Guest post: An open letter to Mr. Walker, the governor who refuses to govern

This letter was submitted as-is to the office of Governor Scott "Fundraising is Governing" Walker by Jed Williams, a proud Wisconsinite from Stevens Point, on Feb. 21, 2013. As citizens of Wisconsin have come to expect from the governor's office, no response was received.  I'm proud to publish it here with the author's permission, and hope it inspires others to continue to share their thoughts, concerns, and assessments of the governor's refusal to govern, so beautifully summed up by Mr. Williams when he explains why he refuses to address Scott Walker as "Governor:"

I would be glad to call you governor, Mr. Walker, if you chose to start acting like one. When you decide to represent your constituents, instead of punishing them. When you gain the backbone and intestinal fortitude to protect the poor, the underserved, and ones who were here first from those that see them only as dollar signs and obstacles in front of more dollar signs. When you decide that women are just as important as men. Then, Mr. Walker, I will be happy to call you governor.

 Enjoy.

At the time of this posting, the governor is busy not governing in China, while taxpayers are funding a grand "mission" with an entourage of nearly 40 people, crossing our fingers that our he doesn't sell off what's left of our jobs as fast (or as sneakily) as he's trying to sell off our land. Image source.

An Open Letter to Mr. Walker

Dear Mr. Walker.

No, I won’t call you governor and I will elaborate on that in a moment but that isn’t why I have chosen to speak to you today. I would like to tell you about my state.

My state is full of amazing people. It is a population that is unique in its simplicity. We work hard, try to do the right thing, and savor the world around us. We don’t spy on our neighbors; we invite them over for a beer on the porch after an honest day’s work.

My state has a history, such a grand history, as well. We were pioneers in the development of unions; leading to the creation of 40-hour work weeks, paid sick days, workers compensation (we even wrote the first policy for it in the insurance world!), and pensions that can support us in old age so we can watch our grandchildren grow up. We value education; so much that we have had a reputation. Employers from around the country, and even the world, would recruit our students right from graduation. They knew they were getting well-educated hard-working people. We have some of the best water the United States can offer. With a city consistently ranked as the best water in the country right in the middle of our state. Our water is so pure and clean that it attracted German settlers to immigrate in and set up breweries to make some of the finest ales, lagers, pilsners, bocks, draughts, stouts, weizens, and whatever other style of beer they can dream up. We respect each other, no matter how different each person may be. It never mattered if they were male, female, African American, Hispanic, Native American, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, straight, homosexual, tall, short, skinny, or portly. We elected the first openly-gay person to the United States senate. We were able to live relatively stress-free lives. If a person we cared about lost their job we had good reason to believe that they would be able to find another one in a short time, and if it took a bit longer their family wouldn’t starve, wouldn’t have to skip vital trips to the doctor, and wouldn’t have to be publicly shamed just to get by when things got rough.

Now, to answer your question. I would be glad to call you governor, Mr. Walker, if you chose to start acting like one. When you decide to represent your constituents, instead of punishing them. When you gain the backbone and intestinal fortitude to protect the poor, the underserved, and ones who were here first from those that see them only as dollar signs and obstacles in front of more dollar signs. When you decide that women are just as important as men. Then, Mr. Walker, I will be happy to call you governor.

I know you have supporters. Those that would tell me if I don’t like what you are doing then I should leave. I would say to them, the weight of history is not behind them. It looms over me like a guardian, assuring me that I stand for what truly makes a society worth living in. I can point to the acts of those that came before me in this great state and respond “you are the interloper, you poison the bonds between neighbors, you rush to judge those different because you are uncomfortable both with them and with yourself. YOU get out of MY state.” And they may even consider it. They will see other states already with leaders that share your beliefs. They have been that way for a long time and will likely be that way for a long time yet. This state doesn’t have much history of supporting the type of leadership you have displayed so who is to say it will last? Maybe they should consider it at least. And they will. Then they will see that those states, the ones that boast of the same ideology that you possess, aren’t quite so attractive after all. Those states there are no jobs. Employers have no interest in those states because there are no good employees to hire. Who could blame them? The schools are so underfunded that they cannot teach properly. Their infrastructure is on the brink of failing. The landscape is littered and pocked by industrial giants without the leash holding them to a standard befitting a first-world country. They have to BUY clean water because their taps and wells are unsafe to drink.

This is the moment when they will realize, they don’t want to be in a state like that. This is the moment they will realize they don’t want to be in a state you have been pushing us towards. This is the moment they will realize it isn’t people like me, standing up and trying to use what tiny voice I have to protest your reign of terror, aren’t the problem. This is the moment they will realize that in just three years we went from a proud member of the region to being the punch-line of another governor’s speech. And this, Mr. Walker, is the moment you will lose them, for good.

Sincerely,
A Proud Wisconsinite

Ryan Wherley: On MLK's Legacy and the Wisconsin Resistance

Another stirring guest post from my friend and brother in dissent (and 6 time MoD guest poster), Ryan Wherley, written on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination in Memphis, where he was supporting striking sanitation workers. Crossposted with permission from Wisco Wherls' Daily Kos post. You can find the original here. 

