Republicans Decide to Not enforce Laws they Don’t Like. Starts with Health Care Mandates.

Isn’t it funny how conservatives are demanding Obama enforce Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (the law is still in effect, but the justice department won’t challenge it in court), but can freely ignore legal mandates they don’t like. They can do it because their voter base’s mob mentality demands obedience to their chosen leaders.

Take the idea of a free market health care system, where you get to pick and choose the illness you most likely think you’ll get, and pay out of pocket for those you didn't include. Oh, and it would also be breaking our current laws without repealing the mandates and prices would supposedly fall dramatically.

CT: Republican lawmakers are working on a pair of bills that would allow insurance policies in Wisconsin to ignore state mandates requiring coverage for a broad variety of medical treatments and conditions, including autism, cochlear implants and mental health problems.

The freedom and liberty of paying for junk insurance policies with huge costly loopholes is a conservative small government wet dream, and for a state that has one of the highest insured rates in the country, it’s time to tear down that coverage.

One of the new GOP bills, dubbed "Health Choices and Opportunities" permits insurers to offer a menu of "a la carte" individual policies that does not include coverage required by state mandates, which currently affect more than a dozen different conditions and procedures, from mammograms, kidney disease, and breast reconstruction to contraceptives, child immunizations and diabetes. The other bill would permit out-of-state health insurers to sell plans here that do not comply with state mandates at all. 

Frightened yet? Blame “authors Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, and Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette … calls to Vukmir's and Nygren's offices seeking official comment have not been returned.” You might want to call them yourself to thank them for helping “lower your premiums” by not having to buy basic coverage. It gets more inhumane.

"I am appalled at the cruelty of this legislation," says Nissan Bar-Lev, the president of the Autism Society of Wisconsin, who knew nothing about the proposals until I called him.  

The bill’s "a la carte insurance policies," according to an analysis by the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau, creates a process in which consumers would receive a form with their applications listing the premium costs each mandate would add to their policies. They would also get information about the risks for not including various mandates. Customers could then pick and choose which policies they want.

The bill would turn everyone’s coverage into gambling bet, with devastated parents who might have gambled and lost, on their coverage choice for their child, and winners who guessed right. What kind of party would bankrupt and traumatize family members for life for having made the wrong decision?

The second bill would allow out-of-state health insurers to offer plans in Wisconsin that do not conform to the state's mandates. They would only need to comply with whatever health insurance mandates are required in their home states.

Robert Kraig of Citizen Action of Wisconsin said, "This legislation will hollow out the state's insurance policies and undo consumer protections and standards … What next? I guess we could make health insurance entirely affordable by making sure it doesn't cover anything." 

For more information about medical treatments and conditions currently covered by mandates under Wisconsin law, click here.

Unhinged SOB Sen. Scott Fitzgerald's Bizarre Bully Behavioral Problem. Sen. Miller Next Smear Target

In previous videos posted here you can watch this furious blustery autocrat find offence in mature adults attempting to have a simple conversation. Here's a letter Senate Majority Leader and Republican blow hard Scott Fitzgerald wrote in a fit of rage (bold my emphases). 

Sen. Mark Miller
Parts Unknown, IL
Dear Senator Miller, 

Thank you for your hand-delivered letter with an offer to meet, in Illinois, about the business and future direction of Wisconsin.   Let’s set aside how bizarre that is for a moment. 

As you know, this legislation is designed to finally balance the state budget, prevent layoffs (a complete fiction) and create jobs in the real world.  There are hundreds of thousands of unemployed or underemployed Wisconsinites, and at least 1,500 more whose jobs are in the balance because of your media stunt.   

We all deserve better than this. In the meantime, members of your caucus have been meeting with the governor’s staff, talking to the media, trying to find a way back to Madison, and contradicting your message in public.  In case you don’t remember, you were present yourself at one of those meetings with the governor’s staff. 

Your grasp of reality, and control of your caucus as minority leader, continues to amaze me. As you know, your opportunity to compromise and amend the bill was on the floor of the state Senate.  As you know, you forfeited that right and opportunity when you decided to flee the state instead of doing your job. 

Your stubbornness in trying to ignore the last election and protect the broken status quo is truly shameful. While we wait for you and your colleagues to finally show up, Senate Republicans continue to stand ready to do the job we were elected to do, here in Wisconsin.  I hope you are enjoying your vacation, and your vacation from reality. 

Sincerely,
Scott Fitzgerald
Senate Majority Leader CC: Governor Scott Walker

Capitol Tractorade Protest this Saturday, Noon.

rocknetroots.blogspot sent out this alert about this coming Saturday's protest at the Capitol. It looks like the normally conservative rural voters and farmers have had it with Gov. Scott Walker, and will use their power equipment to plow through the Walker dirt to cultivate support for services and health care they depend on.

Walker Increases Taxes on the Poor and Poorer!!! They’re taking from the rich!!

A Republican promise not really a promise,  always has caveats, is a lie, and can be taken back easily with just an ounce of spin. Remember when letting the Bush tax cuts expire was a “tax increase?” But removing tax credits for the working poor is not really a tax increase but a “redistribution program” that is “taking money from other taxpayers” of wealth. See, it’s all in how you spin it that allows Republicans to justify doing whatever they want.

