AG Brad Schimel defense of joining Exxon lawsuit "one of the loonier things I’ve heard,” says fellow attorney.

Just a quick reason why AG Brad Schimel is all politics and partisan arm of Scott Walker's political agenda:

JS: The cases, and others, have raised questions by critics who say such legal forays by the Department of Justice have little or no connection to Wisconsin and are chiefly designed to further Republican causes.

The briefs range from opposing efforts in Maryland to remove a cross-shaped monument on public land to taking on the Democratic attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, who claim oil giant ExxonMobil defrauded shareholders by downplaying risks of climate change regulation.

With ExxonMobil, Wisconsin joined with Texas and 10 other states in a brief this year, they accused New York and Massachusetts of “unrestrained investigative excursions” of the oil company, and promoting only “one side of an international policy debate.” Wisconsin and the other states argued that “scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind, as do many others.”

I hope you're sitting down. Even a D.C. attorney on Schimel's side had to laugh:

Schimel said he worries if Exxon Mobil is found liable for climate change damages, states like Wisconsin could be next. “We provided the infrastructure for all of these vehicles that travel around,” Schimel said. “That liability is too much of a live wire. It’s too unpredictable.”

Several attorneys who have handled climate-related litigation said ...“Wow,” Megan Brown, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who, like Schimel, filed a brief in support of Exxon Mobil. “That’s one of the loonier things I’ve heard.” Road-building involves so many public and private entities, it would be next to impossible to prove global warming was caused by a state, said Brown,

Gov. Scott Walker signed off on Schimel’s brief. Walker didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Of course, Walker wouldn't answer any questions about Schimel's ridiculous reason for joining a lawsuit.

AG Schimel bumbling, Delays DNA testing...again!!!

Even before he had a chance to get reelected, and after downplaying how badly he botched the backlog of rape kits to be tested, AG Brad Schimel is again falling way behind testing DNA crime evidence, delaying those cases and impeding investigations. So are Republican voters paying attention? JS: 

A backlog of months-old DNA evidence has continued to grow to nearly 800 cases. Attorney General Brad Schimel, who oversees the state crime labs, released new figures Friday about the tests, about four weeks after USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin requested them under open records laws.

Schimel faced criticism from his opponent, Democrat Josh Kaul, over crime lab delays. 

When the Republican entered office in 2015, DNA evidence rarely took more than two months to test. Now, about half of all DNA tests take at least two months and hundreds of cases typically take more than three months — potentially slowing police investigations or court cases that rely on DNA.

Here's an interactive graph tracking Schimel bumbling:

Walker's Surreal Idea of Success sets the bar Lower every Year!

While I have other more civilian duties as a family guy, here are a few stories I wish I had more time to detail and beat to death.

Walker Ignores Transportation, Promises more if Reelected? This was covered well at Jakes Wisconsin Funhouse, but here's a brief and scorching taste. Having driven through a number of southern states on my weeklong vacation, I can now see what Walker aspires to:

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reports that total funding across all state transportation programs has fallen since Gov. Scott Walker took office in 2011, despite statements Walker has made insisting he has made historic investments ... spending has fallen across every road program, including major highway development, local road aid and assistance and southeast Wisconsin freeways, which saw the most dramatic decline.

1. From fiscal year 2011-2012, funding for major highway development decreased by 31.2 percent, highway improvement funding fell by 23.8 percent and local road funding fell 13.4 percent in constant 2017 dollars. Funding for southeast freeways dropped by 51.1 percent.

2. Debt service on transportation borrowing has increased 66.9 percent since fiscal year 20121-12, according to the report.

 In short:

Since @GovWalker took office:

⬇️Funding for major highway development decreased by 31.2%
⬇️Highway improvement funding fell by 23.8%
⬇️Local road funding fell by 13.4%
⬆️Debt service on transportation borrowing has increased by 66.9%https://t.co/C9Psaxi2rD

— Gordon Hintz (@GordonHintz) August 29, 2018

Does lying make it better, or politicizing transportation funding?

