NPR : Oregon's Medicaid Experiment Represents A 'Defining Moment'

Followup story on NPR 7/10/2013

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#Obama #47% #AARP -WI 1848 Forward: #NPR : #Oregon 's #Medicaid Experiment Represents A 'Defining Moment' vs #Elites

#Obama #47% #AARP #ACA WI 1848 Forward: #NPR : #Oregon 's #Medicaid Experiment Represents A 'Defining Moment' vs #1%

Gene #Sharp: From #Dictatorship to #Democracy

The first few chapters ... click title for link ... it's free to download

one
Facing Dictatorships realistically      1
  A continuing problem       2
  Freedom through violence?      4
  Coups, elections, foreign saviors?     5
  Facing the hard truth       7
two
the Dangers oF negotiations      9
  Merits and limitations of negotiations   10
  Negotiated surrender?     10
  Power and justice in negotiations    12
  “Agreeable” dictators      13
  What kind of peace?      14
  Reasons for hope      14
three
whence comes the power?      17
  The “Monkey Master” fable     17
  Necessary sources of political power    18
  Centers of democratic power     21
Four
Dictatorships have weaknesses      25
  Identifying the Achilles’ heel     25
  Weaknesses of dictatorships     26
  Attacking weaknesses of dictatorships   27
Five
exercising power       29
  The workings of nonviolent struggle    30
  Nonviolent weapons and discipline    30
From Dictatorship to Democracy                                                                                      v

#Romney - #Bain (Brutal) (Avarice) (Inequality) (NetNegative)

The "B" in BAIN might stand for "bigot" or "bully" I suppose since assaulting or hazing a "classmate" will land you in jail. So perhaps the "A" should stand for "assault" as on "assault on our intelligence" as well as another person.

7/19/2013 -NPR

BAIN (Romney's money)  and other equity firms in court for potential "monopoly practices" and collusion - conspiring to limit competition!

WI 1848 Forward: #Romney - #Bain (Brutal) (Avarice) (Inequality) (NetNegative) - sued for #Monopoly practices

Erica Chenoweth - Why Civil Resistance Works - Video - Your Choices will Change the World

Dartmouth Video ...

Professor Erica Chenoweth will discuss her book, co-authored with Maria Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, which argues that between 1900 and 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as violent insurgencies. Nonviolent resistance presents fewer obstacles to moral and physical involvement, information and education, and participator commitment, leading to enhanced resilience, a greater probability of tactical innovation, increased opportunity for civic disruption, and shifts in loyalty among opponents' erstwhile supporters. Moreover, nonviolent resistance movements tend to usher in more durable and internally peaceful democracies.
Presented by the Rockefeller Center and Dickey Center as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and Black History Month

Earlier Post - Maria Stephan ... about Change - Syria -Waging NonViolence 

Erica #Chenoweth - Why Civil #Resistance Works -Video- Your Choices will #Change the World: #NonViolence #Latino #99%

#WINames #Walker W(iley) A(lec) K(och) L(obbyists) E(rrant) R(uthless)

#Walker - What's in a name?  What associations do you have?  Keep it clean.

Use #WINames hashtag so we can find them at the end of the day or week

W(iley) - former Wisconsin Governor
A(lec) - American Legislative Exchange Council - Corporate canned laws
K(och) - He likes to talk on the phone with them
L(obbyists) - His best friends, but only if they have money
E(rrant) - He's never in Wisconsin
R(uthless) - Education, Healthcare, Local Governance, Unions, DNR

Raw Video 5/23 - Madison - Tom #Barrett & Lilly #Ledbetter : Equal Pay - AL to WI via Supreme Ct

May 23, 2012 ... Tom Barrett introduces Lilly Ledbetter to supporters here in Madison.  The first legislation signed by President Obama - "The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009".  Governor Walker signed a repeal of  the Wisconsin version on Good Friday and Brewers Opener.

Tom Barrett explains ("my words") Governor Walker's and his GOP colleagues ''War on Women and Equal Pay" in this video.  In a subsequent video Tom then introduces Lilly Ledbetter and she talks to us Wednesday night in Madison to her and Tom's supporters.

WI 1848 Forward: Raw Video 5/23 - Madison - Tom #Barrett & Lilly #Ledbetter : #EqualPay - AL to WI via Supreme Ct #WOW

Jeff #Fitzgerald caught on tape saying the #GOP wanted to “go further” on #union -busting

From DefendWisconsin ...

