Walker Mouths The Right's Script: Make Him Own It

Most politically-active people I know believe Scott Walker is following advice/orders from a coterie of ideologically-motivated consultants and staffers as he terminates collective bargaining, rewrites rules, derails programs and cuts funding to advance a right-wing agenda embraced from talk radio studios to The John Birch Society to Tea Party Central.

His latest outrage: the quiet elimination by Executive Order of a thirty-year-old program assisting female and minority building trades apprentice workers that the non-union, so-called ABC builders openly opposed.

But let's not focus so intently on the roles played in Walker's new administration by think tanks, Republican apparatchiks and Tea Party Internet cheer-leading that we forget to assign to Walker 100% of the responsibility for his actions.

He may turn out to be little more than a tool, a witting role player in a national movement - -  replaceable elsewhere by his funders when State Senate recalls this year drain his power, and his personal recall ousts him in 2012 - - but for now we have to keep up the pressure and make sure he owns the political and legal consequences of the damage he is doing.

That means denying him allies and any psychological lift in the April 5th elections for Milwaukee County Executive and State Supreme Court by electing Chris Abele in Milwaukee and elevating JoAnne Kloppenberg to the Supreme Court.

The right-wing machine that hauled Walker across the finish line in November with 52% of the vote know what's at stake.

That's why they are putting Walker and conservative State Rep. Jeff Stone, the tea partiers and talk radio choice for Milwaukee County Executive together at a Milwaukee fund-raiser for Stone this afternoon at the private University Club for $100-$3,000-a-ticket.

There are ads to be bought, right now. That event should raise a six-figure sum in two hours.

And it's why the Wisconsin Club For Growth framed things this way in its Wednesday, March 23rd members' update::

"The Left hopes to use the April 5th election to land a sucker punch that disables conservative reform. If liberal environmentalist and state bureaucrat Joanne Kloppenberg is elected to the state Supreme Court, the balance will tip and Wisconsin will again have a court majority willing to make up any excuse to reverse the actions of the Republican governor and legislators just elected.

"Conservative Justice David Prosser is under attack in ads designed to inflate leftist turnout in a spring election where turnout is invariably low and easy to manipulate. Two weeks ago Jesse Jackson led the mob surrounding the state Capitol chanting, “Come alive, April five.” Rev. Jackson’s many admirers will act on that advice.    

"People looking ahead to 2012 and eager to do battle with Barack Obama should make no mistake, they’re going head to head with him right here, right now."

In Gift To Non-Union Builders, Walker Kills Trades Apprenticeship Program

Scott Walker continues his rampage against working people and Milwaukee's large pool of low-income residents by quietly killing a workforce program in existence since 1971 that helps opens doors in construction jobs to minorities and women.

The guy really has a mean streak.

Hat tip, Matt Hrodey.

Massive Pipeline Would Raise Midwest Gas Prices, Threaten Land, Water

Wisconsin has had its share of damage from Canadian tar sand pipeline activity - - details, here - - but an even bigger pipeline project that would bisect the country north-to-south and cross one of the world's largest aquifers spells trouble for gas prices and the natural environment.

Will Walker Drop His Opposition To Tightened Phosphorus Discharge Rule?

Give the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Board credit for trying, but asking Scott Walker to change his mind is a bit like asking George Herbert Walker Bush if he'd be having the broccoli.

The fight is over whether Wisconsin and Walker will keep a new DNR rule that sets a numeric standard for phosphorus discharges - - and that has been attacked as too costly - -  or will a weaker, so-called "narrative" standard that Walker wants be substituted - - an approach that the DNR board opposes, and that others say will be unenforceable, and thus ineffective.

Ten days ago, the Wisconsin State Journal explained how Walker wanted the rule changed:

"At issue, primarily, are rules that were passed by the Natural Resources Board and approved by the EPA last year that set a numerical standard for how much phosphorus can be in the state’s lakes and streams. 

"Phosphorus is a nutrient found in fertilizers and fuels the growth of weeds and toxic blue-green algae in the state’s waters. The new rules were described as among the most important water regulations since the federal Clean Water Act.
 

"Walker’s budget would eliminate the new statewide numeric phosphorus standard for municipalities and businesses and replace it with standards no more stringent than neighboring states. 

According to Bruce Baker, the current director of the DNR’s water division, Walker would replace numeric standards with so-called narrative standards, which are basically descriptions of what a particular body of water looks like."

The end of this later Wisconsin State Journal story, however, ends on a mysterious note.

"Others, including Todd Ambs, the former head of the DNR's water division, said eliminating the new [numeric] standard could put the state in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

"[DNR deputy secretary Matt] Moroney said the EPA recently circulated a memorandum telling states that they must adopt a numeric phosphorus standard. He said that the memo is likely to influence Walker's rewrite of the rule, "but I don't think there has been any resolution yet."

Clean Water Setback: State High Court Weakens Pollution Enforcement, Limits Citizens' Participation

Match this environmental setback with a Scott Walker Department of Natural Resources already sweet-talking business development, and environmental degradation will increase in our formerly conservation-minded Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Shuts the Door on Citizens’ Rights to Clean Water

 

[Contact:  Betsy Lawton, Midwest Environmental Advocates, 608-251-5047]

 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has shut the door on citizens of the state who question the Department of Natural Resurces' failure to comply with federal law in environmental permits, even though state law requires DNR permits to meet the minimum protections of the federal Clean Water Act.

 

Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided that the Wisconsin DNR does not have to protect Wisconsin from polluted discharges as stringently as other states and it cut citizens’ rights to participate in their state’s decision-making process where water quality is concerned.

 

The case decided today began six years ago, when concerned individuals from Green Bay, the Clean Water Action Council of Northeastern Wisconsin and the National Wildlife Federation, represented by Midwest Environmental Advocates, challenged a permit the DNR issued to the Fort James paper mill (now Georgia Pacific) for failing to adequately limit the mill’s discharge of mercury and phosphorus to the Fox River and Lower Green Bay.

The Court of Appeals, District III, found in favor of the citizens and environmental groups on two issues.  First, the Court of Appeals recognized the citizens’ right to participate in the permitting process for this major industrial discharger, which the DNR surprisingly tried to limit, upholding Wisconsin’s rich tradition of public access and participation in state decisions.

 

The Court of Appeals also rejected the Wisconsin DNR's argument that it was not obligated to issue a permit that complied with the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act. Displeased with this outcome, DNR asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn this portion of the Court of Appeal’s decision.

 

Today, the Supreme Court did just that, holding that DNR is not required to consider challenges to water pollution permits that fail to comply with “the basic requirement of the federal Clean Water Act.”

In its decision, the Supreme Court wrongly deferred to DNR’s own interpretation of its authority to deny citizens an opportunity to object to permits that fail to comply with Clean Water Act standards. 

Today’s decision undermines Wisconsin’s long standing tradition to allow individuals to participate in decisions that impact the water they drink, swim, and recreate in – and ultimately leaves citizen’s with NO forum to challenge permits that fail to protect public health and the environment.  

