Welcome to the world, Cotlon Henry!

And congratulations to the Cody Family.

Battle Of The Stock Options

Things are heating up in the race between Senator Russ Feingold and Ron "Tony Hayworth" Johnson. The latest round of blows deal with the stocks each candidate owns.

RoJo is still having problems with not knowing what to do with his BP stock. (It is hard for Republicans to part with a dime, much less hundreds of thousands of dollars.) RoJo's flip-flopping hit the national scene recently:



But Senator Feingold has his own issues with hanging onto stock he owns. To explain it away, he issued this statement:

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend today's Green Bay Packers annual shareholder meeting. However, I want to make it clear that I will not be divesting my one share in the Packers. Not because it's the only stock I own, or because market conditions predict a Super Bowl, but because I am a committed Packer fan whether they are up or down."
- U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

WISDems Taking Walker Fled Statewide

WISDems made a great online video highlighting Tom Barrett's leadership and contrasting it with Walker's abandoning ship last weekend.

They have now put together a scaled down version of that video and bought air time around the state to run it:



To be honest, I think it lost a lot in the paring it down. They would have been better off running a longer version more true to the original. Here is the original one:



The shorter TV version just doesn't get the significance of Walker's abandonment of Milwaukee County that would have had more impact.

Making Them Look Forward To The Trip

A dear friend of mine would often use the phrase "Tell them to go to Hell in such a way as they would look forward to the trip." It was her way of explaining someone who could quite clearly make their point known, while doing it an utterly classy way. so that the insulted person was never quite sure if they were insulted or not.

Julie Lassa's campaign director, Rick Fromberg, has that unique talent. In response to one of the usual mewling attacks by WISGOP head honcho Reince Priebus, the campaign issued this statement:

Lassa Campaign Thanks WRP Chairman for Recognizing Julie’s Independent Record

Lassa Campaign: “Throughout her career, Julie has remained a strong, independent leader who reached across the aisle to put Wisconsin families and small businesses first.”

Stevens Point, WI—Following a statement released by the Wisconsin Republican Party, Julie Lassa’s campaign today thanked Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus for recognizing Julie’s independent record. Lassa for Congress campaign manager Rick Fromberg sent a letter to Chairman Preibus responding to a point Preibus raised that Lassa would have to deviate from her independent record if she wanted to be in line with National Party leaders.

In the letter sent today, Fromberg wrote, “You stated that ‘rubber-stamp[ing]’ a national party agenda would be a reversal or ‘flip-flop’ from Julie’s record. On that point, I couldn’t agree more. Throughout her career, Julie has remained a strong, independent leader who reached across the aisle to put Wisconsin families and small businesses first.”

The full text of the letter follows.

Chairman Reince Preibus
Wisconsin Republican Party

148 East Johnson Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Mr. Chairman Reince Priebus,

Thank you for recognizing candidate for U.S. Congress Julie Lassa’s independence in this race as a strong leader who puts Wisconsin jobs before all else. Given Julie’s record of bipartisan cooperation in order to bring jobs and economic opportunity to her district, it’s not surprising that now and again we can be in agreement. You stated that ‘rubber-stamp[ing]’ a national party agenda would be a reversal or ‘flip-flop’ from Julie’s record. On that point, I couldn’t agree more. Throughout her career, Julie has remained a strong, independent leader who reached across the aisle to put Wisconsin families and small businesses first.

Frankly, I must dismiss the rest of your statement as pure partisan sniping. As her track record shows, Julie’s first priority is to Wisconsin families and small businesses.

Growing up on a dairy farm, Julie learned early on the value of hard work, stretching a dollar, and the importance of a strong middle class---Wisconsin values she will fight for representing her community in Washington. I invite you to join the growing ranks of your fellow Republicans in the 7th District who are supporting Julie’s campaign because they too seek an independent voice to create jobs and make Wisconsin strong again.

Thank you,

Rick Fromberg

Does This Mean The County Will Sue Them Soon?

mkepolitics, the creation of BizTimes.com and WisPolitics.com is reporting that Rick Graber is taking a new job:

Former state GOP Chair RICK GRABER has left the Milwaukee office of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren as he prepares to take a job with Honeywell in Brussels. Graber rejoined the law firm last year after a stint as the U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic. GraberHe said he'll be responsible for government relations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Honeywell. Graber begins the expected three-year job with Honeywell in early August, but won't move to Brussels until October.

The question now is will Scott Walker be finally willing to let the county pursue the long overdue lawsuit against Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren for their role in the pension scandal, giving Milwaukee County tax payers some much needed relief, or does he still owe for the political favors he's been getting from Graber?

Iowa GOP Officially Goes Over The Deep End

The headline kind of says it all:

Iowa GOP Supports Amendment To Strip Obama’s Citizenship Because He Won The Nobel Peace Prize

But the story is even better. Besides doing important things like fine tuning the definition of the word "manure," the Iowa GOP also had this brainstorm:

Adopted in December 1865, the current 13th Amendment of the Constitution prohibits “slavery” and “involuntary servitude” in the United States or any place under its jurisdiction. The Iowa GOP is not trying to overturn this amendment to reinstate slavery. Instead, it wants to reintroduce the “original 13th Amendment” first offered by senator Phillip Reed of Maryland in 1810. The amendment states that “if any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain any title of nobility or honor” from a “foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen” and “shall be incapable of holding any office of trust.” In receiving only 12 out of the 13 votes needed for ratification, the amendment was never adopted.

Someone needs to let them know that the Nobel Prize Committee isn't a foreign nation.

H/T Emily Mills and Wisco, via Twitter

Put Your Name On It

Source

Another FAIL For Walker's Privatization

Years ago, Scott Walker privatized the 2-1-1 call center and gave it to an agency called IMPACT. Now, for the second time in two years, Walker, along with his new best friend, Lee Holloway, sent this out to workers, using the e-Notification system:

July 27, 2010

To all county employees and elected officials:

Volunteers are needed to handle the surge in calls relating to the flooding damage that occurred in Milwaukee County that are being received at IMPACT, Milwaukee County’s provider of 2-1-1 hotline services.

