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

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