Lee Camp on the Shock Doctrine

I consistently like what this guy puts out. Lee Camp on why "elites hate it when democracy gets in their way," and how they'll knock it down if given the chance.



I started to read the "Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, but started to get too disgusted and pissed off because it was ringing too true to me, so I had to put it down. And yes, as Lee mentions around 3:30, the whole Act 10 "solution" had "Shock Doctrine" written all over it.

This week is WisGOP corruption- through the revolving door

A couple of Republican members of the State Assembly announced they were leaving their posts recently, and not surprisingly, both have a strong stench of payback for political favors surrounding the moves.

State Rep. Mark Honadel from South Milwaukee, the head sponsor of the giveaway Mining Bill to Gogebic Taconite, abruptly announced today that he would resign from the State Assembly to "pursue an opportunity in the private sector." Hmmm, I sure wonder if that private sector opportunity has anything to do with businesses that might have benefitting from this sellout of a mining bill, or lobbying his old buddies in the Legislature to keep the money funnel going to his contributors?

Nah, I'm sure there's no connection between this resignation and who benefitted from the bills this guy's had a hand in jamming through. Just like it's total coincidence that an overwhelming majority of GOP legislators ignored huge opposition from grassroots and tribal group, and decided to back the mining bill after millions of dollars of campaign donations from pro-mining interests flowed to WisGOP candidates over the last 3 years.

Also leaving is the Assembly's Number 2 guy, Scott Suder. He announced last week that he was resigning from the Assembly to double his salary as a Scott Walker appointee to the Public Service Commission, as an administrator with water and other utility regulation. Putting a GOP hack politician in charge of a PSC area? I'm sure there's no chance for quid pro quo in THAT gig, is there? I mean, it's not like we've seen another former GOP rep go to the DNR and give breaks to former campaign contributors, letting them to spread shit around Oconomowoc. Naw, things like that never happen. And yes, even though Suder was the guy who led the charge in ramming partisan garbage like Act 10, transvaginal ultrasounds and the mining bill through the Assembly, I'm sure he'll call it fair once he gets to the PSC, and do nothing to give Republicans and Republican-donating businesses the upper hand.

The Suder appointment was bad enough for Fitzwalkerstani corruption, but Scotty S is also a big part of a deeper mess that seems to be a payoff GOP/ Koch front groups with taxpayer dollars. Jason Stein and Paul A. Smith had the story this Sunday in the Journal-Sentinel involving the "United Sportsmen of Wisconsin," and it includes Suder giving away $500,000 in state funds to this group.

George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, [praised] the goal of the grant but question[ed] the criteria attached to it. The wording of the budget motion prevented Meyer's federation from applying for the award.

"We aren't criticizing the purpose of this at all," said Meyer. "We think its purpose is important. But clearly it looks like it was put together for one group."...

In an interview, Suder said the grant would help to avert a "looming crisis" for hunting and fishing and ensure the future of those pastimes in the state. He said he talked to United Sportsmen and other groups about the grant but wasn't aware that United Sportsmen would include his former chief of staff, Luke Hilgemann, in the application as one of its educators.

Hmmm, so what is Luke Hilgemann doing now?

Hilgemann recently left his job overseeing and lobbying for the Wisconsin chapter of [Koch front group] Americans for Prosperity to take a job in Washington as the No. 2 executive for the group favoring conservative economic policies.

Amazing how these things work out in GOPland, isn't it?

I also wondered where I had heard of United Sportsmen of Wisconsin before, punched up the Google, and it linked to this great interview with Internet journalist Greg Palast. I then remember that I mentioned this article a few weeks before the November elections last year, but this part of the interview is worth repeating.

