Gallup: Wisconsin Still Solidly Dem

Gallup released the results of a party affiliation poll yesterday and they have Wisconsin listed as a solidly Democratic state. Let me be clear about something before I get the inevitable "oh yeah?" comments from right wingers: I'm not saying that the results of this or any other one poll should be relied on in any real way. On the other hand, I often do find these kinds of things interesting and they can be instructive in some ways.

Gallup found that Wisconsin is still considered "solidly Democratic" along with 23 other states and DC. However, that total number is down 6 from 2008 but still far ahead of the number of solid Republican states (4). The number of "lean" and "solid" Republican states are about the same this year but the number of "lean" Democratic and "competitive" states are up.

Again, as Gallup clearly advises, just because a state is solidly one way or the other (in terms of ID), it does not mean that the majority of the actual voters will cast their ballots that way. The easiest example of that is in Massachusetts which is still considered solidly Democratic but obviously suffered a big loss. This suggests to me that a ton of Dem voters stayed home and were not motivated to vote for the Dem candidate there. I think that this just underscores the fact that you can't take anything for granted no matter where you are running.

Although the Gallup Poll finds that Wisconsin is still solidly a Democratic state in terms of party ID, it does show that Dems' advantage has gone down from 18 percentage points to 12 since 2008. Nationally, 49% of Americans still said that they were either strongly Dem or at least leaned Dem (as compared to 41% Republican). That is down from 2008, when those numbers were 52% to 40% respectively.

Gallup's poll is based on actual telephone interviews and has a margin of error ranging from 1-4% depending on the state.

GAB Joins the Walker Reality Check Chorus

Many people, entities and organizations have been providing solid reality checks to Scott Walker's shallow rhetoric. Capper is the first one that comes to mind, as he has exposed Scott Walker on nearly every issue - repeatedly. One Wisconsin Now recently compared Walker's rhetoric on jobs and economic development to his pitiful record in both areas. That was only one of the latest reality checks that OWN has given to Walker. Even here at Eye on Wisconsin, we have repeatedly compared Walker's right-wing rhetoric on things like taxes, fees, and government spending, to his actual record in Milwaukee County. There are many other examples, but today a new entity has delivered yet another reality check to the Walker campaign.

Last Friday Scott Walker's campaign bragged that it had so many donations that the Government Accountability Board's (GAB) online system couldn't process them all, causing it to crash. As with most of Walker's campaign rhetoric, this claim proved to be just as phony as his positions on the issues. Today GAB joined the reality check chorus correcting the record. GAB stated the following in a press release today:

"The Campaign Finance Information System did not crash. It was up and running throughout the weekend. No filers were prevented from downloading information, and the system remained available throughout the filing period."

Compare that statement to that of Walker's mouth Keith Gilkes when he claimed that "we brought the system to a grinding halt with the sheer volume of our donations." Again, for the umpteenth time, Walker campaign – please allow me (and GAB) to introduce you to reality.

Even with this latest example, of comparing Walker's phony rhetoric to reality, there are many other areas to still expose. Hopefully the traditional media will stop repeating Walker talking points long enough to start actually questioning them. I would officially like to invite them to join the growing reality check chorus on Walker's phony rhetoric.

A Delusional Come-to-Tommy Moment

If it were not already clear that the right wing is not satisfied with U.S. Senate candidate's Terrence Wall and David Westlake, it certainly is now. Not only does Charlie Sykes, a recovering Tommy-hater, want Thompson to get in the race, but he and others on the right wing are all giddy over a questionable poll. The poll from Rasmussen, which doesn't have a great record for accuracy in Wisconsin, tells us that Tommy Thompson's numbers are slightly ahead of those for U.S. Senator Russ Feingold. This latest grasp by the right wing seems to only underscore their obvious desperation in this race.

Given the past comments by Sykes and right wing bloggers regarding Tommy Thompson, it is really remarkable that some of them would be completely seduced by Tommy's latest "will-he-wont-he dance". Their jumping up and down over a poll by a questionable firm is just the latest example of their desperation. Try to think about this logically, for a moment. Would you really rather be up 4 points in a questionable poll with a candidate that isn't even running or would you rather be up $3.65 million to ZERO against a candidate who isn't running? I ask this because just yesterday the Feingold Campaign announced that it has $3.65 million cash on hand and without a real candidate challenging him. Do you really think that this is the time to jump around in excitement over a poll that you can't trust regarding a candidate that you hate, that has raised no money and isn't even in the race? Really?

I thought it was strange that these full blown Tommy-haters were now begging him to get in the race in the first place. But their obvious desperation has officially moved into full blown delusion. One might call this phenomenon a come-to-Tommy moment for the extreme right wing. Sadly, after the seductive "will-he-won't-he dance" is over, they will likely be left disappointed and go right back to their Tommy-hating ways.

In Critical Condition, Walker Should Beg for Reform

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker sent out a message on his Twitter account before the President gave his State of the Union address last night. In his latest substance-free tweet, Walker asks:

"Will the President dump Obamacare tonight? Other predictions?"

Given the critical state of Milwaukee County under Scott Walker's dreadful eight years, he should be open to just about anything that would change the dysfunctional status quo. The Public Policy Forum's recent report reveals many things about the administration of Milwaukee County, and none of them are good. One thing that is highlighted as a major problem is the ever escalating costs of health care. Milwaukee County has many areas of dysfunction and problems that are totally unique, but ever increasing health care costs are not among them. That has been a major problem for individuals, small and large businesses, and units of government on all levels. Gee, maybe that is why the President has been trying to lead on that issue at the expense of his own poll numbers. A concept that I don't expect someone like Walker to understand.

If the government that you are leading is being strangled by the health care industry, one would think that you would be fighting for reform rather than sniping on the sidelines with the latest bumper sticker slogan. But then again, I did say if you were "leading" and we all know that the only place that Scott Walker is willing to lead is (himself) to higher office. He is perfectly willing to leave Milwaukee County in a ditch if he thinks it will help him get one extra vote. If he really cared about the fact that he has left Milwaukee County in critical condition, he would be begging for health care reform right now, not feeding the obstruction of it.

Know when to fold ‘em?

Last week WTMJ's Charlie Sykes offered a list of Republican names that he thought would be better choices to run for U.S. Senate this year. He felt the need to offer his suggestions because he had just blasted the current lead candidate Terrence Wall. After interviewing him Sykes said "not great reviews to the debut of Terrance Wall" and that he was "not impressive." Given all of these happenings, it was no surprise that Sykes would start throwing out names of just about anyone else to replace the bumbling Wall. I must admit, however, that I was a little surprised when Charlie Sykes included former governor Tommy Thompson in his list.

Charlie Sykes, and by extension the Republican Party, must really be worried that Terrence Wall is a terrible candidate. How else can you explain Sykes bringing himself to offer Tommy Thompson's name as an alternative? Back in 2006 Charlie Sykes wrote a piece that was targeted directly at Tommy Thompson entitled, "Know when to fold 'em". The subtitle read, "It's time for Brett Farve and Tommy Thompson to face facts". He then goes on to compare Farve and Thompson saying that they are both "waffling prima donnas". Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Sykes piece on how Tommy should "Know when to fold 'em":

"…Thompson revels in the spotlight, clearly relishing the speculation that he might answer the call to return to the governorship, a call that apparently only Thompson is hearing."

