Video: Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. Full Interview @Project_Veritas
Showing posts with label Wisconsin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wisconsin. Show all posts
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Democrats Beginning to Admit that Obama Could Lose… Was Last Week Obama’s Kick-Off to an Inglorious Demise?
As I was working away at my desk with ‘The Five’ playing in the background, died in the wool liberal Democrat Bob Beckel, the youngest deputy assistant secretary of state ever, for the Carter administration and the campaign manager for Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign just freely admitted that Obama is losing in the polls right now between 5 and 7 points.
The Democrat desperation is showing from all sides. The decisive loss in Wisconsin was perhaps the beginning of the true panic. Then there have been the consistent torpedoes being thrown at Obama by former President Clinton; the devastating jobs numbers combined with ever closer looks at the ‘real’ job loses and manipulation of the figures that have been fed to the public by the Obama administration; the recent vetting of Obama that should have but didn’t happen in 2008 and the ‘failure’ of almost every attempted ‘created diversion’ by the Obama campaign... including their latest media blitz.
Diane Macedo from the Fox Business network appeared on Huckabee over the weekend, along with Charlie Gasparino. She said that the White House continues to repeat the 4.3 million jobs created number as fact, but to get to that number they only count jobs lost and created since 2010. They have completely taken the millions of jobs lost in 2009 under President Obama out of the equation. In reality they have only created 55,000 net jobs.
We are also now losing thousands of baby-boomers monthly from the job market as they are retiring in droves. These jobs and people are also not being portrayed accurately in the job number calculations just like other people who have stopped looking for work, no longer qualify for unemployment or have taken low-paying or part-time jobs so are underemployed.
In actuality, unemployment, if calculated correctly using all the figures, is somewhere at an average of between 14% and 16% across the country (Donald Trump said in an interview with Greta Van Susteran that it was more like 21 to 22%) and whichever set of numbers you choose they do not include the underemployed.
Then add to this Obama’s latest so-called ‘gaffe’ where he said that the private job market is doing just fine but the government sector needs help. Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman, said this was not a gaffe but a look into Obama’s ideology and the beginning of a push for another bailout. Additionally there is the new focus on classified security information having been allegedly ‘purposely’ leaked from the White House to make Obama look good and to up his numbers (They have upward of 13 sources who have come forward.) Plus there is a renewed cry for information, truth (and for heads to roll) on the Fast and Furious front. Many now believe that both Eric Holder and President Obama knew/know about both. McCain says Eric Holder has no credibility to oversee the leaks investigation. Most who have followed Fast and Furious and understand the connections within the White House circle (the Chicago Team) would agree.
For a brilliant guy President Obama sure says a lot of stupid things. Obama’s latest gaffe was so bad that even Candy Crowley was hammering David Axelrod on it. Obama claimed that the private sector was doing just fine and basically he already fixed that - it was just state & local governments that are struggling. Hear Crowley go after Axelrod and check out Glenn’s dismantling of Obama’s contention HERE.
As reported early last Wednesday morning on Breitbart, the media had obviously conspired with the Obama campaign over the Memorial Day holiday to start last week off with a well-organized media blitz meant to knock Romney off message and to aid and abet the Obama campaign's desire to define the former Massachusetts governor as an extremist. And we all saw this play out as the corrupted MSM blew up a wildly hypocritical narrative around Romney's ties to Donald Trump.
Well, I have good news… According to Byron York, Romney's refused to take the bait.
Mitt Romney's refusal to repudiate Donald Trump sent a signal, both to Democrats and the voting public: With the nation's future at stake in this November's election, Romney will not accommodate calls that he disown supporters who make ill-considered, unpopular, or sometimes outrageous statements on matters not fundamental to the campaign.
Romney aides believe that cooperating with Democrats and media figures who are demanding a Trump disavowal would most certainly lead to more calls for more disavowals of other figures in the future -- leaving Romney spending as much time apologizing for his supporters as campaigning for president. Team Romney views it as a silly and one-sided game designed to distract voters from the central issue of the race, which they remain convinced will be President Obama's handling of the economy.
By one-sided, they mean not only that Obama has not disavowed SuperPAC contributor Bill Maher for a number of Maher's statements that were particularly insulting to Republican women. They also mean the press, with, as Team Romney see it, questionable associations of its own. Has David Gregory, moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," repudiated his colleague Al Sharpton, the MSNBC host with a decades-long record of incendiary statements and actions? ...
Another reason Romney is wary of such concessions is that John McCain tried them, and they didn't do him any good.
Romney also raised more money last month than any other politician has ever done. He raised more money last month than President Obama. Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee reported they raised a combined $76.8 million in May, about $17 million more than President Obama and Democrats collected (who were previously considered an unbeatable fundraising machine).
On Wednesday, President Obama took another break from Washington by flying to California for a series of five fundraisers, including a gay-rights gala in Beverly Hills. (Remember that one… where Obama lowered himself and the dignity of his office to tell an off-colored sex joke about his wife?) But on Thursday, fundraising statistics released by both campaigns showed that GOP nominee Mitt Romney had surpassed President Obama for the first time in May, out-raising the president’s campaign $76 million to $60 million.
“We got beat,” said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina
Obama has nearly taken employment back to the 1950s… and that is not a good thing; only 58.6 percent of all Americans are employed — 1 percentage point higher than in 1956… under 59 percent of Americans employed for 33 consecutive months and counting. The most startling figures that Team Obama consistently take out of the equation are exactly that, how few people are actually working compared to the population and the pool of available workers, for they don’t count all those that have dropped off the unemployment rolls and those that are underemployed. Amazingly the highest unemployment is among blacks, Latinos, teens and recent grads (who are back living with their parents, have no work or are underemployed and have student loan payments) yet they seem to be the last to see that the Obama hope and change promise was all an illusion.
Stuart Stevens, who is Mitt Romney’s chief strategist, is also a novelist and memoirist, and last week he offered up a couple of bon mots (witticism or good words) that help frame the challenge President Barack Obama faces as the economy sputters.
“They think this campaign is ‘Travels with Charley’, Stevens says. “We think it’s more The Grapes of Wrath.’”
“Travels with Charley in Search of America: (Centennial Edition)” is John Steinbeck’s gentle quasi-memoir of traveling across the country in 1960 with his poodle.“The Grapes of Wrath,” for those Americans who slept through eighth-grade English, is his searing novel of the migrant Joad family in the Depression.
Stevens insists that this election will have everything to do with the economy and nothing to do with how Romney treated his dog, and his second quip reflects the same analysis in a more positive context.
“They think the election is about eHarmony.com,” he says, referring to the dating website devoted to measuring compatibility. “We think it’s about Monster.com,”the job-finder site.
The photo below is a good snap shot of last week and where the Obama campaign finds itself. Obama is chattering on repeating the same mantra that hasn’t worked. His chief campaign advisor, David Axelrod, looks and sounds pained. The ever loyal MSM or ‘lamestream’ media is looking a bit deflated these days. And the main focus of the Obama campaign is dirty tricks, created diversions, and walk backs. From hope and change to smear and fear…
President Obama capped off his inglorious week by holding a hastily called news conference at the White House on Friday in an attempt to shift focus from the Wisconsin loss as some in the Democratic Party blamed Pres. Obama for staying out of the Wisconsin fight and essentially abandoning them... plus no doubt wanting to spin the bad job numbers.
It turned out poorly for him.
