Tea Party Poetic Justice, Republicans fall Victim to themselves….

Well that uninformed, highly irresponsible tea party attitude that compromise is out of the question, has just hit the Republican majority, and like a deer in headlines they are road kill.

And I’m loving every bit of this. The fact that tea party members don’t want to do anything, and would rather freeload off the past generations hard work, should come as no big surprise.

Who’s laughing now? Me.

jsonline: In a sign of the conservative discontent, 11 Assembly Republicans sent a letter Thursday to their leaders saying they wouldn't vote for the budget as written. They want the bill to cut income taxes by a greater amount, reduce bonding by $500 million and remove a provision that would require people to provide their DNA when they are arrested for felonies (this one I agree with), rather than when they are convicted. There are 60 Republicans in the 99-member Assembly. If all 11 withheld their votes, that would leave Republicans with at most 49 votes for the budget — short of a majority. 

Republican bill takes voters out of voting, and we're talking everyone.

Despite sweeping a whole lot of Republicans into the voter suppression net, the state GOP is about to go further than before. Boosted by a "liberal" Dane County Federal court's decision that Walker's voter ID law is constitutional (I know, now the courts here are good), new laws are needed to make the act of voting a Rubik's cube mess, with hundreds of pages of legalese no one in our Capitol is going to read. But with the courts deciding the law is the law, no matter the intent, we're about to lose the state to one party rule. Lets call that a banana republic.

Here's the mess:

PRWatch: A Wisconsin legislator has managed to bundle nearly all of the excesses associated with dirty elections into a single bill that good government advocates are describing as a "sweeping assault on democracy:"

1. Reinstating restrictive voter ID requirements

2. Make it easier for donors to secretly influence elections (once a candidate announces) 

3. Expand lobbyist influence

4. Restrict early voting (ending weekend voting and weekday cutoff 6 pm), and make it harder to register, among other measures. 

These restrictions solve nothing, and are not on the voters to-do list. Oddly, the restrictions affect conservative voters as well.

The most troubling provision in the bill, says Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, is that it "codifies protection [from disclosure] for phony issue ads.

Under Rep. Jeff Stone's bill, voters will still be asked to present an ID, and if they do not have one, they must sign an affidavit swearing ... that they either are too poor to get an ID or cannot gather the necessary documentation. Heck says requiring a person to declare they are poor so they can vote, he said, is "insulting, humiliating, and demeaning."

Funny gun right activists don't want to show proof of anything, with no records kept, but are willing to restrict the rights of voters with hundreds of pages of regulations and records that can be used against them. How long before liberal neighborhoods are categorized and used to deny jobs, screen people for party loyalty, or provide a place to vote? 

Rep. Stone's bill would eliminating early voting on the weekends, and during the weekdays, imposing a 6 pm cutoff. This would have a significant impact on working people. Rep. Stone has said that, "A lot of the smaller, rural communities just don't have the capacity to offer those types of extended hours." But Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin disagrees, notes that limiting the hours for early voting would also make it more difficult for clerks in smaller municipalities in the North, many of whom work as a clerk only part-time and have a full-time day job.

Clerks in rural area's are not for this restriction either, just so you know. Things were fine until some envious rural tea party loser said something to Rep.Andre Jacques, who thought, hey, I could use that to suppress votes.

Due to tea party voter harassment, this element was also added:

The bill would also make it easier to reject otherwise valid votes based on technicalities … a voter's failure to sign the poll list could amount to their vote not being counted in a recount, although it is not clear how a particular voter's ballot could be identified since Wisconsin has a private ballot. After Sen. Van Wanggaard lost ... Republicans hyped allegations of voter fraud, pointing specifically at missing signatures in the poll book. The omissions were chalked up to mistakes on the part of poll workers and the elections board refused to disenfranchise voters based on these errors. Rep. Stone's proposal would change that. "Why should a voter lose their vote based on the error of a poll worker?" Kaminski said.

The state elections board adopted a rule allowing voters to demonstrate proof of residency by showing electronic versions of documents. This bill would reverse the board's decision and explicitly prohibit the use of electronic documents for registration purposes. Kaminski said, "The only complaints came from those poll watchers" -- such as those trained by True the Vote -- "who wanted to see the documents voters were showing," she said. "But that is not their job."

McCabe is more blunt. "It is a sweeping assault on democracy," he said.

State Republicans No Longer Protect Taxpayers, Soak ‘em for $26 Million paying Employers interest on Unemployment. Oh, and it gets worse…

The great protectors of taxpayer money just decided to give some of that money to help private companies pay interest on their unemployment accounts.

First, will anyone ask our sneaky Republicans why the “job creators” need public welfare? And second, unemployment is their business responsibility, not ours.

Teabillies won’t notice this until next year, and radio propagandists Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling will keep up their distraction campaign.

This is almost too hard to believe:

jsonline: Under changes to the state's unemployment insurance system adopted by the Legislature's budget committee Wednesday, taxpayers would spend $26 million over two years to prop up the unemployment fund, To avoid having employers face new assessments this year, the committee voted to use $26 million in general tax dollars to pay down interest on that loan.

Think that’s bad? Taxpayers will be used to scam the federal government. Republican will borrow our hard earned taxpayer dollars to shore up the unemployment fund so the fed won’t raise taxes on EMPLOYERS, the ones who actually fund the account. This is actual fascism:

Additionally, the committee proposal would allow the state Department of Administration to lend up to $50 million in taxpayer money to the unemployment insurance fund. That loan would help the state ensure that the unemployment fund has a positive balance in 2014, which in turn would keep the federal government from raising taxes on employers by $191 million in 2015.

 Again, taxpayers are paying the states private employers interest on unemployment, and loaning private employers money, so the fed won't raise taxes on them for under funding unemployment.

State Republicans tell Nations Businesses, We Don’t Keep our Business Promises, unless we Like You.

Here’s just another example of the Walker Legislature trashing businesses they don’t like.

Just to set the record straight, this problem is all Republican; instead of supporting businesses in this state that will bring in state revenues…and that had plans of expanding, they went out of state for pennies on the lowest bidder. It was a huge mistake they’re now trying to correct, at the expense of their national business friendly image:

jsonline: Dipping into an ongoing dispute over a new student data system, the committee voted to allow school boards to select their own vendors for tracking students, rather than going with a Minnesota company selected by the Department of Public Instruction. The committee voted 14-2 to scrap a plan to have one vendor run the student information system, allowing school boards to pick whichever firms they wanted to collect data on students and report it to the state.