Walker has maintained that he has put $3 billion more into the state's transportation system than his Democratic predecessor, Jim Doyle, investing $24 billion over eight years. That statement has been rated "mostly false" by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for failing to consider inflation and for counting the amount of money that was borrowed, then spent on transportation twice, once when the money was first borrowed, and again when payments were made on the debt.

Walker's former transportation secretary, Mark Gottlieb, said, "Debt service has increased 85 percent in the last eight years, to the point where we now spend five dollars on debt service for every three dollars we spend on the maintenance of state highways. Gottlieb is the third former Walker secretary to criticize his former boss, alleging that during Gottlieb's six years at the helm of the state's transportation agency, Walker increasingly politicized transportation issues.

Wisconsinites Barely Surviving, Falling Behind...After $8 billion in Walker Tax Cuts? Gee, I wonder who got those tax cuts? Not the poor and middle class. For audio coverage, check out this interview on WPR:

The 2018 Wisconsin ALICE report looks at household need beyond the federal poverty level to better understand where people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck struggle most. ALICE is an acronym for the criteria that bring this group of Americans together — Asset limited. Income constrained. Employed.

1. 37.5 percent of Wisconsinites had income levels that do not meet the true cost of living, a new study by United Way found. Between 2010 and 2016, the number increased five percent, compared to the total increase in the state's number of households (two percent).

2. People who fall under the ALICE threshold struggle to make ends meet, often despite working more than one job ... And with almost 1 in 3 people in the state making less than what United Way researchers determined as Wisconsin's "Household Survival Budget" ($19,848 for a single adult and $61,620 for a family of four), it's unlikely that ALICE has an unfamiliar face.

And you can blame some of this on the lack of healthcare, again. In Walker's world, things like below don't happen. Universal nationwide insurance would put an end to this:

36-year-old LaWanda McCullough was a "success story" in the Wisconsin Works (W-2) job training program — that is, until she got sick. Two years ago, she was working, her children thriving in school. Seven months ago, she came home from work and blacked out … several issues including diabetes and sarcoidosis … wore a heart rate monitor. At her doctor's recommendation, she went down to working part time. She was denied disability assistance. McCullough said, " no matter what I do, I can't get ahead."

AG Brad Schimel Politicized Justice Department:  Like politicizing the Transportation Department, Walker has done the same to AG's office thanks to his willing dupe, the incompetent Brad Schimel:

45 former assistant Wisconsin attorneys general have signed on to a letter criticizing current Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel: Schimel's Democratic opponent Josh Kaul contends the GOP incumbent has "blatantly politicized the office, dropped the ball on his role as the lead crime fighter in Wisconsin, and abdicated the AG’s traditional role as 'the people’s lawyer' representing Wisconsin citizens’ interests in criminal and civil matters alike."

One of the letter's authors denies partisan intent. "Nothing like this has ever happened before," said Dan Stier, who served as an assistant attorney general from 1979-89. "We've all been around a long, long time. We've seen lots of attorney generals come and go, and no one has ever been motivated to do anything like this until now." 

Only 10 of those who signed the letter have worked directly for Schimel, but Stier said knowledge of the attorneys general's policies, including overseeing staffing cuts in the state Department of Justice's Environmental Protection Unit and choice not to sign on to a lawsuit challenging for-profit colleges, are evidence of political motivation. Schimel's campaign dismissed the letter as a statement from "partisan activists."

Bumbling AG Schimel can't win 20 state ACA lawsuit based on facts!

Bumbling Brad Schimel is your typical Republican Attorney General, leading the way with "bubble world" talking points that take precedence over real-world facts, especially when it comes to health care:

Schimel is leading a 20-state lawsuit aiming to "undo the harmful effects" of Obamacare, according to the state Department of Justice. Schimel filed the suit in February. If Attorney General Brad Schimel is successful in his lawsuit ... Democratic Attorney General candidate Josh Kaul said “That suit is not in the interest of Wisconsinites. It’s wrong.”

Kaul is right of course. Yet Republican AG Brad Schimel considers it a "harmful effect" covering 195,000 more Wisconsinites with healthcare insurance?

