Holy crap! We have marriage equality!

I went up to a certain shindig in the Dells on Friday night, and while I was there, I saw the news that Wisconsin joined the 2010s when a federal judge ruled the state's ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional. This was great to see, as I believe this state has suffered over the last 3 years with an image of being a backwards place that elects college dropouts and devalues a sizable amount of its citizens.

Immediately, couples in Dane and Milwaukee Counties dashed to the local courthouse to tie the knot Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, encouraged by County officials in both places. The timing was very interesting to me personally, as my wife and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary yesterday, and Dane County Clerk Scott McDonnell signed our marriage license just like he signed many others this weekend. Knowing that these couples can now share in the "joy" of marriage doesn't do anything to cheapen my marriage - in fact, I believe it strengthens it.

1. The next steps that followed Federal Judge Barbara Crabb's decision started today, as GOP Attorney General J.B.(aka D-B) Van Hollen asked to stay her decision pending an appeal to the next level. Judge Crabb said she wasn't quite feeling where DBVH was going on this, and declined to give the AG what he (and by proxy Scott Walker) wanted. In this case, the group wanting same-sex couples to be able to marry are the "plaintiffs" and Van Hollen and Walker and those defending the ban are the "defendants".

I understand defendants’ concern that some county clerks have been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since I issued the June 6 decision, but that is not a result of an injunction by this court. Thus, if defendants believe that a particular county clerk is issuing a marriage license in violation of state law, that is an issue outside the scope of this case.

Plaintiffs have represented to the court that they will provide language for a proposed injunction today. In doing so, plaintiffs should take care to identify what they want each defendant to do. Under Fed. R. Civ. 65, plaintiffs must identify the particular acts they want defendants to perform or refrain from performing. Nuxoll ex rel. Nuxoll v. Indian Prairie School Dist. #204, 523 F.3d 668, 675 (7th Cir. 2008) (under Rule 65, injunction “must contain a detailed and specific statement of its terms”).

It is clear enough what plaintiffs want the county clerks to do, which is issue marriage licenses. From previous briefs, it is also relatively clear what plaintiffs want defendant Anderson (the state registrar) to do, which is to amend the state marriage forms in accordance with his authority under Wis. Stat. § 765.20(1) so that the forms are inclusive of same-sex couples. However, it is still unclear what specific acts plaintiffs want defendants Walker and Van Hollen to perform or refrain from performing. It is not enough to say that defendants should be enjoined from enforcing unconstitutional laws without identifying the particular acts involved in that enforcement.

In essence, Crabb is telling the ACLU and others in favor of marriage equality to explain what they want the state officials to be kept from doing (i.e., not recognizing same-sex married couples on legal forms, not having to formally pass an approval of same sex marriage? Etc.). The decision leaves it up to the local governments as to whether they wish to allow same-sex couples to marry, and as of tonight, several counties throughout the state have decided to do so. This means that the WisGOP forces would not only have to win their appeal of Judge Crabb's decision, but they would then have to go through the process of invalidating all these marriages. Good luck getting the public on your side with that attitude, WisGOP, judging from the numbers from the most recent Marquette University poll on the issue.

In this poll, we asked voters both the older three-option question and the two-option version phrased, “Do you favor or oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally?”

The older item was asked early in the interview, while the new two-option item was asked some 19 questions later. With the three-option question, 49 percent support marriage, 25 percent support civil unions and 18 percent prefer no legal recognition. When offered only two options, 55 percent favor allowing marriage while 37 percent oppose marriage and 6 percent say they do not know. Of those originally favoring civil unions on the three-part question, 26 percent shift to supporting marriage on the two-option question while 65 percent say they oppose marriage and 8 percent say they don’t know.

2. So why the change in recent years? Scott Wittkopf chalks up some of it to the power of language helping to change people's minds in the marriage equality debate.

Prior to a decade ago, as many in the LGBT community will recall, the issue of gay marriage was a “gay rights” issue. Professor Lakoff, cognitive scientist at UC-Berkeley met with the organizers in California. The organizers had conducted extensive research on how to message the gay marriage issue, and Lakoff encouraged them to do what they instinctively thought was effective framing of the issue. Lakoff encouraged them to stop talking about “gay rights” and “gay marriage” (the issue) and focus on why the issue is moral (values). Fortunately, they followed their hearts – literally.

The issue of “gay marriage” in the progressive frame is about love and freedom. That is how public discourse was changed so quickly. People, even those who consider themselves conservative in one way or the other (unless they are sociopaths), are capable of empathy for others. Communicating over and over again about “love” and “freedom,” in the context of gay marriage, reinforced and activated the progressive moral frame – and inhibited the conservative frame – in millions of people across the country. This is, quite simply, how public discourse changed. It is also how progressives can continue actively changing public discourse in Wisconsin.

When properly defined as "marriage EQUALITY" and "FREEDOM to marry", the issue becomes viewed differently than "GAY rights". And it's a more accurate terminology as well, because these rights aren't only given to gay people, it merely gives them the same rights to marriage that heterosexual couples have always had.

3. I'd also argue that the antics of Republicans in the 2000s also moved sentiment on the issue. Many state legislatures passed their bans not as much because of overriding fear about what allowing gays to marry would do, but as a cynical "divide and conquer" ploy to drive up GOP voting totals among fundies and old people. This playing of politics with people's rights also led people like me to be more in favor of marriage equality, even if I was squeamish on the "marriage" idea 10 years ago, because I recognized these bans as the bullshit political act that it was.

In Wisconsin, this tactic backfired on the GOP, even though a majority voted for the same-sex marriage ban. Many younger voters were angered by the issue being on the ballot in 2006, and it drove higher turnout among a group that doesn't always vote much in midterms. It helped Jim Doyle win a second term as Governor, helped give the State Senate to the Dems, as Eau Claire's Dave Zien and other GOP legislators lost seats that included college towns, and started turning a 60-39 GOP Assembly into a Dem-controlled body over the next 2 elections. The GOP Senate Leader that helped get the ban into law in 2006 was Dale Schultz, but he indicated today that he would not do the same thing in 2014.

Laws that demoralize, discriminate and dehumanize fellow Americans simply for being who they are require reexamination.

I would like to think that we, as a society, possess a willingness and ability to evolve when presented with new facts and evidence.

I think most often the greatest effect on a political cause isn’t a rally, protest, petition or even a vote. The most effective results come from the relationships we build and possess with those around us.

Over the last decade those relationships have been made stronger and better because of the courageousness of those we already knew stepping forward to be who they are. That has had a true effect, and today a majority of Wisconsinites support marriage equality largely because of someone we know.

I think Schultz is correct on that, and it's a place where I do credit Facebook and other social media, as a lot of people found out that "everyday folks" they hung around with were gay, and/or favored marriage equality, and it becomes a lot harder to be bigoted against people you know and respect.

Going forward, I dare Gov Walker and AG Van Hollen to keep wasting taxpayer money by fighting Judge Crabb's decision. In fact, why doesn't our "uninitimidated" Governor run on keeping gays from getting married this November? Oh wait, Scotty's ducking the issue any way he can and trying to erase his past approval of such a ban, and he's doing so because favoring the ban is a guaranteed loser in the statewide polls. But he needs the fundies and the haters in order to win. Uh oh! Sounds like quite the conundrum.

It's a lot nicer being on the side of justice and decency, isn't it? Makes for a much less stickier situation as time moves on. Even if there are a few court battles that may need to be completed on this issue, the prospect of having marriage equality in Wisconsin is a bright light that indicates maybe, after a whole lot of darkness and disgust in the 2010s, we're finally seeing something go in the right direction in this state.

It's Summer, so in Wisconsin, we work

1. With the weather heating up, that means Summer driving and tourism season is also starting. The National Restaurant Association recently said 508,000 people would be hired by eating and drinking places across the country in June, July and August. Some states see a huge boom in their restaurant workforce extremely reliant on this, particularly in the Northeastern U.S.

The states projected to register the largest proportional employment increase [in eating and drinking place employees] during the 2014 summer season are Maine (33.2 percent increase), Alaska (21.0 percent increase), Delaware (18.0 percent increase), New Hampshire (16.5 percent increase) and Rhode Island (15.7 percent increase).

Due to the fact that their busiest seasons for travel and tourism are not in the summer months, two states are projected to register declines in eating and drinking place employment during the 2014 summer season: Florida (-10,700) and Arizona (-5,500).

The restaurant industry is usually the nation’s second-largest creator of summer jobs, ranking only behind the construction industry.