During his discussion of the economy, President remarked that the “private sector’s doing fine.” Within an hour, Governor Romney and other GOP leaders were ridiculing the president for his comment and preparing campaign videos to exploit the gaffe.
As the President walked out of that press conference Friday, a reporter called out to him for his reaction to the Wisconsin recall election. The president just kept walking. But before he reached the door, another reporter shouted a final question, asking Mr. Obama if he’d enjoyed the pie that his self-appointed ‘Health Czar wife’ had purchased for him… reminding the room that giving up pie, large sodas and fast food is for the little people who need to be led. At least Marie Antoinette was willing to let them eat cake!
Ask Marion~
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Eye-Popping Wisconsin Story You Didn’t Read
The recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was a critical bellwether. A Walker loss would have guaranteed more ruinous, out-of-control government spending, where unions and their vested interests dictate terms through violence, thuggery and deceit. But the Wisconsin electorate rejected that path, handing Walker a resounding victory. This will embolden leaders in other states to tackle similar problems head on.
Governor Walker deserves our heartfelt thanks for his steadfast determination to do the right thing. But you will never know just how difficult this was if you get your news from the “mainstream” liberal media. While shamelessly championing the Democrats’ cause, they completely ignored the unprecedented, outrageous campaign of hate and lies promoted by those same Democrats and their public employee union allies. This shameless, naked, self-serving attempted power grab is a story in-and-of itself.
News reports of the union-orchestrated, DNC-backed, month-long occupation of the Wisconsin state capital last year were ubiquitous. This was followed by a flurry of recall efforts last summer and this winter against 16 senators (8 Republicans and 8 Democrats) – every senator that was eligible for recall - as well as Governor Scott Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. This recall was unprecedented. There have been only three times in history when more than one legislator has been recalled over any single issue.
What is less known is that the recall effort against Governor Walker – indeed, the entire attack – was far from spontaneous. Within days of his election the left began contemplating a recall, and it began in earnest in February of 2011, before his controversial budget bill was even passed. The left had him in its sights from day one.
Following the announcement of Governor Walker’s “Budget Repair Bill,” last February, unions went on a rampage. Beginning around February 15, 2011, protesters began massing around the state Capitol building in Madison.
On February 17th, all fourteen state senate Democrats fled the state to prevent a quorum for voting on the bill. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka addressed the growing crowd the following day. By the 20th protesters were occupying the capitol building.
They were enthusiastically supported by the national news media, which compared Wisconsin protests to Egypt. ABC’s Christiane Amanpour said, “Populist frustration is boiling over this week, as we’ve said, not just in the Middle East, but in the middle of this country as well.” On NBC, Brian Williams exclaimed, “From the Mideast to the American Midwest tonight, people are rising up. Citizens’ uprisings are changing the world.” Ed Schultz broadcast live from the Capitol on February 17th.
An editor of the leftwing Buffalo Beast contacted Walker by phone, impersonating billionaire Walker supporter David Koch, who Walker had never spoken with before. He recorded and broadcast the call. The Society of Professional Journalists called it “underhanded and unethical... grossly inappropriate.”
Death Threats and AWOL Media
The occupation of the Capital building made front page news for weeks running, but the mass media somehow missed all the protesters’ outrageous, disgraceful behavior and thug tactics:
- Early childhood teacher Katherine Windels pled guilty in December 2011 to making death threats to Governor Walker and Republican senators following passage of the Budget Repair bill. E-mails made statements like: “Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed… This woman obviously had problems, but the tone set by the unions and their Democrat allies did nothing to discourage such behavior. The media silence was deafening.
- A suspect in Maine was arrested after sending letters to that state’s Republican U.S. senators suggesting that Walker should be killed and that all Republican governors resign. How do we know this? One blogger, Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit.
- Dozens of emails suggested Walker or legislators should be shot or hanged, watch their backs, look over their shoulders or resign. One man tweeted that he prayed an anvil would fall from the sky onto Walker. How do we know this? Hoft again.
- Police found 41 rounds of live ammunition near three separate entrances to the capitol building in early March. How do we know this? Fox News… in Memphis.
- A union agitator posted a photo of Governor Walker’s son, asking, “What’s it like having the most hated dad in Wisconsin? This kid knows.” How do we know this? The agitator's Facebook.
- The same agitator poured beer on state Rep. Robin Voss at a local restaurant. Five days earlier he had accompanied another agitator, who followed Vos, screaming at him and warning Vos that he had “five days to respond.” How do we know this? The agitator’s own Youtube video.
- Union members disrupted a Special Olympics award ceremony. Made up as zombies, they stood between the governor and award recipients, preventing them from receiving the awards. How do we know this? Gateway Pundit's Hoft, again.
- 2,000 union protesters demonstrated a Walker fundraiser; took pictures of attendees’ license plates. How do we know this? That’s right, yet again.
- Meanwhile at a leftwing “Fighting Bob” La Follette festival, celebrating Wisconsin’s famous “progressive,” one of the speakers said “If you’re going to pour beer on a Republican, you have to drink it first.”
Urinating on your opponents… All in good fun for the Democrats of course, but what would Ed Schultz say if the tables were turned? The New York Times?
Joining in the dignified celebration, fellow speakers included Democratic Congresswoman and US Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s Mike McCabe, former Congressman David Obey, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and others. A good time was had by all.
Do these people have no shame? That's a rhetorical question, of course.
Wisconsin’s firefighter’s union refused to participate in a 9-11 float depicting firefighters raising the flag on the World Trade Center grounds. The float’s creator was a union supporter of Scott Walker.
Peshtigo High School chorus teacher Rob Schneider resigned after sending the following e-mail to Republican state Rep. John Nygren:
“(Expletive) you!!! I pray that a semi-truck will run you over you piece of (expletive) (expletive)! If there is a God that (expletive) Governor Walker will be riding with you when the truck hits your sorry (expletive)!!!!!!!!!! Stop (expletive) sending me your (expletive)!!! You are a waste of human space!!!!”
On March 3rd, protesters were ordered out of the Capitol building. On March 9th, Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature passed the bill using a procedural move to bypass the still AWOL Democrat state senators. Spending bills require a quorum to be voted on, but by removing all spending elements, state legislators were able to quickly pass the measure without the missing Democrats.
One Democrat state senator supposedly “drove 80 miles per hour” in a failed attempt to return to the capital in time to impact the vote. On March 10th the bill was signed into law. Protesters remained around the capitol in dwindling numbers until June.
Crimes Committed in Police Absence
Hundreds of police were required around the clock when protesters occupied the capitol building, and the community was endangered as a result. One detective testified in court that he was unable to apprehend two robbery suspects because he was required to be at the capitol. The two have since been arrested for a murder that might have otherwise been prevented.
After hearing an early estimate of $7.5 million to clean up from the month-long protest, liberals were furious that anyone could beef when the maintenance cost was later estimated to be about $200,000. Total costs, including police overtime, actually exceeded $8 million. Media outrage over that? Crickets.
Lt. Governor's Incredible Story
In its abdication of honest journalism, the media has completely overlooked another story as well, the election and recall of Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Kleefisch was a former news anchor who quit in 2004 to be a stay-at-home mom to her two children. Increasingly fed up with Wisconsin’s dysfunctional government, she announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor by webcam from her kitchen table in January of 2010.