195,000 people gained insurance in Wisconsin between 2013 and 2015, which helped bring the uninsured rate down to 5.7%, from 9.4 percent ... a nearly 40% drop

Kidsforward

First, it's TrumpCare now! TRUMPCARE: The ACA's changes under Trump have forced even deep red states like Wisconsin to spend even more money to try and save it.

Walker, an avowed opponent of Obamacare, signed a bill into law that will position the state to receive $150 million in federal dollars to help shore up its healthcare marketplace ... set up a $200 million reinsurance fund, 75 percent of which would be paid for by the federal government.

Trump Party Republicans created this problem, a problem Schimel is now...criticizing? Well, thanks for the help. You can't make this stuff up:

“Obamacare causes premiums to rise and coverage to fall, forcing Wisconsin and other states to take extreme, costly measures to protect their citizens’ health and pocketbooks.” Schimel said that Obamacare has ... cost the state jobs. 

AG Dummy Can't Stop Digging...:

"Josh Kaul may not have known this since he was living on the East and West Coasts, but prior to Obamacare, Wisconsin had among the lowest rate of uninsured people in the nation because of a vibrant free market and a successful high risk pool that provided options for those with pre-existing and serious medical conditions," he said in an email.

Wisconsin's low uninsured rated was the result of a Democratic policy allowing BadgerCare coverage for everyone up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). Both Walker and Schimel want to take credit for the resulting Wisconsin ranking on coverage. Nope, can't do that. Walker then cut eligibility in half, from 200 percent to 100 percent, leaving those with no discretionary income to buy into the ACA Exchanges.

Wait, Schimel's concept of "successful high-risk pool's" is pure fantasy. Losing $6.9 million in one year is considered a success?

Wisconsin's high-risk pool insured about 21,000 people, with critics saying high prices kept tens or hundreds of thousands of others from accessing it. Those applying for the program had to wait six months before they were allowed into it and a lifetime cap of $2 million. Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan lost $6.9 million in 2011, roughly a third of which was offset by a federal grant, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The same year, programs in the 35 states lost a total of at least $272 million.

The "harmful effects" Schimel trashed Josh Kaul with have numbers and are pictured here, on the left side of the graph. And Schimel is leading a 20 state lawsuit to repeal the ACA with examples like this?

Dumb Ron Johnson on Health Care: "I think it’s probably more of a privilege." And the privileged have health care, as shown below in the light areas. This was what it was like before the Affordable Care Act, the apparent golden age of the uninsured:

Here's the full Johnson quote, where he paraphrases Rand Paul, which is even crazier. Bottom line: Having a right to health care doesn't force doctors into servitude since they'll already have some form of payment system under universal health care. Seriously, does anyone know a doctor who doesn't want to treat patients?  Johnson's take is sick and inhumane, there's no other way to describe it:

“I think it’s probably more of a privilege. Do you consider food a right? Do you consider clothing a right? Do you consider shelter a right? What we have as rights is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Past that point, we have the right to freedom. Past that point everything else is a limited resource that we have to use our opportunities given to us to afford those things.

“Sen. Rand Paul talked about this on the floor of the Senate. He’s a doctor. He said the minute you consider health care a right, well, who’s going to satisfy that right? And those people who have the skills to satisfy that right, what does that make them if they’re forced to provide you with that rightful product or service?”

AG Schimel is against Prison Reform? Yes.

This blog post is an easy one, and proof AG Brad Schimel is first, not so smart, and second was never really qualified for the job. We all know that "tough on crime" truth in sentencing laws were costly and disastrous. That goes without saying.

Running Wisconsin’s prisons costs state taxpayers more than $1 billion a year. The facilities in recent weeks have held more than 23,600 adult inmates, putting the prison system at a record high.

