Rand Paul Lies and Evades, Just Like Scott Walker

Rand Paul - Lunatic

Rand Paul likes to acclaim his political affinity for Scott Walker.

And Paul, like Scott Walker, says he doesn't trust government to make decisions, unless it's government telling women what to do with their bodies; that's okay—both Walker and Paul are anti-choice always and wish to defund Planned Parenthood.

Google Rand Paul and Scott Walker and a reader can see how much the two have in common in Paul's applauding Walker turning down $Billions to be used for healthcare for Wisconsin, and other accolades over the last two years.

Another unsavory aspect the two politicians have in common is evasion and lying.

Here's a great piece about Rand Paul claiming to not know anything about the abortion legislation he’s co-sponsoring.

Rand Paul had praised Walker's Recall win, propped up by $70-million-plus in out-of-state funds, that he said fortold of a tough battle for President Obama against Mitt Romney in November 2012.

In June 2012, "Paul echoed the sentiments of many [Republicans] who believe Walker's defeat of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) set the stage for a tough 2012 presidential battle in the Badger State," wrote Paige Lavender.

Right. Obama won by six-plus points in Wisconsin, though Paul Ryan says it was all those "urban" voters turning out to vote, pretending to be good Americans.

Now, Paul, like Scott Walker, pretends to be gunning for a run for president in 2016.

Go Rand Paul, the White-Lunatic party needs you.

GOP to Wisconsin Women: GOP Will Decide on Your Bodies

Rape is ALWAYS wrong, Scott Walker!

Republicans cheat, lie and mislead voters, and when they get political power in individual states they pounce upon women like a molesting priest of the Catholic Church

There is something pathological about the political Party (Republicans and Tea Partiers) that wants to decide whether a woman ought to have a child, and force that Party's choice onto women.

Scott Walker says even in cases of rape and incest, women should be forced to conceive, and should be subject to criminal sanctions if women decide on birth control or abortion.

This is Walker's outlandish and misogynistic position, though he keeps this crazed view down low because 'legitimate rape' and other such GOP folly such as Walker's don't play well politically.

Walker has, during his past tenure as a Wisconsin legislator, engaged in a "an all-out assault on abortion rights," as Andy Kroll at Mother Jones notes.

We know what's best for you, GOP tells Wisconsin women

Now, Walker is governor.

And the assault continues.

The Republican Party and Tea Party do not openly run on anti-choice campaign promises.

But they do make anti-choice legislation a "priority," once in office.

They cheat, lie and mislead voters, and when they get power in individual states they pounce upon women like a molesting priest of the Catholic Church.

Actually, without the "specific support" of the Catholic Church, the anti-choice movement would be virtually toothless in America, as Faye Wattleton, former president of Planned Parenthood (1978–1992) told this writer in 1990. The Church is getting worse.

The Catholic Church hierarchy and GOP want abortion gone; they can't use persuasion so they use duplicity; and now the two stained institutions are staunch allies.

Witness Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) who actually worked in 2010 before his election against the Wisconsin Child Victims Act, allowing victims to seek redress for rape and molestation suffered as children and inflicted by the Catholic Church.

Johnson, like Walker, did not campaign on his crazy, rightwing social policies. He stressed jobs and the economy. Sounds familiar.

"Faced with a looming re-election bid in 2014 and near-to-last place in job growth, Governor Walker promised us that from here on out he would 'be focused like a laser on job growth,'" notes Jud Lounsbury. "With this laser-like focus, Gov. Walker and company have a promising lead in their search for jobs: Wisconsin women's vaginas! Of course, to actually find those jobs, you need a really long probe to really search for those jobs. They're in there somewhere and by golly the Wisconsin Republicans are going to find 'em!"

Walker's legislative cohorts—Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald—have decided that forced rape, also known as mandatory "ultrasound" for women seeking abortions is a long overdue, legislative "priority," Jessica VanEgeren reports.   From the Cap Times:

Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, is the former public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. She says requiring an ultrasound to be performed before all abortions would mean an invasive procedure for women who are less than 12 weeks pregnant.

At that stage in a pregnancy, she said, the uterus may be blocked by the pelvis, preventing a traditional ultrasound from picking up the image. Thus, a vaginal ultrasound would need to be performed in order to provide an image for a medical professional to discuss with a woman.

From NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin:

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin today denounced yet another anti-choice effort to focus on divisive attacks on women instead of the jobs and healthcare needed for Wisconsin. Anti-choice leadership in the legislature has indicated they consider forced ultrasounds for women to be a "priority,” a move that would put politicians between women and their doctors. The proposed measure is Wisconsin Right to Life’s agenda, and legislators’ comments in support followed Wisconsin Right to Life’s lobby day.

Wisconsin Right to Life and other anti-choice organizations claim their proposal would not require a trans-vaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortion care. However, the medical reality is that for women early in pregnancy, a trans-vaginal ultrasound is likely the only technology that can comply with the proposed law’s requirements.

"Either Wisconsin Right to Life and anti-choice politicians do not understand the medicine involved or they are misrepresenting the impact of this legislation. Either answer is unacceptable,” said Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. "Decisions on whether any medical procedure, invasive or not, is needed should be made between a woman and her medically trained provider.”

"Politicians know that forced trans-vaginal ultrasounds would be met with public outcry, as we saw in Virginia last year. Voters across Wisconsin sent a clear message in November that they are tired of divisive attacks and ready for the Legislature to work together to focus on jobs and the economy. Speaker Vos and Majority Leader Fitzgerald apparently missed the memo that it is time for them to do their own job, not our doctor’s job.”

"Amazing" Wisconsin Teacher Dead in Apparent Suicide, “Distraught” Over Scott Walker’s Attacks

There are consequences when Gov. Walker takes aim at our communities and plays games with our families' lives.

A dedicated Watertown, Wisconsin teacher reportedly distraught at what Walker and the Republicans are doing to our public schools and our families, committed suicide in early March.

Is Jeri-Lynn Betts mere collateral damage to the "bomb" you bragged about dropping to the faux Koch brother, Gov. Walker?

Do you get a nice chuckle out of this story?

At least have the decency to consider the proposition that when teachers dedicate their lives to the pursuit of education, playing with these lives will lead to tragic consequences.

From Matthew Rothschild in The Progressive Magazine:

Jeri-Lynn Betts, an early childhood teacher in the Watertown, Wisconsin, school district, died on March 8 of an apparent suicide.

A colleague says she was “very distraught” over Gov. Scott Walker’s attacks on public sector workers and public education.

Betts, 56, was a dedicated teacher who was admired in the Watertown community.

“She was an amazing person,” says the Rev. Terry Larson of the Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Watertown, where she was a member. “She really put her heart and soul in her work,” adds Larson, who officiated at her memorial service on March 15.

“She was one of the good guys,” says Karen Stefonek, who used to teach with Betts. “She was very, very dedicated, and worked so well with the little special needs children. She just was very, very good with them, and very well respected in the district.”

In the days after Betts’s death, two members of the school district contacted The Progressive about her death, calling it a suicide and saying it was connected, at least in part, to the policies that Walker has proposed. He has demanded that public workers, including teachers, contribute a significant amount of their salaries to health care and pensions. And in his budget, he proposed taking $900 million out of the public schools, imposing a freeze on property taxes so local governments can’t chip in more for education, and allowing any student, regardless of income, to go to a private school with a taxpayer subsidy.

“She was definitely very distraught about it,” said one of her co-workers, who requested anonymity. “She was feeling a lot of stress about the legislation that was going through.”

“She was concerned about the cuts teachers would have to take,” said another, who also requested anonymity. This co-worker added that Betts’s colleagues acknowledged her anguish about the governor’s policies in their discussions after her death.

Figuring out all the contributing factors behind a likely suicide is a complicated problem. Such deaths are in some ways incomprehensible—and always tragic.

But the report from the Watertown police gives some clues. A police offer took a statement from Susan Kemmerling, who worked with Betts as a special education paraprofessional for the past decade.

“Susan advised me that Geri had a long history of depression,” Officer Jeffrey Meloy wrote in his report. “Susan stated that the last several weeks had been ‘stressing her out’ due to the protests and the introduction of the budget repair bill and the uncertainty involved in the teaching world, as far as who was going to have jobs and what services were going to be cut. . . . Susan stated that Jeri truly loved her job and was about the most outgoing and bubbly person you could ever want to be around. Susan stated that everybody had noticed, however, the last few weeks since the introduction of the budget repair bill that Jeri was having a lot of difficulty.” Officer Meloy also interviewed Bonnie Lauersdorf, a physical therapist who worked with Betts for the past 25 year years and had been friends with her “for most of her adult life,” the report says. She told the officer that Jeri was concerned about “the uncertainty of what the budget was going to do to her retirement” and about “cuts to the school districts and possible cuts to the special ed program.” Lauersdorf added that “Jeri felt like she was being ‘forced out,’ ” the report says.

