Father Christmas

Father Christmas - The Kinks




I Believe In Father Christmas

Sean Duffy Said What?!

From TPMTV:



"We can come across as knuckle-dragging neanderthals..."

No, Sean, you don't come across that way.  You simply are that way.

Serb Hall Versus Solidarity

As long time readers of this here blog know, there had been a labor struggle going on at Serb Hall in Milwaukee,  The new management at Serb Hall wanted to throw away their long standing tradition of being the best known unionized restaurant in Southeast Wisconsin in order to squeeze a few more bucks of profit for themselves.  So they began mistreating their workers and bargaining in bad faith with them.

When we learned of the news, Randy Bryce of Ironworkers Local 8 and I felt we had to do something to show our support for the workers. But instead of the usual ways, like holding an informational rally in front of the restaurant, we wanted something more unique.  And thus was the beginning of the Solidarity Fish Fry.

The response we received when we came out with this idea was nothing short of phenomenal.  We had dozens of people coming each week, specifically asking for a union server and waiting if one was not available.

We had supporters come from all over Wisconsin and at least one support come all the way from England.  We even got a little national coverage for our unique way of showing support for the union workers.

We knew we were getting our message through to management because they kept trying to sabotage our efforts.  They would berate the union staff publicly.  The would berate their customers coming to support the union workers.  They would lie to people and try to seat them in non-union tables and telling them that they were indeed unions.

But we kept coming to show our support.

Despite the strong message we were sending, Serb Hall still kept maltreating their staff and bargaining in bad faith.  Even getting punished by the National Labor Relations Board was not enough to deter their greed (and to think that they are supposed to be affiliated with a church!).

But even then, we kept coming.

Finally, after six months, management sabotaged the contract negotiations and declared an impasse.  Management refused to return to the bargaining table.

So we stopped coming.

If Serb Hall wouldn't return to the bargaining table, we weren't going to return to their tables.

As Serb Hall continued to break the unions, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, which had held their monthly meetings there for years and years and years, decided that they too were done with Serb Hall.  On December 4, MALC held their last meeting there.

Not only will there be no more Solidarity Fish Fries or Labor Council meetings, but there will be no more union retirement or holiday parties or other union-related events there either.

This past Friday, as the fates would allow, was the first time that I happened to be near Serb Hall on a Friday night.  I was curious to see how they were faring now that the unions took a stronger showing of solidarity against them.  This is what I saw:

The place was dead.  Being the Friday before Christmas, one might have thought they'd be packed with holiday party goers or people just going out for a fish fry, not wanting to cook anything big before the holidays.  Instead, they were lucky if there were more than 20 cars in the parking lot.

I wonder how their profit margin is looking now.

On a final note, when I shared the news with Randy, he was so elated at this show of solidarity that - you guessed it - he had to just dance with joy:

The Incompetence of J.B. Van Hollen

by Jeff Simpson

We all know that JB Van Hollen has announced he will not seek re-election to his office of Attorney General of Wisconsin.  This took many people by surprise and everyone trying to figure out why.  There are even some of the Kool Aid Drinkers that think he could possibly run for the Supreme Court.  

There is however, one prominent republican that does not think much of JB Van Hollen's ability.  That person is non other than Governor Scott Walker.   Scott Walker was recently asked why he has not issued any pardons.  His response - Because JB Van Hollen has been to inept. 

"If you pick one there's thousands of other examples out there of people who may not have the media or other outlets behind them, who would be in an equal position who probably have a compelling case to be made that we don't yet know about," said Walker in an interview with WKOW.

According to Walker, under the supervision of JB Van Hollen, the Wisconsin Justice Department has falsely or needlessly imprisoned "thousands" of Wisconsinites unnecessarily.   That is not much of a ringing endorsement for any kind of future run for office. 

Lest we forget and think Scott Walker is the hero here, as our friends at MalContent point out - He is not:

Walker states there are a lot of people with compelling cases for pardons, so we should pardon none of them. This is a not a logically compelling argument.