"But both these guys have a problem with the ego thing. They are so used to thinking the world revolves around them that they haven't noticed it's not the '90s anymore."

Sykes' 2006 observations on Tommy are not only entertaining but they are also very informative about what the conservative base in Wisconsin really thinks about Tommy. Later in the piece, Sykes apparently gives us a glimpse into a Republican smoke filled room.

"Tommy doesn't realize he's the political version of '80s retro-pop, without the big hair. So he's reportedly on the phone to insiders, trying to reignite the old passions. As gently as they can, they are trying to tell Tommy that the bus has left, the ship has sailed, the train has pulled out of the station, the parade was last week, we just sold the last ticket to that show, the ants got into the picnic basket, and Elvis has definitely left the building."

Sykes goes on to speak about Thompson as if he were a child that won't leave the RPW alone. He sarcastically suggests that maybe if they agree to name something after him, he will go away once and for all. Sykes then ends the piece saying that "there has been a changing of the guard, even if Tommy hasn't yet gotten the memo."

If I were Tommy, I wouldn't only be offended at Sykes words from 2006, but I'd also be very careful about listening to his encouragement now. So which is it Charlie? Do you want me to "go all in" or do you want me to "know when to fold 'em"?

Tough Love Talking Points for Walker’s Orion Visit

This afternoon Scott Walker is scheduled to tour Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc. As a public service, I am offering some of the suggested talking points listed below to the Walker campaign. Some of them call for a little "tough love" but sometimes you just have to stand up for what you really believe in, (assuming that Walker actually believes in something other than getting the next vote).

First let's look at a brief description of the host: Orion Energy Systems is a leading power and technology company that designs and manufactures energy management systems. Most of those systems consist of high-performance, energy-efficient solutions including renewable solar technology. They have deployed their energy management systems in thousands of facilities all across North America including 120 of the Fortune 500 companies.

Now on to the suggested "tough love" talking points for Walker!

1. Being a loyal member of the Party of No, Walker should chide Orion executives for being a part of an event with President Obama last year. During the event the President highlighted his goal of building a clean energy economy. He went on to highlight specific examples from his budget that give tools and stability to such forward thinking companies. That includes strengthening the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit and making it permanent. Walker must demand that Orion apologize for being present at the event and supporting the president's agenda.
2. Walker should find and chastise the Orion executive that was pictured on the White House blog at the above described event, (sitting right next to the dreaded Van Jones no less!). Glen Beck would not be happy!
   
3. WMC and other elements of Wisconsin's right-wing are attacking Governor Doyle's Clean Energy Jobs Act, but Orion Energy is listed as part of a forward thinking group of businesses that support the effort. Scott Walker must declare to any media at the event today, that Orion Energy is wrong for supporting such absurd concepts such as investing in job creation through clean energy!
   
4. Scott Walker must warn Orion not to take any of the dreaded stimulus money to create more private sector jobs. We already have examples of private green companies taking advantage of such programs in the Recovery Act and that needs to stop! After all, we all know that neither these companies nor their current or future employees are "real people".

Even though I am kindly offering the Walker campaign these talking points, I'm not sure that they will stay consistent with their positions long enough to use them. So if they neglect to stay consistent, I hope that someone at the media event at Orion today will think to highlight some of these important "tough love" talking points.

Walker Compliments Governor Doyle

On Friday I blogged about Scott Walker's comment about Wisconsin not needing healthcare reform because our rate of uninsured is smaller than most states. In that blog I focused mainly on the fact that there are still people that are struggling with health care issues and only significant national reform will change that fact. There is another important take on the Walker comments, however, that I should have also included in that Friday blog posting. Essentially you could say that Walker was complimenting the effort by Governor Doyle to greatly reduce the ranks of the uninsured in Wisconsin.

Walker's comment was that the number of uninsured is much lower in Wisconsin, so we don't need fundamental reform. Our number of uninsured is not lower based on some accident, rather it is because of the determined and focused leadership of Governor Doyle on this specific issue. Health care programs that have been pioneered by Governor Doyle have obviously been wildly popular and effective at driving down our number of uninsured. Badger Care Plus Core, as only one example, was so popular and the need so great that the plan quickly reached its enrollment limits. Now Governor Doyle's administration is working on ways to get a basic level of insurance for those waiting for enrollment into Badger Care Plus Core.

As Governor Doyle said in October, "Despite the tremendous work we have done here in Wisconsin, Badger Care Plus and (other) state plans like it, are merely bridges to get us to national health reform." By all accounts those bridges have been very successful, so successful in fact that even Scott Walker had to compliment Governor Doyle's efforts.

“Wisconsin Doesn’t Need Fundamental Change”

"Wisconsin doesn't need fundamental change." –Scott Walker

Well that is one heck of a campaign message! And that is exactly what Scott Walker said when the top three candidates for governor met with the Wisconsin Biodiesel Association yesterday. Walker was talking specifically about health care reform and said that there was no need for change because "only" 8 to 9 percent of the population lack health insurance. Well, apparently in Walker's Wisconsin we can just discard those 500,000 plus people.

Walker's comment also fails to acknowledge that although people are "insured" often times they are actually underinsured. In addition, all-too-many "insured" people are practically driven to bankruptcy when they actually need their "insurance" the most. This doesn't even include the fact that people are forced to pay ever-increasing premiums every year. Remember that Wisconsin has some of the highest health care costs in the nation. Health care costs have been out of control for so long, that the impact is unbearable on individuals, business and local governments alike. Walker should know this...but his rhetoric sure does make you wonder at times.

While I'm talking about the event at the Wisconsin Biodiesel Association, I'm just wondering why Walker and Neumann didn't take the opportunity to explain why the stimulus money that was recently awarded for a major biofuel project in Park Falls, was a bad thing. The private company receiving the help said in an announcement that the stimulus money would help "…create permanent, high-skilled operating jobs in the region, long-term logging jobs, and short-term engineering and construction jobs…" It seems like it would have been a perfect time for Walker to explain why those long term jobs were not actually helping "real people."

Wall’s Turn to Wear the Tommy-Sized Millstone

Back in early October 2009, before Terrance Wall officially announced that he was running for U.S. Senate, I said that he should talk to Tim Michels before he jumps in the race. At the time, talk was that the national GOP big-wigs were courting him and no doubt promising him the moon and the stars. They did the same thing to Tim Michels and left him high and dry to spend a ton of his own money. Apparently Wall was moved by the national courting and eventually jumped in the race. But now, only a few months later, there are rumblings that some of those same national GOPers are quickly looking for alternatives.

Practically on cue, the old Republican millstone Tommy Thompson has begun his seductive dance with the media. Only a matter of months ago the majority of questions for Tommy were about him trumping Walker Neumann or waging a bruising fight in Elroy. Now Tommy has taken his seduction to the national media and Politico has reported that he is "not saying no" to running for U.S. Senate. It is only a matter of time before the state media feels neglected by Tommy's national flirtation and starts beckoning him to come hither for endless headlines.

As Xoff has already pointed out, apparently Tommy's rusty reading of Massachusetts tea leaves tells him that voters are so angry that they want a rich Washington, DC lobbyist to run for the US Senate in Wisconsin.

