How Many Teachers Has Scott Walker Fired?

I was talking to a teacher the other day who was telling me about 21 teachers who will lose their job under her district's latest plans. She asked me, "How many teachers has Scott Walker fired?" I couldn't answer her question at the time, but I thought it was a very interesting question.

See, the whole reason that Walker says he stripped the rights of our public workers last year was to give local governments and districts the "tools" needed to deal with his massive budget cuts without firing any teachers. Walker said that this would save thousands of teachers jobs. However, we know that this has been far from the case. So, how many teachers has Scott Walker fired?

According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Scott Walker has fired* at least 1,446 teachers!

That's 2.4% of Wisconsin's teachers!  All fired by Scott Walker in one year, so that corporations and super rich people like Diane Hendricks can pay little or no state taxes. In the end, we suffer with lower-quality education. The children of the super rich go to the best private schools money can buy.

So much for saving thousands of teachers' jobs, but we all know that wasn't the reason Walker stripped their collective bargaining rights. It was to push his far-right ideological and corporate goal of stripping rights from a specific group of people he figured he could get away with, public employees. "Divide-and-conquer," as he told Diane Hendricks just before she gave Walker the biggest donation in Wisconsin history and less than a month before he "dropped the bomb."

Walker's "tools" don't work.

But we all know Walker is a big fat liar.



*Yes, I know he didn't directly fire them, but they lost their jobs due to his massive budget cuts to give tax breaks to corporations. So the buck stops at Walker.

Scott Walker Doesn't Care About Victims, Willfully Stealing

Repeated and passionate calls by many prominent people and organizations for Walker to reverse his decision to steal money from victims have fallen on deaf ears. It's become quite evident that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker doesn't care about victims of document fabrication, forgery and other financial service abuses. Walker announced plans last week to steal that money to help fix his budget deficit of over $3 billion.

Walker has also shown how little he cares about getting Wisconsin moving forward again. Wisconsin will continue to suffer as long as the families and communities in need of this money continue to suffer. Milwaukee itself has large swaths of affected areas, and the $31.6 million Walker plans to steal won't even be enough for a full recovery. The settlement money is desperately needed, but Walker doesn't care.

Walker is supposedly one of those governors who doesn't use "one-time fixes" such as settlement money. In Walker's Budget Repair Address nearly a year ago, he criticized previous governors for taking money from the tobacco settlement.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has called on us to contact both Walker and Attorney General Van Hollen to try to convince them to not steal money from victims to solve Walker's budget problems.

Contact Scott Walker:

• Phone: (608) 266-1212
• Contact Form: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/Contact-Us
• Email: govgeneral@wisconsin.gov

Contact Attorney General Van Hollen:

• Phone: (608) 266-1221

Scott Walker Stealing Victims' Money to Repair Budget Deficit

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker lies when he says he balanced the budget. Using accounting tricks, Wisconsin has a deficit of $216 million. Using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which we demand of every other business and government in Wisconsin, we have a deficit of about $3 billion.

Wisconsin was awarded $31.6 million from the Wall Street mortgage fraud settlement. This money is supposed to go to Wisconsin taxpayers who were victims of fraud and abuse by banks. However, Walker is planning on stealing most of the money to help repair the budget deficit he tells us he fixed. Walker is stealing from middle-class taxpayers, because he can't be truthful about his incompetence, and he can't make the tough decisions such as appropriately taxing the rich corporations and individuals who fund his campaign.

These people are really hurting, but Walker has no problem taking from them to keep the millions of fundraising dollars pouring in from outside Wisconsin. The settlement money isn't meant to help Walker do his job. It's meant for people who work hard doing their job and were victims of illegal financial practices or negligence. Walker used to say he was against things such as accounting tricks and stealing settlement money. Like during his Budget Repair Address nearly a year ago.

"The facts are clear: Wisconsin is broke and it's time to start paying our bills today — so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorrow. This deficit did not appear overnight. Wisconsin got here through a reliance on one-time fixes, accounting gimmicks and tax increases. Previous governors and legislatures from both parties took money from our tobacco settlement."

Please, Mr. Walker, don't steal from those who are down, those victims and taxpayers. Where's your Christian heart when you need it?

Ron Johnson Thinks The Budget Deficit Is Your Problem, Not His (Part II)

Last week, Senator from Wisconsin Ron Johnson voted against even considering raising taxes on himself and other millionaires in the future, not even a cent. Mr. Johnson would rather kill Medicare than even consider raising taxes on himself. Fortunately, a majority of Republicans voted with the Democrats to consider a non-binding resolution that says those who make $1 million or more "make a more meaningful contribution."

