Republican right-wing funded "institutions" float fear and resentment with fabricated Medicaid Expansion report now being laughed at by experts.

Shocker? It looks like Scott Walker and the Republicans actually did expand Medicaid, but they just didn't take the federal money...the reality is just settling in:

JS-Guy Boulton: Former Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature already expanded the Medicaid program. They just didn’t take the federal money available to states to offset much of the cost.

Wisconsin is the only state in the country that expanded eligibility for its Medicaid program — the change made in 2014 ... That decision will have cost the state an estimated $1.1 billion in federal dollars through the current fiscal year, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Just as outrageous, although many suspected this all along, Republicans made a decision after Evers election that they would collude with right-wing groups and "institutes" to spew out phony research just to muddy the waters and call into question any "liberal" Democratic policies coming out of the Evers administration.

It almost worked.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (backed with millions in grants from the Bradley Foundation (and) member of the State Policy Network, a web of right-wing “think tanks”) and UW economics professor Noah Williams (also funded by the Bradley Foundation) defended their phony study. They claimed "cost shifting" to everyone else's private insurance premium? It just wasn't possible. You can't make this stuff up:

There’s also a question about the study’s time frame. The study ended with data from 2014 — before any purported cost shift to private health plans could have occurred in most states. This means that any costs shifted to private insurers wouldn’t have appeared in the cost of health plans until 2016 at the earliest.

The expanded eligibility for Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act didn’t begin until Jan. 1, 2014. Insurers typically negotiate three- to five-year contracts with health systems and other providers ... the price increases would not have been set until the following year, 2015. Insurers and employers who self insure, in turn, set premiums for their health plans for the following year in September or October.

Remember when Walker thought the federal government would end up not paying the 90 percent of the cost of expanded Medicaid? What study informed in of that? The federal government never missed a payment before that. Walker had mistaken the yearly federal changes to the percentage on the fed side as reneging on their promise. Walker is not a smart man, as we're finding out from his now clueless tweets.

But wait, there's more proof the report was pretty damn phony; hospitals most affected financially disagreed with the conclusions:

But studies show that expanding eligibility for Medicaid significantly improved hospital operating profit margins, according to an issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which does health policy research.

Further, hospital associations have pushed to expand eligibility for Medicaid in states that didn’t — and they presumably wouldn’t take that position if they thought it would increase their costs and force them to raise prices.

Then there's this caveat...

Neither Flanders nor Williams contend the study is perfect. “There are invariably assumptions that have to be made in every econometric analysis,” Flanders said.

...which embolden Republicans to claim the study as factual proof. A study by the way, that will make the rounds in other conservative states now. They don't do this stuff for nothing:

The study’s conclusions didn’t evoke any skepticism by the legislators — Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin; Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville; Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield; and Sen. Dave Craig, R-Big Bend, — who held the news conference to tout them.

Here's what I've been saying since this "study" came out:

Robert Laszewski of Health Policy & Strategy Associates, a health care consultant and Wisconsin native who has been a sharp critic of flaws in the Affordable Care Act:

“Why are we even having this discussion? The data is there. The studies are there. The practical information is there. When are these people going to give up and finally admit that forcing Wisconsin taxpayers to pay something the federal government has been begging to pay for is not smart policy?”

Wisconsin Low Wage Island in the Midwest, while Right-wing Funded UW Professor uncovers Alternative Facts!!!

Remember Scott Walker's wasted taxpayer funded ad campaign to attract job seekers to Wisconsin

$6.8 million marketing and advertising campaign aimed at Midwestern millennial's, returning military veterans and alumni of the state’s public and private colleges … promote the state’s industry mix, recreation, education, arts, health care.

What didn't get any attention at all was this striking minimum wage reality that would make anybody think twice about coming here:

Guess we're not going to be seeing caravans of unemployed millennial's crossing the southern border of our state anytime soon.

Evers proposed gradual minimum wage hike to $15 is once again, according to Republicans, a business disaster and job killer. Yet there's living proof that didn't happen in Washington state:

Seattle, since 2014 ... shows that workers made more money— but that experienced workers made out the best. The study found that the increase added about $10 per week on average ... even while reducing weekly hours slightly...

Employee turnover decreased ... at the cost of reduced opportunity for the inexperienced," the study's authors wrote. (But)...The Economic Policy Institute says problems with the study haven't been fixed ... Since it defines "new entrant" as someone making less than $15 an hour ... the study would count someone who got hired at $16 or $17 an hour as a lost job instead of a better one.

Enter the UW's new Alternative "Facts" Research Facility? But wait, Republicans have a UW-Madison professor up their sleeve now. The talk show Upfront never mentioned this about Prof. Noah Williams, who's featured in their story on the minimum wage below:

Williams is director of the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy, established in July. Funding for the center includes $240,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation and $100,000 from the Bradley Foundation ... Williams was an adviser to Walker’s presidential campaign, the Associated Press reported. Williams published a report concluding that another existing tax credit backed by Walker helped grow manufacturing jobs in the state. 

Williams’ analysis of the controversial Foxconn plant proposal concluded that the high-tech plant could return nearly $4 for every $1 of a proposed $3 billion state tax subsidy... 

How's that Foxconn deal turning out Noah?



