Update: See GOP Still Tampering with Our Democracy by State Senator Julie Lassa.
Wisconsin Republicans really, really would like it if you would not vote. Leave voting to the Republicans.
Republicans' latest anti-voting rights bill is Senate Bill 295, passed along a party-line vote yesterday.
The bill would "(eliminate) the position and responsibilities of special registration deputies," halting voter registration drives of disfavored citizens, (Legislative Reference Bureau).
SB 295 is being fast-tracked to the state assembly for passage and eventual signing into law by Scott Walker.
Both Wisconsin legislative chambers are gerrymandered to elect Republicans.
Since gaining power in the 2010 mid-term election, Republicans have passed numerous anti-voting laws designed to obstruct minorities, the poor and younger voters from casting votes, and reshaping Wisconsin elections to benefit Republicans.
Showing posts with label Scott Walker pathological liar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Walker pathological liar. Show all posts
Sep 18, 2015
Scott Walker—Another Day, Another Lie
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| Scott Walker in free fall, latest Aug-Sept 2015 Quinnipiac University Poll |
Appearing from Detroit on the Morning Joe program, Walker offered his own version of the legislative history of ObamaCare.
After first explaining his campaign meltdown as mere "shaking things up," Walker paid homage to dear leader Ronald Reagan and other Republican nostrums, before answering other questions.
"Democrats used 51 votes to pass ObamaCare," said Walker dodging a question asking if
Walker's supporting congressional Republicans' threats to close down the government if Congress does not defund Planned Parenthood.
Walker's point was not responsive, and is factually incorrect, another Walker lie.
Reality Land
In reality land where the bold Wisconsin governor rarely visits, on December 24, 2009 the U.S. Senate passed ObamaCare (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)) 60-39 with one senator, (Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky)), not voting (New York Times). See also Library of Congress legislative history.
The ACA is also one of the most marked-up and deliberated pieces of legislation to ever pass Congress.
The 60 votes were necessary to stave off a Republican filibuster, in which only 41 votes dictated the fate of legislation.
The Democratic-led bill also included many Republican amendments and requested changes.
"The Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passe[d] The Affordable Health Choices Act [on July 15, 2009). The bipartisan bill includes more than 160 Republican amendments accepted during the month-long mark-up, one of the longest in congressional history," notes Emily Smith at CNN.
ObamaCare would have included the public option, defeated in the Senate Finance Committee in September 2009 after two Democratic senators who took massive donations from the health insurance industry defected and voted against the public option. (Pear and Calmes, NYT)
Sen. Joe Lieberman like Scott Walker, heavily supported by money from the health insurance industry, promised to filibuster any legislation with a public option that made it to the senate floor. (ThinkProgess)
After Senate Republicans refused an up-or-down vote on this historic legislation, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) acted.
In 2009, Senate Republicans plotted to obstruct not just health care reform, but any piece of legislation that would have helped the American people, the Republican rationale being if anything helped people, it could also politically benefit Obama. (MacAskill, The Guardian) (Grunwald, Time Magazine)
No one could reason with Republicans sabotaging America for political gain.
"In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader Harry Reid says Democrats will use 'reconciliation,' needing only 51 votes, to pass the health care bill," notes Smith at CNN.
Again, to emphasize, the 60 votes were necessary to stave off a Republican filibuster, in which only 41 votes dictated the fate of the legislation.
The preeminent social historian of American medical care, Paul Starr, calls the ACA a "stunning historical achievement and the most important liberal reform since the 1960s." (Mal Contends)
ObameCare was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010.
Does Scott Walker read?
Aug 3, 2015
Scott Walker's Voter Obstruction Efforts Highlight Anti-democratic Sentiments
Through cutting early voting, photo voter ID, gerrymandering, and other work on behalf of corporations funneling anti-democratic bills through ALEC, (NBC News) Walker has become a front-man in Wisconsin to stop those politically opposed to him from voting, with a particular animus for ethnic minorities. (McGillis, TNR)
The Republican Party's war against voting is a nation-wide effort, but Walker has taken the lead in Wisconsin for years using public policy and campaign appeals as a means to divide and conquer disfavored citizens.
A grotesque effort, but conquering citizens has a long and sordid history known in the 20th century as fascism.
Walker's political allies are featured in yesterday's New York Times Magazine in a cover piece on the 50-year campaign to roll back the Voting Rights Act. (Rutenberg, New York Times)
Stopping black and brown folks from voting, this is the America Scott Walker wants, where Walker with his hands out to special interest money is considered among the few proper activities.
In 2012 the stakes were high, in 2015-16 the stakes are higher and Walker remains an inadequate personality, and a pathological liar still in fear of facing the Wisconsin people, but scheming to rob them of their rights.
