Democracy Addicts - "We're Still Here"

One to get you started ... and how to participate ... click title for vimeo site

Jen's Video for the We're Still Here Project from Democracy Addicts on Vimeo.

Steve Doyle - Election for 94th Assembly District - Soon!!!

Steve Doyle

94th Assembly District: A matter of experience Doyle touts proven leadership

From the source ... LaCrosse Tribune

Doyle expected outside interest groups would target him in attack ads. “I can’t say I was not warned and didn’t know what I was getting into,” he said. 

But that doesn’t mean the attacks don’t rankle. He can challenge the claims but prefers for now to stop short of launching any counterattack.

“People are mad, and they’re mad at both parties,” he said. “They just want the fighting to stop ... they want to see solutions, not finger-pointing.”

Vilas, Taylor, Burnett Counties - Please visit this Spring/Summer

Click on the title to see Mike Ivey's story about Northern Wisconsin Counties we should all put on our "visit" list!

From the article -

The housing bust and recession have decimated homes values and family budgets nationwide.

But no places have suffered as much as tourist towns, according to new report on Yahoo Finance.

And three nothern Wisconsin counties -- Vilas, Burnett and Sawyer -- have made the list of 10 "American Ghost Towns."

Upd II 4/18 : Luther Olsen - recall close -upd 4/21 Rep. Fred Clark Announces Candidacy

4/21  MADISON - State Representative Fred Clark today announced his intention to run for the Wisconsin State Senate in the upcoming recall election against Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon).

As everyone knows it happened ...

Olsen's vote against collective bargaining was 'tipping point' in recall effort, organizer says 24000 signatures!?

A pretty thin article but what you have been looking for ...

 4/18 WSJ - Woman plans to file recall petition against Sen. Luther Olsen

Pretty lively site -

Recall-Luther-Olsen ... how can he sleep?

 Mean't to include this -

Campaign to recall Olsen may be getting close to filing By Tom Tolan of the Journal Sentinel

2/15/2011 : Budget Repair Bill Protest! Madison WI 2 15 2011 Students Arrive

I saw this happen live ... did not find the video until now ... more firsts / history for students! 2/15/2011.  This is just about as early in the process as it could begin ... 2/11 is when the news hit the papers (esp. WSJ).

The Title will take you to the video on YouTube - today 3/31 (23,000+) views.

#Walker WI 1848 Forward: 2/15/2011 : #Budget Repair Bill Protest! #Madison WI 2 15 2011 #Students Arrive #Capitol http://wi1848forward.blogspot.com/2011/03/2152011-budget-repair-bill-protest.html?spref=tw

