Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Breaking News: Scott Walker, Recycling In Close Proximity

Conservatives Use Language To Disguise

In its Wednesday email to the faithful, Wisconsin Club for Growth includes this line:

State Senator Glenn Grothmann (R-West Bend) is seeking cosponsors for a mild reform requiring circulators of recall petitions to provide a notarized statement verifying their identity, and stating that they personally gathered the signatures on the petition.

"Mild reform?"

Think about the language; why the need to qualify and downplay the "reform" as "mild?"

Could it be that the Club is trying to disguise the impact of the "reform" [sic], since adding any impediment to the recall process would be at odds with a long-standing right written into the Wisconsin State constitution?

And by the way, remember how Scott Walker sold his so-called budget-repair bill, the one that also removed nearly all collective bargaining rights from public employees? After refusing to negotiate?

He said it contained "modest, modest" proposals.

Two modests! There's your tip-off.

As in, "I really, really liked that meatloaf."

And how the time he told a Congressional hearing his union-stripping approach was "progressive?"

Forced on public employees and their unions, without negotiations.

When you take things away that have been around for more than 50 years, and do it as a one-sided power play, I believe the correct work is "regressive," especially in the state that gave the country the Progressive Party, magazine, movement, etc.

When these conservative politicians and advocacy groups speak, you have to look behind the words.

Cap Times Column Notes Scott Walker's Struggles With Truth-Telling

Former Capital Times editor Dave Zweifel points out Walker's year-long PolitiFact rating struggles.

For Walker, this is habitual behavior, and certainly odd and disturbing for the CEO of any large operation.

I appreciate his shout-out for my blog's focus on this Walker character issue, and I'm glad to see others joining the Huffington Post as it also recently mentioned the Walker/PolitiFact matter.

Walker Appointee Sanctions Workplace Discrimination Against Gays

Pretty shocking that Laurie McCallum, a long-time labor rights attorney, and spouse of former Gov. Scott McCallum, would vote as a Walker-appointed Commissioner on the State Industry and Labor Review Commission that it's OK to harass a gay employee at work.

The complainant in the case won because the other two Commissioners did not buy McCallum's argument, but who's to say that Walker can't find other appointees who would buy McCallum's distinctly un-Wisconsin approach?

Mining Bill Rushed Before Governor's Office, State Senate Goes Democratic

Republicans roll out their plan to turn over state waterways, Bad River Band wild rice growing areas and your Constitutional rights to enjoy them to polluters and special interests.

It's the Big Sellout.

Even though the US Army Corps of Engineers, with a major role to play in mining and other project-approval in Wisconsin. has warned the Walker administration in writing to go slow on major mining and other permit approval changes.

And the Bad River Band has met with Walker to express its opposition.

“The Band’s position on proposed iron mining legislation is that such legislation should be based on sound science and sound legal principles,” said [Tribal Council chair Mike] Wiggins.

“The Band opposes the proposals that were included in LRB 2035, which was leaked to the public in early 2011, to streamline and weaken the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) permitting process.”

Anybody listening?

Yet the rush to approve a bill to ease mining approvals comes after a mere one hearing in Madison - - plus a lot of talk about the need for thoughtful, careful study - - and also after a wasted, so-called Special Session on jobs the Legislature just closed after taking action on many non-jobs bills, including carrying concealed weapons into the Capitol, teaching abstinence in sex-ed classes and selling packed alcoholic beverages as early as 6 a.m.

The Legislature is simply following Walker's fear-driven orders, as he told the legislature a few weeks ago to hurry up, as the Journal Sentinel reported.

Does anyone still wonder why Walker, Scott Fitzgerald and the others are facing recall wrath?

Walker's Habitual Fact-Free Fibbing And The Talk Radio Effect

I'm still amazed that our Governor has had 37 statements vetted by PolitiFact, and 25 of them, or 68%, are rated "Mostly False," "False," or "Pants on Fire."

He got #25 on Nov. 15th:

Scott Walker

Fuzzy math turns reality on its head

Here's the complete scorecard, and he's had no ruling of "Mostly True," or "True" since May 8th.

Walker's statements by ruling

Click on the ruling to see all of Walker's statements for that ruling.