The Koch Operation, Americans for Prosperity, had its Chief set up a front called United Sportsmen of Wisconsin. United Sportsmen of Wisconsin, which appeared and then instantly vanished after the recall vote, using the Themis machine, were able to identify likely Democratic absentee voters in key recall areas. Because there were also votes, by the way, on legislatures. The Themis machine was able to get the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin to identify Democratic voters, send them letters saying here’s where you mail in your ballot, and here’s the deadline. The address was a phony, it was their own, and the date was after the legal date for submitting an absentee ballot. So, either way, you were fucked like a duck. The Sportsmen basically were hunting Democrats.

By the way, PR Watch points out that other members of the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin include NRA lobbyists, Tea Party members who organized pro-Walker rallies, and board members on the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families. Are these guys into hunter education, or another type of "[re-]education"? Hmmm?

To sum it up, Scott Suder arranged to have $500,000 of taxpayer dollars go in a mostly uncompetitive grant to a Koch electioneering group that admits they will mostly use the cash for "staff and consultants." And this grant is set up to continue for $450,000 in the next two-year budget, and the one after that, and for every budget until it is formally taken out. You thought Chicago had crooks in their government? Throwing taxpayer dollars to groups that seem to have no purpose other than promote GOP campaigns is Blago-like material, especially when you combine this with Suder's appointment to the PSC being announced right before this story hit.

Now, this article may seem like a lot of leg work to draw these connections, but it's not anything special at all - it just requires remembering a few details and dialing up some Internet searches. But for some reason, I can do this in 2 hours to post a blog item as a hobby, while "professional" Wisconsin journalists who are drawing a pretty good salary somehow can't. Now, the reason they can't do this boils down to 3 possibilities- 1. They're incompetent 2. They're gutless or 3. Their bosses restrict them from doing so. I'll leave it up to you to decide which of the 3 it is.

EDIT: State Rep. Nick Milroy had a great tweet which links to a poster from this event in October 2012 showing just what kind of "outdoors education" United Sportsmen of Wisconsin believes in. What a scam.

3 good months don't outdo 27 bad ones

Caught this press release come across from the Governor's Office, and found it worth looking into.

Wisconsin’s Economic Growth Ranked 3rd in the Nation
Exceeds National Growth Rate for Second Month

Madison – The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released its July coincident economic indexes for states today. Their data shows Wisconsin has had the third best economic growth in the nation. Additionally, this is the second consecutive month that Wisconsin’s growth has outpaced the national average.

Ah yes, the monthly Philly Fed report that I'd mentioned numerous times in the last couple of years. And in looking at the report itself, Wisconsin seems to be in an impressive place, as one of the few states in the dark green, indicating the strongest economic growth for the last 3 months.



Now we know a big reason for these positive economic reports has to do with the big job numbers from May and June, which we know is largely due to increased seasonal hiring in part--time, low-wage jobs and a springback from the cold winter and spring that depressed warm-weather hiring in March and April. Not surprisingly, only measuring May, June and July will make things look pretty good, but when you look at the months preceding it, it's not as great.

And when you go back further, this bears itself out. Wisconsin may have 1.3% growth over the last 3 months in the Philly Fed index, but it's only 1.8% since the start of the year. Stretch this out to 12 months ago (right after the "uncertainty" of the Wisconsin recall ended), and we don't look very good at all.

Change in Philly Fed Coincident index, July 2012- July 2013
Mich +3.72%
Minn +3.50%
Ind. +3.13%
U.S. +2.89%
Ohio +2.59%
Wis. +2.52%
Iowa +2.42%
Ill. +2.34%

EVEN THAT doesn't give the full story about the results of WisGOP policies in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, because this chart shows that even with these strong results in recent months, Wisconsin still has had the worst economy in the Midwest since Scott Walker took office in January 2011, and would need to continue to massively outperform in the coming months just to get to the middle of the pack of its Midwestern peers.



