Recall Scott Walker

[Zakharra]

Yup..definitely drinking the cool aid huh?

  Kool-aid? Hell no, they're drinking the poison straight up. All of this crap they are doing in Wisconsin is doing a LOT of damage to the Republican party locally and nationally.

[Callie Del Noire]

  Kool-aid? Hell no, they're drinking the poison straight up. All of this crap they are doing in Wisconsin is doing a LOT of damage to the Republican party locally and nationally.

Reading through the article that Avis posted has me wondering. That is a HELL of a lot of fraud centered around Walker. Makes you wonder who besides the company already caught did things like that. 

[Zakharra]

 If he was hired to damage the Republican name, he could be doing a better job of it. It's almost as if he and his people are intentionally doing this and getting caught to smear the party.

[Callie Del Noire]

If he was hired to damage the Republican name, he could be doing a better job of it. It's almost as if he and his people are intentionally doing this and getting caught to smear the party.

I think it's more like they assume that since they are 'in power' they can fix the cases and get away with anything they do.

[Callie Del Noire]

And the hits keep on coming. He's now skimming from a grant that was to help homeowners. As is the state of Mississippi too.

http://www.truth-out.org/missouri-now-second-state-diverting-foreclosure-funds-homeowners-its-own-troubled-budget/1329160481

[Major Major]

... Okay, this just goes straight into Pantomine villainy. What's next for Scott Walker? Tying damsels to railway tracks? Dressing up as Snidely Whiplash?

[Callie Del Noire]

... Okay, this just goes straight into Pantomine villainy. What's next for Scott Walker? Tying damsels to railway tracks? Dressing up as Snidely Whiplash?

Well he's got his robber baron bosses giving him big bags of loot to do their bidding.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166385/david-koch-admits-were-helping-scott-walker-big-money

[Valerian]

Well, the deadline for Walker to challenge any names on the recall petitions has passed, and he didn't challenge a single one, citing lack of time, even though he had 30 days to check instead of the 10 days usually allowed by law.  And of course the more they talk about the "impossible time frame", the more they emphasize just how many signatures there are, which isn't exactly a good PR move.

Speaking of spin, this article talks about his handling of the John Doe investigation, with both Democrats and Republicans weighing in.

"He's been very inconsistent with his narrative," said Scott Becher, a Madison-based Republican public relations consultant. "The narrative keeps changing."

For instance, Walker maintained for months that he knew nothing about anything in the investigation.

He said he didn't know that authorities seized the computer of longtime aide Tim Russell. He said he was unaware - until the Journal Sentinel reported it - that his spokesman had taken immunity in the probe. He said he was in the dark as to why the FBI raided the home of staffer Cindy Archer.

But now he emphasizes that his campaign has been cooperating with Milwaukee County prosecutors for more than a year, having turned over thousands of emails and voluntarily offered to sit down with District Attorney John Chisholm.

Tim Russell is the one who's been arrested for embezzling over $21,000 from the Heritage Guard Preservation Society, a veteran's support group.  Russell should not be confused with the other former Walker staffer, Kevin Kavanaugh, who's been arrested for embezzling at least $42,000 from the Military Order of the Purple Heart, including money earmarked for children of Wisconsin military service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Both were appointed to handle these funds by Walker.

And now Walker's on MSNBC, saying that those who want to recall him should think of the children and seniors.  Lovely.  :P

[Callie Del Noire]

The world has taken a surreal turn when I'm agreeing with Al Sharpton about ANYTHING.

That being said, I'm sure he's going to weasel out of a felony charge in the end. He'll pull something like the last NC Governor did and plead to a small charge really really fast to kill the investigation and shut it down before any of his party bosses take the fall with him.

[ShadowFox89]

The world has taken a surreal turn when I'm agreeing with Al Sharpton about ANYTHING.

That being said, I'm sure he's going to weasel out of a felony charge in the end. He'll pull something like the last NC Governor did and plead to a small charge really really fast to kill the investigation and shut it down before any of his party bosses take the fall with him.

Even if he weasel's out of the charges, he'll have to go into hiding from all the pissed off vets here in Wisconsin :P

[Callie Del Noire]

Even if he weasel's out of the charges, he'll have to go into hiding from all the pissed off vets here in Wisconsin :P

He can argue that HE didn't steal from them.. just his appointees. Till they find a money trail back.

[itsbeenfun2000]

After watching what happened to Blagoavich if they have anything on Walker they will wait til its solidified and he has no way out.

[Valerian]

There are rumors flying that Walker might be arrested as early as next week, but nothing substantiated.  There's also a lot of speculation over whether or not Walker will actually resign if he does get arrested.

Blue Cheddar has an interesting piece about all this, though even legally speaking it's all speculation right now.  Shockingly, there's nothing specific in the state constitution about what happens if the governor is indicted and being recalled at the same time.  :P

And I found this opinion piece that raises some interesting points about why Walker isn't bothering to make every possible challenge.