 

This is a disappointing moment for Wisconsin and Wisconsin residents and visitors who drink, live on, fish in and recreate in Wisconsin’s many waters.  It may jeopardize Wisconsin’s authority to regulate water pollution at all.  If the DNR does not run a program that complies with the federal Clean Water Act, EPA can take back the authority it gave Wisconsin to issue permits to facilities.

 

Curt Andersen, a Green Bay resident who lives near and enjoys fishing in Green Bay says, “I am stunned by the decision. It suggests there are two different things going on here – the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. The spirit of the law is to protect the people of the state. The milky, coffee colored water coming from this paper mill is not regulated to a point that it’s protecting the river and the bay."

Andersen continued  “I think it’s confusing.  At one point the DNR insists that it was their right to make the decisions, but then they change their mind and say that it is all up to the EPA.  Where do we go to get our voices heard?” 

“This decision is a blow to water quality, public health, communities and wildlife,” said Neil Kagan, senior counsel of the National Wildlife Federation. “It gives the green light to the state of Wisconsin to violate the Clean Water Act. At a time when the region is rallying around the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and the rivers and streams which feed them, this decision is step backward.” 

“This decision goes against the best interests of millions of Wisconsin citizens by undermining water quality protections that are the foundation of our communities, economy and way of life,” says Betsy Lawton, Midwest Environmental Advocates’ staff attorney.

"The Court's anti-environmental decision enables DNR to weaken the clean water program, and it allows DNR to cloak its decisions in secrecy, an affront to Wisconsin's noble history of open and transparent decision-making.  The Court went so far as to revise long-standing rules of legal analysis to reach this result.”

 

The Clean Water Act was passed by Congress in 1972 to set minimum standards for water quality for the nation.

Individual states earned the ability to implement the CWA by creating regulatory frameworks that included the protections of federal law. Nearly 40 years after the passing of the CWA, not one state in the union fully and effectively implements the laws designed to protect water quality essential to public health and well-being.

Wisconsin, disappointingly, seems to denounce its once-grand reputation as a national leader for natural resource protection and seems subject to the will of the few, rather than the want of the many.

 

###

 

 

FAST FACTS

 

·         Wisconsinites lose big in this decision.  Why?  Because the contested case process is the first and ONLY place that a citizen can ask the Courts to determine if the state is doing its job to apply Federal law. 

·         Today’s ruling means that the DNR does not have to give Wisconsin’s waters the same protection uniformly required in other states.  

·         What started as a challenge to one bad permit now has broader implications.  The EPA can withdraw the DNR’s authority to implement a delegated program if there are programmatic problems. 

·         “All State Programs … must have legal authority to implement each of the following provisions and must be administered in conformance with each, except that States are not precluded from omitting or modifying any provisions to impose more stringent requirements”. 40 CFR 123.25(a) 

·         “The Administrator may withdraw program approval when a State program no longer complies with the requirements [of Federal law]”. 40 CFR 123.63(a).  Scenarios under which EPA could withdraw approval of a state program include: action by state legislature or court striking down or limiting State authorities or failure to promulgate necessary new authorities; failure to issue permits, repeated issuance of permits which do not conform to applicable requirements, or failure to comply with public participation requirements; failure to act on permit violations, seek adequate enforcement penalties or inspect and monitor activities subject to regulation; failure to comply with the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement; failure to develop an adequate program for developing water quality-based effluent limits in NPDES permits; failure of a great lakes state or tribe to adequately incorporate the NPDES permitting implementation procedures.  Ibid. 

·         The DNR has implemented the Clean Water Act in Wisconsin since 1974, when EPA granted the department Federal authority to issue water pollution permits.  

·         Georgia Pacific’s pollution permit expired in September 2010.  DNR will soon have to issue a new permitting decision for this facility. 

·         Midwest Environmental Advocates is a non-profit environmental law center with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since 1999, MEA has provided legal and technical support to grassroots groups that are working for environmental justice in the Western Great Lakes and Mississippi River region. 

        The National Wildlife Federation is America's largest conservation organization. NWF works with more than 4 million members, partners and supporters in communities across the country to protect and restore wildlife habitat, confront global warming and connect with nature. Since 1982, NWF’s Great Lakes Regional Center has been a leader in protecting the Great Lakes for the wildlife and humans that depend on this invaluable resource.

     The Clean Water Action Council is a non-profit citizen organization, founded in 1985, working to protect public health and the environment in Northeast Wisconsin.   Clean Water Action Council works to increase public awareness of the many threats to water quality, and to build support for improved management. 

 

 

 

Since Walker Took Over, More Than 2,200 Private Sector Jobs Have Been Lost In Wisconsin

And just at 19 workplaces required by the state's so-called "Red Dot Potato Chip Law" (look for that statute to get wiped off the books in "Open for Business Wisconsin") to notify Walker's Department of Workforce Development that the jobs were disappearing.

Companies - - and this is from memory -- that are laying off 50 or more workers have to give 60 days notice. Firms laying off fewer employees do not have to give similar notice.

More official information, here.

(The law is named after a potato chip maker that locked workers out of a plant on E. Washington Ave. in Madison and closed it without any notice. Then-State Rep. David Clarenbach, (D-Madison) was the author.)

When All Right Means All Wrong In Waukesha County

Does it ever occur to anyone in a position of authority in the Greater Waukesha vicinity that every time they make a hard right turn, or meddle in Milwaukee labor and budget affairs, or further cement barriers between Milwaukee and Waukesha they are making it easier - - I'd say odds-on predictable - - for Milwaukee officials to reject the City of Waukesha's eventual bid for Milwaukee water?

After helping stick it in so many ways to Milwaukee, it would make perfect sense for the City of Milwaukee to say to Waukesha officials - - "Enjoy your freedom to pay millions more to pipe in water from Racine or Oak Creek."

By Electronic Text And News Release, DNR Secretary Thanks Her Employees

Cathy Step says "thanks" in an agency online Weekly News site.

I, too, support the work of DNR employees, but look closely at the wording. It includes the mandatory sops to business under Scott Walker - - such as "your forest is providing sustainable wood products to fuel Wisconsin’s huge forest industry," - -  and ironic references to air quality monitoring and landfill engineering work well done by DNR workers , when Walker is proposing to end state mandates and funding for recycling (get ready, landfill operators!) and Stepp has ended electronic distribution of early-stage alerts about unhealthy air.

And this phrase must really grate across the agency, in Madison neighborhoods and public employee households statewide: "There is no doubt this has been a tumultuous time in our economy and state government..."

Full text below:

Thanks to DNR employees

By: Cathy Stepp, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 

In less than three short months since I had the privilege to take over as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, I have gained a deep sense admiration for the work our DNR staff does.

I am proud of the dedicated men and women who have committed their careers to our great state. There is no doubt this has been a tumultuous time in our economy and state government, but I wish people could see what I see. Throughout controversy, DNR employees have stayed focused on their duties and responsibilities, and they have never lost sight of the fact that the work they do is critical to the well-being of us all.

DNR employees do more than manage permits, count deer and stock fish. They respond to threats to public safety—fires, floods, tornadoes and spills. They provide a line of protection for our air, land and water.