So let's take the Walker Admin's bragging with a grain a salt. Sure, the stats of the last 3 months are good news for Wisconsin's economy, and if it continues for another year, we can point back to the Spring of 2013 as the point where it started turning around. But given the failing record of Scott Walker and company in the 2 years before that, and his 8 years of failure in Milwaukee County, I'm calling the good numbers a seasonal fluke, and you're going to have show me continued growth as the weather cools off before the MacIver propagandists can even try to be serious when the claim "It's Working."

Again, DWD tries to take credit for Obama recovery

Caught this funny press release, in another example of how the Walker Administration has sometimes made it hard to tell the difference between the Department of Workforce Development, and the Friends of Scott Walker. Check out how the DWD tries to make it seem like "it's working", and how prosperity is right around the corner in Wisconsin.

In another sign of Wisconsin’s improving economy, initial claims for Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance benefits have fallen below 8,000 for five consecutive weeks. Wisconsin has not had five straight weeks with initial claims below 8,000 since 2005.

“Initial and regular weekly claims have been declining for some time, but the initial claims total in the latest weekly report is especially welcome news,” DWD Secretary Reggie Newson said. “This is another sign of Wisconsin’s improving economy under Governor Walker’s leadership, and there is much more work to be done to create more jobs and prepare workers with the skills needed to fill those jobs.”

Wisconsin weekly initial claims first dipped below 8,000 in the week ending July 20, 2013, marking the first time they’ve been less than 8,000 since September 2007. The number has remained below 8,000 through the week ending August 17, totaling 7,625 for that week. This is the first time Wisconsin has seen five straight weeks with initial claims below 8,000 since 2005 and only the second time since 2000.

In addition, as of the end of July, the year-to-date average number of Wisconsin weekly initial Unemployment Insurance claims is at a 13-year low, at 10,778.

Sounds good, right? And on the surface it is, as claims have generally fallen each year in Wisconsin over the last 4 years.



But you'll also notice that unemployment claims are around their lows for the year in August regardless of how bad the economy is. And once summer jobs start ending in the coming weeks, those numbers will go back up.

And the drop in unemployment claims in 2013 is hardly unusual in America. The U.S. continues to have new claims at their lowest levels since the Great Recession started, with last week's unadjusted claims figure of just over 279,000 the lowest since September 2007. So despite the way DWD portrays it, it's not a big deal that Wisconsin also is having its lowest level of unemployment claims since September '07, since the country as a whole has its fewest layoffs in 6 years.

This chart will also show this trend, as Wisconsin's year-over-year drop in unemployment claims is not much different than the nation's. A number below 0% means Wisconsin is doing better than the nation, while a number above 0% means we're falling behind. While we're not above 0, like we were earlier in the year, we're not much below 0% either. This is in stark contrast to the last year of the Jim Doyle/Dem regime, when Wisconsin's drop in claims was 10-20% more than the U.S.'s.



So once again, the Walker Administration is trying to take credit for a growing U.S. economy that continues to grow (at least for now), and tries to ignore the above-trend record of the Doyle/Dem regime, which put Wisconsin on a strong footing before the Age of Fitzwalkerstan began.

Sen. Vinehout gets her budget geek on

One of many reasons I like State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout is that she's willing to be wonky, and her recent blog post at Uppity Wisconsin is a good example. Vinehout breaks down the state budget in a detailed, to-the-point manner that shows the flaws and dangers Wisconsin will face over the next few years as a result of this irresponsible WisGOP policy.

Myth number one says the state spending is less and implies the size of government is smaller.

But, according to numbers released by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, the 2013-15 budget spends $4 billion more than the previous. In fact, state spending is greater than it has ever been in Wisconsin’s history.

The new spending goes to a number of expensive new programs. Half of the $4 billion goes to health spending. But for first time in many years there are fewer people covered by state health programs. Nearly 100,000 people are expected to lose state health coverage by January. Not taking federal money for Medicaid expansion left the state budget and citizenry in worse shape.