The report goes on to state that another Walker Republican, Rep. Chris Kapenga, promised supporters at a listening session just last night that Republicans “have Right to Work legislation ready to go” and just “have to wait until it is politically feasible.”

Assembly Speaker Fitzgerald, and his brother Scott, the majority leader in the Senate, are two of Walker’s closest political allies. When they helped push through Walker’s collective bargaining bill last year, critics charged that Wisconsin had become “Fitzwalkerstan.” He’s also the front-runner in a hotly contested GOP primary for U.S. Senate – perhaps the reason he’s talked up right-to-work even though Walker is trying to tamp down the topic.

Assembly -Jeff #Fitzgerald caught on tape saying the #GOP wanted to “go further” on #union -busting : #Walker #wiunion

WI 1848 Forward: Jeff #Fitzgerald caught on tape saying the #GOP wanted to “go further” on #union -busting http

#Student s #wivote if you expect #tuition to hold the line ... Parents too!

If you think elections don't have any impact on you think again.  Think about FAFSA and tuition hikes and what kind of financial shape you are going to be in another few years.  Think about what interest rate you may be paying on any student loans.

Think about your parents ... especially if they were able to help you!


Think! Think! Think!

#NYT #Fund-Raising for #Romney Eats Into #Obama ’s Edge

The second paragraph of the article is the worrisome part --

 All told, Mr. Obama, Congressional Democrats and liberal groups have raised at least $547 million in this election cycle while Mr. Romney, Congressional Republicans, and the top conservative outside groups have raised at least $462 million, according to a review of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission through Sunday and interviews with officials.

Those figures do not account for all the money spent through tax-exempt issue-advocacy organizations that are not required to disclose their spending, like Americans for Prosperity, founded by the billionaire Koch brothers, who have reportedly pledged to steer at least $200 million to conservative advocacy groups by Election Day. Nor does it include money spent directly by unions this cycle.

#NoFingerPrints #Walker > Tell a Lie then advertise it as the truth #wirecall

Did he gain 30000 jobs or lose 30000 jobs ... I think the latter!  It was just very recently that the 30000 jobs showed up ... how come now ... why would he not be strutting for last 12 months.

Think about the impact of thousands of public service employee retirements.

#elites #walker #Koch Tell a Lie then advertise it as the truth #47% #99%#wirecall

WI 1848 Forward: #NoFingerPrints #Walker > Tell a Lie then advertise it as the truth #wirecall http://wi1848forward.blogspot.com/2012/05/walker-tell-lie-then-advertise-it-as.html?spref=tw

Upd. Chicago #Nato #NONato live feeds 5:21pm 5/20 ... not nice

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/livenow?id=7096082

About 800 following

http://www.livestream.com/chicagoindymedia?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks

Tweets on #NoNato are coming at about 20 every 5 seconds

Details #Alec #CMD Lisa #Graves – Timeline 5/17Press Conf. Pt 1

PRWatch



#Alec #CMD Lisa #Graves – Timeline 5/17Press Conference

This is an attempt to paraphrase and provide entry points into the first video where Lisa Graves is describing how ALEC “has hijacked Wisconsin.”

• 1:30 – Wisconsin - 32 Bills reflect ALEC model legis – 19 became law, 49 members of Legislature are members of ALEC. over years $250 million from ALEC (2008), Walker has received ~$500k to Walker by ALEC Corporations
• 2:45 – 98% of ALEC revenue comes from corporations
• 3:05 – Asking WI Attorney General to investigate ALEC for violating State lobbying laws, ALEC Bylaws require ALEC Legislative Members to introduce ALEC like model bills, 1000 bills, tells IRS does no lobbying
• 3:40 Vos, Suder – Legislative WI ALEC co-chairs – Amy Boyer (? private sector co-chair)
• 4:00 – Summary of events from year ago – all GOP leadership – ALEC members – trifecta state
• 5:30 – Scott Fitzgerald – told reporter so much excitement about attacking unions
• 6:25 – UW Prof. Cronin – FOIA by GOP – asked question if ALEC was behind legislation
• 6:50 – Whistleblower contacts CMD
• 7:30 – ALEC agenda is that of corporate member ... they vote together in their meetings to approve model legislation
• 8:50 – Koch brothers ... heavy funding, long term involvement, Scholarship program
• 10:00 – WI ALEC leadership – Vos, Suder hand out scholarships – gifts not reported
• 11:00 – 103/104 are GOP leadership within ALEC
• 11:45 – How ALEC was lobbying – FOIA ... a list of involvement – Castle Doctrine
• 13:40 – Suder ignores FOIA requests – claims to have no documents relating to ALEC, even though he is state ALEC co-chair

v2 ALEC Ctr4Media&Democracy( CMD ) - CommonCause -5/17/12-Press Conf.

