Wisconsin Republicans say, it's NOT about you? PPP loans just to help Business? Yup.

Vos Republicans don't believe there's a legitimate opposition party with strongly held policies and beliefs. They think liberals, progressives, and Democrats are communists and Marxists, trying to destroy their own jobs, families, economy, and government. I get it, but it doesn't have to make sense to our QAnon neighbors anymore. 

Recently, cosplay governor Robin Vos said that Republicans will never "compromise their conservative ideals," dismissing liberal ideals entirely. Talk about "cancel culture."   

Pretending their Trump/Scott Walker "eggs-in-one-basket" Foxconn debacle never happened, the party of big business continues to ignore the real economic backbone of our state; local small businesses and privately owned farms and their employees.

Stimulus Downside for Republicans? PPP Loans forced Business to Keep Employees? Really, employers were "caught between a rock and the hard place" keeping employees? Gerrymandering made this brutal but free from voter accountability comment possible. Behold...

JSOnline: Republican Sen. Joan Ballweg of Markesan, who as a member of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted in favor of the state tax cut (for PPP loans) on Wednesday.  

She said the program helped the tourism industry get through the pandemic but was flawed because of the rules requiring it to retain employees when business was down.

"They were caught between a rock and the hard place because their business crashed. But by trying to get into the PPP loan, they were mandated to keep on employees that they didn’t need. From the beginning, it was a noble effort. Was it done perfectly? By far and away not."

Do antigovernment Republicans act like they want "small" Government: Think about it; they run for a government job, then get paid with hard earned taxpayer dollars, do nothing to solve state-wide problems, then create gerrymandered safe districts to keep their cushy government jobs, all the while grabbing power away from localities and the Governor.

To coverup their lack of any kind of agenda, freeloading Vos Republicans are focused on accumulating power to stop progress that should INVEST taxpayer dollars in future upgrades. 

1. POWER!!! Vos Republican wrote this legislative power-grab opposed by Gov. Evers:

Give the Legislature oversight of the distribution of federal funds that are allocated to Wisconsin related to combating COVID-19...give Republicans in the Legislature authority over how to spend all future federal COVID-19 dollars that the state receives.

Heads up Governor Evers, Michigan Republicans are showing us why that's a bad idea...

Vos Republicans have control over just 10 percent of the federal COVID relief aid, so guess what they're doing? They're already using it to punish districts that canceled in-person classes because of the pandemic. COVID-19 remember is just a hoax, but wear the mask if you like...:

The budget committee approved a spending plan that will financially penalize some school districts for offering online instruction during the pandemic. Republicans praised the plan for rewarding school districts that have “done the right thing.”

…threatening some school districts too...

(The superintendents wrote back saying,) "Moving too quickly to in-person learning carries its own problems."

A few years back, Sen. Steve Nass accused districts of tricking referendum voters by making claims schools needed maintenance upgrades and building replacements, when they didn't need it. That never was true, not for West Allis or Wauwatosa:

The district operates buildings that are more than 70 years old. "We have and will continue to do everything we can to make our buildings safer during this time and that includes maximizing ventilation and air exchange rates. However, this is not easy in our older buildings," they wrote.

Do-nothing Vos Republicans, skipping the hard work spelled out by the CDC, just want to open schools without making them safer...:

Because Republicans want to kill any possibility of mask mandates statewide, the superintendents pointed out why that's another bad idea: 

Schools can operate more safely when community spread is seriously addressed. Help us with this," Lexmond and Ertl wrote.

Losing $1.3 Million Federal Funding for Allowing One Week Waiting Period to Resume: It wasn't so long ago Republicans threw away $25 Million...

Well, their baaaaackkkkk...throwing away more of our own federal tax money:

WKOW: The state's failure to pass a new COVID-19 response package is now costing Wisconsin more than $1 million every week in federal unemployment relief money.

Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a package approved by the GOP-led Assembly and Senate (over) controversial items added by the Assembly. In order to receive the federal relief, states cannot have a waiting period for people filing a claim for unemployment benefits: 

Vos Republicans poisoned a COVID-19 bill by try to steal the Governors powers, again. State Sen. Duey Stroebel predictably blamed Evers:

Again? Republicans Wrong; People stayed home, jobs declined, and economy slowed BEFORE Governor's stay-at-home order!

Wisconsin Republicans love to look busy. 

So, on top of just sitting back on the sidelines, armchair quarterbacking the COVID-19 pandemic, they're also proactively stripping public health safeguards that will keep the state's economy depressed longer. They now want to kill off the mask mandate, instead of giving it their approval. That should make people feel safer going out again. 

Uh Oh, Consumers Stayed Home Before Stay-at-Home orders! GOP Wrong Again: The Republican rant centered on the Governor hurting businesses, whining about the mask mandate and crowd limits. They're the pro-business heroes blaming the tyranny of the governor, who shut everything down with stay-at-home orders.

No surprise, it turns out the public is a lot smarter than our game playing do-nothing Republicans. Blowup another ridiculous manufactured "job killing" line of BS: 

Employment and activity declined before shutdowns hit...

WaPo: Critics have blamed states’ governors, typically Democrats, for job losses. But pandemic-related economic research shows the shutdowns aren’t killing jobs; the virus is. In the first outbreaks last spring, people stayed home to avoid contracting the deadly novel coronavirus, regardless of what their governor said.

