School Vouchers, Walker's Path to Creative Destruction....

Are you a big supporter of "giving parents the power" to choose a great school for their kids? Will they find a great school by reading it's marketing brochure that makes them the best thing since sliced bread?
Will taxpayer money finally be spent on innovation and great schools?

You must read this story first, then tell me how great the private sector educational system can be.

Think Progress: Last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) — buoyed by legislators who received hundreds of thousands of dollars of special interest cash — signed into law legislation that would dramatically expand access to school vouchers, which funnel taxpayer dollars into private schools. Scott is doing this despite proposing nearly $3 billion in cuts to public education. 

Gus Garcia-Roberts of the Miami New Times published a story looking at the case of InterAmerican Christian Academy, a private school located in Doral, Florida. Garcia-Roberts amazingly enrolled at the school and earned a diploma after only eight days of schoolwork and $399:

It began with a poster on a streetlight in downtown Miami: “High School Diploma. (305) 716-0909.” I dialed, and a chipper female voice answered, “Hello. High school.” Eight days and $399 in cash later, at the school’s Doral “campus” — a cramped third-floor office next door to US Lubricant LLC and across the hall from a hair extensions company — I was grinning widely, accepting a framed diploma and an official transcript sporting a 3.41 GPA.

The diplomas that the school is offering are actually getting students admitted to local colleges. The paper found that at “least 88 graduates have used its diplomas and bogus transcripts to gain admittance to Miami Dade College, according to that institution’s registrar.” Remarkably, the state’s Departmenf of Education (DOE), when asked about the school, said that it is powerless to stop it from rewarding diplomas. “If a school like that exists,” said Cherry Etters of the Florida Doe, “we might know about it, but we can’t really do anything.”

As Garcia-Roberts concludes, “There’s no telling how many of Florida’s 1,713 private schools — which educate a third of a million students — are run like InterAmerican. Even as Gov. Rick Scott leads a charge to privatize education on a historic scale, our state’s private schools are among the least regulated in the nation.” Indeed, Florida currently leads the country in “school choice” programs that include tax credits for private schools, voucher programs, and privately managed charter schools. The case of InterAmerican Christian Academy provides a cautionary tale about some of the pitfalls of the proliferation of lightly-regulated or unregulated private schools.

The Google Test for Small Government, courtesy of Tim Pawlenty.

This is one of those “what the?” moments even low information conservative voters will understand.

Tim Pawlenty, a serious candidate trying to attract attention with a serious economic policy speech proposed a “Google Test,” as he made the standard Republican pitch for spending cuts.

“If you can find a service or good available on Google or the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it.” 

I just love this proposal for it's shear simplicity.

The Dumbest Board in the Room: Justice Gableman’s Embarrassing Ignorance on display!!

It looks like the Republican legislature and Gov. Walker may have known all along how the state Supreme Court would rule on what appears to be a clear violation of the open meetings law. The courts conservative justices all came out gunning for Judge Sumi’s recent decision against the passage of the collective bargaining law.

Partisan conservative activist Justice Gableman couldn’t hide his already made up mind, with this amazingly dumb question.

“Where does it stop?” asked Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, “If the court prohibits the enhancement of an act … what about enjoining a senator from introducing legislation?” Gableman asked.

Really? A dumb question from someone who shouldn’t be asking dumb questions. The easy answer is; it stops at BREAKING THE LAW! Think about it, how would introducing legislation “break” the law. You'd have to try really hard to do that.

Justice Gableman was described in the article this way: “one justice expressed contempt for a lower court’s decision to intervene in the work of the Legislature.”

Contempt is a good word for Gableman's view of constitutional justice. Gableman is just a corporate yes man the industry wanted and paid for to sit on the Supreme Court bench, and they should be very happy. As for Republican voters, they are loving their activist conservative justices.

Walker's Republican Profiteers Feed Telecom's Loads of Taxpayer Money, Doom Current Efficient System.

The Republican Joint Finance Committee decided to get rid of $30 million in grants to expand high speed internet services. These are services corporate America doesn’t see profitable enough yet to build out too. And in the case of school districts, universities and libraries, they’ll have to pay market prices, which could be triple the current rates.  

Senator Kathleen Vinehout: “Budget writers slipped in an amendment restricting the state’s ability to accept or award funds or in anyway assist in the planning of the expansion of high speed internet to rural Wisconsin,” said Senator Vinehout.  … This bill makes government’s agreement with WiscNet, a non profit organization providing public internet, impossible. For twenty years school districts, local government, universities, libraries and non profit hospitals have relied on this arrangement for high quality low cost high speed internet access.

And the likely effect:

“Local officials will see costs triple if this bill becomes law,” Vinehout announced. “Residents in rural areas need the same access to high speed internet as our city cousins.”
 

If schools and rural areas need high speed internet access, they can wait for it, and pay higher prices for it when they are lucky enough be worth adding to some corporations bottom line. 

Corporate Money's Message to the Masses; You're as dumb as we think you look.

Heritage Action for America warns:

Me? Really, my taxes? Even if I'm not making anything close to $250,000 a year? 

Angry Town Hall Voters greet Rep. Sean Duffy over Medicare.

Did you ever get the idea that despite all the anger expressed by town hall attendees about Paul Ryan’s Medicare voucher, Republican lawmakers seem nonplussed by the protests, never once giving an inch to compromise?

To Rep. Sean Duffy, free market competition will supposedly lower the price of health care, something that hasn’t happened yet in our current free market system.