Center for Media and Democracy  - Thursday May 17, 2012 ... almost live Press Conference with Common Cause - Madison WI - Capitol Assembly Parlor call on WI Attorney General  J.B. Van Hollen to investigate ALECs compliance with Wisconsin tax and lobbying laws.  There appears to be ample evidence in a summary report provided by CMD for an investigation.  In addition Common Cause filed a complaint with the IRS on April 21, 2012 questioning ALECs status .  4000 pages were submitted for review to support the complaint.

[The press conference will be embedded, as is, on this page in three parts - over time.  There may or may not be sync issues with audio/video per warning from YouTube.  If issues arise new uploads will be attempted to correct problems.]

...and just the other day this came out  Truth-Out.org - Uncovering the Other ALECs - Wednesday, 16 May 2012 00:00 By Sarah Blaskey and Steve Horn, Truthout | News Analysis 

...and so the story goes ... how Wisconsin is bought and sold

Badger Democracy "Blogging in Black" #GLLF == #ALEC

Another #ALEC : Great Lakes Legal Foundation #GLLF

... back to the press conference ...



Part I - Lisa Graves - Center for Media and Democracy

Part II - Jay Heck - Common Cause

Press questions Part III...

... and in case you need to be reminded  "Divide and Conquer" Walker

WI 1848 Forward: v2 #ALEC Ctr4Media&Democracy( #CMD ) - #CommonCause -5/17/12-Press Conf. : #47% #AARP vs #Koch #Walker

#NPR : #Voters , #Economists Agree: #Austerity Not The Answer

Update 5/15:  Stories about tax collection shortfalls in California can in my mind be traced back to the GOP blocking stimulus plans by the Federal Government.  Similarly, in Wisconsin, Governor Walker cutting support for schools and limiting what communities could do caused the Wisconsin economy to shrink beyond what we could have imagined.  Bailing out of high-speed train projects did not help. 
_______________________
Interviews -

Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for the Financial Times, told weekends on All Things Considered .

Mark Blyth, a professor of international political economy at Brown University.

Christina Romer was once President Obama's top economic adviser.

The program is +11 minutes .... spot on, great story .... voters better get it here in the U.S. or we will be in serious trouble.  The TeaParty is trying to push us off a cliff!

...

The Trouble With Austerity
Many believe Germany's austerity plan will ultimately fail in Europe. Mark Blyth, a professor of international political economy at Brown University, tells NPR's Raz that austerity hasn't worked at all and that it was quite predictable that it wouldn't work.
"You can't cure debt with more debt," Blyth says. "If everyone tries to pay back the debt all at the [same] time, all you end up doing is shrinking the economy."

When you shrink the economy, you end up reducing the amount of taxation that you can collect — thus the amount of debt you can pay back. Over time, this causes the debt-to-GDP ratio to get worse rather than better, he says.

"All of the countries that have [gone] on austerity programs over the last two years — they now have more debt rather than less," he says.

If Europe sticks with its austerity regime, Blyth says those countries will not recover. He calls the euro zone a "doomsday device" because its massive banks are full of bad assets and incredible vulnerabilities.

"What they've built is the gold standard," he says. "And the last time we tried to run a gold standard in a democracy in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s ... it didn't end very well."

WI 1848 Forward: #NPR : #Voters , #Economists Agree: #Austerity Not The Answer : #47% #99% #ows vs #1% #Elites #Koch

OP- PRWatch - Caught on Tape: Walker Plans for a Single Party State

Evidently $1M in 2014 ... Via Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1/9/2013 -- Hit count ~114,000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This piece is labeled op-ed but contains mostly facts ... but the video was released by the Milw Journal Sentinnel and put up by the Barrett campaign where in a single day the hit count is nearly 70,000.  The companion video, included here of Paul Ryan, took 11 months to get 139,000 hits. The former is up on YouTube via various accounts so the one-day count is underestimated.

From PRWatch -

Video was obtained and released by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel less than a month before the June 5th recall election for Wisconsin governor that shows newly elected Governor Scott Walker in a frank conversation with one of his biggest supporters.

The video was originally taken by a documentary filmaker in January 2011, one month before Walker introduced his explosive collective bargaining bill. It shows Walker getting a bear hug and being asked highly charged questions by Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks, owner of ABC Supply Company, a type of Wal-Mart superstore for contractors.