At this moment, DNR employees are monitoring air quality in southeast Wisconsin, rehabbing lakes, designing and implementing plans to restore impaired streams, and sprucing up our park campgrounds and bike trails for spirit-restoring summer recreation. They are working with local officials to make sure your drinking water is safe, your landfill is engineered well, and your forest is providing sustainable wood products to fuel Wisconsin’s huge forest industry.

Some will work tonight and throughout the weekend staffing customer service telephones, teaching recreational safety to your children, or meeting with local organizations to help with projects. And DNR conservation wardens, most working alone, will be out in the field performing one of the most dangerous law enforcement jobs in the nation.

Bottom line, your DNR employees are working in every county of the state in the finest traditions of public service to assure the sustainability of our resources for recreation and business and to protect and enhance our environment and public safety. Their work is vital to our quality of life.

As taxpayers and license buyers, I want you to know DNR has the utmost respect for each tax and user dollar we receive and that we are keenly aware your dollars fund our work. I pledge we will strive to invest your dollars efficiently, to produce the high level of customer service you expect, and continue to work hard for you.

So next time you turn on the tap to get a drink of water, boat that lunker fish or marvel at a turkey call in the distance, I hope your mind will flash on the men and women of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Sincerely,
Cathy Stepp, Secretary

Steamship Company Admits Dumping 3.8 Tons Of Coal Ash Daily Into Lake Michigan

You may remember that I have been writing about the coal ash dumping into Lake Michigan by the S.S. Badger, the last-remaining steamer on the Great Lakes, as it runs between Manitowoc, WI and Ludington, MI.

Twenty-one months ago, I posted this item about an EPA order to compel the ship to remove coal as its boiler fuel, and I've put up any number of follow-up posts - - here, or here, or here - - but while the company touts its compliance intentions it also continues a public relations campaign to prettify the situation.

Here's the latest from the company: [I bold-faced the coal dust admission.]

Dear Friends of the S.S. Badger,

Since 2008 there have been media stories about Lake Michigan Carferry Service’s (LMC) efforts to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. As the 2011 season approaches, we would like to provide you with the facts surrounding this ongoing challenge.

Background

In 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was ordered to regulate vessel discharges under the Clean Water Act.

Nearly 70,000 vessels were suddenly required to obtain a Vessel General Permit (VGP) for any type of discharge. Rain water runoff and even water from fire hoses required a VGP.

The Badger was included under the VGP to discharge ash from her coal-fired boilers until December 19, 2012.

The permit doesn’t authorize ash discharge after that date, forcing LMC to research, invent, and design new technology to allow the Badger to continue to operate.

To date, LMC has invested over a quarter of a million dollars on this VGP issue. (Click link to see complete VGP)

Coal Ash Classified as Non-Hazardous by EPA

Ash samples taken from the Badger and tested by an EPA-approved, independent environmental engineering laboratory were determined to be non-hazardous.

On average, the S.S. Badger burns 55 tons of coal per day during its five month sailing season and generates an estimated 3.8 tons of non-hazardous ash per day.

This amount is significantly less ash than measured in 2008 and is in compliance with current EPA discharge regulations. This improvement reflects LMC’s substantial investment in boiler upgrades, as well as the use of a high grade coal which exceeds the standards required by the VGP.

At one time, several hundred coal-burning steamships operated on the Great Lakes, and we are not aware of any evidence that coal ash from any of these ships negatively affected the environment.

The Importance of the S.S. Badger

The S.S. Badger is the last operating coal-fired passenger ship in the United States. She is a significant part of Great Lakes maritime history, has earned numerous awards and designations, and is listed on National Register of Historic Places.

(Click link to see all awards and designations) http://ssbadger.com/content.aspx?Page=History&field=1112233

Each year, the S.S. Badger transports thousands of autos and commercial trucks across Lake Michigan, which saves our passengers over 1 million gallons of fuel. These figures are based on company data applied to EPA mileage data.

Lake Michigan Carferry employs 250 people. Studies have found that an additional 450 indirect jobs are generated by Lake Michigan Carferry Service, and a West Shore Community College study found that the economic impact upon the area surrounding Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin is $35 million dollars annually.

What can you do to help?

The Badger has thousands of supporters throughout the country, many of whom have offered to help in any way they can. Currently there is nothing specific that anyone outside the company can do; however, if you’d like to be included on a database of Badger fans, please click

badger2012deadline@ssbadger.com.

We may contact you at a later date to seek help writing letters of support.

Thank you!

We intend to meet the requirements of the VGP with the same tenacity that we’ve used in tackling the many other challenges we have faced over the years while preserving hundreds of jobs and the life of this one-of-a-kind historic treasure.

Scott Walker Shows Up In National Phone Company Boycott Promo

I don't know much about the company that wants you to sign up, but I am fascinated that Scott Walker in now on a par with Michele Bachmann as the face of the opposition in a progressive, national campaign:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOW VERIZON AND AT&T HAVE SUPPORTED THE RIGHT WING — AND WHY YOU SHOULD SWITCH TO CREDO MOBILE

If you care about progressive social change, you ought to know that your phone company may be undermining everything you're doing to change the world. Does your company support politicians directly opposed to your values?

If you're with AT&T or Verizon, consider this:

• Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless supported politicians who are out to deregulate corporations and scuttle climate change regulation. In 2009-2010, AT&T gave $426,000 to House and Senate Tea Party Caucus members, while Verizon Wireless gave $48,000.
• Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless have also donated to House Tea Party Caucus leader Michele Bachmann, who wants her constituents "armed and dangerous" against climate change legislation and accused President Obama of "anti-American" views.
• Verizon Wireless fought net neutrality regulations (including suing the FCC in January to eliminate open internet rules), and recently sponsored two weeks of free access to The Daily, the new iPad-only "newspaper" from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. — the company that brought us Fox News.
• During the 2010 election cycle, AT&T was among the top 10 PAC donors to Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, now infamous for his deceptive anti-union tactics. Now that AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile in its bid to become the largest telecom in the country, imagine the amount of money it will donate to right-wing politicians.

So maybe it's time to sign up with the one phone company that shares your progressive values.

Since 1985, CREDO has raised more than $65 million for progressive nonprofits like Planned Parenthood, Doctors Without Borders, Earthjustice and the ACLU. And our CREDO Action network of 1.9 million activists fights for progressive causes like net neutrality, marriage equality and economic justice.

When you join CREDO Mobile, you'll get everything you expect from a mobile phone company — plus a whole lot more. Sign up today and get:*

• A coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry's^® Ice Cream each month for a year
• Contract buyout credit up to $200
• No contract for 30 days**
• FREE shipping
• Number portability (keep your current number)
• Nationwide coverage on the all-digital Sprint® network, reaching more than 280 million people.†

So act now and get a great deal — plus the satisfaction of knowing that your phone company is supporting progressive change, not right-wing media or politicians.

Bill Would Strip Local Control, Teacher Training Certification From State's Charter Schools

Martin Scanlan, a Marquette University Professor of Education, raises in a timely Journal Sentinel op-ed solid legitimate concerns about a bill introduced by the new conservative majorities at the Capitol that would drastically change governance and teacher training requirements in Wisconsin (read: mostly Milwaukee) charter schools.