Wisconsin is a part of this trend of adding food-and-bar industry jobs this time of year, which is no surprise given that the bulk of our tourism is in the Summer months. We're expected to add 17,200 people in the industry, which is 9.0% more than we had in those same places in March. That 9.0 increase is good for 12th in the nation, and is the highest increase in the Midwest. It's a regular part of our state's economy, and it explains a lot of the seasonal rise in raw jobs numbers that this state sees every Summer, even in the recession years of 2008 and 2009.



Not mentioning this seasonal effect in Wisconsin led to the MacIver Institute getting a "pants-on-fire" rating by the J-S's Politi-fact for trying to claim last year that Wisconsin had added 137,000 jobs under Governor Walker. As the chart shows, they were cherry-picking the seasonal numbers between the cold-weather months of winter (when the fewest number of people are working in Wisconsin), and the Summer months (when that number is at its highest).

Walker himself pulled a similar stunt in Summer 2011, publicly taking credit for an allegedly large increase in jobs numbers despite being warned by DWD officials that they were temporary jobs that would inevitably go away.

"It's probably right in the general direction. It's the magnitude that's questionable," [Madison economist David J.] Ward said. "Does that mean that politicians don't jump on the numbers? They do."

A similar point was made in the presentation that was emailed to several of Walker's top aides by a Workforce Development official on July 18 - three days before the governor announced the figures. The email was part of a larger exchange with the governor's office on how the numbers should be presented.

"There is likely an increase of employment, however, the magnitude is suspect," the report reads.

The report said the increase in jobs was "questionable" because most of the jobs were created in tourism industries that "rarely lead employment growth" and were created outside the main metropolitan areas in the state.

This didn't stop Walker from doing "It's Working"-style press events and getting the Big Lie out there, just like how AM radio's GOP spokemodels relayed the MacIver lie last year. Not surprisingly, these numbers were revised down significantly in future reports, but don't be shocked if you see increasingly desperate WisGOPs try to make the same argument this year, as Walker's dismal job- creation record is a major weight around his re-election prospects.

On a related note, I found it interesting that the April Wisconsin jobs numbers had an increase of 2,500 seasonally-adjusted jobs in the restuarant-related Leisure and Hospitality sector, and 8,300 in the raw number. This April increase can actually go against the Wisconsin jobs numbers in the coming months, if some of these Summer jobs are getting filled ahead of time, and there isn't the typical "bump up" in May and June. With the next jobs report due out in a week and half, and blog commentator GeoffT saying in this post that May sales tax revenues sucked, it and the retail-related "Trade" Sector (up 3,700 seasonally-adjusted in April) could be an interesting sector to track.

So as the temperature and the 2014 elections heat up this Summer, you can bet WisGOP politicians will be trying to claim that Wisconsin is on the right track, and could well use Wisconsin's seasonal growth in jobs to back up their claims. We need to be ready to call out that bullshit at the moment they try to pull it, and we can use the Restaurant Association's stats and recent economic history give us the data to prove just how big a lie it is.

May jobs notes (updated)

It was a pretty good U.S. jobs report that came out today. 217,000 were added in May, with the unemployment rate staying at 6.3%. There were also very small downward revisions of 6,000 total for the other months, so it ended up a bit better than I expected. Most noteworthy is that the country has finally, gained back all of the 8.7 million jobs lost since the previous high mark of U.S. employment, which was back in January 2008. It also means we (hopefully) can retire this infamous chart from the Calculated Risk blog.



By the way, notice that the job recoveries keep stretching longer and flatter as time goes on, especially in our last 3 recessions (1990, 2001, and 2007)? Gee, you think "free trade", deunionization, and lower taxes on capital gains might have a little to do with this?

Calculated Risk also has a lot of other job-related stats for the last decade on its site today, so give it a look if you get a chance. One interesting item to note is that 2014 is on pace to gain the most jobs out of any one year since 1999.

Job growth, 2007-2014
2007 +1.140 million
2008 -3.576 million
2009 -5.087 million
2010 +1.058 million
2011 +2.083 million
2012 +2.236 million
2013 +2.331 million
2014 +2.563 million (12-month pace)

Guess the start of Obamacare in 2014 really killed job growth, didn't it? :P

The May growth also means Wisconsin needs to add 4,600 more jobs for May, or else the Walker jobs gap will grow even higher than the 54,000+ private sector gap that we have today. It's been a long road back for U.S. jobs, and austerity crap like we've seen in Wisconsin has certainly made the slog a lot longer and harder than it needed to be.

