Walker's Budget Attacks The Poor - - His Response, 'That's The Point'

The Wisconsin State Journal is reporting that Scott Walker's budget goes after tax benefits for low-income taxpayers while adding more breaks for business or upper-income filers.

Incredibly, Walker defends what anyone else would see as weighting a system even further against people at the bottom of the ladder:

"In an interview Friday, the Republican governor called the tax credit a “redistribution program” that involves “taking money from other taxpayers and giving it to individuals who have a limited tax liability.”

“This is reducing how much money other taxpayers have to give to those individuals,” Walker said.'"

But redistributing funds and benefits through the budget by adding capital gains tax cuts and other tax code adjustments for wealthier or corporate filers, and having already increased the deficit by $140 million with just the first of many new business tax breaks - - there's no contradiction there?

A hint of inconsistency for this Eagle Scout and preacher's son - - markers he features in his official state biography?

Apparently not, as the budget and his remarks to the State Journal show his thumb is firmly on the upper-income, corporatist side of the public policy and financing scale.

And since the budget assaults the middle-class, too, these groups are pitted against each other while the people at the top sot back and enjoy the show.

His budget will expand the gulf between people with resources and those without - - right down to whether there is food on the table.

I have been focusing on this class-based point for a while, noting the fundamentally unfair and punitive attitude that underlies these tax shifts, and I have been pointing out that Walker has additional cuts in his budget aimed right at W-2 Welfare-to-Work recipients and even kids in the Milwaukee Public Schools breakfast program.

Here is one posting that addresses all these matters.

To single-moms on W-2: $20 less a month will push you a little harder on that job search you've put off.

School breakfast? Hey, you piggy seven-year-old. Man up: Scott says wait for lunch.

Scott Walker Has Become Wile E. Coyote

Walker is at the point of no return, just like Wile E. Coyote when he discovers he's over the edge and there's nothing left but the fall.

Walker's $74 Million Cut To Milwaukee Schools' Teachers, Head Start, Nurses - - Even The Breakfast Program!

Thanks to Gretchen Schuldt over at Milwaukee Rising for posting a link to a PowerPoint about where Scott Walker's budget cuts to the Milwaukee Public School system could fall.

The PowerPoint, using data from Walker's proposed budget, discloses program and staff cuts - -  and even a 10% reduction in the school breakfast program.

That's the third dagger I see in the budget that Walker aims directly at poor, minority families - - the others being a) an increase the working poor would have to pay in state taxes because of a limitation Walker would impose on the use in Wisconsin of an existing federal tax break for low-income people - -  the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC) - - and, b) an arbitrary, $20 cut in all monthly W-2 welfare-to-work program checks.

This in a budget that increases the amount of public dollars shifted to private choice schools - - which upper-income residents will now be able to attend without means testing or other restrictions - - and which also subsidizes businesses and upper-income filers through greater capital gains write offs and other breaks.

Bottom line:

A state budget that deeply cuts educational, health, AODA and even meal programs in a public school system that is overwhelmingly minority and African-American, and in a city where the majority of residents are minorities, and in a state where minorities make up a disproportionate share of low-income residents - - is reprehensible.

And racist.

This isn't a rhetorical or even a political assertion.

Or an allegation about motives.

It's simply a factual description of the budget.

Walker Budget Low-Lights Collected, Below

 Here's a partial list of Walker budget low-lights.

Commentary abounds on the blog about his radical agenda.

And you can read the entire budget document through a link, here.

Attacking The Poor, Rewarding The Rich:

Attacking The Poor, II.

'Modest' UW Tuition Increase 

21,325 Positions Cut

Transit Funding Removed

Energy Conservation Programs Ended

More Millions For Highways, Road-Builder Donors

Public School Funding Moved To Private Schools 

State Support For Required Recycling Ended 

Birth Control Insurance Coverage Ended

Milwaukee Historian John Gurda Skewers Scott Walker

What a piece of writing and analysis by John Gurda in the Sunday "Crossroads" section of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A sample:

"Here, you sense, is a man who has not been wrong one day in his life, a true believer so sure of what's right for him that he just knows it's right for all the rest of us as well. He governs with a reptilian calm, unmoved by protest and unblinking in the bright light of national scrutiny. For a guy who won his job with barely 52% of the vote, Walker exhibits a chutzpah bordering on hubris, but no matter. In his monochromatic view of the world, no action is reckless if it's right.

"His campaign against public employee unions is absolutely in character: no trial balloons, no negotiations, just an imperial proclamation. Teachers don't need me to defend them, but why would you demonize the very people you expect to educate our entire next generation of citizens? Why would you treat them like parasites on the body politic, even after they've agreed to your demands? And why on Earth would you declare that police officers and firefighters are more important, unless your aim is to divide and conquer?

"In a matter of days, Walker has inflicted damage on the teaching profession that will take years to repair. The real-world consequences of his actions will include a rash of retirements and a drop-off in the number of young people entering the field. Is that the kind of change that a slim majority of state voters really had in mind when they elected him?

"Walker, in the end, does not represent any Wisconsin tradition that I recognize as mainstream"

Almost 88,000 People Have Read Rick Ungar's Online Forbes Piece

Pretty strong stuff for Forbes, and as the counter shows on the page, a heckuva lot of folks have read it.

Teaser:

"In what may be the result of one of the great political miscalculations of our time, Scott Walker’s popularity in his home state is fast going down the tubes.


"A Rasmussen poll out today reveals that almost 60% of likely Wisconsin voters now disapprove of their aggressive governor’s performance, with 48% strongly disapproving.

"While these numbers are clearly indicators of a strategy gone horribly wrong, there are some additional findings in the poll that I suspect deserve even greater attention.

"It turns out that the state’s public school teachers are very popular with their fellow Badgers. With 77% of those polled holding a high opinion of their educators, it is not particularly surprising that only 32% among households with children in the public school system approve of the governor’s performance...

"Can anyone imagine a politician succeeding with numbers like this among people who have kids...

"The data should also weigh heavily on the minds of each and every Republican gearing up to run for president in 2012 as the actions of Governor Walker, Kasich and anyone else planning to enter this fight are bringing Christmas to the Obama re-election campaign as they return rank and file union members to where they once lived  - the Democratic Party."

With Cautions, Washington Post Airs Rumors Of GOP Split With Walker

Passed on with all the appropriate disclaimers, too.

Regardless, people concerned with Walker's budget, his related legislation and imperious, extremist  behavior need to keep up the pressure.

Not Your Grandfather's Republicans In Wisconsin These Days

There's a rumor floating around - - with some justification given Scott Walker's disregard for wetlands' permitting and the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund - - that lands owned by the state for common use will be sold off to developers or loggers in a broad and single-minded push towards public asset privatization.

A little history here:

I was reading Edmund Morris' Colonel Roosevelt last night, and was struck by lines on page 35 about how the newly-retired President Teddy Roosevelt was disturbed to learn by letter while touring Africa in 1910 that his successor, Pres. William Taft, was unraveling Roosevelt's Progressive legacy.

And had removed Gifford Pinchot, a Roosevelt appointee and protege, as the country's chief forester.

Writes Morris:

"'We have fallen back down the hill you have led us up," Pinchot wrote, "and there is a general belief that the special interests are once again more in substantial control of both Congress and the Administration." He portrayed a well-meaning but weak president, co-opted by "reactionaries" careless of natural resources. Wetlands and woodlands that Roosevelt had withdrawn from commercial exploitation had been given back to profiteers."

Sounds like where Walker is headed - - enabled by a weakened Department of Natural Resources and a compliant legislature - - with lands set aside in the Stewardship Program named jointly for Republican Governor Warren Knowles and Democrat Gaylord Nelson.

Sidebar: I said in the blog post headline "not your grandfather's Republicans" because my grandfather M.G. was a devoted Teddy Roosevelt (TR) backer.

When TR's youngest son Quentin was killed during World War I in mid-July, 1918, my grandfather memorialized that tragedy by giving my father Hobart, born July 31, 1918, the middle name Quentin.

Milwaukee Right To Aid Growing Power

The City of Milwaukee is doing a smart thing by working with the home-grown and nationally-acclaimed Growing Power on a jobs and food program.

Walker And Nixon, Taping Problems. Honestly.

Scott Walker shares an unfortunate similarity to the late, disgraced, (and sorta recalled) President Richard Nixon.

An inveterate liar himself, Nixon was surrounded by loyal staffers and "Plumbers" who went off to prison, done in one and all by what was found on Nixon's secret audio tapes.

Walker has piled up PolitiFact truthiness outings at a jaw-dropping pace.

Like this one:

Scott Walker

As a political argument, it may work. But as a financial one? Experts say not so much

"We’re broke. We don’t have any more money."

And Walker himself disclosed that he and his coterie had discussed sending a local variation of 'plumbers' into the peaceful Madison protester ranks to cause trouble- - disclosed on a taped call when he seemed to be channeling a scheming Tricky Dick for the benefit of the fake David Koch.

Oh, the ironies!

Now there's this:

Walker had state officials last week tell a Madison judge that protesters had caused $7.5 million damage to the Capitol with poster tape.

And then a day later say, ah, disregard that claim. Even though it was central to their case that protesters disrespected the Capitol, and shouldn't be allowed to stay in the Capitol - - an argument which the judge affirmed in part when he said protesters could not stay there overnight.

By week's end, the state was saying damage could total less than 1% of their first figure.

Playing fast and loose with facts...as well as with Capitol images manipulated for television.

Seems Nixon and Walker have taping and honesty issues.

Coincidence?

Walker Sincerity, In 140 Characters

"GovWalker Governor Walker

"I was disappointed that we had to begin the process of layoff notifications because the Senate Democrats wouldn’t come home.

"6 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply"

Just Look What Collective Bargaining Leads To

Talking!

How 20th century is that?

Walker Budget Probably Wipes Out Urban Land Purchases Through Stewardship Fund

How?

By requiring that all lands acquired have "full public access."

That's code for allowing hunters, snow-mobilers and other users who conflict with bicyclists and hikers who frequent trails and open space in cities and the 'burbs.

It's great to have these lands available for hunting and fishing and motorized vehicle uses up North, but in the more urbanized areas, do we want snowmobiles flying across the land and bullets overhead?

Thanks To the Capitol Occupiers

You have done Wisconsin proud.

As did Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Albert.

And all the members of law enforcement, under difficult circumstances.

Not so the Grothmans, Walkers, Stones and Fitzgeralds, etc, et al. Your pettiness is indelible.

More Social Engineering In Walker's Budget: Birth Control Coverage Axed

You thought the Walker budget was all about the deficit? Now who told you that?

Walker?

And you listened? Here's another example of the policy-making, politics, and payback to the Right in the budget: ending the requirement that health insurers cover birth control.

Walker's Poll Numbers Still Dropping

Still stubborn, after all these weeks.

Outside Agitator Sighting Confirmed

Joe the Plumber brought in to speak to Walker supporters at Americans for Prosperity-sponsored Serb Hall Thursday.

Friday Night Massacre, Walker-Style, On Tap

If he indeed sends out the preliminary layoff notices he's threatened to release, look for Walker to do it at the close of business Friday, as the news cycle winds down. I'm sure no one in Madison will notice.

[Friday, late afternoon update: Apparently there's something of a delay, as some sort of (gasp!) negotiations have been allowed to transpire between Republicans and Democrats.]

We'll follow the rest of his weekend activities through the tweets someone writes for him:

Samples - -

GovWalker Governor Walker

Be safe on the roads tonight. There is plenty of slush on the ground.

20 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

GovWalker Governor Walker

Had some chili w/Tonette as we watched @AmericanIdol.

1 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

GovWalker Governor Walker

Got this sticker from a union print shop in Sheboygan. Thx guys! http://ow.ly/i/8KGi

3 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

 

 

$7.5 Million Dollar Capitol Damage Claim Quickly Dropped: Was That Made Under Oath?

Remember the state's claim in court that protesters had caused millions of dollars in damage to the State Capitol? With tape?

When I first read the state's claim, I said over on Facebook:

"Wait for the PolitiFact-checking. These people have no credibility."

Too bad - - the state beat PolitiFact to it, at its new, similar service: LieConfesser.

Walker Created The Mess, And He Can Fix It

I draw on my work in media for many of these here blog posts, and also on my time in government - - having worked as chief of staff, deputy or administrative assistant to three elected officials, and in offices in two Wisconsin city halls, state government in Madison and even in lesser positions on Capitol Hill, too.

Seen a lot. Done a bit - - so here's some free advice for Gov. Walker:

Stop acting like you're starring in "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight."

I mean, how many times have you heard your talker buddy Jeff Wagner say on WGOP WTMJ radio, "just because you can do something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do?"

People in elected offices, and their staffs, have to be, first and foremost, problem-solvers.

Problems come out of nowhere - - like attack planes flying under the radar towards a solitary cruiser, maybe even one that's dead in the water - - upsetting daily agendas and long-range plans and, sometimes, like right now, bearing devastating consequence.

So the worst role to play is that of problem-creator, which is just what Gov. Walker, his staff, and legislative allies are doing - - from "dropping the bomb" to closing the Capitol to sending out the cops.

It's self-destructive.

It's antithetical to governing.

It poisons the political environment near and far, now and down-the-road.

It takes a leader to turn the ship around. It's been done.

I can remember being in one elected official's office - - and I will disguise this a bit so no actual politicians are injured - - when that person was having a hell of a hard time winning public support on a matter of some genuine importance; the impasse - - the mess - - was also blocking the resolution of other key issues.

Basically, it was a shi*storm.

In walked the elected official, saying simply, without introduction or further ado, "get me out of this," and walked out.

That was all it took: the staff went to work; channels of communications were energized; positions were altered; a logjam was broken and life went on.

Walker needs to take that first step, and be afraid of changing his mind or being called a wimp.

He needs to redo the so-called budget-repair bill and make iron-clad promises that portions of his budget will be excised, or debated separately, after hearings.

If he can't take the first step, he'll stay in a box of his creation and definitely be recalled.

As he should be.

Already Blocking Wind Turbines, Walker Goes After Energy Conservation

Mike Ivey does a nice job laying out where in his budget Scott Walker wants to further guarantee that we burn more fossil fuels sold by the energy interests who helped put him in office.

Not of that silly conservation planning, gasoline-reducing programs for Wisconsin - - as gas heads for the stratosphere again.

Jeff Stone Disqualifies Himself As Milwaukee County Executive

Greendale Republican Assemnlyman Jeff Stone, a candidate for election to replace Scott Walker as Milwaukee County Executive, manages to tell voters in a few words to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he does not have the leadership prerequisites - - such as independent judgement, principled stands, a spine - - to lead the County, or much of anything:

"Stone said Thursday that although he voted for Walker's budget-repair bill and its elimination of much of the collective bargaining for public unions, he didn't agree with those provisions.

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

 Chris Abele is the far better choice.

Scott Walker's Finest Budget Fix: The $20 Teachable Solution

And you say Scott Walker's budget dumps on education!

Wrong.

He may not have finished his degree at Marquette University, but the man is a teacher.

The Walker budget narrative explains without a whiff of paternalism how the Teacher-In-Chief wants to make Wisconsin's poor in the W-2 program grasp the complicated but important relationship between motivation, personal responsibility, job success - - and fasting.

Walker knows you don't want to get out in the job market with a full belly. You gotta be a little hungry for work - - well, actually maybe really hungry - - to sniff it out and land that job.

And the one-step Walker life lesson only costs $20!

It's right there in the budget, on page 65, in the "Health and Human Services" section:

"To further encourage W-2 recipients to recognize that the goal of W-2 is for participants to secure unsubsidized employment, reduce the monthly benefit check by $20."

Right: Walker knows that by taking away that $20 bucks worth of luxuries every month, like that cow's milk by the gallon, and imported canned tuna fish from the ocean and macaroni with cheese, he'll light a fire under those welfare queens so they find a full-time job.

And Pater Walker is sending that same message of frugality and accountability to the kids these 'parents' so irresponsibly addicted to food, even in childhood: just because there's peanut butter in the house, little mister, doesn't mean you get sliced bread so you can make one of your fancy sandwiches.

Who do they think they are: people in River Hills or Chenequa who have been cooling their heels and waiting for that capital gains exclusion on Wisconsin investments to finally hit 100%?

Walker's Tax 'Reforms' Hurt Working Poor, Reward Businesses, Higher-Earners

Section G, page 23 of Scott Walker's proposed budget - - "Revenue and General Fund Taxes" - - offers perhaps the starkest contrast on one page in the entire document.

In this section, capital gains on investments held for five years in Wisconsin are to be 100% tax-exempt; capital gains will allowed to be deferred for Wisconsin-based businesses.

And allowing business to expand the ability to carry forward losses will save estimated $47 million over the biennium.

So how do you make up for that $47 million loss, not to mention the capital gains taxes not collected, especially with all the hand-wringing over budget deficits, red-ink, etc.

Drop down a few paragraphs and get to the section about Wisconsin's working poor.

Walker wants to "reduce the percentages of the federal earned income tax credit" that the working poor can claim on their State of Wisconsin returns.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a credit for working people, not freeloaders - - so Walker's budget means they get less of the credit allowed by the feds and thus pay more into the State Treasury.

How much is to be squeezed from the working poor?

$41.3 million.

Hey - - Not much off what businesses will save through some of the breaks listed in the same budget section.

So Walker wants to raise poor people's taxes, drive up their bus fares...this budget is a declaration of war against Wisconsin's most vulnerable residents, and certainly against the City of Milwaukee, a low-income and transit-dependent community.

Civil rights lawyers must be seeing this.

State Police Leader Says GOP Resolution To Arrest Democratic Legislators "Insanely Wrong"

Have you ever seen a headline and statement like this?

"State police leader says Senate resolution is ‘insanely wrong’"

Made on behalf of 11,000 Wisconsin police officers?

And in a business publication, to boot?

It all started when Republican Senators voted to send out police to haul back absent Democratic Senators, by force, if necessary. More here.

Madison Attorneys Allege Illegal Conduct By Republican Legislative Leaders

Madison attorneys Lester Pines and Susan Crawford are circulating a memo cataloguing Constitutional, statutory and rule violations committed by Republican legislative leaders since Senate Democrats left the state to prevent a vote on Gov. Walker's budget-repair bill.

Below is the memo's text:

TO:        Interested Parties
       
FROM:    Attorneys Lester A. Pines & Susan M. Crawford

DATE:    March 3, 2011

Wisconsin State Senate Lacks Authority to Hold Members in Contempt and Order Their Arrest
       
    The Wisconsin Constitution absolutely prohibits members of the Wisconsin Senate from being arrested for a non-criminal offense. The failure or refusal of a senator to attend a session of the senate is not a crime. Nor is it in contempt of the Senate. Moreover, the Senate’s authority to cite any individual for contempt is limited to those offenses listed in Wis. Stat. §13.26(1), none of which have been committed by any of the absent senators. The Wisconsin Senate’s action today in citing fourteen of its members for contempt for their refusal to attend the Senate’s sessions and to issue warrants for their arrest has no basis in the law of this state.

    Each house of the Wisconsin Legislature may “compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.” Wis. Const. Art. IV, §7.  However, the Wisconsin Constitution confers on each legislator a broad privilege from arrest: 

Members of the legislature shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest; nor shall they be subject to any civil process, during the session of the legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session.