Kleefisch was diagnosed with colon cancer in the middle of her campaign, underwent surgery, won her campaign, and went on to get chemotherapy just as the recall was beginning. Despite this amazing tale of courage and determination, or perhaps because of it, the Left's attacks on Kleefisch were unprecedented in their vile viciousness. One Leftist radio host said on air,
I’m Rebecca Kleefisch. I perform fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorse me and that’s how I became lieutenant governor.
He then went on to accuse her of “pulling trains…” Where was the media on that one? NOW?
Weaponized Recalls
According to Wisconsin law, since 1967, governors and their lieutenants run on the same ticket but there is no similar provision for recalls. Kleefisch said, “No one at that point in American history had weaponized the recall function. And that’s what we’re looking at in Wisconsin now – non-stop recalls.”
So what was this nonstop protest, endless recalls and vicious invective all about, mass executions of innocents, as was happening in the streets of Iran at the same time? Were the police shooting protesters, as they were in Egypt? Or worse, did the governor purchase a yacht with union pension funds?
Self-Serving War Against Responsible Government
Governor Walker’s modest “Budget Repair Bill” now known as Act 10, proposed that union members contribute a mere 12.6 percent to their health care premiums (they were paying between 4 and 6 percent), and 5.8 percent toward pensions, where they had previously contributed nothing. He also proposed curbs on some collective bargaining rights.
These modest changes – accomplished without raising taxes – reduced a projected 3.6 billion structural deficit inherited from the prior administration to a surplus of approximately $89 million now. Local governments and school districts were able to save over $220 million within a few months after the bill’s passage.
In passing the bill, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald stated:
“Before the election, the Democrats promised ‘adult leadership’ in Madison. Then a month and a half into session, the Senate Democrats fled the state instead of doing their job. ‘In doing so, they have tarnished the very institution of the Wisconsin state Senate. This is unacceptable.
“This afternoon, following a week and a half of line-by-line negotiation, Sen. Miller sent me a letter that offered three options: 1) keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 2) take [the Democrats’] counter-offer, which would keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 3) or stop talking altogether.
“With that letter, I realized that we’re dealing with someone who is stalling indefinitely, and doesn’t have a plan or an intention to return. His idea of compromise is ‘give me everything I want,’ and the only negotiating he’s doing is through the media.
“Enough is enough.
“The people of Wisconsin elected us to do a job. They elected us to stand up to the broken status quo, stop the constant expansion of government, balance the budget, create jobs and improve the economy. The longer the Democrats keep up this childish stunt, the longer the majority can’t act on our agenda.
The union protest against the Repair Bill was presented as a spontaneous reaction, but the Walker recall effort began over one year ago. A group called United Wisconsin initiated the recall a few days after Walker first proposed the Bill. One website, recallscottwalker.com, started in November 2010, within days of his election. None of what has happened in Wisconsin has been even remotely “spontaneous.” Governor Walker was in their sights from the beginning.
When the recall began in earnest, United Wisconsin was joined by a nationwide constellation of union, radical left and Democrat organizations. This group reflects an emerging labor/radical left/Democrat syndicate – encouraged by a sympathetic press – and behaved like one. Using the vote swamping method pioneered by ACORN, labor and democrat activists collected a claimed 1 million recall petitions in two months. These were submitted by the January 17, 2012 deadline.
Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB), is responsible for verifying the recall effort. Led by Democrat Kevin Kennedy, the GAB flatly refused to validate the petitions. They announced in a press conference that they would accept any petition with a valid address, even if signed by Adolf Hitler. They added “we will not strike them unless challenged.”
The process allowed 10 days to review petitions. A Dane County (Madison) judge extended that to thirty days at the request of the Walker administration, but denied further extensions. The thirty day window to review petitions began on January 28.
TRUE THE VOTE Comes to the Rescue
Two citizen groups, We the People of the Republic and Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty, took up the challenge and created an organization for that purpose titled Verify the Recall (VTR). At that point there were 22 days remaining to evaluate the 1 million petitions United Wisconsin claimed to have submitted. The response is a story all to itself.
To facilitate this effort, VTR contacted Catherine Engelbrecht’s True the Vote. TTV created an online program for inputting and verifying petitions using a triple blind procedure. Volunteers would be able to input data from a computer anywhere in the U.S. By February 27th, the last day for challenging petitions, TTV had recruited 14,000 volunteers nationwide. They had entered and analyzed 92 percent of the records submitted.
VTR identified 819,233 discreet records, not the 1 million claimed by United Wisconsin. Of these, only 534,685, 65 percent, could be verified as legitimate. TTV continued to analyze the data past the due date, attempting to review all petitions. On March 21, they had analyzed 97 percent, a total of 860,155 complete records with 584,489 validated. More than the 540,208 needed, barely, but with a tremendous error rate. A total of 17,000 volunteers had participated.
As with ACORN’s now-famous voter registration drives, there were many blatantly bogus “Donald Duck” petitions, duplicates and incomplete records. One Democrat activist, Mark Demet, signed the names of family members and neighbors, including one neighbor’s dead husband, without their knowledge or consent. Demet was charged with seven counts of felony ID theft and two counts of vote fraud, with a potential 49 year prison sentence.
Despite GAB’s earlier insistence that private citizens verify recall petitions, they refused to examine or even acknowledge VTR’s efforts. Ultimately, the GAB certified all but 30,000 of the most egregious cases. Except to discredit VTR, the media largely ignored this story.
Verify the Recall published a searchable database on the recall petitions. Its revelations included:
- 571 petition signers owe a total of $17 million in back taxes.
- 20,000 felons signed the petition, including 11 murderers, 203 rapists, 53 child pornographers, 3,207 thieves, 1,526 for battery, 357 hit and run, and many others.
- 29 Wisconsin judges signed the recall petition, including Dane County Judge David Flanagan, who later placed a restraining order on a voter ID law passed by Walker and the Republican legislature.
- Deputy DA Lovell Johnson Jr, 19 attorneys and dozens of other DA employees signed. Some had been working on a heavily criticized “secret” John Doe investigation of Governor Walker at the time.
- NBC affiliate WTMJ issued a public apology that several of its news staff and editors had signed the Walker recall petition.
- 25 Gannett News journalists signed the petition, some in violation of the company’s code of ethical conduct. Gannett also apologized.
- 32 Post-Crescent journalists signed the petition, including six directly involved in reporting about the recall.
- School board members, four University of Wisconsin regents and the university’s chief spokesman also signed. The spokesman alone apologized.
Richard Niess, the same judge who had limited the petition review to thirty days also ordered a permanent injunction against the Walker voter ID law in March. The state will appeal.
True the Vote has also been on the ground in Wisconsin to train volunteer poll-watchers. This is a critical function that is being provided nationwide only by True the Vote. GOP are you listening? Perhaps the most critical function an activist can engage in this year, you should sign up. If you can't do that, support True the Vote, which has become one of the most effective grassroots groups out there today.
The press has made much of Walker’s “advantage” in recall campaign funds, but unions have spent over $14 million on Walker opponents in this effort. This does not include the rent-a-protester demonstrations, in which they bussed in people from out of state and held the capitol building hostage for almost a month.
Union Thugs Unrepentant - After All, They Are Thugs
The largest union contributor was Wisconsin’s main teacher’s union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). They have spent $4.4 million on the recall effort so far.
