Red State Irrational #1: Kansas Supreme Court says state schools will shutdown if Funding isn't restored.

A legal and political battle over the constitutional responsibility of the state of Kansas to fund public schools has exploded. But to me, it's more about the jaw dropping threats, disregard for the public good, hypocrisy and blatant projection that can't be ignored by the ruling  Republican Party.

What has fascinated me is how reckless and dictatorial these authoritarian bullies are. The shocking reaction below is so unsettling. This should scare the daylights out of every American. Here's what started the dismantling of anything resembling government in Kansas:

Brownback and the GOP-dominated Legislature already were facing a projected state-budget deficit of nearly $200 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The state has struggled to balance its budget since legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013, at Brownback's urging in an effort to stimulate the economy. Democratic leaders said one of the results has been inadequate spending on schools.

That's when the State Supreme Court stepped in...The New Yorker:

Kansas’s governor, Sam Brownback, had pointedly pressured Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and his colleagues on the state’s highest court. A trial court had found, “beyond any question,” that the state system of financing public schools was unconstitutional … and recently heard oral argument in an appeal of the ruling. Brownback claimed, “This is the people’s business, done by the people’s house.”
 This past December, the State Supreme Court ruled that the first of the retaliatory laws is unconstitutional … the ruling put in jeopardy all of the judiciary’s funding.

Last week, the legislature blinked, passing a bill that would reverse the defunding law. The bill is being hailed as a victory … but a short-lived one. Republicans have drafted bills calling for a system in which the governor would nominate and the State Senate would confirm justices. Republicans have also drafted bills calling for partisan election of justices. 

After Republicans threatened the Supreme Court, the justices fought back:

NY Times: The Kansas Supreme Court threatened Thursday to shut down schools if lawmakers don't revamp the way the state funds public schools by July, ruling that a law enacted last year as a temporary fix underfunded poor school districts by at least $54 million. The high court unanimously decided that the Republican-backed law violates the Kansas Constitution's requirement that the state finance a suitable education for every student. The court gave lawmakers just four months to devise another system for distributing more than $4 billion in state funding to 286 public schools.

Ready for the reaction? You won't  believer the out of control projection...

Kansas House Speaker Ray Merrick said the court was holding taxpayers and schoolchildren hostage. A fellow Republican, Sen. Jeff Melcher, called the decision a "temper tantrum. It's kind of one of those things, 'Give us the money, or the kid gets it.'"  

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback called it a ruling from an "activist" court but added, "We will review this decision closely and work with the Legislature to ensure the continued success of our great Kansas schools.

Walker, Republicans spending even more, despite costly cuts to our public services.

It's not like Democratic governors don't save taxpayer money fighting fraud, but Republicans like Scott Walker brag about it constantly. Voter fraud, tax fraud, food stamp fraud, unemployment fraud...stick "fraud" on the end of it and Republicans have another phony issue. And the savings ended up where....? Here's Walker's tweet:

Thanks to this twitter observation, we have to wonder where those savings is for all the other massive spending cuts...

Buck Stops with Walker, who allowed Abuse, Excessive Force, Child Neglect, Sexual Abuse and retaliation against Accusers.

It's becoming increasingly clear Scott Walker's lack of response and disregard for youth safety at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys has exposed the ugly underbelly of our "small government" do nothing governor:

State Corrections Secretary Ed Wall has resigned from his post amid a growing scandal over conditions at a troubled Northwoods prison for youth and a ramping up of the FBI's involvement in a massive probe into alleged abuses there. Wall notified Gov. Scott Walker of his resignation on Feb. 5, with his last day being Feb. 27.  

Wall and Walker have faced repeated revelations that their aides knew for years about troubling incidents at Lincoln Hills School for Boys...

Here's what I blogged a few days ago that involve another big correctional breakdown:

The Failure of Act 10 - The Problems at the Columbia Correctional Institution: Public safety fell apart after Act 10, since corrections staff no longer had input, and many up and quit. Because of losing 541 employees, Walker's DOC Sec. Ed Wall thought it was important to increase oversight. Yet Wall projected a different managerial stance:

Following the passage of Act 10, 541 employees retired from the DOC. In 2012 resignations went up 40 percent. At CCI, staff report seeing more people leaving, some recent recruits deciding not to stay along with the exit of veteran employees.