Jul 30, 2015
Scott Walker Lied, Was Key Player in Aborted Open Records Scheme
The scheme to gut Wisconsin's Open Records law came from Scott Walker's office, contradicting an earlier denial from Walker that the aborted move "didn't come from us," new records show (Marley and Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) (Beck, Wisconsin State Journal).
Scott Walker lied again.
Will the national press get the story that Walker is a pathological liar, and an empty suit?
As late as July 7, Walker refused comment, (Mal Contends) before Walker issued a flat denial on the rightwing Milwaukee talk radio Charlie Sykes Show on July 10. (Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Said Walker on July 10: "That was brought to us by the Legislature, and said they wanted to look at it and wanted our input. And we brought up some things that we still think are legitimate in terms of records that involve things like having our staff giving you options on briefings and things like that. Not anything that's external in that regard. ... In the end, I think it was a mistake to even think about it in the budget, even though it didn't come from us. It's a complicated process, and it's one that I think will be best suited in a Legislative Council committee."
Scott Walker lied again.
Will the national press get the story that Walker is a pathological liar, and an empty suit?
As late as July 7, Walker refused comment, (Mal Contends) before Walker issued a flat denial on the rightwing Milwaukee talk radio Charlie Sykes Show on July 10. (Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Said Walker on July 10: "That was brought to us by the Legislature, and said they wanted to look at it and wanted our input. And we brought up some things that we still think are legitimate in terms of records that involve things like having our staff giving you options on briefings and things like that. Not anything that's external in that regard. ... In the end, I think it was a mistake to even think about it in the budget, even though it didn't come from us. It's a complicated process, and it's one that I think will be best suited in a Legislative Council committee."
Jun 14, 2015
NYT's Account of Scott Walker and a Lie
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| Dan Kaufman's exposé in the New York Times of Scott Walker and his lies to workers, and Walker's concerted attack on working families. |
Updated - A prominent Scott Walker flaw is Walker's condition of a pathological liar, a man without a conscience. (John Dean, Verdict) [Another illustration of Walker's pathological tendency to lie: Prime Minister David Cameron disputes an assertion by Scott Walker Cameron spoke ill of U.S. President Obama, after Walker made up a story about Cameron in his overheated talk to a roomful of Republican donors (Miller, Time Magazine]
In Dan Kaufman's explosive and ominous exposé in the New York Times Magazine of the betrayal by Scott Walker of the Wisconsin working class, Walker's deceit and lack of a conscience come to life.
The ease with which people as Nixon and Scott Walker lie and deceive is breathtaking, and is now on record as fact for the 2016 presidential campaign.
Kaufman's description of Walker stands out with an implicit warning that Scott Walker wants to take national the Koch brothers and ALEC's rightwing legislative agenda that Walker used, deceitfully, against the people of Wisconsin:
Writes Kaufman:
Last fall, [Terry McGowan, the president of [International Union of Operating Engineers. Local 139], a statewide union of 9,000 heavy-machinery operators] met with [Scott] Walker, who was seeking a contribution and another endorsement for governor, at a small campaign office in Wauwatosa, outside Milwaukee. "I looked across the table at him, and I said, ''We are both God-fearing men,'" McGowan told me. "'If you can tell me that right-to-work will not come on your desk, then I will take you for your word.' He looked me in the eyes, and he said, 'It will not make it to my desk.' He was looking for a contribution, and I was looking for a commitment. We both got what we came for. He kept his, and I lost mine." ...
In early March, I visited Dave Poklinkoski, the president of Local 2304, an electricians’ union, at his office in Madison, where he was drawing up a right-to-work-compliant union contract. "Divide and conquer, it works," Poklinkoski said. "It works real well." He dug out his iPad from under a pile of papers and pulled up an editorial cartoon by Mike Konopacki that showed a bloodied Terry McGowan, the Local 139 president, with a sword in his back, the hilt and handle in the shape of Walker’s head, labeled "R-T-W."
Jun 13, 2015
Walker Flack Confirms UW System-Audit Bureau Link in Forbes Mag. Online
Updated - A Scott Walker spokesperson confirmed yesterday that Walker intends to remove all references to the University of Wisconsin System from the Wisconsin statutes.
It is noted at this site that the Wisconsin legislative Finance Committee's proposed abolishment of the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) also would have the effect of nixing academic freedom guarantees contained in a section of the 1965 statute creating the Legislative Audit Bureau.
Hence, the assertion Walker's objective of destroying academic freedom would explain the bizarre call for the proposed demolishment of the LAB.
This assessment is confirmed yesterday by Scott Walker's spokesperson, Laurel Patrick, in comments made to Forbes Business online in a piece by Steven Salzberg.
Said Ms. Patrick to Forbes in an email: "... the Governor’s original budget proposal removed all references to the UW from state statute in order to allow for the proposed authority to create its own policies. This would allow the UW Board of Regents to address the issue of tenure going forward."
But Walker missed one huge reference in the LAB statute. Surrogates in the Joint Finance Committee took care of the omission.
