Change of Culture Needed at BHD

Today the Milwaukee Journal is reporting that there is a new proposed plan for the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex. It suggests a shift to smaller, community-based facilities. Frankly, I'm not sure if this exact plan is the answer but I think that this kind of dialogue and sharing of constructive ideas is a good thing for what has been and is a very troubled facility. One ingredient that is a must, regardless of which option is ultimately chosen, is a major culture change among the administrators in the Behavioral Health Division.

I was greatly encouraged during the campaign to hear Milwaukee County Executive-elect Chris Abele talk about his vision for the Mental Health Complex in particular. I really think that he has the potential to bring fresh ideas that rely on a solutions-first approach. I remember hearing him on a WMCS radio program in the closing days of the campaign and he was talking about the importance of having a "change in culture". While he was talking about the county as a whole he specifically did mention the tragic dysfunction at the Mental Health Complex as a prime example. As someone that has a relative that receives services out there, I was greatly encouraged by his important words. It was no surprise to me that the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses endorsed him because they have a very direct interest in seeing dramatic change in how the Behavioral Health Division is "managed".

If there ever was an element of Milwaukee County government that needed a "change in culture" the Behavioral Health Division would definitely be it. Just about everyone in the state now knows about the repeated and unnecessary tragedies that took place at Milwaukee County's Mental Health Complex over years. Given the history of dysfunction, I have not been surprised to hear about the nasty internal politics and cronyism that exists among some of the key administrators and higher level staff.

Some of those rumors were confirmed for me last year when a number of BHD administrators signed a letter pledging their undying support for their incompetent administrator John Chianelli (see the full letter and signatories here). Even the Walker-coddling editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called for him and others at BHD to be fired. Later we even witnessed Scott Walker's administration finally demoting Chianelli. Word on the street is that some of the letter signers did so out of fear of losing their jobs. Others suggest that it was indicative of BHD's internal high pressure politics. One thing that was very clear about the letter was that many key administrators at BHD were (and are) totally tone deaf to reality. That is not a quality that is helpful to those that rely on the services that BHD is supposed to provide.

As our Milwaukee County elected officials continue to work on long lasting solutions for the problems at BHD, I hope that they remember the critical need for a major "culture change". Because no matter what formula you use for delivery of care, things wont sufficiently change if you continue with the same kind of "leadership" and the same kind of environment that has only served to exacerbate the terrible problems of the past.

To be continued...

Paul Ryan's Program

ht: Center for American Progress via Cartoonist Group

Secret Legislation, Sidestepping Public Sounds Familiar

Late last week reports started surfacing about Scott Walker preparing to advance Michigan-style "financial marshall law" legislation in Wisconsin. Basically such legislation would allow Walker to apply a financial "stress test" to local municipalities, counties and school districts. If they fail such a test, he could then appoint god-knows-who to take control of that local government and render the local elected officials (and the voters that chose them) useless.

This morning while speaking to his admirers at Journal Communications Inc. Walker denied these rumors. He went on to say that this report was "absolutely false" because no one on his staff or in his administration was working on such a plan. It seems to me that the natural follow up question to his answer would be something like this: "But would you support such legislation if it were introduced in the legislature?" We can't expect these particular Walker admirers to ask such a question but hopefully others in the media will dig deeper than Walker's word.

Such an extreme policy like "financial marshall law" is sadly not out of the realm of possibility. Walker has proven that he is willing to support just about any radical notion as long as it advances his political ambitions and feeds the bottom lines of the money bags that pull his strings. Not to mention the fact that this kind of legislation passed in Michigan and is being currently enacted. There is also a new "organization" that seems to support this kind of extreme legislation at least as it applies to Milwaukee County. So is it really outside the realm to think that it could happen here and that Scott Walker would suddenly become its biggest cheerleader?

The original report claims that the law firm Foley & Lardner is writing the "financial marshall law" plan. This certainly wouldn't be a surprise to anyone that remembers other actions by this firm just a handful of years ago. When Milwaukee's big business elites couldn't convince the Milwaukee County Board to give up one of its biggest assets, General Mitchell International Airport, they brought in this same firm to write legislation to bypass the board. In fact the legislation that was being written in secret would have also allowed them to take this valuable asset from Milwaukee County without even a single vote from the board or from the public. With this secret legislation, special interests worked with their Milwaukee-area errand runner Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale).

I don't personally have enough information to verify that this "financial martial law" legislation is actually in process but that isn't my basic point here. I am simply saying that it wouldn't be a surprise, even with Walker's carefully crafted denial today. It wouldn't be the first time that secret legislation was being written by special interests, it wouldn't be the first time that they tried to sidestep local officials and the people that elected them. And it certainly wouldn't be the first time that special interests made a play for valuable public assets that they have already coveted for a very long time.

The (big) state government & local (damage) control

For as long as I can remember Republicans and other self-described conservatives have praised the idea of local control. It is the idea that the most local form of government knows how to best manage services because they deal most directly with their constituents. It seems that Wisconsin Republicans have all but abandoned that idea now that they have taken control of the entire state government.

Scott Walker and his rubber stamp legislature have taken extreme actions to greatly empower the role of the state and weaken the control of local municipalities. The first example was when they inserted (big) state government in between local municipalities and their own employees. Although many municipalities have had good relationships with their workers and with the unions that represent them, the (big) state government has ordered a one-size-fits-all approach that is both unprecedented and extreme. Not only is the state creating strife where none previously existed but it is also requiring local governments to play favorites. If you are a public works employee you are now second class but if you work in the police and fire departments you get every advantage.

The Republican plan to dramatically cut shared revenue to local governments also puts them into an increasingly smaller box. The (big) state government claims that their killing of public employee unions will make up for this dramatic loss in shared revenue. In fact a recent study showed that for at least 36 municipalities across the state, Walker's anti-union plans only covers 61% of the cuts that are coming to the shared revenue program. One mayor commented that "Simply shifting the state budget deficit to local budgets doesn't help the taxpayers of Wisconsin."

Here are a few more examples where Walker and his rubber stamps in the legislature are showing their new found love for the power of the (big) state government:

• Trying to micromanage the City of Milwaukee by ending its residency requirements for city employees. Not only is the (big) state government meddling in a local matter but they are only targeting the City of Milwaukee.
• Scott Walker's (big) state government has also decided that local recycling programs are unworthy so the state has stepped up its efforts to cut them by 40 percent. That will leave local governments to pick up whatever pieces of the program that may be left behind.
• Scott Walker's also plans on greatly increasing spending on state highway construction. However we can tell a lot about Walker priorities because he is also planning to cut state aid for local road repair. Maybe local municipalities should start referring to them as "Scott holes" when they field the increasing complaints.
  