In addition to getting less bang for the Medicaid buck, another report by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows Gov. Walker's decision not to take Obamacare funds will make Wisconsin Number 1 in the country for throwing people off of Medicaid and onto the federal health care exchanges. This right-wing bubble-world decision not to take the federal Medicaid funds looks dumber by the day.

Back to Sen. Vinehout's breakdown.

When spending is greater than revenue – a deficit exists. Lawmakers are bound by the state constitution to balance the budget.

To do this, budget writers carried money over from the last fiscal year to create a technically balanced budget. But when spending exceeds revenue the imbalance catches up with us in the next budget creating a “structural” (or built in) deficit.

A recent report from the LFB pegs this deficit at the end of the 2015-2017 budget at MINUS $545 million.

And that doesn't take into effect the Transportation Fund, which is projected to spend $108 million more than it takes in for the next two years, and has increasing debt service in future years to pay due to massive borrowing in this budget.

Sen. Vinehout touches on this in the next myth she busts.

The third myth says the state eliminated the debt. This is false. In fact, state debt reaches record levels in the 2013-15 budget.

Why? The budget increases borrowing by more than $2 billion. Almost half of this borrowing goes to transportation spending. In addition, debt payments not made in the last legislative session catch up to lawmakers.

When debt payments are not paid, interest adds up. In the depths of the recession, Governor Doyle delayed debt payments to gain cash and keep government going.

In the 2011-13 legislative session, Governor Walker did not pay an even larger amount of debt payments coming due. Because debt payments were not made more money goes to pay off debt in this budget than ever before.

And that's why this state is fiscally screwed looking ahead, because we decided to pass Koo-Koo tax cuts, turn down the ACA's Medicaid money, and borrow instead of keeping taxes level, taking the Medicaid funds, and paying our bills as we go. And that choice will handcuff this state for many years ahead, regardless of who is governor.

This type of detailed breakdown is exactly why I wish Sen. Vinehout would run for governor. It's her combination of fire, attention to rural issues and wonkiness that makes for a complete contrast to the suburban dullard currently in office. And she's the type of candidate that appeals to voters that the DPW needs to get for 2014.

Back in the 40s

Had a feeling this would happen when I saw last week's job numbers, but got it confirmed with today's release of the state-by-state employment numbers from the BLS. After a couple of seasonally-affected bumps in May and June, Wisconsin's mediocre July report means that it is sliding back down toward the rear of the pack when it comes to jobs created over the last 12 months.

Wisconsin's 2,000 job gain in July (1,800 in the private sector) was the lowest in the Midwest, and it 6th out of 7 in the region when it comes to job growth in the last 2 months, regardless of what measure you use.

Midwest job growth, all jobs July 2012-July 2013
Mich +70,300
Ill. +55,500
Minn +55,000
Ind. +54,800
Ohio +37,700
Wis. +25,800
Iowa +25,600

Midwest job growth %, all jobs July 2012-July 2013
Minn +2.02%
Ind. +1.89%
Mich. +1.73%
Iowa +1.69%
Ill. +0.97%
Wis. +0.93%
Ohio +0.73%

Midwest job growth %, private sector, July 2012- July 2013
Iowa +2.14%
Mich +2.02%
Ind. +2.01%
Minn +1.91%
Ill. +1.26%
Wis. +1.18%
Ohio +1.06%

Not good any way you slice it. And this sucky performance also shows up in the nationwide stats for jobs over the last year, as Wisconsin is back in the 40s when it comes to job growth.

U.S. job growth %, July 2012- July 2013, all jobs
38. Ill +0.97%
39. Bama +0.95%
40. Wis. +0.93%
41. N.Y. +0.90%
42. Wyo. +0.90%
43. W.Va +0.84%

U.S. job growth %, July 2012- July 2013, pvt. sector
40. Ill +1.26%
41. N.Y. +1.26%
42. Bama +1.25%
43. Wis. +1.18%
44. Ohio +1.06%
45. Neb. +0.95%
46. Penn +0.79%

So what was our fair guv doing today in light of these bad numbers? Going out to NYC to be on MSNBC's "Morning Joe", of course! And naturally, he gave a self-promoting statement that had no connection to reality.