Last year WEAC fought the dismissal of two public school science teachers fired for viewing and emailing porn from their work computers. Legal battles cost the district over $500,000 defending an open-and-shut administrative decision, a stark demonstration of the union’s priorities and attitudes.
Total spending on the Walker recall could reach $80 million. Walker claims unions alone could spend as much as $60 million. Walker campaigned on reducing out-of-control spending, won on that basis and kept his word. He shouldn’t have to be raising a penny.
It is interesting to note that Wisconsin’s famous Congressman and later governor, “Fighting Bob” La Follette, was the author of one of the first pro-public-employee union laws passed by Congress (in 1912). It negated an executive order preventing employees from soliciting “…an increase of pay, or to influence or to attempt to influence in their own interest any legislation whatever, either before Congress or its Committees,”[1]
The passage of this law informed creation of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) five years later, the first union to legally represent federal workers. La Follette’s law began the slow slide toward full acceptance of public employee unions. Significantly, Wisconsin was also the first state to allow collective bargaining by public unions. Perhaps Governor Walker was sent by the gods to set things right.
Walker’s challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, won the Democrat primary, although another Democrat, former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk received most backing from the major public employee unions. This may have been part of a deliberate deception, however. Barrett had distanced himself somewhat from unions, although he promised to repeal Act 10.
Here’s the rub. Did the unions really care which Democrat is elected? Barrett may have quibbled with them at the margins during his term as mayor, but would a Governor Barrett dare threaten the union/democrat franchise in Wisconsin?
When pigs fly.
AFL-CIO’s top thug, Richard Trumka appeared on C-SPAN before the Democrat primary to address this question, “After the [primary] election they’ll come together and they’ll take out, I think we’ll take out Scott Walker…" An interesting choice of words for a man whose union thugs murdered a non-union employee, Eddie York, during a United Mine Worker strike. As he said at the time, "I'm saying if you strike a match and put your finger in, common sense tells you you're going to burn your finger."
Trumka didn’t seem worried about challenges to union supremacy from other states either: “Would you like to take this fight on?” he asked the interviewer. “A year after you were in office would you like to be in the fight of your life, spending $25, $35 million to hold on to a seat you were supposed to have for four years and you lose a majority in the Senate? Would that embolden you? Not if you were sane and rational it wouldn’t.”
I wonder what he is saying now.
Despite massive vote fraud from the Democrats, including bussing people from out of state to abuse the same-day voting process allowed in Wisconsin, Walker won a resounding victory. This will return sanity to state budgeting in Wisconsin and demonstrate that public employee unions cannot continue to dictate outrageous terms of compensation through intimidation and thuggery. A loss would have legitimized the unions’ mob rule, Occupy tactics, and encouraged America’s own “Arab Spring,” the nationwide revolution that communists, anarchists and professional agitators have been contemplating for a year.
Say a prayer of thanks to God today for Scott Walker and our nation.
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[1] Executive Order #163.
James Simpson
James Simpson is a former Office of Management and Budget (White House budget office) economist and budget analyst. He is currently a businessman and freelance writer. Best known for his exposé on the Cloward Piven Strategy of manufactured crisis, his writings have been published in American Thinker, The New Media Journal, Washington Times, FrontPage Magazine, Whistleblower, DefenseWatch, Soldier of Fortune and others. His blog is Truth and Consequences. Email James.
Right Side News - h/t to TPN
Walker and America Win… Unions and Team Obama Lose Handily – Updated
As Goes Wisconsin Goes the USA – Obama Descends on San Francisco with Maoist Media in Tow
Obama and Dems in denial about life after Wisconsin smackdown
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Walker and America Win… Unions and Team Obama Lose Handily
The results are in…
The Democrats fueled by the unions recalled Republican Scott Walker and his lieutenant governor, not of wrong doing, but for doing what he/they said they would do if elected in 2010.
WAUKESHA, Wis. - Sixty million dollars in campaign spending and 15 months of protests later, Wisconsin voters decided Tuesday that Republican Gov. Scott Walker should keep his job after all. With over 60 percent of the precincts reporting, he held a 15-point lead over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, 57 percent to 42 percent, and was projected to win by the major news networks.
The victory was the culmination of a heated recall election that began in the corridors of the state capitol and then transformed into a national test of the conservative grassroots and the power of organized labor. Walker's win deals a blow to the latter and energizes the former.
The special election turnout reached presidential levels, yet President Obama did not even visit the state as the recall campaign played out. As the race looked more and more like it would go to Governor Walker and many Democrats called for at least a quick Wisconsin stopover to show some support for Mayor Tom Barrett, the best Obama could muster was a tweet on the last night of the campaign.
The Democrat strategists and pundits and the unions will try to minimize the significance of this victory but in reality it was a significant victory for Scott Walker, Wisconsin, the GOP and America. It is also the beginning of the decline of the power of private sector unions’ perhaps unions in general, and a huge disappointment for Team Obama.
Based on some skewed exit polls the outcome of this election was gagged to be tight. Many thought it would be a very late night before the outcome could be called. Instead, as Sarah Palin said, it will be a late night in Chicago at Team Obama headquarters, where they are no doubt much more worried than they will ever admit.
MADISON — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker beat back a recall challenge Tuesday, winning both the right to finish his term and a voter endorsement of his strategy to curb state spending, which included the explosive measure that eliminated union rights for most public workers.
The rising Republican star becomes the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall attempt with his defeat of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and the union leaders who rallied for months against his agenda.
In his acceptance speech, Walker focused on growth, healing and working together.
Add tonight’s results to a little help Romney has received this week from Bill Clinton… and the Romney Campaign should be energized.
Wis. County-By-County Election Map Shows How Dominating Walker’s Victory Was
Progressives in WI may indeed have something to cry about. - (Via HuffPo)
Related:
Washington Post: Why Walker won the Wisconsin recall election
National Review: What It's Like on the Ground
Forbes: Walker's Victory Spells Doom for Public Sector Unions
Walker: "It Is Time to Put Our Differences Aside"
Marc Thiessen: Vice President Walker?
AFL-CIO: Time to Work Together to Forge a New Path Forward
Protesters: This is the End of Democracy
NewsMax: Governor Scott Walker Wins Wisconsin Recall Fight
WND: Walker Wins, Will Stay in Office
Palin: Wisconsin Results Mean 'Obama's Goose is Cooked'
Priebus: Obama ‘Left Democrats at the Altar in Wisconsin’
Coulter: The Recall Heard Round the World
WND: Media humiliated over election coverage
MSNBC coverage of the election - Sadness, shock, disappointment, anger are all words that could describe the “forward” leaning hosts of MSNBC last night. It was a rough night for liberal hosts. Glenn, Pat and Stu however had a wonderful evening. It was the one time conservatives could watch MSNBC - not for the content, but the comedy.
The Blaze Fact Checks ‘Weeping Voter’: His Claims Are… This is the end of democracy!
Glenn played the audio on radio this morning.Howard Dean Echoes Weepy Walker Protester:
"The beginning of the undermining of American democracy." Hmmm….
After Wisconsin Exit Polls, White House Must Wonder If All the Polling is Wrong
Flashback: Scathing New Ad Uses Maddow and Michael Moore to Remind How Important Recall Election Was
June 5th, 2012 was also primary day for CA, MT, SD, NJ and NM
A Growing Trend? Voters in Major Calif. Cities Approve Public Pension Reform
June 5th, 2012 was also primary day for CA, MT, SD, NJ and NM.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Barrett: Wisconsin Revolution Has Only Just Begun
Normally, I would never use this forum to reprint verbatim a press release from a politician. But in this case I’ll make an exception. –KB on Veterans Today
Barrett: Wisconsin Revolution has only just begun!