If his endless flirtation ever does end, I hope that Tommy will be a little more forthcoming in revealing his financial situation since leaving the Bush administration. During his doomed presidential run, who can forget him having to request multiple extensions in filing his financial disclosure statement? He finally did fulfill the requirement but only after pulling the plug on his candidacy. That filing in 2007 reported him feeding at a special interest trough to the tune of $4.6 million in annual income for 2006. Like any other major DC lobbyist, I'm sure that Tommy has been grabbing every corporate dime that he could find since that time. I would certainly be interested in looking at how much more he has made from special interests in the last couple years. I wonder how those gory details would play with a public that has not had a good look at the newer and richer Tommy.

Whether Tommy Thompson decides to stop seducing the media this time or not, the big loser is Terrance Wall. He apparently put his faith in national GOP leaders that appear to be second guessing him behind closed doors. He has stumbled and bumbled his way out of the gate badly enough that even right wing talkers are giving harsh assessments of his candidacy. Questions abound over his tax issues, business dealings, and even his pretend pumpkin patch. All of this bad news and now Wall must take his turn at wearing the Tommy-sized millstone around his neck.

UPDATE: More bad news for Wall. Conservative blogger David Blaska is not exactly a fan (nor is he a fan of Westlake). Things are apparently so bad, that one right-wing shock jock is trying to convince the other one to become a candidate.

Punked by Another Right Wing Org

Both the press and the public have already been punked several times by the newish right wing org, the MacIver Institute. In their early stages they pretended that Scott Jensen was not involved, but then it turned out that he was actually writing their press releases. Then MacIver launched a deceptive effort sending one of their right wing staffers around pretending to be a legitimate TV news reporter. While MacIver's attempts to punk the press and the public have been fairly direct, their older cousins at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) have chosen to take a behind-your-back approach. Thanks to the work of our friends at One Wisconsin Now, we now know that WPRI has been punking the press and the public with their polls.

Last year WPRI and the University of Wisconsin-Madison's political science department announced a new joint polling project. When it was announced many objected pointing to the fact that WPRI is little more than a Republican cheerleader, skewing facts to fit a rigid right-wing ideology. Nonetheless, the polling project moved forward and the media soaked up and reported the results – often times without mentioning WPRI's ideological bias.

On Tuesday, One Wisconsin Now announced that they had obtained emails that showed how political calculation was front and center in a September 2009 poll conducted by UW and WPRI. The emails and other documents that OWN obtained through an open records request allow us a behind-the-scenes view of internal discussions between UW-Madison professor Ken Goldstein and WPRI President George Lightbourn (a former Republican state official). OWN reports that the emails and other records show some of the following:

• Emails from Lightbourn to Goldstein expressing concern over specific statewide poll numbers showing opposition to private school vouchers. In the emails Lightbourn expresses concern that "WPRI's own data as showing a lack of support for choice." He then appears to suggest departing from standard operating polling procedure by hiding the unfavorable data.
  
• Integrity be damned, Lightbourn gets his way and the statewide numbers opposing private school vouchers were kept from the press release and deleted from a PowerPoint presentation of the poll's findings.
  
• Later Lightbourn expresses his thanks to Goldstein saying, "It helped immensely with my correspondence with my board and other consumers of WPRI material."
  

How many media outlets reported the filtered results of this partisan poll? Will the fact that they have been punked by yet another right wing organization give them second thoughts when the next fake item comes around? While Lightbourn claims that the filtered poll results helped with his board and "consumers" of WPRI material, what has the arrangement done for UW-Madison besides compromise its integrity? Although they ignored some warnings when this joint effort was first announced, now the press and UW-Madison have a clear example ideological bias. The only question remaining is whether these various entities will allow themselves to be punked again by yet another right wing org.

Which are not “public safety functions”?

In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on Monday, Scott Walker offered a curious quote regarding his patchwork budgeting for public safety. In it he remarkably commented that "workers in the courts and district attorney's office 'do not perform public safety functions…'" Unfortunately he did not elaborate on what exactly qualifies as a "public safety function" in his opinion. Apparently Walker believes that public safety begins and ends with an arrest.

The story goes on to quote other public officials that spell out exactly how county workers actually do play a key role in public safety functions on a regular basis. They also go on to spell out exactly what Walker's patchwork budgeting will mean for various public safety functions.

• Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm said that he would have to make "triage decisions" in which charges for lesser crimes are delayed or skipped so prosecutors can focus on serious felony cases. He also said that whole categories of cases might get less attention and that some suspects could be referred for diversion programs instead of prosecution. Good thing, none of those things are "public safety functions".
  
• Chief Judge Jeffrey Kremers suggested that Walker's patchwork public safety budget would translate into 27,000 fewer hours for court personnel. He went on to say that, "clearly, someplace in the system is going to suffer." Good thing that running trials of alleged criminals isn't a "public safety function."
  
• The Milwaukee County Clerk pointed out that Walker's patchwork budget for public safety is going to lead to delayed arrest warrants, trials and restraining orders. Good thing that none of those tasks have anything to do with a properly functioning public safety system.
  

I know that I shouldn't expect anything more than campaign sound bites from Scott Walker for the rest of the year, but I would really like to hear him elaborate on his absurd comment regarding what is/isn't a "public safety function". I would equally like to hear him explain how each of the above functions have nothing at all to do with public safety.

For more reading: See the Milwaukee County First blog on the subject. They point out even more examples of "public safety functions" that are being harmed by Walker's patchwork budgeting.

Paying More than T-Wall in One Paycheck

Based on a report from Wispolitics, if you collect any paycheck at all, then you probably paid more personal state income taxes in that one check than Terrance Wall has in several years. Even though the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate reports as much as $15 million in income and $129 million in assets, Wispolitics reports that Wall paid no personal state income tax in four of five years.

I will never understand how someone flipping burgers can pay more in one single paycheck than a multimillionaire does over several years. As if this kind of scenario isn't baffling enough, then it is usually the big shot that whines and cries about burdensome tax rates and how we invest our hard earned tax dollars for the common good.

It is certainly no surprise that a multimillionaire would adopt strategies to avoid paying as many taxes as possible. Surely they can afford to pay a small army of lawyers and accountants to take advantage of every possible loophole in the book. Based on other recent reports on T-Wall, it appears that this possible strategy is not just applied to personal state income taxes.

• Wall incorporated at least 16 companies in Delaware, a practice that the New York Times explained, helps corporations avoid paying taxes in other states.
  
• Then the folks over at One Wisconsin Now discovered that Wall dodged over a hundred thousand dollars in property taxes by claiming that commercial land that he owns is actually agricultural. That would be the infamous T-Wall pumpkin patch.
  

With that kind of record, exactly who does Wall think that he is going to have credibility with on the issue of taxes? Maybe the diehard right-wing partisans will rush to defend him, but that is out of political necessity more than anything else. Explanations for his tax avoidance will likely ring hollow with most hard working Wisconsinites. The simple fact is that most have paid more than T-Wall in one single paycheck than the multimillionaire has paid over the course of several years.

Walker Allies Object to “Patchwork” Public Safety

On Wednesday I posted a blog about Scott Walker taking credit for someone else cleaning up his administration's mess at the Milwaukee County House of Correction. As it would happen, the very next day the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a story about Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke giving a reality check to Walker regarding his "patchwork" budgeting for public safety. The story not only gave us some interesting quotes but it also spelled out exactly how Walker's "patchwork" budget would cause the release of 120 inmates, reduced freeway patrols, and early elimination of rehabilitation programs. It is another example of Walker's "patchwork" budgeting having real-life and negative results on public safety.

