The Walker/CRG Love Affair Contiues

It looks like all of Scott Walker's whining last week about coverage for his front group Citizens for Republican Government (CRG) paid off today. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel didn't only give prominent placement to a story about their blind support of Walker but it even went as far to call them a "citizen group". I don't really have a problem with that description technically speaking but the least that the story could have pointed out is that this is a conservative right wing "citizens group" that backs Walker no matter what he does or says (even if it conflicts with their own stated positions).

Regarding the content of the actual story, I'll simply defer to Milwaukee County First who provided a complete beat down to the story, to Walker and to CRG. I would only add a few of the following points.

1. Government Spending/Growth

The first time that CRG held a Walker (campaign) rally they promoted it by lying to people in a robo call suggesting that Walker's budget was going to cut spending. Maybe they didn't actually look at the Walker's budget or maybe the truth simply doesn't matter to them. Walker's current budget increases spending. That continues a Walker pattern of rhetoric not matching reality.


Walker Proposed Spending in HIS BUDGET for 2003: $1,100,274,125
Walker Proposed Spending in HIS BUDGET for 2010: $1,481,577,120

That is a 35% increase in spending

And for those 2 or 3 Walker groupies trolling this site that don't like looking at Walker's entire record here is another group of numbers that show Walker's increased spending.


Walker's proposed spending for 2009: $1,426,815,877 (Walker Numbers)
Adopted spending for 2009: $1,394,100,657 (Board Numbers)
Walker's proposed spending for 2010: $1,481,577,120 (Walker Numbers)

Sorry, no matter which way you slice it, Scott Walker has continually proposed increasing spending in Milwaukee County while at the same time complaining about spending. Furthermore, his current budget front loads three years of increased borrowing into one year and increases government by 6% which is twice the rate of inflation. Apparently for CRG and other Walker Groupies, increased spending and bigger government is A-OK just as long as long as it is Scott Walker that is doing it.

2. This time next year

If CRG is going to fight tooth and nail about the tax levy amount that was passed by the County Board then I sure hope that they fight Walker tooth and nail next year at this time when he uses that very figure as his starting point for his next budget. I wont hold my breath, because CRG continues to be breathlessly in love with Scott Walker.

Maybe I Asked the Wrong Question

Based on his statements and actions, back in August I asked if Scott Walker was trying to be Wisconsin's Sarah Palin. While I still think that a strong case can be made to support that observation, recent developments make me wonder if I should be asking a different question.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported yesterday that Scott Walker was begging Sarah Palin for her endorsement while she was in Wisconsin promoting her latest parinoid conspiracy theory.

Given the "strengh" of the Palin endorsement in a Republican district in New York state, maybe Walker isn't really trying to be Wisconsin's Sarah Palin after all. Maybe he is simply trying to be Wisconsin's Douglas Hoffman.

Questions About Duffy Fundraiser

Earlier today, Heartland Hollar made some very interesting points about a fundraiser at the posh Milwaukee Athletic Club for Republican candidate for Congress, Sean Duffy. It appears that the head of the "independent" right wing group Americans for Prosperity (AFP), Mark Block, is throwing the party. What is particularly interesting is that Mark Block's contact information regarding the event lists a phone number that is also associated with yet another right wing "independent" group, the MacIver Institute. So the head of one nonprofit uses the contact info for yet another nonprofit to promote a partisan fundraiser? I think that Heartland Hollar may be on to something and someone should start asking a few questions.

We are already well aware of Mark Block's past shenanigans which included a record fine and a ban from Wisconsin politics until 2004. Now we have Block, the head of a nonprofit, throwing a fundraiser for a partisan candidate and using a phone number for it that is connected to yet another nonprofit. Perhaps someone should be asking Block if this is really the best way to promote this partisan event. Perhaps someone in the media or maybe even a District Attorney should start asking some questions just to make sure. Who knows, maybe there is some good explanation as to why this is no big deal.

The candidate that Block is throwing the fundraiser for, Sean Duffy, is currently a District Attorney, so we can probably rule him out as the person to ask the important questions about the fundraiser. We can also rule Sean Duffy out because he is the same DA that passed the buck when One Wisconsin Now asked him to investigate Michael Gableman's apparent use of a state phone to raise campaign funds. Earlier this year OWN brought up an entirely new line of questions related to Duffy's refusal to investigate Gableman's calls. Naturally Duffy never answered or addressed any of those questions so we can't expect him to give any reliable answers regarding the fundraiser today.