My take: it's a companion piece to the politically-driven effort by out-state and suburban Republicans to weaken home in rule in Milwaukee, whether by legislatively ending collective bargaining and public employee residency, or by starving municipal budgets.

Scott Walker's NJ Mentor Pretty Much Ruined Public Schools There, Judge Finds

Scott Walker loves New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie, the high-profile foe of school spending and unions - - but 1.4 million school children paid the price for Christie's approach, says the New Jersey judge serving as that state's school litigation special master.

Where Scott Walker Becomes An Environmentalist

 
Saving the Ghost Birds:  A Celebration of Human Accomplishment
A documentary by David Sakrison, Jack Christ and Video Age Productions.World Premiere:  Thursday April 28th, 2011 6:00 PM

Through insightful interviews, stunning video footage and a lively 

soundtrack, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the painstaking process of breeding Cranes in captivity, raising them without human contact, teaching them to migrate, and finally, releasing them back into the wild. It offers a window into the nit and grit of conservation fieldwork and the empathy, patience, perseverance and dedication of the team members who went to where the birds were and carried out their work. 

Tickets are available at the Weill Center Ticket Office
Weekdays from 10 AM to 5 PM
Phone 920-208-3243 during Ticket Office Hours
Ticket Prices $10.00 Adults$5.00 Children, and Students with a valid I.D

Special Event Packages Available

Gold Event Package - $250.00 per person.  Guests will enjoy cocktails and appetizers provided by Margaux with Governor Scott Walker and former Governor Tommy Thompson, George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, Joe Duff, founder of Operation Migration, and Terry and Mary Kohler.  This Gold Package also includes a 3-course dinner at Margaux with the Governor's and other dignitaries. Price includes one documentary admission ticket.  $100.00 is tax deductible.

Silver Event Package - $90.00 per person.  Guests will enjoy cocktails and appetizers provided by Margaux with Governor Scott Walker and former Governor Tommy Thompson, George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, Joe Duff, founder of Operation Migration, and Terry and Mary Kohler.  Price includes one documentary admission ticket.  $40.00 is tax deductible.

To reserve your spot for either the Gold or Silver Event Package, please contact savingtheghostbirds@gmail.com for more information. 

Reservations are LIMITED and available on a first-come, first-served basis!  Payment for Gold and Silver Event Packages may be mailed to the Aviation Heritage Center of Wisconsin (information below) or sent via PAYPAL to savingtheghostbirds@gmail.com.

To purchase Gold or Silver Event Packages, please make checks payable to the "Aviation Heritage Center of Wisconsin" and mail to:

 Ghost Birds Premier
c/o Aviation Heritage Center of Wisconsin
N6191 Resource Drive
Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085

The proceeds from this event will benefit the Aviation Heritage Center of Wisconsin, at the Sheboygan County Municipal Airport, The International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI and Operation Migration in Ontario, Canada and Niagara Falls, NY.

Follow us on Facebook:    Saving the Ghost Birds

In Fund-Raising Letter For Justice Prosser, WMC Says Opponents Are "Buying" Justices

The Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce spent heavily to buy television ads to elect Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Annette Ziegler and Mike Gableman and successfully solidified the 4-3 pro-WMC Court majority.

But alarmed that incumbent David Prosser might lose on April 5th to JoAnne Kloppenberg in the wake of the Walker backlash, the WMC pledged to buy him ad support - - and, to buy the ads, has sent out an urgent funds appeal soliciting unlimited funds.

The letter begins with no sense of ironic embarrassment:

March 22, 2011:

Dear WMC Member,

The government worker unions are openly attempting to overturn the November elections, buying an activist majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court...

Then bold-faces the truth about who can buy what these days, with a no-nonsense kicker:

Please make a generous corporate contribution to counter their efforts. Donations are unlimited and undisclosed...

Please, give today. Our business climate is at stake.

You might also check out Lisa Kaiser's recent prescient Shepherd interview with Prosser. where the whole issue of court-buying and the WMC's influence got aired.

A New Standard For Evaluating Walker: "Isn't As Bad As Some Feared..."

So says The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel edit board about Walker's environmental proposals, though the editorial correctly takes issue with three major matters - - budget cuts to recycling, further budget barriers to Stewardship fund purchases and a major retreat on preventing phosphorus contamination of rivers and lakes.

Some of these proposals may not win legislative approval, as even some Republicans think abandoning state recycling requirements and financial assistance to local governments is unacceptable.

The editorial did not mention Walker's easing of wetlands filling, his deep, proposed cuts to transit, budgeted reductions in state energy planning, abandonment of requirements to purchase certain fuel-efficient vehicles for state fleets, and his support for the near-total restriction on wind turbine siting - - all of which will have negative impacts on clean air and water in Wisconsin.

"Isn't as bad as some feared" still sets us back decades.

Walker Will Recall That His Mistake Was Using Us

Scott Walker, neophyte Governor, but already brushing off Vice-Presidential chatter (maybe the reporters should have asked him about a higher position?) has turned public budgeting and policy-making from the State Capitol to the smallest village hall into a one-man political calculus - - and worse, is using us, based on 52% of the November vote, as data and inputs for his desired outcome.

Has there been a bolder narcissist in the Governor's office?

Have so many people ever been used to advance the agenda of a single politician?

What Walker wants from this forced political experiment is the creation of statistical claims to conservative fame - - be it a number of jobs 'created,' or a state deficit closed, or public employee unions de-certified - - wrapped inside a central talking point, or campaign theme for future TV spots, or a tag line in official biographies for every news release and media story and lecture circuit programs...for years.

He is, after less than three months in office, recreating an entire state as a personal spreadsheet and looking for legacy material.

A political spreadsheet into which is fed the value, on his terms and for his use, of every diminished public worker, BadgerCare enrollee purged, pothole not filled, bus line halted, teacher position erased, power plant given away, ton of recycling land-filled and phosphorus discharged into trout streams - - even every dollar wrung out of a W-2 welfare mother's reduced check, every penny squeezed on to tax returns from the working poor, and, yes, even every calorie cut from poor children's school breakfasts at Milwaukee Public School.

The goal of this political computation is advancing the career of one person, Scott Walker, as it sets the state back 50 years, wrecks middle-class household budgets, undermines professions and degrades a world-famous landscape whose previous stewards included Aldo Leopold, Warren Knowles and Gaylord Nelson.

It was Walker's unprecedented selfishness and grasp for power that produced protest crowds in Madison and across the state.

And is propelling recalls of Walker's State Senate Republican allies.

And which will yield enough signatures early next year to force Walker's recall, too.

People don't like their state being turned inside out to serve as one person's radical, self-serving vehicle, and they especially do not like being used for that purpose without their consent.

Reminder That Zoo Interchange Public Meetings Begin At 2 P.M. Tuesday

Issues - - no transit, environmental damage to public space- - plus schedules for your testimony and meeting location through Wednesday evening, here.