Wrongfully convicted? What matters is whether the media or other outlets are behind them, suggests Walker, a bizarre position.

What about innocent Green Bay ex-cop, John Maloney; the innocent Penny Brummer of Madison who police went after because she was an out lesbian, and the innocent Don Miller of Hurley just released on parole? 

And there are surely many more innocents incarcerated

I would take it a step further and point out that this proves Scott Walker is lazy and has no interest in doing thereal work it takes to be a successful Governor.  He thinks there are thousands of innocent people in prison but unless he can watch a 30 second new sclip on the Fox, he has no interest in trying to figure out if they are guilty or innocent. 

There is no money in it for him.  Besides they cant vote anyway. 

Caption This

In between writing scary elementary screeds about "Elfie" and mandating racism, two of Wisconsin's favorite sons found some time to hang out together. 

Joel K:  "I really must go" 
Scott: "Baby, It's Cold Outside"   

Your turn - 

Happy Winter Solstice

At least the hours of daylight start getting longer, when we get to see the sun that is.

Walkergate: A Tale Of Two Cronies

It was the worst of times.  It was the worst of crimes.

In January 2011, the state was still reeling from the first round of degenerate and detrimental laws passed by Scott Walker and his Teapublican legislature.  One of the most damaging laws was Act 10, from which the state still suffers and will be years - and new leadership - to even begin repairing the damage this has caused.

People were distraught and in despair about the loss of their rights and their livelihoods.

But early in the early days of that year, hope came in the form of a John Doe investigation known as Walkergate.  The investigation led to the arrest and conviction of the Walker Six - the six people that had been convicted of crimes ranging from illegal campaign contributions to illegal politicking.  People were anxiously awaiting for Walker himself to become a defendant, something which has yet to happen.

Two of Scott Walker's cronies - Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh - were arrested and charged with stealing from a fund meant for veterans and their families.  (Actually, the fund was being used to promote Walker and his campaign for governor.)

Both men were eventually convicted for their crimes.

Russell, at the time of his crimes, was serving as Walker's Deputy Chief of Staff and could have been charged with much more than theft.  He was sentenced to two years in prison, two years on extended supervision and was ordered to pay $26,621.04 in restitution.

Kavanaugh was appointed by Walker to Milwaukee County's Veteran Service Commission.  He was sentenced to two years prison and two years of extended supervision and was ordered to pay $51,232.00 in restitution.

Similar crimes, similar times.

But that is where the similarity ends.

Russell's case

Russell, who was pulling all sorts of stunts during his trial, is now back at it.  Russell has filed a rather frivolous petition to have his sentence pared down and to have the restitution cut.  The premise of his petition is twofold.

Russell thinks that his prison time should be shortened because he feels that Judge Hansher was thinking he was sentencing him to Misconduct in Office instead of theft.  But on page four of his petition, he shoots this argument in the foot by pointing out how the judge took pains to clarify things:

THE COURT:  ...And this is on my own motion because it was my recollection, and I know I said it, I talked during sentencing about misconduct in public office.  And I think I made the statement, and I wrote this down, misconduct in public office speaks for itself I believe I said that.

The defendant was not charged with misconduct in public office.  I was aware of that.  I even said in the beginning he pled guilty to count one which was theft.  The court's reference to misconduct in public office was a reference to him being deputy chief of staff at the time.  It was a characterization.  I was viewing this as a fact, not as a charge, because this happened while he was in public office.

Russell also thinks he should not have to pay back $5,000 of the veteran's fund because he rented office space for a company he made up for the sole purpose of allowing Walker to continue to control the money, even though the county's Ethics Board ordered the money away from Walker's office.

In other words, Russell, who the judge said had no shame in the crime, still has not learned any remorse for what he did but is tired of eating baloney sandwiches.  But since Russell has been abandoned by his very good friend Scott Walker, his only recourse is to try this shameless manipulation of the court.

The court has ordered the state to respond by January 20, 2014 and then Russell's attorney to respond by February 4.  After that, the court will make either issue a written decision or set the matter for hearing.

Another hearing is the last thing that Walker will want as things start to heat up for the gubernatorial race.  Walker, who has never really distanced himself from Russell, doesn't want people to remember all of the corruption he is tied up in.

Kavanaugh's case

Kavanaugh's case was much tamer than Russell's.  Even though there were some delays in his proceedings due to illness and he tried to use some weak excuses to minimize and rationalize his crime, it was a more or less open and shut case.

But what is happening now is anything but normal.

Unlike Russell, Kavanaugh has filed no petitions to have his sentence changed.

He didn't need to.

Walker's Department of Corrections has done it for him.  I was alerted to this recent entry into Kavanaugh's case:

DOC is requesting the Court to authorize the inmate's release and conversion of remaining confinement time to extended supervision.

The reasons that this is rather exceptional are that it's Walker's DOC making the request and not Kavanaugh himself, that this goes against Walker's whole "Truth in Sentencing" philosophy and that it also goes against Act 38, which repeals any sort of early release from prison.

The only exception to Act 38 which might explain this would be if Kavanaugh is having an "extraordinary" health condition.  But even then, it would go against all of the tough on crime attitude that Walker prides himself on.

Another explanation for the difference in treatment is that Russell caused Walker greater embarrassment.  Russell and Walker are very close and their history together goes back decades.  Not only that, but Russell was found to have been deep into the illegal campaigning going on, including the setting up of a secret router in the executive suite of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.  It was also Russell's shenanigans during his court proceedings that revealed other shameful acts by Walker, including his stonewalling of the Walkergate investigation.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that even the apparent preferential treatment of Kavanaugh's case pales in comparison to that of Kelly Rindfleisch, who is still free pending on an appeal of her conviction.  Then again, Rindfleisch also appears to be sole person of the Walker Six who is also receiving his aid in funding her legal defense.

Apparently in Walker's eyes, all cronies are created equal.  It's just that some are more equal than others.

Abandon Hope Ye Who Enter Here

By Jeff Simpson


 

This from John Hermes:

Good morning all. It's the morning after the election. While we are sorry we did not bring home a win for the 82nd District, we do know we laid everything on the table and gave it our very best effort. I am very certain and proud of that fact.
When Brandon and I looked at the vote totals last evening we both agreed that we had run the correct race, at the correct time, and applied the correct strategies. We firmly agreed that we would not have changed one thing.
As a campaign, we focused on real local issues and upon returning true and experienced representation to our district. We had the better ground game, we remained on focused message, our literature was more targeted and rich in content, we raised money through individual and traditional means, and our team knocked on as many district doors as was possible in the eight weeks we were given. We did everything you are suppose to do to win these races and communicate with the voters.

The Vote Totals:

 Skowronski received 3951 votes while Hermes received 2195 votes.

We got beat 2-1 and did "everything right".


Show up for the next local Democratic Party meeting to voice your displeasure: 


 


PS:  Is it clear to anyone yet that this is NOT a winning strategy on the Democratic ticket?

Scott Walker is Against Racism (sometimes)!

By Jeff Simpson

Recently, Capper broke the story of how Scott Walker wanted the people of Wisconsin to send him the money they had planned on spending on their children during Black Friday shopping.   Captain ego approved the fundraising email, because really who in the Walker world would not want to send their extra money to further Scott Walker's career?  (Well except for Taylor Palmisano who wrote the email, she WANTS your gifts.  Do not send money intended for her to Scott Walker please, take it to Macy's and buy her stuff) 

Well thanks to Capper, the true depth of Scott Walker's ego, and self centeredness went global.   Scott of course can not have any of that so he threw his favorite intern under the bus.   Palmisano had some 3 year old racist tweets on her profile and Scott Walker was not going to have that in his campaign. 

"Taylor Palmisano has been immediately removed from her position with the Friends of Scott Walker campaign," said spokesman Jonathan Wetzel. "Both the Governor, and the campaign, condemn these insulting remarks which do not reflect our views in any way."

