Well, our embarrassing gerrymandered and unaccountable Republican authority is once again thrust into the national spotlight.
MSNBC's All in With Chris Hayes put it all out there, from dumb Ron Johnson's obsession with trying to get us to understand a problem first before ever taking action, to Sen. Chris Kapenga's amazing adoration of Trump:
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) June 30, 2021
Kapenga is just as sociopathic as Johnson, especially for his lack of empathy and Scrooge like drive to put everybody in workhouse or prisons. Here's something from an earlier post about the Republicans lack of pandemic action all year. It's brutal:
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
I don't know what it is, but Republicans just love to divide people up in our state into warring groups.
Republican State Sen. Chris Kapenga also loves those anecdotal random comments from like minded constituents that will eventually form future Wisconsin legislation, and maybe law. Who needs research or opposing opinions?
Take the issue of "full inclusion" of special needs kids in our classrooms. The research is in?:
Mr. Know-it-All doesn't
have time for you!
"I have had teachers and parents come to me who have concerns that they consistently have," Kapenga said. "I have had one teacher who's said, 'A few times a week, I have to actually remove my kids from the classroom because this child continues to be disruptive in the classroom.'
He might claim otherwise, but...
In an hour-long town hall meeting attended by dozens of people May 22, state Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) attempted to clarify comments attributed to him about special education students that caused an uproar on social media ... people on Facebook claimed he had said (It is uncertain where the posts originated, made at a Wisconsin Association of School Boards meeting in Madison this spring):
"They don't deserve to be in the classroom. They take away from the learning of other students. It might make them feel good to be in the classroom, but it shouldn't happen. They belong in separate schools."-Kapenga
Kapenga thought this would clarify what he meant?
But Kapenga told the standing-room only crowd on Wednesday the quote twisted his words, making his comments sound "absolutely horrible."
They were of course. And then he said it again, essentially confirming the Facebook quote. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up:
Kapenga also said that some people favor full inclusion, while others want the old system of separate schools set up for special needs children. Kapenga said the "far left spectrum of full inclusion" is not working, which drew chuckles of disbelief from some in the crowd. "So let's start talking about solutions — and I'm open to doing that — but not if people are going to twist my words into something that's not," Kapenga said.
So Kapenga knows what "some people" tell him absolute fact, and that's good enough for now, because he's a busy man:
Hartland-Lakeside School Board members Val Wisniewski and Tom Harter encouraged Kapenga to visit the district ... before the end of the school year, Kapenga demurred, saying he could not commit because of his busy schedule, but offered to visit before the start of the next school year. The exchange led some audience members to ask Kapenga to clarify his position on including special education students in mainstream classrooms, but Kapenga declined to do so, saying he had already stated his position earlier in the evening. He then abruptly ended the meeting, as it was over the hour-long allotted time that had been set.
Would you believe...so far, Republican voters believe, and they're willing to give up local control of their own communities for the ridiculous excuse that it offers "consistency" and "stability" to employee hours, benefits, wage and discrimination claims. What, you didn't know this was a big problem?
AP: A Republican bill would prevent local governments in Wisconsin from enacting a variety of ordinances pertaining to employment matters, including limits on working hours, overtime, benefits, and discrimination and wage claims ... the measure is needed to create statewide employment standards to provide consistency and stability both for employers and employees.
Even though "Democrats and labor unions" oppose the one-size-fits-all attack on labor, this is really a slap at every working stiff in the state, and every employer trying to compete statewide and nationally.
Republicans aren't hiding anything anymore; it's feel-good anti-worker conservativism, with the added benefit of killing off local control:
(Part of) a movement championed by Walker, who has built his reputation by effectively ending collective bargaining and enacting a right to work law. Since 2016, at least 15 states passed 28 such laws covering everything from barring higher local minimum wages to blocking more generous paid leave provisions, based on an August report from the Economic Policy Institute.