Walker’s policies are placing a heavy strain on teachers, says Steve Cupery, the director of the Lakewood UniServ Council, the teachers’ union in Watertown.

“There’s a lot of stress, especially among older teachers,” he says. “They’re concerned about being targeted. And there’s the stress associated with the potential loss of benefits, which could amount to a substantial cut in pay.”

Cupery adds that teachers are worried about class sizes going up, increased workloads, and not being able to “develop curriculum material around the individual needs of students.”

Walker’s policies have “shredded the morale of teachers,” said Wisconsin State Assemblywoman Sondy Pope-Roberts on March 16. “The cuts to schools districts are going to be drastic.”

Pat Theder, Jefferson County coroner, looked into Betts’s death. “Our investigation is still pending,” he says. “We’re waiting for a toxicology report. She may have ingested something. We’re doing toxicology to determine if she took over the therapeutic amount of her medication and whether that was enough to kill her.”

Betts’s old colleague Karen Stefonek remembers her as “fun loving” and as someone who “loved to travel.”

Her death “took a lot out of us,” Stefonek says. “It hit us in the heart.”

Video of GOP Regime: Blocks State Rep. Cullen from entering the State Capitol

Via Todd Milewski at the Capital Times:

"State Rep. David Cullen (D-Milwaukee) tries to enter the State Capitol Thursday morning at the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard entrance, but is turned away."

Walker offered to hurt state workers less than he said

Nothing Gov. Scott Walker says is to be taken at face value.

A self-professed Christian who thinks lying and scheming for his political ends are fine and using lay-offs and attacking families are okay, Walker games everything--budgets, manufactured crises, families, decades of cooperation for the public good, women's health, the environment, local control ... . The list seems endless.

Now, as Walker offers press conference after press conference demonizing public workers and those Democratic senators standing up for them, e-mails released say even these public postures are a lie, and even his selective e-mail leaking is called into question.

Walker, your credibility is lost and the only thing we can count on from you is more lies.

"Scott Walker is literally being sued by multiple Wisconsin media outlets for failing to release emails related to the budget repair bill, yet he’s willing to selectively leak emails he believes create the illusion he’s willing to make concessions.

"Behind the smoke and mirrors, Scott Walker is still hell-bent on stripping all collective bargaining rights from thousands of Wisconsin workers – including child care providers, Quality Home Care Workers, UW Faculty and Academic Staff. The very few bargaining rights he uses to create the illusion he’s willing to compromise are still drastically limited, and the ability of unions to effectively bargain would still be eliminated entirely," writes Rick Badger, Executive Director AFSCME Council 40.

Recall The Republican 8 Wisconsin Senators

Recall The Republican 8 Wisconsin Senators; get behind this.

"Make no mistake, these Republican Senators are vulnerable to recall for their radical partisan overreach. Senator Randy Hopper won his last election by just 184 votes. And Alberta Darling won her last race by only 1,007. By recalling just three of the eight Senators we are targeting, we can regain control of the Senate."
- Wisconsin Democratic Party

Recall Eight GOP Senators

Just off the phone with a guy from Fondy worried about his job who told me he contacted Sen. Randy Hooper (R-Fond du Lac) today and the legislative aide answering the phone laughed at him after the guy explained his concerns.

True story.

Incredible and unbelievably stupid.

The eight Republicans who can be recalled right now are. Call then now and politely and succinctly express your concerns:

•Robert Cowles - Green Bay (608) 266-0484 or (800) 334-1465
•Alberta Darling - River Hills (608) 266-5830
•Sheila Harsdorf - River Falls (608) 266-7745
•Luther Olsen - Ripon (608) 266-0751

•Randy Hopper - Fond du Lac (608) 266-5300
•Glenn Grothman - West Bend (608) 266-7513 or (800) 662-1227
•Mary Lazich - New Berlin (608) 266-5400 or (800) 334-1442
•Dan Kapanke - La Crosse (608) 266-5490 or (800) 385-3385

Walker Poll Numbers in Recall Territory

Gov. Scott Walker's image is that of a guy who's going after your job, not creating more of them

Seven weeks into his term, Scott Walker is facing a minus-10 job rating, and the protests have just begun..