 Scott Walker condemns remarks made three years ago, he is so against racism that he is going to veto the Steve nASS Racist Mascot Protection Bill, to remain consistent. 

O wait:

"If it were me, personally, I'd find a way to move away from nicknames or mascots that certain groups of our fellow citizens seriously found to be offensive," Walker said during an interview Tuesday at the governor's mansion along Lake Mendota.
Walker's fellow Republicans passed a bill this fall that would make it much harder for the state to order schools to change race-based team names and mascots.
Walker has until Thursday to sign or veto the measure; if he does nothing, it will automatically become law then. Walker said he would not allow the measure to go into law on its own, saying he would approve or reject it by the deadline.
He said he empathized with those who are offended by Indian team names, but cast the ability of schools to choose their team names as a First Amendment right.
"I get the concern" of opponents, Walker said. "But the counterbalance to that that I'm looking at is, by the same token, from a free speech standpoint...where do you draw the line on free speech?"
"While I may not like or necessarily approve of others' speech, where do you draw the line to say, 'It's OK to do things that you like but not that you don't?'" he said.

Apparently he used up his offense at insulting remarks, and has no intention on remaining consistent.   Besides, we all know exactly how he feels about "free speech"

Now that Scott Walker is running for President(stop laughing), he is trying to have it both ways.  He does not think we should use racist mascots but he will sign a bill making it impossible to change them.   Everyone wins!  

It is NOT too late though 

Contact Scott Walker and tell him to veto the Racist Mascot Preservation Bill 

Twitter:  @ScottWalker 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/scottwalkerforgovernor

Phone:  (608) 266-1212

 H/T Shane for the helmet image! 

Dear Mrs. Kleefisch

By Jeff Simpson

We at CogDis were given the most recent note that was sent home to the Kleefisch family by their teacher:

Dear Mrs. Kleefisch,

Now that your son Joey has hopefully learned his lesson that plagiarism is wrong, I wanted to send along a note of encouragement.  Joey has been trying so hard, and I have enclosed his latest English assignment.   It is cute and he really like the "elf on the shelf" that you hide for him every morning.  I recommend that we just keep encouraging him and he should be writing at grade level soon.

Happy Holidays

Joey's 4th Grade Teacher 

Here is Joey's latest  writing project:

Tweet Joey words of encouragement here @repkleefisch

Backwards Day

By Jeff Simpson

Apparently, in the land of Fitzwalkerstan, increasing the price of all goods, will make people want to buy more*.

*unless its to pay workers more.  

Gov. Scott Walker said Monday his administration will explore eliminating the state’s income tax.
“There are many states that do very well, better than most states in the country, that have no income taxes," Walker said during the governor’s Northern Economic Development Summit in Pembine, according to Wispolitics.com. "That's one thing for us to look at. Is that feasible? What would that mean in terms of an economic boost? That's not only for individuals, but small businesses in this state."

 Not sure that Scott Walker and the republicans in WI could be any more anti-business than they are,  then they come up with ideas like this and trump all of their other anti business policies prior. In what reality does increasing the price of goods 8-10 % make people want to purchase more? 

 

This is such a silly idea that it was too crazy for Louisiana and Bobby Jindal. 

 

 

Walker isn’t the first conservative extreme right wing governor to look at scrapping income taxes. Early this year, Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal proposed replacing his state’s income tax with a sales tax, but he abandoned the plan in the face of widespread opposition.
“All along, opposition to the tax swap was growing broader and more bipartisan by the day. Clergy members urged the governor to drop the plan, saying it could hurt the poor, while the state’s most prominent chamber of commerce group came out against the plan for its potential impact on businesses,” the New York Times reported in April.

We have become the dumping ground for failed extremist views.   

 

Nice.   

 

 

Get used to this and more, since the democratic party can't win an election anywhere!   

 

 

 

Which Side Are You On

By Jeff Simpson

Yesterday I pointed out that the weekend messages between Mary Burke, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Scott Walker is virtually indistinguishable.

Apparently Zach @bloggingblue took some umbrage with pointing out the truth, so he dug up an OLD quote from Marty Beil.