Abolishing the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) and removing the statute does remove a major reference to the UW from state statute, one that specifically protects academic freedom, and gives previously statutory guarantees to the heavily Scott Walker-appointed and politically vetted UW System Board of Regents and of course politically vetted inspectors general.
It is noted at this site that the Wisconsin legislative Finance Committee's proposed abolishment of the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) also would have the effect of nixing academic freedom guarantees contained in a section of the 1965 statute creating the Legislative Audit Bureau.
Hence, the assertion Walker's objective of destroying academic freedom would explain the bizarre call for the proposed demolishment of the LAB.
This assessment is confirmed yesterday by Scott Walker's spokesperson, Laurel Patrick, in comments made to Forbes Business online in a piece by Steven Salzberg.
Said Ms. Patrick to Forbes in an email: "... the Governor’s original budget proposal removed all references to the UW from state statute in order to allow for the proposed authority to create its own policies. This would allow the UW Board of Regents to address the issue of tenure going forward."
But Walker missed one huge reference in the LAB statute. Surrogates in the Joint Finance Committee took care of the omission.
Abolishing the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) and removing the statute does remove a major reference to the UW from state statute, one that specifically protects academic freedom, and gives previously statutory guarantees to the heavily Scott Walker-appointed and politically vetted UW System Board of Regents and of course politically vetted inspectors general.
Matt Rothschild Calls for Resignation of Chancellor Blank and UW System President Cross
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| Matt Rothschild calls for resignation of Chancellor Blank and UW System President Cross in the face of Scott Walker and the Republican Party's attacks on the UW System. From For the Record Show with Neil Heinen (WISC -TV) |
Said Rothschild in response to a question that UW faculty tenure and related faculty governance issues such as academic freedom can be protected by the UW System Board of Regents [dominated by politically vetted Scott Walker appointees]:
"I think it's hard to sift and winnow if you're a professor if you got the Board of Regents breathing down your back constantly. I was really kind of shocked and appalled that President Cross and Chancellor Blank didn't do do more to defend the University of Wisconsin System and tenure. Because when the decision came down from the Joint Finance Committee that they were to cut five/sixths of what they said they were going to cut, $250 million, and when they came down with, 'you know, we're going to get rid of tenure,' what did they get from the president and the chancellor? Statements of gratitude to the Joint Finance Committee! That was I think appalling to people who are in the University System, I actually think they should resign."
Rothschild made his comments on the For the Record Show with Neil Heinen, also to be televised on Sunday morning at 10:00 (WISC TV- Madison).
After Rothschild's call for the resignations, Heinen tried to make an argument that this unprecedented attack on the UW System by Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republican Party's elected legislators was really bipartisan and begun under Walker's predecessor, Gov. Jim Doyle.
Rothschild will be making several appearances in the coming days including on Monday morning on the Joy Cardin Show on WPR at 7:30 talking about the Legislative Audit Bureau, and in La Crosse, speaking this coming Monday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at the north end of Copeland Park about saving "democracy in Wisconsin."
Rothschild is also a former editor at the The Progressive Magazine based in Madison.
Walker is expected to sign the state budget in the coming days, and then announce his candidacy for the presidency in the coming weeks.
Scott Walker's Attacks Are as Perverse as Ideological
Trying to comprehend why Scott Walker is attempting to destroy the UW System is akin to attempting to comprehend the violent criminal mind.
After a heinous violent crime, a healthy person—a victim or somebody reading a piece in the paper—might be wondering: Why did the perp do that, wasn't he afraid someone would get hurt?
Varying experiences of astonishment, shock, trauma and disgust might follow the acts of a criminal with bad intentions.
This what is happening now with Scott Walker and his unrelenting war on the University of Wisconsin System reportedly now becoming mobilized as Summer classes begin next week.
There is no context for most people, no way to empathize that a sitting governor would purposely destroy the pillars of what makes Wisconsin a great state. How do you understand a sociopath? We're not FBI profilers.
Defensive Posture
Make no mistake, the public political posture by the UW System administrators has been defensive and reactive as Wisconsin newspapers and TV 'news' across the state mostly present Walker's attack as a budgetary squabble among politicians, not as diverting a spectacle as Lebron and the NBA Finals.
No one is going to mistake UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca M. Blank and UW System President Ray Cross as the political equivalent of George Patton.
The usual suspects, the literate and politicized across the nation, are of course calling to arms the people of Wisconsin as the menace of Scott Walker and his surrogates in the gerrymandered Legislature toxify a world class center of learning, embedding the seeds of destruction into what historian Paul Buhle called a "verdant intellectual oasis."
This a political fight, its scope and importance, eloquently described by national political journalist, Joshua Marshall, in his follow-up to Marshall's widely noted piece last week:
Wisconsin People Are Suckers
Marshall also gently chastises the Wisconsin people for being the suckers they are for electing Scott Walker and his lackeys in the Wisconsin Legislature: "At the end of the day, the people of Wisconsin aren't victims here. They elected Walker and his no less aggressive GOP legislatures. Indeed, they've reelected them, albeit in low turnout off year elections."
