From the you’ve got to be kidding department of the WI Economic Development Corp.: Eveyone gets a taxpayer paid iPad

The Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice tells this bitingly tale of hutzpah and opulence.

Gov. Scott Walker's message has been clear. "Wisconsin is broke, and it's time to start paying our bills today so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorrow," Walker said earlier this year.

But….

The newly created Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has dropped a little more than $43,000 to buy 73iPads for everyone on the staff … formerly the state Department of Commerce … Toss in the activation fees and the monthly cost for 3G service for 35 of the iPads, and the cost rises to just about $60,000 for the year.

Tom Thieding, spokesman for the new agency, said "The old Department of Commerce - it was just lumbering along." Though the Economic Development Corp. is a private-public hybrid, Thieding confirmed that iPads were purchased with state dollars.

Walker "holding up his confrontation with labor" at strategy conference. The Real Walker Revealed.

My other title was a little long: "Authoritarian Walker Brags about standing up to Unions, Bully tactics; after all, it’s easy when you have the majority."

He was the big man in town.

AP: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is holding up his confrontation with labor unions over collective bargaining as the bold-strokes thinking Republicans shouldn't be afraid to pursue before and after the coming election.

Scott “little big man” Walker. He’s riding the ego trip, taunting the electorate back in his home state.

Walker spoke Friday to at least 1,000 Republicans from 12 Midwestern states gathered in Minnesota … He says despite last winter's acrimony in Madison, Republicans have withstood a larger push by Democrats and labor unions to punish them for law changes he's engineered.

Well, he did lose two state senators in Republican districts. But never mind. Real political "leaders" do things their actual bosses, the American people, don’t want them to do. Leaders know that tough love, and doing what’s best for us, is their thankless job.

Denial is big too. While state Republican legislators guaranteed their reelection with outlandish redistricting and strict, disenfranchising voter ID laws, Walker missed the irony in the following ballsy statement below:

The freshman governor implored Republicans to fight for candidates willing to think more about "the next generation than it is to think about the next election."

Big talk, from a little but sociopathic, son of bitch. 

Voucher Advocates warnings about National Curriculums Ignores Swedish Schools Success

Voucher supporters are making a preemptive propagandists strike to keep feeding out of the taxpayer trough. It’s sneaky, it’s self-serving and keeps the voucher expansion alive.

Voucher advocates have long held up Sweden as the best example of voucher success on a national level. But they’ve always ignored the two things they hate most about their system; a national curriculum and standardized test.

It seems they’re finally noticing, but only because Sweden is now banning home schooling and providing explicit sex ed.

HeraldExtra: There are things we can learn from other countries as we consider adoption. Sweden's adoption in 1993 of vouchers, following Milton Friedman's advice, made it universal and simple. The funding follows the student regardless of the parents' income. Any school, nonprofit, for profit or religious, can receive the government funding at the same amount as a public school … has to be all-inclusive, provide national standards, and have its performance monitored. They may not charge their students fees beyond the voucher. Private school enrollment has increased from 1 percent to about 15 percent.

This month's Liberty Magazine, whose mission is to protect religious freedom, is reporting that there are new sweeping additions … the national curriculum will now include a very explicit sex education class for 11-year-olds. Home schooling will be outlawed. As a result, many home-schoolers are fleeing the country.

They finally noticed Sweden has “national standards,” which means a national curriculum. Yet the article goes on to whine and complain about feeding out of the public trough and being accountable finally. Sadly they find themselves addicted to taxpayer money:

After almost 20 years these private schools cannot now afford to pull out either. This certainly was not on the horizon for the private schools when it was implemented. Now their only "choice" is to obey or fold.

The new argument: We don’t want to be like Sweden. Which also means; forget about the fact Sweden has one of the best school system in the world because their successful nationalized voucher program. 

Say good-bye to the American dream.

In the oddest paring imaginable, I found this CNN Lou Dobbs segment in my stuff from June 2005 featuring Bill Moyers. Moyers came on to talk about the endangered American dream. At the time, Dobbs focused like a laser on the corporate worlds attack on the middle class (again, who’s committing class warfare?). Dobbs was a great defender of working Americans, and a harsh critic of Bush and the Republicans. Dobbs is a conservative though, and uses that old "both sides" rhetoric. 

The related stories below I though fit well with this harbinger of what was to come, even though neither Dobbs or Moyers thought it was possible.

Chicago Tribune: The percentage of Americans who owned their homes has seen its biggest decline since the Great Depression, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The rate of home ownership fell to 65.1 percent in April 2010, 1.1 percentage points lower than it was in 2000. The decline was the biggest drop since the 1930s, when home ownership plunged 4.2 percent.

The curious story below didn't seem to want to mention a possible reason for a decline in auto sales in Dane County. Could it be the giant hit to the pocketbooks of employees of our two biggest PUBLIC employers, the UW and state government.

WSJ: Dane County was the only part of south-central Wisconsin to see new car and truck sales drop in September compared with a year ago, Reg-Track of Waterloo reported this week. Dane County dealers were down 5.54 percent, from 1,589 to 1,501.

The other eight counties in the region saw year-over-year increases, ranging from 3.88 percent in Green County to 53.98 percent in Dodge County. The south-central region consists of Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Rock and Sauk counties.

Walker to Protect Drug and Medical Device Manufacturers from Lawsuits, making Taxpayers Pay the Medical Bills.

How can Republicans claim they’re protecting taxpayers when they shift medical mistakes to the taxpayer funded Medicaid program?

 

Of course that only happens after families go bankrupt, and shift the care to the state. Instead of editing the following press release, I’ve put nearly the whole thing here because Walker’s bill would do so much more to short change Wisconsinites. Oh, and ALEC makes another appearance.

Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to provide legal immunity for drug companies and medical device manufacturers whose products may injure Wisconsin citizens is a dangerous idea, a Wisconsin Association for Justice (WAJ) officer said today.

