Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald and Assembly Republicans Prank Mining, the Environment and Democrats.

For something as controversial as iron ore mining, nothing stood out more than the sick prank initiated by Jeff Fitzgerald, where he teased the Democrats with a "I am Spartacus" moment, by claiming every Republican was an author of the mining bill. Sweet.

The Republicans were having so much fun passing the author less bill (written by the industry), that they held a chaotic hand count of those who supported it, instead of asking for unanimous consent. It was an in your face insult to the assembly Democrats, the tribes, and concerned citizens who had so many serious questions left to be answered. The public hearings were simply side show performances by Republican representatives.

Is this kind of arrogance okay with the average conservative voter? Do mines pollute rivers?



You'll also notice Jeff Fitzgerald never once mentioned the environment. It was jobs or no jobs.

Scott Walker’s message to the nation: Help, they’re trying to overthrow the king!

These self-anointed leaders, self-aggrandizing egomaniacs love all the attention, don’t they.

I love it when conservatives get a little too comfortable when commiserating with fellow loons, and start pounding their chest or whining endlessly about their lot in life. It’s a peak into the behind the scenes trash talk that happens when control freaks like Walker spill their guts accidently in public to a sympathetic corporate whore.     

The Wall Street Journal did this little puff piece for Scott Walker as a way to get his message out for purely fund raising purposes. Walker’s “sky is falling” description of what would happen if he were to  lose his recall election is the ranting’s of a desperate man.

While conservatives laugh at Democrats for claiming “the sky would fall” under Walker’s policies, something they never said by the way, Walker is on the national stage warning America that the Democrats are trying to overthrow the king.

Whack job celebrity wingnut Stephen Moore wrote this:

jsonline: The stakes here "go well beyond who will be governor of Wisconsin … The recall's ultimate objective is to intimidate any official across the country who's thinking of crossing swords with the empire of teachers and other public-employee unions. "This is about killing reform initiatives in every state in the country," says Mr. Walker.  

Nice. It looks like public disapproval by nearly half the voting public is now “intimidation?”

The “empire of teachers?” Oops, Walker brags he’s never said anything bad about teachers…until now. Anyone think he’s never dissed them in back room discussions with his brownshirted lackey’s?

You’ll love the Wall Street Journal’s minimization of the John Doe investigation:

And local Democrats are smelling blood over a recent mini-scandal involving alleged embezzlement of public funds by two of Mr. Walker's top aides when he was Milwaukee County Commissioner.

Who knew that when Republicans get caught breaking the law, it’s just a mini-scandal. But King Walker has a warning to all good Americans:

If unions succeed in getting voters to evict reformers, it could "set back the conservative reform agenda across the states for a generation," Mr. Walker warns.

The king has spoken. Yeah, that “conservative reform agenda’s” is popular. 

Catholic Bishop describes public education as something Hitler and Mussolini would love.

Say what? The push to vilify public education has gone off the Richter scale, again. 

One thing is for certain, the public school system in this country is anything but “monolithic.”

School boards and states have dramatic sway over what is taught, and testing checks whether the courses are being taught in an effective way. But...

Republican governors and legislatures have successfully portrayed teachers as public pariahs. That is clearly their image now. Playing off the idea that public education is the source of liberal indoctrination, public education must be dismantled too. If that were true, where did all the conservatives come from?  

And the following example proves how far conservatives will go to push religious indoctrination and the profitable exploitation of education.  

Harrisburg's Catholic bishop is facing heat … his word choice in describing a state without school choice.

The topic was school vouchers - specifically, Catholic schools closing under financial hardship and how vouchers would help. Bishop McFadden said he worries about state controlled public education and a lack of choice for parents. "In a totalitarian government, they would love our system. This is what Hitler and Mussolini and them tried to establish, a monolith, so all the children would be educated in one set of beliefs and one way of doing things."

The top educational systems in the world have national standards. Where are the Hitler’s and Mussolini’s? Fear mongering much? Pointless and mindless drivel?

Sure. But it appeals to that part of the conservative mind that loves conspiracy theories and elevated levels of paranoia.

Without knowing it, the defensive nature of conservative voters minimizes the actual argument, for a more knee jerk reaction and threat to their ideology. They can’t be wrong, and they certainly wouldn’t be played for suckers by special interests.

