nASS Wars - Episode 1 -The Phantom Menace

By Jeff Simpson

Synopsis:  One of the many neophytes in the legislature, Steve nASS, is at it again.   This time though he teams up with extreme right wing funded (anti) free market "think"(term used loosely) tank - McGyver Institute to fight a common enemy- the working people of Wisconsin!  


There was recently a summit held downtown Madison called Fighting Forward- A Labor and World Class Summit! It was a series of seminars about the Labor movement, not only in Wisconsin but country wide.  they focused on the history of the labor movement and where do we go from here. 

You would think that a state that has fallen to the bottom 5 in job growth and most all other economic indicators, that 1.  the legislators would be too busy trying to turn our state around than to worry about a few hundred people discussing labor and 2.  they would welcome any and all input on how to do it!  

You would be wrong! 

Steve nASS and Brett Healy said "Wonder twin powers activate" 

Steve nASS followed up with "form of an angry old uninformed" dinosaur:

 Representative Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) chastised UW-Madison on Thursday for their sponsorship of the Fighting Forward Conference, calling the event "higher education prioritizing liberal indoctrination of students instead of the concept of educational sifting and winnowing."

Then, wonder twin Brett Healy said " form of Judith Miller"!  

 Mcgyver spent all weekend trying to get outrage going on the FALSE premise that taxpayers were paying big money for this summit(in fact ZERO  tax dollars were used)!  

The MacIver Institute began investigating Fighting Forward after learning that multiple UW System departments were co-sponsoring the event and that many UW professors would be leading certain workshops.
Some of the UW organizations that are co-sponsors include the Havens Center, the UW-Madison Community and Environmental Sociology Department, and the UW-Madison Gender and Women's Studies Program.
Both the Community and Environmental Sociology Department and Gender and Women's Studies Program denied any direct funding for the event. They both claimed that their sponsorship only entailed verbal endorsement of the conference, which includes a link on a university-run website.

Realizing their lies on taxpayer dollars were going no where, they had a hard hitting update where they pulled the most outrageous quotes from the weekend's summit(such as this):

 Bob Peterson, President of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, compares the expansion of school choice to opposing civil rights in the 1960's.

 "Public schools have huge problems. A lot of them are based on the fact that the schools are in communities which have suffered years of depression-like conditions," Peterson said. "When children come from families that are beleaguered, families that are struggling, obviously it makes my job as a teacher much more difficult."

 The horror!  




Stay Tuned for Steve nASS starring in nASS Wars - Episode 2 - The Clone Wars - where a bunch of bought and paid for republican legislators take on the big bad public schools! 

Senator Ellis Vs. The Constitution - The Movie

From a Facebook friend:



Ellis: "See. The place is going to Hell."

Indeed.

The Other 44% Are Paying Attention

I find these statistics remarkable and more than a little disappointing:

According to the Wisconsin Economic Scorecard for the second quarter,
while a majority of residents (56 percent) say Wisconsin is “headed in the right direction,” only 28 percent view the economy as “good” and just 1 percent say it is “excellent.”

By comparison, 61 percent of the residents believed the state was headed in the right direction in the first quarter.

The proportion of Wisconsin residents who characterize the state economy as “poor” increased to 23 percent, up from 18 percent last quarter.

The Wisconsin Economic Scorecard is a quarterly poll of Wisconsin residents conducted by the Center for Urban Initiatives and Research (CUIR) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in cooperation with WisBusiness.com and Milwaukee Public Radio (WUWM 89.7).

When every reliable and meaningful way of measuring our economic shows Wisconsin to be consistently in the bottom 10, regardless whether one is discussing job creation/loss or economic activity.

This number shows that importance of messaging. While the Republicans stick to the same two or three talking points, no matter how false they are, the Democrats are still running around like a herd of cats. I understand the strategy of not having a named candidate so that Team Walker doesn't have a target to aim at, but it also doesn't give their base anyone to rally around. The random and scattered press release isn't cutting it.

On the bright side of things, people are figuring things out in other areas:

Other major findings on the Scorecard included:

• While spending on non-necessities such as restaurants and entertainment has increased slightly, so has the incidence of serious personal financial problems, such as affording home payments and paying for retirement.
• Delaying work on major road construction projects is the most-preferred option for covering the shortfall in the state’s transportation fund; specifically, delaying an expansion of I-94 between Milwaukee and Illinois is supported by a majority (51.6 percent) of registered voters. Gasoline tax and passenger vehicle user-fee increases and the introduction of toll roads on some Wisconsin highways are the least-preferred options for covering the transportation fund shortfall.
• Public confidence in the ability of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to fulfill its mission of bringing jobs to the state has decreased from 52 percent in November to 40 percent in June.

Now if we could find away to overcome the corporate media and their constant barrage of lies, maybe we could really make some headway in restoring our state.

The Kochs Can Paaaaaarrrrteeee!

By Jeff Simpson

We know that the Koch Brothers, like to have retreats for republican elected officials, where are two friends paul ryan and scott walker are always special guests!

 ThinkProgress has now learned of another attendee addressing the Koch meeting: House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan’s office confirmed his attendance this afternoon to ThinkProgress. Ryan, who has a long record of flying off to junkets for groups of bankers like the Club for Growth, is pushing forward with radical cuts to Medicare and Social Security in his “Roadmap for America’s Future.” In line with Koch’s peculiar supply-side side ideology of soaking the the poor, Ryan’s budget idea also calls for increasing taxes on the middle class, while cutting them for the rich. Other Republican legislators were at the event, including Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

We also know that one of the ways to get an invite, and not be an elected officio, is to be part of the Million dollar club(which Wisconsin's very own Diane Hendricks and John Menard belong too)!

 At a secretive retreat held in June, Charles Koch thanked his 32 biggest supporters who gave more than $1 million. Our local billionaire made the list: "The Menards: John Menard of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is the founder of Menards, the country's third-largest hardware company. He's worth a reported $5.2 billion and has donated about $80,000 to his state's Republican Party and federal candidates, mostly Republicans, according to FEC records. His company backed a recent anti-union program that was linked to the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity and supported by Gov. Scott Walker" (Mother Jones).

