Walker's "Bain Capital" takeover of Wisconsin.

Like Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital, Scott Walker sees himself as a “turnaround specialist.”

Politics and business are so closely tied together now that holding office is no different than being a corporate CEO.

Applying the same concept to state government, Walker is clearing a path to the White House in the same way business clears a path to higher profits. I thought Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi came the closest to describing the similarities when he wrote about Mitt Romney. Like Walker’s transportation borrowing and his “divide and conquer” strategy for unions and taxpayer support for the public “commons,” the philosophy is identical to the corporate model:

The new borrow-and-conquer economy was morally sanctified by an almost religious faith in the grossly euphemistic concept of "creative destruction," and amounted to a total abdication of collective responsibility by America's rich, whose new thing was making assloads of money in ever-shorter campaigns of economic conquest, sending the proceeds offshore, and shrugging as the great towns and factories their parents and grandparents built were shuttered and boarded up, crushed by a true prairie fire of debt.

Walker takes Bain Capital approach to state economy: With massive amounts of corporate spending and really dirty politics, Walker stayed on as Wisconsin CEO and turnaround artist. Like Bain Capital, Walker is stripping away everything; public jobs, the UW, parks, transportation and costly environmental protections from the state budget, while providing a huge return for corporate donors. Declaring success, Walker will then move on to a better job leaving Wisconsinites behind to face the consequences of his actions.

This wasn't a concept I came up with. Credit former candidate for state supreme court justice and Marquette University law professor Ed Fellone. Listen to his response (1:05 min. in) to Walker's budget and conservative pundit and financial planner Keene Winters on WPR’s Joy Cardin Show:

Taibbi also wrote this, again reminding me of Walker:

Obama ran on "change" in 2008, but Romney (Walker) represents a far more real and seismic shift in the American landscape … the frontman of an economic revolution, in which transactions are manufactured instead of products, wealth is generated without accompanying prosperity … while American communities fall apart. It's a vision of society that's crazy, vicious and almost unbelievably selfish, yet it's running for president, and it has a chance of winning. 

Conservative Activist Supreme Court on Voter ID: "Judicial Rewriting of the Law" over provision to waive fees for photo ID.

Republicans  have created this presumption that conservative judges and justices are in no way activist, legislating from the bench. When that's clearly not been the case. The media and Democrats, at their own peril, have decided to ignore the problem. We're already beyond the tipping point, with decisions on the Second Amendment, corporate personhood and religious rights, and that money is speech.

From WPR's morning show, with guest hosted by John Munson, Ed Fallone and right wing blabbermouth Steve Prestigard took a look at the most extreme example of judicial activism and legislating from the bench by Justice Patience Roggensack. Roggensack carved out "legislation" that makes the Voter ID law constitutional, by rewriting the administrative code of the state used by our DMV's (the DMV was not even a party to the lawsuit). Pictured is Ed Fallone and John Prestigard



Rep. Robin Vos found a way to fear monger the base over Roggensack's judicial activism:

AP: Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says the state Supreme Court's ruling that the state can't require someone to present documents that cost money, like a birth certificate copy, when applying for a state ID. … could potentially lead to fraud. Vos says that has the potential for fraud because it's unclear what the process will be to ensure a person is a legal citizen and who they claim to be.

So Vos is saying that without the possibility for some form of payment, just to vote, other documentation to prove who you are may lead to fraud? Stunning!

PostCrescent: Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says he is looking at all options to get that federal court ruling put on hold, so the photo ID requirement can be in place for the November election.

Voter Suppression Caught Again: Van Hollen is not just making up for the fact Republicans tried like hell to hide free voter ID's at the DMV, he's also suggesting this was a mere legislative mistake. Not surprisingly, the problem was never corrected. Past stories are here and here:

"Do you know someone who votes that does not have a State ID that meets requirements to vote? Tell them they can go to the DMV/DOT and get a free ID card. However they must ask for the free ID" ... a memo was sent out by the 3rd in command of the DMV/DOT. The memo specifically told the employees at the DMV/DOT not to inform individuals that the ID’s are free. "So if the individuals seeking to get the free ID does not ask for a free ID, they will have to pay for it!! "

From WISC Channel3000. The story references a public education campaign, that I personally don't remember seeing. Anyone else?



Check out John Nichols column, "Judge Who Framed Voter ID Laws As Constitutional Says He Got It Wrong." This case is always brought up to defend Wisconsin's law. Oops.

Conservative Pundit Kevin Hermening labels Capitol Protesters Fascists...dissent will not be tolerated.

WPT's morning radio show showcased a classic example of authoritarian behavior by a conservative political activist, former Iran Hostage and never quite realized 2010 senate candidate Kevin Hermening, now a certified financial planner in Wausau. He lost to teabilly Pam Galloway.

Hermening was quick to project his own "fascist" leanings in the direction of every protester at the state Capitol:

"Listen, this behavior is something that has gone on way too long, and tolerated way too long, by a group of people who are the most disrespectful, intolerant citizens and people who aren't citizens of Wisconsin...they would describe the governor and his administration as fascist. Um, but he technical term, definition of the term...fascist ideology...consistently invoke the primacy of the state. Now these protesters oppose this state government, but I'm pretty sure that they would very much raise up their primacy of their state as they would seek to decide and define it...!"  