This is not the only time that Sheriff Clarke, usually a Walker ally, has been critical of his policy. Back in 2008 when the Walker administration was trying to implement its policy of sending work release inmates back into the community on GPS monitoring, Clarke sounded a stern warning. At that time Clarke bluntly promised, "if you are not going to do GPS right, I'm going to stand in the way of it." He went on to say that serious unanswered questions still remained about Walker's GPS plan. Clarke said that a proper system would include complete screening, frequent drug testing, and extra law enforcement help to round inmates that strayed from approved locations and travel routes. Sheriff Clarke bluntly said that "all of those things cost money that hasn't been found yet."

Clarke is not the only Walker ally that has had problems with him on public safety issues. Only a month after Walker's administration first announced its idea to send work release inmates back into the community, one of those same inmates was found to have committed a homicide while in the community. After that failure of the Walker-administrated work release facility, frequent Walker ally, Supervisor Mark Borkowski said that "people have to be held accountable" and that "it starts at the top."

As I cited in Wednesday's blog, Supervisor Borkowski was also a frequent Walker administration critic regarding their gross mismanagement of the House of Correction. As I cited in the previous blog posting, Borkowski made some of the following comments:

"the elephant in the room is the staffing and for them not to even
acknowledge that is very disconcerting to
me."

"Walker and Malone have not shown any sense of
urgency in correcting problems at the House of Correction."

Even though his official spokesperson claims that Walker "takes a strong stance on public safety" it seems very clear that even some of his closest allies don't exactly trust him in that department. If the people that know him best don't then why should we?

Walker Rhetoric, the House of Shameless

Yesterday Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker gave his "state of the county" speech. Once again, it was more about his own short-term political future than it was about Milwaukee County's long-term stability. Some have already given us differing and interesting takes on Walker's comments yesterday. I would offer Xoff, Capper, and Supervisor Lipscomb as must-see reading regarding the event.

One thing that stood out to me, based on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel summary of the event, was Walker's choice of things that he tried to tout as his accomplishments. Specifically, he bragged about sending 20% of Milwaukee County workers to the unemployment line, his pension bond scheme, and the Sheriff's Office taking over responsibility of the House of Correction. While all three claims are worthy of rebuke, the last one is the most remarkably shameless in my view.

Scott Walker had very little to do with the Sheriff taking over the House of Correction. In fact the only real role that Walker played in that entire episode was that his administration mismanaged the House of Correction so badly that there were no options but to take it away from him. Let's just quickly walk down memory lane, a route that Walker willfully chose to take a detour from yesterday.

• Walker repeatedly failed to staff positions at the House of Correction that were already fully funded by the County Board. Where that money actually went? I have no idea.
  
• Because of that kind of Walker-trademarked short-term thinking, overtime costs skyrocketed at the House of Correction in 2007 and 2008. As a result of mostly mandatory and never ending overtime, corrections officers began to burnout and suffer from deep morale issues.
  
• It was around this time that escapes and even an unnecessary inmate death occurred.
  
• A federal audit was done on Milwaukee County lock-ups and highlighted all of the mismanagement, safety and security issues and overall dysfunction at the House of Correction.
  

It was only after this terribly long chain of events that the County Board voted to take responsibility away from Scott Walker and give it to the Milwaukee County Sheriff. The Walker administration's only real role in this process was grossly mismanaging the facility in the first place, and then not standing in the way when it was taken away from him. Even his frequent ally on the County Board, Mark Borkowski, called out Walker's mismanagement during the height of his incompetence. Here are just two quotes from Borkowski while Walker's incompetence at the House of Correction was on display:

"the elephant in the room is the staffing and for them not to even acknowledge that is very disconcerting to me."

"Walker and Malone have not shown any sense of urgency in correcting problems at the House of Correction."

Walker's House of Correction disaster can really serve as a microcosm for his entire tenure as county executive. Short-term politically motivated thinking leading to eventual disaster and increased long-term costs for Milwaukee County taxpayers. It also provides a classic Walker example of shamelessly trying to take credit for others coming in and cleaning up his mess. I think that I might coin this specific situation and his rhetoric yesterday as "Walker's House of Shameless".

Is Neumann’s Teabagger Support Real or Virtual?

As much fun as we have had with Mark Neumann thus far, you simply can't discount him for two reasons: his ability to spend large amounts of his own money and his ability to pick the low-hanging fruit that Scott Walker has left all over the place. Neumann has clearly been trying much harder in recent weeks, given the number of supporters sending letters to local papers, his public appearances, and his announcement of policy positions.

As a key part of his recent efforts, Mark Neumann is also very clearly trying to make a play for teabagger support. One example of this was demonstrated on WISN's Up Front program on Sunday. During the program he spoke about his ill-advised boilerplate positions on term limits and what some have described as his California-style referenda idea. On the program, Neumann said that these positions reflect the anger and the frustration expressed by teabaggers. Despite his coy comments to the contrary, it is clear that he is trying to grab some of the teabagging crowd from Walker.

I have to wonder if he has not been partially successful, at least in the virtual sense. In a very short amount of time, Neumann has surpassed Walker in his use of social networking and online activism. Given a recent incident, he must have a good amount of teabaggers in his midst. Today Steve Jagler from Biztimes.com reported on a response that he received from Neumann supporters. It was regarding his recent comments about Wisconsin's economy beginning to rebound. Apparently those supporters are in no mood for talk of recovery while Democrats are in charge and all that they needed was a nudge to go completely off the edge. Apparently after Jagler released a set of economic indicators showing possible good economic news, Team Neumann posted a link on his Facebook page questioning the information. The next thing you know, Jagler reports getting all manner of wild-eyed reactions.

"Bullsh_t many jobs lost will not come back ever."

"None of the stimulus money goes into small businesses…just leftist groups like ACORN and NAMBLA!"

"dum ass!" (his spelling)

I don't know about you but that sure sounds like the high minded teabagger rhetoric that we have come to know and love. At least based on this reaction and his recent efforts it seems that Mark Neumann may have been partially successful. The remaining questions are, exactly how many teabaggers has he successfully pulled from Walker and are they real or only virtual?

Slippery Scott the Big Spender

Back in November I pointed out a few examples of Slippery Scott Walker selling snake oil to his followers. Whether it is proposing a tax levy in 2010 that is $39 million more than the one he proposed in 2003, or his flip flopping on the stimulus or his massive spending increases, the point remains very clear - Walker rhetoric does not match the reality of his actions. Yesterday, One Wisconsin Now released an analysis that further underscores this exact point.

The One Wisconsin Now analysis looked at spending increases in the proposed budgets of Governor Doyle, Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Even with all of his right wing rhetoric against government and spending, over his time as Milwaukee County executive, Walker came in first with a proposed 34.66% in increased spending. It is important to note that these are Walker's numbers taken from his own proposed budgets, so he can't pass them off on anyone else. If Walker is really against increased government spending, then perhaps he should resign today, because he is the leader in that department.

I don't personally think that increased spending is inherently a bad thing, but then again I am not the one running for office promoting an anti-government spending platform and then doing the exact opposite. That would be Scott Walker. The real right wingers that genuinely care about such issues should hold him accountable for his slippery rhetoric. Unfortunately, it seems that too many are already too emotionally involved to back out now - even if that means trading in their fervent beliefs about increased government spending. The sad truth is that they have jumped on a bandwagon controlled by a slippery big spender.