In fact, today I drove by a laser eye center, what Republicans often sight as an example of lower prices through competition, and couldn’t help but wonder how the future would look; Can you imagine stopping by your friendly neighborhood “Heart Center and Liquor?” How about Diabetes Express? Or casually strolling through The Malanoma Store?

Rep. Sean Duffy can I’ll bet. Fox 21:

Tensions rose as Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy held an open town hall meeting in Superior on Monday. With several outbursts, the debate over Medicare took the spotlight. 

 Duffy, along with other Republican Representatives, are under attack for their support of a plan essentially eliminating the Medicare system. “When you have competition in the marketplace, prices do come down. Let's have that same impact on the delivery of health care,” Duffy said.

Hey, let’s go to the Cancer Outlet?

Protestors outside Monday’s meeting say they just want Congressman Duffy to leave Medicare alone.

“It’s a horrible policy. The most positive aspect that keeps seniors, like myself, out of impoverishment is Medicare and Social Security,” Frank Boyle, a protester, said.

“I'm worried about this voucher plan that they're proposing, that they'll give us a voucher, it's short on substance,” David Olson, of Superior, said.

Using the same Republican argument, the slippery slope after new laws are enacted, what future cuts…I mean, adjustments, will have to be made?

These citizens, along with many others, feel this plan could cost them in more ways than one. “I'm afraid that they're gonna start cutting here and it's gonna continue, continue, continue,” David Olson said.

Senate Republican Leader Fitzgerald Loves Running Fake Democratic Candidates in Elections.

The biggest ass%*e in the state of Wisconsin Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, not surprisingly, likes the whole fake candidate thing. 

jsonline: Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald fully endorsed the idea Tuesday of fielding fake Democrats in recall elections against Republicans in an effort to delay the general elections. "It gives us another month to campaign," said the Republican from Juneau.

Devoid of any hint that it might be unethical, dirty pool or election fraud, Fitzgerald went further:

"I think the cynicism comes from the recalls," Fitzgearld said. "Recalling senators for taking a tough vote is just wrong." He also said holding the recall elections were costly for taxpayers.

But running fake candidates, Fitzgerald failed to mention, would add to the taxpayer costs as well. He also conveniently forgot it took quite a few signatures of unhappy constituents to hold a recall election. But what "the people" think is inconsequential. Republicans also wrongly insist they got the idea from a dirty trick instigated by the Democratic Party:

A fake Republican ran in an attempt to split the vote between him and Ziegelbauer, giving the Democrat a chance to take the seat. The move didn't work, and Ziegelbauer kept his seat.

Mark Jefferson, the state Republican Party executive director at the time, called that move a "nasty, cynical ploy."

But as luck would have it;

Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said his party had no role in recruiting the fake Republican candidate.

It's just wrong to run fake candidates. It's crazy we're even talking about this. And what's even more insane, is the fact that conservative voters would allow their politicians to prank the whole idea of our representative government with phonies.

Walker's same old song: "A handful of people here don't get to trump the voices of the millions of taxpayers of the state.."

I found this video of Scott Walker once again ignoring protesters at an appearance way back on April 1st.

Wausau Daily Herald: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday praised work done to clean toxic PCBs from the Fox River near Neenah. Meanwhile, union protesters showed up to criticize the state's new collective bargaining law.

I'm posting it because despite the sincerity of the protesters, and the trouble they went through to show up at the governors scheduled event, Walker issued his standard comeback. It's a retort that could have easily been used by Democrats to discount the tea party disruptions at town hall's across the nation. Had Democrats used it, there might not be a tea party movement today.

Walker: "I'm not ignoring them, but my point all along has been, a handful of people here don't get to trump the voices of the millions of taxpayers of the state...."

See how easy it was to minimize their voices? He also said that about the million plus protesters around the state and Capitol, which might be a little on the disingenuous, dishonest side. Ya think?  

What part of "well-regulated militia" don't Republicans understand with "Constitutional carry?"?

Out of the Wausau Daily Harold this great commentary concerning Sen. Pam "guns" Galloway's ideologically driven constitutional carry legislation. 

The Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes legislation that would permit the concealed carrying of firearms. "Concealed carry" doesn't deter crime. It sure didn't work for Rep. Giffords. Under Arizona law, her assailant was legally packing. And he wasn't brought down by gunfire from a "well-regulated militia" of armed citizens. No, he was stopped by a 61-year-old woman and two men, using their bare hands … emergency care at the scene was delayed because police didn't know who was carrying, and which of those might be part of the assassination attempt. 

Why is the "well-regulated militia" part of the Second Amendment never discussed? Probably because regulating would require setting standards, doing background checks, issuing permits and documenting ownership -- all the things we do now. All the things that are central to what "well-regulated" means. We regulate those who can impact our health and well-being: drivers, nurses, doctors, police, day-care workers. Even barbers and hairdressers. Why shouldn't a gun owner be as "well-regulated" as any of these?

And how many wouId-be pistoleros do you think will ever actually use their concealed handguns? How many will just be fantasizing about being heroes, shooting it out with the bad guys? And how many might someday feel challenged to prove themselves by drawing their weapons -- downtown, at Marathon Park, or on a bus? Without any training or experience? How safe does that make you feel? Adults. Playing with guns. Isn't that what we teach our kids not to do? Think about it.

Jeffrey H. Lamont, M.D., is president of the Wisconsin Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics. He lives in Wausau.