Volunteers will be trained to use a script to collect information from residents whose homes were damaged by the flooding. Resources are also provided for relief operations taking place in the community. The call center is in the City of West Allis in an office setting with comfortable accommodations. Ample parking is available, and several bus lines are within two blocks of the facility. IMPACT staff will be available at all times to assist volunteers with any questions.

Total training time is about 45 to 60 minutes. It is anticipated that volunteers will be needed from July 27 through August 7. Shifts range from 2 to 4 hours, with openings every day of the week between 8:00am and 9:00pm.

Please consider volunteering for this short-term, community health need.

To volunteer, call [name redacted] of IMPACT at (414) [phone number redacted].

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Scott Walker Lee Holloway
Milwaukee County Executive Milwaukee County Board Chairman

Same level of service for less money? Pffft, yeah, right.

Drinking Liberally: Special Bonus Edition

There is a special, super bonus second-one-this-month edition of Drinking Liberally tomorrow. From our gracious host, Jason Haas:

Dear Milwaukeean liberal drinkers,

Tomorrow is a very special event for our humble little chapter: Living Liberally co-founder Justin Krebs is coming to Milwaukee! Krebs is the author of "538 Ways to Live, Work & Play Like a Liberal." It's full of little ideas for embracing your progressive values everyday life, as well as the big ideas of what it means to be a “liberal” in America today.

Justin's bio describes him as a "political & cultural entrepreneur based in New York City. He is co-founder of Living Liberally and serves as one of the organizations National Directors. He is one of the founders and Artistic Directors of The Tank, a non-profit venue for performing arts and public affairs in Manhattan. Over the past decade, he has been an Activist Fellow for CREDO in San Francisco, managed issue advocacy campaigns in New York City, produced an award-winning documentary for PBS on youth civic engagement, and served in the office of US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has published 'Grounds For Play,' a history of playgrounds in New York. He is a [New Jersey] native, Harvard alum and New Yorker for the past decade."

Well, let's give this Yankee a proper Brew City welcome! Justin helped start DL, and got us to where we are today. Come say thanks by getting a copy of his book. Copies will be available for your purchase and perusal.

It will happen at our standard time and place -- 7 PM at Sugar Maple. It's like an extra round of Drinking Liberally, all for the low low price of one good book!

Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Sugar Maple, 441 East Lincoln Ave., Milwaukee WI

Till morrow,
Jason & the Milwaukee DL crew

Walker Lies About His Lack Of Leadership: Video At 10

Despite the lethal flooding that occurred Thursday night and the massive amount of damage that was still being tallied over the next several days, Scott Walker felt it more important to go campaigning than to take care of his constituents.

The Democrats noted this as well, and jumped all over Walker's selfishness with an online video, which I had posted Monday night.

To make Walker's self-centeredness stand out even more was the fact that he continued campaigning on Sunday, even though another person was hurt Saturday when part of the airport fell on his head, leaving a six inch gash.

WISN-TV covered Walker's lack of leadership during the crisis, and aired this report:



Pay close attention at about the 1:20 mark on the video, when Walker is trying to defend his ego-driven selfishness. Walker said:

"The bottom line is, um, do we know what is going on? Are we taking action on that? And we did it. We did it quicker than the mayor, than the governor, than anybody else on Friday. We were on top of things all day."

Really, Scott? Really? Faster than the mayor? Let's see, shall we?

On Thursday night, at the time of the actual storm and subsequent flooding, Mayor Tom Barrett was opening the Emergency Operations Center at Police District Three. By clicking here, you can find the raw footage of the press conference from WTMJ-TV announcing the emergency actions being taken and advising people to stay home and off the streets.

Now, let's see what Walker did faster than that shall we? From Walker's twitter feed:



Mmm, a routine meeting before the rain ever started, then the observation that it was flooding. The next morning, he alerted us that it was still WET!! He did not have his first press conference until Friday afternoon.

Last time I checked, Thursday night comes before Friday afternoon, at least on my calendar. Barrett was taking charge and showing leadership more than 15 hours before Walker did his first press conference.

I think that Walker owes Mayor Barrett, as well as the people of Milwaukee, a huge apology. He should be apologizing not only for lying about the mayor, but for letting his ego and his political aspirations take priority over the well being of the people of Milwaukee County and for his lack of leadership in this time of crisis.

Furlough The Thirteenth

I was so busy today, I forgot to mention that today is furlough day number 13.

As with the previous twelve, this means that Scott Walker has squandered another $700 of revenue, for a total of $9,100 for the year so far.

But that is not the most significant about this furlough day.

What makes it more interesting is that not every county worker has to take the 22 days that I do. Many stop at twelve days. And I'm not referring to the ones in other unions, like the ones that the County was willing to negotiate with. I am referring to other workers in the same union, and even in the same local.

This violates labor laws and the contract, which specify that the county cannot treat workers from the same union differently.

The union, of course, is fighting this violation of the law. If successful in their arguments, it will be up to the arbitrator (presuming it goes that far) as to what the remedy is. Based on the indefinite reduced work week that Walker tried to pull that year, that means the county will have to reimburse me, and all the other workers that take more than twelve days of furlough for the lost time.

I'm not saying this to boast. I'd rather be working. But the tax payers should be aware of what Walker's grandstanding and political game playing could end up costing them.

Hello? RoJo Here...

RoJo's BP problem is sticking to him more than a tar ball, as the Chief highlights so well:



But no fear, RoJo fans! After his Senate bid crashes and burns, he's already working on his options:



He's already got the practice at it.

Also: Schmitz! Get me rewrite!