Walker's Ad Touting Work in Wisconsin...a Lie: Have you seen that Scott Walker ad campaign telling workers in other states how much different and better Wisconsin is? Nope, Wisconsin wants to be like every other low wage state. That's not all, Republicans think workers aren't too smart and are easily confused by the different local standards. And you won't believe the line of ideological word salad bullshit from the bill's lead sponsor State Sen. Chris Kapenga:
Kapenga said the restrictions were needed in the face of cities in other statesenacting ordinances covering such things as wages, benefits and other issues that result in a patchwork of requirements creating confusion. Having a variety of different local requirements would make Wisconsin a less competitive and more costly state to do business, he said. "We're talking about doing what's right for Wisconsin knowing what's happening around the country," Kapenga said.
Doing What's Right? Kapenga isn't the only self-righteous Republican:
Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield: “There are certain values that the state upholds. If the values aren’t consistent at the local level, there is an opportunity for the state to come in and say these are our principles and they are good."
Put another, better way...:
Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer for the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO: "This bill is about power, the power to overreach and tell citizens in their own communities that they don't know what's best for them."
MUST SEE VIDEO: Check out this debate between Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Chis Kapenga from Feb. 21, 2014, when Kapenga first came up with this statewide idea after the Milwaukee County Board brought up a living wage ordinance. One guy is intellectually honest, the other struggles to make any sense. From WKOW:
Blatant Kapenga Conflict of Interest? Get this, Rep. Chris Kapenga is CEO of Integrated Time Systems, and originally wrote a similar law to protect his own company in Brookfield:
"My company is in Milwaukee and the second I saw the news story come out that there may be an ordinance put in place, I started working on this," said Rep. Kapenga, who owns a computer software business.
Here's what this amazing Republican bill does, supported by the usual list of big monied special interests, like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce ... the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, and groups representing independent businesses, restaurants, the tourism industry, hotels and staffing services:
1. Prohibit local governments from setting higher wages in deals with contractors. 2. Prohibit labor peace agreements, which are deals in which employers agree not to resist a union's organizing attempts 3. Bar the enforcement of licensing regulations that are stricter than state's standard 4. Forbid the enactment or enforcement of employment discrimination standards.
Surreal and every bit Republican, all the while state legislators are pounding their fiscal chests demanding a federal balanced budget amendment, they're also trying to add $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit with tax cuts. It's no different in Wisconsin...Jakes Economic TA Funhouse:
Wisconsin's move to mindlessly amend the US Constitution was the brainchild of Republican State Sen. Chris Kapenga, a member - believe it or not - of the "CPA caucus."
Wisconsin has joined the growing list of states calling for an Article V convention to amend the U.S. Constitution ... focus on a balanced budget amendment to rein in government debt ... makes Wisconsin the 28th state ... A total of 34 states are needed. Senators also passed a separate measure that would spell out who would serve as delegates; seven of Wisconsin's nine delegates would be Republican. But experts say there would be no way to restrict the agenda. "Once those delegates are called to the convention, they are the supreme leaders of the land in rewriting the United States Constitution," said Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, "and all of those liberties and freedoms that we hold dear … all of that could be rewritten."
Wisconsin has become the ultra-right wing mega force in fringe politics over the last 8 years. This happened back in December of 2013...:
The resolution has long been a priority of Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, "I don't have a lot of faith in Washington getting this done." Saturday’s Mount Vernon meeting was organized by Indiana state Sen. David Long and Wisconsin Rep. Chris Kapenga. The Blaze website reported that nearly 100 right-wing legislators from 32 states met in Virginia over the weekend as the first steps toward turning this fringe fantasy into reality. Saturday’s meeting represents the most recent attempt by legislators to discuss seriously the possibility of adding amendments to the Constitution through a convention.