Today, the resolution was considered, but Mr. Johnson and the rest of the Republicans voted against bringing the resolution to a vote. Mr. Johnson and the Republicans didn't want to have to vote against the actual bill, because it's such a ridiculous stance, but most of them have signed onto Rover Norquist's no-tax pledge and can't raise revenue in any way.

Why would Ron Johnson vote against even considering the bill when so many Wisconsin families are struggling and all Johnson can talk about is holding up the Senate in order to reduce the deficit?

Here's the content of the very short bill (S. 1323):

(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:

1. The Wall Street Journal reports that median pay for chief financial officers of S&P 500 companies increased 19 percent to $2,900,000 last year.
2. Over the past 10 years, the median family income has declined by more than $2,500.
3. Twenty percent of all income earned in the United States is earned by the top 1 percent of individuals.
4. Over the past quarter century, four-fifths of the income gains accrued to the top 1 percent of individuals.

(b) Sense of the Senate- It is the sense of the Senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1,000,000 or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort.

One may remember that Mr. Johnson received ten million dollars in compensation from his company, Pacur, earlier this year. If Mr. Johnson voted for this bill, later he would have to vote to increase his own taxes (unless he flip-flops) since the bill says those making at least a million dollars should pay more taxes.

Ron Johnson is perfectly happy to vote to eliminate Medicare, but he won't even vote to agree on a motion to consider a non-binding resolution that says at some later time he'll vote to increase his own taxes. Mr. Johnson thinks the budget deficit is a big enough problem to halt all other Senate business, but he doesn't think it's a big enough problem to require a little bit more of his $10,000,000.00. He'd rather take money from the poor, elderly, disabled and from the programs every middle-class American pays for and counts on.

It's your big problem, not his.

Ron Johnson Thinks The Budget Deficit Is Your Problem, Not His

Today, the U.S. Senate voted to consider a non-binding resolution (a bill that says something but does nothing) to say that the budget deficit should be fixed through shared sacrifice, not just on the backs of the poor and middle-class. The motion was agreed to with 74 yes votes, but Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin voted no.

Why would Ron Johnson vote against even considering the bill when so many Wisconsin families are struggling and all Johnson can talk about is holding up the Senate in order to reduce the deficit*? Even a majority of Republicans voted to consider the resolution. So why not Mr. Johnson?

A read of the very short bill (S. 1323) may provide some insight.

(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:

1. The Wall Street Journal reports that median pay for chief financial officers of S&P 500 companies increased 19 percent to $2,900,000 last year.
2. Over the past 10 years, the median family income has declined by more than $2,500.
3. Twenty percent of all income earned in the United States is earned by the top 1 percent of individuals.
4. Over the past quarter century, four-fifths of the income gains accrued to the top 1 percent of individuals.

(b) Sense of the Senate- It is the sense of the Senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1,000,000 or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort.

This appears to be the critical sentence - "It is the sense of the Senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1,000,000 or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort."

One may remember that Mr. Johnson received ten million dollars in compensation from his company, Pacur, earlier this year. If Mr. Johnson voted for this bill, later he would have to vote to increase his own taxes (unless he flip-flops) since the bill says those making at least a million dollars should pay more taxes.

Ron Johnson is perfectly happy to vote to eliminate Medicare, but he won't even vote to agree on a motion to consider a non-binding resolution that says at some later time he'll vote to increase his own taxes. Mr. Johnson thinks the budget deficit is a big enough problem to halt all other Senate business, but he doesn't think it's a big enough problem to require a little bit more of his $10,000,000.00. He'd rather take money from the poor, elderly, disabled and from the programs every middle-class American pays for and counts on.

It's your big problem, not his.

*The first effort Johnson's put forth is to further slow a Senate which is on track to be one of the least productive Senates in decades.

Walker Administration Says Convicted Felon Reflects What He's All About

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was planning to sign his radical budget in Green Bay this Sunday at a company whose CEO has been convicted of 8 counts of tax evasion. Walker's administration said that the company "reflects really what this budget and what Governor Walker's first term here is all about."

Exactly. Walker and the Republicans are all about the rich and powerful bending the rules for themselves and letting others' foot the bill. The company, Badger Sheet Metal Works, was hand-picked by the Walker administration, and they certainly picked the perfect company to trot out as an example of what their budget and policies are all about.

The irony hasn't evaded the local media, as even the Journal Sentinel is running a story (though with a completely unrelated story at the end about Democratic recall candidate Shelly Moore), and the Walker administration has moved the budget signing to another Green Bay company, Fox Valley Metal-Tech Inc.