The problem is, and I know that Zach understands this, that quote is 3 years old when the state was incredibly different.   In 2010 the left and all of their supporters got their ass kicked badly in the election.   They knew that the first thing that the republicans would do is come to them for their pound of flesh.

The union leadership understood this and offered it up.  As  John Mccain says "elections have consequences" and when 40% of the union membership votes for people who want their scalp, then you have to pay the piper when those people get elected.  That is the way the world works these days. 

So to use a three year old quote that was said while ACT10 was being debated, is downright dishonest.   It also assumes that the world or the state has not changed since then.   In the real world, we know that ACT10 was an abject failure.   It has been responsible for the state lagging behind in pretty much economic indicator that is measurable.

If you want to compare what Mary Burke says now to what Marty Beil says now, you should ask him!

Sly did just that yesterday:



"For her to say they should have paid more is a stupid thing to say" Marty Biel

One of These Things Is Not Like The Other

By Jeff Simpson

Never mind....they are the exact same(emphasis mine) : 

Mary Burke is"running to the middle"

So you'd look to repeal Act 10?
I think there is a difference, and what I'd look at is restoring collective bargaining.
Are there any parts of ACT 10 that you agree with?
Yes, I do believe [state employees] paying a fair share of health care and pension costs is something we needed in order to be able to balance the budget.

I thought, this is the Democrats "best candidate"?   I figured there had to be a mistake somewhere, so I contacted the party and Mike Tate for his thoughts.

" Act 10 was bad policy and done in a manner that was demeaning and unfair to our public employees. Mary Burke has indicated she never would have pursued Act 10, busted unions by destroying collective bargaining and acting in such a divisive manner. Many Democrats as well as public employee unions have suggested paying a little more for health care and pensions as an alternative to the horrible and divisive manner in which Act 10 was passed and implemented. I believe when Democrats win the Governors office in 2014 we will see the reinstatement of collective bargaining rights for our public employees."

Scott Walker, our extreme right wing divisive Governor:

 "In the end, do public employees -- including me and my family -- pay a little bit more for pensions and health care? Absolutely," Walker told host Joy Cardin.

 Apparently these people fought for nothing:



  

Sorry people, go home.  No one was listening!   

Want to know more of the Mary Burke/ Dem party platform for the coming election?  Check out their website here! 

Sandy Hook and The Shame of Wisconsin

This past Saturday marked the one year anniversary of the tragedy that fell on Newtown, Connecticut, when a crazed gun nut went into Sandy Hook Elementary School and took the lives of 20 innocent children and six brave educators who gave their lives trying to save the children.

As the nation stopped to remember and to mourn this senseless loss of innocent and heroic lives, there was also some righteous anger directed to our elected leaders in Washington, D.C., who have done precious little to pass sensible gun control laws.

But no where is the shame of inaction greater than in Wisconsin.

Over the past three years, the Teapublican legislature and governor, and certain sellout Democrats, rammed through irresponsible gun laws which has led to a spike in gun violence and can be attributed directly to at least one death.

But the Teapublicans had gone way beyond the pale last month when they refused to support a resolution honoring the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook shootings, even though seven of them had cosponsored the bill:

Assembly Republicans refused to consider a resolution honoring the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting during its last regular session of the year — despite the fact that several of them were listed as co-sponsors.

Democrats tried to force a vote on the resolution, which was not scheduled to be taken up. The measure wasn't allowed to come forward, on a 53-39 vote.

There is no justification for not taking up what should be a no-brainer vote.

For the Teapublicans to refuse to allow a vote on this clearly demonstrates the emptiness of their hearts and souls and brings shame to all of us.

As unfathomable as the Teapublicans' actions are, it is equally incomprehensible that anyone would want one of these fools to represent them.  Next year, in 2014, we will have a chance to rectify this.  I would expect every single Teapublican to have a Democratic challenger and that this is brought up on a regular basis.  Force them to explain why they disrespected these children and these heroes.  Then vote their arses out of office as fast as you can.