That's a fact, Walker never managed to garner much more than one in four of Wisconsin voters.
It's also letting the people off too easy who stayed away from the polls the last four years (especially in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin), mumbling 'they're all crooks.'
The "full-scale political disengagement of a substantial chunk of the American population" persists.(Greenwald, The Intercept)
This applies emphatically to Wisconsin, and this foolish political disengagement is what Scott Walker relies on when he burns down the next pillar of Wisconsin in his efforts to uphold his promises to the billionaires to whom he promised he would "divide and conquer" the Wisconsin people, caught on video.
After a heinous violent crime, a healthy person—a victim or somebody reading a piece in the paper—might be wondering: Why did the perp do that, wasn't he afraid someone would get hurt?
Varying experiences of astonishment, shock, trauma and disgust might follow the acts of a criminal with bad intentions.
This what is happening now with Scott Walker and his unrelenting war on the University of Wisconsin System reportedly now becoming mobilized as Summer classes begin next week.
There is no context for most people, no way to empathize that a sitting governor would purposely destroy the pillars of what makes Wisconsin a great state. How do you understand a sociopath? We're not FBI profilers.
Defensive Posture
Make no mistake, the public political posture by the UW System administrators has been defensive and reactive as Wisconsin newspapers and TV 'news' across the state mostly present Walker's attack as a budgetary squabble among politicians, not as diverting a spectacle as Lebron and the NBA Finals.
No one is going to mistake UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca M. Blank and UW System President Ray Cross as the political equivalent of George Patton.
The usual suspects, the literate and politicized across the nation, are of course calling to arms the people of Wisconsin as the menace of Scott Walker and his surrogates in the gerrymandered Legislature toxify a world class center of learning, embedding the seeds of destruction into what historian Paul Buhle called a "verdant intellectual oasis."
This a political fight, its scope and importance, eloquently described by national political journalist, Joshua Marshall, in his follow-up to Marshall's widely noted piece last week:
I'm more interested in the practical effect of what Walker is trying to do than a discussion of tenure in the abstract. Because what Walker is doing is basically like lighting your own house on fire. States can get into financial jams and need to cut spending, either because of budgetary mismanagement or rough economic times. But if you look closely at what Walker is doing there's no real budgetary imperative behind it. It's just a desire to destroy a great public institution for the sake of doing it, driven in part by right-wing ideology and in part by the palpable animus Walker himself holds to people who managed to get an education.
A big part of what is happening here is that, to people like Walker, Madison is an anchor of Wisconsin liberalism. But not just liberalism in the partisan political sense, also scarier things like empirical thinking and new ideas. And it's not just the humanities. What really comes out in this article is how much of the scythe is aimed at the sciences. (emphasis added)
Wisconsin People Are Suckers
Marshall also gently chastises the Wisconsin people for being the suckers they are for electing Scott Walker and his lackeys in the Wisconsin Legislature: "At the end of the day, the people of Wisconsin aren't victims here. They elected Walker and his no less aggressive GOP legislatures. Indeed, they've reelected them, albeit in low turnout off year elections."
That's a fact, Walker never managed to garner much more than one in four of Wisconsin voters.
It's also letting the people off too easy who stayed away from the polls the last four years (especially in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin), mumbling 'they're all crooks.'
The "full-scale political disengagement of a substantial chunk of the American population" persists.(Greenwald, The Intercept)
This applies emphatically to Wisconsin, and this foolish political disengagement is what Scott Walker relies on when he burns down the next pillar of Wisconsin in his efforts to uphold his promises to the billionaires to whom he promised he would "divide and conquer" the Wisconsin people, caught on video.
Jun 11, 2015
Josh Marshall Says Goodbye to One of America’s Great Public Universities
Perhaps time for Scott Walker and Republicans for some critical thinking and reevaluation.
Check out Goodbye, Madison in case you have missed Scott Walker's proposed destroying what took generations to build.
Consider do we want our Summer to begin with this obscenity, followed shortly by Scott Walker announcing for the presidency working to replicate this?
Chancellor Blank may be in tough position watching the University of Wisconsin-Madison become another great public institution destroyed by Walker, but better to go down swinging.
Check out Goodbye, Madison in case you have missed Scott Walker's proposed destroying what took generations to build.
Consider do we want our Summer to begin with this obscenity, followed shortly by Scott Walker announcing for the presidency working to replicate this?
Chancellor Blank may be in tough position watching the University of Wisconsin-Madison become another great public institution destroyed by Walker, but better to go down swinging.