Even Walker Knows County Property Is Not Safe

From Walker's twitter feed:

Notice how he picks state-owned property rather than the county. He's even afraid of the condition he has taken the county to.

A Tale of Two Candidates

It was the best of leadership, it was the worst of leadership. It was the county executive of our discontent:




"The first 48 hours after a storm are the most important."

Another County Building, Another Falling Wall, Another Injury

This time it's the airport.

The fiber concrete wall board fell on Saturday. Scott Walker showed his usual brand of leadership by campaigning on Sunday.

Leadership You Can't Rely On

Scott Walker declared a County Emergency due to all of the flooding problems.

So why, if we are in a state of emergency, is he traveling around the state campaigning?

What kind of leadership is that?!



Cross posted at Milwaukee County First

Walker Puts Lipstick On A Pig

Scott Walker has never been a very good leader for Milwaukee County. He also has not been afraid to show his disdain for the people that he was elected to represent by insulting them.

Take for example, this snippet from Bruce Murphy, who was writing about Walker's "Doom and Gloom Tour" in the months leading up to Walker's last failed attempt to be governor:

But Walker’s power point presentation, officially called “The Reality Tour,” doesn’t offer any real solutions. After hammering home how dreadful things are, suggesting that the county is nearly broke while noting it can’t go legally bankrupt, he asks us unlucky duckies to support, well, what? Walker doesn’t say. When asked it he had costed out some possible solutions, Walker said no.

There are times when Walker seems not like the county executive but the anti-county executive. This is the man who called Milwaukee and the six other counties of southeastern Wisconsin a pig. Walker said the effort to promote its economy was unlikely to succeed, declaring, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”

Tommy Thompson used the bully pulpit to tell us how great Wisconsin was. Mayor Tom Barrett calls cheerleading for Milwaukee a key part of his job. Scott Walker’s style is to blacken the reputation of the county he runs.

Yes, it’s disgusting to see the kind of pensions some county employees have gained. But they appear to be legally protected (not that Walker’s administration ever put much effort into researching its legal options on this issue). So at what point do you quit bellyaching and start making improvements?

That is not what any rational person would call effective or positive leadership.

Tom Barrett and Mark Neumann, being polished politicians, have and will continue to use this against him in the weeks and months to come.

Barrett, of course, used Walker's negativity against him since Barrett was the one that worked with M7 to bring hundreds of jobs to Milwaukee. Walker didn't lift a finger to work with M7. He was too busy campaigning and laying off workers.

But a little thing like reality is not going to slow Scott Walker down. No sirree. He will just use one of his favorite routines: Intellectual Dishonesty:



This also is another demonstration why some politicians shouldn't tweet.

God Hates Jedi

FACT: No matter if you lead a pure life, someone, somewhere, will try to hurt you.

FACT: There are two solid defenses when the forces of evil try to attack you. One, live life to the fullest, and rely on your friends.

The other: Laughter.*

Westboro Baptist Church decided to hold one of their infamous protests the other day. Their fatal mistake was to protest outside of Comics-Con:

Unbeknownst to the dastardly fanatics of the Westboro Baptist Church, the good folks of San Diego's Comic-Con were prepared for their arrival with their own special brand of superhuman counter protesting chanting "WHAT DO WE WANT" "GAY SEX" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT" "NOW!" while brandishing ironic (and some sincere) signs. Simply stated: The eclectic assembly of nerdom's finest stood and delivered.

See the story for some other great photos.

H/T The Chief

*Remind me to tell you my CRG jokes someday.

DNR's Dumb Idea of the Week

The DNR took a lot of heat after last year's annual cervinicidal season. Hunters were in a rage because they felt the DNR overestimated the size of the herd and allowed it to be over-hunted. They were mad because they wanted to kill something, dammit, and there wasn't enough deer for them to kill!

Anyway, the DNR came up with a plan on how to deal with getting an accurate count of how large the herd is. It had to have been dreamt up by some bureaucrat:

State wildlife officials want people to report every deer they see over the next two months.

The Department of Natural Resources' Operation Deer Watch will run from Aug. 1 through Sept. 30. The agency will use the observations to help determine population estimates going into the fall hunting seasons.

I can see it now. Drunks will be reporting at least twice as many deer, since they're seeing double. People will be reporting the same deer numerous times, making the herd look larger. Hunters will report seeing nothing, whether they see anything or not, to maximize the herd so they have more to kill.

No matter what, I seriously doubt that they will get anywhere near an accurate count again.

Is Harley On The Highway To Hell?

Harley Davidson has been having problems during these turbulent economic times, to be sure.

However, it is questionable as to exactly from where there problems are coming from and what the best way to address these issues are.

As for the source of their problem, some people, like Scott Walker and other Republicans, are laying out the false pretense that the biggest problem for Harley is taxes, namely, the combined reporting tax. However, this is poppycock. Even the HD CEO has said as much. The combined reporting complaint is just a gimmick used by the conservatives to play on the fear and anger of the TEA Party types, or on the people that don't really follow the news, but are still mad as hell. But I repeat myself.

Harley itself has tried to paint the union workers as the bad guys. They are threatening to move plants out of Tomah and Milwaukee unless the unions quickly capitulate to their demands of severe concessions.

I think that they will find this approach to meet with minimal success. While they have the ultimate power card of being actually able to follow through with their threats, it would be very damaging to them if they were to play it.

First of all, it would be a hard sell that the workers should be shouldering the burden by themselves when their CEO was paid nearly $6.5 million last year. Further weakening their position is the fact that the company just reported that their profits are soaring. Also, many Milwaukeeans still remember how, when Harley was in real trouble not all that long ago, it was the workers that voluntarily dug in and gave up what they had to to help keep the company afloat. Apparently, some of the few Milwaukeeans who don't remember this fact are the brass at HD.

Interestingly, BizTimes.com just ran an article about this whole mess, with a very good point of insight:

Harley management undoubtedly thinks they have a fourth option: reinvent the value chain by moving more production overseas and to another state whose workers and government offer a more attractive deal.