In every state, they stopped going to work around the weekend of March 14, as uncertainty soared, stock markets collapsed and the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. When business didn’t return appreciably faster in areas that lifted their shutdowns, it was clear that shutdowns couldn’t be the primary reason people were staying away from businesses.

Wisconsin Republicans would like you to believe this wouldn't have happened if they were in charge, but:

When we looked at job losses by the governor’s party, rural and suburban areas of red and blue states, (they) lost jobs and began to recover at almost exactly the same pace, regardless of which party was in charge.

One other piece of supporting evidence? The economists found that businesses that drew the largest crowds before the pandemic were the same ones that saw the sharpest declines, relative to their size. That indicates consumers were spooked by the virus and sought out stores they knew were likely to have few customers. That trend was especially pronounced in areas with worse coronavirus outbreaks.

5,643 Deaths and counting, and Vos Republicans never took the COVID-19 Pandemic Seriously! Think about that.

If Scott Walker was governor, herd immunity would be a thing, and the state economy would have plunged into an endless COVID-19 recession, with businesses collapsing everywhere.

Anti-maskers, demanding businesses to reopen, have unknowingly trashed the consumer driven economy by making it unsafe to go out. 

The No Solutions, Do-Nothing Vos-Republican Freeloaders: For 8 years, Walker didn't solve one social problem. Vos-Republicans are sticking to their freeloading ways.

Wait out the pandemic = let the vaccines do all the heavy lifting.  

They always say we should follow CDC recommendations, right? But they don't mean it AT ALL:

More than two dozen Republican lawmakers have signed onto a new resolution that, if taken up and passed by the Senate and Assembly, would immediately cease Evers' extended face mask requirement and the public health emergency declaration that serves as its basis.

Republicans could just Vote to Support Evers' Mask Mandate, Right? They could have also repealed the mandate right before the election, but they weren't that brave: 

Recent Marquette University Law School poll results showed the mask mandate was supported by a majority of Wisconsinites.

While GOP lawmakers had the power to convene at any time to knock it down, they declined to do so in the months leading up to and following the November election.

It's so ridiculous to listen to Republicans whine about Evers not supporting the "integrity of the legislative powers...blah, blah, blah. Pandemic guys! Process is so much more important than peoples lives. 

Proving they don't believe COVID-19 and it's more dangerous mutations... 

Led by Sens. Julian Bradley and Steve Nass, the joint resolution would terminate the public health emergency declaration and subsequent mask order, a step that the language says would "protect the integrity of the legislative powers authorized under the Wisconsin Constitution."

If they believed we were in a COVID-19 pandemic they would support Evers, but...

“The time has come for the Wisconsin Legislature to stand up for civil liberties and put an end to the excessive actions of Governor Evers to control the people of this state with unending Covid-19 emergency declarations," Nass said in a recent statement. "These overreaching mask mandates from @GovEvers must stop," Bradley said this week in a tweet. "I'm ready to vote to end them now."

The gerrymandered-out-of-power Democrats keep telling the truth, even after 5,607 Wisconsinites died horrible lonely deaths thanks to Republican opposition:

Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback slammed the resolution, "Republicans haven’t taken COVID-19 seriously from the beginning, and they still aren’t now more than 280 days since they last sent a bill to the governor’s desk," she added.

And the madness continues, pretending this never really happened;

A host of provisions that made their way through the committee process this week, such as two separate bills that would bar health officials, as well as employers, from requiring individuals to receive a COVID-19 vaccination; another to prohibit health officials from closing places of worship to curb the virus; and a final one that would require school board approval to allow virtual instruction.

Host of "Defend the Vote Rally" in Milwaukee dies. And Trump-Trash Vicki McKenna and David Clarke move on...

No condolences, no big thank you's for his help, no apology for their violent physical assault on Serb Hall's manager Nick Alioto who begged anti-face mask rally goers to follow Covid-19 restrictions during their mob-like protest. Coward Vicki McKenna? Coward David Clarke? 

Nick Alioto has died from a heart condition while battling COVID-19, the virus he contracted 3 days after the rally. The virus is known for impacting those with heart problems specifically, but the medical report ignored the science, and said it was not a factor. Really?

Oddly Alioto later voiced support for the rally, even downplayed the assault while complimenting the majority of cultists. They didn't deserve it. 

This is how the Trump mob of rioters responded to the only adult at the rally:

A brief struggle at a rally outside Milwaukee's Serb Hall on Saturday ended with the venue's general manager on the ground, where he says he was kicked by supporters of President Donald Trump.

A "Defend Your Vote" rally broke up when Nick Alioto asked protesters to comply with the city's public health order aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus, saying, "I'm not going to lose our license" over this.

In video captured by Fox6, people in the crowd yelled obscenities at Alioto and told him to "get out of here," even though they were using his lot. Within seconds, Alioto was surrounded, and one man grabbed him from behind, apparently trying to take the microphone from his hands. Alioto said several people kicked him in the ribs and chest, though that is not visible on the video.

Knocked off balance, Alioto fell to the ground, visibly stunned. A few people attempted to help him up, while others continued to berate him and start a "USA, USA" chant.

Sit down for this: The anger toward Nick Alioto was swift. Why? Because he interrupted former Sheriff David Clarke who was at the time promoting membership in the Proud Boys...not kidding. It's all in the video below. That didn't sit well with the rabid Trump-Trash crowd. Watch the chaos before and after, shocking and horrifying that this is a growing movement, and an historical marker if there ever was one. This video best encapsulates the Trump years:

The Republican COVID-19 8 months in-the-works Plan? COVID, what COVID?