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| Goodbye, Madison |
Author of Abolish-the-Audit Bureau Bill Refuses Comment on Academic Freedom Guarantee
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| Omnibus Motion 521 regarding the UW System authored by Sen. Harsdorf and Rep. Schraa |
This morning State Rep. David Craig (R-Big Bend), the author of the bill to abolish the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB), declined to comment through an aide when asked if Craig would offer his assurance his bill would retain the section of the LAB statute guarding academic freedom for the UW System in the operations of the LAB. (Mal Contends)
In a related development, Rep. Craig's office also told a Capital Times reporter that his "proposal to abolish the Legislative Audit Bureau ... didn’t have anything to do with scathing audits of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation," and is simply a good government move to prevent "spending abuses." (Elbow, The Capital Times)
The LAB proposal is directly related to the proposed restructuring of the UW System though the dissolving of the LAB guarantee of academic freedom at the University of Wisconsin System, a freedom codified in several statutes of Wisconsin.
Omnibus Motion 521
The budgetary Omnibus Motion (motion 521) regarding the UW System restructuring is authored by State Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) and State Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh) both of whom are members of the powerful Joint Committee on Finance.
The Joint Committee on Finance's "primary responsibility is to serve as the principal legislative committee charged with the review of all state appropriations and revenues," as described on its webpage.
Reads the Omnibus Motion introduced by Harsdorf and Schraa.: "Suspend current law…requiring the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct an annual financial audit of the UW System. Instead, require the UW System to contract with an independent accounting firm." (Vinhout, Uppity Wisconsin)
Item 12 of the Hardorf-Schraa-Scott Walker initiative reads in part: "12. Tenure: Approve the Governor's recommendation to delete the definition of a 'tenure appointment' and language establishing the conditions under which the Board of Regents may grant a tenure appointment to a faculty member. Delete current law specifying that a person who has been granted tenure may be dismissed only for just cause and only after due notice and hearing."
University faculty tenure guarantees and limitation are codified in state statute.
Under the GOP-Walker scheme, these guarantees which attract world class researchers and faculty would transfer to the whim of the politicized UW System Board of Regents, most of whom have been vetted and appointed by Scot Walker.
Contract Employees or Tenured Faculty
This raises the question that without statutory protection, without Board of Regents support, how does the UW embed tenure in the appointments of 'tenured' faculty? An employment contract?
Does 'come to the UW System as a contract employee' really seem appealing to lure world-class researchers and faculty?
No, and that's Scott Walker and the GOP's point.
One can only hope public support for the University of Wisconsin System kills the project of Scott Walker and Republicans.
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| Items 26, 27 of GOP Omnibus Motion 521 regarding the UW System |
Jun 8, 2015
Audit Bureau Attack Is Sucker Punch to Academic Freedom of UW System
Political Payback in Proposed Audit Bureau Dissolution Is Cover for Assualt on Academic Freedom
Updated - The proposed abolishment of the Legislative Audit Bureau following the Bureau's revelations of incompetence and corruption in Scott Walker's Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), Walker's flagship 'jobs' agency, has another policy objective. (Elbow, The Capital Times)
Abolishing the independent, 50-year-old agency would also nullify a major statutory protection of academic freedom of the University System, and under current GOP policy aims give massive power to the Walker-appointed UW System Regents. (Schneider, The Capital Times)
Reads the relevant section of the 1965 statute creating the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) (13/IV/94/1):
This embedded statutory protection for the University System and academic freedom in the LAB statute would be eliminated, replaced by the analyses of proposed (and ideologically vetted) inspectors generals who would be free to proactively examine academic programs, courses within the University of Wisconsin System, instructional methods, research and public service activities and then make audits that could be used by the Walker-vetted Board of Regents for the purpose of breaking up UW-Madison, for instance, and replacing or eradicating academic programs ideologically unpopular with the GOP and political donors under the rubric of proactive fiscal action.
Notes Karen Herzog:
Seen in this light, Walker's move earlier this year to remove the Wisconsin Idea from state statutes, along with other attacks on the UW System, reveals a broader effort to diminish Walker's most potent political foe, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Extension Centers , Dane County and other Wisconsin college towns.
One wonders if UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank really regards the attack on faculty tenure as not a "disaster" in light of this further effort to destroy another statutory protection of academic freedom. (Sommerhauser, Wisconsin State Journal).
This is not a move to merely frighten or upset the Wisconsin people, as Blank has said, (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) it's another move in the GOP project to destroy the UW System.
Is it not clear that Walker and the GOP's objective is to eliminate the University System as Wisconsin knows it?
"The university’s Faculty Senate plans a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the legislative [tenure] proposal," notes Sommerhauser.
