Open Record Obstruction: What is Alberta Hiding?

One Wisconsin Now was recently forced to file an open records lawsuit against state Senator Alberta Darling because she was stonewalling them on a request that they made to her office. They requested communications between her office and various elements of the private school industry. Only after they actually filed their lawsuit did Darling finally acknowledge their request and produce the records. In fact she produced the records so quickly that you have to wonder what the real hold up was in the first place.

The records that Darling finally produced gave us a strong idea as to why she was apparently trying to delay the release. The emails that OWN obtained clearly show that she was coordinating with private school industry lobbyists. In fact it appears that Darling was preparing to deliver several items on their legislative agenda.

Specifically Darling was communicating with the lobbyist for the school privatization industry organization, the American Federation for Children. This is the same organization that is currently spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Darling in her recall election.

Today the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) filed a complaint against Darling. One key part of the multifaceted complaint includes even more open record obstruction by Darling. They filed an open records request seeking communications between Alberta Darling and several right wing special interest groups. In fact some of those same groups are currently under investigation by the Milwaukee County DA's office for questionable activities involving the recall elections. Is this why Alberta is obstructing the DPW open records request?

I can can certainly empathize with both OWN and with DPW because Alberta Darling's office has also obstructed an open records request that I filed back in April. At that time I requested emails that she received from local officials regarding the budget repair bill. I further narrowed my request by including a limited time frame.

Darling's office first responded to my request nearly a full month after I first made it. They suggested that I narrow my request even further. Because I wanted to make the process as easy as possible I agreed to the suggested changes within 2 days. That was in mid-May and I didn't receive the requested records or even a status of my request until Tuesday, August 5th (one week before her recall election). As if this obstruction wasn't bad enough, now Darling wants me to pay hundreds of dollars for the honor of obtaining those public records that may be useless at this point.

In my view there is a clear pattern of open record obstruction by Alberta Darling. Three examples including mine have surfaced in only the past few days. I can only wonder how many other cases will surface before next Tuesday? But perhaps the most important question is, what exactly is Alberta Darling trying to hide in the first place?

UPDATE: I literally just asked "how many other cases will surface" and then I noticed this from the Shepherd Express.

Out of touch Alberta Strikes Again

Here she goes again. Alberta Darling once again showing that she is completely out of touch with most Wisconsinites. Last week she declared that a person making $250,000 a year is not rich. She is trying to perform some damage control now but the fact is that she said exactly what she meant. Darling has been unbelievably wealthy for a very long time and she has become completely detached from the real lives of most Wisconsinites.

Darling's latest Statement of Economic Interest form shows that she owns stock in nearly 200 different companies. The value of most of those individual holdings are between $5,000 and $50,000. There are also a handful of companies in which she owns more than a $50,000 interest. Her SEI also lists the longtime beach front condo in Florida that she has owned for some time. In fact, the Capital Times once ran a story about out-of-touch very wealthy legislators and in it they listed Darling and her beach front property (pictured above). [Capital Times, 6/14/94] In addition her River Hills home is assessed at approximately $800,000.

But we don't have to only rely on Alberta Darling's personal wealth and recent comment to prove that she is out of touch. We can also look at other telling comments and actions over the years. Here are only a handful in no particular order:

• When Texas Governor George W. Bush was beginning his run for president he came to a Wisconsin fundraiser. Alberta Darling was quoted at the fundraiser saying, "Hallelujah...I'm so excited" about the prospect of a Bush presidency. We all know how that turned out for most of us. [Capital Times, 7/22/99]
• Then there was the time that she failed to come back from her London vacation to vote on important legislation during a special session of the legislature. People were not amused nor were they very happy with her. [Capital Times, 6/16/94]
  
• In 1995 Alberta Darling declared, "I consider Phillip Morris a good corporate citizen." Need I say more? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/15/95]
• Darling's love for powerful special interests was just as strong a number of years later when she said, "In many cases, lobbyists perform a valid role, which is to educate on issues. Many of the lobbyists are very professional about it. They give information..." [AP, "Lobbying groups spend record for six months of the year", 8/8/99]
• Then of course there is her comment earlier this year that this train wreck of a state budget was "the best budget ever!" Obviously she has no regard whatsoever for the extreme damage that it does to education, health care and the average Wisconsinite.
  