Republican Party CUTTING JOBS!!! Hello...anyone connecting the jobless number dots to their policy?

What happened to the Republicans plan to create jobs if elected to office? Apparently, that’s the plan, only after they “send a message” to Wall Street that tax cuts and deregulation are on the way.

The new crop of Republican governors and legislatures has promised to do just the opposite of job creation, in broad daylight, without a news media mention. Slash jobs, jobs, jobs, the government kind.

Daily Reporter: In a healthy economic recovery, states and localities start hiring … Then there’s the 2011 recovery … State and local governments … short of cash cut 30,000 jobs in May, the seventh consecutive month they’ve shed workers. Rather than add to U.S. economic growth, they’re subtracting from it.

This will not get any coverage. Instead, Republicans will blame Obama for everything.

And ordinary Americans are feeling it — from reduced services to fewer teachers, police officers and firefighters.

In the two years after the 1990-91 recession ended, for example, they’d added 430,000 jobs. At the same point after the 2001 recession ended, they had added 249,000. This time is different. More than 467,000 state and local government jobs have vanished since the recession officially ended in June 2009, including 188,000 in schools. Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, expects state and local governments to slash 20,000 to 30,000 jobs a month through the middle of 2012 … when states cut spending to balance their budgets, as required annually, a ripple effect multiplies the damage: Companies that do business with states and localities suffer. These companies, in turn, scale back their own hiring.

Opponents of Government won’t change their minds no matter what the reality, but this analysis from corporate America should not be dimissed:

Moody’s Analytics estimates that each job in state and local government supports an additional 1.3 jobs elsewhere in the economy.

States such as Wisconsin, New Jersey and Ohio have first-term governors who “are trying to make their names by cutting spending,” Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors  said. “It wasn’t the ‘in thing’ before to become a governor and immediately slash and burn. Now, you’ve got economic and political realities that are different from any time before.”

How Desperate, How Ballsy, How Politically Suicidal are Republicans? If the Public Allows this Rigging of the Electoral Process, the American System of Government is Dead!!

There really is no excuse for gaming the recall-election process. The real reason why the GOP will openly say anything now; they didn't like the challenge to their authority, or the the people who signed the petitions. This is what they were put in office to do, and the unpatriotic dissenters need to be disciplined. 

No moral code, no ethics. Winning is still vacuously everything. What’s left to say about the new GOP America?

Dan Bice-jsonline: The head of the state Republican Party today acknowledged that it is encouraging fake Democrats to run in recall elections this summer. Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state party, issued a statement justifying the practice because Republican senators have been too busy in Madison to prepare for the recall elections.

"The Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved," Thompson said in his statement. 

 Let’s talk “projection!

Everything the GOP accuses the Democrats of doing are things they would do themselves. Republicans are everything they say we are. The thing is, we’re not like them. Nothing like them.

Here’s the perfect, and recent example, to prove my case beyond the shadow of a doubt:

Interestingly, it wasn't so long ago when top Republicans were offended by this tactic. Last year, Thompson's predecessor, Mark Jefferson, complained that Democrats and the unions ran a fake Republican in the re-election contest for state Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer, an Independent from Manitowoc.

See? Here's the coverage of this bizarre manipulation of our elections from WKOW and WBAY. I've edited them together as an example of one of the most surreal admissions by a political party in a long time:

 

Extremist Conservative Think Tank "Wisconsin Club for Growth" no longer in back room, gets politically involved to discredit Judge Sumi.

One thing you can’t do under a dictatorial one party system; resist.

From the party that sees judicial activism in any decision they don’t like, these moneyed conservative think tanks and special interests have the power to discourage dissent with threats of investigations and smear campaigns. If they don’t win in court (the conservative activist supreme court in this case that will almost surely decide in favor of the Walker administration), they will have at least won the character assassination game. So let the games begin?

The Wisconsin Club for Growth has asked the Wisconsin Judicial Commission to investigate possible misconduct on the part of Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi.  Sumi is at the center of a controversial ruling blocking publication of new law to reform the collective bargaining privileges of government employees in Wisconsin. The complaint says Sumi acted inappropriately and demonstrated bias against the State when she filed a brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court last month. 

Biased? Like when the Republican Party of Dane County gave these “comical” reasons for recusal:

The Republican Party of Dane County recognizes that Judge Sumi is a leftist living in Dane County. Her friends are leftists living in Dane County. Her son is a left wing activist in Dane County. She goes to cocktail parties held by leftists in Dane County. She shops at organic gourmet food shops run by leftists living in Dane County. If she were to enforce the law of Wisconsin and do what was in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin, she’d be exiled from her lifestyle. She’d lose her friends! 

Biased? Like this attempted smear campaign that failed:

Scott Fitzgerald: "She probably should have been conflicted out of ever ruling on this in the first place." Why? Because her adult son was once employed by a union and is liberal, more than reason enough to assume he might even have close ties to terrorists. Amazing stuff, except former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson appointed conservative Judge Maryann Sumi, the"activist" jurist.

No, instead, they hope the legal mumbo jumbo will appeal to and add cover to Justice Prosser and his fellow corporate justices.

As a sitting judge, Judge Sumi is bound by SCR 60.04(4), which provides: A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. The Wisconsin Department of Justice asked Judge Sumi to recuse herself from the case on May 25, 2011 but Sumi refused and instead issued a ruling against the State the following day. 