So, just like there never was a pandemic, Assembly leader Robin Vos has finally come up with, after 8 months, some random dates and edicts that yank local COVID control away statewide?  Keep this in mind:

Public health officials have not offered assurances that the spread of COVID-19 will be at safe levels by Jan. 31.

Here's the clueless "Covid Hoax" scheme hatched by our sociopathic Republicans. First, let's crowd people into rooms. JSOnline: 

a. The plan would double the number of local government employees working on COVID-19; require state workers to perform their duties in their offices instead of at home by Jan. 31.

b. Require schools to provide in-person education by late January in most cases; 

Yea, some random date to require in-person schooling, no matter what happens.

Business, business, business: Here's the BIG one: 

a. Insulate businesses, schools and government agencies from lawsuits; bar local health officials from issuing emergency orders that close businesses or implement capacity restrictions unless the limits apply to all types of businesses

I think this twitter comment said it best:

This passes for compassion, ignoring the jaw-dropping number of deaths in nursing homes:

…allow family members to see those in nursing homes.

Oh, and imagine giving our 8-month-Republican-vacationers the power to hand out vaccines:

…and give lawmakers a say in how a vaccine is distributed. The plan would give the Joint Finance Committee the power to veto a vaccine distribution plan.

The committee is controlled by some Republicans who have downplayed the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic in the past, including incoming co-chairman Sen. Howard Marklein of Spring Green, who this fall told his constituents not to worry about the virus because hospitals were not overwhelmed at a time when patients were flooding some facilities.

And with no one in the Senate on board? Another day perhaps.

Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said "WI Republicans haven’t responded to COVID; have sued @GovEvers over his response on Covid; and now have provisions that would limit the ability of any local government to respond to Covid."

Charlie Sykes recently wrote this obvious but also shocking Republican reality:

"After four years of Trump, the habit of ignoring reality is no longer simply a reflex; it is now at the center of the right’s political culture. Indeed, ignoring the reality of the coronavirus was a dress rehearsal for ignoring the reality of an American election." 

Republicans/Trump set up 2021 to Fail!

It's telling when a whole group of stories come together to tell one big story about the U.S. economy under Republican control (Trump/U.S. Senate/ Wisconsin's GOP Legislature). 

Businesses are Dying, and Republicans are ignoring the COVID Job Killer: Republicans will gaslight and blame Democrats for the upcoming sluggish economy and lost businesses in 2021. But again, these are problems they created, and have no intention of solving. 

On a National level, Trump has decided to tank the Biden economy, because he can and wants to:

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the Federal Reserve Thursday that he wants his money back. Well, not his money, but rather $455 million from the CARES Act.

This money supported about a half a dozen Fed programs that stabilized credit markets. The Fed, meanwhile, has all but said directly that’s a bad idea. The Fed supported credit markets, so credit markets could support people.

In one of the most blunt and honest assessments of just what Trump is doing, check out the audio below:

"Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal talks with Business Insider’s Linette Lopez and the New York Times’ Jeanna Smialek about the relationship between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, and how it's affecting coronavirus relief.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach recently asked Sen. Chris Kapenga to do something, anything: 

"This isn’t fear mongering. This is real life. The sooner we get this virus under control, the sooner we can shop on our Main Streets, dine in our restaurants, go to a Bucks game or enjoy an Old Fashioned at our local taverns."

JOB KILLING Kapenga: What we need are more Discussions (not businesses): Can they really get away with this year after year? Kapenga understated the economic urgency:

"Obviously, the citizens of Wisconsin have been speaking up, saying 'Hey, we really want you guys to get together and get something done,'" Kapenga said. "Obviously, we're concerned as the numbers continue to rise." 

Obviously? Oh yea, Kapenga wants to bring back the one week waiting period for unemployment benefits because, well, the pandemic is now just an afterthought?

JOB KILLING Tiffany: COVID? Tiffany did nothing as well, putting businesses and unemployed workers at financial risk. Take a look at Tiffany's State Journal opinion piece that really did intentionally leave out the raging pandemic. (my interpretation in brackets): 

From March to June, a period that included widespread school closures (widespread COVID?) … While potentially losing an entire generation of our children’s education is bad enough (thanks to no COVID legislation) … causing severe dislocations to families as well as our health care system (people are home, not working, with no or reduced income).

JOB KILLING PROOF, Follow the Timeline: The closing of Angelo's Restaurant proves how Republican public safety inaction directly affected Angelo's and every other business in the state:

At first, when dining rooms were closed by county order in March, McGuigan said Angelo’s did well with carryout, but that “trickled off” as the months wore on. 

When Gov. Evers "Stay at Home" order reduced COVID-19 cases...

He was encouraged for a short time when restaurants were allowed a 50% capacity

But "freedom" and "liberty" Trump cultist won the day...

…but when the virus spiked and capacity was reduced back to 25%, it was hard to make it work. McGuigan said the early support was great, but he realizes at some point it gets expensive for people. “They’ve got to watch their costs, their expenses,” he said.

What's Next: Republicans continue discount wearing masks or any other public safety measure because they're hung up on Gov. Evers ability to call for a statewide mask mandate. That's really it, they won't do anything until the State Supreme Court kills it, then they can say how bad Evers is while still not putting their own statewide mandate in place. 

