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Recall Petition Fraud, Tea Party Style

Steve Carlson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:14:41 +0000

The Racine County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a case of signature fraud in the drive to recall GOP Senator Van Wangaard. The fraudulent signatures were submitted by a man, Mark Demet, who may have ties to the Racine County Tea Party and the Racine County chapter of Citizens for Responsible Government

For several weeks now Tea Squawkers around the state have been hollering at the top of their lungs about signature fraud within the various recall efforts statewide. What a prescient bunch, indeed! How did they know in advance that fraud would be discovered? Hmmmmm.

Here’s hoping Demet is charged and that any other suspicious signatures discovered throughout the process are investigated as well.

Bay View/ South Side candidates’ forum tonight

folkbum — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:02:11 +0000

Tonight’s the big throw down between candidates in Milwaukee’s 14th aldermanic district (incumbent Tony Zielinski vs. challenger Jan Pierce) and Milwaukee County’s 4th supervisory district (incumbent Marina Dimitrijevic and challenger Bill Buresh). County Supervisor Jason Haas, of the fighting’ 14th, is running unopposed and will also take questions from the audience.

It’s happening in Humboldt Park School’s auditorium at 7 PM.

Your humble folkbum will be there live tweeting (many updates if there’s wifi or a few updates if I have to scratch it out on my phone), so follow me @folkbum before it starts. I will also post a wrap-up here in the morning of any fireworks and interesting happenings.

The Once and Future Shill

Phil Scarr — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:19:17 +0000

Shill: A shill, plant or stooge is a person who helps a person or organization without disclosing that he or she has a close relationship with that person or organization. Shill typically refers to someone who purposely gives onlookers the impression that he or she is an enthusiastic independent customer of a seller (or marketer of ideas) that he or she is secretly working for. The person or group that hires the shill is using crowd psychology, to encourage other onlookers or audience members to purchase the goods or services (or accept the ideas being marketed). Shills are often employed by confidence artists.

Rick Esenberg is, and always will be, a partisan hack. A mouthpiece trotted out before the press by the state GOP to render his “opinions” on a variety of topics that affect the lives of the people of Wisconsin. The trouble is, Professor Rick is a lawyer, and his opinions are different from yours or mine. I don’t mean that he holds different opinions, I mean that his opinions are part of his job as an attorney. When he is asked to “render an opinion,” he is bound by the canons of ethics for lawyers in Wisconsin. Lawyers are paid and expected to render opinions based on the facts and not on the party line. In his zeal to play the slavish lapdog to his Republican masters, he sometimes forgets this. He and Michael Gableman share this trait. But Professor Rick has never been bothered by ethical conflicts in the past, so why should he start now?

He can be guaranteed to toe the party line each and every time. The GOPs pet law professor.

So it’s always satisfying when he gets his ass handed to him in public by Peter Earle. Watch from a hearing on redistricting from July, 2011.

What makes this video so disturbing (and it is disturbing) is that, at the time, Peter Earle wondered publicly what information Professor Rick might have had access to that the rest of the hearing participants did not. How was Professor Rick able to render a legal opinion on data in such a short period of time?

Well silly me for thinking the GOP would ever play by the rules of governance. As it turns out, Voices de la Frontera, Earle’s client at the time, have now filed a complaint with the state that the GOP violated the open records law in their redistricting process.

Documents released yesterday showed that virtually all G-O-P lawmakers signed confidentiality agreements which promised not to discuss the maps while they were being written. And they were told that those who speak out could be called as witnesses in court. The documents also said that 33-of-the-58 Republican Assembly members would pick up additional voters under the new districts. The documents were released after three federal judges in the redistricting suit said G-O-P legislators filed frivolous legal requests, so they could hide their actions in creating the new maps. Those maps will be used for the first time in this fall’s elections unless the courts overturn them.

The complaint states, in part:

On June 20, 2011, Adam Foltz drafted a document captioned “General Talking Points” which he described during his sworn testimony on February 1, 2012, as talking points to guide the discussion at each of the individual meetings he had with each member of the Assembly who had previously signed a secrecy agreement. The talking points memo stated that the redistricting bill was a “placeholder map” and that “if the Senate comes back in the majority, we may come back and adjust.” Mr. Foltz testified at his deposition that the preceding sentence was referring to the then pending recall elections that were scheduled for August 9, 2011. The talking points memo also stated that “Public comments on this map may be different than what you hear in this room. Ignore the public comments.” The talking points memo then explicitly stated that the previously signed secrecy agreement applied to the individual meeting between Mr. Foltz and each individual Republican representative…. (emphasis in original)

The complaint asserts that this entire process is a violation of the Open Meetings law, a law these clowns have tripped over in the past.