Prevailing Wage angers Builders Association looking for cheap, slave labor. Cuts CEO take from the deep pockets of the Wisconsin taxpayer. Pesky Workers!

An odd thing happened; the Joint Finance Committee let stand the prevailing wage law! Builders, eyeing bigger salaries for themselves while getting the work done by low wage grunts, are not at all happy with the open for business Republican whores.

PDF: Contractor Group Criticizes Joint Finance Action on Prevailing Wage: The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee adopted a prevailing wage provision on Friday that “constitutes a terrible deal for taxpayers, many Wisconsin municipalities and small contractors,” said John Mielke, Vice President of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Wisconsin.

In the last biennial budget Governor Doyle and the Democrat-controlled legislature significantly expanded the number and types of public works projects subject to prevailing wage. ““Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin believe the prevailing wage laws are outdated and should be repealed. I thought this session was about getting people back to work and providing tools for local government to deal with tight budgets; apparently not in this case and it’s simply a bad deal.

Ah yes, back to work for almost nothing. Pesky wages!!

Constitutional Carry Author Sen. Galloway co-authors Right to Buy Booze at 6 a.m..

This amazing act of irresponsibility by first termer Sen. Pam “gallows” Galloway should call into question her fitness a lawmaker and, unbelievably, a doctor. What in god’s name were voters thinking?

And I suppose this is what voters wanted when they put Republicans in charge of Wisconsin?

Stevens Point Journal: A proposal that would allow retailers to start selling booze at 6 a.m. has officials at odds over whether doing so would compound the state's drinking problem.

Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, said she signed on as a co-author of a bill that would allow retailers to sell alcohol two hours earlier than they can now, after hearing from several local grocers who support the measure. The Wisconsin Grocers Association also backs the bill … she doesn't think the two-hour difference will lead to an increase in alcohol abuse.

But Everest Metro Police Chief Wally Sparks said changing the time is a bad idea because a correlation exists between availability and incidents involving alcohol.

(Galloway said) the bill would allow those who grocery shop early, such as third-shift workers and perhaps tourists shopping for trips … "I think it will be helpful. I think the health issues brought forward (in Thursday's public hearing) were overstated," she said. "I think it will benefit people and businesses in our district."

The trailer "trashification" of Wisconsin has arrived. 

Walkerville Thugs Terrorize Citizen Protesters.

While the right wings continues to portray the recent peaceful demonstrations in Madison as "chaos at the Capitol," "union thuggery," and bused in "out of state" agitators, their fictional account is really nothing more than a projection of their own inclinations.

I'll let WTDY's Kurt Baron and his listeners tell their story:

Republicans Planning Spoiler Primary Democratic Candidates. Not a lot of confidence when it comes to voter support for their agenda?

How confident is the Republican Party when it comes to voter support for their austerity agenda in Wisconsin? They’re so sure they've done the right thing that state GOP leaders are going to run faux Democrats to trigger primaries, gain more campaign time and make the Democratic candidate to go broke. Check out the GOP letter below:

Is it a new kind of election fraud? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice:

In letters obtained by No Quarter, local Republican Party officials are encouraging their GOP colleagues to collect enough signatures to get a fake Democratic candidate on the ballot in each of two upcoming recall elections. The spoiler Democrats, who are identified by name in the letters, would run in the Democratic primaries for the seats now held by Republican Sens. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Luther Olsen of Ripon.

Both of the fake Democrats have a history of giving almost exclusively to major Republicans.

This isn’t exactly a stealth campaign either:

(Dan Feyen, chairman of the 6th Congressional District Republican Party) said, "A Democratic primary, will push the general election back by one month, so that Senator Hopper can have more time to organize a campaign against his liberal challenger."

That's verbatim … By running these fake Democrats, Republicans would force the Democratic challengers to spend money on a primary that could have been used in the general election. Plus, the spoiler candidates could launch negative attacks on the Democrats while the Republican incumbents remain above the fray.

Feyen confirmed that he sent his letter trying to get a "protest candidate" on the ballot in the Hopper race. What's more, he said there's a good explanation for why his letter and the one written by local Republican officials in Olsen's district were virtually the same. "It's something being coordinated by the RPW," he said, referring to the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Feyen said he had no problem running a Republican in the Democratic primary to help the incumbent. "None whatsoever," he said.  

Check out the whole story here.

Palin's Paul Revere tale one for the history books, if her followers can rewrite it fast enough.

I caught wind of this unbelievable "controversy" from Twitter, and couldn't help but put this crazy crap on the blog. I don't like giving her publicity, but who would believe this happened if you don't post it? Stuff like this is a fitting substitute while the Onion News Network, on IFC, is on vacation.  

It's insane.....

Littlegreenfootballs: Man, you’ve gotta almost admire the sheer blind dedication of Sarah Palin’s wingnut acolytes.

Now they’re trying like crazy to edit the Wikipedia page for “Paul Revere” to make it match Palin’s botched version of history.  Also see the discussion page for an entertaining exchange between Wikipedia editors and a would-be revisionist. Here comes that ol’ lamestream media again with those “shout-out gotcha questions” — like, “Hey Sarah, remember Paul Revere?”

“Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you’re not gonna succeed. You’re not gonna take American arms. You are not gonna beat our own well-armed, uh, persons, uh, individual, private militia that we have. He did warn the British! And, in a shout-out, gotcha type o’ question that was asked of me, I answered candidly, and I know my American history!”