And with the federal dollars ending in the new year, Republicans won't spend a penny.

Leaving it up to people to make that decision hasn't worked, and businesses around Wisconsin are closing and leaving families jobless. 

Republicans unmoved by 8,000 one day increase, dying constituents. Sen. Kapenga said … "I think people can make their own decisions."

Remember when we thought we could convince Republicans health care for all made economical and life saving sense? Or that higher wages and an investment in education for our kids would pay dividends in the future? 

Boy, were we wrong or what? 

Since Scott Walker, Republicans have refused to solve any and all statewide problems. But this too?

The Most Irresponsible, Breathtakingly Inhumane Cruel Abandonment of Governing: If there ever was a time to respond quickly, this would be it...:

Since when is it right to let the least informed, least responsible among us lead the way? And what will it take for Republicans to climb down from a warped ideology that values the "liberty" to ignore common-sense health rules over saving human lives?

We might have thought 1,000 new cases of coronavirus a day would do it.

But it didn't.

Not even 5,000 new cases could move them.

Or even 7,000.

Or 8,000 today!!!

After easily winning their gerrymandered elections by a shockingly disinterested voter base, this is what you get, even backhanding Gov. Evers desperate attempt to get Republicans interested:

“At this point, I haven’t seen anything that I’m real excited about,” incoming Senate
President Chris Kapenga of Delafield, said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

He said he didn’t support Vos’ call for increasing contact tracing and didn’t like some of the main provisions of Evers’ proposed legislation, such as banning evictions and foreclosures and continuing to suspend the waiting period to receive unemployment benefits.

“I’m not real keen on that stuff,” Kapenga said.

Nice! We wouldn't want to encourage laziness while half the states businesses shut down during an out of control GOP induced pandemic. Get back to work you whiny masked snowflakes. 

Kapenga said he was worried Evers’ mask requirement and other COVID-19-related policies were hurting the state’s economy.

“You’ve got people I think who are very scared right now and that’s part of the problem out there. There’s a lot of fear,” Kapenga said.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for (Evers) to be what I consider fear mongering. I think it’s OK to have a healthy respect for what’s going on with COVID and I think people can make their own decisions on that.”

Vos' Pandemic Logic Yesterday: "There isn't a law that we can pass that would outlaw the pandemic!" Now: "I am asking for your help" to stop the Virus?

After protecting their reelection chances by not making any tough decisions to slow down the now raging COVID-19 pandemic, Speaker Robin Vos is now magically dismissing any perception they did nothing for 6 months and that it was some kind of Democratic disinformation campaign that created the illusion of inaction. Seriously. 

Vos and Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (who voters rewarded with a seat in Congress for doing nothing) didn't just disappear since the middle of May, their plan is now responsible for this devastating reality: 

Vos' blames his brutal COVID avoidance plan on...Politics?: On WKOW's Capitol City Sunday, video below, Vos simply lied, telling Wisconsinites what they read and saw with their own eyes never happened: 

1. "Democrats tried to create a narrative that Republicans didn't take COVID seriously, and didn't want to work together to get things done."

2. "Well it's really a political argument that's been made by the liberals, and their allies all across the state, again with out of state billionaire funded money just to try to win the legislature back!!!" 

HOLD ON: What Vos didn't say? Vos Republicans created this death march:

The state's highest court sided with Republican lawmakers Wednesday in a decision that curbed the power of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration to act unilaterally during public health emergencies.

Gov. Evers responded:

"Republican legislators convinced four members of the Supreme Court to throw the state into chaos," Evers told reporters Wednesday evening. "Republicans own that chaos."

Not if Vos can help it. But there was one HUGE problem:

Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote in dissent, "In striking down most of (the order), this court has failed to provide almost any guidance for what the relevant laws mean, and how our state is to govern through this crisis moving forward."

Predictably, Republicans never came back to define those relevant laws, leaving us with 7,7777 new COVID cases, more deaths, and predictions that it could get much worse. From Here and Now:

Vos' media blitz to cover up his now disastrous "people are smart, let them make their own decisions" policy. But Vos voters are dug in now: 

But still....

 I will let you fill in the blank(s): Vos is  _____________________!

Businesses Outside WI may look elsewhere, seeing COVID Raging out of Control!

Like everyone else, the suffocating spread of COVID-19 is making the simple act of going to the store a psychological nail biter. 

COVID? What COVID? Thanks to Republican enablers and the State Supreme Court, the odds of getting the virus are increasing, dramatically. Still, at least Sen. Scott Fitzgerald easily won his election to congressman by a disinterested conservative QAnon base of voters. 

 

While Wisconsin Republicans sit back letting COVID-19 ravage the state on Gov. Tony Evers watch, which they hope to use against him in 2022, the state Supreme Court will likely strike down Evers' mask mandate. 

But surprisingly, area businesses are finally realizing their anti-regulation legislative allies are killing them and their costumers. About time, or too late?

The Truth, and a Warning: Conservative columnist and president of the Wisconsin Technology Council has changed his tune over the last year, especially on rural broadband, and offers up this business warning (I will be reminding voters of this article in 2022 as well): 

The Wisconsin economy would recover much faster if the state held the national eye a while longer by demonstrating it can stop the spread of COVID-19.