How bad is this broken promise?

Eric Creighton, the chief operating officer for Infinite Campus, issued a statement saying Wednesday's vote "sets a dangerous precedent for all future state procurements." "It tells prospective bidders they can use the political process to get a different outcome if a procurement doesn't go their way," his statement said.

This wasn't lost on other Republicans:

Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) — who voted with Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend) against allowing multiple vendors — agreed with the assessment of Infinite Campus.

Tea Party Running State, want to Dump Common Core Standards for Schools for Paranoid Political Reasons.

While teabillies have a hissy fit after getting caught gaming the system with an avalanche of applications for tax exempt status, they’re having a major influence on sending Wisconsin into educational death spiral.

We’re talking about the Common Core Standard. The world has adopted these standards and their students are beating U.S. students. Common Core is said by tea party dummies to be a European threat meant to dumb down America, to make it less competitive. I know more paranoid insanity. Here's the tea party thinking from former superintendent candidate Rep. Don Pridemore:

The irreversible stupidity being committed by our Republicans partisan legislators will make other states the winners. Why the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel used the word “academic” instead of “core” in this story is a mystery to me, unless they intentionally tried to mask the underhanded lunacy being passed by the legislature:

jsonline: The state Department of Public Instruction would be barred from implementing new common academic standards until hearings are held and new findings issued, under a provision a legislative committee tucked into the state budget

The state would be able to keep the math and reading standards it has already implemented under the proposal adopted Wednesday. But the effect of halting implementation of common academic standards in other subject areas, could hold up a variety of reform efforts that have been quietly chugging along for the past two years.

How do I know pressure from the low information tea party losers resulted in the changes?

The actions contradict how some of the same lawmakers voted in budget deliberations two years ago — a point they acknowledged Wednesday. "What we're doing is putting the pause on Common Core," said Rep. Dean Knudson (R-Hudson), who proposed the idea. The measure passed 13-3.

Here’s the kicker, Democrat Rep. Cory Mason betrayed the party agenda of advancing public education instead of sending it back into the stone age. Democrats are so weak:

Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) joining all Republicans in favor of it.

My god what does it take to get a message to these clueless Democrats?

Walker Austerity Agenda Killing Wages, Economic and Job Growth

Proof and facts are hard things to shake off, unless you're a Republican governor hoping to run for reelection and then president. Walker seems to be creating a public image and narrative that runs counter to reality, an old marketing ploy used in advertising. How do you ignore a wage decline of 2.2%, twice the national average?

So the facts are in, and I'll let the disappointing details speak for themselves: 

jsonline: Competition from China and other low-wage rivals, coupled with fallout from the 2007-'09 financial crisis, has put American wages under such unprecedented strain that they have shifted into reverse — not merely stagnating, but falling.

And workers in Wisconsin are among the hardest hit in this bare-knuckled global phenomenon.

Jeff Joerres, chief executive of Milwaukee-based global staffing giant ManpowerGroup Inc., who refers to this accelerating leveling of wages as "global labor arbitrage.""It's happening so fast on a global scale that it's scary," Joerres said.
Wages have fallen across the entire national economy — down 1.1% in the 12-month period from September 2011 to September 2012, the most recent comparisons available. The vise like pay squeeze promises to become more common as global economies become more connected — "the new normal," according to Joerres.

Wisconsin wages fall 2.2% ... ranking the state 44th out of 50.The rate was double the drop in the national average. Wages in the state's government sector, pressured more by government austerity policies than global competition, registered 49th in the nation during the same period.

With the state also lagging much of the nation in job creation — ranking 44th in the most recent 12-month period — it is apparent that Wisconsin is struggling more than many other states in the transition to 21st-century growth industries from its legacy as a bastion of old-line manufacturing.

Excuses, excuses....

Ryan Murray, an economic adviser to Gov. Scott Walker (said) Wisconsin appears to have little in common with other states that also showed notable wage losses … "There's no obvious pattern," said Murray, the chief operating officer at the Madison-based Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., an arm of state government. 

I don't know, I think the above highlighted paragraph pretty much sums up the reason, but then you can't expect much from the chief operating officer of the mismanaged WEDC. 

Republican State Sen. Dale Schultz pulls away from the pack...by making sense. Admits Pure Ideology Running State Government.

WEKZ's Drive Home with Sly featured State Sen. Dale Schultz, who sounded unusually sane considering what we're hearing out of the Capitol lately. Here a link to the interview.

A must hear discussion about ideologically driven budgets and vouchers that makes you long for the days when we had a normal opposition party, with nuanced politicians that listened to all their constituents, not just the ones wearing tri-cornered hats.

Walker's One Size Fits All Big Government policy may Require Local School Districts and Cities to have Zero Balances. No Rainy Day Funds.

Not only do state Republicans want the UW's surplus fund to go away, basically making them dependent on politicians for funding, but some legislators don't want local governments and school districts to have surpluses or rainy day funds either. 

We've seen this policy before. Republicans always see extra state revenues during the good times as an excuse to cut taxes, instead of putting it away for the hard times. Clinton left a surplus, Bush gave that away in a couple of major tax cuts. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson sent out a rebate check that cost more to mail. Now Scott Walker is carrying on that fine failed tradition. From the Middleton Times:

The controversy over the University of Wisconsin’s reserves prompted rumblings that some state lawmakers want to force government entities, including local school districts, to liquidate their balances … Middleton Superintendent Don Johnson asked State Sen. John Erpenbach “if he had heard anything about specific legislation that would force the district to liquidate its fund balance.”

Erpenbach: “I haven’t heard anything yet … some senators” do believe government entities should have a zero balance at the end of each year.

And who wants these guys in charge of our state finances? Can you say WEDC?

ABC News Honors Teachers in Oklahoma as Persons of the Week.

Remember this the next time you hear snarky conservatives bash teachers as thugs, money grubbing and less than dedicated. Moving and honest, this is what I see in every teacher watching over my sons. Send a link over to trash mouth Vicki McKenna.

The Cliched Bloviating of Conservative Blogger Steve Prestegard.