Yes, adding amendments. Republicans are saying that won't happen, but there it is. Simply put, a balanced budget amendment introduces chaos in federal budgeting during times of disaster, war, and recessions. Plus, we started balancing the budget without a constitutional convention during the Clinton presidency. But revenue surpluses, according to Republicans, means over taxation leading to tax cuts, like under Bush:
Between 1998 and 2000, President Bill Clinton’s Treasury Department paid off more than $360 billion in debt. As a result of 115 straight months of economic expansion that began after an increase in the top income tax rate — which was virulently opposed by the right — the huge deficits left by 12 years of Republican rule had been transformed into a surplus. Within months after taking office George W. Bush had begun to turn that surplus back into deficits that grew and grew, despite funding two wars on emergency supplemental bills that were not figured into the budget. Vice-President Cheney laughed off the promises that the Bush tax breaks would pay for themselves and the budget would be balanced: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” But deficits do matter to Republicans…whenever there is a Democratic president.
Republicans are quick to remind us how popular a balanced budget amendment is to the American public; over 70 percent favor it. Heck, even 66 percent of Democrats liked the idea. But in that same survey, Americans also loved tax hikes, but that's never brought up by those same Republicans. The first column supports, the second opposes:
While doing research on what it would mean to have a balanced budget amendment, I turned up this interesting statement from 2012 at the National Memo:
The Lie: Republicans have a plan to balance the federal budget and care deeply about fiscal responsibility.
Backing that statement up was easy:
The Truth: The last Republican president who ever balanced the budget was Dwight Eisenhower. Between 1998 and 2000, President Bill Clinton’s Treasury Department paid off more than $360 billion in debt. As a result of 115 straight months of economic expansion that began after an increase in the top income tax rate — which was virulently opposed by the right — the huge deficits left by 12 years of Republican rule had been transformed into a surplus. Within months after taking office George W. Bush had begun to turn that surplus back into deficits that grew and grew, despite funding two wars on emergency supplemental bills that were not figured into the budget. Vice-President Cheney laughed off the promises that the Bush tax breaks would pay for themselves and the budget would be balanced: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” But deficits do matter to Republicans…whenever there is a Democratic president.
Hey Look Everybody, We're good with Money, We want to Balance the Budget!!! Phony baloney Wisconsin Republicans are now ballyhooing their attempt to become the 30th state to ask for a balanced budget amendment via a constitutional convention. It's all show, especially when you consider all the cuts Republicans want to make locally and on a federal level that will just end up costing taxpayers much more money in the long run. Penny wise, pound foolish...you bet.
It should be embarrassing that CPA caucus loudmouth Rep. Chris Kapenga thinks the balanced budget amendment is a good idea. It calls into question his credibility, first, and says more about his blind ideological positions:
The Senate sponsor of the resolutions, Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, called them “one step further to putting our nation’s house in order. Debt was the downfall of most civilizations. We’ve never seen this type of debt before.” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has signed on to the resolution requesting a constitutional convention.
The arguments against one of the dumbest political movements isn't connecting logically with Republicans:
Opponents, Democratic lawmakers and left-leaning advocacy
groups as well as the John Birch Society, a far-right advocacy group say a
balanced budget amendment would make it harder for the federal government to
respond to economic downturns and natural disasters. "It's like the economy has cancer and you won't let the
economy get chemotherapy or radiation, it's like the economy has diabetes and
you won't give the economy insulin — you'd be killing the economy," said
Matt Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy
Campaign. Many economists say federal deficit spending can be
necessary to fund wars, combat economic recessions or respond to natural
disasters. A balanced budget requirement could severely hamstring the federal
government’s ability to respond to those situations, critics
say.
Scapegoats and Someone to Blame: Besides the Republican driven deregulation of Wall Street that gave us the Great Recession, these "concerned" flip-floppers are the ones that built up our deficits:
Using the deficit as a battering ram, the GOP pushed for the rapid adoption of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which would ignore the true causes of the deficit—tax breaks, the wars and an unfunded Medicare expansion—and demand huge cuts to Medicaid, Pell Grants and every service the government provides.