“To hell with the Republicans. And to purgatory with the Democrats! Whatever happens next Tuesday, the Wisconsin Revolution has only just begun!”
Dr. Kevin Barrett, 50th cousin of gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett*, will be announcing his candidacy for US House of Representatives (2nd District) this Thursday, May 31st, at 6:30 p.m. outside the Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI.
Dr. Barrett will run as an independent. “I am running AGAINST the two major parties, and the corrupt system they dominate,” he explained. “Thanks to them, the USA is no longer a free country, and its middle class is being decimated. We need a revolution. I want to take the Wisconsin Revolution nationwide.”
Barrett explained: “The Wisconsin revolution isn’t just about teachers’ unions. It’s a revolution against the controlled demolition of the middle class, and the transformation of the USA into a fascist banana republic.”
What kind of revolution do we need?
“Most of the elite of this country – the big CEOs, the banksters, Trilateralists, Bilderbergers, top-tier FBI, CIA and military, top executive branch officials, election-riggers, media owners, the federal judges and the majority of congress-critters – need to be jailed. We need an American version of Tahrir Square in Washington, DC. And we need to put our entire elite in jail with Mubarak and Ben Ali.”
Barrett’s campaign platform includes:
- End the wars and jail the war criminals.
- Bring all troops home, close all foreign bases, slash military spending 90%.
- Repeal all post-9/11 police state legislation, jail those responsible for unconstitutional laws.
- Seize the “bailed-out” banks and jail the banksters.
- End the Fed, restore Constitutional currency.
- End “free trade” (NAFTA etc.) and rebuild our industry, infrastructure, and middle class.
- End the “drug war,” free all consensual-crimes prisoners
- Reveal the truth about 9/11 – the shock that will make revolution possible.
Geneticists say that all humans are at least 50th cousins.
Also… ‘elites’ does not necessarily mean the rich; it is an ideology, the ideology of the globalists, anti-sovereignty and anti-American crew. There are many progressive professors, media-types and politicians who are elites and globalists who are not necessarily rich or among the very richest. There are also many rich people who value freedom, free market capitalism and basic American values… after all, they and their families have more to lose than anyone.
As for president we have the choice for anti-American, anti-American values, Progressive Alinskyite elitist Obama or Pro-Free Enterprise, Pro-Freedom of Religion, Pro-Business , wealthy but down to earth Romney. Getting rid of Obama and surrounding Romney with conservatives, Constitutionalists, tea party types, and some independents like this guy is what we need to do on November 6th 2012.
Related:
Referencing CFR Above:
This is Where Michelle Obama is Listed on CFR Board of Directors In Chicago
http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/chicago_council_board_directors.php
You might think that this is not affiliated with the CFR, but in fact, the name has been changed. If you run your mouse over where it says The Chicago Council on the left side then select FAQ, question # 7 reads the following:
7.Why did the Chicago Council change its name?
On September 1, 2006, The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations was renamed The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
The world has undergone tremendous change since The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations was founded in 1922. Today, more than ever before, our world is shaped by forces far beyond capital cities. Chicago and the Midwest are affected by events and decisions that reach across national borders.
Our new name, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, respects our heritage while it signals our understanding of these changes and reflects our expanding efforts to contribute to the global discourse on the critical issues of the day. What has not changed is our commitment to nonpartisanship and public education.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thousands Rally to Save Nativity Scene
As many as 5,000 attended a rally in a small Texas community to show their support for a Nativity scene under attack by a Wisconsin-based atheist group, according to a minister who organized the event.
FOLLOW CULTURE WAR NEWS AT TODD’S FACEBOOK PAGE
“We are humbled at the turnout of the crowd,” said Nathan Lorick, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Malakoff and one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally in Athens.
“We believe that God led us to do this and so we knew he was up to something great,” he told Fox News & Commentary in an email message. “This message is resonating in the hearts of people all over the country. This was a real statement to the nation that Christians are tired of the persecution and suppression. We want all to know that we are ready to contend for the faith.”
Video: Henderson County Nativity Rally crowd
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group based in Wisconsin, sent a letter to Henderson County explaining that a local resident had complained and they wanted the Nativity removed from the courthouse lawn.
The FFRF alleged that the Nativity sent a message of intimidation and exclusion to non-Christians.
But their attack prompted a tremendous outcry not just in Henderson County, but across the nation.
The Texas Attorney General offered to defend the county in the event the atheists sued, arguing that the county has no legal obligation to remove the Nativity scene from the courthouse grounds.
“Our message to the atheists is don’t mess with Texas and our Nativity scenes or the Ten Commandments,” Attorney General Greg Abbott told Fox News & Commentary. “I want the Freedom From Religion Foundation to know that our office has a history of defending religious displays in this state.”
Attorney General Abbott said the organization is trying to “bully local governmental bodies” and he said he wanted to make sure Henderson County knows “there is a person, a lawyer and an organization in this state that has their back, that has the law, that has the muscle and firepower to go toe-to-toe with these organizations that come from out of state trying to bully governmental bodies into tearing down things like Nativity scenes.”
Pastor Lorick said Saturday’s rally was peaceful and included speeches, patriotic music, Christmas carols and prayers. Nevertheless, he said they intended to send a message to the nation.
Video: Nativity Rally for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Looking down on the rally outside the Henderson County Courthouse in Athens, TX
The Digital Story of Nativity… Very Creative
Digital Story of the Nativity
Video: The Digital Story of Nativity… Very Creative
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZrf0PbAGSk
Related Posts:
Thousands Rally to Save Nativity Scene
Adopt a Pet This Christmas… Or Give Someone a New Friend for Christmas (or Hanukah)!
Beck Delivers Emotional Christmas Message: ‘God is Crying Out to Us’
Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays
Public School Defends Posting Nativity Scene Despite Potential Church-State Challenges
Atheists Up in Arms Over NJ Town’s ‘Keep Christ in Christmas’ Sign
Christians, Jews Banned from Temple Mount in Jerusalem – ‘It seems freedom of religion in Israel is only for Muslims now’
Rabbi: Tebow Super Bowl Win Would Lead Christians to Burn Mosques & Banish Immigrants – Really??
Say Merry Christmas – American Christian Life United (ACLU) – Vocal by Carrie Rinderer
Winter and Holiday Health Hazards for Animals
Merry Christmas! : Celebrating America’s Greatest Holiday
A great book on Losing Our Religion by aethiest S. E. Cupp, who says she is he perfect person for this book because she has no dog in the hunt, takes on the all too often avoided question and discussion of religion in America…
Posted at Just One More Pet or Ask Marion – h/t to Alex Piacenza
Monday, April 18, 2011
Meet Your Next President
Written by Jim Funkhouser Apr 18, 2011
Sarah Palin
Yesterday, after a short political sabbatical, I cautiously dipped my toe back into the boiling porridge that now passes for public discourse. Drudge is always first, and it was there that I discovered that Palin had finally made it official: She’s running.
Was there ever a doubt? Talk about anti-climatic.
The big question in my mind was always this: Can she win? Her speech in Wisconsin answered that question for me. Sarah Barracuda’s reemergence finds her in full campaign mode and she is startlingly better than ever before. I know how Chris Matthews feels now.
Could Pawlenty, Gingrich, or Romney have generated the energy and sense of urgency that Palin so effortlessly brought forth? The mind struggles to animate them with such authenticity, and the reason might be obvious: There is always the nagging doubt that they are true believers.
It’s easy for Sarah because she believes everything she says. Her sound conservative agenda is not a political design, it’s an expression of core values, and the passion that issues forth is so genuine that it never occurs to a single person in the audience, on the left or the right, that she is anything other than what she appears to be.
Palin is kryptonite to the Loony-Left and the RINO-right precisely because they all know that she is serious. Does the Left fear Gingrich? Hardly. Any chance that Romney will roll back the welfare state? Puh-lease. Is Tea-Paw (Pawlenty) going to ride into the Beltway and run rough-shod over the Statists? He would struggle to find a Veep with less gravitas. They will all be ignored… until they are nominated.
To gauge the threat measure the heat, and Palin has be hotly scrutinized more than any other politician in history. Her travails with the punditry, mainstream media, and the establishment at every level seems to be remarkably unbalanced… until you calculate two things.
1. Her influence. Romney could release a thousand page theses tomorrow that rivals the Federalist Papers and it would be trumped if Palin tweeted about Michelle’s garden. Is that fair? Nope. But it’s reality. When Sarah speaks, people listen, and everyone knows it.
2. Her spine. Fight like a girl nailed it. The uber-Mama Grizzly is the real deal. Boehner cries because he thinks his navel is the center of the universe. A mother with a child that has Down’s-syndrome knows that politics doesn’t even make the top ten when you list reasons to get emotional. She won’t cry when she’s being sworn in, trust me.
Sarah’s courage is her defining attribute. She has endured a withering assault and is stronger than ever because she has faced it without blinking. The Primary Season may hold surprises, but Palin has already been battle-tested like no other politician in history and I doubt that anyone will be pulling a secret rough-draft Alaskan version of Romney-care out of her closet anytime soon.
America doesn’t need a Republican version of Obama solutionism, it needs a female version of Ronald Reagan conservatism. She will be the default Republican choice for that reason alone. Her flaws are not flaws of character or ideology, and in the end people don’t choose a candidate because they think that Lexington and Concord are in New Hampshire, or that America has 57 States. People choose because they trust.
De Tocqueville knew it was true about America, and I know it’s true about Palin. Sarah is great because Sarah is good. We’ve tried everything else, let’s try honest government again… this time in heels.
SarahPac Launches new site: http://www.sarahpac.com/
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Michigan Teacher Threatens Tea Party's Children: Posted on CraigsList
Michigan Teacher Threatens Tea Party's Children
This is a message from a Teacher to all the Tea Bags here in Michigan. It was posted on Craigslist yesterday, during school hours.
Little tea bags (capitol)
Date: 2011-03-11, 10:46AM EST Reply to: comm-vzqqj-2259517268@craigslist.org
So you Tea Bags want to take away my hard earned blue ribbon bennies. Well guess what you scum sucking Tea Bags, I got your kids all day long in my classroom and with just a few slick questions I know who the little tea bags are! And you think you'll have the last laugh HA-Ha-Ha
Location: capitol it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2259517268
Copyright © 2011 craigslist, inc.terms of use privacy policy feedback forum
This reminded me a bit of the Wisconsin Teacher’s Union consistently pushing the idea of their great concern for their students being the reason they weren’t in the classroom but rather out in the street protesting during school hours… and then we find out that 2/3 of 8th graders in Wisconsin could not pass their proficiency tests… and can’t sufficiently read.
Andrew Klavan: Behold! Your Public Sector Unions at Work
Video: Andrew Klavan: Behold! Your Public Sector Unions at Work
h/t to Rose and Hello Michigan Blog
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Idaho State Legislation Passes Republican Bill to Curb Union Rights…
Idaho passes Republican bill to curb union rights… after Ohio passed similar bill last week; all the while eyes and attention at on Wisconsin
By Mary Wisniewski - Reuters
CHICAGO | Tue Mar 8, 2011 9:02pm EST
(Reuters) - The Idaho state legislature approved a bill on Tuesday to strip public school teachers of many of their collective bargaining rights while protesters in five states rallied against Republican efforts to curb union power.
The Idaho bill, which excludes issues like class size and workloads from negotiations for the state's 12,000 unionized teachers, was given final approval by the Republican-led House and is expected to be signed by Republican Governor Butch Otter.
The bill also eliminates teacher tenure, limits the duration of teacher labor contracts to one year and removes seniority as a factor in determining the order of layoffs.
Idaho is one of several U.S. states to take up Republican plans for sweeping restrictions on public sector unions in what has become a growing national debate over labor union power.
Republicans say the proposals are needed to rescue recession-battered budgets from deficits, but Democrats and union supporters say they are an attack on organized labor that could linger as an issue into the 2012 presidential elections.
Most national attention has focused on the stalemate in Wisconsin over Republican Governor Scott Walker's proposal to curb union rights, which sparked large protests in the capital Madison.
Wisconsin Senate Democrats have fled the state to block a vote on Walker's proposal, but e-mails released on Tuesday showed Walker has indicated he may be willing to compromise on elements of his plan.
The e-mails, released following a Freedom of Information Act request from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, show Senate Democrats and a senior Walker aide discussed some flexibility on issues such as his demand for annual votes to keep unions in existence.
Protests against Walker's plan continued in Madison on Tuesday. Similar Republican plans to curb public union rights sparked new protests in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Iowa.
DEATH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS? - EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE!
In Indianapolis, where most Indiana House Democrats remain out of state to block a vote on a bill they say is anti-worker, union protesters staged a mock "funeral" for the middle class with a New Orleans-style musical procession in honor of Mardi Gras.
In Ohio, Republican Governor John Kasich touted a plan that passed the state Senate last week to curb collective bargaining rights of public employees and ban them from going on strike.
In his "State of the State" speech, Kasich said the bill, which still must be passed by the Ohio House, was necessary to give local governments more flexibility in their budgets.
"Frankly, folks, the provisions of collective bargaining reform are examples of what we want to do to allow people to control their costs," said Kasich, setting off cat-calls from the gallery in the legislative chamber.
Pro-union demonstrators packed the Capitol rotunda after the speech, shouting, "Kill the bill."
n Michigan's state capital Lansing, hundreds of pro-union protesters jammed the rotunda and gathered outside the Capitol to oppose a bill to give emergency authority to break labor contracts to revive failing schools and cities. The state's largest school district of Detroit is under emergency management.
The Michigan House approved the measure in February. A final vote in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 26-12 majority, is expected on Wednesday.
In Iowa, hundreds of union workers crowded the state House chamber to protest a bill that would prevent negotiations on healthcare benefits for government workers and forbid union workers from negotiating layoff schedules.
The measure will be debated in the Republican-led Iowa House on Wednesday. It is expected to run into trouble in the Democratic-majority state Senate.
Curbing public union power and demands is only the first step, but a critical one to saving America. Anyone who hasn’t realized that by now is either a radical Progressive or really doesn’t understand economics and capitalism.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Must-Read - Unions vs. Right to Work
The Op-Ed page of the Wall Street Journal has been a bastion of common sense in a world of ridiculously biased print news media. In fact, other than the Washington Times, there is no other national newspaper that contains a shred of the sort of common sense we regularly find on the WSJ's Editorial Page.