Here's a surprised Chris Wallace giving Palin a chance to a correction, which of course, she defiantly doesn't do:

  

Congressional benefits Outragous!!! Let’s bring the world of Public Workers down to the same level as Private Workers!

So you’re going to knock the pampered, feeding at the trough, government worker down from their elitist taxpayer draining high horse huh? Well I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before you ask your elected officials to feel our pain too, right?

No? Think again tea party know it all:

(Insider Report email from Newsmax.com) Congress Retirement Benefits: 5 Times the Private Sector-A member of Congress receives retirement contributions of about 33 percent of pay each year — five times as much as a private sector worker in a large company.


Writing for the Journal of the American Enterprise Institute, Andrew Biggs calculates that a retired member of Congress receives a pension equivalent to 22.4 percent of wages. Altogether members of Congress receive around 33.4 percent of pay in retirement benefits.

Private sector workers at firms with at least 1,000 employees receive total retirement compensation of around 6.4 percent of pay, Biggs says, so “annual retirement contributions for a member of Congress exceed those for private sector employees by a factor of five.”

If you’re into raising the retirement age for Americans, which is essentially a reduction in benefits, get a load of this:

Members of Congress can receive retirement benefits as early as age 50, depending on their length of service. They currently get a salary of $174,000 a year, plus offices and staff, and congressional leaders receive more compensation.

Biggs states: “We shouldn’t come away from this with a conclusion other than that congressional retirement benefits — like federal employee benefits in general — are far more generous than those a typical private sector worker receives.”

I’m ready to protest spreading the pain of the private sector, are you?

Walker removes an artistic reminder of how governors can "support the hopes and dreams of children" touched by tragedy.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice did a nice piece on Scott Walker's celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The summary below is a revealing look at Walker's thought process and sociopathic tendencies that no one in the media wants to discuss.  Is it really just artwork?

Artist David Lenz has seen his work displayed prominently in the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery … But Lenz couldn't make the cut with Gov. Scott Walker and the Executive Residence. Earlier this year, the governor and first lady Tonette Walker took down Lenz's painting "Wishes in the Wind," a realistic portrait of three children - one black, one Hispanic and one white - playing with bubble wands on a Milwaukee street … The painting was completed and placed prominently above the fireplace mantel in the drawing room in November … The governor and first lady have replaced it with a century-old painting of Old Abe, a Civil War-era bald eagle from Wisconsin.

Lenz described himself as "deeply disappointed" by the decision to take down his artwork. "This seems symbolic," said Lenz, referring to Walker's proposed cuts in state funding for Milwaukee schools and city and county services ... "You would think we could all agree on the need to support the hopes and dreams of children."

A spokesman for the governor dismissed the criticism. "Not true," said Walker's press secretary Cullen Werwie … explanation for changing the mansion's interior design. To honor the 150th anniversary of the Civil War … the Walkers have decided to place artifacts and paintings from that era throughout the first floor.

… Lenz said he carefully selected the three children portrayed in "Wishes in the Wind." The African-American girl, featured in a Journal Sentinel column on homelessness, spent three months at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission with her mother. The Hispanic girl is a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. And the boy's father and brother were killed by a drunken driver in 2009. "The homeless, central city children and victims of drunk drivers normally do not have a voice in politics," Lenz explained in an email. "This painting was an opportunity for future governors to look these three children in the eye, and I hope, contemplate how their public policies might affect them and other children like them." He added: "I guess that was a conversation Governor Walker did not want to have."

Historian John Gurda said … "This is indicative of that tone-deafness," Gurda said. Long a supporter of Lenz's work, the owner of Pieper Electric Inc. (Richard) Pieper said he and his wife were also disappointed by the first family's decision … he saw nothing symbolic in Walker's decision to remove the painting, saying the suggestion was "fecal matter."

Ald. Nik Kovac said … "Once the governor decided he didn't want it, he did everything right," Kovac said of the loan to the Milwaukee library. "But the fact that he didn't want it says a lot."

Walker administration planning to run up Capitol security bill, again, to fire up base outraged that freedom and liberty costs money.

The odd argument from the right wing in Wisconsin goes something like this; Republicans won, the people spoke, we have a free pass to do anything we want, resistance is futile and…protesting is un-American.

Governor Scott Walker, the Fitzgerald clan, and DOA lackey Mike Huebsch, have decided to make the cost of protesting peacefully so high, that penny pinching conservative taxpayers will decide that their fellow voters should shut the f*** up. It says that somewhere in the constitution, I’m sure of it.

Keep in mind the family protests around the Capitol, with sheriffs, police and fire fighters supporting their teachers and labor rights, were peaceful. The following over reaction is stunning:

Jsonline: Capitol police are working with state and local agencies to plan for the possibility that large crowds will again descend on the Capitol as the Legislature considers Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill. Jodi Jensen, executive assistant to Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch, said that "law enforcement agencies are aware of the possibility that the Capitol police will request assistance" if large groups of protesters show up in Madison.  Huebsch instituted the Emergency Police Services system. That system authorizes the state Division of Emergency Management to contact local law enforcement agencies to provide assistance. More than 200 law enforcement agencies provided officers for security at the Capitol.

The bill to pay law enforcement officials from all over the state cost taxpayers at least $7.8 million.

In typical “upside down, down the rabbit hole logic,” Republicans are unapologetically having it both ways; warning of another episode of “chaos at the Capitol” and poking the Democrats by suggesting interest is waning.