So there have been many Alberta Darling "out-of-touch moments" over the years. The most recent one is only the latest and hopefully the events of the next week will mercifully make it the last.

What is your favorite Alberta out-of-touch moment?

Hopper's real union "dialogue" was with Cass

Wispolitics cited the following quote from state Senator Randy Hopper in its Friday report to subscribers. Xoff picked up on it right away. After watching Hopper on Mike Gousha's UpFront program it appears that the quote came from that interview.

"When it came to having dialogue with leaders of the union they knew exactly where I stood because for the last two years I worked extremely hard to work across the aisle and have developed a relationship with those people. They are upset for losing their collective bargaining benefits, but it is important to help drive this state forward". - Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac

The quote is certainly jarring when you compare his words to his actual record and the actual reality of what has transpired this year. Just like Scott Walker, Randy Hopper never campaigned on trying to wipe out unions forever in Wisconsin. During his alleged "dialogue" with leaders of unions I am fairly certain that he never mentioned taking away all of their most fundamental rights in the workplace. It is not real "dialogue" when you talk to people and the whole time you are hiding the fact that you plan on "dropping a bomb" on them. No wonder union leaders and state employees in his district are so angry with him. He was dishonest, he shut them out and he was not and still isn't listening to them.

In fact, I've obtained yet another Randy Hopper email and I think that it really speaks to Hopper's phoniness when he suggests that he ever had a real "dialogue" with union leaders in the first place. The email also reveals what he really thinks about some of those union leaders when he is not actually talking directly to them.

On December 28, 2010 a union leader sends Hopper an invite to a local union meeting. They are hoping that Hopper will come to answer questions about his vote against the union contracts late last year. They also were anticipating that Scott Walker was probably going to do some "stupid things" to "screw over" state workers. So they also wanted to know what position Hopper was going to take when that time came.

You can argue about the appropriateness of the the guy's language because it was clear that he was probably very frustrated and angry and wanted some answers for his members. But the one thing that you can't say is that this guy was being a phony. Some may consider his tone harsh but it was also very clear, very honest and very direct. We might call it very open "dialogue", to use the word accurately.

After Hopper's staffer received the direct and very honest email he forwarded it to his boss. I don't have a copy of the actual reply from Senator Hopper to this union leader but I do have the email where Hopper forwards it to his alleged girlfriend Valerie Cass. Somehow I don't think that his actual response to the union official was the same as what he said to Cass. Here was his real unvarnished opinion in that email:

"Check this out then ask yourself how someone like this is elevated to lead? Wow what an idiot" -Randy Hopper to Valerie Cass in 12/28/10 Email

Again the union leader was certainly upfront and brutally honest about what he thought. You may not like what he said or how he said it but it was brutally honest "dialogue". Randy Hopper on the other hand proceeded to forward the guy's email to his alleged girlfriend. By the way, how many other constituent emails was he sending to her and is that even appropriate? In any case, Hopper proceeded to not only send that email to her but then went on to call the union official names behind his back and indict the workers that elected him to his position. Sorry Randy but that is NOT "dialogue". In fact it is much closer to the definition of phony.

Alberta Then and Alberta Now

Alberta Then

"Darling said she would be a better coalition-builder and admitted to wanting to help 'lost children' and 'unemployed populations'..." [Milwaukee Journal, 3/27/1990]

Alberta Now

And we all know that nothing helps "lost children" and "unemployed populations" quite like taking away their health care...

...cutting $800 million in funding for their education
...raising tuition and putting college further out of reach
...or by drastically cutting state aid to technical colleges

Politifact continues to rate as "barely tolerable"

The "Politifact" experiment at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been panned on almost a regular basis since it began. Most of the time their critiques are so random and arbitrary and the focus is so misplaced or at best scattered. The classic example of this that still stands out to me is when they didn't dispute a single FACT in a Tom Barrett ad last year, but they didn't like the presentation of the graphics in the ad. So even though the claims in the ad were completely factual, they rated it a "pants on fire".

The other extreme is when they test a statement that isn't even in dispute as if they are just itching to give the person a "true" rating. We all know that the sky is blue and that is obviously not in dispute, so why waste our time?

As if people weren't getting annoyed enough with the arbitrary and random ratings of "Politifact" before now, the outfit has randomly changed its rating system. Somehow I'm not surprised. I noticed today that some things that were declared "barely true" a day ago have now suddenly become "mostly false". How is that even logically possible? What changed besides their whims?