Blogging as Therapy after a Tough Loss

As I have said before, no one comes here to read about sports. However, occasionally I have to post something that is either amazing (like Brandon Jennings 55 point game) or as therapy. Unfortunately the later is the case today. Although I, like all other Packer fans, am bitterly disappointed after the result of yesterday's game, I am also very proud of the team. The Packers and the Cardinals provided for some pretty wild entertainment, including unexpected twists and turns and the breaking of all sorts of playoff records. In many ways yesterday's game seems like it could serve as a microcosm of the entire season. Dramatic ups and downs, major drama, and immensely entertaining even if disappointing at the end.

My 2 cents about the season:

• There is no escaping that we have a franchise top 5 quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. You only have to look at his stats and his unbelievable calm leadership in games like the one yesterday. All of this in only his second season as a starter and after spending the entire first half of it on his back. There are some that will take pot shots at him no matter what, but lets face it, most of that stems from him not wearing a number 4 jersey. It simply isn't fair nor is it rational at this point.
  


• For the most part, we have a young elite receiving corps, especially with the emergence of Jermichael Finley.
  


• Aside from yesterday's game, we had a top of the line defense.
  


• We worked through the Farve drama and a disappointing start, reversed our record from last year, and got back to the playoffs as a real contender.
  


• Our team is young and highly talented, so we are in a position of contending for several years to come.
  

My wish list for next season:

• Solve that penalty problem!
  


• Strengthen that offensive line. We have a franchise QB, lets not get him killed early in his career.
  


• We need a more consistent running game (and I think a lot of that is on the coaching).
  


• Finally start pulling the trigger on key free agents. This is one of the legitimate criticisms that Ted Thompson-haters have. Even though we have a very talented young team, it is counterproductive to remain the youngest for so many years in a row.
  


• Our secondary is older and the drop off in talent is steep, so we need to address that ASAP.
  


• Also the biggest key to winning is giving Cory free tickets to a regular season game next season!
  

There, I feel so much better now. I'm proud of Aaron Rodgers and our very young but very talented team! Now when does Brewer spring training start again?

I Don’t See Any Deferred Maintenance

In late 2008, the Public Policy Forum conducted a third party analysis of Milwaukee County's Park system. At that time they estimated that the system had between $275 million and $300 million in deferred maintenance. Earlier this week, Milwaukee County released an internal audit that estimated that the number was closer to $200 million. When those massive numbers were released, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Scott Walker disputed them. I don't recall him giving any data or sound reasoning for his challenge of the findings but he disputed them nonetheless. So if Walker refuses to believe a third party analysis and a Milwaukee County audit, would he believe his own Parks department estimates?

Funny that I should mention it because in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they report on a long-range plan drawn up by the parks department that puts the number at $238 million. If Walker disputed the audit's $200 million figure, that must mean that he also disputes the even higher figure set forth by his own parks department right? How awkward of him. Maybe he should remove the hand from his eyes long enough to see reality and the results of his own short term approach to parks policy. How many reports/audits will it take for Walker to admit that his deferred maintenance problem is massive? Maybe he is keeping his eyes covered on the issue because of the self inflicted nature of the subject.

But if Walker were to actually take a look at the reality that he helped create, he would have to focus on an actual solution. One of the primary solutions from his own parks department is for it to have its own sales tax. If that sounds like a familiar idea, it is probably because in 2008 Milwaukee County voters approved such a dedicated source of funding for not only parks but for transit and other quality of life and core services. Walker has rejected voter's insight on the issue and likewise he apparently rejects his own parks department.

In a rare move, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel appeared to criticize Walker's hand-over-the-eyes approach to his parks problem. They suggested that his observations were "sugar coated" and "too rosy". That is the understatement of the year since we are clearly dealing with a person that is trying to move forward by avoiding reality and with his hand firmly implanted over his face.

Afterthought: I wonder if the long-range plan that is mentioned in today's MJS is the same long-range plan that won that gold metal last year? You know the award that was based on an application, a video presentation and a submitted long-range plan? Wouldn't it be odd if Walker was running around touting an award last year that was partially based on a plan that he for the most part rejects?

I’ll Pay it When I Run for Office Next

It appears that Libertarian Republican candidate for state Senate Ed Thompson has decided to get himself off the Monroe County delinquent taxes list as he runs again for a larger spotlight. The Tomah Journal reported several days ago about a list of property tax delinquents in Monroe County. According to the report, Ed Thompson rushed in to pay the $31,000 in taxes and interest covering both his residential home and his supper club business.

Thompson blamed his very large delinquency on the impact of the recession but that large amount of money seems like it stretches back pretty far. A person commenting on the online version of the Journal's story, claims that this is a pattern for Thompson. They suggest that when he decided to run for Tomah mayor last time, that he similarly rushed in to pay delinquent property taxes. According to Monroe County records, there appears that there may be some accuracy to that observation.

• Ed decided to run for mayor of Tomah again in 2008.
  
• On 1/16/2008 he appears to have paid $4,703.63 toward the 2006 property tax bill for his supper club.
  

It is certainly true that it doesn't take much to make life difficult for regular folks and small business owners. But I must say that $31,000 is quite a large number. Perhaps even more concerning is what appears to be a pattern in this situation. Based on appearances and the available information, it seems that Ed may have adopted a policy of "I'll pay it when I run for office next." That may have worked for him so far, but I can't believe that the hard working people of the 31^st Senate District would admire such a strategy.

Why Isn’t Mark Neumann Doing His Homework?

Many observers have completely dismissed Mark Neumann's chances of overtaking Scott Walker in the Republican primary for governor. Personally, I have not completely closed that door because of really only one factor - Neumann's pocketbook. That being said, Neumann has not looked like a contending candidate in his race against Scott Walker. Sorry, I just don't see any sign of the killer instinct that would be necessary to overcome someone that has been running for governor for 7 years.

There are several reasons to question Neumann's campaign so far, but I recently discovered a new one. Why isn't Mark Neumann doing even some introductory homework on his primary opponent? Recently, I had occasion to look at open records requests that were sent to Scott Walker's office in 2009. As far as I could tell, none of them came from Neumann, his campaign operatives, or any other professional that he may have hired. Call me crazy, but if your opponent is a government official, shouldn't you have at least sought some kind of public record from his office by now?

Neumann wouldn't have to look very far to find all sorts of things to use against Walker, even from a "conservative" perspective. So is Neumann's heart not really in this? Is he getting bad advice? Is he banking on a massive (and apparently uninformed) spending spree? Whatever the reason, one thing seems clear to me, Mark Neumann isn't doing his homework…and that is an odd thing for a former teacher.

Bush Decade, Awful Decade or the Lost Decade?

A few weeks ago I highlighted an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll which showed that a majority of Americans viewed the "Bush Decade" as either "awful" or "not so good". At that time I wrote that it should be no surprise, given the awful data released by the Census Bureau in September. It found the nation worse off in median income, poverty and in other important areas. Now, over the weekend, the Washington Post released a story looking at additional economic data. In that story they refer to 2000-2010 as a "lost decade" for the American economy.

The story starts by stating that this "lost decade" was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times. For example, the report shows that there had been zero net job creation since 1999. No previous decade going back to the 1940's had job growth of less than 20%, much less a net loss of jobs. Furthermore, household income and net worth went down while total household debt rose 117%.