WAJ President Mike End said Walker’s bill will not benefit average citizens and certainly create no jobs.  The bill, LRB 2890, gives products that have received federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval immunity from legal action in certain cases.  “We have plenty of evidence that the FDA has approved products that injure people.  Have you ever heard of Vioxx?” End said.  “So what is the true purpose of this bill?”

Wisconsin does not have to provide immunity for injuries and deaths to drug and medical device manufacturers – and pass the costs of those injuries and deaths on to the taxpayers – in order to create jobs,” End explained.  “This bill appears to be modeled after legislation on the corporation-friendly American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) agenda,” End added.  “Our legislators now seem to be accepting horrible, cookie cutter bills from national lobbyists and trying to pass them off as solutions for Wisconsin.”

If the medical immunity bill is passed, Wisconsin will be one of only two states that bar consumers from their day in court for such injuries. Because consumers in other states would still be able to sue a Wisconsin manufacturer for injuries, this bill would only limit the rights of injured Wisconsin citizens. 

Paul Ryan says Tax Cuts Appear to be disappointing because "growth occurs on the margin." Beyond human sight?

This guy cannot be taken seriously ever again. Rep. Paul Ryan can't answer the tough questions without injecting ideological theory and fabricated economic outcomes that could only happen in Bizarro World (as seen in Superman comics, where everything means just the opposite). 

For ten years the highly touted Bush tax policies have been in place, deregulation has not been reigned in, yet jobs aren't being created and the economy has stalled. So we should make it worse, according to Ryan, by continuing these failed policies?

The Atlantic: Rep. Paul Ryan blasted the Democrats' plan to raise taxes on millionaires … In (an) interview at the Washington Ideas Forum with David Leonhardt of the New York Times, Leonhardt questioned the idea that lowering taxes was a panacea for growth. Taxes increases didn't prevent growth in the 1990s, he said, and tax cuts produced disappointing growth in the 2000s.

Ryan responded that "growth occurs on the margin" and when you raise taxes on work, savings, and investment, you get less work, less savings, and less investment -- and less growth.

On the margin? Does he mean out of sight for the common man, or beyond human understanding?

And finally, let’s put a stake through the heart of the “say it enough and it’s true” BS that taxing work, savings and investments discourages anything…at all. It’s a Paul Ryan lie, used to market voodoo economic snake oil. What is it with the press too?

Leonhardt started with common sense math, and never followed up with a question about the mythical “penalizing success” hokum. Caught in a place called "reality," Ryan actually blamed other factors for the roaring 90’s, factors brought about by Clinton’s tax increase. Doh!

In the 1990s, Ryan added, other factors such as stable interest rates and a productivity boom helped to compensate for higher tax rates on income and capital.

Has it ever been more obvious that Ryan is now just spinning his psycho babble wheels?

League of Women Voters proves new Voter ID law working; Costly, cumbersome and frustrating.

Remember one thing; we do not have a voter fraud problem. It’s an excuse to put laws in place to disenfranchise Democratic voters. Let's stop acting like the Republicans might have a point, or that this is a relevant side to the issue of voting.  

The research is clear regarding who is targeted by such laws, and who stands to benefit. The only ones who didn’t believe the documentation were the conservative activist Supreme Court justices. So now we’re stuck with easily disguised Jim Crowe laws.

Wisconsin joined the “southern strategy” overnight, and in a dress rehearsal of sorts, the recall elections proved how effective the frustrating new and needless rules will be:

Chicago Tribune: A League of Women Voters report released Thursday said there was widespread confusion at the polls over requirements under Wisconsin's new voter ID law during this summer's recall elections and recommended ways to improve before next year. Andrea Kaminski, executive director said. "This is an unfortunate and unneeded expense for local governments at a time when municipal services are being cut to save tax dollars."

Some voters showed IDs, such as fishing licenses and employer IDs that would not be valid for voting in 2012.

Voters were incorrectly told at some polling places to re-register if the address on their photo ID did not match the address on the poll list. The law does not require that the address on their photo ID be current in order to vote, but they do have to show proof of residency when registering.

In at least four locations voters were incorrectly told they couldn't vote next year if their driver's license was expired. The law allows for licenses that have expired after November 2010 to be used. Observers found problems experienced by disabled voters with the requirement they sign the poll book, even though the law allows for exemptions. 

JB Van Hollen trusts people with guns in the Capitol.

Maybe they’ll think twice when they attack the middle class, or raise taxes?

jsonline: Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Thursday he would be comfortable with allowing people to carry guns in the Capitol and other state buildings. "I don't have a problem with it, but I'm not going to have a say in that," the Republican attorney general said in an interview.

"One of the oldest arguments out there is that the criminals - the ones who aren't entitled to have firearms - are carrying concealed already," he added. "They're the ones we're worried about, not the ones who are going to be abiding by the law."

Is Van Hollen right? That only criminals with guns are the ones to fear. We know that it's not possible that someone exercising their Constitutional right to carry and protect themselves against a radical government, will use the threat of a gun to make their elected politician think twice about carrying out a radical agenda? 

Not likely. Normal everyday citizens aren’t criminals and never will be. Only criminals at birth, the ones with guns, are the ones we have to worry about.  

Cut safety net programs because economy has forced too many people into them?

No wonder the people are protesting across the country over inequality. Things are bad, and if the Republicans had their way, it will only get worse. Conservatism flourishes with a desperate public. It's hold on to what you've got, survive. But we're barely doing that: 

WSJ: Families were more dependent on government programs than ever last year. Nearly half of the population lives in a household that has at least one member who receives some kind of government benefit in the first quarter of 2010, according to Census data. Those numbers have risen since the middle of the recession when 44.4% lived households receiving benefits in the third quarter of 2008.

Again, it happened when the recession hit.