Mining Opportunities Raise Broad Issues In Wisconsin

New open pit mines may open in Northern Wisconsin. Note at the end of the Journal Sentinel story a company representative reassuringly pledges that all environmental regulations will be followed. But remember that Scott Walker is killing wind turbine, phosphorus-dumping and wetland-protections, and taking command of more rule-making, so that pledge may be empty.

City Of Milwaukee Fact Sheet On Residency

The City Department of Administration releases some history about residency for City of Milwaukee employees - - a policy that worked well for more than 70 years.

[Also - - see a Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau paper on home rule, here.] 

And the City brings forward plenty of supporting economic data. And evidence that residency presents no barrier to employment, as argued by a misinformed and talking-point laden State Senate Scott Walker ally from the suburbs determined butt into local Milwaukee policy-making to fix a problem that doesn't exist (hint: the real issues are political).

Mayor Barrett used this in State Senate testimony Tuesday opposing legislation aimed to roll back the residency requirement.

Reproduced in its entirety, below:

CITY OF MILWAUKEE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT

Legal Precedence

The ability of Wisconsin municipalities to determine their local affairs is delineated in the State Constitution and reinforced in State Statute.

Employee residency rules are a condition of employment and not a matter of statewide concern, and should therefore be subject to local control.

The United States Supreme Court has upheld city residency requirements, ruling in McCarthy v. Philadelphia Civil Service Commission (1976) that they do not violate the due process clause, the equal protection clause, or the right to travel interstate.

Human Resources

Publish Post

All City of Milwaukee employees have been subject to city residency since the requirement was adopted by charter ordinance in 1938.

Each applicant to city employment is clearly informed of the requirement to establish residency within six months of hire and throughout employment as a condition of employment and still chooses to apply.

Our residency requirement has not impeded our ability to attract quality candidates to city positions.  Since January 1, 2010, we received 8,647 applications and 205 positions have been filled in the same time period. 

The ratio of applicants per hire varies widely among job classifications but averages at 42 applications per hire.

From 2008-2010, the city received 17,563 job applications for general city positions.

86% of applicants were already Milwaukee residents.

In our most recent recruitments, the city received 5,711 applications for the position of firefighter and 3,569 applications for the position of police officer.

Our residency requirement has not impeded our ability to retain quality city employees.

The voluntary separation rate measures an employee’s willingness or ability to change jobs.

The citywide rate was 1.2% or 83 resignations in 2010. 66 of these resignations were non-sworn and 17 were sworn employees.

The City Service Commission reviews and approves temporary residency waivers for hardship.  In the past 10 years, it has granted all 106 requests it has received.

The Fire and Police Commission also reviews requests for temporary residency waivers and has approved 23 of 25 such requests in the past 5 years.

In 1997, the City implemented a hardship waiver of the residency requirement for employees whose spouses are subject to residency in other jurisdictions. Only 2 have since been requested and issued by the Fire and Police Commission and none by the City Service Commission.

Collective Bargaining

Even considering 2011 Act 10, residency is still a mandatory subject of collective bargaining for public safety employees in Wis. Stat. §111.70.

The city’s residency requirement has been an ongoing topic of contract negotiations between the city and the vast majority of its collective bargaining units since the adoption of bargaining laws in 1959.

Residency has been arbitrated at least twice with both the Milwaukee Police Association and the Milwaukee Police Supervisors Organization. In each case the arbitrator has not found their argument to be compelling and has sided with the city.

Eliminating or weakening the residency requirement through any means other than collective bargaining would not provide any quid pro quo of value in exchange for the magnitude of the change.

In a recent interest arbitration award decision, the arbitrator determined that an offer by the Milwaukee Police Supervisors Organization to require any member who moved into a five-county area take a 2% decrease in base wages, was insufficient quid pro quo.

City Employee Demographics

The City of Milwaukee currently employs 6,865 employees. 

4,168 are general city employees (including fire and police civilian staff)

2,697 are sworn fire and police employees

These 6,865 city jobs strengthen Milwaukee’s middle class with family supporting incomes, as illustrated by their average annual salaries.

$41,361 for general city employees

$65,649 for sworn police employees

$67,554 for sworn fire employees

84.5% of city employees live in owner-occupied residences, well above the city-wide owner-occupancy rate (measured by match between the address on deed and the property address).
80.2% of general city employees

91.1% of sworn fire and police employees

71.8% of all city residential properties

The average assessed value of a city employee owned residence is $147,634, or 20% above the average assessed value in the city.

$133,103 for general city employees

$166,732 for sworn fire and police employees

$123,000 for the average residential home value

50.1% of city retirees and their families live outside the city.

This amounts to $11.4 million in out-migration of gross pension income.

Residency Requirements in Other Jurisdictions

At least 127 other municipalities in Wisconsin have some type of residency requirement as a condition of employment. The requirements vary widely, according to unique local circumstances, labor markets and collective bargaining contracts.

Milwaukee County requires residence within the County, with limited exceptions granted by the Civil Service Commission or HR Director for those in technical and scientific positions.

Certificated Milwaukee Public Schools employees have been subject to residency requirements since it was negotiated into a contract between the school board and teachers in 1977.

It was negotiated in exchange for early retirement.

It only applied to teachers hired after the contract was adopted.

Prior to this change, 60% of MPS teachers lived outside the city.

Residency requirements have also been repealed in several cities.

Toledo repealed in 2009, 24% now live outside the city.

Minneapolis repealed in 1999, 70% now live outside the city.

Detroit repealed in 1999, 45% now live outside the city.

Projected Economic Impact

If our residency requirement is lifted, we estimate that 50% of city employees would migrate out of the city over a ten year period, based on experience of similar cities and our actual retiree behavior.

Out-migration of 50% of city employee households would amount to approximately 8,753 individuals. 

Milwaukee’s average household size is 2.55 according to the 2008 American Community Survey.

Neighborhoods with high concentrations of city employees will be especially vulnerable (see the attached map).

As employees leave the City, they will take their families and income with them and sell their houses.

Area income will fall leading to a reduction in purchases.

Reduced purchases may lead to business closings or employment reductions.
Housing values will fall as the supply of houses being sold in the market increases.

Falling property values will lead to higher property tax rates.

Higher property tax rates will impact business production and employment level.
Economic activity in the City will decrease.

Public Safety

When mobilizing personnel for winter weather events that jeopardize public safety, response time is critical.  Streets must be treated as quickly as possible to minimize glazing and bonding conditions. 

It already takes 2.5 to 3 hours for all 90 of the city’s first responder salt trucks to report, load and be dispatched to their routes and a delay in this timeframe is not tolerable.

The Blizzard of 2011 on February 2nd produced 20 inches of snow and 44 mph winds and required DPW plow drivers to take their trucks home in order to safely get to their routes during the storm.

Response time is also critical issue during emergencies and for potential homeland security events.

Our residency requirement puts our public safety personnel in a position to provide emergency services to their neighbors and community even when they are off-duty.

Community Relations

Residency requirements encourage city employees to provide better results for city residents since city employees are invested in the success of city services.
Police–community relations are a delicate topic in the city.