This move would be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Why? Because this move would show a lack of guts and courage, the opposite of the Harley brand.

The United States needs the rebel who stands up to Wall Street and price-shopping buyers and says, “This is our business. This is how we want to run it. Come ride with us for the long haul, because, like Ford, we are on the next wave of our reinvention. Buy Harley. Support America.”

For what it's worth, I think Harley's biggest problem is themselves. As the last cited article points out, they need to do more than just rely on their brand name and to expand their selling power, or they will become just an obsolete historical reference that our great grandchildren will look at much like we look back at 8-track tapes or cell phones that weigh three pounds.

Flooded Furlough Friday

Just a quick note to point out that today is my twelfth furlough day. It's not so bad since the OT projects are still going on for those that want to participate.

The tax payers are the ones that are really losing out on Scott Walker's phony posturing as being fiscally conservative. Not only is it costing tax payers another $700 of their tax dollars not going for services ($8400 for the year to date), but they are having to shill out extra for all of the overtime, since Walker is decimating the work force.

And just imagine, he wants to do the same as governor, just in a grander scale.

We really can't keep affording his political aspirations anymore.

Not A Good Sign

When the Republican's Golden Boy from Wisconsin is called too wacky by other Republicans, you just gotta wonder how far out there he really is. Turns out, pretty far:

When asked why Republicans aren't flocking to his bold government reform, Ryan responded, without hesitation: "They're talking to their pollsters and their pollsters are saying, 'Stay away from this, we're going to win an election.'"*

Ryan's plan would dramatically change the country's tax and entitlement system. It would introduce a value-added tax, eliminate the corporate income tax, phase in deep Medicare cuts, and partially privatize Social Security, among other things.

It's got to hurt to be said that you would be damaging to the party's chances of winning, in a year that they claim will be theirs in a landslide.

They Died As They Lived: In Love and In Control

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a very moving story about an elderly doctor and his wife that chose to end their lives the same way they had lived them: In love with each other and in control.

An excerpt:

The two-page handwritten letter is dated July 16, and it is signed by both Gute and his wife, Katherine, whom he calls "Kitty." Kitty Gute had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease more than a year before.

The note describes Kitty Gute's failing health, daily indignities and chronic pain. It touches on their determination not to allow the vibrant life they had shared come to an end in a nursing home, where they feared their deaths would be no better than dragged out and wrested from their control.

"I am hoping that sometime this weekend I will have the guts to act to deliver us both from a more dismal situation," he writes.

"I have been thinking about this for a long time. It will not be easy. However, as time goes by it will not get any better."

One of their three daughters, Mary Witte, found Daniel and Kitty Gute's bodies Sunday.

The two were inclined toward each other in the front seat of Kitty Gute's car, which was parked in the garage of their River Hills home. They had asphyxiated themselves with helium, an inert gas they pumped into plastic bags that covered their heads.

Some of the early comments on that story call the couple psychotic and cowardly. Maybe they were. But I don't think so. I think that they were in full control of their faculties, and they had mutually seen the future, and realized that this is not how they wanted to end their lives. Instead, they did it of their own choosing in time, place and method, and tried to maintain as much dignity as they could.

It also reminded me of another story the paper ran a few years ago. In that sad tale, a 79 year old man stabbed his wife of 55 years to death, as opposed to seeing her go through another day of pain from her liver cancer.

I wrote about that then, still new to the blogosphere, and posting at folkbum's. Going back over it, I realized that I still feel the same as I did then:

I was able to completely relate to what Mr. Rogutich was feeling. The frustration, the helplessness, the impotent rage at the impartiality of fate. Also, the overwhelming desire to see his loved one put at ease. While I cannot condone his methodology, I understand his motivation.

It also made me wonder, in a world in which people are outraged at Michael Vick's cruelty, a world in which people will put their pets to sleep rather than let them suffer, that we don't offer the same consideration to people. Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating wholesale assisted suicide or abortion of a child that would grow up with defects. Those are separate issues. But if a person who is terminally ill, with no hope whatsoever for survival of more than a few days, weeks or months filled with excruciating pain, they should be allowed to choose to die with dignity. We come close with hospice care, but even in these places filled with such compassionate medical personnel, people can suffer beyond the powers of modern medicine.

Some may argue to the sanctity of life, but where is the justification in making someone suffer needlessly? I don't know of one hunter or farmer that would hesitate to shoot an animal to put it out of its misery, but we let these people linger in torment and pain, crying out for death, just to satisfy our own sanctimoniousness.

Everyone expects and works towards having a certain level of quality of life, not only for themselves, but for their loved ones. We should be demanding and working towards the same quality at the end of life. Then people like Mr Rogutich won't have to put themselves in the personal hell of having to take the matter in their own hands. Even though he has the support and love of his children, it will never take away the memories.

May these people rest in peace.

MMSD Is Not Responsible For Raw Spewage Problem

Last week, Milwaukee had a torrential downpour, where over four inches of rain fell in a very short time in many areas in and around the Milwaukee area. The result of this was that the sewage system was overwhelmed and MMSD ended up dumping over 500 million gallons of waste water into Lake Michigan.

Obviously, this is not an ideal situation. No one in their right mind wants to have raw sewage mingling with their drinking water. It also presents a potential problem for people wanting to use the beaches to go swimming, due to the risk of e. coli.

But never one to let pass a chance to make a mountain out of a molehill, Scott Walker's campaign, echoed by all the usual suspects, including the squawking heads of talk radio, jumped on the chance to use this to attack Tom Barrett and/or Democrats in general.

However, their raw spewage is heavy on rhetoric and light on facts or solutions. The fact is that, as bad as this last dump was, it is actually much better than it ever was before.

