The following open letter appeared here in the Oshkosh Northwestern online on 19 April, 2012. It's just too priceless not to share.
An Open Letter to Governor Walker,
I have received your letter requesting funds for your recall election effort. Sadly, I am an employee of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. About a year or so ago my wages were cut due to increases in my health insurance premium. Since becoming an employee of the UW System in 1999, five percent of my pay has been withheld and automatically applied to the WRS fund for my retirement. However, around the same time as my insurance premiums nearly tripled, an additional five percent of my pay was taken from me and applied to the WRS fund. Mind you, my pay was not increased to replace what had previously been negotiated out of state employee paychecks and I now find myself taking home less in 2012 than I did in 2007.
With the prices of gas, milk, cereal and other things continually increasing, but my take-home pay continually decreasing, I simply do not have any money to contribute to your campaign coffers. However, I did notice that according to the 2011-2013 Compensation Plan, the Office of Governor received a pay increase. Please consider the portion of my state income tax that was applied to your pay increase as my contribution to your re-election effort.
Daniel M. Hoyt
Oshkosh
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Even on the most beautiful day of the year (my daughter played beach outside - eating ice cream in her shorts and t-shirt), you have managed to remind me, yet again, that there is no low so low you won't go there.
I learned a few new things about you today. I learned that you, in the delusion of all delusions, actually really do believe that you are some kind of businessgod. I mean, we all know that you are famous for your "CEO of Wisconsin" posturing, and your claims to having run this state as if it were your own company. But we also all know that you have never actually worked in the private sector, and have zero actual experience running anything other than a campaign. For someone who hates government, you sure can't get enough of it.
That's why it was so absurd when I heard this clip from a radio interview:
Really? Charlie Sykes makes the alpha male in you come out so strong that you lie about what your wife would like and make a bogus claim about "going back" to something you never had? You are just too much.
But as if that delusion isn't bad enough, what really bugs me here is that you don't think the $144,423 we pay you each year is "real money." And that you freely admit that "this job" is not "that important" to you because it's not making you quite as rich as you (and, allegedly, your wife) would like to be.
How far out of touch with reality can you get? Do you have any idea how many employed, responsible, hard-working people in Wisconsin would be thrilled to make half of your salary? Do you have any idea how painful it is for us to hear you disrespect your own office by implying it's just a stepping-stone on your corporate career path?
Maybe you think that if you keep selling yourself as Mr. Business Guv your big-money sponsors will be on-hand when you leave office to offer you some cushy job. And maybe they will (assuming you leave because you got voted out, instead of Blagojevitched out to the private sector that is our privatized prison system). But I have news for you: in the real business world, you don't get to spend your time jetting around not working and still collect your salary. You don't get to avoid your bosses and your underlings both and still get credit for their work. You don't get to pretend that you're saving the company money when everyone can see you're pulling it into a black hole of debt and dishonor.
Because this wasn't the only thing I learned about you today. I also learned something I've been dying to learn all year: what you've really been up to. Because even for someone who follows your goings on very closely, this is almost impossible to find out. Even though your deputy communication director just responded to it by publishing the most audacious piece of propaganda ever to come our of your office ("Walker administration committed to openness"), yesterday the Wisconsin Legislature was "awarded" the biggest possible badge of shame for lack of transparency in government: the Black Hole Award for withholding information from the public, appropriately granted during "Sunshine Week." Your entire administration has been shrouded in secrecy, half-truths and outright lies. And unlike most public officials, you guard your public schedule like the crown jewels; no one ever really knows where you're going to be or where you might have just been. We just know you're mainly out of state fundraising from Thursday to Monday. But Tuesdays and Wednesdays might find you in Wisconsin. Just depends. Turns out the only way to get your office to reveal your whereabouts is to file an Open Records request for that public information, and One Wisconsin Now did just that. The results are staggering, even to someone like me who knew you're hardly ever "working" like we pay you $144,423 a year to do. Here's what they found:
On our dime, on our clock, you have spent nearly every possible moment on "personal time." Pretty cushy benefits for a state worker.
This hits home in a painful way for a few reasons:
First, because as a taxpayer it makes me absolutely furious that we are paying you so handsomely to both not do your job AND to joke about how paltry you find the pay.
Second, because your abuse of power is an insult to everyone everywhere making an honest living, but most explicitly to your fellow state workers, for whom, in the wake of losing their right to negotiate their own working conditions, this is just a stab in an open wound. I'm thinking of a wonderful teacher at my son's school whose infant son was born prematurely, but had to come back to work while he was still in the hospital so that she could save her maternity leave for when the baby comes home. I'm thinking of a friend of a friend who works at a university and has insurance, but was so worried she couldn't afford her deductible or additional costs that she refused medical treatment after getting into an accident that totaled her car. I'm thinking of the semester I was working three different state jobs - none of which offered insurance we could afford - and my family still qualified for BadgerCare. None of us could opt out of our work. None of us could afford to live the way you do. Even when I was on BadgerCare, I was not getting a "handout" the way you are. I was making much-needed and life-saving use of a program I myself was actively paying into (a system, by the way, that finally received the worst of your decimating blows just today). But none of us would ever dream or dare of exploiting the system the way you do, filling your pockets with our money but in exchange for little to no work. How dare you ask state workers to give up their "cushy benefits" and take cuts to their pay while you can't even be bothered to come to work. What a sick double standard. What a message you are sending the the workers of this state whom you ask to make "shared sacrifices" at every turn. What have you given up, Governor Walker, besides your dignity?
Finally, though, this news has just left me reeling, because I read it only hours after receiving an email from your office informing me that because of your "rather hectic schedule" you regretfully cannot accept the invitation our grassroots group sent you to meet with local constituents. We had invited you, as we are inviting all the other potential candidates, to speak to our group of concerned citizens and other members of our community in an open forum, and we thought this invitation would provide a rare chance for actual dialogue and conversation with your constituents. Unfortunately, however, you don't have time for dialogue with your constituents, because your "hectic schedule" apparently demands you leave the state at every opportunity to take advantage of fundraising opportunities, spending nearly every moment we are paying you to work to work on raising money.