In addition to a demand that the state Government Accountability Board identify and strike duplicate and clearly fictitious names — something the board says it will do — the governor’s campaign argued in a filing with the GAB that the agency should act on complaints filed by groups associated with the Verify the Recall project — even though those complaints might come from individuals who are not citizens of Wisconsin.

A GAB spokesman explained Monday that the agency isn’t allowed to consider third-party challenges under state law. Challenges are supposed to come from the targeted candidate and his or her campaign. Notably, under Wisconsin law, Walker and his campaign are not allowed to coordinate political activities with supposedly independent groups like those involved with the Verify the Recall project.

Verify the Recall is, of course, a Tea Party group.  It is odd, though, that he seems content to let other people do all this stuff for him.  It's a little late for him to start worrying about plausible deniability.  :P

[Valerian]

Walker's been insisting all along that he campaigned on his union-busting tactics and that no one should have been surprised at the anti-union bill he passed.  Now someone has uncovered a video of an interview he did with the Oshkosh Northwestern during his campaign where he flat-out says the exact opposite:

Editorial Board Member: Before, we were talking about state employees contributing to their plan, paying their share of the pension plan. Collective bargaining come into that?

Walker: Yep. (nodding yes)

Editorial Board Member: How do you get that negotiated and accepted by the state employee unions?

Walker: You still have to negotiate it. I did that at the county as well.

Shockingly, Walker's spokespeople aren't speaking up.    ::)



Technically this isn't really recall related, except as further proof that the recall is vitally necessary, but I also wanted to give a tip of the hat to Dale Schultz, apparently the only Republican politician in Wisconsin who still has a brain.

Walker is trying to push through a bill that would relax restrictions on mining to allow a company to construct an open-pit mine in the northwestern part of the state, one of the most pristine areas in Wisconsin, potentially contaminating groundwater and definitely destroying wetland areas.  It would also prevent residents from opposing any permits given for any such mines, something that they can currently do (and have done in the past).  But Schultz, thank goodness, says he won't vote for it, which means it won't pass the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, kicked the bill to a special committee he hand-picked to deal with mining issues. But when the committee came back with its own bill, Fitzgerald abruptly dissolved the panel and threw his support behind the Assembly bill. That angered Schultz, who sat on the committee.

He pledged he wouldn't vote for any bill that didn't restore contested case hearings or maintain the state's environmental safeguards.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57391475/wisconsin-finance-committee-approves-mining-bill/
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9SSS6K00.htm

The mine would create "hundreds of jobs", according to the mining company, and I'm guessing Walker's desperate to start chipping away at the quarter of a million jobs he promised to create.  He has about 236,500 left to go, according to the latest numbers.  :P

[Valerian]

Okay.  For some time now, Walker has been denying that he's the focus of the John Doe investigation.  Heck, to start with he was denying that he even knew the investigation existed and acted all shocked when he found out people who worked for him were being given immunity.  Then he started insisting that he'd been cooperating all along.

But let's look at some quotes.

Walker campaign spokesperson Ciara Matthews: "We reiterate again that the governor has been told he is not the target of the investigation."

Walker then scrambles back a little: "I haven't been told that directly. Others have been told that — attorneys who work for the campaign."  Asked who told his attorneys this, he said, "That's what they passed on to me, I didn't ask them specifically.  Again, you're asking a lot of questions about something that ultimately by its nature is, not per my request but per theirs, is something we're not asked to talk about until it's complete."  (Huh?)

Walker again, a few days ago: " "I have repeatedly pledged my cooperation with that inquiry.  To fulfill my commitment, I have today formed a legal fund to pay for the expenses incurred in cooperating with the inquiry."


The kicker?  Under Wisconsin state law, it's illegal to set up any such fund unless you are being investigated or are already being prosecuted.  He's trying to dodge that particular bullet by calling it a "legal cooperation fund", but why is no one doing anything about this?  *fumes quietly*


http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/142107673.html
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/walker-legal-fund-for-john-doe-probe-raises-question-is/article_110a8720-6a31-11e1-b73b-0019bb2963f4.html
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/walker-campaign-attorneys-have-said-i-am-not-target-of/article_2c5f0e5c-6d41-11e1-9262-0019bb2963f4.html

[Callie Del Noire]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, he's setting up a defense fund to defend himself.  But to do so he has to be investigated. Which everyone, at least everyone who will talk to the media, says he's not.  But he can move funds between this fund and his recall war chest somehow? I'm not sure how this action makes him see innocent, or why do it unless he is hiding something he's done wrong. 
Do I have the ghist of it?

[Valerian]

That seems to sum it up, unfortunately.  He needs the donor's permission, but once he has that, he's apparently able to move money from recall fund to defense fund as he likes.  And frankly, I'm not sure there's anyone bothering to find out if he has permission or not.  If his cronies have control of whatever oversight group there is, he's essentially got unlimited funds, given all the fundraising trips he takes, especially now that the recall's in sight.