That’s hardly a confidence builder for existing businesses, many of which continue to struggle to keep their doors open, or for business executives outside Wisconsin who may look elsewhere to locate or expand. If you view Wisconsin as a bizarre, noncompliant outlier in the fight against COVID, you might think twice about opening that new location.

Knowing the COVID-19 pandemic is hurting Wisconsin’s business climate and consumer confidence, many business associations have banded together under the flag of the “Stop the Spread” coalition. It has produced public service announcements, enlisting the help of marquee sports teams and respected figures to urge people to take simple prevention steps.

The shocking lack of accountability demonstrated in the election and more unbelievably, Scott Fitzgerald's easy Congressional win, offers up little hope conservative voters care or will ever learn any lessons from our FAILED "freedom and liberty" induced raging outbreak. 

How bad is it?

WMTV: The spread of COVID-19 across Wisconsin is off the charts, literally.

So many counties are so far past the Dept. of Health Services' highest classification for case activity, that it needed to create a brand new category. And, although its minimum cutoff is nearly three times higher than the old top category. Nearly every Wisconsin county surpassed that threshold. The entire state too.

"Balance?" Business Tips Scale...: While Covid-19 is killing business and scaring away customers, the denialists at Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce believe we can "balance public safety with business concerns," which we're seeing IS NOT WORKING:

(WMC (and) manufacturers’ association and safety council … question the St. Croix County Board of Supervisors legal authority it has to issue a “Chapter 41 COVID-19 Communicable Disease Ordinance” that would require most people to wear facemasks indoors and limit gatherings to 25 percent of occupancy limits … "(It would) inflict significant economic harm on residents and businesses."

WMC’s letter explains that the ordinance is, “bad public policy that will simply create confusion, uncertainty, and fear, which will negatively impact local employers, workers, and customers.”

Dumber still, while the pandemic is seeing enrollment declines, as schools closed down for safer online classes, the Koch brothers Americans for Prosperity actually said this, ignoring the pandemic:

“Now is not the time to pump $1.4 billion of new taxpayer dollars into an education system that saw a huge decline in enrollment and is not meeting the needs of these families.”

The DPI budget request includes $1.48 billion in new state tax revenue appropriations for public schools and alters the funding formula to address declining enrollment from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, WMC heard the point blank truth, yet as mentioned above, it's was just not what they wanted to hear:

AP: The only way to stop the coronavirus pandemic from getting even worse in Wisconsin is to “triple down,” individually and collectively, on public health measures, the state’s business leaders learned in a bleak update Wednesday.  Dr. Mark Kaufman, chief medical officer for the Wisconsin Hospital Association, at a virtual meeting of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce said, 

“We really know what works, we just need to do it and we all need to do it. We can flatten the curve, but right now that’s the only way we will flatten the curve.”

Robin Vos' COVID-19 Failure Exposed!!!

I have done little blogging lately, mostly just to keep my sanity and health intact, and because the bigger issues that solve most of our problems are not currently in play. 

The Deadly Do-Nothing Vos/Fitzgerald Authority: Republicans are happy to blame Gov. Evers for COVID-19, as it ravages the state, by doing nothing for 7 months:

This is all a setup to challenge Evers in 2022. They will stoop to this, people suffering and dying, to win that election.  

But just as I sat down to draw attention to Robin Vos' most recent ridiculous comments suggesting Republicans can only respond to Gov. Evers ideas because they've already done all that they could, I came across the most complete list of Vos failures on Twitter. 

This important post from Jules cannot just disappeared into the twitter archives. Here it is for all to see and understand how one party's absolute gerrymandered control can ignore even a dangerous out-of-control, worst in the nation, statewide pandemic that killed 42 Wisconsinites in just one day:

 

Pro-Life Wisconsin Unmasked: I've always said there is nothing pro-life about any group that doesn't back life saving health care for all, pandemic safety rules, and gun safety regulations that prevents mass killings. Here's the in-your-face proof how empty this radical one agenda organization is about life:

"Pro-Life" Wisconsin held the mass gathering on THURSDAY, and that's important, because it defied Gov. Evers "two and half week old limit on public interaction to slow the virus spread." The law and order party ignored the Governor's order, and a day later...:

…A Wisconsin appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked the restrictions.

It's even on YouTube:

 A YouTube feed of the “Love for Life” event shows a large crowd gathered in the church with many, if not a majority of attendees, not wearing masks. Apart from the photo with other lawmakers, the feed also shows Skowronski seated in the pews of the event without a mask on.

One of the bragging points of this repressive organizations is it's successful opposition to dispensing contraception patches and pills by pharmacists, so Americans, if they want, can prevent unwanted pregnancies. But without unwanted pregnancies, who needs anti-abortion groups that feed off donors and duped victims who keep these sick minds employed. And they donate to Republican politicians. 

Republican COVID-19 Deniers intentionally destroying Wisconsin Economy to Blame Evers in 2022? Sure, even if a few hundred have to die.

