What the Tea Party & GOP hide from rural Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Senator Kathleen Vinehout has spent years compiling the information which shows exactly how much damage has been done by the Tea Party controlled Wisconsin GOP and the true cost to the tax payers.  This was done using only information which comes from the government of Scott Walker himself.

This information comes from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the state agencies which report to it.  Politicians are known for saying one thing and then doing another.  Just like how Scott Walker and Travis Tranel promise us that economically, Wisconsin is in great shape and then go behind closed doors to create a hack and slash budget full of emergency/desperation provisions because "economically speaking, Wisconsin is actually in terrible shape" and more and more extreme measures are needed to keep the ship of state afloat.

It is kind of like if Scott Walker and his pal Travis Tranel were walking around and loudly bragging about how they have billions of dollars in the bank but refuse to show anyone the bank statement to prove it.  Without proof, words are just words and nothing more.

Senator Vinehout ignored the words and went straight to the source to let the people of Wisconsin know exactly what is going on and where we are at this point in time.  And the information is very shocking and powerful indeed.  The chart at the top of this page for instance, shows how childhood poverty has grown in Wisconsin along with the cost to taxpayers due to the increase in need for free or reduced school lunches for children.  And please remember, this information comes from Scott Walker's government agencies themselves.

Please click on the link below to see the full presentation, the damage done and how a complete and detailed plan is waiting to be implemented which will turn everything around and return Wisconsin to prosperity and plenty.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9hRNruYMKiMZjlRZnEydU5hYTg/view?usp=sharing

Take action for justice!

Scott Walker political appointee Rebecca Bradley in conjunction with the Republican Party of Wisconsin and their wealthy, mostly out of state donors, have launched an attack ad airing all across Wisconsin. This ad is illegal in its intentional and malicious efforts to affect an election through fraudulent means. 

We called on TV Stations to take down the deceitful ad now running: "The advertisement in question refers to a case (14AP1270-CR State of Wisconsin v. Daniel Fierro) in which a defendant pleaded guilty to sexual assault, then appealed his conviction based on his contention he did not understand his plea deal. The Court of Appeals, in a unanimous three judge decision, sent the case back to the circuit court for a hearing on that question. The Circuit Court ruled the State had met its burden to prove Fierro did understand his plea agreement.

The advertisement, which presents the Fierro case, puts in bold letters on the screen at its start “Conviction Overturned.” That is absolutely false. Fierro’s conviction was never overturned. He was, has been, and remains in prison.

The facts in this case are indisputable. The Court of Appeals followed the law, the lower court followed the law and a man convicted of a crime has never left prison.

As you know, you have a duty "to protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising." *Licensee Responsibility With Respect to the Broadcast of False, Misleading or Deceptive Advertising*, 74 F.C.C.2d 623 (1961). Failure to prevent the airing of "false and misleading advertising" may be "probative of an underlying abdication of licensee responsibility" that can be cause for the loss of a station's license. *Cosmopolitan Broad. Corp. v. FCC*, 581 F.2d 917, 927 (D.C. Cir. 1978).

In short, this advertisement is false, misleading, and deceptive. Your station should not be a party to its distribution, and should immediately cease airing it until such time as it is corrected.

http://www.thewheelerreport.com/wheeler_docs/files/0308kloppenburg.pdf 

Here is the link to a list of all the television stations in Wisconsin.  Please call them and ask them to remove the intentionally illegal, false and misleading advertising from Justice Bradley.  

http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwicap.us%2F%3Fwpfb_dl%3D63&h=_AQEGTXAb 

An explanation....

An explanation of the very confusing system used in primary elections. It is very important to remember that a delegates pledge to a particular candidate is not set in stone and are subject to change.

https://www.facebook.com/BenSwannRealityCheck/videos/1052824864782463/

More to come.

#FeelTheBern

Folks this is big! The Bernie Sanders for President event for tomorrow at the Coliseum is going to be record breaking/ground breaking. No honest. Seriously.
Nearly the entire Coliseum is already spoken for (maybe 1k of 10k left) and this will likely be the biggest rally during the whole election for any single candidate....and it's Bernie Sanders! He is a Friend of Progressives and is inspiring the return of the American political left to the polls for the first time in awhile.
I an convinced that the inevitable, political left swing in reaction to the recent years of neoconservative extremism is beginning.
I have solid hope that something truly positive and enduring is starting to happen. There are many more races than just this one for POTUS, but this could be the catalyst many have been waiting for.
If you can, you should consider supporting Senator Bernie Sanderstomorrow evening at 7 pm at the Coliseum in Madison. Better yet, because of this massive turnout, if you can, consider showing up early (best between 2 and 4 pm) and volunteer to say hi to folks and hold a clipboard or point people towards the greenroom.
History is in the making my friends, of that I have no doubt. Solidarity is forever and I think a change that will last, if not forever, than at least a couple of generations is about to happen.

https://www.facebook.com/berniesanders/photos/gm.1725463641014441/858429317545407/?type=1  

Senator Bernie Sanders in Madison, WI

I am so very excited about this event for Senator Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. I am also happy to be a volunteer organizer for Senator Sanders. I hope that all of you who can attend, will attend this Wednesday. 