3/30 : Darling Hopper - Hypocrisy - SeniorCare - Budget Repair - Despair

A surprise ... this blog entry keeps getting read years after 2011 ... as I note now 2017/12/05

~~~~~~~~

State Senator Hopper

Hypocrisy - insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have!

Two influential members of the Joint Committee on Finance sent out a press release late Wednesday afternoon promising to preserve Wisconsin's popular prescription drug program.

Is it not interesting that 90,000 Seniors can persuade State Senators Darling and Hopper to leave SeniorCare alone and go against Governor Scott Walker.  Well, they better think about the "line item veto" and the "rule writing authority" given to the Governor (so they will not be accountable) that will be coming toward them like a "high speed train".  Or perhaps, cynically, they do not really care, and they will roll over later when the ""Medicare D(irty)" deed gets done anyway.  "We tried ... will be the claim!"

At the same time 100,000 people (a "conservative / libertarian" estimate) on the Madison Capitol Square had no ability to persuade these same Senators and other Republican legislators that the "budget repair" is an unreasonable attempt to destroy unions and collective bargaining.  Oh!  They probably did not know that Senator Fitzgerald and Representative Fitzgerald were going to use a "Conference Committee" on March 9th, 2011 - so they (these same Senators) would not have to vote again.  Anyway, you never learn anything about strategy in Republican Caucus meetings at the Capitol - hence the surprise!

Oh!  When did the Republican leaders know they were going to use a "Conference Committee" to pass a modified "Budget Repair" -- 2:30pm on March 9th.  Shhh!  Don't tell anybody until 4:10pm!!!

Thank you Assembly Minority Leader Representative Peter Barca for showing up early!

The "Conference Committee" was in the Fitzgerald playbook - evidence in  Judge Sumi's court hearing records on Tuesday!!!

This was inspired by Shawn Doherty's - CapTimes - Vital Signs : (click the TITLE)

Vital Signs: Influential Republicans break with Walker on SeniorCare; vow to save it from budget cuts

P.S.  I left out the comma on purpose - to emphasize it is such a sweetheart deal - and Hopper knows about sweethearts!

3/30/11 : #Darling #Hopper - Hypocrisy - #SeniorCare - #Budget Repair - Despair --WI 1848 Forward:

3/30: JSOnline - Holperin recall group reports $6,100 in receipts

Where does the money really come from ... for all the groups ... would the real "journalists" stand up please ... for all the recall efforts ... let us see if there are any patterns?

From the article -

The report, which was posted online Wednesday by the Government [Account]Ability Board lists the Madison Majority Project PAC of Washington, D.C. as the biggest donor, with two gifts totalling $2,500. The recall campaign against Sen. Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie), which filed its report Tuesday, listed $2,500 in contributions from The Madison Project, which lists the same post office box as the one on the Holperin recall report.

Wisconsin Supreme Court INDEX

Blog Posts from most recent to oldest ... a little easier search if you want the thread or the background!

Click the TITLE to go to page!

Please share the link with your friends ... one of the purposes is to provide information to people who are too busy to get the background so as they think about these issues they have reasonable information ... sure there is some editorial content but there are also many links to the "mainstream journalists" and actual original source material.  We are all intelligent enough to know when we are being spun or we just have a different opinion!

WI - Update 3/26 - Prof. William Cronon - 2 Million Blog hits in 24 hours

Well I was not too far off only low by 1,000,000 ... and I was thinking the total since controversy with GOP - 3/26 afternoon.

See the his blog 3/26 entry -

 

NYT Editorial and Other Coverage of Cronon Open Records Case  

WI - Upd.3/26 Sat - Prof. William Cronon - Academic Freedom vs FOIA (GOP request) - references the Original TalkingPoints entry

If Professor Cronon had 500,000 hits before he certainly has 1,000,000 by now ... are people intimidated or just better informed ;-}

NYTimes Editorial : A Shabby Crusade in Wisconsin Published: March 25, 2011

3/26 Update: CapTimes Editorial -  Republican Party of Wisconsin attacks UW professor's right to speak -- but can't spell his name right

Update: Chalkboard: GOP won't withdraw records request ... CapTimes
_____________________________________________
From Talking Points Memo website (click the title)

Abusing Open Records to Attack Academic Freedom from William Cronon blog