Having our police officers as members of the community strengthens their knowledge of challenges facing city residents and enhances their relationships with neighborhoods and residents.

If many police officers move outside the city, it may decrease their legitimacy in the eyes of city residents.

UW Prof Cronon Explains Wisconsin To Nation

Scott Walker & Co., the protests he has triggered and their historical context get exposure through a powerful NY Times op-ed by UW-Madison historian William Cronon.

You may recall I recently posted from Cronon's blog an analysis of the right's influence in Wisconsin.

Supreme Court Candidates Race Devolves To Facebook Level

Egads. I thought that sitting Justice David Prosser had already shown far too thin a skin, but now the intelely-politicized Wisconsin Supreme Court race for Prosser's seat has found an even lower low, as this Journal Sentinel story has Prosser complaining in front of a law school audience about a comment about him on opponent JoAnne Kloppenberg's Facebook page:

"That prompted Prosser to criticize comments made by people on Kloppenburg's Facebook page regarding Walker's budget-repair bill.

"Prosser quoted one of the Facebook comments: "Stop the turd, vote Kloppenburg."

"Now, am I the turd?" Prosser said. That's totally inappropriate."

"Kloppenburg said she's not responsible for postings by other people on her campaign's Facebook page."

Facebook? Comments? On a Supreme Court Justice's mind? And volunteered as a rhetorical question in to a campaign debate at a law school?

All too weird.

Egads.

Union-Busting Bill In Wisconsin Limits Home Rule

A reader asks for information about home rule in Wisconsin, as I have written that the Walker union-busting plan is a state-imposed limitation on the freedom of local units of government to make agreements with their employees, thus establishing polity, setting spending priorities, and so forth.

The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau has published a paper on the home rule law.

I'm not an attorney, but it looks to me like the legislature has the power to do what Walker's bill sets out to do - - if it is published in its present form - - but that doesn't mean it was the right thing or a bright thing to do.

Walker Helps Kill Major Wind Farm In Brown County

Chalk up another jobs'-killing for Scott Walker - - this time what would have been the construction and operation of the state's second-largest wind turbine farm.

This surely negates Walker's PR blitz last week hailing 100 jobs moving across the Illinois state line to an industrial park near Kenosha.

Walker's moves to set aside the laboriously-negotiated rule on turbine siting worked out by the Public Service Commission while announcing much more restrictive rules and legislation creates what the private sector has long said it fears the most - - uncertainty.

From screwing around with alternative energy to legislating while stepping on the Open Meeting law, Walker's team really is The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.

Activist Wisconsin Attorney General Files Appeal Without Consulting The Client

J. B. Van Hollen appealed the high-profile Madison court ruling that enjoined the Secretary of State from publishing Wisconsin's controversial union-busting law, but the Secretary of State says he wasn't consulted about the appeal, which has his name on it.

Talk about your activist litigator: Is this even legal?

You might peruse the Illusory Tenant blog for additional discussion of these matters.

New Berlin Could Pay Dearly For Exclusionist Thinking

Citizen rage and misinformation about workforce housing killed an apartment development in virtually all-white suburban New Berlin aimed at working people and the disabled.

The developer has filed a $13+ million claim against the City.

Even a mid-range settlement would cost the City - - Waukesha County's second-largest - - a lot of cash in an environment of shrinking revenues - - so who are the winners there, exactly?

Walker Highway Wrecking Ball Degrades The Environment, Sticks Local Taxpayers With Bill

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) says it won't include a transit component in the $1.7 billion Zoo Interchange widening and rebuilding plan.

But toxic storm water runoff ponds...on the Milwaukee County Grounds, filled wetlands, and on top of a bike trail and Monarch Butterfly habitat...to be maintained by County taxpayers as part of the plan:

WisDOT says "yes' to that.

Preservationists say "no," and urge attendance and comments at the two public meetings set for the plan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Details below:

ZOO  INTERCHANGE  PUBLIC HEARING

Tues., March 22nd (2-7pm) & Wed., March 23rd (4-8pm)

Tommy Thompson Youth Center, 640 N. 84th St.,

West Allis State Fair Park, Gate #5

DOT Stormwater proposals:   

                                                                                         

·       A three-acre toxic stormwater pond instead of nectaring plants on the South Berm

    of the Monarch Trail, with the surrounding wetlands filled in by excavation.  

·       The Oak Leaf Bike Trail at Underwood Creek Pkwy replaced by a five acre pond.  

·       Four acres clear-cut for a pond on the historic Honey Creek Parkway.   

Losing 12 acres of county parkland to toxic ponds for the Zoo Interchange is bad enough

with salt, and heavy metals from vehicle exhaust and brake wear.   But there's more: 

Milwaukee County taxpayers will be responsible for all pond maintenance and liability.

 

There are alternatives:  

Permeable pavement for highway shoulders, roadside swales with catchment tunnels, underground cisterns (eg, I-94 by the airport), bio-filtration fields.  

Let DOT know that you don't want county parkland used for stormwater ponds.

> Come to the hearings and submit a DOT Comment Form.   > Mail a form from on-line: www.sefreeways.org    

> Email your comments to: dotdtsdsezoo@dot.wi.gov    or
> Fax them to: 262-548-5662.  

Deadline:  Comments must be postmarked by April 4, 2011.

          You can view the three ponds from the June 2009 draft EIS. 

          Look for the blue rectangle/trapezoid.

County Grounds: Exhibit 2-17 (South Berm of the Monarch Trail)

http://www.dot.wi.gov/projects/sefreeways/docs/deis-ex217to218.pdf

Honey Creek Parkway: Exhibit 2-12 (Nat. Reg. Hist. Places):

http://www.dot.wi.gov/projects/sefreeways/docs/deis-ex212to214.pdf 

Underwood Creek Pkwy: Exhibit 2-7 (Oak Leaf Bike Trail, S. of I-94):

http://www.dot.wi.gov/projects/sefreeways/docs/deis-ex27to28.pdf

 Questions:  Contact Dianne Dagelen, Conservation Chair: 

(ddagelen@sbcglobal.net) (414-771-1505).

Public Workers Assess Income Loss Under Walker Plan

Interesting that of five workers who told their stories to the Wisconsin State Journal, three, including a school teacher, already work second jobs.

Still believing in that overpaid public employee myth?

Walker's Anti-Transit Double-Talk Is No Laughing Matter

The Walker administration has moved its anti-transit stance to double-talk mode.

Consider:  The Walker budget proposes steep cuts in state aid to local bus systems and new restrictions on existing regional transit authorities - - bodies created to better operate and coordinate systems.

And legislation introduced by Walker loyalists would go further and wipe the regional transit authorities out.

So local transit systems are going to contract: Milwaukee County Transit is already acknowledging a probable fare increase, plus route reductions or cancellations including main lines to shuttles to van service for the disabled.

At the same time, the Walker administration is rolling out at meetings Tuesday and Wednesday evening a $1.7 billion Zoo Freeway Interchange widening and reconstruction plan - - with Mayfair Mall, the County Grounds, the Medical Complex, the County Research Park and proposed UW-M School of Engineering nearby or in its midst - - that has no transit upgrades.