Keeping it positive today

Been a bit busy with other items, and it's been a light data week. Jobs numbers for May are out tomorrow, but I'd be shocked if it was anything but a moderate 150,000-200,000 gain.

So instead, but it's 75 with a dew point of 50, and I'm looking at boats from the Terrace, so I'll just leave it at that and get back to my Oberon.

Is there a plan to solve the growing DOT deficit?

I've mentioned several times in recent months about the large amount of unpaid needs and projects at the Department of Transportation that are looming in the upcoming budget. But there are a couple of interesting developments in recent days that are a bit of a change from what we knew before.

First of all, after several meetings around the state to discuss these needs and the ways to finance them, DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb says he has come upon a plan that he will propose as part of this Fall's DOT's budget request for 2015-17. Gottlieb told the Wisconsin State Journal that toll roads are not a part of this filling of the funding gap (claiming that it would need Congressional approval anyway), but did say that he's not looking for a one-time fix.

“Our hope is that whatever we propose will be sustainable, meaning that one of our goals is to propose a structure that once in place will be sustainable for the future,” Gottlieb said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal. “Our hope is that whatever comes out will be a long-term solution to this problem.”

The department is projecting a $680 million shortfall in its 2015-17 budget. (Note, but there are other projects enumerated and planned that will make that figure closer to $1.1 billion) A bipartisan state transportation commission
reported last year that if Wisconsin wants to maintain current service, traffic flow and road condition levels under the existing funding system, the state will be short $15.3 billion over the next decade.

That’s largely because more fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids and electric cars, are eroding state revenues from the gas tax, the largest source of state transportation funding.....

The commission recommended these increases: the state’s gas tax by 5 cents per gallon, annual registration fees for commercial vehicles by 73 percent and the eight-year driver’s license fee by $20 to $54. The panel also recommended eliminating the sales tax exemption on the trade-in value of a vehicle; and adopting a mileage-based registration fee system for passenger vehicles and light trucks.

After this report came out, Scott Walker and the WisGOP-controlled Legislature promptly ignored all of these higher-tax and fee options, instead opting for increased borrowing in some major projects, minor slowdowns in others, and sizable one-time transfers from the General Fund to take care of things in this biennium. And if the $112 million in annual transfers continue in the next budget, that's an extra $224 million tacked onto our $642 million (and growing) budget deficit.

But there are also other needs that aren't even on Gottlieb's list. The Urban Alliance part of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities recently said the polar vortex winter means local governments are in desperate need of a boost in state aid for this year to help to take care of unanticipated needs.

We have had to make some very tough budget decisions this winter, and we aren’t even through 2014,” Dickert said. “Plowing, salting, pothole repairs and water pipe maintenance has really taken its toll on our budgets.”

Dickert said he estimates the total relief sought will be close to $12 million. The amount isn’t determined since many municipalities are in the initial phases of collecting damage estimates, he said.

“We think a direct one-time appropriation by the Governor will provide the necessary relief,” Dickert said. “We’re not asking for above and beyond what we need.

The state has given a small bump in funding for maintenance on state highways and in payments to counties in exchange for the counties' help in plowing and salt work on state roads, but as of now nothing extra is coming to cities to fix their streets in 2014. If the DOT and the Joint Finance Committee doesn't act to increase and/or shift road aids in the 2014 calendar year, many communities will be facing property tax increases and fewer potholes being fixed. But if the DOT does help, it'll raise the next budget's deficit even more.

Lastly, the state could get squeezed even further by a battle shaping up in Congress over the next highway bill, which expires on September 30. And yes, the State Journal notes that the feds are also facing a deficit.

The National Highway Trust Fund is expected to run short on money later this year, and the U.S. Department of Transportation could scale back payments to states, which could exacerbate Wisconsin’s....shortfall in the next budget.

More funding requires action by Congress, but lawmakers have yet to move on President Barack Obama’s $302 billion four-year transportation plan, which includes allowing states to toll Interstate highways.

The federal DOT shortfall is the subject of a Wispolitics event in Appleton tomorrow with U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, and the loss of House Transportation Committee member Tom Petri could leave the amount of Wisconsin's help from the feds further imperiled. The VA scandal and other DC hijinks may be grabbing the attention for now, but the end of September is less than 4 months away, and local and state governments are going to be watching what comes out of the highway bill very closely, as they might be looking at even more constraints than state policy has put it into over the last 4 years.

