Big Problem: Democratic agenda holds winning hand, but still loses elections.

This is an odd one. Republican Bruce Bartlett put together the following tweet storm reconstructed here with links proving just how inept the Democratic Party is convincing the public they want the same thing as them. The incredible number of issues Americans want and Democrats support makes you wonder how Republicans keep winning elections (besides gerrymandering and voter suppression, which may now be a bigger factor than ever imagined).

This twitter exchange explains...

The following exchange reflects the same ridiculous argument Gov. candidate Kathleen Vinehout repeated that stopped me cold:

Following is a list of good Democratic issues in no order.

(1) End gerrymandering.

(2) Raise taxes on the wealthy.

3) Limit campaign spending.

4) Constitutional amendment to outlaw Citizens United decision.

(5) Make voting easier with automatic registration and early voting.

(6) Support gun control.

7) Protect the environment & take concrete actions against global warming.

(8) Allow felons to vote if they have served their full sentence.

(9) End or restrict payday lending.

3 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of payday lenders. Yes, even used car salesmen and Wall Street banks are more well-liked than payday lenders. The entire business model of payday lending is based on trapping people in cycles of debt that they cannot escape, all the while forcing them to pay exorbitant fees and interest rates. 

(10) Spend more money on public works.

(
11) Support DACA.

(12) Fix student debt problem.

(13) Prioritize production of alternative energy such as solar over fossil fuels such as coal/GOP or Dems:

(14) Fight corruption by the president, Congress and government officials.

(15) Oppose foreign government interference in US elections.

(16) Force presidents to release their tax returns.

American voters say 67 – 24 percent that President Donald Trump should publicly release his tax returns, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll (FEB '18). Every listed party, gender, education, age and racial group, except Republicans, says Trump should release his tax returns.

(17) Guaranteed government job for all who want one.

(18) Increase regulation of tech companies & social media to protect privacy.

(19) Raise pay for teachers.

(20) Legalize marijuana.

(21) Oppose tariffs & trade protectionism.

(
22) Support paid family & medical leaver for workers.

(23) Support labor unions.

(24) Support prison reform.

(24) Support prison reform:

87 percent of Americans agree that some of the money being spent on locking up nonviolent offenders should be shifted to alternatives like electronic monitoring, community service and probation. 65 percent support fair chance hiring, and 87 percent of voters strongly support replacing mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent offenders with a system that allows judges more discretion. 85 percent agree that the main goal should be rehabilitating people.

(25) Single-payer health insurance for all.

Now, what will Democrats do knowing this? Fold em and walk away? 

(link: http://pollingreport.com/ed.htm)

Scott Walker abandons Wisconsin Businesses under Trump Trade War Attacks.

It's surreal to see how those feverish right-wing capitalists love it when Trump attacks another successful American business. My guess as to why? Many don't like or just don't want to understand the reality of the global marketplace.

Sadly for us, our insulated from reality career politician Scott Walker has an unwavering focus pushing free-market political theory not found in any other industrialized country in the world. Just as bad, "small government" voters go along with being ignored by their representatives, get nothing in return, and are then asked to suck it up and endure hardship while Trump rolls out thoughtless impulsive trade policies. Like Walker's approval of those damaging tariffs on dairy, soybeans, Harley-Davidson etc. Walker believes "leader" Trump must know what he's doing:

Walker praised Trump's negotiating position during a luncheon with other governors at the White House. "The best thing you said at the G7 is the ultimate goal is let's just get rid of all tariffs," Walker told Trump. "You were brilliant to point that out. That's the ultimate answer."

Of course, it's not going to be Walker struggling to keep the family farm or that steady family sustaining middle-class job.

Never directly addressing the Trump trade war problem for Wisconsin business, predictably, our "unintimidated" governor is now kissing up and praising Trump. It wasn't so long ago...



Yet Harley workers reaction to Trump's tariffs affecting their job? "Surrender" and "jaw-dropping" come to mind. (NPR audio):



Piggybacking off that clip from a previous blog post, NPR's Marketplace brought up the Harley workers shocking reaction with this analysis. (NPR audio):

Analyst: "There's this overriding sense among many Trump supporters that I've heard that the president must know what he's doing, and what he's saying has to be right."