In the U.S., corporate interests would love to make a little money by privatizing education, and the religious right would like to survive and indoctrinate students with public tax dollars.

That’s the real problem. The Anti-Defamation League describes it as trivializing the holocaust, I say it vilifies public schools.  

Republican trashing of environment in mining bill may cancel out Federal Flood Insurance.

I don’t know, do you think Republicans should have considered this major problem before they raced through the approval process of a mining bill written by a magical all-knowing mysterious entity?

WSJ: A provision in the Assembly mine permitting bill being considered in the state Legislature Thursday could jeopardize the state's access to federal flood insurance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The chief of FEMA's floodplain management branch said part of the Assembly bill that exempts mines from floodplain ordinances could prompt the agency to "seek enforcement of requirements that include suspension from the program."

The bill gives the state Department of Natural Resources 360 days to act on an iron permit application. It also relaxes a number of environmental protections for lakes, rivers and wetlands. One of those provisions would allow a mining company to dispose of mining waste in a floodplain.

But the letter from David Stearrett, chief of FEMA's floodplain management branch, said mining is specifically mentioned in a list of floodplain activities that would jeopardize communities' ability to qualify for federal flood insurance.

Maybe Walker can turn down big governments flood insurance policy in the state.

Conservative Pettiness Ugly, Stupid.

I came across the following ridiculous article from the conservative whiner, Newsbusters, and boy did they get a scoop. Of course I’m kidding, but you won’t believe how they think, and what they find outrageous. I'm blogging it here because it's the perfect example of conservative pettiness. As written by Tim Graham:

Ed Schultz wasn’t kidding about his State of the Union affinities when he asserted on his radio show Tuesday that “I'll be in the Rotunda tonight, listening to the boss, rootin' for him, if you know what I mean.” He did not mean MSNBC boss Phil Griffin.

Oh, so Ed must be taking his orders from his “boss” Barack Obama? This is projection, because they actually do “follow the leader.” There’s more: 

Schultz and CNN’s Paul Begala are participating Wednesday night in a House Democrat “Reignite the American Dream” retreat at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa & Marina in Cambridge, Maryland … the resort's website touts amenities including “pampering spa treatments, golf, sailing, fishing and swimming … [and] delicious meals in our many Cambridge, Maryland hotel resort restaurants.” It's not exactly sleeping in a tent with the rats at Occupy DC.

Projection again; Class envy much? I didn’t believe it at first, but these guys actually think Democrats have to live in squalor to be advocates of the poor.

Wisconsin Realtors Association's Big Misstep, Endorses Walker.

Disclosure: I was once a Realtor. I've been waiting out the bad real estate market for some time, before stepping back in.

The Wisconsin Realtor's Association has just come out with their endorsement of Scott Walker.

Even before there is a Democratic opponent? What a horrible management decision, one that may produce a backlash by Democratic home buyers and sellers.

But before you decide to boycott the WRA, consider a group of Realtors who have banded together to be an alternative to the rabid right wingers in the association.

Wisconsin Real Estate Professionals in Support of a Progressive Environment. WI RISPE: We are a group of Realtors passionate about supporting schools, the environment, community and the very people that make Wisconsin strong. The strength of a community is tantamount to a sustainable and prosperous real estate market. If you are a Realtor in Wisconsin who shares these views please join us. If you are not a Realtor but support these views then please join us…

Having said that, I've been railing against the Wisconsin Realtors Association for years for its partisan politics and close ties to the Republican Party. As a real estate practitioner, the worst thing I could do is poison the trust and advocacy I have as agent, with an association to one of the political parties.

Agents represent the interest of the consumer, whether they're a buyer or seller, and would prefer to be a neutral party. Believe me. From Channel3000:

Walker, the Liar.

I loved this moment, as much as Sly in the Morning does...from Walker's State of the State address:



Walker lied throughout his address, but the one claim that he didn't raise taxes, was one of the biggest. He raised taxes on the poor by reducing the Earned Income Tax Credit and Homestead Tax Credit. Why is that so hard for the news media to point out?

Mining Bill Anger Spills out in Assembly Gallery.

Here's what the mayhem looked like when the mining bill was being forced down the throats of a disapproving public, from Channel3000:

TMJ4: Bury the Bill: The full State Assembly has removed the gallery Thursday evening after they put up a "Bury the Bill" banner and yelled as debate on final passage of mining law continues.