One recent item that randomly changed from "barely true" to "mostly false" is the fact that Randy Hopper paid net state income taxes only once over a 9 or 10 year stretch. Sorry folks but that is a fact that not even he disputed in the news report cited in the ad [Fond du Lac Reporter, 10/24/08]. He obviously disagreed with the conclusion that was made based on that fact but he didn't dispute the fact itself. In fact it doesn't even seem that "Politifact" disputes these facts as it includes some of the following in its very subjective rating:

"...from 1998 through 2007, Hopper’s five businesses had no state income tax liability; and that from 1997 through 2007, Hopper personally had a liability in just one year..."

"Hopper, who didn’t dispute the facts in the 2008 newspaper article..."

"The records indicate that over a decade, Hopper’s businesses had no state income tax liability and he owed taxes personally in only one year."

So what gives? Where is the falsehood in saying that he didn't pay those taxes if he didn't and if both Hopper and "Politifact" know that he didn't? As has become typical, they appear to be upset not at the literal facts but at what they personally perceive to be the impression left by the ad. In fact they say as much in their conclusion. So the basic and literal facts of the ad are correct and no one disputes them, but "Politifact" doesn't like the "impression" that they imagine is left behind, so that makes the entire ad "barely true"...or excuse me..."mostly false".

OK I think I've got it now...and I rate this "Politifact" experiment as "barely tolerable".

Hopper Coached Cass on Scoring State Job

In March we learned that state Senator Randy Hopper (R-Unknown) left his wife and filed for divorce last year. According to his wife he had taken up with 20-something Republican operative Valerie Cass. It didn't take long for additional reports to surface showing that this girlfriend was hired by the Walker administration under questionable circumstances and at a questionable pay rate.

Some have wondered if Randy Hopper played a role in getting his girlfriend the taxpayer funded job. A number of newly obtained emails now provide a closer view of some of his involvement.

Based on a November 30th email Hopper and Cass wasted no time in trying to score a state job for her. In that email Hopper forwards a press release to her that announces Keith Gilkes as Walker's chief of staff. In that forwarded email he also advises her that she "might want to congratulate him if you call or email this afternoon."

At 1:25pm on December 28th Cass sends Hopper an apparent draft of an email to Keith Gilkes. In the draft email Cass mentions that she enjoyed talking to Gilkes a few weeks ago and that she is excited about the changes at the Department of Commerce. At 1:57 pm Hopper responds to her draft email and suggests that she add that she is excited to be a part of it. At 2:27 on the same day Cass sends the actual email to Keith Gilkes. The final version to him includes a version of the Hopper suggested comment.

Hopper's coaching of girlfriend Valerie Cass certainly didn't hurt as she was eventually hired by the Walker administration on February 7th.

Randy Hopper is a member of a full-time state legislature and as such he receives a very generous paycheck and outstanding benefits. In fact I'm fairly certain that many of his constituents only wish that they could enjoy such security. Yet apparently he finds it acceptable to use state time coaching his girlfriend on how to successfully score a generous state paycheck of her own. One would think that Randy Hopper would be more concerned about doing the people's work on a Tuesday afternoon. But that would mean that Randy Hopper was in office to actually represent the people of his district in the first place.

Related: "I Google you"

Who is Randal Bertrand Hopper really working for?

Harsdorf Hypocrisy: "Frankenstein Veto" Edition

Even though former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson was the king of what is known as the "Frankenstein Veto" GOP legislators never really cared much about it until a Democrat became governor. Leading the sneering at Governor Doyle at the time was current state Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-Walker's Pocket). [The Capital Times, “GOP has no veto credibility”, 8/10/07]

The Progressive recently highlighted Scott Walker's use of the "Frankenstein Veto" in the latest budget. In that example Walker crossed out 116 consecutive words and then drastically altered the meaning of the subsequent clause. Sheila Harsdorf was so quick to issue press releases, write letters and perform other PR stunts when a Democrat was governor, so I am waiting for something similar now.

Perhaps Harsdorf is fearful of criticizing Scott Walker but she should "recall" that it wasn't long ago when the people of Wisconsin voted overwhelmingly to end the "Frankenstein Veto" practice. A majority of Wisconsinites also disapprove of Scott Walker and his radical agenda. So if she doesn't take a stand now, when will she? It makes you wonder about her real motivations when she attacked Governor Doyle.

Flip-Flopping an Entire Political Philosophy

Recently the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel determined that Senator Alberta Darling flip-flopped on the issue of continuing to pay Milwaukee police after being fired from the job. If they are going to start monitoring Darling on doing that kind of thing, they are going to have a very busy summer.

Alberta Darling has not only been on both sides of several specific issues but she has more importantly performed a full flip-flop of her entire political philosophy. At one time she was legitimately viewed as a moderate Republican but that has not been true for some time. If there was any doubt about the surrendering of her "moderate" credentials one doesn't have to look very far. Right wing extremism has been in overreaching overdrive all year and Alberta Darling has been more than willing to enable and even advocate for it.

Following the most extreme elements of her party, Alberta Darling voted to defund Planned Parenthood's family planning services. They had this collective right wing knee jerk as if the funding were going toward abortions. However state law already prohibits such funds from being used for abortions and they know it. It was nothing more than a naked attack based on extreme ideology. Planned Parenthood has used such funds for services like providing contraceptive supplies, pregnancy testing, screening for cervical cancer and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Yet Alberta Darling, a former board member of Planned Parenthood, has now taken up an irrational and extreme position opposing such important services. [Milwaukee Journal, 10/18/90]

Consider some of the following to get an even better view of how far Darling has gone on women's health issues:

• When she first won a seat in the Assembly the headlines read, "Pro-choicer wins special election in the 10th". It went on to describe how her first campaign was greatly aided by groups like NARAL. [Abortion Report, 4/6/90]
• After her first win in the Assembly, Darling reaffirmed that her abortion rights stance was "very clear...very strong". [Milwaukee Journal, 6/17/90]
  
• In 1996 Alberta Darling actually declared that the Republican Party had put the ultra-conservative abortion issue behind them. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/11/96]
  

This year Alberta Darling also voted to allow people to carry concealed guns just about anywhere that they want to bring them. That vote is also quite divergent from the old Alberta Darling. Shortly after starting her political career she commented on how her district supported gun control. A few years later she actually proposed legislation regulating certain kinds of handguns. During that time she commented that it was a public safety issue and that those kinds of handguns should be regulated like automobile ownership. [Milwaukee Journal, 1/14/91 and 4/12/94]

So while it is perfectly appropriate to take a look at Alberta Darling's more specific political flip-flops, we also should be looking at the fact that she has flip-flopped her entire political philosophy. Sorry, but she is not even close to being the same person that her district first elected. These are all sad signs that her many years as a career politician have caused her to grow completely out-of-touch not only with her district but also with her(former)self.

Wanted: More Republicans with an "Empire State of Mind"

Friday evening the State of New York became the 6th state to take a strong stand for marriage equality. After a long debate the measure passed the state Senate by a vote of 33 to 29. Obviously this is a huge development because the state is not only the third largest in population but it also doesn't have a residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license. The fact that New York City is widely considered the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement just adds to the relevance of what happened last night.

All but one of the Democrats in the New York Senate were joined by 4 courageous Republicans in standing for equality. So obviously this legislation could not have passed without the help of moderate and even some fair-minded (real) conservative Republicans.

• One key example is that of Republican Senator Stephen Saland. Two years ago he voted against a similar bill but on Friday finally had a change of heart. He said that it was "a vote of conscience" and affirmed that he knew that he was now "doing the right thing".
  
• Fellow Republican Senator Mark Grisanti said that he could not, "...deny a person, a human being, a taxpayer...the same rights that I have with my wife."

Even though the New York Senate only provided 4 Republican votes, there was an extensive bipartisan coalition that helped bring about Friday night's result. Once again unions proved to be a critical ally to the LGBT community as they helped mobilize support for the effort. But credit also should be given to individual Republican donors/supporters and key corporations who also joined the coalition very early.

UPDATE 1: This is a must-read from the New York Times. It gives many of the behind-the-scenes details that brought about this victory for equality.

UPDATE 2: I'm clearly on the same page with Emily.

Sorry Tommy but it's about more than health care reform

Tommy Thompson is apparently trying to do some damage control after being repeatedly hit from the right wing of the Republican Party. It seems that his primary objective is to reinvent history regarding his support for President Obama's health care reforms. Even if we let Tommy completely revise history on that point, there are many other reasons for the attacks that he is getting from the extreme right wing.

It seems that there has always been some kind of consternation with Tommy, his advisers and the radical wing of the party. Unfortunately for all of us, those right wing radicals are now running everything (into the ground). So what makes Tommy think that he will be accepted by these radicals now that they are finally running everything?

Again, Tommy's current defense focuses primarily on his ever changing view of health care reform. But there are many other reasons that the radical right wing overlords are not fond of him. For example, they lost their collective minds when big business was asked to pay their fair share through combined reporting. But Governor Doyle was certainly not the first Wisconsin Governor to push this policy. Thompson unsuccessfully attempted combined reporting in both 1993 and once again in 1999. He practically has combined reporting as bookends at both ends of his time as governor. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Tax change that infuriates business, 12 years in making, isn't a surprise", 2/18/99]

You don't even have to stop at health care reform and combined reporting when you are counting the ways that the current Republican establishment disregards/derides Tommy Thompson. Many of them would probably cite run away spending and the lack of sufficiently extreme positions on social issues.

It is clear that Tommy loves the speculative attention that he gets whenever he talks about running for an open seat in Wisconsin. Even if he were serious this time, sadly the Republican Party of Wisconsin has gone completely off the deep end. This new extreme brand of Republican and Tommy's actual record will never mix well. Sorry Tommy, this longstanding problem is not going to be remedied by simply spinning your position on health care reform. It is about so much more than that one issue.

That was then this is now: Open Meetings Edition

2007

"Access to open meetings and public records is an essential component of effective citizen oversight of the workings of our democratic government. Raising awareness, sharing information, and promoting compliance with open meetings and public records law is part of the ongoing mission of the Department of Justice." - J.B. Van Hollen, [Capital Times, September 12, 2007]

2009

"As the state's chief law enforcement officer, I am deeply committed to promoting compliance with Wisconsin's open meetings and public records laws." - J.B. Van Hollen, [Capital Times, March 16, 2009]

2010

"Nothing captures the essence of American democracy better than 'government of the people, by the people, for the people,' and a citizen's access to public records and meetings of governmental bodies is a vital aspect of this principle. That is why, as your attorney general, I am deeply committed to promoting understanding of, and compliance with, Wisconsin's open meetings and public records laws. Educating the public and public employees on these laws is one of the most important parts of that goal." - J.B. Van Hollen, [Capital Times, August 29, 2010]

2011

"Even by the low standard that Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen sets for himself when representing the interests of the people of Wisconsin, his move to try to eviscerate the state's open meetings law is unacceptable...If Van Hollen gets his way, Wisconsin's open meetings law would ultimately be rendered meaningless — as would the promise of open and honest governance that the legislators of the 1970s outlined and embraced for themselves and for all branches and units of government in Wisconsin. Van Hollen may not be the ablest lawyer. But he is no fool. He knows that he is attacking the underpinnings of the open meetings law." - Capital Times Editorial, [Capital Times, May 31, 2011]

Darling: This is the Best Budget Ever!

Now that Republicans finally realize that they face serious consequences via the coming recalls, they have been trying their best to back track on some elements of their radical agenda. The latest chapter of this came on Friday when Republican legislators announced that they would reduce some of Scott Walker's immoral cuts to education. However their announcement proves to be little more than a token as it still will leave schools with $1.7 billion less than they have now.

It was in this anti-education context that career politician Senator Alberta Darling spoke these classic words: "This is the best budget I've seen since I entered the Legislature."

Alberta Darling has been in the state legislature for over 20 years and she clearly has grown much more extreme and much more out-of-touch with each one of them. Her recent comment about this disaster of a budget makes that much crystal clear.

So this is the "best budget" that she has ever seen?

The aforementioned $1.7 billion cut to education

While still too many Wisconsinites struggle with unemployment, Republicans have decided to cut unemployment benefits by $56 million a year.

Drastically cutting aid for local transit and funds for local road repair, but at the same time diverting $35 million in sales tax money to their political boosters in the state road building industry.

Endangering future dollars for local transit by shifting funding from the transportation fund to the state's main account.

Cutting $500 million from BadgerCare over the next 2 years and leaving many Wisconsinites in perilous circumstances and without proper health care.

Low- and middle-income people would lose tax credits worth about $49.4 million over two years. This while they are giving away the store to people in Alberta Darling's tax bracket and to their campaign funders in big biz?

Alberta Darling: "This is the best budget I've seen since I entered the Legislature."

Yes Alberta, but exactly who is it "best" for?

Vote "Fraud" Starts in the State Senate

Just in case you missed the latest antics of the tyrannical majority in the Wisconsin State Senate: Vote fraud chapter.

Nothing Personal but....

ht: Center for American Progress via the Cartoonist Group

Not a good time for Ryan to run...for anything

As soon as U.S. Senator Herb Kohl announced that he wouldn't be running for reelection, Republicans began stumbling all over themselves to find someone to run for the seat. In a surprise to absolutely no one, the first name that they trotted out was Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wall Street). However this morning Ryan has said that he will not run for Senator Kohl's seat. That decision is understandable given all of the blow back that he has received after announcing his latest attack on Medicare.

Shortly after announcing his attack on Medicare, Paul Ryan faced stiff opposition from some very informed constituents at some of his public appearances. As Ryan's anti-Medicare plan was branded as the national Republican plan other congressional Republicans started feeling the heat at appearances back home.

Now everyone seems to be distancing themselves from Paul Ryan's latest attack on Medicare. Newt Gingrich commented on it Sunday suggesting that it was tantamount to "right-wing social engineering." But he certainly isn't the first because Republicans have been distancing themselves from Ryan's attack on Medicare for weeks now. Consider some of the following:

• The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Dave Camp (R-Michigan) has said that Ryan's plan will probably not even get a hearing at his committee.
• Both Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) have reportedly backed away from Ryan's plan while apparently looking for other less extreme alternatives.
• Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has more directly said, "I don't happen to support Congressman Ryan's plan."
  

But there is some good news for Paul Ryan, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford came down from the Appalachian trail long enough to endorse Ryan's plan. But even he admitted that actually trying to pass a Ryan-style attack on Medicare would probably translate into his party losing seats in Congress.

Again, given the reaction to his attack on Medicare, it is probably a good thing that Paul Ryan decided that now is not the right time to run for higher office. On the other hand, when 84% oppose his radical agenda, now might not even be an easy time for him to run for reelection to his current seat.

New Gaps in Enthusiasm and in Momentum

Leading up to the November election last year we continuously heard about the enthusiasm gap that favored Republicans in that election. We unfortunately found out after the election results that the analysis was mostly true. Considering that it was only a handful of months ago, it is nothing short of remarkable at how both enthusiasm and momentum have completely and totally reversed.

Last night Steve Doyle picked up a state assembly seat in a special election in western Wisconsin. This was a seat that was held by Republicans for some 16 years and only opened after its former occupant Mike Huebsch was tapped for a high position in the Walker administration. Doyle's victory last night was convincing (by 8%) and more importantly it happened in a part of the state that has often served as a political bell weather.

The Steve Doyle win makes total sense when you consider the rapid and major shift in Western Wisconsin voting between the November elections and the supreme court election last month. The major swing in April helped turn what should have been a slam dunk win for Prosser into one of the closest statewide elections in recent memory. Kloppenburg gained 18 net points over Tom Barrett's November results.

Given all of this information it should be no surprise that state Senator Dan Kapanke appears to be in big trouble. The recall petition against him was the first to be filed and it was done with lighting speed. Initial signs seem even more ominous when you couple that with an early poll showing Kapanke losing to a generic Democrat 55-41%.

There is also much to be learned by comparing the recall efforts by Democrats vs. state Republicans. So far Democrats have filed six recall petitions compared to Republicans' three. The petitions filed against Republican senators happened with lightning fast speed and often included 40%-50% more signatures than were needed. In the three recall petitions that Republicans have turned in they have taken much longer and turned in much less signatures.

The vast majority of the recall efforts against the Republicans was handled by a small army of passionately engaged Wisconsinites while the Republicans relied heavily on out-of-state paid circulators. The Republicans must have been pretty hard up for help because several of those people have questionable backgrounds. Given the low quality of out-of-state paid circulators that Republicans had to hire, it is not really a surprise that we are seeing reports of dead people signing their recall petitions.

The bottom line in all of this is that there are new gaps in both enthusiasm and in momentum and Republicans are now on the losing end of both. The only thing to still be determined is if these new gaps will translate into recall election victories.

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