Jobs/Taxpayers on Hook for Trump Trade War Problem: Raising Harley's prices and moving jobs overseas is just the beginning. It will get even worse for Wisconsin taxpayers, who might be funding another "carrot" from Rep. Robin Vos:

"I would prefer to use more of a carrot approach to say what can we do to make sure you stay here as opposed to a stick."

Here's a screen-capture of Trump tweets about Harley-Davidson. Insane?:

Chris Hayes' guest Dan Dicker talked about Harley and Wisconsin cheese in this segment dealing with Trump's trade war:

AG Brad Schimel feverishly working toward dropping everyone with Preexisting Conditions.

That 19 to 29 percent of unwavering mouthbreathing Trump supporters appears to represent a gathering of the "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" club.

Remember when Trump's willing dupes believed high deductibles in the ACA's Marketplace Exchanges was just like having no insurance at all because no one could afford to pay those high out-of-pocket costs?

Yet in direct contradiction to that talking point, and I'm not making this up, Republicans are actually trying to make those unaffordable HSA high deductible plans (with no limits), our go-to free market health care system. The thinking is, HSA's high deductibles will eventually price most sick people out of seeking care (self-rationing). Problem solved? If they're going to "die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." -Scrooge

(Trump Party) lawmakers in a House Ways and Means health subcommittee hearing on Wednesday looked at ways to expand use of health savings accounts ... pushed for laxer HSA rules ... Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) suggested "HSAs don't do anything to relieve prices." Industry employers and insurers urged lawmakers to expand consumer-directed plans that pair HSAs with high-deductible coverage. 

And we'll be able to thank Scott Walker and AG Brad Schimel's lawsuit to repeal the ACA for forcing us to take whatever money we saved on taxes and give it to insurers, doctors, and hospitals. And yes, this is all part of Trump's empty/broken promise to provide complete and affordable health care to every American.

The Preexisting Condition Death Certificate: Showing just how much they didn't understand the old unpopular health care system before the ACA, Trump Party Republicans for some reason want to go back to the good old days of losing insurance and bankruptcies.  WPR:

Schimel said his office was taking the lead on a multi-state suit that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act, a move he conceded would end protections for people with preexisting conditions.

Schimel: "Without the individual mandate it all fails. It's not going to be able to stand. We've asked the court to stay Obamacare across the board."

...he said with a detached sense of glee.



Oh, and Schimel's sense of urgency to finally rid the state of our costly and devasting opioid crisis? 

Schimel said he would only join a multi-state lawsuit against opioid manufacturers as a last resort.

I know it's crazy, but Democrats think health care should be a shared group cost for every American, where no one goes bankrupt, drains their kid's college savings, or dies prematurely because they can't afford it. It's the kind of socialism Republicans say will destroy our country, right? Democratic AG candidate Josh Kaul took issue with Schimel's "logic."

"Our current Attorney General has made clear that he’s just fine with having health-insurance companies deny coverage to people because they have a pre-existing condition. I’m not. Our AG should be working to improve the lives of Wisconsinites, not using our tax dollars to try to put more power into the hands of health-insurance companies."

Here's a great list of reasons why this is so important:

Long Hot Summer Destination...

How bad was it? Walker and Schimel's grab at "breathtaking power" stopped by stacked conservative State Supreme Court!!!

State Superintendent and gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers was an election year target of Scott Walker's, and Walker almost got away with it. 

The one perfect example of just how extreme our mild-mannered, super relaxed, sleepy-eyed governor Scott Walker really is reads like something out of a third world country.

Seriously, this is what's possible under an arrogant unapologetic one-party Republican regime. Talk about stacking the deck:

JS: Walker had tried to block Evers from picking his own lawyer to defend him in a lawsuit filed by a conservative law firm challenging Evers' authority to write his own education policies. And Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel had assigned Department of Justice lawyers who disagreed with Evers' stance in the case. But the conservative-controlled court said Evers could not be required to be represented by DOJ and that Walker is not a party to the case.

Having loaded the supreme court with conservative activist justices sympathetic to Walker's far right-wing agenda, Walker's chest pounding over partisan wins became almost predictable. Only obvious cases of desperate overreach had any chance of failure, and that finally happened. The court was astonishingly blunt:

The court said accepting DOJ's argument "would foist upon Evers and DPI an attorney they do not want (and have discharged), taking a position with which they do not agree," prompting ethical implications for DOJ attorneys and give Schimel "breathtaking power."

"It would potentially make the attorney general a gatekeeper for legal positions taken by constitutional officers, such as the governor or justices of this court sued in their official capacity," the court wrote. "DOJ's position would not allow a constitutional officer to take a litigation position contrary to the position of the attorney general. We decline to adopt this view."

Unethical legal conflicts and authoritarian control by the AG is not a problem for the 3 super conservative activists, who don't see minor matters like these as roadblocks, suggesting Evers should just go to majority Republicans in the legislature and get the law changed. Amazing?: 

Justices Rebecca Bradley, Michael Gableman and Daniel Kelly disagreed with the court's decision. In their dissent, Bradley said no Wisconsin law gives Evers the power to hire or fire a DOJ attorney.

"The constitution creates the role of a state Superintendent and gives the superintendent authority to supervise public instruction. That is all the constitution confers upon the superintendent," Bradley wrote. She said if Evers does not like state laws on how state agencies are represented, "he should take it up with the Legislature to amend them."

Scott Walker silent on "Moron" Trump's decision to smear and destroy Harley-Davidson.

Scott Walker couldn't be bothered with the humanitarian crisis on our border, but when it comes to money, he's all mouth. Like Walker's favorite state-based businesses Harley-Davidson, featured in a campaign ad:

Nope, not a motorcycle guy!

Walker rides his Harley and asks the viewer, "Are you with me?"

Trump made fun of Walker for his love of motorcycles during the presidential race. At a rally in Janesville in 2016, Trump said: "He doesn't look like a motorcycle guy to me. I'm sorry."

But Walker's now an in the tank member of the Trump Party, and despite Trump forcing Wisconsin's own Harley-Davidson to move some manufacturing to Thailand due to a reckless trade war with Europe, Walker hasn't mentioned one word about Harley losing $100 million a year on Twitter.

Trump has decided to move on from destroying Amazon to destroying Harley Davidson...

The EU began imposing tariffs Friday on $3.2 billion worth of American goods, including motorcycles ... "Consequently, EU tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles exported from the U.S. have increased from six percent to 31 percent ... tariffs will result in approximately $2,200 per average motorcycle exported from the U.S. to the EU." ... the company is going to take a bath ... "The incremental cost for the remainder of 2018 ... $30 to $45 million. On a full-year basis, the aggregate annual impact ... approximately $90 to $100 million."

BREAKING: We could have predicted this...Trump the moron:

Trump Party Republicans Whine: But conservative hack Brian Fraley is feeling the same pain we all feel from what is typically theoretical reckless policy churned out daily by his party. Aligator tears:

Well, this is Uncomfortable: On Thursday Scott Walker will be happily shaking hands with Trump and breaking ground for Foxconn. Walker doesn't appear to be so "Unintimidated" anymore. WISC:

Walker has avoided directly criticizing Trump on the issue, repeatedly saying instead that no tariffs would be good for Wisconsin manufacturers and farmers. He hasn't spelled out what he would do ... "Governor Walker believes there should be no tariffs or trade barriers as the President stated earlier this month at the G7 summit," Walker spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg said.

Harley's workers and Trump supporters not just on board, but okay with Job Losses: I hope you're sitting down. NPR interviewed Harley workers in Menomonie Falls, an unhappy bunch at best and hardcore Trumpsters okay with tariffs, trade wars, losing their jobs, and other reckless impulses emanating from the White House. Your heart will sink...(audio):

Some workers at the company could end up losing their jobs as a result. But they don't necessarily blame President Trump for what's happened.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also featured Harley workers comments that held true to Trump, willingly accepting his simpleton solutions to complex trade policy, hoping for magic.

Harley owner and enthusiast Robert Miranda, who is founder of the the Milwaukee chapter of the Latin American Motorcycle Association, has plenty of opinions on the situation. "I don't appreciate that this government is forcing me as an individual to start rethinking my loyalty to an American brand," he said, adding that Harley-Davidson is "a brand that I have always trusted and have always respected and have admired. That's being done by a government that right now seems to have its head up its butt on what's going on with international trade," Miranda said. "I think Harley is doing what Harley needs to do to survive, although I think Harley is also taking advantage a little bit of what's going on. But, this is a corporation, and corporations are about the bottom line."

Veteran Harley owner Ted Palmatier loves his bike but stands firmly in Trump's corner in this fight. "It's American iron and that’s how people who buy the brand, ride the brand, enjoy the brand see it,” said Palmatier, of Cudahy. 

Seriously, try to imagine the following amazing statement if President Obama started trade wars and hurt a treasured Wisconsin company like Harley-Davidson:

"We control what we can control," said Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. "What Wisconsin can control here is the ability to take a step forward in transforming our economy with an investment in one of the best digital technology players in the world. On the flip side, we're very cognizant of our homegrown global leaders like Harley-Davidson. So we want to make sure that Harley can participate in a fair trade environment."

One more unrelated comment I think we should be motivated by:

Scott Walker Immigration/Dairy Farmers/Cheese/Tariff War contradictions catch up to him...

For the first time in a long time, the actual media picked on a major subtly and contradiction Scott Walker has been successfully using for years. It was right there in the first two paragraphs of a Wisconsin State Journal article by Matthew DeFour:

Gov. Scott Walker has refused twice in as many weeks to comment on President Donald Trump’s recent immigration pronouncements, saying both times they are a federal issue.

In plenty of other cases the governor has commented on national matters, including Monday when he took issue with Trump on tariffs and in April when he praised Trump’s border policies.

It also looks like Walker really had no plans to help Wisconsin's huge dairy industry now suffering from tariffs and immigrant labor shortages. Even this might wake a few Walker supporters up:

“Obviously, tariffs we just talked about are a federal issue, but they directly impact the businesses in the state of Wisconsin,” Walker said.

When it was pointed out that immigrant labor has a major impact on the state’s dairy industry and Walker’s own re-election campaign has used the deployment of Wisconsin National Guard troops to the border in online ads, Walker continued to resist taking a position on immigration.

“I’ve got my hands full with things here in Wisconsin,” Walker said. “I could comment on every single thing in the federal government and it might be good for the media for stories, but that’s not what I’m elected to do.”

Check out this story about the 2nd Annual Wisconsin Cheese day event featuring Scott Walker, who again, can't or won't connect the dots between immigration, dairy, and cheese:



How over-the-line is Walker on immigration?

Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted last week after ordering four Maryland National Guard members and their helicopter away from the border: “Immigration enforcement efforts should focus on criminals, not separating innocent children from their families.”

Scott Walker missed the whole moral compass thing when he became a "career politician," plowing ahead relentlessly instituting strick ideologically driven political theory while never understanding complicated common sense real-world solutions. It was an ends-justify-the-means divide and conquer strategy that worked, playing off resentment, envy, freeloading, and race. His political infestation continues with his taxpayer raised sons who have also learned how to freeload off our political system.

"Wow!" The beacon of light just went out in America!

When Republicans got away with holding up Obama's supreme court nomination and were rewarded in the elections for doing it, you kinda got a bad feeling about the future. Well, welcome to that future.

I tweeted this: "I'm assuming that quality of life got a whole lot better for Trump Party voters, now what's your excuse?"  Who would have thought the white nationalist Trump travel ban would get a big thumbs up from EVERY conservative justice, rationalizing away and rejecting the religious discrimination claims.

Like many of their other conservative activist decisions, the court selectively rejected the more unlikable fact: 

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion,  that presidents have substantial power to regulate immigration. He also rejected the challengers' claim of anti-Muslim bias.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the minority, "History will not look kindly on the court's misguided decision today, nor should it ... a reasonable observer would conclude that the Proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus." (The majority arrived at the opposite result by) "ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering the Proclamation inflicts upon countless families and individuals, many of whom are United States citizens." Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan also dissented.

Twitter woke up abruptly this morning:

This was on top of a major Texas gerrymandering decision, ignored by the media, hinting at how it will eventually decide the Wisconsin case:

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld nearly all aspects of a Texas redistricting plan adopted in 2013, ruling that lower courts went too far in concluding that the maps were tainted by an intent to discriminate against Latino voters. The 5-4 decision split the court along its usual ideological lines. The vote tracked with the justices' decision last September to temporarily block the lower court’s ruling requiring the maps to be withdrawn.

Justice Sotomayer had this dissenting response:

"The Court today goes out of its way to permit the State of Texas to use maps that the three-judge District Court unanimously found were adopted for the purpose of preserving the racial discrimination that tainted its previous maps," she wrote.

Back to today's decision, here's more of Roberts decision exhibiting a big glob of authoritarianism:

Roberts said, "the government has set forth a sufficient national security justification to survive. Because there is persuasive evidence that the entry suspension has a legitimate grounding in national security concerns, quite apart from any religious hostility, we must accept that independent justification." 

 Here's a screenshot of Justice Sotomayor's dissent:

Educators Opposed Trump Policy: The conservative Justices ignore a large body of evidence proving the policies negative consequences on education and innovation. Having seen for myself the large and diverse number of foreign students and teachers at the UW-Madison campus, I will bet this ruling will have a profound negative educational and technological effect on our country. I've talked to a number of students that were sent here by their countries to gain the expertise needed so they could return and improve their own nations economies and quality of life. Forget that now...:

EdWeek: The teachers' unions, higher education groups, and at least 30 colleges and universities had joined friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the challenge to the so-called travel ban.

Justice Breyer, in dissent, noted that there are numerous people who qualify for visa waivers from the affected countries, including students and children. "Unfortunately there is evidence that ... the government is not applying the proclamation as written," Breyer said.

He cited friend-of-the-court briefs filed on the challengers' side by some 30 colleges and universities as well as one by labor groups that was signed by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

Sotomayor said the plaintiffs have shown substantial evidence that there will be, among other harms, "constraints to recruiting and retaining students and faculty members to foster diversity and quality within the university community." She cited several of the court's school precedents regarding "a principle at the heart of the establish­ment clause, that government should not prefer one reli­gion to another, or religion to irreligion."

Hey Walker Voters, add Rural School Closings to the list of Bad Roads and Slow Broadband Access.

My current job takes me to small rural Wisconsin towns all the time. It's not hard to see how local schools are holding these communities together. But as I've blogged before, there doesn't seem to be political interest in keeping rural Wisconsin alive and well. From June 3, 2014:

Scott Walker and the Republican majority know that their privatization agenda to spread charter and voucher schools statewide is the death knell for rural public schools. The math makes that easy to predict.

Seeing these school close up is economically shortsighted, since rural communities fall apart and scatter to the wind once there's nothing there to hold them together. I still get a sinking feeling every time a pass the abandoned elementary school in Navarino Wisconsin. It closed in 2009. A nice school with a great playground and incredible baseball field. The building is now filled with junk and the playground and field is just a sad reminder of how families used to get together with their kids during and after school.

And now the recent story about the Arena elementary school closing hit home for me as well, having helped a couple when I was in real estate buy a home a few houses down from the school. WPR Radio interviewed the reporter who wrote the NY Times article about that closing. The question I keep asking myself, why haven't we as a state done enough to preserve that way of life? (audio):

It’s a situation that’s playing out all across rural America. In the wake of the Great Recession, small towns are finding themselves with fewer economic opportunities and aging populations. That’s having an impact on rural schools - often the lifeblood of the communities they serve. But what happens when those schools close? A reporter tells the story of Arena, Wisconsin,

Not to be partisan, but again, Democrats have been on this issue for a long time. Yet when Democrats speak out they're often portrayed as partisan angry attacks against Scott Walker, ignoring the merits of their argument. Back in 2014, this was a recent opinion by Democratic Rep. Fred Clark showing us how we got to this point. Decide for yourself if Clark is just angry about losing elections or making an obvious point:

For rural Wisconsin, public schools are the hub of activity during the day, doubling as community centers, a place to exercise after work and polling stations for elections. Rural schools, with their mascots and sports teams, school plays and graduations, tie together generations and capture the story of an entire town.

Unfortunately, we are poised to lose a growing number of those rural schools unless our Legislature reverses course. In the face of declining enrollment and huge cuts in revenue, rural schools are cutting programs, stretching staff with heavier workloads, closing schools and surviving on referendums year after year. In the outright war on public schools that the Republican majority has waged since 2011, with its $1.6 billion in public school funding cuts, our rural schools are becoming the first casualties. Voucher schools alone currently absorb $384 million in this budget that would otherwise be available for public schools.

I also posted this must-see great story about rural schools from MSNBC's Chris Hayes:



I also came across this weird story about "Shrink Smart." where some small communities might be able to "thrive" by embracing their losses. Be warned, there's a spoiler below that kind of negates the shrink smart concept:

Kimberly Zarecor, associate professor of architecture at Iowa State University, argues that towns ... shouldn't spend money trying to lure new residents to shore up their population numbers. She says instead, they should focus on making life better for the residents they still have. In fact, she's devoting a lot of her energy to the cause she calls "The Shrink Smart Project."

Sac City, Iowa, whose population is estimated at 2,105 and falling. The numbers are down by a third since a farm equipment manufacturer closed its factory there in the 1980s ... "Sac City is probably one of our best examples of Shrink Smart, in that the quality of the services, the quality of the government, the quality of the community, it's phenomenal." The town boasts a hospital, a nice rec center, two pools, public schools, a library, robust day care, even a roadside attraction, the World's Largest Popcorn Ball — a confection that weighs more than 4.5 tons. Not all of the community-development projects work out, and with such a small population it's hard to attract new employers and jobs.

Oh wait, this might be one other important reason "Shrink Smart" worked:

Sac City's momentum got a huge — and rather startling — boost three years ago, when lifelong resident John Criss died. Criss ran the men's clothing store in Sac City, a business he took over from his father. He was a bachelor and left almost all of his estate, $5.7 million, to a fund to beautify the town. The signs of that work are all over Sac City.

Mid-Tech Jobs coming to Foxconn and Wisconsin?

The idea that Scott Walker leads all Democratic gubernatorial challengers is stunning. You would think voters would only give a third term to a highly successful governor, that such a privilege would be reserved for best of the best, right? Yet Walker's record, based on a national growing economy and nothing he's personally done, is just not a factor.

Example, Walker's "eggs-in-one-basket" Foxconn deal rolled out without a single wonkish lecture detailing just how it will help workers in the state. Not once did he mention the all-important "mid-tech" worker, a non-college educated laborer in plentiful supply in the southeastern portion of the state. It's the one biggest issue, besides the state's brain drain and worker transportation problems.

And don't forget the GOP's "free market" driven Great Recession, when many manufacturers changed their business model; maintaining a smaller full-time workforce using temp labor to fill-in during periods of high demand. (Wait a minute, a temporary workforce? Is it any surprise Wisconsin workers didn't buy into the idea, opting instead to seek full-time steady employment.)

These are just a few of the examples adding to the now short supply of labor in Wisconsin:

JS: “Everyone is feeling the talent crunch,” said Amber Laurent, Manpower’s regional director. “You can’t go anywhere without it being a main part of conversations.”

It's the Wages Stupid: I know it's crazy, but people want more money for their time and work and not just the pride that comes with having a job:

So why isn’t pay higher? Increases nationwide in total compensation which includes pay and benefits in the private sector have hardly been robust. In percentage terms, also lag behind the gains of the early 2000s.

John Heywood, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said some economists believe things have fundamentally changed and that we won’t return to the compensation gains of the past. One reason for that view: Labor force participation is unusually low and so, Heywood said, there may be more slack in the labor market than the unemployment rate suggests.

Back in March...

WPR: The numbers come from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: From September 2016 until September 2017, Wisconsin added 17,670 private sector jobs. That's considerably less than in previous years. For example, Wisconsin added 27,289 private sector jobs during the same period a year ago and 34,551 the year before that. Wisconsin's 0.7 percent private sector job growth rate ranked 31st in the nation. Wisconsin ranked 32nd when these numbers were released in 2017.

The latest numbers also show Wisconsin added 4,616 private sector manufacturing jobs from September 2016 through September 2017. That's an improvement from the same period a year ago when Wisconsin lost manufacturing jobs.