As the body began arguing over the bill Thursday afternoon, demonstrators hurled obscenities at Republicans from the Assembly's overhead galleries under the cover of group coughs and throat-clearing. Someone yelled out "Fascists!"

Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) then ordered the galleries cleared. Protesters moved from the galleries to outside the chamber, where they banged on the doors and chanted "Shame!"

Protesters in the gallery were yelling, being disruptive and shouting. Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha), threatened to clear the gallery, but Democrats like Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) spoke out about that action. "Y'all love the Second Amendment, but try the First (Amendment)...we have to start behaving a little differently here."

Pocan was referring to the drastic demand to clear the galleries, instead of just ousting the interrupters.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and demonstrators continued to argue. "I'm not gonna let this institution have people, (interruptions), great people, great people, a lot of class."

Suckers all, public sold on Privatization and Profiting off “educating” Kids. Charter Schools the new poison pill.

The battle is almost over, and the days of public education are nearing an end. Vilification of teachers was their first success, portraying them as over paid and tools of their union bosses.

The second success was selling charter and voucher schools as an improvement over public education. You’ve heard it before, “parents know what’s best for their kids.” They do, except when it comes to the complex world of education reform, research on improved curriculum and teaching techniques.

Like the lazy freeloaders they are, Republicans would rather run from the hard work of education reform, to the easier solution of dumping the problem into the hands of profiteers.  The private sector will then be able to “market” their “success” like the latest new and improved abs reducer, with manipulated data and no transparency.

The following is just one story nationwide that shows a gullible public, running from the hard work of improving their schools, to sending their kids to different buildings with private educators whose failures are even more dramatic than our public schools.  I've highlighted the marketing BS:

EdWeek: More Than 1,500 Rally for Ga. School Choice: More than 1,500 students, teachers, parents and advocates of school choice stormed the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday, telling lawmakers that the state's children deserve educational options … supporters marked National School Choice Week. Similar events were held across the country. Rashaun Holliman, a former principal and activist for the Center for an Educated Georgia, told the crowd that while there are great public schools in Georgia, there are also great alternatives.

On Tuesday, state lawmakers filed a constitutional amendment to address a state Supreme Court ruling that disbanded the Georgia Charter Schools Commission last year. The amendment has bipartisan support.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers said, "Education is the great equalizer, if you have an education, you can succeed. School choice equals freedom."

John Trainor, a father of three whose children attend a charter school in Fulton County, said "Unlike every other political issue, school choice doesn't see politics, it doesn't see race, it doesn't see gender. All it sees is the success of our children."

Oh but it is all about politics. And "all it sees is" a profit. Good luck with the mob mentality of education reform…so sad.

Bad Grades for Education Managemnet Organizations. Who are they? Part of the Privatization of Education.

While Republicans demand teacher evaluations and school rankings be based on test scores, the privatization movement and managers brought in to oversee many charter schools think it’s unfair to use those same standards. Huh?

It’s all part of the upside down world of conservatism, where platitudes about freedom and liberty are thrown in to fill the space left by the lack of research and substance. “It’s what the founding fathers envisioned…blah, blah, blah.”

The public is getting suckered into believing the private sector is somehow better, like the following profit and non-profit management companies (EMO's) in the story below. The Republican narrative has been a raving success, sweeping in major minority groups sold on the snake oil promises that they have the secret to closing the achievement gap. It’s all a lie, and it’s all about making money off our kids. Is anything more deplorable?

EdWeek: The annual report, "Profiles of For-Profit and Nonprofit Education Management Organizations," whose 2010-11 edition was released this month by the National Education Policy Center, offers a mixed picture on the academic success of outside operators of public schools, as measured by their schools' ability to make adequate yearly progress, the main yardstick (the same yardstick used to bash teachers and public schools). It offers a dimmer assessment of for-profit virtual schools' performance by that oft-criticized standard.

You won’t believe how bad virtual schools look in the report.

The academic showing of the EMOs profiled in the report was uneven. Forty-eight percent of the schools run by for-profit EMOs made adequate yearly progress. Nonprofits fared better, with 56 percent of their schools making Academic Yearly Progress (AYP).

Those figures are comparable to overall public school performance … 52 percent of the nation's schools made AYP during the most recent year studied. One for-profit organization listed in the report, EdisonLearning, was found to have just 34 percent of its schools making AYP.