We know they have these retreats in the nicest of locations!  

Next week, hundreds of business executives and wealthy conservative donors will arrive in Palm Springs, California, at the behest of Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and older half of the Koch brothers duo. The occasion is the latest Koch donor retreat, dubbed the "billionaires caucus" by some, an exclusive, two-day confab with a speaker list that features governors, senators, and members of the House Republican leadership. It is the first Koch retreat since the 2012 elections.

NOW, we know what they do at these retreats(hint its crazier than we thought)!

 The bitter falling-out between Carmel businessman Stephen Hilbert and billionaire hardware chain owner John Menard Jr. was initially portrayed as a deal gone bad from misspent millions. 

A lawsuit suggests a more unseemly origin for the split: sexual extortion.
Hilbert’s wife, Tomisue, charges that Menard tried to extort sexual favors from her two years ago while he was visiting the Hilberts’ Caribbean home in Saint Martin. 

When she resisted his sexual demands — then and later — Menard launched a vindictive effort through the courts and his businesses to “crush” the Hilberts, the lawsuit says. 

The allegations, worthy of a grocery store tabloid, are contained in a 24-page lawsuit filed in Hamilton Superior Court in late May

If that is just his business partner, what do the politicians have to do to get their millions?

Shame on Rep Steve Kestell

During the Republican's all out assault on women's rights last week, Rep. Steve Kestell (R-3rd Grade) made a rather insulting comment.

Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, did a much better and more appropriate response to Kestell's adolesence than I would or could:

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Condemns Representative Kestell’s Insensitive Comments
Abortion Bans and Sex Selective Abortions Are No Laughing Matter

Madison, WI – NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin condemned the Assembly’s passage of AB 217 and its author’s insensitive and outrageous comments during discussion of AB 217. The bill would create a cause of action to allow abortion providers to be sued by the mother, father or grandparents for providing a sex selective abortion and places the penalty for a sex selective abortion solely on providers.

In committee, the proposal’s author, Representative Steve Kestell made light of the abortion ban, commenting that the bill was necessary because if sex selective abortion occurs it can create a “quite a mismatch.” Kestell then chuckled and asked, “can you imagine being a fourteen year old guy in school looking to ask someone to prom?” The Assembly passed his bill on Thursday evening.

“Representative Kestell’s comments about sex selective abortion are outrageous. If even one woman chooses to end a pregnancy because of coercion or pressure to have a child of a certain sex, that represents a departure from true freedom of choice and is one woman too many. This is not a laughing matter,” said Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.

“It is unbelievable that we are even having to point out that this issue is more serious than prom dates. Insensitive comments such as Representative Kestell’s—justifying a sex-selection ban so young men will have more dating options—demonstrate how little thought he has actually given towards women.”

“Meanwhile, abortion bans do nothing to change underlying cultural norms of sexism and gender bias that place greater value on boys over girls. Representative Kestell should support bills that promote gender equality, rather than making flippant comments,” added Dye.

A 2011 report on sex selection from the World Health Organization and other international-health groups indicates that restricting access to abortion services without addressing social norms and cultural factors is likely to result in a greater demand for unsafe, clandestine procedures that place women’s health and lives at risk. Anti-choice proponents are using the unfortunate circumstance of gender bias and inequality that may lead to sex-selection abortion as justification to advance their longstanding goal of banning abortion.

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLXXXIX

By now, the gentle reader has probably already seen this chart from Pew's news service:

Click to embiggen

As can clearly and easily be discerned, Wisconsin is one of only three states to lose jobs.  The other two states are Maine and Wyoming.  But even then, those two states don't even come to half of the jobs lost by Scott Walker's agenda of austerity for all who aren't wealthy campaign donors.

How bad is it? Regionally speaking, Walker's agenda sucks:

The graphic shows Wisconsin with 6,800 fewer total non-farm jobs in April 2013 compared to April 2012. Wyoming and Maine also lost jobs over the period, each down by 1,500 jobs.

By comparison, all of Wisconsin’s neighbors added jobs over the period, according to cited figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Illinois added 40,300 jobs; Michigan added 32,300 jobs; Minnesota 22,700 and Iowa 11,900 over the period.

As others have come to notice, Walker is also all too clearly trying to shift the public's attention with his sleight of words. Instead of having a laser sharp focus on job creation, Walker is resorting to claiming a lower unemployment rating from the time he decided to run for office to today. Instead of talking about the state's actual economy, Walker is trying to baffle people with saying what CEOs (most of them coming form Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce - which are part owners for Walker) feel how the state is doing.

In other words, Walker is following the old quip "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."

It's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for Walker to keep up the charades for another year and a half, especially without an opponent to take any kind of heat from him.

Walker's Father Day Burn

This is just too funny not to share:

You can just smell the singed weasel fur from here.

Name that Psychosis!

You can't count on Scott Walker creating a job, but you can count on him to screw up his social media.

Today's entry:

Do you suppose that the "our cabinet" is a version of the royal we, showing his delusions of grandeur?  Or is it just good old fashioned multiple personality disorder?

Then again, he could be simply referring to himself and the Koch Brothers.

Which is the Bigger Sin?

By Jeff Simpson


Fresh out of Texas:

Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX) on Monday asserted that he witnessed male fetuses pleasuring themselves as early as 15-weeks after conception, RH Reality Check reported.
His comments came during a House Rules committee debate on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

“This is a subject that I do know something about,” Burgess said, citing his experience as an OB/GYN. “There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks.”

“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” he continued. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to think that they could feel pain?”

Burgess said the Supreme Court would be forced to reconsider its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling due to legal fights over anti-abortion legislation like the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. He suggested the justices would be far less permissive of abortion thanks to modern sonogram technology.

 Leaving us to answer the question - What is worse?

A.  That this guy could pass Med School? 

B.  That this guy actually believes the stuff he is spewing?

C.  That people actually look at a guy like this and think "he represents me" and votes for him?  

PolitiFact Needs To Refocus

Erik Gunn, another one of the few remaining journalists in the area, wrote a thought-provoking piece about the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's PolitiFact.  Like most of us, Gunn's not a big fan, and explains why:

The piece demonstrated the classic PolitiFact obsession with trees at the expense of understanding the forest, investing 800 words in the process.