Question: Could the gerrymandered Republican legislature be planning on destroying the Wisconsin economy just so they can blame Gov. Evers in 2022? I think so:

The 44 Percent Super-Spreaders, Reason 1: Okay, instead of screaming at my TV, I'm going to just ask the question here; why are reporters skipping past the huge number of heavy breathing Wisconsin Trump supporters not wearing masks? Is there a reason why COVID-19 is spiking off the charts in mostly conservative area of the state? Maybe it's those Trump supporters, ya think? 44 percent will vote for Trump, almost half the state:

The 44 Percent Super-Spreaders, Reason 2: Think back on the failed Republican idea to "have a discussion about those statewide high COVID 'pocket's,' and leave the other areas alone." How'd that work out? As you can see conservative area's of the state are exploding, counties that had low infection rates once, while liberal mask wearing counties today...aren't. The last 14 days...:

The 44 Percent Super-Spreaders, Reason 3: So it's pretty clear Republicans are using the mask-free-Trump-induced statewide spread of the virus to claim that wearing a mask doesn't make any difference. And conservative voters will oddly go along with the same list of irresponsible, tired, and ridiculous sounding excuses every time there's a problem Republicans don't want to solve? Here are some:

1. "Let's look at things that we can do to manage that." But Republicans have already said they won't be stepping in to help, so...?

2. "We can have this very detailed discussion...let's step back..." Sure, we've got all the time in the world. 

3. "They had people that were in hospice that had days to live, and then they died from what they had, and they got labeled (as COVID)..." Republicans claim a large percentage of the 214,000 COVID deaths were really from other diseases. 

4. "The problem here is the legislature isn't at the table, it's not able to get the facts to help make good decisions." Remember when the Republicans took the Governors powers away? So what do they need him for? Or how about the mind-blowing idea the Legislature doesn't have access to the facts?

TOP 4 Republican COVID-19 Deniers, Killing People and the Economy: Wisconsin Republican comments, like State Sen. Chris Kapenga statements below, should be added to the historical record, documenting just how bizarre this do-nothing Trump-cult party prevented government from responding to anything. Here's the answer to Kapenga's false statement about ineffective masks:

Mark Kaufman, a physician and chief medical officer for the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said “No part of the state is untouched. The main reasons are a lack of individual and collective compliance with the public health measures that we know will work to control this pandemic.”

From WKOW's Capitol City Sunday:

Still embarrassing his district, Sen. Van Wanggaard said the same nonsense most Trump-trash supporters believe now is true. It'll blow your mind again. From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 

Reporter: "They're the premier health organization (CDC) in the country, why would they want to misrepresent information?"

Wanggaard: "I don't know if it was intentional..."

Reporter: "So the 210,000 people who have died this year..."

Wanggaard: "Could be much fewer than that."

From last week, Rep. John Nygren and Sen. Duey Stroebel made these breathtaking leaps of fantasy:

Sen. Duey Stroebel: "I'm not a scientist, I'm not a doctor, I think you can also look at some facts that say the masks haven't been changing anything, but then again..." 

Interiewer: "But Senator, that's not what your public health officials are saying...."

Economy will not recover until the virus is under control warns Federal Reserve Bank president.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said at a webinar held by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s largest business association Wednesday, “This is not about politics — it’s about confidence.”

Kashkari’s overview of what’s ahead was not encouraging, he said people will be wary of going to restaurants, movie theaters and sporting events. “If thousands and thousands of businesses go bankrupt,” Kashkari said, “this recovery is going to be much slower.”

Employment in the manufacturing sector is still down by about 720,000 jobs nationally from February.

Republicans Legislate through the Courts with Lawsuits: With a gerrymandered permanent Republicans majority in control, they've set up a legal arm to take lawsuits to an activist conservative Supreme Court.

But wait, one judge is calling out that scheme:

St. Croix County judge R. Michael Waterman was appointed to the bench in 2015 by then-Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican. He said:

"The legislature can end the state of emergency at any time, but so far, it has declined to do so. As the statewide representative body of the citizens of Wisconsin, the legislature’s inaction is relevant and it weighs against judicial intervention, especially when the requested intervention will have statewide impact," Waterman wrote. The judge agreed with Evers that he can continually issue public health emergencies, which attorneys for the plaintiffs argued Evers could not do legally. Emergencies are limited to 60 days, but the governor can issue new ones after each emergency expires, Waterman said. "Plaintiffs in this case don’t ask to preserve the status quo; they ask to change it," Waterman wrote.

Vos/Fitzgerald continue to ignore COVID-19 pandemic, voters let them, even claim masks don't help, "face masks have become a politicized mental placebo."

With the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing nationwide, with Friday's count at 54,441 positive cases and 906 deaths (just one day), Republicans still won't budge on masks or anything else. 

Rightists claim COVID-19 was a hoax and a money making Democratic plot (Breitbart) to shut down the economy blah, blah, blah…why don't the Democrats ever tell me their plans? 

…but where were the prayers for the 7, 310, 625 Americans infected, or the 208,000 dead? Only Trump deserves that...:

Wisconsin Pandemic Spreads to New Levels: In just one day:

Saturday's 2,892 positive cases, 19 more people have died. Wisconsin's outbreak is among the worst in the nation:

With Republicans blaming Democratically run cities for everything, it should be of interest to #TrumpTrash that Republicans controlled Jefferson County, and it's no conservative utopia: 

What Wisconsin Republicans didn't expect was an uncontrolled statewide rise that should have forced them into action. But still, they won't budge or change their mindless excuses. 

COVID-19 took a back seat to "procedure" and "freedom," as Rep. John Nygren and Sen. Duey Stroebel whine that Gov. Evers didn't go to the legislature first , which didn't matter since a "one-size-fits-all" solution is out of the question. And that's the big reveal here. WKOW's Capitol City Sunday:

By literally doing nothing, they forced the Governor to act, which played right into their hands.  The activist conservative State Supreme Court is likely to permanently ban the governors emergency powers forever. The result, small, chaotic, and inept government. 