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 45 Years Later: 

Carrying on the Legacy

by Ryan Wherley

5 April 2013 

I originally wrote the portion of this piece below on Monday, January 21st after the annual Martin Luther King Day celebration in the Wisconsin State Capitol.  Why I didn't get around to publishing it at the time, I don't remember but I knew there was a reason I saved it as a draft.  45 years ago yesterday, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee while actively supporting striking AFSCME sanitation workers.  His legacy of advocating, speaking out, sitting in, standing up and getting arrested for civil rights, voting rights, peace, labor rights and social justice wherever inequity and injustice existed, will assuredly live on forever.

Over Labor Day weekend this past fall, I had the unanticipated, yet much appreciated honor to visit the memorial dedicated to Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King.  The two of them are entombed side by side on a mini-island in the middle of a stunning and beautifully laid out reflecting pond.  The pond is fed by the soothing trickle of water running down gradually descending steps at the far end of the memorial.  It was so quietly tucked into the middle of his former neighborhood, mere blocks from the Ebeneezer Baptist Church where MLK rose to prominence with his fiery sermons and tireless organizing, that I didn't even know we had arrived until his tomb was literally right in front of me.  I stood there in stunned silence, taking in the magnitude of how close I was to the final resting place of such an immensely important human being who was able to accomplish so much in only 39 years on this planet.

I fought back tears while thinking about how much good he could still be doing today and how influential his indomitable will and message have been for me and countless millions of others.  At the same time, I couldn't help but think about the role he might have played in the Wisconsin Uprising, the Wisconsin Movement and the fight back against regressive, right-wing extremism sweeping across our nation.   In the chilly, earliest days of the Uprising in February 2011, Reverend Jesse Jackson, a close friend of Dr. King who was with him in Memphis when he was gunned down, told a nighttime crowd of 50,000 in Madison,"This is a Martin Luther King moment...a Gandhi moment."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been 84 years old if he were still alive today.  Such a horrifically tragic loss that can never be quantifiably measured but will always be felt and forever raises the question of what might have been in a life taken far too soon.  But wherever people stand up for human rights, for civil rights, for those less fortunate and for a society that is always progressing and refuses to stand idly by in the face of injustice, the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. lives on.  Every time we sing "We Shall Overcome" at the Solidarity Sing Along, and every time my friend Callen Harty diligently heads into the Capitol Rotunda on a daily basis to sing those verses of protest in solitary solidarity, the memory and embodiment of what Dr. King lived and spoke about are never far away in mind and in soul. 

As Dr. King once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."  Keep on fighting the good fight, brothers and sisters.  Forever Forward.


From Jan.  21, 2013:

Today, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Margaret Rozga, the widow of Father James Groppi.  Father James Groppi was a priest and Civil Rights activist during the tumultuous 1960's in Wisconsin and was posthumously awarded the Martin Luther King Heritage award at today's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration in the Capitol.  Her speech was amazing throughout and she exhibited great power and eloquence while skewering Scott Walker.  Without ever mentioning Walker's name, she pointed out that anybody who attacks voting rights, union rights or seeks to destroy the environment is NOT acting in the name of Martin Luther King and "does NOT stand with us."  But when she ended her speech by thanking groups like the Overpass Light Brigade, and the Solidarity Sing Along for carrying on the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and her husband, Fr. James Groppi, essentially extending the blessing of an entire generation of civil rights and social justice activists, I don't think I've ever smiled any bigger.  

Of course, at the end of the speech, she received a rousing standing ovation.  As the ovation rang throughout the Capitol, Scott Walker cowardly chose to remain seated, until his was the only ass still in a seat.  14 seconds later, he begrudgingly rose and shook her hand as she extended it upon her departure from the podium.  The difference between these two individuals could not have been more stark.  Here was a woman, quite small in stature, yet with enough presence and heart to fill the entire Capitol...and a man as powerful as any in Wisconsin yet so lacking in character, empathy and humility as to be the smallest man I've ever seen.  She told me that she had wished to extend the torch from her husband, who led 200 consecutive days of protests, to the "Solidarity Singers," and autographed the sign I had brought with me while adding: "the longevity record is yours now."   What I witnessed today reminded me of why we continue to fight and as long as injustice exists in any form, we will not be silenced  along the way and we will not go away.

Here is a clip of Peggy Rozga's speech at the Martin Luther King Day ceremony at the Capitol, courtesy of my friend, Nick Nice:

 This picture was taken at the MLK Day celebration moments after Walker took the podium to address the crowd and I along with other citizens throughout the crowd engaged in the now-annual tradition of turning our backs to the GovernEr in protest. This is also the same sign Peggy Rozga was kind enough to sign after the event. Photo courtesy of Whitney "Thid" Steffen

Jacob Barnes: A letter of appreciation to Scott Walker

Guest post from Jacob Barnes....an open letter to the governor, in appreciation of the helpful tools and in celebration of the upcoming memoir, Unintimidatedable: The Bully Who Couldn't Be Bullied.

Dear Governor Walker,

More than a year after your courageous stand against the tyranny of so many, I have come to realize and appreciate the improvements you have boldly brought to our state. At first, I didn't understand your reforms because of union thug intimidation and the liberal media's bias covering your actions in the State of Wisconsin. I apologize for protesting against your valiant ideals. I'm so sorry I allowed Madison liberals to coerce me into acting on their behalf, but I was poor and they paid protestors well.

After I was inside their cartel, fear of big labor bullying my family if I deviated from their communist agenda kept me on a terrible, terrible path. Terror forced me to serve a dark master, but now I see the error of my ways. I can never undo all those times we heiled Hitler, burned American flags and saluted Lennon in our secret meetings, but I can express my regret that I ever forsook your high moral standards.

I was also blinded by my dependence on government to provide a safety net while I struggle with a chronic, disabling illness. I realize now that I can just pull myself up by my bootstraps, acquiring the medication and care I need to get better without any help whatsoever. I see now that corporations depend on you for tax breaks, subsidies and liability reductions so they can have enough money after profits to donate to your reelection. I thank God that the millions of dollars they give to you go towards squashing those Marxist laborers, keeping you out of prison by funding your criminal defense fund and spreading your message of reforms all around the country.

It wasn't until you presented a new way of measuring jobs that I even began questioning the intense brain washing I endured at the hands of labor cahoots, dirty hippies and feminist extremists. When you said “We're just under 100,000” I KNEW it was working! It was working and I knew if you could stand up to blue collar workers, so could I! I would be 'Unintimidated' just like you!

Thank you Scott Walker for the $2 tax break! Perhaps next year, after I've sold everything I own and maxed out all the credit available to me, I will be able to purchase the medications I need and get better. Then I'll have enough taxable income to take advantage of that $2 tax break, if Big Labor assassins allow me to live that long. Maybe someday I'll even become a job creator! Imagine the tax breaks I could get then! Don't worry Governor, I will give back. I will help you become President of The United States!

I'm sorry I ever doubted you,

Jacob Barnes

 

"The Star" endorses partisanship, not free speech

Update! 4/3/2013

The Star finally posted my comment!  Thank you, Mr. Mertes! It says it was posted on 1:05 pm on Fri, Mar 22, 2013 (when I wrote it) but I sent an email on 3/25 asking why he didn't publish it and kept checking periodically & it still wasn't there...I think the last time I checked was late last week. Still no response to my email, though.  I won't hold my breath on that one.

But the more compelling update is that BOTH progressive candidates - Dave Carlson and Andrea Gage - won seats on the Sun Prairie City Council, proving once again that when voters have a choice in our community, they choose the progressive candidate! Congratulations!  Here's to moving forward, and with better, more open dialogue!

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The following is a letter I felt compelled to send to my local paper, the Sun Prairie Star, when its editor, Christopher Mertes, not only failed to publish a fairly innocuous comment I posted on an endorsement on its website, but entered a public squabbling match - insulting and threatening to silence - those who dared to disagree with him on the paper's facebook page.  He then issued a disturbing tirade against an excellent informational public service interview by Dane County Supervisor Nick Zweifel with Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers and our own Sun Prairie School District administrator, Dr. Tim Culver, to which Nick Zweifel has responded here and to which Mertes responded on his personal blog here.  [Note that the paper has endorsed Don "An Unhired Gun in Every School" Pridemore for Superintendent, and our community's elected school board stands strongly against increased public funding to unaccountable and unproven voucher programs].  I find this behavior unbefitting of the editor of our town's only news outlet, and I make public my invitation to Mr. Mertes to take seriously the call for more balanced - and less reactionary - forum for coverage of local issues and events.  Our community deserves better.  This sort of strong-arming of oppositional views has no place in America, much less Sun Prairie.  I would hope that those who agree that we need to be respectful of the views of all of our citizens will let Mr. Mertes know where they stand as well.

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Why I don't subscribe to the many hypocrisies of The Star. 
To appreciate the full irony of this bullying, see the endorsement in question.

Dear Chris,

Am I banned from commenting online at The Star (something I very rarely do)?  What is your policy for moderating comments there? I posted the comment (pasted below) on City Council President Zach Weber's endorsement of Steve Villand many days ago and it still has not appeared. The comment clearly takes issue with Mr. Weber's (and the paper's) endorsement, but I don't see any reason why you wouldn't publish it, especially considering you already posted my letter of support for Dave Carlson and Andrea Gage.

It seems you've taken to disparaging SPARC (Sun Prairie Action Resource Coalition, a grassroots group I'm closely involved with) as leftist ideologues and party players in this latest election cycle (both in your endorsement piece and in your comment on the education interview posted by County Supervisor Nick Zweifel), but the fact is, SPARC is a non-partisan coalition of locally-focused people with a wide range of political views.  While many of us support candidates independently, our only hope as a group is that people pay attention and look at all the information out there on the candidates to make informed personal decisions that fit their own goals for the community.  [Our focus is on public service events, information sharing, and filling needs in the community (like with our upcoming SnackSmart School Snack Drive)]. Many of us are not even Democrats, but do tend (like the rest of our community) to vote for the candidates we feel best reflect our own values.  Further, our group is not only concerned with engaging people in paying attention to local politics and elections; we have a much broader mission that seeks to address issues that matter to all of us and to build bridges across partisan divides.  I know there are many in our community who welcome this intervention into the local political discourse and recognize the need for it.

I appreciate, then, that The Star has covered SPARC community forums and events, and am a bit confused as to why you've begun to point fingers at the group, which does not endorse candidates, even if its members often have strong positions on who would best serve our community. 

I am really troubled by your bans of commenters who don't share your views (most notably your most formidable ideological rival, Eric Basile - who really deserves a regular column in the paper - and now I see you're publicly threatening to ban him from commenting on facebook, too), and your dismissive and disrespectful comments to people like my good friend and local volunteer Barb Muse (seriously? just because she lives in Bristol she shouldn't care about Sun Prairie?  She's here every day!).  Your reactionary replies come across like schoolyard retorts; they demean the paper and make it clear that you truly do not welcome differing perspectives. And your willingness to ban people from commenting makes the paper come across more like your personal blog than the award-winning news source it once was.

One of the reasons I wanted to get involved with a group like SPARC was because many of us feel silenced in our community by a local paper that not only doesn't reflect our editorial perspective, but actively asserts control over limiting who can say what in our community.  I would hope that The Star would welcome some differing positions, rather than squelch them.  Doing so makes your paper look like a propaganda outlet rather than a hometown paper.  I understand that the paper is owned by the Knox family, whose contributions to the Republican party are well documented, but that doesn't mean that you should abandon your professional obligation to support freedom of the press, and recognize the rights of members of our community to exercise freedom of speech and expression.

You have the opportunity in the pages of your paper to open up real dialogue about issues people in our community care about.  You could do this in a way that unites people, by giving equal space and respect to both sides, or you can continue to play an active role in dividing our community by trying to silence those with whom you do not agree (who happen to be the majority of the community, if we go by our voting history).  I invite you to take the high road by focusing on the issues rather than resorting to disparaging individual members of the community, and I offer my voice if you ever want to consider a point/counterpoint forum or need suggestions for community members who might be able to provide differing views on the issues that matter to all of us. 

I hope you'll publish the original comment, and I hope that you'll reconsider use of these heavy-handed tactics that prevent The Star from serving our community effectively.

Thanks,
Heather DuBois Bourenane


---------------------------------
And for what it's worth, here's the original comment that didn't make it through the "moderation" process (I'd copied it in anticipation of not seeing it posted, which is sad enough in itself). The comment responds to Mr. Weber's assertion that Andrea Gage is too "partisan" a candidate, while failing to acknowledge his earlier endorsement of another, highly partisan, candidate on the right:

This appeal to non-partisanship would be much easier to accept had Mr. Weber not also endorsed Republican Trish Schaefer, in the Distict 4 race against moderate Dave Carlson. While Schaefer has not accepted party endorsements, her campaign rhetoric (and attempts to smear supporters of her opponent) make her real agenda clear. Those of us who followed her unsuccessful campaign against Representative Gary Hebl last fall are well aware of how far to the right she stands, and her attempts to disguise her politics for this nonpartisan race seem disingenuous and misleading, as does Mr. Weber's attempt here to appeal to "nonpartisan" governance.

I agree that partisan politics should not play a major role in local government, but I also think we need candidates who will stand up for local values and be proactive in engaging the community. I am a resident of district 2 and I like Andrea Gage's agenda: it involves getting people more involved and a community-focused approach to local governance, something I think we could improve on.

I would hope that Mr. Weber would also welcome some change on the Council so that a more diverse cross-section of our community was represented at City Hall. Whatever the outcome of the race, I hope that partisan bickering and insular government is not on anyone's "agenda."

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Glenn Grothman Advises Senate to "Ignore" Democracy Watchdogs

WI Senator Glenn Grothman. Source.

Glenn Grothman, enemy of democracy. During the mining debate on the the Senate floor on Feb. 27, 2013, Senator Grothman (R, West Bend) spoke out in response to data revealing the depths of connections of the mining legislation to dirty money and special interests. The data in question was in part collected by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which, he said "is a pretty shady organization" and advises his colleagues to "ignore anything this organization says,"  dismissing those who testified against the bill as "goofy protesters."


Now, to anyone who knows anything about the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, this is hard to believe.  But listen for yourself:

 
What IS the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, really? A well-established nonpartisan organization comprised of well-respected professionals and led by Mike McCabe. Their mission: 

"The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political watchdog group dedicated to clean government. We advocate for a real democracy that allows the common good to prevail over narrow interests by reinforcing and protecting the values of honesty, fairness, transparency, accountability, citizen participation, competition, and respect for constitutional rights and the rule of law."

That doesn't sound shady to me.  At all.

The work of people like Mike McCabe and others at Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is the only thing holding Wisconsin back right now from the brink of pure, unbridled partisan exploitation.  By publicly disparaging the character of this group and its findings, Grothman panders to the corporate interests who wrote the mining legislation and proves (as if we had any doubt) that the interests of the people are of no interest to him.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is a nonpartisan oasis in a desert of partisan drought.  It's precisely the kind of group that reflects the spirit of independent thinking, progressive values, and shared desire for open and transparent government that used to mark Wisconsin as unique among the 50 states.  We need to foster and support groups like this and encourage more citizen watchdogging of our elected officials. We need to applaud groups like this for doing the people's work when those we elect (and pay!) to do that work refuse to do it faithfully.

In short, this is exactly NOT the kind of organization any self-respecting politician should be publicly badmouthing. Although it's no surprise coming from Kwanzaa-bashing, famously racist and misogynist Grothman, who is happy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with him, and dismissed the hundreds of thousands of teachers, nurses, students, laborers, police officers, fire fighters, retirees, and countless other citizens speaking up against the unconscionable 2011 powergrab as "a bunch of slobs."  

Why does Glenn Grothman advise his colleagues to ignore transparency? Why does Glenn Grothman argue that we should avoid democracy?  

He owes all of us an apology, but especially he owes the good people at Wisconsin Democracy Campaign an apology for publicly disparaging their work.

It's the absolute least he can do.

A more decent man would resign, in the scope of such a long history of offenses to the people he allegedly serves.  But we all know Glenn Grothman is not a more decent man.


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Note:  this post has been updated to correct the date.  The footage is from 2/27/13, not 3/27/13.

Scott Walker's Open Letter Challenge: Budget Addition!

Take the Scott Walker/MoD Open Letter Challenge - 2013-2015 Budget Edition!

 
Rarely do the governor and I collaborate on a project, but I am totally on board with his letter to the editor suggestion!

Using this handy form, you can let your local
paper know what you think of Walker's budget!

Governor Walker had the fine idea of providing his supporters with an handy auto-form for sending "original" letters to the editors of their local papers, telling them how swell they think his new budget plans are.

Here's the propaganda template Walker's staff provides:

Governor Walker’s proposed budget puts the focus on Wisconsin families and presents a clear path to economic prosperity for our state.

The Governor’s optimistic plan highlights his continuing commitment to taxpayers by cutting income taxes for the first time in more than a decade, while maintaining a freeze on property taxes. Reducing these financial burdens puts money back into the hands of families who need it most.

His significant investments in education and workforce development renews his commitment to job creation, and by putting additional focus on infrastructure and government reform, he is ensuring growth of businesses as well as the personal economies of families across Wisconsin.
Governor Walker has laid out a plan that builds upon the firm foundation he and the Republican legislature put into place with their last budget; he has given us a viable path forward. Now, we must do our part to stand with Governor Walker by spreading the message of his reforms and encouraging our representatives to pass his budget. The Governor continues to stand up for the taxpayers of Wisconsin, so we must stand with him and help him keep Wisconsin moving forward.

Analiese Eicher had the fine idea of encouraging people to customize this form:

So Walker's budget website has a form letter for you to sent to you local newspaper. All you have to do is fill out your name, email, and zip code.

Oh, and the form letter? You can edit it.

Edit and send away, my friends.

I put this challenge to my friends at the MoD facebook page, and below are some of the customizations we've seen so far.  If you take the challenge, please post your letter in the comments below, on the facebook page, or send them to me by email and I'll add them in!  And be sure to send them by email to your paper...never know what "filters" might be at work on the governor's end.

  -----------

Governor Walker’s proposed budget puts the focus on handouts to corporations and rich political donors while completely ignoring the needs of Wisconsin families. His budget presents a clear path to widespread poverty across our state.

The Governor’s cynical plan highlights his total lack of commitment to taxpayers by a symbolic and largely worthless cutting of income taxes for the first time in more than a decade, while maintaining a freeze on property taxes so as to ensure that public education continues to wither under his administration. Reducing these financial burdens puts money back into the hands of his corporate masters who are always at the forefront of his thoughts.

His significant attacks against public education and restricting any workforce development renews his commitment to job destruction, and by putting additional focus on handouts to donors and partisan reform, he is ensuring the growth of corporate profits while destroying personal incomes of families across Wisconsin. The few jobs that Governor Walker HAS managed to create have all been out of state as he seems to favor awarding contracts in any state OTHER than the one he was sadly elected to serve.

Governor Walker has laid out a plan that builds upon the partisan and radical foundation he and the Republican legislature forced into place with their last budget; he has given us a viable path backwards. Now, we must do our part to stand against Governor Walker by spreading the message of his "reforms" and encouraging our representatives to vote against his budget. The Governor continues to stand against the taxpayers of Wisconsin, so we must stand against him and help turn Wisconsin around so she is once again moving forward. 

- Jeff Woosley

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Governor Walker’s proposed budget puts the focus on corporate interests and presents a clear path to economic prosperity for his campaign sponsors.

The Governor’s optimistic plan highlights his continuing commitment to road building lobbyists by creating more lanes of traffic for the first time in more than a decade, while maintaining a lock down on public transportation funds. Reducing donation obstacles puts money back into his hands rather than the hands of families who need it most.

His significant investments in pay-to-play charter schools renews his commitment to killing jobs that support Wisconsin families, and by putting additional focus on corporate sponsorship and donations, he is ensuring his national exposure to the Teabaggers across the United States.

Governor Walker has laid out a plan that builds upon the firm foundation he and the Republican legislature have been bought and paid for; he has given us a viable path backwards. Now, we must do our part to stand with Governor Walker by spreading the wealth amongst his closest campaign donors and corporate sponsors. The Governor continues to stand up for the corporate interests of Wisconsin, so we must stand with him and help him keep Wisconsin moving towards even greater debt and division.

- Daniel Lyons

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Governor Walker’s proposed budget puts the bull's eye on Wisconsin families and presents a clear path to economic ruin for our state.

The Governor’s cynical plan highlights his continuing commitment to corporations by cutting services for the first time in more than a decade, while maintaining a freeze on property taxes. Reducing these financial burdens puts money back into the hands of richest 1% who need it least.

His significant cuts in education and workforce development renews his commitment to corporations, and by putting additional focus on infrastructure and government subsidies, he is ensuring growth of profits as well as the personal fortunes of millionaires.

Governor Walker has laid out a plan that builds upon the foundation he and the Republican legislature put into place with their last budget; he has given us a path downward. Now, we must do our part to battle against Governor Walker by spreading the message of his abuses and encouraging our representatives to oppose his budget. The Governor continues to stand up for the corporations, so we must stand up to him and keep Wisconsin moving forward.

- Tim Stachoviak 

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Governor Walker’s proposed budget puts the burden on Wisconsin families and presents a clear danger to economic prosperity for our state.

The Governor’s plan highlights his continuing commitment to his overlords by these financial burdens. It puts money back into the hands of his business cronies, while cutting income taxes in amounts that do nothing for the majority of the people.

His significant disregard for one of the finest education systems in the country, now a disaster, as he continues his goose-stepping to privatization. Workforce development consists of job creation in, well actually nothing. He is a plague to the families across Wisconsin.

Governor Walker has laid out a plan that builds upon the firm foundation he and the Republican legislature put into place with their last budget; divide and conquer. Now, we must do our part to stand up to Governor Walker by spreading the true message of his reforms and encouraging our representatives to show some spine and represent their constituents. The Governor continues to be controlled by outside influences, so we must stand up to him and help Wisconsin from becoming worse than a third world country.

- Jim Ross

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GovernEr Walker’s proposed budget puts the focus on placing average Wisconsin families at a further disadvantage as he continues to gut public education and healthcare. It represents a clear and present danger as the path to economic disparity continues to widen the distance between the haves and have nots in our state.

The GovernEr's unrealistic plan highlights his continuing commitment to his wealthy masters. By cutting income taxes for the first time in more than a decade, which will amount to almost nothing for the average tax payer, while maintaining a freeze on property taxes that caused a decrease in public services, he is able to fool the tools. Reducing these financial "burdens" puts money back into the hands of families who need it least and further disadvantages families already floundering in his jobless economy.

His insignificant investments in education underscore his commitment to privatization favored by his handlers. His focus on non-existant mining jobs give away our resources and concentrate profits to an unaccountable out of state extraction corporation that will destroy the environment, deplete our water supply and leave Wisconsin citizens with the bill for mitigation of the devastation. His mismanagement of 52 million dollars in workforce development funds, lack of focus on infrastructure and concentration on dismantling of individual civil rights, ensure the further degradation of small businesses, as well as the personal economies and freedoms of citizens across Wisconsin.

GovernEr Walker has laid out a plan that builds upon the firm foundation he and the Republican legislature put into place with their last budget to destroy the State of Wisconsin; he has put us on a path to poverty and illiteracy with the intention of making Wisconsin a southern style red state. Now, we must do our part to stand against GovernEr Walker by spreading the message of his "reforms" and encouraging our representatives to vote against his budget. The GovernEr continues to lie to the taxpayers of Wisconsin, so we must stand against him to prevent him from moving Wisconsin further backward.

Thank you to Friends of GovernEr Walker for providing this handy editable form and encouraging me to submit a letter to the editor. http://walkerbudget.com/letters-to-the-editor/

Sincerely,

- Chrissy Morrissey

  

 

Guest post: Walker launches nuke #2...because he "cares too much"

Another stirring post from my friend, frequent contributor, and president-for-life of the MoD fan club, Ryan Wherley.  Ryan published this first as a note on his facebook page, and linked up a deluxe version for his Wisco Wherls diary at the Daily Kos.  Cross-posted here with his permission, and my thanks. Oh, and Happy Birthday, little brother! Ryan turned 30 today. 

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Guest post:
 
Scott Walker prepares to launch another budgetary nuke as reassurance that he "cares too much" about Wisconsinites

by Ryan Wherley

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 

When Scott Walker releases his 2013-15 biennial budget with a public address tonight at the Wisconsin Capitol, I hope people are paying close attention to the health care portion.  In it, GovernEr Walker will codify his cruel rejection of $4 billion in federal money proffered (not to be confused with "Prossered") to fully expand Medicaid (BadgerCare in Wisconsin) as part of the Affordable Care Act and extend direct health care coverage to approximately 175,000 additional Wisconsinites.  This ignominious decision will cost the state thousands of new jobs that would have accompanied a full Medicaid expansion.  It will lower the maximum income threshold for those who are currently childless adults on BadgerCare, kicking them off BadgerCare and over to the federally implemented, private health care exchanges that Walker so despises where they can hopefully afford coverage. It will force countless individuals, who would have otherwise been covered, to avoid preventive care and risk their lives if they become sick, while relying on the last-resort Emergency Room care that drives up everyone's health care costs.

Photo courtesy of Erica Case

On top of all of that, Scott Walker's ridiculously shortsighted decision to play politics and reject another facet of the Affordable Care Act, after already punting on the opportunity for Wisconsin to create its own exchanges, will cost Wisconsin taxpayers $250 million MORE through 2020 than if he had simply accepted the billions in federal funding.  For the first three years, the feds would have fully covered the expansion and by 2020, the coverage would have dipped to 90%.

However, by rejecting the full expansion, Walker has ensured that not only will Wisconsin leave all of those funds on the table, the feds will continue to match only 60% of our Medicaid costs, as they currently do.  Even John Kasich (OH), Rick Snyder (MI), Jan Brewer (AZ) and now Rick Scott (FL) accepted the steal of the deal that was laid before them by the federal government, and nobody would ever accuse any of those four governors of being even remotely left of the Tea Party.

That was OUR money that will simply move along to other states because of his rejection, in exactly the same manner this had previously happened after GovernEr-elect Walker convinced then-Governor Jim Doyle to needlessly turn down hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money that would have brought high-speed rail and sustainable jobs to Wisconsin in 2010.

So what about those "hardworking taxpayers" Walker endlessly drones on about protecting when he's bashing unions, the poor, the sick, the elderly, the left? I cannot stress this enough: SCOTT WALKER DOES NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE CITIZENS OF WISCONSIN.  He is willing to demolish the foundations of our state at the drop of a hat if it means scoring political points and to prove his ideological purity and devotion to his corporate puppet masters who paid so handsomely for his two gubernatorial electoral victories.

In the meantime, he continues to travel around the country (and occasionally the state), posturing and pandering to right-wing extremists while moving Wisconsin decades in reverse socially, economically and culturally, all with an eye toward the 2016 presidential campaign.

Speaking to an audience last week at the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce in front of many of those who have contributed mightily to his rise to, and continued hold on, power, Walker dropped this little anecdote on the crowd on his decision to reject the federal Medicaid funds:

"Some people will portray this as not caring about people.  I think it's just the opposite.  I care too much about the people of this state not to empower them to control their own destiny."

Translation: "If you think this removes all doubt that my photo will be placed next to the word "sociopath" in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, you're dead on.  Since I have no regard for the impact my actions have on the lives of poor Americans, I will carefully extricate myself from the responsibility of holding onto the social safety net that protects our nation’s most vulnerable individuals.  I understand that elected officials are supposed to look out for the best interests of their constituents.  However, while in practice I oversee a government so “small” it can fit inside a woman’s uterus, in theory I swear allegiance to a belief in government so small it can drown in a bathtub. Thus, we’re making the calculated decision that those of you most in need are better left to the whims of an austere worldview that grows increasingly antithetical to protecting and achieving those best interests.   But hey, at least I’m "freeing" you from the throes of governmental assistance to help you in your time of need.  Although some of you may die in the process, at least you'll know you died while independently pulling up your own bootstraps."   

It’s a line straight out of the playbook of an abuser.  Walker repeatedly assaults and victimizes the poor and middle class, while blaming the victims for the pain he is inflicting and rationalizing that he is doing it out of love. “I’m doing this for your own good, Wisconsin.”

America, meet Scott Walker, grand protector of his lessers, We the Little People. Scotty’s Munchkins! (H/T to my friend and fellow Wisconsin Kossack Plankbob for the Munchkin line.)

If Walker is rejecting the $4 billion Medicaid lifeboat being extended by the federal government because he cares about us so damn much, when else had Scott Walker taken such drastic action to “empower” us out of compassion?  Did Scott Walker “care too much” about the sick, the poor and the elderly when he tried to kick 60,000 individuals off BadgerCare in 2011?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about all the “hardworking taxpayers” when he admitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the state budget was not only NOT balanced, as he squawked at every breath, but was ACTUALLY running a $2.6 billion deficit, in an attempt to legally kick those 60,000 BadgerCare recipients to the curb?   Did Walker “care too much” about those in need when he left tens of thousands of openings in BadgerCare unfilled while tens of thousands of Wisconsinites were left to anxiously flounder on the waiting list?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” for homeowners whose lives were thrown into turmoil during the Wall Street-induced devastation of the economy when he used over $25 million of the $31 million allocation in federal funds from the mortgage crisis settlement to plug holes in his budget? Did Walker “care too much” about teachers, snowplow drivers, janitors, prison guards, social workers, nurses and public servants when he slashed their pay and stole their rights to organize and have a say over the conditions of their workplaces?  Did Walker “care too much” about these public sector workers when he shamefully vilified and scapegoated them for Wisconsin’s budgetary shortfall that he created when he simultaneously issued $2.3 billion in corporate tax breaks shortly after taking office?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about the children of our state, undoubtedly the lifeblood of its future, when he slashed an estimated $1.6 billion from public education funding through direct cuts and freezes on local revenue caps, while ensuring that thousands of experienced teachers and potential mentors for those same children would opt to leave the state or retire?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about women and minorities when he signed off on the repeal of the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, a law designed to help protect anyone discriminated against in the workplace by providing an additional avenue to pursue litigation in state courts? Did Walker “care too much” about same-sex couples when he decided to discontinue the state’s defense of the Domestic Partner Registry that protected those couples’ rights to hospital visitations and end-of-life decision-making?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about women and their ability to take preventive and potentially life-saving measures to control their health and their bodies when he moved to defund Planned Parenthood, worked to limit access to birth control and removed Planned Parenthood as the state’s provider of the Wisconsin Well Woman Program, putting thousands of uninsured and underinsured rural and poor women at risk?  Did Walker “care too much” about  all citizens, especially minorities, students, the elderly and the poor when he worked to curtail hard-won  voting rights by implementing a draconian Voter ID law and floating his enthusiasm for the elimination of same-day voter registration?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about the working poor in Wisconsin when he slashed the Earned Income tax credit for hundreds of thousands of low-income citizens?  Did Walker “care too much” about children with special needs and disabilities and their families when he snuck $21 million worth of “Special Needs” vouchers into his soon-to-be-released budget, despite zero support and overwhelming opposition from specialists, educators and parent advocacy groups for children with special needs?  Did Walker “care too much” about these beautiful children when he offered their families the option of leaving the public schools system for private schools, leaving their federally protected rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act behind along with any guarantee of receiving the focused attention and educational plans they so dearly need?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about the citizens of Wisconsin when his right-hand man, Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch, authorized the Capitol Police to harass, intimidate, profile, ticket and arrest peaceably assembling citizens for the crimes of holding signs, waving banners and daring to sing songs in defiance of his authority in the public forum of OUR Capitol Rotunda?

Did Walker “care too much” about our state’s indigenous Ojibwe peoples and their livelihood when he repeatedly made the construction of Wisconsin’s own Grand Canyon (a 21-mile-long open pit iron mine and environmental disaster-waiting-to-happen in the heart of the sacred Penokee Hills and on the headwaters of the equally sacred Kakagon Sloughs wild rice beds) the centerpiece of his mythological and rapidly tanking “Fountain of Jobs” plan? Did Walker “care too much” about Wisconsin’s native peoples and their federally protected and guaranteed rights when he allowed his Teapublican underlings to ram this mining bill through consecutive sessions of the state legislature without ever once sitting down to consult with the affected Ojibwe bands?

Did Scott Walker “care too much” about the people in the streets when he discussed with his henchmen the idea of planting agents provocateur into the throngs of hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters (which included children, the elderly and the disabled) in order to incite violence and turn public opinion against the massive, peaceful uprising that broke out in February 2011? Did Scott Walker “care too much” about the people of our state when he backed away from this idea, not because it would have been an unconscionably dangerous action and reprehensible violation of the public trust, but rather because the ensuing public outcry may have been politically untenable and forced the GovernEr to compromise on his signature Budget “Repair” Bill?

 

(Skip ahead to the 4:20 mark of the video to hear Ian Murphy from the Buffalo Beast acting as "David Koch" during his disturbing conversation with Walker over the idea of "plantin' some troublemakers.") 

 
I fully believe that Scott Walker cares about people.  He cares about the ridiculously wealthy corporatists and special-interest lobbyists who bought and paid for his seat on the throne of Fitzwalkerstan. He cares about the corporations that spread his propaganda, laid the foundations of his ALEC-driven agenda and reap the benefits of his fully realized and transparently extremist ideologies.  After all, Scott Walker is a strong proponent of the post-Citizens United, Mitt Romney School of Absurd Thought that holds that “Corporations are people, my friend.”  For the rest of us, who have been taken hostage and cast by Scott Walker into his vast sea of “caring,” it will take decades of maneuvering through the wreckage he and his minions have wrought before we eventually return to the shores of the land we once knew as the great state of Wisconsin.

During a particularly vindictive and ominous rant last January, Senate Majority Leader and Walker rubber-stamp Scott Fitzgerald was quoted as saying, “If you think this budget was scary, wait until the next one.”

Well, the “next one” is nearly upon us.  If Feb. 11, 2011 was the day that Scott Walker “dropped the bomb” on the citizens of Wisconsin, Feb. 20, 2013 will be the day Scott Walker unleashes the full nuclear arsenal at his disposal.  I don’t know how much more of Scott Walker’s “caring” we will be able to withstand before irreparable harm has been done to our once-progressive Wisconsin.

I consider it extremely fortunate that we Badgers have established such a well-developed sense of community and a tenacious fighting spirit over the past two years in order to withstand these trying times.  After all, if we’re going to stay afloat, we just have to keep paddling — Forward.


Photo courtesy of Callen Harty from the 2nd anniversary of the Wisconsin Uprising on Valentine's Day 2013