GOP flacks like the Rasmussen poll are a joke, a PR faint, and an indication that the all-GOP legislature and GOP gov are desperate.

This is not a Katrina moment, it's a Nixon-erased-18-minutes-of-the-tapes moment.

GOP senators in swing districts are getting so many calls now, their lines are jammed. The leg hotline has been down since Friday.

For a governor who promised jobs, jobs, jobs, Walker's image is accelerating into that of a craven politician after power, and a guy who is going after your job, not creating more of them.

So, now the GOP is going to push ending same-day voter registration and voter obstruction legislation?

This message will not drive up Walker's numbers; let's see what he has in store tonight in his "fireside chat."

Because I can assure you Wisconsin families are not backing down and neither are the Fab 14.

Fighting Scott Walker

Clarence Seward Darrow lives on

Results of this battle with Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans:

• Walker has been outed as a liar, and a governor with no concern for working families; that's the straight truth of this Koch brothers' lackey
• Wisconsin families have been politicized more completely and quickly than any strategy pro-family organizers could have accomplished in years

Goethe said, "He only earns his freedom and his life who takes them everyday by storm."

Marching with Wisconsin families these past few days, no matter the legislative machinations of Republicans, ultimate victory is certain. Never have I seen such commitment and good will.

My niece, Tori, and I on Saturday

No amount of money and lies will defeat the democracy, the love of freedom, that has spread through our state, our communities and our friends and allies across the country.

Personally, I have worked against apartheid, against war, and many political candidates. Never have I been prouder than to be associated with the people working for Wisconsin and all American families right now, right here in Madison, Wisconsin.

Scott Walker the Liar

See Live Coverage from Madison Wisconsin.

Gov. Scott Walker is conning the American people on a level that I have never seen in my lifetime. We all wish this were hyperbole.

Scott Walker wants to take over all of the Medical Assistance programs, as local towns and villages need Walker's management.

Scott Walker wants to mandate state negotiating control of all Wisconsin counties, municipalities and school districts, contradicting himself in the course of some seven months.

Scott Walker wants the state to mandate wind-siting proposal rules.

Scott Walker wants the state to implement sweeping reductions in Medicaid.

Walker's so-called budget short-fall ($3.6 billion ) is based on the lie that the legislature must pass new spending requests by state agencies, a 6.2% increase. No legislator would vote for a budget based on a 6.2% increase, as Walker impliess we are compelled.

Scott Walker wants to end same-day registration [and also require photo IDs] because local jurisdictions, he says, cannot handle massive "voter fraud."

For a partial list of Walker lies see Scott Walker's Top Ten Lies.

Walker Land of Lies

“I’d like to give local school districts more local control,” Walker said. “That in turn will help us ultimately make sure the dollars we do spend are spent in the classroom and not on more overhead, such as wages, salaries, benefits and administrators.”
- Scott Walker; August 25, 2010
Sun Prairie Star (Rachel Wittrock)

"We can't expect for our 72 counties, for our 424 school districts and for more than 1,000 municipal governments across the state of Wisconsin that somehow, magically, because a few people are suggesting they might be willing to come to the table now, that we can ensure that every district and every jurisdiction is able to achieve these savings just because a few people are now at the 11th hour claiming they want to negotiate,"
- Scott Walker; February 18, 2011, saying state must end collective bargaining for all counties, municipalities and school districts.

Only those Tea Partiers and Republicans residing in WalkerLand fail to discern the difference.

Walker Toes Billionaires' Line, Refuses to address Wisconsin family concerns

All Wisconsin families want is to talk and compromise for the common good.

Gov. Walker has refused this good-faith commitment in favor of following the agenda of billionaires and social extremists.

Publicly employed teachers, nurses, EMTs, cooks and so on are not the problem; they are our neighbors. It sure did not take Walker long to forget these facts.

The war on Wisconsin employees isn't just about the budget or Wisconsin: Koch toady Gov. Walker is just one soldier in the billionaire's offensive to kill labor, aka Americans.

By Adele M. Stan in AlterNet

As some 30,000 protesters overwhelmed the state capitol building in Wisconsin today, Democratic state senators hit the road, reportedly with State Police officers in pursuit. The Dems left the state in order to deprive Republicans the necessary quorum for taking a vote on Gov. Scott Walker's bill to strip benefits and collective bargaining rights from state workers.

Newsradio 620 WTMJ reported that the Democratic senators were holed up in a Rockford, Illinois, hotel, out of reach of Wisconsin state troopers. Now, it seems, Republican lawmakers are beginning to waver on their support for the union-busting bill.

Last week, Walker threatened to activate the National Guard in the event of any disruption in services from public employees that, he said, could occur as a result of his legislation.

Gov. Walker claims that his war on the public workers in his state is simply about balancing Wisconsin's budget; believe that and there's a collapsed bridge in Minnesota I'd like to sell you. The fact is, Walker is carrying out the wishes of his corporate master, David Koch, who calls the tune these days for Wisconsin Republicans. Walker is just one among many Wisconsin Republicans supported by Koch Industries -- run by David Koch and his brother, Charles -- and Americans For Prosperity, the astroturf group founded and funded by David Koch. The Koch brothers are hell-bent on destroying the labor movement once and for all.

During his election campaign, Walker received the maximum $15,000 contribution from Koch Industries, according to Think Progress, and support worth untold hundreds of thousands from the Koch-funded astroturf group, Americans For Prosperity. AlterNet recently reported the role of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Americans For Prosperity in a vote-caging scheme apparently designed to suppress the votes of African-Americans and college students in Milwaukee. In 2008, Walker served as emcee for an awards ceremony held by Americans For Prosperity. There, he conferred the "Defender of the American Dream" award on Rep. Paul Ryan, now chairman of the House Budget Committee.

On Monday, AlterNet reported on the gaggle of Koch-sponsored politicians who individually graced the podium at last weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference (including several from Wisconsin: Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ron Johnson). Rep. Michele Bachmann, also a Koch favorite from next-door Minnesota, kicked off the conference.

Not Just About Wisconsin -- or State Workers

It's said that states are the laboratories of democracy, but the Kochs are determined to make Wisconsin a laboratory of corporate oligarchy. Nationwide, the war on public workers -- and government in general -- is not simply a facet of an ideological notion about the virtues of small government. The war on government is a war against the labor movement, which has much higher rates of union membership in the public sector than it does in the private sector.

Labor is seen by corporate leaders as the last strong line of resistance against the wholesale takeover of government (and your tax dollars) by corporations. So, by this line of thought, labor must die.

But it's even deeper than that. The labor movement holds whatever modicum of workplace fairness standards exist for the rest of workers, be they organized or not. Contracts won by organized workers function as a ceiling for what the rest of the workforce is able to demand. Without the labor movement, there's not a worker anywhere in the nation who has much of a bargaining position with her or his employer. And that's the way David Koch and his brother, Charles, want it.

Midwest Frontier Province of Kochistan

Although headquartered in Kansas, Koch Industries has at least 17 facilities and offices in Wisconsin (by my rough count of facilities and companies noted on the Koch Industries "Wisconsin Facts" page), and operates "nearly 4,000 miles of pipeline" through its Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. Which may account for Wisconsin's evolution into the Midwest Frontier Province of Kochistan.

The conglomerate boasts "four terminals and strategically located pipelines" through its Flint Hills Resources, LLC, which it describes as "a leading refining and chemicals company" that markets "gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, olefins, polymers and intermediate chemicals, as well as base oils and asphalt."

The Kochs' Georgia Pacific paper and wood products division has six facilities in Wisconsin. Its C. Reiss Coal Company "is a leading supplier of coal used to generate power," according to the Koch Web site. "The company has locations in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan."

Is it any wonder that Gov. Walker signed Americans For Prosperity's pledge (PDF) against energy reform legislation?

"I Don't Run a Union Facility"

At the Americans For Prosperity Foundation's RightOnline conference last July, a breakout session for managers and entrepreneurs focused on how to talk to workers about legislative issues -- including the Employee Free Choice Act, which would simplify the process by which workers could elect to join a union. Among the panelists was former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain, who is currently exploring a presidential bid. (Last month, Mark Block stepped down from his perch as state director of Americans For Prosperity Wisconsin chapter in order to serve as Cain's chief of staff.) The panel also featured Timothy Nerentz of The Oldenburg Group, a mining and defense equipment manufacturer based in Milwaukee. Nerentz illustrated how he talked to his workers about EFCA: "[W]e don't operate a union facility. That's all I have to say."

"Now, you certainly have a right to a union, right?" Nerenz continued. "You got rights, I got rights, all God's children got rights. But you need to know before you make that decision what's involved in that decision." When I pressed him after the panel to clarify whether he was threatening to shut down a factory whose workers chose to unionize, he simply restated his initial point: "We don't operate a union facility."

Stimulus Spending Seen as Too Friendly to Unions

You'd think that a big business like Koch Industries would love the idea of stimulus spending, since it's bound to improve the economy. So, what gives? Why do these guys hate the stimulus funds so much?

Well, it seems that too much of it, in their view, goes to preserve the jobs of unionized workers -- like autoworkers and teachers -- which, in turn, preserves unions as part of the U.S. workforce. So that's why, presumably, Americans For Prosperity President Tim Phillips today sent out a newsletter touting an anti-stimulus bill introduced by a House member from the Midwest Frontier Province of Kochistan:

By the way, newly-elected Congressman Sean Duffy from Wisconsin (emphasis mine) made one of his first efforts in Congress a bill that returns non-obligated stimulus funding to the taxpayers. Now his bill has been included in the continuing resolution the House is working on this week. It’s great to see our efforts to end government overspending become the core of actual legislation and not just something we all rally for.

Bus Follies

While we're on the topic of e-mail blasts, I received quite the indignant one today from something called the Campaign To Defeat Obama, a.k.a., Our Country Deserves Better PAC, a.k.a., Tea Party Express. The e-mail expresses great consternation at the fact that Organizing For America, the remnant of the Obama campaign's organizing effort (now part of the Democratic National Committee), helped get protesters to Madison to protest at the Wisconsin state capitol. "They sent out 54 messages on Twitter alone!" the e-mail shouts (emphasis theirs). They accused the Obama administration of sending in a "mob" to the state capitol to "bully" state lawmakers to abandon Walker's bill.

In the e-mail, Tea Party Express Our Country Deserves Better Campaign to Defeat Obama screams:

Organizing For America is responsible for most of the chaos, and has been filling bus after bus with protestors and shuttled them to the State Capitol. This was not a spontaneous uprising - this was an organized effort by Barack Obama to further his radical, leftist agenda.

Tea Party Express worked with Americans For Prosperity during the mid-term election campaign. What did they do? Filled buses with activists to get them to rallies and protests.

Today, however, it seems Americans For Prosperity had a hard time finding takers for their free-bus-trip offer for those wanting to support Gov. Walker's union-busting, worker-bashing bill. As of scheduled departure time, reports the Racine Journal Times, only six people had boarded AFP's Racine bus to Madison. Several key Republican lawmakers, according to recent reports, are beginning to waver in their support for Walker's labor-bashing bill.

Politicalization of Wisconsin Families Will Hurt GOP

The fight to strip public unions of the right to bargain is obviously far from over.

One result is certain. The depoliticalization that allowed Gov. Walker to be elected by some 26 percent of the Wisconsin eletorate in 2010 is over.

The politicalization of Wisconsin citizens caused by this corrupt, mean-spirited weapon used against Wisconsin families and the resulting massive demonstrations and action is a phenomena not seen here since the civil rights and peace demonstrations of the 1960s-70s.

Republicans are having second thoughts now. They should.

The people speak against Gov. Walker

Walker's Lie Becomes a Scandal

The global economic crisis of 2007-present is a historic scandal continuing today.

The perpetrators—corporate CEOs, billionaires, Wall Street—got off scot-free because the perps are too powerful.

Gov. Scott Walker's Big Lie Becomes Scandal

One result of the crisis is the short-fall in municipal, county, and state budgets.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker sees this fiscal crisis as an opportunity, in the words of Richard Nixon, to use the "available federal machinery to screw our political enemies." [Memorandum from John Dean to Lawrence Higby (August 16, 1971). Dealing with our Political Enemies.]

On the state-level, screwing political opponents seems relatively easy to accomplish as a project:

Declare a state of economic emergency, and justify everything the lock-step Republican Party does as in support of the state of emergency.

It strains credulity to believe a governor who refuses over $800 million in federal labor-intensive (jobs!) assistance to claim projected short-falls of $137 million (2011) and $3.6 billion (2011-13) can only be met by screwing political opponents—getting public unions, obstructing Democratically leaning voters, gerrymandering voting districts, targeting colleges, students, blacks and seniors—all without any consultation with stakeholders and communities of interests: Wisconsin citizens.

Gov. Walker does more than strain credulity; he stands exposed as a liar.

Here's one big lie (Pocan):

We found out [Feb. 13] after our briefing with non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB), the $3.6 billion deficit in the next budget that Governor Walker and the media has been repeating is a MANUFACTURED CRISIS. The number is based on $3.9 billion in new spending requests by agencies, a 6.2% increase. I don’t think there is a member in the legislature that would vote for that. In fact, I asked LFB Director Lang when was the last time we gave agencies exactly what they requested and was told he couldn’t think of one and he’s been here decades.

Further, the budget forecast for the next biennium projects $1.5 billion in additional revenue something we would have loved to have last session.

Every Wisconsin governor struggling with the budget has managed to balance the structural deficit without sticking it to Wisconsin political opponents.

Remember Walker's "Brown Bag" campaign gimmick ... just another, working guy?

In 2010 just over half of the half of Wisconsin citizens who turned out voted for the brown bag.

But the 2012 electorate will be very differently composed than 2010 and this scares the Republicans; hence the voter obstruction, end same-day voter registration, change the voting districts, and alter the state constitution efforts.

If you're asking what any of above has to do with the economic state of emergency and balancing the budget, the answer is nothing.

And there is the reason why Walker's lies will become a scandal.

It's just not believable that teachers, nurses, EMTs, et cetera are responsible for the budget short-falls and the crumbling infrastructure. It's not believable that agency spending requests have to be met when they never have been before.

The CEOs and billionaires who want to buy the next election are responsible and they want to keep doing what they did before, only this time effectively obstruct the political opposition from operating in Wisconsin.

Walker is covering up for these financial elite and lying about his inability to balance the budget without breaking disfavored Wisconsin families; it is a political scandal and Walker will pay the price.




Inauguration Day



GOP Offices Hiding from Phone Calls, Hiding from Wisconsinites

Update: Walker lied; "Manufactured" Budget Crisis: The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reports that projected deficits assume new spending requests by state agencies THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

These are the Republicans who can — make that MUST — do the right thing for Wisconsin (Capital Times), but they are refusing to even pick up the phone. Try it.

• Eau Claire area — Terry Moulton: Sen.moulton@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-7511
• Green Bay area — Rob Cowles: Sen.cowles@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-0484
• La Crosse area — Dan Kapanke: Sen.kapanke@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-5490
• Ripon area — Luther Olsen: Sen.olsen@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-0751
• Richland County — Dale Schultz: Sen.schultz@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-0703 
• Racine area — Van Wanggaard: Sen.Wanggaard@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-1832
• Sheboygan area — Joe Leibham: Sen.liebham@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-2056
• Menasha/Fox Valley — Michael Ellis: Sen.ellis@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-0718
• Fond du Lac area — Randy Hopper: Sen.Hopper@legis.wisconsin.gov and 608-266-5300

Find Your Legislator and Protect Wisconsin Workers

Find your legislator, and say No to Gov. Walker's war on Wisconsin workers.

Gov. Scott Walker is declaring war; make no mistake.

This is our Wisconsin built up since 1848, not Walker's personal fiefdom.

On Gov Walker and Political Lies

Update: Stop Gov. Walker's anti-democratic, anti-family power-grab!
Here's the Big Five Republican lies:

• Working families with a state employee are responsible for budget deficit
• Collective bargaining for working families is responsible for budget deficit
• Wisconsin seniors, rural citizens, blacks, browns and working families are engaged in massive voter fraud
• Modest population growth (same number of congressional seats now as last 11 years) requires radical realignment of all Congressional, State Assembly and Senate districts in a scheme that just happens to favor Republican incumbents [you'll hear more about that beauty in the coming months]
• The University of Wisconsin system needs to be run by a bunch of Republican politicians

Gov. Walker, when you target Wisconsin working families because they don't like your politics, you use the machinery of government in the same manner as Richard Nixon and Joe McCarthy.

Knock off your political paybacks and political lies. Get back to the economic state of emergency for Wisconsin working families that you told voters is your top priority.

Wisconsin citizens do not owe you and the Republican Party political allegiance. We can vote for and work for whomever we damn please. It's called: Democracy.

