Friday, October 30, 2015

Abele's Campaign Strategy Relies On Buy-Partisanship

Chris Abele has a lifelong pattern of using his daddy's checkbook to buy influence, gain the illusion of being a leader and cope with his daddy issues.

This behavior continued in his five years as Milwaukee County Emperor.  He used his daddy's money to buy off Republicans in the state legislature to pass bills he wanted whenever he didn't get his way.  Such bills include the power usurping bill, the creation of the non-elected taxing authority puppet Mental Health Board and the attempt to eliminate living wage laws across the state.

Likewise, he used his vast wealth as leverage with the Democrats, getting them to go along or, at the very least, keep quiet about his maleficent actions against Milwaukee and against other Democrats.

When Chris Larson announced his candidacy against Abele, I pointed out that Abele was very vulnerable because he had alienated large groups of people in the community.

Abele is already working hard to overcome his unpopularity by - you guessed it - buying people off.

For example, Abele angered a lot of people at MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College) when he bypassed appointing a Milwaukeean to their board in favor for a conservative manufacturer from Mequon.  Abele has now cut a huge check to the MATC Promise program in an effort to help people forget how he screwed them over.

Abele is well known for his attacks on Labor, not just the public sector unions but also the private sector ones.  To overcome this, Abele has decided to try to buy off the trades unions by cutting them a quarter million dollar check for their training program.  Abele's goal is obviously to split the unions that have expressed support for Larson.  Apparently Abele has forgotten the strength of solidarity.

One of Abele's most egregious acts was his deal with the Republicans to take over Milwaukee Public Schools.  Despite his protestations to the contrary, Abele has been a longtime advocate for privatizing schools.  He even stood with Sheldon Lubar when they announced that MPS was their next target.

Now Abele is trying to calm the teachers union and the angry parents by exceeding his authority even further by proposing a "high-quality early childhood program."  In English, he wants to take over the preschools as well.  What better way to brainwash the kiddies early on?

There is little doubt that more of these stories will surface in the coming months as Abele becomes more desperate to buy his reelection.  After all, if he loses this election, it would make it much more difficult for him to run for governor in 2018.

The Republican Corruption Agenda

This week culminated in yet another Republican bill being passed that consolidates political power, opens the door to corruption, and ensures cronyism will run rampant. In the past 7 days, we’ve seen Republicans exempt themselves from corruption investigations, take us back to the Elections and Ethics Commissions that ignore political corruption, open the flood gates to more secret corporate money in elections, and allow individuals to conceal carry knives. And now, Assembly Republicans voted to gut Wisconsin’s civil service system in order to game the formerly objective public employee hiring system.
 
Wisconsin was a leader when it created its civil service laws in 1905. AB 373 overhauls the state’s civil service system for Wisconsin’s 30,000 public employees. It eliminates objective civil service exams and replaces them with a subjective system for hiring. It increases the probationary period, allowing employees to be fired for any reason for up to 2 years. Included in the definition of “just cause” is “personal conduct” that is “unsuitable,” which leaves too much discretion in the hands of state agencies to discipline employees for manufactured reasons.
 
If the Walker Administration wants, as Governor Bob La Follette’s slogan says, for “the best to serve the state,” there are proactive steps that must be taken, and gutting civil service protections isn’t one of them. If the Republicans really want to attract the best and the brightest, they shouldn’t have cut take-home pay and eliminated collective bargaining rights. Governor Walker and legislative Republicans should be working to repair the damage they inflicted on Wisconsin’s workers, not destroying civil service protections.
 
Additionally, we’ve already seen the corruption that can occur in state employment when civil service standards are removed. This is what happened when the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) was created. Without the civil service process, WEDC has seen unprecedented levels of corruption and unethical behavior. One analysis of the $975 million WEDC doled out from 2011-2014 found that 60% of the funds went to those that contributed directly to Governor Walker or the Republican Governor’s Association. Taxpayer money has been irresponsibly loaned to Walker donors who need to make their Maserati payments.
 
Even before the civil service system was ransacked, we’d already begun to see cronyism seeping into our government:
 
If you signed the recall petition, you’re weren’t appointed to a board you were otherwise extremely qualified to be on. If you conducted research based on science, not politics, you were fired, just like the 18 scientists at the Department of Natural Resources. If you were a long time civil servant and you disagreed with one of the agencies, your job was turned into an unclassified position, causing you to lose all job protections.
 
In the face of reduced public employee protections, I am introducing an anti-retaliation bill to ensure that public employees will not be targeted for simply doing their jobs or exercising their basic, protected 1st Amendment rights. This is a small step towards treating state employees with the respect they deserve.

Representative Chris Taylor 

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Paul Ryan's Big Day

By Jeff Simpson

Today, Janesville's Paul Ryan was voted in as the new Speaker of the House

Today in Paul Ryan's backyard, Janesville's GM plant was officially designated as closing

These are NOT mutually exclusive events.  

Photo published for Marathon Man: Paul Ryan washes clean dishes in soup kitchen photo op


Chris Abele Runs Away From His Own Budget

Like many other governmental entities, Milwaukee County is in the midst of their budget process.  Unlike most other governmental entities, Milwaukee County doesn't have an executive leader that presents, explains and defends his budget.

This morning, I received an extremely rare official email from Abele's office, stating how proud he is of his budget:
We’re officially in the midst of budget season at Milwaukee County. I’m proud of what my team and I put into this year’s budget – from unprecedented investments in transit, to an ambitious initiative to end chronic homelessness, and multiple investments in our employees – all while maintaining the financial stability and sustainability that I’ve fought so hard to create over the last several years.
He then boasts about the false praise offered by the Public Policy Forum.  This praise is basically meaningless since PPF is funded by Abele and his friends at the Greater Milwaukee Committee.  It's the equivalent of Scott Walker bragging about the praise he gets from the MacIver Institute.

But just how proud is Abele over his budget?

To the date of this writing, Abele has willfully failed five times to appear publicly to discuss his budget.  Five times, the Milwaukee County Board's Finance, Personnel and Audit Committee has invited Abele to come to speak to his budget proposal and five times Abele has refused.

UPDATE: Make that six times now!

Now, one would think that if Abele was so proud of his budget proposal, he would want to talk about it every chance he gets.  Even Walker, when he was county executive, would talk up his budget all the time.  Of course, Walker was always lying through his weasel teeth, but at least he would appear and defend his decisions.

Chairman Theodore Lipscomb raised some good questions after the third time Abele failed to appear:
“We have offered the County Executive three scheduled opportunities to answer direct questions about his budget since it was released, and he continues to refuse,” Lipscomb said. “This sets an unsettling precedent and stands in stark contrast to both Walker and Barrett.

