Bumbling AG Brad Schimel vs challenger Josh Kaul a toss up, but it really shouldn't be!!!

Scott Walker lapdog AG Brad Schimel is suddenly springing into action...wonder why? He's up for reelection, and just like Walker, he's noticed a few problems that suddenly need attention.

 

First, Schimel probably saw this news...

Of the 30 elected AG seats that are up this cycle ... we consider nine to be "in play," meaning they are rated tossup ... the open AG offices in Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio, plus the seat held by a Republican incumbent in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin AG Brad Schimel (R): Schimel faces Democrat Josh Kaul, a former federal prosecutor and first-time candidate who is the son of former Wisconsin AG Peg Lautenschlager. Both Schimel and Kaul should have enough money to be competitive. Wisconsin is one of the most politically polarized states. If the Democrats do as well as they did in a recent special election race -- one considered an early referendum on Trump's presidency -- this could be a strong pickup opportunity.

Schimel's Growing Opioid Epidemic: Once upon a time in Wisconsin...:

 From 2001 to 2007, heroin deaths were constant around 27 deaths per year.

Under Schimel's utter incompetence, we've seen the opioid epidemic fester, doubling the number of overdose victims in Wisconsin. "In 2016, 827 people died from opioid overdoses in Wisconsin." Not even a dent. For a guy ready to sue the the government on behalf of Scott Walker's pet projects, he hasn't found the time to take on profit driven Big Pharma, no matter how the Democrats plead:

Democratic state Rep. Lisa Subeck (said), “We are calling on Attorney General Schimel to stop dragging his feet and finally join the two-thirds of Wisconsin counties, seven states and other jurisdictions throughout the country by filing a lawsuit on behalf of the people of Wisconsin to hold the pharmaceutical companies accountable for their role in creating the opioid epidemic.”

Schimel only Now is going after Abusive Care Givers: ...in a small but well publicized way:

Schimel announces project aiming to stop caregiver abuse of elderly: Attorney General Brad Schimel announced the beginning of the Safe Seniors Camera Program Tuesday. The pilot program allows the Department of Justice to provide participants with a camera and memory card for up to 30 days. They are then required, on a daily basis, to save any recordings and notify a local law enforcement agency of any recordings that the resident believes may depict illegal conduct.

Schimel Suddenly Getting to Sexual Assault Kit Backlog: Guess who's now got a fire under his ass to clear the backlog?

Wisconsin DOJ Contracts With 2 More Labs To Test Sexual Assault Kits: The Joyful Heart Foundation has been pushing states to analyze untested kits in hopes of developing DNA profiles for serial offenders. Nearly 4,000 Wisconsin kits have been designated for testing. Analysis has been completed on 862 kits so far. 1,300 Kits To Be Tested By Labs By The End Of 2018. 

Schimel said a month ago:

Schimel said, "We feel confident with what we've put in place that by this time next year, we'll have all the kits tested."

But on May 17, 2017, Schimel discovered...

More confusion ensued when Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel was asked if it was true that only 60 kits have been tested so far. Koremenos said a private lab had tested 50 kits and the state crime lab had tested an additional 13, but Schimel said Tuesday that he didn’t know where those numbers came from. Skwierawski had to walk Schimel through the numbers.

It ain't over yet...

Walker stealing Democratic agenda; fund rural schools, closes Lincoln Hills, saves ObamaCare, tries to save Kimberly-Clark...what's his message? Vote Democratic.

And you thought Scott Walker's $100 handout to voters children around election time was brazen?

In a stunning display of desperation, and an acknowledgement that his own political agenda ain't working, Scott Walker tried to upstage the Democratic plan to keep Kimberly-Clark's factories open:

 As Democratic lawmakers were announcing their own Kimberly-Clark plan, the GOP governor called for passing legislation to allow the state to give the paper company the same level of tax credits per job as Foxconn.

A few hours later, Gov. Scott Walker's office sent out a release detailing a separate proposal to more than double tax credits to Kimberly-Clark Corp., from 7 percent to 17 percent, to keep that papermaker from shutting down two Fox Cities mills and eliminating about 610 jobs. The percentage is the same percentage used "to attract Foxconn's historic investment in Wisconsin," the governor's statement said.

For staunch tightwad small government conservatives, you gotta wonder what they were thinking seeing Walker govern like a Democrat and then betray his "free market" principles by throw taxpayer money hand over fist at every trouble business in the state. Seriously? I thought the "masterly" crafted GOP business climate alone in Wisconsin was enough:

Walker also referred to Appleton Coated in Combined Locks, which went into receivership last August, laying off most of its 600-employee workforce. New owner Industrial Assets restarted one machine ... 50 workers were recalled for a total of 88. The governor's said ongoing discussions with Industrial Assets "about providing assistance to the company to continue mill operations in the Fox Valley..."

This is where the $4.5 billion Foxconn deal keeps coming back to haunt us. That said, Democrats decided to work with money already spent:

Meanwhile, the Papermaker Fund bill, announced by Democratic lawmakers in their Monday press conference, will ask the state to dedicate 1 percent of the Foxconn investment, or $30 million, to each of two programs, to help mills retrofit to make more desirable paper grades and make energy efficiency upgrades.

Walker's "Open for Business" tax climate isn't stopping market forces from shutting down other long time businesses. And some thought the state economy was roaring along:

Besides K-C and Appleton Coated, Appvion in Appleton and U.S. Paper Converters in Grand Chute were two more paper facilities that recently announced job reductions.  Appvion filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and announced in November it would cut 200 jobs, about one-quarter of its local workforce. It outsourced its warehouse and distribution center in Appleton where 62 employees worked. U.S. Paper Converters shut in late 2017, eliminating 52 jobs.

NOTE: Walker's tax free gift to manufacturers who never had to create one job is also biting us in the ass now:

As manufacturers in Wisconsin, both Foxconn and Kimberly-Clark pay little to no corporate and personal income tax on profits from those operations. That means that  any potential enterprise zone credits could end up being paid to each company in cash if it has little corporate tax liability.

As Democratic Majority Leader Gordon Hintz said in a press release:

Governor’s proposal reeks of election year desperation. No information given on the cost of tax credits or how the state will pay for them ... Today, Governor Walker announced via Twitter that he instructed WEDC “to offer Kimberly Clark the same deal for jobs as Foxconn.”

“This sounds like another deal crafted on the back of a napkin. The lack of foresight and planning by this Governor is unbelievable. Real economic development starts with homegrown businesses. Rather than selling out our state’s future for the FoxConn deal, we could’ve been investing in Wisconsinbusinesses, infrastructure, education, and healthcare."

“Just like his State of the State Address, today’s announcement sounded more like a going out of business sale than a serious policy proposal. At this point it’s clear that the Governor will say just about anything to get re-elected.

The question everyone should be asking the Governor is, “What will you do when the next corporation threatens to leave the state unless they get the FoxConn deal?

Americans turn on that phony condescending Paul Ryan, Finally!!!!

Paul Ryan has been exposed, finally, once and for all, done, we now know who and what he is...TOAST. Can you relate...

Sure, pretty disconnected from real people. And the sh** hit the fan:

Last week, in a tweet as tone-deaf as it was condescending, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) sparked national controversy by attempting to use the fact that a secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania got a $1.50 raise per week as proof that the recently passed Republican tax plan is working perfectly.

And it got worse when the secretary he was talking about came forward:

Paul Ryan continues to dig...

While Ryan faced backlash so severe that he ultimately deleted the tweet, his spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, didn’t quite get the memo. She took to Twitter today to post a deliberately misleading tweet, claiming that “successful NYC/DC dwellers” are mocking “an extra $1K.”

Of course, Americans are not mocking an extra $1,000 in their pockets. They are mocking Ryan’s $1.50 weekly wage increase, which amounts to a not-so-staggering $78 per year. Her disingenuous response only reignites what was viewed as a wholly out-of-touch tweet by the Republican Speaker of the House.

Paul Ryan and his staff may try to pander to everyday Americans, but their deceitful tweets prove that they speak for no one but themselves.

 Putting it perspective:

Only a dismal two percent of Americans have benefited from the tax plan with raises or bonuses, and in every case, the raise or bonus was only a mere fraction of what each company was benefiting. Furthermore, most of the employee benefit was temporary; many companies have only announced one-time bonuses, as opposed to permanent raises.

 While many others reap the benefits...guess who:

By lowering the corporate tax rate, America’s biggest companies will be able to add a windfall of cash to their bottom lines. Exxon got $5.9 billion, Pfizer got $22 billion, Merck & Co got $22 billion, and AT&T got $20 billion. The Koch brothers made off with $1.4 billion. Essentially all of the money from the Republican tax overhaul padded the company’s profits, as opposed to translating into permanent wage increases for its employees.

Walker's "Work or No Doctor" money saver!

Just keeping track....

Scott Walker’s okay with taking that one step further than any civilized industrialized country in the world would ever think of doing; not only is he against universal health care as a human right, but now Walker wants to keep the riff-raff out by testing them for drugs and forcing them to work at whatever demoralizing job the state's job center has to offer. What, stay in the profession you were trained in? Yea, right.

Wisconsin is still waiting to see if the federal government will let it require childless adults on Medicaid to be screened for drugs and work if they are able ... also asked in June to add premiums and co-pays for some adults without dependent children on Medicaid ... Walker said (this) would help people move from public assistance to the workforce.

Walker's not alone. A few years back Republicans wouldn't have had the courage to bring back what is simply 21st century slavery, just to see a doctor. 

Thanks to Trump's narcissistic bloviating, Republicans are now completely free to push their hideous conscience free vision that ultimately will save government lots of Medicaid money:    

Donald Trump’s administration said last month it was planning to let Wisconsin and other states require able-bodied people on Medicaid to work or do other activities, such as train for a job or do community service. “We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome,” said CMS head Seema Verma.

In other words, turning people into paying customers so for-profit private insurers can make money. Hey this is capitalism, not a civilized social society taking care of their own.  

As you can see by the list of jobs pictured here, we're truly a service society with low wages. The better jobs require not just on the job training but a degree, something Republicans have been telling us is just a waste of time. Oh, do you want fries with that?

Real world state of our state?

A report from from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), a nonpartisan think-tank based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Wisconsin gained just under 180,000 private-sector jobs. Had it been gaining jobs at the national rate, it would have seen an increase of more than 300,000 jobs, the report said. “In the 21st century, and over the last six years, Wisconsin’s private sector job base has substantially and consistently underperformed,” the report said.

 

Laura Dresser, associate director of COWS, said (even though) it’s much better to be looking for work in the state now, “We don’t see any of the other things moving in the right direction.”

The report also addressed long-term wage stagnation. Since 1979, wages in Wisconsin have risen about 3 cents an hour, taking inflation into account. That means a full-time worker would earn about $1,800 more annually than they would in 1979.

COWS also drew attention to the fact that from 2000 to 2013, the percentage of families in the middle class decreased by 5.7 percent, the “largest decline posted by any state in the nation,” the report said. 

The report concludes by saying “there is no evidence that any of the economic reforms of the last six years have changed the trajectory for the state.”  

Dresser said all the problems outlined in the report are national problems that Wisconsin shares. But the policy changes under Walker were meant to add 250,000 private-sector jobs, grow the economy and move Wisconsin ahead of national averages, she said. “We haven't moved ahead of anything,” she said.

Dumb Ron Johnson's Homeland of Insecurities....

Stepp-ing Out Again....