Hendricks asked the governor whether he could make Wisconsin a "completely red state" and a "right-to-work" state. Right-to-work laws (dubbed "right to work for less" by opponents) are the laws used primarily by southern states to prevent unionization and keep wages low.

If Diane Hendricks, has 13 ABC Supply  stores operating in just Wisconsin with just 2 employees each (? probably way low) and she suppresses wages by $1/hr in a year ABC sees a $52,000 ROI.  If each store has 10 employees --- do the math.

From Wikipedia --

ABC Supply Company Incorporated is a roofing supply company based in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA. It also sells windows, gutters, and siding for residential and commercial.
The company was founded in 1982 by Ken Hendricks. There are 500+ stores nationwide. By the time of his death on December 21, 2007, Ken Hendricks was the 107th richest person in America according to Forbes October 2006 issue. President David Luck was named CEO to succeed him.^[1] The company has won numerous awards, including the Gallup Great Workplace Award, 2007 (one of 12 winners; the only privately held company to win that year).

Paul Ryan is revealed about 1 minute into video.

WI 1848 Forward: #PRWatch - Caught on Tape: #Walker Plans for a Single Party State : #D&C 5/2012 #Hendricks $500K+$1M

The Nation: Throwaway People - 5/9/12 - Liliana Segura

From the Nation (in italics) - 5/9/12 ...

Throwaway People: Will Teens Sent to Die in Prison Get a Second Chance?

Liliana Segura | May 9, 2012

From the specific to the general. For as long as I can recall I have been against the death penalty and mandatory sentencing. As skeptical as I am about law enforcement, the justice system and how easily those with power (including society at large) can abuse that power I have not spent too much time paying attention to this issue. I do believe judges and the courts are there to “mitigate”. The last time or last manifestation I recall “was when we lived in California” and three strikes and you are back in a California prison for minor violations, even of parole.

Prisons for profit add to my concerns for abuse (hopefully not a problem in Wisconsin, where we live now – but given the political climate created by our current Governor – who knows).

Trina's life, experience, story is a tragedy. The larger tragedy is how quickly we can create travesty and how long it may take to undo it.

Today, Trina is one of approximately 470 prisoners in Pennsylvania serving life without parole for crimes they committed as teenagers. In thirty-five years the state has gone from holding a small handful of juvenile lifers with no chance at release to holding the highest number in the country. Nationwide, the number stands at around 2,589; of these, only a small fraction—seventy-nine—were sentenced for crimes committed when they were 14 or younger. Eighteen are in Pennsylvania.

… In March the Sentencing Project released the results of the first national survey of prisoners sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile. Its scope was significant: 1,579 prisoners, or about 60 percent of the total population, had responded. Of those prisoners, 79 percent reported “witnessing violence in their homes.” Almost half “experienced physical abuse, including 79.5% of girls.” Poverty, neglect and trauma were consistent themes.

Why am I not surprised that minorities, poverty, neglect and trauma all correlate with “life w/o parole”.

_______________Other Observations _____________

As I read this I left the video for last but thought while reading it that a few photographs would have helped with “generalizing the theme” and enhance the broader social causality.

As I then watched the video I was impressed that it enhanced and condensed the issues efficiently … I had expected it to be more repetitive and perhaps redundant.

I was also struck by how simple it was to make (the video) … perhaps the art was in the editing since I do not know how the interviewing went. To me the reporting, video and absent photographs really make up the whole. I know the people involved will not just drop this like an egg on the sidewalk but …

I will be watching for the Supreme Court decision!

#Teens #Prison WI 1848 Forward: #TheNation: Throwaway People - 5/9/12 - Liliana #Segura #Reform

The Nation: Citizens United - Wisconsin?

What we are really doing in recalling our Governor Walker !

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Fighting Back Against 'Citizens United'

Uploaded by videonation on Jan 18, 2012

Two years ago, in an "unprecedented assault on our democracy," the Supreme Court ruled that corporations can spend unlimited amounts on electoral campaigns. Today, 80 percent of Americans want to overturn the court's Citizens United vs. FEC decision. The Nation's editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel shares ways you can help take back government so it remains one by the people, for the people and of the people, and not for corporations and their money.

#TheNation: #CitizensUnited - Wisconsin? #Walker #Vos #Fitzgerald 

Forbes: Scott #Walker Using $100 Million Of Taxpayer Money To Fight Off #Recall?

Forbes/Ungar/5/9/12

As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker heads into the final stretch in his effort to hang onto his job, he is finding it increasingly more difficult to make his case honestly— or without using huge sums of taxpayer money to sway voters. ....

While Barrett correctly points out the utter cynicism apparent in Walker’s move, voters living in other parts of the state might have cause to wonder about the Governor’s motivations as it is their tax dollars being utilized to further the governor’s political struggle at a time when Wisconsin teachers are being laid off in droves, state heath care programs have been decimated and severe job shortages exist in many areas extending beyond Milwaukee. While Wisconsinites are, no doubt, pleased to see some relief headed in Milwaukee’s direction, the folks in Janesville, who have suffered greatly on the jobs front these past few years, might be scratching their heads as they wonder why there is no state economic aid coming their way and how so large a sum of cash suddenly materialized.

There are those who do not believe the Governor’s offer of aid to Wisconsin will ever materialize.

Moyers : Between Two Worlds — Life on the Border May 4, 2012

From Moyer's introduction

No writer understands the border culture between Mexico and the United States more intimately than Luis Alberto Urrea, whose life is the stuff of great novels. Son of a Mexican father and Anglo mother, Urrea grew up first in Tijuana and then just across the border in San Diego. Over the years he has produced a series of acclaimed novels, including The Hummingbird’s Daughter, The Devil’s Highway, and his latest, Queen of America — each a rich and revealing account of the people of the borderlands that join and separate our two nations.

Three of Urrea’s books were among scores of others removed from classrooms earlier this year when the Tucson school district eliminated Mexican-American studies on the accusation it was “divisive.” But there’s no ban on ideas in Bill’s studio, and Urrea talks with Bill Moyers about that episode as he unfolds the modern reality of life on the border.

WI 1848 Forward: #Moyers : Between Two Worlds — Life on the Border May 4, 2012 : #Latino #Mexico #Immigration

#NPR : Paul #Krugman 's Prescription For A ' #Depression ' (Mine - vote #GOP)

From the NPR interview .... listen by title click ...

Krugman says that if he could make economic policy by fiat, he would start by rehiring all the public sector employees who were laid off in the past four years. "Normally state and local employment grows with population," he notes. "Instead it has shrunk by 600,000 over this period. So if we were to simply rehire those fired schoolteachers — go back to the kind of employment that we should've had on a normal track at the state and local level — right there we could add well over a million jobs. And before you know it, we'd be back to something that felt a lot more like prosperity."

There are perhaps a dozen entries in this blog that make these same kind of points from many different perspectives.  The Republican Party has played a cynical game of stalling and preventing good economic policy toward the selfish end of blaming a Democratic Presidency so that they can gain power and end the social contract between the government and the people.  Paul Ryan is an emblem of this cynicism.

WI 1848 Forward: #NPR : Paul #Krugman 's Prescription For A ' #Depression ' (Mine - vote #GOP ) #47% #ows #99% #AARP

WI 1848 Forward: #NPR : Paul #Krugman 's Prescription For A ' #Depression ' (Mine - vote #GOP ) #47% #sequester #AARP

Marquette Law School #WIPoll 5/2/12 : #politics

Marquette Law School Poll as of 5/2/12

Although the Wisconsin numbers are interesting the subtitle almost gets missed ... not that polls today are results of tomorrow ....

Obama leads Romney by 9 points

Their analysis site from time to time changes  ...

v2 2013 Badger Democracy "Blogging in Black" #GLLF == #ALEC

Now they are muddying the water for mining 03/12/2013 ... WPR story - my interpretation!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5/2/2012

Yesterday when I put together the "blog post" below I did not think too much about it.  It came about as I was looking for background information on another topic and #GLLF showed up.

So I started following the trail ... and the blog entry resulted -

Another #ALEC : Great Lakes Legal Foundation #GLLF

I'm glad I did because Badger Democracy left a comment on my blog ... so I started following the trail ... and realized I had actually read and seen the blog before.   I appreciate the depth and thought that this blog represents.  We need them.  Although my own approach to blogging has been described to me as "incomplete, and I think you are in a hurry" 

... I think "the town crier is useful too" and necessary too!  So thanks to all of those in both approaches ... they provide the substance for what insights we achieve and make us hopeful in that we are not alone.  

That others may be made more aware is what we all hope to achieve ... there are so many busy people who however we can get their attention ... we must!



WI 1848 Forward: Badger Democracy "Blogging in Black" #GLLF == #ALEC : #Walker vs #47% #99% #WiUnion #WiVote