So the Democrats decided to run on the least controversial prison reform plan ever, something that's  already been implemented by 35 states, both Democratic and Republican:

JS: Some 35 states cut both crime and incarceration between 2008 and 2017, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts (separate from the Pew Research Center). Much credit is due to state-level efforts to provide alternative forms of accountability for nonviolent offenders, streamlining of release for parole-eligible inmates — and other reforms. President Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce the federal prison population, while perhaps mostly symbolic (the federal system accounts for a small share of all incarceration), focused public attention on the issue.

Money saved could go to schools, infrastructure, healthcare etc., but no, Schimel apparently doesn't do much reading or is blindly taking orders from Scott Walker and the GOP legislators still pushing outdated ideas everyone is moving away from;

Democrats running for governor are deceiving the public into believing prisons are full of marijuana users, Attorney General Brad Schimel said Monday.

Schimel ripped the candidates in a call with reporters, saying their plans to significantly cut the number of inmates in state prisons shows either a lack of knowledge on the candidates’ part of how the state’s criminal justice system works, or an intent to mislead the public about the kind of offenders prisons house. “I’m stunned at the irresponsible proposals being made,” Schimel said. Schimel called on the candidates to identify which kind of offenders would be released under their plans to cut prison populations.

Schimel's request granted...

These policies prioritize costly prison space for violent and career offenders, adjust lengthy prison terms, expand prison alternatives for nonviolent offenders, and direct the resulting savings into programs that reduce recidivism.

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."

AG Brad Schimel Love's Hate Group...for their vision of "better love in the world!!"

The days when Republicans can be a part of any hate group, militia or anti-American conservative think tank without any consequence are over. 

To start, AG Brad Schimel is a bumbling incompetent. Proof? Can you hate gay marriage but still want "better love in the world"? Schimel says yes:

Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel defended his appearance at a West Coast conference put on by the Alliance Defending Freedom, saying the conservative Christian law firm that opposes gay marriage is trying to build “better love in the world.”

Huh? To Schimel, this group might hate homosexuality and want to throw them all in prison...but if they love heterosexuals, what's the beef? 

Still, Schimel may try, but can't explain his way out of attending an "extremist organizations" conference. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights advocacy group, has classified ADF as an extremist organization that supports criminalizing homosexuality and believes a “homosexual agenda” seeks to undermine the family and Christianity. (In) a book ADF founder Alan Sears co-wrote and published in 2003 ... refers to the “homosexual agenda” as the principal threat to religious freedom. More recently, ADF helped write a Mississippi law that lets government workers and private business people cite religious beliefs to deny services to LGBT people.

To Schimel, his social experience at the conference meant more to him than anything this ugly bigotted group plans for the country. And despite the group's actual classification as a hate group, Schimel was filled with love...:

(Schimel told) WTMJ-AM radio that ADF isn’t a hate group. “I’ve never gone to a conference where there was frankly so much love. This is a Christian organization, kind of an alliance of Catholics and evangelicals, getting together to focus on issues about how we build better love in the world.”

Democrat Josh Kaul, Schimel’s opponent, said this about Schimel's wonderful conference experience.

Ag Schimel appeals to base bragging up scheme to suppress voting.

Scott Walker's simpleton lackey AG Brad Schimel just admitted voter ID was meant to suppress certain targeted voters from casting a ballot. Sometimes these guys forget that everyone can hear them. 

Based on decades of research, we already know our elections were "clean" and "honest," Schimel's slip of the tongue and concluding lie confirms what we already knew...he's a tool:

"We battled to get voter ID on the ballot for the November '16 election," Schimel told conservative host Vicki McKenna on WISN (1130 AM) on Thursday. "How many of your listeners really honestly are sure that Senator (Ron) Johnson was going to win re-election or President Trump was going to win Wisconsin if we didn’t have voter ID to keep Wisconsin’s elections clean and honest and have integrity?"

Funny thing, the "Soros" money used to challenge voter ID laws is simply being used to find out if they're constitutional. What is Schimel or any Republican afraid of? I guess if the money dried up to make these challenges, all would be well? 

He has fought in court to keep the law in place and his opponent, Josh Kaul, is the lead attorney challenging it and a host of other election laws. Kaul "works for George Soros going across the country suing states that have voter ID laws," Schimel said.