The budget signing Sunday is still being closed to the public, as Walker doesn't want his photo-op ruined by truthful signs of protest. He'd rather the imagery make it appear as though he's working for Wisconsin's interests. Instead, protesters will be relegated to the other side of the street.

That hasn't stopped calls for protesters to come to Green Bay and show their support for Wisconsin education, beer and other ideals. In fact, while in the Fox Cities visiting my family and preparing to join the protest in Green Bay this Sunday, we received a phone call from an activist group asking us to join the protest. So, hopefully we can expect a good showing at the corporate photo-op.

It's time to rally the troops and head North!

Wisconsin Republicans Pass Budget So Fast That Errors Remain

Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate were so concerned about getting their radical budget passed as quick as possible that they inadvertently left a few provisions that they had intended to remove. Or so they say.

Seriously?! They were that careless in crafting and voting for the budget that they voted for provisions that they didn't know were still there? Yup, because now they're begging Governor Walker to save them by removing those items with his veto.

So, what did the Republicans vote for that they didn't mean to vote for?

1. Expansion of independent charter schools to all counties, not just Milwaukee and Racine
2. Reduced disclosure of financials statements for legislators

I find it interesting that they just happened to forget to remove Item (2) which personally benefits the Republicans. It will be even more interesting to see if Walker vetoes this item. I don't have much hope for removing the first item, because Walker is dead-set on running Wisconsin's public school system into the ground in favor of private schools.

Other items the Republicans voted for but now want removed:

• Craft beer-killing provisions (fought heavily for by MillerCoors who is headquartered in Chicago)
• Legalize bail bondsmen
• Legalize auto title lenders
• Provisions allowing credit unions to convert to banks while taking members' assets
• Allow liquor licenses for movie theaters

Why vote for something if you don't want it to become law?

Thank God the Republicans are coming to their senses now, but where were these senses last week when Wisconsin needed them?

Rep. Peter Barca sent out an email asking Wisconsinites to send a citizen veto, where you can select which provisions you'd like Governor Walker to veto.

Dear Friend,

Governor Walker and his cronies in the state legislature hoped that by passing the state budget at 3 a.m. last Thursday that you would be asleep and that you wouldn't notice their attacks on Wisconsin's working families, seniors and schoolchildren.

But we are not sleeping and we are not going to stop fighting.

That's why I sent Governor Walker a veto letter today to urge him to veto some of the items that are so egregious that they undermine the core values of our state.

Will you join me in urging Governor Walker to veto items that attack Wisconsin's middle-class working families by sending your own citizen veto letter?

http://www.wisdems.org/citizenveto

We simply can't allow Governor Walker to sign a state budget that rewards the wealthy and elite with $2.3 billion in corporate loopholes and giveaways while raising taxes on our seniors and cutting $1.6 billion from our schoolchildren.

We need to send Governor Walker a clear message that our state budget is not his personal piggy bank -- it is Wisconsin's budget.

Please visit http://www.wisdems.org/citizenveto now to read my veto letter and to send your own.

With your help and support, we'll show Governor Walker that we'll never stop fighting for our shared Wisconsin values.

Thank you,

Rep. Peter Barca

Wisconsin Senate Republicans Pass Radical Budget Without Change

Late tonight, the Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted to pass the radical far-right budget passed by the Assembly Republicans very early this morning without change. As a Republican act of class warfare, the budget actually increases spending over the previous year, while taking millions in tax breaks from the middle-class and poor and giving them to corporations instead. All 8 amendments offered by the Democrats were rejected, and thus none of the Democrats voted for the budget.

The Democrats offered an amendment that would have restored collective bargaining rights to all workers in Wisconsin, not just employees of corporations. However, all of the Senate Republicans voted to reject the amendment and keep those rights out of the reach of most of our public workers, even though we know stripping those rights "doesn't save any" money.

Some of the changes that the Democrats tried to make in both the Assembly and Senate:

• Increase investment in Wisconsin businesses through the Wisconsin Growth Fund
• Remove all WiscNet wording from the budget
• Remove tax increases on the poor and middle-class by removing the changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Homestead Credit
• Remove the $50 reduction in unemployment benefits
• Remove changes to child labor laws that allow employers to make children work more hours during school (more than 40 if they're over 16)
• Increase public school funding by $365 million and remove expansion of the choice program
• Restore funding for gifted and talented programs and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) grants
• Fund the Wisconsin GI Bill and increase financial aid when tuition increases
• Require the state to continue operating the SeniorCare program
• Remove the enrollment cap on the FamilyCare program
• Prohibit the administration from making changes to BadgerCare without legislative approval
• Restore funding for services such as fire, police and garbage collection
• Remove the significant weakening of rules on payday loans that also allow auto title loans in Wisconsin again
• Restore funding for recycling

None of these changes were accepted. No changes were accepted. There was absolutely no collaboration or compromise from the Republicans.