(But does include filling wetlands, wildlife habitat and bike trails to construct acres of toxic detention ponds on and near the Milwaukee County Grounds.)

[The meetings are Tuesday 2-7 p.m., and Wednesday 4 p.m - 8 p.m.

Tommy Thompson Youth Center, 640 N. 84th St.,West Allis State Fair Park, Gate #5]

When asked to explain the plan's no-transit component, Mark Gottlieb, Walker's newly-appointed state transportation secretary and a former legislator who knows the ropes, said to the Journal Sentinel:

"'In general, transit is important, providing transit options is important," Gottlieb said. "What the studies have shown, under any scenario of transit, we're going to have congestion and additional capacity needs at various points in the system, either now or in the future.

"'I think the studies have shown that transit itself is not enough to eliminate the need for future capacity expansion to relieve congestion on the freeway."

"'The development of transit options, however, will fall to local governments and regional transportation authorities, he said."

This is like being told your health plan will not pay for your child's surgery at the new hospital up the road, but that a prescription will help - - and then finding a sign on the health plan's pharmacy that says "Closed."

Republican Fleebaggery

Talk radio loves to refer to the Wisconsin Senate Democrats as "fleebaggers" for leaving the state to delay adoption of Scott Walker's so-called budget-repair bill that stripped public employees of collective bargaining rights.

But Cong. Jim Sensenbrenner has something of a history of fleeing public meetings when he doesn't like what he's hearing.

Here is video of Sensenbrenner walking out of a Congressional hearing, along with the gavel, before a staffer disconnected the microphone.

More recently, he and State Senator Leah Vukmir walked out of a public meeting in Wauwatosa. Gavel in hand.

Meet The Congressman Who Got Double Scott Walker's Koch Money

A Kansas Congressional freshman Republican got $80,000 to Walker 43k, and, like Walker, is busy with the private industrialists' agendas.

One difference with the Walker operation: the Congressman's chief of staff came from the Koch Industries payroll, so would not have been fooled into thinking that David Koch was on the line.

Walker Fries The Suburbs, Too

You may remember that Scott Walker, while masquerading as a promoter of the Milwaukee region in his pre-Gubernatorial role as Milwaukee County Executive, mocked the public/private development collaborative M-7 (a reference to the seven-county Milwaukee area) in front of a mainstream,  civic audience as "lipstick on a pig."

Now the loathed are learning that the insult was more than rhetorical.

In today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Larry Sandler crunches the preliminary numbers and shows that Walker's budget cuts to the heart of public services in core M-7 counties.

Walker has moved from "lipstick on a pig" to Tea Party slash and burn, and I'm not sure killing street repairs, recycling pickups and other basic services in Republican strongholds like Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee Counties will be seen there as a just reward.

We're told that these very areas are where the region's job growth is occurring the fastest. Are potholes and over-flowing recycling carts the best welcoming mat Wisconsin can roll out for visiting entrepreneurs?

The cuts to Milwaukee County, where Democrats made Walker's political life more difficult, were predictable; when he was County Executive, Walker blasted the state (read: Jim Doyle), for not funding state-mandated programs, but Walker continues mandated programs, like those in the justice system and further cuts their funding.  Again, no surprise.

[A second link to information about cuts to Milwaukee County is here.]

No doubt the head-scratching and complaining will be loud today in the deeply-red suburban counties, but if you were seen from the beginning as a pig, ending up as bacon in Walker's frying pan had a certain predictability.

How Florida Lost High-Speed Rail

Writer at Daily Kos blames the New York Times, too.

Stone Fundraiser Thursday, Walker Is The Draw

From The Facebook page, "Where's Walker?"

• Where's Walker?

  THURSDAY 3/24 MILWAUKEE 4:30 PM Event for County Executive candidate Jeff Stone with special guest: Governor Scott Walker, University Club, 924 E Wells St.

One Waukesha-Area Community Says OK To Lake Michigan Water Diversion Map; Another Could Decide Thursday

When last we checked into the Waukesha water diversion issue, we learned that the Town of Genesee decided it wanted to be included in the official diversion service territory map which the City of Waukesha has included in its diversion application.

And the larger Town of Waukesha will take up the issue at a board meeting Thursday.

The towns were included in the map - - making them eligible for water down the road should the City's Lake Michigan diversion application be approved - - without their approval.

The map was drawn up by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which, like the City, did not consult with the Towns before it was created.

Leah Vukmir Talks Legislative "Relics." Fine - - Repeal Milwaukee's Frozen Borders, Too

State Senator Leah Vukmir, (R-Wauwatosa), says it's time to get rid of bygone legislative "relics" that restrict Milwaukee public employees' residency.

OK: let's get rid of another restriction on Milwaukee freedom - - like that special state law that froze Milwaukee's boundaries a half-century ago - - and let the annexations and easier enrollment into suburban schools begin...starting just across 60th St. into Wauwatosa.

From India, Can Palin See Plummeting Domestic Polls?

You gotta wonder who paid for her trip there, and why she would go all the way to India to bash green jobs.

I'm sure the cabinet-level agency in India dedicated to developing a green economy will be happy to see her return to America.

And back at home, her polls numbers are dismal, suggesting there is little room at the fringe for growth. 

Fleeting fame: Scott Walker, another enemy of green jobs (rail, wind turbines, biomass fuels), take note.

In Re: Prosser vs. Abrahamson - - Help Is On The Way

There is a simple solution for David Prosser as he navigates nervously around big meanie Shirley Abrahamson: he can ask for a complimentary State Patrol escort from fellow Walkerite Scott Fitzgerald.

He's got connections.

Republican State Senators Vukmir, Darling Should Move To The False Piety Party

That would be one step to the right of the Tea Party, and a long way from the old-timey Republican Party, where local control and home rule barriers to Big Government are heresies now.

Leah Vukmir stands up principally for her hometown of Wauwatosa, and yet she is pushing legislation to lift residency requirements that apply only to City of Milwaukee fire fighters and police offices.

And has piled her rationalizations into a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel op-ed, here, that ranks as one of the most politically-obfuscatory and intellectually-dishonest solipsisms, ever.

Vukmir mentions that Alberta Darling, a suburban Republican and fellow legislative meddler into Milwaukee affairs had earlier initiated a similar bill lifting residency for Milwaukee teachers.

These Senators are full of piety about the needs of Milwaukee school kids, but the real agenda is partisan - - using state legislative power to weaken the Milwaukee Teachers Union and its Democratic Party support.

And a belief in once-dear Republican values, like local control, or home rule?

Vukmir says in her op-ed that those ideas are "relics of a bygone era."

Translation: it's all about power now. Partisan power aimed at public employee unions and the City of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Common Council President Willie Hines, Jr, has a companion oped, and makes the case for home rule.

It wasn't that long ago that even the conservative Milwaukee Sentinel thought that home rule and public employee bargaining - - another level of local control - - trumped outside, legislative interference, but apparently that's a bygone notion, too.

And speaking or relics - - how would Vukmir feel about getting rid of another restriction from a bygone era - - the law that prevents Milwaukee from expanding its borders?