“What is Abele hiding, and why is he hiding? Doesn’t the public have a right to know what’s going on?
Abele has offered to meet with each of the supervisors individually and privately, but added that he would still be deferring questions to his aides. That would indicate he doesn't really know what's in there or if he does, he's not so proud of it after all.

What is also alarming is the great lengths he is going to to prevent the public from knowing what is in his budget. Proposing to meet with supervisors privately is meant to keep the public out of the loop. But even worse, under Act 14 - Abele's power usurping law - the County Board and its committees have the authority to require the presence of any county employee or officer. Not only is Abele disrespecting the board and the taxpayers, he is willing to break the law in order to keep the taxpayers from knowing how he is spending their money.

To be fair, it might not be just that Abele is ashamed of his budget and doesn't want the public to know exactly what is in it, such as tapping into the reserves to pay his $80 million obligation to help build the Bucks arena.  Or that he has endangered public safety with draconian cuts to the Sheriff's Office.

It might be that he is afraid that he will commit another gaffe like he did when he first presented the budget (a week late and tens of millions of dollars short) to the County Board.  The gentle reader will remember that this was when he said that he was "helping" the African American community by improving the House of Correction, boosting child support enforcement or giving more money to privatizing the mental health system.

The ironic thing is that if any other county employee would refuse to obey the law five times like Abele is doing, it would be grounds for termination.  Fortunately, the voters will have a chance to do just that in a few months, when we elect Chris Larson to replace the elitist Abele.

In the meantime, if you happen to stumble across Abele wherever he is hiding, please return him to the Milwaukee County Courthouse so that he can actually do his job.

Republican Fantasy Land

By Jeff Simpson

While Rachel Campos Duffy feels that "political correctness" is a major problem in this country today, I believe that what might be our biggest problem in America today is how divorced from reality Republicans are.  

We all know that Ms. Duffy's husband and fellow "MTV Real World" contestant Sean, is worried because he only makes $174,000/yr. while the average salary in WI is $50,809/yr (less than a third of Duffy's).

Nationally,  Presidential would be contender and Junior Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio has come right out and said that he likes campaigning and wants to be paid his Senator's salary, but has no interest in doing any work to earn his salary.     What soured Rubio on public service?   He wanted to push a bill that made it easier to fire government workers who did not do their job, but it was blocked in the Senate.   

You can not make this stuff up. 

 Closer to home, we have our very own Governor who likes to make up stories on why we are in desperate need of civil service "reform".   Mr. Walker also made up stories about death threats to his family and himself, along  with a myriad of other half truths, false statements and pants on fire lies.  

Maybe the most egregious though, is the fact that the self proclaimed  "fiscal conservative" just finished a failed presidential run, where he spent $90,000 a day

In almost the same time that we found out that poverty has  increased in WI:


Five years into the nation’s recovery from recession, Wisconsin’s working families remain considerably worse off than they were before. Nearly three-quarters of a million Wisconsinites lived in poverty in 2014, according to a recent release of new Census data, which is 150,000 more than in 2007.  Poverty is more prevalent among children than adults, with about 1 in 6 Wisconsin kids in poverty last year.
The typical Wisconsin household earned significantly less in 2014 than a typical household in 2007 – about 9% less when the figures are adjusted for inflation. That drop in income makes it harder for families to put food on the table, pay car repair bills, save for their children’s educations, and make other investments that help them climb the economic ladder.
 Then JSonline PurpleWI Contributor Jay Miller tells us who cares that Scott Walker, took a full salary and benefits to campaign full time for President and blow through $7 million dollars in campaign funds in about 90 days. 

Enough already. In the last several days, the Journal Sentinel has run not one, but two, feature articles detailing how Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign ended up $1 million in debt.
 
Although it is not unusual for a candidate withdrawing from a failed race to have debts, the newspaper decided to trumpet this non-story. And, then, its watchdog columnist, Daniel Bice, provided the coup de grace with his Sunday column, “Walker mum on campaign spending”.
It is hard when people find no problem with a politician shirking his duties to campaign for a job he promised us he did not want and would not pursue, while spending $90,000/day. 

For context, that would bring two full time teachers to a public school in WI.  

Maybe the biggest problem facing Wisconsin is that the party in charge is either tone deaf or completely divorced from reality. 


Here Scott Walker partakes in an activity that 15.3 million children in the US a day do not get to
 







Wednesday, October 28, 2015

GOP Pass Their Corruption Agenda

Allowing unlimited corporate dollars in elections while dismantling nonpartisan GAB watchdog shows GOP agenda
 
MADISON – After hours of debate yesterday on AB 387, a bill that will allow unlimited corporations and billionaires to collude with candidates and spend unlimited amounts in state and local elections, Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) released the following statement:
 
“At a time when Wisconsin citizens want the state legislature to focus on creating family supporting jobs and revitalizing our lagging economy,  Governor Walker and his legislative allies decided to use their power to line their campaign accounts, exclude themselves from corruption investigations and dismantle our ethics and elections watchdog, the GAB.   
 
“Unless special interest groups, corporations and billionaires say specific words including “vote for” or “vote against” and make this type of communication their major purpose, they can keep their donors secret and not make any disclosures to the public.  And for the first time in Wisconsin history, candidates can form, coordinate with and run entities that take secret corporate and billionaire money.  Wisconsin candidates now have a legal tool, with which they can effectively circumvent any limits on candidate campaign contributions, a previously unlawful tactic Governor Walker allegedly employed during his recall campaign.
    
“AB 387 creates a conflict of interest for every legislator in the Capitol, and Republicans had no business bringing it forward and voting on it.  How can we pass bills that allow policymakers to collude with corporations and billionaires to basically money launder and evade candidate campaign limits?  Last night, after Republicans rejected our attempts to eliminate these conflict of interest provisions, I was proud to stand with my 34 Democratic colleagues in recusing ourselves from voting on this bill.  The people of our state deserve legislators who are looking out for the people’s interests, not their own political futures.”  

Vos Bill Opens the Door on “Dark Money” in Campaigns

“This bill strengthens democracy because it allows more citizens to participate,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal. Vos is the lead author of a bill to overhaul the state’s campaign finance law.

Wisconsin was an early leader in campaign finance reforms of 1911 that limited money in campaigns and provided “rigorous penalties” including disqualifying candidates and sending them to prison. Ironically, the effort over 100 years ago was led by legislative Republicans.