Since the event is being held in Milwaukee, perhaps the Milwaukee County DA could render an opinion on the situation or perhaps the Milwaukee press could ask a few questions about whether any important lines are being crossed with this fundraiser.

You Know Palin is Extreme When Fox News Correctly Fact-Checks Her

One Wisconsin Now was the first to provide actual audio from the Sarah Palin/Wisconsin Right to Life event last Friday. In her comments she presented her latest crazy conspiracy theory. Not only is the government planning to kill your grandmother with Palin's imagined "death panels" but now they are slowly moving God off of our coinage. As OWN pointed out right away, moving the "in God we trust" off the center of a specific coin was done in 2005, and approved by a Republican Congress and a Republican president by the name of Bush. Wow, that is a pretty wild and twisted anti-Christian conspiracy theory Sarah!

To show just how wild this latest Palin theory is, even Fox News has been forced to debunk it! Who knows, maybe they are somehow a mere pawn in this wildly imagined conspiracy.

Thank the Vets, then give them healthcare

I served for most of the 1990's in the Army National Guard. Unlike most that currently serve, I was never called upon to serve in actual combat. That being said, I always knew that it could be a possibility and had to make various decisions just in case that call would ever come. Since the beginning of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq I have often considered how hard times must be for our veterans that are not only serving during two wars but all-too-often serving in both of them repeatedly.

For all that they sacrifice and all that they give we should not forget about fighting for them after they come back home. I read a report yesterday about a shocking study released from Harvard Medical School which estimates that 2,266 veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they did not have health insurance. That translates to six preventable deaths per day, which is more than twice the number killed in Afghanistan.

Although many veterans are eligible for care from the Veterans Administration, those that were not injured in combat and those whose incomes exceed a certain limit are often ineligible for coverage. Like too many other Americans, many veterans are working people that get caught right in the middle of the health care gaps in our current system. They make too little to afford the ever increasing costs of private health insurance but make too much to qualify for Medicaid and means-tested VA care. This is really a tragedy when you add this on top of the extra high levels of suicide and homelessness among vets.

Maybe the next time that we talk about "thanking a veteran" we can also make sure that they have proper health care when they come back home. That would be a real-life "thanks" that would last long after the flags have flown and the parades are over. That is a "thanks" that I wish we could deliver to them right now on this Veteran's Day.

ht: Think Progress

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

Enjoy the celebration, and thanks for the recent clip about the trashy "Pox News"!

Who Would Run on a Tea Ticket in Wisconsin?

National establishment-type Republicans have reportedly been worried for months that the Tea Bagging frenzy that they started may actually damage their plans for the 2010 midterm elections. If recent events are any indication, then they certainly have reason to fear such a development. In New York we now have a Democrat coming to Congress from a district that has gone (moderate) Republican for many years. Rather than trying to get a win in a safe Republican district the Teetotalers, fueled by the new GOP leadership (Palin/Limbaugh/Beck) decided to take down the Republican themselves. Now those same extreme elements are actually forming a third (Tea) Party in Florida to compete with Democrats and Republicans. This made me wonder which of our "favorite" Wisconsin Republicans would run on a hypothetical Tea Party ticket here?

In my own personal view, I don't think that a Tea Party would work in Wisconsin because you already have an extreme right wing party here otherwise known as the Republican Party of Wisconsin. The Sconz blog made a similar observation in a posting yesterday but it can't be repeated enough. The RPW has been fully and completely radicalized over the last number of years and I have a very difficult time thinking of any moderates that still remain. I'm not sure exactly when this happened but I would probably peg it sometime toward the end of the Thompson era and the beginning of the Bush nightmare.

If there still was a traditionally "Republican Party" in the State of Wisconsin, I wonder which members of the current extreme version would bolt and actually run on a Tea Ticket. Here are 2 ½ people that immediately came to my mind as I pondered this question:

• Leah Vukmir would have to be on your list of top Tea Party recruits. After taking a look at her comments in the media or even just following her Twitter feed for a while, she is already there ideologically speaking. Whether it is her official membership in the "tenther" movement or her supportive comments to an extreme right wing blogger Tweeting racist jokes about the President, she already has the extreme Tea Party platform down pat.
  