Thanks to WisPolitics Budget Blog for detailing much of this information! (Senate Democrat Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - collective bargaining)

The Republicans aren't as fearful of the recall elections, because they've now passed just about every far-right and corporate wishlist item from the past 50 years. Let's make sure the Republicans get what's coming to them, and vote in the July 12 and 19 recall elections (if they're in your district).

Unfortunately, far fewer people have been showing up to protest all of these radical changes than showed up during ice and snow to protest. As Governor Walker signs the budget, we could really use one last massive protest to show the Republicans just how much Wisconsin is against their far-right ideals.

I'm putting my voice in for a protest this Saturday that we all must attend!

Wisconsin Assembly Republicans Increase State Spending With New Budget Passed To Senate

Another vote in the deep dark night. The Wisconsin Assembly Republicans voted for their budget just after 3:00am Thursday morning. All of the Democrats voted against it, and all of the nearly 40 amendments offered by the Democrats were rejected. The massive, oddly-named "simple amendment" by the Republicans was adopted without debate and without any Democrats voting in favor.

The Republicans' mantra this past year has been that spending is out of control. Rep. Dean Kaufert said just before voting for the budget, "We have been living on the credit card for a long time." Unfortunately, Kaufert and the rest of the Assembly Republicans just voted to increase our spending, as this budget spends more money than the previous Democrat budget. So, if not decreased spending, what are Republicans for?

It's very clear that the Republicans don't care about spending, at least not when it's for corporations. The Republican budget takes tax breaks for the middle-class and the poor and gives them to corporations. If the Republicans give any reason for this, it is that it will help create jobs, but their logic is flawed. One look at the stock market's performance since 2009, and you'll see that corporations aren't having any cash flow problems. The Federal government already gave them huge bailouts and tax breaks, and Governor Walker gave them a $117 million tax break within the first few weeks he was in office. A little extra cash won't motivate them to hire any more than they already aren't. Yet, real Wisconsin citizens depend upon the money that's being taken away from them. The Republicans are playing the part of Robin Hood's evil twin.

Rather than decreasing spending, the Republicans are more concerned with things such as making sure the poor have more abortions by reducing their access to contraceptives. The Republicans fought for nearly 30 minutes to cut state funding for Planned Parenthood. Contrary to what the Republicans think, the majority of Planned Parenthood's services are in preventative care and contraceptives, not abortion. In fact, abortions account for less than 3 percent of Planned Parenthood's services. The net effect of reducing contraceptives, more abortions!

The radical budget is a Republican act of class warfare, but not just via their redistribution of wealth through tax breaks. It significantly reduces funding to our public schools, while providing more funding to charter and voucher schools which are held to a lower standard. The reduction in funding to our public schools reduces access to high quality education for poor and middle-class children by condensing the reach of our high-quality schools to a few. The budget also reduces funds for healthcare to seniors and the poor, significant cuts to local government services such as police and fire, among a number of other far-right and corporate wishlist items.

I'm not the only Wisconsinite up this late with concern for my state and its people, and Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca knows it, 

"The middle class is awake. They're angry. They don't like being treated in this fashion."

Don't forget The People vs. Scott Walker Capitol rally today at noon!

Thanks go out to the WisPolitics Budget Blog for staying up late and blogging nearly every detail of the last 12 hours!

Ron Johnson Votes To Kill Medicare for Wisconsinites Age 55 and Under

Ron Johnson, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, voted today for the Republican/Paul Ryan budget which kills Medicare for citizens who are 55 and under in favor of a voucher program which will cover less than half the costs of health insurance.

Even though Republicans are quietly and swiftly walking back from the plan that nearly all House Republicans voted for, Johnson just had to vote against us. Five Senate Republicans voted against the budget and for us. So there was cover for Johnson to vote against his party's wishes. Instead, he simply toed the party line, but did we really expect anything less from Johnson?

Actually, we should expect more from Ron Johnson in this case. Johnson's own Senate campaign website has a blog post, Keeping Promises to Our Seniors by Preserving Medicare and Social Security Benefits, that rips on the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare") for cuts to Medicare. Johnson promises to repeal the Act in order to eliminate the cuts. Now he voted to cut Medicare even further than the Act he wishes to repeal does, to the point of near extinction.

However, not only is Johnson flip-flopping from his earlier position, he's lying about the Act's cuts to Medicare. They're cuts to Medicare spending by increasing efficiency, not by reducing benefits. The Republican budget would cut Medicare spending by reducing benefits, which Johnson says in his post he's against. The title says it all, "Keeping Promises to Our Seniors by Preserving Medicare and Social Security Benefits."