DUMB AND DUMBER: Here are a few other jaw-dropping comments from safely gerrymandered Republicans that voters should be fed up with by now, but aren't. NOTE: Because conservative "freedom" loving losers don't wear masks, and there are a lot of the in Northeastern Wisconsin, they're driving the infection numbers higher, negating the positive effects of mask wearers: 

"There is a correlation," State Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, said of the rising hospitalizations in Wisconsin. "Precisely the correlation? We don't know. But there's no doubt that things have gotten worse."  That day, a hospital in northeastern Wisconsin had to treat people in hallways because it was so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients."

Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said "There is not a scientific consensus that using face coverings have been proven to stop the spread of COVID. In the place of evidence, face masks have become a politicized mental placebo." 

Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, gave a similar argument against Evers' extension of the mask mandate, saying "statistics show that Wisconsin’s mask mandate has been ineffective in controlling the spread of the virus."

Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, said the same day: "Data is in: masks either hurt or do not seem to make a difference." Allen tested positive for COVID-19 five days later.

UNBELIEVABLE: If you've ever been to rightist (if we're leftists, they're rightists) media sites, it's sell, sell, sell, with popup ads and pleas for money. Trump's COVID case is no different...seriously, you won't believe this:

According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll. In two separate questions, 72% said that Trump did not take the "risk of contracting the virus seriously enough," nor "the appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health."

They're just not Republicans, they're dumbasses too:

 

Activist GOP State Supreme Court wants Green Party on Ballot, "everybody needs to get a fair shake." Also, Pandemic wins as In-person Christian Schooling returns.

Isn't it funny you never hear about "judicial activism" anymore, especially when hard core Republican judges and justices are in control of the courts. 

Isn't it obvious by now right-wing legal challenges are fast tracked to the activist State Supreme Court for a predetermined legal outcome? Yes, the scheme is shockingly obvious. 

"Freedom" and "liberty" are the go-to patriotic reasons actual laws are now being struck down, leaving government unable to do anything. Can't stop a pandemic or adhere to basic election law requirements? Nope. 

The Supreme Court ruled Gov. Evers orders to control the pandemic "tyrannical." What's "tyrannical" is a Court that usurps the power of the governor and locally elected officials with flag waving declarations of freedom and liberty,  forget any legal arguments. 

Elect Trump, Vote Green Party: For instance, the Wisconsin Supreme Court halted the distribution of absentee ballots because the 3 Republican election commissioners wanted the Green Party candidates on the ballot to syphon away Biden voters. Gee, I wonder how they'll rule? 

Breaking!!! It's too late?  That's it, none of the other reasons listed below under BREAKING MON 9/14? 

"The state Supreme Court has denied the Green Party's request to place presidential candidate Howie Hawkins on Wisconsin's ballot, ruling it's too late to grant the relief sought. Order clears way for local clerks to begin mailing absentee ballots." Justice Brian Hagedorn broke with his fellow conservatives to form a majority with the court's liberals that kept Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins off the ballot.

Maybe things were looking a little to obvious? It now makes the comments by Republicans con artists so much more revealing doesn't it? Check out pure partisan, not very legal reasons the conservative Justices gave to put the Green Party on the ballot, they're so sad:

1. Roggensack called the Elections Commission "lawless" for keeping Hawkins and Walker off the ballot. "This lawsuit is not about the Green Party sleeping on its rights. It is about the treatment that independent candidates from a small political party received from the Commission, who repeatedly refused to follow the law relative to nomination papers."

2. Ziegler wrote that keeping a worthy candidate off the ballot is "the ultimate voter suppression."

My original post continues...

Imagine a Democrat offhandedly throwing out this flimsy reason to bypass petition requirements:

Republican Commissioner Dean Knudson said it was clear, based on the dates on the ballot petitions, that (VP) Walker had moved on either July 29 or 30. The only fair thing to do, Knudson said, would be to put the Green Party candidates on the ballot. Besides, Knudson said, if the commission didn't do it, the courts likely would. "Everybody needs to get a fair shake," said Knudson,

BREAKING MON 9/14: It took the Washington Post and a note from the Bulwark to get what the local media missed completely. This is pivotal, since it also shows how Republicans, helping the Green Party, love to fast track cases directly to the Supreme Court: 

Questions about the Green Party ballot petition began in August, when a state voter complained that there was a discrepancy in Walker’s address on the party’s signature pages. The campaign said that Walker had moved during the signature-gathering phase. But campaign officials failed to respond to a request from the state elections commission to fix their signature sheets, which they could have done by submitting an affidavit explaining the address discrepancy.

In a report to the Wisconsin Elections Commission ahead of its Aug. 20 meeting, the commission’s staff argued that the affidavit would have “easily cleared up confusion” — but absent that, the commission is left with “legitimate arguments” against the petition’s validity.

Weeks later, the Green Party ticket asked the Supreme Court to intervene. “You get help where you can find it,” Presidential contender Howie Hawkins told The Washington Post when asked whether Republicans had financed the legal action. “They have their reasons and we have ours.” Hawkins’s campaign manager, Andrea Merida, later denied that...

Religious Schools Protected By God from COVID: And then it took just 3 very insecure religious families that were worried their children drift away from Christianity without in-person schooling, to get the court to "block Dane County's ban on in-person classes for grades 3-12 the same day the state had a surge of new COVID-19 cases that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans." 