Today’s Assembly leader may advocate for more democracy, but the bill he authored favors the rich and those well-connected candidates. I fear the bill’s effect will be more negative ads, less voter knowledge, more out-of-state contributions, more centralized control by legislative leaders, and an increasingly dispirited electorate.

The bill opens the door to so-called “dark money” or contributions not reported by who wrote the check. Loopholes created in the bill make it unclear which political action committees (PAC) or independent expenditure groups must report donors and campaign spending.

Unlimited campaign contributions are allowed in a host of new areas. Unlimited donations can be made to a PAC or to two new political committee types for a recall or a referendum. This makes me concerned more money and outside groups will try to affect local elections and referenda.

Corporations cannot contribute to candidate campaigns but corporations, labor unions and Native American Tribes can make unlimited contributions to independent expenditure groups, a referendum committee or a special fund for non-candidate contribution purposes run by a political party or a legislative committee (run by legislative leaders).

In addition, unlimited dollars can be moved from a political party or legislative campaign committee to a candidate. The latter increases the hold leaders have over legislative members. The former increases the power of the political party to pick candidates.

Donation limits to candidates’ campaigns are doubled. For example, the current limit for a single individual over a four-year Senate term is $1,000. This limit becomes $2,000 under Vos’ bill.

Who benefits from adding more money to campaigns? An analysis by Nick Heynen of the Wisconsin State Journal, shows that since 2008, $17.8 million in donations that reach the maximum limit were contributed to candidates for statewide office. Almost 60% of this money came from outside Wisconsin.

Donors would not be required to report their employer. This makes it difficult to track the relationship between a company that receives grants or tax credits from the state and donations of their employees to candidates.

Removed from the statute is the purpose of campaign finance laws: The legislature finds and declares that our democratic system of government can be maintained only if the electorate is informed. It further finds that excessive spending on campaigns for public office jeopardizes the integrity of elections….When the true source of support or extent of support is not fully disclosed, or when a candidate becomes overly dependent upon large private contributors, the democratic process is subject to a potential corrupting influence.

Perhaps Speaker Vos found his bill a bit in conflict with the real purpose of campaign finance laws. If he truly wants to improve democracy by increasing citizens’ participation in campaigns, I wonder if he’d join me in supporting an amendment to his bill suggested in the testimony of Matt Rothschild, the executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

In a March hearing, Mr. Rothschild cited one way to amplify the voice of small campaign donors was to use public financing to match – by five times – the donation of anyone who gave $175 or less to a candidate. This sounds like a great way to strengthen democracy.

I haven’t met a single voter who thinks we need more out of state or dark money in Wisconsin elections. Without regard to political affiliation, people think there is already too much influence on elections from outside Wisconsin.

Every donation to influence an election needs to be reported in a way citizens can see who is behind the nasty ads. Not only should groups disclose their donors, they should register every patriotic or feel good name used to influence elections.

We don’t need more dark money. We need more democracy and the best way to get that is to let the light shine in.

Senator Kathleen Vinehout

REPUBLICANS MAKE A RIGHT MOVE

Voting to allow switchblade knives, swords and other cutlery to be worn in public was a completely Right thing to do. Now we need to go further and legalize Nunchuks, Shurikens, thumbnail eye gougers and other fighting implements. Not everyone wants to use a gun with 30 round ammunition to kill 30 kids in 30 seconds. Some people prefer a more adventurous approach with machetes. Yes, they're legal now too and can be worn concealed or not. Then the old fashioned type just wants to deliver a good smacking with a piece of wood. I know that may not be NRA approved though but you are headed in the Right direction. Still, think of it. UW students will be able to play dungeons and dragons in real dungeons. They can wear that Brave Heart Highlander broad sword to medieval studies; hopefully it won’t accidentally decapitate anyone. What a great gift coming right before Halloween. It almost seems supernatural. So my complements to the Republicans for once again going in the Right direction. Now perhaps we can take another goose step to the right and lower the age for children to buy guns. I know they can have a rifle when they are ten but there is a problem that no one is addressing and that is toddlers killing each other. Now we all know that the only thing that stops a bad toddler with a gun is a good toddler with a gun. Keep going Right, Republicans. Bright future, DEXTER

I'll Just Leave This Here

Fun with screencaps, from my Feedly reader:


WI Lawmakers To Propose Office Of African American Affairs

Wisconsin - and especially in MIlwaukee - is a very bad place to be African American. Wisconsin has the highest incarceration rate for African American men. Milwaukee is the most racially and economically segregated communities in the nation. Unemployment rates for African Americans in Milwaukee is nearly 20% and some neighborhoods the unemployment rate is over 50%.

To address these issues, Milwaukee County Supervisor Khalif Rainey is proposing that the county create an Office of African American Affairs. The objectives of this agency, per Rainey, would be:
“The creation of a Milwaukee County Office on African American Affairs includes as its objectives: the examination and definition of issues central to the rights and needs of African Americans; recommendations for changes in programs and laws that disproportionately impact African Americans; development and implementation of policies, plans, and programs related to the special needs of African Americans; and promotion of equal opportunities for African Americans.”
Milwaukee Alderman Willie Wade and Representative Leon Young will introduce similar proposals for the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin, respectively.

These proposals will probably pass in both the city and the county, especially given that most of the elected officials in both entities are up for reelection in the spring of 2016. Sadly, it probably won't get much traction at the state level, where Scott Walker and his fellow corporate puppets are in overdrive to ram through their plantation economic agenda.

Interesting, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele - who said that he was "helping" the black community by putting more programming in the House of Corrections, increasing aid to child support enforcement and expanding mental health services - is all for this proposal.

After trying to claim credit for programs created by others, Abele even admitted that what he was doing "clearly they are not enough." That is a remarkable admission from such an arrogant, pompous ass that holds only disdain for anyone not wealthy.

But like I said, he faces reelection in a few months and has a strong challenger in State Senator Chris Larson, a very popular progressive.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Caption This!

From Tweets of the Damned comes this little beauty:


Apparently, that's Tonette taking a break from making chili and drinking boxed wine underneath that mask.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Wisconsin, I hardly recognize you!



At the turn of the 20th century, Wisconsin government was rife with corruption. Big business and wealthy plutocrats controlled the politicians and thus controlled the government. They had their puppet politicians pass laws that benefited them regardless of who might be hurt by them.

This high level of corruption gave way to a progressive movement led by Fighting Bob LaFollette. LaFollette, who was a Republican, led the way to clean up the government, enacting laws that returned the government to the control of the people. He led the way to busting trusts, enacting election reforms and creating the Wisconsin Idea. The changes brought on by LaFollette and other progressives have well served the people of Wisconsin for over a 100 years.