Why not save space by simply showing the governor’s “cherry-picking” in a chart that presents the his quote and then lists conflicting business climate surveys and their findings?

Meanwhile, a much more far-reaching issue – and one that would have admittedly required much more investigation to reach a definitive judgment – would be critically examining just how accurate and predictive such climate surveys are, versus how much they are bent by ideology.

To Umhoefer’s credit, he didn’t ignore the frequent criticism that such surveys are ideologically bound and do more to promote corporate self-interest than community economic well-being. But having noted the criticism, the story kissed off the critics: PolitiFact wasn’t going to weigh in on that issue.

Yet those surveys can deeply influence political discourse, whether in a campaign or a legislative session. So assessing their validity would seem much more beneficial to readers and society than simply calling out a particular pol’s self-serving cherry-picking of those reports – especially when readers have no clue as to whether the surveys are even worth anything.

Why not a detailed assessment of the surveys themselves, looking at their conclusions and rankings when compared with actual, objective data on how states are doing in terms of economic well-being? Which surveys actually offer some value in predicting actual state performance and outcomes? And which ones are consistently wrong?

Gunn goes on with an exchange he had with Greg Borowski, the PolitiFact editor. Borowski takes a cop out on the issue, claiming that they put links on the online article so that people will investigate the issue on their own, if they choose to do so.

That explanation is unacceptable on a couple of levels. One is that the online links don't work well on the printed edition of the paper. That is hundreds of thousands of people that aren't getting those links daily and are not able to do their own investigations. This leaves them in a position of being forced to take what the paper gives them at face value.

Secondly, Borowski probably understands that not everyone is going to have the time, energy and/or ability to check out everything on their own.  Besides, they are the reporters and journalists.  It's their job to do the reporting, not just give some selected links and expect people to do their work for them.

While I understand Gunn's point, I think where the issue lies is with the fact that it's still the corporate media.  The Journal Sentinel's op-ed section is filled with the tripe that comes from paid corporate hacks like Christian Schneider and Mike Nichols.  They also pollute the place with ghost writers like Aaron Rodriguez who do nothing more than regurgitate some politicians or political party's talking points  in order to curry political favors.

And there are papers, including MJS, that will use the propaganda that is spewed by such front groups like Wisconsin Reporter, MacIver Institute and Media Trackers and treat it as legitimate news stories.

Until the mainstream media - whether it be print, TV, and especially radio - decides to reinvest in itself and get back to the job they are supposed to be doing, I wouldn't take anything reported as being objective.

Objectionable? Probably. Objective? Not so much.

Rep. Chris Taylor On The Latest Attack On Women

From the inbox:

GOP passes forced ultrasound bill

Additional unprecedented attacks on birth control move forward

MADISON – Yesterday, the State Assembly continued to ignore the dismal economic conditions in Wisconsin, choosing instead to focus on extreme social issues, passing three bills that infringe on a woman’s ability to access birth control and abortion services. Despite hours of heartfelt debate from Assembly Democrats, Republicans rejected all efforts to improve the bills to make them more humane.

On a party-line vote, Republicans passed Assembly Bills 216 and 217 as well as Senate Bill 206. The bills substantially gut Wisconsin’s contraceptive equity law, which requires insurers to cover birth control. The bills also remove insurance coverage of abortion services from public employees, even if the health of the mother is in danger. Additionally, for the first time in Wisconsin history, a woman will be forced to have a medically unnecessary ultrasound before choosing to end her pregnancy. One of the bills would require a physician performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. No similar state requirement is imposed on any other medical procedure.

“Last night, many brave Assembly women shared their compelling and deeply personal stories on the floor of the State Assembly. These stories included a medical privacy violation, the loss of loved ones, the loss of pregnancies and even a sexual assault,” said Taylor (D-Madison). “We shared our stories because we hoped that if we put a human face on the negative impact these bad public policies will have on women throughout Wisconsin, perhaps our Republican colleagues would show compassion and either limit or stop these bad bills from moving forward. We were unfortunately wrong.”

During the course of the debate, Republicans rejected 19 amendments to the three bills. These amendments included protecting a woman’s private medical records, removing a requirement that would force ultrasounds upon rape and incest victims who don’t report the attack, which is estimated to be approximately 81 percent of victims. They even rebuked an effort to require a medical professional to perform and read the mandated ultrasound.

“These bills had nothing to do with women’s health, but rather inserting politicians into personal, private health care decisions,” said Taylor. “Rather than addressing Wisconsin’s bottom of the barrel jobs status, Republican legislators are fixated on doing everything in their power to make abortion and birth control less accessible and ultimately illegal. Yesterday was a sad day for Wisconsin women.”

In a highly unusual move, the forced ultrasound bill was fast-tracked and brought to the Assembly floor without a vote from the Assembly Health Committee, on which Rep. Taylor is a member. Governor Walker indicated he will sign SB-206 into law after it passed the Senate on Wednesday and the Assembly on Thursday. Assembly Bills 216 and 217 are pending in the State Senate.

It matters that she is a Democrat

I don't normally publish fundraising emails - especially for groups that I work for - but the points in this email from Emerge Wisconsin were too important to pass up:

Of course it matters that we increase the number of women in office.  It matters more that we increase the number of Democratic women in office.  This is why Emerge Wisconsin only trains Democratic women.

This week, the State Senate and Assembly took up several bills that continued the direct assault on women's basic rights.  It was brought up by a female Democratic Senator that there were only 9 women in the State Senate.  There is the assumption that if there were more women in the Senate, then we wouldn't even have these anti-women bills to debate.

Yes, it makes a difference in legislation when we have more women serving in an elected body of government; however, the lead authors and champions of one of these anti-women bills areRepublican WOMEN!  This week is not the first time Republican women have led the attack on women's rights.  In the 2010-2012 legislative session, it was a Republican woman who led the effort in the State Assembly to repeal the Equal Pay Act.

With the help of supporters like you, Emerge Wisconsin has eight alumnae serving in the State Legislature.  We need your help to continue to increase the number of Emerge Alumnae and Democratic women serving Wisconsin citizens.  Please donate $9 or more today so we can continue our work of training Democratic women to run for office.

We are proud of our alumnae working hard for Wisconsin in the Senate and Assembly.  Your $9 or more today will help us train the Democratic women who will join Senator Nikiya Harris '11 and Representatives Penny Bernard Schaber '07, Jill Billings '11, Dianne Hesselbein '09, La Tonya Johnson '12, Melissa Sargent '12, Mandy Wright '12 and JoCasta Zamarripa '10.

Our goal is to increase the number of women running for and winning elected office, but it matters that she is a Democrat.

Sincerely,


Wendy Strout

Walker Blows Smoke Up Our Dairy Air

This is another unbelievable bit from Scott Walker's most recent weekly newsletter:

June is Dairy Month in the State of Wisconsin!  Agriculture is one of
Wisconsin’s biggest economic engines, and dairy production is a vital component of our state’s economy.  Wisconsin’s dairy industry contributes more than $26.5 billion to our economy a year and employs more than 146,000 people.

Last year, after discussions with our state’s dairy leaders, I announced the “Grow Wisconsin Dairy 30x20” plan, which set a goal of achieving an annual milk production of 30 billion pounds by the year 2020.  This ambitious, but attainable, goal seeks to improve the long-term viability of Wisconsin’s dairy industry to meet the growing demand of the marketplace and help Wisconsin dairy farmers increase business.

So far, the “30x20” plan has distributed nearly $200,000 in grants to over 40 recipients across the state.  The grants will help farmers increase profitability by improving milk quality and plan for future investments, including pasture irrigation systems and projects related to infrastructure improvement.

With the “Grow Wisconsin Dairy 30x20” plan, we’re laying the foundation for future growth in our dairy industry, ensuring Wisconsin remains “America’s Dairyland” for generations to come.

Walker's so committed that this past weekend, he was at State Fair Park to hand out Wisconsin's traditional cream puffs. And being so faithful to the state, he couldn't help but sample one of the puffs himself.

Hmm, not quite the same style as the Fitzgerald boys, but pretty disgusting all the same.

My only question is why is he wearing a University of Wisconsin shirt when the cream for the puffs is coming from Illinois?

Walker's Tax Relief For the Wealthy Campaign Tour

In his most recent e-newsletter, Scott Walker proudly announced yet another campaign tour of the state, this time promoting his tax cut for the wealthy - y'know, so that they have more to donate to his campaign. His talking points are:

This week, we kicked off the “Tax Relief for Wisconsin” tour at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau and at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater La Crosse and called on members of the Assembly and Senate to support the 2013–15 Biennial Budget’s tax relief package totaling nearly $1 billion.

Everyone in Wisconsin who pays income taxes, will receive a tax rate cut under this package, and the largest rate cuts will be for those making between $15,000 and $50,000 per year. Middle-class families deserve a break, which is why I'm calling on members of the Assembly and Senate to pass a budget providing nearly $1 billion in tax relief for the hardworking taxpayers of our state.
Highlights of the tax package, which passed the Joint Finance Committee last week, include:

• A total income tax cut of $650 million over two years and total tax cuts in the budget approaching nearly $1 billion.
• Every Wisconsinite, who pays income taxes, will receive an income tax rate cut.
• A typical family of four with an income of $80,607 will receive a tax cut of $345 for tax years 2013 and 2014.
• The largest income tax cut in 14 years.
• Hardworking Wisconsin families should be able to keep more of the money they earn, so they can build a brighter future of their choosing for their children and grandchildren.

Our tough, but prudent, decisions resulted in a surplus of over half a billion dollars, and I believe the surplus should be returned to taxpayers. We've accomplished a great deal to improve Wisconsin's business climate and providing this relief will continue to make our state more competitive.

I still find his last bullet point a most annoying lie. I know of tens of thousands of public employees who wish they were allowed to keep more of they money they earn. And given the way the state's economy has tanked since the passage of Act 10, I bet there are tens of thousands more private sector employees who wish that too, so that they could have kept their jobs.

And we all already know all about his "improved" business climate, which dropped the state to 49th in the nation.

But like everything else Walker, the tax cut is a bunch of hooey.

The reality of the situation is that the tax cut is designed to help the top earners of the state while the lowest tax brackets literally gets pennies:

Here is how the tax cut would be distributed among income groups:

- The top 5% of earners alone, a group with an average income of $392,000, would receive more than 1/3 of the benefit of the income tax cuts.

- The top 20% of earners, a group with an average income of $183,000, would receive more than 2/3 of the benefit.

- The bottom 60% of earners – those making $60,000 a year or less – would only receive 11% of the benefit of the income tax cuts.

- The 20% of the Wisconsinites with the lowest incomes would receive just two cents out of every $100 in individual income tax cuts under this proposal.

Even worse, the reason that Walker is giving for this giveaway to the wealthy - job creation and economic stimulation - is also so much poppycock:

"The governor has argued that by putting more money in people's hands, the tax cuts will spur economic growth in Wisconsin," said Andrew Reschovsky, a UW-Madison professor of public affairs and applied economics. "There is no evidence that the tax cut will do much to encourage growth and job creation."

Mark Schug, a UW-Milwaukee professor emeritus who now consults in the area of economic education, agreed that such a cut is not likely to be an economic boost.

"I do tend to think that the income tax reduction is not sufficient," Schug said.

Representative Dale Kooyenga, who authored this monstrosity, admits it's top heavy, but falsely claims that there is nothing that could be done to make it fairer to low income families:

Earlier this year, Governor Scott Walker proposed his own income tax cut ,which was slammed for mostly benefiting the wealthy (in large part because an Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) analysis showed that it was tilted that way). The Governor’s proposed income tax rate cuts were expected to cost the state $343 million over two years; Representative Kooyenga’s would cost $760 million in the upcoming budget and $914 million in the 2015 budget.

