Rep. Kremer's Divide and Conquer strategy: Rural vs Urban Wisconsin Taxpayers.

It's almost laughable to hear Republicans deny they have it out for Milwaukee while constantly doing everything they can to take it down. Just off the top of my head...

They killed economic growth via high speed rail that would have provided to a regional business hub that included Chicago, killed high speed train manufacturing in the city, a residency requirement, sick leave, the Bucks new arena...there's more but you get the point. 

Times have changed: Republicans are now deceptively making it look like they are boldly "sabotaging" development in Milwaukee to please voters at home, despite the fact that the planned streetcars they want to deny funding, weren't in line to get it in the first place. This is all a dog and pony show for duped constituents who instinctively hate Milwaukee:

Kremer wants you to hate city folk.

JS: GOP lawmakers circulate bill to block state money for Milwaukee streetcar: Republican state lawmakers are circulating a bill that would block state transportation money from being used to operate a Milwaukee streetcar. Reps. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) said, "I am proud to support economic development and growth in the City of Milwaukee, and many of us did just that through our challenging Bucks arena vote earlier this year. The state transportation fund and rural, mass-transit issues are major concerns for my constituents.

"As such, I do not feel that taxpayers outside of the City of Milwaukee should be responsible for any future operational costs that may arise."

Kremer wants to send the message that state taxpayers are on their own. As you might remember, Scott Walker branded the "I'm not paying for that" attitude when he defunded our state parks and instead said only users should pay for their upkeep. Kremer now wants to pit rural interests against urban interests, a real job creator:

A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said, "Speaker Vos supports the bill as it protects state taxpayers from runaway costs associated with the Milwaukee streetcar project."

Walker not a Divider, getting a national image makeover?

It looks like Scott Walker is getting a national makeover. But first....

He isn't a Divider? Attention “Stand with Walker” Borg-like followers, you’re about to see how your own party can flip the Scott Walker legend around by twisting what you already know.

Whether you’re dealing with the real world news cycle or bubble world red state fantasies, citizens here know Scott Walker.

It's Walker's “divide and conquer” strategy...or is it?: Come on, get serious, we even have video proof:

We've seen article after article proving Wisconsin is the most divided state in the country.

The partisan gap over Walker in Wisconsin was the largest for any governor in any state where exit polls were conducted last month. And it was the biggest partisan divide in any race for governor or U.S. Senator in Wisconsin on record, based on exit polls dating back more than a quarter-century.

Over that time span, partisan loyalty in Wisconsin has become almost universal in contests for major office among voters who identify with a major party. And “crossover” voting (Republicans voting for Democrats and vice versa) has all but disappeared.

So check out this unintentionally daffy Washington Post article that gets it all so very wrong. Amazing:

link here

"The newest smear against Scott Walker: The New York Times is already labeling him small-minded and exclusionary: Mr. Walker, a small-town minister’s son ... is a product of one of the most politically and racially polarized regions of the country, metropolitan Milwaukee. Get it? He’s from a “racially polarized” region so that must mean . . . It’s an unsubtle way of calling him racially divisive without bothering to come up with any facts."

No facts? Really? The heavily researched picture to the right was just made up? But Wisconsinites had no clue, right, because Walker concealed his "divide and conquer" plan so well?

"I bet you didn't know Walker was so racially divisive. Well, neither did he or the voters who supported him in three elections. He did a boffo job of concealing his exclusionary instincts by expanding state health care for the poor and a variety of worker training programs. Then again, the surest way into the hearts of Republicans is to be smeared gratuitously by the Times and the rest of the liberal media. He can wear that as a badge of honor — and then prove how wrong they are." - Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective. Right Turn

Scott Walker's phony "Clinton worked with Republicans" story not going away...ever.

An interesting thing happened on last Friday's Week in Review, on WPR's morning show.

In response to Obama's use of executive orders, former Lt. Governor Margaret Farrow blurted out the same completely manufactured answer as Scott Walker, when he praised Bill Clinton for working with majority Republicans instead of going it alone as the imperial president. Coincidence? No, memorized. Here's the audio:



Farrow was also wrong about the Democrats not trying to move immigration "down the road" when they had control of the senate and house. Republicans never count their use of the filibuster:

DREAM Act: Perhaps the most consequential blocked bill in 2009 and 2010 was the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were children when they immigrated, provided they serve in the military or go to college. It was blocked twice, once as an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that was paired with repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and once as part of the banal-sounding Removal Clarification Act of 2010. It had already passed the House, so if not for the filibuster, it would be law.