True5(5)

Mostly True3(3)

Half True4(4)

Mostly False7(7)

False15(15)

Pants on Fire3(3)

Even Huffington Post noted the core "False" rating about his collective bargaining plans - - the event that set the recall in motion and has roiled the state for nine months, and counting:

"I campaigned on (the proposals in the budget repair bill for Wisconsin) all throughout the election. Anybody who says they are shocked on this has been asleep for the past two years."

Scott Walker on Monday, February 21st, 2011 in a news conference

I've wondered why or how this could continue to play out this way, noting that just this Sunday Walker picked up his latest "False" rating, and I'm sticking with theory I wrote about a few months ago:

He's still in talk radio mode.

In the nearly eight years that he served as Milwaukee County Executive, Walker would often talk on local conservative talk radio air, particularly with AM 620 WTMJ host Charlie Sykes, and these appearances and the Q&A, such as it was, were basically Valentines during which Walker could just talk, talk, talk without any real challenge by the host.

And if there were mistakes, well, no harm, no foul.Here's a telling example:

The Name Of The MPS School Board President Is Not Barry Bonds

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Gov. Walker's Union-Busting Bill Challenged In Court

Two unions asked a Dane County Circuit Court to declare unconstitutional the controversial state law that erased most Wisconsin public employee collective bargaining rights.

Approval of the bill, or Act 10, is at the heart of the recall movement underway against Gov. Scott Walker, State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, and three other Republican Senators.

Below is the text of a news release about the court action issued by Lester Pines, lead attorney; a link to the Journal Sentinel's story from Monday evening is here.

November 29, 2011

Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) and Public Employees Local 61, AFL-CIO (Local 61) from Milwaukee today asked the Dane County circuit court to rule that Governor Scott Walker’s effort to gut the collective bargaining rights of municipal and school district employees violates the Wisconsin Constitution.

A copy of the filing is attached.

Today’s submission specifies how the law, known as Act 10, violates various provisions of the state’s constitution. It details how Act 10 violates municipal and school district employees’ rights to freedom of association and equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by Articles 1, 3, & 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution.

It also explains that the legislature passed Act 10 in violation of the Constitution’s limitation on special sessions of the legislature found in Article VI, Section 11 and overreached its authority under the Milwaukee Home Rule provisions in Article III, Section 11(1).

“Governor Walker’s attack on public employees was rushed through the Legislature without any consideration of the ways that Wisconsin’s Constitution protects the rights of all of Wisconsin’s citizens,” said Lester Pines, MTI’s attorney. “We are confident that Wisconsin’s courts will enforce those protections.”

Attorney Nick Padway, who represents Local 61, said: “Act 10 specifically violates that part of Wisconsin’s Constitution which allows the City of Milwaukee to set its own rules for how it wants to treat its employees. The Legislature had no business interfering with the City of Milwaukee’s decisions.”

The State has thirty days to respond to the unions’ motion.

For further information, contact:
Attorney Lester Pines
pines@cwpb.com
(608) 251-0101

Important DNR/Media Program This Thursday

Mark your calendars (and hat tip, www.wisconsinlakes.org):

Milwaukee Press Club's "Behind the Headlines" Luncheon with DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, and others:

Thursday, December 1 ~ 11:30am-1:30pm
Lake Express High Speed Ferry Terminal, Milwaukee

Wisconsin Lakes Policy Director Toni Herkert will join DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation Executive Director and former DNR Secretary George Meyer, and Scott Manley of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce on a panel at a Milwaukee Press Club's luncheon Thursday.

The four will be questioned on current events relating to natural resources by a panel of journalists, and it is sure to be an interesting and engaging discussion.

The event is open to the public ($25 for non-Press Club members); more information, or register online at www.milwaukeepressclub.org.

Know Your Wisconsin Recall Rights

Unless or until Republicans delete or degrade what the Wisconsin Constitution guarantees all citizens as recall rights, you might want to read an excellent posting from One Wisconsin Now that clearly states and explains the law.

Felony Deer Killings Bring Hefty Sentence

The perpetrator is already serving a longer sentence for OWI homicide.

This story had been a subject on this blog and I had intended to report the outcome.