In a column by Bruce Murphy, of Milwaukee Magazine, written three years ago, he wrote:

The truth is that the Deep Tunnel works as planned and Milwaukee has one of the best sewage treatment systems in the country. Prior to the Deep Tunnel’s construction, Milwaukee spilled 19 times more sewage into the lake than is does now, some 8.5 billion gallons of sewage per year, compared to less than 450 million gallons per year today. Milwaukee went from averaging 60 or more overflows per year to less than two, just as planners had expected. (To reduce the overflow as close as possible to zero would cost another $7 billion, and would still provide no guarantee of total success, which is why community leaders rejected this approach.)

Now, as I mentioned above, 500 gallons of sewage water in the lake is not appealing, but it is a great deal better than 17 times that number, without a torrential rain like the one we just had. It is also better to have that 500 gallons in the lake than in everyone's basement.

Even if one took the complaints of Team Walker and friends at face value, they don't offer any solutions. Probably because there are no real viable ones out there.

As noted by Murphy, to eliminate all overflow, it would cost $7 billion (in 2007 dollars) and even then it might not work.

Another frequent "solution" which I've heard put out there would be to separate the rain and the sewage pipes. Again, this would be a prohibitive cost and is also not guaranteed to help.

Without offering any viable solutions, all the complaints about MMSD dumping into the lake makes them appear to be just whiny, desperate people. Of course, in reality, if Walker was in charge, the odds are that the end result would be higher taxes AND sewage in our basements. What a campaign slogan that would make!

Vote for Walker: I'll raise your taxes and leave crap in your basement!

Sorry, I digressed there for a moment.

Anyway, as I was saying, for Walker to complain about this and not offer any solutions makes him seem even more of an empty suit.

There are two more reasons why it would be smarter for Walker to leave this subject alone.

One, related to this massive rainstorm, the rivers were running so hard and fast that the Menomonee River ripped a gate off. Said gate was meant to keep the river from flowing into the Deep Tunnel. Imagine how much worse it would be if we added all of Waukesha's waste water to our rivers, as Walker would have it, if more responsible leaders hadn't intervened.

Secondly, does Walker want sewage in the lake to be compared to collapsing buildings or the problems at the mental health complex?

Team Walker would be best served to remember that, like monkeys in the zoo, you can't go flinging poo without some of it sticking to you.

Procopis Out, Kolosso In, And Other News From GAB Land

I told you last week that a challenge was filed with the GAB regarding the signatures for Paris Procopis, a Republican candidate for State Assembly's 13th District. A press release from Maistelman and Associates show that the challenge was successful and Procopis won't be on the ballot, although he can always run as a write-in candidate.

The same press release from Maistelman shows that James Sensenbrenner's senseless challenge to Todd Kolosso's signatures was thrown out. A press release from Kolosso's campaign puts it pretty clearly how silly Sensenbrenner is getting:

“Today’s outcome was not a surprise for my campaign or for the Congressman,” said Kolosso. “It was obvious to anyone who saw the complaint that many of the challenges were completely baseless and were founded on ridiculous claims, such as the idea that anyone who signed their name in print instead of cursive should have their signature thrown out.”

The GAB dismissed a challenge against 51 signatures that were made in print rather than in cursive, as well as challenges based on the claim that certain signatures were dated in the years 2011 and 2016.

“Penalizing someone for poor penmanship is insider politics at its worst,” said Dan Kyle, who collected signatures that were challenged based on dates. “Unless you think I have a time machine, the idea that any of my signatures were dated 2016 and should therefore be invalidated is just silly. The real shame, though, is that taxpayers had to pay GAB staff to review such frivolous claims.”

In other news, a challenge from the Young Republicans of Dane County, who was trying to keep Representative Tammy Baldwin off the ballot was thrown out. It also is another example that the Republicans, are not only a tacky bunch, but also they appear to be more desperate than they want people to believe:

The Board also dismissed a ballot challenge against Baldwin brought by the Young Republicans of Dane County ,saying she should be disqualified for running for re-election because she had listed her campaign office rather than her home address on her nomination papers.

The Board said Baldwin could continue to list her office address because, as an openly lesbian member of Congress, she had received threats.

Baldwin has had permission to use her office address for years. Didn't these Young Turks bother to do any research?

And finally, a bit that included a double surprise. Ieshuh Griffin, running for the Assembly in the 10th District, will not be allowed to use a rather unique label below her name to identify her.

What is surprising is that the GAB actually had to waste their time considering this, and that the vote was as close as it was to allowing her to put that on the public ballot.

Yes, there is a First Amendment which protects our right to free speech, but that is clearly being abused in this story.

A Reminder: March For Truth and Justice on Wednesday

From the weekend:

From Milwaukee County First:

Like I have been repeatedly pointing out, there are many questions about the investigation of the tragedy which occurred at O’Donnell Park last month. Scott Walker has been trying to control the information getting out, once again putting his political aspirations above the public good.

Some of the concerns of the Supervisors and pro-Milwaukee citizens are outlined in a joint press release issued by Supervisors Weishan and Dimitirijevic:

“The lack of information available to us, as County Supervisors, about the O’Donnell Park parking garage tragedy and the other building inspections being performed is simply astonishing. We’re not alone. A number of our colleagues have not yet learned how this contract was awarded or the scope of the work being performed. As policymakers providing legislative oversight, we need this information. We are requesting that a complete and detailed report be presented to the Board. So far, the news media has received more information than we have as elected officials.

“We are also concerned that Graef-USA Inc, a firm that has contributed to County Executive Scott Walker’s gubernatorial campaign, was awarded a no bid contract. Even though a lot of the work is being subcontracted, the fact remains that County dollars are being funneled through Graef, which was one of the contractors involved in building the O’Donnell Parking garage in the first place. How can we expect them to provide unbiased reports in light of that fact?