Ironically, LaFollette was a Republican.

It's ironic because this week, modern day Republicans are in the process of removing the last remnants of LaFollette's legacy of good government.

This week, Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans have started pushing through three bills that would end good government.

The first bill would change campaign finance laws, opening the flood gates for dark money to come pouring in:
The legislation would double the amount of contributions that state and local candidates could receive from individuals, and would adjust that limit for inflation every five years.

[...]

Under the bill, political parties and legislative campaign committees could make unlimited donations to a candidate committee.

The bill would allow legislative campaign committees and political parties to receive unlimited contributions, with the exception of a $12,000 per year limit on PAC contributions to those committees and parties.

The legislation would allow unlimited contributions to be made to and transferred between political action committees. Recall committees and referendum committees could also receive unlimited funds, and unlimited funds could be donated to pay expenses related to a recall or recount. Candidates could also make unlimited personal contributions to their own committee.

The proposal would ban candidates from coordinating with outside groups on express advocacy — calls to vote "for or against" a candidate — but would place no restrictions on coordination on issue advocacy.
In an interesting twist and a brilliant maneuver, each and every Democrat recused themselves from the vote, pointing out that they have a conflict of interest because it would directly affect their own campaign committees. The Republicans were at a loss at having their blatant corruption and greed exposed like that, but not enough so to keep them from passing the bill anyway.

Now, obviously, by opening the flood gates for dark money like that, it also opens the door to even more corruption and ethics violations.

To deal with that, the Republicans are also set to dismantle the Government Accountability Board (GAB), a nonpartisan panel of former judges that investigate campaign finance and ethics violations. The Republicans want to replace the GAB with two partisan panels - one for campaign finance violations and one for ethics violations - each consisting of three Republicans and three Democrats. This will leave the committees at stalemates on almost every issue.

On top of that, each committee is given a very small budget to use to conduct their investigations. If the committee would need more money, they must ask the Joint Finance Committee for that extra funding. Of course, the Joint Finance Committee has a huge Republican majority, making it highly unlikely that they would approve any funding to investigate themselves.

It was this kind of set up that allowed the caucus scandals of fifteen years ago to happen. In that scandal, both parties were using their government offices as campaign machines, having government staff spending most of their time fundraising and performing other political operations.

As the gentle reader might have guessed, many of the people caught up in that scandal are also behind the legalization of corruption now.

The only and very small ray of hope is that it appears that some Republicans in the state senate haven't had their moral compasses totally destroyed and are balking at this measure.

Just in case the Republicans might have missed something that still might allow one of them to get caught with their hands in the dark money cookie jar, they added one another safeguard for their crimes - the killing of John Doe probes for political crimes. Walker, who was the subject of not one, but two, such probes, is very eager to get that on his desk before he gets subjected to a third investigation.

Now, there are probably lots of folks that are thinking what Wisconsin needs is another Fighting Bob LaFollette to come and restore good government. In a way they are right.

But what we really need here in Wisconsin is for us to realize that we are the next Bob LaFollettes and reclaim our state.

Meanwhile, if you happen to be in Wisconsin, listen real carefully and you'll hear a whirring sound. That's Fighting Bob spinning in his grave.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Report: Paul Ryan Now Considering Speaker Of The House

For weeks, Paul Ryan was adamant that he did not want to be Speaker of the House. He had a sweet gig that he didn't want to give up and he did not want to expose himself to all sorts of investigations and investigative reporting.

Per CBS News, Ryan has stopped playing hard to get and is now trying to negotiate an even sweeter deal with himself. One thing is clear though, Ryan will not negotiate with terrorists, er, I mean the House Freedom Caucus:
After weeks of insisting he would not run for Speaker, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan - according to those close to him - is now open to leading the fractured Republican conference, and seriously considering launching a bid for speaker of the House.

But there's a caveat. And it's a big one.

Ryan's confidants tell CBS News he will not horse trade with the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 40 or so deeply conservative members who have been demanding changes to House rules and other very specific promises from candidates for Speaker in exchange for their support. Ryan's confidants say he is not going to negotiate for a job he never sought, and that he has a record of conservative leadership that should be clear to every member of the GOP conference.

They say Ryan hasn't ruled out meeting with the House Freedom Caucus if asked, but "he's not going to go to the Freedom Caucus and say, 'I'll do this and this'...otherwise you've sold yourself to them from the very beginning, and set yourself up for failure" said someone with knowledge of his deliberations.' "He still really, really does not want to do this. He has his dream job. If he's Speaker, his whole career path changes. He's not going to make concessions to get a job he didn't want in the first place."

Either members believe in his conservative leadership, or they don't - and if Ryan concludes that he's unlikely to get a near-unanimous vote of support from republicans, his allies say he is happy to stay exactly where he is as the chair of the House Ways and Means committee.
Hmmm, maybe Ryan was just stalling for time to cover up the paper trail of his investments and those of his wife.

The fact that some Republicans are worried that Ryan isn't conservative enough is laughable and shows just how far to the fringe the GOP has gone. A look at Ryan's voting record shows that he would be the most far right wing nut job speaker in the past several decades.

No one is talking about what kinds of things Ryan is looking for in making his decision, but some possibilities include:
  • Changing the title to Speaker , Policy Wonk and Grand Poobah of the House
  • Free hunting and fishing licenses in all fifty states
  • A formal resolution that kissing fish is not strange
  • An unlimited per diem for expensive wines
  • Never having to speak to people that aren't worth at least a million dollars
Whatever Ryan is holding out for, I hope it's worth it to him because it's going to cost him dearly in the end. Then again, it's not the first time Ryan has shown that he has poor decision making skills:


Friday, October 16, 2015

Walker Used Personal Email To Conduct State Business


During his very short-lived presidential campaign, Scott Walker repeatedly attacked Hillary Clinton for conducting government business through her personal email address. Given that there were tens of thousands of pages of emails showing that Walker did the same thing as Milwaukee County Executive, the hypocrisy was enough to make one's hair hurt.

It turns out that even though Walker and his staff were under a criminal investigation for this, Walker continued to do it as governor.

In a rare moment of flagrant journalism, WKOW News did an open records request regarding the use of private emails to conduct state business. The records showed hundreds of personal emails were used. Their investigation also raised questions about how those emails were being handled:
But a 27 News investigation by Greg Neumann into the use and disclosure of personal emails by the Governor's office is raising questions about just how those records are handled.

On May 28, 27 News asked Gov. Walker if he knew whether former Chief of Staff Keith Gilkes, former Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch or other members of his administration had used personal email for government business.

"I don't know," said Gov. Walker. "I mean, not that I'm aware of."

But we now know the Governor was aware of it at the time that exchange took place.

Just a few days before we asked those questions, 27 News requested all of the emails sent to or from the personal email addresses of Gilkes, Huebsch, and Walker's second Chief of Staff Eric Schutt - that contained official state business communications.

Their personal email addresses were provided to 27 News by a tipster.

The Governor's office ultimately sent 980 pages worth of the emails to 27 News on Monday, October 12, nearly fourth months after our initial request.

"We have a strict policy in terms of our office or our administration that information regarding state business - conducted on state email - which would be our preference," said Gov. Walker.

But in the first year of the Walker administration, state business was conducted through more than 300 personal emails.

Much of it dealt with planning and strategy. A March 2011 email sent from from Gilkes to other senior staffers, included a memo detailing the self-described weaknesses of the Walker administration's first 100 days in office - mentioning Gov. Walker's overexposure to the media and long winded speeches.

Personal email was used to discuss big policy moments as well. One thread showed a discussion among senior staffers on the day after the State Senate passed Act 10. It includes the statement Secretary Huebsch ultimately released to the media on it being published and becoming law.

Others dealt directly with the strategy surrounding Act 10 and the concern caused after Judge Mary Ann Sumi blocked the law.

Some of the emails were sent to or from Governor Walker's own personal address, but we aren't sure how many due to the fact that both his personal and official email addresses are redacted in the records.

"All identifiers of the non-public official direct email address of the Governor have been redacted pursuant to the balancing test," David Rabe, assistant legal counsel to Gov. Walker, wrote to 27 News in a letter accompanying the records. "We have determined that the public interest in avoiding potential disruption of the Governor's ability to carry out his responsibilities without unnecessary interruption if his direct email address became common knowledge outweighs any public interest in disclosure."
Wisconsin law does not explicitly forbid conducting state business through private emails. However, Walker claimed that it was his administration's policy that these emails be sent to their official accounts to keep them for prosperity.

That turned out to be another lie, which leads to even more disturbing questions (emphasis mine):
"Our office also routinely trains staff to forward any emails related to state business to their official accounts for the purpose of retention," said Gov. Walker's Press Secretary Laurel Patrick.

But dozens of the emails 27 News received were never sent to an official state account until they were forwarded to the government email address of Gov. Walker's Chief Legal Counsel Brian Hagedorn on July 31, 2015. That date comes four years after the emails were originally written and two months after our open records request.

"Yeah, I think it's an issue to be sure and apparently and potentially a serious one," said Drechsel, who believes that delay and lag time raises questions about whether 27 News even got all of the personal emails that ever existed, or if some were permanently deleted from personal accounts long ago.

"To me, the policy that you described of forwarding those emails so they get into the state system is a very good one. But again, it all falls apart if people don't - in good faith - comply with the policy," said Drechsel.
The reason that the emphasized section should raise a red flag for the gentle reader is that on the very same date that Hagedorn had received these emails is the same day that Walker announced that he was politically appointing Hagedorn to an appellate court seat despite that Hagedorn had no experience or qualifications for that position.

Was that appointment made to reward Hagedorn for his political operations, as a form of hush money to buy Hagedorn's silence or both?

It is also worth noting that Walker didn't release those emails until well after he dropped out of the GOP presidential clown car. It should give one pause to wonder if money problems was the only or the real reason Walker dropped out of the race.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Where Will Scott Walker Be On November 10th?

Fox Business News and the Wall Street Journal will be hosting the next GOP presidential debate right here in Milwaukee on November 10th.

As the gentle reader is well aware of, Scott Walker's presidential campaign failed in spectacular fashion just last month.

This lead me to ponder what will Walker be doing on the night of the debate, since he won't be a participant.

Will Walker:

A)  Stay in Madison, curled up in a fetal position under his desk, mumbling to himself on how he should be president because he was the chosen one?

B)  Stay in Madison, sitting in a darkened room with Tonette watching the debate, crying that David Koch promised him that he was going to be president and asking why the Koch Boyz had forsaken him?

C)  Be at the debate, drawn to the media attention like a moth to a flame, at the cost of reminding the state and the nation what an absolute failure he is both as a governor and a presidential candidate?

D)  Given who is hosting this stop of the GOP circus, will Walker be attracted to the media attention by agreeing to be "an expert commentator" so he can compare the failure of the remaining candidates to his own failure and so that he can again repeat his unheeded advice to the other wannabes that they should follow his lead by dropping out of the race.

E) Something else?

I like to think that I am pretty good at knowing what Walker will do in any particular situation but this one truly has me stumped.

What are your thoughts?

Quote of the Day - Scott Walker Edition


The gentle reader is well aware that Scott Walker's hypocrisy knows no bounds, but he still has the ability to come up with things that leaves even the most cynical of us astounded by just how far he can go.

A prime example was his review of the Democratic debate and Hillary Clinton's performance (emphasis mine):
The governor also praised the performance of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate, saying she came across as "surprisingly very confident and, I thought, relatively pleasant." But he panned her policies and those of her Democratic rivals as socialism.

"I was just overwhelmed with how much stuff they're willing to give away," he said.
This is coming from the guy who was in charge of the WEDC - until a few months ago when he got fired from the job - and led the way of giving away hundreds of millions of dollars to his biggest campaign donors.

The man really has no shame at all.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Scott Walker Flip Flops On His Last Remaining Position

BY Jeff Simpson


August 26, 2015

Walker has maintained the travel has not affected his ability to govern effectively and communicate with lawmakers as they amend his budget proposal, noting he carries two cellphones.
“When you look at the bigger issue, the work every week, I meet with the Speaker and the Majority Leader, and their counterparts in the opposing party when they’re in session,” Walker told reporters during a recent conference call from Spain. “The record clearly shows we’re just as engaged today as at any point over the last four years.”

 October 14, 2015:

Walker made moves to run for president shortly after being re-elected to a second term in November and dropped out last month. His current term runs through 2018, which will be midterm for the next president.
Walker said, "It is difficult to run your state and to run for president at the same time."

Of course Mr. Unitimidated had to go in front of Chuck Sykes where he knew he wouldnt be challenged on his flip flops or lies.  

I think for Scott Walker to continue running our state, he should have a mandatory psychological evaluation.    He has not stayed consistent on an issue in years.  The people of WI deserve so much more/

 

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Walker's Kangaroo Justice Jumped The Gun

As I reported, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks passed away in chambers in September, on the same day that Scott Walker's presidential bid was pronounced DOA. Walker gave a deadline of October 2 for applicants to ask to be appointed, One week later, made a political appointment of his crony and fellow right wing extremist, Rebecca Bradley.

This may come as a shock to the gentle reader, but it looks like the appointment just might have been rigged.

It turns out that Bradley was calling herself Justice Bradley even before she announced that she was an applicant, much less had actually been appointed or sworn in:
Rebecca Bradley, whose first day as a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was Monday, registered a website domain name identifying her as a justice even before applications were due for the interim position she was appointed to.

Bradley was widely — and accurately — seen as the favorite to be appointed by Gov. Scott Walker to fill out the final nine months of Justice Pat Crooks' term; Crooks died last month. Walker had twice selected Bradley for judicial openings previously and her candidacy for a full 10-year high court term had the conservatives' backing.

Her nine-month appointment gives her the advantage of incumbency as she runs for a full 10-year term on the court in the April 5 election. She faces 4th District Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Joe Donald — neither of whom applied for the Supreme Court appointment.

Bradley campaign spokeswoman Madison Wiberg said the website domain name of "justicerebeccabradley.com" was reserved a day before the Oct. 2 application deadline by a vendor "in anticipation of the application process."
Adding to the shenanigans is the fact on Friday, when Walker announced the appointment, he said that they were still working out when Bradley would be formally sworn in. Apparently, they were not expecting the backlash they had gotten, since she was sworn in in a quick, private ceremony Monday morning. One would think that how this appointment was made to bolster her chances in the election next year, she would have wanted all of the pomp and circumstance.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Larson To Take On Boss Abele!

Chris Larson (the good Chris)
In 2010, Chris Larson sent a shockwave thought the state's Democratic Party when he defeated entrenched incumbent Jeff Plale for his seat in the state senate.  It proved to be a smart move by the voters of that district.  After Plale was ousted, he showed his true nature by accepting his 30 pieces of silver from his pal, Scott Walker.

It is being reported that Larson has decided to take another Corporate Democrat, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele.

To show that Larson isn't taking on this challenge as the odd man out or without support, Congresswoman Gwen Moore will join Larson when he makes his announcement. Comments she has already made is very telling:
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat and former Abele backer, is putting her support behind Larson, giving some heft to his campaign and a potential draw on Milwaukee's African-American vote.

In an interview, Moore said that Abele had focused too much time on amassing power and undermining enemies on the County Board, rather than working with other Democrats to uplift the county's deeply impoverished core.

"I've been very, very disappointed that Chris Abele has really not met my expectations in terms of providing these (social) services and doing it in a democratic way," Moore said. "It pains me because I like Chris Abele. He's smart, but I think he's a benevolent dictator."
Moore has always been diplomatic when it comes to other Democrats, but she really understated the damage that Abele has inflicted upon himself.  But it rather telling in itself that Moore, a Democrat, is supporting Larson while Abele's only defender is County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, a rabid Republican.

Abele has alienated a lot of people in the past five years.

Chris Abele (the bad Chris)
Abele has waged a war on workers.  Not many people realize it, but the things that have them up in arms about Scott Walker - such as gouging the workers even more and attacking civil service laws - are things that Abele has already done to county workers.  Abele has also attacked and fought living wage laws to the point of trying to have those laws killed statewide.

There is also his ongoing war with the transit workers.  Instead of sitting down and negotiating in good faith, Abele is still creating unnecessary and unwanted labor strife with his anti-union tactics.  The only reason that Abele is even starting to budge now is to avoid a strike this close to the election.

Abele has also alienated the teacher's unions - as well as many parents and members of the black community - by extending his power grab to the Milwaukee Public Schools, eagerly agreeing to become the MPS Privatization Czar.

Abele really put his foot in it with the black community last week when he said he wanted to help blacks by giving them more programs in jail, more child support enforcement and more mental health services.

Abele also has insulted veterans by saying that support for the War Memorial Center was "bullshit."

Abele showed his disdain for taxpayers and vulnerable citizens with his mental health debacle.  Not only did he get the state to go along with his plan to create an unelected taxing body to take over the mental health system, but then started to kick people out of the mental health complex with insufficient protection and support.  This has led to people getting seriously injured and even dying becaue of Abele's negligence.

Perhaps Abele's greatest act of maleficence was the gutting of representative government and concentrating that power in his hands.  That's isn't being progressive. That's being a petty tyrant.

In fact, the only chance Abele has is using his daddy's checkbook as leverage with the few Corporate Democrats and Republicans that are willing to turn a blind eye to all of his misdeeds for a check cut out to their campaign.

Abele likes to say it shows that he can be "bipartisan."

Methinks he uses that word on purpose, but really means "buy-partisan."

Either way, it spells that it's time for Abele to go.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Paul Ryan Plays Hard To Get

With the GOP running around like the fools they are as they seek a new scapegoat for when things go wrong, er, I mean, Speaker of the House, an increasing number of them have set their eyes on Rep. Paul Ryan. But Ryan is being coy about what his intentions are.

Per the national press, Ryan is privately talking about running for it:
Rep. Paul Ryan is telling House Republicans privately he is considering running for speaker, several members say.

Ryan informed several members on the House floor of his deliberations, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, told CNN. Stewart added that he urged Ryan to run, with the Wisconsin Republican replaying that he was "thinking and praying on it."

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who shocked Capitol Hill by deciding Thursday not to try and succeed retiring Speaker John Boehner, also said Ryan is weighing a run.

"Paul's looking at it but it's his decision," McCarthy said on CNN. "If he decides to do it, he'll be an amazing speaker but he's got to decide on his own."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, said that Ryan told him privately he is thinking about it as well. "I think he's gone from a 'hard no' to he knows he has to consider it," he said.
But back at home behind the Cheddar Curtain, the press is reporting that Ryan is rebuffing the pressure and is firm on not running:
"He needs to do this for the team," said House Republican Fred Upton of Michigan.

That appeal came after a Ryan spokesman issued the latest in a series of statements saying Ryan remains out of the running for the office of speaker being vacated by John Boehner.

"Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he's getting from his colleagues but is still not running for speaker," said the statement.

Ryan himself made no remarks to his GOP colleagues at a closed-door session Friday morning to discuss the party's leadership crisis. And he walked past reporters in the Capitol hallways throughout the day saying he had nothing to add.

[...]

Ryan has been emphatic in the past about not wanting the job, citing both the time and travel demands and his desire to continue chairing the House Ways and Means Committee.
If the Republicans really want Ryan to even seriously consider being the Speaker of the House, they are going to have to find a way to really sweeten the pot.

Ryan has got it good right now. He doesn't have to do anything. He introduces some bills that his dark money overlords give him, gets them passed and then sits back, watching the money roll in. Why would he give that up for a job where he actually has to work?

Not only that, he's the last one of the "Young Guns" that hasn't been completely disgraced. Why in the world would he want to risk being proven the fraud that he is by exposing his incompetence to the world?

Fearful 78 Year Old Woman Second Amendments Herself

A 78 year old woman in Burlington, Wisconsin got scared and instead of calling for help, she helped herself to a loaded handgun. Well, Dirty Mary she ain't:
A 78-year-old Burlington woman accidentally shot herself Friday after arming herself with a handgun when she became afraid, according to the Racine County Sheriff's Office.

The woman was walking in her house with the gun when she dropped it to the floor, causing it to discharge upward and wounding her in the abdomen, according to news release from the sheriff's office.

The woman was taken to a hospital, according to the release, which did not report the woman's condition.

The sheriff's office reminds people be extra cautious when handling any firearm.
The NRA likes to say that guns are the great equalizer and in a way they are correct. Whether it's a 78 year old woman, a three year old kid or a 20 year old young man, give them a gun and you just know someone is going to get hurt and/or killed.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Walker Adds Another Kangaroo To Wisconsin Supreme Court



On September 21, 2015 - the same day Scott Walker dropped his presidential bid - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks died in his chambers. Crooks had previously announced that he was going to retire at the end of his term which would have been next year.

Three people - Joseph Donald, JoAnne Kloppenburg and Rebecca Bradley announced their candidacy for the seat. The primary will be in February and the general election will be in April.

As predicted, Walker announced today, just months before the election, that he was appointing his political ally, Bradley, to finish the rest of Crooks term:
Gov. Scott Walker announced Friday he is appointing to the Wisconsin Supreme Court conservative appeals court Judge Rebecca Bradley, who is already running to fill the vacant seat.

Walker made the announcement at a news conference at the Capitol.

Walker previously appointed Bradley to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2012 and the 1st District Court of Appeals earlier this year. She won re-election to the circuit court position in 2013.

He said his criteria for the selection included integrity, an understanding of the law and recognition that the role of a justice is to uphold the constitution and laws of Wisconsin.
This is Bradley's third political appointment in as many years, despite her alarming lack of judicial qualifications.

The two years that Bradley served as circuit court judge was at children's court in Milwaukee, and she didn't even oversee all the types of cases that are there, much less any other type of court proceeding. She didn't even serve for five months as the politically appointed appellate court judge before Walker gave her another bump up today.

This is a blatantly political move to give Bradley the advantage in next year's elections by giving her the incumbent status. The only reasons for her meteoric rise over the past three years is that she has all the right right wing credentials - Federalist, John Bircher, and obedient puppet - and that Walker has to still kowtow to the special interests to get money to pay off his massive debts.

Although it will need to be seen as to how much advantage there really is to be the political appointee of a governor with only a 37% favorability rating.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Wild, Wild, West



By Jeff Simpson 



Recently in Houston, a man was carjacked, and (un)luckily for him, a "good guy with a gun" was handy to help him out.  However, as the saying goes, "with friends like this, who needs carjackers?". 

According to police, a carjacking at a gas station in Valero Saturday night left one man injured, but it wasn’t the intended target when an ammosexual attempted to go “full-Rambo” and stop the crime-in-progress. Rather than call police, the unnamed GGWAG leaped into action and opened fire on two men who jumped another man at the gas station. He didn’t manage to quite hit his targets, but the unnamed shooter managed to land one blow — to the victim’s head. The carjackers managed to escape with the unnamed victim’s pickup truck.
The  shooting (and carjacking) victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remains in stable condition. The stolen truck was located a mile away, but the suspects managed to escape and are still on the loose. In true “Good Guy With a Gun” fashion, the shooter did not wait around for police to arrive, and is being sought for questioning.

Now in Michigan, at a Home Depot store, someone allegedly was shop lifting, and we all know the punishment for possibly shoplifting is death.  That is if we are lucky enough to have "good girl with gun" handy to mete out the deserved punishment.

   Police say a customer witnessed two suspected shoplifters leaving the store and fired shot at their SUV.Police say the customer does have a concealed weapons license. Officers say she did shoot out one of the tires on the SUV.
It is not known if she will face charges in the incident.

How she does not get charged with two counts of attempted murder is beyond me,

In Portland, days after a mass shooting at a community college that left 9 dead, two men were walking around schools with assault rifles over their shoulders.  

The list goes on and on and on.

As the righty sooth sayer, Bradley Foundations own Christian Schneider says:

When Wisconsin passed concealed-carry, it became the 49th state to do so. And upon passage of similar laws in other states,exactly none of them became the open firing ranges concealed carry opponents feared.
Nope never happens.  As Schneider says:

The question is, how wrong do these people have to be before we stop believing them?

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

The Republican Bully Squad

Jeff Simpson

As a member of the Monona Grove School Board, we are always in the process of updating our Policies and Administrative Rules.  We recently updated Administrative rule 411, Nondiscrimination Guidelines Related to Students Who Are Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes.

The key part here is this(emphasis mine):

Restroom and Locker Room Accessibility:  In most cases, students shall have access to the restroom or locker room that corresponds to the gender identity that the student consistently asserts at school and in other social environments. The following guidelines related to restroom and changing areas generally assume that the student has a special concern or is in some way uncomfortable with consistently using the facilities that correspond to the biological sex that the student was assigned at birth.

The District highly recommends, but does not require, transgender students and/or their parents/guardians create a “School Plan for Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Students” with a school counselor or other student services staff member, with the support of a school administrator, to address restroom/locker room choices. In any gender-segregated facility, any student who is uncomfortable using a shared facility, regardless of the reason, shall, upon the student’s request, be provided with a safe and non-stigmatizing alternative. This may include, for example, addition of a privacy partition or curtain, provision to use a nearby private restroom or office, or a separate changing schedule. However, requiring a transgender or gender nonconforming student to use a separate, nonintegrated space threatens to publicly identify and marginalize the student as transgender and should not be done unless requested by a student. Under no circumstances may students be required to use sex segregated facilities that are inconsistent with their gender identity. Where available, schools are encouraged to designate facilities designed for use by one person at a time as accessible to all students regardless of gender, and to incorporate such singleuser facilities into new construction or renovation. However, under no circumstances may a student be required to use such facilities because they are transgender or gender nonconforming. If a transgender student makes any request regarding the use of locker rooms or any similar type of changing area, the request shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the goals of: (a) facilitating the transgender student’s access to the district’s physical education curriculum and other relevant programs; (b) ensuring adequate student privacy and safety; and (c) minimizing stigmatization of the transgender student. The physical layout of the facility and the degree of undress required when changing for the applicable activity are examples of factors that will be considered in making the arrangements. There is no absolute rule that, in all cases, will require a transgender student to access and use only the locker rooms and other changing areas that correspond to the biological sex that the student was assigned at birth.

This is standard issue rule, with many other districts adopting the same/similar rule.   We adapted thsi rule because it is our responsibility as an elected school board.   We adapted this rule because we care about ALL of our kids and it is the best way to protect our trans-gendered and questioning youths. We adapted it to send a message to our youth that you are safe in our schools.

Unfortunately, we were mistaken.  

We have the ability to protect our children from threats inside the school.  We do not however. have the ability to protect our children from the legislators at the Capitol.

Transgender students would be barred from using school bathrooms or locker rooms assigned to the gender with which they identify, under a bill being proposed by two Republican lawmakers.
Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, and Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, are proposing to require school boards to designate bathrooms and locker rooms as being for one gender exclusively, and to require the state Department of Justice to defend  school districts in lawsuits alleging the policy is discriminatory.
Less than a week ago, Madison lost one of its bright lights when 16 year old Skyler Marcus Lee, a local transgendered high school student and fierce LGBT activist, lost his battle with depression and took his own life.

Apparently Rep. Kremer and Senator Nass have decided to bully all transgendered children in Wisconsin.   Because no school board worth its salt, would ever pass such a bullying, regressive mean spirited rule, Kremenass knew they had to completely usurp local control (again).  To top it all off, knowing that their bill in mean spirited and discriminative, they also put provisions into the bill that the taxpayers of Wisconsin will cover all of their bill writing incompetence.  

While these are the faces of cowardice and evil:


This is the bright light that was too early extinguished.
Lee Skylar Marcus

The question is will the rest of the state of Wisconsin stand up to cowardly bullies like Kremer and Nass so that the Skylars of the world know that they are supported and loved?  Or do we continue with the Scott Walker signature, of Divide and Conquer politics?

We all have a choice to make....choose well Wisconsin.

Until we do:

If you are a trans or gender-nonconforming person considering suicide, Trans Lifelinecan be reached at 877-565-8860. LGBT youth (ages 24 and younger) can reach theTrevor Project Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 can also be reached 24 hours a day by people of all ages and identities.

(No) Justice Troupis



By Jeff Simpson


If you want to know just how far the State of Wisconsin has fallen since Scott Walker has taken over, it can be summed up in two words - Justice Troupis.  

Jim Troupis was the Republican lawyer, and taxpayer leech in Wisconsin for the first five years of Scott Walker's reign of errors.   Troupis was not only Justice David Prosser's lawyer(which he did much of pro bono), but also the lawyer for the Republicans during the redistricting, where every elected Republican in office signed a secrecy agreement while gerrymandering the state.  

A Troupis appointment would be the dictionary definition of political cronyism and show how little respect that Scott Walker has for the law or the state of Wisconsin.   

In true Crony fashion, Troupis, who was recently appointed to a judgeship, refuses to talk to anyone about his application to fulfill Justice Crooks open seat.  

Troupis was a longtime go-to attorney for Republicans and served as a lead attorney for Justice David Prosser's campaign in 2011 when there was a recount. Walker this May appointed Troupis to the Dane County bench, and Troupis said then he would not run for a full term on that court.
In an interview last week, Troupis declined to say whether he was considering running for the state Supreme Court next year. He did not return a call Monday.
Jim Troupis has went on a "freedom tour" of local bars, to discuss how Republicans love Freedom and Democrats hate freedom, and on these tours he has partnered with well known legal scholar and dog whistle expert, Vicky Pyzinski.    

THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FREEDOM WITH VICKI MCKENNA AND JIM TROUPIS
Have you ever wondered WHY liberals seemingly reject the fundamental concepts of liberty while purporting to stand for freedom?
Radio talk show host Vicki McKenna and constitutional attorney Jim Troupis will answer that and many other questions at "The History and Future of Freedom", an event hosted by We the People of the Republic on Thursday, October 10, 2013.
Tracing the history and development of freedom that gave way to our Founder's visions, McKenna and Troupis will explain America's unique brand of liberty. From the Greeks to the recall elections, two opposite and competing ideas of liberty have been and remain at war for the heart and soul of western civilization. Which will emerge victorious? It depends on YOU!This event will take place at Rex's Innkeeper (301 North Century Avenue, Waunakee, WI 53597). Doors will open at 6:30 PM, with the presentation starting at 7:00 PM and lasting until 8:30 PM.
All are invited to attend this event. With FREE ADMISSION, there is no reason NOT to come! Bring your family and friends for a fun and educational night out!
BEST replacement for late Justice Crooks would be JUDGE JIM TROUPIS. his knowledge of & passion for the Constitution has NO EQUAL.


If that does not inspire certainty that Troupis will be impartial in the law and just "call balls and strikes", nothing will.   Apparently nothing says freedom like making elected reps sign secrecy agreements, or not letting the minority party in on how you are gerrymandering the state.  

While I am sure Troupis and his hate talk am radio echo chamber will be upset that anyone would dare question his qualifications, remember when Judge Sumi was considering a run for Supreme Court herself and Troupis felt the need to weigh in:

Troupis was disappointed Judge Sumi is considering a run. "It's obvious she was talked into it because of Act 10," Troupis said. "It should be about competence and qualifications, and clearly the only purpose of her running is to open that pro-union stuff."
Dismissing a highly competent and qualified woman because she does not do exactly as told, that has to please Scott Walker.  But wait, there's more:

It was Troupis, who gave Scott Fitzgerald the laughable advice of being able to legally arrest the 14 Senators who went to Illinois in 2011.  

First by filing a frivolous lawsuit in Oconoto County, saying that Senator Halperin's absence from the Senate chambers was hurting tourism.

Then following that up with the threat to carry 7 month pregnant at the time democratically elected Senator Julie Lassa "feet first" into the Capitol building to vote on ACT 10.  

Apparently arresting Democrats and assaulting women were the ideas that sparked Troupis "Freedom" conference.   I am certain the Founding Fathers would be right there wanting to arrest fellow legislators who left to make sure that a bill that was never campaigned on was passed with no discussion.   #freedom.


I miss the days when the Democrats were just incompetent and not out and out corrupt like the current batch of Republicans!  

It is really sad that they have such little respect for the people of Wisconsin and the Institutions that they have been charged with Governing.  

Here is Mr. Troupis' extreme partisan resume.