Blogging Blue » Liar liar pants on fire!

Scott Fitzgerald: “If you think this budget was scary, wait until the next one.”

Zach W — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:06:30 +0000

Republican State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, speaking on the floor of the State Senate

“If you think this budget was scary, wait until the next one.”

No doubt the next state budget will be scary because despite the lies we’ve heard about how Scott Walker and Republicans like Scott Fitzgerald balanced Wisconsin’s budget deficit with the last biennial budget, they actually left Wisconsin with a budget deficit of $3 billion for this fiscal year and next fiscal year, if Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are used, as Scott Walker the gubernatorial candidate promised they would be.

DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch: Wisconsin has budget deficits for fiscal years 2012 & 2013

Zach W — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:38:40 +0000

Have you heard those new TV ads Republican Gov. Scott Walker is running touting how he eliminated Wisconsin’s budget deficits?

Don’t believe a word Walker says, because Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch has the truth, which is that Wisconsin has projected budget deficits for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

What’s more, if we use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to take a look at Gov. Walker’s first biennial budget (as Walker himself promised to do as a candidate), we’d have budget deficits in the billions of dollars.

We examined Walker’s first budget, the 2011-13 biennial budget, to see if he lived up to his promise to balance the budget using GAAP.

There’s a chart every two years in the state budget demonstrating the bottom line under GAAP. The chart in the Walker administration’s Budget in Brief shows that the 2011-13 budget was not close to balanced by that standard.

In fact, the document shows that based on GAAP accounting, the state would have been left with a deficit of $3 billion by 2012-13 under Walker’s budget. That compares to the $2.9 billion GAAP deficit he inherited at the end of Doyle’s term, the state’s financial statements show.

So when Gov. Scott Walker says he’s eliminated Wisconsin’s budget deficit, he’s all rhetoric, no reality. Scott Walker didn’t eliminate Wisconsin’s budget deficits; he simply kicked the can down the road the same as his predecessors.

So about those claims made by teacher Jeff Knutson in Scott Walker’s latest ad….

Zach W — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:47:26 +0000

Earlier this week Jeff wrote about the latest TV ad being run by Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign committee, an ad that featured teacher Jeff Knutson of the Monona Grove School District. In the ad, Knutson talks about how good Gov. Walker’s “budget repair” bill has been for the Monona Grove School District, but here’s the reality behind the rhetoric of that ad.

Thanks to the provisions of the “budget repair” bill and the subsequent biennial state budget signed into law by Gov. Walker, the Monona Grove School District, where Knutson teaches 4th grade, lost $1.21 million in state aid, representing a 10.07% cut. After exhausting a number of one-time fixes, including federal stimulus money, the Monona Grove School District was left with a nearly $500,000 deficit, a deficit that resulted in the district increasing class sizes in Kindergarten through sixth grade, an overall increase in the student to teacher ratio, and a net loss of 6 teachers.

What’s more, while this year saw the Monona Grove School District faced with some tough choices, even tougher choices are in store next year, with Monona Grove School Board President Susan Fox estimating her district will face a $2 million revenue shortfall next year.

Here’s Monona Grove School District Superintendent Craig Gerlach explaining how bad Scott Walker’s cuts to state aid to public schools will negatively affect his school district.

Was Scott Walker really oblivious about his spokesman’s prosecutorial immunity???

Zach W — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:48:46 +0000

I’m just not buying this….

Gov. Scott Walker says he first learned that his spokesman had an immunity deal in an ongoing John Doe investigation when it became public late last week.

Talking to reporters after holding his second Job Creation Forum in Milwaukee, Walker said he doesn’t believe Cullen Werwie, his press secretary, should have told the first-term Republican governor about receiving immunity in the criminal probe of Walker’s former and current aides.

“He’d be violating the law if that was part of the condition,” Walker said of the investigation, which requires witnesses and their lawyers to keep its details quiet. “For me, I just learned about it the other day, just like everything else we’ve talked about or things people in the media have talked about.”

I don’t believe for one second that Scott Walker first found out last week about Cullen Werwie’s immunity deal – a deal that Werwie was granted in April as part of an ongoing John Doe investigation in Milwaukee County.

While the proceedings of a John Doe investigation are confidential, Werwie’s immunity deal wasn’t confidential, and I simply find it amazing that Scott Walker had absolutely no knowledge that one of his closest aides had cut a deal for prosecutorial immunity in exchange for testimony/information relating to an ongoing investigation of former Walker aides.

Randy Hopper is a “ridiculous” liar

Zach W — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:01:51 +0000

It seems Republican State Senator (and noted philanderer) Randy Hopper (pictured right with his mistress) isn’t above telling a lie now and then, especially if he thinks the lie will help him win an election. In a Hopper TV ad released July 15, 2011, Hopper’s opponent, Jessica King, comes under attack for supposedly voting to raise her own pay as a member of the Oshkosh city council by 63%, but there’s just one problem with Hopper’s vile attack ad: it’s completely untrue.

For some background, according to the Oshkosh City Manager the only way pay for members of the Oshkosh city council can be raised legally is through a pay raise ordinance. On April 8, 2008, Jessica King voted against such an ordinance, and she hasn’t voted in favor of a pay raise ordinance since that time, prompting the folks at PolitiFact to call Hopper’s claim that Jessica King voted herself a 63% pay raise “Ridiculous and false,” earning Hopper a “Pants on Fire” rating from PolitiFact.