Wisconsin’s working class just got a TAX INCREASE. Hey Democrats, workers didn’t “sorta” get a tax increase.  It didn’t “amount” to a tax increase either. IT IS A TAX INCREASE.

WSJ: Low-income taxpayers in Wisconsin would lose hundreds of dollars in tax credits a year under Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget — at the same time the governor wants tax cuts for businesses and investors to boost jobs. 

Under Walker’s proposed biennial budget, a single mother with two children earning about minimum wage — $15,000 a year — would lose $302 of her $704 Earned Income Tax Credit next year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. A two-parent household with two children earning $30,000 a year would see its tax credit cut by $194 to $258, the alliance said. 

The credit is seen as an anti-poverty tool that helps offset federal Social Security taxes and encourages work among the lowest-wage earners.

It cuts a whole $16 million a year from the program. The burden on wealthier wage earners will be lifted at last, and money will once again be distributed up to the “haves.”

In an interview the Republican governor called the tax credit a “redistribution program” that involves “taking money from other taxpayers and giving it to individuals who have a limited tax liability.”“This is reducing how much money other taxpayers have to give to those individuals,” Walker said. 

The governor also proposes cutting $9 million in tax rebates to low-income homeowners under the Homestead Tax Credit. That credit is designed to offset the cost of property taxes for residents earning no more than $24,500 a year, many of them elderly. 

The budget proposal would freeze the Homestead credit at the current level rather than allowing it to rise with inflation. 

Jon Peacock, research director at the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (said) “We think it’s very disappointing that the governor’s proposing changes that amount to tax increases for low-income families at the same time he’s proposing tax breaks for multistate corporations and the wealthy.”

The solution left for the poor? Get another job.

Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler said “The best thing for people at the lower end of the income scale is to get more Wisconsin jobs.”  

But state Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, sees hypocrisy in the governor’s approach.“The main thing we have heard over and over (from Walker) about shared sacrifice and no tax increases, as details of the budget unfold, we see that there are in fact tax increases, and the people bearing the burden of balancing our budget are the middle- and low-income — the people who can least afford it.”

Walker Agenda Means More Taxpayer Money for Big Business, Less for Average Citizens.

Some bloggers and media types would think the dictatorial style of Scott Walker and his majority band of rubber stampers is a gift that keeps on giving. I personally wish I had my life back. Story after story, post after post. Having added my own perspective to much of the material I’ve dug up, I felt less of an aggregator, and more of a contributor.

But there’s so much to get to now, that it’s hard to even write a line or two before the next avalanche.  

Capitol Times writer Mike Ivey wrote what I might have written had I had enough time.  Apparently Walker doesn’t mind spending more of our hard earned money as long as it goes to big business. I hope you’re sitting down for this unbelievable report:

If you like burning fossil fuels … then you'll love Gov. Walker's proposed budget.
The 1,345-pager takes a whack at scores of environmental efforts, from nixing the state Office of Energy Independence to actually encouraging state vehicles to use more gasoline. 

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. 

And with pump prices marching toward $4 a gallon, you wonder if any thought went into the long-term fiscal impacts. Walker wants to eliminate the Office of Energy Independence, which works to reduce the state's annual energy bill. The OEI was designed to work with the biofuels industry, renewable energy markets and alternative energy researchers here at home. 

Instead, Walker wants the Department of Administration to develop a "cost-effective, balanced, reliable, and environmentally-responsible energy strategy to promote economic growth … Walker wants to do away with any requirements regarding use of hybrid-electric vehicles or alternative fuels in state-owned vehicles. 

The proposed budget also deletes a rule the state consider energy use in the purchase of new appliances, lighting or heating systems costing under $5,000. 

As a final kicker, the bill eliminates the Small Business Environmental Council, which assists small businesses in complying with federal and state laws regulating air and water pollution. 

Energy efficiency or evironmental laws? No need for 'em if you're open for business.
Citizens send over $20 billion out of state every. 

Forget about the wealthy elites. They're in charge now. What about the bourgeoisie middle class?

Bourgeoisie: The social class between the lower and upper classes.

Wisconsin State Journal columnist Chris Rickert, along with his fellow conservative class warriors, have decided to update and exclude from the classic definition of bourgeoisie the most often picked on and misunderstood group of all, the “upper class.” “Upper” now refers to those in the corporate profit draining “middle class.”

In Rickert’s world, anyone who is not part of the laid off, under and unemployed private sector workforce, is a middle class elitist. If you have anything more than the “less-fortunate Madisonians with the most to lose under Gov. Scott Walker's budget,” than you are a middle class bourgeoisie fat cat.

Rickert is blissfully unaware of “disaster capitalism.” That’s where the war on the middle and lower class is waged from multiple fronts when they are the weakest, like during and just after the Great Recession. While a desperate public tries to save their homes and provide food for their families, the monied elite swoop in and take everything else away.

Even Rickert alludes to this tactic in his myopic commentary without even knowing it. While the protesters are fighting for employees everywhere who’ve benefited directly or indirectly from union wages and benefits, and to save collective, Gov. Walker deployed another assault in his biennial budget that slashes Badgercare and state support of social services for the poor.

Rickert ghoulishly salivates over the clash between the middle class and poor, ginned up by the real bourgeoisie, who will be plundering the state coffers for more tax breaks and corporate welfare. All hail the job providers.