• Half of Scott Walker would probably try to join the Tea Party while leaving the other half in the RPW just to play it safe. Heck, I think that Walker would even consider pulling a "David Clarke" if he thought that it would help him win a statewide election. The half of Scott Walker that would join the Tea Party is the same half that was more than happy to throw out the red meat to the extremes at any number of events that he has already attended. The half of Scott Walker that wouldn't join is the half that realizes that he eventually has to appeal to more than just the extreme right wing base.
  
• J.B. Van Hollen has already demonstrated that he would abuse the court system when someone says something that he doesn't like. He has shown that he would toss out career crime fighters while promoting political cronies to official and very sensitive positions. He has also shown that he is more than willing to abuse his office for political gain and to advance a hyper-extreme agenda in Wisconsin. Why wouldn't he jump into a Tea Party ticket since it is much closer to his own personal extreme world view?
  

Those are just the first 2 1/2 that popped into my mind but there are many more in the RPW that would fit much better into a Florida-style Tea Party. Unfortunately that is also the reason that a Tea Party is probably not going to happen here. Quite simply it already exists, and it goes by the name Republican Party of Wisconsin.

UPDATE: Heartland Hollar is pointing out that Paul Ryan, F. Jim Sensenbrenner, and Tom Petri are bringing a major teabagger target to Wisconsin. Heartland Hollar wonders what Wisconsin teabaggers think of them apples?

And The Chief has a telling statement from the "lord of the teabaggers".

Analysis of the House Health Reform Bill

Over the weekend the U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark legislation to finally reform health care in a meaningful way. I just read an analysis of the legislation by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that I think is a must read. Although I encourage you to read the entire analysis, here are the highlights:

About those deficits

The analysis cites Congressional Budget Office (CBO) numbers stating that the bill's cost will be more than fully offset by reducing deficits by $129 billion over ten years. In short, the bill's revenues and spending reductions would grow faster than the cost of the coverage provisions. The CBO estimates that the bill would actually reduce deficits in years after 2019 as well.

Expanding Coverage

CBPP finds that under the House bill that 96 percent of non-elderly legal residents would have health insurance by 2019. The bill would reduce the number of the uninsured by 36 million (or two thirds) by 2019. The House bill would cover 7 million more of the uninsured than the bill that the Senate Finance Committee approved earlier this month.

Slowing Health Care Costs

The bill would take a number of steps to increase efficiencies, particularly within Medicare, to lower costs while improving quality. The CBO estimates that the bill would significantly slow Medicare's growth rates because of these various measures.

Reforming Health Insurance Market

It would bar insurance companies from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions and it would limit how much an insurance company can charge simply based on an applicant's age. It would also set minimum standards for what insurance companies can offer including an annual cap on out-of-pocket costs and a ban on annual or lifetime benefit limits. The House bill would also establish a national insurance exchange in order to make a wide range of options available to individuals and small businesses. That exchange would include a public option (among many other options) that would help create real competition in the insurance market and reduce costs for consumers.

Other Important Measures

• Expanded Medicaid Eligibility for the lowest-income people
  
• Premium and cost-sharing credit for those with low and moderate incomes
  
• Shared responsibility requirements for both individuals and employers
  
• The elimination of Medicare Advantage overpayments
  
• A surcharge on very high-income households
  

Reading this kind of an analysis makes me wonder just how much we could have saved by reforming health care a long time ago. Not just savings by individuals and employers but also government entities both large and small. We know that the massively increasing health care costs are a major factor in the budget problems being faced by government on all levels. For example, how much different would the Milwaukee County budget look right now if real health care reform was enacted in this way years ago? Hopefully we can look back on this landmark legislation in a few years and objectively look at the facts. Until then we can only hope that our representatives in Congress don't fold to political bullying from the extreme right and instead opt for real solutions and real reform.

Fire the Spokesjerk by Ignoring Him

And pass real health care reform!
ht: Daily Kos

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First Class Taxpayer, Second Class Citizen

I borrowed the title of this blog from a sign that I saw in a photo from the national equality march last month. I remember seeing that sign and thinking that it really just says it all. Members of the LGBT community are certainly expected to pay the same taxes as their straight counterparts, yet they and their families are treated as second class citizens in many respects. Thanks to the actions County Supervisors Christopher Larson and Marina Dimitrijevic, Milwaukee County LGBT workers and their families have moved a little closer to equality. Today the full Milwaukee County Board voted 13-6 to draft domestic partner revisions to the county health plan.

Naturally Scott Walker, personnel director David Arena, and at least Supervisors Sanfelippo and Cesarz all publicly read from the same talking points before the actual vote. They are willing to pretend that this is a financial issue but I don't think that anyone really believes that it is that cut and dry with these particular officials.

The ever tasteless Sanfelippo said that it was "almost a slap in the face to our employees" because he is asking them to take pay cuts and furloughs right now. I have a clue for the clueless supervisor: a portion of "our employees" are LGBT people and your comments are a "slap in the face" to them. So not only does Sanfelippo want LGBT county employees to give up pay and work time but he also wants them to give up any hope of providing the same benefits for their families as the rest of "our employees". He says that "we have to draw the line somewhere" and apparently he is drawing that line at "the gays".

As I said, the aforementioned naysayers in Milwaukee County Government pretend that this is a financial issue and resist the benefits publicly for that reason. David Arena supported his boss by putting out what appear to be hyper inflated numbers. He said that it would cost $3.9 million a year, but the City of Milwaukee, which has had domestic partner benefits for seven years, plans to spend only $216,000 on them next year (0.3% of the $75 million that the city pays in overall health care costs for employees).

Just to put some of these numbers into some context, there were 78 children of Milwaukee County workers that were born or adopted into the benefits system last year. By comparison, in the City of Milwaukee after seven full years of offering domestic partner benefits, they only have 30 workers that are taking advantage of them.

Scott Walker said that they shouldn't even consider new benefits and if anything that they should be more bold in benefit cuts. If he really believes that then why doesn't he start with his own benefits? Does Walker carry any members of his family on the Milwaukee County benefit plan? If he does then he should lead by example because his family isn't any better than any other employee of Milwaukee County. But then again we already know that he is not one to hold himself to the same standards that he expects from other public employees.

Thursday morning I sent a request to David Arena asking if he, Walker, Sanfelippo and Cesarz all carry their respective spouses on the county benefit plan. I have not heard from him today and don't know if I ever will but the point is very clear. They apparently believe that LGBT families should be treated as first class taxpayers but second class citizens. Thankfully, (so far) a veto proof majority of the board disagrees.

A few points about Walker’s Whining

The other day Scott Walker apparently wrote a letter or something to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He wanted to gripe about the coverage of the County Board's public hearing on Monday. Apparently the newspaper was not supposed to report on the official county event because (in Walker's view) the paper didn't give his pep rally with CRG enough attention last month.

In the statement Walker reportedly asked, "Why is it that a group that is organized to represent taxpayers is dismissed, but groups that advocate more government spending are praised by many in the media and in politics?"

I just have a small number of quick points to make about Walker's whining:

1. Since Walker is so worried about fairness in the media, I can only assume that he sent a similar statement to talk radio stations asking them to give more time to the kinds of citizens and advocates that made up the vast majority at the hearing Monday night.
   
2. Did Walker really complain about "groups that advocate more government spending" when every one of his own budgets have increased spending? Milwaukee County Government spending has increased IN WALKER's OWN PROPOSED BUDGETS 35% over his time as county executive.
   
3. Sorry Scott but right wing taxpayers are not the only taxpayers in Milwaukee County. CRG certainly represents the right wing taxpayers, but they certainly don't represent all taxpayers. I would venture to say that there were a good number of taxpayers at the hearing representing themselves quite nicely.
   
4. Exactly what is the problem with there being a strong union presence at this official hearing? They are Milwaukee County (taxpaying) citizens. The actions that the board takes will have a dramatic and direct impact on them and their families. Good grief, you are trying to either drastically cut their pay and/or send them to the unemployment line. Why wouldn't they advocate for their jobs and why is that a bad thing anyway?