State Supreme Court neutralizes Constitutional "Home Rule" provision used to Defend Local Control.

Big government Republicans? You bet.

Local control is a thing of the past under Scott Walker, thanks to his henchmen in the state legislature and the conservative activist Supreme Court. In just the first 4 years...

WSJ: Since 2011, Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers have wrested from local governments control of cellphone tower siting, shoreland zoning restrictions, landlord-tenant regulations, public employee residency requirements, family medical leave rules for private companies and large soft drink bans, among other things. Other proposals, such as limiting a local government’s ability to regulate frac sand mining, didn’t pass.

It just got worse, thanks to the latest activist conservative State Supreme Court decision on Act 10. Att. Ed Fallone said on WPR this morning the court says in matters of money, local control is gone:

"(The court) interpreted away the home rule provision of our state constitution. A provision that says the state legislature can't pass laws sort of countermanding local government matters...intended in our constitution to protect the cities and local governments from having micromanagement out of the statehouse...the majority opinion said that spending money is a statewide concern...I'm wondering what the home rule protects anymore. "

Pictured in this audio clip is Ed Fallone and John Prestigard:

Republican Leadership Committee's push for more Activist Conservative Judges and Justices.

In something you’d expect to read from some third world dictatorship, here’s the Republican State Leadership Committee’s idea of “judicial fairness,” where only conservative judges can determine if our laws are constitutional. Plus, these judges and justices are also there to shield everyone else from the liberal agenda, whose backers make up about HALF of the U.S. population. Ah, there’s not a rightwing authoritarian problem here, is there?

The following is not only unsettling, but an escalation of liberal vilification that I fear won’t end well. The tea party has set free the dark paranoid underpinnings of conservatism. From the Walker Authority:

Jill Bader: Backed by the union bosses and old corrupt centers of bureaucratic power, the enemies of the reforms sought to use the court system to thwart Walker’s legislation. They lost. However, yesterday the Wisconsin Supreme Court could have just as easily overturned Walker’s signature legislation. What was the difference in outcomes? Five rule of law conservative judges stood against two activist Democrats on the court … the activist Democrats’ opinions pronounced in today’s ruling betray their true intentions. The liberal Democrat judges use an ends justify the means test- whatever it takes to give the liberal Democrat Party back their centers of power, with no regard for the cost to hard working families.

The constitution protects your pocketbook, and tries to keep the price of freedom down for hard working families? Also, the last line is all projection.

The inner "rightwing authoritarian" isn't shy about politicizing and poisoning the judicial branch of government. They've actually made it sound kind of normal:

Theirs is emphatically not a rule of law test- the proper test followed by the five rule of law Republicans on the court which found Walker’s reforms constitutional. 

Yesterday highlights the crucial necessity of the Judicial Fairness Initiative. Voters should be given the information necessary to distinguish between rule of law Republican judges and liberal activist Democrat judges. Voters should be provided this information, or the reform legislation their elected representatives pass could be another innovative law struck down by activist courts, as happens every year all across the country. 

JFI is here to stay. It’s here to educate. It’s here to make a permanent impact in our courts. It’s here to protect conservative innovative reforms from liberal judges attempting to act as super legislatures. 

Conservative "innovative reforms?" Republican State Leadership Committee ironically, is bashing liberal activism based on actual conservative activism. See it HERE!

Walker tells voters to ignore "all these side issues," like lousy job growth, cuts to voting times, relaxed mining regulations, loss of local control, cuts to education because we're better off now?

The Scott Walker social engineers in the state legislature continue to chip away at all of our individual freedoms under the banner, of all things, freedom and liberty. These top down big government Republicans have passed, or proposed passing so many "side issues" like:

...repeal of local control over cell phone towers in our communities;  abolishing local laws controlling mining activity, required vaginal ultrasounds;  dictated the spread of voucher schools;  banned sick leave and tried to ban local minimum wage laws;  ushered in a one-size-fits-all takeover and reduction in voting hours;  returned our racist mascots;  reduced the Earned Income Tax Credit...you know, "all these side issues. Wisconsin is better off today than it was four years ago" says Walker...

...following the Great Recession. Oh yea, that!

Plus, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner told the crowd there should be a special cell in D.C. for the IRS official allegedly targeting tea party groups, and convention "party leaders blamed Obama for everything from alleged foreign policy mistakes to the slow starting but energy saving lights in the convention hall."



And now, after the shocking Journal Sentinel research by Craig Gilbert revealed just how extreme the partisan divide is in the state, and growing, the fact that it hasn't even occurred to Walker to try and bring civility back, well, that's all you need to know about this sociopath.

The Walker Authority up close!!!

Thanks to a nice piece at MAL Contends, I was able to finish reading John Dean's great analysis of Scott Walker's authoritarian behavior, and the frightening implications of putting even more power into this guys hands. I forgot all about it back in March, 2012.

Below, I've gathered what I thought were the essential points of Dean's scorching but fair research into what I've called the Walker Authority. Interestingly, Dean assumed other "social scientists or political psychologists in Wisconsin" would do what he did, and tip voters off to the potential consequences of putting Walker power again. Well, that didn't happen thanks to political pressure (censorship) on our state university. This was written before the recall election for Verdict/Justia.com:

John Dean: My focus here is on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who strikes some who have written to me as a distinctively prototypical authoritarian politician; what social science has labeled as a “double high” authoritarian; and the type of person which I described in my book as a conservative without conscience.

They occasionally found persons who garnered high scores for their cold, calculating dominance, yet also gained high scores on the tests for submissive followers … these Double Highs relate to the questions regarding submission not by considering how they themselves submit to others, but rather how others submit to them.  They simply see the world as a place where they are always in charge.

Domination: Authoritarian leaders seek to control others; in short, they are social dominators. This is the story of Scott Walker’s life. At Marquette, he was elected to the student senate, and twice sought but failed to get elected president of the student body.  He ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly the same year that he lost his bid to be student president at Marquette, losing the Assembly race as well. Since then, Walker has never stopped running.  In 1993, he was elected to the State Assembly … In 2002, he sought the post of Milwaukee County Executive, and he held that post until he was elected Governor in 2010.  This is the behavior, writ large, of a dominator.

Opposition To Equality: There are many examples of Walker’s harsh and uncaring treatment of those whom he does not believe to be entitled to equality.  None is more glaring than his intolerance of gays and lesbians … as Governor, he has worked to end Wisconsin’s recognition of the rights of same-sex couples. He fired the law firm defending the state’s domestic-partnership law.  And he appointed a woman to the state’s Labor and Industry Review Commission who believes that gays can be harassed in the workplace.

Desirous Of Personal Power: As governor, Walker sought to remove civil service jobs, in order to make them political appointments, and thus subject to his control.  Most strikingly, he has sought to undercut the public-employee unions so that he would not have to deal with them, thus increasing his power. Often overlooked is the power grab to fill three dozen civil-service jobs with political appointees.  For instance, the “budget repair bill” politicized and placed under Walker’s control functions like open-records requests, the selection of general counsels for key agencies, and the selection of communications spokespeople in key departments.  He has increased his personal power over some fifteen state agencies, and I suspect that he is just getting started. Walker’s push to get Act 10 passed into law was done in about as authoritarian a fashion as you will ever see, outside of a dictatorship.

Amorality: It is found in his history of ethics violations and the record of his lying … ethics problems go back to his Marquette University days, when the college newspaper called him “unfit” for student office. Later, in the Assembly (in 2005), Walker would earn the distinction of receiving the second-highest fine for an ethics violation in Wisconsin history.  His lying is notorious. Politifacts Wisconsin finds Walker to be an accomplished falsifier. I watched a video of a Walker speech at the Goldwater Institute.  He’s slick: Fast-talking, confident, and dishonest—I watched him distort facts with which I was familiar.  He spoke in mostly half-truths.

Submissive To Authority: While Scott Walker plays by the rules of the authorities he accepts, because he is a dominator.

Aggressiveness On Behalf Of Authority:  The aggression in authoritarian followers is largely fueled by fear, but it is also emboldened by the abundance of self-righteousness that such people possess. As a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, in 1996 Walker was the moving force behind the building of a 500-bed “Supermax” prison, which he claimed worked better than normal facilities; others had doubts.  Also, when state officials sought a 200-bed unit, Walker insisted on more than doubling the request.

Another instance … can be found in an example from 1997, when Walker pushed legislation that eliminated all parole, while increasing maximum criminal sentences by fifty percent.  Walker also pushed for draconian legislation that would send juvenile offenders to adult prisons at age 15, although his colleagues in the Assembly rejected this excessively harsh approach. These, too, are examples of classic authoritarian behavior at work.

Wisconsin’s Double High Authoritarian Governor: To me, it is clear that Wisconsin has a double high authoritarian governor, a conservative without conscience.  If I lived in Wisconsin, I would be uncomfortable with this man, whom I find more Nixonian than even Richard Nixon himself … have many friends who fall into this group, who are wonderful people.  But none of my double high authoritarian friends are suited to serve as President of the United States, or as governor of any state … they are failures as presidents and governors, and as Bob Altemeyer’s work has shown, they can be dangerous to democracy.

Hopefully, one or more social scientists or political psychologists in Wisconsin, where there are many, will step forward and tell the people of Wisconsin more about what they have on their hands, with Scott Walker as their governor. Altemeyer estimates that about twenty-five percent of the population has, in varying degrees, the disposition to follow a double high authoritarian, many blindly or simply because it assuages their fears.  And, of course, these are aggressive followers who can attract others who are unaware of the nature of the person they are electing, thus enabling an authoritarian leader like Walker to gain ever-growing control. Good luck, Wisconsin.

Walker complains of Massive Protests and Death Threats, but ignores the public message; he went too far.

I am so tired of Scott Walker's redirection play in media interviews where he describes the death threats to him, his family and other legislators as just heated personalized rhetoric. He's always dismissing his "divide and conquer" policies.

Besides never giving one example of anyone spending time in prison for their supposed death threat, Walker shifts away from the real reason for all the threats: His inability to moderate policy base on the public's reaction. Isn't that a symptom of going too far?  Isn't that how, sadly, extreme politicians are held in check in a democratic republic? How blindly ideological do you have to be to ignore the death threats, recalls and massive protests? That simple checks and balances approach is a relic of the past.

On WPR's Joy Cardin Show, Walker explains how it wasn't what he said, but the unions rhetoric that stirred things up around the Capitol. That's a complete lie, or proof Walker is that far out of touch with what actually happened. In reality, the unions were just as caught off guard by the massive public response and support they received.

Again, the massive protests, the recalls and even the death threats were just so many red flags that should have told the majority party they went way too far. Audio:



Believe it or not, Walker directly compared the protests around the Capitol to the Gabby Giffords shooting. That event scared the daylights out him and the Republican majority, despite the fact liberals weren't the ones threatening "Second Amendment Remedies." Instead, the party of righteousness under Scott Walker doubled down on security. Walker claims he tried to tone things down, but in reality, tried to protect concealed carry legislation from being affected.

In fact, Walker's reaction to blame "liberals" was eerily similar to this response by Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation:

Judson Phillips described Jared Loughner as a "liberal lunatic"  "The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and the left's attack on the Tea Party movement," described the shooter as "a leftist lunatic" and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik as a "leftist sheriff" who "was one of the first to start in on the liberal attack." Phillips urged tea party supporters to blame liberals for the attack on centrist Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona ... as a means of defending the tea party movement's recent electoral gains.

The fact that Walker gaves rambling responses to listener questions told us more in a few minutes than anything we'll ever read in his published attempt at revisionist history. I wonder if he mentioned the death threats against the opponents of his authority? Thom Hartmann talked with DPW's Graeme Zalienski about that and more:

Walker confirms, One Party Authoritarian control gets “big bold reform done,” his way.

How easy is it to lead a one party dictatorship? Just ask Scott Walker, he’ll tell you:

"If you want to get big bold reform done ... you need a team to help you do that," the Washington Post quoted Walker saying.

With the kind of majority rule Walker's had here in Wisconsin, the Democratic Party is no longer relevant or tolerated. Protesters are considered outsiders, thugs, and vandals, who never reflected the "majority" of Wisconsinites. After one million recall signatures, and hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out at the Capitol opposing the his agenda, Walker was unimpressed and dismissive. 

Cap Times: At a breakfast in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the  Christian Science Monitor, the gov knocked the idea of divided government — different parties controlling different branches.

"Conventional wisdom," Walker said, "is that Americans prefer divided government. I think they've seen the last few years that that's not necessarily a good thing. Instead of sufficient checks and balances, what that's gotten is a lot of gridlock," Walker said.

"If you want to get big bold reform done ... you need a team to help you do that."

Ezra Klein wrote this observation:

All this leaves Walker attempting something very unusual: Running as the candidate of polarization. His pitch isn't that he can bring the two sides together but that he can persuade the public to kick the other side out of office. "Voters think people in Washington fight for the sake of fighting," he said. "Voters don't mind fighters, but they want them to be fighting for them."

Republican Rep. Dale Kooyenga: “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.”

The conservative Wisconsin State Journal is again trying to alert fellow Republicans something is dangerously wrong at the Capitol. While Republicans vilified Madison for forcing liberalism on everyone else, ramming conservatism down our throats is A-Okay? Didn’t think so.

The line that stood out for me is this breathtaking rightwing authoritarian philosophical statement:

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.”

Gulp! Sound frighteningly familiar? Sounds a lot like what we heard from so many despotic foreign leaders.

Reporter Matthew DeFour wrote this nice summary:

Since consolidating control of state government in 2011, Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature have enacted a series of laws that upend a bedrock of their party’s conservatism: the principle of local control. The GOP has wrested from local government’s control of cellphone tower siting, shoreland zoning restrictions, landlord-tenant regulations, public employee residency requirements, family medical leave rules for private companies and large soft drink bans, among other things. It instituted a statewide voucher program opposed by many school boards and has kept tight property tax caps on school districts and municipalities. The latest and perhaps most disconcerting example for many local officials is a bill introduced by Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, that would limit a municipality’s ability to regulate certain aspects of frac sand mining operations, such as blasting, damage to highways, and air and water quality.

“Many (municipal leaders) will tell you how terrible it is and how it’s the worst they’ve ever seen,” said Dan Thompson, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.

But of course denial helps Republicans disconnect from their own hypocrisy:

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said “legislators always take into account local feedback when developing bills,” including specific bill language. “The concerns of municipalities are carefully considered…

When Republicans are whining about there being too much local control, well.....

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said other changes, such as ending residency requirements and the soft drink provision, are meant to protect individual freedoms, Evenson said.

Nice to know our state GOP is protecting our freedom to shop:

Republicans have long promoted themselves as the party of decentralized government and local control. UW-Madison political science professor emeritus Dennis Dresang. “But boy, recently, that’s really going out the door. What we see from the tea party types and the radical right types is, ‘I've got an idea, I've got an agenda, and it really ought to apply across the board."

How do Republicans rationalize their authoritarian behavior?

Republicans ... say many of the recent moves to limit local control derive from a different party plank than local control — deregulation.

If you want to know what the guiding philosophy of our rightwing authoritarian one party government is right now, Rep. Dale Kooyenga made it perfectly clear:

“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.”

"Rightwing Authoritarian" is a term defined in this recent blog post. Check it out.  

Walker and Gogebic Taconite intimidation bully Geologist out of Job due to fear of Speaking out.

So this is what top down, rightwing authoritarianism looks like. It’s all Scott Walker.

The myth that conservatives are prevented from speaking out in public just blew up today, when we found out it’s just the other way around. As usual, it’s opposite day every day in Republican world.

Here's the horror story, and again, another attack on science:

Cap Times-Steve Elbow: A geologist with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey who found himself in the middle of a controversy over a proposed open-pit mine in the north woods says he's resigning after enduring weeks of on-the-job pressure over a rock containing asbestos-like material found at the mine site. 

Jason Huberty says the pressure of working in a politically charged atmosphere has taken a toll on his health and emotional state.

“I really feel like I can’t speak freely without losing my job,” says the 37-year-old iron ore specialist.

Like the Walker Blacklist, the fact that a person participates in the political process, in opposition to the controlling authority, is enough to discredit your life work:

Huberty, a frequent protester at the state Capitol who testified against legislation enabling the proposed mine in 2012, has been singled out by mining company Gogebic Taconite as a potentially biased employee who calls into question the survey's objectivity. Documents obtained from UW Extension, which runs the survey, also indicate concern over Huberty from members of the state Legislature.

Huberty says he’s been called to several meetings with officials from UW Extension regarding his involvement with protests against the administration of Gov. Scott Walker at the Capitol.

James Robertson, director of the survey, tells Huberty that his political activities have become “a growing concern. This concern has to do with the potential impact your general political activity and protesting at the Capitol might have on the survey’s reputation, even if that activity has nothing to do with geologic issues,” Robertson writes.

Walker thinks the nation should run like the finely tuned job killing machine we have in Wisconsin.

It's been a couple of years now that I've pretty much beat to death the Republican concept of "leadership:" Completely disregard the voters to enact a purely ideological agenda...lead.

No where have we seen this more starkly than in the actions of our "divide and conquer" governor himself, Scott Walker. Hundreds of thousands of protester in the dead of winter...who cares. A million recall signatures...who cares. Protesters at every appearance here and nationwide...who cares.

Walker is now reaching out to every American, spreading the word that Wisconsin should be seen as the template for the nation.

In a paraphrased Walker statement, from this WISC news anchor, his latest most outrageous insult:

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker blamed both Republicans and Democrats for the partial government shutdown and said congressional leaders should run the nation more like Wisconsin. Democrats balked at those comments, saying the Republican governor has had a tumultuous tenure that has divided people.

Walker: "The best way to resolve it? Look at what we did in Wisconsin. I sit down with the legislative leaders and, you know, we figure out a way to solve the problems that face our state. We have an effective line of communication, and we get things done."

See, he's a great leader bridging the political divide....

Walker met Wednesday with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), but not Larson or Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha).

"I don't think divide-and-conquer is the way to run the United States of America," said Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), who called Walker polarizing and a practitioner of "my-way-or-the-highway politics."

Walker tosses the buying power of 92,000 former Badgercare Recipients Straddling Poverty Line, all but killing consumer demand.

I’m one of the 92,000 Wisconsinites getting an impersonal letter from the Walker Authority telling me we’re all on our own when it comes to health care…good luck.

We’re talking about 92,000 people straddling the poverty line, barely making ends meet, if that:

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker's administration is notifying 92,000 Wisconsin residents this month that their BadgerCare health coverage will run out at the end of the year, requiring them to buy coverage through new and potentially more costly federal marketplaces. The notification letters reignited the debate over Walker's decision to reject additional federal money to expand BadgerCare. 

Sure it’s cruel, but Walker is doing it for our own good. We don’t know it yet, but not depending on the government is going to give us a sense of pride and freedom.

Oh, and it’s also a sure fire way to stop consumer demand in its tracks. I knew I wouldn't qualify anymore, but I also knew the last year’s spending was over. And that means 90,000 tight family budgets will be taken offline, killing consumer demand, and tanking job creation.

Like Walker’s cuts to take home pay for public employees, removing nearly 100,000 more consumers from the marketplace will stop economic progress, which in turn might just speed up Walker's ouster from office. 

Medicaid Director Brad Davis is doing his best to spread the bad word, inflicting pain well before the rates are known in the ObamaCare marketplace, which other states have already released. It's like they're just playing with us. Ya think? From Channel3000:

Walker Medicaid Seizure Law changes "...like something you might see in an authoritarian country, like China."

(See Minor update below)
Scott Walker signed into law a bill that allows big government to take family farms and basically everything else a person has earned their entire life. He may have even broken federal law to do it.

I warned about this a while ago after Walker put his stamp of approval on it. It's no secret Walker and his band of political pirates want’s to reduce the size of government, the democratic kind, and turn it into what Bush once called “the ownership society.” Owners vs us.

We're finding out that the Republicans supposed dislike of government is nothing more than a clever way of covering up for their lack of maturity and common sense to manage government responsibly. 

Bad Government, Exhibit A:  

WSJ-Dee J. Hall: The state Department of Health Services has new powers under the state budget to recover money from the estates of people whose loved ones have received Medicaid funding for long-term care … the Legislature’s budget committee is scheduled to debate whether to rescind some or all of the powers it gave the administration of Gov. Scott Walker … Moreover, the Legislature’s own nonpartisan legal and financial agencies have warned that the changes … could violate federal law, which governs the use of federal Medicaid funds. Critics say the changes could prompt some elderly couples to divorce and make it harder for children to inherit the family farm or business.

The Walker Authority trotted out the old, and now tired excuse for doing every lousy thing they want to:

DHS officials have defended the new powers, saying they will save taxpayers money.

I've got an update for Ronald Reagan's 9 scariest words (now 11): “I'm from the government and I'm here to save taxpayer money." Walker decided to expand what the government can take from hard working Americans:

The changes require individuals whose spouses got Medicaid-funded nursing home services to forfeit to the state the full cost of those services when that surviving spouse dies. They also place limits on the ability of surviving spouses to transfer assets to their children. A couple’s home is exempted … But under the new law, proceeds from the sale of that home could be taken by the state to repay Medicaid used to pay for a spouse’s nursing home or other long-term care, elder law attorneys say. “It greatly expands the types of property the state can go after … In the past, the state could not go after the property of the (non-Medicaid receiving) spouse.”

Is that your idea of small government? Teabilly silence on freedom and liberty? How long before taxpayers give up everything, just so we can supposedly save taxpayer money? This goes well beyond the perceived horrors of the “death tax.”

Health Care used as a Hammer? Long term care insurance has always cost too much for families to afford. Even ObamaCare abandoned coverage for those same reasons. Don’t forget about medical bankruptcy’s either. So, let’s get out the health care hammer:

The provisions penalize elderly people who have already paid into the Medicaid system through a lifetime of taxes … DHS officials said the changes make the system more fair … “state and federal taxpayers should not be forced to fund an individual’s long-term care so the individual can pass on an inheritance to their heirs or beneficiaries” … allow (s) DHS (to put) liens on their homes or other mechanisms to get the proceeds from assets, such as vehicles, that in the past were outside of the government’s reach … (that) “appear to present conflicts or potential conflicts with federal law” in part by broadening the definition of assets that the state could seek for repayment.

“It’s like something you might see in an authoritarian country, like China,” said Elder law attorney Bruce Tammi, an adviser on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s elder-law section.

UPDATE: Nothing to get excited about, but at least something was done, although it’ll have almost no impact.

jsonline: Lawmakers Wednesday pared back new rules allowing the state to collect back more of its health care spending on the elderly from their estate … The state bankers lobby also contends the new law would cost banks millions of dollars in initial and ongoing costs — potentially more in the first year than it will actually bring the state in terms of additional money.

"The compliance costs to the private sector will greatly exceed the revenue to the state of Wisconsin and create additional regulatory burden, liability and potential for legal action, including potential class-action lawsuits," according to a letter to lawmakers from the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

But Republican defenders of taxpayer dollars and over regulation are whining about how life isn't fair:

Sen. Glenn Grothman and Rep. John Nygren said it was about fairness for taxpayers. 

Under the panel's vote Wednesday, the Walker administration could not implement some of the provisions in potential violation of federal law, though all of those state provisions would remain on the books. Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) said "We are essentially double-taxing people who played by the rules and paid taxes their whole life," Richards said. "What we created in the budget was an expensive and confusing mess." The rules are so complex that it can be difficult to give a simple example of how they worked in the past, would have worked under the budget provision and will now work under the Joint Finance action.

Take, for instance, the example of a husband who goes into a nursing home and dies while his wife remains on the farm that they hope to pass on to their son. What ultimately happens to their farm and their other assets will depend on a whole range of factors, including: how they held that property; whether they transferred it to someone else, when they did and how; whether the wife remarries; and even whether a future spouse brings into the marriage any new assets, which could be potentially affected by the new rules.

Now above the Law, Republican Lawmaker Sen. Leah Vukmir's aide Terrorizes Process Server with Abusive Language, Pushing.

The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the same standard used by Gogebic Taconite against the protesters they encountered at the mine site, which logically prompted them to hire an armed paramilitary group for protection.

C. Lowrey Process Service might want hire their own gun toting militia soon.

On the heels of the United Sportsmen scandal, where Scott Walker and former Rep. Scott Suder rewarded donors with a $500,000 taxpayer payoff to push hunting and fishing (wink, wink), long time Republican lawmaker State Senator Leah Vukmir can't be bother with...the law. 

Heck, even the state attorney general, J.B. Van Hollen, advised that she avoid being served. We're still waiting to hear why he thought that was a good idea. Could it have something to do with the all knowing and all powerful ALEC? 

What we're now seeing is a majority Republican Party enjoying the marbled opulence of their Capitol fortress. Whether it's busting a few Solidarity Singers heads, deciding who can or cannot protest the authority, or verbally and physically assaulting process servers, it should be obvious at this point something is terribly wrong. 

WSJ: A process server hired to notify state Sen. Leah Vukmir of a lawsuit says a Vukmir aide assailed him with abusive language, chased him and pushed him to the ground outside the Capitol, according to court documents filed Wednesday. The aide, (38 year old) Jason Rostan, told the State Journal that he didn't push the process server but acknowledged following him and trying to force him to take the court papers back … said the man tripped and fell while refusing to accept the paperwork.

Love that old chestnut, "the man tripped and fell." 

The process server’s account of what happened on Sept. 3 is contained in a sworn statement attached to a lawsuit filed in Dane County Circuit Court. The suit seeks to force Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, to hand over documents from a May conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The lengths Republicans will go to protect ALEC:

Rostan “started to call me a low-life jerk and (expletives)” in Vukmir’s Capitol office, Bruce Lowrey, co-owner of C. Lowrey Process Service, said in the affidavit. “When I got outside Jason was running after me and he pushed me and knocked me down and threw the paperwork at me and continued to call me all kinds of (vulgar) names.”

Lowrey said he and an employee had tried twice previously to serve Vukmir. Lowrey’s wife and business partner, Chris Lowrey, said the next day she went to Vukmir’s office to complain. “One of the guys got rude and snotty and I told him to stop right there,” she told the State Journal. “I told them, ‘You guys are the ones who make the law, and you have to follow it. Be professional.’ ”

In her affidavit she describes Rostan holding his hands behind him while she reached around and touched the papers to his hands — to make the service legal — before leaving the papers on a desk.“That office hopefully learned a lesson,” Chris Lowrey said. “I’m a Republican, and I was disgusted with their behavior.”

No Response until a carefully coordinated strategy is reached to game the media: 

Vukmir staff members had been told by the state Department of Justice not to accept service in the case, Rostan said. Department of Justice officials couldn't be reached Wednesday night. Vukmir didn't return phone calls or emails seeking her comment.

NOTE: I had to search the Wisconsin State Journal site to find this story. I wonder why? 

Americans missing Republicans/Scott Walker message: “Reclaim our Country” promises Political Purification!!! A One Party Authority.

There’s something unsettling about a Midwest governor promising to win what is essentially a replay of the civil war, where the south wins this time. 

Promises to “reclaim our country” beg the question, from what exactly? Any reporters want to take that on? "Reclaim our country" from those troublesome "other" parties? Cleanse the system of the Democrats, independents, Green, Libertarian.

Why does a one party system appeal to Republicans so much? Could it have anything to do with their conservative authoritarianism. Why do we hear supposedly angry independent freedom loving conservatives crave strong leaders? Could it be their “leaders” send out confusing mixed messages, structured in a way that creates a need for order?

     

It was this reported comment from our wondering Governor, Scott Walker, that struck a nerve. jsonline:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker brought his fiery brand of Republican politics to Seattle on Thursday night, describing at a think-tank fundraiser how he believes conservatives can "reclaim our country."

Did Democrats take the country from them, and if they did, why didn't I get my share of the takings?

"I'm optimistic about the future of this great country," said Walker.

If it’s so great, why does it need to be “reclaimed?”

And then there’s the Republican favorite, the FALSE PREMISE:

Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who gained a national profile after a video of his speech at this year's National Prayer Breakfast went viral, warned of the "secular progressive movement trying to erase all traces of God from our society" and called for Americans to come together. "We the people are the boss," he said.

Without the false premise, Ben Carson would have had nothing to offer. So liberal Democratic Catholics, Lutherans, whatever, are trying to “erase” their own religious beliefs from society?

Walker shrugged off the protests, and what does he care, he’s in charge:

Still, the cross-country invitation of Walker enraged local unions and liberal activists … protesters gathered on Sixth Avenue two hours before the dinner's start carrying signs that read, "Stop The Attack On Worker Rights" and "Washington Respects Working Families." Pat Miller of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters said he had a simpler message for the governor: "Go away."

"Like Gov. Walker, I took office during tough times," King County Executive Dow Constantine said. "But I partnered with our workers."

Protesters aren’t really taken seriously anymore, because again, they’re in charge, or will be when they “reclaim our country.”

Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, in introducing Walker, told the crowd that "picketing you ran into on the way in tonight, is the reaction of losers."

Protesting governments policies is for losers. Nice message.

Walker's speech focused on his successes in office. Walker said that during his tenure as governor, Wisconsin's unemployment has fallen dramatically, its budget deficit has turned into a surplus and many more of its employers feel the state is moving in the right direction...

The reality is more mixed, as Wisconsin's unemployment rate hasn't fallen as fast as the rest of the country and recent news reports have shown that it is unlikely Walker will fulfill his promise to deliver 250,000 jobs in his first term.

The Walker Black List is Official, Nominates student regent not on his Recall List! Skips guy who started two businesses and promotes the entrepreneurial spirit.

(To start, this is not a slam on the student himself nominated by Walker to be a regent.)

Appearances are no longer a concern for an arrogant Republican governor like Scott Walker, who's made it clear his citizen black lists will be used to punish the resistance. 

For a governor concerned about jobs and business, he went with a snowmobile club member, instead of his first choice, a student who has already started two businesses and is a member of the Pioneer Launch Lab for young entrepreneurs. Good play Scotty.  

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker on Friday appointed a University of Wisconsin-Platteville student to the UW System Board of Regents after earlier this summer yanking another student's appointment because he didn't disclose that he signed a petition seeking the governor's recall two years ago.

Chad Landes, a UW-Platteville student majoring in animal science, will get the seat that the governor initially promised to Joshua Inglett, a UW-Platteville engineering physics student. Inglett had signed the recall petition as an 18-year-old freshman. Inglett is pursuing a double minor in mathematics and business administration. He's a member of the Pioneer Launch Lab for young entrepreneurs, and the founder of two businesses: one related to travel packages for large groups, and one that produces OEM computers and develops and tests proprietary software, according to his résumé.

Who cares about business and entrepreneurs, snowmobiles, "spirit" and volunteerism are really more important traits under Walker. The Walker Black List is official:

Walker said Landes' "strong spirit of service and volunteerism makes him a great fit for the Board of Regents."

Walker shreds the Wisconsin Constitutional right to Assemble and Petition. Should an out-of-control Administration decide what's reasonable, appropriate?

Point One: The Wisconsin State Journal did its best to discourage protesters at the Capitol by quoting scholars who insist our constitutional rights have reasonable limits. You know, like you can't scream "fire" in a theater. But screaming fire has nothing to do with petitioning "the government." That's where the argument falls apart.

Point Two-The larger issue: It's the Walker administrations decision to arrest citizen protesters in the Capitol. What changed? Only Walker and the Republican majority, that's all. This is a unique time where a governor has decided that opposition to his agenda should be met with tickets and arrests. Did Tony Earl resort to that? Lee Dreyfus? Did Tommy Thompson? Scott McCallum? James Doyle? Lucy, Knowles, Reynolds, Nelson...? This is distinctly Walker.

But maybe the courts got it all wrong when they defered to this argument:

"...court cases have established that governments can regulate the 'time, place and manner' of a demonstration?"

It's a convenient argument, but ignores the "never be abridged" part of the state constitution:

The right is contained in one complete sentence. It's not like that famous half sentence used to justify the right to carry a gun. It's one complete thought. 

But the State Journal wrote:

Over the last two weeks dozens of singing protesters have risked arrest … They brandish signs claiming the First Amendment as their permit … But constitutional scholars who study and defend the First Amendment say there’s ample legal precedent supporting the government’s ability to require a permit to demonstrate in a public place. University of Chicago Law School professor Geoffrey Stone said: “The court has held that this is a reasonable requirement so the government can make sure that it can appropriately manage the expression in terms of things like timing, disruption, police protection, avoiding multiple events at the same time, etc.,” Stone said in an email.

Such "reasonable requirements" that "appropriately manage" expression appears to do more to protect government officials from...us.

Capitol Open to Everyone? Not if you like watching democracy in action....

It's no joke really:

Cap Times: A blaze orange safety vest attracts attention, and even more so when one adds a sign that says "TOURIST" and "DO NOT ARREST" and wears it inside the state Capitol.

It Can't Happen Here? It did, and under Scott Walker, it could again.

This appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal as a cute sidebar story. For me it was anything but. It could happen again: 

See the complete map here!

The night before America entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson told a friend, “... Lead this people into war, and they’ll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance.”

Within weeks, Wisconsin was being called “The Traitor State.” Our 700,000 immigrant and first-generation German residents had no desire to make war on their brothers and cousins. One journalist visiting in 1917 called us, “really the most backward state I've struck in its sentiment toward the war.” Embarrassed by the charges, the state Council of Defense and the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion joined forces to suppress anti-war opinion through persuasion, intimidation and harassment.

Under their state-sponsored propaganda campaign, anyone with ties to Germany could be attacked for disloyalty. “Conformity would be the only virtue,” Wilson had predicted.

In Ashland, people who spoke against the war were tarred and feathered. When Republican Sen. Robert La Follette voted against America’s entry into the war, he was called “a pusillanimous, degenerate coward.”

Everything German became suspect. In Wausau, the National German American Bank changed its name to The American National Bank. La Crosse banned the teaching of German in its elementary schools. Sauerkraut was renamed “liberty cabbage” and wieners became “hot dogs.”

In less than 18 months, public opinion in Wisconsin swung from largely anti-war to overwhelmingly pro-war. It was a triumph of public relations, achieved long before marketers had viral videos, Facebook posts or hourly tweets in their toolkits.

War on Teachers for Disloyalty. The professor also said "he was robbed:"

Ashland, Wisconsin, Monday April 1, 1918: PROFESSOR OF NORTHLAND TARRED AND FEATHERED TAKEN FROM ROOM BY MOB: Masked Men Take Him Half Mile From The City, Give Him a Coat Of Tar and Feathers and Let I Him Walk Back Home. Professor E. A. Schimler, teacher of languages at Northland college, was taken from his room last night about midnight by nearly a dozen masked men, taken to a lonely spot about a half mile from the city, stripped of his clothing and given a substantial coat of tar and feathers. After treating him to the coat of tar and feathers, the men in the party jumped into waiting automobiles and sped back to the city. Schimler, when left by the mob, found his undergarments and walked back to his boarding house. The police were then called … when he arrived at city hall, he was in such a condition that there was no question in any one's mind but that the mob was very liberal in the use of tar and also had on-hand a lot of feathers.

Or how about the jaw dropping Wisconsin State Council of Defense:

“…the Wisconsin State Council of Defense worked with federal officials to ensure that Wisconsin citizens would support the American cause during World War I. It outlines food drives, Liberty Loan promotion, recruiting activities, the Council's journal  "Forward", and other home-front efforts which, in the words of one historian, tried "to change an antimilitaristic democracy into an organized war machine."

Or the Loyalty Legion...would I kid you?

“The Wisconsin Loyalty Legion was created to support the U.S. effort in World War I. During 1917-1918 it organized media campaigns and public events in order to (in the words of one historian) "stifle dissent and generate conformance to an inflexible and irrational standard of loyalty." 

Walker Okay with Secret Surveillance. We're not Surprised.

The Walker Authority, as like to call them, apparently isn't shy about getting behind spying on Americans. While most people see a huge problem with the FISA court and the evolving Bush policy, now on steroids, Walker sees power and a way to keep it:

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker, on stage with other potential 2016 presidential candidates -- said Thursday he did not see a shift toward libertarianism among grass roots Republicans over national surveillance programs.

“I see a few loud and vocal people talking in Washington and I don’t think that necessarily reflects where the party is,” Walker said, according to this New York Times story.

Walker said the same thing when hundreds of thousands of protesters came out against his policies, and recall forms came in listing nearly a million signatures. It's always those few "loud and vocal people" who don't reflect Scott Walker's agenda. Take Walker's word for it, everybody else stands with him:

Walker made the comment after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a forceful defense for the surveillance programs started by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and continued by President Barack Obama. Christie’s comments were a pointed rebuke of politicians like U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, another potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016.

The Fat Blaska Sings, the Day Wisconsin Surrendered Freedom to the Walker Authority!

Should I be surprised the Wisconsin State Journal’s conservative whiner Chris Richert had a hard time understanding why the Solidarity Singers didn't buy a permit. Or that a former Republican county supervisor, David Blaska, bought one because his leaders required it? It’s what some have described as authoritarian conservatism. They don't get the long term point.

Who would have thought that the party who likes to think of themselves as “constitutional conservatives,” would think to first ask to get their governments permission to protest? I’m thinking it would be almost comical to get one of them to “channel” a founding father, which they often do, to justify such a policy.

Blaska’s “permit protest” will unintentionally represent only one thing…surrender. His party subservience will be on display for all to see. And this is what passes for rugged individualism? 

WSJ: “They have commandeered this space, and the fact is, to get my song in edgewise, I’ve got to get a permit,” said David Blaska, a conservative columnist who is organizing the group he calls the “We've Got a Permit” singers.

“'We've Got a Permit' singers,” really? It's breathtaking. To be honest, I never thought I’d see the day we had such unquestionably blind obedience to a political party. Watching Blaska cower before his leaders should give everyone watching, a sinking feeling that something is terribly wrong here:

Blaska will lead his group in singing “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America.”

I've pointed to this article below in the past, and find it the best explanation yet about what is really going on, from George W. Bush on up to Scott Walker, Rick Snyder, Rick Scott... Terms like "Right-Wing Authoritarians," "Social Dominators" and the "Double High Authoritarian" who possesses " 'extra-extra unfair' natures," are all ways of describing Republicans today. From former Nixon White House counsel John Dean of Watergate fame, the “Triumph of the authoritarians,” appearing in the Boston Globe on July 14, 2006. All this from a real conservative:

Contemporary conservatism … calls for packing the courts to politicize the federal judiciary  … the monocratic leadership style imposed on the US House in 1994 … destroy the deliberative nature of the US Senate … Today's Republican policies are antithetical to bedrock conservative fundamentals.

Authoritarian conservatives are, as a researcher told me, "enemies of freedom, antidemocratic, antiequality, highly prejudiced, mean-spirited, power hungry, Machiavellian and amoral." And that's not just his view. To the contrary, this is how these people have consistently described themselves when being anonymously tested, by the tens of thousands over the past several decades.

Authoritarianism's impact on contemporary conservatism is beyond question. Because this impact is still growing and has troubling (if not actually evil) implications, I hope that social scientists will begin to write about this issue for general readers. It is long past time to bring the telling results of their empirical work into the public square and to the attention of American voters. No less than the health of our democracy may depend on this being done. We need to stop thinking we are dealing with traditional conservatives on the modern stage, and instead recognize that they've often been supplanted by authoritarians.

Walker and the Teabilly Republicans want to Rule through Blackmail and Blacklists.

Absolute power has a way of changing the weak willed into monsters. The Walker Authority is one fine example.

When Scott Walker decided to withdraw his own student nomination for regent using his recall petition as a blacklist, that turned a page for me. If you make a list, any list, Republicans everywhere will use it against you for political or employment reasons.

   

And that’s a direct threat to you and your family. It's unimaginable as a way of life in America.

Check out this story from March, that I completely forgot to shine a bright light on, that is even more relevant today:

Uncle Fester...?

Huffington Post: Al Gerhart, 54, of Oklahoma City, said the Sooner Tea Party will do what he promised in his email … threatened to turn State Sen. Cliff Branan (R-Oklahoma City) into a "laughing stock" and "dig into" his family members and associates unless he backs a bill blocking the United Nations' sustainability agenda.

“We want to know what is going on down there. We want to know if his wife has got a criminal history. We want to know everything about him. We want to find out if this man is a responsible citizen, if he's even got his family under control much less control of his office,” Gerhart said.

Devoid of any moral or ethical issues, Gerhart uses the old Republican excuse that gives them a mental pass:

Gerhart denied doing anything illegal.

Gerhart doesn't stop there either. The following is still another reason why the Walker recall petitions, now a GOP blacklist, is so dangerous and threatening:

“These politicians need to know that it doesn't end when their term is over,” Gerhart said. “They need to know that their decision's going to follow them for the rest of their days. They need to know the Tea Party is not going away — that if we don't win it the first time, we're going to come back the next year and the next year and the next year after. And we don't forget these people that are traitors to the Oklahoma people.”

He said the Sooner Tea Party will report what is found on the Internet, in Branan's district and at Branan's church. “I want the people in his church to know what he is doing. That it's wrong,” Gerhart said.

This is the teabilly Republican style of governing. Any questions?