Who Paid For Deanna Alexander's Trip To The ALEC Convention?

Last week, ALEC had their annual convention in San Diego.  Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander managed to make the trip out there for the fun and games and brainwashing:

Traveled to lovely San Diego this week for a conference where we share ideas on good legislation and best practices in issues like policy making processes. One of the top panels I learned from covered body cameras for law enforcement- examining how to protect the public from corrupt cops and how to protect police from false accusations while respecting everyone's privacy rights. It was an added bonus to have Governor Scott Walker join us for breakfast to talk about government reform.
Good for her! I'm glad she had a good time.

But it does raise the question of just how did she pay for the trip and the stay out there.  I mean, it couldn't be cheap.

We know that Alexander doesn't have a lot of money, since she had to use her official position to help raise money for her father's funeral, despite it being illegal and unethical for her to do so.  Did she use some of the excess money from all those anonymous donors to pay for her trip?

Or did she use taxpayer money to make this jaunt?  We know that she has no problem using taxpayer money for things that she shouldn't use it for.

Or did ALEC pay for her trip and hotel stay and food?  ALEC has been repeatedly shown to do that for other lawmakers and Alexander shows that she has no trouble with taking corporate handouts from dark money front groups like the misnamed Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

Of course, taking money from ALEC would also be illegal and unethical, but that sort of stuff never slowed Alexander down.

Seeing that Alexander is almost as prolific as Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan at sending out press releases for political purposes, I sincerely hope that she sends one out to tell us by whom and how this political jaunt of hers was paid for.

But as usual, don't hold your breath for Alexander to do the right thing.

RoJo refers to inner city kids as "idiots," forgets he's the idiot.

Wisconsin's dumb senator, Ron Johnson, did it again.

In a radio interview with squawk radio host Icky Vicki McKenna, RoJo had this to say in promotion of school choice:

“It’s unbelievable to me that liberals, that President Obama, of course he sends his children to private school, as did Al Gore, and Bill Clinton and every other celebrated liberal,” Johnson said Monday on 1310 WIBA–Madison. “They just don’t want to let those idiot inner city kids that they purport to be so supportive of…they don’t want to give them the same opportunity their own kids have. It’s disgraceful.”

RoJo later said that he regretted the remark, not because he doesn't think that inner city kids are idiots, but because it got him a lot of backlash.

It should be noted that to put his foot in his mouth, RoJo had stepped away from lecturing MIT physicist Ernest Moniz about electromagnetic pulse weapons:

A bit of context: Johnson is the senior senator from Wisconsin and a Republican. Ernest Moniz is the secretary of energy and one of the lead US negotiators on the Iran deal. Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons are a nonsense science fiction "threat" and a longtime point of obsession among certain conservatives, such as Newt Gingrich and Ron Johnson. Johnson's line of questioning, to a top-of-his-field nuclear physicist, is a little like asking Neil Armstrong if he thinks the moon landing might have been faked.

But hey, what do you expect from a guy who thinks that global climate change is caused by sunspots?

I am really looking forward to the debates between this doofus and Russ Feingold.

Cross posted from Crooks & Liars.

Know The Difference - The Milwaukee Lion

By now, the gentle reader has heard about the Milwaukee Lion, based on reports that an African Lion was seen on the north side of Milwaukee.  People have been having a lot of fun with the story.  But with the amusement, there is also some bemusement.  I hope to make things clear for the gentle reader with some simple facts.

The Milwaukee Lion:

• The lion is called the King of Beasts or the King of the Jungle
• The Milwaukee Lion has so far mostly eluded people leaving no trace of its presence
• The lion preys upon weak, frail, sick and elderly animals
• The lion uses its natural coloring to hide in the tall grass

This animal has often been confused with another urban animal, the Milwaukee Lyin' (aka Chris Abele):

The Milwaukee Lyin':

• The Milwaukee Lyin' considers himself to be the King of Milwaukee or the King of the Concrete Jungle (and he keeps adding more concrete)
• The Milwaukee Lyin' avoids people because he doesn't think he needs to be accountable to anyone but his rich friends.
• The Milwaukee Lyin' preys upon the weak, frail, sick and elderly people of Milwaukee County
• The Milwaukee Lyin' uses his vast wealth to hide from the truth

So when traveling in Milwaukee, please use caution. Both of these beasts are very dangerous.  On the bright side, the Milwaukee Lyin' can be easily scared off by the truth and by solidarity.

