Saturday, October 19, 2013

Carrying Water


 

By Jeff Simpson

Yesterday I was accused of this:

" It is undeniable you are carrying water for Walker. You can claim your not, shout it from the rooftops if you like. Doesn't change the undeniable fact which is you are doing exactly what's the R's want."

All because I think we should set the bar at - not a career lobbyist who has been convicted of criminal activity in the biggest governmental scandal of our lifetime for people trying to get Mary Burke elected as our next Governor.     

This morning I woke up to this in my emailbox from One Wisconsin Now:


Jeffrey -
Gov. Walker’s desperation tax scheme is on its way to becoming law, and for the average property taxpayer it adds up to a “savings” of all of $1.08 a month, for a total of $13 a year, in 2013.

Our research uncovered that Gov. Walker didn’t even start drafting the bill until the same day he had his press conference announcing it!

If you’ve had enough of this malarkey, kick in $13 to our Walker Rapid Response Fund and help us keep exposing the hypocrisy of Gov. Walker.
One Wisconsin Now is one of my favorite groups.  They have been at the forefront of opposing this extreme right wing agenda that has happened in Wisconsin.  They are truly a progressive group that is at the forefront of trying to make Wisconsin a better place.  They truly are what you could consider, the base of the Democratic party!

Now let's look at it.  OWN is sending out a fundraising email on the back of Scott Walker's ridiculous, thrown together quickly, make me look good to the uninformed voters, kick the deficit can down the road, Don't spend your $13 all in one place "tax cut".

The problem that we have is who are they fighting here?  

“The freedom that comes along with announcing you’re not running for reelection is that you can vote against crap like this,” said Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, describing the property tax relief bill that passed the state Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday.
Jauch and four other Democrats were the sole votes against the $100 million measure that Gov. Scott Walker called the Legislature into special session to approve. Even Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, a vociferous Walker critic who was first elected by ousting a conservative Democrat in a primary, grudgingly voted for the bill after arguing that property tax relief would not have been necessary if Republicans had not made such dramatic cuts in aid to school districts in recent years.
“If a Democrat is up for reelection votes against it, you can bet that becomes a major argument against that candidate,” explained Jauch, who said he believes the bill will go down as one of the “two most pathetic tax cuts in state history.” The other instance he pointed to was a $20 rebate championed by former Democratic Gov. Marty Schreiber 35 years ago

 Let me tell you what is carrying water for Scott Walker and helping him get reelected.

When he comes out with "crap" and the Democrats to jump on board, allowing Walker to claim "bipartisan victory" in giving back to the people of Wisconsin.    When the party leader votes for "crap" where exactly is he leading us too?  An even smaller minority? 

When as a politician if you can not explain to your constituents, why it is fiscal insanity to spend $100,000,000 to give Wisconsinites in Spring Green $.07 CENTS back, then maybe your in the wrong line of work. 

Even Mary Burke jumped on the "crap" bandwagon(who the hell is advising her?)!

Burke says in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that "there's no doubt tax cuts are very good." She says no one can argue with a tax cut, but she is looking at the longer-term implications.

Of course, looking at the long term implications, just not caring about the long term implications!

Talk about carrying water for Scott Walker!   


 

16 comments:

  1. Nah, that person was right. You are awesome. Make sure you bludgeon any enthusiasm for the Dem candidate in 2014 with your union crowd.

    Works for me!

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  2. Yes the attack on unions has been a huge boon for the Wisconsin and the taxpayers....my taxes have went up every single year while services are down and no one is working.

    Who doesnt want to emulate that?

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  3. "and no one is working"

    Cindy can relate to the concept of not working. Of course her not working is by choice. Ah, but who can blame her for comfortably hitching her wagon to Sugar Daddy.




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  4. There is even a bit of red-baiting going on, to accompany the usual blanket accusations of sexism, as some lifetime Democratic functionaries have taken to accusing the "extreme left" of attacking Burke. Apparently, even attempting to start a debate is an act of treason. Is that the lesson that has been learned over the last three years, that one must not question the chosen leader?

    I will vote for anyone over Scott Walker but the mindless, vicious attacks, lacking in content but replete with name-calling, from the consultant-heavy corporate-wing of the Democratic party only serves to hollow-out the base. The Barrettborgs are at it all over again. They can kiss my ass. The debate will happen whether they want it to or not. The last time I checked we still lived in at least a simulation of democracy. Let's see if we can make it work.

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  5. It's worse. If you have not read and seen the video, check out Mary Burke's comments on the proposed Iron mine:
    http://www.bluecheddar.net/?p=35946

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  6. The property tax thing was a political gimmick. Would hqve been nice to see the "relief" capped at the first 150 k. I don' think the Dems had a choice. They probably heard the whispering of attack ads in their ears as they voted yes. A few proposed amendments would have been nice to see.

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    Replies
    1. Actually, Dems did just that. I wrote about the proposal here, but basically it was a $45 credit for all landowners with improvements, and it added the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, and added to the Rainy Day fund.

      Oh, and did I mention the Dem plan also LOWERED the structural deficit compared to Walker's and WisGOP's giveaway? If you didn't hear about it, your media has let you down.

      What I don't hear out of Burke is a repeating of those types of bread-and-butter principles. And as a result, I and quite a few others willing to see if another Dem can step up and do the job better. Heck, maybe that person will be Burke, but we're not hearing it yet.

      Cindy knows how this works- it's why she wrote column after column denigrating Scott Walker in early 2010. But I bet the Brookfield soccer mom voted for him like a good Waukesha County Stepford does,
      didn't ya, Cin?

      Delete
  7. Jeff, you and a few others have been correct and are on the proper trail. Those fixated on the, "red/blue," political theater, either on the state or national scenes, continue to miss the point.

    Nice post. Hang in there.

    No War but Cass War

    (To anyone reading, it is a great time to send a check and encouragement to KV if you have not already done so.)

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  8. We divide ourselves and then close our eyes and pretend that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin actually stands for something.

    This is more than disturbing -- burke should not be able to buy the nomination on a silver platter.

    But until the labor movement becomes more expansive and gets rid of its own divisions-by-trade, there will never be majority support for public worker unions nor even those in the private sector.

    Running against walker at the "union guy" is going to get that stoooooopid dem crushed.

    Running on economic equity and opportunity for all may work -- and that platform is distinct and separate from today's union agenda which leaves the highest-needs communities behind.

    It made me sick to see thousands gather in Madison to demand we all support middle class workers that still had jobs, benefits, and healthcare -- all among the highest concentration of homelessness/homeless in the state of Wisconsin -- that end of State Street in Madison.

    But the multigenerations of poor that have been systematically underserved by public schools (including Madison -- raw data as bad as Chicago) fell that those with literally nothing have no choice but to support union rights.

    Its a sick situation -- we are going to get crushed until we make this about an economic bill-of-rights that includes housing and healthcare.

    And NO! I don't mean obama's insurance company bail out.

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    Replies
    1. Hmm, something tells me you're not really aware of what the unions have been doing. But that's OK, since you contradict yourself anyway.

      Delete
  9. Firebagger!!! A blue dog is better than a Repub.

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  10. capper -- you cannot state 2 sentences without contradicting yourself.

    I won't provide any links because you are, evidently, not capable of understanding them.

    It is a fact that VERY FEW workers have union protection and the percentage of workers that are employed in the public sector is a very tiny percentage.

    So overall union membership is less than 20 percent in this nation and it is falling. Membership in public sector unions is significantly BELOW 10 percent.

    This are very small minorities -- and interestingly enough, union membership vastly under-represents non-majority workers (people of color).

    Yet you proclaim otherwise -- sorry dude, you are either impaired in your ability to process info or you are a bold-faced liar.

    I am not sure which of the 2 choices is more offensive -- but you are part of the problem when you flame honest and important dialog.

    Guess its really just about YOU, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

      "So overall union membership is less than 20 percent in this nation and it is falling. Membership in public sector unions is significantly BELOW 10 percent."

      Actually no, nit even close to accurate.
      "In 2012, the union membership rate--the percent of wage and salary workers who were
      members of a union--was 11.3 percent,"
      "Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (35.9 percent) more than
      five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.6 percent)."

      "This are very small minorities -- and interestingly enough, union membership vastly under-represents non-majority workers (people of color).

      Again, false.
      "In 2012, among major race and ethnicity groups, black workers had a higher union
      membership rate (13.4 percent) than workers who were white (11.1 percent), Asian (9.6
      percent), or Hispanic (9.8 percent). Black men had the highest union membership rate
      (14.8 percent), while Asian men had the lowest rate (8.9 percent)."

      "I won't provide any links because you are, evidently, not capable of understanding them."
      "Yet you proclaim otherwise -- sorry dude, you are either impaired in your ability to process info or you are a bold-faced liar."

      Here's a tip. In the future, to avoid looking dangerously ignorant (and embarrassing yourself in the process), try to have a clue about that which you're feebly trying to pontificate about. It helps to not be making claims that are exactly 180 degrees opposite from reality. You cannot provide links to support your claims because your claims are incorrect.

      "I am not sure which of the 2 choices is more offensive -- but you are part of the problem when you flame honest and important dialog."

      Yeah, see, here's the thing. At best, you've thus far provided little more than feckless verbal meandering. Most of which was blatantly contradictory, and rather poorly articulated. None of which bears any likeness to reality, let alone is "honest" or "important". When pressed for clarification on the contradictory nature of your comments, you responded with ad hominems, and some childish retort about not providing links. So, in closing, it's fairly obvious who's "impaired in your ability to process info or you are a bold-faced liar.". Please, come back after you've studied the material a little more thoroughly. Until then, "sorry dude".

      Delete
  11. Jeff, thanks for another strong piece.

    Hope Scot will be more careful in the future.

    The elephant in the room is the John Doe emails. If those are released, and they're as damaging as everyone suspects, Walker might not be the GOP nominee. That could help tilt the race to the left.

    Everyone here understands the importance of compromise. Ms. Burke's failure to even come out against right-to-starve laws remains a concern. Is a pro-choice Republican better than Walker, sure. But, that will impact my decision on financial support.

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    Replies
    1. John,

      I want to be clear. I dont have a problem with what Scot & OWN did, they did the right thing. They used some ridiculous crap to try and fundraise on.


      I have a problem with the dems that all voted for this giving scott walker cover for his crap

      Delete
  12. Anon at 8:44,

    A lot of people use Anon here. Get a handle so we can try to make sense out of what you write.

    Whether you think capper reads your url's is irrelevant. If you have them, use them.

    Sounds like you don't have them.

    Physicians are a union. Lawyers are a union. Tenured University professors are a union. Like many others, they use credentialing to restrict the supply of their labor. That's the only way to put a floor underneath their wages. Over the long haul, it also supports a certain level of quality.

    ReplyDelete