Keep in mind, it took me under an hour to uncover many of the reasons why a balanced budget amendment would be an economic disaster for the country. Why didn't our Republican "CPA Caucus" spend a little time boning up on the issues? You can't tell me the following list of bad outcomes doesn't raise some extremely serious questions?:
When the economy slows, federal revenues decline or grow more slowly and spending on unemployment insurance and other social programs increases, causing deficits to rise ... the amendment would force policymakers to cut spending, raise taxes, or both. That would launch a vicious spiral of bad economic and fiscal policy ... The fact that states must balance their budgets every year makes it even more important that the federal government not also face this requirement and thus further impair a faltering economy. Raise other problems ... Social Security could not draw down its reserves from previous years to pay benefits in a later year but, instead, could be forced to cut benefits even if it had ample balances in its trust funds, as it does today. The same would be true for military retirement and civil service retirement programs. Nor could the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation respond quickly to bank or pension fund failures by using their assets to pay deposit or pension insurance, unless they could do so without causing the budget to slip out of balance. The amendment’s proponents often argue that, because states and families must balance their budgets each year, the federal government also should do so. But this analogy is a false one. Families borrow — they take out mortgages to buy a home or student loans to send a child to college. They also draw down savings when times are tight to cover expenses that exceed their current incomes. The proposed constitutional amendment would bar the federal government from making worthy investments in the same way.
And then there's the enforcement mechanisms...
Suppose the budget is out of balance. What happens? Would the President have the unilateral power to impose balance? Suppose, for example, that a reconciliation bill designed to balance the budget is defeated at the end of the congressional session. Can the President unilaterally declare that it is law nonetheless? Can he instead make across-the-board cuts in all spending, including Social Security, Medicare, and defense, without congressional action? Can he select which programs to cut unilaterally? Can he impose across-the-board, or selected, increases in tax rates? How about across-the-board or selected reductions in tax expenditures? What about the Supreme Court? If the budget is not balanced, can the Court declare a defeated reconciliation bill to be law? Can it override a presidential veto of a reconciliation bill? If it cannot enact a defeated or vetoed law, can it declare that a bill allowing a deficit as having been enacted if it received a majority vote but not a three-fifths vote? Alternatively, can it invalidate appropriation bills, in reverse chronological order? If that seems arbitrary and unworkable, can it order across-the-board cuts in all appropriations, or entitlement programs, or tax expenditures? Can it impose across-the-board surtaxes? Can it hold Congress or the President in contempt and possibly jail them if they ultimately do not act? If federal courts award claims or judgments against the United States, as they often do, but the costs would unbalance the budget and require an increase in the debt limit, what action would the courts take?
If Trump is going to throw out our hard working immigrant laborers, repealing and restarting child labor to fill that void makes a lot of sense:
The Senate Committee on Public Benefits,
Licensing and State-Federal Relations is preparing to discuss a bill that would
weaken child labor law in Wisconsin.
Sure our kids may still be in school, but if they want to work, why should we let parents get in the way. Still, you have to wonder, don't parents know best about their child's education? Guess not:
Senate Bill 11 and Assembly Bill 25,
introduced by Rep. Amy Loudenbeck (R- Clinton) and Sen. Chris Kapenga
(R-Delafield), will make it easier for businesses to use child labor without
sign off by parents by completely eliminating the Department of Workforce
Development (DWD) permit process currently required for children aged 16 and 17
entering the workforce.
I know, it's hard to believe your reading this now, in this day and age. According to Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer Wisconsin AFL-CIO:
"This bill undermines parental rights by
eliminating the requirement for moms and dads to approve their kid's work
schedule and other workplace conditions. Everyone who had a job during high school remembers
how important a first job can be to teach young people responsibility and
important life skills. The point is that parents should still have the right to
sign off on their child's work permit."
What could go wrong with this....
If a child has no legal guardian
available, a Department of Workforce Development officer can sign off on a work
permit for the 16 or 17-year-old, which they do routinely.
NBC's Chuck Todd: "Do you believe that Islam is consistent with the Constitution?" Carson: "No, I do not,. I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that."