The share of people relying on government benefits has reached a historic high, in large part from the deep recession and meager recovery, but also because of the expansion of government programs over the years. High unemployment and increased reliance on government programs has also shrunk the nation’s share of taxpayers. Some 46.4% of households will pay no federal income tax this year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That’s up from 39.9% in 2007, the year the recession began.

Benefits programs have come under closer scrutiny as policymakers attempt to tame the federal government’s budget deficit. Cuts to such programs could emerge again .. Republican presidential hopefuls, meanwhile, have latched onto the fact that nearly half of households pay no federal income tax, saying too many Americans aren’t paying their fair share.

Republican mantra; "Kill to save."

Aren't we all getting tired of this impossibly stupid line of bullshit:

AP/Northwestern: Gov. Scott Walker says his administration's proposed cuts to Medicaid are designed to preserve a basic safety net.

Michigan Republicans cut retiree health care benefits for future lawmakers, but not themselves.

Let’s see something like this taxpayer money saver in Wisconsin:

freep: Lansing, Mich -- Retiree health care for state legislators would end under a bill passed by the state Senate on Wednesday and expected to pass the House today, but the change protects many current lawmakers, especially in the Senate … the bill today that would prohibit retiree health care benefits for all future state legislators and end benefits for current House and Senate members who don't have six years of service in before Jan. 1, 2013.

Do Wisconsin's fiscally responsible Republican lawmakers want to save a lot more taxpayer money?

Medicaid/Badgercare Basic program now to expensive for the poor it was designed for.

In the upside down world of Republican politics and social engineering, those individuals and families too poor to buy health insurance are now too poor to buy health insurance designed for those too poor to buy insurance.

And here’s the clincher: Due to premium increases by the Walker administration, enrollment went down, forcing the administration to increase premiums again and again to keep the program running because it had too fewer people. This is fiscal idiocy and more proof Republicans say they hate government because they don't know how run worth a damn.  

WSJ: State Department of Health Services Dennis Smith said declining enrollment in the health insurance program is forcing increases in the monthly premiums for those remaining in it.

They have never understood the benefits of group insurance, which brings down the overall cost per enrollee while creating a larger pool of money...aw, never mind.

Incredibly, here’s the real story of outrageously bad management:

More than 3,500 people on the state's health insurance program for low-income adults now have to pay sharply higher premiums — more than double what they were paying at the beginning of the year. The approximately 3,552 people on the program for adults without young children, known as BadgerCare Basic, are required to pay premiums of $325 as of Nov. 1. Those November payments were due on Wednesday.

How did that happen in just 10 months?

Premiums in the Basic program, developed under former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, had been about $130 early in 2011. But much of the funding for the program, about 40 percent, came from a federal grant, Smith said. In March, health officials announced a freeze on new enrollment and increased premiums to $200. Then enrollment decreased by about 25 percent from 6,000 to about 4,500, Smith said, and as a result premiums again increased to $250 by Sept. 1.

But it gets WORSE: Guess who “balanced the state budget” by leaving Badgercare Basic off the books?

"Given that no state funding was appropriated to support this program and that federal support will be unavailable for claims in the future, the department continues to closely monitor program expenditures and revenues," Smith wrote.

Republicans saw this coming,knew the fed part wouldn't be there, and left this disaster in place so they could claim a balanced budget.  Hooray?

We created the Wealthy Elite, the supposed "Job Creators."

The Brutality against Occupy Wall Street could have taught Madison protesters a lesson too, right Rep. Steve Nass?

Here are some of the latest video's from New York, and an example of how intolerant our government is of are the public's right to protest. If we could only give Wall Street more freedom, right Paul Ryan: 

Watch the video of the NYPD beating Luke Rudkowski and other Occupy Wall street protestors with batons.

Alert-a few profane words were shouted.



Here's NY local Fox 5's coverage, where the anchor and camera man met the end of a police baton:

A tax on Food? Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan ignores poor and jobless.

The Wall Street Journal uncovered, to their credit, the incredible weakness in Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan.

Although the media still hasn't asked Cain how his plan saves taxpayers money when they still have to pay into a privatized Social Security and Medicare plan, he was asked how a 9 percent consumption tax would effect the jobless. Cain's response:

"If they're not working they have a bigger problem than paying the tax on the national sales tax."

Tax on a tax? Cain's misstatement aside, he chooses to ignore the biggest flaw in his plan. Get a job and be rich seems to be his never-ending message in the new job trimmed economy:

Herman Cain Blames Americans for Wall Street Caused Austerity, while cluelessly promising a Fascist CEO administration if elected.

Herman Cain: "I don't have facts to back this up..."

If you're trying to convince people you'd make a good president, the above "qualifier" from Cain is a lousy way to instill confidence.

Not only does Cain suggest a conspiracy around the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, he point blank gives a pass to the bloodletting of jobs caused by Wall Street, and blames the American public for getting run over by corporate greed.

Herman Cain: "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks..."

Subtle? Cain is anything but, yet he still doesn't understand the middle classes desire to lead a comfortable life, without the dogged pursuit of incredible wealth.

Herman Cain: "If you don't have a job and your not rich, blame yourself." 

More unsettling when you consider the reason Americans are demonstrating on Wall Street and around the country, is Cain's promise:

Herman Cain: "Another thing you're going to see in a Herman Cain administration, you're going to see a lot of CEO's, ex-CEO's, business people and problem solvers.   

Was he defining fascism...on steroids? Any wonder why he's supported by the Republican Tea Party.

Klingon's stole U of Texas cloaking device, owes centuries worth of royalties!!

I'm still dinking around Dvice.com's web site. I found this Klingon predecessor to their cloaking device...and incredible video. 

We write a lot about invisibility cloaks 'round these parts. Ever wanted to see one in action? Well, here's your chance, courtesy the researchers over at the University of Texas at Dallas.

