Gov. Walker "not the boss" of State Schools Superintendent Evers!

Scott Walker appears to have overreached again:

jsonline-Jason Stein: A portion of a law giving Gov. Scott Walker veto powers over rules written by the state schools superintendent was struck down Tuesday by a Dane County judge.

Parents of students and members of the Wisconsin Education Association Council and Madison Teachers Inc. challenged the law giving Walker the power to veto administrative rules written by any state agency. In the decision issued Tuesday, Circuit Judge Amy Smith ruled that the law violated the state constitution by giving Walker that power over the state Department of Public Instruction, which is headed by state schools Superintendent Tony Evers. The constitution says that "the supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a state superintendent … In a 1996 decision the state Supreme Court held that lawmakers and the governor cannot give "equal or superior authority" over public education to any other official. "Because Act 21 allows the governor to bar the superintendent from proposing rules or from even beginning the process of rule making … Act 21 places the governor in a position superior to the superintendent in the supervision of public instruction," Smith wrote in her decision.

It should be noted how hard it is for Republicans to work within the constitution, or any set of rules developed by past governments:

The decision is just the latest by a judge in Dane County striking down parts of legislation passed by Walker and the Republican Legislature, including laws severely limiting collective bargaining for public employees and requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. Those lawsuits are continuing on appeal and this latest decision will likely be appealed as well, with Department of Justice spokeswoman Dana Brueck saying Tuesday that attorneys are reviewing it.

Canadain Politicians give up Economic and Environmental control to China without Public Oversight!!

The corporate takeover continues, even from outside players like China. This time it's in Canada. These deals are going on all the time, and NAFTA has similar provisions. Check out the supplied links below too:

The Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPPA or FIPA) is the most startling trade deal to be put before Canadians in more than a generation. Actually, that's not quite right... The deal has NOT been put before Canadians. The Conservative government is actively avoiding debate and discussion on the deal, and are instead rushing towards ratification without anything resembling a sober second look.

This trade deal has the potential to permanently alter the course of Canada's economic and environmental security. It's set to pass in less than a week. Time is not on our side. We need to push our politicians to put the brakes on this deal, and to closely examine it with Canada's best interest in mind.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 

Republicans Still Beat Up on FEMA!!!

Republicans would deep six FEMA. Getting rid of something that potentially could cost the federal government lots of borrowed money is supposed to show how fiscally responsible the GOP is now after spending like drunken sailors and crashing the global economy.

Republicans hate FEMA and the job it does so much that they're willing to show their more sociopathic side. It's better to be rugged individuals and rely on the private sector to come to the rescue, whenever that would happen, then to provide people without food, power and life saving help.

Here are two examples that will stun the senses of anyone who does not support of the Republican austerity agenda.

The Hill: Ryan’s Budget Committee, in nonbinding report language attached to the House-passed 2013 budget, called for all disaster relief to “be fully offset within the discretionary levels provided in this resolution.”

In other words, Congress would have to agree on cuts elsewhere in the budget if it wanted to dole out funds after a disaster. This idea was so far out of the mainstream that even Republican legislators abandoned the idea. 

The most frightening face of all is that of Mitt Romney. He appears here as an unaffected and unconcerned voyeur of the disaster, smiling and coldly spouting "concern."



Of course the sociopath that would be president is only making things worse...

AmericaBlog: Coming on the heels of the Romney campaign apparently confirming Mitt Romney’s earlier promise to shut down FEMA and move its duties to the states, the news that Team Romney’s token “hurricane relief” effort is making things worse for disaster relief agencies is yet another example of how everything Mitt Romney touches – even disasters – end up a disaster. All well and good except, of course, that it’s the opposite of what disaster relief experts advise you to do.  In fact, they warn that such efforts actually “hinder” relief.  Had the Romney campaign bothered reading the Red Cross Web site to see WHAT was needed, or even simply asked someone at the Red Cross,they’d have known this. And I quote from the Red Cross Web site: Unfortunately, due to logistical constraints the Red Cross does not accept or solicit individual donations or collections of items. Items such as collected food, used clothing and shoes must be sorted, cleaned, repackaged and transported which impedes the valuable resources of money, time, and personnel.

Oh, and I thought this was interesting from a guy who'll work with both parties...

Buzzfeed: Republican nominee Mitt Romney reached out to GOP allies on Monday in advance of Hurricane Sandy, but he has not spoken Democratic governors in the path of the storm.

Exposed: Stephen and Nancy Einhorn were anonymous donors behind billboards that Targeted Minority Neighborhoods with threatening Voter Fraud messages.

Voter fraud is nonexistent. But strongly paranoid conservative ideologues still think it worth committing a felony to vote fraudulently or that it’s happened at all (minus mistaken ex-felons).

While the Citizens United decision talked a lot about the free speech rights Americans and inanimate government creations known as corporations, my small donation can be tracked and identified, while big time conservative zealots can hide behind anonymous billboards. That’s fair?:

jsonline-Dan Bice: Stephen Einhorn - a Wisconsin venture capital fund manager and major GOP donor - acknowledged Monday that he and his wife Nancy paid for dozens of anonymous billboards in and around Milwaukee and two Ohio cities warning residents of the penalties for committing voter fraud.

"Stephen and Nancy Einhorn placed these billboards as a public service because voter fraud - whether by Republicans or Democrats - undermines our democratic process," said the Einhorns' statement, which was released by the Chicago public relations firm Culloton Strategies. "By reminding people of the possible consequences of illegal voting, we hope to help the upcoming election be decided by legally registered voters."

One Wisconsin Now and the website theGrio exposed the Einhorn’s who targeted mostly minority voters, all the while covering their tracks by allowing a few billboards in conservative areas. Even stranger, while it was against company policy at Clear Channel to accept anonymous political ads, they went ahead with the ads in a number of states anyway.

Projection much...?

Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, issued a statement Monday raising several questions for the Einhorn's; "Perhaps their Chicago public relations firm could answer why the Einhorn's (didn’t) put their name on it, rather than hiding behind the cowardly veil of anonymity."

The Einhorn's were so frightened and concerned about their anonymity, that they boldly did an interview with radio host Charlie Sykes. Hey they weren't seeking any attention...right?

But conservatives are paranoid frightened citizens, who know their odd vision for the country is so unappealing that they have to hide in the shadows to force change.

Sykes said the foundation chief was given the option of disclosing his family's identity or taking down the ads. After initially considering releasing the family's name, Sykes wrote, the foundation's leader opted to pull the billboards because he was "reluctant to put his children and grandchildren at any risk."

Do you believe "businesses are pulling back, out of uncertainty about...election?"

We've never seen so many businesses “wait” till after an election before, to…what, sell or manufacture product? I thought demand had more to do with that? Are we seeing a business movement that uses partisan excuses to push their agenda?  Of course, and it’s amazingly coordinated.

I don’t recall ever hearing this “wait and see” approach before:

Shawano Leader: Aarrowcast will lay off 90 employees effective Wednesday in what the foundry says is a temporary measure prompted by a drop in orders from its customers. Chief Financial Officer Jon Moreau said many of the foundry's customers are pulling back out of uncertainty about the upcoming election and what the country's tax laws will look like going into 2013 (the fiscal cliff). Moreau said customers are not necessarily waiting to see who wins; they just want it to be over. "A conclusion to the election would help," he said. "Having it completed, and having some decisions made by Congress."

So how has President Obama’s policies affected business in general, especially Aarrowcast’s?

Aarrowcast was first hit by the economic downturn in 2009. The company's workforce was a little over 300 people when layoffs reduced that number to about 230. By January 2010, the company was able to start hiring again and gradually boosted its workforce well above pre-recession levels. In June, Aarrowcast began a major expansion that will add to the foundry's melting and blasting operations … increase productive capacity by more than 20 percent.

So Obama’s been bad for business…?

Republicans Throw Everything against wall hoping something sticks, like this against Rep. Mark Pocan.

Rep. Mark Pocan's campaign for congress collided with the fabricated assault of a volunteer for the Chad Lee campaign. The Chad Lee volunteer, Kyle Wood, tried to smear Pocan (who is openly gay), saying the assault was motivated by the fact that he too was gay. Just yesterday, Media Trackers claimed Kyle Wood was harassed via text messaging by Pocan's partner.

This is a conservative media campaign portraying liberals as thugs, who in desperation, have turned to violence.

Eight days before the election, a campaign volunteer has recanted a report that he was the victim of a politically motivated assault. Kyle Wood, a volunteer with Chad Lee's congressional campaign, could possibly face criminal charges. On Monday, police said the report, at least partly, was fabricated.

Wood, 29, said his face was smashed into a mirror and he was choked with something around his neck. Wood said he is an openly gay Republican, volunteering with a Republican campaign, and that his attacker made comments to the effect that he was a political traitor. Lee's opponent in the congressional race is Democrat Mark Pocan, who is openly gay

Channel3000's Marc Lovicott pieced this mess together:

Health Savings Accounts another bad Health Care Plan pushed by Republicans. And you wonder why you’re broke…

I’ve had Health Savings Accounts for years, and each year, I had to shop for another plan because the rates went up about 20 to 30 percent. A person can "slow" slightly the increases in premiums by accepting much larger deductibles, but who wants to pay over $10,000 a year before your insurer forks over penny one?

Studies show people on these plans are three times more likely to delay or skip care than people on traditional plans.

Republicans call this “skin in the game.” That should make every American feel free at last, and independent of government handouts. Who wants a cheaper single payer system anyway? Socialists.

Obamacare will only speeding up the adoption of HSA’s, the plan of choice by Republicans. And the new reality? You’ll be spending every waking hour shopping, researching, diagnosing, bothering your doctor and still feeling ripped off seeking treatment. Ah, freedom and liberty, don’t you just love it?

Reuters: (Example) Visit to New York City orthopedist: $223. One X-ray: $50. One follow-up magnetic resonance imaging test: $766. Total bill for checking out that aching shoulder: $1,039 - all to be paid by the patient, rather than the insurer.

Healthcare has gone retail. Over the next 18 months, between one quarter and one half of Americans who get insurance coverage through their employers will pay more of their doctor bills themselves as companies roll out healthcare plans with higher deductibles, benefits consultants say. The result: sticker shock.

"They have huge out-of-pocket costs before they get any insurance coverage, it's a real slap in the face," said Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, a healthcare advocacy group. High-deductible plans set a threshold for medical expenses that an individual must pay for, often in the thousands of dollars, before insurance kicks in. 

I love this down-the-rabbit-hole thinking:

“…industry experts who believe that consumers with "skin in the game" will drive demand for better quality care at a lower cost.”

But you’ll be paying more out of pocket because of higher deductibles and coinsurance, where you always pay 20 or 30 percent of any cost beyond the deductible. Yeah American free market health care? Who wants to wait for competition to "maybe" lower prices?

Our system despite reform, is still consumer driven, and treats health care like a product. And that’s the problem.

The shift means consumers will have to spend many more hours researching their treatment options and managing costs on websites like Healthcarebluebook.com, which helped budget the cost of examining the shoulder pain mentioned above. It could also spur lawsuits against doctors whom patients may blame for not making clear whether a test or procedure would spare them future harm, legal experts say.

It’s not Obamacare, it’s the private sector, because they’re calling the shots and adapting in ways that maximize profits.

Companies with high-deductible plans in 2012 include General Electric Co, Wells Fargo & Co, Whole Foods Market Inc, Chrysler Group and American Express Co. Bank of America Corp. Deductibles on high-deductible plans start at $1,250 for singles and run up to $12,500 for families. 

"The other thing is, and this is really hard, is to figure out what stuff is necessary and what stuff isn't," said Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor at Consumer Reports. Critics of this shift say it leaves consumers at the mercy of providers when it comes to medical costs. While insurers have been able to leverage their scale to negotiate rates down, ordinary individuals do not have that clout.

Can you imagine what would happen if health care had no boundaries, rules or regulations, leaving the risk in your own inexperienced hands? Isn't it fun playing doctor with your children's lives?

Rasmussen has Thompson slightly ahead, as Tommy exploits 9/11. Sleazy.

Gee, who couldn't see this coming a mile away?

The fierce election fight between Tommy Thompson and Tammy Baldwin may be destined to go down as one of the most negative US Senate races in recent political history.

In a 30-day period ending Friday, 99% of the ads aired on broadcast television were negative, the highest percentage of any Senate contest in the nation, according to data provided by Kantar Media CMAG, which tracks campaign advertising.

While I’ve heard pundits lament the horrors of negative campaigning, it been working wonderfully for Republicans for years, at the expense of weak kneed Democrats.

Not anymore. In fact, what the Republicans have been doing is "defining their opposition first.” It’s an old advertising ploy the Democrats never picked up on, until now.

That’s what Rep. Tammy Baldwin did in her campaign. It worked! According to Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that means Tammy's playing dirty?:

But Thompson has been coming up with every pathetic way to use the tragedy of 9/11 to vilify Baldwin. I know what you're thinking...still? But Republicans are throwing everything against the wall hoping something sticks or people just give up on Tammy.

Dan Bice: Four times in the past, Baldwin was listed as a co-sponsor for legislation that would allow peace-loving taxpayers to get a conscientious objector exemption from the Internal Revenue Service to stipulate that their income taxes wouldn't be used for war. Their taxes would go into a "peace tax fund," with the money being divvied out for non-military items. Baldwin most recently backed the bill three years ago.

 Media Trackers - a conservative group that digs up dirt on Democrats - was the first to suggest that Baldwin's support for this measure meant she favored "denying body armor and medical supplies to U.S. military personnel" fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. From there, the story took off. It was picked up by Breitbart, a conservative online news site, and plugged by talk show hosts Jerry Bader and Charlie Sykes.
 

Zombie Apocalypse possible under President Romney....

It's back; talk of the zombie apocalypse. Here's a Romney supporter I can agree with:

ABC: The man behind “The Avengers,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly” released a satirical video endorsing Mitt Romney this Halloween weekend, saying the Republican candidate has some unique qualifications. Romney has “the vision and determination to cut through business as usual politics and finally put this country back on the path to a zombie apocalypse,” writer and director Joss Whedon says in the joke video . Users watched the parody more than 800,000 times during its first 24 hours on the Internet.

Romney's Campaign of Lies, claiming Jeep outsourcing Jobs Last Straw? Obama Responds.

Here's Obama's latest ad taking on the massively denounced lie by the Romney campaign about Jeeps  plans to outsource. Yes even the major media isn't letting this one get by.

New Republic: As Chrysler made clear the very next day, in a tartly worded blog post on the company website, officials have discussed opening plants in China in order to meet rising demand for vehicles there. They have no plans to downsize or shutter plants in the U.S. On the contrary, Fiat, the Italian company that acquired Chrysler during the rescue, just spent $1.7 billion to expand Jeep production in the U.S. That includes $500 million to renovate and expand the Toledo facilities, with 1,000 new factory jobs likely to follow. On Monday, about the same number of people will report for their first day of work in Detroit, when Chrysler adds a third shift to a Jeep plant it operates there.

Seminars on Employer voter intimidation!

Right wing partisan groups like the National Federation of Independent Business, are easy to spot if you've been in business yourself, because their policies have never made any sense. Example; while other countries businesses don't have to worry about the expense of health care, companies here have to, and whine about the disadvantage all the time. Yet the NFIB opposes the idea. It never ends with these guys, so it should come as no surprise that they would love to commit legalized election fraud by forcing employees to vote for their endorsed candidates. Thank you Citizens United:

Think Progress: The National Federation of Independent Business is offering a seminar next week called “How to Speak With Your Employees About The Importance of the 2012 Elections,” for business owners who haven’talready tried to pressure employees into voting for their preferred candidate. The NFIB, officially nonpartisan, is a notoriously conservative organization that has donated millions to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads GPS Super PAC.

The Supreme Court greatly expanded corporations’ and unions’ flexibility in political speech, setting the groundwork thatallowed employers to compel employees to participate in political campaigns.

The NFIB denies that the seminar is meant to show employers how to pressure their employees..."we really want our members to engage their employees in conversation.”

Of course, the idea that Obama has an “anti-business” record is mythology; since he took office, corporate profits have soared, the Dow Jones industrial average has gained 67.9 percent, and small businesses have received several tax cuts.

Here are a few of the "Children" we hear Republicans talk so much about....

I don't usually get into politically driven cutesy songs aimed at any particular candidate, unless it is uniquely funny or point blank honest. The following is point blank honest, and the target of Fox News. Here's what they wrote:

The web video was produced by the firm Goodby Silverstein and Partners -- known for the “Got milk?” advertising campaign and a client base that includes Cheetos and Nintendo, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. The children sing about blaming “mom and dad” for the Romney vote.

Conservatives will probably make some Nazi comparison to vilify these children, but they only have themselves to blame for a few of the truthful lyrics posted here:

Imagine an America
Where strip mines are fun and free
Where gays can be fixed
And sick people just die
And oil fills the sea

We don't have to pay for freeways!
Our schools are good enough
Give us endless wars
On foreign shores
And lots of Chinese stuff

We're the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And we're kinda blaming you

Congress went home early
They did their best we know
You can't cut spending
With elections pending
Unless it's welfare dough

You did your best
You failed the test
Mom and Dad
We're blaming you!

Walker, Republicans, Don't Know How to Govern.

Under Scott Walker, but really under any kind of Republican politician, mismanagement and incompetence is all you'll ever see. The sad fact is, conservative voters care more about one party control than good government and their own self interest.

Check out the horrible way Republicans manage assistance to the desperately unemployed. I know they don't like the 47 percenters, but this is ridiculous. And yet, voters who support Republicans won't even be outraged about this:

jsonline: More than 9,000 Wisconsin residents have not received any unemployment benefits for several weeks because of a backlog at the state Department of Workforce Development.

The department's backlog consists of 9,357 claims dating to late July. It could take as long as March to clear it up ... That's creating a hardship for people like Robert Burt of Milwaukee. He was laid off from a construction company in Brookfield this summer and erroneously received one unemployment payment in August, but hasn't received any since then.

Georgia Maxwell, executive secretary of the Department of Workforce Development, called the backlog inexcusable. 

Ya think? Of course, our "small business" manager and governor Scott Walker continues to watch from the sidelines.

Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker, said the governor will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the department eliminates the backlog. According to the Department of Workforce Development's website, the state generally determines whether people are entitled to unemployment benefits within seven days of a claim being filed, and pays within a week or two. 

Illinois Democrats Medicare Ad Most Effective Way to Defend the Program.

I was in Chicago over the weekend, and came across this ad on one of the local channels for Democratic congressional candidate Brad Schneider.

The ad features a clip of President Lyndon Johnson describing the reason why he pushed so hard for Medicare. This ad should have been from the Obama campaign. Incredibly effective, it shows Medicare was created to solve a problem, not spread socialism.

Voting an implied Right!!

This should make you wonder why something was never written into the constitution guaranteeing your right to vote. Lawrence O'Donnell talks to Mo Rocca about his film, "Electoral Dysfunction":

The Empty-Lying Romney/Ryan Campaign Hides untill Election Day.

Will conservative voters reward Mitt and Paul for offering nothing but grandiose platitudes? No detailed agenda, no straight answers, ducking the tough issues...this is the future expectation level of conservative low information voters. (R) is all they need now.

Paul Ryan is now even ducking the Faith and Freedom Coalition's townhall. Ryan's campaign said the announcement was an erroneous report. Ouch!

Sununu big fat racist!!?

Take a look at this blatant racism:

Rep. Reid Ribble turns his back Kewaunee when Power Plant Shut down, losing 655 jobs.

Hand  it to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for noticing.

I said over and over here that Republicans are the biggest freeloaders, lifting pre-written policies from conservative think tanks and ALEC and passing them off as their own, collecting  a government paycheck and health care coverage. All for doing nothing. So it should come as no surprise Rep. Reid Ribble just plain forgot to talk to his constituents about the loss of 655 good paying jobs. 655 lost jobs and not a word. Maybe he doesn't want to be associated with the about to be unemployed:

WisDems: Reid Ribble's Shameful Silence on Kewaunee Plant Closing: Following is the statement of Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate in response to Reid Ribble's utter silence on the devastating news that the Kewaunee Power Station would be closing. Ribble has received $4,000 in campaign contributions from the Dominion Political Action Committee. "The Kewaunee Power Station closing is devastating to the community and is comparable to the closing of the General Motors plant in Janesville.  At least with the GM plant, Paul Ryan PRETENDED to be concerned. In this case, Reid Ribble can't even go through the motions of caring about the people he is supposed to serve. His silence and inaction are shameful."

Milwaukee's Voucher Program Disaster; 90.1% not proficient in Reading and 88% not proficient in Math.

In Scott Walker's latest weekly address, he listed "Transforming Education" as one of his top priorities. What does that mean? What else could he do? Would he expand vouchers where no ones wants school "choice?" Sure.

But Walker will now have a more difficult job pushing his privatization plans after the horrific results of the countries longest running voucher program:

jsonline: Based on a new and tougher yardstick for academic competency in Wisconsin, about 90% of the students in Milwaukee's private-school voucher program are not proficient in reading and math, according to recalibrated fall 2011 state test results released this week.

Milwaukee Public Schools' latest Wisconsin Knowledge and Concept Examinations scores show that about 85% of the district's students score below proficient in reading, and about 80% score below proficient in math.

For the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in reading, 9.9% of voucher students tested proficient or advanced, while MPS had 14% of students scored proficient or advanced In reading.

For the program in math, 12% of voucher students scored proficient or advanced, while 19.7% of MPS students scored proficient or advanced in Math.

Students in MPS as a whole outperformed students in voucher schools in the recalibration of the scores - outpacing them by about 4 percentage points in reading and an even larger margin in math.

Job Uncertainty resulting in Burn Out, Slow Economic Recovery.

“Uncertainty” is now commonly associated our admired “job creators,” corporate CEO’s who can’t take the heat of the free market. They need certainty in a market place that has none.

 

But that was a distraction designed to convince the real job creators, consumers, from realizing that they were the ones feeling uncertain.

The slow economy is the result of this job and consumer uncertainty. Check out this recent study:

The slow-to-recover economy is taking a new toll on U.S. workers: Not only are they stressed out from job uncertainties and stagnant pay, the stress has lasted so long that now they’re burned out too, a new survey finds. “A significant portion of the American workforce is burned out, and my concern is, that’s rising,” said neuropsychologist Richard Chaifetz, CEO of ComPsych Corp., a Chicago-based provider of employee-assistance programs to more than 17,000 organizations and 45 million employees worldwide.

ComPsych’s survey finds that just showing up for work, rather than accomplishing basic responsibilities or improving performance, was the top priority cited by 22 percent of workers — a 47 percent increase since the survey began in 2003. “In an environment where unemployment is high, showing up is the first thing. The importance of performance is second,” Chaifetz said. “It correlates with burnout, stress, fatique, overwork and an obsession with and distraction by personal issues.”

A study on job satisfaction out this summer from the Conference Board, a non-profit think tank in New York, found “the majority of Americans continue to be unhappy at work.”

Psychologist Ben Palmer said the current state of global competition means that Western nations in particular are unsuccessfully trying to compete with cheap labor in countries such as China and India. “The more you adopt the ‘do more with less’ mentality, the greater you drive innovation down in the organization because high work loads and stress are the antithesis of innovation,” Palmer said.

This study will get zero notice, resulting in policy that will do just the opposite, only making things worse.