Walker-Con privatizes profits, socializes risk and other truths...

Let's just call it what it is, Walker-Con. The idea that "jobs" are always more important than sound financial decision making has got to stop, and this would be a good place to start!

The Democrats are moving at a snails pace in coming up with a strong message in opposition to this outrageous Republican flip flop on free market economics. State Superintendent Tony Evers, in announcing his bid to run for governor, framed the issue perfectly. Yet it's getting absolutely no Democratic traction...

Tony Evers criticized the awful Trump-Walker Foxconn deal by comparing it to the favorable deal the City of Verona made with Epic Systems to create jobs in Wisconsin. Evers said in his remarks, “Take a look at Epic in Verona. They invested in Wisconsin because we already had a talented workforce. And they did this all with $9 million dollars of city of Verona investment – not $3 billion like Foxconn. Epic has created almost 10,000 jobs. It’s on a campus almost entirely off-the-grid in terms of its use of utilities…There is a huge difference between this strategic investment and the awful deal Scott Walker and Donald Trump cut with Foxconn.”

Dem. candidate for governor, Milwaukee business executive Andy Gronik said, if he was a corporate director and a CEO like Walker brought a Foxconn deal with so few details to that board, “I would first deny the deal, and then I’d fire Scott Walker.”

Dem. candidate Rep. Dana Wachs, of Eau Claire, repeated his opposition to the deal last week: “It would bring Chinese-style economics to Wisconsin, complete with air and water pollution, fewer worker protections, and government choosing winners and losers based on which corporations curry favor with them.”

...or this middle of the road, pathetic, uninspired framing of the Walker-Con deal that falls noticeably flat. Note: Anyone out there think there won't be another recession in the next 10 to 25 years, or supply side Republicans won't reduce revenues even more via tax cuts? Seriously?:

Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, who sits on the Legislature’s budget-writing committee, agreed the cost of the Foxconn tax credits will be “manageable” if state revenues, through tax collections, increase. But Erpenbach said that may not be the case if an economic downturn occurs. “We have to pay (Foxconn) before we pay anybody else,” Erpenbach said. “That puts a lot of other things at risk.”

Hardly what I would call a finger wagging "I told you so" when things eventually go south.  

Walker & GOP still plan to kill Open Records Law!!! But "it would be difficult to revisit this issue in the environment we're in right now."

The frightening realization that Scott Walker and GOP leaders still intend to do away with the open records law is, as State Sen. Jon Erpenbach said "mind-boggling,"

Walker's unapologetic admission that he and Republicans wanted to deep six Wisconsin's open records law seems very odd for a guy hoping to become presidential. Especially after he's told the media that Wisconsin's reforms should be a template for the rest of the nation.  Sen. Scott Fitzgerald thought the changes "made sense." Journal Sentinel:

Gov. Scott Walker acknowledged Tuesday his office helped develop plans to dramatically roll back the state's open records law ... which has since been abandoned.

Walker and his aides had repeatedly evaded saying whether they helped ... "We tried to put something together we thought that made sense," Fitzgerald told them. "But it's not going to be accepted publicly and that's why we're here pulling it back today."

But Fitzgerald went even further down the rabbit hole with the following jaw dropping reason why he thought change was needed. WISC:

Fitzgerald: "Technology has changed. The way we handle our offices has changed. And if we don't continue to embrace idea that we should be doing something on this. Than I'm not sure where we'll end up on this." 

Erpenbach: "The audacity for you to close government down like that is ridiculous...mind-boggling...MIND-BOGGLING! I will defend every single reporters right to sue me."

Just as shocking was Fitzgerald's plans to try again, even after the media, Democrats, Republicans, conservative think tanks and talk show hosts all bashed the idea of a secret unaccountable government. But it's an old law....

Fitzgerald said he hopes to consider changes to the open records law in the future, but that lawmakers can't now because of the public response to the plan the committee passed last week.

"Certainly, it would be difficult to revisit this issue in the environment we're in right now," he said on the Senate floor. "Obviously, it's very hot."

Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) said the plan never should have been advance in the first place.

"This doesn't make you heroes — at all, This vote doesn't take away what happened last Thursday night.

Open Records Law Gone? Walker's One Party Republicans Authoritarian Government will now Dictate Law.

Thursday saw an explosion of critical tweets from liberals, libertarians, and even "stand with Walker" kooks that haven't seen a GOP bill they didn't like, reacting to a move to shut Wisconsinites and the media out of state government and the peoples right to know. All under the guise of a very tight budget, or so said Sen. Alberta Darling, who "inherited" her own previous budget (old talking points die hard):

Republicans decided to shutout the public's right know anything. Breathtaking beyond words, this last minute budget twist also protects Walker's past as well. WSJ

The proposal blocks the public from reviewing nearly all records created by lawmakers, state and local officials or their aides, including electronic communications and the drafting files of legislation. Exempt “deliberative materials” from the public’s view … Deliberative materials are defined in the motion as “communications and other materials, including opinions, analyses, briefings, background information, recommendations, suggestions, drafts, correspondence about drafts, and notes, created or prepared in the process of reaching a decision concerning a policy or course of action” or in preparing a draft of a document.

If you thought that was bad, legislators made sure what happened to Sen. Lea Vukmir wouldn't happen to them. Remember this jaw dropper from September 2013?

jsonline: State Sen. Leah Vukmir is trying to sidestep an open records lawsuit by claiming she can't be sued while in office — a legal argument that, if successful, would let all lawmakers ignore the open records law.Vukmir contends in her motion that the legislative session lasts the entire term of a state representative — meaning legislators are in session from the moment they are first elected until they leave office, perhaps many years later. The Center for Media and Democracy sued Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) in June contending she had violated the open records law by not turning over records related to her involvement with the American Legislative Exchange Council-ALEC.

That won't be a problem anymore:

The motion also gives a legislator a “legal privilege” or right to refuse to disclose and to prevent a current or former staff member from disclosing a wide array of types of communication that occurred during the lawmaker’s term in office.

Summing it up in the absolute strongest terms...:

"This is the single most sweeping and outrageous affront to Wisconsin’s tradition of open government that I have seen in my quarter-century of involvement with the (Wisconsin) Freedom of Information Council,” council president Bill Lueders said. “If Wisconsin wants to take a giant leap into corruption, I think that’s a good move for them to make,” Lueders said. “It’s cowardly. It’s dirty. It violates the tradition of the state of Wisconsin, and it shows what miserable cowards that these people are that they would stick this in an omnibus motion.”

Of course Republican and now state Attorney General Brad Schimel, made open government a big deal in his campaign. Go to the AG's site and you'll see this now empty bullshit to the right:

A spokesperson for the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau testified one provision creating a broad “legislator disclosure privilege” has no counterpart in any other state. Despite voting for the motion, Republican members of the panel all professed not to know who proposed the public-records changes.

The award for the most Orwellian way to view this affront to open government?

GOP Rep. Dean Knudson of Hudson said the changes clarify what is a record for lawmakers and would “make it easier for us all to stay on the right side (of the laws).”

Just as mind boggling is this down-the-rabbit-hole conclusion from Rep. Nygren:

Breaking it down to its bare essence...

Erpenbach said if the changes pass, “we don’t need an open records law anymore.”

“I think this is a dark day for Wisconsin government,” said Brett Healy, president of the MacIver Institute. “This appears to be a huge step backwards for transparency. Taxpayers deserve more transparency, not less, and the insertion of this language at this late date in the budget process is really disheartening for those who value open government … “we’re with Sen. Erpenbach on this one. This is a bad idea.”

Walker's National Image Changed Overnight, thanks to Actual Critical Coverage.

Well, it looks like Scott Walker's claims ignorance isn't even convincing enough now for one of his big supporters:

CapTimes- Steven Elbow: Two former prosecutors, one a Republican and one a Democrat, agree on one thing: there wasn't enough evidence to charge the governor with a crime. Paul Bucher, a Republican who served nearly two decades as Waukesha County district attorney, agreed. "I don’t think there was sufficient evidence to show the governor was involved in that," he said. Bucher may not be the most objective observer. His clientele includes defendants in the John Doe investigation that led to Wednesday's release of more than 28,000 pages of emails 

Bucher said the email shows that Walker knew about the secret email system, put in place by employees to skirt public records laws. But it doesn't prove that he knew about the system all along. "I think he knew something because of the articles," Bucher said. 

National Coverage Continues: Ed Schultz talked with The Progressive's Ruth Conniff, who had a treasure trove of information for viewers across the country:



I thought I'd highlight Schultz' interview with State Sen. Jon Erpenbach. Not only did Erpenbach frame the situation in Wisconsin nicely, but Ed went into one of his great and very passionate rants.


For great email dump coverage, check out The Progressive.

Walker War on Women Exposed, State Sen. Jon Erpenbach warns Nation.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach could not have said it better. Just say it over and over. In the great words of Stan Lee, "Nuff said:"



Rachel Maddow.

Gov. Scott Walker uses Recall Petition as Blacklist to pull Student Regent Nominee.

UPDATE: Let's hear it for WKOW reporter Danielle Lama, who happened to be the one that put Scott Walker on the spot, repeatedly asking him to clarify why he withdrew Josh Inglett's nomination as a student regent. His damning response should be played over and over. Gotcha.



Could this spell the end of our McCarthy like administration, and Gov. Scott Walker's chances of reelection? It should. According to TPM:

Inglett said he felt like his "character had been attacked."

Thank you Sen. Jon Erpenbach:

Here the most recent development:

Picture from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker has withdrawn his appointment of a University of Wisconsin-Platteville student to the UW System's Board of Regents — a student who signed a petition calling for a recall election of the governor two years ago. "His nomination has been withdrawn," Walker's press secretary Tom Evenson confirmed Thursday morning.
 "I'm pleased to appoint Joshua to the UW System Board of Regents," Walker said. "The student's perspective is especially vital to the effectiveness of the Board of Regents, and I know he will serve the UW System and his fellow students well."

Inglett's father, Richard, is pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church-ELCA in Portage. Joshua Inglett's nomination was touted as a coup for an under-represented campus, which hasn't had a student appointed to the regents for several years, and as a positive reinforcement for the importance of the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), a member of the Universities and Technical Colleges Committee, said he was stunned Walker was withdrawing Inglett's name.

"At some point, Scott Walker has got to let this stuff go," Erpenbach said. "He's a sitting governor picking on a college kid. It's not going to reflect well on him at all. Governing by paranoia is not going to get us anywhere."

Walker again claims he knows nothing....

jsonline: Walker refused to say why he pulled Inglett's appointment. "We've got plenty of other good candidates and we're not going to get into specifics about it," Walker told reporters. "We've made a decision to withdraw the name in our office."

Inglett told a Madison television station his appointment was withdrawn Wednesday, shortly after the governor's office asked him if he had signed the recall petition. Asked if that was accurate, Walker said, "I wasn't involved in that directly.”

“I wasn't involved directly” is starting to get a little old after the John Doe investigation. 

Democratic Disconnect Framing and Selling Agenda.

I'm sorry to have to report; Democrats still don't get it. I fear the Democrats may never learn how to sell a whole list of great ideas.

Similar to the correspondence I've had with Sen. Jon Erpenbach, off the record, Sen. Mark Miller had a similar statement that seemed to think Sly in the Morning tried to mislead listeners when he said their response to the Wheeler Report survey failed to mention collective bargaining:

Senate Miller issued the following statement regarding collective bargaining after numerous misleading statements about Senate Democrats’ position:

“Senate Democrats remain strongly committed to restoring the collective bargaining rights that were stripped away by Governor Walker and Republican legislators this session.  Any statement that we are not fully committed to this fight is simply ridiculous. 

It’s not ridiculous. Miller did not even mention it as part of the Democratic agenda. What he and the other Democrats don’t get yet, is that they’re all lousy messengers. They can't sell squat. 

Miller: “Restoring the rights of workers to collectively bargain is a key part of building back our economy in Wisconsin.”

Here’s my email response to Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who also remains firmly committed to restoring collective bargaining. It's a messaging problem guys.

I don’t for one minute believe you don’t support labor with every fiber of your body. My point, like Sly’s, is that Democrats need to keep our major agenda items red hot, in front of voters all the time. No cooling off periods. It doesn’t matter if Walker would just veto it. Has that stopped Republicans from trying to kill the ACA, Planned Parenthood, public schools, sex ed, unions, tort laws, regulation of any sort, PBS, Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Medicare, campaign spending limits, backing corporate personhood...etc.

Every one of the issues above are always mentioned, pushed, marketed and breathlessly important to Republicans. But the Democrats...now’s not the time to bring up collective bargaining because it won’t get passed. I can name the above GOP list offhand, but could I name even a short list of strong Democratic issues? No.

Imagine how easy it would be to campaign, if voters were already energized and familiar with our agenda? Its Democrats going on the offensive. That requires the GOP to go on the defensive, taking valuable time away from pushing their own radical ideology. Right now, they’ve got all the time in the world to define the national conversation.

We need to adopt the marketing plan of the GOP. Never give up, never let people forget what we stand for, never forget to mention what we want in every media interview, and stand firm. We’ve got to stop talking about “compromise.” The word probably doesn’t test well in focus groups either. Yes, it’s part of our liberal DNA, but we don’t need to bring it up.

When people see you, or any Democrats, they need to know you’ll spread the word, the agenda, in every media appearance you make. Change the subject, redirect the question, do anything to show fight. 

Jon Erpenbach bio update...?

Sen. Jon Erpenbach has been a friend for many years, in and out of the radio business, but I have never seen this kind of adoration...of course, all in good fun. From Root River Siren:

Wisconsin State Senator, Jon Erpenbach is a dreamboat, he is a hunk and a god in the pantheon of lesser men. Jon Erpenbach is a stone cold fox, he is lady killer, a hottie, a babe and a heartthrob. Jon Erpenbach is a political baller and a fly playa that must be cloned for all to cherish.

If the Siren were to compare JP to Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzy is a butt boil, a loser and red faced baby man.

Jon Erpenbach is just da bomb baby - all day, everyday.

Oh, this is not a new admiration, far from it. We have loved JP for years and spent our days exercising, fasting, exfoliating and reading obscure case law just in the slim hope of making ourselves worthy. However, JP has rendered himself so very hubba, hubba we must declare our love - ready or not - for all to behold.