Although extremely depressing, the Post story does end on a somewhat positive note by saying that forecasters are generally expecting the job market to turn around in early 2010.

As for that last disaster of a decade, the only thing left to know is what we will call it? Will it be the "Bush Decade", the "Awful Decade", or the "Lost Decade"? However we refer to it, I just hope that we have learned a few lessons and don't return to the policies that helped usher it in.

ht: Think Progress

At Least He Didn't Wear a Hairnet

No awful hairnets involved in this Mark Neumann photo-op...just a dash of wooden prompter reading with a touch of deer-in-the-headlights.

Do Privatized Flies Taste Better?

Milwaukee County First is reporting about a complaint that was apparently filed at Milwaukee County's Behavioral Health Division. According to the report, the food service that Scott Walker successfully pushed to privatize in 2009, has not exactly been a model of quality. Here are some of the issues that have been reported:

• Inadequate portion size
  
• Ignoring special diet needs
  
• Bugs in food
  

The Behavioral Health facility was already audited and cited after a terrible starvation death and other horrible things back in 2006. The last thing that they need is inadequate food portions, not to mention bugs in food an ignoring special diet orders. I know that Walker and his "conservative" disciples love to preach about private companies always being cheaper and more efficient. We already know that this dogma is simply not accurate. In fact this story validates some of the quality concerns that people have had about privatizing services in general. I suppose someone could make the argument that privatized flies taste better than regular ones.

All joking aside, this is actually a very serious issue and I wish that someone would finally be forced to own the incompetence at the Behavioral Health Division. For example, who is overseeing the dietary contracts out there? Some people have told me about possible cronyism going on at BHD and I wonder if that could be at play in this situation. I don't personally know, but what I do know is that these reports are serious and given the BHD history, someone should take action.

Thanks for the ‘Awful’ Bush Decade

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that Americans have a very negative view of the past decade, most of which was marked by President Bush's time in office. The poll found that 58% of people said that the decade was either "awful" or "not so good," 29% said that it was "fair" and only 12% said that it was either "good" or "great." The people that were polled also said that the country lost ground during the decade on the environment (37%), health and well being (46%), peace and national security (50%), moral values (66%) and a whopping 74% said it lost ground on economic prosperity.

Census Bureau figures that were released in September mostly supported the public's negative impression of the Bush Decade. On every major issue the Census Bureau found that the country lost ground. We lost it on median household income, poverty, childhood poverty, and lack of health insurance among other things. In comparison, the country's position in each of those categories improved during President Clinton's two terms (often dramatic improvements).

I'm proud that the State of Wisconsin twice rejected George W. Bush, but we still had our fair share of Bush backers that tried to convince us otherwise. I think of Bush's "cousin" Scott Walker, Leah Vukmir, the Republican Party of Wisconsin and so many others. I suppose a sarcastic "thanks" is in order for their contributions in promoting an awful president and helping craft an 'awful' decade. As much as some of these Bush boosters were loving him a few years ago, they couldn't run away fast enough when reality finally hit.

Although many of his prominent Wisconsin supporters have ditched him, most of them still recite his failed policies. Tax cuts for the rich being a silver bullet for everything and the massive deregulation of industry are just two of the big ones. The awful Bush Administration did plenty of both and we can clearly see where it brought us. Since I don't think that the former Bush boosters will ditch his failed policies as quickly as they ditched the man, we can only hope that Wisconsinites show the same common sense that they did in 2000 and 2004. If we didn't like the "awful" Bush Decade, then why would we promote folks that are using the same awful policy playbook?

ht: Think Progress

UPDATE: Found this because of a link at One Wisconsin Now, "Top Ten Worst Things About the Bush Decade".

Send a Bill to Milwaukee County

Yesterday the Milwaukee County Board failed to override Scott Walker's veto of a study. Specifically, the study was to provide an accurate number for the cost of providing the same benefits to all Milwaukee County workers. Walker and at least 7 Supervisors pretended that they were against this measure because treating workers equally would be too expensive. An absurd point to be sure, but even more absurd since we don't even have an accurate assessment of how much it would cost. And that is why equality-minded supervisors called for a study in the first place. Clearly Walker and at least 7 supervisors would rather remain in ignorance on the issue.

One vote would have provided a successful override of Walker's veto. If everyone that originally voted for the study, would have voted the same way, it would have moved forward. When a veto proof majority originally voted for the study, Walker bragged that he was going to flip the one person that he needed to prevent an override. He was successful and it is no surprise that Lynne De Bruin was the one to flip. Apparently her reputation for caving at the slightest hint of pressure is justified. Apparently she now thinks that studying the cost of equality is just a little too expensive.

LGBT families and others that should be/but aren't treated equally should send a bill to Milwaukee County. Did everyone else get their property tax bill recently? Did you see the portion that is paid to Milwaukee County? Might I suggest that people send a bill to Milwaukee County asking for reimbursement of that amount? Why should any group of people be required to be a first class taxpayer but second class citizens?

You may also want to contact Scott Walker and the supervisors that believe equality is too expensive, and ask them the following: 1. Are you and your family carried on the Milwaukee County benefits system? 2. How much is that costing Milwaukee County Taxpayers? 3. Will you repay Milwaukee County for those costs and remove yourself from the benefits system?

Here is the contact info if you want to send your bill to Milwaukee County and/or ask these officials to give back their expensive taxpayer funded benefits:

County Executive Scott Walker

Email: countyexec@milwcnty.com

Milwaukee County Courthouse 901 North 9th Street, RM 306
Milwaukee, WI 53233

Phone: 414-278-4211 Fax: 414-223-1375

Milwaukee County Supervisors

Lynne De Bruin, Joe Sanfelippo, Joseph Rice, Paul Cesarz, Mark Borkowski, James Schmitt, Michael Mayo

Milwaukee County Courthouse
901 North 9th Street, RM 201
Milwaukee, WI 53233
Phone: 414-278-4222 Fax: 414-223-1380

Why Can't You Just Say, "He's Wrong"?

Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorialized that the full Milwaukee County Board should override a Scott Walker veto today. The veto was meant to stop a study that would look at the actual costs of treating all Milwaukee County employees equally. Specificly, that LGBT families would have access to the same benefits as their heterosexual co-workers. So the study that Walker doesn’t want is about how much extending those benefits will/or won’t cost.

The good part about the editorial is that the MJS says that the Walker veto should be overridden. The part that makes me crazy is how they have to qualify any and every criticisim of Walker with “he has a point” kind of language. NO! HE DOESN’T HAVE A POINT! HE IS WRONG! Why can’t the MJS just say so?

I know that the MJS has invested a lot of their own “capital” into Scott Walker but this kind of thing is getting so absurd. I really think that Scott Walker could propose using the Park East land to build a massive puppy mill and the MJS would somehow manage to find a “good point” in it.

The last time that I can remember the MJS Editorial Board saying that Walker was flat out wrong about something was when his administration closed the pools early in the middle of a heat wave and then scapegoated his managers when he saw the public outrage. Other than that 2003 incident, I simply can’t remember the MJS simply saying “He’s wrong” about anything.

The measure is only asking for a study of the benefits in question. We want to the know the real costs and Walker wants to keep us in the dark. The likely outcome of a study will be that they will not cost that much more. Then Walker and friends will have to admit that the real reason for fighting this is rank discrimination and pandering to an extreme base. That is why he vetoed the study and that is flat out (come on, you can say it) W-R-O-N-G!