Not only did Walker give another no bid contract to another campaign donor, but what makes it even odder is just the week before, Walker stated that Holloway’s calling for the safety inspection was “irresponsible.“

Walker’s office has a long history of stalling on open records request, even with the media. Many of the articles in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel regarding O’Donnell Park have a paragraph indicating that they were still waiting for requested documents regarding inspections and repair schedules.

He has also been known to order his department heads to not cooperate with the County Board. But for something this serious, not only is he acting recklessly and irresponsibly, but it also makes it seem even more suspicious that things were not done in the proper fashion.

People are getting fed up with his misdirections and irresponsible actions.

Many concerned citizens as well as members of AFSCME and SEIU will be joining Supervisors John Weishan, Chris Larson and Marina Dimitirijevic for a protest march and press conference on Wednesday, July 21st.

The march will start at 4 pm on Wednesday, at SEIU Local 1, located at 250 E. Wisconsin Avenue, and proceed to O’Donnell Park, next to the orange “sunburst” statue.

Milwaukee County First will proudly join them in a call for openness and honesty from the County Executive’s office. It is well beyond time for Walker to start acting like the leader he brags that he is and come clean. These things have gone on for too long and need to stop before another avoidable tragedy occurs.

Is Plale In Trouble?

Bruce Murphy thinks he might be:

Larson looks like a much stronger challenger. He has experience and name recognition as a county supervisor, he’s a young fresh face with South Side credentials (grew up in Greenfield, attended Thomas More High School), and he’s a physically fit bundle of energy who has run several marathons and is aggressively doing doors. “There’s no doubt it’s a real race,” Plale concedes.

Read the rest here.

Drinking Liberally Tomorrow With Tim John

Ah, yes, it's that favorite time of the month, when progressives (and the occasional Libertarian) gather together in good cheer and discuss the current events of the day. And these days, it's what else, but the political races which are current.

Well, the races and the birth of the next generation of liberals (Hi, Ellison!)

From proud papa and gracious host of DL, Jason Haas:

Hi folks,

Ever have one of those days where you're hanging around in the hospital room with your wife and newborn son, when someone says to you, "Hey, uh, you know, you should probably post something about Drinking Liberally..."&@#$@!!! Yes! DL meets tomorrow!

And I'm excited to report to you that two exciting events are happening in DL-MKE land. First, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tim John will be coming to Drinking Liberally tomorrow night! Please come out to see what Tim John has to say, and why he thinks you should vote for him.

No matter who you voted for, I will thank Tim for upholding the democratic principles that our country was founded on.

The second exciting event is Living Liberally co-founder Justin Krebs coming to Milwaukee on his book tour! Krebs has written "538 Ways to Live, Work, and Play Like a Liberal." It's Krebs's personal and practical guide to embracing your progressive values everyday life -- I'm looking at you, Nick -- as well as the big ideas of what it means to be a "liberal" in America today.

Come meet Justin Krebs at 7:00PM on Wednesday the 28th at Sugar Maple. His book will be available for purchase there, and you can meet one of the folks that helped make Drinking Liberally possible. Here we've started conversations while we shared a drink and engaged with our neighbors. We've helped good candidates win their races, and we're going to do even more of that this year. Thank you, Justin, for helping bring this rag-tag band of lefties and liberals together.

As always, Drinking Liberally-Milwaukee happens at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave., Milwaukee, at 7 PM.

Oh, and that stuff I said about newborns at the top? Yeah. Ellison Henry Haas joined us this past Sunday the 18th! As I probably will be absent tomorrow, my good friend Zach "Dubya" Wisniewski will be your cordial host for the evening. Do a heckuva job, Zach!

So put your DL pins and come on out! I'll see if you I can.

best,
Jason & the Milwaukee DL crew

Holy cow! Two events in one month! Don't these people realize I have to make my mandatory contributions to Walker's campaign?!Anyway, come out and enjoy the good things in life, liberally.

Meanwhile, At Milwaukee County First

UW-Tosa delayed again: Isn't it time to rethink this whole debacle?

The county is literally falling apart. What are we paying Scott Walker for again?

Is Sensenbrenner Feeling Nervous?

Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-Police State) must be feeling a tad bit nervous. Or should I say, a "Todd" bit nervous?

Having been in Congress for 32 years, Sensenbrenner is an old campaign warhorse and knows all the tricks of the trade, obviously.

However, this year it seems that his Democratic opponent, Todd Kolosso, might have him more than a wee bit nervous.

Sensenbrenner has filed a challenge to the signatures that Kolosso has filed. That in itself is nothing out of the ordinary for a politician to do, regardless of the party.

Kolosso is so confident that he sent out a press release this morning pointing out Sensenbrenner's actions:

In a sign that a Congressional seat Republicans have held for 32 years may not be safe in the current anti-incumbency climate, the Wisconsin GOP mounted a nomination paper challenge against Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s opponent, Todd Kolosso, hoping to remove him from the ballot.

“Sensenbrenner’s camp can try using political shenanigans to knock me off the ballot, but it’s not going to work,” said Kolosso. “I have the signatures. I’m in this for long run, and I know I can win. Apparently the Congressman agrees.”

My good friend, and beaming new father, Jason Haas, points out that for Sensenbrenner's challenge to be successful, they would have to eliminate almost 200 signatures. Unless Kolosso's campaign is totally incompetent, that seems unlikely. Jason also points out that Sensenbrenner also has an opponent running as an Independent, but he has nothing towards this person's campaign, making it seem even more so that Sensenbrenner is nervous about Kolosso.

Driving this point home even further, is Kolosso's response to the GAB, as written by his attorney, Michael Maistelman, regarding this challenge. Sensenbrenner's challenge is based on things easily addressed, such as a missing date or a missing address. But the most intriguing complaint was that Sensenbrenner was arguing that signatures should be eliminated because they weren't written in perfectly legible cursive.

Really? Because he didn't like how someone signed their name? And he is supposed to be representing these people? Really?

