Walker's Tax Hikes; Privatized Election Trouble; Paul Ryan won't stop Armed Stalkers and ex-Boyfriends!

Walker’s Hiden Tax Hikes!!!: Gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers is right, Walker's Wisconsin really hasn’t cut taxes much, he’s just shifted it and passed those increases off to local governments by way of school referendums and wheel taxes. And the zero tax on agriculture and manufacturing lets industry off the hook to educate and train their own eventual workforce. When did that become alright? Who does that? Like Evers said, priorities are truly out of whack. WPR:

 "Right now, Wisconsin priorities are out of whack," Evers said. Evers proposed a $1.4 billion budget for K-12 schools over the 2019-21 biennium. "Taxes have gone up under Scott Walker, all those millions of people who voted for school referenda — they did it because Scott Walker has decided not to fund their public schools." He also pointed out wheel taxes to cover road repair work in response to insufficient state allocations. 

"It’s always about priorities — we found $4.5 billion for Foxconn suddenly out of thin air." Evers said he may consider "shifting" income taxes to do away with policies that benefit high earners, including the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit. 

The Walker ... ad saying Evers may raise the gas tax by $1 a gallon to pay for road work. Evers rebuffed that statement. "It’s ridiculous — who the hell would, frankly," he said of a $1 per gallon gas tax increase.

Capitalism now Owns our Elections: And wouldn't you know it, all that concern about voter fraud and the integrity of our elections, fake!!! We’ve handed our basic right to vote to for-profit private businesses because we cut our taxes so much, that states can't fund or manage our elections and voting machines:

Hacks, Security Gaps And Oligarchs: Private companies play a crucial role in elections, from printing and designing ballots, to manufacturing voting machines, to hosting results websites. The industry exists because the local and state governments who run elections don't have the resources or expertise to maintain all aspects of an election themselves.

1. There's the state that discovered a Russian oligarch now finances the company that hosts its voting data.

2. Then there's the company that manufactures and services voter registration software in eight states that found itself hacked by Russian operatives leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

3. And then there's the largest voting machine company in the country, which initially denied and then admitted it had installed software on its systems considered by experts to be extremely vulnerable to hacking.

Paul Ryan Protects 2nd Amendment right to Kill Women: A bit harsh, I know, but true. What else could explain the shocking facts Ryan has decided to ignore. Nothing else:

A short-term extension of the landmark Violence Against Women Act (was) slipped into a must-pass continuing resolution that kept the government funded until Dec. 7. A task force of Democrats and organizations dedicated to fighting domestic violence and sexual assault has been working on how to improve the existing law.

Speaker Paul Ryan won’t update the law to include a gun control that would save women’s lives, it's that simple:

But the poison pill for Republicans is the so-called "boyfriend loophole," to ensure dating partners under a protective order are prohibited from having a firearm. Currently, that law only applies to couples who are married, live together, or share a child. It also extends the firearm prohibition to people accused of stalking. Finally, it restricts people under temporary restraining orders from possessing a gun. 

The task force offers staggering statistics to back up these requests: Nearly half of women killed by intimate partners are killed by dating partners, and 75 percent of women murdered by intimate partners and 85 percent of women who survived murder attempts were stalked first. A 10-city study cited by the task force found that 20 percent of homicide victims with temporary protective orders were murdered within two days of obtaining the order.

GOP votes to kill Free Election Recounts confirming Election Integrity; don't care about Election Hacking at all.

Anyone think the following seems a bit odd for a party obsessed with voter fraud and clean elections?

1. If Republicans care so much about voter confidence in the integrity of our elections, then why are they trying to block free voter recounts paid for by losing candidates. It's backs up their claims, doesn't it? 

AP: The state Assembly is set to vote on a bill that would make it far more difficult to request election recounts in Wisconsin ... amid anger from some Republicans that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was able to request a recount in Wisconsin last year even though she finished a distant fourth ... only candidates who trail the winner by 1 percentage point or less in statewide elections could petition for a recount. Gov. Scott Walker has signaled his support for the measure.

2. If Republicans care so much about voter confidence in the integrity of our elections, then why aren't they worried about having a hacked voting machine system? Seriously, they've never mentioned it, not once. Could there be another reason for their voter ID laws?

Even if most voting machines aren't connected to the Internet, says cybersecurity expert Jeremy Epstein, "they are connected to something that's connected to something that's connected to the Internet."

A recently leaked National Security Agency report on Russian hacking attempts has heightened concerns. According to the report, Russian intelligence services broke into an election software vendor's computer system and used the information it gained to send 122 election officials fake emails infected with malicious software. Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Russia might have attempted to hack into election systems in up to 39 states.

University of Michigan computer scientist Alex Halderman says it's just the kind of phishing campaign someone would launch if they wanted to manipulate votes. "That's because before every election, the voting machines have to be programmed with the design of the ballots — what are the races, who are the candidates. So as a remote attacker, I can target an election management system, one of these ballot programming computers. If I can infect it with malicious software, I can have that malicious software spread to the individual machines on the memory cards, and then change votes on Election Day.”

Anti-Government Lunacy: The biggest reason for letting the hacking continue, maybe even get worse?

FBI Director James Comey has warned that Russia will try once again to influence U.S. elections, possibly as early as next year. To prepare, the federal government has declared elections to be a part of the nation's critical infrastructure that demands special attention.

But the federal government's focus has state and local election officials, who are very protective of how they do things now, extremely nervous. They're mainly concerned that the federal government will tell them how to run their elections — even down to where polling sites should be located — in the name of security.

While two states — Arizona and Illinois — had their voter registration systems infiltrated last year by Russian hackers, no records were deleted or changed. And no actual votes were affected, despite signs that Russia had scanned election systems in at least 20 states. "The voting process itself was not hacked, manipulated or rigged in any way."

Trump's Golden Shower Bombshell...or is this Nazi German? Neither? This is Trump!

The question should be, did anyone worry about leaked "fake news," or even irrelevant news about Hillary Clinton or John Podesta? Why is this different, especially when you consider Trump's penchant for flagrant lying?

Press Conference Circus: Trump's version of Goebbels, double speak press secretary and media mangler Sean Spicer came out first to diffuse the unsubstantiated Buzzfeed story about Trump's "golden shower" Russian hotel romp, but his push back appeared desperate and preemptive.



This may or may not be fake news, but still, why did Trump trolls try to cover Trump's ass right away? Just in case?:

Trump supporters started a misinformation campaign about the dossier, circulating images on 4chan and Reddit that include passages not contained in the original document. They claim the entire dossier is made up and that it was sent to a Republican strategist, Rick Wilson, last year. Wilson denied being the source of the leak. He has been involved in a long-running battle with Internet trolls after he called Trump supporters “childless single men who masturbate to anime” last January.

Trump again took it out on a CNN reporter, calling the network fake news:



But Trump loves fake news, as explained here:



MSNBC's correspondent in Moscow gives us their reaction:



Of course Trump calling out those in the intelligence community Nazi's was a first by an American president, as Andrea Mitchell pointed out:



Trump's attorney came out with their reinterpretation of the Constitution and ridiculous and tortured workaround's so Trump would continue to make money:



For those unfamiliar with the  story, as I was until I decided to post this....

CNN reported only that a two-page summary of the report “was presented last week to President Barack Obama and President-elect Trump [and] included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.” The story began making the rounds at Washington dinner parties late last summer: Donald Trump had been caught in a compromising sexual position by Russian intelligence agents during a business trip to Moscow.

According to one version, told by a high-ranking Obama administration diplomat, Russian intelligence services, acting on Trump’s well-known obsession with sex, had arranged an evening for him with a bevy of hookers, with hidden cameras and microphones recording all the action. The jaw-dropping detail that topped the story? Trump had somehow engaged in “golden showers,” sex acts involving urine. Russian security agents watched Trump engaging in “perverted sexual acts” that were “arranged/monitored by the FSB,” the Kremlin’s leading spy agency. The FSB, it said, “employed a number of prostitutes to perform a golden showers (urination) show in front of him.” The veracity of the report and its sourcing have not been verified.

The report also detailed Moscow’s interest in the Clintons. Reports on Hillary Clinton were “collated” by Directorate K of the FSB spy agency “for many years,” it said, “dating back to her husband Bill's presidency.” But not much was found by bugging Clinton’s hotel rooms, the sources said: The spies recorded no “golden showers” or “unorthodox or embarrassing behavior” from countless hours of eavesdropping on Clinton and her retinue. The best they could come up with was ”things she had said which contradicted her current position on various issues.”

Trump administration not worried about Foreign Hacking, Hard to Prove, No need to Investigate...then claims "No Computer is Safe."

I just noticed an interesting inconsistency in Trump pronouncements about hacking.

He’s never taken Russian hacking seriously. He has never backed an investigation or cared whether a foreign country influenced our election. C/net:

Saying that accusing Russia is a "pretty serious charge," he added: "I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove, so it could be somebody else."

That was followed up by eye opening statement suggesting Trump’s lack of computer knowledge and skills:

"I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what's going on."

Yuge Contradiction: But if Russian hacking, or any hacking that directly interfers with a U.S. election, isn’t something we need to waste our time investigating, then what hell is Trump so worried about here...:

"You know, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way. Because I'll tell you what: No computer is safe."

Cowardly Republicans Run from Trump's Russian Connections, not so concerned about Election Integrity after all.

It almost seemed surreal seeing the media turn away from the obvious Trump/Russian connection. Not only were a few of his closest aides connected in some way, but Trump would always defend Russia/Putin by saying how nice it would be if we all got along.

Now we're finding out the CIA knows for sure it was Russian hacking that swayed the election for Trump, and traitorous Republicans who are willing to turn a blind eye to the hacking. They won't even allow any possible investigation. Trump Republicans can now dismantle government for Russia, who wouldn't mind a completely destabilized and corrupt U.S. economy teetering on the brink destruction. Check out the Trump Russia ties.

Scott Walker chimed in with this bizarre and obtuse position over Russian hacking released through Wikileaks, which Walker describes as "information-no matter what form," and Russia's electoral efforts to get Trump elected:

Scott Walker: "If you've got foreign leaders trying to influence by their statement or endorsement in the same way that a foreign leader is trying to provide information - no matter what the form, whether it's outwardly or with an outright endorsement or otherwise - I think people believer decisions should be made by voters her in this country."

...or the sudden change aversion to a congressional investigation into Russian hacking to, as Paul Ryan put it..."exploit the work of our intelligence community for partisan purposes (which) does a grave disservice to those professionals..."

Now this, just before the Electoral College vote....Politico:

An open letter from 10 presidential electors — including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Christine — requested an intelligence briefing ahead of the Dec. 19 vote of the Electoral College. Hillary Clinton’s top political adviser John Podesta said, 

“The bipartisan electors' letter raises very grave issues involving our national security. Each day that month, our campaign decried the interference of Russia in our campaign and its evident goal of hurting our campaign to aid Donald Trump. Despite our protestations, this matter did not receive the attention it deserved by the media in the campaign. We now know that the CIA has determined Russia's interference in our elections was for the purpose of electing Donald Trump. This should distress every American.”

Check out Esquire Magazines proof of hacking. Of course all of this is news to Trump, who smartly asked why the sudden interest:

Oh, here's why...

For Screaming out Loud: Or this specific outright Russian endorsement made to Reuters News Service,  that was completely ignored by all other media outlets:



I've been collecting screen captures since the beginning:

Putin unleashes Russia's own "Trump," ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinnovsky, who warns of Nuclear War under Clinton.

While Trump solicits female volunteers to erroneously accuse Obama of groping them, other forces are at work via Clinton's hacked emails. From Russia with love so to speak. 

Today's news bolsters a recent and completely ignored video by a Putin surrogate who some there call the Russian Trump. Call me conspiratorial, but somethings wrong with this picture. Here's today's most recent clue:

Chicago Tribune: Trump's refusal to accept intelligence briefing on Russia stuns experts: Former senior U.S. national security officials are dismayed at Trump's repeated refusal to accept the judgment of intelligence professionals that Russia stole files from the Democratic National Committee computers in an effort to influence the U.S. election. 

The former officials, who have served presidents in both parties, say they were bewildered when Trump cast doubt on Russia's role after receiving a classified briefing on the subject and again after an unusually blunt statement from U.S. agencies saying they were "confident" that Moscow had orchestrated the attacks. "It defies logic," retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and the National Security Agency, said.

Trump's not so secret Russian Partner Emerges: After confirming Russian involvement in the hacked DNC and Clinton campaign emails, it's a little unsettling to see Russian Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky's video below touting a Trump presidency and threatening nuclear war if Clinton is elected.

Reuters: Americans should vote for Donald Trump as president next month or risk being dragged into a nuclear war, according to a Russian ultra-nationalist ally of President Vladimir Putin who likes to compare himself to the U.S. Republican candidate. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a flamboyant veteran lawmaker known for his fiery rhetoric, told Reuters in an interview that Trump was the only person able to de-escalate dangerous tensions between Moscow and Washington.

By contrast, Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton could spark World War Three, said Zhirinovsky, who received a top state award from Putin after his pro-Kremlin Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) came third in Russia's parliamentary election last month.

Many Russians regard Zhirinovsky as a clownish figure who makes outspoken statements to grab attention but he is also widely viewed as a faithful servant of Kremlin policy, sometimes used to float radical opinions to test public reaction.

"Americans voting for a president on Nov. 8 must realise that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it's war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere."

Zhirinovsky combative style, reminiscent of Trump's, ensures him plenty of television air time and millions of votes in Russian elections, often from the kind of blue-collar workers who are the bedrock of the U.S. Republican candidate's support.

Check out these bizarre and completely coincidental similarities:

Zhirinovsky once proposed blocking off mostly Muslim southern Russia with a barbed wire fence, echoing Trump's call for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. In typically chauvinistic remarks, Zhirinovsky said Clinton's gender should also bar her from the presidency. "Most Americans should choose Trump because men have been leading for millions of year. You can't take the risk of having one of the richest, most powerful countries led by a woman president," he said.

Zhirinovsky, who said he met Trump in New York in 2002, revels in his similarities - they are the same age, favour coarse, sometimes misogynistic language and boast about putting their own country first. Zhirinovsky has even said he wants a DNA test to see if he is related to Trump.

Putin has also praised Trump as "very talented", while the Republican candidate has said the Kremlin boss is a better leader than U.S. President Barack Obama.

Trump's Campaign Chief investigated for looting Ukrainian assets & influencing elections to the tune of $12 million..that's all.

Trump's sleazy campaign manager is part of a corruption investigation that mixed $12 million of business influence into Ukrainian and Russian politics. And coincidentally, there's still the likely Russian hacking of Democratic emails Paul Manafort could have used to try and sway the election here. Weird huh?

This would have, again, destroyed any other candidates campaign, but oddly not Trump? NY Times:

Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief: On a leafy side street off Independence Square in Kiev is an office used for years by Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, when he consulted for Ukraine’s ruling political party ... government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

You can't make this stuff up. Imagine the uproar if the following described Clinton's campaign manager:

"...international consulting that has been a staple of Mr. Manafort’s business since the 1980s, when he went to work for the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Before joining Mr. Trump’s campaign this spring, Mr. Manafort’s most prominent recent client was Mr. Yanukovych, who — like Mr. Marcos — was deposed in a popular uprising."

I'm typing this at the same time I'm listening radio host Mitch Henck, who's Bizarro World guest is blaming George Soro for the Ukrainian overthrow. While the right wing noise machine is busy at work, just keep this in mind:

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

In addition, criminal prosecutors are investigating a group of offshore shell companies that helped members of Mr. Yanukovych’s inner circle finance their lavish lifestyles, including a palatial presidential residence with a private zoo, golf course and tennis court. Among the hundreds of murky transactions these companies engaged in was an $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin.

Go Trump? Yes, Manafort is now guiding Trump with everything he's learned, including these coincidental facts:

From Mr. Trump’s favorable statements about Mr. Putin and his annexation of Crimea to the suspected Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails — an examination of Mr. Manafort’s activities offers new details of how he mixed politics and business out of public view and benefited from powerful interests now under scrutiny by the new government in Kiev.

Anti-corruption officials there say the payments earmarked for Mr. Manafort, previously unreported, are a focus of their investigation, though they have yet to determine if he actually received the cash ... his lawyer, Richard A. Hibey, said Mr. Manafort had not received “any such cash payments” described by the anti-corruption officials ... “These are suspicions, and probably heavily politically tinged ones,”

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which obtained the ledger, said in a statement that Mr. Manafort’s name appeared 22 times in the documents over five years, with payments totaling $12.7 million. The purpose of the payments is not clear. Nor is the outcome, since the handwritten entries cannot be cross-referenced against banking records.