Stick It To Madison

Mayor Paul Soglin says that state-imposed fiscal limitations will force the City of Madison to defer downtown public improvements, according to the State Journal.

Soglin, who has pushed to see the plan completed, said ambitious and perhaps costly recommendations for public improvements won't happen quickly.

"We've got a state government that doesn't appreciate the horrendous financial clamp it's put around our neck," he said. "I'm not going to encourage or hold out hope on implementing anything until we figure out a sound financial basis for operating our city."

I don't disagree, as Paul is clearly on the mark, but would take it a step further, as I had done more than a year ago to argue that Walker knows precisely what he is doing.

These fiscal limitations, along with voting and voter registration restrictions now in place to tamp down turnout in campus communities, are a deliberate partisan strategy to diminish Madison politically and economically to further embed one-party, Republican rule statewide:

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Walker, Neumann Take Aim At Madison
Running against Madison with its major university, and state payrolls, has been standard GOP playbook fare, but this year the Republican candidates for Governor especially have Madison in their sights.

Both Scott Walker and Mark Neumann oppose the expansion of high-speed Amtrak rail that would restore train service to Madison and better link the city to bigger economies in Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.

And both candidates support restrictions on stem cell research recently laid down by a Federal Judge that would cost that signature UW Madison scientific effort millions in grants and spin-off growth.

Republicans usually target the capital city, a Democratic stronghold, and the UW-Madison, to stir up the out-state base, but this time the candidates are aiming directly at Madison's jobs' base.

So there's your 2010 GOP gubernatorial campaign slogan:

'"Send me to Madison so I can wreck the economy."

Monday, November 28, 2011

Walker Recall Push Could Bring Down More Republican Legislators

With an evolving recall movement now about to enter a new year, Democrats can be feeling better and thinking bigger, given that they are reporting Monday night that volunteers jave collected more than 55% of the signatures needed to force a recall election on Scott Walker early next year, with the first two successful state senate recalls earlier this year having helped move the process to where it is today.

The likelihood - - the apparent certainty - that Scott Walker is going to end up on a recall ballot due to the success of the accelerating petition signature drive is bad news for four GOP state senators who are the subject of local recall efforts underway as we speak, simultaneously with Walker's, and who could be the newest dominos.

For the four in jeopardy, standing with Walker may be more easily said than done. Just ask Randy Hopper and Dan Kapanke, this summer's duo of recalled, full-fledged Senate GOP dominos.

Those lined up, and against whom signatures are also being collected, are:

Republicans know that recall sentiment is running against them, so they are rushing to the State Supreme Court - - where they have a sympathetic majority - - to ask that the redistricting plan that Republican legislators just wrote - - with all their partisan advantages, and state-paid lawyers, too - - go into effect early, and just in time for recalls.

That would allow the four Senators perhaps facing recall elections to run in districts just redrawn to boost the number of GOP voters - - but which Republicans had scheduled in the redistricting law to take effect for election purposes in November, 2012.

It's the latest Republican machination to stack the deck against Democrats, including fielding fake Democrats in the last round of recall elections to confuse voters, force primaries and extend Republican fund-raising time, and also hamstringing registration and election-day voting in the new Voter ID plan.

I predict all these schemes will back-fire, as people do not like their laws and rights chipped at or taken away - - and that includes the sneak attack on collective bargaining processes that Walker and his legislature unleashed after the 2010 election sneak that triggered recall fever.

Big Recall Signature Number Coming - - But Keep On Collecting

Many signatures will be challenged, so there is a need for far more than the 540,000+.

~~The buzz is that the signature count is more than half-way there.~~

Oops: Far more - - says the organizer tonight!

A United Wisconsin to recall Scott Walker
Over 300,000 signatures have been collected, friends. WOW! You amaze me. The momentum is high but we still have some formidable work to do. We need to continue to support one another, help in any way we can. Thank you everyone...let's double this number by mid December...or earlier!

And the momentum towards a million - - think about how many constituencies Walker has hurt - - will rock Fitzwalkerstan.

Giddy Newt Might Make Late-Night Celebratory Run To Tiffany's

Raising Cain is good news for Gingrich.