In all of these ways we can see that our local municipalities and counties will be left to handle state induced problems but with much less money and very little support. It is becoming increasingly clear that this new band of extreme Republicans don't really believe in "local control". Perhaps they only believe in local (damage) control when someone has t0 clean up the ideologically driven mess that they will leave behind.

UPDATE: Maybe these extreme Republicans don't even believe in local (damage) control. There are rumors that the next group of proposals from this extreme bunch involves a Michigan-style ability for the (big) state government to takeover municipalities and other districts. There already appears to be a shadowy group formed to advance the agenda. If the (big) state government decides that your local municipality/school district isn't up to snuff, then you get taken over by god-knows-who but it probably wouldn't be anyone that you voted for in the last local election.

Scott Walker Quote of the Day: Vote Counting

“As long as the rules are clear, as long as there aren’t ballots somehow found out of the blue that weren’t counted before, things of that nature, as long as everything’s above board, I think that’s fair."
Scott Walker, 4/6/11

Scott Jensen's Behind-the-Scenes Support

When former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen wasn't working on getting a new trial, he was busy working behind-the-scenes to prop up the Republican Party and it's infrastructure. On this blog we highlighted at least one example involving the start of the MacIver Institute. Now, even after working out a sweetheart deal with Republican prosecutors, it seems that Jensen still prefers to work behind-the-scenes.

Scott Jensen is still listed as a "senior advisor" for American Federation for Children which is a radical right wing organization that seeks to undermine public schools among other things. According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign it is a spin-off of the Michigan-based group All Children Matter (ACM). Perhaps they needed a spin-off group because ACM was not getting the best publicity after being fined for violating campaign finance rules all over the country.

The American Federation for Children lists a Washington D.C. address in a recent filing with Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board. What you can also find in that filing is a listing of their recent activity in Wisconsin. The records show that on March 17th this radical group paid for robo-calls to support all 8 of the Walker rubber stamps that are subject to recall in the state Senate. As a reminder, those include the following:

• Robert Cowles


• Alberta Darling


• Glenn Grothman


• Shelia Harsdorf


• Randy Hopper


• Dan Kapanke


• Mary Lazich


• Luther Olson

According to their GAB filing, Scott Jensen's D.C.-based group spent a total of $8,102 for these robo-calls. I'm sure that this is only the beginning so before the rest of the money starts rolling in I think that the Republican Senators should encourage Scott Jensen to come out of the shadows. For example, if he is going to do more robo-calls then maybe he should actually be the voice that voters hear on the other end. Perhaps he should join them on the campaign trail, appear in campaign literature or maybe even do a cameo in the TV ads. If voters needed any other motivation to dump the Republican 8, Scott Jensen's public support could certainly help to serve that noble purpose.

Remembering Walker Words on Recalls

Jeff Stone & Interesting Associates, LLP

Republican Representative Jeff Stone certainly has developed quite a list of campaign "volunteers" and an interesting variety of other "associates".

The Jensen Crew: I've mentioned this before but under the direction of former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, various operatives from the Assembly Republican Caucus were sent to help Jeff Stone both in his failed 1996 campaign and in his successful 1998 campaign. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned some of these unnamed operatives at the time and they also mentioned how nasty and personal that race had become. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/27/06, 2/28/06, 3/23/98]

Group Shut Down by the DA: In 2006 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the group, Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership was "using what turned out to be false or exaggerated claims" against it's opponents in the form of printed hand-outs. A Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney also accused them of violating state campaign finance laws. Allegedly the group spent more than the $421 that it reported. In fact it spent more than $1,600 on printing services with Jeff Stone alone. According to a Franklin Today report, one of the candidates that this group supported was Alan Hammelman, the now ex-husband of Jeff Stone's campaign manger Vi Hammelman. As part of an agreement with the state Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership agreed to disband.

Tim Russell: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that he was busy digging through the divorce file of Stone's current opponent. Stone's campaign suggested that they tried to hire him but that he was only a "volunteer". Before this report the last we heard of Russell was in a story about a widening investigation possibly involving the Walker campaign, Walker county staffers, and a Walker campaign donor.

Lamonte Harris: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Sunday that the Stone campaign purchased his services. The report also reminds us that Harris has been involved with several elected officials that have had various run-ins with the law. The story also reports that Harris himself has quite a record and that he suggested that the Stone campaign should probably "Google" him...but they didn't bother.

Recall Momentum

ht: The Plum Line

ALEC Emails Are Revealing

UW-Madison history professor William Cronon has been targeted by the Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW). Apparently they didn't like him exposing the influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)on Wisconsin's Republican legislators. Cronon's writing and the resulting RPW attack has sparked a national discussion regarding the influence of the special interest funded ALEC. The Capital Times' "Vital Signs" column today gives us yet another view of ALEC's influence on the extreme health care legislation quickly being churned out in Madison in the last few months.

Since the RPW is so interested in professor Cronon's emails, I thought that it might be a good time to take a look at a selection of ALEC emails to one of their Wisconsin members. They give us a behind-the-scenes look at ALEC's process, influence and the eventual policy that they produce. These emails were obtained from State Senator Leah Vukmir (while she was still a state representative) through an open records request that was made last year:

• Early in 2009 Milwaukee Magazine named Leah Vukmir one of the worst legislators in Madison. They largely based this designation on observations made by several fellow Republicans. In July of the same year ALEC conveniently bestowed upon Vukmir their so-called "Legislator of the Year" award. Here is an email exchange related to that award. In it we discover that Vukmir sent the ALEC PR person a list of media to contact about the award. She emphasizes that a press release be sent to her local media. Only a few hours later Vukmir gets a big "congratulations!" from an associate editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.


• Yet another series of 2009 emails to Leah Vukmir was regarding an ALEC task force meant to fight meaningful health care reform in Congress. Those emails encourage members to sign on to a form letter to Speaker Pelosi. They also tout their PR campaign against HCR, and promote an ALEC drafted state constitutional amendment against HCR. Easily the most revealing email is the one from the ALEC donor relations person. It is about "prospect outreach" and it asks the task force members to call two of the big biz interests that are fully listed in the email.


• To get an even better behind-the-scenes view into the inner-workings of ALEC, there are these emails from an executive in a multinational biopharmaceutical company. It shows us how a bill becomes a law ALEC-style. The executive's title is "Director, State Government Relations". In his email he thanks Vukmir for her help with draft model resolution that he has submitted to ALEC. It involves stem cell science and "cord blood/placenta blood banking and research." He suggests that it provides some cover to legislators that oppose embryonic stem cell research. He also makes it clear that it is an area that his company is "actively engaged in".