Ah well, Sensenbrenner can look on the bright side. When he is unseated, it will give him lots of time to use up those frequent flier miles he's accrued over the years.

To Refudiate or Not To Refudiate...

...that is the question:

Side Note 1: Sarah Palin had originally called on “peaceful Muslims” to “refudiate” the mosque plans in a message that was later deleted. She brushed off derision on Twitter:

“Refudiate,” “misunderestimate,” “wee-wee’d up.” English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!

In addition to the Bard, Ms. Palin was comparing her diction to that of President Obama and his immediate predecessor.

Well, the Bard did write comedies.

Is There Racism in the TEA Parties?

Of course there is. But now, it's less one racist.

But Williams was just getting started. Also Wednesday, he took his “non-racist” commentary to the next level, penning his version of an “open letter” to Abe Lincoln … from the “colored people…” in which he accuses black people, or sorry “coloreds,” of not wanting to work, of “striving for welfare,” and wanting to buy “flat screen TVs” with white people’s stolen money. Seriously. It’s an apparent attempt at satire, I suppose, but which aligns perfectly with the views of the tea party movement, which is by and large a mash-up of Libertarians who want to get rid of Social Security, disappointed Palin cultists and old geezer racists who believe Obama only got himself elected so he can steal all the white people’s money and hand it out in the hood.

Welcome to the World, Ellison Henry!

My dear friend and colleague at Milwaukee County First, Jason Haas and his beautiful wife, Stacie, are the proud parents of Ellison Henry Haas, who came into this world this afternoon.

It's a little disappointing that Jason backed off of the name "Helmut" at the last minute.

I would like to wish the Haas Family the warmest congratulations from mrs. capper and I.

Mazel Tov!

Brown Bag Tour or Sand Bag Bore

Scott Walker is still going around the state doing the whole brown bag shtick, even though it's common knowledge that it's just a rehashed gimmick from Ohio.

But there are some nagging questions that has been bothering me for a while.

His campaign team has been tweeting this stuff ad nauseum, and all the pictures look the same. A handful of people sitting there looking bored, as exemplified in this news video his campaign is now touting.

No one is nodding their heads and all of them are sitting stiff as boards.

I've been in enough mandatory meetings to recognize the body language.

The questions that have been nagging at me are these:

• Are these companies that Walker appears at making these events mandatory or if they are voluntary?
  
• If they are mandatory, does that violate any kind of work rule?
• Does that violate any kind of election rules, mandating that someone attend a political event?
  
• Are they at least feeding these poor people, so that their time isn't completely wasted?
  

Seeing Is Disbelieving

Politics can be such an ambiguous activity. Any candidate, regardless of the party, wants to paint himself or herself in the best possible light and to minimize anything that might be considered a negative.

They will make grand promises of what they would do for you if you elect them into office, even to the point of making those promises insanely absurd in their scale. They will exaggerate and embellish, and yes, even lie about their records. And if anyone criticizes them, the worst of them will do whatever they can to ridicule or discredit the critic.

One example of such an embellishment came today off of Team Walker's tweets. Walker appeared at Port Washington's Fish Day Parade. One of his campaign aides boasted about the "huge crowd" walking with Walker and was kind enough to include a picture:


Then Walker or, more likely, one of his aides tweeted about the "super crew" and great response from the crowd, and also included a picture:



The "huge crowd" and the "great support" are the same people. All 15 of them. More than likely, they are also his campaign workers.

If 15 campaign workers is what they call huge crowds and great support, Walker would be smarter to be more worried about September than November. Of course, I would be the last person to accuse Walker of being smart.

O'Donnell Park Press Conference and Rally This Wednesday

From Milwaukee County First:

Like I have been repeatedly pointing out, there are many questions about the investigation of the tragedy which occurred at O’Donnell Park last month. Scott Walker has been trying to control the information getting out, once again putting his political aspirations above the public good.

Some of the concerns of the Supervisors and pro-Milwaukee citizens are outlined in a joint press release issued by Supervisors Weishan and Dimitirijevic:

“The lack of information available to us, as County Supervisors, about the O’Donnell Park parking garage tragedy and the other building inspections being performed is simply astonishing. We’re not alone. A number of our colleagues have not yet learned how this contract was awarded or the scope of the work being performed. As policymakers providing legislative oversight, we need this information. We are requesting that a complete and detailed report be presented to the Board. So far, the news media has received more information than we have as elected officials.

“We are also concerned that Graef-USA Inc, a firm that has contributed to County Executive Scott Walker’s gubernatorial campaign, was awarded a no bid contract. Even though a lot of the work is being subcontracted, the fact remains that County dollars are being funneled through Graef, which was one of the contractors involved in building the O’Donnell Parking garage in the first place. How can we expect them to provide unbiased reports in light of that fact?

Not only did Walker give another no bid contract to another campaign donor, but what makes it even odder is just the week before, Walker stated that Holloway’s calling for the safety inspection was “irresponsible.“

Walker’s office has a long history of stalling on open records request, even with the media. Many of the articles in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel regarding O’Donnell Park have a paragraph indicating that they were still waiting for requested documents regarding inspections and repair schedules.

He has also been known to order his department heads to not cooperate with the County Board. But for something this serious, not only is he acting recklessly and irresponsibly, but it also makes it seem even more suspicious that things were not done in the proper fashion.

People are getting fed up with his misdirections and irresponsible actions.

Many concerned citizens as well as members of AFSCME and SEIU will be joining Supervisors John Weishan, Chris Larson and Marina Dimitirijevic for a protest march and press conference on Wednesday, July 21st.

The march will start at 4 pm on Wednesday, at SEIU Local 1, located at 250 E. Wisconsin Avenue, and proceed to O’Donnell Park, next to the orange “sunburst” statue.

Milwaukee County First will proudly join them in a call for openness and honesty from the County Executive’s office. It is well beyond time for Walker to start acting like the leader he brags that he is and come clean. These things have gone on for too long and need to stop before another avoidable tragedy occurs.