You cannot find one hour to meet with your constituents. Your scheduler offered very polite and "sincere regrets." But you don't have an hour to spare. In the entire span of your term, I cannot remember one time when you met with the people in an arena that was not completely staged, scripted, or purely intended to raise funds. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that you could not spare even one hour for us to answer a few questions about the decisions you've made since you were elected and the way you've governed this state.
According to the public records obtained by One Wisconsin Now, you spent one hour working for us in January. One hour. At a salary of $144,423, that means we payed you $12,035.25 for one hour of work. If that's not "real money," I don't know what is. Maybe you and your wife want a house bigger than our mansion. Might I suggest you move to one. The sooner the better if you don't mind.
In the meantime, I guess I'll just be thankful that the GAB has finally confirmed my appointment to meet with you. So it looks I'll see you on June 5th, then. At the ballot box, assuming your hectic schedule allows. I'm looking forward to it.
Until then,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Taxpayer, parent and citizen standing in outrage over your refused to meet with or otherwise acknowledge your constituents.
UPDATE 3/16/2012. I just learned that while Governor Walker does not have time to meet with the taxpayers of his own state, he found time this week to not only attend a fundraiser at someone's personal residence, but to "drop in" on a town council meeting and actually take the floor to brag about himself and his union-busting "reforms." But not here in Wisconsin. That was in FLORIDA. Maybe if our group raised $200,000, we could meet his apparent engagement fee and have a chance to talk to him, too. Too bad the voice of out-of-state money is much more valuable and persuasive than the voices of Wisconsin taxpayers.
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.
The following open letter was written by Gary Olson, a Republican who has been corresponding with both Governor Scott Walker and his state senator, Scott Fitzgerald, for the past year. Gary takes issue with the lack of transparency in the current administration, as well as its false claims of fiscal responsibility. In this letter, he lays out his case and explains how Walker and Fitzgerald are kicking the can down the road by more than doubling our debt-to-revenue ratio, despite their claims otherwise.
Letter from a Republican:
Wisconsin Cannot Afford Scott Walker (or Scott Fitzgerald)
by Gary Olson
Governor Walker openly claims that his administration balanced the state budget that required closing a $3.6 billion deficit. My Senator (Scott Fitzgerald) frequently touts that the GOP led budget created a surplus, while not raising taxes. As a tax payer, much of this sounds rather appealing until I started putting pen to paper on the figures. So much of this just does not seem to add up when you look at the funds that were cut versus the level of spending that was approved in the 2011-2013 state budget. How exactly did we close a $3.6 billion deficit, generate a $306 million surplus, and increase the overall budget spending by $1.1 billion while being completely broke and not raising taxes?
I believe that the 2011-2013 budget pushed a lot of debt into the future by delaying debt service payments until 2013 and well beyond. Debt structuring through the sale of bonds and other means of borrowing into the future are not limited to Scott Walker or the Republicans, it is a practice used by both parties. It was bad enough that Governor Doyle did this as much as he did; now we have a governor who campaigned against doing those things, only to be demonstrating otherwise. On top of that, Governor Walker is talking about covering the $143.2 million deficit (that was supposed to be a $306 million surplus) by borrowing even more money so that we do not have to raise taxes or issue another Emergency Budget Repair Bill for the budget that we are only nine months into. What impact will this move have on our state’s existing long term debt service and our ability to keep up with the payments?
The state standard for debt-to-revenue ratio is no greater than 4%, with a target debt ratio of 3-3.5% of General Program Revenue. When Governor Walker took office, Wisconsin’s debt ratio stood at 2.28%. That is not a plug for the former governor or a jab at the current governor, they are simply the numbers according to the June 14th 2011 LFB memo from the state. Under the 2011-2013 state budget, our debt ratio is expected to grow to almost 5% next year. In 2013-2014, it will grow to over 5%, and it could easily be much higher if we do not see a generous 4% growth in revenue. Forget about asking how close we are to 4% growth because currently our revenue is actually declining according to recent LFB figures.
I do not believe that Wisconsin has ever seen a debt-to-revenue ratio of 5%, much less higher? Furthermore, I do not feel confident that we will see a 4% growth in revenue anytime soon, but I will be very happy to be wrong about that. As a taxpayer, I am deeply concerned about the amount of debt that we took on and the delayed interest that we will be paying on over the next ten years so that we can say that we have a balanced budget today.
Yes, I am a Republican but that does not mean that I have to buy into everything that my Governor or my Senator are doing, especially when it comes to the handling of my tax dollars. My confidence in the two of them has been shaken and I am deeply worried about our financial future as a state if we continue balancing budgets in this manner.
Sincerely,
Gary Olson, Lake Mills
Gary Olson on why he isstanding upand speaking out against Scott Fitzgerald, after voting for him many times. Think Fitz will take him up on his challenge to a debate? I wish he would.
I almost fainted. There, in my inbox is a message from "you" (by which I mean the people who send out emails from your office) with the subject line "Responding to your message." FINALLY! I thought, FINALLY! HE IS RESPONDING TO MY MESSAGE! I was almost a little shaky when I clicked on it. But guess what? That's just the new header for your catastrophic "E-Updates" (you know, the taxpayer funded campaign literature your office sends out now that the recall's in full swing). This one arrived on 3/2/2012 and instead of actually "responding" to my many messages, it just tried to sell your policies as usual, closing with a signature line in which you misspelled "governor" [actual screenshot above]. The most offensive part is usually the "Just ask the governor" part at the bottom, where you make up a fake question someone allegedly "asked" you or pose a deliberately nuanced question so that you can create a myth of yourself as someone who communicates and cares. And this one was the worst yet, as you used it as an opportunity for pointless demonization of teachers and their unions, claiming that the unions are sending messages full of lies about the WPS system to their members (I received no such message from any of the unions I belong to), writing
It’s unfortunate that the very unions who are supposed to be looking out for public employees are misleading their membership for the personal gain of a few union bosses. Ultimately the unions’ political tactic of spreading misinformation does a disservice to all public employees.
I should have known. It was just your misinformation bulletin. But still. How dare you?
How dare you ignore every communication from me and every other concerned, worried, outraged, terrified, devoted, patriotic, taxpaying citizen who has written to you since you took office? How dare you then have the nerve to pretend that your auto-mailed propaganda is a "response" of any kind to the thousands of serious concerns we have raised with your policies, your strategy, your approach to governance, your cronyism, your nepotistic tendencies, your subservience to out-of-state interests and wealthy benefactors? How dare you pretend that this constitutes a "response" to our concerns?
You have, from the start, ignored and belittled those hard-working, taxpaying citizens who justifiably oppose you. You mock us in public and simply disregard us when we reach out to your office. You dismiss our valid concerns as "misinformation" from union bosses. I have, in the 12+ months I have been writing to you, first privately and then openly (if you're not going to read the letters I send you, someone else might as well see what you're ignoring!), not received a single communication from your office beyond the autoreply that mockingly claims you will "keep [my] specific concerns in mind." You did not reply even when Brian Williams read aloud to you from one of my letters on a national stage. You did not reply when I asked you to please publicly call off the hounds who were making death threats against recall workers - including me personally. You did not reply when I encouraged you to revise your fuzzy math (even though you did revise if not improve that math in subsequent communications, maybe due in part to the Isthmus sharing the letter I wrote to you in its Citizen opinion forum). And now you have the nerve, the absolutely staggering gall, to imply that you are "responding" to your constituents with these insulting "updates."
I don't know how it is that you justify this shameful strategy to yourself, but I do know one thing for sure: you are not only not "responding" to me, you are actively attempting to not correspond with me at all, and to limit my potential response to you.
Because you took me off your mailing list. I received the first update at this address. And after I replied, criticizing the dreadfully manipulative and intentionally deceitful content of that message, you took me off the list, even though I made sure to ask to be kept on. I just stopped getting the updates. I know this because (1) the E-Updates are posted onlineanyway where anyone can see them, so I can see there that you are still sending them and (2) this is not the only email address to which I have subscribed to those updates, for the very reason that you might pull some fascist attempt to stifle dissent by restricting access to your precious updates to those who might potentially send you money. So I don't know what kind of commie mommy blogger™ you think I am, but I would like to know why you took me off the list and why it is that you feel you have the right to restrict open record correspondence to citizens with whom you do not expect critical response.
Because you claim that you think it "important" to contact me "directly." This is how you start every update:
One of the most important duties I have serving as your Governor is to provide you directly with updates related to the operation of our state government. I also frequently provide updates on Facebook (Governor Scott Walker) and Twitter (@govwalker). Please feel free to share this update with your family, friends, and others who may be interested in state government operations.
Well, I am very interested in state government operations, and as one of the taxpayers of Wisconsin who is funding this "E-Update" operation, I demand that you put me back on your mailing list immediately. I have, as you are apparently aware, been a vocal critic of the propagandist content of these "updates" which I see as very thinly veiled vehicles for mass distribution of taxpayer-funded campaign literature. But that does not mean that I am not entitled, as your constituent and a taxpaying citizen, to receive them.
At the end of these messages, it says "You received this e-mail because you contacted Governor Walker’s office directly." I don't think there's any question as to whether or not I've contacted your office directly. So I should be on that list. The fact that you (by which I mean your staff) have removed me can only mean that you are actively attempting to stifle potential or future dissent, which is a violation of my rights as an a American and a citizen of this state.
I have been paying very close attention to the anti-environment, anti-Wisconsin, anti-women legislation that you support, which you mischaracterize regularly in your E-Updates. I have grown increasingly disgusted with your incessant nationwide fundraising tour and your pay-to-play "business approach" to governing, which makes a mockery of representative democracy. I have also been paying very close attention to the widening gyre that is the John Doe investigation that seems centered on you, and enjoying very much the ever-more apparent reality that the center cannot hold. Things are falling apart in Fitzwalkerstan, and that must be taking its toll on you.
That toll, however, should not come at the cost of limiting freedom of expression and access to public resources and communication. And it most certainly should not require attempts to stifle the dissent of a concerned citizen who has been making active attempts to correspond with you for an entire year. For an entire year, you did not respond, except by attempting to shut me out of your communication list altogether.
I expect to be restored to that list immediately, and I relish the thought that each of the future emails I receive may be your last, as we impatiently await the date of the recall election. And I ask that you please consider responding to my question in the reader Q&A portion of your next E-Update: How dare you pretend these updates "respond" to the concerns of the citizens of Wisconsin, when all they do is provide an opportunity to favorably revise the damage you have done to this state and advertise yourself as someone who cares about citizen input, which you do not?
Until then,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Wisconsin taxpayer, parent and concerned citizen
P.S. I also find it interesting that the first E-Update I received, on Dec. 30, 2011 (you know, they one with the fuzzy math and the request that we send you gift cards in the amount of our alleged "savings" - I wrote to you about that one and also shared it with others who may be interested in state government operations), is not included on your website. This is telling, because that original email was later revised, slightly, and sent to me at another email address on Jan. 6, 2012. I wrote to you about the revised version here, and it's that revised version that appears online now. Just a curious observation that even in your attempt at propagandist transparency, you are not particularly transparent.
In the FAQ portion of his most recent E-Update, the king of disseminating inaccurate information accuses unions of disseminating inaccurate information. Because lazy thugs like me have so many jobs, I belong to 3 state employee unions. None of them sent me the sort of information Walker refers to in his answer. And even if they did, Walker's claim that they would do so "for the the personal gain of a few union bosses" indicates that he does actually think there is a problem that needs fixing with our model retirement system, and that he does intend to do something about that.
Read more about threats to the pension system here and here.
™ commie mommy blogger and commie mommy blogger logo used with permission and in jest. Said jest is the sole intellectual property of Ryan Wherley. Heather DuBois Bourenane is neither a commie nor a commie mommy nor a commie mommy blogger.
Scott Walker delivered his second (and, if all goes well, final) State of the State address last night. I was asked to respond in the Citizen editorial forum at the Isthmus. That post appears here.
Photo: Jenna Pope
The version they published is slightly different than the one I actually sent Walker, which is pasted below:
I wasn’t expecting much from your State of the State address tonight, and you didn’t disappoint.
I expected the same old lies, and you delivered: Our schools are broken (never mind that we were at the top of the pack in more categories than we can count before you took office). Our teachers are inept, undeserving moochers who need to be penalized instead of protected - but hey, I couldn’t respect them more! - as evidenced by the same story you always tell (and told again tonight) about the one alleged award-winning young teacher who got laid off because she didn’t have seniority. And every problem that exists in our schools can be solved by your bizarre pet project about fourth grade reading. We’ve heard it all before and we heard it again tonight.
I expected you to ignore the recall, and you did. I expected you to conveniently fail to mention your promise to create 250,000 jobs, and you did. I expected you to employ your usual shameful strategy of passing off your cuts to health care and education as “reforms” and dare to imply that these devastating cuts actually help local economies and Wisconsin families. You did. I expected you to use a few lame examples of people who saved a few bucks on property taxes as evidence for why all the union busting was “worth it” and you did (and really? One anecdote about one woman who saved a hundred bucks was the best you can do? Ours went way up, as I mentioned before. Guess you didn’t get my message).
I expected you to pretend that the people support you, that you created jobs, that you balanced the budget. You did, you did, you did. Never mind that a million of us just stood outside in the freezing cold to sign a petition to recall you. Never mind that Wisconsin has lost jobs steadily under your administration, and never mind that Wisconsin has lost jobs every single month for the last six months since your budget went into effect. Never mind that you just last week – in an attempt to cut even more Wisconsin families off from much-needed healthcare benefits – told the federal government that we’re operating on a major deficit, and not a balanced budget, so that you could turn down federal health care funds. Those “facts” weren’t convenient tonight, and didn’t make the cut, as facts tend not to do in your speeches. I’m getting used to this. Since you seem to be banking (literally) on the “tell a lie often enough people will start believing it” strategy of governance and perpetual campaigning/fundraising, I expected nothing less.
But I got a little more. There were a few things I did not expect tonight, too.
I was expecting you to try to sugarcoat the pay-to-play mining legislation that’s being raced through the Assembly as a pro-jobs, environmentally friendly proposal. It’s the hot-button issue of the moment, and I knew you’d have to mention it. But I didn’t expect you to sink as low as you did in trying to defend it. Anyone who’s been paying even the tiniest bit of attention to the facts in this case knows exactly what this legislation is: a political game in which the exchange of money buys political favor from wealthy benefactors and the people of Wisconsin suffer. At the public hearings for this bill, at which Republican legislators shamefully ignored and openly disrespected constituents (as seems to be the new norm in Wisconsin politics during your administration), the tribal leaders and members of the Anashinaabe nation waited 9 hours to be allowed to speak, one after another, in opposition to this legislation, which violates not just our pristine environment, but local traditions and their sovereign rights. They were ignored. To add insult to this injury, you had the nerve, in the lowest point in your speech tonight, to appeal to the “history of our badger state” as a reason to support this legislation. What history are you referring to here? The history of exploiting native Wisconsinites? A history of broken promises? That is not history the good people of Wisconsin care to repeat. We have an opportunity, in this moment, to protect our environment and respect the people who live where these mines will negatively impact their lives. Your condescending appeal to “respect” at the close of your speech betrays a hypocrisy that brings shame not just on you, but on this entire state. I am ashamed to call you governor, and that is why I cannot bring myself to do so when I address you in my letters. You have brought shame to this great state, and you seem hell-bent on continuing to do so until you are deposed. That day cannot come soon enough.
I expected protest; you get that everywhere you go. We knew that was coming. Drums of protest were audible as you began, and resounding “boos” from the gallery, despite your best efforts to preclude the public from your talk (the NPR broadcasters said only 12 seats were open to the general public); I counted at least a half dozen audible disruptions of your speech (most notably the shout of “LIAR!” when you claimed, right after disparaging teachers by saying they do not “merit” the pay they currently receive, that you “respect” the people of this state). I expected some dissent. But I didn’t expect four people to get ejected during your speech for shouting out objections to your claims.
And I didn’t expect you to receive ovations for being booed. I did not expect the force with which the Republican side of the aisle applauded these ejections. The fact that your divisiveness is one of the things that your supporters seem to love most about your “style” of governance is absolutely baffling to me. A great leader unites. You only divide. How can you take pride in that? How can anyone applaud it? I find it shameful. How does this move us forward? Do you really think that by dividing us you can move us ahead? How can anyone possibly find this admirable? This, to me, is the most puzzling problem of your administration: how you seem to thrive on, take real pride in, “dropping bombs” and bringing out the worst in people.
You asked us tonight “to imagine how much better we can make our government work if we share good ideas and suggestions.” Well, I’ve been sharing my good ideas and suggestions with you for an entire year and not once did I feel as if we were having, as you claimed tonight, a “conversation.” We are engaged in a deadlock of monologues, and you clearly have no real desire to communicate in any way with constituents who challenge your politics or policies. Even now that you have (a year into your administration) launched the taxpayer-funded campaign ads that you call “e-updates,” you will not engage with those who have tried hardest to reach out to you over the past year. I don’t expect you to start. I don’t expect Wisconsin politics to return to an equilibrium of respect and decorum until you are out of office.