Not a rip roaring solution to improving our educational system, is it? But it gets worse when we look at virtual schooling, a popular Republican idea being pushed heavily in Wisconsin:

The report found that a much smaller proportion of virtual schools managed by for-profit EMOs—27 percent—made AYP. Those academic-performance figures were for full-time virtual schools … the poor performance of virtual schools was "a bit of a mystery" and a cause for concern.

As Wisconsin adopts this ideologically driven movement of failure and profit taking off the education of our kid’s, many are captured by the hypnotic language and magical promises of improve learning through the private sector. 

  

Dismantling this mess will be all but impossible once our public schools have disappeared.  

Another Bunch of Walker Bad Apples Arrested. Just a Coincidence?

The net is closing in the droopy eyed governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. Ed Schultz and John Nichols hash it out:

Marquette University Law School Poll finds big support for Voter ID. Really?

You know that poll that showed Scott Walker in the lead over all possible Democratic recall opponents? It seemed wrong for some reason. Well...

I’m beginning to believe we were duped, because the public can’t be this gullible in thinking we have a voter fraud problem. If Wisconsinites are this supportive voter ID, without knowing the possible problems, then we’re in big trouble as a country.

Many have blamed the poll for taking samples in highly conservative areas. Even so, are they this crazy?

AP: A new poll shows most people support a state law that requires voters to show photo identification at the ballot box starting next month. The Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday shows 66 percent of 701 registered voters favor the law. Thirty-two percent oppose it.

Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law last spring, saying it was needed to combat voter fraud even though there have been few instances reported in Wisconsin.

Grothman/Vos/Ellis Bar Talk Exposes extra $200 million from somewhere for Venture Capital. Vouchers coming to Green Bay!

Bar talk, with Rep. Robin Vos, Sen. Mike Ellis and Glen Grothman, caught on video. Thanks to Rock Netroots for blogging this breaking story. 

If you can, in some way, contribute and fill in some of the blanks, we'd love to hear from you. There are some passages that are inaudible and not noted here. This is what I've been able to pick up:

Grothman: "What are you going to do about venture capital?"

Vos: "Well, there is a way to find $200 million in venture capital.

Mike Ellis: "I'd like to hear this..."

Sen. Sheila Harsdorf: "Don't they know that's a part of the state that wants (unclear)"

Grothman or Ellis: "I talked to Robin Vos last night, and he's gonna get it done without amendments. (unclear)...Fitzgerald...(said?)...'Well, my brother doesn't know if he can get enough votes.' I thought, you little bastard you...Fitzgerald brothers are the biggest grifters in the west, they play the odds, they play against each other and then they blame each other. And that's how they get...(unclear).

 School vouchers is the subject matter here, and going after the Green Bay district next:

Ellis: "It was fucked up. So we voted for a bill we didn't like, or I didn't like, votes so we could get it, so Racine could get it...You know I'm not affraid. You're going to be running (unclear), and if you need to use the Democrats, use them."

Ellis: "We've got some great school districts in the Fox Valley, the only one getting close to the margins is the Green Bay area, that's not even the Green Bay school district, it's target schools, because of the demographic disbursment. You've got Preble out there because of all the poor people. So what we need to do, when we're done with this bill, is modify it so that a segment of the school district may move into the program. (unclear)...Green Bay east is fine, west is fine, Preble is a sewer...they got the poverty possum, we need to not make it the entire school district, we need to make that Preble, that geographic quadrant, they are illegible like Milwaukee is for a voucher program."

From WBAY, looks like Sen. Ellis is trying to explain...the unexplainable:

State Senator Mike Ellis is under fire after he was caught calling Green Bay Preble High School "a sewer." Looking into the camera, Ellis said, "I feel it's an invasion of privacy, but that doesn't deny the fact that I made a bad choice using Preble, and I'm deeply sorry for it." Ellis's apology didn't stop Green Bay Preble parents and students from speaking out about the video. Teachers, students, and parents we spoke with say they're absolutely outraged by the senator's comments and they have no idea why he would say such a thing. A crowd of hundreds turned out at the school's library to show their solidarity and school pride Thursday afternoon. "We were quite devastated by this a lot of us. Didn't sleep well last night. We couldn't believe that one of our elected officials, someone who's in charge of coordinating millions of dollars to decide which schools they should go to, would be saying this about a school like ours," teacher Jeff Kline said.