Listen to the embarrassing stereotype. This was a great moment in radio this morning on WPR’s Joy Cardin program, where guest Steve Prestegard plays the conservative caricature for laughs, I would assume.

Christine Bremer (BREE-mur)-Muggli (MOO-glee), attorney with Bremer & Trollop Law Offices in Wausau and a presidential elector, had all the right answers, good answers. Democrats should learn from her.

Steve Prestegard is described as a “journalist?” Okay, then I am too. He also blogs like me, which means he must be a genius. I will deal with each subject separately, with great answers from both sides...it’s just that Steve had nothing but outright clichés with shades of envy.

First we have a clip of Scott Walker in Iowa, spouting absolute nonsense about getting jobs via losing food stamps. You won't believe this...:

“…you might imagine what they said in Madison. Uhh, the governor hates poor people, he’s making harder to get government assistance. I pushed back right away and said I’m not making it harder to get em assistance, I love the people in my state so much, I’m making it easier to get a job.”

He’s making it easier to get food stamps by taking food away? We're near last in the country for jobs. Brilliantly deceptive. Prestegard loved the idea, based purely on envy. Like all conservative control freaks, “this is a popular notion,” where assistance is money out of their pocket. But they forget when the poor had jobs, they too paid for others peoples food stamps. So why the outrage? Freeloading Republicans hate it when others get something for nothing, especially those with nothing. An appalled Christine Bremer responded by saying it was mean spirited and costly, $16 million taxpayer dollars, and that Walker’s just shifty blame for the state’s bad economy to the poor. True on all counts:



Rent to Own: Prestegard doesn’t believe government should protect the poor from predators. He assumes everyone knows basic math, and should avoid rent to own “like the plague.” If they’re that bad, why allow them or at the least deregulate them? Lunacy. Christine smokes the clueless Prestegard:



Double Dipping: Prestegard assumes public employee pay is always taxpayer money, never theirs. It’s like someone in the private sector not really owning the money they earn, and are told by their employer how to spend it. If Prestegard thinks that’s true, why can’t taxpayers tell legislators how to eat and what they can do in their free time…with our money?

Walker's Vengeance knows no Limit on Milwaukee. Think what he could do as President.

I thought this story was shocking enough when you think of everything Walker and the Republican authority were doing to Milwaukee, but now its just getting desperately bizarre. Police Chief Flynn went ballistic.

Keep in mind what Republican State Sen. Glenn Grothman said about the festering hatred on the right for Milwaukee:

Remember how Republicans hated Madison for knowing what's best for everyone? All that has changed. But this was the last straw for Police Chief Ed Flynn:

jsonline: Police Chief Edward Flynn on Friday blasted Gov. Scott Walker for being anti-urban and the Legislature's budget committee for "gratuitous" decisions that killed a community policing grant for his department and set in motion the departure of the state crime lab from Milwaukee.

"I don't know of a governor anywhere in the country who succeeded in turning his state's economy around by actively facilitating the decline of his biggest city. This isn't like, bad things are happening in Milwaukee and I can't stop it. This is, can I put another stick in the eye of Milwaukee on another issue? It's certainly not good government. There's 600,000 people here. It's not smart economic policy."

"I don't want to be a partisan," Flynn said. "But I'm not blind. This is partisan. Unfortunately, if you happen to be a Milwaukee resident, you must suffer the apparent desperate need of the (Walker) administration to exact political payback on Milwaukee. Because the mayor had the temerity to challenge for the governor's job. What else could it be? I would prefer not to think the Legislature hates us because we live in Milwaukee. I would prefer to not think it was a kind of prejudice against urban challenges and issues. But it's not much more edifying to say, 'OK, you made the political point.'

"Perhaps, you know, the leadership of this city should go to Madison and kiss a ring and bend our knees and say, 'Yes, overlords, please don't hurt us anymore. We're so sorry.' I mean, enough."

Flynn echoed a comment made recently by former mayor John Norquist who said that, without Milwaukee, Wisconsin was basically Iowa. "Maybe he wants us to be Iowa," Flynn said of Walker. "Spending as much time there as he is here."

(Before losing it, the) community policing grant would have provided $445,400 over the next two years to expand the city's ShotSpotter system. The system detects the shock waves from a bullet being fired and transmits that information immediately to the department's communications facility and computers inside squad cars.

Walker to Iowans: "We've laid a "positive" foundation to move Wisconsin forward..." Yeah, we're real happy here!

It's no surprise that even the most outrageous and partisan state Republican legislators can't stomach many of the things Scott Walker wants to pass under his governorship. Truly is irresponsible stuff. But the criticism here is countered by the wild eyed praise of Iowans.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was the keynote speaker before the Polk County GOP

"Make" it go Red? Walker to turn Country Blood Red?

in Iowa Thursday. Using Wisconsin as his conservative model, the governor talked nationally, insisting the GOP must adapt.

"People realize we stood our ground not for some political cause, not just to keep a campaign promise, but because ultimately we wanted to put the power back in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers. We said here's the pathway forward. We've laid a positive foundation to move Wisconsin forward, and people want to continue down that path. We need to do that nationally, as well, which brings me to my second point, we need to be more relevant as Republicans."

Walker did not lay a “positive foundation” forward, unless having the most partisan statewide divide nationally is a model to be admired. Neighbors now hate neighbors and recall records are used as blacklists for potential candidates for office. jsonline's Craig Gilbert wrote:

The state's red-blue divide is a major reason for this consistency. Walker and Obama routinely get 90% approval or higher from voters in their own party, and close to the same level of disapproval from voters in the other party. That guarantees each of them a large, unyielding bloc of support - and a large, unyielding bloc of opposition.

Walker has done the impossible; he got reelected in the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee, and then reelected in a recall. For some reason, those droopy sociopathic eyes are hypnotic, controlling and lovingly deceptive. And now it's working for him in other states too.

Read the following on an empty stomach:

"I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I can imagine that guy being our next president."

"That was very inspiring, and it's a great kick-off to the next election cycle, really, and we agree in Iowa with all of his values," Debbie Heldt said.

"I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I can imagine that guy being our next president," Joel Illian said.

"One of the better aspects is, he actually does what he says he's going to do, and I'm not sure that's so true around the nation," Kevin Zierke said.