On a federal level, Republicans are known as the “party of no,” but on a state level Walker says Republicans are a party of optimism, relevance, and courage.

“We’re more optimistic than our friends in Washington. We’re not just against something, we’re laying out a plan, laying out a vision,” Walker said. “That’s how you lead.”

The stats show that the only place Scott Walker is leading the state is straight off a cliff. And no real leader would be using his palace guards to arrest fire fighters in uniform, like Scotty's Capitol Police did today.

This guy's such a paper tiger. Time to start poking a whole lotta holes in him. C'mon DPW, run some ads and TELL PEOPLE THE FACTS. NOW.

Another example of "freedom" due to Act 10

Got an email this weekend from my friend, who we'll call Amy. Amy had taught late-elementary and middle school for over a decade in Wisconsin, and the message said the following:

In a little over a week, I will not be returning to school like I have for as long as I can remember, but instead I will be embarking on a new adventure...as a [redacted on request] Training Instructor. I'll still be teaching, but I'll be training hospital staff on the applications. I'm incredibly excited about this new challenge and all the opportunities that the position offers, but I'm also feeling very sad to leave a profession that I admire and love. Despite my mixed emotions, I am sincerely ready to move on.

There is no coincidence that Amy decided to do so after teaching under Act 10 rules for 2 years. She'd had a taste of the "freedom" from union representation that the law had done, and she got cuts to her take-home pay for her and her family, which doesn't work well when you have a 3-year-old and 1-year-old at home. Amy also had to endure many unprompted rips from parents and their kids who had taken on the anti-teacher attitudes that Icki McKenna, Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling fed them through the airwaves. At a certain point, she felt it was time to be open to look for greener pastures, and the health systems training job opened up.

And props to the company for being wise enough to interview and hire Amy for this job. Now do I think she'd be training hospital staff if Act 10 and the "divide and conquer" governing strategy of Scott Walker and company never happened? Hell no. She'd be preparing to start another year of molding young minds and her school district would be reaping the fruits of a damn good teacher. Instead, she's moving on, and the district is going to have to scramble to find someone to replace her, and that teacher won't be nearly good enough nor familiar enough with the students to have her district end up better off for 2013-14. To boot, this district is in a relatively rural area, so good luck trying to recruit someone to pick up and move 30 miles from Madison to take over a classroom in a new area.

I don't blame Amy for doing what she did. I was a former teacher myself that chose to move on. I did it mostly to move back to Wisconsin and further my education, but I also eventually bumped my pay by more than 50%, and I didn't have a family to help support like she did.

As a report from last week shows, more teachers are being let go by districts in the post-Act 10 era, so there's not high job security like there was in the past. In addition, administrators are getting average raises of $4,000 at the expense of teachers, so why not jump before someone trumps up a charge and pushes you out? It proves again that if you take teachers for granted, and impose unrealistic expectations and rules upon them without giving them the respect and compensation they deserve, many of them will do what anyone else with talent would do in a job where they're treated like crap- they go somewhere where they won't be treated like crap.

At a certain point, you can't be so selfless that you end up poorer and angrier when you come home from your job, even if you do care for the kids and want to help them succeed. As a result of the teacher-bashing and Act 10 restrictions, a lot of teachers preceded Amy in leaving the profession, as the number of FTE teaching positions is down nearly 5% in Wisconsin in the last 5 years.



Amazing how the "market-based" anti-education losers forget this simple fact of economics- if you underpay and mistreat people with skills in demand, there will be a shortage of qualified candidates to make your product. I bet Amy's district won't be the only one facing a huge last-minute staffing mess that has to be fixed when classes begin in 2 weeks, and wait till you see the amount of school closures and tax increases that are coming for 2014 due to the continued flatlining in education funding.