Late Thursday afternoon, the Green Bay Area Public School District and school board released a joint statement calling Ellis's remarks "grossly insulting to the Preble students, parents, staff, and the entire Preble neighborhood … Using inflammatory, inaccurate language about our families living in poverty appears to be nothing short of an attack, not only on the Preble neighborhood but on the wider Green Bay community."

Senator Ellis responded, "Absolutely, it's a bad choice of words; I should have used a different word.

Why should Ellis have picked another word, when the one he used was the one he intended? Nice to know what our elected Republican representatives are thinking, isn't it?

Walker Staff willing to Break Law to serve their leader, on their own, behind his back?

If we were to believe Scott Walker, all the illegal activity emanating from his offices and from his appointees, were all risks taken by those individuals who couldn’t wait to break the law for the benefit of Walker.

Even as the names continue to pile up, Walker is getting a pass. It's as if “guilt through association” for some reason, doesn’t apply to Walker. Besides being a bad judge of character, Walker surrounded himself with rogue political activists. Yet Walker didn’t have a clue?

jsonline: Two staffers who worked directly for Gov. Scott Walker while he was county executive were charged Thursday with illegally doing extensive political work while being paid by taxpayers to do county jobs.

Kelly Rindfleisch, deputy chief of staff to Walker in 2010, faces four felony counts of misconduct in office for working for then-Rep. Brett Davis' 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor while on the county clock. Davis, who lost in the Republican primary, is now Walker's state Medicaid director. "In the course of the investigation, it was learned that a private e-mail network was established and operated out of the County Executive's office and that the private network was used to communicate both political campaign and government work related information to select individuals," said a press release from District Attorney John Chisholm.

Connecting the dots, Rindfleisch worked illegally for Brett Davis, who Walker secretly wanted as Lt. Governor, but lost to Rebecca Kleefisch, and was then given a post in the administration for his trouble.

Also facing two misdemeanors is Darlene Wink, Walker's one-time constituent services coordinator, who is accused of using county resources to raise money for Walker's 2010 gubernatorial bid. Wink, a former vice chair of the Milwaukee County Republican Party, resigned in May 2010 after admitting that she was spending part of her work day doing campaign work.

Walker's chief of staff, Tom Nardelli, issued a statement at the time saying that "no one in our office had any knowledge" that Wink was doing political work out of the county office.

Walker supporters are so dedicated they would willingly break the law, supposedly behind Walker’s back, to keep him and his cronies in power? Here's the coverage from Channel3000:

Business Tax Climate in Wisconsin Slips under Walker. It's Working?

I'm not an economist, so instead of getting it wildly wrong, I've posted the picture and chart showing the state business tax rankings for 2012. Oddly, with all the tax cuts and giveaways to Walker's corporate pay masters in 2011, Wisconsin lost ground in business favorability. What a mess.

Did any of this have anything to do with taxes going up on low income wage earners, or the biggest cuts to education in the nation? Or why we're seeing six straight months of job losses which almost negated any job creation numbers? And this is what Republican voters are cheering Scott Walker for?  

Wisconsin is one of the 10 worst states in terms of taxes on businesses, according to the State Business Tax Climate Index released from the Tax Foundation. It rates Wisconsin 43, down from 41 a year ago. Illinois moved most dramatically in its Index rank over the past year, falling twelve places (from 16th place in 2011 to 28th place in 2012).

What all this means in the bigger picture, after seeing all the cuts in state spending so far...who knows. But if I had to take a guess, I would say we're just starting to see the public service cuts under Walker, and a major shift in the state livability index. Forget Wisconsin, we're really in Fitzwalkerstan. 

It is obvious that the absence of a major tax is a dominant factor in vaulting many of these 10 states to the top of the rankings. Property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes are levied in every state, but there are several states that do without one or more of the major taxes: the corporate tax, the individual income tax, or the sales tax. Wyoming, Nevada and South Dakota have no corporate or individual income tax; Alaska has no individual income or state-level sales tax; Florida has no individual income tax; and New Hampshire and Montana have no sales tax. The lesson is simple: a state that raises sufficient revenue without one of the major taxes will, all things being equal, have an advantage over those states that levy every tax in the state tax collector’s arsenal.