I wasn’t expecting to agree with you at all tonight. I was expecting, in fact, to disagree with everything you said. But when it comes right down to it, I have to admit that I couldn’t agree more with the central point of your address: Wisconsin is heading in the right direction. Having spoken loudly and definitively in producing, over the course of only 60 days, over 1,000,000 signatures to see you removed from office, the people of Wisconsin have launched an effort that will not be stopped. And I think you said it best yourself: “Now is the time for action. Now is the time to get our state working again. Now is the time to move Wisconsin forward.” I could not agree more. And there is only one way to move Wisconsin forward: by seeing you recalled.
Dee Ives posted the following note on facebook on 9 Jan. 2012. Reposted here with permission.
I Recall by
WI Progressive Naught TEA Republicans
I was born the same year that Collective Bargaining became Law in WI, became a Veteran serving under both Carter & Reagan, and I still remember when being a Reagan Republican was cool not for the policies he enacted, but for the sense of Patriotism and the sense of American Destiny he envoked. I remember President Reagan raising taxes on everyone (including Corporations) 12 times while in office, that is why I will help recall TEA Party Walker who cannot comprehend there was more to this Presidency than just busting the Air Traffic Controllers Union for an illegal strike.Paying taxes to provide government services is also required to be a burden shared by Corporations and millionaires if you are really a patriotic American! The Sacrifice is shared, not just placed on working families while giving millions in Corporate tax breaks.
I remember when being a Republican, the party born in Ripon WI, the party of Lincoln meant that Labor of the average citizen was of more value than the tricks of Commerce...as Lincoln put it best, "Any man who tells you he loves America, but hates Labor is a liar; Any man who tells you he trusts America yet fears Labor is a Fool!". When the Grand Old Party stood with family farmers and small business owners after "Fighting Bob" LaFollette beat the robber barons that our Grandparents told us with pride. Gov Walker and his TEA Party are not Republicans, they passed Act 10 to strip workers of our bargaining rights simply for political gain, and violating the open meetings law WI has enacted to protect our citizens from these new Political Robber Barons the Koch Brothers and their ALEC friends have bought...that is why we real WI Republicans will recall them. As a Union Veteran, like so many others, we used our educational benefits to obtain jobs serving our communities and protect our fellow citizens as Firefighters, police, Nurses & Teachers only to have the TEA Party call us "Union Thugs". We veterans swore to defend our Flag and the Constitution it represents against ALL enemies, both Foriegn & Domestic, and any politician who violates the Constitutional Right of Free Speech and to join a trades union like the TEA Party has under Gov Walker's direction is an enemy of WI Democracy,as much a dictatoras Hitler or Hussien, that is why we will recall him.Voter ID threatens to disenfranchise our elderly veterans from the very right to vote this year, the right to participate in the Democracy they served to protect, that is why we will recall Walker to regain our heroes' voices .
I remember when the Democrats and Republicans under Gov Tommy Thompson were able to enact BadgerCare for our WI citizens, a program that Romney & Obama copied, but added the mandates to, now the TEA Party attacks Tommy as a Liberal as they threaten to underfund the healthcare program we all support...another reason we will recall him. But, the idea that it was okay to hire theives in Milwaukee County to positions where they embezzled charity funds from Operation Freedom, some of which were used to pay for Walker websites when running for Governor is the most compelling reason of all to recall this Governor as NO REPUBLICAN would ever think it ok to steal from our vets!
Thanks for taking my advice! I see that you did, indeed, send a revised "E-Update" [below] to (some of) your constituents yesterday! Not entirely sure why I didn't receive this update at the email address to which you sent the last one, but I hope that I remain on your mailing list. If it is your policy to remove concerned constituents from this list, I fear we have a serious problem. And if it is your policy to send different "versions" of your updates to different "lists," I fear we have even more serious problems.
I wanted to clarify, though, that when I recommended you send "a revised or redacted" version of the update, I didn't mean you should send one in which the same errors (or "lies," depending on your perspective), were just slightly more ambiguous and misleading. In the original email, your figures were so blatantly off that a cursory glance made obvious that you seemed to be just making up the numbers you cited. This revised email is actually worse, as it just provides unverified generalizations that belie the facts of the damage you have done to our state. Most glaring are the sections on job creation and property taxes. Property taxes are up significantly even as property values decrease all over the state, and your bad math on this issue has been repeatedly exposed over the past year, with experts assessing that the average Wisconsinite will continue to see property taxes increase over the next two years. Wisconsin now leads the nation in job loss and lack of economic growth, as the chart below makes glaringly obvious. As the rest of the nation begins to see real economic growth under collaboration with President Obama's job plan, Wisconsin stands out like a sore thumb and continues to suffer under your all-tax-cuts, no-jobs, nothing-to-negotiate policy:
I am also concerned, since it's obvious that you have launched your recall campaign full force, that these "updates" consitute a very thinly veiled attempt to use taxpayer funds to distribute campaign propaganda. Since it took a full year of being in office to start considering it "one of [your] most important duties...to provide [us] directly with updates" and this timing just happens to coincide with your recall campaign, I suspect a misuse of your office that violates campaign laws. I hope that you will take seriously your responsibility in providing accurate information in the future and not use taxpayer funds to campaign for reelection through "free advertising" in the form of electronic "updates" that simply repeat worn talking points from your campaign ads.
I am also concerned that, having changed the law this year to allow the State to file in a district of your choosing, you now plan to misappropriate the funds you have raised during the recall period. The letter of the law [SS 11.26 (13)(m)] is very clear on this issue: the whole reason you're allowed this period of unlimited fundraising is to finance the legal fees associated with the costs of signature verification for the recall petitions, which the recall Statutes make clear is the burden of the incumbent. Given the Waukesha judge's ruling this week, this burden would be shifted to the taxpayer. I trust that you intend to offer the funds you have raised for this purpose since November to the GAB, since you are so clearly concerned with not imposing unnecessary expenses on the taxpayers of Wisconsin. I am also concerned that your decision to "change the rules midstream," as has been succinctly critiqued by law professor Edward Fallone, reflects an agenda that has, from the start, been about gaining access to these unlimited funds more than justice. This would explain why you chose to change the law about where you can file a lawsuit rather than the Statute you found unfair, and also why a Republican false-start on the recall petition filing gave you an extended fundraising period. Given the continuing John Doe investigation and your history of connections to campaign fraud and embezzlement charges (as evidenced most recently in the felony charges against three of your associates, including your long-time campaign aide and Milwaukee County GOP Treasurer Timothy Russell), I find this lack of transparency extremely troubling. I request that in your next update you disclose what you will do with the "unlimited" funds you've raised since Nov. 5, 2011, which the law demands be used for the purpose of legal challenges you've just claimed you should not be responsible for. If you accept the judge's ruling, you should offer those funds to the State to be used for their intended purpose.
Sincerely,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Sun Prairie
01/06/12 04:19 PM
GovWalkerNewsletter@wisconsin.gov
E-update from the Desk of Governor Scott Walker
One of the most important duties I have serving as your Governor is to provide you directly with updates related to the operation of our state government. In an effort to improve communication, periodically I will be sending out an e-update to provide you with more information about what is going on in state government. Please feel free to share this update with your family, friends, and others who may be interested in state government operations.
Read for the Future
Making sure Wisconsin students know how to read by the fourth grade is critical to their education and success in the future. We need to make sure we are not failing them.
There is no skill more important than reading. Yet, over the past two decades, students in other states have been improving their reading achievement on national measures faster than students in Wisconsin. The results from the 2011 NAEP reading assessment for 4th grade students show that while Wisconsin once ranked among the very top states in the nation, we now rank somewhere in the middle of the pack. The literacy skills a child acquires in the early years of life provide the foundation for all later learning, and research has demonstrated that a child who is reading on grade level by the end of third grade is far more likely to graduate from high school than a student who is not.
In an effort to dramatically improve reading outcomes in Wisconsin, I convened the Read to Lead Task Force in the Spring of 2011. We reviewed the state of reading in Wisconsin and developed a plan for improvement. The impressive team of teachers, legislators from both political parties, researchers, and advocates worked together to reach a consensus on ways to ensure all of Wisconsin's children learn to read before they reach fourth grade. Specifically I was happy to partner with State Superintendent Dr. Tony Evers, State Senator Luther Olsen, and Representative Steve Kestell.
The recommendations of the Read to Lead Task Force focus on improvements and changes in teacher preparation and professional development; screening, assessment and intervention; early childhood; accountability; and family involvement. They include:
Implementing early literacy screening for all kindergarteners in Wisconsin to identify and intervene with struggling students as soon as they enter school;
Implementing improvements to teacher preparation programs around early reading, including a new, more rigorous exam for reading educators;
Requiring that the professional development plans for all new elementary educators explicitly focus on literacy, and require focused professional development educators whose students continually struggle to improve their performance;
Providing new, aggressive professional development opportunities to enhance the skills of current reading educators, including a new online professional development portal at http://www.readwisconsin.net and an annual reading conference for elementary principals and district reading specialists; and
Creating a new public/private partnership to engage Wisconsin philanthropic groups and businesses around the goal of ensuring every child can read by the end of third grade.
The Task Force's recommendations also focus on how the state will hold our institutions accountable for improving reading results. Specifically:
Wisconsin's new educator effectiveness system, released in November 2011, will require a portion of every educator's evaluation to be based on growth in statewide reading scores;
Wisconsin's new school and district accountability system, still under development, will place additional weight on third grade reading performance to underscore the importance of reading on grade level at that critical year; and
Schools and districts underperforming in reading will be required to implement targeted improvements, including a science-based reading program.
I am proud of the work of this non-partisan Task Force. Working together I believe we have developed an important plan to improve reading in Wisconsin, laying the foundation for our students to excel.
One Year on the Job
Over the course of the first year serving as your Governor I made a number of promises aimed at improving our state. Unlike many office holders who often make promises that they do not keep, I followed through on a number of important initiatives aimed at reforming government and leaving our kids and grandkids with a state better off than the one we received. Below is a listing of the major promises I took action on during my first year on the job.
I promised to balance Wisconsin's $3.6 billion budget deficit without increasing taxes or requiring massive public employee layoffs. On June 26th signed into law the 2011-13 budget. This balanced budget makes tough choices while providing a path to recovery and prosperity for our state and our people. Through honest budgeting, we are providing an alternative to the reckless tricks and gimmicks of the past. Just as any parent would dread leaving their kids in debt, it is the dream of every mother and father to leave their children a little better off, and that's what our budget will do.
I promised to call the Legislature into Special Session to pass pro-growth legislation aimed at helping employers create jobs.Earlier this year I signed legislation into law improving Wisconsin's litigation climate, improving the state's regulatory process, creating the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, creating a tax credit for employers that create jobs, and making health savings accounts tax deductible. In these challenging economic times while Illinois is raising taxes, we are lowering them. On my first day in office I called a Special Session of the legislature, not in order to raise taxes, but to open Wisconsin for business. I am pleased to sign into law bills that provide tax relief to small businesses, create a job-friendly legal environment, lessen the regulations that stifle growth, and expand tax credits for companies that relocate here and grow here.
I promised to help the private sector create 250,000 new jobs by 2015. After 3 years of net private sector job losses totaling 150,000, in the first 11 months of 2011 Wisconsin had a net increase of thousands of new jobs. Because of the hard work done so far to improve Wisconsin's business climate, employers are willing to grow and invest in our state. That is good for middle class working families and it is good for Wisconsin. We are on our way to creating 250,000 jobs by 2015, but there is more work to be done in order to meet and surpass that goal.