All the recall elections (gubernatorial and senatorial) are going to be held on the same day if possible, it looks like.  May 8 will be primary elections if needed, general elections in areas that don't; and June 5th for the general elections after the primaries.

It's all taking too long, though.

[Callie Del Noire]

That seems to sum it up, unfortunately.  He needs the donor's permission, but once he has that, he's apparently able to move money from recall fund to defense fund as he likes.  And frankly, I'm not sure there's anyone bothering to find out if he has permission or not.  If his cronies have control of whatever oversight group there is, he's essentially got unlimited funds, given all the fundraising trips he takes, especially now that the recall's in sight.

All the recall elections (gubernatorial and senatorial) are going to be held on the same day if possible, it looks like.  May 8 will be primary elections if needed, general elections in areas that don't; and June 5th for the general elections after the primaries.

It's all taking too long, though.

So, basically he's got two venues for cash that he can easily redefine as needed. Depending on how he does the acceptance phase of the donation he can essentially play musical chairs with 'his' money and play shady with accountability.

And get away with it.

[Valerian]

Speaking of Walker and money:

Based on the calendars maintained by Gov. Walker's office, released under the state open records law, between August 2011 and January 2012 Gov. Walker was scheduled to spend a grand total of just over 44 hours meeting with legislators or his policy staff or working on an a specific policy issue. Meanwhile, over the same time period, a whopping 614-plus hours were blocked off as "personal" time.

....although there is no detail on how Gov. Walker spends his personal time, a significant uptick occurred when he was allowed to start raising unlimited amounts in campaign contributions because of the recall effort against him.... In August, just under 64 hours were classified as personal time, but that climbed to over 120 hours in November when the opportunity to raise unlimited campaign cash began and topped out at nearly 153 hours in January.

There's a a very illuminating chart posted on One Wisconsin Now's website.


And in other news, it is apparently now also illegal to possess a camera in the legislative chambers, not just to use said camera.  A blogger who's been posting about Walker's shady dealings was arrested two days ago because he had a camera with him.  It was reportedly tucked under his sweater at the time -- much like a concealed carry weapon would have been, actually, though that, of course, wouldn't have gotten him in trouble.

Illegal Possession Of A Camera, Disorderly Conduct In The WI Assembly

[Callie Del Noire]

Nice to see democracy and law&order are so well respected in Wisconsin. I'm sure that the next cycle of elections will be showing similar acts in other states.

[Trieste]

Too difficult of a battle for Galloway?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/16/wisconsin-republicans-lose-majority-control-of-senate/

[Callie Del Noire]

Too difficult of a battle for Galloway?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/16/wisconsin-republicans-lose-majority-control-of-senate/

Or the woman sees the iceberg coming and decided it was time to 'borrow' a life boat before the ship she's on hammers into it full power ahead.

Or maybe, like she says in the article, her family health issues are enough of a burden that she feels that it needs to be the focus of her effort rather than her elected office. She has been under some heavy scrutiny and criticism, as have a lot of the GOP reps of the state, and that can wear out people. I know that is the reason some of the people I'd like to run for an office don't, for concerns of their family members.

I know that was one of the reasons Colin Powell didn't run for office, concerns for his wife's health.

[Valerian]

Walker's hand-picked a replacement for Galloway's seat, by the way, namely state representative Jerry Petrowski, who's been basically a lemming in following the party line for every vote, as far as I can tell.

Shirl LaBarre, a local politician -- she's run as a Republican candidate for the state assembly three times but can't manage to win -- has filed recall papers against Senator Senator Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) because he voted against the mining bill that would have allowed that terrible open-pit mine in northwestern Wisconsin.  (Story here.)  She's also the spokesperson for the local branch of a group called Citizens for Responsible Government.  They specialize in recall efforts, which are apparently just fine when Republicans start them.

Anyway, there are two interesting things about this.  First, her initial campaign for office emphasized jobs, taxes and protecting natural resources.

Second, her paperwork for the recall is full of errors, though the first one is by far the most amusing: "Senator Jauch voted against miming bill SB/488/AB426 Which would of brought 100’s if not thousands of jobs to the northland and state of Wisconsin. He refused to listen to the majority of his constituents [and] instead bowed to political pressure and special interests."  Emphasis mine.  Because, you know, mimes need jobs, too.

Turns out the mining (or miming) company in question, Gogebic Taconite, gave nearly $40,000 to just four candidates, two of whom were Scott Walker and Shirl LaBarre.

And I happened across this, to perfectly sum up my feelings on Wisconsin politics right now:

[itsbeenfun2000]

Love the picture and how it sums up the situation up here

[ShadowFox89]

 Sums up the situation of the whole world, really.

Better to be blissfully ignorant than horribly aware.