Here's The Perfect Great Lakes Holiday Gift

Important documentary:

Watch Instantly

iTunes

Netflix (USA)
Amazon On Demand (USA

Internet Movie Data Base

_____________________________

Conservation, Alternatives Ignored By Great Lakes Diversion Supporter

John Torinus weighs in.

Tommy In Rerun

Tommy's shopworn 'news' release about "Obamacare" has all the excitement of a washed-out "Dukes of Hazzard" rerun on late-night cable.

Please tell me this language was not writing-by-committee:

Whether the Supreme Court or an act of Congress leads to the demise of Obamacare - it must be sent to the ash heap of history. America has the greatest health care system in the world and it must be preserved and improved upon. Not destroyed.

And the release morphs into sheer hackery when Tommy-the-DC-lawyer/insider, who sits on too many health care and other business boards to remember, says a "marketplace approach" to health care delivery is his prescription for reform.

Now whom do you suppose that will help the most?

In Tommy's case, we may never know, as he has said, for now, he will sever only some of his corporate ties.

A Washington, DC non-profit watchdog group has put the number at 42:

Revolving Door Report

Washington, D.C. – Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released Revolving Door, a first-ever comprehensive look into the activities of 24 members of President Bush’s cabinet...

CREW’s newest report demonstrates that the “revolving door” remains open.

After leaving their government positions, many of these top officials joined the ranks of the companies they once regulated where they are highly compensated. In many instances, they have helped their new employers obtain lucrative government grants and contracts...

The most prodigious corporate adviser appears to be former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who has worked for 42 different companies since leaving the Bush administration.

Just what the Congress needs least right now: A member who has moved from the serving as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), to advising businesses that agency oversaw, to legislating with a direct effect on his former agency and businesses for which he worked.

And here's a bonus: Watch Tommy say he isn't going to Washington to just say "no," then have to admit to Mike Gousha that he's signed a "No New Taxes" pledge.

D'oh!

Here's a second bonus: A national conservative organization has endorsed Mark Neumann for the Senate seat and ripped Tommy for helping pass 'Obamacare.'

Go figure.

Notes And Sources For Your Brief Against Walker

Highlights of Walker low-lights:

* The case against Walker and more below to help you craft your own:

* Important numbers, from jobs to taxes to fibs.

* When Walker's PolitiFact Truthiness problems went national.

* Another, earlier archive, including Walker audio and video.

* The habitual finger-pointing and spin began at Marquette Universality in 1988.

* Wisconsin Republicans and Walker fully embraced recalls, but now seek to weaken it.

And here are what you could call recall bookends:

* An early warning on this blog, from Dec. 5, 2009, about Walker the Milwaukee County Executive:

Walker was never a philosophical or an actual urbanist - - let alone a pragmatic, down-to-earth, hands-on problem-solver - - though the territory and people he represented are urban and live in a particularly challenged environment, too.

He was and is a counterfeit leader, a political game-player, a place-holder at taxpayer expense looking to take as few risks as possible while timing his move up and calculating first and pre-eminently how every news release and utterance and semi-colon will fit into ideological templates and, someday - - sooner now rather than later - - into roughed-out ads.

Bad enough that he blew a seven-year chance to make a difference to people and institutions in the most populous county in the state, which also includes the state's biggest city, and its majority-minority populace.

But reason enough for the rest of us to ensure that adherence to self, worst-practices and benign - - make that willful - - neglect doesn't justify getting your ticket punched to the Governor's Mansion, lest "Stick It To Milwaukee" [explanation] becomes the Scott Walker-inspired new state slogan.

And from just yesterday:

PolitiFact on Sunday in the Journal Sentinel finds that Gov. Scott Walker played with data about school staffing to support a claim about state budget.

The PolitiFact conclusion:

Walker referred to school survey results, saying "the overwhelming number of districts saw that staffing was the same or greater."

But he cherry-picked figures in his favor, leaving out a key factor -- retirements -- that formed the basis of the survey’s conclusions on overall staffing reductions. When they are included, the survey actually shows the opposite of what he said.

We rate his statement False.
How many times will Walker embarrass himself and our state with behavior like this? The PolitiFact score sheet for Walker shows that 25 of 37 statements vetted were rated "Mostly False...False...or Pants on Fire," or 68%.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Pathology Or Propaganda; Neither Belongs In The Governor's Mansion

Walker's inveterate unfamilarity with the truth is getting serious. You can't have a chief executive whose vetted statements have the word "false" in the rating 25 of 37 times.