By the way, the fact that a Walker cabinet member is talking about the next budget shouldn't be read as an arrogantly assumption Scotty will win in November- all state agencies get their budgets ready independent of the results of elections. Regardless of who sits in that governor's chair in January 2015, that person is going to have to immediately deal with the mess that the short-term thinking of Walker and WisGOP has left as a result of their decisions (or lack thereof) in the 2013-15 budget. And it's an issue that isn't getting nearly the heat that it should.

David Clarke - Smacked down!

Now we see why Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke doesn't do a lot of in-person debates, because it requires a countering opinion to be heard. Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm gave him some of that feedback today, after Clarke shot his mouth off last week complaining about the DA's office making plea agreements with criminals who end up back on the street and later commit crimes. As part of Clarke's pose job, he asked that that the DA's office stop making plea agreements and deferred prosecutions with people accused of violent crimes. What follows is a smackdown of a massive order. Here's a taste.

The suggestion that we suspend all plea negotations in (murder) cases is legally, ethically and practically irresponsible. It would lead to the permanent loss of witnesses and evidence. Please negotiations often allow us to assure the lengthy incapactiation of violent offenders, and the loss of that practive would instead result in these individuals' being freed in the community because backed-up court documents violate defendants' speedy trial rights. You were here in the early 1990s when this was a reality. Police budgets on homicide cases alone would be decimated, and we would have to pull detectives and officers off the streets to sit in court for weeks, even when the defendant is willing to plead the charge. Unforutantely, criminals and crime do not stop to wait for a jury verdict. Despite the rhetoric coming from certain law enforcement officials about "plea bargaining," the same officials privately complain to me that the cannot afford to have their officers and detectives in court trying cases, testifying in motions and preliminary hearings, and also do the work necessary to follow up on these most serious of offenses and investigate the new ones. In recent years, we have seen a serious decline in clearance by charged offense in homicides,and this is often attributed to a lack of investigative resources.

I know this does not affect you. Your agency does not investigate homicides, nor does it have the capacity to do so after long years of neglect at your hands. Nevertheless, such measures would directly detriment the budgets of every major police department in the county, which do investigate and help us prosecute violent offenders.

And just in case you didn't get the message the first time, Sheriff Clarke, here it is when it comes to prosecuting sexually violent criminals.

....The suggestion on your part would have the practical effect of telling my prosecutors not to consult with victims on their desires related to the case, and would demand that they try every case without consideration of the best interest of the victim and community. That would be a travesty. Again, the dockets would be backed up for three to four years, violent sex offenders would be released, and victims would stop being cooperative. You talk about cruel experiments. Your proposal would result in a cruel reality.

You should know this from your time as an administator in the Milwaukee Police Department, but again, your office does not investigate these cases nor does it have the skills to do so after years of neglect at your hands.

Now I'm sure Clarke will whine on the Sykes and Belling shows in the coming days about how Chisholm is being a big meanie, but Chisholm's facts behind this smackdown illustrate a bigger point. It's easy to talk big when you're on talk radio and in the right-wing bubble, but it FAILS MISERABLY in the day-to-day reality.

And this letter from Chisholm tells me that maybe he does have this John Doe thing under control. I thought he had wimped out under pressure when he decided against charging Scott Walker for what seemed to be approval of crimes committed as Milwaukee County Executive, but maybe catching Walker led to bigger fish, and they're all getting reeled in. Us in the world of decency can only hope.

In the meantime, read this letter again. Cause it's pretty damn cool to see that blowhard a-hole David Clarke finally get the first of what I wish is numerous smackdowns for the way he has besmirched the job of Milwaukee County Sheriff.

Deconstructing and debunking the Guv on Gousha

Apparently our governor stepped out of his "closed event" shell and went on the Mike Gousha show this weekend. I won't watch the full episode because I don't need to feel nauseous tonight, but I did see Wispolitics' summary of the appearance, and immediately noticed some discrepancies between Walker's spin on things, and, you know, REALITY.

First of all, Walker is now trying to deflect his failing record on job creation by tying Mary Burke in with her former boss, Gov Jim Doyle. That's a sketchy enough comparison to begin with, because it ignores the fact that George Dubya Bush was president at the time, which screwed nearly every state in America in the last 2 years of the 2000s, but Walker doubles down on this sketchiness, and claims we also lagged the nation under the former gov.