Due to the absolutely huge interest in, and support for Bernie's campaign, the event has been moved again to the Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. With a little luck we will pack every single seat at the Coliseum, over 10.000 people.

Far more people than Scott Walker has every been able to draw....ever! So lets turn out for Senator Sanders and show our support. And at the same time we will be sending a very clear message to the GOTea, ALEC and Scott Walker.

If you are able to volunteer for this event, we could really use you. There are over two hundred volunteers already signed up but we still need some more people so I hope you will consider doing whatever you can to signal in what may very, very likely be the inevitable political swing to the left which will end this era of extremist and radical corporate imperialism.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1723859444508194/1724964854397653/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I5bwrhUG3I

Wisconsin's DPW Chair Race and Controversy

I would like to share with all of you two of the single most insightful items I have found so far which tell you basically all you need to know about the race in Wisconsin for the very important position of Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.  The first is an article which is being run by multiple blogs and internet media sources.  The second is a comment to that posting which is equally well researched, insightful and a must read.

THE STORY:
http://www.bluecheddar.net/?p=42262


THE RESPONSE:
May 27, 2015 at 10:22 pm
There’s an element of the DPW that would rather control a losing party than share power in a winning coalition. You can see that in the online posts and comments saying that “we’ll never change the stupid rural voters’ minds, so to h*** with them”. You can see it in the efforts by the Dane County party to take over the DPW Rural Caucus at the upcoming convention. You can see it in the veiled threats that the winner in the DPW Chair’s race will retaliate against those who voted against him (the ballots are not secret, people, and I’ve heard that anyone who votes the “wrong way” has no future in the party).
Thad Nation has donated lots of money personally, all of it to Democratic causes (according to state records), which makes him look like a good guy. The problem is that he heads various astroturf nonprofits which funnel money to far right / Koch organizations. Rae is associate director of one of these, “Wired Wisconsin”, (http://www.wiredwisconsin.com/farewell-wired-wisconsin-a-n…/) which advocates against competition in broadband. In the year Rae was appointed associate director of Wired Wisconsin (Midwest Consumers for Choice and Competition), the “nonprofit” donated $190,000 to “60 Plus Association”, a member of the Koch family of organizations (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association) and $60,000 to the Discovery Institute (the “intelligent design” people). All of this can be seen in the 2010 IRS filing – http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/201…/26-3476004_990O_201012.pdf
Rae can scream all he wants to about how his politics are perfect, that he’s being smeared, and that he “won’t tolerate these kinds of attacks on Democrats”. But the IRS filings don’t lie. And Thad Nation’s assertions that they don’t give right wing organization work to Jason contradicts the press release from Wired Wisconsin itself.
Rae could win this election. But if he’s elected, I think that there will be a counter-revolution from the grassroots – and the bylaws will be changed so this doesn’t happen again. Of course, we’ll still lose one more election in the meantime (2016), and who knows what additional damage the republicans will do.
On the optimistic side – There are over 2300 delegates expected (only had 800 last year for an election year – why ? – for the chair’s election). People are organizing buses from across the state, and housing for those how can’t afford the hotel. Both Jeff Smith and Martha Laning have vowed that they will not, under any circumstances, violate the secrecy of the ballots. And Laning has stopped efforts by other county parties to screen their delegates – I’ve heard her say that she won’t play those kind of games to win

It Was Inevitable

Politics is a pendulum.  It naturally wants to rest in the center.  That is what politics and democracy are all about.  Dialogue and debate from opposing sides which is supposed to lead to the voices of experience and reason achieving compromise for the good of the majority.  When extremist forces cause the pendulum to swing far to one side there is an inevitable result.  The pendulum will seek the center again but not before it swings far to the other side.

In Wisconsin the extremist forces that pushed things far, far to the right are starting to see their cause and their support base collapse.  Those that supported Scott Walker back when he was a "promising up and comer"and a "Republican rock star" are now experiencing disillusionment with their hero and savior.