New Voter ID Law Comes with special Secret instructions, "Don't Register Voters."

The new voter ID law also requires Special Registration Deputies (SRD) to be sworn in locally, instead of by the GAB. The SRD’s can register voters in their districts. Oh, oh. That would increase voter turnout and…we can’t have that.

The following story, from Denise Lockwood at the Caledonia Patch, is another example of attempted election fraud, and should be a warning to anyone thinking Republicans were even slightly concerned about voting integrity.

When three Racine women wanted to register voters in Caledonia, they were told they couldn't by Village Clerk Karie Torkilsen. Now, two of those women have filed complaints with the Government Accountability Board and a third will likely be filed this week.

The GAB sent a memo out to municipal clerks, warning them not to arbitrarily deny appointments of Special Registration Deputies for their communities. Reid Magney, spokesman for the GAB, acknowledged the GAB received complaints about Torkilsen. Torkilsen said the details of how clerks were supposed to manage the deputizing process were unclear to her and she needed clarification before she issued them. “So it’s new. I needed to know more about what was involved with this before I started swearing in people.”

Oh, and guess what, the three women turned away; Democrats.

Over the past few months, Nikki Aiello; Jane Witt, chair for the Democratic Party of Racine County; and Kathleen Laru had already been certified and deputized to register voters in the City of Racine, and the village of Mt. Pleasant and Sturtevant. But on separate occasions, they each went to turn in their applications to Torkilsen, who allegedly refused to deputize them when they came into Caledonia Village Hall.

Nikki Aiello said she approached Torkilsen about training classes and being deputized in November. Torkilsen allegedly said she wasn’t “going to train just anyone,” that they would not be offering training classes. “But I said, ‘That means if people can’t register until election day, that might cause a problem because if they don’t come with the things they need on election day, they wouldn’t be able to vote and she said, ‘That’s right,’” Aiello said. “I definitely did not like her tone, my impression is that she really didn’t want other people registering voters.”

Torkilsen told Patch "...(I)f people come to register at the polls and they don’t have proper ID they can vote a Provisional ballot, which will be counted as soon as they provide the proper ID … I would not have told her ‘That’s right. They would not be able to vote.’”

Oh but it doesn't end there:

Witt said she requested to be sworn in early January. “(Torkilsen) said, ‘I don’t want everyone registering people all over the place, I don’t have control over this process’ and she refused to swear me in,” Witt said. “I was floored.” But Laru, who went to the Village Hall on Jan. 23, said she wasn’t asked her name, if she was certified or if she had any training when she came to the Caledonia Village Hall. Laru said Torkilsen told her she will not certify “random people.” “She immediately said she wasn’t going to certify me,” Laru said. “She didn’t say anything about checking things out first. Had she said that, I would have waited to turn in my complaint… But she turned me down flat.”

Walker's State of the State Spins out of Control, and out of Reality.

I just couldn't go through the Walker state of the state bullshit. The lies and spin made my head spin. Who knows, his loyal followers probably thought it was a wonderful speech, and sure showed recallers how wrong they were. Actually, my conservative friend did call and say just that.

Here's Ed Schultz with State Sen. Lena Taylor on the speech and a few of the louder protests.

Poll Results for Kohl's Senate Seat.

A new poll shows ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson has the highest name recognition and the most favorable ratings in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race.

But the Marquette University Law School poll released on Wednesday shows the public is largely unfamiliar with the candidates who want to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl.

The poll shows 49 percent think favorably of Thompson compared to 31 percent who don't. Other Republicans include former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, who has a 27 percent favorable rating and 18 percent unfavorable.

Fifteen percent view Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald favorably, while 18 percent were unfavorable. Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin had a 23 percent favorable rating compared to 21 percent unfavorable.

Rep. Robin Vos: "I understand the other sides job is to continually tear down Wisconsin."

Rep. Robin Vos is a classic authoritarian wise ass, that deserves another beer bath, maybe more. What is it with Republican projection?

In this interview, Vos is asked by WISC host Mark Koehn, "So it's full speed ahead, no reconciliation here?"  

Vos' answer will if anything, fire up recall supporters, and burned an unforgettable image in your mind. Maybe even convince a few conservative voters to change their minds.

Vos: "I think the reconciliation is already happening. I think as we look all across Wisconsin...we saw a poll out today that showed Gov. Walker clearly in the lead over two potential Democratic challengers."

