Posted in Health Care, Internet/Social Networking

In brief: Walker suspended from Twitter, BadgerCare enrollments stopped

   October 6, 2009
  • Am I the only one who finds it funny that Milwaukee County Executive (and perpetual gubernatorial candidate) Scott Walker’s Twitter account has been suspended due to “strange activity?” I’d say all the activity on Walker’s Twitter account has been strange, but I’m biased…
  • Yesterday Governor Doyle announced enrollments in the state’s BadgerCare Plus Core Plan will be suspended at noon on Friday, October 9, as the program is approaching the maximum number of enrollees for adults without dependent children. While I’m not shocked by the governor’s announcement, it certainly underscores how desperately we need meaningful health care reform. While thousands of Wisconsinites now have health insurance coverage thanks to Badger Care Plus, there are thousands more that still need coverage, and that’s why it’s so vitally important Democrats in Congress get health care reform legislation passed.
  • In a followup to an entry I posted on Sunday night, Fox 6 news is reporting a 60 year-old thug has been issued two citations (assault & battery and disorderly conduct) by Milwaukee Police due to his involvement in an altercation outside Serb Hall in Milwaukee on Sunday. The man could be seen on video pushing a woman who attempted to defuse a confrontation between the man and a union protester, and from what I’ve heard he snuck away like a thief in the night, rather than staying and talking to police officers.
  • Here in Cudahy, aldermen will apparently vote tomorrow on whether or not Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue will get a 3% raise in 2010. The possible pay raise had been tabled at the last common council meeting, and hopefully it will get voted down at tomorrow’s meeting.
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24 thoughts on “In brief: Walker suspended from Twitter, BadgerCare enrollments stopped”

  1. I said this on Eye on Wisconsin but I’ll throw it out here too, my guess would be that Walker’s account was suspended for friending too many people at once, making him look like a spammer.
    Glad the see that piece of crap got arrested for pushing the woman too.

  2. Who cares about trivia like Twitter, when three US government reports spell fiscal disaster waiting to happen? Go to http://www.moneyandmarkets.com, and look at the left-hand column; read the article there. We all need to get real about the debt crisis facing WI and the rest of the nation.

    It won’t be solved by printing Monopoly money. Nor by depending on China et al to keep buying our debt; these other countries are sick of us and our “endless-party” syndrome; hence China is now a net SELLER of Treasuries. I repeat, we all need to GET REAL.

      1. She’s right, we should all be worried about this issue. It’s been a long time coming. Bush made it bad, and Obama has seen to it that it is much MUCH worse. That unbelieveable stimulus package and now one huge debt package after another — cap and trade, health care, etc. Thank God those haven’t passed (yet). I don’t know how we recover without massive tax increases. What a winner you guys voted for.

  3. Keyword: Walker camp BELIEVES political opponents reported Walker’s Tweets as spam

    Walker didn’t have to explicitly break Twitters TOS to have his account labeled as a spammer by Twitter staff, and thus suspended. What this issue brings to light is; shouldn’t Twitter staff be more careful when suspending accounts? It should be obvious that Walker’s account was a political campaign, and whether it was flagged automatically or by political opponents, the staff should have known better than to shut it down. But until I hear something official, I’m not going to take Walker’s word that it was a dirty political trick.

    1. Scott Walker for Governor = Perpetual Blame Game

      Quotes from Walker’s staff regarding his Twitter suspension:

      “We do believe it was a coordinated effort by detractors, since Scott’s account has been in compliance with the Twitter terms of use and we have not been unfollowing and refollowing people on Twitter,” she said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s the kind of childish tactics you can expect from our opponents – and shows that Scott’s growing online presence is clearly posing a threat.” – Jill Bader, Communications Director

      Let’s recap: According to Bader, the campaign didn’t engage in aggressive unfollowing, then refollowing Twitter users.

      The truth: The Walker campaigns Twitter account wasn’t suspended because of a coordinated effort… Twitter is smarter than that. Instead, it’s likely that his account was suspended after they followed /unfollowed/ followed/ unfollowed users on several occasions.

      The evidence (via Google Cache):

      September 27, 2009 – Scott Walker is following 4,862 users, and is being followed by 4,420 users.

      October 3, 2009 – Scott Walker is following 3,614 users, and is being followed by 4,556 users.

      This means that over the course of one week, WALKER added, then unfollowed 1248 users, and gained 136.
      Bader…. are you sure you’re in compliance with the Twitter TOS?
      From the Twitter TOS (      http://bit.ly/TMZH):
      *Spam: You may not use the Twitter service for the purpose of spamming anyone. What constitutes “spamming” will evolve as we respond to new tricks and tactics by spammers. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be spamming are:
      • If you have followed a large amount of users in a short amount of time;
      • If you have followed and unfollowed people in a short time period, particularly by automated means (aggressive follower churn);
      • If you repeatedly follow and unfollow people, whether to build followers or to garner more attention for your profile
      And you want this guy to be governor?

  5. “and that’s why it’s so vitally important Democrats in Congress get health care reform legislation passed.”

    Hello, BadgerCare Plus WAS supposed health care reform legislation. Passed just last year. And lo and behold now it is out of money. Who is to say the federal program won’t run into the same problems of millions of people flocking to it when employers get wise and drop their health coverage. But unlike the state who now has to limit the goodies, the feds can just borrow more money. (But not forever!)

    1. Hi forgot, let’s just clear one thing up.

      BadgerCare Plus didn’t “run out of money;” it reached the maximum number of enrollees, a number that had been predetermined at the beginning of the program so that the program didn’t “run out of money.” The Core Plan followed Medicaid guidelines mandating that it be revenue neutral, and the fact that it’s ending early is due to the extremely high demand for the program, which shouldn’t be surprising given how many folks in Wisconsin didn’t have insurance.

      Any other talking points you’d like me to debunk?

  7. Okay, split hairs and ignore my major point — higher demand for a program than the government thought. Amazing how that works when you give something away for “free.” Will the state look to expand this program sometime in the future, or are we out of money?

    Before liberals were complaining that evil corporations like Walmart weren’t providing health care for employees and instead telling them how to sign up for BadgerCare. Go figure. How are you going to prevent businesses (large and small) from doing this under a public option? Because that is exactly what will happen, and that’s the endgame Democrats want.

    When more people sign up for a government plan than the government predicts, what will the federal government do? Why do you never choose to answer these questions instead of trying so hard to “debunk” a supposed talking point.

    1. You keep ignoring the fact that BadgerCare is nothing but an insurance program. National health-care reform will be just that: REFORM. Flaws in the system will be addressed.

      BadgerCare enrollment is limited to a certain number of people, when that number is reached, people will no longer be able to enroll. That’s not failure, thats planning.

      1. Jim, how will national health care be a reform? Isn’t the public option nothing but a government insurance program similiar to BadgerCare? Universal coverage doesn’t mean reform, it just means it will take more money and resources than the government plans for. What flaws will be addressed specifically? I think government intervention only assures that more flaws will be created.

        1. Any health-care bill that comes out of Congress won’t be universal coverage, its going to leave 25 million uninsured. And it will reduce the deficit. Its all right here. http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/analysis-sees-baucus-bill-meeting-obamas-cost-and-deficit-targets/?hp
          I don’t get how you can maintain that government intervention will mean more problems, when other countries spend half as much on health care as we do, and receive better care.

          1. If it leaves 25 million uninsured then why are you supporting it? If it leaves 25 million uninsured then what is the point? Take out the illegals, and that is the number of uninsured we have now. So basically the plan is going to screw up my health coverage without addressing the problem that you think needs to be addressed. Typical government. And if you think ANY government plan will reduce the deficit, you need to read your history.

            But I know why you are supporting it. Incrementalism. You don’t like that plan as-is, but you know once government gets its foot in the door it won’t be long until you get your utopia of single payer universal coverage. Because elected politicians will be inclined to load up the plan with more goodies year after year… until we’re broke and there’s no one left to pick up the check.

            1. No, that 25 million includes illegal immigrants, and over TWICE that number of Americans are uninsured now. How is this going to affect your health coverage?
              Enough with the random accusations.
              Yes, I would rather have 25 million uninsured people than 50 million. Addressing uninsured Americans is the problem I want addressed. Sure, I want everyone to NOT DIE because of a treatable illness. Whats wrong with that?

              1. Talk about random accusations and talking points. Bravo for the melodrama. You act like no one in America is seeing a doctor. So you want people to NOT DIE, so that means there is only the one solution that you offer.

                So if government is giving everyone every procedure that they need and that’s NOT being done now, how exactly does that lower the deficit? Run that by me again because your logic isn’t adding up.

                And if government is going to make sure we all don’t die, will they start regulating what I eat, drink, and how much exercize I get? Don’t laugh, they already do that with cigarettes, seat belts, and bike helmets, among other things.

                How does this affect my health coverage? Because when employers start dropping health care coverage because the government is providing it “for free”, then I will be standing in line with the rest of you waiting for some procedure. You are still going to have the “haves” and the “have nots” — there’s just going to be a whole lot more “have nots” and shared misery.

    2. Hi forgot….let’s clear one more thing up….Badger Care Core Plus isn’t completely free; there’s fees associated with the plan, and I speak as someone who’s dealt a lot with the new plan.

  8. @forgotmyscreenname
    I’d add that other countries that have variations of universal healthcare, and/or a single payer system continue to have a viable private insurance business as well. Oh yeah, and in those other countries with universal or single payer their citizens live longer that we do…

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