One Wisconsin Now was there to spread the word, Walker is a lousy governor on paper. Here's the TV coverage from WBAY:

Republicans don't even like themselves anymore....

Republicans love to be in charge. They're natural political authoritarians. They have great taxpayer supported jobs, free health care and really don't have to do much except shed their responsibilities onto the private sector. They even wanted to pass a new law exempting them from Obamacare. The balls right? Well, not even Republicans can stand themselves anymore:

 Fox News: A move to give lawmakers the right to carry handguns anywhere they wish sparked an angry debate among Republicans in the Texas House on Thursday, with conservatives lambasting their colleagues for giving themselves special privileges.

Regular concealed handgun license holders cannot take their guns into hospitals, churches, bars or onto private property that bans them. When the bill came up in the Texas Senate, lawmakers added themselves to those exempted from the restrictions and sent it back to the House for final passage. Conservative Republicans became enraged.

"My constituents are sick and tired of politicians passing laws that exempt themselves from following the law. We are putting ourselves on an un-level playing field. Do you not know a moral problem with that?" Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, shouted at the House chamber.

My, my, the moral vacuum within the Republican Party is now a problem for…Republicans. I love it.  

Obamacare Slashing Rates in Exchange. High Bidders resubmit to compete.

The title says it all, or at least, is a good lead in to the Washington Post's Ezra Klein article lifted from his email to me. States the went kicking and screaming into health care exchanges will shortchange their citizens. Maybe businesses will relocate to healthier, less costly states? Ya think? Here's Ezra:

Ezra Klein: Obamacare got some very good news on Thursday.

In 2009, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that a medium-level “silver” plan — which covers 70 percent of a beneficiary’s expected health costs — on the California health exchange would cost $5,200 annually. More recently, a report from the consulting firm Milliman predicted it would carry a $450 monthly premium. Yesterday, we got the real numbers. And they’re lower than anyone thought.

Sarah Kliff has the details. The California exchange will have 13 insurance options, and the heavy competition appears to be driving down prices. The most affordable silver-level plan is charging $276-a-month. The second-most affordable plan is charging $294. And all this is before subsidies. Someone making twice the poverty line, say, will only pay $104-a-month.

Sparer plans are even cheaper. A young person buying the cheapest “bronze”-level plan will pay $172 — and that, again, is before any subsidies.

California is a particularly important test for Obamacare. It’s not just the largest state in the nation. It’s also one of the states most committed to implementing Obamacare effectively.

We’re beginning to see competition drive down proposed rates in some exchanges around the country. Remember Maryland, where CareFirst grabbed headlines with a shocking 25 percent proposed increase in rates? Kaiser Permanente is only increasing its rates next year by 4.3 percent, a modest increase that will make CareFirst’s proposal almost impossible to sustain. My guess is when the exchange actually opens in October, CareFirst will have dropped its price substantially. If they don’t, then Kaiser and others will grab all the market share.

The way this competition can drive down rates is already evident in Oregon. There, one insurer came in with monthly premium costs in the $169 range, while other insurers asked to charge more than $400. But then, seeing what their competitors were charging, two insurers came back to the state’s regulators and asked if they could refile at lower rates. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be competitive in the exchange. The Obama administration was ecstatic to see this: It’s exactly what they’re hoping will happen across the country.

Of course, California and Oregon are managing Obamacare particularly well. Imagine it’s the end of 2014. California now boasts a working, near-universal health-care system. Nothing perfect, but clearly a a success after the first year of implementation. 

Texas, meanwhile, is a bit of a mess. They didn’t allow the Medicaid expansion so the state’s poorest residents got nothing. They didn’t help with the exchanges, or the outreach, so there aren’t many choices, and premiums aren’t as low one might hope.

Viewed in isolation, Texas’s problems would be deadly for the law. But viewed next to California, they might mainly be a problem for the political class in Texas, which has failed to implement a clearly workable law.

Scott Walker miffed tea parties were discouraged by IRS. This from the guy supporting voter suppression?

Just to show how bent out of shape conservative opportunists are, wacko Wall Street columnist John Fund tried to jump on the IRS tea party controversy, but instead showed just how big a scam the tax exempt status was for teatards.

But that’s not all, Scott Walker has even weighed in, as he appeals to the easier to convince low information voter we know as teabillies.

Fund is outraged that many tea party groups didn't get the chance to get out the vote. Oops, that’s social welfare and not politics? John Fund must know tea parties could have just filed the paper work, advocating under the radar. He did make it clear tea parties were all about politics, which could end up being exhibit b in the case against allowing any of these groups tax exempt status (including liberal ones).

Here’s what Fund wrote, featuring our very own hot ticket the imperial Scott Walker:

Newsmax: The IRS could be directly to blame for lower voter turnout during the 2012

election after conservative groups were left sidelined by the IRS decision to target them, according to John Fund … it now turns out there may have [been] suppression of the vote after all," he wrote, pointing to a conversation he had with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who said, "It looks like a lot of tea-party groups were less active or never got off the ground because of the IRS actions. Sure seems like people were discouraged by it."

So voting suppressed is good under Walker's view that hoop after hoop be put in place, but tea party costumed freaks and retirees should electioneer tax free with no regulation?

Why did IRS's Lois Lerner plead Fifth Amendment? Hiding something or....

The 5th:

Since dropping the bomb that her division of the IRS had been improperly giving extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, Lois Lerner, head of the IRS Exempt Organizations division, has kept quiet. Tuesday, she made it official,pleading the Fifth at a House Oversight Committee.

But why? We can thank Rep. Darrell Issa. Here's the explanation from Martin Bashir and former House counsel Julian Epstein:

Northwoods Patriots just found out about Common Core, say tougher standards Bad for education! Smarter kids may also cut down on their membership.

Teabilly’s are up in arms over the quick implementation of the Common Core Standards that had been in the planning stages for years, and implemented nationwide over the last three years.

Catching up as usual, the slow low information tea party voter only heard of Common Core after extremist former congressman and now Republican Gov. Mike Pence blocked implementation in Indiana.

Common Core is nothing new and has been in place world wide for years. The U.S. has seen their success rates and have adopted many of the more successful standards. Tea Party dunderheads assume it’s a curriculum, which it is not. They are…”Standards,” it’s right in the name.