Obviously, the same cannot be said for the rest of that newspaper, but at least it's partially good, like Fox News Channel has Glenn Beck, and despite Shep and the rest of the biased, hardcore leftists (and confused 'Progressives' like Bill O'Reilly) working at FNC, Glenn (and sometimes Hannity and Megyn Kelly) is NOT part of the problem; he (and sometimes they) are definitely part of the solution!
Anyway, this Op-Ed discussion unions and the right to work is excellent, as one might expect when one considers the source; I love the subtitle of this article: "Collective Bargaining on a Broad Scale Is More Similar to an Antitrust Violation Than to a Civil Liberty." That is so true! Also, this is a pretty short, but sweet article; great for a short break at work. I think you'll enjoy it:
Unions vs. the Right to Work
Collective Bargaining on a Broad Scale Is More Similar to an Antitrust Violation Than to a Civil Liberty.
By ROBERT BARRO | FEBRUARY 28, 2011
How ironic that Wisconsin has become ground zero for the battle between taxpayers and public- employee labor unions. Wisconsin was the first state to allow collective bargaining for government workers (in 1959), following a tradition where it was the first to introduce a personal income tax (in 1911, before the introduction of the current form of individual income tax in 1913 by the federal government).
Labor unions like to portray collective bargaining as a basic civil liberty, akin to the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and religion. For a teachers union, collective bargaining means that suppliers of teacher services to all public school systems in a state—or even across states—can collude with regard to acceptable wages, benefits and working conditions. An analogy for business would be for all providers of airline transportation to assemble to fix ticket prices, capacity and so on. From this perspective, collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty.
In fact, labor unions were subject to U.S. antitrust laws in the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was first applied in 1894 to the American Railway Union. However, organized labor managed to obtain exemption from federal antitrust laws in subsequent legislation, notably the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
Remarkably, labor unions are not only immune from antitrust laws but can also negotiate a "union shop," which requires nonunion employees to join the union or pay nearly equivalent dues. Somehow, despite many attempts, organized labor has lacked the political power to repeal the key portion of the 1947 Taft Hartley Act that allowed states to pass right-to-work laws, which now prohibit the union shop in 22 states. From the standpoint of civil liberties, the individual right to work—without being forced to join a union or pay dues—has a much better claim than collective bargaining. (Not to mention that "right to work" has a much more pleasant, liberal sound than "collective bargaining.") The push for right-to-work laws, which haven't been enacted anywhere but Oklahoma over the last 20 years, seems about to take off.
The current pushback against labor-union power stems from the collision between overly generous benefits for public employees— notably for pensions and health care—and the fiscal crises of state and local governments. Teachers and other public-employee unions went too far in convincing weak or complicit state and local governments to agree to obligations, particularly defined-benefit pension plans, that created excessive burdens on taxpayers.
In recognition of this fiscal reality, even the unions and their Democratic allies in Wisconsin have agreed to Gov. Scott Walker's proposed cutbacks of benefits, as long as he drops the restrictions on collective bargaining. The problem is that this "compromise" leaves intact the structure of strong public-employee unions that helped to create the unsustainable fiscal situation; after all, the next governor may have less fiscal discipline. A long-run solution requires a change in structure, for example, by restricting collective bargaining for public employees and, to go further, by introducing a right-to-work law.
There is evidence that right-to-work laws—or, more broadly, the pro-business policies offered by right-to-work states—matter for economic growth. In research published in 2000, economist Thomas Holmes of the University of Minnesota compared counties close to the border between states with and without right-to-work laws (thereby holding constant an array of factors related to geography and climate). He found that the cumulative growth of employment in manufacturing (the traditional area of union strength prior to the rise of public-employee unions) in the right-to-work states was 26 percentage points greater than that in the non-right-to-work states.
Beyond Wisconsin, a key issue is which states are likely to be the next political battlegrounds on labor issues. In fact, one can interpret the extreme reactions by union demonstrators and absent Democratic legislators in Wisconsin not so much as attempts to influence that state—which may be a lost cause—but rather to deter politicians in other states from taking similar actions. This strategy may be working in Michigan, where Gov. Rick Snyder recently asserted that he would not "pick fights" with labor unions.
In general, the most likely arenas are states in which the governor and both houses of the state legislature are Republican (often because of the 2010 elections), and in which substantial rights for collective bargaining by public employees currently exist. This group includes Indiana, which has recently been as active as Wisconsin on labor issues; ironically, Indiana enacted a right-to-work law in 1957 but repealed it in 1965. Otherwise, my tentative list includes Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maine, Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska (with a nominally nonpartisan legislature), Kansas, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The national fiscal crisis and recession that began in 2008 had many ill effects, including the ongoing crises of pension and health-care obligations in many states. But at least one positive consequence is that the required return to fiscal discipline has caused reexamination of the growth in economic and political power of public-employee unions. Hopefully, embattled politicians like Gov. Walker in Wisconsin will maintain their resolve and achieve a more sensible long-term structure for the taxpayers in their states.
Mr. Barro is a professor of economics at Harvard and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
h/t to Jared Law at the 912 Project
Related:
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Organized Fraud in Wisconsin - You Will Want to Read These!!
Obama's Cousin Exposes Dangers of WI Doctors' Fraud vs. Taxpayers & Howard Dean Bribes Wisconsin Fleebaggers to Stay Away and Not Vote
Dr. Milton R. Wolf is not just a Washington Times columnist and a board-certified diagnostic radiologist. He's also the cousin of one Barack Hussein Obama.
This is very informative and I think most of you will be better off for having read this excellent Op-Ed. He says it all, quite succinctly, and he covers things many of us haven't considered; you'll really want to read this:
Organized Medical Fraud in Wisconsin
Government doctors abandon their oath and target the public they serve
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf -The Washington Times | 7:19 p.m., Friday, February 25, 2011
"Primum nil nocere." First, do no harm. This bedrock principle in medicine is a foreign language to most politicians and, sadly, to some Wisconsin doctors, who have violated their oath and the public trust as they have defrauded Wisconsin taxpayers.
Several University of Wisconsin family physicians donned their sacred white coats and were caught distributing fraudulent "sick notes" free for the asking quite literally by the boxful - I wonder who paid for that printing - to teachers and others who skipped work to engage in political protest at the state Capitol in Madison. Whatever the merits of the teachers' protest, there's a word for what these doctors and teachers are perpetrating: fraud.
An army of citizen-journalist bloggers, including Tim Daniels of Left Coast Rebel and Ann Althouse, captured and publicized photographs and video allegedly of publicly funded University of Wisconsin doctors Kathy A. Oriel, James H. Shropshire, Lou Sanner, Hannah M. Keevil, Patrick McKenna and Elizabeth Kvach as they disseminated these fraudulent notes to Wisconsin's publicly funded teachers so the teachers could have a publicly funded day off.
"I'm a doctor. Need a note?" read one sign held high near Dr. McKenna as he openly defrauded taxpayers. "We see a lot of sore throats from speaking out, sore feet from walking, a lot of people kind of chilly, under stress. We say the best thing you can do is be with a large support group," said Dr. Sanner in a pathetic rationalization despite video confirmation that neither he nor his colleagues examined any throats or feet before making their diagnoses and issuing doctor's notes.