WI - Update 3/26/11 - Prof. William #Cronon - 2 Million #Blog hits in 24 hours #FIFA

WI - Big Money Blog - 9Million hits

From their website -
Wis Democracy Campaign - Big Biz's Non-Denial Denial

Boycott websites like this one and Facebook pages including one with nearly 23,000 followers as of today are directing people to our website to see who donated to Walker. Traffic to wisdc.org has spiked dramatically with nearly 9 million hits to the site in just the last six weeks. In 2009 we had 3.2 million hits the whole year, which was by far the most we'd ever seen in a odd-numbered year.

WI 1848 Forward: #WI - Big #Money Blog - 9Million hits - from #2011 http://wi1848forward.blogspot.com/2011/03/wi-big-money-blog-9million-hits.html?spref=tw

V - WI Rev3/29 - Oakland CA - Oakland California Musicians Perform -Madison-

3/25: Especially for my friends in California - 3/29 25,000+ views

Oakland California Musicians Perform "Madison" to Thank the Protesters in Madison, Wisconsin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTuf826MQQs&feature=player_embedded#at=59
(Use link too - so it gets counted)

WI - Open Meetings lawsuit, Prosser in a bind???

Click here to see Court rulings in PDF

March 24, 2011- Wisconsin Court of Appeals declines to rule on "Open Meetings" lawsuit - go to State Supreme Court

So when and which way will Prosser vote on "Open Meetings" - even sitting on his hands he probably loses - will the real justice stand up!!!

It  is  appropriate  to  certify  to  the  Supreme  Court  appeals  raising issues  which  that  court  might  otherwise  ultimately  consider  on  a  petition  for review, in order to reduce the burden and expense of the appellate process on both the parties and  the  judicial  system.   See Wisconsin Public Serv. Corp. v. Public Service Comm’n of Wis., 176 Wis. 2d 955, 958 n.1, 501 N.W.2d 36, 37 n.1 (1993) (Abrahamson, J., concurring).  Because this appeal presents significant issues, we believe that the Supreme Court is the proper forum for it.

In the blog: WI - Dane County latest filings on Open Meetings violations - Budget Repair from 3/22

WI - Healthcare - Adverse Selection - The Governor too!

Shawn Doherty's article in CapTimes is really worth reading - 3/24
Vital Signs: Secretary Smith vs. researcher Jon Peacock: why health plan for poor is failing

Adverse selection, death cycle, insurer's cherry picking ... learn all about it!?  More emergency room care, broke hospitals, higher rates for the insured, personal bankruptcies, homeless families, epidemics, learning disabilities ... what else?

#Obamacare WI 1848 Forward: WI - #Healthcare - Avoid Adverse Selection - radical #Walker too!

2013 We're Back - 2011 Charter Schools - Listening now - Public on the Outside, Private on the Inside?

2013 Expect another run -  Conniff - Progressive Magazine    

3/23/2011 - Draft as of ~2:25pm (material may be added ... devoted much of the day listening)

Senate Bill 22 Hearing before Education Committee - Click on the Title to see the Bill in PDF format ... Legislative Reference Bureau provides some summary early on in the document.

Legislative Fiscal Bureau Informational Paper 30 (circa January 2011) -
Charter Schools (Informational Paper 30) LFB

This blog has the DPI testimony materials available (not DPI itself) -
Public Schools for the Public Good

Listening / watching (WisconsinEye) the testimony on Senate Bill 22 before the Senate Education Committee the first thing of note is that it appears the legislation was drafted by organizations supporting Charter Schools.  The second impression is that "the problem" in the eyes of some is the state of "education" in Milwaukee not the rest of the state.  The third impression is that the bill contains little or no language dealing with ethics and conflicts of interest.  Department of Public Instruction provided substantive, legal, fiscal, quantitative and policy testimony - too much to try and distill beyond impressions of the hearing already provided.

Great pains were taken in testimony to state that all the Charter Schools have to be non-profit.  Others took great pains to point out that there is nothing preventing the operations of the Charter Schools by for-profit entities.  The counter-point was the performance standards and teacher certification have to be maintained.  A  response was to please explain how a bifurcated educational system along with reduced state aides ($790M) and removing local school boards from the process enhances "educational opportunity".

Related: WI - Education - Who needs local democracy - New State Bureaucracy Proposed


WI 1848 Forward: 2013 We're Back-2011 #CharterSchools -Public on the Outside, Private on the Inside? $ 4 #Vouchers