Despite the responses like “If he (Walker) does this, what does he do next,” from individuals in our poverty stricken neighborhoods Rickert identified in his article, Rickert would love to see these two groups battling it out. Forget Corinne Simonson comment to Rickert when she said; “I really think it unites everyone.”

And while the state is inundated with corporate and Koch Industry supported outside think tanks, tea party protesters like Joe the Plumber, and lobbyist ad campaigns seeking support for Walker’s assault on labor, Rickert genuinely believes it would be wrong to push back with equal or greater force.

“I hope the bourgeoisie protesters at the Capitol and their well-heeled unions will pull out just as many stops in defense of the poor … You know, by paying for more television ads and push-polling efforts, and bringing in union members from around the country to protest. That's what I would call solidarity.”

Sorry Chris, they’re already doing that in the current media campaign that “unites everyone.” It’s apparent by the back handed comment about “push-polling and paying for ads, that Rickert believes we shouldn't waste our time making our case.  

Even though Rickert has clearly identified the devastating impact of Walker’s actions, he has chosen to sit in the coliseum with the Republican elite bourgeoisie, watching the rabble fight to the death for its shear entertainment value. 

Wages and middle class will disappear with Fading Unions.

The conservative preoccupation with sharing pain, job losses and misery is not only bizarre, but dragging everybody down. Still, their defeatist attitude about their own lives doesn't prevent them from defending the right of the wealthy elite to keep all their money, while their own measly salaries are reduced. What they don't know about the effect unions had on their middle class lifestyle is going to profoundly change their's and future generations incomes for the worst. Ed Schultz makes that point here;

Change the Sociopathic Mind of Gov. Scott Walker? Not Likely, Welcome to the "Daddy State."

Via The Motley Cow, this great post at Common Dreams finally put to words a theme I’ve mentioned a number times regarding Scott Walker’s “father figure” governing style. It's called the "daddy state."

Although I haven't blogged about it yet, it's crazy to think a sociopath like Walker would ever change his mind, no matter how long the Wisconsin 14 stay away. Take Walker's nerve-racking public threat to layoff thousands of working people, vulnerable Wisconsinites with families, mortgages and bills. Walker apparently believes he would never suffer any public or political consequence for such a callous decision. The following analysis rings true about Walker: 

The more I watch politics, the more I’m convinced that America’s shrinks should update their catalog of official mental illnesses to include a new category of certifiable whack job: the “political sociopath.” American conservatives, who have long deplored the government “entitlements” bestowed on the unwashed and unworthy, are fond of the term: “nanny state.” 

But I think there’s a right-wing version of this concept, which deserves the term “daddy state.” The autocrat in charge, the “daddy,” is almost invariably a dogmatic, egocentric, socially awkward, strangely synthetic nerd.  he is singularly ill-equipped for daddyhood and — suspecting this flaw — builds the household, or the state, on the delusion that it can be run “like a business.” 

The “daddy state” regards its citizens as a father perceives his kids: children are perilously ignorant of how to properly control their lives or guide their future. We, the people, tend toward appetite and self-indulgence. We cannot grasp the value of a dollar. If we are to be saved from ourselves, we need to be restrained, scolded, denied, disciplined and watched over, all the time. When necessary, we should be lied to. We are weak, but he is strong. 

Daddy’s strength is transcendent, ineffable. Father knows best not because he defeated his foes in some temporal political dispute.  

It is, after all, the nature of children to complain and whine and want their own way. Their rebellion is the proof and definition of their childishness. The father doesn’t take guidance from a baby when it’s well-behaved, much less than when it’s throwing a tantrum. The louder the protesters in Madison, the stronger becomes Gov. Walker’s conviction that he knows best. 

Popularity is no test. The political sociopath reviled in poll after poll, like Gov. Walker, is reinforced in his rectitude. He recognizes every flaming effigy and Hitler mustache as a childhood prank.  

I first recognized Gov. Walker as a political sociopath from the way his eyes behave on TV. Watch closely. They never entirely settle in one place. They rarely look directly into the camera. Even when you catch a glimpse of him straight on, Walker’s gaze seems fixed either just beyond his nose or a million miles yonder.

Republican Agenda Bleeds Jobs, Slows Economy.

Was the last election about jobs, jobs, jobs, or austerity. Rachel Maddow:

Walker pulls Insurer Birth Control Pill Coverage for Women

With all the attention devoted the dictatorial style of Gov. Walker's on collective bargaining, little attention has been devoted to his extremist social engineering agenda, that has been a voter motivator for tea party and religious right conservatives.

It's hard to imagine taking away birth control pills as a mandated health benefit, while keeping Viagra for men.

State Sen. Chris Larson vs Grothman

Lawrence O'Donnell interviews State Sen. Chris Larson and Glenn "where's the camera" Grothman. Larson rightly describes Wisconsin as having turned into a police state and Grothman continues to throw out disrespectful lunacy.



I have to say a word about the great "Last Word" show intro's on Wisconsin. Take a look at this from last night:

Live Ammunition Planted Outside Capitol.

What a coincidence? While a judge is considering lifting the restricted-access rules put in place over the weekend, a suspicious pile of 41 rounds of ammo was found outside the Capitol this morning. You know how those gun crazy, Second Amendment remedies shouting liberals are? I also heard a hardware store down the street was selling box cutters. 
What's to sweat? If armed tea party protesters were so safe, what's to fear from a few bullets? Especially around the freedom fighting, concealed carry loving Republican legislature.  