Welcome to Wisconsin (Some Opinions Allowed)!

BY Jeff Simpson


 Last week, we brought you the story of how UW-Madison Professor Sara Goldrik-Rab has tweeted a few incoming freshman and asked them to do some research on how Scott Walker's latest budget was impacting their investment in their college education.   

The righties were quick to sick the right wing noise machine on Professor Goldrik-Rab for saying things they did not want to hear.   

Lost amongst the noise of the faux outrage from the right, was UW Economics Professor Noah Williams, who just happens to be an advisor to the Scott Walker for President campaign, writing an op-ed that was published in Forbes Magazine.   The op-ed tells us all about the amazing Wisconsin economy.

Before Governor Scott Walker took office in January of 2011, Wisconsin was seeing high unemployment, stagnating incomes and a high tax burden. Fast-forward four years: The state enjoys strong growth in employment and improvements in living standards through higher after-tax incomes. Thanks to a fiscal policy of reducing tax and regulatory burdens while balancing the budget, Wisconsin now outperforms many of its neighbors.

Which leads me to one question(No it is not what state is Mr. WIlliams actually describing?) but the questions I have is why is it ok for Mr. WIlliams to write an op-ed and share his flawed opinion when its not ok for Professor Goldrik-Rab to share her opinion? Could it be in Wisconsin that the only opinion your allowed to voice is to sing the praises of our absentee Governor?  

A Special Voter Suppression Day

Tuesday was the day of a special primary election in the 11th Aldermanic District in the City of Milwaukee.  Alderman Joe Dudzik died earlier this year in a motorcycle accident. 

There were seven candidates running to replace him, hence the need for a special primary election.  

Some of the candidates were State Senator Tim Carpenter and Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Mark Borkowski.  Others included Bob Delgadillo, a veteran firefighter and the laughingstock candidate, Michael Lutz, the guy who issued death threats against District Attorney John Chisholm and his family.

As that I am a resident of the 11th District and that I take my right to vote very seriously, I went to exercise that right after work, even though the Republicans have taken great pains to make voting as onerous and difficult as they could without openly going full Jim Crow.

When I arrived at my polling place, it was at first business as usual. They looked my name up in their ledger, and just like every time that I've voted for the past 32 years, no one had voted under my name. 

But then things became surreal.

The woman asked me to state my address.  I don't understand how this protected my vote since it was printed there in the ledger and was easy enough to read if I hadn't known it already.

Then came the glorious moments that Scott Walker and the Republicans had spent years and millions of dollars for - showing my picture ID.  The clerk took only a precursory look at it and had already checked me off before I showed it to her.

Ah, but the fun wasn't over yet.  Because when it comes to all things Republican, there's more.  

There's always more.

They also had new voting machines and new ballots.  Instead of drawing a line to complete an arrow, one filled in the circle by the name of the candidate you wanted to vote for. 

And instead of the old small scanner machine, there was a much bigger machine. This new machine resembled, perhaps intentionally, a garbage cart with an electronic tablet or mini-laptop sitting atop it.  

And this is when I wondered if my vote was actually being protected.  When I went to slip the ballot in the machine, I had a small amount of difficulty getting it to go in.  Even though the ballot hadn't been fully inserted into the scanner, the display on the tablet/laptop showed that it was being scanned!  How the machine was scanning a ballot before it was inserted was something the clerks couldn't explain.

With all the stories of how easily voting machines can be hacked and tampered with, it left me feeling uneasy.  Maybe my vote isn't being protected after all.  

I looked at the machine on all sides to see if I could find the name of the manufacturer, but there was nothing that indicated who made the thing.

To add to my nervousness and suspicions, even though it was a relatively small race with only a couple thousand votes cast, it took them longer to report the results than it did for them to call the recall election in 2012. 

Most people that I had spoken to had expected the general election to be between Carpenter and Delgadillo.  Surprisingly, the race now looks like it will be between Carpenter and Borkowski.  I'm sure it's just coincidence that the firefighter didn't win in an area that has a lot of first responders living in it and that Borkowski is a Republican.

When I got home, my wife, who had voted earlier in the day, and I discussed our experiences with the new voting system.  We talked about how  hard it would be fore someone who didn't have an ID already to vote.

What really sent chills down our spines is what we will be facing when we move in a few months.  We agreed that we are going to have to make sure to allow us enough time to get to the DMV to have our driver licenses changed to the new address, especially since Walker has a company in California producing them and that it takes weeks to get the new IDs.  Then, when we finally do have the new IDs, we have to make sure we get to City Hall a month before the next election so that we can be properly registered.  

Since the next election primary will be in February, we figure we will have to start the whole process no later than Thanksgiving.  And that's hoping and praying that there are no snafus along the way.

My wife and I agreed that we were smart and fortunate to both have union jobs where we are able to take off for the two days that we will need to go to both the DMV and City Hall.  We couldn't even imagine trying to make it work if we weren't able to get off of work to take care of these things.  We thought of the people that are living from check to check and unable to take any time off to get these things done.  Especially if those people live in rural areas where the DMV offices are far and few between with very, very limited hours of operation.  And if those people also had to go through the extra hoops of trying to attain their birth certificates or other documents to get their IDs in the first place...

Overall, the need to show a picture ID did nothing - nothing! - to protect our votes which had never been jeopardized in the first place.  What it did do was making voting much more difficult and time consuming and costly (Oh, look, Jim Crow made it here after all!) than necessary or appropriate.  And to top it off, it leaves one with an uneasy feeling that going through it all wasn't worth it because one can't be sure that one's vote was being properly counted.

It makes one wonder if it is all worth the trouble and might make some decide that it's not.  And even if one decides that it is worth the time and money, it still might all be in vain because of the obstacles that Walker and the other Republicans have put in the way. 

There are a lot of voters who voices will be silenced because of these new laws.

But then again, that is the real reason that Walker and the other Republicans wanted this voter suppression law in the first place, isn't it?

A Bad Lip Reading - Scott Walker Edition

"We can beat a hungry cricket."

Walker's Enemies List

Last week, I wrote about how a black Wisconsin legislator, Representative Mandela Barnes, was ousted from Scott Walker's presidential campaign announcement event.
My friend, Bert, also had a negative experience when he tried to attend the event. In his own words, as he wrote for Cognitive Dissidence:

I printed out my ticket. I cleaned up a bit and even raised my clothing game to business casual. Then I drove across Waukesha Monday to the Scott Walker campaign announcement extravaganza at the county fairgrounds. What happened once I made it to the first entrance and handed the ticket to a smiling young woman is both appalling and entirely predictable.

The flow of people from the parking lot brought me to the entrance, a temporary shade tent where attendees were channeled by tables through three lines. The friendly woman scanned the code on my printout, said okay as it beeped recognition, and then called me back as she looked at the hand-held gizmo's screen. It's been rejected, she said in a surprised tone.

Then she pointed me to the far row of tables to talk to another aide there. The young red-headed man named Nathan started punching at his pad and looking at the ticket. He wasn't resolving the rejection right away, asked for me email and then said this with his eyes on the pad: "Oh, did you sign the recall?"

"Yes," I said. "Oh, that's it then" he replied.

Others who had been behind me continued to pass through to the main building. Nathan, a cool cat for being in his early twenties, told me I could watch the proceedings from the overflow tent with the people who had no ticket or who got to the event later than me. I pushed him and then he would not make explicit that the rejection was given to any and all petition signers.

As I say, my rejection is predictable. A similar, but funnier, denial happened to Democratic state assembly member Mandela Barnes. The careful managing of a TV bite's backdrop is par for the campaign course.

I have gone to other events in the Waukesha area and seen Walker at least three other times, even chatted with his sons at a rope line once about Wauwatosa East High sports at the Country Springs Hotel. I am a former reporter and news junkie and would attend any event in my neighborhood that garners national attention. Since my neighborhood is Waukesha, though, these events tend to all be Republican deals. However, I am not surprised I did not get in to this Walker announcement Monday because now Scott is in the big time and the place was bristling with police and handlers.