And although Walker is unlikely to deliver on his pledge to create 250,000 jobs during his first term, he said voters will recognize that unemployment is down and below the national average. Walker called Burke "a step backwards," and criticized her jobs record.

"The only time in the last 25 years unemployment has actually been higher than it was in the nation was when she was working for Jim Doyle as the secretary of Commerce in charge of jobs," Walker said.

So what's Scotty referring to in his talking point? He's pointing back to the time period between January 2006 and October 2007, right before all the bubbles burst to start the Great Recession. In that time period, U.S. unemployment was between 4.4% and 4.7%, while Wisconsin's unemployment was between 4.6% and 4.9%, so technically Walker's claim is correct (and I expect Politi-crap to bail him out accordingly).

However, Walker doesn't mention that those 2006-2007 numbers are a full point below Wisconsin's current 5.8% rate, and it was before the numerous cuts to schools and local governments that have hamstrung the state for future growth and talent development. And the fact that Wisconsin's economy wasn't bubbling over as much as the rest of the nation ended up being a good thing, as steadying policies meant the state reached a high of only 9.2% in Summer 2009 while many other states (and the country) was soaring past double digits.

That unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% over the last 18 months of Doyle's tenure, and the Doyle-Dem year of 2010 beats any of Walker's three years for private sector job growth. Compared to the subpar performance we have now, and the lack of options to fix it once the next recession hits, taking "a step backwards" under Burke might be a wise move vs. going down the same road under Walker, which will likely take us off a cliff.

This lame dishonest Walker spin was then followed by something an even less legitimate claim.

Walker blamed uncertainty surrounding the recall, and the current election cycle, for lackluster job growth. He cited a recent survey that found 95 percent of Wisconsin CEOs believe the state is headed in the right direction, compared to 10 percent four years ago.

Walker also said the Affordable Care Act is a source of uncertainty that could prevent job growth. Walker was recently the target of criticism from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin for making moves to shift about 60,000 BadgerCare recipients to the federal exchange.

Bullshit and bullshit. First, the "recall uncertainty" line can be debunked with this simple chart.



You see that, if anything, job growth flattened out after Walker was retained in the June 2012 recall election. And with the GOP regaining control of the Legislature in 2013, Wisconsin's private sector jobs growth was its lowest in Walker's three years.

Private sector job growth, Wisconsin
June 2011- June 2012 +39,800
June 2012- June 2013 +27,600 (decrease of 12,200)

Private sector job growth, Wisconsin (QCEW)
2012 +33,872
2013 +28,006

So it is provably FALSE that keeping Walker and putting the GOP back in full control of power freed up employers to hire and add jobs, as they did the exact opposite. The other claim is also ridiculous, as Obamacare signups started in October, so we have 7 months of nationwide job data to go over. And as you'll see, if anything job growth has picked up since the start of Obamacare exchange coverage, even with the polar vortex winter.

U.S. private sector job growth
Sept 2013- Apr 2014 +1.447 million (+1.26%)
Feb 2013- Sept 2013 +1.278 million (+1.12%)

Again, it is provably FALSE that Obamacare is slowing down job growth in the U.S. In all these cases, few reporters have these numbers in front of them to refute Walker's deceptions and lies, which enable the average viewer to shrug and not know.

Lastly, it wouldn't be a Walker stories these days without a John Doe angle. Gousha actually asked real questions relating to it, resulted in this Walker word salad when it came to the questions as to whether he might rat out his supporters.

"Honestly, it surprises me that anyone would think that I would undermine anyone who shared those same principles," Walker said on the show, produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. "Clearly I would not."

Referencing a statement earlier in the week, Walker denied involvement in the federal investigation, adding Wisconsin law prevents him from revealing information about the state-level case.

"The law is pretty clear in this state; anyone who knows anything about a John Doe can't talk about it, anyone who doesn't know about it shouldn't talk about it," Walker said. "I've not commented on the Doe itself, because I've abided by the law."

So Scotty, will you abide by the law, if it undermines someone who shares your principles? Because the Club for Growth and other Koch oligarchs have clearly sent the message that "You'd better not follow the law, if you're with us." Intriguing conundrum, isn't it?

As I've said before, the lying from Scott Walker is bad enough, but the fact that this guy does it so easily and pathologically is what's really disgusting. And it's well past time for the media to follow Gousha's lead and interrupt his bullshit talking points and give real questions about reality.