Need I transcribe more?



Rep. Peter Barca nails Vos' jobs numbers and well rehearsed talking points. I think we need to stop trying to seem needy, so willing to work the together.

It's time to wash down the marked territory left by the Walker regime.

Racine Can't Afford to Keep Street Lights on after Walker Budget Cuts.

The continuing stream of nightmarish Walker budgeting stories will eventually turn public opinion against him, and may even have a major effect in the recall. The tragic story below is only the beginning of course, where cities and towns will have to deal with an administration more concerned with pleasing business than giving a damn about the people in this state. 


Racine is starting to turn out street lights to save money after Walker's cuts. The same thing happened in Clintonville. And this is the greatest, richest country in the world? Fox 6: 

Crews in Racine spent Wednesday taking down several street lights! It's a measure meant to save money, but some residents are trying to stop it, citing safety concerns. 

Candice Gloede is one of many Racine residents who have signed a petition to stop the removal of street lights. Her block alone is set to lose two street lights, and she feels this is unacceptable. "When the bar's full on Friday and Saturday nights, and there's tons and tons of cars on the street, more break-ins, more kids getting injured. It just doesn't make any sense to me," Gloede said.

Racine lost more than $3 million in state funding this year. The elimination of nearly 500 street lights throughout the city is only a small part of much larger cuts, saving around $80,000 per year. Racine Mayor John Dickert says these street lights won't be back anytime soon. "There is not enough money. The fact is, these cuts will become the norm, as long as this type of budgeting from the state keeps coming down to the cities," Dickert said.  "It's not good for any of us. We don't like it, but the fact is, this is what we have to do," Dickert said.

Put a Stake through the Heart of the Ryan Lie Small Businesses will be Taxed by Obama.

Facts, damn facts.

Paul Ryan's reputation as a numbers guy is so misplaced, especially when it comes to taxing "small businesses." He's flat out lying.

But, again the facts say something else:

IRS statistics indicate that only 3 percent of small businesses would be subject to the higher tax, and many studies of previous tax increases suggest that it would have minimal impact on hiring.

And it gets even worse for Ryan’s argument:

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 97 percent of all businesses owners do not earn enough to be subject to the higher rates. Even among the 750,000 businesses that would be subjected to the higher rates in 2011, many are sole proprietors — a classification so amorphous it can include everyone from corporate executives who earn income on rental property to entertainers, hedge fund managers and investment bankers. THE FACTS: The U.S. has roughly 6 million businesses that employ people, and 20 million businesses without employees. The latter group includes solo operators, professionals in partnerships and those who organize themselves as a business for tax purposes but earn little if any income from the enterprise.

So when it comes to the government making money, like a business, Ryan's brain stalls. 

Critics reason that owners of many small companies report business income on their personal tax returns instead of filing corporate taxes. But most small businesses don't create jobs. They tend to be lawyers, accountants and other professionals who earn some of their money from partnerships or otherwise organize themselves as a business entity. As well, many small businesses with employees don't earn enough to put their owners over the threshold for the higher tax rates.

Small businesses are defined as having fewer than 500 workers each. Sizable companies within that group wouldn't be snagged by Obama's personal tax rates simply because they are too large to report income on the individual return of the owner. Many truly small operations simply don't make enough to qualify for the tax hit.

Spectrum Brands lied to State to get, and receive, $4 million! Walker administration Okay with that.

This story is so outrageous, that it’s actually breath taking in its deceit. But it is revealing. If Republicans get their way, and trust these corporate scoundrels by getting government out of the way, than we're in real trouble. The public, angry conservative voters, deserves everything it willfully supported. Hallelujah, thank you Scott Walker.

Bill Lueders/Cap Times: Spectrum Brands began its successful quest for a $4 million award from the state without revealing its identity or that it was already based in Wisconsin, public records show. Initial overtures were made by Harry J. Joseph, an Atlanta-based real estate consultant. Joseph did not disclose which company he represented when he asked the state in January 2011 "what incentives might be available to our client should they decide to consolidate in Wisconsin."

As reported here before, Spectrum Brands used the “unrest” state wide as a threat to leave, unless they get a monetary payout. You could also view this as corporate power dictating how government should deal with public unrest. I think they call the creeping fascism.