WKOW-Greg Neumann: Opponents of new national education standards are hoping to put a stop to them here in Wisconsin, but public school officials say that would be a big mistake. Since 2010, Wisconsin public schools have been working to meet Common Core Standards.  Those are nationwide achievement goals the National Governor's Association established and that 45 states have now adopted.  "They're skill based standards. It’s what kids will be able to demonstrate and how they will be able to apply their knowledge versus just knowing.  That's a pretty big difference," said West Bend Superintendent Ted Neitzke, one of a handful of people invited to speak to the Joint Education Committee.

And wouldn't you know it, Teabillies don’t like the idea of tougher educational standards:

Neitzke says Common Core Standards are much tougher than what Wisconsin had previously. 

Understandably, Wisconsin’s own Northwoods Patriots are having a hard time grasping even the underlying concept of Common Core, not to mention its success rate in countries that are testing much higher than the U.S.. And since it's new, it’s also a work in progress.

But the Northwoods Patriots just noticed something started way back in 2010:

But a group donning T-shirts that read "Stop Common Core" is challenging that idea. "In January when we came to ask 'please can you explain to us what's going on with Common Core Standards?'

I don't often bring up appearances, but just check out the blank look in the CCS opponents face (Kim Simac), and her embarrassingly uninformed observation. She ran unsuccessfully for our state senate:

"In my mind it’s a prototype that was put together and sent out there and we've adopted it without even having anything to go on to prove that it’s going to help our children to excel," said Simac, a member of the Northwoods Patriots tea party group. "This is an old issue for us, we're already mapping into other things," said Neitzke.  "And then to stop the momentum that's been behind it in the State of Wisconsin would be pretty difficult." 

Green Bay Tea Party Protesters Fired their Rifles into Stacks of Paper, angry over IRS targeting.

There's a very good reason why we call tea party members "teatards" or "teabillies." The following recent protest over the IRS's targeting of crooked tea party groups lying to get tax exempt status in Green Bay is exhibit A.

Teabillies aimed their rifles at stacks of paper representing the tax code. I'm utterly speechless. This was a good idea? One teatard whined about the complicated tax code, which by the way was created by big business seeking every loophole possible, all the while wearing a US Bank hat. Maybe he didn't understand what caused the Great Recession? Breathtakingly bizarre and mind numbing, these sheeple will continue to parrot their big donor talking points, oblivious to the world around them.

Watch the accident, from WKOW:

Republican backed Health Savings Accounts and Sequester driving doctors and hospitals out of Medicare.

My conservative friend in Milwaukee likes to blame Obama for making cuts to Medicare that will drive hospitals and doctors out of the program. But Obama and the Republicans are both trying to rein in costs by cutting payments to hospitals and doctors.

But surprise, it looks like Republicans are now in the driver’s seat when it comes to stripping Medicare of provider hospitals and doctors. With their backing of high deductible Health Savings Accounts and the sequester, folly they said would not result in anything dramatic, providers are losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Here's the audio:

Like I've been saying for years because I've had them, HSA’s discourage the insured from seeking care, which is great for insurers but lousy for the sick and medical community.

WPR: Ministry Health Care plans to cut between 225 and 250 full-time-equivalent workers at its 15 hospitals and 47 clinics. In a news release, two factors were cited: high deductible health insurance plans that are keeping people from seeking medical care, and federal sequestration budget cuts, which include a 2 percent reduction in Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians. Ministry officials say those cuts are costing them $10 million.

Steve Brenton, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, says Ministry is not the only medical organization being hurt by sequestration. “We have estimated that the one-year impact of sequestration — these Medicare budget cuts — is about $100 million for Wisconsin's 140 hospitals.”

I actually talked my doctors ear off asking him questions about the fate of Medicare, and he pretty much said the following:

Brenton there's another $30 million dollars in Medicare cuts for the physicians who are employed by those hospitals. He says other Wisconsin medical facilities may have to join Ministry in laying off workers.  “I would not be surprised at all. I know based on anecdotal information that many organizations have implemented targeted hiring freezes. And the bottom line is, if your revenues are going to be down $130 million dollars, it's going to have an impact on your ability to pay for expenses.”

They're Republican Politicians, nobody ever said they'd be good with money or management of an entire state.

Having been a real estate agent, I know the importance of contracts, and my jaw dropped to the floor when I read this:

jsonline: Rent-to-own stores could encourage customers to sign agreements that

included blank spaces that would be filled in later, under a plan by Gov. Scott Walker coming before a key committee Thursday.

If this is anything, it’s a lesson for voters who put to much faith into completely unqualified elected officials. These guys couldn't do anything else, so they got into freeloading small government politics.

The following will make you gasp.

The provision is one of several in the Republican governor's 2013-'15 budget bill that would weaken consumer protections for those who shop at rent-to-own stores, such as potentially keeping spouses from learning of contracts they were liable for and preventing state regulators from shutting down stores that intentionally violated disclosure laws.

A liberal Democratic and conservative Republican lawmaker on opposite sides of the overall rent-to-own provision both criticized the blank spaces section in the bill Wednesday, suggesting it might be changed.

"Oh my God, that is a horrendously bad idea," said Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee), a member of the Legislature's budget committee. "You're asking people to sign a blank check."

Currently, state law requires that a statement appear on rent-to-own contracts and other credit agreements that says, "Do not sign this before you read the writing on the reverse side, even if otherwise advised. Do not sign this if it contains any blank spaces. You are entitled to an exact copy of any agreement you sign." That requirement would go away under Walker's proposal, according to a detailed analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Consumers can wind up paying as much as 500% more than what they would if they bought the products outright with cash, according to the state Department of Financial Institutions.

Dumb Ron Johnson must be Fired!!! Says He'll vote Against Oklahoma Aid without Budget Cuts.

The ego enveloped arrogance of Dumb Ron Johnson is just too much to take anymore. Did Wisconsinites vote for this kind of unencumbered cruelty in pursuit of a balanced budget?

WSJ; Several Republican senators said that the cost of any emergency aid bill crafted to provide aid to people affected by the enormous tornado that touched down in Oklahoma Monday must be offset by cuts elsewhere to the federal budget to defray costs to the taxpayer.

Conservative GOP senator Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) said that any emergency aid bill must include matching spending cuts to ensure there is no increase in the budget deficit.

“We should be able to find plenty of areas in the budget to offset that,” said Mr. Johnson, a tea-party backed lawmaker from Wisconsin. “I would vote against a bill that didn’t include offsets.”

This ABC video summary should tell you everything you need to know about Johnson's detached irrational response. One more thing, anyone want to continue to beat up on teachers?:

Esquire Magazine gets it right: "Scott Walker Holds a Yard Sale!!!"

How could I not pass this wonderful story along....

Esquire: We haven't looked in recently on the activities of Scott Walker, the twice-elected goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin. It seems that he and his pet legislature has decided to put what's left of the state's public patrimony out on card tables in the driveway to see who pulls up the old minivan to haul it away.

What could possibly go wrong there? And if there really is an explanation for how negotiations with a single buyer can be competitive that does not include the phrase, "schizophrenic episode," I'd like to hear it.

The plan has generated fierce opposition from supporters of the University of Wisconsin System, who say allowing the sale of UW buildings without the approval of the Board of Regents could be detrimental … Student unions, built with student fees, are central to student life, as are residence halls that also potentially could be sold under the governor's proposal, said Matt Guidry, communications director for United Council of UW Students. 

Go to sleep in your dorm. Wake up in a Taco Bell. Sounds like a plan. From WKOW: 

Even some of the Republicans in the pet legislature seem to think this plan is dangerously ill-conceived. Oh, and the $8 billion debt that this bill is supposed to address? That is not exactly hard to explain, either (jsonline: “Scott Walker's budget to lower income tax rates, freeze local aid”)

Double Dipping good for Schools, Bad for Teacher hating Republicans.

Taking further aim at the teaching profession, Republicans hate it so much when teachers collect benefits earned previously and get them after going back to work for less, that they want to penalize them or just stop them completely. We're talking just 2,800 employees. Worth it?

jsonline: Public workers would have to wait longer, 75 days after retirement before they could return to the government workforce and in some cases would be barred from receiving retirement benefits while working the new job, under a double-dipping provision Republicans on the Legislature's budget committee … The measure passed 12-4, with all Republicans voting for it and all Democrats voting against it.  

This will cost taxpayers...of course, like everything else base on pure ideology. They are the great envious judges of unfairness.

It seems almost everything Scott Walker and his "pet legislature" is doing is costing taxpayers more and more. Job training for FoodShare will cost taxpayers $26 million a year, turning down Medicaid expansion will cost $73 million, not to mention businesses paying up to $36 million a year for employees, interest on borrowed road construction costs and interest, costly changes to voting regulations, public schools raising taxes to make up for lost voucher money...that's just a sample. And then on top of that, he wants to throw away the upcoming internet sales tax revenue on cutting income taxes even more.

And when we go from feast to famine...how's that going to work out? 

Taxpayers Spend $26 million a year more to Penalize FoodShare Recipients.

We've already covered this part of the plan for draconian FoodShare cut backs:

jsonline: Requiring basic job training from able-bodied participants in the state's food stamp program would cause about half of them to drop out of the program — a total of tens of thousands of people statewide and 14,500 in just Milwaukee.

But did you know it will actually cost taxpayers $26 million a year? And state government will see no financial gain. WPR’s Shawn Johnson:

End Entitlements: Isn't it time to cut a child’s dependence on Free or Reduced School Lunches?

What does it mean when more kids are eligible for free or reduced school lunches? It says their parents incomes are falling behind, or they’re not working at all. So is this the time to cut back on FoodShare? Get tougher on unemployment job searches? Dump families off Badgercare?

This is what Walker meant by turning out State Red?

If you’re Scott Walker, yes. Who hasn't been angered by the following irresponsible and inappropriate argument Walker gave for achieving "freedom?" When he repeats, "not because we...kick them out to the street...to the curb," it's an acknowledgement that that's exactly what will happen, and he's okay with that.

Walker: "We measure success in government by just the opposite: by how many fewer people are dependent on government, not because we kicked them out to the street, not because we pushed then out to the curb, but because we understand that true freedom and prosperity come when we empower people to take control of their own lives and their own destinies." 

These are destinies that empower people as they live on the “street,” or off to the “curb.”

The truth is, free and reduced school lunches shines a bright light on what real prosperity is…Walker style; low wages and lousy desperate jobs.

WPR: The larger numbers of students in Wisconsin receiving free and reduced-price school meals has increased for the ninth straight school year. Over 43 percent of public school students in the state qualified for subsidized breakfast and lunch this school year - up nearly a percent from last year. Ten years ago, (it was) around 30 percent. 110 Wisconsin school districts now have 50 percent or more of their students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That's out of a total of 414 districts in the state that participate in the National School Lunch Program. 

Tea Party Thugs Enlist Knucklehead Rep. Don Pridemore to Push for 5 foot Voter Intimidation Bill.

One of the dumbest guys in our state assembly, Rep. Don Pridemore, is proposing the ultimate in what appears to be an outright voter intimidation bill. In his view, election observers need to be closer to voters at every stage of the process, close enough to get names and addresses or make the experience

Poll Observer? 

itself very unpleasant.

Current law allows conservative whack jobs to shout at you from 6-12 feet away; Pridemore moves that up to only 5 feet away (originally he wanted 3 feet).

Racine’s experience during the recall elections should have been a warning to everyone, but it wasn't. Shouting matches, conflicting eye witness accounts, conspiracy theories about voter fraud…what’s not to like? 

This is only the beginning of in-your-face bullying tactics surrounding elections. These are tactics you’d expect to see in third world nations.

WPR: The bill sponsored by Rep. Don Pridemore (R-Erin) originally allowed election observers to be within three feet. He's now pushed it back (to 5) feet. But for some, that's still too close. Pewaukee election clerk Nancy Zastrow says poll workers need elbow room. But an election board commissioner in Milwaukee, Bob Spindell, supports the bill: “When somebody can't see what's going on they immediately think fraud, problems, et cetera.”

Ah, that's why we have election officials...never mind. We’re not talking about liberal poll observers either; both sides don’t do it. The question is, why do "they" need to “see what’s going on?”  

Democrats on the Assembly election committee repeatedly asked anyone mentioning or asserting fraud to verify how widespread it is. During the 2012 election, Milwaukee County prosecuted only 10 people for voter fraud. The election commission director for Milwaukee, Neil Albrecht, told lawmakers this is problematic: “Observing their production of confidential documents is concerning and intimidating, particularly in an era of increasing awareness of identity theft.”

Why not have gun purchase observers too? 

Why do women keep Going out with Men?

I was just fascinated by this article by Shawn Bean, a great columnist for Parenting Magazine. He writes the Pop Culture section, and if like this, he's got more of the same at his site.

Why Do Women Even Start Families With Men? By Shawn Bean

Over the past five years, sperm banks have emerged as one of America’s biggest growth industries, to the tune of $320 million in annual revenue. California Cryobank, one of the largest sperm banks in the country, is doing all kinds of things to woo potential clients, including letting them shop for sperm donors based on the celebrities they resemble. As a byproduct of the unimaginable crimes allegedly perpetrated by a man in Cleveland, I’m betting that California Cryobank adds a few more zeroes to its next quarterly earnings report. I’m betting that more and more women start acing men out of the family planning process.

And well they should.

In his last HBO stand-up comedy special, Louis CK makes a funny but astute point about women dating men. “How do women still go out with guys, when you consider that there is no greater threat to women than men? We’re the number one threat to women. Globally and historically, we’re the number one cause of injury and mayhem to women… You know what the number one threat [to men] is? Heart disease.”

Sad but true. One in 6 women have experienced stalking victimization, compared to 1 in 19 men. Nearly 1 in 5 women report experiencing rape at some time in their lives. (For men, it’s 1 in 71.) Men are the child sex abusers in 86 percent of the cases reported against boys and 94 percent of the cases reported against girls. In cases of non-family-related abductions, 86 percent of the kidnappers are male, and the victims are almost exclusively female. In 80 percent of intimate partner homicides, no matter which partner was killed, the man physically abused the woman before the murder. The murder of women is so common it has its own term: Femicide. There is no mascucide.

Headline News recently asked the question: why is the Jodi Arias trail so popular with moms? Because for women, it’s like watching the trial of a golden-mantled tree kangaroo, or some other endangered species. It’s simply something they never see. Try this exercise: Think of all the men who have been tried and/or convicted of murdering a woman or multiple women. Run out of fingers yet? Now try the same exercise with women who have killed men. OK, let’s see. Arias. That woman Charlize Theron portrayed in Monster. Uhhh….

When it comes to scaring, threatening, killing, or causing bodily harm to the opposite sex, men are the New York Yankees, and women are a middle school intramural squad who have to borrow their cleats and jerseys. Yet women continue to go on first dates with us. They keep friending us. They haven’t stopped saying, “I do.” And most amazingly, they still start families with us.

These kinds of violent behaviors are passed down like burdensome heirlooms. Consider this: Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults. It must be the men and fathers here today who break the cycle, and raise sons free of the horror that preceded them. It’s either that, or one day California Cryobank stock will be soaring alongside Apple and Google.

With all that Campaign Money pouring in, where are all the jobs?

Republicans enjoy corporate campaign contributions so much they aren't ashamed to show their appreciation. With mining deregulation passed into law, and a thriving unregulated frac sand industry kickin' up dust, Wisconsin must be hiring like crazy?

If Wisconsin's unemployed aren't getting family supporting jobs, Walker's lousy record must be paying off in other ways:

Those were big increases in 2012

You were warned about Walker....

Oh my god......

Sen. Darling knows what's in the public's best interest.... 

Remember this simple cartoon?

For the record, the full context:

jsonline: The proposal — passed on a party-line, 12-4 vote — is so sweeping that it would allow Walker and lawmakers to sell the state Capitol, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau told the Joint Finance Committee. "I am just shocked we're talking about this," Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) said. "The scope of this is breathtaking."

But the committee's co-chairwoman, Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), said legislators would assure any sales are in the public's best interest. "There's not a chance this committee would sell the Capitol. Let's get real," she said. "Let's please stick to reality."

The plan was folded into the state budget, which the Legislature plans to take up next month. It will then go to Walker, who can rewrite parts of it with his broad veto powers. Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha) noted that Walker has vast veto powers and could remove all legislative oversight of the sales from the proposal this summer. Walker and his successors would be able to pursue such sales.

I'm sure this is reassuring:

The administration has said it does not have current plans to sell highways, prisons, university dormitories or other properties that provide public services.  

"Our precious state assets are not fodder for Craigslist," said a statement from Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee). 

Drawing much of the debate has been the proposal to sell 33 heating, cooling and power plants, saying doing so would saddle the state with higher day-to-day operational costs. The state would have to contract with the buyers of the plants for their output. Critics have said that would likely drive up costs because the new owners would charge prices that left them room for a profit.

This final thought from Sen. Fred Risser:

 “The Legislative Fiscal Bureau noted in its analysis that ‘The legislature would be forgoing any future ability to review these decisions and determine whether such sales or leases would be in the long-term best interest of the state.’”

Zach Sobiech's "Clouds"

This announcement was just made:

Hudson Patch: Zach Sobiech, the teen who was known for his song "Clouds," has died of bone cancer. He was a senior at Stillwater Area High School (in Minnesota).

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our son, Zachary David Sobiech, a statement from Sobiech’s family reads. "Our family has been blessed, not only by his amazing presence in our lives, but also by the love and support of our family and friends and by so many people in the community. In particular we’d like to thank those people who listened with their hearts and helped Zach bring his message and his music to the world.”

Sobiech became an Internet sensation with his song "Clouds," which went viral on YouTube in November, garnering about 3 million views.

Here's Zach's unbelievably catchy the song:

Zach turned 18 years old today (May 3rd, 2013) Zach's song, 'Clouds' is available on iTunes and other online music stores and that proceeds benefit the Zach Sobiech Research Fund of Children's Cancer Research Fund. http://www.childrenscancer.org/zach

The Walker wrecking ball continues to swing….Child Support next for cuts, Costing Taxpayers over $20 Million a Year.

UPDATE 11:14 pm: Even partisan knuckle dragging Republican legislators couldn't stomach the cost and cruelty of our wannabee presidential candidate Scott Walker's plan for going easy on child support enforcement. The ol' droopy eyed sociopath lost a big one.

The GOP co-chairs of the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee, Rep. John Nygren of Marinette and Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills, made the motion Tuesday to reject the budget cuts proposed for child support enforcement by Gov. Scott Walker and to reverse cuts made in a previous budget bill. The proposal will be included in the full budget bill going next month to the Legislature and then to Walker for his signature or vetoes.

Always the remember the original intent of these bills, it's what they would really do unrestrained.
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From over spending on a DOT building, to sticking taxpayers with higher Medicaid costs, this next series of cuts will just throw more children onto the public dole and cost taxpayers $23 million more a year.

jsonline: As state lawmakers consider cutting local child support enforcement by 25% next year … Joint Finance Committee set to consider the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Scott Walker … The previous funding cuts are already having an effect on the state system designed to help lift children out of poverty and reduce costs to taxpayers by ensuring that parents with the means, and not taxpayers, are the ones providing medical care and other needs for those children.

“The county agencies have unfortunately reached a point where decreased funding jeopardizes our ability to meet federal program requirements," wrote Janet Nelson, president of the enforcement association made up of county officials from around the state. "The even greater cut in the proposed budget will result in the further decline of the... program's competitive position nationally, imperiling over $12 million in (federal) funds."

But what’s a few million when you’re making government smaller:

The latest statewide cut in Walker's 2013-'15 budget bill — $4.3 million statewide in overall federal and state money — would fall hard on Milwaukee … If the program is cut further, state taxpayers will have to spend more state health programs and will lose millions of dollars in federal incentive payments for both child support enforcement and other aid to needy families. The first people affected by that drop are the children for whom the enforcement efforts help ensure income and health coverage.

For every $1 spent on the state's child support programs in 2011, the state collected $6.44 … in 2012 there were nearly 38,700 children eligible for state health coverage who were receiving private insurance because of the work of child support officers around the state. Covering those children through state programs would have cost state taxpayers an estimated $23 million a year and cost federal taxpayers $35 million a year, according to figures from Milwaukee County and the Wisconsin Child Support Enforcement Association.

It doesn't make sense to do what Walker’s doing, but right now, few are willing to criticize or call anything he does into question because he's hot for the presidency. 

We need an even bigger tax cut? Walker Spends and Borrows away our Kids Futures, again, this time on DOT building.

The budget debacle is playing out for everyone to see, including those diehard "stand with Walker" supporters.

The title may be a little shameful hyperbole, but it’s just what Republicans would be saying if the shoe were on the other foot.

Media Trackers Trashes Walker. From the right wing echo chamber, I found this surprising criticism from Media Trackers. This proves that Walker is like every other big government conservative, thirsty for dominating power, and not the least bit worried about smaller government or taxpayer dollars.

Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, was not known for his frugality in state government. But it appears that the Doyle administration calculated it could build a new office building for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for about a quarter of the cost of a building being proposed by Governor Scott Walker’s administration.

The state budget submitted by Walker to the legislature seeks approval for a new $200 million facility  … In 2005, the Department of Administration estimated that the cost of replacing the DOT headquarters would be $32 million. Walker’s budget increases that amount by $146.6 million with a projected timeline that calls for the building to be completed by July of 2017. The total cost of the building would be $196.6 million. The proposed new facility would have … only 15 more parking stalls that would be in a newly built parking garage. That means that after spending nearly $200 million on a palatial new office space, 1,900 government workers would have to find a way to share 1,500 parking stalls, never mind the parking needed to accommodate visitors to the building … it remains to be seen whether or not the Joint Finance Committee will sign off on the item in the state budget.

Republican legislators both on and off the committee have express deep concern over the amount of debt spending found in the budget. 

Instinctively, Republicans have been trying to tear down government for so long, they've forgotten how to manage it.

Walker’s Death Panel Policy: Starve the hungry, let the sick die.

When you hear the decree “Those who need the programs most” is essentially Scott Walker handing down a death sentence. A person’s access to food dies if you don’t grovel at a menial job or get empty job training for 20 hours a week.

What we're talking about here is FoodShare changes that'll cost state taxpayers, do little for employing anyone, and starve the jobless. "Those who need the program most" will still get food stamps we're told.

You've heard other Republicans use this same logic before: Health care under Medicaid is only for "those who need the program most;" if you’re not ultra poor enough, health care goes away and you gamble with your life. Of course, you can just go out and get a job after the Great Recession. Despite there being a lack of jobs, go out and get one anyway.

This Republican cruel streak is getting little media notice because most conservative’s envy the poor’s extravagant living arrangement. They have refrigerators, cars...a phone. They never think that they too are one health care event or job loss away from joining the huddled frightened masses.  

Paul Ryan has described his plans for Social Security and Medicare as safety “hammocks” that must be saved for “those who need the programs most.”  

I've noticed the pattern, anyone else? Republicans are so caring, gracious and humane. The voiceless poor who are dropped from these programs will just fade away and never be heard from again, and Republicans will say see, we saved taxpayer money and nothing horrible happened.

Requiring a job — or basic training for one — from able-bodied participants in the state's food stamp program would cause about half of them to drop out, a total of tens of thousands of people statewide and 14,500 in Milwaukee, according to a new report. The new projections come from the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office, which last week released its analysis of Gov. Scott Walker's plan to require 62,700 able-bodied adults without children in Wisconsin's FoodShare program to work or attend bare-bones job training. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau puts the cost of implementing the program at $35.8 million over two years, including $16.8 million for state taxpayers, and the rest by federal taxpayers. As part of the move, 36 state jobs would be added. The federal government won't allow benefits to be cut off if training doesn't continue to be made available to those affected by the provision.

Here's great audio from WPR's Shawn Johnson, and Rep. Cory Mason's poignant observation:

"Taking their food away isn't going to make the job opportunities and the skills gap any less real...it's just going to make more people, more hungry."  

Make sense? I wish more Democrats could be this honest in our legislature when Republicans trot out food rationing. Here's two other comments that hit the mark:

Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, said there wasn't much research to support the idea that the amount of training provided under the proposal would boost participants' employment.

"I don't think that training was the point of this," Peacock said. "It's making them jump through hoops to weed out people."

Sherrie Tussler, executive director of Hunger Task Force, said she expected as many as 70% of current FoodShare recipients to leave the program, "Starving the unemployed doesn't make them go away and doesn't make our communities better places to live."

Walker’s response: Spokesman Tom Evenson said, "The governor's proposal provides a safety net for those who need it most."