Walker who is now in his second term as governor, was able to use deceitful and emotional rhetoric to fire up a support base for himself and the political agenda he was given to follow by the Koch brothers.  But now after the effects of his first term are becoming widely known throughout Wisconsin his support base is crumbling.

Walker has based the entirety of his governorship solely on the concept that he is not (former governor) Jim Doyle.  Such a platform was not designed for long term viability and it is now collapsing.  Over and again Scott Walker pointed his finger at the debt Wisconsin was carrying at the end of Doyle's term as governor.  That figured was 2.2 billion dollars.  A rather large number indeed which was largely, but not completely, created by the Doyle administration.  He inherited a good amount of that debt when he became governor.

Wisconsin's nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau which provides oversight into the state's budget and finances is now reporting that Wisconsin is going to end this year nearly $400,000,000.00 in the red.  Significant money but nothing compared to the state's unavoidable debt for the upcoming year which will be at least $2,3000,000,000.00.  That number is likely to rise as Wisconsin under Walker's leadership has officially announced it is unable to properly collect the taxes which the state needs to operate and support its infrastructure.

Also not figured into the debt amount are the millions of dollars that Walker's pet project, the Wisconsin Economic & Development Corporation is handing out in the forms of loans, mostly to large corporations.  The majority of these loans are not being repaid yet the WEDC continues to writes checks which give the taxpayers money to businesses which have been using a portion of the money they get to file bankruptcy and pocket the rest.  Many others have used their money to move factories and jobs out of Wisconsin.  Several beneficiaries of the largest loans have used the money to move their business's overseas and out of the United States altogether.

As this information is becoming more commonly known across the state, even to those who normally don't "sweat the details" and traditionally have supported Walker no matter what, Walker's grip on the hearts and minds of his base is slipping and slipping fast.  Add to this the utter failure of Walker to keep his central campaign promise from his first election of adding 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin and it his easy to see why the governor is in trouble.

The tipping point though came last week when Scott Walker turned on his campaign donors who wanted him to approve a new, huge casino be built.  Years in the planning, the casino would have added thousands of jobs to a state that has been bleeding jobs under Walker's watch.  Right wing business and lobbying groups were outraged that Walker would turn on those who funded his campaign believing that they would be rewarded for that support.

Walker kept talking the same talk as always and blamed his decision on former Governor Jim Doyle. This time though nobody was buying that excuse.  The builders and planners of the casino had signed contracts years ago securing the money they wanted from the state to help build the casino.  They needed money from the state for the project but the loan they wanted from the taxpayers was guaranteed and set in stone.

So why did Scott Walker rip up the deal at the last minute?  Why did Walker risk angering the very forces of corporate interest that paid for him to become governor?  It was because Walker's new presidential campaign manager and the Koch/ALEC people behind the Iowas Freedom Summit which occurred over this last weekend told him to.

The ultra-powerful, far right wing lobbying group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has voiced opposition to the Governors actions recently.  This coming at a critical time when Walker is desperately trying to shut down the criminal investigations into his campaigns, a time when he needs the money from WMC and his other biggest financial supporters, the Club For Growth the most.

It was the straw that seems to have broken the camel's back for Walker in Wisconsin.  His oldest supporters from longtime insiders to the lowest ranks of the remaining Tea Party faithful immediately made their resentment for the failing governor known.

Kristi LaCroix who allowed herself to be in commercials supporting Scott Walker by attempting to shame and degrade all of Wisconsin's teachers and educators (the "sour grapes" woman) unleashed an online tirade against Walker and accused him of using her and turning her into a traitor against all those teachers and educators and never recompensating her for her involvement.   What was she expecting from the Walker regime?  Scott Walker has a long history of throwing people under the bus without a second thought.  She was convenient to him, not someone of proven long term worth like Tim Russell who was just released from jail and will surely be given a very cushy state job by the man he fell on his sword for.
As a matter of fact, perhaps the biggest lie Walker told at the Iowa Tea Party rally relates to education in Wisconsin.  Walker swaggered about on the stage there and told the story of how Megan Sampson won Teacher of the Year in Wisconsin and was then fired from her job as an educator.  Supposedly because of budget cuts, and Sampson being the lowest on the totem pole, lost her job so that more experienced educators could retain theirs.  Walker claimed that his education "reforms" in Wisconsin will prevent that situation from ever happening again.