A Potpourri of Shameless

Just in time for the holidays, we are all getting a complimentary potpourri from Milwaukee County! Unfortunately it is a potpourri of shameless, and it doesn't look half as lovely as the festive one pictured here.

Not only did Scott Walker successfully send a group of modestly paid workers to the unemployment line for the holidays, but he then bragged about it as a "win" for himself. As if that wasn't bad enough, this week we found out that the majority of the workers that he threw out were African-American. I don't think that I need to remind people how much worse the unemployment rate is for the African-American community as compared to the population as a whole. Maybe Scott Walker will send those families a Christmas card thanking them for helping him score a short lived political point. He deserves the national coverage that he is getting about his inability to control his toilets.

This week we also saw five of the seven people on the Milwaukee County Board's Personnel Committee vote to sustain Scott Walker's veto against LGBT families. The measure was only calling for a study to analyze the impact of offering benefits to the families of LGBT Milwaukee County workers. But why would they want a study when they can just cite some made up estimate that Walker's underling pulled out of thin air? If they actually got the results of a reliable study, then they might have to admit that this has nothing at all to do with money. It has everything to do with catering to Walker's extreme base.

I renew my call for Walker, David Arena and all five of those supervisors to give up their benefits because they are costing taxpayers too much! If they don't give up their benefits, then they should at least fully disclose how much their benefits are costing taxpayers.

As an aside, it was particularly galling to see Lynne De Bruin live up to her reputation and reverse herself at the slightest hint of pressure. I think members of the LGBT Community should start sending their property tax bills to her and ask her to pay the county portion of it. After all, why should the LGBT Community be first class taxpayers but second class citizens in Milwaukee County?

Just when you think your potpourri of shameless is complete, Scott Walker comes along with something new to add! I didn't think he could do it, but I think that Walker has come down on yet another side of the federal stimulus issue. Who knew that there were so many sides to it! Capper has the details, and believe me, they are the very definition of shameless.

Walker Can’t Pass Smell Test - Again

Dan Cody at Left on the Lake was first to point out that a business owner that was awarded a cleaning contract by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, is also a large donor to Walker's campaign. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was not far behind with a story today that also highlights the donations to Walker. These developments have caused at least one conservative blogger to call out Scott Walker on the issue. This incident is certainly not the first time that Walker actions have not passed the smell test. Consider below, what is just a small sampling of typical Walker funny business:

• Spivak and Bice reported in 2002 about Scott Walker's heavy handed approach to fundraising from lobbyists to aid his first run for Milwaukee County Executive. In that story they compare Walker's fundraising approach to famous bank robber Willie Sutton. At that time, lobbyists (including Republican ones) claimed that although he didn't issue explicit threats, the implication was still very clear. Walker called the lobbyists asking for campaign cash reminding them that if he didn't win as Milwaukee County Executive, he would still be a state legislator. When questioned about the allegations (which included a recording of his "pitch") Walker tripped over his words and admitted, "I should be more clear about my pitch about county government."
  
• After first being elected County Executive, Scott Walker received an "F" by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign for his campaign finance disclosures. The grades were based on the total number and value of improperly reported contributions. This has been a continual issue with Walker and his record according to WDC didn't exactly improve in 2005. This problematic pattern resurfaced again this year, as discovered by One Wisconsin Now. These kinds of violations are important because they keep watchdogs from identifying questionable issues such as the current one.
  
• In 2003 Scott Walker awarded a $389,000 contract to Bear Stearns, which was locally managed by the later-indicted P. Nicholas Hurtgen. Soon after the awarding of the contract, Hurtgen helped arrange two fundraisers worth $25,000 for Walker's reelection campaign. A 2004 investigation found that the Bear Stearns contract had been awarded improperly. They won the contract even though their bid cost $90,000 more than a competing company. When public records were sought during that investigation, it was found that most were either "lost" or destroyed.

Scott Walker promised to clean things up in Milwaukee County but he has actually done the exact opposite. To those that have been paying attention over the last seven years, this latest questionable incident is just the latest chapter in the story about Scott Walker's self serving behaviors. It has been pretty clear to me that he is more concerned with winning the next election than with good and open governance. When people try to examine his actions, he goes to the greatest lengths to obstruct them (including the County Board). I'm sure that this is because Walker knows that most of his questionable actions just won't pass the public's smell test.

UPDATE: Capper gives us more detail pointing out who is actually "cleaning up" at the courthouse.

What is with all the blurred lines at CRG?

Last week we took a look at one of the most recent campaigns launched by "Citizens for Responsible Government". In that blog posting, I suggested that they should be disclosing what could be perceived as conflicts between the personal business interests of one of the "two guys" that run the outfit and their chosen actions as a group. The more that I looked at the situation the more I began to question things in this specific area and in others.

For example, in my blog last week I specifically mentioned Orville Seymer being a landlord of numerous properties and one time head of the local Apartment Association and the possible personal benefit that he could see as a result of the latest CRG fight. As it turns out the lines between Orville's personal business interests and CRG are more blurred than I first realized. When I looked at the letter again, I noticed that they use the same P.O. Box on the mailing that Orville uses for his own personal business as a landlord. Here is just one recent example of Orville filing an eviction case in Milwaukee County Circuit Court and the address listed is the same P.O Box that is on the recent CRG mailing. All of these things blur way too many lines in my own opinion and this should cause even some of their most fervent supporters to question some of CRG's motives and credibility.

Yet another question arose in my mind after a closer inspection of the recent letter from CRG. Before I address it let me explain a bit more about their organizational structure. The Shepherd Express did a great job of addressing some of this in a report last week. What we know as CRG is actually made up of the following three entities:

• CRG Network - which is a Political Action Committee and can come the closest to targeting a candidate or an election.
  
• CRG Advocates - which is a 501(c)(4) "nonprofit" which is supposed to do "issue advocacy" but that can't directly seek to influence actual elections in the same way the PAC can.
  
• CRG Foundation – which is a 501(c)(3) "nonprofit" and it is supposed to focus strictly on "education" and has the most rigid restrictions and prohibitions regarding issue advocacy and political actions.
  

So we were talking about blurred lines with CRG right? When I looked closer at their recent mailing I saw that it declared itself as being paid for by "CRG Advocates, Inc." which is the proper entity to send such a mailing. But then I noticed at the top of the letter they display what appears to be the logo for "CRG Network" which is the PAC. They also list "CRG Network" and the logo in the return address area. So exactly which one sent out and paid for this letter?

This apparent blurring of important organizational lines was curious to me, so I looked at a few other recent mailings that were supposed to be sent and paid for by CRG Advocates. Namely the October 2009 mailing, that promoted their Pro-Scott Walker rally at Serb Hall. That mailing also said that it was paid for by CRG Advocates but it also included what appears to be the CRG Network's (the PAC) logo. So which is it? Was this mailing (and the rally that it advertised) a function of your "issue advocacy" group or of your Political Action Committee? I think it might be a good thing to know, specifically for elected officials that showed up, in some cases using County resources and staff in the process.

I am guessing that someone noticed what appears to be the PAC's logo on the October mailing because then on a similar mailing in November, the logo did not appear. So what's going on here and what is with all of these blurred lines at CRG? Supporters of the organization should start asking some questions and maybe the undisclosed donors should spring for someone to clear up what appears to be some very blurry lines.