Updated - The proposed abolishment of the Legislative Audit Bureau following the Bureau's revelations of incompetence and corruption in Scott Walker's Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), Walker's flagship 'jobs' agency, has another policy objective. (Elbow, The Capital Times)
Abolishing the independent, 50-year-old agency would also nullify a major statutory protection of academic freedom of the University System, and under current GOP policy aims give massive power to the Walker-appointed UW System Regents. (Schneider, The Capital Times)
Reads the relevant section of the 1965 statute creating the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) (13/IV/94/1):
In performing postaudits under this subsection, the legislative audit bureau shall not examine issues related to academic freedom within the University of Wisconsin System. A postaudit shall not examine into or comment upon the content of the various academic programs, including degree requirements, majors, curriculum or courses within the University of Wisconsin System, nor shall any such postaudit examine into the manner in which individual faculty members or groups of faculty members conduct their instructional, research or public service activities. This subsection does not preclude the bureau from reviewing the procedures by which decisions are made and priorities set in the University of Wisconsin System, or the manner in which such decisions and priorities are implemented within the University of Wisconsin System, insofar as such review is not inconsistent with s. 36.09. [UW Board of Regents] (emphasis added)
This embedded statutory protection for the University System and academic freedom in the LAB statute would be eliminated, replaced by the analyses of proposed (and ideologically vetted) inspectors generals who would be free to proactively examine academic programs, courses within the University of Wisconsin System, instructional methods, research and public service activities and then make audits that could be used by the Walker-vetted Board of Regents for the purpose of breaking up UW-Madison, for instance, and replacing or eradicating academic programs ideologically unpopular with the GOP and political donors under the rubric of proactive fiscal action.
Notes Karen Herzog:
Currently, tenured faculty can be dismissed only for just cause or if a campuswide financial emergency is declared. Both are difficult to prove.In the absence of academic freedom protections in the LAB statute, easy to contemplate a Walker or Dept of Administration, or GOP-dominated Legislative Committee-appointed inspector general conducting an ideologically charged audit giving a policy rationale for the Walker-appointed UW Regents to act against academic programs, professors without tenure protection, courses within the University of Wisconsin System, instructional methods, research and public service activities.
The GOP's proposed language deletes 'when a financial emergency exists' as a justification for laying off or terminating tenured faculty and replaces it with different conditions: 'due to a budget or program decision regarding program discontinuance, curtailment, modification (or) redirection.' (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Seen in this light, Walker's move earlier this year to remove the Wisconsin Idea from state statutes, along with other attacks on the UW System, reveals a broader effort to diminish Walker's most potent political foe, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Extension Centers , Dane County and other Wisconsin college towns.
One wonders if UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank really regards the attack on faculty tenure as not a "disaster" in light of this further effort to destroy another statutory protection of academic freedom. (Sommerhauser, Wisconsin State Journal).
This is not a move to merely frighten or upset the Wisconsin people, as Blank has said, (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) it's another move in the GOP project to destroy the UW System.
Is it not clear that Walker and the GOP's objective is to eliminate the University System as Wisconsin knows it?
"The university’s Faculty Senate plans a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the legislative [tenure] proposal," notes Sommerhauser.
GOP Wants to Axe Legislative Audit Bureau after It Uncovered GOP Corruption
A series of audits conducted by the Legislative Audit Bureau revealed incompetence and corruption at Scott Walker's flagship 'jobs' agency, and now GOP legislators are proposing to dismantle the 50-year-old Bureau. (Elbow, The Capital Times)
The non-partisan Bureau "conducts objective audits and evaluations of state agency operations to ensure financial transactions have been made in a legal and proper manner and to determine whether programs are administered effectively, efficiently, and in accordance with the policies of the Legislature and the Governor." (Legislative Audit Bureau)
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, called the GOP proposal one of the worst ideas in a legislative session fraught with bad ideas. (Elbow, The Capital Times)
This GOP call for dismantling the Legislative Audit Bureau comes after a series in the Wisconsin State Journal revealed the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation [WEDC] had routinely given questionable loans, grants and tax credits to Scott Walker donors, and top Scott Walker aides pushed for a questionable $500,000 WEDC loan. (Wisconsin State Journal)
Walker is expected to declare his candidacy for the presidency in weeks.
The call also follows the Walker administration's criticism of Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announcing he would read the audits to determine cause to begin a public integrity investigation. (Mal Contends)
The GOP move also follows the suggested removal of Walker as Chair of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation by Wisconsin Republicans as Walker became tainted as Chair. (Mal Contends)
Michael Isikoff's story in March also revealed on a massive contribution to a Scott Walker-aligned dark money operation before the donor received "$1.8 million in special tax credits from [WEDC] ... that Walker chairs ... ."
Barca and other Democratic legislators also called for a federal investigation after the audits became public.
“Changing the nonpartisan, award-winning Legislative Audit Bureau into partisan appointees continues the Republican efforts to reduce oversight of state government," Peter Barca said. "The move would allow for more partisan and special-interest influence and further erode Wisconsin’s tradition of clean, open and transparent government."
Barca also questioned the timing of the proposal, "coming on the heels of the extremely critical audit of the Walker Administration's WEDC, which has been rife with mismanagement and perceived cronyism." (Elbow, The Capital Times)
The non-partisan Bureau "conducts objective audits and evaluations of state agency operations to ensure financial transactions have been made in a legal and proper manner and to determine whether programs are administered effectively, efficiently, and in accordance with the policies of the Legislature and the Governor." (Legislative Audit Bureau)
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, called the GOP proposal one of the worst ideas in a legislative session fraught with bad ideas. (Elbow, The Capital Times)
This GOP call for dismantling the Legislative Audit Bureau comes after a series in the Wisconsin State Journal revealed the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation [WEDC] had routinely given questionable loans, grants and tax credits to Scott Walker donors, and top Scott Walker aides pushed for a questionable $500,000 WEDC loan. (Wisconsin State Journal)
Walker is expected to declare his candidacy for the presidency in weeks.
The call also follows the Walker administration's criticism of Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announcing he would read the audits to determine cause to begin a public integrity investigation. (Mal Contends)
The GOP move also follows the suggested removal of Walker as Chair of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation by Wisconsin Republicans as Walker became tainted as Chair. (Mal Contends)
Michael Isikoff's story in March also revealed on a massive contribution to a Scott Walker-aligned dark money operation before the donor received "$1.8 million in special tax credits from [WEDC] ... that Walker chairs ... ."
Barca and other Democratic legislators also called for a federal investigation after the audits became public.
“Changing the nonpartisan, award-winning Legislative Audit Bureau into partisan appointees continues the Republican efforts to reduce oversight of state government," Peter Barca said. "The move would allow for more partisan and special-interest influence and further erode Wisconsin’s tradition of clean, open and transparent government."
Barca also questioned the timing of the proposal, "coming on the heels of the extremely critical audit of the Walker Administration's WEDC, which has been rife with mismanagement and perceived cronyism." (Elbow, The Capital Times)
May 23, 2015
Scott Walker to DA: Don't Read Audits of Failed Jobs Agency
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| Scott Walker, Chair of embattled WEDC jobs agency, looks like a pay-to-play scandal, another betrayal of public integrity by Scott Walker who now calls any suggested probe a "witch hunt" after promising in 2012 to take dramatic and aggressive action to address massive failures. |
As Walker is still seeking God's will to run for the presidency, Walker doesn't want the national political press poking around, asking questions, amid the debris of Walker's failed jobs agency.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is almost universally recognized as a trainwreck, but the announcement yesterday that Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne will review a recent audit of the WEDC to determine whether to open a criminal investigation has Walker's office fuming.
Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said, "This is clearly political gamesmanship by legislative Democrats and others more interested in playing politics than in helping improve economic development in Wisconsin." (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal)
Since when is reading an audit gamesmanship?
Since it embarrasses and might ultimately reveal more criminality from Scott Walker, busily traveling out of state dodging the press.
Even as fellow Republicans say they are "troubled" by WEDC loans and tax credits being dished out to Walker donors and the lack of any responsible oversight by Walker as WEDC Chair (Hall, Wisconsin State Journal), Walker through a spokesperson says to District Attorney Ozanne: Don't read the nonpartisan audit.
Walker's allies are also trying to kill a different law enforcement probe with the help of corrupt justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court (Levy, Mother Jones).
Now the Walker administration is criticizing a state constitutional law enforcement officer for even reading an audit after virtually unanimous bipartisan criticism of WEDC, after even Walker called for an end to WEDC loans and after the powerful GOP-led legislative committee called for Walker to be removed from the WEDC Board—essentially fired from his own flagship jobs creation agency.
Any objective observer, anyone who has ever watched Scott Walker operate, should be asking: What is Scott Walker hiding now?
Answers from Scott Walker are not forthcoming who was in D.C. yesterday at a no-press-allowed rightwing conclave attended by the likes of: Jerry Boykin with the Family Research Council, Morton Blackwell with the Leadership Institute, Tim Goeglein with Focus on the Family, Charmaine Yoest with Americans United for Life, Jeanne Monahan with the March for Life, Brian Brown with the National Organization for Marriage, Grover Norquist with Americans for Tax Reform, Brent Bozell with For America, Phil Kerpen with American Commitment, Chuck Cunningham with the National Rifle Association (NRA), former NRA president David Keene, and activist Ginni Thomas.
May 22, 2015
Scott Walker Fired as Chair of State Jobs Agency
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| Epic failure at Scott Walker-created jobs agency as powerful legislative committee removes Walker from position as Chair. From Scott Walker's 2011 Budget Address |
Walker has long promised a laser-like focus on jobs that backfired as the Republican-led Joint Committee on Finance called for removing Scott Walker from Chair of WEDC, admitting failure on the foundation of Walker's campaigns: Jobs. (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal) (Cognitive Dissonance) (Democurmudgeon)
In Scott Walker's 2011 Budget Address, Walker intoned, "During our special session on jobs, we created a public-private agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation [WEDC] that will focus solely on job creation."