Republican lawmakers are skeptical of turnout.

"I think a lot of the enthusiasm has waned," Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said. "But there will always be a lot of people in Dane County who think the rest of the state is the cow and they are the farmer."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tells the tale...the Walker winter protest!

Here's a sample of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's summary of the voter blow back to the heavy handed radical Republican agenda being forced down our throats in just 6 months. Don't be mislead the article portrayal of Sen. Mike Ellis, who still voted for the Walker plan:

It was winter in Madison, and Gov. Scott Walker was poised to reorder the state's fiscal and political landscape, perhaps for a generation. Tucked in the legislation was language to curtail collective bargaining for most public employees.

In the two weeks before Walker unveiled it, two veteran lawmakers - one a Republican and the other a Democrat - tried to dissuade Walker from a frontal assault on the unions. In early February, Walker met with Senate President Mike Ellis, an independent and cantankerous Republican, fiscal hawk ... Ellis wasn't shy. He implored Walker to drop the collective-bargaining piece of the bill before it went public and undermined Walker's early legislative successes. "My God, this is going to cause a firestorm," Ellis told Walker.

On the morning of Feb. 11, the day the budget-repair bill was released, Walker briefed his Democratic rivals ... Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca old Walker that he had not mentioned a word of such a radical move during the governor's campaign. Walker bristled and sought to reassure Barca that every contingency was planned for, telling the lawmaker he had been consulting with the National Guard for a couple of months. "You're making a huge mistake, and this is going to be met with massive resistance," Barca said. The prediction came true.

Within days, Madison became the epicenter of protest, with demonstrators flooding the Capitol and filling the Square, thrusting a statewide story onto the national stage.

Mike Ellis has been around Madison and political power for a long time. But he had never before encountered anything like the plan Walker and his team were writing up. Ellis caught wind of what was happening when he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), who already had been talking with the administration. "Fitzgerald came in to tell me and said, 'You better sit down, you're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you,'" Ellis said.

"'He's going to do away with all unions,'" Ellis quoted Fitzgerald saying.

Republicans were stunned at the reach and secrecy of Walker's plan, Ellis said, and behind-the-scenes objections erupted as soon as Walker introduced it to his party's legislative leaders as well as caucuses. 

"If you can't identify fiscal savings from a collective-bargaining item, why not leave it alone?" Ellis told Walker. Ellis told Walker his plan would lead to the demise of private-sector unions as well. "'No, no, that won't happen,'" Ellis said Walker responded.

Open Government? Forget it. Walker and Republican Legislators lied when they campaigned on transparency and accountability.

Conservatives are so self-important they actually think they deserve to work under a different set of rules than the ones they demanded of the Democrats, especially when it comes to open government. 

Do you really think state conservative radio talk hosts are going to complain about their elected officials deep sixing open government? Not a chance.

Do you think those same talk hosts will belly laugh over the reason why Rep. Robin Vos gave for covering up conflicts of interests by our top elected officials? Of course not, because they’re as paranoid and “picked on” as most closeted conservatives.

The fact that this little known measure was slipped into the budget bill without a breath of discussion should infuriate Republican voters everywhere as well. Will they be allowed to get away with this?

Residents who want to know if top state officials have conflicts of interest could only view disclosure forms by visiting the Government Accountability Board office in Downtown Madison, under a measure passed by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee.

Open-government groups cried foul, saying the measure, tucked into the massive state budget, would severely restrict public access to the statements of economic interests filed by about 2,400 state officials each year.

Playing on the paranoia and fear most conservatives live with daily, the ones too afraid admit their political leanings in public, Rep. Robin Vos actually thinks were really this dumb:

WSJ: Rep. Robin Vos, who owns businesses including a popcorn distribution company, defended the measure through his aide, Kit Beyer … said the measure is meant to discourage those who merely want to snoop on officials' private lives or steal their business clients while continuing to make the statements available to "people who want to have it for a true reason rather than people just fishing around."

Those damn peeping tom liberal reporters stealing away "their business clients." This is nothing new. It's just more of the rights paranoid ranting’s advancing the indefensible practice of cronyism and back room deals.  These are the actions of a purely elitist Republican majority, determined to avoid accountability, until the next time their bounced out of office for fouling up the joint. 

Corpublican Party!

I know, I hate it when someone "cleverly" reforms a party name too, but I couldn’t help it this time.

After reading the following article from NY Times’ Charles Blow, I felt inspired and angry. The media has allowed the GOP to get away with telling Americans a complete lie about taxes.

4 on the Bullshit Scale

Republicans have decided to play chicken with the nation’s credit — insisting on spending cuts while steadfastly resisting tax increases.

This is part of the modern doctrine of a compassion-free conservatism that’s using the fog of the fiscal crisis to push a program of perverse wealth inequality as sound economic policy: The only way to jump-start the economy is to slash taxes on the wealthy and on companies; the only way to compensate for the deficits that those tax cuts exacerbate is to slash benefits to the poor and vulnerable. It would be comical if it weren’t so callous.

Not only is this faulty logic, it’s a false choice. We’ll need sensible tax increases and sensible spending cuts to address the deficit, and both can be offset to some degree by stronger economic growth. It’s not an either-or proposition.

The full stealing from the plates of the starving simply isn’t an American ideal.