Yes, say hello to our new state senator:
Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) posted a link to a Yahoo! News article Monday entitled "Ben Carson won't back down from comments about Muslims" - adding his own comment - "I agree with him." The article was about Dr. Carson defending his belief that a Muslim should not be elected President. 27 News asked Sen. Kapenga's staff if he would explain his position on the matter. The tweet was taken down shortly after our call and his staff never responded to our request. On Tuesday, we again asked a staffer for Sen. Kapenga if he would do an interview on the matter. His office responded with a one-line email: "Senator Kapenga is unable to do an interview and will not be commenting further on the issue." Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) told 27 News: "I don't know of anyone else in the State Senate who believes that, but we're cast in that same light and it's really frustrating."
State Republicans are hoping no one sees what they're really doing to unemployment insurance. Since it's a business expense and has nothing to do with taxpayers, republicans have been tasked by lobbyists to cut the draw on those trust funds. And they've been doing just that by cutting benefit weeks, decreasing the number of behavioral exemptions, and requiring 4 job searches a week.
Unemployment benefits are funded by a state and federal tax on employers. And during times of high unemployment, like the Great Recession (caused by GOP economic failures), the money in those funds wasn't enough to cover everyone.
Important to Remember: Unemployment does not cost taxpayers any money: Walker republicans have been trying to drop as many of the unemployed as possible, by instituting a number of degrading hoops to jump through listed above, including a move to drug test. Remember, these are people who have just lost their jobs, not people supposedly on drugs applying for work in an hallucinogenic state. So spinning it as a way to help people find work is ridiculous.
Business Welfare Again: Republican aren't "taxpayer watchdogs," they're robbing us. They're
using our tax dollars to save businesses money. Think I'm making this up. The DWD website has fessed up to the con:
Like many other states, Wisconsin’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Reserve Fund had to rely on federal loans to help fund unemployment benefits paid to record numbers of claimants during and following the deep national recession of 2007-09.The 2013-15 budget included a provision which allocated $30 million of state general purpose revenues to pay interest due on UI Trust Fund loans from the federal government during the 2013-15 biennium. The $19 million in interest due September 30, 2013 was paid using these state funds. The $7 million estimated interest due in September of 2014, will also be paid using these funds.
And here's the clincher, thanks to taxpayers:
This means employers will not be assessed for this interest due the federal government on Wisconsin’s outstanding unemployment loans.
All the above interest paid by taxpayers to bail out businesses, would never have happened if D.C. republicans didn't stop Obama from helping states.
President Obama, in his 2012 budget … prevents a tax
increase on business and helps cash-strapped states. Republicans call it a
"job-destroying” tax hike on business and a bailout for states that are
overly generous with their jobless benefits.
Obama would have forgiven that interest payment (paid by only those states that had to borrow money - like Wisconsin), if they simply raised the tax temporarily on the base income level to replenish their trust funds. States would not only save the interest payment, but they could lower the business tax once the trust funds were balanced. Republicans in congress rejected it, costing taxpayers and businesses money.
Walker used the taxpayer bailout to Fool the Federal Government so they could save businesses money:
jsonline: Additionally,
the committee proposal would allow the state Department of Administration to
lend up to $50 million in taxpayer money to the unemployment insurance fund.
That loan would help the state ensure that the unemployment fund has a positive
balance in 2014, which in turn would keep the federal government from raising
taxes on employers by $191 million in 2015.
I think the knucklehead "fellows" at the MacIver Institute summed it up best:
The new law reduces their UI taxes to pre-loan levels by shifting the fiscal burden for the interest payments to the general budget.
Unemployment is not a taxpayer problem, or it wasn't until Walker decided to use our money. So don't let them lie about it. As an example, here's Rep. Chris Kapenga, another one of those wacky supply side "certified public accountants," misleading or just plain lying about unemployment. Again I ask, who created the tight budget with unsustainable tax cuts?