I promised to pay off the debts and fund raids of the past. Working with the Legislature we were able to pay off $800 million in unpaid bills, including $235 million to the Patient's Compensation Fund and $58 million owed to the state of Minnesota. These are huge steps toward restoring confidence in our state's ability to manage its finances. The era of illegal fund raids, job killing tax increases, one time money being used for ongoing operations, and massive budget deficits has ended. Paying off outstanding bills, operating under a balanced budget, and working on bipartisan, pro-growth initiatives sends a clear message to job creators that Wisconsin is open for business.
I promised to take politics out of the woods. Last year I appointed a Whitetail Deer Trustee and held a roundtable to listen to the concerns of hunters. The Deer Trustee will provide an independent evaluation, study Wisconsin's deer management practices, and make recommendations. It is vitally important that hunters, sportsmen and women, and conservationists trust the state to be a partner in helping to effectively sustain our deer populations. The Deer Trustee will help ensure they have confidence in Wisconsin's deer herd management practices.
I promised to freeze property taxes. The budget signed into law and reforms are saving taxpayers hundreds of dollars. For the first time in six years the school portion of the property tax levy went down one percent on average across the whole state. Our reforms are protecting taxpayers while keeping our schools great. Taxpayers are seeing their levies go down for the first time in six years, while our schools continue to meet the needs of Wisconsin students.
It has been a pleasure communicating with you. It is an honor to serve as your Governor and represent the residents of Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Governor Scott Walker
You received this e-mail because you contacted Governor Walker's office directly. If you wish to be removed from this e-update list please click here and put "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Last week, Governor Walker sent out an "E-Update" with some very shady math about how profitable his "reforms" have been in Wisconsin. As one of the many, many taxpayers suffering under his cuts and increases to local taxes, I had a lot to say about that. Turns out I wasn't alone.
Isthmus published my own letter to Walker as a Citizen editorial on The Daily Page, and one reader shared her own response to Governor Walker's message:
Governor Walker sent me the very same letter! Here's my reply:
Please post on www.reforms.wi.gov complete and accurate information about the impacts of Governor Walker's reforms on the Hudson School District and on homeowners in the Town of Hudson, both of which are located in St. Croix County.
As reported in the Hudson Star Observer on 7/13/11, 7/21/11, and 9/21/11
The Hudson School District was unable to recoup the $2.6 million in state funding cuts it suffered-despite making budget adjustments by increasing staff contributions for retirement accounts and health insurance, getting competitive bids for staff health insurance, allowing no increases in staff salaries and benefits for union or nonunion employees, cutting forty (40) staff positions, recognizing savings from staff retirements and attrition, cutting operating costs, cutting transportation costs, and increasing student fees;
Property owners in the Hudson School District will see at least an additional two-percent (2%) increase in the property tax levy for the Hudson School District under the 2011-13 state budget and budget repair bill; and as a result,
Under the 2011-13 state budget and budget repair bill, the Hudson School District will be able to provide less to students in the next and future years, but will be able to do so at a higher cost to us local taxpayers.
As shown on our Town of Hudson residential property tax bill for 2011, the results of Governor Walker's reforms are that:
Although the 2011 assessed value of our home did not increase over the 2010 assessed value, our 2011 property tax bill did increase by 6.9% over our 2010 property tax bill because state aids to St. Croix County, Town of Hudson, Hudson School District, and WITC were cut significantly in 2011 compared to 2010 dollar amounts;
2011 state aids declined from 2010 state aids by 7% for St. Croix County, by 7.3% for Town of Hudson, by 6.7% for Hudson School District, and by 30.6% for WITC;
The state portion of our 2011 home property tax bill increased by 1.8%;
The St. Croix County portion of our 2011 home property tax bill increased by 8.0%, even though the St. Croix County Board again reduced the annual County budget and the 2012 County budget is 24% lower than the 2008 County budget;
The Town of Hudson portion of our 2011 home property tax bill increased by 0.1%;
The Hudson School District portion of our 2011 home property tax bill increased by 7.5%, even though the Hudson School District took all possible steps to cut costs; and
The WITC portion of our 2011 home property tax bill increased by 5.4%.
Currently, the information posted on www.reforms.wi.gov regarding the impacts of Governor Walker's reforms in St. Croix County appears to be an example of misleading, if not outright lying, through omission. Surely Governor Walker would not want anyone to be mislead about the actual effects of the 2011-13 state budget and budget repair bill.
- Posted by a reader from Hudson, WI on 01/05/12 (reposted here with her permission).
Thanks for the E-update and the confirmation that you do, in fact, acknowledge that I exist! While I recognize that this went out to everyone who "contacted Governor Walker’s office directly at some point during 2011," I accept it as the long-awaited recognition that you do, indeed, have my email address. It's a start!
I wanted to let you know right away, though, that I won't be sending you the gift cards you requested, as there are a number of errors (or "lies" depending on how you look at it) in your message. I know you're in California right now (gotta raise those recall election funds somewhere, eh?!) and probably have no idea what the message "you" sent even says, but I think you're going to want to send out a revised or redacted version very soon. Because you wouldn't want people to think you're an idiot. Or a liar.
First of all, you claim in your letter that you have lowered the school portion of the property tax levy by one percent across the state, putting $228 million "back in the pockets" of Wisconsin taxpayers, which you claim "amounts to $69 for every man, woman and child in the state" just for the school portion of the tax bill. What kind of fuzzy math is this? Every man, woman and child? Given the current population of Wisconsin, a $228 million difference would amount to about $40 per person, not $69. The 2010 census puts the population of Wisconsin at 5,686,986. Multiply this by $69 and you get $392,402,034 (not the $228 million you claim you put back in our pockets). As my Dad asked, where's the other $164,402,034? In your pocket?