And it’s not just costly, it’s regressive. As the lawmaker himself concedes, “[i]t is nearly impossible to create a tax reform or tax cut that is not going to disproportionately lower taxes for upper-middle-class and rich taxpayers,” and a new ITEP analysis of Kooyenga’s plan shows his is no different. ITEP ran the numbers for the Wisconsin Budget Project (WBP) the impact of the Kooyenga income tax plan was shown to be even more skewed to the wealthy that Governor Walker’s...

Actually, there are ways to make it more balanced and fairer - as well as more beneficial to the economy. One could start by simply restoring the cuts made to the Earned Income Credit and Homestead Act, which had raised taxes on the poorest of the poor in this current budget.

It should also be noted that this budget will jack up property taxes. Given how many people's property taxes went up when it Walker claimed to cut them, this could be devastating now that they are admitting to raising them.

Furthermore, it is projected by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau that this "tax cut" will be the driving force behind a $677 million drop in state revenue. Rest assured that Walker and his Teapublican allies will used this self-created fiscal crisis to cut more jobs and more services.

Sadly, all of this is the rosy outlook. Because, as Democurmudgeon points out, Kooyegna, the accounting super dud, is counting on pixie dust and unicorn's rainbows for it to be even this "good" (emphasis his):

Thank you Rep. Dale Kooyenga. He's an accounting wiz. Aside from the $92 million in taxes currently not collected, would you bank on that? Forget about the nation’s economic growth projections by the Federal Reserve (negative growth) and the World Bank’s new projection (1.9%). Kooyenga assumes growth will be at 3.3%. “We’re in real trouble” says GOP Sen. Dale Schultz. No kidding.

Is it any wonder that Walker's campaign tour is not open to the public. The vast majority of us who are going to be hurt by the Teapublicans' maleficence would have some things to say to him which wouldn't fit in at all with the image that his campaign is trying to spin.

Did Nepotism Charges Lead To Action On Act 10?

A few days ago, Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express, broke the story of the nepotism, cronyism and favoritism that has been going on at the state's Department of Human Services in Milwaukee County.

I added my two cents by pointing out that due to Act 10, there is a greater rate of turnover of workers, making it possible for these types of shenanigans.

The Hunger Task Force, which has been getting bullied by both Scott Walker and Chris Abele, made some very good points in their press release:

A state run Milwaukee food stamp program has been charged with nepotism. State employees working at the Coggs Human Services Center on Vliet Street are speaking out about managers who have hired relatives, promoted them and recently offered them a bonus. Employees receiving promotions had less than two years of experience and were promoted over those with many more years working for the state.

Hunger Task Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler said, “Why would state employees get a bonus? Bonuses are for the private sector. This just doesn’t make sense. Our state budget proposes requiring work for food stamps. That same $2.5 million dollars spent on bonuses could supply the Milwaukee County food pantry network for a full year. I thought we were trying to cut the costs of running these entitlement programs.”

News of the nepotism comes on the heels of the state being at odds with Milwaukee County over use of the Coggs Center, a public facility. Hunger Task Force was asked to stop using rolling computer carts to help non-English speaking residents of Milwaukee sign up for FoodShare benefits. The story first appeared in an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Hunger Task Force seeks a well run Food Stamp Program for people in need in Milwaukee. The staff of the Coggs Center should be treated fairly and the program should be administered properly. There are customers in urgent need of emergency food.” said Tussler.

The mainstream media started picking up on the story Thursday. Channel 58 presented one of the more comprehensive reports:



There are two interesting tidbits about the Channel 58 story.

 One is that the reporter was looking high and low for Vanessa Robertson, one of the supervisor's named in Kaiser's report.  But he couldn't find her because she had fled the building to go to the call center, where she almost never goes.

The other is that witnesses report that when the reporter found some employees that were more than willing to talk about the working conditions, the county's private security guards came in and escorted the reporter from the building, a la Chief Erwin's Capitol Police.

Just days after this story broke, in a Friday afternoon news dump, the Wisconsin Supreme Court announced that they will now take up the Colas' ruling regarding Act 10.  This is a year after the ruling and after a number of requests by Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

The question is why, after waiting so long and denying all previous requests to review the decision, is the high court now deciding to hear the case.

Is it because of the nepotism, cronyism and favoritism cases being filed by the union?  Do they need to remove all power from the union to protect themselves from the consequences of their own wrong-doing?

Some would say that this is purely coincidental.

But the wise people will know that in Fitzwalkerstan, there is no such thing as a coincidence.

Scott Walker And Chris Abele Join Forces In War On The Poor

For decades, the Marcia Coggs Building in the heart of Milwaukee has been the center where the poor would go to get assistance from the income maintenance program.  Said assistance would include things like food stamps, energy assistance and Badger Care.

Then County Executive Scott Walker deliberately tried to sabotage the program so that he could privatize it.  As a result, hundreds of people were wrongly denied benefits or had their benefits delayed for months, all at the height of the Great Recession.  But when a class action lawsuit was filed against both Milwaukee County and the State of Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle pulled Walker's and the taxpayers' heinies out of the fire by taking over control of the program.

When Walker became governor, he immediately set about mucking things up, using private employees when public employees were mandated, wrongly denying benefits, not providing documents in Spanish and Hmong, etc.  Within a few months of Walker taking office, he was being taken to the proverbial woodshed by the feds, again jeopardizing taxpayers as well as the poor.

Fast forward to today, and we find that Walker is still trying to play the same stunts.  Doing their civic duty, the good people at Hunger Task Force have been keeping the feds informed of this.  True to Walker's nature, instead of correcting the errors, he has decided to take it out on the Hunger Task Force. They have forced them out of an office and into a corner of the public area. To adjust to this, the Hunger Task Force started using mobile computer carts to help incoming clients. The state went after them again:

The Hunger Task Force has had employees in the Coggs Center for several years to help ensure low-income residents deserving of the help get it. After being squeezed out of its office space and placed in a smaller corner of the building, the task force last month began to use carts equipped with computer terminals to help people waiting in line sign up for benefits.

The idea was to help clients avoid a wait, communicate with someone who speaks their language and apply for benefits online, said Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the Hunger Task Force.

