special? It brings back all the warm, fuzzy memories of them dissing the 47%.

In order to give Ryan all the time he needs to evaluate a run for president, we should give him the time off he needs to thoroughly study the matter.

To do that, please help support - and vote for - Rob Zerban!

Just Sayin!

The Goat

Caption This!

Paul Ryan Cares

 

By Jeff Simpson

Paul Ryan has opened up a dialogue on poverty in America.   

He even gave a speech about it:

I look forward to hearing from everybody. But let’s start with a principle we can all agree on: Hardworking taxpayers deserve a break in this country. Too many families are working harder and harder to get ahead, and yet they’re falling further and further behind. The costs of food, housing, and gas keep going up, but paychecks haven’t budged. So whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, I think we can all agree: America deserves better.

Paul Ryan is so interested in tackling the issue of poverty, and "hearing from everybody" that for the small price of $10,000 you can have that discussion with him.  

Lunch and Conversation with Congressman Ryan

12pm until 1:30pm | Check-in begins at 11:30am.

Intercontinental Hotel Milwaukee | 139 East Kilbourn Avenue | Milwaukee

Questions? Please email us at info@maciverinstitute.com or call 608-237-7290.

HURRY! Seating is limited. Please RSVP no later than Wednesday, August 13th. 

Photo ID will be required for entry.

Your donation to The MacIver Institute at the following levels is TAX DEDUCTIBLE and will reserve your seat:

❏ $10,000 Event Sponsorship includes Table for Eight, special recognition throughout the event, picture with Congressman Ryan, preferential seating, 8 autographed books and lunch admissions.

Word to the wise--- agree with him, or else!

 

Paul Ryan Is All Wet!

By Jeff Simpson

If you have not been living under a rock, you have seen someone do the "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge"

ALS/ Lou Gehrig's disease is a horrible disease for which there is currently no cure.   This challenge has brought in millions of dollars in funding for research and has really shown the power of the new era of social media.  Last number I have heard is that the "Ice Bucket Challenge" has helped ALS research raise over $31,000,000. 

It also shows us how truly despicable and hypocritical our politicians can be.  Especially Wisconsin's very own Paul Ryan(R-Wall St.).  Paul Ryan, after being "challenged by Scott Walker, recently took the challenge and donated a whopping $100 to ALS! 

Post by Paul Ryan.

Alright, @ScottWalker—#ALSIceBucketChallenge complete! I nominate my friend Susan Sellman, @GOPLeader & @PattyMurray! http://t.co/wYbBrMbDvf
— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) August 16, 2014

 Paul Ryan even had the gall to "challenge his good  friend who lost her father to ALS".   Unfortunately for Ms. Sellman and the countless others affected by ALS, Paul Ryan did not accept the challenge when it came to doing the right thing with Federal funding.

  Some of the very lawmakers who have taken the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness and money for ALS research voted for legislation that defunded ALS research.

The funding cuts, in this case, were caused by the passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011 -- otherwise known as the bill to save the United States government from default. As a condition of getting congressional Republicans to sign off on the debt ceiling hike, the Obama White House and Congressional Democrats agreed to budget cuts and future budget cuts that would be delivered via sequestration, an across-the-board cleaver that cut certain agencies' budgets by roughly 5 percent.

The National Institutes of Health was one of those agencies. It was forced to slash an estimated $1.55 billion from its programs. Among those was the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. In Fiscal Year 2013, the NINDS budget was $1.53 billion, a $92 million decrease from FY 2012. For ALS-specific research, funding went from $44 million to $39 million.

At least now that pink slip Paulie has personally donated $100, he can sleep at night.  Although I am not sure how he can ever look his "good friend" in the eye.    

Paul Ryan's Shutdown Stupor

By Jeff Simpson

More revisionist history from Paul Ryan (R-I really didnt vote for everything I say I voted against).




VOTE FOR ROB ZERBAN!

$206,000,000

BY Jeff Simpson

$206,000,000 is the amount of money that Scott Walker cost the taxpayers of Wisconsin,when he rejected the Medicaid expansion allowed under the Affordable Care Act!

Wisconsin could have saved $206 million in 2013-2015 if the state had accepted the Medicaid expansion allowed under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The potential savings is up significantly from the fiscal bureau’s estimate last year of $119 million, largely because more childless adults with incomes below the poverty level have signed up for coverage than expected.
Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature rejected federal funding to fully cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty level, or $26,321 for a family of three, through 2016.
The federal government says it would later cover at least 90 percent of the costs, up from its usual share of 60 percent for the state-federal Medicaid program.

Tammy Baldwin is not happy about it!

 "As you are aware, for over a year I have communicated my belief that you have taken our state down a fiscally irresponsible road by pursuing a plan that has not only created a gap in coverage and newly uninsured Wisconsinites, but also covers fewer people at a higher cost to taxpayers," Baldwin wrote in a letter to Walker on Wednesday.
"Wisconsin is paying a steep price for your insistence on putting politics ahead of progress," Baldwin wrote.
Walker's plan was for the 63,000 adults terminated from the state Medicaid program, BadgerCare, to obtain health coverage on the federal health care exchange. But about 38,000 are unaccounted for and may remain uninsured.
"I respectfully request that you take full responsibility for the consequences of your plan and determine how many of the 38,000 individuals remain uninsured, and immediately develop an action plan to guarantee that uninsured, former BadgerCare recipients enroll in marketplace coverage moving forward," Baldwin wrote.

Naturally, Scott Walker lied!

Explaining his rejection of federal money to fully expand Medicaid coverage, Walker said on Fox News Sunday that "federal government reneging" on Medicaid payments to Wisconsin caused more than $200 million in extra costs in the 2013-’15 state budget.
But typical cost-sharing fluctuations, based mainly on a longstanding formula, explain the extra state burden -- not any reversal of course or pulling back on a commitment by Washington.
We rate Walker’s claim False.

Scott Walker's blind ambition to be President is very costly to the people of WI!  

 

 

Why The Abele Party Failed

In last week's primary election, all four of the candidates that Boss Abele had supported - including the two he hand-picked to represent the Abele Party (Motto: For a more perfect plutocracy) -   ended up losing.  In the most egregious loss, in which Chris Moews lost to David Clarke, I had attributed the outcome to Abele getting the right wing fired up enough to come out in droves to cross vote.


It appears that was only part of the reason.  Another huge issue that affected all of the races was Abele himself, per the Shepherd Express:

An informal exit poll in both districts found that Abele’s strong and visible support was one of the main reasons why many voters rejected each of these candidates. Had these individuals run without Abele’s support and all of his resources, we are not saying that they would have won, because no one can know what would have happened. But according to the sample exit polling, these candidates would definitely have done much better. These two individuals are good people, but they just violated one of the tenets that most mothers tell their children: Be careful who you associate with because there are some people out there who will definitely end up getting you in trouble. 

What makes this really bad news for Abele is that he is up for reelection in a year and a half.  If people are already rejecting him through his candidates, it does not bode well for him.

Sadly, judging by his upcoming 2015 county budget, he hasn't learned the lesson yet and is continuing with his very unpopular agenda of ripping off taxpayers and county workers alike.

How MacIver Institute Came To Be

Sums it up pretty well, I'd say:

Chicken!

By Jeff Simpson

Remember when everyone in politics, could not get to a microphone/computer/camera quick enough to call Brett Hulsey crazy when he said he was going to send someone with a chicken suit to follow Mary Burke because she ducked debates with him? 

Republicans would never do that! 

Scott Walker Sucked Some $3 Billion From Wisconsin's Economy

By Jeff Simpson

Politifact looked into the claim and rated it mostly true.   In an economy that runs on supply and demand, Scott Walker's policies have taken some $3,000,000,000 out of the Wisconsin economy!

Wisconsin has paid, and paid, and paid, and paid the price! 

Paul Ryan Re-Writes Current Events

By Jeff Simpson

Paul Ryan wrote a book, surprisingly not called Unintimidated The Sequel, where he also rewrites current events.  

Q.Does immigration reform have to pass before Republicans can improve their standing with Latino voters?
A. I think it is in some ways a gateway issue, and I think Latino voters need to know Republicans have solutions. I wouldn't say it has to pass, but I think we have to be seen as part of the solution.

Umm Paul, are you ignoring reality or ignorant of it? 

Of course, the reality on the ground is republican policy and ideology can be deadly.  

At least some people see through Pink Slip Paulie's charade! 

But such bald revisionism (or honest confusion, take your pick) is just a warmup for Ryan’s broader, fevered critique. Ryan asserts that Obama’s policies “represent an ideological mission to reorder the human condition through state action,” part of a liberal scheme in which “government defines success, strictly prescribes roles and outcomes, [and] tries to replace our civic institutions.” The telling thing is that such rants, repeated like a tic throughout the book, never get specific. How could they, when Ryan would then have to explain how a modestly higher minimum wage or voluntarily adopted state math standards amount to some evil communist plot?

As I read I couldn’t help wondering: Does anyone outside the echo chamber of the right believe this nonsense? Someone, please, pry the drooled-upon pages of Ayn Rand from author Ryan’s sleeping grasp.