In trying to wrap your head around how this works, think about a mirage. The sheet you see up there is made up of carbon nanotubes submerged in water. The array of molecule-thick tubes heat up quick, and a bunch of them can transfer said heat across a surface fast. That's important, because heat is a key component in creating a mirage, or more specifically a photothermal deflection, which is what you're seeing here.

The Earthscraper cometh?

I love the bizarre, and this fits right in (click pic to enlarge):

If your thinking it might be dark and cavernous, my guess is they'll probably filter light from the large surface area above and direct in down into the open "cone" area. According to Dvice.com:

The folks over at Mexican architecture group BNKR Arquitectura call this thing an "earthscraper," and the reason why should be obvious: it's a monstrous, beautiful, 65-story inverted skyscraper thathides a mini city underground.

Designed to be built smack-dab in the center of Mexico City, BNKR's Earthscraper wouldn't ruin the skyline there (though, really, who would object to something that looks like this?) and is designed in such a way that it would incorporate Mexico's history in its design. The top ten floors — which, here, would be the "bottom" ten — is a museum and cultural center dedicated to the Aztecs. Below that you've got retail space, then apartments and finally, deep underground, businesses. Because, you know, that's where business do their best work. It all terminates some 300 meters below the surface.
Our favorite detail: the interior of the structure is actually hollowed out, and there are bridges that extend out into the center of it so you can look down. Think the Grand Canyon's Skywalk.

Teachers should be paid based on "peer benchmarking," not performance. What do you think? We want only the best...

Republicans are big on teacher performance pay. It isn’t an effective incentive for the kind of profession it’s being applied too, but what the heck, how else can you discipline bad teachers. And most of them are bad, or, they’re in it for the money and union benefits.

But I’ve got a better idea, one that Wall Street and free market Republicans have endorsed; peer benchmarking. The Republican congress had a fit when Wall Street compensation and bonuses became an issue because limiting either would discourage the best from staying in their jobs.

What is “peer benchmarking?” I’ll let thisHuffington Post article explain:

The American economy may be faltering, but corporate executives needn't worry: Regardless of how well they perform, each one of them stands a good chance of getting paid as much as all the others -- if not more. That's because of a practice known as "peer benchmarking" -- a widely used method wherein corporations set pay for their executives at or above the median level of, well, other executives. No company wants their top brass leaving for another job with better pay, so executives are often compensated not based on how well they do, but on how much their competitors in the industry make.

See how well it works? If we want the best teachers, let’s go to “peer benchmarking” and do away with that silly carrot and stick approach. It’s worked on Wall Street say the CEO’s and Republican politicians.

The result? Salaries at the top are inching higher all the time. The financial crisis and subsequent worldwide economic slowdown haven't stopped executives from taking home bigger paychecks … In general, executive salaries have grown far faster than the incomes of average workers in the years since the crisis. Median CEO compensation pay rose by 27 percent in 2010, compared with an increase of just 2.1 percent for workers. Such figures suggest that the prevalence of peer benchmarking, as outlined in a recent Washington Post article, may play an important role in the United States' ever-widening wealth gap. (The) middle- and lower-class incomes became more or less stagnant. A recent study shows that countries with a more equitable income distribution tend to have longer periods of economic growth -- and that "more inequality lowers growth."
 

Republican Chairman of House Energy and Commerce, Cliff Stearns: "We can't compete with China..."

What would you say if Pres. Obama came out and declared America couldn't compete with China on wind turbines and solar panels? He didn’t say that, but that’s what the Republican Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations said the other day in an interview on NPR.

Chairman Cliff Stearns: "We can't compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines."

At least not until Republicans can bring American wages down to China’s level, and they’re getting that done on statewide levels with draconian austerity measures.

I ran this quote by my conservative friend, to see if he wasn’t as outrage as I was. He said, “We probably can’t.”

You might remember this was the same reaction Republican had about saving the U.S. auto industry. They wanted to give that industry up to Japan.

Is this the example of American exceptionalism they brag so often about?  

Democrats Propose Jobs Bill that trains people for jobs.

Scott Walker's "Open for Business" policy has one big short coming; you can't just ask companies to plop their business here without the thought of a trained workforce. You can of course if you're Walker.

That's why the Democrats have a more sound alternative, and a requested sacrifice for our state's nearly 3,000 millionaires to help get people back to work. Think the elite rich will go for it, or feel penalized for their success? I think we know the answer.

According to Republicans, leading means making decisions no ones going to like. Well, Democrats can do that too, for our selfishly wealthy.

State Rep. Cory Mason and State Sen. Chris Larson introduced the Wisconsin Jobs Initiative … will provide job skills training and education to at least 35,000 Wisconsin workers through a significant investment in Wisconsin’s Technical College System (WTCS). The bill would replace the $34.2 million cut from the WTCS in the biennial budget. It also allocates $35.8 million in grants to provide skill training and education, assist dislocated workers, and expand capacity at technical colleges statewide. Preference for the grants will be given to areas of the state with high unemployment.

Rep. Mason said, “Wisconsin’s employers have joined the chorus of voices calling for a skilled workforce.” "Governor Walker's cuts to education forced Wisconsin's technical colleges to scale back important job training. As a result, companies like Caterpillar have family-supporting jobs available but lack the right skilled workers to fill them," said Sen. Larson.

"The bill proposes that this investment be paid for by the creation of a new top income tax rate for those tax filers whose annual incomes exceed $1 million. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that there are approximately 2,900 Wisconsin tax filers who would be impacted by this change, which would generate at least $70 million in new revenue in its first year. 

Rep. Mason; “This bill asks Wisconsin’s wealthiest individuals to share a small amount of that sacrifice in order to train and educate at least 35,000 Wisconsin workers.” 

Those Committing Class Warfare can be defined by who is Winning....

Any questions?

JP Morgan Chase Pays off NYPD to pummel Occupy Wall Street Protesters.