This question is rhetorical, of course, because these figures - like my question - are a joke. It just doesn't add up. According to data from the Wisconsin Taxpayers' Alliance, Wisconsin taxpayers actually saw an increase in the tax rate ($9.84 this year, compared to $9.76) despite an overall decrease in the tax levy. In 2010-11, the school district levies statewide totaled $4,692,935,468. In 2011-12, the total is $4,645,873,099. That's a .98 percent decrease, true: a difference of $47,062,369. Where you got the figure of $228 million is a mystery only the person who actually writes your emails can solve.
So let's do the real math. If we divide that $47,062,369 by the 5,686,986 Wisconsin men, women and children whose pockets you care so much about, each of them saves $8.28 compared to last year. Not the $69 you claim. (Not that even $69 a year would do anything to compensate for how much less I now take home in my paycheck, incidentally).
Eight dollars and twenty-eight cents. That's my "savings." That's how much I get for going along with the union busting, the demoralizing and demonizing of our hard-working teachers, the $1.6 billion in cuts to public education (on top of the fortunately miniscule reductions in local levy spending). Eight dollars and twenty-eight cents. For my family of four, that's about $33. All of which and more, I'm sure, will be spent in the additional contributions I'll be expected to make next year to cover the things my kids' school already can't afford - like tissues and markers and notebooks and rulers and cleaning supplies and backpacks for low-income kids and dry erase markers and the little notes I have to write to teachers to remind them that not everyone really thinks they're worthless. I expect all of this to add up to significantly more than thirty-three dollars.
Further, you don't explain how it is that we should give you, personally, credit for this, even if it were true. How, exactly, did you put this money in our pockets? Was it by gutting public ed to the tune of $1.6 billion or by stripping teachers of their collective bargaining rights? I thought you said there was no fiscal component to that, and therefore the collective bargaining bill was sneaked in sideways outside of the budget. Something doesn't add up here, either. Either that was a lie or you're trying to take credit for something that has nothing to do with you, neither of which are very rosy alternatives.
And for what it's worth, my own property taxes did not go down. They went up, and significantly so, due in no small part to the handiwork of our conservative City Council and Mayor John Murray (you know, the guy with no justice experience that you just appointed to be head of the Office of Justice Assistance for close to $100,000 a year?). And our school tax levy only changed by a few cents, even though citizens had turned out in force at the annual School Board Budget Meeting and voted to raise it more to safeguard against your cuts that would force us to drop some much-needed programming.
So you might want to let people know that they aren't actually saving $69 each this year (where did you even get that number from, anyway? Did you just make it up out of thin air?). You might also not want to beg them to send you the gift cards you find such an incredibly touching gesture. I think a lot of people are still pretty mad about you not really creating any jobs and whatnot, so you kind of come off a little, um, absurd, with that request. I'd cut that part out of the letter altogether if I were you. Because I don't think people are really in the mood to send you gift cards at the moment.
Thank you for the wishes of a happy new year. I have very high hopes for 2012 and wish you all the best, too, in finding your new job.
Sincerely (by which I mean I sincerely cannot wait to see you recalled),
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Sun Prairie
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Date: Friday, December 30, 2011 11:05:40 AM GMT-0600
Subject: E-Update from the Desk of Governor Scott Walker
E-update from the Desk of Governor Scott Walker
One of the most important duties I have serving as your Governor is to provide you directly with updates related to the operation of our state government. In an effort to improve communication, periodically I will be sending out an e-update to provide you with more information about what is going on in state government. Please feel free to share with this update with your family, friends and others who may be interested in state government operations.
Protecting Property Taxpayers
Throughout December homeowners received their property tax bills. The average property tax owner saw their tax bill stay the same or decrease for the first time in years.
Just last week I received a special letter from a Fox Valley area family. They said they were very thankful for our reforms, and they actually enclosed a gift card for the amount their family saved on property taxes this year. Gestures like this mean the world to me. Everything we’ve done is to lay the groundwork for a better future for the next generation, which is why I’ll be donating the cards to various charities throughout Wisconsin.
The school portion of the property tax levy was down one percent across the state. It’s important to point out that school tax levies increased on average $162 million a year—each of the last five years. By comparison, this year we put $228 million back into the pockets of property taxpayers in this area alone. That amounts to $69 for every man, woman and child in the state.
Reforms and Results
Earlier this year long-term, structural changes were made to fill in Wisconsin’s $3.6 billion budget deficit and help local units of governments balance their budget without increasing taxes.
Simple changes have saved taxpayers millions, such as allowing local units of government and school districts to take competitive bids for public employee health insurance plans and reforming overtime rules.
I created a website (www.reforms.wi.gov) to track examples of the savings realized from these reforms. This website has video testimonials from local government officials talking about balancing their budgets, a breakdown of the savings in each county and a categorization of how these savings were achieved.
Reforms.wi.govgoes beyond simply listing the savings from having public employee’s to pay a little bit more toward their pension and toward their health insurance premiums (which is still well below what federal government employees pay and well below the average Wisconsin citizen). This website also shares examples of how the reforms have actually improved government services.
I encourage you to visit this website, to learn about the savings realized in your county.
Previous topics of the radio address include, but are not limited to SeniorCare, encouraging educator effectiveness, property taxes, making government more efficient, and honoring Wisconsin’s veterans.
A new radio address is posted each week at 10 a.m. on Thursday. I encourage you to check out the radio address website each week to learn more about your state government.
From my family to yours: Happy New Year
As we close out 2011 my wife Tonette, and our two sons would like to wish you and your family a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year.
It has been a pleasure communicating with you. It is an honor to serve as your Governor and represent the residents of Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Governor Scott Walker
You received this e-mail because you contacted Governor Walker’s office directly at some point during 2011. If you wish to be removed from this e-update list please click here and put in the subject line unsubscribe.