Mid-tech Workers Rising: On Upfront with Mike Gousha, Foxconn Executive Louis Woo made the claim that 30 percent of its labor force will be your typical factory worker...middle tech? Coincidentally (?), this Brookings report below also used that 30 percent number:

Monster, Forbes, and Business.com have touted the “7 Tech Jobs You Can Get Without a Degree” or the “10 High-Paying Tech Jobs You Can Get Without a College Degree.” Such discussion of “new collar” jobs has been giving credence to the idea that tech might be a more accessible source of upward mobility for “blue-collar” workers and places, as well as underrepresented populations, than many have previously thought ... it’s clear that a surprisingly large share of classic tech jobs are actually quite accessible to workers without a bachelor’s degree. 

As the table shows, nearly one-third (30 percent) of the workers in three of the 13 C&M occupations (computer network architects, network support specialists, and computer systems analysts) do not hold a bachelor’s degree.

The mid-tech share of C&M employment remains below 20 percent in such hard-core hubs as San Francisco (19.1 percent), Seattle(16.9 percent), and Boston (14.1 percent). By contrast, the mid-tech share of regional C&M employment ranges much higher in a less glamorous list of more workaday locations: Olympia, Wash. (where mid-tech employment pushes 60 percent of C&M employment); Jackson, Mich. (38.7 percent); and Lakeland, Fla. (36.7 percent).

Mid-tech jobs compose more than one-quarter of all tech employment in numerous major Midwestern metros. Such places include Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati;St. Louis; Detroit; Nashville; and Minneapolis-St. Paul. This suggests not just that tech is different (more accessible, and more about implementation than creative leaps) in the Midwest, but also confirms that significant talent resides there, and works at a significant discount, given the low cost of living in the region.

Foxconn Reveal: Also on Upfront, Foxconn's Woo never explained why they suddenly decide to invest in a water system that reduces the amount of water taken from Lake Michigan only after it was highly criticized and legal challenges arose. Woo said, "this is the right thing to do, nothing to do with anything else..!" Rrrrright.

And why all the taxpayer money for Foxconn? Woo put it this way; "Co-investing together with someone that who's taking tremendous risk...that's trying to transform a traditional economy..." So Woo put Wisconsin taxpayers on the hook because Foxconn was taking a risk? Beautiful.

WISGOP and their voters insist they are not racist...

...surprise? I'm not seeing a mass exodus of conservatives, angry and resentful that their own Tump Party makes them appear racist. Really, illegal voter drop-ins and wetbacks? Who does that appeal to...let me see now...?

Under the banner “Blue Wave Kit,” it referred to “illegal voter drop-ins” and suggested the recipe for Democratic gains was to “register millions of corpses and illegals to vote Democratic.” Printed on the toilet disc images were the words “corpses” and “wetbacks” ... indicated the “kit” could be used to “scrub away conservatives” and “destroy America one election at a time.”

Caught!!! Of course, the WISGOP likes to pretend Trump Party voters aren't normally doing everything they can to make racism an unconscious and automatic position.

Barron County Republican Party officials apologized Thursday for a post about undocumented immigrants on its official Facebook page that included what is widely considered to be a racist slur. That type of rhetoric does not reflect our views and has no place in our party or our politics.” Barron County GOP co-chairman Bob Newville added, “I’m just sick over this.” “The posted content is highly offensive, unacceptable and has no place in either the Republican Party or Wisconsin politics,” Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said.

"No place in the Republican Party?" It's the Trump Party now to be clear.

Trump Party voters ditch values to criticize immigrant children!!!

Our strongman authoritarian dictator Trump - this is not a hyperbolic portrayal of the country sliding into fascism - has everything going for himself right now as you can see below.

During this weird time when Trump discredits real news and "fake news," Twitter and Facebook have been weaponized to turn public opinion against whoever they target:

This is happening at the worst time too when the American public needs real news more than ever:

As a nation, we're witnessing a loyal base that will tolerate and defend behavior unimaginable in the U.S.:

Gotcha!!! Hey, Trump changed his mind, and has now kind of ended his own brutal program to separate immigrant kids from their parents? That leaves out those already taken away and no operable plan to reunite them with their families. And now families can be held indefinitely, together. Not good. We also know that not one Senate Republican signed on to a bill that would end the humanitarian crisis. Heck, they even rationalized and cheerleaded the no tolerance policy on.

Pro-Trump dupes claiming we're all just angry Trump won the election shine in this response to taking children away from their parents...real Christian-like: