Another promise broken: Why Walker isn't fooling this Republican

Life-long Republican Gary Olson has a gift for elucidating the real reasons we should all recall Scott Walker and Scott Fitzgerald, and guess what? It has nothing to do with union busting or party politics.  It's about how Walker is using duplicitous accounting techniques to suit his political needs - the same thing he criticized former Governor Jim Doyle for doing and said he'd never do.

This open letter to Wisconsin citizens is Gary's second guest post on Monologues of Dissent.  His first, "Why Wisconsin Can't Afford Scott Walker (or Scott Fitzgerald)," explained why Walker and Fitzgerald's tired claim that they don't like "kicking the can down the road" is just a ruse distracting us from the massive debt we're incurring under their fiscally irresponsible policies.

 Another promise broken:  

Why Walker's magic deficit formula & other budget tricks aren't fooling this Republican

When it comes to the current state budget, I am in awe over how much celebratory emphasis the Wisconsin GOP is placing on the term “balanced” as if it has never been accomplished before in our state’s history. In no way am I trying to be flippant or snarky, but our state is legislatively mandated to balance its budget every two years. It is not a choice to balance the state budget, it is mandated - it is the law. So the next time someone tells you that Governor Walker balanced the state budget, ask them which governor has ever failed to do the same.

If the Legislature fails to approve a biennium budget on time, it is my understanding that the state automatically defaults to the approvals and provisions set forth in the previous budget until a new one can be signed into law. Minnesota was a perfect example of what happens to states that do not have such a provision in place and the government has to shut down until the new budget is approved.

What I find rather interesting about the 2011-2012 state budget is the manner in which Governor Walker and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald are making numerous public claims that they balanced the budget and created a projected surplus to boot. Yet in January of this year Governor Walker and Senator Fitzgerald discovered that according to federal law, they could not make the cuts that they wanted to make to the states healthcare program for children and low income recipients unless the state had a deficit. Suddenly a rabbit was pulled from the hat and state officials certified to federal government officials that under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the state will have a deficit. 

In other words, Governor Walker used the accounting principle of “Cash Basis” accounting, to show the public that the state budget was balanced. But then in order to get what he needed from the federal government, Governor Walker used GAAP to show a state deficit. Governor Doyle played similar games with the two different accounting principles as well, but as a gubernatorial candidate I thought that Scott Walker criticized Jim Doyle and the Democrats for doing this. I truly thought that Governor Walker was going to bring an end to such tactics of accounting trickery. Clearly I was wrong in that assessment.

I tried not to rip on Governor Doyle just because he was a Democrat, but I certainly cannot accept the same or worse by Governor Walker just because he is a Republican. Nor can I excuse Senator Fitzgerald for supporting such shenanigans. This is truly embarrassing to Wisconsin and to my Republican beliefs. Neither of the two are showing me that they are very believable, and that is a very sad way to feel towards publicly elected officials of their positions.

Sincerely,

Gary Olson

Lake Mills

An Open Lesson for Scott Fitzgerald from Callen Harty

The following letter appeared on Callen Harty's blog, A Single Bluebird, which I think is maybe the loveliest possible name for a blog.  Callen's letter is equally lovely, and didactic to boot. I hope Senator Fitzgerald, who works for us, takes it very seriously.

 

No one tells Fitz what to do. He won't even listen to phones. Source.

An Open Letter to Scott Fitzgerald

by Callen Harty

Dear Senator Fitzgerald,

     There was a lesson that most of us learned very early in our lives. Of course, most of us were not bullies, so it’s possible that the lesson was missed by you and some of your allies. The lesson was this: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

     Last spring you and Scott Walker pushed through the “budget repair” bill even though you could have passed it without political tactics or force as you had the votes on your side all along. You seem to revel in the idea of power so much that you use it unnecessarily, even at times when you could at least pretend civility. It’s like a boy growing faster than his classmates who starts to beat up those who are weaker than him without realizing that they are growing in strength, too, maybe just a little bit slower. One day one of them, or a group of them, will flex their muscles and put him in his place.

     Yesterday you disbanded the Senate mining committee because you didn’t like the idea that a bipartisan committee was working together to come up with a compromise bill, something unheard of in our Legislature since you and your brother have been its leaders. Instead of compromise you wanted a mining bill that fulfilled all the wishes of your corporate benefactors, so you threw it back to the Joint Finance Committee knowing that it will push through the Assembly version that you want. Yes, as Senate Majority Leader you have the power to make those kinds of decisions, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should. You may find your own party members finally abandoning you over this one. I’d like to think that at least one of them might find the moral backbone to stand up to you.

     I get the feeling that you don’t understand the reasons you are being recalled from your Senate seat. Oddly enough, they are the same reasons that you are likely to lose the seat even though you and all the experts seem to think you are invulnerable. Please pass this on to Governor Walker when you see him (given that none of his constituents can) because he has the same misunderstanding. It comes down to the difference between your perceptions of reality and the reality of the people of your district and of Wisconsin as a whole.
   

  Most of your constituents are regular folks who are just trying to live. They are trying to pay rent or a mortgage. They are trying to put food on the table. They hope to have a little extra for some little luxuries once in a while. They want to retire at some point and live out their years in peace and good health. Much of what you have done in the Legislature this past year has done little to help them, but it has done a great deal to help out-of-state corporations and those who already have more than enough food to eat. People are angry over that, and those of us on the schoolyard who have been bullied by you are growing in strength. But that’s not even really the point. The point is you do not have a clue why there have been protests for over a year now. You just think it’s a bunch of union thugs, out-of-state agitators, hippies, and people who hate Republicans. But you are wrong.

     This is important. Pay attention to this: The division seen in Wisconsin this past year is not solely because of unions. The recalls that are underway are not solely the effort of Democrats. Republican leadership and the media would have us believe this, but it is not true. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, because as long as you blindly believe that it is all about the unions and the Democrats you are destined to lose your recall election, and I really, really want to see your pompous self get slapped down by the people in your district.

     We naïve Wisconsinites have a blind faith in clean politics. We have an unwavering belief that truth will prevail over lies and prevarication. We are patient. Yes, we are angry, but we remain peaceful. We are vigilant. You will be recalled because we don’t like the way you do business. Plain and simple. It is Democrats, but it is also disaffected Republicans, and independents. It is union members, but it also people who have never joined a union in their lives. It is hippies, but it is also businessmen. It is not just sore losers, but people who don’t like to see you win with dirty tricks. These people will work together to recall you, because we can and we should.

 - Callen Harty

Photo: Callen Harty

Scott Fitzgerald Requests Citizen Assistance in Ensuring He Is Legally Recalled

Open Letters from Sarah Niemann Hammer, Julie Wells and John Clark

Republican Senate Majority leader Scott Fitzgerald was so shocked to find himself the victim of an outrageously successful recall effort that he leaped at the earliest opportunity to make the public petition records "extra" public by posting a searchable pdf of the signatures on his campaign website. He calls on citizens to "verify" that their names are "not on the signature list" to recall him and asks that they contact his staff (by emailing contact@votefitzgerald.com) if they are.

This generous request presents an opportunity for the 20,000+ citizens in Senate District 13 to verify that their names do, indeed, appear on the recall petitions that were submitted to the GAB and to thank the good Senator for providing this public opportunity to ensure that he is lawfully recalled.

One such citizen, a recall organizer who has already been the target of harassment and attacks of vandalism, took advantage of this opportunity to thank Senator Fitzgerald:

Dear Senator Fitzgerald and staff,

I appreciate that like other Republican Senators facing recall you have posted a searchable pdf on your website so that people can "verify" if their name is on the petition.

I'm sure you would like to know that sincerely hardworking citizens such as myself are less than amused that you've chosen to take time and resources to make this public record information "extra" public by making it searchable.

Being the recipient of 4 flat tires during the recall efforts did not deter me from working tirelessly to successfully expose who you truly are; that is a senator who does not have the interests of his constituents in his best interest, and this "scare tactic" will not deter the more than 20,000 concerned citizens of SD-13 who signed your recall petition and feel as I do.

Perhaps instead of wasting tax payers resources, such as the more than $18,000 in per diems you used for food and gas to travel an hour to and from work last year, you could use your remaining time in office to finally put the interest of the people in your senate district above the interests of yourself, for once.

Yes, I signed AND circulated petitions to recall Senator Scott Fitzgerald,

 Sarah Niemann Hammer

And this one from Julie Wells, the woman who filed the papers with the Government Accountability Board to recall Scott Walker, who happens to also be a constituent of Senate District 13:

Dear Senator Fitz, 

I want to thank you for the opportunity to be sure my signature is still on the petition I signed to recall you. I would have liked it a lot better however, had you listened to the concern of these voters and redacted the addresses. As you know there are a lot of people in this state who do not see anything wrong with harassment and intimidation of other people who do not agree with them. I hope none of them take it a step further and actually harm anyone. I circulated petitions and had more than one person concerned that they could lose their job if their boss found out. Did you think about the battered women living in shelters for fear they may be killed if found? I think not. I would have felt more trusting of you had you chosen not to put the addresses online. Your supporters could verify that their name is not on the petition without the address. Did you do this as a way to intimidate? One can only wonder. This just proves that you still do not think about ALL the people you were elected to represent, only those that blindly follow you. I have already received my first intimidating email about the recall. I will be forwarding all that I receive to you so that you might get the true picture of what life is like on the outside. Thank you for reinforcing my reasons and my desire to recall you!

- Julie Wells

This letter comes from another SD13 resident, who thanks the Senator for helping the recall effort by posting this volunteer database and doing all the data entry work (I'm wondering myself if this shouldn't earn the Senator one of the coveted "I HELPED RECALL FITZ" buttons):

Dear Senator Scott Fitzgerald,

Thank you Senator Fitzgerald for posting a searchable data base on recall petitions. You just saved the wonderful volunteers who along with myself, worked so hard to recall you, a lot of work in our own data base, to help find more volunteers to work in the election campaign against you. 

I was also concerned for myself that in all the hard work, that I may have forgotten to sign. Now I see that I did indeed sign the petition to recall you, so I thank you again. I also was so happy to see a couple of my friends that are swing voters had also signed the petition, this made me even more confident that the recall effort will succeed. 

Senator Fitzgerald, your attack on the hard working people of Wisconsin and misrepresentation of the constituents of Senate Distract 13 is heading in the right direction, your Recall.  Senator Fitzgerald your pink slip is coming.

Sincerely,
John Clark

Thanks to Sarah, Julie and John for sharing their wonderfully open letters! Readers in the other senate districts might also consider taking the opportunity to verify that their names are being counted in the petitions:

• In Senate District 21, you can check the petitions here and send your thanks to Van Wanggaard here or call (262) 930-6503.
• In Senate District 29, you can check the petitions here and send your thanks Pam Galloway here or call (715) 305-4331. 
• The website of Senate District 23 incumbent Terry Moulton seems to be stuck in some kind of fundraising-only phase, but you can send your thoughts to the Senator at Sen.Moulton@legis.wisconsin.gov.
• And, again, those in Senate District 13 can find their names in the petitions here and send their thanks to Scott Fitzgerald here or by calling (608) 257-8035.