Because the GOP Cares For Us

This is so bitterly true, as many families are finding out, (cartoon by the talented Stuart Carlson, of course):
Ironically, it's the same people that complain when the stock market performs poorly, due to a lack of consumer confidence. It never occurs to them that the consumers might not have any confidence because they don't have any freaking money, because it all went to the richest five percent in the form of tax cuts.

Kolosso Makes It On Ballot After All

On Wednesday, I wrote that Todd Kolosso failed to get the necessary 1,000 signatures to be on the November ballot.

Zach Wisniewski, at Blogging Blue, noted that Kolosso has submitted enough affidavits of correction to rectify the matter, and will now be on the ballot, going up against James Sensenbrenner.

That's good news for Wauwatosa and for the state of Wisconsin.

And that good work by Zach.

G-Force

For all of you Packer fans that are having a hard time dealing with the news today that defensive end Johnny Jolly has been suspended for at least the entire 2010 season for substance abuse, a little picture that might make you cheer up a bit:


Please don't take this as a sign I'm on board the Aaron Rodgers bandwagon, because I'm still not there.

And while on the Star Wars kick, from earlier: This is not the GM we are looking for.

The Apologetic Senator

It was recently reported that Senator David Vitter (R-Brothel) was on a squawk show in Louisiana when he made a crack about Rachel Maddow's looks. He said:

that MSNBC host Rachel Maddow only looked like a woman "a long time ago," a crack that was greeted by uproarious laughter from the radio hosts.

He has since apologized to Maddow for his callous remarks.

Keep in mind that Vitter was also an apology machine when he got caught being on the speed dial for a local prostitution ring.

They say that practice makes perfect. In that case, David Vitter is the best darn apologist in the United States. Then again, he is one of the sorriest men in the United States too.

H/T James Rowen.

Procopis' Signatures Challenged

Three people filed as candidates for the 13th Assembly district, which covers parts of West Milwaukee, Milwaukee and Wauwatosa.

One of the three was the Democratic incumbent, David Cullen. Challenging him were Lisa Becker, running as an Independent and Paris Procopis, running as a Republican.

Cog Dis has learned that a complaint has been filed with the GAB against Procopis' signatures.

According to the complaint, problems include dates not being included on a couple of the signatures as well as people signing Cullen's petition before Procopis' petition (you're only allowed to sign one petition for any given district) and one person who did not live in the 13th District.

If the complaint is found to be valid, it would preclude Procopis from being on the ballot in November, although he could always run as a write-in candidate.

ScottForGov.com V.2.0

As first reported by Cindy Kilkenny, and later touted by Team Walker, Walker's campaign site now has a blog of its own.

Now, don't confuse this blog with his former unofficial offical blog, which *ahem* mysteriously shut down a few months ago, including having all the comments and its Twitterfeed to go poof into cyberspace.

I already see some interesting dilemmas coming up for Walker's blog:

• I noticed that they allow comments, for now anyway. The question is are they going to moderate the comments, and if so, will they allow opposing views on there. For example, in one of the posts, the apparent Site Master, Michael Brickman, takes a dig at Barrett for giving cops a couple of furlough days and streamlining the fire department. What if a commenter would point out that Walker gave the Sheriff Deputies eight furlough days and actually laid off all of the firefighters at the airport? Will he allow that to be posted?*
• It will be only a matter of time before other people, besides myself, notice the similarity between this new blog and the defunct ScottForGov.com site. Both sites apparently use much the same style of blogging, which relies a great deal with citing other bloggers and doing a lot of copying and pasting. This will only rejuvenate the speculation on who were the pseudonymous bloggers at the old site, and if there is any carryover. Along with that will be the raising of the Darlene Wink incident, which I understand is still being investigated.
• Aaron Rodriguez has already contributed a "guest post." Since Rodriguez purports himself to be a writer for one or two of the local community Hispanic papers, does this conflict with any journalism ethics? Granted, you have shills like Patrick McIlheran who echo talking points at his blog sponsored and hosted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But that is vastly different than actually contributing to a campaign's website directly.
• Related to the previous point, since Rodriguez is a "professional" journalist (in the sense that he does get paid for writing his fawning drivel), does Walker's campaign have to claim this as an in-kind contribution?
• Any bets on how long until they violate Fair Use practices?
  

Oh, I can see this is going to be fun for months to come.

* UPDATE: Apparently we already have one answer already. Dave Reid, who is a reasonable man and a leader in our community, tried to leave a comment at Walker's blog without success, based on this tweet:

@ScottKWalker so u won't open you're[sic] blog to real comments. That's fine.

We can tell now that Walker will run his blog like he does everything else, and will not tolerate any speaking of the truth.

Team Walker's Ongoing PR Problem

Three weeks to the day that the concrete facade panel fell off the O'Donnell Park, killing a boy and injuring two others, and on the same day another panel had to be removed from the parking structure, Team Walker shows, once again, that they have no empathy towards people and no public relations skills whatsoever.

In touting the results of a poll that even conservatives question, Team Walker uses a very poor choice of words to celebrate the result, as evidenced in this tweet:


How tactless can these people get?

Earlier: When logistical aides go bad

H/T Cindy Kilkenny

Well, It Looks Like I'm Out Of A Job Anyway

Just not the job some people wish I was out of.

As many of you were aware, I am the Wisconsin Editor of BlogNetNews.com. Or should I say, I was the editor.

It appears that BNN is no more, at least according to the Chief Editor of BNN, David Mastio:


Oh, well. It wasn't a very time consuming thing anyway, but it is still a shame that a tool that many people used to read the blogs is now kaput.

At least now I won't have to hear people complaining that BNN is stealing their stuff or whining about not being number one in the influence rating.

But I have to agree with Kate on her point. It would have been nice to have been told.

H/T Ol' Broad via Cindy Kilkenny