#Walker Wars WI 1848 Forward: 2013 We're Back-2011 #CharterSchools -Public on the Outside, Private on the Inside?

WI - Summary of Study by COWS ... got to make you think - "drink milk"!

In this case COWS stands for Center On Wisconsin Strategy and the summary is of a study by EPI (Economic Policy Institute).  The latter has been tossed around like an old shoe by a playful dog. The WisSJ (last week, Sunday?) included a piece on their opinion page which tried to debunk the study.  The authors major strategy seemed to be to claim they were experts - they cited no references, provided only rough, back of the envelope figuring!

Click the Title above to see the COWS summary and thus links to the EPI study.  Nice to have this all accessible in one place!

One quote sure to raise blood pressure in some quarters (and repeated by others in many places):

Teachers
New data also show that public school teachers in Wisconsin are not over‐compensated. Public school teachers in Wisconsin earn 17.8% less in weekly wages than their private‐sector counterparts. Specifically, over the 2006‐10 period, the weekly wages of public school teachers were (in 2010 dollars) $1,015, while other comparably educated workers (with bachelor’s or master’s degrees) earned $1,235 per week. This wage gap is far greater than any possible benefits advantage a public school teacher might have, indicating that total weekly compensation of public school teachers is also less than that of their private‐sector counterparts.

It is important to continue the dialog / discussion / debate to really help people understand how to draw reasonable conclusions and also understand where their "self-interest" really lies.

Related: WI - Education - Who needs local democracy - New State Bureaucracy Proposed

WI - Out-of-State Protesters Outnumbered by Out-of-State Emails Maybe ;-} 3/21

 3/22 AP from WSJ --- A Time Line and Count!
 Emails to Walker initially favored union rights, review shows

The real point is as in Emily's (Mills) Post in the  Isthmus  ... Walker cleverly chose his words and his timing so as not to be incorrect but certainly manipulative!  Trick me once shame on you! Trick me twice shame on me!
________________________________________________________________

It appears from a quick read that a sample reveals a very difficult counting problem - sort of like looking at shads/chads(?) in Florida!  Be sure to watch this note ... it will evolve as more becomes clear and more reporting gets done!!

The reason people are probably interested goes to the "bully pulpit" effect - the same reason AP and Isthmus used the Open Records Law to get the records - as this unfolds it suggests that statements were being made by Governor Walker that he did not know were true or false - or AP and Isthmus would not have to go to court to get the records.  If the statements were known to be true the Walker Administration would be more than willing to hand them over!

Analysis shows emails to Walker favored budget repair bill from WSJ 3/21

Please ... what does this mean??  Eight to nine percent or 89%

• Eight-nine percent of the emails against Walker came from Wisconsinites.

As clarified in the Isthmus 3/20:

When the Center looked only at emails from Wisconsin, the margin was much slimmer, with 55% favoring his bill and 42% opposed. And 89% of the emails against Walker came from Wisconsinites.

Still a little confusing ... I guess a large number of people were against Walker but did not mention the Budget Repair Bill ... is that what it means?  3/22 comment:  How can you have the word Wisconsin in the above two sentences and not be puzzled?  If there are 100 emails (all from Wisconsin) then 55 favor the bill and 42 oppose.  I think it might be clear - if you just used the sample numbers and then expressed the percentages relative to each number!

See also http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=32827 3/22 by Emily Mills

Emails obtained from Gov. Scott Walker show public wrote him in support of budget repair bill by  Dean Robbins on Sunday 03/20/2011

http://wi1848forward.blogspot.com/2011/03/wi-out-of-state-protesters-outnumbered.html

WI - Madison Capitol - 3/9/2011 - Closed N. Hamilton Entrance - Officers following orders

3/9/2011 ... The officers stepped outside the left entrance (of three) and the doors were closed behind them ... the officers proceeded to East Washington entrance while the rest of us went to King St.  This is the night the Republicans called a conference meeting and Barca claimed Open Meetings Law violations!!

One of officers who blocked the N Hamilton entrance 3/9

The two officers going into E. Washington entrance - we proceeded to King St.

Was it legal?  Time stamp on my image is 5:48.

Images just a little later in time - in blog