        Wis. Const. Art. IV, §15. 

Thus, while the Wisconsin Constitution authorizes each house to penalize its members in order to compel their attendance, this power must give way to the constitutional protection bestowed on each member privileging them from arrest or civil process. 

This privilege protects members of the legislature from arrest or civil process, except in criminal cases.  State v. Burke, 258 Wis.2d 832, 653 N.W.2d 922 (Ct. App. 2002).

None of the fourteen absent senators has been charged with a crime. Nor has any crime occurred.  The Wisconsin Senate has absolutely no authority to order any of its members arrested or taken into custody in order to compel their attendance.

    Likewise, the Senate’s authority to find a person in contempt is limited by statute. Section 13.26 of the Wisconsin Statutes provides that:

    Each house may punish as a contempt, by imprisonment, a breach of its     privileges or the privileges of its members; but only for one or more of the     following offenses:

(a) Arresting a member or officer of the house, or procuring such member or officer to be arrested in violation of the member’s privilege from arrest.

(b) Disorderly conduct in the immediate view of either house or of any committee thereof and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings.

(c) Refusing to attend or be examined as a witness, either before the house or a committee, or before any person authorized to take testimony in legislative proceedings, or to produce any books, records, documents, papers or keys according to the exigency of any subpoena.

(d) Giving or offering a bribe to a member, or attempting by menace or other corrupt means or device to control or influence a member’s vote or to prevent the member from voting.

(2) The term of imprisonment a house may impose under this section shall not extend beyond the same session of the legislature.

    Wis. Stat. §13.26 (1) (emphasis added). 

    None of those offenses has been committed by any of the absent senators.  In fact, were one of the absent senators to be arrested on a warrant issued by Senator Fitzgerald, that action would violate Wis. Stat. §13.26(a) and subject him to being held in contempt of the Senate.

Notably, §13.26 authorizes the order of contempt and imprisonment only of third parties. It does not authorized such an order against members of the legislature  It is consistent with, and implicitly acknowledges, the privilege from arrest bestowed on members of the legislature by the Wisconsin Constitution.

    The Senate Rules proscribe the lawful procedure by which members may be compelled to be present.  Senate Rule 8 authorizes the Sergeant at Arms to “proceed to find and bring in such absentees” upon the Senate’s call to the house.  Neither the Senate Rules, the Wisconsin Constitution, nor the Wisconsin Statutes authorize the sergeant at arms to direct law enforcement to arrest a member, under threat or show of force, to compel the attendance of the member.  

    While the Senate may lawfully impose penalties on its absent members, and may direct the Sergeant at Arms to proceed to find and bring in such members, the Senate has no authority to issue a warrant for the arrest of its members.

For further information contact:

Lester A. Pines
Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP
122 West Washington Ave.
Suite 900
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 251-0101 (office)
(608) 219-1137 (cell)
(608) 251-2883 (fax)

Headline: "Constitution Sighted, Cited In Madison; Capitol Reopened To Pesky Public"

Sub-headline:

'Walker aides, supporters surprised by judge's discovery."

OK - - a bit of parody here, but you get the point.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Albert's Thursday night order reads:

"Based on the hearings before the court on March 1, 2011, through March 3, 2011, and the court having concluded that the current Department of Administration policy regarding access to the State Capitol violates the State Constitution and that unauthorized materials and people remaining in the State Capitol beyond closing each day are in violation of state law, now therefore, is it ordered that the defendent DOA shall do the following: [emphasis added]

1. DOA shall immediately enforce its inherent authority pursuant to Admin. Chapter 2, including, but not limited to, taking such action as allowed under law to remove unauthorized materials and people remaining in the State Capitol after 6 p.m. today.

2. By 8 a.m. March 8, 2011, DOA shall open the State Capitol to all members of the public and rescind the access policies in effect on Jan. 28, 2011.

This order shall remain in effect until further order consistent with the court's decision of March 3, 2011."

Breaking News: People Enter The Capitol In Madison! Outrageous.

Haven't you heard? The Capitol is supposed to be closed to the public so Scott Fitzgerald can issue orders quietly to his flying squads, and as Walker's new Department of Privatization converts it into an office park.

It will be known either as Papers Please Arms, Walker Acres, or Down Towne Square, LLC.

"Law And Order" Green-Lights First Episodes Of "Republican Special Overkill Unit"

That's what my Hollywood sources are reporting, and look what they have to work with:

Cops to the Capitol, stat!

State Patrol to drag in Democrats, dead or alive!

Outbreak of prank calls: arrests needed!

Dress codes need enforcement, by any means necessary.

DNR wardens and National Guards to the state prison pods!

Next Walker/Fitzgerald overreach: conscription.

YouTube Audio Of Wisconsin Republican State Senator Ripping Walker

Dale Schultz. Needs support, and allies.

Walker, In Scripted Step Two Of Negotiating 101, Needs Shove Back

Scott Walker agrees to meet with Assembly Democratic legislative leaders after two months of "No," and giving notice - - "dropping the bomb" - - for the destruction of collective bargaining, Democratic accomplishments and public services as we know them.

Basically, Democrats are getting a meeting with a guy who has been behaving imperiously and speaking falsely (repeatedly) while saying, in effect, "I am destroying you. And have the power to do it."

Regardless of the meeting outcome - - and I don't care if Walker shows off his Charm School Leadership diploma with the full campaign-trail twinkle in his eye  - - the answer from voters has to be, "We won't negotiate to allow you to destroy us now, or more slowly, or more pleasantly. We are recalling and defeating you."

For Foot-Stamping Republicans, What's Next: Bounty Hunters? Rendition?

How about tar-and-feathering...or the stockade...as Senate Republicans escalate their screechy capitol punishment aimed at Democrats who refuse to vote away working people's rights.

Republican Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald - -


wants them brought back "with or without force," The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

"The resolution says if Democrats do not return to the chamber by 4 p.m. Thursday, they are in contempt of the Senate and Fitzgerald shall order Senate Sergeant at Arms Ted Blazel to "take any and all necessary steps, with or without force, and with or without the assistance of law enforcement officers, by warrant or other legal process, as he may deem necessary in order to bring that senator to the Senate chambers so that the Senate may convene with a quorum of no less than 20 senators."

Walker's "Modest" UW Tuition Increase? I'm Hearing 16%

As we are learning from Gov. Pinocchio, when he says "modest," you have to hear "extreme."

In fact, when he says virtually anything, think the opposite.

His budgeting plan "reform" for public employees was "modest" - - really, really modest" - -  before, as Walker more truthfully bragged in private (oops) to the fake David Koch, "we dropped the bomb."

His budget said the expected UW tuition increase is "modest" (page 13) - - in a document he lauds for no tax or free increases (page 5, see the spin?) - - but the figure of 16% is floating around.

Let's say it's half that. Does 8% seem "modest," when inflation is running at what, 1-2%?

More Fact-Checking Required, As Scott Walker #1 Talking Point - - "We're Broke" - - Gets "False" PolitiFact Rating

Gov. Walker has made so many statements rated "False" that Jon Lovitz could reprise his "Pathological Liar" character as Walker for "Saturday Night Live," but getting rated "False"by PolitiFact for repeating "We're Broke" on national television and just about everywhere else over the past few weeks takes the cake.

We're not broke - - it's Walker whose internal compass and believability is broken.

Here is an entry point for Walker's already substantial list of "False" or "Pants on Fire" statements.

It is time for mainstream media to go all the way back to the beginning, do some serious digging and question Walker harder on exactly what happened at Marquette University when his student party got caught in some dirty tricks.

The Marquette student paper's account was cited in this National Journal story; rumors about Walker's years at Marquette - - he did not graduate, saying instead he took a good job with the American Red Cross - - have swirled for some time:

"His sophomore year, Walker ran for president of the Associated Students of Marquette University (ASMU, the former title for Marquette Student Government). He was accused of violating campaign guidelines on multiple occasions.

"The Tribune reported then that he was found guilty of illegal campaigning two weeks before his candidacy became official. Later, a Walker campaign worker was seen placing brochures under doors at the YMCA. Door-to-door campaigning was strictly prohibited.

"Walker initially denied this but later admitted to the violation, which resulted in lost campaign privileges at the YMCA.

"In the run-up to election day, the Tribune’s editorial board endorsed Walker’s opponent John Quigley, but said either candidate had the potential to serve effectively.

"However, the Tribune revised its editorial the following day, calling Walker “unfit for presidency.” The column cited Walker’s distribution of a mudslinging brochure about Quigley that featured statements such as “constantly shouting about fighting the administration” and “trying to lead several ineffective protests of his own.”

"The revision also expressed disappointment in Walker’s campaign workers reportedly throwing away issues of the Tribune after the endorsement was initially made.

"Walker dismissed this, saying he had no knowledge of what his supporters did, according to a Tribune article from February 25, 1988."

 

Wisconsin Republicans Embarrass Themselves On National Cable Shows Wednesday

State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin), got her name mispronounced by Stephen Colbert, but her silly bill to criminalize Bart Simpsonesque prank calls was accurately described, and suitably mocked, on "The Colbert Report."

Only one response to that.

Ditto...no mega dittos...to State Sen. Glenn Grothman, who chewed gum or sucked on a sour ball during MSNBC's "The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell."

The lure of televised face time, even on a hostile program, was so irresistible that it led Grothman to sit and chew or suck on whatever was in his mouth while four regular, intelligent Wisconsin Capitol protesters pounded him verbally into submission for characterizing State Capitol occupiers as "slobs."

With friends like these, Scott Walker needs no enemies.

Mike Huebsch: Clear Sign Of Bad Timing

Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary, on behalf of Gov. Walker,  told a Madison judge Tuesday that the display of "angry, disdainful signs" was one reason that protesters should be denied access to the State Capitol.

Mean signs? Really? Should we pull up the Tea Party photo album?

No need - - as Wednesday the US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that truly angry, disdainful signs displayed weirdly and offensively by anti-gay protesters at US military soldiers' funerals is legally protected free speech under the US Constitution.

Huebsch picked the wrong day to complain about signs.

Another miscalculation by the Walker Gang, and for now, the Capitol remains open - - though Huebsch and Co. , in slowing down the flow of people through the doors, seem to playing fast and loose with the word "open."

Walker Budget, With A Single Clause, Sets UW-Milwaukee On Privatization Course

Page 13: In a budget section with the Orwellian title, "Enhance Higher Education," Scott Walker springs this modest little surprise:

"Directs the UW System to develop plan to transition UW Milwaukee into a private authority."

And there's no policy in the state budget?

Sidebar: One student website has a discussion about whether the word "private" is a mistake, or a Freudian slip.

I'd add another option: a Koch-inspired fantasy.

Priiiiiiiiivatize!

Only the Walker people know.

If it's an error, I'd say it's a rather huge one.

If it isn't, it's a rather huge policy shift.

How The News Moves These Days

Here's a national transportation website with news about Walker's transportation spending increases and his cuts to transit.

Walker Budget To Cause Layoffs In Rural Waukesha County

Good-bye Ethan Allen School for Boys, a juvenile justice facility at Wales, as I reported earlier.

The workers are stunned. The plan is bad for them, the kids sent there and the community.

Like others, Walker gave no real warning. He spent a lot of time in Waukesha County talking "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Not "layoffs, layoffs, layoffs - - including you!"

I'd love to know if any of them voted for Walker because they thought he'd reduce their taxes, or because they thought he'd only go after those evil Democrat school teachers.

National Watchdog Group Rips Walker's "Payback" Budget

Our Emperor's no-clothing look is getting national exposure.

GOP Senate Leadership Comes Up With New Small-Minded Plan: Fining Absent Legislators

Without a note from their mom, or a doctor, absent members can now be fined by Republican leader and Scold-in-Chief Scott Fitzgerald $100-a-day.

This small ball small-mindedness is aimed at the absent Democrats, but here's the facts:

Legislators are not required to go to the Capitol. There's no law that says they need to be there.

Attendance varies; most legislators show up regularly, and some have been known to drop in even when their house is in recess to collect a per diem, $88 tax-free expense payment.

Elections are when attendance is sorted out.

The State Senate right now is in the hands of amateurs.

Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll - - More Bad News For Walker

The Great Miscalculator may go into the labor organizing pantheon of heroes.

As Predicted, Walker's PR Machine Gave False Impression Of State Capitol Visitors

I had said Walker's closing of the Capitol was a PR stunt to bring in ties-and-heels set and guarantee a sanitized view for the uninformed about who's been at the Capitol lately.

He made his propagandized appearance, all right, and, as documented, it sure was All Right.

Can this man embarrass the Great State of Wisconsin any further?

Here Is A Link To Walker's Budget

And every last scrap of his "modest" plans to cut local schools, environmental protections, clean rivers and lakes, transit, social services, drug and alcohol education for children, the Ethan Allen School for Boys, UW system excellence, local governance home rule, capital gains taxes for WI businesses, and anything else that his corporate masters expect.

http://www.doa.state.wi.us/debf/execbudget.asp?locid=166

Elections Have Consequences - - Recalls Against GOP Senators Announced

Scott Walker keeps organizing for Democrats.

Wall Street Journal, Non-Partisan State Official Debunk Wisconsin's Imminent Fiscal Peril

Walker shamed again.

Walker, Barbour, Huckabee And Fox News (Sic) Flunk Truth Tests

Gentlemen of The Far Right: What's up with the wavy lines on your lie detectors?

*  Scott Walker has recently made six statements rated as "false" or "pants on fire" by PolitiFact.

*  I'd add his description of "modest" to his union-busting budget-repair bill to his record, too.

*  Now we have Walker's Mississippi counterpart Haley Barbour claiming Medicaid recipients are driving to pharmacies in their BMW's, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, now a Fox News entertainer, claiming falsely that Barack Obama was raised in Kenya.

*  Fox just the other day ran footage of civil unrest in Madison - - but when did that strain of palm trees get planted downtown you can see in this video that can withstand Wisconsin winters?

Can anyone on the right these days be honest?

Chamber Of Commerce Turns Cartwheels Over Walker Budget

The Metropolitan Milwaukee (note the word order) Chamber of Commerce has become a partisan mouthpiece for Republican Scott Walker.

It raised big money used in Walker's campaign for Governor against the city's Mayor, Tom Barrett, then ran and hid when their boy killed the high-speed Milwaukee-Madison rail plan and the Talgo train-making jobs landed for Milwaukee's low-income 30th St. Industrial Corridor - - helping make a mockery of the word "Commerce" in their name and in Walker's "jobs, jobs, jobs" rhetoric, too.

Now MMAC President Tim Sheehy is blowing a sloppy wet kiss Walker's way with a news release lauding Walker's budget that shamelessly clucks over the group's class-warfare winnings.

Says Sheehy, larding on the talking point cliches, "I am extremely pleased that Governor Walker has been willing to make the tough choices today that will help build a brighter tomorrow for Wisconsin job creators."

The words "refreshing" and "honest" also appear in the statement.

Here is the link to the statement, and below are low lights of the MMAC's tacky celebration while people with far fewer resources and privileges remain flattened.

• Tax relief - Mitigating the fiscal damage done to companies by combined reporting changes imposed last legislative session; encouraging investment in Wisconsin’s economy though Capital Gains Tax exemptions; strengthening job attraction tools like the Angel Investment Tax Credit and Jobs Tax Credit; and placing limits on property tax increases.
• Education – Increasing the availability and flexibility of innovative, high-quality educational options in Milwaukee and the rest of the state.
• Transportation – Accelerating construction and expansion of the Zoo Interchange; investing in Wisconsin’s freight rail infrastructure; and maintaining the state’s commitment to passenger rail service in the Milwaukee to Chicago corridor.

Walker Is Giving Away What Isn't His To Take

When reading Walker's budget - - with its emphasis on privatization and sops to private interests - - capital gains tax breaks, a new, $200 million State Commerce Department and Glee Club, revenue shifts to choice schools, more millions to the road-builders, but deep cuts to local governments and higher education, and all sorts of social safety net and justice programs  - -  it felt like his corporate sponsors and the think-tanks they finance had finagled a kind of private equity buyout or takeover of public sector's resources - - our common assets.

Then it occurred to me that that was the wrong analogy.

There's a takeover proposed, and already underway - - but no buyout: we're getting nothing back except grief, pain, layoffs, and fewer rights.

It's not a buyout - - it's a giveaway of common resources and, equally outrageous, a giveaway of private assets, like careers, paid-for educations, family budgets, and the like.

Walker is engineering this gift in exchange for past and future political considerations and contributions from his contributor patrons: corporate CEO's, wealthy right-wing ideologues and self-serving libertarian power-hoarders.

One word for this is theft.

Walker's Budget Cuts More Than 20,000 Positions

Position cuts (including vacancies), found in the Budget document's small print, appendix 5: (Read - -  Madison wipe-out):

The leaders in shared (sic) sacrifice: UW- System, 17,420, UW-Madison, 2,609, Corrections, 332, Workforce Development, 267, DNR, 67.

Total: 21325.

Walker Delivers The Dagger

The Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, The Reason Foundation, are all funded by the Right's super-wealthy, free-market financiers - -  including the Koch Brothers.

These conservative/libertarian/small government organizations and funders have for more than a decade provided the inspiration, training, personnel - - Walker's point person on Medicaid and health-care program cuts, Dennis Smith, was a Heritage Fellow - - - - and policy details to inform Scott Walker's anti-collective bargaining, anti-worker budget 'repair' bill.

And now also his full-blown, two-year radical state budget that will leave the rich even richer, the poor even poorer, and the middle-class struggling for survival, begging for an $8-an-hour wage, and scanning job websites for better opportunities in Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta, or Timbuktu.

He's one of their most important creations. He is and will continue to do their self-interested, dividend-driven, tax-free bottom-line bidding, and he is hell-bent to dismantle middle-class life in an entire state - - from eliminating public transit to public schools to healthcare to environmental protections to common space and wetlands that developers will be handed first.

(Some links and summaries, here: I know there's a lot to digest.)

For Walker, this is nothing new: His ill-fated plan to privatize Mitchell International Airport was right out of the Reason Foundation's playbook; expanding school choice is one of their big issues.

Public institutions? Open space? Union wages and family-supporting jobs?

Who needs 'em.

We're in first place as of today in the right-wing sponsored domestic race to the bottom.

Walker will get kudos from Reason when he endorses so-called HOT lane road tolls (he'll call them user fees, paid by motorists with money who choose the fast lane), and paves the way for private investors to borrow for, build, own and profit from them.

They'll get tax breaks along the way, so the circle and public contribution, too, are closed.

Mark my word: Walker will bring highway privatization, like education privatization and wetlands privatization, along with Right-to-Work/bargaining free workplaces, to Wisconsin.

While everyone else is taking cuts, he's shoveling $200 million to the new private-sector dominated Department of Commerce (yeah, there's your small government in action - - in reality, a new welfare state for corporations and top-earners) and is looking to put UW-Madison Campus under a private-sector dominated new board, too.

The far-right- - with unlimited money, legions of ideological foot-soldiers and a beady-eyed zealot named Walker nominally in charge - - has captured Wisconsin.

Recall, less than a year, and counting.

Walker: "One And Done."

After Walker's Budget, The Tasks Are Obvious: Abele In, Walker Out

The Tasks:

*  Plan for the recall.

I offered a way to raise money, and I meant it.  In a year, for Walker - - "One and Done."

*  Elect Chris Abele as Milwaukee County Executive, or we will end up with Walker 2.0, a/k/a/ State Rep. Jeff Stone, (R-Greendale), as County Exec - - who supports Walker right down the line and will serve Walker first, not Milwaukee County residents.

Walker's proposed budget is venal payback for his eight years in office at the County Courthouse: not one person in the City of Milwaukee and throughout the County should reward him with anything but service in his recall and defeat, and also defeat in the campaign underway right now to install his clone in the County Exec's office.

*  Protect the Democratic 14.

* Organize, organize, organize.

Compilation of more detailed posts about the budget, here.

Walker Budget Eliminates Transit As Transportation, So No Dedicated Money From Gas Taxes

In an enormously destructive move, Scott Walker's budget removes transit as a transportation category - - per Walker, transportation budgets are now the private preserve of the road-builder - - so "financing transit operation aids from the general fund will begin in fiscal 2012-2013."

That means bus systems will have to fight with other services for state aid in a shrinking state budget - - while highway aids gets a $410.5 million increase.

Look for local bus systems to raise fares, cut services, lay off drivers, then die.

We'll be arriving at the Walker Promised Land, where every low-income person has a car, insurance, money for maintenance, repairs and fuel.

As gas goes to $4.

Something like 30% of City of Milwaukee residents do not have access to a car, and rely on the bus system - - transit, only since rail has been disallowed by Republicans since light rail planning was killed fifteen years ago.

Like the rest of his budget which hammers public schools and social services, this budget is aimed squarely at lower-income Wisconsinites while rewarding big donors, like road-builders.

And it makes mockery of Walker's campaign rhetoric, especially these laugh-lines now:

"Strip policy and pork projects from the state budget.  The budget process should be about funding essential government services based on the taxpayers’ ability to pay. It should not be about horse trading for special interest groups or establishing talking points for the next campaign." (emphasis added).

Budgets Snapshots: Posts Live-Blogging The Full Document, Others Linked To Media

http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/03/modest-uw-system-tuition-increase-in.html

http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-from-budget-document-business-tax.html

http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/03/walker-budget-filled-with-policy-spin.html

http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/03/walker-proposing-eliminating-state.html

Update - - end of dedicated transit aids. Drive, or walk...

http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/03/walker-budget-eliminates-transit-as.html

More posts, with media links, are on the blog.

"Modest" UW System Tuition Increase In Walker Budget

I don't see the figure yet: Walker likes "modest," which is how he pitched the budget-repair bill before it became dropping "the bomb."

More From Budget Document: Business, Tax And Environmental Breaks

Highlights from the budget, continuing.,..

100% exclusion from taxes on capital gains on Wisconsin capital assets held for five years.

End of recently-negotiated phosphorus rule.

$410.5 million increase for state highway fund.

Walker Budget Filled With Policy, Spin, Local Governance Decimation

Put all this under "Is Our Children Learning?"

Walker will make it difficult for private schools to do the job, but easier in the private schools, according to his budget.

School choice caps in Milwaukee are eliminated, income eligibility limitations for the program phased out and all teacher residency rules erased.

This is under a section in the budget document - - from page 26 in a full pdf copy which I am reading- - called "Protect Our Local Schools."

Also gone: the 180-day school year; districts still have minimum hour rules to meet.

On page 32 - - eliminates state-funded mandates requiring school districts to provide a variety of programs - - for everything from Advance Placement to drug and alcohol intervention and prevention to language training for Southeast Asian kids, to unspecified science, math, technology and engineering instruction.

Walker Proposing Eliminating State Recycling Mandate

Hey, local governments - - just tell your residents to throw all that recycling in the trash.

The social service and education cuts, and end to collective bargaining, will complete the return to the good old days, circa 1951.

Proposed Walker Recall Slogan In A Year: "One And Done"

Start saving for the push.

To Punish The Milwaukee Teachers Union, Walker Diverts Funding To Private Schools

The politics of the cuts to MPS and expansion of private choice schools is as blatant a power grab as is the attack on collective bargaining.

Of Course, Walker Hands Wisconsin Roadbuilders Fresh Gazillions

Walker donor-industry rewarded: where is that shared sacrifice?

Prince-Albert-In-A-Can Prank Calls Could Be Illegal, Wisconsin?

Don't call State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin Nanny State), put on your best Bart Simpson voice, and ask if her refrigerator is running.

Ay, caramba!:

Her embarrassment could cost you $10,000.

Lazich and State Sen. Mark Hondael, R-Milwaukee) want to criminalize such calls, reports the Badger Herald:

"The bill language forbids a caller from intentionally providing a false phone number and convincing the person receiving the call that it comes from someone other than the actual caller.

"The bill would make it illegal to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain any information of value from using a caller identification service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information. It would also prohibit individuals from masking their voices or providing a fake phone number to the call recipient, said Jason Vick, spokesperson for Honadel."

What's next: April Fool's jokes?

The Herald says the Senators were not introducing the bill as a result of Scott Walker's prank call fiasco.

The whole thing is so ridiculous - - I'm hoping I'm not getting pranked by posting this.

You Know They're Saying It

Activist judges!

Madison Court Blocks Walker's Move To Close The Capitol

Sources are reporting that Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser has granted Tuesday morning a temporary restraining order to plaintiffs seeking to keep the Capitol open - - after the Walker administration ordered it shut yesterday to everyone except a trickle of reporters and members of the general public.

The order was sought by former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.

A hearing to make the order permanent may happen imminently.

Walker obviously wants the building closed so his budget speech tonight conveys the impressions a) that he is in charge (as his poll numbers plummet), and b) that there is no opposition to both his billions in cuts to safety-net programs and public services (proven false by weeks of mounting protests).

It's the second legal hit Walker has taken in 24 hours.

More later..

Journal Sentinel Says "Repair This Bill"

Movement by the paper's editorial board.

It still has praise for Walker, and I advise reading it in its entirety, but these paragraphs depart from from earlier editorial comment:

"Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill is flawed. We support the governor's aim to rein in labor costs but cannot support this bill as written.

"The Legislature should kill some of the most egregious provisions and break out others for further debate..."

"Walker and his Republican allies in the Legislature were wrong to try to bust public-employee unions. Workers have a fundamental right to organize, even when it's inconvenient for the rest of us...

"Even worse, the bill would apply the new rules unevenly. Police officers, firefighters, sheriff's deputies and state troopers would be exempt. With big cuts coming in state aid, municipalities must control labor costs, but exempting police and fire departments makes that nearly impossible. In Milwaukee, 65% of salaries and benefits flow to those two budget lines.

"The more radical of Walker's collective bargaining proposals should be killed. The others should cover all unions. Proposals that amount to policy should be stripped out. These include a provision to allow the Department of Administration to sell heating, cooling and power plants without bids and another that would give broad rule-making authority for the Medicaid program to the Department of Health Services...

"Walker should repair the budget-repair bill. Better yet, he should do so with the help of the Democrats. There is still time."

Walker should pay attention to the words and the process by which debate changes minds and moves positions.

National Poll: More Support For Workers Than Walker

So says The Washington Post, with this analysis:

'A plurality of people nationwide side with labor unions over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the ongoing budget standoff in the Badger State, according to a new Pew Poll.

"Forty-two percent of people said they favor unions, while 31 percent take Walker's side and another nine percent take neither side in the skirmish.

"The Pew numbers are the first credible polling since Walker introduced his budget repair bill and state Senate Democrats left the state to prevent the Republican majority from being able to pass it."

How To Raise Millions To Recall Scott Walker

Here's my "modest proposal."

Today I am depositing $50 in a credit union savings account that I will transfer to the Scott Walker Recall Committee or something sounding like that which I'm sure will appear some time this year.

Disclaimers: I am not plugged into any such group now, nor do I know if there is one, so don't send me any checks, but when the time comes, I will mail it along with $50 monthly set-asides I pledge to make through December.

That will make $500 available by year's end - - or transferable in stages, if that becomes the effective way to go. I'm just thinking out loud here, but I will make good on the pledge.

If there are 1,000 people in the state who will do the same, a nest egg of half-a-million bucks is guaranteed.

Not enough, you say - - for TV, websites, statewide organizing and counter-measures to oppose Walker's corporate donors  - - and you are so right.

So let's say that there are 10,000 people in the state who will guarantee they'll put $20 a month into an account, or shoebox or wherever - -  there's another $2 million guaranteed and we're up to $2.5 million - - and more if people adjust these numbers as they can, and if major donors want to get involved, too.

But a bigger treasury is needed.

Now let's assume there are 500,000 people nationally - - just five people allied in solidarity for each person in the largest of the demonstration crowds in Madison last weekend - - who will commit just $10-per-month through the end of the year.

That's another $5 million-per-month, giving us more than $50 million by the end of the year - - adequate certainly to recall Scott Walker, elect a good candidate, help fend off or manage state legislative recalls, too - - and end up with something left over for one helluva party.

$50 a month, $20, whatever: a few coffees made at home instead of a coffee shop, or foregone mojitos, pair of shoes, round of golf or movies out  - - call it shared sacrifice you choose - -  and the money will arrive so Walker can go and workers' rights return.

Wise Counsel: Wisconsin's Home-Grown Ballplayer Supports The Workers

Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers backs union rights. The Whitefish Bay native's statement is here.

When he takes his first home at-bat, how loud will that cheer be?

Feedback From Blog: Here's What You Read Here Most Often Last Month

These were the ten posts with the most hits in February, as readership accelerates sharply, so thank you.

The formatting below may be a little ragged...

Tracking Walker's Tax Cut Promises; Truckloads For... Oct 8, 2010, Walker 'Budget Repair' Bill Detail, Analysis: Huge... Feb 11, 2011, New Feingold ProgressivesUnited.Org PAC Website Li... Feb 16, 2011, After Knife In The Back, Walker Sends Makeup Email... Feb 11, 2011, Among Scott Walker's Deficits: Moral Authority Feb 26, 2011, Wisconsin State Journal Cartoonist: "I Can No Long... Feb 27, 2011,  Walker's Behavior: All Strategic, Not Internally S... Feb 20, 2011,  No Fire In Walker's Fireside Chat - - Self-Parody ... Feb 22, 2011, Abusing Power, Wisconsin Traditions, Walker Losing... Feb 26, 2011, Wisconsin, Open For Business And More Water-Borne ... Feb 1, 2011,

Talk About Stunts: Walker's Budget Address Tuesday Will Fake The Capitol's Reality

Maybe Walker can bus in Tea Party supporters with freshly-printed signs, or the younger siblings of those Rovian hooligans who overran ballot-counting meetings in Florida after the 2000 election to give our besieged Governor Emperor the sanitized, sycophantic and synthetic backdrop he wants.

Out With Mandates From Madison! Bring On New Mandates From Madison!!

As Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker railed against state mandates - - because they cost money, took away local control - - and came from Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat.

Here's one example: Google the subject and find more:

For Immediate Release January 29, 2010

WALKER, HOLLOWAY REITERATE OPPOSITION TO CHANGE IN JUVENILE OFFENDER LAW

MILWAUKEE – County Executive Scott Walker and County Board Chairman Lee Holloway are reiterating their opposition to a bill proposed in the State Legislature to return 17 year-old offenders to the jurisdiction of juvenile court. If enacted, this change could cost Milwaukee County at least $24 million.

"Counties cannot afford any more unfunded mandates from the state," said Walker. " [emphasis added.]

Now Walker is the Governor, and will in his budget bill Tuesday drastically cut state aids to local governments and school districts - - thus mandating cuts at the local level - - and making a mockery of his anti-mandate stance.

Local officials around the state, in the position that Walker had been in for eight years as Milwaukee County Executive, see Walker as just another Madison Mandatemeister, which in this case means "hypocrite."

As was reported the other day from Shawano:

County braces for drastic revenue cuts
By Tim Ryan

tryan@shawanoleader.com

Officials from Shawano and other counties were warned earlier this month that Gov. Scott Walker’s upcoming budget could cut state shared revenue by as much as half.

For Shawano County, that would mean a loss of $750,000.

County representatives heard the dire warnings at a meeting of the Wisconsin Counties Association earlier this month.

Shawano County Board Vice Chairman Arlyn Tober shared the report Wednesday with the County Board, relaying what counties were told by a state official.

“The Department of Administration told us, ‘what you have received in this year’s budget you will not get next year,’” Tober said...

“Some mandated programs paid by the state now could be shifted to counties,” Tober added...

County Administrative Coordinator Frank Pascarella said the anticipated state budget looks like it will continue a long tradition of shifting costs to counties...

“Counties have always had to deal with it,” he said. “Counties have always had to perform mandated programs without funding.”

Pascarella said he has not yet heard any talk of mandate relief from the new administration in Madison.

“The state is looking to address its budgetary issues and I do believe a number of those budgetary issues are going to be on the backs of the counties,” he said.