So in addition to being a cheat, Randy Hopper is a “ridiculous” liar – but at least he’s not a wife beater.

Scott Walker’s biennial budget INCREASES state spending

Zach W — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:57:57 +0000

When Republican Governor Scott Walker unveiled his 2011-2013 biennial budget proposal on March 1, he said his proposed budget would cut spending of all dollars by more than $4 billion, or 6%. However, while Gov. Walker said his proposed biennial budget would cut spending by six percent, areport released Monday by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau showed spending would actually increase by 1% over the biennium, with the state spending a proposed $64.1 billion in state and federal dollars over two years once amounts that are being transferred to quasi-public authorities like the University of Wisconsin-Madison are included.

Jeff Stone: “I am neither for nor against Walker”

Zach W — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:33:25 +0000

At a recent appearance before the Milwaukee Press Club, Republican Milwaukee County Executive candidate Jeff Stone said, “I am neither for nor against Walker, but I have a different approach,” adding that instead of the drastic changes to collective bargaining for public employees proposed by Gov. Scott Walker, Stone would have preferred changes to the mediation and arbitrator process.

However, while Jeff Stone says he’s neither for nor against Gov. Walker and that he would have preferred changes to the mediation and arbitrator process instead of drastic changes to collective bargaining for public employees, his actions paint a much different story. In his capacity as a State Representative, Stone voted against every single amendment proposed by Assembly Democrats to Gov. Walker’s proposal to gut collective bargaining for public employees, offering no amendments of his own to alter Gov. Walker’s proposal to make it less drastic.

While Jeff Stone says he’s neither for nor against Gov. Walker, let’s not forget that Jeff Stone was literally and figuratively standing behind Gov. Walker when Walker unveiled his proposal to gut collective bargaining for public employees.

And while Jeff Stone says he’s neither for nor against Gov. Walker, it’s pretty clear from Stone’s Tweets that he’s not opposed to Gov. Walker’s help in raising money.

One thing is pretty clear: while Jeff Stone’s words say he’s neither for nor against Scott Walker, Jeff Stone’s actions make it abundantly clear he’s 100% for Scott Walker, and Milwaukee County can’t afford someone just like Scott Walker as our next County Executive.

Scott Walker’s “transparent” government

Zach W — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:50:37 +0000

So much for Gov. Scott Walker’s promise to make his administration a model of transparency. I previously mentioned Gov. Walker’s administration is being sued for failing to respond to several open records requests, and while his administration has now responded to the records requests, they’re clearly attempting to stonewall the requests, estimating the cost of printing out the emails Gov. Walker received in support of his proposal to remove collective bargaining rights for public employees at over $31,000:

“The governor said he had gotten more than 8,000 e-mails as of Feb. 17, with ‘the majority’ urging him to ‘stay firm’ on his budget repair bill,” Isthmus News Editor Bill Lueders said. “We’re just trying to see these largely supportive responses.”

AP reporter Todd Richmond amended his request to include e-mails concerning the bill through Feb. 25.

The lawsuit alleges that the governor’s office violated the Wisconsin Open Records law by withholding the messages and delaying access to them. It seeks release of the e-mails and attorneys’ fees for filing the lawsuit.

Isthmus and the AP did not receive a response to their records requests, the lawsuit states.

But Richmond received an e-mail response late Friday, which was dated Feb. 25, from Nate Ristow, associate legal counsel for the governor, in which Ristow detailed the cost of printing out the e-mails of more than $31,250, to be paid in advance. Ristow also invited Richmond to review the records at Walker’s office for no charge.

In his records request, Lueders had asked that the e-mails be put on a disk instead of being printed on paper.

I’m not exactly sure how it costs $31,250 to print out somewhere between ten thousand and twenty thousand emails, but it certainly can’t cost $31,250 to put all the emails in their digital forms on a computer disk or flash drive.

The fact is, Gov. Walker has no interest in transparency within his administration, a fact that’s borne out by his history as Milwaukee County Executive, where time and time again his administration made every effort to stonewall every and any open records request that might shine a negative light on his administration.

Twenty lies told by Gov. Scott Walker

Zach W — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:44:09 +0000

This is definitely worth reading…

Why won’t Jeff Stone tell the truth about unions?

Zach W — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:04:36 +0000

Here’s Republican State Rep. Jeff Stone, Gov. Scott Walker’s hand-picked choice to succeed Walker as Milwaukee County Executive, explaining how he doesn’t agree with Gov. Walker’s proposal to eliminate virtually all collective bargaining for public employees (emphasis mine):

“I understand it’s a major issue to the unions,” Stone said. “It’s not necessarily the way I would have drafted this budget-repair bill. I would have approached it in different ways.“

While Jeff Stone says he doesn’t agree with Gov. Walker’s proposal to virtually eliminate collective bargaining for public employees, it’s worth noting Stone voted against dozens of Democratic amendments during the marathon three-day debate on the bill last week, including amendments that would have preserved the current collective bargaining system.

Attempts to reach Jeff Stone or his campaign for clarification as to whether or not he really supports collective bargaining for public employees were unsuccessful.