Check out that now infamous moment where fellow Republican, possible presidential candidate and former congressman Gov. John Kasich corrected Walker in no uncertain terms.  From the Republican Governors Association panel, a few clips of Kasich insisting on solutions, not division:



Walker's can't get out of "divide and conquer" mode.

Special thanks to WPR reporter Shawn Johnson. 

Walker not at fault, as Doe-eyed Republicans play up social media threats...Victims again.

You want to get threats, sign a recall petition against Scott Walker. Or try surviving as a liberal blogger.

Harassing politicians and bloggers is just the day-to-day pass time for the many that just need to vent.  But threats are all too easily tossed around today as well.

I put the blame on Scott Walker and a party pushing an extreme agenda, whose motto is "to hell with moderation."

Who created an atmosphere where someone is so willing to threaten a politician and his family? Scott Walker. Although threats are dumb, it's human nature for some to take that step, and the next one.

Scott Walker even said he thinks having a divided state is healthy. Scott Walker set the tone in Wisconsin, starting with his promise to "divide and conquer." Not your usual message to a state made up of two major parties. And Republicans have ignored half the state's citizens with their winner take all agenda. And they're wondering why Twitter and Facebook comments are so negative?

The final nail for me was Scott Walker's recall blacklist. If you signed a petition for his recall, Walker made it clear you didn't have any kind of future in Wisconsin while he was governor. If you're willing to blacklist Wisconsinites, you're capable of doing anything.

Scott Walker is now worried about his son's recent string of threats by one angry individual. And yet, Matt Walker has embraced his fathers agenda. He's a "20-year-old student at Marquette University (and) head of the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans." He's also been known to throw a few political verbal punches as well, playing the victim when the language gets out of control.

Republicans would love it if everyone forgot about the death threats and verbal abuse against people with yard signs or recall signup tables. How about the possible attacks at recall signers homes?

And yet the following rightwing authoritarians are now whining about being held to the same public standards, with the same public scrutiny and possibility of blowback:

Wisconsin Reporter: Eric O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth knows the consequences of speaking out against powerful prosecutors in a politically charged investigation. “Indeed, Mr. O’Keefe has faced threatening behavior—including online stalking of his children and grandchildren—due to his participation in this litigation,” the conservative activist’s attorney writes in a court document filed this week.

O’Keefe alleges that Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat, two of his assistant DAs, trampled on conservatives’ rights to speech and association. “Based on these (O’Keefe’s) and other instances of retaliation and threats of retaliation, many Club supporters have specifically requested assurances that their identities will not be publicly disclosed, for fear that they too will face reprisal for their political associations and advocacy,” the attorney wrote.

What these bottom feeders are hoping for is no public accountability for manipulating our public elections.

Walker Pleased with the poisoned Political Climate 2

In relation to my last post, I thought this Cap Times article by Paul Fanlund keeps that theme alive:

When asked if property taxes could be cut by increasing income taxes on those making $250,000 or more, nearly two thirds – 64.3 percent – were on board in the Marquette University Law School poll. Do you think Gov. Scott Walker would ever stand for even modest increases on the highest compensated among us? 

Walker is, quite simply, a self-absorbed pawn of the wealthy. More precisely, he is a small, divisive, narrow-minded career politician who always has and always will put his political self-interest first, a man who has been running for something even before he dropped out of college and regards a second term as governor as merely a catapult into the 2016 presidential competition
.He always acts on behalf of the privileged while telling the middle class that government is their real enemy.

Walker’s legacy will not be what he accomplished, which is negligible, but how badly he has divided us. Walker can claim that as his most enduring handiwork. He brags, after all, about being “unintimidated” by alternative points of view, so much so that he used that word to title his ghost-written autobiography.

The election appears to me to be a referendum on the divisive Walker “style.”

When all of the millions have been spent … the election for governor should pivot on one word – character. Do you stand with the character of Scott Walker?

Or do you stand with the character of Wisconsin, the way we were and can be again?

Walker Pleased with the Poisoned Political Climate in Wisconsin, jokes; "There's like two people in the state that don't have a strong opinion of me."

“DIVIDING LINES | SPECIAL REPORT” by Journal Sentinel’s Craig Gilbert highlights the festering sore consuming Wisconsin; the politics of hate.

And the Burke campaign won't make this a campaign issue? 