So the real question I have is what did Professor Rick know and when did he know it? He certainly seemed to have some special knowledge back in July to which no one else was privy. He rendered an opinion of the fairness of the redistricting. We’re left with only two conclusions:

1. Professor Rick is incompetent and rendered a legal opinion on a limited understanding of the facts in evidence
2. Professor Rick is corrupt and rendered a legal opinion on preferential access to facts not in evidence

Which is it, Professor Rick? Take your pick…

Scott Walker should hold himself to the standard he demanded for Jim Doyle

Zach W — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:12:54 +0000

Over at Uppity Wisconsin, xoff has done a great job of pointing out the hypocrisy of Scott Walker (as if there was any doubt he’s a hypocrite).

In this case, Scott Walker’s hypocrisy stems from statements he made in 2006 after Georgia Thompson, a mid-level state employee appointed by then-Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, was indicted on trumped-up federal charges. Thompson was later convicted of the charges, though in April 2007 a federal court of appeals overturned Thompson’s conviction, calling the evidence against her “beyond thin” and ordering her release from custody that same day.

The timing of Thompson’s indictment and conviction were certainly convenient, given that then-Gov. Doyle was facing a tough reelection fight, and predictably Republicans followed Thompson’s indictment with a barrage of press releases and ads attacking Gov. Doyle and his administration for corruption. Despite the best efforts of Republicans to smear him, Gov. Doyle won reelection.

So here’s where Scott Walker fits into this story. At the time, Walker was still Milwaukee County Executive, and he was also seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and when news of Thompson’s indictment broke, Walker was quick to attack Gov. Doyle as corrupt, stating he “condones unethical and illegal behavior.”

From WisPolitics.com:

Statement from Milwaukee County Executive and Candidate for Governor Scott Walker on the Indictment of one of Jim Doyle’s Top Aides in the Department of Administration:

“The indictment handed down today shows how corruption can infiltrate all areas of government.

Unfortunately we have a Governor and administration that condones unethical and illegal behavior. The people of Wisconsin deserve better.”

“Today’s indictment provides further confirmation that the Doyle administration is damaged and must be removed from the Capitol. Jim Doyle’s political connections to this aide are, without question, mentioned as a defining piece of the evidence used to bring forth this indictment.” …

“Governor Doyle needs to purge his administration of individuals who place politics and special
interests ahead of the people of Wisconsin….

“Little can be said to underscore the seriousness of this charge. I am hopeful that the people of Wisconsin will allow me the opportunity to clean up Madison with the same fervor that guided my reform movement in Milwaukee County.”

Clearly Scott Walker didn’t pull any punches in his attack on Gov. Jim Doyle, but I can’t help but wonder if Scott Walker circa 2012 will hold himself to the standard Scott Walker circa 2006 demanded of then-Gov. Doyle.

Will Scott Walker demand the resignation of those members of his administration that were complicit in the commission of crimes? After all, it’s a stretch to think that Cullen Werwie and Brett Davis, both of whom currently work in Walker’s administration, had no knowledge of the criminal activities committed by Kelly Rindfleisch on behalf of Davis’ Lt. Governor campaign during the time she was serving as Walker’s Deputy Chief of Staff in the Milwaukee County Executive’s office.

If Scott Walker were to actually hold himself to the standard he expected of a Democratic governor, he’d ask for – no, demand – the resignations of Brett Davis and Cullen Werwie, and he’d resign the governorship.

Falk to hold “Your Voice, Your Wisconsin” campaign announcement tour

Zach W — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:17:09 +0000

From my email inbox comes news of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Falk’s “Your Voice, Your Wisconsin” campaign announcement tour, which will begin tomorrow morning in Milwaukee.

During her “Your Voice, Your Wisconsin” tour, Falk will meet with community and recall leaders, local supporters and citizens concerned about Wisconsin’s future.

Falk’s “Your Voice, Your Wisconsin” tour will hold events in five cities throughout Wisconsin:

Tuesday February 7, 2012
Milwaukee
Time: 8:00-9:00 a.m.
Location: Milwaukee Area Technical College, Downtown Campus, 1015 North Sixth Street

Green Bay
Time: 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Location: Brown County Public Library Central Branch, 515 Pine Street, Boardroom

Wausau
Time: 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Location: Wausau Labor Temple, 318 South 3rd Avenue, Room 13

Wednesday February 8, 2012
Eau Claire
Time: 8:00-9:00 a.m.
Location: Chippewa Valley Technical College – Clairemont Campus, 620 West Clairemont Avenue Business and Education Center, Room 284B

La Crosse
Time: 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Location: La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main Street, Trustees Room

The Commercial

Phil Scarr — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:46:57 +0000

The chatter around the water cooler at the office this morning is about the Clint Eastwood commercial from last night’s SuperDooperBowl.

“Did you see it?”

“Yeah, I saw it, it was awesome!”

“What’s wrong with his voice?”

“Who cares! It’s great! He’s great! It was a great message!”

Last night, Twitter was ablaze with references to The Commercial. I would say that 80% of it was favorable. Don’t hold me to that number, it’s very much a guesstimation, but it’s directionally correct. Most people said they liked it. They especially liked the quick reference to the Madison protests. If you didn’t see it, here it is.

I’m in the 20% camp who didn’t like the commercial. I found the message manipulative, exploitative and, in retrospect, a hollow vision of America as a corporate controlled wasteland. The rah-rah of Corporate America, represented by the Chrysler automotive group, never referenced the destruction of good jobs in America through an endless series of trade agreements, championed by these corporate hacks, that moved work offshore and destroyed the manufacturing base of the midwest. With apologies to Saint Ronoldus, patron Saint of Crony Capitalism,

Chrysler isn’t the solution to our problem, Chrysler is the problem!

Forgive me if I can’t get all misty when a gravely-voiced Clint Eastwood tells me how we’re going to come back stronger than before. I’m sorry. I can’t do it. I’m not buying what Chrysler is selling through their High Plains Drifter spokesmodel. Because that’s what he is. A spokesmodel for a corporatist vision of America. The lone gunman. The guy who can overcome all obstacles. Except that that’s a lie. It’s the biggest lie we tell ourselves as Americans. The lie of the American Dream that anyone can make it. They can’t.

You see, the deck is stacked against the average American to a degree we haven’t seen in more than 100 years. Income inequality and intragenerational income rigidity have combined to make America pre-Revolutionary France. Born Rich – Die Rich. Born Poor – Die Poor. It’s now the American Way.

Forgive me for not cheering.

Do You Want to Play a Game?

Phil Scarr — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:32:24 +0000

Ready? Here we go!

Question: What do Rhode Island, Louisiana, Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska and Wisconsin all have in common?

Answer: They all have stagnant or shrinking economies according to data compiled by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve.

Sad Scooter Cannot Escape His Record...

It’s so not working, Wisconsin!

Republican Rep. John Fleming cites The Onion as factual news

Zach W — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:16:07 +0000

Apparently Republican Rep. John Fleming does’t understand that stories found in The Onion aren’t actually true…

Molehill Moulton (Video)

Steve Carlson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:50:50 +0000

When Republican State Senator Terry Moulton tweeted that the GAB would not automatically strike the signatures of Mickey Mouse and Adolph Hitler from recall petitions without a challenge from the Walker campaign, he was clearly making a mountain out of a molehill.

Well, as my father always says, Terry: “you pays your money, you takes your chance.” Enjoy!

It’s Friday! Do You Know Where Your Governor Is?

Jeff Simpson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:20:15 +0000

Neither do I!

He could be in Naples, FL or New York with the stimulus king of AIG, or attacking unions in Arizona, OR Colorado secretly getting his orders from the Kochs. The one thing we know is Governor Walker is NOT in Wisconsin and and he will not tell anyone where he is.

You have Scott Walker doing this financial tour across the nation, raising money wherever he possibly can, flying over Wisconsin, sort of waving, and getting back on the plane and leaving the state again.
- Sen. Jon Erpenbach

Before we have to put out an APB and use some Wisconsin Milk cartons please help us out. He was last seen wearing a red and white shirt and stocking cap and blue pants! If anyone has seen him please let us know!

By the way for those of you scoring at home:

From madison.com

My first question was a softball: “Will you pledge right now to run the most open, transparent gubernatorial administration in the history of the universe?”

Gov.-elect Scott Walker’s one-word reply: “Absolutely.”