Advantage of Being a Walker Donor

By Jeff Simpson

You can have the taxpayer care for your kids! 

MADISON (WKOW) -- The three children of a Columbus businessman receive their health insurance through the state's plan for low-income families, BadgerCare, despite their father's estimated worth of $20 million.

A 2011 divorce required Michael Eisenga to provide health insurance for his three young boys. The children's mother, Claire Hawthorne told 27 News Eisenga enrolled the children in BadgerCare.

What did Michael Eisenga do with his spending money?  

Records show Eisenga owns real estate and more than a half dozen businesses, including a golf course.
Campaign finance records show Eisenga has contributed a total of more than $28,000 to Governor Walker, Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch and the Republican Party since April 2010.

 

Instruction Manual to Pillaging The World

Via Lee Camp:

Same Ole Song

By Jeff Simpson

The Madison School District passed its $433.6 Million annual budget with a 4.47% hike in the levy. 

In two separate votes, the board passed the budget and tax levy 6-1, with member Mary Burke casting the no votes.

The $433.6 million budget includes a $260.4 million tax levy. The levy means homeowners will pay $12.03 per $1,000 of assessed value, up 51 cents from last year. That translates to a $119 increase over last year on the average $231,000 Madison home.

The 4.47 percent increase over last year’s $249.3 million levy is smaller than what district officials originally expected to seek from the school board. After losing $8.8 million in general state aid, the levy was expected to increase 7.38 percent according to Mike Barry, assistant superintendent for business services.

The Madison School District had to pass a tax hike levy to replace SOME of the money that Scott Walker and the republicans stole from the public education funds and Mary Burke said NO.  

It is not like it is an extravagant budget as the  teaches are only budgets a 1% pay raise.  After being frozen and forced pay cuts the last few years, along with the rising costs of living, it is hardly something that is out of the ordinary.   In Monona Grove, we gave our teachers the maximum amount allowed by Scott Walker's law (This year 2.07%).    

Then after mary Burke was the lone dissenting voice, she went into witness protection and issued NO statements whatsoever on her vote or feelings about the budget.  

That is a sure fire winner in a statewide election, vote to cut teacher pay then go into hiding as far away from the people of Wisconsin as you can. 

Can we please put an end to the Mary Burke for Governor talk? We saw what happened in the recall election when we had an anti labor candidate running against anti labor Scott Walker.    

Walker's Failure Now Due To Syria

Scott Walker has to be the unluckiest man alive.

He had promised us that he would create at least 250,000 jobs by the end of his first term.  Fifteen months
from the next election, he has created about one eighth of them.  And most of them were state fluff positions that he doled out to cronies and lobbyists' sons.

But now Walker is trying to back off of his promise.

The one thing Walker had in plenty was a list of excuses for his epic failure.  Some of his excuses include, but are not limited to:

• Unions
• Protesters
• The weather
• Taxes
• Regulations
• Former Governor Jim Doyle
• President Barack Obama
• Elections

And now he is adding one more to his list of excuses - Syria:

"The President, working with other leaders on a global basis, can try and put some pressure on to get things under control in the Middle East and provide stability there, because that will help our economy and if they don't it has an impact," Gov. Walker said. "We can do all the good possible, we can get the state back on the right track, but if there's instability around the world it will inevitably have an impact."

Coming soon will be blaming the man on the moon and purple unicorns.

Trees Falling In The Woods Get More Attention

We've all heard the Philosophy 101 question: "If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a noise?"

Now we have a Teapublican version of the same question:  "If two Teapublicans announce the reelection campaign of one of them, and no one is around to hear it, are they still lying?"

The failed South Carolina Governor Nikkki Haley announced her decision to run again.  Why not? If Appalachian Trail hiker Mark Sanford can go from complete disgrace to U.S. Congressman, it should be a shoe in for Haley.