Not a huge deal, then, but I bring it up anyway because it is a good reminder, on the occasion of Walker's official entrance into the presidential race, about some of the core weaselisms of a sadly craven man.

Sadly, Bert's experience isn't a solitary one.

Walker's McCarthyism has been going on for years.

Immediately after the recall election in 2012, Walker started retaliating against anyone and everyone who stood against him.

Then, using a database which included the names of all the people that had signed the recall petition, Walker and his goons started going after others, including yours truly:

As of the time of this writing, some of the first victims of the New McCarthyism includes Dane County Judge David Flanagan, who was the first judge to rule against the Jim Crow laws; UW staff and Regents; and Mary Lou Young and Linda McFerrin, officers at United Way of Greater Milwaukee.

Even yours truly isn't immune from the harassment from the right. For the umpteenth time, someone has filed an Open Records Request against me with my employer. The requester wants to see if he can find more dirt on me from the acts of retaliation Scott Walker and his minions threw at me as well as to see if I'm qualified to do my job.

I am not worried about this in the sense that they will find anything to discredit me or get me into trouble. But I do find it irritating that they will not cease in their harassment because they don't like that I speak the truth and keep exposing Scott Walker and his allies for the miscreants that they are. And yes, questioning my qualifications to do my job is nothing short of an act of harassment and retaliation.

Walker even went so far as to withdraw the name of Joshua Inglett as his nomination to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, because he had signed the recall petition two years ago.

There is a myriad of other stories of people being harassed, threatened and intimidated by Walker and his supporters for no other reason than they signed the recall petition.

Whenever a person announces that they are running for an office at any level - even nonpartisan positions like judges or town councils - the first thing the Republicans do is run the name on the database to see if they signed the petition. If the person did, the Republicans will try to pin it on them like a scarlet letter.

Richard Nixon's Enemies List had only 20 names on it. Walker's has nearly one million and counting on his Enemies List. It's McCarthyism on steroids.

Let's just hope that we don't have to go through the embarrassment of another Nixonian presidency and Watergate (although Walkergate would be a highly appropriate name) before people realize that Walker is not fit for any office, especially not president.

(Cross posted from Crooks & Liars.)

Walker's Flag Fail

Scott Walker, the self proclaimed Eagle Scout, took to Facebook to show what a good scout he was by demonstrating how to fold the American flag:

Many people have already said that the problem is that they are holding the flag upside down and that the field of stars should be on top.

However, this video shows that the field should be visible on both sides.



Either way, the old boy scout has got it wrong, which is par for Walker.

You'll excuse me now if I don't hold my breath for the right wing to question Walker's patriotism like they did to Obama for not wearing a flag lapel pin.

Scott Walker, Chris Abele And The Bucks Arena Scandal

A couple of months ago, I reported that part-time Wisconsin Governor and full-time presidential wannabe Scott Walker and his mini-me, plutocrat and Milwaukee County Emperor Executive Chris Abele were hammering out a deal that would take hundreds of millions of dollars and give it to the new owners of the Milwaukee Bucks so they could build a palatial playground and buy all the land around it for their greater profit. Most of the money that Walker and Abele would give away would come from the poorest of the poor.

As I repeatedly tell the gentle reader, when it comes to all things Walker and/or Abele, there's more. There's always more.

Per the International Business Times, it appears that one man stands to really gain from the bailout of the sports franchise - Jon Hammes. Hammes just happens to be a part owner of the Bucks, a real estate mogul and, oh yeah, the finance co-chair of Walker's presidential campaign:

In the year leading up to the announcement of his presidential campaign, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker championed a high-profile proposal to spend a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money to help finance a new Milwaukee Bucks arena -- all while pushing to slash roughly the same amount from state funding for higher education. One of those who stands to benefit from the controversial initiative is a longtime Walker donor and Republican financier who has just been appointed by the governor to head his presidential fundraising operation.

Real estate mogul Jon Hammes, who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and causes, is a prominent member of the investor group that owns Milwaukee’s NBA team. Last week CNN reported that he also will serve as the Walker campaign’s national finance co-chairman. Days after that appointment, Walker’s Republican allies in the Wisconsin state Senate backed the governor’s proposal to spend public funds on a new arena for the Bucks.