First, anyone notice a distinct research pattern from Williams that seems to always come up GOP positive, like this from last week trashing Gov. Evers plan to expand Medicaid (BadgerCare):

Republican lawmakers are touting a health care study, by the conservative WILL and UW-Madison economics professor Noah Williams, (that) found expanding Medicaid in 2020 would increase private insurance consumer costs ... a conclusions (that) drew sharp criticism from Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director of UW-Madison’s Population Health Institute. “This study has several methodological and analytical flaws that substantially compromise the validity of its conclusions” ... pointed to mathematical errors and problems with the study’s conclusion that health care spending is higher in Medicaid expansion states. Friesam added most economists reject the reasoning that private sector health care costs would increase...

Getting back to the Upfront video clip, conservative special interest lobbyists at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association had the balls to whine about this...:

Wisconsin Restaurant Association: "...so it's always concerning to our members when they hear the government is going to artificially raise the rates..."

Hold on, wages have flat-lined for decades, yet big business just got a major Trump corporate tax cut along with multiple tax cuts for the wealthy. Nothing artificial about that government action?

I am the proud father of 2 sons, 16 and 20, and I blow a gasket every time I hear a Republican devalue their incredible lives by saying that because they lack inexperience, they aren't worth a decent wage. 

My 16 year old, who recently started a weekend food service job, registered surprise when he saw $400 in his own checking account, money he made. It was that moment when I realized; like everyone else, once you get a taste of earning an income, you want to work harder and make more. That's human nature, that's the real motivation, not a mandated government work requirement by a Republican who doesn't think young workers are worth it.  

Walker controlled by Money Corrupting Wisconsin Special Interests...not those other guys in Washington!

Scott Walker (money corrupts) may have duped his followers for the last time! Remember this election cinching quote (with correction by me):

It's what Walker left out; Wisconsin special interests (money corrupts), where Walker "put the power in their hands."

The Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice detailed how much of  Walker's very unoriginal agenda (money corrupts) coincidentally mirrored that of the Bradley Foundation. Oh, and don't forget their (money corrupts) billionaire "super friends:"

Those "hard working people" mentioned in Walker's (money corrupts) speeches? They're not you...

Documents hacked from the Bradley Foundation's computer server by the foreign group calling itself Anonymous Poland, show Walker's state budget address urging people to take steps to avoid welfare... mirrored a platform of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. 

State Children and Families Secretary Eloise Anderson, who chairs a separate Bradley-funded national initiative on welfare reform, met with foundation officials shortly after her appointment...

The deep-pocketed Bradley Foundation takes its Wisconsin template for conservative control of government across the nation...

What's in that Bradley Foundation (money corrupts) template? 

Under the Wisconsin model, Bradley-funded groups recruit conservative candidates, propose and defend conservative policy, dig up dirt on liberals, draft conservative legislation and provide legal support throughout the process. These 14 groups, dubbed the "Wisconsin Network," received more than $13 million from Bradley from 2011 to 2015.

In a statement you can only describe as a jaw dropping show of arrogance, an amazing comfort level with big monied special interests (money corrupts), and a total disconnect from the will of the people, Walker said Wisconsin's power brokers should be praised (money corrupts)...:

Walker said it saved taxpayer dollars to have the Bradley Foundation pay for the panel, even if it was never announced.

"People bring in speakers on given topics, so instead of the state taxpayers having to pay to bring them in, other organizations are willing to do that. I think that’s legitimate."

And because life already doesn't suck enough for the poor, why not add to their difficulties under the manipulative (money corrupts) ploy of "right wing resentment:"

Along with being a Walker cabinet member, Anderson — who once said welfare had "outlived its usefulness" — is the head of the Secretaries Innovation Group, which has been awarded $1.5 million by the Bradley Foundation's board.

Anderson's group, made up of 20 human services secretaries from states with GOP governors, wants to return welfare decisions to the states and to cut the number of people on welfare, food stamps and Social Security Disability Insurance. It also wants to revise the earned income tax credit, with one option being to make it a subsidy for employers, not a payment to families.

Just to be clear, Walker put the (money corrupts) power, and his agenda, in the hands of these people:

Four months after Walker survived a 2012 recall election, Grebe held the foundation's annual donor retreat at the American Club in Kohler. Part of the cost of the event was underwritten by Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks, whose holding company gave the foundation $40,000, the internal records show.

In all, about 85 major Wisconsin donors showed up for the Kohler conference, held Oct. 7 and 8. Of that number, 76 — or nearly 90% — have given a total of $2.1 million directly to Walker's campaign since he first ran for governor.

Democratic Senators Chris Larson and Bob Wirch accuse Right-to-Work Corporate Cowards for hiding from the public.

State Senator Chris Larson confronted Steve Nass about "not seeing a single person that hasn't gotten money from the Bradley Foundation." That money provides cover for the donors pushing right-to-work. Nass defended anonymous Big Businesses, saying they were fearful of blowback, boycotts and retaliation by those unhappy with the legislation. But Larson and Sen. Bob Wirch said that was nothing new to them as legislators, so RTW cowards should stop hiding behind their front groups.

All of the business owners who appeared at the hearing speaking out against RTW put their names and companies on the line as well. Wirch reminded Nass how Republicans exacted their own retaliation against the Capitol protesters with regulations, arrests and fines. Nass had no comeback.



The massive protests in 2011 were blowback for Act 10, but Walker framed that uprising as intimidation. Public dissent, a 1st Amendment right, is now defined as intimidation.

the Bradley Foundation?

One of the country's largest and most influential right-wing foundations, the Bradley Foundation is known for ... providing funding for a host of right-wing organizations, Bradley President/CEO Michael W. Grebe contributes to publications and "academic" research aimed at legitimizing far-right policy positions ... private school vouchers, faith-based social services, welfare reform … and a strong belief in personal responsibility."