The glee Scott Walker gets seeing the state retch from the growing political tension is unnerving:

"I don't think having a division amongst the electorate is a bad thing,"

Gilbert’s report offers a few insights:

"Elections are ultimately about reminding people why they like their side and why they hate the other side." says Ken Goldstein, political scientist with the University of San Francisco. Goldstein says Wisconsin features a "perfect brew" for the polarized and party-line voting patterns … it has been subject to the kind of sustained, saturation-level advertising and organizing found only in perennial battleground states.

"People are stable in their (support) of their own party, but increasingly dislike the other party. That's the divide," says Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz.  

"A very large percentage of people in Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties have roots in Milwaukee County and particularly in the city," says John Gurda, who writes about the history of Milwaukee. "What fascinates me is that a lot of them come from blue-collar households that voted Democratic."

Burke acknowledged the problem, but that's it; "I would not have gotten into it if I didn't think people want to see a candidate who wasn't so divisive:"

As the lightning-rod governor of a divided state, Walker personifies the costs and benefits of competing for office in polarized times.

The negatives for the governor? His … more polarizing approach to governing has made him a hero to conservatives, given him a national fundraising network and made him a credible 2016 presidential candidate. The governor makes no apologies for the fact that "there's like two people in this state that don't have a strong opinion of me."

This sick twisted bastard likes it:

"I don't think having a division amongst the electorate is a bad thing," Walker says. "I think having a healthy debate about which ideas work is good."

This is what Walker thinks is healthy for the state?  

Walker showers Public Employees with 1% Raise to vote for Him...I mean because they deserve it.

In the first print of the “State workers may get Raise” cover story in the Wisconsin State Journal this morning, they reported the following comment by Scott Walker...before it was removed. I believe the conservative paper plucked his comment for a reason, if you catch my drift, considering Walker’s successful plan to divide and conquer the states public employees. That led to turning Wisconsin into the most divided state in the country, pitting neighbor against neighbor:

“Because we made tough, but prudent, decisions over the last two years, we are now able to invest in our priorities. This includes an investment in Wisconsin’s state employees.”

My god the balls. 

Ego Tripping to China, Walker brags state political unrest got China’s attention.

Under the possibility of uncapping foreign purchases of Wisconsin land, Scott Walker said basically his “divide and conquer” political policy and social unrest caught the interest of China. How nice, a authoritarian communist country likes what it sees....

And with China’s past and present labor policies, what’s not to like about Walker's approach:

AP: Gov. Scott Walker departs Friday for his first overseas trade mission, a 10-day tour to China that comes as Walker keeps up a furious travel schedule in the United States.

Walker said being the first governor to survive a recall election will help him lead a more successful trade mission. "For Wisconsin, whatever notoriety I have because of the last couple years makes it more interesting for leaders in China to want to talk to us," he said.

Flashback! Thom Hartmann Identified Walker "Divide and Conquer" strategy.

Recorded on February 28, 2011, just weeks into the Madison protests, Thom Hartmann presented the case against Scott Walker's "divide and conquer" strategy to destroy the unions.

This was well before anyone had seen documentary filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein's video clip of Walker telling billionaire Diane Hendricks:“

"Well we’re going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill. the first step is, we’re going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use 'divide and conquer.'”

Just under 3 minutes, Thom simply and clearly lays out the right wing strategy:



As fate would have it, Scott Walker ended up using the "divide and conquer" wording. Surprisingly Walker's comments didn't offend or even anger Wisconsin voters. They were played by Walker, and didn't care:

A Country Divided! Walker’s Wisconsin brings “Divide and Conquer” campaign to Presidential Election

Governor Scott Walker effectively carried out a plan he described as “divide and conquer” to a billionaire campaign contributor. He essentially eliminated the “undecided voter" category. It was a brutal nonstop campaign of liberal vilification, and it worked like gangbusters.

That same campaign had been generally been rolled out nationwide, as an untested “all or nothing” experiment. The experiment worked in Wisconsin, thanks to Scott Walker and massive amounts of special interest "free speech."

Reality and ideas are no longer in play, which might mean a Romney presidency based on nothing more than buzz words like “freedom,” “liberty,” and the cliché “take our country back.” 

I never thought I’d see the day the movie Idiocracy can now be looked at as something prophetic. As one reviewer put it, it’s about “a low-intelligence society influenced by dysgenics, cultural and moral devolution, and powerful corporate influence and consumerism.” Sound familiar? And this well delivered visceral hatred of human progress, packaged as big government, socialism, liberalism and entitlements, has mass appeal now.

Ezra Klein: The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows the presidential race tied, 47-47. (According to reporters) Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, “The stability persists despite the costliest blitz of early campaign advertising the country has ever seen.”