In his speech announcing his presidential candidacy, Walker presented himself as a free-market conservative and derided what he called a “top-down, government-knows-best approach” to economic policymaking. Hammes serves on the board of a conservative think tank called the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute that says “competitive free markets, limited government, private initiative and personal responsibility are essential to our democratic way of life.”

But under Walker’s proposal, the government would redistribute taxpayer money to a project benefiting Hammes and other Bucks investors.

A representative for Walker defended the proposal, saying in a statement: “Governor Walker's focus is on protecting Wisconsin’s taxpayers from the negative financial impact of losing the Bucks, while balancing state and local support.”

A Walker campaign aide additionally asserted that it was “a dangerous leap” for International Business Times to ask about the propriety of subsidizing a deal in which Hammes could benefit. “The stadium deal has been in the works much longer than he has been involved with the campaign,” the aide said.

However, before Walker proposed the arena deal, Hammes had donated more than $15,000 to his gubernatorial campaigns, according to state campaign finance data. Federal records also show that over the last decade, Hammes has donated almost $280,000 to Republican candidates and third-party groups -- including more than $14,000 to the Wisconsin Republican Party. Hammes Company in 2010 donated $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association, which that year spent heavily in support of Walker's first run for governor. Jon Hammes also contributed $500 to Walker while he was a Milwaukee county executive.

One thing that the reporters missed is that Hammes is also on the long list of people who donated to Walker and benefited from Walker's Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, whose sole purpose for existence appears to be to reward Walker's supporters with taxpayers' money.

While Abele doesn't have the direct pay for play ties with Hammes that Walker does, there is no doubt a special relationship between the two men. They are on many of the same organization boards, including the Greater Milwaukee Committee, which is nothing more than a country club for plutocrats.

Abele and Hammes also share the same love for plantation economics, which Hammes proved by stating, "No one gives a blank about low-wage workers." When the news came out that Hammes had made this vulgar comment, Abele was the first to rush to his defense.

Ah yes, crony capitalism at its finest - or worst - depending on what side of the 1% you're on.

Scott Walker's Economic Ignorance Goes Unreported

By Jeff Simpson

ICYMI: Jimmie Fallon had a little fun with Scott Walker's lack of originality on the campaign trail. 

 In reality though it tells a deeper story of why Scott dresses like Les Nesman (you know the banksters laugh at him behind his back) 

Secondly, it also shows us why Kohl's needs millions of taxpayer WEDC dollars if they are paying one of the most divisive figures in Wisconsin's History to wear their shirts, who wants to shop there after that?

Finally, when Scott Walker talks about buying a shirt for a dollar, and then says this:

So, why do I focus so much attention on tax relief? Well, some of you know that Tonette and I like to shop at Kohl’s. Over the years, I’ve learned that if I’m going to buy a new shirt, I go to the rack that says that the shirt was $29.99 but now is $19.99. Then, I take the coupon from the Sunday paper up to the cashier or I take out the flyer that we get in the mail that gives us 15 or 20% off – or even 30% if we are really lucky.
Then, Tonette reaches into her purse and pulls out some Kohl’s cash. Next thing you know, they’re paying us to buy that shirt.
Well, not really. So how does a company like Kohl’s make money?
Volume. They make it off of volume.
You see, they could charge you $29.99 and a few of you could afford it or they can lower the price and broaden the base and make more money off of volume.
That’s what I think about your money – the taxpayers’ money. The government could charge the higher rates and a few of you could afford it. Or, we can lower the rates and broaden the base and increase the volume of people participating in our economy.
Years ago, we saw this kind of plan work well under President Ronald Reagan. Back then, it was called the Laffer Curve. Today, I call it the Kohl’s Curve because I believe that you can spend your own money far better than the government – and that will help grow the economy.

It shows how incredibly out of touch he is with not only reality but Economics 101.

If someone really thinks Kohl's makes money selling "volumes" of $1 shirts, then William Minahan wants to talk with you about investing in his company.

A person who thinks he is qualified to be President then who brings up the Laffer Curve as a successful model to base his policy on, despite the fact that the Laffer Curve has been laughed at by numerous economists.   Then Walker, wnats to double down and not only have an economy based ona widely debunked system, but he thinks the best way to run the American economy is as a "loss-leader" economy.

Unfortunately the product right now, that he is using as his loss leader is the Middle Class of Wisconsin!

The world can not afford someone this simplistic and naive to hold the most powerful position in the world!

Stop the madness!

Christian Schneider: Do Not Believe What Scott Walker Says

By Jeff Simpson

Christian Schneider, the paid right wing, lackey of the Bradley Foundation, who surprisingly happens to have been granted column space in JSonline, recently took to that space, to call Scott Walker a liar,.  

But in the Walker world, we have to pretend that bare-knuckled "divisive" partisanship was invented in 2011, when Walker took office. Ironically, it seems that calling Walker "divisive" is itself simply meant to be divisive.

In the real world, Schneider pretends this video never happened:

"Divide and Conquer", being the key platform of Scott Walker's entire political career, apparently Schneider is telling us not to believe anything Scott Walker says!    

Harley Won't Endorse Walker

As the gentle reader knows, Scott Walker has long used a Harley Davidson motorcycle as a political prop in a vain effort to show that he is an every day kind of guy.

Sadly for Walker, Harley Davidson won't return the love:

But Harley says the company is staying out of presidential politics.

"While there’s no official relationship between Harley-Davidson and Governor Walker, he is passionate about our brand like the millions of other loyal Harley-Davidson customers around the world," Harley-Davidson spokeswoman Maripat Blankenheim said in an email.

She added that Harley dealerships are independent businesses.

“It’s important to note our dealerships are independently owned and operated businesses,” Blankenheim wrote. “Harley-Davidson Motor Company does not endorse any candidate and remains neutral in political campaigns.”

I can't say that I blame them. After all, if they were to endorse Walker, or any other candidate, they'd have nothing to gain and a lot to lose.

Besides, who would want to have their brand linked to this?

That sort of thing will have people imaging this every time they see a Harley:

Surely, that wouldn't be good for business at all.

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CCXLV

Yes, yes, Scott Walker's tools are working!  In what should be the best time of the year for the construction business, the lack of money in Walker's failing economy has had the exact opposite effect:

The state lost 6,300 construction jobs between April and June, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted estimates by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the state's Department of Workforce Development.

That's the largest two-month drop by number and percentage (5.67 percent) in the 25-plus years of state data in the Current Employment Statistics program, which samples a small percentage of employers monthly.

And with the Wage Theft Law and the repeal of Prevailing Wage law, things are only going to continue the downward spiral.

Abele Really, Really Hates The Poor

As I discussed this morning, state senators hammered out a deal on how they would rake over the taxpayers to provide corporate welfare for the billionaire Bucks owners.  One of the most significant changes from the old plan is how Milwaukee County taxpayers are going to have to foot their share of the bill.

Under the old plan, Milwaukee County Emperor would hand over the county's debt collection to the state, sending debt collectors to shake down the poorest of the poor in the county.  When this plan failed, the state would cut state aids to the county by $4 million per year.

Under the new plan, Abele would no longer be persecuting people for being poor and the state would go directly to cutting state aids to the county.

Emperor Abele was just besides himself at not having an excuse to attack the poorest of the poor for his amusement:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele blasted the change that would drop a plan to pay for the county's portion of the arena through improved collection of debts to the county.

"I think this is disastrous," Abele said, but he added later that the package is still a "net positive."

Abele criticized Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) for working to insert the change, which Larson said was necessary to secure his vote for the arena. But Abele said it opens a hole in the county budget that could result in cuts to social services and bus routes.

Abele said Larson's change effectively protects people who aren't paying their property taxes at the expense of people who are.

Larson and some other Democrats have responded that an arena for billionaire owners shouldn't be funded by people who haven't been able to pay their debts. He said Abele and other county officials will have to find a different way to contribute to the arena but said it's still possible that the state might take over Milwaukee County debts if county officials agree.

Abele said he would likely turn the debt he controls over to the state, but he added that most county debt is the responsibility of County Treasurer David Cullen and Clerk of Courts John Barrett.

So Abele admits that the deal is a "net positive" but he's still having a tantrum because now he has no cover for attacking poor people.