CNN:

USA Today: Sheriff's deputies report finding 41 rounds of hollow-point rifle ammunition on the grounds of the Wisconsin Capitol. 

The bullets, all long .22 caliber, were found outside three entrances, the Associated Press reports. 

State attorneys revealed the discovery today while asking a judge to order the Capitol be cleared of protesters and closed for a security sweep. The judge did not immediately rule.
During the hearing, a union attorney Peggy Lautenschlager suggested the ammunition could have been planted by someone other than a protester, WISC-TV reports.

About 100 protesters remain inside as demonstrations against Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to repeal nearly all collective bargaining rights for most public employee unions enters their third week.

Washington Post: … University of Wisconsin Police Chief Susan Riseling said police were conducting a sweep of the bushes and grassy areas in search of any more ammunition. She noted that ammunition often comes in 50-round boxes, meaning an additional nine rounds may be missing if the ammunition all came from the same source. 

Assistant Attorney General Steven Means, who is representing the Department of Administration in the lawsuit, asked Circuit Judge John Albert to order the building closed for security purposes. 

State Sen. Jon Erpenbach uses legal maneuver to collect paycheck.

I'm really impressed by State Sen. Jon Erpenbach's paycheck workaround, and by TPM's for great Wisconsin coverage. Since I haven't been to WisPolitics.com this afternoon, I'll let TPM do the reporting: 

TPMDC: Wisconsin state Sen. Jon Erpenbach … has just beaten the Republicans in one of their key efforts to force Dems back to the state - by collecting his legislative pay. 

Senate Republicans last week passed a rule suspending the direct-deposit of absent legislators' pay, requiring them to show up in person at the Capitol -- in effect, to provide a quorum -- in order to receive a check. 

However, as WisPolitics reports, Erpenbach found a workaround: He granted power-of-attorney to two members of his staff, thus authorizing them to conduct many important personal decisions and financial actions on his behalf -- such as picking up his paycheck … Ultimately, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) put the check in the mail, instead of giving it to the staffers. Fitzgerald spokesman Andrew Welhouse told WisPolitics: "We confirmed with our attorneys and with the chief clerk that was proper."

Where's Fox News camera crews when you need 'em. We've got palm trees....

It looks like the discredited Fox News film clip of fighting "Madison" protesters, with palm trees in the background, may have been onto to something.

Don't you just love liberal humor?

Recall Efforts Underway.

"Make no mistake, these Republican Senators are vulnerable to recall for their radical partisan overreach. Senator Randy Hopper won his last election by just 184 votes. And Alberta Darling won her last race by only 1,007. By recalling just three of the eight Senators we are targeting, we can regain control of the Senate."
- Wisconsin Democratic Party

Walker Defunds Planned Parenthood, Wasting Another $140 Million, causing a possible 11,000 unintended Pregnancies.

What you've probably noticed already is how short sighted Gov. Scott Walker's agenda is, especially when you consider the added expense of ending recycling funds, and now defending Planned Parenthood. Both cuts are purely ideological and costly, but they play to the base, and have been on the Republican wish list for ages. And as those costs increase over time, Republicans will again have another excuse to make cuts to those cuts. Check out the draconian way Walker treats low income women.

PPAW: With his anti-birth control beliefs in full display, Governor Walker’s budget completely eliminates Title V, the only state funded family planning health care program, which provides critical health care services to uninsured women and men including cervical cancer screens, prostate cancer screenings, breast and well women exams, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and access to birth control. 

The Governor also continues his assault on basic rights and allows discrimination against women by repealing the Wisconsin’s Contraceptive Equity law. Governor Walker’s budget allows insurance companies to discriminate against women by denying coverage for prescription birth control even when other prescriptions, like Viagra, are covered.. 

“In 2008 alone, WI Department of Health Services said family planning programs saved $140 million and prevented 11,000 unintended pregnancies. Governor Walker is more concerned with furthering his anti-birth control agenda than the health of Wisconsinites and our economy” said Tanya Atkinson, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. "Governor Walker walks all over the rights of women in this budget, which not only is morally reprehensible, but fiscally irresponsible.” 

Eliminating the state’s only family planning program puts over 50 health centers located throughout Wisconsin at risk of closing and denies women in both rural and urban areas basic health care.  

Ryan Loses to Kohl and Feingold for Senate.

According to The Hill: 

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is often talked about as a possible Senate 2012 candidate. A new poll by Democrat-leaning Public Policy Polling shows Ryan would lag behind incumbent Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) if he runs, although he is the strongest Republican in the state. 

Ryan would lag behind Kohl by a margin of 49 percent to 42 percent. He also trails former senator Russ Feingold by the same margin. 

The next Republican in the survey, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen trails Kohl by a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent. 

State Sen. Glenn Grothman, the ugly disrespectful face of the Republican Party.

Lawrence O'Donnell brought in a bunch of protesting "slobs," a name Sen. Glenn Grothman gave them last night, expecting some professional political humility. Since when do bullies take the hint?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Campaign Funding Law a thing of the past, Walker Kills it. Welcome Big Money.

The race for the Supreme Court may just be the last time we see publically funded campaigns. Gov. Walker thinks corporate money will save the state lots of cash and encourage other businesses to exercise their free speech rights. 