The County Emperor's New Clothes

On Friday, I pointed out that Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele - the Mitt Romney of Milwaukee County - was spitting mad because he was once again thwarted from taking away workers' rights.

Abele wanted to gut County Ordinance 17, which preserved the workers' rights that would normally be found in a contract.  Abele wanted to do this so he could bust AFSCME and subsequently, bust all the other unions at his leisure. Instead, the County Board proposed rolling the other unions into Ordinance 17 so they would enjoy the same protections.

In fact, Abele was so angry that he started making wild accusations and threats of recalls:

Abele accused supervisors of flouting the law in defiance of their oaths of office over two issues. One was whether the board should be able to confirm 11 high-level managers appointed by Abele. The second was over a purported delay in adopting uniform work rules for county workers, as called for by the 2011 state law that eliminated most public employee collective bargaining.

Abele even suggested the board's failure to listen to the advice of county lawyers on those issues could provoke a recall effort against supervisors.

"When your legal adviser tells you this isn't legal and you do that anyway, the word that usually comes to mind is recall," Abele said.

[...]

Abele also said the board's failure to adopt a set of employee work rules his personnel director referred to the board nearly two months ago constituted disregard for Act 10, the 2011 law spearheaded by Gov. Scott Walker.

The board's finance committee backed an alternative resolution that called for maintaining the rules that were in place in union contracts. The panel also endorsed five new contracts that were limited to 1.5% pay raises — something nonunion employees got in May.

But later on Friday, new information came out, which Abele really does not want the public to know.

HIS legal adviser told him that what the board did was perfectly legal:

Click on image to embiggen

In case the reader is having difficulty reading it, here is a copy and paste version:

From: Paul Bargren/Corp_Counsel/Milwaukee County
To: sschultze@journalsentinel.com, Marina Dimitrijevic/CtyBoard/Milwaukee County@milwco, Kelly Bablitch/CtyBoard/Milwaukee County@MILWCO, Bill Zaferos/CtyBoard/Milwaukee County@MILWCO, Chris Abele/Co Exec/Milwaukee County@MILWCO, Amber Moreen/Co Exec/Milwaukee County@MILWCO, John Zapfel/Co Exec/Milwaukee County@MILWCO, Brendan Conway/Co Exec/Milwaukee County@MILWCO
Cc: Mark Grady/Corp_cnsl/Milwaukee County@milwco, Colleen Foley/Corp_cnsl/Milwaukee County@MILWCO
Date: 12/13/2013 11:48 AM
Subject: "Status Quo" Ordinances


In response to some inquiries, let me state the following in case there is any confusion:
Lawyers from the Office of the Corporation Counsel, including me, worked closely with supervisors to draft the "status quo" ordinances they had requested. Those were the ordinances approved by the Finance Committee yesterday. Those ordinances were intended to be -- and are, in my opinion -- consistent with current state law.
--Paul Bargren

In case you missed it, Abele and his top staff were included in this email from Abele's Corp Counsel, Paul Bargren.  And since it came through before noon, there was plenty of time for Abele to correct himself, unless he was incapacitated in some form. such as being drunk, which is a complete possibility.  I know for a fact that he wasn't at the Milwaukee Area Labor Council's holiday event.

Since there was no correction forthcoming, one must conclude that Abele purposefully meant to mislead the public in order to spur the people into recalling the supervisors.

In other words, Abele tried to take away workers' rights and bust the unions because the unions, along with the County Board, has been the only thing to keep Abele from turning Milwaukee County into a plutocrat's playground.  When the County Board thwarted his plan to bust the unions and instead made things better for everyone, Abele became so enraged that he told outright lies in order to get people to recall the board.  That way, they would be out of his way and he could proceed in reaping his political and personal gain.

Now, what was Abele saying about not listening to legal counsel, flaunting the law and recalls?  He just might be onto something.

Except that it should be him that is nervous.  By his own statements and standards, he's the one that should be recalled.  And we all know that we can't count on him to do the right thing on his own.