And to think that Abele and his apologists still think of themselves as progressives and Democrats.

The great irony of it all is that while Abele wants to attack people who don't pay their taxes or their tickets, he is one of the greatest offenders:

Chris Abele, the millionaire philanthropist running for county exec, doesn't pay any state or federal income taxes.

That's been well-documented.

But the guy apparently doesn't mind dipping into his wallet to help the city's meter readers meet their monthly quotas.

Records show Abele has racked up 92 parking tickets since Jan. 1, 2007. Of those tickets - which run $22 each - he paid a $5 late fee on 26 and a $15 late fee once.

Total cost: $2,169.

To most people, that's real money, but it's just a drop in the bucket for the scion of wealthy Boston businessman John Abele.

"Chris is on the go a lot," explained Brandon Lorenz, Abele's campaign spokesman.

Like nobody else is.

Ah! So social responsibility is only for the poor. Blue-blooded emperors can't be bothered with behaving like commoners.

And if you're waiting for Abele to kick in some of his own millions to pay for the arena, don't hold your breath.  Why should he use his money when he can pay for his playground with our money?

UW Professor Naively Harrasses Incoming Republicans

By Jeff Simpson

UW Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab is under fire from local right wing fringe groups for trying to keep her college students informed.  '

Sara Goldrick-Rab is a professor of educational policy studies and sociology with a national profile in both her field of research and the ongoing debate over faculty tenure in Wisconsin public universities. She has openly said she's looking for another job because she believes academic freedom is in jeopardy in Wisconsin.

Goldrick-Rab acknowledges that she searched Twitter for individuals who identified themselves as future Badgers. The prolific Twitter-user says she wanted to inform them of changes to faculty tenure and shared governance that were about to become part of state law — changes she says would hurt the quality of their education, but that the university wasn't telling them about.

Professor Golrick-Rab took to twitter, to have informative discussions with incoming freshman and many were happy to get the personal attention and information.  Unfortunately though for Professor Goldrick-Rab, she also ran up against some incoming right wingers and that is where she made her mistake.  

Professor Goldrick-Rab made the mistake in thinking that all 18 year olds would be interested in gathering as much information about the world they are heading into as possible to help form a world view that is bigger than the sheltered one they have been living as high schoolers. 

Six days later, Goldrick-Rab reached out to all six students on Twitter: "I hate to bring bad news but," her tweet began. She then linked to an opinion piece published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with the headline: "Threats to shared governance and tenure put mission of UW at risk."

Fairly safe there, just some quick info to a group of incoming freshman.  Then after some back and forth banter, Professor Goldrick-Rab crossed the line.

 "We don't want students 2 waste their $. It's info that's all," her tweet said. "University is changing as we speak. Maybe look at info?"

In case you missed the one sentence that disgusts and repels hard core WI right wingers than this line: "Maybe look at info?"

 Has Ms. Goldrick-Bab not listened to any of the right wing hate talked filled radio shows she would know that Republicans in WI have no interest in looking at info.  

They know what they know when they know it.   One of the kids said it best in their incredibly rude response to their Professor:

"No one cares sara," one of the students replied.

 When I went to college no one would call Professors by their first name (at least unless we have had numerous classes of theirs), however that was long before this kind of Governance took hold in WI:

The head of the college Republicans at UW-Madison, the aptly named Arthur Birch even went so far to accuse Professor Goldrick-Rab of harrassment:

College Republicans of UW-Madison Chairman Anthony Birch on Wednesday confronted Goldrick-Rab in a news release posted on the group's Facebook page: "Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab: We find the way you have approached the dialogue around the intersection of politics and our university's future disgusting and repulsive."

Goldrick-Rab crossed "all boundaries of professionalism and respect by seeking these recent graduates out on Twitter and proceeding to harass them with articles intended to lobby and persuade them to not attend the University of Wisconsin," the College Republicans statement said.

 Professor Goldrick-Rab needs to immediately stop harassing college students with articles and information.  

Does she think these kids came to college to be challenged intellectually or something?  

One thing we can take from this horrible incident though, is that our children are being indoctrinated in today's society.  I however would much rather they get their information from a degreed and award winning teacher as opposed to a thrice divorced radio talker.