If government is supposed to be run as a business, show me a CEO wouldn't get tossed by the Board of Directors with a public statement record like that.

Whither Two Pending Investigations

It's quiet on the Walker John Doe.

And whatever happened to the probe into a fire this summer that destroyed several buildings in La Crosse, including one that house the offices of a state senate recall effort?

I sent an email of inquiry, below, to La Crosse Mayor Mathias Harter about three weeks ago, but didn't hear back:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 9:48 AM

To: harterm@cityoflacrosse.org

Good morning, Mayor;

Did your police or fire department(s) pinpoint a cause for the major downtown fire on July 30 that destroyed buildings and offices? I see this story about a determination of the point of origin - - http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_2d5c4a8e-c23a-11e0-ba36-001cc4c03286.html - - but no further news.

I write a political blog, The Political Environment, and want to make sure for an updating item I am writing about the fire that a cause has not been determined.

Thank you.

James Rowen

Another Day, Another Fresh PolitiFact "False" Rating For Scott Walker

PolitiFact on Sunday in the Journal Sentinel finds that Gov. Scott Walker played with data about school staffing to support a claim about state budget.

The conclusion:

Walker referred to school survey results, saying "the overwhelming number of districts saw that staffing was the same or greater."

But he cherry-picked figures in his favor, leaving out a key factor -- retirements -- that formed the basis of the survey’s conclusions on overall staffing reductions. When they are included, the survey actually shows the opposite of what he said.

We rate his statement False.

How many times will Walker embarrass himself and our state with behavior like this? The PolitiFact score sheet for Walker shows that 25 of 37 statements vetted were rated "Mostly False...False...or Pants on Fire," or 68%.

Pathology or propaganda? This is not politics as usual and represent unacceptable options for the people of Wisconsin.

Here's the bottom line underscoring Walker's inveterate relationship with facts and truth-telling:

Our governor has not had a "Mostly True," or "True" PolitiFact rating since May 8th, and now more than two-thirds of his ratings are "Mostly False" or worse, the record shows.

Walker's statements by ruling

Click on the ruling to see all of Walker's statements for that ruling.

True5(5)

Mostly True3(3)

Half True4(4)

Mostly False7(7)

False15(15)

Pants on Fire3(3)

Scott Walker, By The Numbers

With the Walker recall effort under way, and 540,208 signatures needed to force an election, I thought I'd put together some other key figures for recall advocates, too:

66% - - (Updated as of 11/27; Make that 68%) - - Number of PolitiFact statements vetted with the words "Mostly False," "False" or "Pants on Fire."in the rating.

2 - - Number of times PolitiFact found Walker falsely said the state was "broke."

$600 Million - - Value of wind farm projects now blocked in Wisconsin through Walker-imposed restrictions.

$800 million - - Approximate amount of Amtrak funding Walker returned to the federal government to fund rail projects in Wisconsin, including a Hiawatha rail line extension from Milwaukee to Madison to be built between 2010 and 2015.

4.732 - - Number of Hiawatha line construction jobs projected just for 2012.

9,700 - - Number of jobs Wisconsin lost in October.

49 - - Number of states that lost fewer jobs in October.

109 - - Number of additional days Wisconsin long-term unemployed residents were made to wait by state officials to receive federally-funded unemployment compensation extension.

$50 - - Price of admission to Walker-organized job summit, with other state officials.

$41.3 million - - Amount of tax increases on working poor in Walker's "no-tax-increase" 2011-2013 budget.

1 - - Number of bills passed separately by the Legislature or signed during or in the wake of Walker's just-concluded special session on jobs that covered the following issues: creating immunity for shooting intruders, teaching abstinence in sex-ed classes, using pupil test scores to discipline teachers, extending package liquor sales hours to 6 a.m. and carrying concealed weapons into the State Capitol.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Glenn Grothman Wants To Stop All This Democracy BS

The Wisconsin recall process has worked nicely for the current regime - - remember that Mark Neumann was involved in trying to recall both Democratic US Senators, and Scott Walker got on the road to the Governorship through a recall election win in 2002 to become Milwaukee County Executive - - but now that Walker is facing great recall energy statewide, West Bend Republican State Senator and Constitutional Rights' Denier Glenn Grothman wants to put a legal crimp in the process.