And speaking further of bygone notions, how about that title of "Senator" in front of Darling's name.

Or adding "recalled" to it?

State Patrol Wrote Fewer Tickets During Protests, But Don't Forget The Fitzgerald(s) Factors(s)

The Journal Sentinel does a nice job documenting the drop in State Patrol ticketing on the highways when many officers were called for Capitol crowd control during the recent protests, but let's not forget that Republicans Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald further diverted patrol officers from traditional duties by sending them searching for absent Senate Democrats.

I'd love to see an accounting of the patrol hours lost to the political demands made by Fitzgerald on the agency, which is now run by his dad, 68-year-old Stephen Fitzgerald.

The senior Fitzgerald, a former Dodge County sheriff, lost an election to return to the position in September, 2010, and then, presto! - - over five in-house candidates - - was chosen to command the State Patrol by the Walker administration less than a month after the swearing-inn.

I posted this commentary about a month ago:

Thursday, February 24, 2011

State Patrol Sent To Senators' Homes: Waste Of Resources With Troubled Highways

In the state that leads the nation in drunken driving and binge drinking and drunken-driving fatalities, sending Wisconsin Stare Patrol officers to all fourteen Senators' homes early Thursday morning to flush them towards the Capitol for voting is a foolish and dangerous waste of resources.

State Sen. Tim Cullen, a Janesville Democrat, reports visits on two separate days.

Worse, the Walker administration just appointed Stephen Fitzgerald, the father of the Republican leaders of both Wisconsin legislative houses, superintendent of the state patrol.

So nepotism meets abuse of power.

Noted earlier.

The State Patrol is staffed with sworn, armed officers. It should be free of political influences, with officers assisting motorists in distress, or pulling over unsafe vehicles, overweight trucks, speeders, and drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Posted by James Rowen at 9:51 AM

Scuzzy Redistricting In Virginia: Will Walker And GOP Legislative Bullies Play Their Own Games?

In Virginia, legislators are busy picking favorable constituencies. A Washington Post op-ed correctly notes the outrage.

It's the year of redistricting, following the completion of the census.

I pass this along because I have begun to hear rumors of Republican redistricting manipulations - - especially if recalls portend a loss of GOP control in the Senate - - and related shenanigans, like fast-tracked drawing of district lines being batted around the State Capitol in Madison.

Bad rumors? Maybe.

Impossible?

Don't be too sure.

This is the gang led by Scott Walker that has run roughshod over rules, procedures, laws and traditions in Wisconsin - - and in just two months:

* Gave Walker the power to approve state administrative rules previously considered for approval after public hearings by the legislature.

* Approved a special bill for one developer/donor of Walker's to fill a wetlands in Green Bay before the routine appeals and review process had been completed.

* Disclosed a plan to declare 37 state power plants "surplus" and sell them, with or without bids, to private operators.

* Hid their intention during the 2010 campaign to wipe out public employees' collective bargaining.

* "Dropped the bomb" in the form of a phonied-up budget-repair bill on public employee unions as part of a national political strategy, as Walker told the fake David Koch.

* Discussed planting trouble-makers among peaceful demonstrators as protests mounted.

* Illegally closed the State Capitol, and continue to restrict free speech and assembly there.

* Declined to let all Assembly Democrats vote on the bill.

*Sent preliminary layoff notifications to 1,500 public employees to leverage the passage of the bill.

* Approved the bill after a now-you-see-now-you-don't-conference committee 'procedure,' but broke the State Open Records law and made a joke out of democratic transparency in their haste to ram it through.

* Demanded that State Senate Democrats return to the legislature, withheld their pay, fined them, took away their staff and even parking places - - and when they did return, blocked for 24 hours their right to vote in committees.

* Had to be sued successfully to release open records of emails sent to Gov. Walker about the bill despite Walker's saying the emails supported his position.

* Converted 37 state agency legal and communications positions to "at-will," from Civil service.

So: I wouldn't put anything past this group of power-hungry, 'ends-justify-the-means' right-wingers.

Boycotts Cause Arizona To Rethink, Soften Anti-Immigration Stance

Money talks loudly when it walks away over politics from a state by the tens of millions of dollars, Arizona discovers, so it has put aside several bills that would have hardened an already tough anti-immigration position.

Food for thought should boycott backers in Wisconsin protesting Scott Walker's union-bashing go national.

Is This How Prosser Complements The Court?

My, my. 

Hat tip to Patrick Marley. A great story.

And to this blog posting title: Pun intended.

Wisconsin Justice Prosser Keeps Controversy Alive

Incumbent Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser could have assertively distanced himself from an outrageous and just plain politically incomprehensible statement by Brian Nemoir, the political operative who is also the justice's campaign director, but failing to do so has left Prosser vulnerable to attack as a Scott Walker water-carrier.

Which is not where you want to necessarily be this election season.

When hired in December, Nemoir suggested in a release that a Prosser victory would help align the Court with Walker and the new Republican legislative majorities.

"Our campaign efforts will include building an organization that will return Justice Prosser to the bench, protecting the conservative judicial majority and acting as a common sense complement to both the new administration and Legislature," Nemoir said.

Now Prosser finds himself under assault for Nemoir's statement, which you'd think Prosser would have disowned by sending Nemoir packing, or at least to the woodshed.

Oddly, however, Prosser barely laid a glove on Nemoir, keeping the controversy alive, as the Justice told columnist Mike Nichols:

"Prosser, for his part, has said he wouldn’t personally have used the word “complement” and describes himself as being in the middle of the court."

And barely picked up another opportunity offered by Bill Lueders in Isthmus to scream "independence."

I'm not an attorney, but I'd think that Prosser would have to recuse himself from hearing an inevitable appeal of the Friday court ruling in Madison that found the legislature violated the Open Meetings law when Republicans pushed through the budget-repair (sic) bill - - assuming that case works its way to the Supreme Court.

Which is why Prosser should have had zero association with Nemoir's statement.

Larson Provides Information About State Budget Cuts Aimed Across Milwaukee County

Wisconsin State Sen. Chris Larson, (D), has posted links to state Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget documents  that document the preliminary impact of proposed State budget cuts - - from police to parks to pothole patching - - on Milwaukee city and county services. From his helpful recent e-newsletter:

"State aid to Milwaukee County and the municipalities within it will face a drastic cut of $22,964,131 under this governor's budget. This means less money for public safety measures such as police and fire, reduced funds for our local parks and possible layoffs. To view the relevant LFB memo, please CLICK HERE.

"Local communities will also have to endure cuts to their state transportation aid fund. Milwaukee County and its municipalities alone will suffer a loss of $7,082,264 to fund road and public transportation projects. This may reduce the number of operational bus routes and prevent repairs on streets where construction has become a necessity. CLICK HERE for more information on this provision of the budget."

Demonstrators Take It To Alberta Darling's Menomomee Falls Office

Video of a pretty big crowd for a pretty conservative community.

United Wisconsin Recall Site Information Below

Thought I'd post a link to the statewide recall effort opposing eight Republican Wisconsin State Senators, and also swipe one of its cool graphics.