Capitol Time: In the future, if a provision to dry up the funding source in Gov. Scott Walker's budget makes it through the Republican-controlled Legislature, no candidate in their right mind would sign up for it. 

Walker's budget kills the Democracy Trust Fund, which funds qualifying Supreme Court candidates … would roll that money into the Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund, which is currently funded by a tax return check-off … The participation rate is going to drop," state Government Accountability Board spokesman Reid Magney.  Walker's proposal limits funds to whatever is in the election campaign fund. In 2009, the amount raised from the tax return check-off was $166,344. So if a candidate goes to the trouble of qualifying for the public financing, there's no guarantee there will be any cash.

With no newly created jobs to speak of, the Republican majority has spent endless hours thinking of ways to…penalize the absent 14 Democrats.

Hey, the jobs are coming, really, they are someday. Would we lie about that? Trust us. In the meantime, we have to play "daddy" and mete out punishment to our runaway childish Democrats.

Huffington Post: A resolution proposed on Wednesday would allow Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) to "assign supervision over any employee appointed by a Senator who is absent without leave for 2 or more session days." The resolution has Democratic staffers spooked and unsure of what is coming next. One scenario worrying Democrats that if their new supervisor decides they're not adequately performing their duties and fires them. Democratic State Sen. Chris Larson said "I want to make sure they are alright and that they are not going to be fired because the Republican governor doesn't want them sending a press release or reaching out to constituents."  

In another resolution passed on Wednesday, Senate Democrats will now face a fine of $100 for every day they are out of state. 

Republicans introduced another resolution aimed at staffers, one which rolled back access codes to the copy machines in the statehouse. Staffers for absent senators must also get the majority leader's office to sign off on their timesheets.

Is Newt Gingrich the Rising Star of the Republicans?

In another week or so we’ll know if Newt Gingrich is announcing his candidacy for presidency, but what remains to be seen is if the religious conservatives of the Republicans will whole-heartedly endorse him. If you’re wondering what they could possibly have against Gingrich, especially considering that his claim to fame is being Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for his role in ending 40 years of Democratic majority in the House of Representatives in 1995 and taking on the role of Speaker of the House, he has been through two divorces, and is currently married to the woman he was having a clandestine affair with even as he aired his outspoken criticism of Bill Clinton’s dalliances with Monica Lewinsky.

With the conservatives going on the overdrive when it comes to issues like marriage, abortion and the Church, will they be able to accept someone like Gingrich who has led a pretty liberal lifestyle? He was married at 19 to his much older high school Mathematics teacher, had an affair during the marriage, divorced his wife as she was recovering from cancer surgery, remarried the woman he was seeing soon after, had a second affair soon after with a staff member of the House of Representatives who was 23 years his junior, and is now married to this woman Callista Bisek.

Apparently it is Bisek’s faith that is giving Gingrich hope that he can win the hearts of the Republicans first, before turning his hopes to the nation. He has converted to Catholicism in 2009, and he and his wife have been involved in the making of a movie about Pope John Paul II and how he was a significant force in the downfall of communism in Poland. But the big question that hangs over Gingrich’s head is if his candidacy for presidency will be endorsed by the Republicans if he does announce his decision to run for the nation’s highest and perhaps the world’s most powerful office.

Will the Republicans be willing to take a risk and put forward a candidate who does not have the vocal backing and/or tacit support of the religious conservatives? Or will they have learned a lesson from John McCain’s failure and go with someone whose past is not tainted by scandal as Gingrich’s is? Are his speeches on how America is becoming a secularized society where God is being driven out of public life, enough to raise fervor in conservative minds and make them forget the indiscretions and scandals of his past? Or will there be skeptics who don’t accept his candidacy and view his recent religious views as a sham to worm his way to the presidency?

Considering that the man is a political whiz and respected by many Republicans for his intellect and knowledge of government, maybe the party will prefer him to the likes of Sarah Palin.

This guest post is contributed by Phillip Donavan, who writes on the subject of Online Political Science Degrees . Phillip can be reached at his email id: phillip.donavan[@]gmail[.]com 

Odd Black Suited Audience Smuggled into Walker Budget Address

This story is so bizarre, there’s no way I’m going to try and reword the account:

BoingBoing.net: The Awl's Abe Sauer is at the Wisconsin state house with press credentials, and he describes the scene after rogue governor Scott Walker defied a court order and violated state law by locking the public out of the capitol. But then something even weirder and creepier happened: a cadre of out-of-town ringers in suits were smuggled into the gallery through the civil defense tunnels to bleat their approval for Walker's budget proposal:

Walker entered to thunderous applause, though not from the Democrats, who refused to rise. At least two-thirds of the East audience galley was loudly applauding but they had nothing on the West coast. It was now clear who the men in business attire were. Nearly without exception, the west gallery was all men in black suits and, when the governor said something meaningful, they all rose and applauded, and they did it with verve and volume. I'm not saying these guys were not from Wisconsin, but if you know Wisconsin, you know for a fact that even for most businessmen, black suits are not part of the wardrobe. In general, the only time one will see a large gathering of Wisconsin men in black suits is at a funeral, or, apparently at a Governor Walker budget address. 

Reporter Kristin Knutsen found evidence that many of these ringers may have entered through the capitol's access tunnels, noting the presence of the Division of Criminal Investigation--the same officers I saw upstairs outside the Assembly chambers following the address escorting unidentified men.

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll: 62 Percent Support Collective Bargaining, 72 Percent say Public workers should have same rights as Private Union Employees.

You’ve gotta like how Americans are coalescing around employee rights and union representation.

MSNBC: NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll:

The public is adamantly against eliminating public employees' collective-bargaining rights -- as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is pursuing. 

In the poll, a whopping 68 percent find it acceptable requiring public employees to contribute more of their pay for retirement benefits; 63 percent are fine with requiring these employees to pay more for their health-care benefits; and 58 percent are OK with freezing public employees' salaries for one year. 

But just 33 percent say it's acceptable -- and 62 percent say it's unacceptable -- to eliminate these employees' collective-bargaining rights as way to deal with state budget deficits. 

In addition, 77 percent believe that public employees have the same collective-bargaining rights (when it comes to health care, pensions, and other benefits) that union employees who work for private companies have.

Wisconsin -Scott Free!!!

I can dream...

Republican Dale Schultz declares Walker Overreach.

Uppity Wisconsin posted this audio clip of Republican Dale Schultz from a "half hour interview ... on WEKZ. Despite his support of the more odorous elements of Walker's agenda, he at least has a heart beating in his soulless body.

Again, David Cay Johnston Explains Employee Fringe Benefits Being Slashed by Walker.

Ed Schultz hosts:

Spiteful Republicans Sen. Lazich and Honadel to propose bill to Protect Scott Walker, that would prohibit...trick phone calls for malicious purposes!!!

You won’t believe this one. Still not focusing on jobs, and unable to name any created so far,

Huffington Post: After Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast called Gov. Scott Walker pretending to be billionaire David Koch: 

Wisconsin Republican lawmakers … Sen. Mary Lazich, R-Waukesha, and Rep. Mark Honadel, authored a bill that would prohibit tricking the call's recipient into believing the caller is someone they are not for malicious purposes. 

"While use of spoofing is said to have some legitimate uses, it can also be used to frighten, harass and potentially defraud," Lazich and Honadel said in an e-mail to legislators. 

The bill language forbids a caller from intentionally providing a false phone number and convincing the person receiving the call that it comes from someone other than the actual caller. 

The bill would make it illegal to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain any information of value from using a caller identification service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information. It would also prohibit individuals from masking their voices or providing a fake phone number to the call recipient, said Jason Vick, spokesperson for Honadel. 

Because this sort of makes it look like legislators are primarily motivated by the need to make "making Scott Walker look stupid" a criminal offense.

Gov. Scott Walker's Austere Budget a "Job Killer," and Democratic Reactions...

Rachel Maddow has made State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, a former talk radio partner, a regular on her show. Here, Jon dissects the brutal budget proposal that would likely pass without any major changes.



State Senators Chris Larsen, Lena Taylor and Fred Risser throw there two cents in on the budget, calling it devastating to education. Larsen sees it more like the Governor is "passing the gun" to local governments to make their cuts.

Academy Awards Recognizes the Value of Unions

Rachel Maddow notices the little things, again, with this great clip from the Academy Awards Show:

State Sen. Glenn Grothman on the Capitol protesters: "We can no longer continue to have all these slobs in the building."

State Rep. Cory Mason probably couldn't believe what he was hearing from State Sen. Glenn Grothman. It has to be seen to be believed:



Here's the first part of the above interview, where Rep. Cory Mason objects to Gov. Walker's use of the word "tool" to describe eliminating collective bargaining.  Grothman plays word games when he says state workers have more collective bargaining rights than federal employees. Mason would not let that one go:



UPDATE: Grothman continues to bash and belittle protesters in after a little incident outside the Capitol:

jsonline: Protests against Gov. Scott Walker's budget and the battle for access to the Capitol took a tense turn last night when GOP Sen. Glenn Grothman was locked out of the building and was eventually surrounded by hundreds of angry protesters, according to the Cap Times. Grothman downplayed the situation…"I really think if I had had to, I could have walked through the crowd and it would have been okay," he told the Cap Times. "They're loud, they'll give you the finger, and they yell at you, but I really think deep down inside they're just mostly college kids having fun, just like they're having fun sleeping with their girfriends on air mattresses. That's the guts of that crowd." 

Watch State Rep. Brett Hulsey defend Grothman.

Welcome back Truth in Sentencing!!! Listen to the Taxpayer Money get Sucked Down the Drain.

For the last year many Republicans, like State AG J.B. Van Hollen, have been intentionally spreading a campaign of fear over our recently enacted inmate early release program, a program that would save taxpayer money and isn't much different from all the other states with a similar program. 

The fear campaign is back, and so is the money hole that will be sucking down our hard earn taxpayer money. Fiscal insanity is back:

WSJ: A program allowing some nonviolent offenders to petition for early release from prison, which some Republican critics had derided as "catch and release," would be ended under the budget Gov. Scott Walker introduced Tuesday. 

The program, implemented by former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, was designed to result in up to 3,000 inmates getting out early — mostly those with significant health problems and inmates close to completing their sentences.

Good-bye education, hello experimentation. That’s what we will leave our children.

I just had a conference with my 12 year olds health teacher, and she told me this about Wisconsin and its quality of education, and I'm paraphrasing: 

Parents she's talked to come to Wisconsin with the full knowledge they might be paying higher taxes, but that's okay, because they also know their kids will be going to a great schools. 