Hermening doesn't just project, but he defines the conservative position: dissent will not be "tolerated." Protesters are showing "disrespect" to the party leaders. We're treading in dangerous waters here. He even justified the arrests at the Capitol over an already disproved story about forcing a wedding out of the Capitol.

Former state supreme court candidate Ed Fallone, a Associate Professor of Law at Marquette University, made Hermening look like a third world dictator, which wouldn't be to far off:

Hermening: "I'm surprised that there hasn't been true violence by people who are getting sick and tired and fed up with the behavior of the protesters..."

Announcer: "Democratic state representative...

Fallone: "Hold on, hold on, I mean, I'm still trying to get my head around what Kevin just said.

Hermening: "Don't be a bully Ed, don't join the bullies, you're part of the bully group if you support their behavior."

Fallone: "Yeah, well aside from your characterizing the protests in one fell swoop as a bunch of fascists. Let's remember Kevin, that the birth of the tea party movement, so beloved of the current Republican establishment in this state and nationwide, was a bunch of people disrupting townhall forums on health care policy, and taking over and disrupting the forum screaming and yelling. And a lot of people weren't happy about that Kevin, but that's democracy. And they supported the right of those individuals to speak out. And I think that for you, to be selective, and who has the right to speak out and protest and who doesn't, is unfortunately reflective of a real blind spot on your part. The constitution guarantees that right for everyone Kevin, not just for the groups..."

Great stuff. Check out the rest of this jaw dropping lunacy from Hermening in the audio clip:

Hermening's insistence on permits, and getting the target of the protest to okay dissent, leaves out one important point: What happens when the administration decides, like Hermening did here, that they're "sick and tired and fed up with the behavior of the protesters" and refuse the permit?  

Justice Roggensack says Justice Bradley needed to "Calm down." What about Justice Prosser?

Even Republican women have a hard time standing up for their own gender and work place rights.

While Justice Pat Roggensack has done everything she can to downplay Justice Prosser's physical attack of another Justice, she's only made herself look even more culpable.

Check out the amazing backhanded slap at Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who apparently needed to "calm down," despite being choked moments before by Justice Prosser. Audio from WPR's Idea's Network:

Roggensack: "I physically separated those two people, by putting my body between them and holding onto Justice Bradley until she calmed down."

Roggensack then made this unintentional admission of bias:

Roggensack: "You know, I wouldn't be an independent decision maker, that would not be fair to the parties that were involved in this."

Roggensack of course never mentioned Justice Prosser by name, because that would just add to his bad reputation and tie him to the assault. I wonder if she gets his slippers too.

Prof. Ed Fallone just put out this ad highlighting the incident:

Justice Candidate Ed Fallone schools Justice Roggensack on Laws in place to Fix Dysfunctional Court.

Poor Justice Pat Roggensack, people just don't understand her or her efforts to bring justice to the court.

Marquette University law Professor and candidate Ed Fallone made it quite clear that it's perhaps Roggensack who really doesn't understand the legal framework of the court and its disciplinary procedure. Her vaguely worded "reprimand" hardly passes as a solution. From WPT's Here and Now:



Want to see a little conservative phony outrage? Check out this sad attempt by Roggensack to put Fallone back on his heals by accusing him of throwing dirt on the court. It's so rehearsed and out of place:

Justice Roggensack insists activism, threats and physical altercations "gossip at its worst." That old Jedi mind trick won't work on me.

I hate to use another Star Wars quote here, but you can almost hear Justice Roggensack saying, "I am not the conservative activist justice you're looking for."

But since she doesn't have Jedi powers, her tricks won't work. 

There’s no question the Wisconsin Supreme Court is dysfunctional, with a roguish band of activist conservative justices that have bent over backwards to quickly advance the legislatures political agenda. Its attempted power grab to change the way the chief justice is chosen, along with threats and physical altercations that have embarrassed the state nationally, should no longer be tolerated.

And that’s why candidate Ed Fallone let Justice Roggensack have it:

jsonline: Two challengers to incumbent Justice Patience Roggensack let her and the audience know that they think the high court needs reform that only a change of personnel can bring.

Ed Fallone, a Marquette University law professor, criticized Roggensack for recusing herself from hearing an ethics complaint against Justice David Prosser over his 2011 physical altercation with Justice Ann Bradley and for supporting closure of certain administrative conferences that had long been held in public.

He cast the court as "completely dysfunctional," hamstrung by incivility that even extends to "personal sniping in (published) opinions."

Remember the rogue’s gallery of extremist Republican supporters that turned out to celebrate David Prosser’s reelection win? Nothing screamed activist justice after all the Prosser thank you's? But in the fantasy world of conservatism, Prosser’s threats to the chief justice and choking incident were supposedly “just a bunch of gossip at it’s worst.”

Roggensack called the talk of dysfunction and incivility on the seven-member court "just a bunch of gossip at its worst" … Roggensack insisted the law required her recusal from hearing the ethics complaint because she was a witness.

But is that what the law required?

Fallone strongly challenged that assertion. He said a disciplinary proceeding is neither a civil nor criminal case and that Roggensack could have sat in judgment of Prosser's conduct. He was also skeptical of any vague, undefined inherent authority of the court to arrive at its own closure of the matter.

"I'm a process conservative," he said, and he believes the procedures already in place for reviewing judicial misconduct provide a complete, tested and fair way to address the complaint against Prosser.