From Democracy Now:

The bailed-out Wall Street megabank JP Morgan Chase gave a tax-deductible $4.6m donation to the New York City Police Foundation, which has protesters asking: who is the NYPD paid to protect, the public or the corporations? The 99% or the 1%?

Marina Sitrin, part of Occupy Wall Street's legal working group, told methat the protest was going to be based at Chase Plaza, but the NYPD pre-emptively closed it. The protesters moved to Zuccotti Park, which they renamed Liberty Square.

According to an undated press release on JP Morgan Chase's website, in response to the $4.6m donation:

"New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly sent CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon a note expressing 'profound gratitude' for the company's donation." Given the size of the donation, and the police harassment and violence against the protesters, we must question how Kelly shows his gratitude.

Here's Salon.com's Joan Walsh:

I’ve been struck by the good sense the protesters have used in dealing with the police (in contrast with the poor sense of some of the cops): They are not making them the enemy. In fact, as 700 people were being arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, they were chanting at the cops: “We’re fighting for your pensions!” It didn’t keep the protesters from getting arrested, but it kept them the moral and political high ground.

But what happens when the liberal establishment begins to reach out to this amorphous collection of anarchists, libertarians, Ron Paul fans, sectarian lefties – plus many, many ordinary people turned activists, drawn by the call to protest the power of Wall Street? How will they relate to “a horizontal, autonomous, leaderless, modified-consensus-based system with roots in anarchist thought,” as the Occupy Wall Street folks describe their decision-making process? Can a leaderless movement get along with liberals and Democratic Party poobahs, who are essentially leaders without a movement? It looks like we’re going to find out.

It’s hard to watch Occupy Wall Street grow and not think of all the “lessons” of the 60s, mainly the bad ones. When I heard some demonstrators chanting “The whole world is watching,” like they did in Chicago’s Grant Park during the disastrous 1968 Democratic convention, I hoped they knew what really happened back then: Instead of the whole world watching and being horrified by the cops’ brutality, a lot of people watched and cheered the police, standing up against what they saw as spoiled, dangerous kids, who were tearing down the pillars of the stable, affluent society that made their protest possible.

From the Washington Post, this observation about the success of this movement:

Whether they will grow larger and sustain themselves beyond these initial street actions will depend upon four things: the work of skilled organizers; the success of those organizers in getting people, once these events end, to meet over and over and over again; whether or not the movement can promote public policy solutions that are organically linked to the quotidian lives of its supporters; and the ability of liberalism’s infrastructure of intellectuals, writers, artists and professionals to expend an enormous amount of their cultural capital in support of the movement.

Ron Paul Meets his Match; Jon Stewart, on Stricter Free Market!!! Paul is a Sham.

Due to the draconian copyright policies of Viacom, this important video has been blocked from being posted here. You can see it via this link. Comedy Central thinks we all have time to sit through an entire interview to see a short segment essential to the political debate going on right now in this country.

Here, Ron Paul presents a fantasy world were a free market is tougher on corporate scoundrels than a regulated one. Even the most ardent supporter of getting government "out of the way," would never buy such a ridiculous premise...I think. God I can only hope not.

Remember the Fox News shot at their own version of the Daily Show?

Clearing out my video files I came across this amazing moment in Fox News history; The 1/2 Hour News Hour, featuring an introduction by Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Yes, it's hard to watch due to its out of sync laugh track and pretentious presentation, but that's why this is a classic.

Radical Tax Cut Mantra Betrays More Thoughtful Republican Tax Policy of the Past.

When you're on the wrong side of the argument, or just simply hypocritical, the past will always find a way to come back and slap you down. Republicans for high taxes? Yes.

The Republicans were for fiscal policy based on thoughtful tax policy, before Grover Norquist dumbed down the political party.

For instance, during the Kennedy Nixon debates, Kennedy wanted to lower taxes while the Republicans thought that was fiscally irresponsible. Nixon gave money to poor people, a negative income tax, based on a Milton Friedman idea.

I wish Chris Matthews could have spent more time exploring the ideas tossed around here, but you take what you can get.

The Authoritarian Elitism of George Will

Small offhand comments mean a lot in the big picture. This just scratches the surface of what is most likely said ad nauseam in back rooms everywhere in the Republican power structure.

Mukwonago and Berlin High School administrators not Embarrassed over Possibly Reinstating Stereotypical Racist Mascot Names.

Constitutional free speech rights have granted conservative Waukesha County the right to use derogatory racist names for school mascots.

GreenbayPressGazette: Last October, the DPI ruled that the mascot perpetuates stereotypes of American Indians and is discriminatory. The district was given a year to drop the Indians mascot.

A Waukesha County judge said the state's effort to strip Mukwonago High School of its Indians nickname was unconstitutional. Judge Donald Hassin Jr. ruled last week in favor of residents who challenged the 2010 state law that allowed complaints about Native American nicknames and mascots.

In one of the most confusing disconnected from reality rulings…

The judge agreed that the law — as applied in the case against Mukwonago schools — was unconstitutional because the decision maker — a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction employee — had an impermissibly high risk of bias.

Huh? What bias? Why would a WDP employee be a high risk impermissibly biased person? So derogatory racist names are coming back...

Northwestern: Berlin School officials have put the state-ordered replacement the district’s Indian nickname and logo on hold after a judge overturned a similar order in southeast Wisconsin last week.  

This should make Rep. Steve Nass a happy racist.

Poor Tommy, signed outdated partisan straightjacketed “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” Guess we know whose loyalty Thompson Favors…big money.

The no tax pledge looked like it was on its last legs due to the complicated solutions needed to pull the country out of the jobs loll. All options on the table Tommy? Guess not.

WSJ: Republican Tommy Thompson on Tuesday filed his statement of candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat … told supporters that he has signed a "taxpayer protection pledge" from Grover Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform. That pledge commits him to opposing net tax increases. "I gladly signed the pledge because I have always fought to get the long arm of government out of the pockets of working families," Thompson said.

Thompson’s pledge has nothing to do with Wisconsin jobs and voters, and everything to do with an egotistical hardliner offering a thoughtless escape from real responsibility.



UPDATE: I just found this at TPM, that supports my point: 

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) unleashed a verbal fusillade on Anti-Tax Guru Grover Norquist Tuesday, calling him out as the main political force behind Washington gridlock.

Wolf took the House floor to lambaste Norquist's pledge, a promise not to raise taxes that all but six Republicans in Congress have signed, accusing him of using it to advance other pet issues that most Republicans -- if not most voters -- do not support.

Cigarette rolling vending Machines?

Is this for real?

 It is!

Smokers were getting a pretty good deal buying their deadly habit from this bizarre example of American ingenuity. 

jsonline: Tobacco Machines  A new breed of tobacco retailer is shutting down around the state in the face of challenges from the state Department of Revenue over what taxes should be levied for operating roll-your-own machines.

The roll-your-own stores sell loose tobacco that customers load into machines on the premises. The machines pump out a carton of cigarettes in 10 to 15 minutes. The cartons cost around $32 - about half the cost of premium brands - because customers are charged the taxes for pipe tobacco rather than the ones imposed on standard cigarettes.

Just for fun, I found the video below showing how marketing brainwashed the public into smoking and drinking:

Conseravative Talker and "superstar" McKenna doesn't know Madison Police Chief from Capitol Chief.

WISN Radio should have caught this, or at least insisted their radio talkers know what the hell they're talking about!!

Thank god one of her authoritista's in the Justice Department, gave her a heads up...one she never notice (see the date)...to this day.

Phil Dziki, Investigator at U. S. Department of Justice: Vicki, Please correct the title of Charles Tubbs. He is the Capitol Police Chief. He is not the Chief of the Madison Police, which is the Police Dept. for the City of Madison. Noble Wray is the Chief of the Madison Police. However, Wray also needs to be fired. They are both incompetent and have been derelict in their duties.

Will somebody tell Vicki and her Authoritista's: We're not the "hard left," we're the middle class.

WISN/WIBA radio's conservative cancer, Vicki McKenna, has the unfortunate fate of living in one of the more consistently top rated cities in the country. Liberal cities. Funny, you don't see the wealthy City of Waukesha in competition with Madison, where McKenna could lead her band of... authoritista's.

Irony is wasted on McKenna. Tea party disruptions, marches and belligerence is as American as apple pie. Laborers, liberals, teachers, firefighters, law enforcement and citizens defending their place in the middle class...they're a thuggish "fad" that everybody she knows is tired of seeing.

Having worked along side the chain smoking soda addict (me on the top left pic), I can see she is no longer supervised by adults in management. Just listen to her rambling nonsense in the audio below.

Her trip down memory lane is ridiculous. Since I'm old enough to have been up for the draft in the late 60's, Vicki's account of that time is pulled straight our of her ass.

If you want to know what conservatives are being told to think about the labor and middle class unrest sweeping the nation, this 10 minute rant couldn't be a more representative of the whiny anti-American authoritarian Republican Tea Party movement:

The Gun Control History of the NRA

Adam Winkler writes for The Huffington post

The NRA was founded by William Church and George Wingate after the Civil War. Wingate and Church -- the latter a former reporter for a newspaper not exactly known for its love of gun rights, the New York Times -- both fought in the War on the Union side. They were shocked by the poor marksmanship of Union soldiers and convinced that one reason the Confederacy was able to hold out so long before surrender was because their soldiers had more experience shooting. Church and Wingate's goal for the NRA was to improve the marksmanship of civilians who might one day be called to serve in the military, not to fight gun control.

The author goes on to explain how for most of the 20th century the NRA was actually involved in drafting gun control ligislation.  And during those decades they had very little to do with the 2nd Amendment.

All that changed in 1977. That year, the leadership of the NRA decided to retreat from political lobbying and refocus on recreational shooting and outdoors activities. This sparked a backlash among a group of hardline gun rights advocates who were upset that the NRA had endorsed the Gun Control Act of 1968 -- the first significant federal gun legislation since the 1930s. Motivated by the belief that guns weren't primarily for hunting but for personal protection in an era of rising crime rates, the hardliners staged a coup at the annual meeting of the membership, ousting the old leaders and committing the organization to political advocacy.

Shortly after that they picked up La Pierre. And the world has seldom seen anything like it.

What's your opinion?  We've often spoken about the evolving interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, but this article helps us see it from the perspective of the NRA.  Do you think that's helpful? Does the dynamic change in direction undertaken by the NRA lend credibility to the theory that the way we view the 2A has been bastardized over the last 5 decades?

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.
(cross posted at Mikeb302000)

Hank Williams Jr. Speaks the "truth," as portrayed in conservative media. And Fox News is Surprised.

If Monday Night Football reinstates the Williams theme, they'll have made a huge mistake.



Here's more from Ed Schultz...

Republican State Sen. Mary Lazich Proposes the Elimination of Comprehensive Reproductive Education.

Now that we've taken the teachers out of the equation when it comes to guiding education in our classrooms, politically influenced school boards and Republican legislators are now in charge of curriculum.

Remember when Republicans freaked out over the presidents message to kids in school. They're less worried about their own conservative agenda being taught as truth, or, that it would wipe out courses that don't agree with their ideology. Prudish to an extreme, this bit of social engineering was proposed on Friday, when the media was least likely to notice:

On Friday, September 30, at 5:00 pm, State Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) introduced a bill that would eliminate comprehensive reproductive education from Wisconsin's public high schools. The Young Progressives, regarding this proposal: 

Sen. Lazich's bill is an attack on scientifically proven reproductive educational requirements, which are supported by the vast majority of parents in Wisconsin.  Far from giving district school boards "tools‟ and "local control,‟ Sen. Lazich continues to attack public education and students "rights."  Beginning with the largest budget cuts to public education in the history of the state of Wisconsin, Lazich continues to abridge freedom in school by advocating for the presence of a regressive social agenda in Wisconsin‟s classrooms.