This might be in the weeds info, but Blow provides proof:

Quarterly earnings at luxury retailers like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Movado and Tiffany all beat expectations, signaling that the rich can still splurge … the tax burden of American companies is lower than that of other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, as economist Bruce Bartlett pointed out this week. Also, a report issued on Wednesday by Citizens for Tax Justice looked at 12 Fortune 500 companies from 2008-10 and found that on $171 billion in profits earned, their effective tax rate was negative-1.5 percent because of corporate loopholes, shelters and special tax breaks … And, as Time magazine reported in its June 6 issue, “In the 18 months since the Great Recession, which ended in June 2009, U.S. annualized corporate profits rose 42 percent, to a record $1.68 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2010.” Corporations aren’t hurting. They’re hoarding.

Federal taxes are at their lowest level in more than 60 years. The last year in which revenues were lower was 1950, according to the OMB. Yet if one listens to Republicans, one would think that taxes have never been higher … One would not know from the Republicans … that corporate taxes are expected to raise just 1.3 percent of G.D.P. in revenue this year, about a third of what it was in the 1950s. The G.O.P. says global competitiveness requires the United States to reduce its corporate tax rate. But the United States actually has the lowest corporate tax burden of any of the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The average federal income tax rate on the 400 richest people in America was 18.11 percent in 2008, according to the IRS, down from 26.38 percent when these data were first calculated in 1992. Among the top 400, 7.5 percent had an average tax rate of less than 10 percent, 25 percent paid between 10 and 15 percent, and 28 percent paid between 15 and 20 percent. 

Should We End Politifact “as we know it?” We could call it Factcheck.org!

Politifact came out of nowhere to usurp Factcheck .org as the go to arbiter of the truth. But why?

“How’d they come to that conclusion?” or “are they crazy?” is my usual response.

Take their latest blunder:

TPM: If Democrats proposed to turn Medicare into a system that only provided free veterinary services to seniors, would Republicans be lying to say Dems wanted to "end Medicare," without including the caveat "as we know it"?

Of course not. But that's more or less the charge PolitiFact is leveling at Democrats over a new DCCC ad (below) which flatly charges Republicans with proposing to "end Medicare."

PolitiFact calls the caveat "as we know it" -- as in "end Medicare as we know it" -- an important qualifier. And they conclude that because the DCCC eschewed this qualifier, and because the House vote on a non-binding budget resolution doesn't have the force of law, Democrats have told a "Pants on Fire" lie by stating "Republicans voted to end Medicare."

Bottom line; It's all in our minds. The GOP didn't say one way or another what they want to do with Medicare. It was all non-binding.

Politifact removes from its formulation history and political platforms, choosing instead to parse the “facts” using every semantically devised trick used by the fear mongering right wing spinmeisters.

Ironically, their research makes their conclusions seem strangely removed from reality, leaving the reader more confused than satisfied.

My own reaction to a favorable rating is more like, “wow, we got lucky with this challenge.”

That’s not a confidence builder.

Politifact treats focus group tested cheap semantics and parlor tricks like a slam dunk Perry Mason argument. 

Even Factcheck.org makes the same clueless argument about Medicare not changing: "...continue the present system indefinitely for those now age 55 and older, and subsidize the purchase of private insurance for those who go on Medicare after 2022."

Again, the present retirees getting Medicare are not part of the argument, future retirees are. If it wasn't a devastating change, and an end to the current Medicare program, than how could it possibly save the government massive amounts of money? The cost difference doesn't magically go away...or does it?

Walkerville U.S.A

A city committee on Friday green-lighted a request to use Downtown streets for a "Walkerville" protest village starting Saturday night, setting the stage for a continuous presence by opponents of Gov. Scott Walker's budget who will spend their nights camped in up to 30 tents along the roads. County supervisor Annalise Eicher, said "It's a great opportunity for the city of Madison to help with the idea of open government," noting that Capitol access has been drastically restricted since the mass protests in February and March … sleeping tents be broken down and removed from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Friday and from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. The earlier time on Saturday is to clear the way for farmer's market vendors. First-aid, food and information tents will be allowed to stay up during daylight hours … The proposed camp area is North Carroll Street from State Street to West Washington Avenue, and West Mifflin Street from State Street to Wisconsin Avenue … organizers opted to go through the permit process, rather than simply stage a protest, so they could work with the city and not have a negative impact on businesses. 

Here's the WISC TV 3000 report:

Oh No! FCC and Liberal Group push preserving the internet as a vibrant forum for speech, commerce innovation and cultural expression." God forbid!

It sounds evil:

Documents made public yesterday by Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit group, describe extensive collusion by Federal Communications Commission officials with a left-wing advocacy group (Free Press) in a campaign to expand government regulation of the Internet.

(Werewolf howl) Scary!! Free Press is something to dread because they’re advocating for a…free press.

The … FCC and the advocacy group supported a proposal to regulate access to the Internet as if it were a public utility, in the interest of ensuring "Net Neutrality" … would assure equal access for all Internet users by barring companies from offering preferred rates for higher delivery speeds.

(Scream!) Scary and outrageous. Republicans fear Democrats might do to the internet something they’ve thought about, dominate this powerful media. But the articles writer and interviewees have a hard time hiding their extreme conservative ways. They’re actually appalled by the idea that the internet stay the way it is, and not turned into a money making business that would eventually price average people out:

WashingtonExaminer: Emails between former Free Press president John Silver and Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps from October 2010, coordinating "how we'd like to proceed during these next three months on NN [net neutrality]."