More Prosser Name Calling Making Headlines

At last night's supreme court debate David Prosser started calling people names again. This time he accused his opponent JoAnne Kloppenburg of being an "ideologue". Kloppenburg has made no statement that I have seen during this entire campaign that would even come close to fitting Prosser's over-the-top description. In fact it seems that Prosser is basing his name calling on little more than the fact that she interned for Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson some 25 years ago (remember the names that he called her). Even though his angry accusations have so little basis, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included it in their (online story) headline.

If Prosser wants to look 25 years back to decide who is and who isn't an "ideologue" then perhaps he better look at his own record. Because 25 years ago Prosser was a partisan Republican state legislator. He wasn't just a Republican legislator but one of the leaders of the partisan bunch. Now I don't know what creative definition of "ideologue" Prosser was using last night but the normal definition seems to fit his activities 25 years ago quite perfectly.

Actually, when it comes to David Prosser being an ideoloque we don't have to go back very far at all. Here are just some of the recent examples:

• David Prosser's campaign is the one that said very early that he would serve as a "complement" to the rabidly right wing governor and state legislature.



• David Prosser is the candidate that followed up that stunning pledge by going to every partisan Republican event that he could find.



• It was David Prosser's campaign that said this current race was about right wing ideology "...and nothing more".



• It was David Prosser that took part in a tea party radio interview telling them that people could "read between the lines" about how he would rule on any abortion related cases.
  

In addition to having TEMPERament issues, it seems that David Prosser also suffers from a serious case of pot-kettle syndrome.

ht: Picture from One Wisconsin Now

Stone Campaign's History of "Volunteers"

The last time that we read about Tim Russell in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it was about a possible John Doe investigation that may involve former Walker staffers, a donor and the Walker campaign. Today another MJS report updated us on the most recent activities of this Walker operative. It appears that Russell is now trying to help Jeff Stone's campaign for Milwaukee County executive. What kind of help is he offering? Well, recently he went to the county court house and pulled the divorce file of Stone's opponent, Chris Abele. The Stone campaign described this Walker operative as merely a campaign "volunteer". I don't know about you but when I hear the word "volunteer" i think of phone banking and maybe lit dropping. The one thing that I don't think about is a campaign "volunteer" pouring over the divorce records of the opponent. I wonder if there are more Stone "volunteers" doing things like this?

We shouldn't be too surprised that the Stone campaign would play dumb about the role of this long time Walker operative. Past Stone campaigns have played the same kinds of games when they have received this kind of "volunteer" help.

During the original trial of former Republican Speaker Scott Jensen, several documents mentioning Jeff Stone were admitted into evidence. In one media report at that time, Stone admitted that former caucus workers may have helped him with his 1998 campaign while on state time but that he wasn't aware of it. Maybe he wasn't sure because he assumed that they were all just simple campaign "volunteers". [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/27/06]

Media reports during that 1998 campaign did note that unidentified GOP operatives were working to help Stone in that race. In fact the media also detailed just how personal and nasty that campaign was becoming. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/23/98]

Even the 1998 campaign wasn't the first time that Jeff Stone received help from this specific brand of "volunteer". When the former director of the Assembly Republican Caucus, testified during the original Scott Jensen trial, he revealed that he did on-the-job campaigning in 1996 for Jeff Stone's failed run for the state Assembly. He said that he was ordered by GOP bosses to stop helping a La Crosse campaign so that he could go manage the Stone campaign "as soon as possible". [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/28/06]

The Stone campaign can play dumb about the recent activities of Tim Russell but they are just going through the same motions as they have in the past. When faced with a competitive campaign and a formidable opponent, Jeff Stone has consistently relied on and benefited directly from this same brand of GOP operative. Unfortunately the tone of the campaign usually suffered because of it. So if the past is any indication we can fully expect Stone's special "volunteers" to increasingly help steer this race into that same nasty direction.

Prosser = Walker

Stone Has Been Following Walker for a Long Time

Jeff Stone's reaction to a new Chris Abele ad tying him to Scott Walker is probably the most absurd thing that I have heard in a while. Jeff Stone tied himself to Scott Walker long before that ad was ever conceived. It was Jeff Stone that announced his run for Milwaukee County Executive by saying that he would follow in Scott Walker's failed footsteps. It was Jeff Stone that stood over Walker's shoulder when he announced his war on working Wisconsinites. It was Jeff Stone that tweeted his undying support for Walker's attack on 50 years of collective bargaining rights. It was Jeff Stone that repeatedly voted to remove those rights from Wisconsin workers.

It should not be surprising that Jeff Stone is following the extreme agenda of Scott Walker now, because he did that for most of the time that the two were in the state legislature together. Here is a small selection of ways that Jeff Stone has already proven himself a partisan follower of Scott Walker's extreme agenda.

• Jeff Stone joined Scott Walker in proposing legislation that would do away with a major part of the state's shared revenue program. That plan was panned across the board by Democrats, local officials and even former Tommy Thompson aides. [Wisconsin State Journal, 3/8/99, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/26/99]
• Jeff Stone joined Scott Walker during the 2000 presidential campaign at an event in Waukesha. They were busy touting George W. Bush's Social Security privatization scheme at the event. [Waukesha Freeman, 10/31/00]
• Stone joined Walker is signing a nasty letter to county officials in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Racine counties. The county officials were upset with cuts to state money for local governments that was contained in the state budget. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4/3/99]
• Stone signed on to a Walker juvenile justice and corrections bill that would have, among other things, allowed the Department of Corrections to transfer juveniles convicted as adults to adult prisons after reaching the age of 15. [AB 729, 1999] He also supported Walker efforts to move more towards private prisons. [AB 176, 3/8/99]
• Stone has repeatedly signed on to Walker's extreme legislative proposals ranging from things like limiting women's reproductive rights to disenfranchising Voter ID legislation.
• Stone signed on with Walker's controversial legislation that would have created special contract arbitration procedures for the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff's Association just after they endorsed Walker's bid for county executive. Some observers commented that "no one who supports a proposal like that is a friend of the taxpayers." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/16/02]

The simple bottom line here is this: If Jeff Stone has a problem with being linked to Scott Walker's extreme agenda, then perhaps Jeff Stone should have a long overdue conversation with himself.

Memory Lane: Walker, M&I and the Museum Bailout

Scott Walker's extreme agenda against the middle-class brought a national focus on the special interests that helped fund his deceptive campaign for governor. Many people are paying particular attention to the top executives at M&I Bank that gave Walker tens of thousands of dollars. M&I finds itself at the center of protests, boycotts, and online activism. While they have repeatedly issued the same talking points, activists are refusing to suspend reality to accept their spin.

Most people are citing the big campaign donations by top M&I executives to Walker's most recent campaign, however the relationship goes back further. Given all of this attention, it might be useful to take a quick walk down memory lane.