Meanwhile, taxpayers and students are paying dearly. According to the Department of Education, two-thirds of Wisconsin public school eighth-graders cannot read at a proficient level. And yet, while the average total compensation of a Milwaukee public school teacher is a staggering $100,005 per year, these entitled teachers demand that taxpayers pay them, quite literally, to agitate for more tax money.
If this degree of financial fraud were perpetrated against health insurance companies, the doctors would face civil and criminal charges. Taxpayers deserve at least as much protection. Concerned Wisconsinites may want to contact the Medical Examining Board at the Department of Regulation and Licensing as well as the University of Wisconsin, which, evidently, has overfunded its family practice department sufficiently to send its staff to political rallies. Finally, medical malpractice carriers certainly recognize the medi- cal-legal liability accepted by these scheming doctors inherent in each of the thousands of new doctor-patient relationships they formed. Wisconsin taxpayers, I suspect, may not think their public university should pay for that liability exposure.
These University of Wisconsin doctors have violated the very core of the Hippocratic Oath: "I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone." Providing blanket diagnoses and treatments without so much as examining a patient is a wild and dangerous departure from the standard of care. These doctors do so, in their own words, to pursue "social activism" rather than patient care.
Dr. Paul Hsieh, co-founder of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine, spots an alarming trend: "[A] new form of medical ethics is being taught in medical schools that tells doctors to place the needs of 'society' ahead of individual patients. At best, it forces doctors to juggle the truth and the interests of their patients alongside 'social' considerations. At worst, it will give them license to sacrifice their professional integrity (and their patients' interests) in the name of 'society.' "
Americans should brace themselves for more social activism under Obamacare. Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama's choice to head Medicare, advocates the alarming notion that "this isolated relationship [between doctor and patient] is no longer tenable" without government intervention. Central planners will decide who is afforded treatment and how much, and their primary concerns will be dedicated to society rather than the patient.
One glaring problem, of course, is that "society" is in the eye of the beholder. The University of Wisconsin's government doctors ordained that the society of government schoolteachers should be served but the society of Wisconsin private-citizen taxpayers should not. And that is the very essence of Obamacare - under which the powerful and connected can divide America into two camps: those who will find favor and those who will not.
Ordinary Americans who play by the rules and don't have special political connections deserve to be a part of "society," too. Thus read one sign displayed by a hardworking American taxpayer on the streets of Madison last weekend: "I would've come yesterday, but I had to work."
Dr. Milton R. Wolf blogs at miltonwolf.com.
Howard Dean Bribes Wisconsin Fleebaggers to Stay Away and Not Vote – NoisyRoom
Howard Dean Bribes Wisconsin Fleebaggers to Stay Away and Not Vote
From: 1389 Blog – Counterjihad!
Yes, you read this correctly. Failed presidential candidate Howard Dean has collected a slush fund for the express purpose of bribing the “fleebagging” Wisconsin Democrat State Senators to remain in hiding and not report to the legislature to vote.
Without Howard Dean’s slush fund, at least some of those Democrat legislators would find it necessary to return to the legislature to pick up their paychecks in person, thus providing enough State Senators to form a quorum. A quorum is required for voting on the Budget Repair Bill proposed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker that will require public employee union members to contribute more toward their benefits and restrict their collective bargaining privileges. The Republicans have enough votes in the State Senate to enact that legislation without delay.
A recent article in American Spectator follows the money to expose the flagrant corruption associated with this slush fund. However, like many articles in the media and the blogosphere, it stops short of drawing the necessary conclusion from the facts that it has established. The article talks about this slush fund as though it were nothing more than a campaign contribution that is well over the legal limit in amount. The article even admits that there is no election coming up in the near future for which the “fleebaggers” would need to collect campaign funds. It also shows that the funds are instead being used for lavish travel expenditures, thus rewarding the “fleebaggers” for their gross dereliction of duty.
It is time to stop pussyfooting around and start calling things what they are.
This slush fund is no campaign contribution. It’s naked bribery. Howard Dean is paying the Wisconsin “fleebaggers” to stay away from the legislature so as to block the enactment of legislation that Howard Dean wants blocked.
Free Online Law Dictionary: Legal definition of bribery
The offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties.
The expectation of a particular voluntary action in return is what makes the difference between a bribe and a private demonstration of goodwill. To offer or provide payment in order to persuade someone with a responsibility to betray that responsibility is known as seeking Undue Influence over that person’s actions. When someone with power seeks payment in exchange for certain actions, that person is said to be peddling influence. Regardless of who initiates the deal, either party to an act of bribery can be found guilty of the crime independently of the other.
A bribe can consist of immediate cash or of personal favors, a promise of later payment, or anything else the recipient views as valuable. When the U.S. military threatened to cancel a Texas relocation company’s contracts to move families to and from military bases, the company allegedly gave four representatives in Congress an all-expenses-paid weekend in Las Vegas in January 1989, and $2,500 in speaking fees. The former president of the company was indicted by a federal Grand Jury in 1994 on bribery charges for both gifts.
Note that it is equally blameworthy to give or offer a bribe as it is to accept or solicit it.
The American Spectator: Howard Dean and the $100,000 Wisconsin Slush Fund
By Jeffrey Lord on 2.22.11 @ 6:09AM
You can call them “Dean Dollars.”
Former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, a one-time presidential candidate, is the founder of a group that by mid-day of President’s Day had raised over $100,000 in a slush fund to “back” the on-the-lam Wisconsin Democratic State Senators.
The Dean Dollars are being specifically funneled to the Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Committee (SSDC) — an apparent violation of Wisconsin election law that pointedly says, according to the Wisconsin Election Board’s Legal Counsel in a 2005 decision, that the “SSDC may not accept a contribution of more than $6,000 from a single committee in a calendar year.” (Note: the Election Board is now called the “Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.”)
The money, requested in an e-mail obtained over the weekend by The American Spectator, is being solicited in $14 dollar contributions through the Dean-founded million-member “Democracy for America” grassroots organizing group chaired by Dean’s brother Jim. There are no prohibitions on more generous donations of any amount. The funds are being collected through the left-wing “Act Blue” fundraising website, which identifies itself as “the online clearinghouse for Democratic action.”
The $14 dollar solicitation is symbolic — as in one dollar for every one of the fourteen Democrats in the Wisconsin State Senate. All of whom have now fled the state in a political battle royal over budget cuts and collective bargaining rights for public employees with the newly elected Republican Governor. On Monday, the Huffington Post quoted Senator Tim Carpenter, one of the fourteen, as saying of the decision to remain out of state: “We’ll be here until Gov. Walker decides that he wants to talk.”
Carpenter made no mention of who was paying his expenses.
The slush fund revelation comes on the heels of the discovery by both Fox News reporter Mike Tobin and the Wisconsin-based John K. MacIver Public Policy Institute of an organized effort by some Wisconsin doctors — who were deliberately handing out “doctor’s notes” to teachers feigning illness in order to protest the governor’s legislative plans. Which would be fraud, if proven in court. The Fox report uncovered at least one doctor connection to the presumably taxpayer-funded University of Wisconsin Family Medical Program. The MacIver video, posted over the weekend by my American Spectator colleague Philip Klein, is a particularly stunning depiction of both teachers and doctors quite publicly engaged in what appears to be outright fraud, a question raised by one reporter to an angrily defensive doctor on the MacIver video.
Question for you:
Would it be appropriate to call the FBI and ask them to investigate this matter further?
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