30 states are currently controlled by Republicans. Think about it, all our rightwing authoritarians have to do now is come up with 4 more states and they can call up a constitutional congress and pass a majority wish list of democracy killing amendments. Maybe even eliminate a few older more inconvenient ones.
Wisconsin's frightening influence over U.S. policy is taking another ugly turn for the worse:
jsonline: State Rep. Chris Kapenga, a Delafield Republican, was
elected the co-president of the Assembly
of State Legislatures by a few score of lawmakers from around the
country in a meeting at the Naval Heritage Center in Washington, D.C. An
impressively daunting task awaits Kapenga and the group he helped found last year:
preparing the way for a convention that has never happened since the U.S.
Constitution was framed in 1787.
Looking ahead and setting up a quick set of procedures to call a constitutional convention, Kapenga is organizing what could be a sweeping agenda. Kapenga's own dangerous and disastrous contribution, a balanced budget amendment, would prevent any efforts to stimulate a troubled economy or pass out disaster relief money without cuts somewhere else.
And I'm sure you've heard the anti-science "we need a balance between the environment and jobs" BS? Well, the GOP has now successfully made jobs more important that the environment, even if it enriches only the wealthy elite:
NY Times: The public is more pessimistic than it was after the 2008
financial crisis that it is possible to work hard and become rich- New York
Times poll. 54% of respondents said that “over-regulation that may interfere
with economic growth” was a bigger problem than “too little regulation that may
create an unequal distribution of wealth.”
And coordination between candidates and special interest groups is getting more tech savvy:
Politico: The Republican Party’s top operatives, including strategists representing the Koch brothers’ political operation and several leading prospective 2016 presidential candidates, on Monday huddled behind closed doors to discuss how to synchronize their sometimes competing tech efforts.
Think about this one thing in the right to work “debate” just
hitting the fan; Republicans want you to believe the Koch brothers, Americans
for Prosperity, its offshoot clone Wisconsin Right to Work, along with big business and their
corporate lobbyists, are desperately trying to pass right-to-work
laws so they can pay their employees higher wages. Really, seriously?
The right to work myth depends on wishful unsupported
conclusions that claim to be thoroughly researched. Rep. Chris Kapenga, part of
the disgruntled “accountant class” in our legislature, will be pushing his outdated flawed data
to fellow in-the-tank RTW Republicans who are supposedly still sitting on the fence (give us a break). Here's what he said on WPR's morning show, along with Rep. Cory Mason (audio). Check out what Kapenga says at around 3:38:
Mackinacdotorg: “According to the Bureau of Economic
Analysis, nominal personal income grew by 209.3 percent in right-to-work states
and by 148.5 percent in non-right-to-work states from 1990 to 2011.”
What’s this “nominal personal income” stuff?: According to
the Business Dictionary, it’s Income unadjusted
for the effects of inflation or deflation,
part of a salary or wage paid
out not including benefits such
as subsidized meals or transportation.
But who would not apply the above factors into income averages for employees? Someone selling RTW.
Imagine adopting the RTW idea 35 years ago:
Really?
Income levels would be on
the order of $3,000 per person higher today … For all states, the median income
loss per capita is $3,278, or more than $13,000 for a family of four. Even if
that conclusion seriously overstates the results of RTW laws, the true effect
is still likely quite substantial.
There counting children too? Crazy stuff.