Gov Walker, How about capping all political appts' salaries?

Gov. Scott Walker is telling the people of Wisconsin a cook earning $28,000/year is way too much, so Walker needs to bring public employees "into line" with everyone else.

Getting into line. How about Gov. Walker begins by capping the salary of every political appointee to $45,000/year with benefits not to exceed those of a cook?

After all, Walker is claiming the people he appoints are dedicated public servants.

So, how about it, Walker?

I mean, if you are so serious about the budget. Many of us believe you are using the budget to hammer political opponents and reward cronies.

This weekend, it came to light that Wisconsin's nurses, cooks, teachers, librarians and other public workers earn 4.8 percent less than private sector workers with similar levels of education, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute.

In Dane County, we have State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) who is delivering pizzas to make ends meet.

How about your political appointees likewise step up to the plate?

GOP Declares War on Wisconsin Citizens

The GOP is targeting Wisconsin citizens who are not working with the GOP political coalition.

Using our state budget, our legislature, the Attorney General's office, seemingly every legal and political lever available, Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans are waging war against political enemies and non-aligned citizens.

Their latest target: Public employees and collective bargaining.

The unions' mortal sin is not being a part of the GOP.

Exceptions are made for favored public employees.

Take Tom Nardelli, a public employee who is on the GOP team, Nardelli was just appointed by Gov. Walker to a $90,000 a year state job. (Xoff - Uppity Wisconsin)

A long-time alder and Walker's former chief of staff in Milwaukee County, Nardelli will now draw at least $100,000 a year in pensions, on top of his $90,000 salary. (Xoff -Uppity Wisconsin)

So, GOP players like Nardelli have it made as it's likely Walker will not call out Nardelli and make noise about his pension, salary and crunching state budgets. Call it budget reform.

Other non-GOP citizens. The working class, the elderly, blacks, Latinos, college students all have one thing in common. They're not with the GOP so screw them. Call it election reform.

Who else can the GOP target? Trial attorneys who fight for consumers against big business. Call it tort reform.

What's the matter with Wisconsin, asks Theo Anderson in In These Times this morning. Good question, Mr. Anderson.

One problem is Mike Tate, chair of the state Democratic Party. Tate cannot get a message out to save his life.

Every media, every editors' phone, every GD telephone poll and kiosk, every talk show, anyone who writes have better get the message out that Wisconsin citizens are under attack by the Republican Party. Like now.

It's going to get worse very soon.

Lower Wisconsin's Drinking Age—For Rights and Business

Will Wisconsin Republicans and municipal and county candidates for the Spring election finally call for a uniform age of majority and lower the drinking age?

Back in 1986, Gov. Tony Earl infamously caved to Republican pressure in Wisconsin and federal mandates from Washington and raised the drinking age to 21.

After Ronald Reagan signed the national minimum drinking age law, states were forced to either raise the drinking age or face federal sanctions, losing a percentage of highway aid allocation.

Predictably, bars all over Wisconsin tanked; restaurant-bars folded and today the surviving establishments limp along. And Wisconsin neighborhood bars; they're a dying relic.

Let's put aside for the moment the hypocrisy of Reagan's heavy-handed approach to "states rights," and anti-government rhetoric that he had campaigned on in 1979-80.

Let's put aside the absurdity of sending 18-to-20-year-old kids overseas to risk life and limb for country and then come home and face fines for walking in a bar and having a beer. And God forbid throwing a coming-home party with peers; the potential fines are in the $1,000s.

Let's even put aside all the rights and responsibilities that the age of majority confers onto adults except for having a beer.

The fact of the matter is and always has been, beer and liqueur are good for business and Prohibition for 18-to-20-old citizens causes financial harm and a well-deserved disrespect for law.

Back in the 1980s, politicians said losing five and 10 percent of the federal highway funds would be an economic disaster for the state.

In 1993, Gov. Tommy Thompson threatened to veto a proposal lowering the drinking age to 19, saying the resulting loss of $21 million in federal funds would harm the state.

Here we are in the age when our Governor shoos away $810 million in federal stimulus money that would have created 1,000s of jobs and then declares an economic state of emergency, so the question arises: Shouldn't the Republicans now defy the national minimum drinking age law and let small businesses know Wisconsin has their back, and some backbone as opposed to say Tony Earl?