Although some executives at M&I bank contributed more modestly to Walker earlier, it seems that the big money and fundraisers didn't really kick into full gear until 2005. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's database shows some of the following contributions:

• At least 6 contributions in all of the years before 2005 (starting with 1993 which is when Walker was first elected to the state legislature)
• At least 51 contributions during 2005
• At least 136 contributions from 2006 through Walker's 2010 campaign for governor.
  

The year 2005 was also when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel exposed a financial crisis at Milwaukee's Public Museum. They found that executives at the museum were withdrawing large amounts from its endowment fund just to keep the operating budget going. At the time that the paper identified the crisis the endowment fund had been nearly depleted. According to MJS reports the endowment money was invested by the M&I Trust Co. and was withdrawn from accounts at the M&I Bank. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reported here that a top executive was on the museum board at the time:

Mark Furlong, president of the M&I Corp., was a member of the Milwaukee Public Museum Board during the time of Gaouette's alleged actions. Furlong has since left the museum board. He did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

Even though the museum had been partially privatized in 1992, Milwaukee County still owned the property and the collections that were in it. So the county still helped subsidize it. In 2005 after the crisis was revealed, Milwaukee County further agreed to guarantee $5 million in short-term museum loans. In 2007 then-County Executive Scott Walker approved a $39 million taxpayer funded bailout plan for the museum. At the time Supervisor John Weishan, one of the opponents of the bailout, said that "this is a bailout of a private group. It's not a bailout of our museum." Under the plan M&I and the other bank involved agreed to more manageable terms but Milwaukee County did much of the heavy lifting including locking into some of these long-term obligations:

• The county was to spend $3.5 million a year for 10 years on operating subsidies, or about $9.6 million more than taxpayers would have paid under the previous lease terms.
• In addition the county would give the museum another $4 million over five years starting in 2008 to pay for deferred maintenance on the building, or $400,000 more than the county spent on average for the previous five years.
  

Because of this deal the museum avoided bankruptcy but some observers also looked at it as a taxpayer funded bailout of the major creditors, which included M&I Bank.

UPDATE: Here is an interesting look at Scott Walker, M&I and the Wisconsin Bankers Association

Stone the Walker Clone

“Go Tell That Long Tongue Liar…”

WI "Budget Repair Bill" Protest (Feb 20-24?) Pt. 3 from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.

Reality Check for Walker Boosters at M&I Bank

Don Walker,reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, highlighted some of the efforts to boycott Scott Walker's business boosters. He also provides reaction from some of the companies that have been targeted. Perhaps the most absurd reaction came from the M&I Bank spokesperson who said the following:

"Individual employees may choose, at their own discretion and based on their political beliefs, to make contributions to political campaigns. Donors are typically required to identify their employer. Each campaign - Scott Walker and Tom Barrett - received voluntary contributions from individual M&I employees."

I suppose it is possible that this spokesperson is fairly new, given that M&I was recently sold to a Canadian bank. But absent that possibility this response is laughable and it is totally divorced from reality. Don't be fooled by the spin, instead look at the facts.

1. Top executives at M&I Bank have long been boosters of Scott Walker's destructive brand of politics. These were not simply bank tellers or other front line workers giving contributions. Instead it was a cadre of big executives and bosses at M&I that helped finance Walker's campaigns.

2. These top executives often gave thousands of dollars at a time. The biggest example is former M&I Chief Executive Dennis Kuester and his wife who gave $20,000 to Walker during the 2010 campaign alone. Before the 2010 campaign the couple gave at least $5,600 to advance Walker's political ambitions. While this is by far the biggest example it is certainly not the only one. Mark Furlong, the executive that took over for Kuester at M&I gave $3,000 to Walker in the run up to the November 2010 election. So is this tradition of giving to Walker something that is passed down from executive to executive?

3. When the top executives of M&I weren't giving to Walker in massive amounts, others at the bank were giving in what appears to have been coordinated bundles. For example a total of 6 people from M&I Bank gave to Walker on March 25, 2009. A total of 15 gave to Walker on December 12, 2008. A total of 14 gave to Walker on August 22, 2007. Were these coordinated fundraisers hosted by M&I people or are we supposed to believe that they all just happened to repeatedly give on the same exact dates?

4. To pretend that there was any parity in M&I giving to Walker as compared to Mayor Tom Barrett is absurd and highly misleading. For example Dennis Kuester gave $400 to Barrett while giving the aforementioned $20,000 to Walker. According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's database, Mark Furlong gave $0 to Tom Barrett during the 2010 campaign while giving the aforementioned $3,000 to Walker. In fact if you were to search the database you will find that M&I Bank employees have given approximately 68 times to Mayor Barrett since 2001 (usually in much smaller amounts than they have given to Walker). During that same time they have given approximately 185 times to Scott Walker.

Given these facts and this longtime financing of Scott Walker's extreme brand of politics, it should be no suprise to M&I Bank that they now find themselves on several boycott lists.

Devastating...

ht: The Plum Line

Waffling on Votes Already Etched in Stone

Republican Representative Jeff Stone has a long history of anti-Milwaukee County votes. It should be no surprise that he unquestioningly supports Scott Walker's extreme attack on the rights of Wisconsin workers (and all of the other radical policy infused into the "budget repair bill"). In fact if you look at what has become stock footage of Walker introducing his "budget repair bill" the face that you keep seeing over his right shoulder is Jeff Stone. Now that his unquestioning support of such an extreme agenda is becoming a major issue in the race for Milwaukee County Executive, Stone is desperately trying to have it both ways.

No matter how Jeff Stone wants to spin it, the fact remains that he voted for Scott Walker's "budget repair bill" and that rubber stamp action brings with it some dire consequences for both Milwaukee County and the rest of the state. Jeff Stone should have to deal with all of the consequences of his vote last week. That vote supported some of the following:

• Taking away over 50 years of workers rights in a matter of days.
• Even though police/fire personnel costs are often the highest expenditure items for municipalities, the Stone-supported legislation takes those local "tools"off the table.
• Giving the right wing extremist heading the Wisconsin Department of Health Services unprecedented powers to wipe entire groups of people out of Badger Care programs. This could have a disproportionally negative effect in Milwaukee County.
• Extending Walker's power grab by allowing him to replace important civil service positions with 35 more political appointees/cronies.
• At a time when transportation dollars are desperately needed, the State of Wisconsin could lose upwards of $45 million in federal transportation funds.

The above list is just a sampling of what Jeff Stone voted for last week but he also joined the Republican majority to procedurally kill many amendments that were offered. The amendments that he helped to kill included some of the following:

• Rather than sell valuable state assets on a no-bid basis, at least one amendment sought to require a competitive bidding process.
• If we are going to sell off state power plants, one amendment sought to put the proceeds into a special account. Those funds would then provide grants to District Attorneys, counties and other municipalities for investigation, enforcement and prosecution in OWI cases.
• One amendment provided that if portions of health care programs like BadgerCare were eliminated by the Governor that he couldn't obtain state provided health care coverage himself. So at least if the Governor were to take away health care coverage from scores of Milwaukee County residents, he would have to at least share in their pain.