Right to work lowers wages and benefits, it's that simple. Big business doesn't want to pay people more money for gods sake:
EPI: Elise Gould and Heidi Shierholz,
researchers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), studied what they called
"the compensation penalty of 'right-to-work' laws" and concluded: "Right-to-work"
laws are associated with significantly lower wages and reduced chances of
receiving employer-sponsored health insurance and pensions -- are based on the
most rigorous statistical analysis currently possible … workers in
"right-to-work" states have lower compensation -- both union and
nonunion workers alike. McClatchy: workplace safety suffers in right-to-work states,
where workers are less likely to secure job safety enhancements beyond federal
and state regulations. McClatchy Newspapers, 2/16/12 Congressional Research Service: Workers In Right-To-Work
States Make An Average Of $7,000 Less Than Those In Non-Right-To-Work States. Citing
data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Congressional Research Service
reported that the average wage in a right-to-work state was $42,465, compared
with $49,495 in "labor security" states. Congressional Research
Service, 6/20/12 Economic Policy Institute: Wages for Union And Non-Union
Workers Are Lower by "An Average of $1,500 a year." For every $1
million in wage cuts to workers, $850,000 less is spent in the economy, which
translates into a loss of six jobs. Economic Policy Institute,9/16/11 Hofstra University's Lonnie Stevans: Wages and personal
income are both lower in right-to-work states, yet proprietors' income is
higher. As a result, while right-to-work states may maintain a somewhat better
business environment relative to non-right-to-work states, these benefits do
not necessarily translate into increased economic verve for the right-to-work
states as a whole -- there appears to be little 'trickle-down' to the largely
non-unionized workforce in these states. Review of Law & Economics, Volume
5, Issue 1, 2009
Researchers Find That "Right-To-Work" Laws
Have "No Significant Positive Impact Whatsoever On Employment." 2/2/12
EPI: The most recent and most methodologically rigorous
studies conclude that the policy has no statistically significant impact
whatsoever. Economic Policy Institute, 3/16/11 AP: "The reason we don't have clear views (on
right-to-work laws) is because it's always being debated at its extremes,"
said Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in
Massachusetts, who assigns his students to analyze the issue each year. In the
end, when it comes to jobs and the law, "we don't know causation," he
said. Associated Press, 1/28/12
MYTH: Right-To-Work Laws Protect Workers From Supporting
Political Spending
FACT: Workers Can Opt Out Of Full Union Membership And
Prevent Fees From Supporting Political Spending … employees who object to full
union membership may continue as 'core' members and pay only that share of dues
used directly for representation, such as collective bargaining and contract
administration. Known as objectors, they are no longer full members but are
still protected by the union contract. Unions are obligated to tell all covered
employees about this option, which was created by a Supreme Court ruling and is
known as the Beck right. National Labor Relations Board, accessed 12/11/12 CWA v. Beck: Unions Cannot Force Non-Members To Pay Dues For
Political Action. , 6/29/88 Locke v. Karass: Non-Union Workers At Organized Work Places
Cannot Be Forced To Pay For "Political, Public Relations, Or
Lobbying" Activities By Unions. 1/21/09
If Scott Walker signs this wage cut for Dane County and Milwaukee, it's his baby-he owns it. I can see the ads now from the Mary Burke campaign.
This is a WAGE CUT, plain and simple. What you would call an austere policy move. At a time when the state GOP can't stop bragging about putting money in the pockets of taxpayers, they're cutting wages?
Can they really get away with this? It looks like it, if I know how the Democratic Party will respond.
Democrats have not framed this repeal of a higher minimum wage well. Hint guys: IT'S A WAGE CUT!!!
Republicans are trying to save the rest of the state money. They say it's unfair Madison improves the quality of life with higher wages, while other areas don't benefit. But they do benefit, from tourism, senior care, personal care givers and consumer spending in and around the state. Dane County and Milwaukee both benefit the state, although I'm sure conservatives would think otherwise.
Conflict of Interest? And more surprising is the fact that Rep. Chris Kapenga, the business CEO of Integrated Time Systems, wrote the law to protect his own company in Brookfield. He was never questioned about his self serving bill. Simply put, this statewide law reducing wages, is in response to...one company.
Here's Kapenga on Capitol City Sunday, before the GOP removed federal tax dollars. Never once did host Greg Neumann ask about the conflict of interest. Is there any real comparison between Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Kapenga?