The task force has Burmese and Hmong-speaking employees who hang out in a Coggs waiting area to assist clients.

Tussler said the help is needed because the state has not provided documents translated into other languages, as is required under federal law.

"Our staff routinely meet people who have had their case(s) closed, received an overpayment or underpayment or (who have) not been given rights information because they don't read, write or speak English," Tussler said in a letter to county supervisors.

Claire Smith, speaking for the state Department of Health Services, said Hunger Task Force workers are welcome to help clients in the task force's small office at the Coggs Center — provided they've been given referrals from state income maintenance workers.

However, roving staffers with computer carts weren't part of a 2013 agreement between the state and the Hunger Task Force, Smith said.

The carts interrupt the work flow and don't provide the necessary confidentiality when taking applications, she said.

"It's the state's responsibility to make sure their personal information is protected," Smith said.

The agreement says that the Hunger Task Force workers at Coggs work "under the direction" of state staff.

Hey, where are the libertarians on this?! The state telling a private agency how they can conduct their business? Hello? Anyone?

But then the reason for the state's conniptions comes out:

Tussler said the state wanted her employees to stop intervening with clients in reaction to the task force's collection of evidence that some people are being improperly denied benefits.

"Our interest is in helping the poorest of the poor obtain equal and reliable access to food," Tussler said.

But this is where it gets interesting. Current Milwaukee County Emperor and protege to Walker, was all too eager to please and offered to kick the Hunger Task Force out:

Tussler said she refused a request last week by Hector Colón, the county's health and human services director, to stop using the mobile stations to sign up people for benefits at the Coggs Center. The center is a public building, and her staff members have a right to be there during office hours, she said.

Colón, in a written response, said he gave no order to Tussler. State officials explained to Tussler that the roving computer cart "was disrupting other operations being carried out by state... staff."

Tussler said Colón and two county staffers on Colón's behalf had told Tussler to stop using the roving cart.

It should be noted that this whole thing is coming down just months after Abele Friedens Food Pantry evicted from the Coggs Building so that the state could take up that space as well. They must have needed the room for all the relatives and cronies they've been hiring and promoting.

It also comes just weeks after Walker signed the Plutocracy Bill into law, giving Abele unprecedented tyrannical power over the county.

Every day, it's becoming more and more difficult to tell Abele and Walker apart.  They both need to be removed from office with all due haste.  The longer they stay in office, the more people are going to be harmed.

Five Year Old Girl Pwns Westboro

What a fabulous story!

Jayden, who is from Kansas City, decided to set up her stand at the Equality House after her parents explained to her the significance of its construct. After being told that the church across the street had a message of hate, she set a goal of raising money to go towards a message of love and peace.

So she painted a banner for the event reading, "Pink Lemonade for
Peace: $1 Suggested Donation." She put the stand in the grass and waited. But the waiting didn't take long. Supporters came in by the droves and $1 turned into hundreds of dollars.

During the day, Westboro sent representatives outside to try and find a way to stop the event. They apparently attempted to call the local police and stooped to yelling profanities when that didn't work, like calling a group of soldiers who rode out on their motorcycles to suport the event "bastards."

Westboro's hate couldn't stop Jayden. She not only raised $400 during the day on Friday, but she has also collected over $1000 with an online campaign set up through Crowd Rise. Some people donated as little as $10 and as much as $230. One person gave $26 for every person killed six months ago in the Newtown, Conn., massacre.

One little girl did more in one day than the whole lot of haters at Westboro has done with their entire lives.

We need more people, including adults, to be like Jayden.

Rep. Mandy Wright on SB206!

By Jeff Simpson

No extra words here, Rep. Mandy Wright says it all, just - Thank you for your courage!

H/T Rebecca Kemble:

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLXXXIII

Just three days after United Steelworkers Local 1343 and Caterpillar worked out a contract, Caterpillar decides to pull the rug out from underneath the workers:

Employees at Caterpillar’s South Milwaukee plant were notified today
that planned layoffs of 260 employees would go into effect on Monday, June 24.

The notification comes three days after a new, six-year pact was ratified by the members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1343.

As it stands, close to a third of the plant’s 800 employees will be placed on “indefinite layoff,” according to the company.

[...]

The statement from Caterpillar also says that a “vast majority of the South Milwaukee Manufacturing facility, including support and management employees” will be affected by two new, one-week temporary layoffs that were instituted with the new contract.

“The company can do temporary layoffs up to 10 weeks per year,” said Winklbauer. “The people that will be affected on the one week temporary layoffs will be eligible for $170 per week plus supplemental unemployment during the temporary layoff period.”

The company said that the layoffs stem from a downturn in the mining industry, showing that the haste of Scott Walker and the Teapublicans was nothing more than a giveaway to more of their corporate overlords. The mining bill had as much to do with creating jobs as did the reprehensible legalized sexual abuse bill they just passed.

The company did announce three months ago that they were going to lay these workers off.

I find the timing of all of this rather suspect.  The company knew three months in advance that there would be no more orders and they would have to lay off one third of their work force?

Oh, and pay no mind that the lay off just so happens to be timed to be about the time that AB 219, the bill that makes it harder to collect unemployment compensation was rammed through the legislature.

If I had the ear of the leadership of Local 1343, I would advise them to start looking for some collusion between Caterpillar and key state legislators.  I would also advise them to keep an eye open for recently trained scabs to start showing up.

I would say that there is more than a good chance that Caterpillar was bargaining in bad faith, knowing that the Republicans were going to help them with their vulture capitalism.

Charlie Sykes Day

By Jeff Simpson


While our state is in a major economic freefall, Scott Walker spent today doing what he is best at.  Ignoring the problems he has created and pandering to his base.   Hence he declared today in Wisconsin, flag day of all days,Charlie Sykes Day! 

 Gov. Scott Walker apparently "ambushed" conservative talker Charlie Sykes in his radio studio this morning to announce that today, June 14, 2013, the 20th anniversary of Sykes' radio career, marks the first "Charlie Sykes Day" in Wisconsin. Walker, a regular guest on the show, falls into such casual banter with Walker that Sykes' producer has to remind him to introduce the surprise guest as the state's governor. The former Milwaukee County executive says he and Sykes have followed a "parallel track" in the past two decades, beginning with Walker's election to the state Legislature

That is our Governor, using his taxpayer funded $144,423/yearly salary + cadillac benefits to really do the people's work!

However, its Friday so let's not be cynical.  For all of you middle aged, white,  thrice married, racist, ratings losing, libelous, right wing talk show hosts out there - this day is for YOU!

Time to grab some Illinois Cream Puffs and celebrate with all of your friends!

Misrepresentation Led The Way to Underrepresentation

As the gentle reader is aware, there was a lot - and I do mean a lot - of nefarious doings by Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele, his plutocratic pals at the Greater Milwaukee Committee and their collective minions that led up to the hostile takeover of Milwaukee County.

We have learned of some of these nefarious doings through the emails of Abele and his minions, some of which have been very revealing.  And included in those revealing emails, we learn that a favorite henchman is his spokesman, Brendan Conway.  We learned how Conway was responsible for releasing the attack on State Senator Chris Larson because Larson dared to oppose the hostile takeover.

We also had learned that County Supervisor Deanna Alexander was working in collaboration with Team Abele throughout the process.  She was so cooperative with them, one might have mistaken her for one of Abele's staffers.  As I have pored over the emails, there are numerous ones from Alexander to Abele's office, sharing County Board documents.

What we didn't realize was just how close of a working relationship Alexander had with Abele's office.

On February 5, 2013, we see that Conway sent Alexander an email that included a first draft of a press release stating that Alexander was calling for a state audit of the Board and Executive's office:

Click image to embiggen

Alexander responded a few minutes later, thanking Conway and stating she would look at it.

Early the next morning, Alexander emails the County Board Communications Director, Velia Alvarez, asking her to send out an attached press release:

Again, click to embiggen

The gentle reader can see the actual press release here.  She also issued a rather childishly written memo including her proposed resolution.  As the gentle reader can see, the wording has been altered to a small extent, but the gist is exactly the same.

The gentle reader should also take note that Alexander sent a blind carbon copy to Conway.  This is a small but significant detail which will play a larger role shortly.

After Alexander issued her press release, Steve Schultze, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter who covers Milwaukee County, sent an email to Conway, asking how Abele felt about Alexander's proposal.

Conway's response to Schultze was particularly odd, considering that Alexander had included him in her email with the press release hours earlier:

Clicking = embiggening

As you can see, Conway is denying knowing that Alexander had issued a press release, even though he helped write it and knew exactly what was in the press release as well as the accompanying memo.  Heck, for all we know, he wrote the memo too.

A little less than an hour later, Conway responds to Schultze, claiming that Abele was in Madison and unavailable, but issued a statement in favor of the audit.  But even this was not without a hitch:

Clicking leads to embiggening

  As you can see, Conway returns the favor by including Alexander in a blind carbon copy as well.  At least they were working to keep their stories straight.

Ironically, when the County Board called for a full audit, Abele dismissed it as being an attempt to stall for time.  Can you say hypocrite?

Interestingly, Bruce Murphy of Urban Milwaukee caught this as well and asked Alexander about it on February 12, 2013.  Her reply was rather telling in that she admitted that her audit was meant to be in collusion with the state's ramming through of the takeover.  Also interesting is this time not only did she bcc Conway but included Representative Joe Sanfelippo, the sockpuppet that introduced the Plutocracy Bill for Abele and the GMC:

I find it interesting but not surprising that Team Abele would punk Schultze and try to get him to print what they want him too, just like Abele did with Aaron Rodriguez and other bloggers.  But it appeared that Murphy was already square in Abele's pocket, so why did they need to punk him too?  Was he still too independent in his thought or was it that they were just so used to pulling stunts like this that they couldn't help themselves.

While this whole sordid affair might not rise to the level of criminal activity, there is certainly some serious ethical questions.  And speaking of questions, this new discovery raises many other questions which calls for further exploration:

• Did Conway write other press releases, commentary, or documents for Alexander?
• Did Alexander ask Conway to write the document(s) or did Abele tell him to do it?
• If Conway wrote the press release at Alexander's request, was Abele aware? (The emails shows that Conway sent a copy of his draft to Raisa Koltun, Abele's legislative aide.)
• If what they were doing was legitimate, why did they blind carbon copy each other so much?  That would seem to be a tacit admission that what they were doing was at the very least unethical.
• Will the fact that Alexander was sharing so much information with Abele's office, will she be censured for it, like former Supervisor Lynne De Bruin was?

Stay tuned, gentle reader.  I sense that when it comes to all things Abele - just like it does with his hero and role model, Scott Walker - there is more.  There is always more.

Abortion: My Story

While the actions of Mike Ellis and Mary Lazich, in ramming the forced ultrasound bill through the state Senate, were disgusting, the true effect of this horrendous bill is even worse.   This will greatly affect women who have to come face to face with this choice and the roadblocks that the uneducated big Government republicans have put into place are helping no one.  

To bring us a woman's perspective, Heather Rayne has graciously chosen to share her deeply personal story with all of us. 

While this is Heather's personal story, this could be anyone's.  It could your friend, co-workers, sisters, cousins story also.  Let's keep that in mind before we judge those who have had to face this decision!  

Here are Heather's words, unedited:

I have been writing for many years now. And I have never been one to really hold back. I have written about anxiety, depression, legal issues, drug use - plenty of personal matters most would hide away and not speak about publicly. Those who read my stuff probably think they know pretty much everything about me. And while they know a lot - there are certain things I have left reticent. With much fear and hesitation, I am about to disclose one of them.

This week, our state lawmakers are furthering their draconian agenda by taking on the issue of abortion while voting on budget items. How whether or not a woman decides to proceed with a pregnancy is budget related is beyond me. And I just wish they would come out and say it: "Hey! The "people" who donate to our campaigns, help keep us elected and may be our future employers do not approve of abortion. So, we are going to dismantle these rights one quiet, sneaky step at a time so the general public doesn't even notice." These actions by our legislators have prompted me to speak out. SOMEone needs to be honest here.