To help her make her announcement, Scott Walker flew down there.  (Really, Walker was going for his own fund raiser, but don't tell Haley that.)  Maybe it was his job to hold her cue cards, because in a Teapublican's mind, this is more honorable than having a teleprompter.

To say they didn't draw a crowd would be an overstatement.  We are talking Charlie Sykes book tour bad.

Even when one of Haley's henchman had forced people out into the sweltering heat, things were still very, very bad:

The only thing I'm not sure on is whether one would say the abysmal turn out was despite Walker being there or because of it.

Scott Walker: Did I Say That?

Do you remember when Scott Walker was running for governor and he promised he would create 250,000 jobs in his first term?

Well, he wishes you would stop doing that.

On Monday, Walker went into weaselspeak mode to say that he didn't really mean that pledge to create all those jobs:

On Monday in Merrill, he carefully backed away from the specific number.

"My goal wasn't so much to hit a magic number as much as it was, in the four years before I took office, when I was campaigning, I saw that we lost over 133,000 jobs in the state. I said, 'it's really not about jobs, it's about real people, real jobs like those here, and more importantly, affecting real families all across the state,'" Walker said.

His goal wasn't so much to hit a magic number...

Hmmm. Why don't we review what he really said his goal was:



Oh! So his goal wasn't to hit a magic number. His goal was to exceed a magic number.

Scott Walker lied through his weasel teeth. Who'd have thunk it?!

Who, that is, that isn't part of the main stream media or a Teapublican that is part of the scheme.

When Violating Constitutional Rights Just Isn't Enough

As the gentle reader is fully aware, for two and a half years, a loose group of people would gather at the state capitol every workday at noon to sing songs of solidarity.  For two and a half years, this has occurred without incident.

Then, a few months ago, the new commandant of the capitol cops, Dave Erwin, got a very large raise, even though it was done through unethical means.

Suddenly - in what is surely coincidental timing with Scott Walker revving up his campaigns - arrests started happening.  Dear Leader could not be made to look bad by having some discontents breaking up the day singing about such frivolities such as equality and solidarity and unions and respect.

Such rubbish!

So Kapitol Kop Kommandant Erwin started the arrest.  He arrested grannies.  He arrested vets.  He arrested children.  He arrested ACLU members.  He arrested mothers.  He arrested firefighters.

But the singers remained unintimidated.  In fact, not only did singers keep coming to the capitol, they came in greater and greater numbers.  And as their numbers and their resilience grew, so did the national attention.

Now Erwin and his jackboots have taken it to an even lower, more reprehensible level.  They have started using violence.

As most rational people would agree, the use of force against someone for singing - especially when the law actually would call for the issue of a citation - is absurd.  But it's not even that good.  They are physically attacking observers.  Note the man's camera in his hand before the cops jump him:



In this video by Rebecca Kemble, one can see the cops needlessly using compliance holds against another peaceful person:



Did you notice something else about the two men being physically accosted?

They are both black.

That's apparently just too much uppitiness for Walker and Erwin to handle.

As Walker gets more desperate to be president, how long do you think it will take for him to build gulags, er, private prisons, to hold all these scofflaws that think they still have rights?

Walker might think he is unintimidated.  But in reality, he and his pet police chief are merely unacceptable and unmitigated fascists.

MJS Tells Abele To Sign War Memorial Deal

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele is losing his war against veterans and art lovers.

Poor darling.

Abele haz a sad.  He haz to grow up.
Photo by Mike De Sista

When the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and Milwaukee Art Museum had reached an apparent impasse in negotiations, Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic brought in former Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske to mediate.  She managed to get all the parties involved to reach an agreement.

However, Abele, being the acolyte of austerity that he is, made it clear that he would rather push the veterans into the lake.  He called the deal "bullshit."  He tried to sabotage the deal.  When he realized that he was the odd man out on this - and after he spent months crapping on the county board - he suddenly wanted to compromise.  Maybe he'd settle for just pushing some of the veterans into the lake.

Thank goodness that the adults in the room - the county board - held fast and stayed the course for doing what is right.

Now even the distinctly Abele-friendly editorial board at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is telling Abele to grow up and sign the deal already:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele seems to have run out of options on a deal for a new governance structure and fiscal support for the War Memorial and the Milwaukee Art Museum. He has asked County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic to compromise on the deal so that it would provide less public support over a shorter period of time, but she has said the deal approved 18-0 by the board last month already is a compromise. He has threatened a veto, but that 18-0 vote practically guarantees an override vote by supervisors.

Furthermore, a veto would only prolong this fight for a few more weeks and could unnecessarily delay implementation of a $25 million renovation plan. To move matters forward and in the interest of county amity, Abele should simply sign the deal.

Like Abele, we would have preferred a different deal — but we can live with this one, worked out over 18 months with the help of Marquette University professor and former Supreme Court justice Janine Geske, who was brought in by Dimitrijevic to help resolve some key differences.

The deal does create a better balanced and more efficient governance structure between the two bodies, as well as several other entities that were under the War Memorial umbrella, such as the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. It also provides a set funding level of taxpayer support for the two entities at $1,586,000 for 10 years — about $1.1 million for the Art Museum and the rest for the War Memorial.

Much of that money will be used to help pay for utility costs and routine maintenance at the War Memorial, which has been deteriorating. Coupled with $10 million pledged by the county for major maintenance issues and the $15 million the Art Museum plans to spend on a major renovation, the funding will help restore the War Memorial to a building in which all county residents can take pride.

The guaranteed 10-year support and partnership with the county may also help reassure donors that their money will be well-spent, as Dimitrijevic has argued.

Furthermore, the nearly $1.6 million is not out of line with the average $1.5 million in annual support the county provided from 1999 to this year.

So the deal makes sense on several levels, and prolonging a hopeless political fight over the issue appears fruitless.

The fact that Abele still hasn't signed the deal and that even the paper has to scold him into doing so shows that Abele has a lot of growing to do - both personally and professionally.

It also shows that despite what his ghost writers (yes, there is more than one) would have you believe, Abele's concern does not lie with the people of Milwaukee County, but rather how he and his plutocratic pals can exploit it.

Nasty Little Cowardly Spud!

By Jeff Simpson

While he could be talking about the Knotsies...Former Bush appointed federal prosecutor Jim Letten is instead addressing Breitbardt's Gilligan, the best possible way he can. With Pure honesty! 

The only thing that Mr. Letten got wrong was that Hobbits are cool, while there are no redeeming human characteristics to Mr. Keefe and his crew.  

The Sweetheart Deal That Keeps On Giving

Well, now we can see why Scott Walker rewarded Scott Suder with a cushy position on the state's Public Service Commission.  It was for his work in setting up a scheme that will allow Walker a perpetual flow of campaign donations using taxpayer dollars.

I am referring to this story in which a ghost sporting group has just been rewarded a contract giving them a half million dollars every two years ad infinitum:

A $500,000 sportsmen's grant slipped into the state budget earlier this summer is set to go to a group with ties to Republican insiders that has praised GOP politicians and lobbied for legislation such as lowering regulations on iron mining and development in wetlands.

The United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation Inc., a group formed in January with no record of its own in outdoors training, is the only applicant for the scantly noticed two-year grant to promote hunting, fishing and trapping in Wisconsin that is being reviewed Thursday by a special panel.

If the grant is approved, the state could end up paying it every two years to United Sportsmen, which has said in its application that it would use most of the money to pay its staff and consultants.

The carefully crafted grant requirements were unanimously voted into the state budget in May after just seven minutes of discussion by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, which acted on a motion drafted by outgoing Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) and Rep. Dan LeMahieu (R-Cascade).

United Sportsmen has ties to several Suder allies, including his donors, lobbyists, a former lawmaker who worked on major concealed-carry legislation, and his former chief of staff.

Ah, but wait, there's more:

In an interview, Suder said the grant would help to avert a "looming crisis" for hunting and fishing and ensure the future of those pastimes in the state. He said he talked to United Sportsmen and other groups about the grant but wasn't aware that United Sportsmen would include his former chief of staff, Luke Hilgemann, in the application as one of its educators.

Hilgemann recently left his job overseeing and lobbying for the Wisconsin chapter of Americans for Prosperity to take a job in Washington as the No. 2 executive for the group favoring conservative economic policies.

So, so far we have Scott Suder slipping through a bill that gives a half million dollars every two years to a shadow group that was headed up by his former chief of staff and former AFP-WI leader. Well, if you thought this was bad, remember, there's always more:

The grant will provide $200,000 this year and $300,000 in 2014. Thereafter, it will provide $450,000 in each two-year budget. The grantee will have to provide $150,000 of its own funds in matching dollars in each future two-year budget.

The state money in the first year will be from general tax revenue; the DNR said it was still clarifying how the grant would be funded beyond 2013.

After the Sporting Heritage Committee meets next week, it will be disbanded, said the DNR's Paul Heinen. If conditions such as the matching funds are met, the grant will be paid in perpetuity, he said.

Yes, you read that right. It could go on forever and ever, or at least as long as Walker is in office.  What a lovely way to make sure that you keep getting tax dollars kicked back to you in the form of campaign contributions.

But hold on a minute. All that bilge is just what the reporter wrote. There is yet still more.

United Sportsmen of Wisconsin (USW) was founded in 2011, just days before the recalls.

Although they were not registered as a PAC, they were very much involved in the recalls.   USW had been involved with sending out misleading absentee ballot mailings.  These fraudulent mailings included an incorrect date (August 11 instead of August 9) and excluded information such as who paid for the mailers. (A copy of the fraudulent mailer can be found here.)

USW has registered a lobbyist, who has been pushing for not only the right to kill more animals with more weapons, but also had been pushing for the iron ore mine.  Perhaps they merely want the challenge of killing the mutant animals that would be created from the pollution?

At least we don't have to worry about these corrupts money launderers being free floating.  Walker and the Teapublicans in the legislature were kind enough to make sure that they had a home - the former MacKenzie Center.

As the Teapublicans were distorting the original intent of the Mackenzie Center, former legislature and Teapublican plant, Bob Welch, suggested that the Natural Resources Board get rid of the requirement that the land be used for environmental education.  The Board, which treated Welch like a long lost friend, took his suggestion over the pleas of more than 40 people who came to speak to keep the center intact.

In what I am sure is not merely coincidental, the now president of USW, Andy Patzlaff, was quoted as being just fine with the dropping of environmental educational requirements, even though he wasn't familiar with the center:

Promoting hunting, trapping and fishing in Wisconsin is in complete harmony with the MacKenzie Environmental Education Center’s current mission of teaching young people about the environment, according to the president of United Sportsmen of Wisconsin.

Andy Patzlaff, who lives near Maribel in Manitowoc County, said he’s not familiar with the MacKenzie Center, located east of Poynette in Columbia County’s town of Lowville.

But there’s no reason, he said, why the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources can’t make the MacKenzie Center into a “first-of-its-kind outdoor skills recruitment and retention center,” while keeping the things that the center already has — including an exhibit of Wisconsin’s indigenous wildlife and working with schools to incorporate the environment into children’s education.

“We fully support having environmental education continue,” Patzlaff said Friday, “and the DNR people I’ve talked to seem to feel the same way.”

To sum it up, Walker and his allies changed the conditions of the MacKenzie Center to drop the environmental education standards.  Then, with the use of Suder, the Teapublicans slip in a new grant crafted from thin air, which put in very specific guidelines on who could get the money and without telling anyone it was there.  Then a shady group made up of only a handful of leaders - all of whom just happen to be politically connected - but no members applies and is granted this money which they will probably use for anything but teaching how to hunt. Now we can keep giving our taxpayer money to this AFP/NRA group forever and ever, and they can keep using it to help keep Walker and other Teapublicans get elected.

Can this state even get any more corrupt?

Punishing Minorities!

By Jeff Simpson

North Carolina recently passed sweeping new "Voter ID" laws that are some of the most restrictive in years. 

The measure requires voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls and shortens the early voting period from 17 to 10 days. It will also end pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-old voters who will be 18 on Election Day and eliminates same-day voter registration.

Democrats and minority groups have been fighting against the changes, arguing that they represent an effort to suppress the minority vote and the youth vote, along with reducing Democrats’ advantage in early voting. They point out that there is little documented evidence of voter fraud.

 In Wisconsin, not to be outdone by crazies from elsewhere in the country, is looking to trump NC.  

Wisconsin's voter ID law is currently tied up in the courts. Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, believes his revised bill would be constitutional. Those who can't afford a photo ID would have to reveal to election officials their lack of income or sign an affidavit why they don't have a birth certificate to get an ID: “This is very similar to Indiana's current photo ID law that was held in the U.S. Supreme Court,

 As far right and repressive as it is to begin with, Glenn Grothman is always willing to pull something even further right:

A Republican legislator is circulating bills that would make it more difficult to vote in Wisconsin.

This time, state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) is trying to limit voting by early, in-person absentee voters and impose new requirements on those helping residents living in assisted living facilities to vote. A third bill would weaken big-money donors’ disclosure requirements. 

Despite the paltry 0.0000017% conviction rate, Republicans continue to spread the myth of “widespread voter fraud” and are pressing on with proposals that would solve this so-called problem. In reality, their solutions would merely disenfranchise voters who are more likely to cast ballots for Democrats.

That motivation became crystal clear when state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) stated that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have won Wisconsin last fall if the nation’s most restrictive voter ID had been in place on Election Day. When requested by OWN, Darling couldn’t provide documentation of the 200,000 illegally cast ballots that would have swung the election to the Republicans.

 Well America has been looking for someone to actually stand up for what is right and not tow the company line.  Finally we have someone when Colin Powell did just that!

Speaking at the CEO Forum, where Gov. Pat McCrory was in the audience, Powell said he believed the legislation would make it more difficult for all individuals to vote.

"I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote," he said, according to the News & Observer. "It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs... These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away."

General Powell did not stop there, he went a step further:

During his speech, Powell pushed back on the idea, which McCrory has cited, that voter ID laws curb voter fraud.
"You can say what you like, but there is no voter fraud," Powell said. "How can it be widespread and undetected?"
He continued, "What it really says to the minority voters is ... 'We really are sort-of punishing you.'"

Which explains everything in Wisconsin.  Meting out punishment to anyone who dared vote against them has been the Republican party of Wisconsin's obsession since they took over the reigns in 2010.  

Wait until you see what they have in store if they win another election!  

Solidarity Singers Grow As Does Their National Coverage

As Scott Walker and his top storm trooper, the cowardly Dave Erwin, keep violating the state and national constitutions by infringing on people's rights, reports are coming in that each day is seeing more and more people coming to sing or to simply observe.

And as the crowds grow, so does the level of coverage.  The latest being this special report by the Workers Independent News:



I am anxiously waiting to be able to show my support for the singers when I get this from my friend, Roberta Retrum:

If you want a shirt, look Roberta up on Facebook and be nice to her and she just might make one for you too.

And please donate to their cause, since they are singing for all of us.

Two More Milwaukee County Communities To Vote On Citizens United Referendum

I just received this email from our friends at Grassroots North Shore:

Please join campaign lead, Shirley Horowitz, and volunteers as they turn over the Move to

Amend petitions to village officials.  in Whitefish Bay where we needed 1090 signatures for the referendum we will be handing in 1380 signatures.  Next in Shorewood where we needed 1060 signatures we will be submitting 1220.

Thank you to all who circulated and signed petitions.  Look for referendums on the Spring ballot.

Grassroots North Shore
http://www.grassrootsnorthshore.com/

That's three Milwaukee County communities that are going to have their voices heard.

For other Milwaukee County citizens to be heard, they will have to go about to get petitions signed and have their communities put this on their ballots.

Of course, as I recently pointed out, all of this time, effort and money could have been saved if Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele hadn't sided with the corporations, oligarchs and plutocrats.

Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout

I don't mind trying new things, but even I have my limits, and this exceeds those by a country mile:

As we joked in the video, we really do love to make beer with uniquely local ingredients. Rocky Mountain Oysters (aka fried bull testicles) are arguably our state’s most popular local dish. They’ve also been enjoyed by humans for centuries. So they’re a dream-come-true ingredient for a Wynkoop beer.

The beer is made with Colorado-grown base malts, roasted barley, seven specialty malts (including special B and smoked malt) and Styrian Goldings hops. The beer gets a small dose of sea salt, too. “It gives the beer an extra layer of Rocky Mountain oyster flavor,” Brown notes, “and additional texture.”

The 8-barrel batch also included 25 pounds of bull testicles that were sliced by hand and then roasted (by Wynkoop sous chef Andrew Langlo) before being added to the beer’s mash.

So how does it taste? Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout is an assertive foreign-style stout, slightly viscous, with a deep brown color. It has equally deep flavors of chocolate syrup, Kahlua, and espresso, along with a palpable level of alcohol and a savory umami-like note.It finishes dry and roasted with a fast-fading hop bite.

The beer is 7% ABV and has 3 BPBs. That’s balls per barrel.

The beer will be available exclusively at Wynkoop Brewing Company and at our table at the Great American Beer Festival, October 11-13 at the Colorado Convention Center here in Denver.

We hope you go nuts for it.

Hell, I'm not sure I can even look at a Spotted Cow the same way.

Walker Wants State Workers To Pay Surcharge On Their Pay

There is no idea so stupid or repulsive that Scott Walker won't embrace it.  The latest is making state workers get their pay on prepaid debit cards:

A new way for Wisconsin employees to be paid is viewed by some as a tactic by banks to collect more money from consumers. 

State agencies recently announced that employees can elect to receive payment on a prepaid card through a program called Accelapay offered by U.S. Bank. Previously they could receive a paper check or have money directly deposited into a bank account.

A June 30 article in the New York Times reported employers such as McDonald’s, Walgreens and Wal-Mart are increasingly using the cards to cut costs, while in some cases forcing employees to pay fees to use the cards. In Pennsylvania, a McDonald’s employee filed a lawsuit claiming the fees reduced her pay below minimum wage.

Reuters reported in November 2011 that banks would begin pushing such prepaid cards because of Dodd-Frank regulations passed in 2010 that capped the fees they can charge on debit card transactions. The prepaid cards aren’t covered by those rules.

Wisconsin’s card comes with some fees, such as 50 cents for a balance inquiry at a participating ATM and $2 for withdrawals at a non-participating ATM. There are no fees for purchases, receiving cash back from contracted merchants or inactivity.

And this is only the beginning.

I warned the gentle reader about this prepaid payroll card a couple months ago, along with this tidbit:

Many employees say they have no choice but to use the cards: some companies no longer offer common payroll options like ordinary checks or direct deposit.

At companies where there is a choice, it is often more in theory than in practice, according to interviews with employees, state regulators and consumer advocates. Employees say they are often automatically enrolled in the payroll card programs and confronted with a pile of paperwork if they want to opt out.

“We hear virtually every week from employees who never knew there were other options, and employers certainly don’t disabuse workers of that idea,” said Deyanira Del Rio, an associate director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, which works with community groups in New York.

Marty Beil better get off his ass and start a suit about this before all his workers find their pay cut again so that US Bank can get their cut of the deal.