It is an interesting story but there are a few problems with it.  1.  Megan Samson did not win a Teacher of the Year award.  2.  She was not fired from her job.  3.  Scott Walker's "reforms" would not affect the situation in any way and do not address such situations at all.  4.  Budget cuts which threaten our schools, are actually created by Scott Walker.

So Scott Walker is actually the cause of, and not the solution to these problems.  Given the support that Kristi LaCroix has shown for Walker and his attacks on education in Wisconsin, including a new and devastating $300,000,000.00 cut to the state's university system.
More on that story here:  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/28/1360754/-Myth-Busting-Scott-Walker-s-Outstanding-Teacher-of-the-Year-Got-Fired-Story?detail=facebook#

Even the members of the ragtag Tea Party group called Knot My Wisconsin, a rogue and sometimes felonious group of rabid Walker supporters, have turned on their former wunderkind.  Well known Knot My Wisconsin member Matt Lepperd went on the record saying:

"I am one of those supporters he lost.  and YES, if and when he runs for re-election here, I will vote for him.  I will NOT support his POTUS dream.  He is no more ready for that position than Obama was, and we all see how that turned out,  I am FURIOUS that he put himself first.  He lied in the debates when asked if he was going to run in 2016....and he then kicked off his 2016 campaign the night of the election.  He shoots down jobs in Wisconsin to please supporters in IOWA to meet with the people who demanded he deny the casino...he takes pictures with them.  Then flies to meet with the Koch brothers the next morning????  I was there at his victory party,  Every word he spoke was spoken as a presidential candidate and not as a grateful man who just won a hard fought election.  He is now governing to defend his POTUS chances and is not interested in doing his job.  I have never been more disappointed in someone I had so much respect for."

And that was coming from someone who belongs to a group that said they would use firearms and kill citizens at polling locations and children at schools to affect the outcome of Walker's elections. Those comments came from a right wing online publication that also has gone from supporting to condemning Walker.  You can read the full story here:  http://wisconsindailyindependent.com/walker-walking-a-tightrope-in-a-political-game-of-chicken/

Another item coming from the extremist Iowa Freedom Summit concerning Scott Walker was a bold statement which he told the crowd that "he had completely defunded Planned Parenthood" in Wisconsin and that mammograms and abortions would not be readily available in the badger state.  Walker had long denied that he had planned to go after Planned Parenthood, but had in fact, done just that.  The timing of this statement is interesting because women within the Republican Party have started questioning the party's doctrine on women's health issues.  Last week the GOP in Congress had to remove a bill they were about to vote on because even the female Republican members of Congress were about to walk out of the chambers as the bill came up.

To make matters worse for Walker when it comes to his support and/or increasingly growing lack thereof in Wisconsin, a memo from within his administration revealing that he was cancelling his gubernatorial responsibilities to pursue his dark horse POTUS dream was made public this week. You can read that here:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/252760075/Scott-Walker-Cancels-State-of-the-State-Events-to-campaign-in-California#scribd

Scott Walker has been burning bridges for years and it took awhile for some of the people to catch onto that fact.  They are also starting to notice that he has begun to burn some of the bridges in front of him as his sociopathic ego starts to run away from his ability to control it.

When the political pendulum swings, it will take you along with it.  It doesn't matter who you are or who you think you are, the process is bigger than any individual.  That is something which Scott Walker has never been capable of realizing before and doesn't seem to be capable of recognizing even now.

It will be interesting to see where the inevitable left swing brought about by right wing extremism takes us before the pendulum returns to center.  Maybe it will be enough to undo what Walker has done?
  

                               Image courtesy of The Daily Call  http://www.thedailycall.org/ 

The Daily Call podcast:  http://www.thedailycall.org/?tag=podcasts-to-ponder-pearls-in-ocean-of-the-internet 

Speaking of big and bold, in preparing for his attempt at winning the GOP presidential nomination, Walker tried to show his knowledge of international diplomacy and history.  Here are the results of that attempt:  http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/jan/28/scott-walker/scott-walker-records-show-soviets-treated-ronald-r/ 


And of course the opposition to Walker is still.....well the opposition to Walker.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/wisdems/top-10-rejected-names-for-scott-walkers-pac-h8iz 

And of course some people just quite literally.....hate Scott Walker.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2015/01/26/dropkick-murphys-wisconsin-governorscott-walker-literally-hate-you/URJgdDgNwJR7yHlG8asIhJ/story.html 

Authors note:  To the person I won't name who is trying to use the comment section of my blog to further their own blog's minimal readership, it is not going to happen.  Many people have tried that before and failed.  Enjoy your Stockholm Syndrome though, or better yet seek counseling.