CCI staff have often said that when concerns about safety and security are brought up to management, the response from Warden Mike Dittman and DOC Secretary Edward Wall is “there are 1,000 people in line to take your job.” In one meeting with legislators in October, Wall reportedly responded to a comment that more staff would be leaving in the next year by saying, “I don’t care. Let them go.”

Walker's response was classic BS, since he would demand Wall's resignation the day after he found out about his comments on February 4th:

“I would love to see the documentation. I’ve never heard him say that. I would be interested in hearing where that is documented, rather than rumors from staff out there. I’ve yet to hear that. If that’s something you can document for us or show, that would be concerning to us, but I’ve never heard that from the Secretary or anyone else in the administration.”

For a party that complains often about not being able to fire public employees, going as far as doing away with 100 years of civil service regulations, Walker is just moving Wall into his old taxpayer supported job as the head of the Department of Criminal Investigation. It gets better: He'll be placed on paid leave, $108,000, until the criminal investigations are over. You can't make this stuff up folks. 

The media still held Walker accountable for the corrections debacle. That may change...JS:

Unsatisfied with the explanations so far, Racine County officials moved their youth out of the state facility 30 miles north of Wausau in 2012. Milwaukee County officials are seeking to do the same, which would withdraw the majority of inmates from the prison and leave it with a gaping hole in its present operations. The joint federal and state probe of the juvenile prison near Irma in Lincoln County is investigating allegations of prisoner abuse, excessive use of force, child neglect and sexual assault, as well as retaliation against accusers.

The Journal Sentinel reported Thursday on a botched state response to the beating and sexual assault of a youth at Lincoln Hills that led Racine County officials to pull all juvenile offenders from the facility and sharply criticize the incident to Gov. Scott Walker and to top state corrections officials.

Records ... show clearly that despite Walker's repeated statements that he was surprised by more recent allegations of abuse, his office and his administration were told of troubling conduct at the prison in February 2012.

Then-Racine County Circuit Judge Richard Kreul sent a memo directly to Walker on Feb. 10, 2012, detailing the sexual assault from the month before and the failure of Lincoln Hills staff to notify law enforcement, child protective services and county officials about it. "Almost 50 years in the legal system and I've seen and heard a lot, so (I'm) not naive as to what 'prison' is about. But the indifference in this sordid tale is absolutely inexcusable," Kreul wrote to the governor.

Judge Kreul summed it up with this:

Kreul said he had also been shocked when the state closed a separate youth facility, Ethan Allen School in Wales, in 2011 and instead sent all young offenders to a single institution, Lincoln Hills. "My experience with the administration at Wales was 100% better than my experience with the administration at Lincoln Hills," he said.

Twenty Lincoln Hills employees have been put on paid leave as part of the investigation, Staab said. Of those, 11 remain on leave, six have resigned or retired, two have been fired and one has returned to work. 

Walker targets Jobless to take "lower paying jobs much sooner."

Humiliation and forced cheap labor is on the Republican fast track. Thanks to the effort of big monied lobbyist WMC, and their willing dupe Scott Walker.

It's not like wages weren't low enough already in Wisconsin:

WSJ: Despite a new report showing Wisconsin has the fastest-shrinking middle class in the U.S., the Gov. Scott Walker administration says the state is headed in the right direction.

Unfazed by that devastating news, Walker's rigid ideological agenda remained unchanged. He now wants to increase cheap labor in the state, and force Wisconsinites into taking those lower wage jobs. WPR:

This week, lawmakers heard testimony on a bill that more clearly defines when someone looking for work can reject a job. Scott Manley from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce said the bill expands what jobs should be considered and spells out when there is just cause for refusing work.

Leave it to WMC to go for it all, demeaning those who were once in highly successful careers, and dumping them into menial jobs:

"An unemployed worker who is collecting benefits can actually refuse a job and continue to collect benefits if the job offer does not constitute suitable work," Manley said.

The bill gives out-of-work people less time to wait for a job comparable to the one they had. "The changes made by this bill will force workers to take lower paying jobs much sooner," said Kevin McGee with Legal Action Wisconsin.

The Specter of Fraud: Republicans were so successful using the fear of fraud to suppress voter turnout, they're now going to use the same tactic for "unemployment fraud." 

Gov. Scott Walker wants changes to jobless benefits that employers say will prevent fraud and strengthen the state's unemployment fund.

The Dirty Little Funding Secret: Republicans and employers hate putting money into the state's unemployment fund so much that they conceived the scam below. This is corporate welfare on steroids, from a posted I wrote July 11, 2013:

jsonline: Under changes to the state's unemployment insurance system adopted by the Legislature's budget committee Wednesday, taxpayers would spend $26 million over two years to prop up the unemployment fund, To avoid having employers face new assessments this year, the committee voted to use $26 million in general tax dollars to pay down interest on that loan.

Think that’s bad? Taxpayers will be used to scam the federal government. Republican will borrow our hard earned taxpayer dollars to shore up the unemployment fund so the fed won’t raise taxes on EMPLOYERS, the ones who actually fund the account.

Additionally, the committee proposal would allow the state Department of Administration to lend up to $50 million in taxpayer money to the unemployment insurance fund. That loan would help the state ensure that the unemployment fund has a positive balance in 2014, which in turn would keep the federal government from raising taxes on employers by $191 million in 2015.

Instead of employers taking responsibility for funding their own insurance program, Walker Republicans have shifted that liability over to taxpayers. All is well in "Stand with Walker" land.

N. Carolina GOP's Big Government drug test for 7,600 welfare recipients kicked out 9 users.

The Republican push to punish the poor has degenerated to simple humiliation via the food stamp drug testing program. 

While tightwad conservative voters want to keep more of their hard earned money, they’re perfectly fine wasting cash on humiliating the needy with drug tests for the innocent.

Public policy through intimidation, a roaring success? Nope, the proof is in again; out of 7,600 recipients, 21 tested positive, 12 of which had their food stamps reduced because they had kids. 9 lost their food stamps. Success?

North Carolina revealed early results on Tuesday from a round of drug tests given to those applying for or living with the help of welfare.

From the 7,600 recipients and applicants given an initial screening, social workers referred only 2% for drug testing. That amounted to 89 people. Of those 89, 21 people tested positive for drugs, representing less than 0.3% of the total number of those screened. Of the 21 people who tested positive for drugs, 12 of them will receive reduced benefits because they take care of children in need of support.

Here are a few other "success" stories:

Walker's Justice Bradley votes away Fourth Amendment on case she didn't hear!!!

It seems our supposed Constitutionally conservative purists have a different way of interpreting purity than most everyone else. JS:

In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has again broadened an exception to allow police to seize and use evidence obtained from search of private places without the owner's consent to a search warrant.

The dissent called the majority's interpretation so broad as to "swallow the Fourth Amendment," which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The deciding vote came from someone who didn't even hear the case, Walker appointee Republican Justice Rebecca Bradley.

The decision Wednesday was also notable in that Justice Rebecca Bradley joined the majority that overruled the Court of Appeals, even though she had not heard arguments in the case, which occurred before her appointment Oct. 9 by Gov. Scott Walker.

In an ever expanding one party authoritarian state, with policing power that exempts the Constitution in ways that are creative and dangerous, Walker supporters still won't back away from decisions like this:

Republican Justice Annette Ziegler found that police were not investigating a crime but exercising their "community caretaker" function by checking to make sure no other injured people were in the house.

Justice David Prosser, often seen as part of the court's conservative block, has

repeatedly joined Abrahamson and Justice Ann Bradley in dissents against broadening circumstances when the "community caretaker" might excuse getting a search warrant in situations that would otherwise require that. He wrote the main dissent, joined by Abrahamson and Ann Bradley .... observed that by the time officers entered the locked room, some 20 minutes or more after they had been in the house, there was little reason to suspect someone else was in the bedroom, but plenty of reason to suspect it might house marijuana. "Officers can now easily conduct a warrantless search in the name of 'community caretaking'; they must merely articulate a hypothetical community need...based on circumstances that they observe," Prosser wrote.

The "majority's embrace of a broad, ever-expanding version of the exception risks transforming a shield for evidence encountered incidental to community caretaking into an investigatory sword."

Still, the fact that Rebecca Bradley voted to weaken the Fourth Amendment should, but probably not,  make anyone clutching their pocket Constitutions seriously reconsider their upcoming vote.

N.H.'s Mindless Zombies Pick Trump!!! Wisconsin Mindless Zombies drooling.....

Something to think about if Trump or Cruz becomes president: This is what the whole world will think about that choice, because our own brutally "honest" conservative media (Daily News) said so...The Blaze:

The Right Wing war on Speech "webpage is not available!"

What is "the liberal media?" Does it lack the propagandized right wing spin necessary to bring about a nationalized one party authority? Is it whatever someone says it is?

With reliable right wing conservative media outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, NewsMax, Newsbusters, Wall Street Journal, World Net Daily, The Blaze, Drudge Report, Daily Caller, Townhall, National Review, Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, Chicks on the Right, Red State, Powerline, Louder with Crowder, American Spectator...it seems odd, even petty, that the great tea party Republican defenders of our Constitution would allow anyone to attack someone else's free speech....

Isn't it time to cleanse America of this cancerous liberal media using the First Amendment to destroy our country?

If you hit the link to "join now," you see this....

Big Government Republicans eliminate local control in move to Consolidate Power!!!

Republicans used to trash Democrats for liberal nanny state laws, claiming "Madison knows best." Well, the tables have turned. If that were were true, how could Republicans pass over 100 laws that obliterated local control, even adding more to the list?

Wisconsin Republicans Consolidate Power, Erode Local Control Republicans Add to List of 100+ Measures that Harm Local Decision-Making; Republican legislators continue to propose even more bills that would tie the hands of local governments. “Republicans say they are the ‘Party of Local Control’ but their actions show the opposite,” Democratic Rep. Shankland said. 

 Here's just a small sample of the list put out by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau:

Who wants Panicky Guy, Dumb Ron Johnson in Charge of anything...?

I've been saying this about our breathless, sky is falling dumb ass for years....

Panicky Ron Johnson's worries continue...

Senator Worries Too Many Ineligible People Getting Obamacare Subsidies

Yet is another fantasized panic attack:

(Johnson is) worried the Obama administration's system for denying Obamacare tax credits to ineligible applicants is so lax that it could lead to many undocumented immigrants getting coverage.

But the facts run counter to Johnson’s paranoid fantasies:

Johnson cited previously released statistics showing almost 500,000 applicants had to have their tax credits revoked after they didn't provide sufficient documentation, which he said his staff estimates to work out to about $750 million in taxpayer funds in the form of tax credits.
 
According to  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman Benjamin Wakana, "We have a robust verification process to make sure that those who are eligible for financial assistance can receive it, while also protecting taxpayer dollars."

But 500,000 denials isn't enough to make the ACA look like a failure. Of course more needs to be done to deny people coverage…because ObamaCare sucks, right?

Still, Johnson said in his report that more needs to be done to make sure people who are ineligible for health care tax subsidies never get them, even for a short time.

Unable to Raise Taxes, GOP to Shift Road Repair to Local Taxpayers. I thought they didn't like Referendums?

It's been fun watching Republicans fumble helplessly with their "no tax pledge," which forever prevents them from adding money to the transportation fund.

So Republicans have decided to foist their responsibilities off onto local communities, by making them raise their sales taxes through a referendum. Oh, and the money goes first to the state before maybe going back to fix roads.

Keep in mind, these are the same Republican legislators who want to restrict school referendums because it negates their efforts to cut property taxes. Never fear, they've got another flip flopping, mind-blowing reason waiting in the wings.

GOP backer and lobbyist Patrick Goss, executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, is stepping forward with the most surreal way of looking at tax increases...:

Goss: "How do you say you're voting for a tax increase, when what you're really doing is you're enabling your constituents, your citizens, to make that decision." 

Huh? Any Republican interpreters out there that can help me with this one? Can the party really have it both ways and not get a little blowback from their base? And don't referendums cost money, time and effort? If anything should be handled by the state, it should be roads.



Hat tip to WPR's Laurel White for featuring this gem.

Steve Hiniker, executive director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy group, said the bill amounts to "double taxation" of communities. "Why should communities have to a pay a gas tax that is not returned to their community, and if they want the roads fixed impose a new tax on them?" Hiniker said.

Walker's Wisconsin new nationwide benchmark for Corrupt and Politicized State Supreme Court!!!

In a short span of time, Wisconsin has become the go-to example as the state with the most partisan and corrupt Supreme Court in the country. And that's saying something.

Kansas is about to go "Wisconsin," by drafting a bill to hold partisan elections for the court. Even worse, they're requiring the governor to choose the candidates, which then have to be approved by the state senate for confirmation. Not bad when you have a one party Republican lock on state government. It's all part of the governors attack on the court, as he pressures them during the appeals process.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback's retaliatory attack came after the supreme court decided the dramatic cuts to school funding and the distribution of that money were unfair and unconstitutional. What happened next was mind-boggling:

The legislature and the governor’s response was to pass and sign a law that first stripped the State Supreme Court of administrative power over lower state courts. And then to pass and sign another law that stripped the state’s entire court system of funding if any court struck down any part of the previous law.

I'm posting this because of the embarrassing reference to Wisconsin as the poster child for judicial corruption, which apparently is the new GOP template for turning our courts into political arms of the party. Way to go. The New Yorker:

Kansas’s governor, Sam Brownback, had pointedly pressured Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and his colleagues on the state’s highest court. A trial court had found, “beyond any question,” that the state system of financing public schools was unconstitutional … and recently heard oral argument in an appeal of the ruling. Brownback claimed, “This is the people’s business, done by the people’s house.”
 This past December, the State Supreme Court ruled that the first of the retaliatory laws is unconstitutional … the ruling put in jeopardy all of the judiciary’s funding.

Last week, the legislature blinked, passing a bill that would reverse the defunding law. The bill is being hailed as a victory … but a short-lived one. Republicans have drafted bills calling for a system in which the governor would nominate and the State Senate would confirm justices.
Republicans have also drafted bills calling for partisan election of justices. 

That has proved to be a travesty in many states, but particularly in Wisconsin, as I have reported. Since 2000, when spending in judicial elections jumped significantly, they have become a case study in the worst aspects of money in politics. Spending by special interests, which are clearly concerned about the decisions that judges reach rather than their capability and impartiality in reaching them, has grown dramatically as a share of total spending. An increasing portion of that spending has come from national organizations or their local affiliates, which are, again, clearly concerned about results, with most of the money coming from the political right.

Just to give you an idea, from the UW, Howard Schweber described the current condition of the court on WPR:

Walker's arrogant "I don't Care" Department of Corrections now in shambles after Act 10.

In 2012, Scott Walker appointed Dept. of Corrections Secretary Ed Wall, who's one major responsibility was public safety. We're now finding out that he's been an incredible failure.

But we also need to hold Walker responsible. I know Republicans don't like it, but the same "buck stops here" rule applies to Scott Walker. Where has Walker been during the breakdown of corrections staffing and documented abuse? Oh that's right, Act 10 solved all our problems, not made them worse.

Walker's “Working for Wisconsin” tour dubbed the “2020 Vision Project,” where he is supposedly seeking local advice, is a sham. According to one attendee:

The format didn’t allow for more dialogue about problems facing the state. “The governor didn’t address what was being shared. He recorded it. He listened. But I can’t say he gave us a response to any of the issues that were raised.”

Walker never mentioned the Failure of Act 10 - The Problems at the Columbia Correctional Institution: Public safety fell apart after Act 10, since corrections staff no longer had input, and many up and quit. Despite losing 541 employees, Walker's DOC Sec. Ed Wall didn't think it was important to increase oversight?

Following the passage of Act 10, 541 employees retired from the DOC. In 2012 resignations went up 40 percent. At CCI, staff report seeing more people leaving, some recent recruits deciding not to stay along with the exit of veteran employees.

CCI staff have often said that when concerns about safety and security are brought up to management, the response from Warden Mike Dittman and DOC Secretary Edward Wall is “there are 1,000 people in line to take your job.” In one meeting with legislators in October, Wall reportedly responded to a comment that more staff would be leaving in the next year by saying, “I don’t care. Let them go.”

Buck stops where? Walker sees the dangerous conditions at CCI and the dramatic staff reductions as another problem to run from. Contract it out. Walker isn't kidding either when he blamed previous administrations. He really thinks that gets him off the hook:

When asked after his speech about the state of the Department of Corrections and Columbia Correctional Institution in particular, which runs (by some estimates) a 20 percent staff deficit, Walker said that it was to be expected.

“This is an issue that predates me and predates Act 10. Back when I was in the Legislature, in the early 1990s, Tommy Thompson had a similar problem. It’s part of the reason why for a while he looked at out-of-state contracts for holding inmates.”

Anecdotal Walker flip flops on Anecdotes: After countless Walker policy changing anecdotes were found to be unprovable or flat out fabrications, Walker won't allow other peoples anecdotes about Warden Dittman and Wall's comments make him look like a complete incompetent, even when they're true:

“I would love to see the documentation. I’ve never heard him say that. I would be interested in hearing where that is documented, rather than rumors from staff out there. I’ve yet to hear that. If that’s something you can document for us or show, that would be concerning to us, but I’ve never heard that from the Secretary or anyone else in the administration.”

Democratic offers to help partisan attempts to Embarrass Walker? Instead of being suspicious of the Democrats, he should have listened:

In September, Sen. Jon Erpenbach, sent a letter to the co-chairs of the State Legislature’s Joint-Audit Committee, requesting a vote on an audit of the DOC. In January, Erpenbach, with a group of representatives including Rep. Dave Considine and Sen. Jennifer Shilling offered a nine-part proposal for addressing the problems in the DOC, separately proposed for a more convenient a la carte consideration.

Justice Candidate Joe Donald uses Bradley's embarrassing public domain B-Roll Video against her!

Take a look at the creative ad put together by Supreme Court candidate Judge Joe Donald's campaign. If he can afford to run this on TV, he should.

Rebecca Bradley's scheme was simple enough; she would release "public domain" footage of herself so special interest groups could stumble upon it, be inspired and use the video in an "issue" ad. 

The thing is, Judge Joe Donald's campaign also "accidentally" came across it and was similarly inspired:

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Joe Donald's campaign is doubling down on its claim that state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley's campaign is coordinating with outside groups — by trolling Bradley with her own footage.

It all started late last month when Bradley uploaded three minutes and 34 seconds of b-roll footage documenting "A Day in the Life" of the newly-appointed justice. On Tuesday, a few of those scenes reappeared in an ad set to air on TV statewide in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 16 primary election. A spokesman for the Wisconsin Alliance for Reform said the group's ad didn't demonstrate coordination. "The footage featured in our ad is publicly available and enabled us..."

Here's my side by side comparison: the ad is on the left, Bradley's meaningless and oddly surreal video on the right:

Walker's Justice Bradley hopes to win election in the most Positive Dirty Way.

I had to say something about this amazing Supreme Court dark money drenched race controlled by Walker supporters who back his pick, Justice Rebecca Bradley … "The Wisconsin Alliance for Reform (is) spending about $400,000 to help recently appointed Justice Rebecca Bradley."

Besides secretly coordinating Bradley's campaign with the dark money at the Wisconsin Alliance for Reform, here’s what made me spit out my coffee…

JS: Bradley hopes the ads in the race will be positive, said her campaign manager, Madison Wiberg. "As Justice Rebecca Bradley has said since the launch of her campaign, she respects the rights of interested voters to exercise their First Amendment rights in this race."  

Bradley "hopes the ads"... "will be positive?" Really? Just for grins, let's take a look at a more recent Wisconsin Alliance for Reform ad, with their positive First Amendment filled message of laughable lies describing Russ Feingold: 

I'm sure Bradley will be one of the first to immediately correct any errors from the Wisconsin Alliance for Reform TV ads that will saturate the media airwaves this coming Tuesday. 

GOP Budgets - "just as rough as the last time" - the result of badly written budgets, not spending.

Republicans have always had a foolproof budgeting plan that can't fail in the eyes of their low information voters: Got a budget shortfall again? It's not bad budgeting, they just have to cut spending again.

It's never due to bad decisions and supply side nonsense. Sen. Alberta Darling said exactly that when a reporter asked her what happens if revenues don't increase due to tax and spending cuts:

Darling: "...you have to further reduce the size and scope of government..."

They actually believe it's never their fault. After another bad budget with the usual predicted revenue shortfalls, clueless Republicans face another "rough" spot of their own making:

(Republican Sen. Scott) Fitzgerald told county officials he expects the next budget will be "just as rough as this past one."

Fitzgerald of course blamed the state's shortfall on a lagging national economy...Obama basically. Oddly, Minnesota has a $2 billion surplus, and no shortfall. We could blame Obama for that, right?

Also, if this were a real problem, then why aren't Republicans writing responsible budgets that account for that "lag" (because they can't budget). WPR audio:



While blaming Obama, Walker showed off his bad judgement by foolishly holding onto our fading manufacturing base. Two decades later, he's apparently still not heard that sucking sound...:

Wisconsin's large manufacturing sector is heavily influenced by national and global factors, Walker said. "But we’re still going to persevere..."

In response, as covered by Jakes TA Economic Funhouse, one of my favorite fighting Democratic legislators Gordon Hintze put out the following to the point press release. I hope we see more of this:

One final SUPPLY SIDE note: Below, I've collected a few other Republican supply side budgetary problems ignored by the press who are preoccupied with the GOP primary circus. Long story short, Republicans can't run a functioning government. It's a supply side death spiral nationwide, starting with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback:

AP: Kansas collected $7 million less in taxes than expected in January, and a top aide to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback said that ongoing problems in key parts of the state's economy are to blame. Kansas tax collections have fallen short of expectations in 6 of the 7 months of this fiscal year … disappointing corporate income tax collections and lower-than-anticipated sales tax collections. Since the current fiscal year began in July, the state has collected$26 million less than anticipated, a shortfall of 0.8 percent … Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since the Republican-dominated Legislature slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging in an effort to stimulate the economy. GOP legislators last year increased sales and cigarette taxes to head off a deficit in the current budget. 

You've just gotta love this down-the-rabbit-hole response:

Brownback has argued that the income tax cuts have stimulated the economy to prevent larger shortfalls in tax collections

And in Oklahoma, where they sadly reelected another bad Republican supply side governor....

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin addressed the people of in her annual State of the State address saying her first priority is the state's estimated $1 billion budget shortfall … Governor Mary Fallin and Republican legislative leaders have said they intend to target "off-the-top" funding streams earmarked for things like transportation and public schools as part of an attempt to fill the roughly $1 billion budget hole. 

From the lips of Jesus....

What a great idea from Kimmel...



What the heck, here's Al Franken's Supply Side Jesus....

Rebecca Bradley is lying about Campaign Coordination with right wing Dark Money group Wisconsin Alliance for Reform...reform is good right?

Remember these words by Supreme Court Justice candidate Rebecca Bradley:

"That's not solicited help. I am happy to accept help and support from anyone." 

Campaign coordination was illegal once, until the State Supreme Court legislated from the bench and rewrote that law. Now, independent dark money groups can work with candidates, allowing unlimited amounts of anonymous money to do the candidates talking. Of course, Bradley can disagree with the groups message, while still getting mileage from it, and denying cooridination. WPR:

A conservative political action group, Wisconsin Alliance for Reform, is running an online issue ad in support of Justice Rebecca Bradley's Wisconsin Supreme Court bid using film footage shot by the Bradley campaign. It uses footage the Bradley campaign uploaded more than a week ago of the justice talking with police officers and other judges.

The identical footage suggests Bradley's campaign is coordinating with the Alliance.

However, both the campaign and the Alliance deny they're working together.

So I edited the Bradley campaigns stock "candid" footage of her acting judicial, to prove there is coordination. And that if she's willing to lie about this...seriously folks.

Notice the music beds are identical, with the Wisconsin Alliance for Reform ad featuring full orchestration, and the campaign footage featuring just a piano (you can hear faintly in the background):



I love the line: "Tell Rebecca Bradley you believe in a fair and independent judiciary." That's not "expressly advocating" a vote for Bradley, just good advice Bradley would be happy to hear over and over. We're not dumb, but they assume we are.

And the money behind the coordination is big. Before you know it, Bradley will be a household name:

The Alliance for Reform has pledged to spend more than $400,000 in the Supreme Court race. On its website, the alliance calls itself a "coalition of concerned citizens and community leaders committed to creating greater economic opportunities for Wisconsin families."

So far, no outside groups on the liberal side of the Supreme Court race have weighed in. The Greater Wisconsin Political Fund is a liberal issue ad group that spent heavily in support of Joanne Kloppenburg in her failed 2011 effort to win a seat on the high court. The group has not run any ads for or against her in this current race.

With Mark Harris Bill, Republicans won't let Democrat run for State Senate.

Yes, Republicans are now using their political power to block a Democrat from running for office.

They aren't hiding it anymore. Why bother building up fantasy world scenarios to stoke fear and envy in the base. Pretty much unlike the the ideas put forth by the founding fathers in our Constitution, Republicans see a more authoritarian one party state.

The  Democratic Party of Wisconsin summed it up this way: 

Yesterday, Senator Scott Fitzgerald introduced a bill to specifically bar county executives from serving simultaneously in the Legislature. The bill comes as Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris, a Democrat, is running for Republican Sen. Mark Gudex's open Senate seat in the 18th Senate District.
(1) Fitzgerald stayed silent when fellow Republican Paul Farrow held his Senate seat and ran Waukesha County executive. (2) Furthermore, former Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer served in both the legislature and as the Manitowoc County executive for nearly six years, between 2006 and 2012.

When asked about the proposal in an interview, Sen. Fitzgerald admitted that the“Harris’ candidacy was the impetus for the bill.” 

Will the media dog Fitzgerald on this issue, or will they drop the ball on this one too?

Gov. Christie puts N.J. Drinking Water up for Profit, ignoring public opposition...Wisconsin Next?

Here it comes, more Republican bill writing plagiarism targeting our precious drinking water! Yes, unoriginal ALEC-like corporate bills plundering our supply of life sustaining water, are now rippling across nation. Seriously, there's money to be made.  

Republican Rep. Tyler August and Aqua America Inc. are spearheading the fast track takeover bill of our drinking water in Wisconsin. But in New Jersey, Gov. Christie just sign similar legislation,  giving us a preview of how this is going to go down. NJ:

Gov. Chris Christie would allow for fast-tracking the privatization of many public water systems in New Jersey.

When a bill has a goofy name like the "Water Infrastructure Protection Act," you know it's deceptively trying to cover up what it really does.

Big Government Republicans Kill Off Local Control Again: The most outrageous part of the Wisconsin bill eliminates the requirement for local referendums, giving the public a say. Christie liked that idea: 

(It) removes the public vote requirement to sell water systems throughout the state under emergency conditions that many systems currently meet.

After making government dysfunctional with mismanagement and spending cuts,  Republicans now want to sell it off:  

The sponsors of the bill tout it as a way to get desperately-needed investment into water systems that have been neglected to the breaking point by government owners. 

Highest Bidder gets our Drinking Water, but that means we have to pay higher rates! 

Opponents warn that it is an attempt to turn private profits off public infrastructure at the expense of taxpayers.The state's Division of Rate Counsel blasted the bill publicly, saying ratepayers would end up paying for the sale of their own water systems, with the way infrastructure sales are legally regulated.

"This bill ... has the potential to allow investor-owned utilities to run wild with bid prices in an effort to submit the highest bid," said Stefanie Brand, director of the Division. "Meanwhile, ratepayers will be required to pay for the full purchase price in rate, and will pay for these higher bids.

"Telling us What to Think...the GOP Mind Trick Revisited: Oh sure, everybody knows private companies can do things better, right? It's just common knowledge...goes without saying:

"We recognize that there are times when private entities might be most capable..." said state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth). 

Who Are Republicans Listening too? Lobbyist, not the public: 

Originally introduced in September, the bill drew opposition from a wide variety of industry and environmental groups, including the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Food and Water Watch, and the Communications Workers of America union. "This is such a bad deal for the citizens of New Jersey," said state Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex). "This is crazy. ... Just giving away our water supply."

That old "opponents are just spouting political rhetoric" excuse so they won't have to listen:

"Put the rhetoric to one side," Kyrillos said. "This does not force anyone to sell water utilities.

No, but it lets it happen.

MONEY DOES NOT APPEAR TO INFLUENCE OR CORRUPT GOVERNMENT...AGAIN:

A notable political contribution was made in between the vote's passage and Christie's signing of the measure. American Water of Voorhees, the largest publicly traded U.S. water and sewer company, contributed $50,000 to the Republican Governors Association in the final days of the New Jersey governor's chairmanship of the organization.

This is just a preview of what will go down here in Wisconsin, it's irreversible, no matter what party is in charge.