The big takeaway? According to Kapenga, minimums artificially inflate wages, when $1 or $2 wages could employ just as many people. And backing away from the Republican opposition to a one-size-fits-all approach, Kapenga is now all for it. Democrat Rep. Andy Jorgensen had this idea:
The Republican agenda Thursday included a bill that stands to cut wages for thousands of municipal workers across the State of Wisconsin ... As a counter, Rep. Jorgensen offered an amendment to require businesses which contract with the state to cap their executive salaries to no more than a million dollars a year. “If we ‘can’t’ afford to provide a family-supporting wage to our custodians or construction workers, we certainly can’t afford to help CEOs buy a bigger mansion or a fancy sports car,” said Jorgensen. “Let’s be fair.” The Jorgensen amendment failed along party lines, as did AR 26.
Smart ass Rep. Robin Vos again doesn't think Milwaukee or Dane County are serious parts of the state, despite contributing more economically and thus contributing more to their own living wage laws:
Speaker Robin Vos (R – Rochester) argued the bill isn't
about local control, but rather about the ability of local officials to pass
increased labor costs onto the state. "They can't automatically inflate
the state of Wisconsin's costs, because that's what's happening all across the
state of Wisconsin today," said Vos.
Republicans not only oppose raising the minimum wage, they’re
now reducing wages in Wisconsin.
Maybe business interests will rush into the state knowing
wages in Wisconsin are heading downward.
Who’s to say what other GOP gimmick
will cut wages and benefits even more. That’ll put money back into our wallet? Give me a break.
While Scott Walker bribes voters with a small tax cut, the
legislature is taking twice as much away, hoping knowing one will notice. They
did notice, big time:
WKOW: A bill that would abolish local living wage ordinances for
state and federally-funded projects drew a large, irate crowd to the Assembly
Committee on Labor Wednesday morning, barely 24 hours after it was introduced. Rep.
Kapenga introduced AB 750 on Tuesday, had it scheduled for a public hearing
Wednesday and will have it voted on by the Committee on Labor Thursday morning.
Self-serving Political Overreach-It Pays to write your Own Laws: Can this
conflict of interest be legal? This is literally a CEO of a company writing a
law that will reduces wages statewide just so his business isn't affected. What an asshole.
"My company is in Milwaukee and the second I saw the
news story come out that there may be an ordinance put in place, I started
working on this," said Rep. Kapenga, who owns a computer software
business. Both the City of Madison and Dane County require their own
employees and the employees of their contractors to be paid a living wage,
which amounts to $11.33/hour for the county and $12.45/hour for the city.
While AB 750 wouldn't allow living wages for work that is paid for in any part
by state or federal dollars. "I think the bill is very hateful, spiteful bill that
is aimed at low-income families," testified Michael Wilder with Wisconsin
Jobs Now, a Milwaukee non-profit organization that fights for higher wages.
Want to know how "neo-confederate red" Wisconsin has become?
Our own state Republican Representative Chris Kapenga is a major organizer and backer of convening a constitutional convention.
On board with the likes of radio hosts Mark Levin and Glenn Beck, who
spearheaded this ridiculous idea, Kapenga's embarrassing participation in this effort should be a wake-up call to voters.
So after breaking the government with radicalized legislation and a record number of filibusters, our do nothing tea party Republican Party wants to fix what they just undermined and smashed? How convenient:
RWWatch: A Convention Of States: The Right's Latest Plan To Amend The
Constitution: For the last several months, spurred on by the publication of
Mark Levin's "The
Liberty Amendments," right-wing activists have been floating the idea
of convening a "Convention of States" through which representatives
of the individuals states would gather together for a convention to amend the
Constitution and reign in the federal government. Under Article
V of the Constitution, "legislatures of two thirds of the several
states" have the power to "call a convention for proposing
amendments" … The Blaze website reported that nearly 100 right-wing
legislators from 32 states met in Virginia over the weekend as the first steps
toward turning this fringe fantasy into reality … Saturday’s Mount Vernon
meeting was organized by Indiana state Sen. David Long and Wisconsin Rep. Chris
Kapenga.