Recall by citizens in Wisconsin without limitation for cause is a right under the State Constitution.

I'm bold-facing a few words - - those Grothman wants to upend, doing his part over Republican Crybaby Weekend:

Here is the relevant language from the State of Wisconsin Constitution, Article XIII, Section 12, that gives the power to recall an elected official to the state's eligible voters, does not require the subject of the recall commit any specific threshold offense to justify it, and forbids the enactment of any law to "hamper, restrict or impair the right of recall."

Recall of elective officers. SECTION 12. [As created Nov. 1926 and amended April 1981] The qualified electors of the state, of any congressional, judicial or legislative district or of any county may petition for the recall of any incumbent elective officer after the first year of the term for which the incumbent was elected, by filing a petition with the filing officer with whom the nomination petition to the office in the primary is filed, demanding the recall of the incumbent.

And the final sub-section:

(7) This section shall be self−executing and mandatory.
Laws may be enacted to facilitate its operation but no law shall be enacted to hamper, restrict or impair the right of recall. [1923 J.R. 73, 1925 J.R. 16, 1925 c. 270, vote Nov. 1926; 1979 J.R. 41, 1981 J.R. 6, vote April 1981]

Wal-Mart Shopper Emulates UC-Davis Pepper Spraymeister

If the shopper gets charged with assault, what's the UC-Davis pepper spraying police officer to face for doing the same thing to peaceful, seated citizens?

As Distant Housing Prices Fall, Wisconsin To Expand Expensive Highways To Serve Them

I-94 to be reconstructed, and widened past Pabst Farms - - including a new interchange to the stalled subdivisions and a mall never built - - all the way to the Jefferson County line in a multi-billion-dollar splurge - - why?

One Wisconsin Now Fighting REAL Voter Fraud

Help the authorities find and convict the felons who are destroying recall petitions and you could share in a $10,000 reward.

Props to the organization, on whose issues/non-profit board I sit.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Some Questions Being Answered About the Walker Workforce Management Shuffles

A complaint and other problems surface.

Posting About Walker Now Rated #6 In All-Time Hits On This Blog

The posting - - (Updated, one half-hour after this post went up) the ~~6th~~ ~~4th~~ (Updated again, 3rd-most-viewed post, three hours after it went up) ~~is now as of Saturday morning the 2nd-most read item~~ the #1 posting ever on this blog out of more than 8,700 posts put up since early 2007 - - was about a Walker "False" PolitiFact claim hitting nationally through Huffington Post.

I love seeing Walker's false claim about campaigning on a union-busting platform featured in this Huffington Post story.

While Walker may have indeed run on a broader "what's right for Wisconsin" platform, his oft-repeated suggestions that his post-election moves are entirely in line with his campaign-era promises don't appear to stand up.

Politifact has deemed "False" Walker's claim that he campaigned throughout the election on even the most controversial proposals contained in the budget repair bill -- such as ending collective bargaining rights for public workers.

This has been a theme on this blog for months, and it needs to be highlighted in publicity about Walker and the need for his recall.

Pretty cool over a holiday weekend, which is usually a slow time for blogging.

And thanks to the Madison Capital Times for a link today, too.

Cry Me A River

Recall signature gathering on Black Friday upsets Walkerites.

Boo-hoo.

Milwaukeean Wins Environmental App Competition

More good news for my neighbor and local entrepreneur Adam Borut, your pocket book and the environment.

He's been featured on this blog a few times, beginning here, and later here, among others.

Twitter Has Walker's Spin About Leading US in October Job Losses

Wisconsin posted job losses for the fourth month in a row, and the October plunge led the nation.

I'd wondered how Walker would spin it.

And here 'tis, pulled off Walker's Twitter account as posted on his official website:

GovWalker From 2007-10, WI lost more than 150,000 private sector jobs. From Jan - Oct 2011, WI added more than 20,000 private sector jobs. yesterday · reply · retweet · favorite

Not mentioned: the Revenue Department's analysis that Walker's 250,000 new-jobs promise - - central to his narrow win over Tom Barrett - - by 2014 is unattainable.