The Daily Cardinal reported this quote from "prude" Lazich:

State Sen. Mary Lazich recommends school districts teach abstinence as "the only reliable method for avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases." It would also remove information about contraception from the curriculum and emphasize "the positive connection between marriage and parenting." Lazich said the bill "fosters a partnership between parents and the school district … that is in the best interest of the student's health and well-being."  

Toll Roads in Wisconsin...Finally!

I've got a few things to say about toll roads coming up, but just as a tip of the hand, I'm all for it.

My preference would be to toll everyone coming into and leaving Wisconsin, unless they have a Wisconsin plate on their car or a state provided pass. I'm flexible. This outrage we have over the toll system in Illinois is something we need to get over. We need money, and the easiest way to get it is to toll vehicles coming into our state, that use our roads. Simple?

With more fuel efficient cars, electric cars, gas taxes won't pay for the roads. I don't want to see toll booths dotting the highways every 10 or 30 miles, just on the state borders. It's not popular, but how else will we find the money to commerce up and running?

Upfront with Mike Gousha: 

Democrats Propose Income Equity Act to Republican Corporate Whores.

I don't know how big a laugh the Democrats will get for their new proposal, but presenting a strong alternative to selling government out to the biggest business can only help stop this slide into creeping fascism: 

State Representative Mark Pocan and State Senator Fred Risser today circulated a bill that would limit government tax deductions to corporations with inflated chief executive officer pay. Pocan said, “I believe that if a corporation wants to get a $1 million tax deduction from our state, they should have to earn it by paying a fair wage.”

Current law allows a corporation to deduct up to $1 million from its income tax for its executive officer. The Income Equity Act would link the government tax deduction to the salary of the company’s lowest paid full-time employee. Corporations would be allowed to qualify for a deduction up to 25 times its lowest paid full-time employee. Thus, if the lowest paid employee earned $15,000 per year, the corporations would be allowed to claim a $375,000 deduction. Pocan and Risser first introduced the bill in 1999 when Pocan was a freshman.  

Reagan a lot like Obama on Taxing the Rich.

Think Progress did a nice job of editing Reagan and Obama together to make their point; tax cuts for the wealthy are fair. This video is easy enough for even a tea party knuckle head to understand.



Here's another set of clips with the same message:

Chicago Tea Party's Steve Stevlic gets heat for year old solicitation of a Prostitute.

Social issues are huge for the Tea Party movement. They've embraced the religious rights agenda and are attempting to slip radical change past everyone while they're off defending against the attack on their labor rights.

So imagine the anger from tea party participants at their Schaumburg convention when they found out one of their big name backers solicited a prostitute...last year and didn't know.

Caledonia Patch: Chicago Tea Party activist Steve Stevlic’s arrest for soliciting a hooker over a year ago was the talk of TeaCon 2011 that is being held this weekend in Schaumburg, IL. Gawker.com confronted Stevlic about his June 2010 arrest on opening day of the Midwest tea party’s confab. Stevlic is one of the top organizers of TeaCon 2011. Gawker chided Stevlic for his attacks against Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.’s revelations of his extra-marital affair just months after Stevlic’s own prostitution arrest.

Charges against Stevlic, who resides in Berwyn, IL, were ultimately dropped after he completed a rehab program “Unhooked Johns,” Gawker reports.

News of Stevlic’s past arrest also seemed to catch many of Chicago’s elite conservative bloggers live blogging from TeaCon 2011 unaware. “The sex issue isn’t the bad part for Tea Party supporters, though, Warner Todd Huston wrote on his Publius' Forum blog. "The sad thing is that Steve knew of his troubles but all these revelations have hit his supporters and followers completely unawares. He did not reveal his troubles even to the higher members of the Chicago Tea Party.”

Huston also hinted at improprieties with the Chicago Tea Party organization’s funds on his Publius' Forum blog. According to Huston’s unnamed sources from the Chicago Tea Party’s upper echelon, party members don’t know where the funds have gone or who’s handling the accounts.

Authoritarian State Sen. Grothman Loves Education Reform, Dress Code for Grownup Teachers.

That's right, school boards have gone as far as demanding a dress code for adult professionals. That's why Johnny can't read? Did you buy into all the empty talk about "freedom and liberty" under a one party authoritarian Republican government? Looks like it was opposites day...year, again....

Sly in the Morning:

Lawless Republican Sen. Glenn Grothman Calls Sheriff Dave Mahoney a Liar.

What does it mean when a state lawmaker, like State Sen. Glenn Grothman, calls the county sheriff a liar?

That's what happened today on WTDY's Sly in the Morning radio program.

Background: Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney explained awhile back to Sly that when Sen. Grothman's took a surprise walk to the Capitol during the demonstrations, that turned into an inflammatory and angry conversation with protesters, deputies helped get Grothman back into the building as quickly as possible before things "started heating up."

Showing all of the same disrespect for law his fellow lawmakers have shown in the past, Sen. Glenn Grothman called Mahoney's report a lie. What an example for our children.

  

Republican Free Market Phony’s: Business "Certainty" Trumps Consumer Rights.

This is one of the most amazing stories I’ve read this year, and a blatant admission by Republicans that they represent business, not you and me. Here’s the prevailing Humpty Dumptyism:         

Deregulation means just what the Republicans say deregulation means! Even if it means more regulation.

The free market equation has changed. Markets=sellers + consumers. 

Problem: When a consumer wins a lawsuit, if that settlement isn’t paid right away, it’s subject to 12% interest, the same rate banks, credit card companies and landlords get when they win a lawsuit. But…

People who successfully sue for injuries would earn a lower interest rate on their judgments than banks and credit card companies who take their customers to court, under a bill Gov. Scott Walker included in the upcoming special legislative session on jobs (and) according to a draft of the bill by Republican Sen. Rich Zipperer ...  (it also) would limit the amount plaintiffs' attorneys can charge in some cases.

But wouldn’t a functioning free market permit consumers the ability to sue the pants off a company for injuries, or allow attorneys and their clients the freedom to negotiate any compensation percentage they think is fair? Attorneys are private sector business people too. Free markets depend on checks & balances.

"It's such a transparent anti-consumer bill," said Dan Rottier, a personal injury attorney. "It's just ridiculous."

A "certainty" Issue? In a free market nothing is certain. You take your chances. That’s why it’s been so bizarre to follow the free market Republicans pushing “certainty” in an uncertain free market. Remember the checks and balances that make up the free market? They're being taken out. Humpty Dumpty himself, Sen. Zipperer, sums it up perfectly:

Zipperer said the bills would give businesses more “certainty…” he was focusing on just a narrow set of claims because he believed those affected job creation, though he did not say how … Zipperer's proposal; people who successfully bring a personal injury case or sue under the state's consumer credit law would instead earn the prime rate plus 1%, or 4.25% currently. But banks, landlords and credit card companies that successfully sue people would still get the full 12%.

"It's the most unbelievably discriminatory bill I've ever seen," said Mike End, president of the Wisconsin Association for Justice. "I can't believe someone even has the nerve to actually put that together."

Walker in January signed a sweeping bill out of that earlier special session that makes it more difficult to win damage awards in civil suits. Werwie (believes) the governor backed changing the rules for lawsuits because he believed they would help the economy grow.

The Walker Effect; Public Schools see big changes ahead for kids, parents and quality.

I’m reposting this revealing look at what one teacher is experiencing now that Act 10 is in place, because as they indicated in the post, the blog MisleadingWisconsin might be forced to end. I’ve always focused on education here and will continue to point out the destructive effects of the right wings ultimate goal of turning the education our kids into another profit center for big business. The following was accomplished by our Republican legislature in just 6 months:

Real-life effects of WIS GOP on education

Now that the rhetoric has died down regarding Walker's union-busting here in Wisconsin, here's how it has affected me--a teacher--my students, and my school.

The moment Walker's Act 10 took effect, my school board froze salaries, changed the upcoming school calendar (which had been agreed upon with the union a couple months earlier), canceled already scheduled, out-of-school-day continuing education for its staff, created a grievance procedure that is, in effect, settled by the district superintendent or a district-selected third party, instituted health care changes without real input from the insured, and, as of yet, six weeks into the school year, has not provided a handbook with conditions of employment to its teachers.

Despite Walker's declarations that districts will save money (despite state funding cuts), our district has eliminated some aide positions, sacrificed some curriculum updating, and reduced staff development opportunities.

As a result of district changes, my teaching time has increased, my prep time has decreased, and there are new policies to provide more and daily information on student progress and lessons (the added "transparency" will take me an estimated 30+ minutes per day, with no apparent link to improving student learning).  There are less services for students requiring additional reading help, and no specific plans or staff for students demonstrating severe behavioral problems.

My salary, including new health care deductibles as well as pension and health care payments, is down about 10%, while new state mandates require more actual work in the classroom including more identification, specific work with, and documentation for students who are below level.

Some parents, now that our state government has led the way in calling teachers (or their representatives) greedy, slobs, and thugs, voice similar opinions.  I documented in an earlier post parents cursing and hurling insults at teachers as we walked down the street in our town in a show of non-confrontational solidarity. When the local parent-teacher group's budget revealed a thank you gift for teachers at Christmastime, one parent rolled her eyes and said, "You've got to be kidding me."

And upcoming changes (should we ever be provided a handbook), will very possibly include a "pool of money" for teacher salaries, from which the subjectively determined "better" teachers will score more than their subjectively-judged "lesser" peers.  For all the district initiatives and admonitions to promote collaboration, pitting colleague against colleague for their wages certainly doesn't seem like a very collaborative or efficient or wise thing to do.

Lastly, I have been advised by a third party consultant that continuing a blog reporting my district's policies or providing criticism of state government policies so ardently backed by the locals--and identifying myself with my real name, background, or photo--could actually come back to haunt me in terms of disciplinary action (now that I may no longer have a union).

And all these individual concerns don't even include the low-income families here that are affected by cuts to programs they may utilize, or those that may not be able/willing to vote because of new voter ID laws, or a government that changes laws to suit personal agendas or kowtow to businesses at the expense of those in need, or changes in environmental policies that affect everyone's quality of life, or the deep and abiding breach of trust between a people and its elected government.

I'm unsure whether I will continue this blog.  If so, it will be under an assumed name (as advised by the previously mentioned consultant).  There are many wonderful blogs out there fighting this good fight, and I have yet to determine, with the added responsibilities and scrutiny of my job, if I have the ability to do this justice.  Until then, my state senator Grothman is still (as I have termed him before) a major d-bag, and my governor is still a liar.

Thanks for visiting over the last year.

A Few Private Health Care Problems not often talked about.

These few ideas sound like area's that have as much to do with rising costs as any other, but are never mentioned.

azdailysun: Twenty-eight percent of physicians polled said they personally were practicing more aggressively than they would like … 40 percent of primary-care doctors said they erred on the side of too much care because they didn't have adequate time to spend with their patients, according to a survey of 627 family-practice and internal-medicine doctors published in the Sept. 26 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Doctors also acknowledged that financial incentives from the fee-for-service payment model encouraged them to do more rather than less. Thirty-nine percent said other primary-care doctors would order fewer diagnostic tests if those tests didn't generate extra revenue for them, and 62 percent said medical subspecialists would cut back if the tests didn't come with financial incentives.