Thanks a lot, Ron Johnson! Could you get off my Medicare and please start creating some jobs, that is what you told us you would do!

I believe we can recall Ron Johnson, but at this point his power is much more benign than Governor Scott Walker. Something to think about after a successful Walker recall. From now on, we must think carefully when placing our vote. There was no doubt that Johnson was a dud from the start, and many people were stunned by his win. So, unless that election was stolen (doubtful), we weren't doing our work when we elected Ron Johnson.

The Fight Is Not Over, Wisconsin - Massive Rally at the Capital Saturday!

The Wisconsin Wave and We Are Wisconsin are organizing a massive rally this Saturday in Madison at the Capital from 2:30-4:00pm with music and speakers. Come show Walker and the Republicans that we care deeply about Wisconsin's future, and we won't stop fighting until they start talking about real solutions to balance the budget and most importantly create jobs.

From the Wisconsin Wave:

Walker and legislative allies plan to bypass courts, jam rights-stripping measures through with their budget proposal!

We Are Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Wave will host a rally on the Capitol steps on Saturday, May 14, to send Scott Walker and his legislative allies a resounding message: stop your attacks on working people.

RSVP here: http://wisconsinwave.org/rsvp-may-14th
(please see the bottom of this event posting for info about buses coming from outside of Madison)

Wisconsinites have joined together and prevented Scott Walker’s radical plan to take away worker rights for three months, but he is not done. As we learned from their illegal attempt to jam through the budget repair bill in the dark of night, Walker and his allies are so hell-bent on taking away the rights of Wisconsin workers that they are prepared to use any and all means necessary to achieve their goals.

Now, with their first cynical attempt at union-busting tied up in the courts, Walker’s allies now say they’re ready to add the rights-stripping measures to the state budget now flying through the legislature.

Reintroducing plans to take bargaining rights away from workers into Scott Walker’s fatally-flawed state budget would consolidate Walker’s attacks on Wisconsin’s middle class into a single, horrific piece of legislation. Scott Walker’s budget:

• Raises costs in health care and food assistance programs that are relied upon by 1.2 million workers, unemployed, retired and disabled people in Wisconsin
• Breaks up and corporatizes the UW System, raising tuition and threatening closure of campuses
• Guts the ability of Wisconsin Technical Colleges to prepare and retrain working people
• Eliminates advanced placement and science and technology course in schools
• Rolls back recycling and conservation programs throughout Wisconsin

Despite all of this, Scott Walker’s fatally-flawed budget still has plenty of room for gifts for his dearest friends. Containing $200 million of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in giveaways to his largest donors, Walker’s budget is a bonanza for the donors and corporate lobbyists who surely wrote it.

The legislature must reject this horrifying budget and start over. The attacks on working families, seniors, students, the poor, and the environment and our rights must end. Join We Are Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Wave at the State Capitol at 2:30pm on Saturday, May 14, because our fight continues and we will not be silenced.

Buses will be driven in from all over Wisconsin. See the Wisconsin Wave site for more details.

Help take a stand against extreme-right policies and for real solutions! Join us this Saturday at the Capital from 2:30pm-4pm.

Don't forget to bring your friends and family, because these rallies have been peaceful and fun community events with many different people from all over Wisconsin.

Scott Walker's Insecurity and Dangerous Contradiction

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is so afraid of his fellow Wisconsinites that he continues to make us pay for beefed up security around the Capital. The Journal Sentinel reports that the extra security costs around the Capital are about to exceed $6 million. At the same time, Walker is hoping to quickly sign a bill into law legalizing concealed weapons before the recall elections this summer. For someone who cares so much about his own security, he sure doesn't care much about ours.

Unbelievably, the bill will allow anyone in Wisconsin to carry a concealed weapon without training, a permit or a background check. Do we have such short memories that we forget the recent shooting in Arizona which nearly killed Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords?

Why do we need to be able to carry weapons concealed? There is absolutely no benefit out of it. We have the right to own a gun, but we don't have a right to sneak around with it. No one besides law enforcement should have the privilege to carry a concealed weapon. Especially in Wisconsin, when you don't know just how drunk the guy next to you could be.

Do we have such short memories that we forget the two stabbings on Mifflin Street last weekend? Does anyone think that concealed weapons will decrease the chance of that occurring again?

The contradiction was even more apparent when I found the two articles right next to each other on the Journal Sentinel home page. Walker, if you're so afraid of us now, how afraid will you be when we can sneak an AK-47 around you just about anywhere*? Will we have to pay even more for Walker to feel safe among us? I know that I'll personally feel less safe if they legalize concealed weapons. Walker, you want beefed up security for yourself, but you want to decrease the security of every Wisconsinite. That's a dangerous contradiction for the people of Wisconsin.