Now what? She mentioned that many experienced dedicated teachers are retiring due to the threat to their benefits. These are our best, pushed out and vilified by Gov. Walker.  


On the other hand, the wealthy just got a huge hand out by Gov. Walker, when he announce in his budget proposal that the state will lift the income cap on school choice in Milwaukee. Whew, those private schools were getting expensive. 

jsonline: The governor's 2011-'13 budget proposal also could lead to a massive expansion of Milwaukee's private school voucher program by phasing out the income requirements and eliminating enrollment caps on Milwaukee families as well as expanding eligibility to all private schools in Milwaukee County.

So far vouchers have not made any difference in educating our kids, and in many cases, came in behind public schools and were badly managed. So what would Walker do to make sure the expanded voucher program improves?  Get rid of testing!!!!

Walker also hopes to remove a requirement that students in the voucher schools take state tests, possibly scuttling new efforts to gauge whether the private school choice program has any meaningful impact on academic achievement.

Not only that, we’ll have an easier time recruiting just about anybody to teach in our classrooms.

USA Today: Allowing charter schools to be created anywhere in the state and ending a requirement that charter school teachers be licensed by the state. Instead, they would be required only to have bachelor's degrees.

Snow cancelations? Forget it. Missing days? Forget it.

Eliminating mandates requiring school districts to schedule at least 180 days of classes annually (and) employ reading specialists.

The reading specialists will help make up for the less qualified teaching staff. Got it covered. And finally...I'm breathless, this:

But Walker also introduced plans to eliminate grant programs for Advanced Placement courses, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, nurses, alternative and at-risk education, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

Well, we may leave our kids with no chance of succeeding as adults, but at least they won't have high taxes. And the publics top choice for reducing state deficits; tax increases. Oh well.  

We Can't Leave Our Kids Government Debt, but We Can Leave them Without an Education?

Walker's massive cuts to education a necessary "tough" decision?

Angry protester, spit in the face of a 10 year old girl standing up for unions.

Free speech, your right to protest, extends only so far for liberals. While shouting over town hall politicians is now a generally accepted right, peacefully protesting youngsters parading around the Capitol is pushing the limits of the Constitution too far.

CT: A woman was cited on Sunday for spitting on a 10-year-old girl holding a protest sign. Gozde Cakici, 29, Madison, was cited for disorderly conduct following the incident that was reported at 10:44 a.m. Sunday on State Street by family members of the 10-year-old girl, Madison police said. The woman also spat at a Dane County sheriff's deputy. 

"The 10-year-old was holding a sign and chanting, 'What's disgusting, union busting,'" said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "The suspect said nothing to the girl but spit at her, with the spittle ending up on the girl's scarf.""She spoke broken English and it wasn't clear why she was spitting, since she also voiced displeasure with Gov. Walker," DeSpain said.

We can only assume she wasn’t pleased with Walker for not going far enough, but who knows.

A police sergeant told the girl he was sorry for what had happened and that she had every right to exercise her First Amendment rights.

Another Republican, State Sen. Jane Cunningham, Supports Low Wages, child labor. Add her name to the long list.

The shocking number of conservatives advocating the elimination of the minimum wage and child labor laws is growing. The corporate mind set being pushed by Republicans simply demands we do everything we can to help businesses create jobs. We must give up everything for the privilege of employment. Which leads me to MO State Sen. Cunningham.  The one added wrinkle? Parents know best when it comes to making their kids work. Just like parents know what’s best when it comes to education, how that happens I don’t know, now we should let them put their kids to work at age 9 or 11. Heck, they just know.

St. Louis Beacon/Crooks and Liars: State Sen. Jane Cunningham says her quest to change Missouri's child labor laws is driven by her belief that the current restrictions are "implying that government can make a better decision than a parent." 

But Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, takes exception to critics who contend that her proposed changes, contained in SB 222, would put children younger than 16 in danger. Cunningham cites a series of provisions in her bill that bar children younger than 16 from working in certain professions or workplaces deemed dangerous, such as mines, quarries, stone-cutting or plants manufacturing explosives. 

As it stands, current Missouri law bars regular employment of children younger than 14 -- except in specific professions such as acting. Children age 14 and 15 must obtain signed permits from the school they attend. Cunningham said that she believes it's improper to saddle schools with the responsibility of deciding whether a child younger than 16 should be allowed to work. She also contends that many parents and their children already are violating the state's current labor laws, which she says are "so over the top'' and prevent parents from "teaching a work ethic to their children." 

But Cunninghan's bill already is generating heavy criticism, particularly from labor unions and allied groups. 

The critics point to the bill's official summary: "This act modifies the child labor laws. It eliminates the prohibition on employment of children under age 14. Restrictions on the number of hours and restrictions on when a child may work during the day are also removed. It also repeals the requirement that a child aged 14 or 15 obtain a work certificate or work permit in order to be employed. Children under 16 will also be allowed to work in any capacity in a motel, resort or hotel where sleeping accommodations are furnished. It also removes the authority of the director of the Division of Labor Standards to inspect employers who employ children and to require them to keep certain records for children they employ. It also repeals the presumption that the presence of a child in a workplace is evidence of employment." 

Cunningham's objections extend to the current law's requirement that children 14 or 15 work no more than three hours a day on school days, no more than eight hours on a non-school day, and that they cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. "The hour restrictions are so tight,'' she said. "There are many jobs where you can work after 9 p.m.,'' such as restaurants. 

She also objects to allowing the state's director of Labor Standards to walk into businesses to check on their employment of children.

The Story of Stuff presents Citizens United vs FEC, a history of Corporate Personhood.

From the web site, The Story of Stuff, watch this story of our corporate neighbor and "person," thanks to Citizens United.



Click here for more.

Tea Party Revisionist History...for Dummies.

Posted at the Motley Cow, this YouTube video of tea party ventriloquist dummies was soooo...cute, I had to add it to the discussion: Why Dummies Want to Forget the Tea Party Ancestry-

Republicans are lying about why they were elected: Tax Cuts and Union Busting was not issue. Americans want jobs.

The American people have spoken, in this recent New York Times/CBS News poll. Once again we’re finding out that what we’re being told by Republican ideologues like Rep. Paul Ryan, Gov. Walker and Christ is completely opposite of voter want, and that what they’re selling is not what the American public is buying:

A majority of Americans say they oppose efforts, nearly two to one, to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions-60 percent to 33 percent and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits-56 percent to 37 percent. 

The nationwide poll found that embattled public employee unions have the support of most Americans — and most independents. Labor unions are not exactly popular, though: 

A third of those surveyed viewed them favorably, a quarter viewed them unfavorably, and the rest said they were either undecided or had not heard enough about them. 

A slim majority of Republicans favored taking away some bargaining rights. The poll found that an overwhelming 71 percent of Democrats opposed weakening collective bargaining rights. But there was also strong opposition from independents: 

62 percent of them said they opposed taking bargaining rights away from public employee unions. 

A majority of respondents who have no union members living in their households opposed both cuts in pay or benefits and taking away the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

This poll also smashes the myth pushed by this new generation of conservative politicians; Republicans continue to pretend vocally that Americans will not accept another tax increase. That major outright lie allows Republicans to justify balancing budgets with draconian cuts to spending while slowly convincing Americans they’re getting paid way too much.

Tax increases were not as unpopular among those surveyed as they are among many governors, who have vowed to avoid them. Asked how they would choose to reduce their state’s deficits, those polled preferred tax increases over benefit cuts for state workers by nearly two to one. Given a list of options to reduce the deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes, 22 percent chose decreasing the benefits of public employees, 20 percent said they would cut financing for roads and 3 percent said they would cut financing for education.

As far as Obama and the Democrats taking orders from their union bosses:

The poll found that 37 percent of those surveyed believe that labor unions have “too much influence” on American life and politics, while 48 percent said they had the “right amount” or “too little” influence. 

Yes Scott Walker, the Clock IS ticking, Thom Hartmann on Walker and Capitol Blocks Public Access

Walker says clock is ticking on refinancing debt!! Yes, it is ticking, isn’t it Scott. 

Thom Hartmann (email newsletter): Governor Walker...but Wait! There's More...
ThinkProgress has pointed out some lesser-known provisions that Scott Walker and his Republican colleagues are trying to slip through the state legislature that should worry many Wisconsinites. Even if protestors successfully defend their rights to collectively bargain - they still have to deal with a GOP-led assault on the several health, environmental, and economic programs including a bill that will allow the state's uber-conservative Health and Human Services Secretary to override state Medicaid laws to make deep cuts into the critical health care program. 

There's also legislation that will exempt local governments from having to disinfect their waters - and a similar bill that exempts large tracts of wetlands from environmental oversight. It just so happens that many of those wetlands are owned by a rich Republican donor...talk about cronyism. 

The GOP wants Wisconsin voters to have to show an ID when they vote from now on - a move that could disenfranchise many elderly, urban, and low-income voters. 

And finally - there are two bills that drastically increase Governor Walker's powers, including giving him authority to write rules for the state's ethics watchdog agency - and allowing Walker to turn 37 state civil servants into political appointees thus politicizing critical social services. 

What we're seeing in Wisconsin is not the agenda of a Republican governor - it's the agenda of a radical autocrat. And if Walker is successful - Wisconsin is screwed.

Walker shuts down public access to Capitol.

WisPolitics: Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) sharply criticized Governor Walker’s decision to restrict the public’s access to the Capitol today. 

 The Department of Administration (DOA) issued a statement this morning that abruptly changed its stance on access to the Capitol, stating in part that, “No additional protestors will be allowed into the building until this situation is resolved.” 

 “Denying the public access to the People’s House and to their elected representatives is outrageous and shameful, not to mention likely illegal,” said Representative Mason. “It is cowardly to restrict Wisconsin’s residents from coming into their House, to the seat of our democracy, and it is not befitting of a state Capitol in a free and open society.”  “This is yet one more example of Governor Walker taking away the people’s freedom,” said Representative Mason. “First the Governor and legislative Republicans try to take away people’s voices at the workplace, then they shut down the public’s right to testify at a hearing on the budget repair bill, then they take away the right of the minority to dissent in the Assembly, and now they are taking away people’s First Amendment rights to peacefully protest theirgovernment’s actions in the State Capitol.”

Anonymous goes after Koch's Americans for Prosperity for undermining Wisconsin's Political Process.

Anonymous attacked the Koch brothers web site, Americans for Prosperity, shutting it down. AnonOps is the group within a the group. RT's Alyona Show has the story: