Either no one told Pence, or he forgot to slip this on quick...

Trump's got a COVID-19 deal for you...

Trump Death Cult Governors threaten employee firings, loss of unemployment for Defying Back-to-Work orders!!! Tyrants?

The Trumpocracy Success Today:

Now? Guess what back-to-work protest suckers....you got owned:

Doh!

This is what happens when fringe elements of society dictate dumb policy. Sure, protest, but the number of "go-to-work-and-die" losers is small. When millions protested Act 10 and later students were protesting for sane gun regulations in Wisconsin, no one listened, but when a thousand COVID-19 deniers turned up unprotected with no social distancing, it's back-to-work with tons of media coverage?

Science denying crybabies embraced their capitalistic, employee-minded servitude, by whining and claiming that now useless old people and school children are worth the sacrifice.

Heck, even before the protests, state corporate lobbyist Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce came out with their Back-to-Business marching orders. Notice Gov. Evers success at keeping the pandemic rates low is now being used as a weapon by business. From UpFront:

Bauer: "You're looking at Wisconsin infection rate, Wisconsin's hospitalization rate, and the death rates are relatively small by comparison..."

Senator Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) said this...you gotta like the odds...

“If you have substantial risk, a restaurant in Milwaukee, they would be able to open up to 50 percent."

Forced Labor for pennies, No Lawsuits, No Liabilities: It's an avalanche of opportunity for the taking. First we saw this...

The administration is aiming to shield corporations from legal responsibility for workers who contract the novel coronavirus on the job, a move that the Chamber of Commerce and right-wing advocacy groups are aggressively lobbying for

Republican governors Punish Constituents: You've got to be some-kind-of-cruel to boldly think this is works during a pandemic:

Workers who worry about contracting the coronavirus will not be granted an exception. As states begin to reopen their economies after weeks of stay-at-home orders, some are warning employees that they will lose unemployment benefits if they refuse to return to their jobs, even if they fear contracting the coronavirus - according to The Hill . 

In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds (R) said failing to return to work would be considered a “voluntary quit,” which would terminate an employee’s benefits. "If you're an employer and you offer to bring your employee back to work and they decide not to, that's a voluntary quit," Reynolds said Friday. "Therefore, they would not be eligible for the unemployment money." The governor also said employers should file a report with Iowa Workforce Development if they encounter workers who refuse to come back to their jobs.

A similar situation is playing out in Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott announced that businesses can reopen on Friday. Cisco Gamez, a Texas Workforce Commission spokesman, told the Texas Tribune that employees who choose not to return to work will become ineligible for unemployment benefits.

And how safe will workers end up being?

Try these other Trump prescriptions...

Trumpocracy orders meat plant workers back to work, "a potential death threat."

One of my worst fears is now being rolled out by the Trumpocracy. Ordering people to go back to work sets people up for firings and a not so "liberating" forced slavery. And Gov. Tony Evers is a tyrant?

Environmental Working Group called the order a potential death sentence. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said in a statement that if workers aren’t safe, the food supply won’t be either. At least 20 workers in meat and food processing have died, and 5,000 meatpacking workers have either tested positive for the virus or were forced to self-quarantine, according to UFCW.

President Donald Trump plans to order slaughterhouses to remain open, setting up a showdown between the giant companies that produce America’s meat and the unions and activists who want to protect workers in a pandemic. Using the Defense Production Act, Trump will order plants to stay open as part of the critical infrastructure needed to keep people fed amid growing supply disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak. The government will provide additional protective gear for employees as well as guidance.

Trump Death Cult moves from Sacrificial Seniors to infecting or killing our Kids!!!

With just under 2 weeks of school remaining (1 week for seniors) after Gov. Evers stay-at-home order, I can't imagine what could be accomplished packing all those kids back into those buildings during COVID-19 pandemic. Can you? My son is a senior so I know what I'm talking about.

Radio's conservative word salad COVDIAN Vicki McKenna posted an official Legislative letter to Gov. Evers:

Our actual GOP COVIDIAN Legislators argued that after the safe-at-home order expires, and "safe for people to start going back to work," why can't our kids cram themselves into their schools again? The answer is obvious to any adult, but not for these rabid corporate ghouls just trying to ram their point home. This has "smart-ass" written all over it:

I'm pretty sure a medically confirmed viral infection meets the science and data bar set by these geniuses.

While talk show fabricators and Republican COVID deniers insist on science and data from our Democratic Governor, well, I guess that's just BS too:

The plague that has laid this country low, destroyed our economy and brought us to a place that no external enemy could have brought: this plague of experts. Yes, I am talking about Doctors Birx and Fauci. 

I’m already seeing people pointing fingers at the president and complaining that he’s relied too much on these “experts.” Why can’t he hire the people who will be good and not beholden to the – largely left – political establishment? Which brings us to the real plague of experts. Sure, what happened in 2020 and taking our economy down to protect us from what will emerge in retrospect as a not particularly lethal illness is a problem. If we survive – we’ll survive, right – and there is still a Republic at the end of this, we'll need to talk about the plague of experts as a systemic problem.

...and you'll love this...

Just like a virus takes over a healthy cell, eviscerates it, and turns into a factory to create more viruses, so the plague of experts has taken over all our systems of science, education and even the arts, and turned them into factories to turn out more phony “experts.”

Are we perfectly clear about conservative politics yet?

TRUMP WANTS SCHOOL TO REOPEN: Oh, wait, it's just another great idea from our disinfectant-injecting cult leader Trump:

"Some of you might start to think about school openings," Trump said. "I think it's something they can seriously consider and maybe get going on it. The young children have done very well in this disaster that we've all gone through, so a lot of people are thinking about the school openings. There may be governors who are not ready to open their states but they're ready to open up their school system."

Trump's call came after 43 states, including Delaware, North Carolina and New York, recently ordered or recommended schools to be closed for the rest of the academic year, according to Education Week. Even America's five territories, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Puerto Rico, have indicated they will shut schools until the end of the academic year.

TV celeb Dr. Oz made it perfectly clear what students were really for:


Don't forget the "pro-life" Republicans who wanted to put your kids life in danger so they could "own" Evers. We have God to thank for booting Scott Walker as governor:

Trump Covidian shoppers start here...

The Trump Covidians share anger and virus...

Sen. Fitzgerald stands behind fringe "Branch Covidian" protests in hopes to permanently repeal Governors Emergency Powers!!!

For Republicans, it really is like flicking a light switch, just the opposite of what they say they're not doing...

CapTimes: Sarah Mattes, the communications supervisor for Public Health Madison & Dane County said, “We understand that people are frustrated, but during a pandemic, a mass gathering is a dangerous way to express frustrations.” 

Wisconsin Republican leadership Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep. Robin Vos never get around to mentioning the disease itself, and certainly, have no plans to help increase testing or contact tracing...just get-back-to-work. Why? Because they don't solve problems, and because it requires actual "work" to come up with a plan.

Check out WMC's proposed plan endorsed by Republican Sen. Chris Kopenga that didn't contain one suggestion to ramp up testing and contact tracing for COVID-19, like it doesn't exist, but it does seek "health care capacity" after the fact just in case things don't work out.

The "emergency rule" making powers of the governor appear to include an automatic 150 day period (An emergency rule remains in effect only for a period of 150 days), not just the 60 days that Sen. Scott Fitzgerald is whining about. And Evers could extend the rule after 150 days in 60-day increments. Still...

Vos said he and Fitzgerald resisted calls to repeal the governor's 60-day public health emergency, which expires on May 12.

Which is BS bluster, because they're now trying to take the emergency rule away from the governor completely in their lawsuit before the State Supreme Court.