Yup, religious "freedom," forget about that pandemic thing. Let's see how long those schools stay open. The likely sick children or family deaths will be on the Supreme Court, not that they'll care. They probably had some underlying health issue before they got Covid. 

Like the Milwauke Journal Sentinel email summed up:

The conservative majority's logic, particularly in the Dane County case and a previous decision diminishing the state's ability to lead a coordinated public health response, is rooted in concern for freedom and individual rights. 

The Difference in Bizarro World: The Court is removing any difference between the extraordinary measures to control a public health crisis and an authoritarian political system grabbing control, ironically like the Supreme Court did when they approved the GOP's lame duck power grab over the governor and AG.  You can't make this stuff up. 

Republicans Crazy argument "You have an individual right to make your own medical decisions"...yea, for other people?

Sen. Alberta Darling and dozens of local sheriffs are refusing to protect the lives of Wisconsinites all across the state, based on a provably wrong and ridiculously dangerous anti-mask talking point. For example:

Darling: "...the masks are important but that should be up to the individuals and local communities to decide what they want to do.”

Sheriff Dennis Stuart said in a statement; "You have an individual right to make your own medical decisions. We as government officials shall not intrude. The Constitution can't be suspended, whether people get sick or not," 

False-"fact:" Anti-maskers are making their own medical decisions about other peoples health...

It's not just irresponsible losers making every place unsafe, it's a profound misinterpretation by law enforcements officials: 

Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis said: "I believe citizens have the expectation that your sheriff’s office should expend resources providing a safe and secure community by investigating real criminal acts."

Would an angry unmasked person getting in your face or spitting on you a criminal act? Yes, and it's intentional. But the following is the prevailing thinking of too many sheriffs deciding on what they will and won't enforce. Still don't think law enforcement needs reform?

Other sheriff’s offices that have said they will not enforce the order include those in Adams County, Oneida County, Vilas County, Forest County, Taylor County, Lincoln County, Iron County, Brown County, Fond du Lac County, Dodge County, Walworth County, Waukesha County, Washburn County, Waupaca County and Washington County.

Never Pro-Life but shockingly Pro-Death: With the mounting infection rate and climbing death toll, we're faced with the reality that no matter how bad it gets, Republicans will not change their rock solid position. This is a version of the Gilded Age, where worker deaths and lack of safety were the price of doing business and making massive profits. 

If someone could provide the names of Rep. Rob Brooks restaurants and businesses, it would be public service to warn people that Brooks is not requiring his workers to wear masks, which would say a lot about his concern about your health and possible transmission of a deadly disease:

Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, said he would not require employees or patrons of his two restaurants in Saukville to wear masks despite the order requiring them inside restaurants unless patrons are eating and drinking. "We understand that this is a controversial matter for some and we certainly understand and respect your decision to not dine in or visit us at this time," he said in a Facebook post. "We will respect your decision — please respect ours."

Yup, Facts, Charts, and Rates reported are just not believable or complete. It would be reckless to follow safety efforts? Unless each community is gated, it would be kind of hard to argue that each part of the state is different, the same BS Republicans have used to do nothing about national health care:

"To impose a statewide mask order based on incomplete data and game playing is reckless and negligent," Republican Rep. Jim Ott of Mequon said in a statement.

“The governor’s one-size-fits-all approach treats Milwaukee and Madison the same as Wautoma and Arpin. That's a misguided and heavy-handed approach that I simply don’t support," GOP Sen. Patrick Testin of Stevens Point said in a statement.

Let's look at the lunacy that Evers is wrong when he "...treats Milwaukee and Madison the same as Wautoma and Arpin. That's a misguided and heavy-handed approach..." Testin's politics of division and resentment between rural and urban people has been exposed. Poking her head out of the Trump rabbit hole, here's White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx:

GOP voters say Evers hates Trump, liberals attacking "freedom:" Here are just a few examples that are deeply troubling from the cultists section of society: 

Bonnie Johnson and her husband, Wayne, said, "I'm 79, you know, I don't like to be ordered around. We live in the United States and we're not used to being ordered around. I think people are going to get sick from wearing the masks. I think it's all political. I would like to see Scott Walker back in office. I think he would be handling this much better."

Her husband agreed. "It's an abuse of power by the governor. The masks are absolutely useless in protecting me. It protects others from me, but I'm not sick."

Scary communism, "all these mandates" (a simple mask mandate), and me, me, me…

Judy Panyk, a 68-year-old from Mount Pleasant, said wearing one on the bus makes sense. However, she said, "All these mandates" were making the country "more like a communist country. I'm not concerned at all about getting the virus because I don't like crowds or being around a lot of people."

Anti-maskers will Keep Wisconsin Businesses Closed and Hurting: Remember, these people are  "supply siders" and are oblivious to the consumer side of the equation (70 percent). Without demand and consumer confidence that it's safe to go out again, nothing in Wisconsin is going to change for the better:

Tosha Womack, 47, of Menomonee Falls, said she supports having to wear a mask. "I'm in support of the masks if it's going to make the virus dissipate," she said. "I'm tired of being locked up, I want to go out."

For fun, I had to include this. What a place to get a quote for the story. Only in Wisconsin:

Some businesses have already started to have such problems with customers not complying with the mandate. Nutz Deep II, a bar and grill in Marshfield, said some customers have been refusing to wear masks while waiting for a table.