It's not like this bill saves any money or creates any jobs.

Instead of trying to cram your extreme agenda down our throats, could you please start working on creating jobs like you said was your top priority?

*I am in no way saying that I condone violence against anyone, nor am I saying that anyone should be violent towards any of our representatives. Please, protest with your mouth, not your weapons. However, the point needs to be made that if Walker feels insecure now, he can only feel less safe if he signs this bill into law.

Republicans Spent $27,000 On Lawyers To Refuse Collective Bargaining Bill Negotiation

During the debate surrounding the collective bargaining rights-stripping bill, the Republicans spent $26,955 of Wisconsin taxpayer money on lawyers trying to force the Wisconsin 14 back instead of trying to negotiate with them. The Republicans had days and weeks to negotiate, but at every step they insisted they wouldn't. Now we get the bill for their "service to Wisconsin." I call BS! For such a political move, the Republicans shouldn't be using taxpayer money, they should be using campaign or personal money.

Republican attorney Jim Troupis sure is making a lot of money from Prosser, Walker and the rest of the Republicans. It almost looks like Troupis is setting the Republicans up to come crawling back to him every few weeks. Maybe it's time the Republicans find a new attorney, because the powers the Republicans asserted (ability to arrest the Democrats) was false. How did this attorney help Wisconsin? I absolutely forbid my tax money be spent in such a way, especially when these Republicans want to cut our schools and teachers' (fully solvent) pensions to try to dig up money.

The entire cost of any damages to the Capitol building and grounds during the months of protests will likely be less than the few days of legal work for the Republicans. How dare they complain about the costs of hearing the voices of the people of Wisconsin!

Republicans have spent over $200,000 of Wisconsin taxpayer money on private lawyers so far this year, and that number is likely to more than double before the end of summer.

Also, it appears Republican State Senator Alberta Darling hasn't learned her lesson. She says if they don't get their way in the courts, they'll add the collective bargaining bill to the budget, and she'll vote for it.

Ron Johnson Doesn't Think Paul Ryan's Plan Does Enough To Hurt Us

I don't want you to miss this!

Friday, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin Ron Johnson had his first news conference since taking office, but the only report I can find is from the Journal Sentinel which provides very little direct quotes (probably because he had very little new to say). The main takeaway, Johnson thinks the budget the Republicans passed in the House, Paul Ryan's, doesn't go far enough. Big surprise!

Still, it's important that we remember these things, we have to wait five and a half years to get this joke on Wisconsin out of office. (I'm usually not so irreverent, but this guy hasn't shown any value for Wisconsin or the U.S. Senate.)

Other statements of note

• More oil drilling in the Gulf and Alaska will fix gas prices - False.
• More tax cuts for the profit record-breaking oil companies are good.

There is a 3-part YouTube video though


FYI, I haven't combed through the videos yet.

!! Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8 !!

!! Last Weekend !!

Congressman Sean Duffy Loses Cool and Disrespects His Constituents

U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy, the former MTV Real World star from Wisconsin, held a town hall last week Tuesday, April 19 in Shell Lake to promote Paul Ryan's radical budget proposal. Democurmudgeon and others have posted videos from the town hall, but I wanted to highlight one unbelievable event. At the end of this video Duffy scolds a constituent, "Let me tell you. When you have your town hall, you can stand up and give your presentation."

The constituent was polite and asked a very relevant question about what Duffy is doing to prevent fraud and abuse in Medicare. Duffy has no excuse for such a response.



Republican politicians don't care about you. Recall the Republican 8.

Republican Politicians Want You To Pay More

If you're net worth is over a million dollars, this post is not for you.

We have a clear and strong argument against our Republican politicians, which is supported by their actions. Republican politicians care more about wealthy individuals and corporations than most Wisconsinites. We are the overwhelming majority, and it's time our legislators focus on our problems.

Evidence

• Collective bargaining bill
• Strip away workers' rights and forcibly reduce benefits. If corporations ask for the same "flexibility," will the Republicans decline?
• Walker budget proposal
• Significant cuts to most if not all vital public services. Tax breaks for corporations.
• Extension of Bush tax cuts for the very rich
• Obama agreed to this only to preserve the tax cuts for everyone else. Otherwise, the Republicans would have been happy to increase all of our taxes.
• Republican (Paul Ryan) budget
• Significant cuts to many vital public services including eliminating Medicare and Medicaid as we know them. Significant tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations.
• All but 4 Republican House Representatives voted for this proposal

The result is that all of us end up retaining less money, while the wealthy get wealthier.

This argument is simple, effective and more than barely true. This should be the argument that we reach for first. Republican politicians care more about wealthy individuals and corporations than you.

Corporations have already been bailed out and given huge tax cuts, and the stock market is up over 50% since April 2009. So we know most of them are doing quite well. Yet they're still not creating any significant amount of jobs. More tax cuts aren't going to convince them much more. In fact, I'd argue that we need to stop babying the corporations so they start creating jobs. Corporations used to pay a much larger share of taxes, and they flourished. Since they won't hire from increased profits by tax cuts, remove the tax cuts and force them to increase profits through hiring, or simply get them to hire out of fear that we'll remove the tax cuts. The CEOs could easily afford a pay-cut if it came to that (maybe a temporary CEO salary cap).

I dare anyone to prove me wrong.

We need to fight for our respect, and the most effective way to do that now is to help recall the Republican 8 before the May 2nd deadline (one week from today)!

Proof Wisconsin Is Not Broke

Other people have posted this report already, but just in case you missed it, you should definitely take a look. A local non-partisan research organization, the Institute for One Wisconsin, disproved Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's claim that Wisconsin is broke. In fact, Wisconsin's GDP has risen over the past two decades, its revenues that haven't kept pace!

Some other tidbits from the report:

• Wisconsin's debt "has approximately kept pace with our GDP over the last 20 years."
• Wisconsin's revenues haven't kept pace with its GDP, and if it had, we would now have a budget surplus in the billions.
• In 1970, 50.6% of property tax revenue was from residential property. In 2008, it was 71%.
• In 1912, Wisconsin's corporate tax rate was 70%. Today it's less than one-tenth of that, 6.9%! We've drastically shifted the burden of taxes "from corporations and the wealthy to the middle and lower classes."
• We only have five income tax brackets. Someone who earns $300,001 a year pays the same percentage in taxes as someone who earns $300 million a year, 7.75%, while most of the rest of us pay about 6.5%.
• Over the past 40 years in Wisconsin, the wealthy have made the vast majority of income, but haven't paid close to that ratio in taxes.
• Wisconsin has one of the nation's lowest corporate taxes, and two-thirds of Wisconsin corporations do not pay any taxes.

It's a great easy-to-read report with lots of fun maps, graphs and charts. Read the report here.

Here are a few telling graphs from the report:

I also previously posted a nice graph showing middle class income shrinking with union membership

On another note, you can see where your federal tax dollars are spent at the government's 2010 Federal Tax Payer Receipt Site. We need something like this for Wisconsin.

Can't Protest At The Capitol? You Can Help A Lot

Yesterday, my mom told me that my cousin from Oconto Falls was looking for more information about what's going on at the Capitol. She also told my mom that she wishes she could come down to the Capitol, but with work and a family with kids she just can't make it. My mom asked me to send my cousin the link to my blog (my mom's better at computers than she thinks). As I began to write my cousin an email, I realized that there's lots of ways that she can have a meaningful effect right where she lives, some of which she might not know about. I wrote everything I could think of, and sent the email. Then I thought that there might be a lot of other people wishing and asking the same things. So, if you can't make it to the Capitol in Madison but want to show your support for Wisconsin's public workers, these are some things you can do where you live that I believe can have a real impact.

(1) First and foremost, find out if you live in one of the Republican 8 senate districts, the eight Republican senators who voted against workers' rights and can be recalled now. If even three Republicans are recalled, the law may get repealed (Walker can still veto if he dares). We have less than 60 days to collect enough signatures to have a recall election for each senator. So it's important that we get as many signatures as quickly as possible. WisconsinRecall.net is the best place I've found to go for information on the recall campaigns. Make sure you sign, and get as many other people you know in your district to sign. Then, watch the news for when the recall election will be held, and vote.

(2) You can help spread the word. Look at the map here. If you think you know anyone who is in one of the red areas and supports workers' rights, tell them that their state senator may be up for recall and to sign the recall form and later vote. Facebook can be a great way to easily spread the word.

(3) There's a major election for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice on April 5th. Prosser, alleged Tea Party conservative and the current justice, was appointed by Gov. Tommy Thompson and most likely supports Walker, but now we can choose who we want to serve in his position (he ran unchallenged in 2001). His opponent, JoAnne Kloppenburg has said she's independent and will judge cases based on the facts of the law not ideology, and she most likely supports workers' rights.

A vote for Kloppenburg is a vote against Walker. Especially, since the law might be taken to the Supreme Court. Currently, the court is split in Walker's favor, but with Prosser out and Kloppenburg in, it could split the other way. If Kloppenburg wins, which may not be very likely given the massive corporate support Prosser has as we've seen with Walker, it will be a strong message that Walker is wrong. Kloppenburg can't accept donations, because she's using public financing. So you can help by volunteering, spreading the word, and voting for JoAnne Kloppenburg on April 5th.