I wasn't raped nor was I a victim of incest. My life was not in danger, not any more than the average woman anyway. And I was not merely a child. But I did have an abortion. 

I knew I was pregnant right away. I had the same sick feeling and constant vomiting that I had with each new birth control pill I had tried. Pack after pack - literally right down the toilet. I was petrified and uninsured. I went to Planned Parenthood for a pregnancy test. A fear I never before experienced suddenly became a reality. The test was positive.  I walked home in the dead heat of summer, throwing up on the way, in a complete haze. 

I was in a very unhealthy place. No money, a dysfunctional relationship and a number of bad habits all helped make up the pile of shit I called life. Even though I attempted to imagine adding a child to my world and as much as I had delusions that a baby could fix everything - I was ultimately smart enough to know better.

My boyfriend didn't seem to have much difficulty coming to his conclusion. "We can NOT have a baby right now," were the exact words. Even though I knew he was right, it was still a jagged knife cloaked in rejection and horror. He hated me, I just knew it. And he was afraid. I had the power to ruin the carefree life he so enjoyed. But believe me, it was not a power I would wish on anyone. 

I found out that I was only 4 weeks along and had to wait another week before scheduling the procedure. It may as well have been an eternity.  I was disgusted with myself. I was a smart, young woman and my irresponsibility was embarrassing. I was careless, period. It was my body and I could lay the blame on nobody else. The week was filled with sickness, shame and fear.

Typically, when a woman considers the option of abortion, she does not do so with a grain of salt. Even when there is complete certainty, what-ifs and doubts can weave in like a cancer. This is not a choice made lightly. And it is not a life moment simply forgotten. 

Senator Mary Lazich stated that in the 60’s, having an abortion was thee thing to do; that you almost HAD to have one to be a woman. Not only is this insulting but it is a flat out fairy tale. She couldn’t appear more disconnected if she tried.

I had been warned about protesters but never expected the mob that was there to greet me. Brochures, banners and signs with pictures of fetuses lined the sidewalk. Men, women and children were shouting and dramatically “praying”.

“Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!”  Was screamed into my face over and over until the clinic staff was able to safely help me inside. 

Once I had been extensively counseled and had everything explained to me, I went back to the waiting room for what seemed like an additional week. I couldn't believe it was happening. I couldn't believe I was there. Me. The last person I knew to even have sex. I waited until I was almost 19. I was by no means a "slut".  And I was with that boyfriend for 3 years. A couple of years later and there I was - a loser, a whore, a murderer.

My legs were in the stirrups and I was offered headphones to wear so that I didn't have to hear what was happening - as if that would be enough to throw me into denial. A nurse stood behind me and held my hand while I went through an intensely uncomfortable and heartbreaking procedure. 

On the drive home I felt as though I had just had a lobotomy. I stared out of the window and did not speak. I hated him for letting me go through with it. I hated myself for even being in that position. But that hate faded the more I realized that I had made the best decision possible at the time. You see, a person can have feelings of regret with even the best of decisions.

I had always been pro-choice. I wasn't raised religiously so I didn't have that brand of stigma. But I thought I was better than that. I was smarter. I wasn't like those other chics. Except…I was. 

I have read that about 40% of women have an abortion at some point in their lives. Even if it is only half of that - that is still a shit load of people who are told to hate themselves.

It is certainly not something of which to be proud. It is not a topic for the dinner table or drinks with friends. It is a personal, sensitive issue. But it does exist. It is indeed prevalent. And I do not want to perpetuate this punishment of shame by keeping silent and pretending it only happens to other women. 

Those who devote their lives to condemning people like me feel the need to punish and demean. And this new legislation mandating ultrasounds for abortion patients is yet one more lash on the back of the already wounded. And what is worse, it is being done under the pathetic guise of patient interest.

You see, you cannot punish a woman for this decision. If a woman cares enough to feel guilt, she already does. If punishment would mean anything, you can bet she is already punishing herself. And if she is one of those women to whom it really doesn't bother all that much - signs, blow-horns and ultrasounds will certainly not make an changing impression.

These anti-choice legislators want women in this position to see the fetus before going through with a termination. They want the technician to describe what is on the screen. They want to make sure that she will be disciplined with mental images for the rest of her life. At best, this is mean-spirited. At worst, this is evil. 

Senator Lazich says that women do not fully understand what they are doing without an ultrasound and full description of the “baby” in her womb. Boy she sure thinks we are idiots, doesn’t she? While this choice may come with subsequent guilt and sadness – I can assure you it does not come with confusion. Any woman going in for that procedure knows EXACTLY what the outcome will be.

The clinic did perform an ultrasound on me. However, the screen was turned away and not a word was spoken. I assume that was out of compassion and respect. I did not have to see any images. Yet, all of these years later, I still have moments of guilt and fear and shame. Had I seen the image, I cannot be sure it wouldn't have sent me into a complete downward spiral. Either way, the decision would have remained the same and I am absolutely positive it was the right thing to do, for me.

I am now a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, an aunt, a volunteer, an animal lover, a writer. I help whenever I can help. I love with all of my heart. Hell, I don't even kill spiders. I am just like your neighbor, your friend, your sister, your mother. Abortion is not reserved for the invisible or the criminal or the oddities of society. When you call a woman a murderer for having made this decision, you are likely also referring to someone you care about. 

Abortions are not to be celebrated. No one is PRO abortion. No woman wants to have one and no woman treats it like a trip to the mall. It is one of the most difficult decisions a person can make; a decision that should have NOTHING to do with government, policy or legality. It is one made with tears, difficulty and dare I say, bravery.

I had an abortion and I am no monster. And regardless of my choices in life, no one - NO ONE - has the right or reason to make any sort of mandate on my body.

There are many arguments as to why these anti-abortion bills are perverse. And there are plenty of smart people publishing stories, articles and blogs outlining those arguments. I am simply telling my story so that others know they do not deserve to be shamed for a choice they have made and that they have a voice just as loud as any other.

Having an abortion didn't take away our dignity or our humanity. And I will be damned if I will sit by quietly while the government tries to do just that.