From Upfront, Fitzgerald never mentions controlling COVID-19 and is clearly just making it up as he goes along with insipid and petty excuses that are almost laughable, like;

1. Oddly assumed 60 days is enough time for a pandemic;

2. The "separate set of statutes?" IS the Governors emergency rulemaking power; 

3. Whines the Sec. of Health could do anything she wants to do...at Evers direction...huh?;

4. Whether the 60 days rule in the statute is even constitutional;

5. No plan from GOP, "nothing in concrete yet;"

6. Evers adopted Trump standard that was just "dreamed up" by Evers to beat back criticism;

7. "The governor can't even explain..." huh, like Trump can?;

8. Pandemic elections resulting infections dreamed up and not verified because they don't have a tracing program;

9. "Until they have a tracing program in place, it's pretty hard for me to believe anything that has been used to link the two right now."

Interpreting statute is above my paygrade, but I'm also pretty sure once Evers works out a plan with the legislature, nothing he wants to do based on science and medical experts will happen without approval from our power-grabbing Republican authoritarian deniers. Note: Robin Vos said "...not necessarily to stop the response to the pandemic..." but that apparently is the hope: 

"The reason we're filing the lawsuit is not necessarily to stop the response to the pandemic ... it just says like every other proposal in a democracy, the legislative branch negotiates with the executive branch and the best ideas are brought forward."

Vos in Charge? Hope not: Thanks to Rep. Robin Vos, Republicans finally got rid of medical lawsuits completely, for at least a few months...not kidding:

A FOX6 investigation revealed an Assembly amendment broadened civil liability immunity for health care providers in Wisconsin. 

The bill originally said a health care provider would be immune from civil liability for "actions or omissions taken in providing services to address or in response to a 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak [emphasis added] ... in order for the health provider to qualify for immunity, the action must occur, in part, while "providing services during the state of emergency declared under s. 323.10 on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, relating to the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic [emphasis added] and for 60 days following the date that the state of emergency terminates."

Vos introduced an amendment of what he described as"technical corrections," eliminating the "2019 novel coronavirus" qualifier multiple times.

The end result was a bill that went to the Senate, saying a health care provider is immune from civil liability for death or injury or for "actions or omissions" if the provider, in part, is "providing services during the state of emergency declared under s. 323.10 on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, or the 60 days following the date that the state of emergency terminates."

The Truth!

Trump's guidelines not much different than Governors...where are the protesters?

And here's Gov. Tony Evers Badger Bounce Back plan...is it too long hoaxers?

Like Watching an Accident, COVID-19 Deniers welcome death just to Buy Things and help closed businesses.

It's true that the media is going way overboard covering the sparsely attended pandemic denier protests begging to go back to work, just like the media did with few obnoxious Tea Party losers disrupting town halls so people couldn't get affordable health care.

This all comes as a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll showed nearly 60% favored keeping in place stay-at-home restrictions.

A Marquette University Law School Poll, released April 1, found 86% of Wisconsin registered voters surveyed said that "it was appropriate to close schools and businesses, and restrict public gatherings" to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

The silent majority following Evers' order and staying home vastly outnumber the people who are protesting.

We can't believe what we're seeing, right? The drooling primitives known as Trump cultists are hoping a few thousand sacrificial people will bring about a healthy economy, kind of an extreme version of sacrificing someone to a roaring volcano.

So yes, the "accident" is fascinating to watch, especially with signage like this demanding shopping over life itself:

Utilizing the same tactics Republicans were so outraged about during the Act 10 protests in the dead of winter, what they angrily called "intimidation," COVID-19 deniers will now defy the same laws their hero Scott Walker put in place. You can't make this stuff up:

Despite having their permit rejected by Gov. Tony Evers' administration, organizers of Friday's rally to reopen the state said they plan to move forward with their event on the grounds of the state Capitol in Madison. "We're going to peacefully assemble," Madison Elmer told the Journal Sentinel Wednesday. Elmer said the email stated: "Due to do the Wisconsin Department of Health Services safer at home order the permit request is being denied."

As for those supposed notorious "out-of-state" liberal "provocateurs" defending employee rights, Pandemic gun-rights protesters bearing arms from Minnesota will infiltrate our state politics by setting their laser-focused sites on safe-at-home families trying to stay alive. Now it's just fine to let out-of-staters tell us what to do:

...a third group, led by Ben Dorr of Minnesota Gun Rights, has called for a "drive-in rally, operation gridlock."

Here's hypocrite and now admired authoritarian Scott Walker back in December 2011. Hey COVID-19 hoaxers, try defending the Minn. Gun Rights clowns and their promise of a drive-in rally, operation gridlock now:

Walker answered: "People should not be coming into the state trying to intimidate lawmakers, offer up threats or anything else. That’s just not the way it’s done, at least not in the Midwest. And thankfully, again, our lawmakers stood up to those sorts of thuggery attacks, and we’re not going to allow that here in the state of Wisconsin … But the people coming in from other states, that bring these sorts of tactics, just don’t belong here."

Even more indefensible, was this shocking interview from August 2013 between former candidate to the State Supreme Court and law professor Ed Fallone, and loony tunes conservative pundit Kevin Hermening, who trashed protesters...yup, just like the ones we'll see protesting their right to shop during a pandemic.



Here's some audio of Scott Walker's disapproval of out-of-state protesters silencing Wisconsinites. Keep in mind, this was enormously overblown and many times just made up, suggesting local protesters asked for their help:



Let's take a look at these "smart" protesters ignoring social distancing and not wearing masks to simply protect their fellow protesters. They talk about the risks, but think 2 weeks is enough?



Because things aren't getting worse?

Think Gov. Evers would be even more tyrannical if he said what Walker did below:

Emergency Powers slowing COVID-19 pandemic and saving lives, too much for State corporate Republican sellouts!!!

It appears Trump Republicans Rep. Robin Vos and Sen. Scott Fitzgerald's scheme to put off confirming Gov. Evers appointments - a transparent move to silence and keep them in line - will work it's magic again. And their unquestioning voters won't even know this is happening.

Republicans want to repeal the stay-at-home order and usurp the health departments' ability to save lives.

Republican leaders took Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to court to stop his administration from keeping businesses and schools closed through May in an effort to slow the spread of a deadly virus. The two sides battle over whether shutting down the state to save lives is worth the devastating economic toll.

If you've got a problem with saving lives or preventing economic damage.

This will be one final test for the conservative activist State Supreme Court and any claim to legitimacy. 

Power Grab at the Cost of Lives Continues: As both the headline and "Breaking News" headline tell the story:

Officials have identified seven people who appear to have contracted COVID-19 through activities related to the April 7 election, Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik said Monday. Six of the cases are in voters and one is a poll worker.

The Evers administration is apparently only acting "under the color of State law" now, a kind of fake executive power. Yes, the stench of arrogance wafts over the Capitol. 

The GOP leaders are seeking to take away the state health secretary's ability to make unilateral decisions during public health emergencies and instead require her to gain their approval before taking action. "Purporting to act under color of State law, an unelected, unconfirmed cabinet secretary has laid claim to a suite of czar-like powers — unlimited in scope and indefinite in duration — over the people of Wisconsin," the complaint reads. If they're successful, businesses and schools could likely re-open if owners and administrators wanted to do so.

Elections don't matter, not for Democrats, who apparently don't get to speak for the people who elected them. It's the ruling minority of a handful of mob-like dumb asses protesting life-saving orders that seems to matters during a PANDEMIC:

Evers' orders "denied the people a voice through this unprecedented administrative overreach."

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin summed up the power grab:

"Let's be clear about one thing. If Republicans are successful, people will die," the party said in a tweet.

The James Bond-like pair of power-mongering villains couldn't have more envious and whiny since losing the governorship and every other statewide office. You'll notice no reference to COVID-19 anywhere in the tantrum. They decreed...:

"Just as troubling, the Secretary asserts that her go-it-alone shutdown authority has no expiration date — making it greater than even the Governor’s emergency powers," the complaint says. "... by the time the Secretary sees fit to lift her decree (be it in five weeks or eight months), many Wisconsinites will have lost their jobs, and many companies will have gone under, to say nothing of the Order’s countless other downstream societal effects. Our State will be in shambles."

Trump wants to block employees lawsuits against businesses if they get COVID-19 on the job!!!

Trump COVID-19 deniers, proudly displaying their not-so-individualistic employee-state-of-mind, hope you don't remember their unshakable Christian pro-life positions...

...that just by coincidence mirrors OSHA's "give me COVID19!" position:

...and now? See, it all works out in the end...

Donald Trump and his administration are working to make it impossible for workers to sue their employers if they contract the novel coronavirus on the job.

"We have tried to take liability away from these companies," Trump said at his Monday coronavirus press briefing. "We just don't want that (liability) because we want the companies to open and to open strong."

The push to take away workers' rights comes as Trump has called for an end to the social distancing measures that have slowed the spread of the coronavirus but crippled the economy
A report from the Washington Post notes that the Trump administration is looking into such waivers. The Post also reported that the administration wants to block customers from suing an employee of a business if they contract the virus from that worker — for example, if someone contracts it from a waiter or a delivery driver.

One other part of social dismantling is being considered:

White House official confirmed is under consideration, is having the president call on all federal agencies to not enforce regulations against small businesses.

All this on top of...

Last week, the administration decided not to enforce stricter air quality standards despite the potential link between air pollution and coronavirus risks.

Tavern League coronavirus hoax supporters push opening Bars and Restaurants so we can buy, buy, buy!!!

Could it be going as planned by the Trump administration? Similar to massive corporate farms squeezing out local family farms, the larger chain restaurants are now about to squeeze out local restaurants and bars:

Restaurant owners received no federal Paycheck Protection Program small business loans while large chains netted millions.

Corporate Wisconsin Republicans/Big Business thing we will Never Forget: Capitalism's ugly side and overwhelming control of the Trump Party controlling our state Capitol is out in plain view.

Just imagine the optics as you sit uneasily enjoying your food and drinks...what could go wrong?

WPR: The Tavern League of Wisconsin, a lobbying group that represents alcoholic beverage sellers, is calling on the state to allow bars and restaurants to reopen on May 1 ... restaurants would reopen to in-person dining at half capacity on May 1, with six feet of distance between all people and tables, and all employees wearing masks and gloves. The proposal would also ban paper menus and table condiments.

Wait for it...you'll love that corporate GOP "balance" we hear so much about:

Tavern League executive director Pete Madland said the group is not choosing business interests over public safety. Just as essential businesses have stayed open during the crisis, restaurants can too, he said. "I don’t think it has to be an either-or situation. We’re trying to reach a balance here."

Keep trying!

Just guessing here, but the Tavern League's idea is not so popular:

Lydia Sobol, who owns the farm to-table restaurant Sobie's in Oconomowoc with her husband, Mike, said they haven't received any relief or funding yet. "We've applied for all of the relief programs and we've received not a single cent," she said. While it's their livelihood, for most, dining out is "a luxury, not a necessity," Sobol said.

"We could make our masks and we have gloves, but we do not want to put the lives of our staff and guests at risk for money and for profit, ever."

…and...

Francesca Hong, a chef and co-owner of Morris Ramen in Madison, has closed her restaurant, citing the safety of her workers. She opposes the Tavern League’s plan, calling it selfish. Not only would it be unprofitable to operate at 50 percent capacity, Hong said, it would be dangerous.

"The health of our economy depends on restaurants, but the health of our economy also depends on the health of the people. It will only prolong this process. It’s irresponsible. It’s fiscally irresponsible, it’s physically irresponsible, it’s socially irresponsible to open on May 1."

Help is on  the way for those businesses that want to open:

Election Integrity a Republican Illusion exposed by Pandemic!

Integrity of the Election just more Wisconsin Republican Nonsense: Who hasn't heard over and over how concerned Republican are about the integrity of our elections, and the plethora of excuse they throw out every time they kick more people off the voter rolls or put up another convoluted voter roadblock.

Now after 10 Years of GOP Election Oversight, let's pick through rubble. It came to a head with this:

Responding to state measures intended to slow the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, federal Judge Conley granted Wisconsin clerks additional time to receive and tally absentee ballots,  Monday, April 13 rather than the scheduled April 7 Election Day. 

Neil Albrecht, director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said a reversal of the judge's extension would have "tremendous consequence to voters across the state," "Any type of a reversal on that extension ... would further compromise the integrity of this election."

Election Integrity, Rube Goldberg-style, Crumbling Down: Here's what 10 years of GOP "integrity" looks like:

1. In Lodi and Pewaukee, voters were told the system for requesting absentee ballots crashed.

2. In Marshfield, Shorewood and Bristol, voters threw up their hands after spending hours in front of computers trying to request a ballot.

3. In Milwaukee and Green Bay, dozens of couples said one member of their household received a ballot while the other didn’t.

4. Brenda Lewis, a 61-year-old Delafield resident said her local clerk could find no record of her or her husband ever requesting an absentee ballot, even though both of them had.

Remember, Republicans scoffed at Gov. Evers request of a special session to delay the election: 

The special session is over with any action taken by the legislature.

Election Problems required a "Solution," an unfamiliar word to Republicans: "
JSONLINE: An investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the PBS series FRONTLINE and Columbia Journalism Investigations into Wisconsin’s missing ballot crisis reveals a system leaking from all sides, buckling under the weight of a global pandemic and partisan bickering … shows the problems went far beyond postal mailing issues. People from nearly 100 Wisconsin cities and towns responded."

1. Some people received too many ballots. Some received empty envelopes. Some gave up trying to navigate the state’s request system. Others got their ballots after Election Day.

2. Three people — two in Mequon and one in West Allis — said they were mailed duplicate ballots. In Wauwatosa, one couple said they received envelopes with no ballots.

3. In Milwaukee, three would-be voters said they received a form letter from Mayor Tom Barrett thanking them for requesting an absentee ballot — but not the ballot itself.

4. Officials sent ballots to college students to dorms they had been forced to vacate. For some Wisconsin residents wintering in New Mexico and Florida, ballots simply never showed up.

5. Nineteen Wisconsin citizens across eight cities — from New Auburn in the north to Bristol in the south — said they requested absentee ballots only to later be told the system had no record of their applications.

6. In Wisconsin’s decentralized election system, much of the responsibility falls on local clerks, whose staffs are often tiny and not equipped to handle a surge in applications.

7. Most municipal clerks do not have access to WisVote, and must ask another official, such as a county clerk, to manually enter the applicant's information in the database.

8. “This system was designed for a world in which 5% of voters voted by mail, not for a system in which 70% of voters voted by mail,” said Charles Stewart, a political science professor and election expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “So something has to give, and the thing that ends up giving is probably the accuracy of the request for the ballot.”

Decision day for Trump

Large Chain Restaurants Drain Paycheck Protection Program, wipe out real Small Businesses everywhere.

This wasn't just a disaster, it will happen again with the second installment currently being negotiated in Congress. Heartbreaking...NPR:



At least one business did not like the end result, and returned the money.

The federal government gave national hotel and restaurant chains millions of dollars in grants before the $349 billion program ran out of money Thursday, leading to a backlash that prompted one company to give the money back and a Republican senator to say that “millions of dollars are being wasted.”

Shake Shack, a $1.6 billion burger-and-fries chain based in New York City, received $10 million. After complaints company founder Danny Meyer and chief executive Randy Garutti announced that they would return the money. They said they had no idea that the program would run out of money so quickly and that they understood the uproar. The two wrote in a letter posted online: “Late last week, when it was announced that funding for the PPP had been exhausted, businesses across the country were understandably up in arms. If this act were written for small businesses, how is it possible that so many independent restaurants whose employees needed just as much help were unable to receive funding? We now know that the first phase of the PPP was underfunded, and many who need it most, haven’t gotten any assistance.”

So Trump cultists are fighting to go back to work despite the spread of COVID-19, but aren't aware that many of their employers were left out of funding because the Trump administration didn't care enough to oversee distribution. No criticism, just blind allegiance. 

The Vos Irony...

WMC says get back to work, death rates much smaller than in New York.

If only I could risk my health and life just to keep someone else's business open. If only...sigh.

Trump cultists clamoring to go back to work are convinced capitalism is worth the lives of hundreds of thousands of other people. Their own juvenile arguments and death wish that puts their close family members at risk shocks the senses doesn't it?

Kurt Bauer, from the conservative lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), said keeping people safe at work is "obviously" a part of their mission.

"And it's a responsibility that all businesses must take seriously. Businesses have a commitment to keep their people safe on the job..."

But is it really...?

As more essential workers become ill with coronavirus, OSHA is telling many of them that it won’t crack down on businesses that fail to follow COVID-19 guidelines. The position has left some workers, unions and advocates scrambling to figure out how to protect employees. “Workers are left to fend for themselves right now,” said Rebecca Reindel, safety and health director at the AFL-CIO.   Workers say employers aren’t cleaning worksites properly, providing protective equipment or telling them when coworkers became sick with the coronavirus, interviews and records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show.

Upfront's Adrienne Pedersen wasn't buying into Bauer's flimsy "hope" that businesses would act responsibly, saying WISN's newsroom received calls claiming just the opposite.



Trump Guidelines calling for 14 Day Downward trajectories...ignored for WI's smaller Body Count: Hey, compared to New York, our numbers are much smaller!

To Bauer, "getting there" is all we really need to force safe-at-home workers back into a pandemic, even if they didn't want to.

Republicans have already targeted that eventual problem up by claiming the federal unemployment payments were set too high, discouraging workers from going back, discounting their actual fear of getting infected. That will set up firings statewide, resulting in a "work or die" situation:

Bauer: "I think we are getting there...we're on the right trajectory. You're looking at Wisconsin infection rate, Wisconsin's hospitalization rate, and the death rates are relatively small by comparison..." 

Scott Walker wrongly claims States not working on a Game Plan: Insists there has to be a "balance" where there is none, and back-to-work must happen now...but slowly? The poster boy of career politicians who liked biting the hand that fed his whole family. When this guy talks, it makes everyone wonder how we survived 8 years of this incompetent sociopath. Had to be pure luck:

Solution Avoidance Excuses during Pandemic piling up.

The avalanche of excuses flowing out of Trump-like Republican blame shifters is now at such a shocking level that you would think media outlets would have notice?

Pandemic Exposed Lazy No Solutions Whiners: As I've written before, no one seemed to noticed how Gov. Scott Walker never solved any of Wisconsin's growing list of problems, which continues today with our safe gerrymandered Republicans legislature. Each one of the juvenile "can't do" whining's below avoids a problem or discounts a proven solution rolled out in other states.

It's so much easier to deny there really is a pandemic, than have to work hard solving the problem. GOP leaders are happy to jump on board the clown car parade, forget testing and downward trajectories. Hey, are these people from out of state?:

Even as the statewide stay-home order is working to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the virus curve is flattening, a right-wing conspiracy “news” site is promoting a mass gathering next week at the State Capitol in Madison to try to get Gov. Tony Evers to “open up Wisconsin.”

As of Thursday morning — the day after conservatives equipped with firearms, MAGA hats, and Confederate flags clogged the streets in Lansing, Michigan, for a similar protest — more than 750 people on Facebook have marked themselves as “going” to the Wisconsin event and more than 3,500 are interested. Members of a group called Wisconsinites Against Excessive Quarantine say forcing people to remain at home is hurting the economy and is no longer necessary to protect people’s health.

Just a thought, but shouldn't child services make a point of visiting this woman? Not only is she not protecting her kids with vaccinations, she had them carry signs to "reopen the playgrounds" without protective face masks:

 And yes, GOP idiocy follows a distinct pattern:

1. Mail-In Voting Statewide: 5 states have already converted to mail-in voting. If there is any problem getting a ballot, "Colorado allows people to cast a ballot at an in-person voting center during the early voting period or on Election Day ... (and) States also provide plenty of drop-off boxes." Still, despite the successful roll out of cost saving mail-in ballots, Republicans have imagined a whole list of phony excuses:

All mail-in headline

WSJ: Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, opposes the Democratic proposal (on mail-in voting) because of the cost, potential for fraud (voter fraud per capita is no higher, and often lower, in vote-by-mail states). For Steineke, such an overhaul isn’t worth it. “This idea that the system is broken and there’s no way to fix it is crazy.”

Oh, and about solving the problem of lost and returned ballots...you know, protecting a persons right to have their vote counted?:

They also balk at the mailing issues voters experienced with absentee ballots in April, and fear a primarily mail election could leave people with no recourse if they never received their ballot, because polling places would be reduced.(Again, Colorado solved that problem)

Voting Suppression Voter Purges...a thing of the past:

Steineke said he is concerned about 200,000 voters on the rolls may have moved. Ballot envelopes have bar codes that are unique for each individual voter, and only one ballot, the first one in, is accepted … States with all-mail elections are constantly updating their voter rolls, another benefit of all-mail elections.

2. Defy Stay-at-Home Democratic Gov. Evers Order: Death Party denialists are ignoring Trump's phase 1 plan for reopening some businesses that are still not in place in Wisconsin, and Republicans aren't willing to "spend money on" costly mass testing. NO Solution:

States must first meet a "gating" criterion that includes a "downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period" or a "downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests)," as well as hospital preparedness.

Anyone trust this owner of 3 pubs after hearing his whiny reasons to open? Again, Trump's 14 day downward trajectory and positive tests requirement have not been met:

Dangerous Dan

Dan Zierath, the owner of Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub in Wauwatosa said he will open the dining room to the public on May 1, in defiance of the governor's safer-at-home order that bans dining in at least until May 26 … questioning customers at the door if they've been exposed to COVID-19 or if they have fevers (no quick read thermometer?), but he was determined to proceed. "I feel like our constitutional rights are being taken from us. And I’m just not willing anymore. What’s going to happen is going to happen...I just see no harm in that whatsoever." 

It's all about him and anecdotal support. Capitalist question; how will business insurers feel about picking up the costs and liability? 

Asked if he had consulted an attorney in the matter, he said he had and was advised against opening the restaurant. "I have a ton of support on social media if we open," he said.

3. Passed Referendum prompts Pandemic Recount and Large Gathering: The Racine school districts referendum passed 5 votes, but that's not good enough, so up to 125 people will have to gather at Festival Hall during a pandemic. Why not? Recount reasons by anti-education parents were mindboggling and labored:

The Racine Unified School District received four petitions from voters concerned the vote totals were incorrect. 

a. One petitioner said he did not believe all absentee or in-person ballots were counted.

b. Another said he believed ballots were changed to “falsely represent” the voter’s intended choice

c. and that poll workers persuaded certain voters to support the referendum. 

d. another said he believed ballots that were improperly filled out or postmarked were counted when they should not have been.