Distraction

From the Cartoonist Group via the Center for American Progress

Wear a helmet before boarding the crazy train

I'm told that former GOP big-wig Jim Klauser doesn't really like Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker very much. If that is really how he feels, I can't blame him because there is a lot to dislike – even from a traditional Republican perspective. Maybe that is why Klauser was so involved in finding anybody, other than Scott Walker to run for governor. The empty suit that he finally settled on was former Congressman Mark Neumann (is he still running a campaign?). Klauser even helped step on Walker's official announcement with a media blitz praising Mark Neumann over Walker. We knew that this was coming for some time but now Klauser has made his flip-flop complete and has now officially jumped on the crazy train. Apparently having private sector experience isn't as important as Klauser was telling us a few months ago.

I have a piece of advice for Jim Klauser as he boards the Walker crazy train: You might want to wear a helmet. I know that right wing blogs and talkers are loving the fact that you switched sides, but they still don't like you anymore than you like them. For example, let's just go down memory lane from a few months ago. Here is a sampling of what some of the Walker groupies were saying about you:

• "Where has Klauser been over the last few years? Answer: Who cares!"
  
• "Oh great…a 'has been' political hack endorsing a 'used to be' politician. Klauser is just upset that Walker won't kiss his ring."
  
• "Klauser, Neumann, et al. represent the country club republicans."
  
• "I don't know who has better chances, but as someone who's not overly enamored of Tommy Thompson, any endorsement coming from his camp makes me leery not excited."
  
• "Now, again, we have misguided leaders, (Klauser and Neumann)... I say its time for a third party in WI as Republicans are self destructive."
  

So you think their feelings will change now? Capper gives us one example of reaction to Klauser's flip-flop: "James Klauser, aka Tommy's brain, is no conservative! He has always been a RINO since his days with Tommy."

Like I said Jim, you might want to wear a helmet.

Who is driving the bus and is it going off a cliff?

The conventional "wisdom" of today's right wing is that they are all but guaranteed big gains next year. I think it is a fool's errand to predict such outcomes when so many things are in such a state of flux. Not the least of which is the apparent internal schisms that seem to be growing by the day for the Republican Party. While the party big wigs were surly delighted at the sight of angry Beck watching tea bagging mobs disrupting public forums, they must be second guessing things right now. Consider some of the following:

• A Washington Post poll the other day showed that the only thing that most Republicans agree on is that they oppose President Obama. Other than that, the poll reveals "deep dissatisfaction among GOP voters with the party's leadership as well as ideological and generational differences." Fewer than half of Republicans (and GOP-leaning independents) approve of the direction that the party is going in today. This same poll found that there is no real consensus on GOP leadership, with 18% naming Sarah Palin, 13% saying John McCain, and 8% saying that "no one" is the leader.
  
• In a 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll released on Sunday, it seems that a majority of conservatives name nonelected officials and hate jocks like Limbaugh and Beck as the leaders of the conservative movement. The poll goes further in revealing an even wider rift between the fringe dwelling tea bagging-types and the few remaining moderates that want to broaden their party. It seems that the more radicalized new GOP base is winning the battle with the recent talk of a "purity test" for their candidates.
  
• Republicans already lost a reliable seat in New York because of the fringe's demand for extreme right wing purity. Now, as Think Progress has detailed, there appears more and more "New York's" in the making all across the country.
  

I don't pretend to know what is going to happen after voters go to the polls next year, but I can't imagine that being this disorganized, disgruntled and radicalized puts Republicans in the position that many on the right hope to occupy next year.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin has long been radicalized, having very few traditional Republicans or moderates left. From Leah Vukmir's card carrying membership in the "tenther movement" to Glenn Grothman's obsession with race and his war against equal pay – it seems that the RPW went off the cliff a few years ago. That being said, it will still be interesting to watch a few of their primaries in the state.

• Assuming that Mark Neumann actually starts acting like a real candidate, will he and Walker have a race to the fringe?
  
• Will Wisconsin Republicans back their pumpkin farmer
  establishment candidate for U.S. Senate Terrance Wall or will they opt for the true believer, Dave Westlake?
  
• And what about that 7 candidate GOP primary in the 8^th Congressional District? Are the teabaggers going to demand the most ideologically pure? Whoever does win the primary, will the "independent" that is running split the right wing vote?
  

Both nationally and in the state, these events will certainly be very interesting to watch. We will eventually find out who is actually driving the GOP bus and if it is indeed the crowd that plans on driving it directly off a right wing cliff.

Today is World Aids Day

AIDS is preventable & treatable yet 3,800 die everyday in Sub-Saharan Africa. Join (red) today.

But what is CRG not telling us?

Yesterday Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) sent out another wild-eyed rant in the form of a letter. It demands that people hurry up and call their elected officials. It focuses on a proposed ordinance in the City of Milwaukee related to the inspection of apartment buildings in two specific neighborhoods. If someone wasn't familiar with the characters involved at CRG, who knows what they would think about the hyperbolic rhetoric in the letter. Here is a small taste of the high minded dialogue on public policy that CRG apparently wants to foster (all caps, bolds, underlines and repeated use of exclamation points belong to CRG):

• "WARNING! The City of Milwaukee Wants to Expand Their Bureaucracy…"
  
• "Rental Property Inspection Scheme"
  
• "…this is 'Big Brother' in its most Orwellian sense."
  
• "A new 'backdoor tax' scheme YOU pay."
  
• "Bureaucrats with the right to search your private living space…without a warrant!"
  
• "…perhaps unconstitutionally!"
  
• "Call City Hall…Do it NOW!!!"
  

In October, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did us the favor of describing the proposed ordinance without all of the "colorful" language (this time the emphasis is mine).

Under the proposal, to be reviewed by the full council at its Nov. 3 meeting, landlords would apply for an inspection by the city Department of Neighborhood Services to make sure each rental unit meets building and zoning codes.

The inspection will cost the landlord $85 per unit, with the certification for each unit lasting four years if no health and safety code violations are found after the initial inspection, said Art Dahlberg, department commissioner. If such violations are found, the landlords will be required to undergo annual inspections.

The ordinance would apply only in two neighborhoods with older rentals, and problems with code violations: an area near University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, bordered by Edgewood Ave., Newberry Blvd., Cambridge Ave. and Hackett Ave., and the Lindsay Heights neighborhood on the north side, Dahlberg said. It would affect around 3,700 units.

That description clearly tells me that the proposed ordinance is specifically targeted at an area that has a history of persistent code violations. It doesn't seem to be the far reaching attack on our personal freedom and privacy that the CRG mailing would have us believe. So what is really going on here and why would CRG pick up this specific cause in the middle of their effort to advance Scott Walker's political career? What aren't they telling us in the letter?

One of the "two guys" behind CRG is Franklin resident Orville Seymer. It is no secret that he is also a landlord of rental properties, owns a rental property management business, and has also been a leader in the local Apartment Association. Therefore, it would stand to reason that Seymer could have a significant personal interest in fighting this ordinance (for example, does he own a property in the two neighborhoods directly affected by this proposed ordinance?). Did he help write the CRG letter? Given his own over-the-top rhetoric on this specific subject, it seems very likely.

So at what point should an organization let us know that one of the "two guys" running it may have a significant personal interest in the organization's latest crusade? I don't really care what CRG does internally, but shouldn't at least one of the "two guys" running the outfit at least ponder the possible appearances here?