It’s also persisted despite bad jobs numbers, “the private sector is fine,” a Supreme Court ruling on the health-care law, substantial media coverage of Romney’s record at Bain and his unusually creative tax return, financial panic in Europe, and much more.

Here’s the key:

“The lack of movement underscores intense polarization -- about nine in 10 Republicans back Romney, and a similar proportion of Democrats support Obama -- and a relatively small percentage of voters say there is a ‘good chance’ that they could change their minds before November.”

I know how Wisconsin’s recall election turned out, and personally, I don't know if I can prepare for the worst...again. 

Rep. Darrell Issa Refuses to Review Walker Lie to House Committee.

Knocking it out of the park again, Fox6’s Mike Lowe produced a great piece on Scott Walker’s blatant lie to a congressional committee hearing panel.

Did Gov. Scott Walker lie to a congressional committee under oath? That’s the latest explosive question in an already charged political atmosphere, and three congressmen are seeking answers. No one – not even Walker’s opponent in the recall race, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, is ready to call it perjury —Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia has raised serious concerns about the truthfulness of Gov. Walker’s testimony under oath before a congressional committee.

“This is very rare because there is that video out there that raises some questions with what he said in Congress as it pertained to that donor. It is so serious to people who have raised this question, that they want to have some follow up,” Barrett said.

But lying is never quite as serious a matter when Republicans see a need to move their agenda along. Amazingly, even contradictory video proving Walker lied, proves nothing to the starkly partisan and crooked Rep. Darrell Issa:  

Congressman Issa’s spokeswoman told FOX6 News in a statement: “Nothing in this letter raises questions about the accuracy of the governor’s testimony. This request has no merit, and can only be seen as intending to influence a state election.” 

Walker, the guy who will "Divide and Conquer" Wisconsin.

From One Wisconsin Now, the nicely edited Walker moment of division, one that many conservatives defend with a..."so what?"

Diane Hendricks paid no state corporate income but still wants lower taxes

So what does it say about a billionaire who paid no corporate taxes for four years requesting lower taxes and fewer regulations? We all know that answer to that:

Political Environment: Beloit billionaire businesswoman Diane Hendricks asks Walker: “Any chance we’ll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions and be-come a right-to-work state? What can we do to help you?”

Walker replied: “Well, we’re going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill. The first step is we’re going to deal with collection bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer.” It’s not known which loop- holes ABC Supply used to avoid income taxes.

Diane Hendricks, during a three-month period in 2012, donated $500,000 to Walker’s campaign, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Hendricks, whom Forbes magazine says is worth $2.8 billion, heads Beloit-based ABC Supply Company … ABC Supply paid exactly $0.00 in state corporate income tax in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, according to the state Department of Revenue. 

Embarrassing!!! Walker Stumbles, Bumbles to Explain Dividing and Conquering Wisconsinites.

The cool, calm, collected, and trance like look on Scott Walker's face, as he tries but fails to explain away any possible reason why A GOVERNOR would think to divide and conquer the very people he represents, is another example of his sociopathic behavior. Walker's mantra, "What, me worry?"-Alfred E. Neuman.

In the Fox 6 piece below, 371 Productions Brad Lichtenstein comments, and Walker blissfully thinks he's actually answering the question "why." Sadly, the media may just find his bumbling inadequate responses acceptable, and move on.



TMJ4 gets right to the question, and again, Walker struggles and fails to explain the indefensible. Great stuff. Here's a condensed example:

Walker: "That's a conversation that is consistent with...the public employee unions in the state made it very clear in December of 2010 when they tried to ram through...for too long I saw as a local government official that a handful of special interests..."

...no friggin' answer!!!



The fact that "stand with Walker" supporters don't find this latest condescension appalling, says a lot about why the party has become radicalized. The conservative voting public is already buying into the idea that they need the help of "courageous" tight fisted "leaders" to bring them some level of control.

Like my conservative friend told me, "what's new?"

In the clip, Gov. Walker said, “Well we’re going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill. the first step is, we’re going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer.”

Documentary filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein says his film tells the story of the decline of the auto industry in Janesville. The videographer of the documentary says he traditionally supports Democratic candidates. However, in the documentary, he says he pushed his personal beliefs aside to document the economic challenges of Janesville. Gov. Walker talked about the film clip at an appearance in Burlington Friday. “Certainly the reforms I talked about at that time or the reforms. I’ve talked about since, the reforms that helped us save more than a billion dollars for taxpayers in this state, but it’s interesting that some want to go back and replay that and undo those reforms. we want to continue to move on and move forward,” said Gov. Walker.