Thankfully, It Wasn't A Concealed Handgun

Pepper spray is bad enough, but it looks like one Wauwatosa man literally dodged a bullet.

Over a parking space and some leaf-raking.

Just the sort of situation made for a concealed carry tragedy.

Deep Red Waukesha County Bans Guns In More Public Buildings

The Glockinistas will not like this, but give Waukesha County credit for some sanity.

Proven False Claim By Walker Featured In National Recall Story

I love seeing Walker's false claim about campaigning on a union-busting platform featured in this Huffington Post story.

While Walker may have indeed run on a broader "what's right for Wisconsin" platform, his oft-repeated suggestions that his post-election moves are entirely in line with his campaign-era promises don't appear to stand up.

Politifact has deemed "False" Walker's claim that he campaigned throughout the election on even the most controversial proposals contained in the budget repair bill -- such as ending collective bargaining rights for public workers.

This has been a theme on this blog for months, and it needs to be highlighted in publicity about Walker and the need for his recall.

Walker has had 36 37 39 42 statements vetted by PolitiFact in the last year, and ~~24 25~~ 27 28 of them are rated as "Mostly False," "False," or "Pants on Fire" - - the most for any Wisconsin politician. And a 70% "false"-at-some-level score. Not good.

Details and recent updates, here.

Furthermore, Walker has not been rated "Mostly True," or "True" by PolitiFact since May 8th, PolitiFact records show.

Is this the kind of person that should be leading this state?

Walker, Fitzgeralds, Jeff Stone Singing GOP Hymn, 'Mission Accomplished'

The headline on a fine Jim Stingl column says it all:

Sometimes it's tough to get ID for voting

The Data Are In: Fox News Misinforms, Creates Stupidity

When I see a TV set turned to Fox in a health club, or a highway fast-food restaurant or motel lobby, I think, "there goes the country...no wonder there's so much ignorance out there."

And now there's a study showing I've been right: People who watch Fox News [sic] are less informed with worse command of facts than people who watch no TV news, that study shows.

And coincidentally, A Fox 'News' case in point - - that makes the point, too:

Fox News' Megyn Kelly calls pepper spray a 'food product'

Published: Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 3:50 PM Updated: Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 4:02 PM

YouTubeA screen grab of a YouTube video shows a police office shooting pepper spray at Occupy Wall Street protesters who were peacefully sitting on the ground at the University of California in Davis.

...Here was Bill O'Reilly's defense of the university cops:

"I don't think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police," he said, "particularly at a place like UC Davis, which is a fairly liberal campus."

O'Reilly didn't bother to elaborate on why abusing violent force against liberal students might be more justifiable.

But he did ask anchor Megyn Kelly, the show's legal expert, if pepper spray "just burns your eyes, right?"

"It's like a derivative of actual pepper," she replied dismissively, in lieu of any actual scientific knowledge. "It's a food product, essentially."

So Kelly shouldn't think twice before putting it on her salad.

In fact, commercial pepper spray is at least 1,000 times "hotter" than a jalapeño pepper, Scientific American points out.

And police use high-grade sprays that are even more intense. Just because it's called "pepper spray" doesn't make it a home kitchen product -- this potent chemical has been linked to cardiac, respiratory and neurological problems and sudden death...

Yet meanwhile, Fox News viewers are being told there's no reason to question police actions. Which leaves us little cause to question, either, why a recent study found this network's audience so uninformed on major news events.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

No Blogging Today: Enjoy The Holiday, Friends And Family

I'm sure things will reboot themselves Friday.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Tim Cuprisin, My Friend And Newsroom Colleague, Has Lost His Battle With Melanoma

He passed away suddenly at his house earlier today, I am told.

What a loss. He was only 53 years old. I managed to have two great lunches with him in the last two weeks and he was so hoping to have Thanksgiving with his Chicago family tomorrow.

A brilliant and funny and talented guy, and a true friend.

[Updated Wednesday evening]: Nice tributes in the Journal Sentinel, and at OnMilwaukee.com, below: