While corporations feast at his taxpayer buffet, Walker and his pals have agreed to give back to education roughly a scant $100 million of his originally proposed $842 million in cuts over the next two years. For those keeping score at home, that's a paltry 12%, despite an extra unexpected $636 million now forcast from increased tax revenues over those two years. Meanwhile, the same Republican-heavy budget committee decided to increase road funding by $160 million, including moving $9 from title fees currently going towards the environment to roads. Using the scraps from the master's table comparison, doesn't starving the animals just make them meaner?
Stay tuned for the recall elections.
When Wisconsin bites back.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Out of touch in Wisconsin
Like many state Republican legislators, I, too, will be pretty much out of touch with Wisconsinites for the next couple days. I'll be without phone, television, or Internet. No, it's not Gilligan's Island, so regular posts should resume in a few days. Meanwhile, remember to check out the "Links Worth Your Time" over to the right (because they are), and the always interesting and informative "Lefty Blogs" below that.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Walker's "shoot-first" decision-making: the gift that keeps on giving
Walker's been out of Milwaukee County for what seems like forever, but his shoot-first, above-the-law actions there could yet cost the county millions in back pay for excessively mandated furlough time. The Wisconsin Employee Relations Commission found the county negotiated in bad faith with its employee union and its furlough decision now could cost Milwaukee County up to $4.5 million. The Commission says the county should have upheld a tentative agreement with the union in 2009, but then-County Exec Walker disagreed. He attempted at the time to also institute a 35-hour work week for county employees to cover what he said was a $14.9 million shortfall--the County Board voted to rescind Walker's order when they declared the deficit was grossly exaggerated by Walker (Walker's number was more than three times the actual $4.5 million projected shortfall).
His arrogant actions have continued as Governor in making decrees that include numerous policies that are facing--or those on which he flipped because of--legal questions: collective bargaining, voter ID, additional furloughs for state prosecutors, to name a few.
Walker's actions follow the credo that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. The only difference being, asking for forgiveness isn't even anywhere on his radar.
His arrogant actions have continued as Governor in making decrees that include numerous policies that are facing--or those on which he flipped because of--legal questions: collective bargaining, voter ID, additional furloughs for state prosecutors, to name a few.
Walker's actions follow the credo that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. The only difference being, asking for forgiveness isn't even anywhere on his radar.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Green Wisconsin takes another step back
Wisconsin is open for business, unless that business has something to do with being Earth-friendly, that is. A new legislative proposal, Assembly Bill 146, would prevent the expiration of ""energy credits" that encourage Wisconsin utilities to develop their own renewable energy. Instead of focusing efforts on increasing production of renewable energy in Wisconsin, the Senate okayed last week importing electricity from a Canadian dam and counting it toward meeting our state green energy goals.
This, coupled with continued hostility from Republicans towards wind turbines has, as Sen Mark Miller (D-Monona) says, "driven the development of wind energy out of this state..." In response to the state's lack of commitment to green energies, WE Energies has already canceled solar energy programs and there is concern that this bill could make a Madison-area wind farm currently under construction "the last renewable energy project in Wisconsin for years to come." (Thomas Conent of the Journal Sentinel). Large-scale wind-farms have already been dropped earlier this year and here in the proud home state of environmental visionaries Sen. Gaylord Nelson and Aldo Leopold, land preservation, water pollution standards, and recycling programs have been seriously diminished or destroyed by Walker and his minions.
And, incredibly, it just keeps getting worse--which isn't good for our state, and certainly isn't good for our planet.
Photo of Gaylord Nelson from wilderness.net
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| Sen. Gaylord Nelson |
And, incredibly, it just keeps getting worse--which isn't good for our state, and certainly isn't good for our planet.
Photo of Gaylord Nelson from wilderness.net
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Why did the WI Republican cross the road...?
This sounds like a bad joke, but it's not. The Milwaukee Common Council voted Tues. to allow residents to keep chickens if and only if the chicken owners get permission from all their neighbors and also pay for a permit. The Wisconsin Senate Judiciary Committee votes Wed. to recommend that the state allow residents to keep concealed guns without any training or even obtaining a permit of any kind (previous post here).
That means, in the very near future of our state's largest city, it will be more restrictive to keep a chicken than it will be to keep a concealed weapon.
Does that sound right to you?
That means, in the very near future of our state's largest city, it will be more restrictive to keep a chicken than it will be to keep a concealed weapon.
Does that sound right to you?
Monday, May 23, 2011
Hell freezes over! Grothman disses Walker plan
Lucifer's probably strapping on his ice skates right now. In what seems like an absolutely stunning move, my senator, Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), called Governor Walker's "Jobs Funds Now" program "the most dubious giveaway I've seen since I've been in the legislature." (JS Online)
Um, and he's right. Walker's plan (to create jobs, of course), as described by Kathleen Gallagher of the Journal Sentinel, "would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to insurance companies, while giving control of a $250 million fund to out-of-state financial management companies that would not have to pay back the fund's principal and would keep up to 80% of its profits." I think that's like giving money to your rich brother in the hopes that he'll give some of it to the other brother that really needs it.
Grothman cited similar failed Republican legislation from 2003 in his testimony to a joint committee last week. The mere fact Grothman (as conservative and anti-everything as any Wisconsin legislator since possibly Joe McCarthy) was the sole objector out of 26 people testifying, really is amazing. It's gotten me to thinking one of two things: He's got a hidden reason for doing this, or the guy from over the weekend missed doomsday, but not by much, for surely this has to be one of the seven signs of the apocalypse. But, don't get me wrong, Grothman is still a major d-bag, even if he once-in-a-while rightly criticizes Walker.
When Grothman (who called protesting teachers "slobs)" reinstates education funds, collective bargaining rights, money to too-many-to list programs to help people and not business, and then changes his deplorable views against women, single mothers, and minorities, then he'll deserve real credit.
UPDATE (8:15 PM): In response to some inquiries, Grothman is (unfortunately) not up for recall in this very Republicanized district. My apologies for not mentioning that in the post.
Read more about "Jobs Fund Now" at Democurmudgeon or from any of probably three million bloggers today.
Photo of Gothman from politifact.
Um, and he's right. Walker's plan (to create jobs, of course), as described by Kathleen Gallagher of the Journal Sentinel, "would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to insurance companies, while giving control of a $250 million fund to out-of-state financial management companies that would not have to pay back the fund's principal and would keep up to 80% of its profits." I think that's like giving money to your rich brother in the hopes that he'll give some of it to the other brother that really needs it.
When Grothman (who called protesting teachers "slobs)" reinstates education funds, collective bargaining rights, money to too-many-to list programs to help people and not business, and then changes his deplorable views against women, single mothers, and minorities, then he'll deserve real credit.
UPDATE (8:15 PM): In response to some inquiries, Grothman is (unfortunately) not up for recall in this very Republicanized district. My apologies for not mentioning that in the post.
Read more about "Jobs Fund Now" at Democurmudgeon or from any of probably three million bloggers today.
Photo of Gothman from politifact.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
WI: Sat.'s Doomsday passed, other doomsdays loom
The predictions of a May 21 apocalypse have come and gone, but in Wisconsin, we'll see some doomsdays of our own in the coming days.
Wednesday will be doomsday for true democracy. The Voter ID (suppression) bill, one that will require photo IDs and new residency requirements, will be signed into law that day, a law Walker hails as a measure that "will go a long way to eliminate the threat of voter fraud," despite virtually no evidence that such fraud is even committed.
Will it stop people from voting? Ask Senator Taylor of Milwaukee (her impassioned speech is here). Ask the thousands upon thousands of Wisconsinites (some estimates say 20% of state voters don't currently have the required ID) , especially minorities, the elderly, those in rural areas, and the poor, who don't have photo ID , or won't be able or likely to obtain one (read a previous post here). Ask my 78 year old mom, who doesn't anticipate renewing her drivers licence in a few years and joked with a stinging bit of truth, "I'll have to make sure I get my photo ID, though, so I can vote." Or talk to my disabled and virtually housebound friend if he's even going to be able to stand in line at the DMV to get his.
Doomsday comes Monday for the integrity of state agencies. Walker will be signing into law a vast increase in the powers of Governor (which Democrats called a power grab), in which the Governor can make rules for state agencies. The law will strip such powers from agencies including the Department of Public Instruction and the state Department of Justice, which will, among other things, reduce the effectiveness of the Government Accountability Board (which oversees government ethics and elections). Elected State Superintendent of Schools Tony Evers wonders if it's even Constitutional (to which I'm certain Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) would state, as he's had to do to a plethora of recent underhanded Republican actions, that it is).
And doomsday for statewide safe drinking water will be Monday, too, when Walker officially repeals the requirement that communities disinfect their drinking water (although most still will). Despite evidence showing the desirability of such a requirement, Rep. Eric Severson (R-Star Prairie) asked "Why don't you want these communities to make their own choice on this?"
So maybe doomsday wasn't Saturday, May 21. For a lot of things in Wisconsin, the doomsday prediction wasn't far off.
And, unfortunately, there looks to be a lot more of them in our near future.
Walker photo from minnpost
Wednesday will be doomsday for true democracy. The Voter ID (suppression) bill, one that will require photo IDs and new residency requirements, will be signed into law that day, a law Walker hails as a measure that "will go a long way to eliminate the threat of voter fraud," despite virtually no evidence that such fraud is even committed.
Doomsday comes Monday for the integrity of state agencies. Walker will be signing into law a vast increase in the powers of Governor (which Democrats called a power grab), in which the Governor can make rules for state agencies. The law will strip such powers from agencies including the Department of Public Instruction and the state Department of Justice, which will, among other things, reduce the effectiveness of the Government Accountability Board (which oversees government ethics and elections). Elected State Superintendent of Schools Tony Evers wonders if it's even Constitutional (to which I'm certain Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) would state, as he's had to do to a plethora of recent underhanded Republican actions, that it is).
And doomsday for statewide safe drinking water will be Monday, too, when Walker officially repeals the requirement that communities disinfect their drinking water (although most still will). Despite evidence showing the desirability of such a requirement, Rep. Eric Severson (R-Star Prairie) asked "Why don't you want these communities to make their own choice on this?"
So maybe doomsday wasn't Saturday, May 21. For a lot of things in Wisconsin, the doomsday prediction wasn't far off.
And, unfortunately, there looks to be a lot more of them in our near future.
Walker photo from minnpost
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