So no matter how much Jeff Stone wants to have it both ways, the fact remains that he voted in lock step with the other Republican rubber stamps in the Legislature. His votes for this flawed bill are permanently etched into the record, as are his procedural efforts to kill meaningful amendments to it.

Jeff Stone's recent actions again prove that he is not a "moderate" and that he is simply a partisan follower of his extreme leaders. If his actual votes on this "budget repair bill" don't tell Milwaukee County voters enough about him, his current waffling on those same votes certainly should.

Fox 6 and CRG "Colluding" Against Senate Dems?

On Friday I highlighted the various ways that our 14 Senate Democrats are being harassed for taking their courageous stand to slow down Scott Walker's extreme agenda. One of the elements that I included in that blog posting was that they have received extensive open records requests from the Walker-enablers at Citizens for Republican Responsible Government. They also received very similar open records requests from Bryan Polcyn from Milwaukee's WITI Fox 6 News.

Originally I noticed that both CRG and Fox 6 submitted their extensive and similar requests on the same day but I didn't originally read anything into that fact. But after seeing the report that Fox 6 produced based on their open records requests, I'm having second thoughts.

• The Fox 6 item prominently features the spokesperson for CRG (remember he is the one that admitted in 2009 that he wanted to see Scott Walker become governor)
• Not only did they prominently feature CRG but then they gave them air time to broadly speculate about alleged "collusion" without a real basis.
• Fox 6 admits at the top of the story that their extensive open records requests of Dem Senators didn't reveal any real premeditated plan for the Dems to leave town. However by the end of the story they use CRG's wild speculation to strongly imply otherwise.

So if CRG and Fox 6 are going to join together to question and speculate about Senate Dems, maybe someone should be asking them some serious questions. Last week I emailed Bryan Polcyn asking him if he had any comment about his extensive open records requests to Democratic Senators. I also asked him if he had submitted similar requests to Scott Walker's office or the offices of the Republican leadership in the Legislature. In his report today he seems so concerned about why Democrats tried to slow down the "budget repair bill" process, so was he as interested in how Republicans were plotting on how to speed it up? I don't know because he didn't respond to my questions. So if Fox 6 wants to air reports with partisans broadly speculating about who is "colluding" with whom, I want to know if they are "colluding" with CRG and against the Senate Democrats?

Grothman and his "social misunderstanding"

Glenn Grothman clearly has a problem getting along with other people. Since the unprecedented protests in Madison started he has gone out of his way to insult/incite protesters. Recently Grothman described firefighters, cops, teachers nurses and other protesters as "slobs". That kind of over-the-top-rhetoric is par for the course with this extreme ideologue.

Now desperate right wingers are trying to make Grothman into a victim because he left Scott Walker's palace last night and walked into a crowd of protesters . Apparently they followed him and chanted "shame" at him repeatedly. Oh my, how could he ever survive!

Apparently Grothman was in a Dane County courtroom earlier today insulting Wisconsin working people again but this time it was under oath. It just seems that he is a magnet for drama and that he thrives on it.

The recent Grothman antics remind me of something that I read in an August 2009 West Bend Police report involving him. The police found no wrongdoing and didn't cite Grothman or anyone else involved in the situation. That being said, a few statements in the police report stuck with me.

While investigating the incident the police officer advised "Grothman to be cautious of his style when attempting to acknowledge political rivals." The officer went on to report that the incident appeared to be a "social misunderstanding."

"Social misunderstanding(s)"...from what I can tell Glenn Grothman seems to attract them whether he is at Germanfest in West Bend or at the Capitol in Madison.

Consequences of Politically Motivated Layoffs

Scott Walker has been jet setting all over the state and appearing on national media outlets. Lately he has used that time and profile to issue threats, saying that he will start laying off thousands of people. It seems that the number keeps growing along with his political desperation. But everyone should know that this is a sick strategy that he had used in Milwaukee County

Earlier today One Wisconsin Now reminded us about Walker's "Koch" call and how he described that it was part of his political strategy to threaten more and more layoffs. They also went on to remind us of Walker's misuse of layoff threats while he was still destroying Milwaukee County.

In November 2009 Walker was being interviewed on WTDY's Sly in the Morning radio show. During that interview Sly asked about the various budget issues in Milwaukee County and Walker described how he issued layoff threats just to "get their attention". So to get what he wanted politically from the Milwaukee County Board, Scott Walker used the threats of layoffs.

Listen for yourself and pay specific attention to how Walker appears to take joy in using the threat of layoffs as a political weapon.



Using the threat of layoffs gave Walker some of what he wanted in the budget but that was not enough for him (it never is). Only a few months later he unilaterally declared a budget crisis (sound familiar?) so that he could bypass the County Board and layoff the county workers . Those layoffs included 27 courthouse security personnel that were replaced by a questionable private security company.

Nearly a year after Walker sent these workers to the unemployment line a ruling came down that Walker in-fact did fake the fiscal crisis. As such his layoffs were ruled illegitimate and the county was not only ordered to offer the jobs back but also to provide back pay. Walker had already been sworn in as governor at the time of this ruling and probably didn't care that his arrogance and political game playing cost Milwaukee County dearly.

State workers, their unions and the public at-large should take note of how Scott Walker abused Milwaukee County, its people and its public employees. He is repeating that pattern right now in Madison.

100,000 Strong

ht: One Wisconsin Now for the video

Koch Brothers' Scottie

From the Center for American Progress via the Cartoonist Group

Senators Persecuted for Giving Public a Closer Look

The State of Wisconsin, the nation and the entire world continues to learn all of the sordid details that exist in Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill". They are learning that it contains a ton of non budgetary policy that is both sweeping and extreme. The bill has garnered most of this attention because of its attempt to repeal 50 plus years of labor rights in only a matter of days. But as time has passed we have learned more unfortunate details about this political document. From Walker wanting to replace career civil service employees with his own political appointees to his power grab over medicaid to his no-bid selling of Wisconsin assets and much more. We have indeed learned many of the ugly details of this bill and it is largely because of the 14 courageous Senate Democrats who derailed Scott Walker's legislative fast track (or should I say runaway train?).

It was clear that Scott Walker and the Republican leaders in the Legislature wanted to ram this sweeping and radical legislation down our throats before anyone got a close look at it. Democrats are in the minority and Republican legislators have proven themselves as nothing but rubber stamps for an extreme and overreaching administration. Although some media outlets attack the Senate Democrats for slowing down this runaway train, they apparently don't realize that they wouldn't even know half of the things that they currently do about the bill had not been for the Senators actions.

Scott Walker, his rubber stamps in the legislature and the extreme right wing were certainly not happy that Senate Democrats slowed down their runaway train. It is pretty clear that they really did not want the public to get a close look at the content of this bill until after it was too late. So Walker and Co. have deployed every attack and considered every dirty trick that they can to persecute the courageous senate Democrats that dared to stand in the way of his extreme agenda. Consider just some of the nasty attacks and tactics:

• Sending the State Patrol to Senators' homes and accomplishing little more than causing an early morning scene, intimidating the Senator's spouses, and frightening their children and grandchildren.
• Holding the pay of Senators by revoking their direct deposits and instead locking their checks in desks on the Senate floor.
• Conspiring with fellow Republican AG J.B. Van Hollen to try and dream up some imagined felony to threaten Democratic Senators. They seem perfectly willing to potentially abuse the law to conduct a political witch hunt (see "Koch" call).
• After at least one of the Senators received a threat that someone might burn down their home, right wing radicals show up at their Illinois hotel and trespass on private property necessitating police protection.
• On the 18th the usual Walker-boosting suspects at CRG sent extensive open records requests to several Senators (They must have rushed to send them because requests to some Senators asked for the records of a different Senator).
• Also on the 18th Milwaukee's WITI Fox 6 also sent an extensive open records request to the Democratic Senators (I have asked Fox 6 if they sent records requests to the Republican leadership in the legislature or to Scott Walker's office but so far they have not responded to that inquiry). Then they sent a revised request on the 23rd.
• We also know, thanks to Scott Walker's conversation with "David Koch", that he planned underhanded and dishonest tricks to get the Democratic Senators back to the Capitol. In the same conversation joking about bringing his baseball bat to the fake meeting.
• Walker has also tried to pressure Senate Democrats by using the same old shtick that he used repeatedly in Milwaukee County. Threatening layoffs if he didn't get his own way. We know that this is just one of his over-the-top political ploys as he admitted in a radio interview last year.
• Some Utah-recall group threatening to recall Wisconsin Senators.

It is clear that Scott Walker, his rubber stamps in the legislature and the extreme right wing that support them are willing to try every dirty trick in the book to ram this radical bill through. Going into this conspiracy they were overconfident and that is why the brave actions of the Senate Democrats have upset them so much. Walker and Co. were not counting on the public getting a nice long look at his radical bill. Each day new repugnant details of this bill emerge and that is exactly what Walker wanted to avoid by ramming it through fast. That is also why he is trying to use ever dirty trick in the book to persecute the State Senators that forced a full examination of this radical bill.

Outside Agitators You Say?

The right wing has desperately tried to explain away the massive and unrelenting numbers of protesters coming to Madison from every corner of the state. One talking point is that the large numbers can be explained away because there are allegedly "outside agitators" involved in the protests. Even Scott Walker alluded to this during his bumper sticker reading session last night. I'll be waiting for Walker to start chastising some of these outsiders that are injecting themselves into the debate:

• The Utah recall group that reportedly started the initial process of recalling the Wisconsin 14 (Democratic Senators that stopped this legislation from being rammed down our throats in only 5 days).
• The Koch Brothers and their bankrolling the attack on Wisconsin workers and on their rights. Not only are they paying the bills but they also recently opened shop near the Capitol, hiring a small army of lobbyists.
• The Republican Governor's Association now running their own brand of dishonest and over-the-top attack ads against Wisconsin workers. We also know that they are bankrolled by even more "outside agitators" like Fox News (among many others).
• Right wing charlatan and well documented liar Andrew Breitbart and his churning out vile propaganda against Wisconsin workers and those that stand in solidarity with them.

So if Scott Walker is really so concerned about "outside agitators" perhaps he should start with some of his own. Scott Walker can continue his delusional comments about the increasing and unrelenting thousands of protesters but it wont change reality. These are hard working tax paying Wisconsinites that are outraged at his aggression towards them. They are firefighters, teachers, snow plow drivers, concerned citizens and many others. Oh, and when the inevitable recall papers are filed against Walker and his enablers in the legislature, I can assure you, it will not be done by someone in Utah (or any other state).

Real Outsider Complains about the Imagined Kind

Right wing charlatan Andrew Breitbart has a well documented history of being a shameless liar and now he is busy telling lies about Wisconsin. His latest shtick is claiming that the growing thousands protesting in Madison are somehow "outsiders". In a surprise to absolutely no one Breitbart's absurd claims are based on nothing but the empty recesses of his dark mind.

It is not that hard to find the truth by just looking at all of the local unions, local members, and local allies that have been involved and organizing from the very beginning. Buses have been dispatched from every single corner of Wisconsin on repeated routes every single day. Does Breitbart really think that buses full of "outsiders" are coming from Wausau, De Pere and Eau Claire? What? are scores of activists from Michigan repeatedly swimming across the lake just to catch a bus in Manitowoc?

Unlike Breitbart I actually was a part of this local process. Early last week I called a Wisconsin union that had buses going to Madison. I spoke to someone local that I literally know and signed up for a Wednesday bus. I went to the designated place at the designated time and met with more local union people and other supporters. That process has been repeated all over this state countless times from the very beginning. The result has been literally hundreds of thousands of people protesting nonstop in Madison and inspiring people all over the world in the process.

So while a real outside agitator like Andrew Breitbart continues to lie, real Wisconsinites will continue coming to Madison in massive and unrelenting numbers to protest and stand in the gap for Wisconsin workers and their rights.

To Quote Scott Walker...

"You want a tough job; you've got to take some hits." [April 9, 2002]

Yes and that is especially true when you bring it on yourself by trying to end 50 years of law and tradition in only 5 days.

ht on video: Blue Cheddar

Attention Media: Don't Miss the Real Story!

I've read, watched and listened to many reports in the media about Scott Walker's "budget repair bill" (which is anything but) and I'm noticing an incomplete theme. Too much of the focus in the reporting is being put on the prospect of wage and benefit reductions. Don't be misled into thinking that this is the major point of the backlash against this bill. After all the public employee unions were already prepared to give $100 million in various concessions but Walker refused to negotiate at all. So the unions have made it clear that they are not adverse to carrying their fair share of the burden in terms of wage/benefit concessions.

The real outrage is Walker's unprecedented attempt to take away basically all collective bargaining rights. That wipes out basic rights that workers have had for over 50 years in Wisconsin. That includes the loss of the right to address things like workplace safety, seniority, grievance procedures and just about anything else for that matter. These drastic and unprecedented actions are bad enough but trying to do so in the space of one week is downright diabolical. This is not to even mention the fact that the bill very deliberately tries to weaken and undermine public employee unions organizationally.

It is right to highlight this bill's proposed cuts to workers pay and benefits because those things are very real and they are significant. But don't get stuck in the right wing talking points so deep that you leave the discussion only in that one rut. Continue to report the full amount of damage that this bill will do not only to workers' pay and benefits but also to their most fundamental rights. If you've missed that major detail then you have missed the real story.

You're Against "Policy" in a "Budget Bill" You Say?

If only I had a dime for every time a Wisconsin Republican lamented "putting policy in a budget bill". While Governor Doyle was in office they constantly repeated the mantra like a cadre of broken records. If we didn't before, we now know that this right wing frothing was nothing but phony political posturing. If the concern was ever genuine, then why are some of the same people feigning outrage before standing behind Scott Walker's "budget repair bill" now? Because it is stuffed with radical right wing policy.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau put together a memo listing various policy items in Walker's "budget" bill. It includes a variety of new policies in the areas of Children & Family services, Health Services, the State Civil Service System and repealing collective bargaining rights for public employees (even on issues that have nothing to do with pay/benefits and don't impact the state budget in any way).

One of the extreme items that Walker has included in this bill involves yet another power grab that I've only heard a few people talk about. In his bill Walker is seeking to create and personally fill new political appointee positions. Primarily these Walker appointees would replace any legal council at the various state agencies. Apparently he doesn't want anyone but a loyal political appointee rendering "legal" decisions. No doubt that will help make their conclusions fit his predetermined political agenda.

The bottom line is that there are a ton of extreme and overreaching policy items stuffed into this bill and the same Republican hypocrites that were complaining about the tactic months ago are employing it now. For just one example, take former Republican Speaker Mike Huebsch's (now in the Walker cabinet) comments in 2007:

"If it is good policy, it should go through the regular process. It should come in as legislation, it should go through committee hearings, and have a stand-alone vote in the Legislature."

Now this phony is busy pimping himself to help fast track Walker's "budget bill" which is not only fully infused with policy but the kind of extreme policy that fundamentally changes at least 50 years of Wisconsin law. Not to mention that the bill is totally unprecedented in how Walker is trying to seize power that currently doesn't exist in the office of the governor. Mike Huebsch, can you tell me again why you are were so against the idea of policy being included in a budget bill? What has changed besides the party affiliation of the governor's office?

Huebsch certainly isn't alone, there is a whole parade of right wing hypocrites on this issue. People like Republican Robin Vos have repeatedly "offered nasally diatribes against the use of 'non-fiscal policy' items in state budgeting." Thank goodness someone took a moment in today's rushed hearing to point out his total hypocrisy and to get it formally on the record.

This is the queen of all policy-infused budget bills and that suddenly doesn't seem to bother anyone on the far right.

Despotic Bill Not About A Budget

Scott Walker's despotic attack on public employees (and ultimately on all workers) is being misleadingly couched as a budgetary issue. The only part of this extreme agenda that has anything to do with a budget is the fact that he chose to introduce this radical policy in something called a "budget repair bill". Public employee unions were ready to go to the negotiating table making concessions representing hundreds of millions of dollars. But like any dictator, Walker had no interest in negotiation because he had a radical agenda to impose. An agenda that overturns 50 plus years of labor law in one week with little to no public discussion. Perhaps the biggest piece of evidence that this is not about real budgetary consideration is Walker's excluding of police and fire unions, some of which politically supported his campaign.

If Walker's plans really had anything to do with budgetary concerns he would not have excluded his political supporters in the police and fire unions. While he suggests that his naked attempt at killing (most) public employee unions will save local municipalities money, he doesn't address the fact that often they spend large portions of their budgets on public safety. So how do you actually save local governments cash when you have exempted what is often their largest expenditure?

For example, the Public Policy Forum provided some of the following data in a 2009 report on the City of Milwaukee's budget:

• Police, Fire and Public Works departments have represented 75% of overall tax levy-supported departmental expenditures.
• From 2004-2008 those three departments also accounted for 81% of departmental expenditure growth. Among those three departments, the police department had by far the largest expenditure growth, with the fire department coming in a distant second.
• In fact police and fire expenditures comprised a full 58% of the city’s operating and maintenance expenditures.
• The Milwaukee Police Department alone had the greatest portion of city expenditures, accounting for 40% of it and for a full 38% of all city positions.

These facts serve only as examples and are certainly not exclusive to the City of Milwaukee. Take a look at most municipal budgets and you will often find that the police and fire departments are among their largest (if not their largest) expenditure items.

The point here is certainly not to promote taking away the collective bargaining rights of police officers or fire fighters, but rather to expose the Walker lie that his radical agenda has anything to do with budgetary concerns, especially for local governments.

Afterthought: If you are a local official and you think that Scott Walker has any concern whatsoever about your local budget, you better brace yourself for when you become the next bullet point on his extreme agenda. Given his record and past proposals, it will likely come in the form of drastic cuts or maybe even the elimination of the shared revenue program. So now just might be a good time to take a stand.

Actions Speak Louder than One 12-Year-Old Vote

In a radio ad Representative Jeff Stone says that he voted against a piece of legislation related to pension benefits for state employees (including legislators). Today he says that he voted against the legislation in 1999 because it added too much to state employee's pension benefits. Stone did cast that vote but I don't think that one vote in all of his years in the legislature is enough to hang his hat on today. I think that his actions/inaction through all of these years speak much louder than that single vote in 1999.

For example, if Stone was so upset at the time about the pension benefits contained in the 1999 legislation then why didn't he waive those same benefits for himself? In their unusually literal take on Stone's claim, PolitiFact verifies that he did no such thing. They report that "he has not attempted to waive the benefits for himself". He didn't attempt to waive them after the legislation passed and he hasn't waived them in all the years since that time. I'm sorry but that fact puts his 1999 vote in some much needed context.

Aside from him not waiving those pension benefits for himself, what does the rest of his legislative record tell us? If he was so concerned about this issue, why does he have to reach all the way back to a 1999 vote? If he is so fervent about this subject then where are his legislative efforts to change those benefits? Has he introduced legislation to repeal any of the benefits since that 1999 vote? He has been in the state legislature for over a decade and most of that time his party has been in control of the Assembly (and sometimes the entire legislature). So where is his legislation to repeal the benefits that he voted against in 1999 but has been so happily willing to collect for himself?

Jeff Stone may try to appeal to that single vote, but I think that his action/inaction on the subject for the last 12 years speak much louder than one isolated vote that he took in 1999.

Prosser: This is about ideology "and nothing more"

As soon as Justice David Prosser launched his campaign for the state Supreme Court it seemed that he put an immediate premium on partisanship. Remember his promise that he would serve as a "complement" to the new right wing legislature and governor? In addition he has kept busy running around to Republican organizations. I've already speculated that he may be defaulting back to his partisan days as the former Republican Speaker. Now it seems that we can add another example of Prosser valuing a hard right ideology above all else.

The latest in this pattern comes in the Prosser campaign's response to one of his three opponents for Supreme Court. Specifically it was Joel Winnig's comments about the dishonest "Justice" Michael Gableman. Among other comments, Winnig described Gableman as a "cancer" and that he should be removed from office. The Prosser campaign responded to Winnig's comments saying the following (as reported by Wispolitics in an email to their subscribers, the 2/9/11 PM Update):

“This election is about a 4-3 commonsense conservative majority vs. a 3-4 liberal majority, and nothing more.”

Again the Prosser campaign boils this race down to a dedication to a rigid right wing ideology. Call me crazy but that seems so inappropriate. How about this race being about the most qualified person that will approach each case without a bias of any kind and judge them individually based on the facts and the law? Apparently we can just throw those silly notions out the window because the only thing that matters to the Prosser campaign is ideological loyalty "and nothing more."

See also: IT's "Justice Prosser thinks Joel Winnig is smoking dope"

Stone Not Interested in the Student Vote

The Badger Herald highlighted Rep. Jeff Stone's self-serving Voter ID bill yesterday and they stressed the ways that it could hinder and otherwise suppress the youth vote in Wisconsin. They also report that Stone is against even allowing them to use official student ID's for voting. Suppressing the youth vote would be a tragedy in any case but especially in Wisconsin where we have repeatedly had some of the highest student turnout rates. Jeff Stone is not only trying to make it more difficult for college students to vote but he has also supported other measures that would have negatively impacted college students in Milwaukee County.

Consider some of the following Stone budget votes for example that were not exactly supportive of our college students or of the institutions where they learn:

• Voted against a version of the 2007 budget that included millions in funds for UWM's planned research park, starting a UWM School of Public Health, and for increased research at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
• Stone did support the (Republican) version of the 2007 budget. But that version cut in so many different areas that UW-Milwaukee would have not been able to properly support new faculty with teaching assistants and staff. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/13/07]
• In the same 2007 Assembly version of the budget, Milwaukee Area Technical College would have been hit particularly hard losing some $3.9 million in 2007 alone. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/27/07]
• Stone even voted for a 2003 budget that would have reduced reimbursement of education-related fees for veterans.

Based on Stone's attempt to make voting more difficult for students and based on some of his other votes, I have to wonder if he has simply written off the student vote completely? We already know that Jeff Stone is looking for votes in Milwaukee County but apparently he is just not particularily interested in the student vote.

We agree on this much: Go Pack Go!

Rough Waters Ahead for Local Governments

During his State of the State speech earlier this week, Scott Walker mentioned the need to "reform" public employees benefits. We all knew that was coming and we all know exactly what Walker means by it. He plans on financing his special interest bonanza (at least partially) on the backs of public employees. Given his hostile track record in Milwaukee County we could all see this coming a mile away. Walker also talked about "reforming entitlement programs". And by "reform" he naturally means to cut and otherwise reduce services for those most in need. Likewise this was certainly not a surprise given how Walker mismanaged and underfunded social services in Milwaukee County. But the one call for "reform" in Walker's speech that I wish drew more attention is his call for "reforming the state's relationship with local governments".

To find out what Scott Walker likely means by "reforming the state's relationship with local governments" we only need to look at some of his proposals when he last worked in Madison as a state legislator. In 1999 Scott Walker and Jeff Stone proposed "reforming" the state's relationship with local governments by doing away with a major portion of the state's shared revenue program. Their plan would allow local governments to raise their sales taxes to help make up for the lost state revenue. Needless to say, this plan didn't make it off the ground and was even panned in a Wisconsin State Journal editorial as "fraught with practical problems". Not the least of which was the possibility of it creating sales tax “islands” that change from town to town. [Wisconsin State Journal, 3/8/99]

The Wisconsin State Journal was certainly not alone in being critical of the Walker-Stone plan. The executive director of the Alliance of Cities said that the plan would "hurt small, poor communities that don't have the property wealth, income or retail base ..." Even a top Thompson deputy said that the plan could hurt areas of the state that don't generate enough taxes to pay for services. The plan would have not only been bad for smaller local governments because even Walker himself admitted that "Milwaukee might not fare as well, under a proposal like this..." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/26/99]

I don't know exactly what Walker has in mind for "reforming the state's relationship with local governments" but I think that this track record might give us a few important signs. We already knew that Walker was going to target public employees and any programs that help those most in need, but it looks like local governments better batten down the hatches and prepare for some rough waters. After all, Walker listed them as an entity to be "reformed" and given what he has in mind for his other targets, it can't be a good thing.

Stone's Self Serving Use of Referendums

Jeff Stone is already proposing a self serving Voter ID bill just in time for the spring election. Now he wants to put equally self serving referendums on the ballot . He is suggesting that the referendums ask voters if the size of the Milwaukee County Board should be cut and whether supervisors should work only part-time. Stone's proposal is nothing more than a political ploy and it is certainly not the first time that someone has accused him of misusing the referendum process for his own political ambitions.

In 1996 while he was both a Greenfield alderman and (unsuccessfully) running for his current seat in the Assembly, Stone pushed for a referendum on the local ballot. It asked the people of Greenfield if they approved of light rail even though Greenfield was not on any of the proposed light rail routes. Referring to the Stone-proposed referendum, a fellow Aldermen commented saying, "I believe the voters of Greenfield were used as political pawns to further his (Stone's) political ambitions." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/28/96]

Based on his current proposal and the 1996 example, you might be thinking that Stone really loves referendums. Wrong. Again in 1996 some on the Greenfield Common Council wanted to put a referendum on the ballot about whether the city should have a full-time mayor or hire a city administrator. Stone opposed that input from the voters saying "I think we have a responsibility to lead this city." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/7/96]

Another example of Jeff Stone not liking referendums came in 2006 when he proposed taking Milwaukee County's successfully managed airport away and putting it under the authority of an entirely new body. It was later revealed that he was secretly working with special interests to write legislation to accomplish that goal. The secretive group specifically wanted him to introduce the legislation in the Assembly because then they had a chance to take the asset from Milwaukee County without even a vote from the County Board or from voters. At the time, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the following:

"And a key priority in those behind-the-scenes talks was ensuring that neither
the County Board nor county voters would have a say in the handover."

So now we know that Jeff Stone has been both for and actively against placing referendums on the ballot. But one remaining question is whether he actually honors voters decisions after they have voiced them? Again, we go back to his time on the Greenfield Common Council for an example. Stone was again pushing for Greenfield to establish a city administrator position. He continued to push on the issue even though Greenfield voters had twice rejected the idea via referendum. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/1/95]

I'm sensing a theme here with Jeff Stone and referendums. Apparently it is only important to hear from voters when it either aids his political ambitions or when they agree with his already established positions. You can call that what you will, but I call it extremely self serving and a misuse of the process.