Documents summarizing a phone call (where) Silver "emphasized that a strong net neutrality rule is critical to preserving the Internet as a vibrant forum for speech, commerce, innovation and cultural expression."

Now it’s time for a little character assignation if the previous socialist “free speech protecting net” didn’t scare you off:

Free Press was co-founded by Monthly Review editor Robert McChesney and the Nation’s John Nichols. The Monthly Review is "an independent Marxist journal," while the Nation has long described itself as "the flagship of the left." Free Press is partially funded by George Soros' Open Society Institute.

Scary!! They want to destroy the country, obviously. But what conspiracy exists below the surface of these liberals Marxists:

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said the documents suggest "nothing less than the Obama administration's attempt to stage a government takeover of the Internet under the guise of Net Neutrality. So it should come as no surprise that Free Press, the hard-left organization with socialist ties, is improperly driving the so-called Net Neutrality agenda from inside the Obama administration. The American people should be deeply troubled by the fact that the Obama administration, on issue after issue, seems to be run by shadowy leftist organizations."

The appropriately named columnist Conn Carroll, a senior editorial writer for The Washington Examiner, may have a conspiratorial scoop on his paranoid hands.

Coal Industry Teaching…our teachers! Classes Brainwash kids into polluting.

Privatizing schools is a bad idea, no matter what promises the Republicans make about its magical abilities to improve education. Corporate influence is also welcome in the conservative free market world they envision. It save the government money, and it’s free of socialism, regulation and the consumer forces that challenge business.

Check out what happens when industry has a say over what kids are learning in school, and then ask yourself, who’s doing the indoctrination.

Washington Post: In the mountains of southwestern Virginia, Gequetta Bright Laney taught public high school students this spring “Where there’s coal, there’s opportunity,” Bright Laney told her class at Coeburn High School in Wise County. Her lessons, like others in dozens of public schools across the country, were approved and funded by the coal industry. These outreach efforts have drawn scrutiny after news in May that Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, distributed fourth-grade curriculum materials funded by the American Coal Foundation.

The school system and the coal industry have honored Bright Laney’s work. She was named CEDAR’s state teacher of the year in 2006 and 2009, winning a $1,000 award each time. Last year, the Interstate Mining Compact Commission named her its national teacher of the year, showering her with free educational products.  In one lesson, she asked students to “mine” chocolate chips out of cookies, awarding credit to those with the most chips.


In another, the class played a game of Monopoly adapted to the topic, with properties renamed after mining camps. Even though the grant was funded by the industry, she said, no bias entered into her teaching. 

This is my favorite overreach:

CEDAR also offers a video to teachers called “The Greening of Planet Earth,” which says that “our world is deficient in carbon dioxide, and a doubling of atmospheric CO2 is very beneficial.”

Conservative Ayn Rander Ron Johnson's propaganda, Brainwashes Students

Offering a diverse group of speakers to speak to high school students doesn’t mean you invite hyperbolic fear mongering conservative demagogues who’s economic leanings are based more on ideology than reality. 

We should at least have a standard set in place where professionals, politicians, have a proven track record of success. What can you say about a politician who continues to refer to health care reform as a “government takeover,” a complete fabrication voted the biggest lie of 2010. Johnson has done nothing the last 6 months except echo the tea party message of draconian cuts and trickle down “voodoo economics.”  Janesville educators should be wondering why anyone would have included a politician with absolutely no experience or track record. What can students learn from partisan mumbo jumbo?

Ron Johnson doesn’t want to be placed on a pedestal. That’s what the first-time Wisconsin U.S. senator, a Republican from Oshkosh, told students in Advanced Placement Politics and Government classes at Beloit Memorial High School today.

The 80-plus students from educators James Hoey and Lyman Elliott’s four classes listened attentively … (Ron Johnson said) “Our national debt today stands at $14.3 trillion. That is immoral and it is going to greatly affect you, your children and my grandchildren." The numbers and comments drew rumblings from the crowd.

Johnson then went on to fabricate the idea Obama “demonized” doctors, touted a free market that took down the global economy and now wants to go back to a private insurance industry that has priced 52 million people out of the health care. I’ve been covering this guy since his campaign, and disputed every point in an Upfront with Mike Gousha appearance.  I’ve included it below:

The launching point for his decision to run for office came after President Obama “demonized” the quality of today’s medical doctors and healthcare as part of his push for national healthcare, he said. A speech at a tea party event jumpstarted his final push for public office, he told the students.

“The power of the free market system is an incredible thing,” he said. “Take advantage of it, appreciate it and vote. Get involved, make sure you are informed before you vote.”

It would help to be an informed senator too.

The 2010 Republican Takeover was based on Upholding the Constitution and Freedom. Now we're Surprised at their Agenda.

Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post wrote what we all might be thinking now:

Republican governors who took office this year or last — the ones as determined as Ryan to do a wholesale rewrite of America’s social contract — have approval ratings that we normally associate with strains of bacteria. What’s more, they’re tanking in many of the swing states that will be key in next year’s presidential election.

But the Republican governors — like Ryan and his fellow Republicans in Congress — have pursued a more radical course that sharply disadvantages most Americans. Even worse, they have sought to enact their agendas without warning their constituents. Republicans did not run last year on a platform of ending collective bargaining, slashing school budgets and gutting Medicare — in essence, favoring society’s most powerful at the expense of everyone else — yet that’s precisely what they’ve done since gaining power. That’s not merely bad policy; it’s bad faith — and bad news for Republicans’ electoral prospects.