Since its inception in 2011, WEDC has engaged in the shady practice directing public monies to private Scott Walker donors, uncovered by state audits, creating few jobs with recipients of WEDC largesse shipping many jobs overseas. This prompted a bill authored by State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) that would ban companies receiving WEDC money who off-shored jobs, now blocked by Wisconsin Republicans
The shady practices at WEDC is recently highlighted by a series in the Wisconsin State Journal and in a piece by national political writer, Michael Isikoff who broke a blockbuster story in March about a secret $1.5 million contribution to a GOP front group made by a Wisconsin billionaire, John Menard Jr., who subsequently received $1.8 million in special tax credits from WEDC and the virtual dismantlement of the Wisconsin DNR in Walker's proposed budget.
The DNR is long criticized by Menard whose operations were fined for violating Wisconsin environmental laws and illegally dumping hazardous wastes.
Make no mistake, the Republican-led Joint Committee on Finance did Walker a political service by removing him from Chair of the failed jobs agency, as the putative candidate for the presidency is increasingly tainted.
Meanwhile, Walker campaigning on Oklahoma yesterday is posing new national energy policy as back home in Wisconsin, the abandoned people are suffering from Walker's lack of leadership on jobs and the corruption of public office for the benefit of big political donors to Walker.
But Walker feels free to spend most of his time outside Wisconsin. Walker's allies on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are expected to soon issue a favorable and a nakedly corrupt ruling on a criminal probe into Walker's illegally directing dark money from political donors to fight off the 2011-12 Recall movement.
May 20, 2015
Scott Walker—Pathological Liar's Deceptions Look Desperate
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| Scott Walker, Chair of embattled WEDC agency, looks like a pay-to-play scandal, another betrayal of public integrity by Scott Walker who now calls any suggested probe a "witch hunt" after promising in 2012 to take dramatic and aggressive action to address massive failures. |
In a normal, moral person the weight of guilt follows lies and other actions intended to deceive.
Scott Walker exceeds the pathologies associated with typical politicians whom most Americans all assume lie to some degree.
This life-long politician is scrambling to react to the WEDC scandal, now in the deny-deceive-and-divert phase of scandal management, without apparent shame.
WEDC Chair Scott Walker issued denials yesterday that he ever read any WEDC letters about a $500,000 loan to Building Committee Inc., and another denial that Walker knew his "top aides, including [former Department of Administration] DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch, pressed for a $4.3 million loan to Building Committee Inc. as the company was collapsing. The company’s owner, William Minahan, made a last-minute $10,000 contribution to Walker’s 2010 campaign" (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal)
This follows Walker's previous denials in 2012 about any knowledge of WEDC's $11.7 million in tax breaks to Skyward, "a Stevens Point-based company bidding on a $15 million statewide student information system." (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal)
In 2012 Walker vowed "aggressive" and "dramatic" action when it was reported some 99 companies' loan repayments were ignored by Walker and WEDC. "Following the revelation that millions in past-due loans had been ignored by state [WEDC] officials for more than a year, Gov. Scott Walker vowed Thursday to take aggressive action at the embattled state jobs agency that he has championed." (Stein, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) Walker vowed then he is "a good steward of taxpayers' money."
In Walker's 2011 Budget Address, Walker announced, "During our special session on jobs, we created a public-private agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation that will focus solely on job creation. Our budget includes the resources and the organization to get the WEDC working to stimulate our economy."
But faced with revelation after revelation that $100s of millions of tax payer money is going down the sewer to donors to Scott Walker and politcal allies with few jobs created and many jobs shipped overseas, WEDC Chair Walker has been forced into a I-didn't-know line of response, a pattern of Walker's.
For instance, in March Michael Isikoff broke a story detailing how a Wisconsin billionaire, John Menard Jr., gave $1.5 million in secret contributions to a "pro-Walker political advocacy group that pledged to keep its donors secret." (Isikoff, Yahoo News)
Subsequently, Menard's "was awarded up to $1.8 million in tax credits by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation ... in 2013 and 2014," and the Wisconsin DNR, the bane of Manard, was decimated by Walker in his proposed budget.
Walker said through a flack he was "not involved" in the WEDC decision on Menard's tax credits though he chairs WEDC.
On May 10, commenting from South Carolina, Walker repeated he and WEDC "absolutely" have been good stewards of taxpayer dollars. (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal)
On Monday. commenting from New Orleans, Walker said the WEDC scandal is a "political witch hunt." (DeFour, Wisconsin State Journal) amid calls for a federal investigation into WEDC operations and widespread suspicions of pay-to-play.
Such a federal investigation might fall under the authority of the US DoJ Public Integrity Division, the US Attorney's office or a special DoJ Task Force.
Walker did not comment specifically on the question if his 2012 promised "aggressive" and "dramatic" actions at WEDC have been successful.
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