Emails obtained through an open records request by WTDY Radio in Madison and shared with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism show that Joseph suggested that the backlash over Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill made his unidentified client reluctant to pick Madison — where it was, in fact, already located.

"I am concerned (that) the recent protests and 'unrest' occurring in Madison and splashed all over the national news could have a detrimental impact on my client's interest in choosing Madison as its office consolidation location," Joseph wrote in a Feb. 21 email. "You may recall we were evaluating Des Moines, western suburbs of Chicago, and Milwaukee as our other alternatives."

Joseph, the president of Galaxy Partners Inc., asked how state officials could help "incent my client to look past this apparent community discord." Last week, Spectrum announced plans to close its Madison headquarters and relocate to a new facility in nearby Middleton.

Another words, Spectrum Brand had this message for the Walker administration; suckers. 

Relax, Walker has Slim Lead in Recent Poll.

DailyKos panicked today after Scott Walker appeared to beat every one of the potential candidates in the upcoming recall election. Not Russ Feingold, but hey, he's not running. 

It appears the DailyKos is forgetting about the Democratic challengers, their arguments for change, and candidate debates. There's time enough to make our arguments and time enough for Walker's mess to spread.

Here's a few more comforting words, from the coverage on WBAY:

When Marquette pollsters asked, respondents were split right down the middle on changes to collective bargaining -- 48 percent were for them, 47 percent were against them. But there is a huge difference on whether state workers should pay more for pension and health benefits -- 74 percent favor them paying more, while 22 percent are opposed. Overall, half of respondents believe our state is headed in the right direction, while 46 percent don't.

This may seem close, but Wegge says don't let this figure fool you. "The folks who are in opposition to Walker have a much greater intensity. They strongly disapprove of him whereas those who approve of him have a softer approval, so the intensity could come into play" in a recall election, Wegge said.

Job Losses in Heavily Conservative Area of State, Couldn't Happen in a Better Place.

It's working? 

The four-county Milwaukee area - encompassing Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties - lost an estimated 700 jobs in December from November, according to estimates released Wednesday by the state Department of Workforce Development. The figures follow a separate report, released a week ago, that show that Wisconsin unexpectedly lost private-sector jobs in December for the sixth consecutive month.

Walker’s State of the State will include ONE BIG LIE, among many others. News media allowed it to happen.

UPDATE: 4:05 pm-I just got an except of exactly what I've been talking about below: the BS line the Great Recession's job losses have anything to do with Walker's predecessor Gov. Doyle. Yes, it's driving me crazy!!!!

"When I addressed you in this chamber last January, Wisconsin had suffered through three years of 150,000 of our fellow citizens losing their jobs. The unemployment rate was 7.5%.  And after years of tax increases and budget tricks, Wisconsin faced one of the largest budget deficits in the country.

Now, our unemployment rate is down from a year ago.  In fact, it's the lowest it’s been since 2008.  We are turning things around.  We are heading in the right direction. During the past year, we added thousands of new jobs.”  

Here's what I predicted:
Gov. Scott Walker will lie tonight, and get away with it for at least a few days, if not weeks. The first lie is that he created the jobs in the first 6 months of his administration. Business doesn’t create jobs that quickly, meaning those jobs were created under the Doyle administration. When Walker’ policies were passed, poof! No jobs. The second lie encompasses the three years that includes the Great Recession. Gov. Doyle’s fault? Walker will say it was.

jsonline: Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said in an email, “He'll discuss the problems the administration inherited, what was done to address them, and the foundation the state now has for the future.”

This lie has been repeated over and over, but not corrected by the news media. And that's why Walker will get away with telling that lie again tonight, because he now knows he can:

WSJ: Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, touted the same report as proof that their leadership is working. "Wisconsin's unemployment rate dropped to 7.1 percent last month, and 21,400 more people have jobs in Wisconsin than a year ago," noted Sen. Fitzgerald. "Facts are facts. In the past year, our job numbers are up and unemployment is down," he said. "We just had our first year of job growth after three straight years of decline."

“Three straight years of decline?” In the last eleven months of the Doyle administration, 12,000 jobs were created. If you include the year of the Great Recession, which Sen. Fitzgerald is doing, yeah, I guess you could say jobs were lost overall. But that would by ignoring the job creation trend Doyle started, and that lasted into June of 2011. Walker will make the same claim.