(4) There may be other local elections on April 5th in your district with candidates who are for or against workers' rights. If you don't know how they stand, try to ask the candidate, so that all the voters know. Then vote for the candidates who support workers' rights.

(5) You may not be able to make it to the Capitol, but there are lot's of protests and events throughout the state. The best site I've found for information on events around the state is here.

(6) Tell people why unions are good. I think we as a country have forgotten the value of unions. People want to know why this whole "collective bargaining thing" matters. So it's a great time to talk about it because people are listening. If you're in a union, talk about what it means to you to be in a union, and what you get out of it, and don't forget to mention that anyone in Wisconsin can join a union. If you're a public worker, you can also talk about the value of your work, why you do what you do, and you can talk about how this law will affect you. Your story matters. Facebook is good for this, too.

Lot's of really good people are doing everything they can to help. I hope things get better, but I believe now is one of those times when action can really make a difference. The energy at the protests is unbelievable, and you see that on people's faces, hear it from people as you pass by, and are told by people who are much wiser than myself that they haven't seen Madison like this since the 60's, if even then. People from truly all walks of life show up, with no more men than women, both young and old, rich through poor, there's no better characterization than Wisconsin. We can all help each other by spreading this energy across the state, like it already appears to be.

Wisconsin, What Are We Fighting For?

I've been trying to come up with a few words that can describe what we're fighting for, so that our message is delivered every time we're mentioned. The protests at the Capitol in Madison began because we were standing up for workers' rights. However, during the course of this battle, we've come to realize there are other interconnected issues such as corporate influence in our politics, voter rights, and tax policy, as well as other issues that are important to Wisconsin which are being swept away with little or no public debate such as education, healthcare, and the middle class. If we don't dig our heels in now, more of what we value in Wisconsin will erode away before the next election.

So, I've been using the words "Workers' Rights" because they were straight and to the point. I could use the words to describe the rallies as "workers' rights rallies" and immediately get the message across what's being rallied for. Yet, now we're really fighting for workers' rights and other things we value in Wisconsin and are proud to have, what could be called the "Wisconsin Way."

There's a non-partisan organization that was recently started by many prominent members of Wisconsin in business and politics called the Wisconsin Wave. The organization's goals are aligned with the ideas I've mentioned here, and I fully support the effort. However, because it's the name of an organization, I'm not sure using it would have the same value. Are the words "Wisconsin Wave" good words to describe what we're fighting for?

Let me throw out some other ideas, and then I'd like to hear what other people think.

Jon Stewart had his "Return to Sanity Rally," which I admit is a good name. Should we adopt this name?

From there, I thought of "Return to Reality," which has the same message. The only caveat I have for these two phrases is that they may be too strong. I don't want people to think that we consider anyone who disagrees with us insane or in another reality. I think they don't quite deliver the correct message. What do you think?

Then I thought of cheese and the slogans used for Wisconsin cheese. Are we fighting for "100% Wisconsin" or "Real Wisconsin"? I think these phrases have nearly the same caveat as the previous two.

At the moment I think "Wisconsin Way" is the best phrase besides "Wisconsin Wave." Or do we just keep "Workers' Rights"? What are your thoughts and ideas?

Public Employees Not Paying Their Fair Share?

The National Republican Trust is running a despicable ad that tries to demonize public employees with lies. The ad says public employees work less hours and get paid more. This is a flat-face lie. Many studies have shown this to be false. As an example, the recent study from the Center for Governmental Research found that skilled employees in public sector jobs are paid less than their private sector counterparts. Low-skill jobs in the public sector, such as janitors, have better benefits than their private sector counterparts, but that's because fewer private sector employees are in unions, and the salaries for these jobs average between $10,000-$20,000. This is under the poverty line for most families. Yet, the ad wants you to think that public employees aren't paying their fair share. So they want the poorest public employees to pay more, and they want the rest to make even less than their private sector counterparts.

The ad also wants you to believe the budget crisis is the fault of our public employees, which we know is not true. On top of that, even though the unions have agreed to all financial concessions, the ad wants you to believe the unions are demanding more from taxpayers. If that isn't enough lies for you, the ad says the protesters are using taxpayer money to take off of work so they can protest.



If you make less than public employees with the same job, you and your coworkers can join a union to negotiate better wages, hours, and benefits. That right doesn't need to be taken away from our public employees.

I think someone should make an ad detailing all of the time and money wasted by the stubbornness of Walker and the Republicans.