Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be Investigated for Abusing the Powers of His Office, Bribery and Coercion

Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be Investigated for Abusing the Powers of His Office, Bribery and Coercion

 

Posted by: Sky Palma 

on AATTP August 16, 2013 

This week, a Texas judge said that he plans to have a special prosecutor look at charges that Gov. Rick Perry broke the law when he cut funding for state public corruption investigators.

The watchdog group Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint that stems from an April drunk-driving arrest of Travis County District Attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, who oversees the state’s criminal ethics department. The department’s cases included the prosecution of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and an investigation into the state’s $3 billion cancer research agency.

After her arrest, Lehmberg pleaded guilty and served a reduced sentence of less than 45 days. Amid loud demands from Perry and the state’s GOP for her to resign, Lehmberg refused. In response to her defiance, Perry threatened to eliminate $3.7 million from the state’s annual funding if she did not step down.

Lehmberg remained in office — and Perry made good on his threat, vetoing the money in June.

According to the two-page complaint that was filed shortly after Perry’s actions, the governor was accused of violating laws regarding “coercion of a public servant, bribery, abuse of official capacity and official oppression.” 

“Governor Perry violated the Texas Penal Code by communicating offers and threats under which he would exercise his official discretion to veto the appropriation,” 

the executive director of Texans for Public Justice Craig McDonald wrote in the complaint.

Gov. Perry’s office claimed that they haven’t heard anything in regards to an investigation.

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Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters

Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters

by EclectablogFollow

The War on Women continues...

Graphic by Anne C. SavageCross-posted from Eclectablog.
Thanks to a petition drive that resulted in 4.2% of Michiganders voicing their minority opinion, Michigan is about to become a place where women have to plan ahead for their abortions. If you become pregnant accidentally or if you are raped and become pregnant and haven't purchased a separate abortion coverage rider on your health insurance, you won't be covered. This isn't just for state government insurance plans or those purchased on the health insurance exchange. It's for EVERY insurance plan available in the state.

Apparently no government is too small to get between you, your doctor, and your health insurer.

A controversial initiative that would require women to buy an additional rider on their health insurance if they wanted abortion coverage is one short step away from going to the Legislature, where it is likely to easily become law. Because no one filed a challenge by Monday’s deadline to the more than 315,000 signatures turned in to the Secretary of State, an initiative that would prohibit abortion coverage from being included in standard insurance policies will go forward.
And the Secretary of State certified Monday that Michigan Right to Life, which spearheaded the petition drive, has more than enough valid signatures to start the ball rolling on the new state law. A minimum of 258,088 valid signatures were needed. The anti-abortion activists turned in 315,477 signatures. And the Secretary of State’s elections division estimated that 299,941 of the signatures are valid.
The state Board of Canvassers will meet at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 to certify the signatures and then the petition moves to the state Legislature, which has 40 days to approve, reject or do nothing with the legislative ballot initiative.

If Republicans vote it down or fail to act on it, it will be a ballot iniatitive in the next general election. Neither of these is likely given their ideologically extreme views. If they pass it, it becomes law. The other 95.8% of us won’t have a say and neither will Governor Snyder. Don't tell me there isn't a War on Women in Michigan being waged by religious conservatives in our state. The evidence is right before you.
If you want chime in, Planned Parenthood has a petition going asking legislators to allow ALL Michigan voters to have a say in this. You can sign the petition HERE.

Originally posted to Eclectablog - eclectic blogging for a better tomorrow on Wed Nov 27, 2013 at 09:24 AM PST.

Also republished by Motor City Kossacks, Your Government at Work, State & Local ACTION Group, and Michigan, My Michigan.

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10 Headlines Fox News Might Have Written Had They Existed During Key Points in U.S. History

November 27, 2013 By Allen Clifton 

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s noticed the tendency for conservatives to have what can best be described as a foggy recollection of history.  While modern day right-wing media outlets like Fox News mostly paint the Republican party in a positive light, anyone with any kind of common sense knows that, while political parties might have shifted over time, the beliefs of the “conservative” have not.
Hell, these people now try to claim that President Kennedy was actually a conservative and if MLK were alive today he would be a Republican.  And while many conservatives today love programs like Social Security and Medicare, their rabid opposition to anything “socialized” leads me to believe with great certainty that had Fox News been around during the time when Social Security and Medicare were created, conservatives would fiercely oppose both programs as well.
So while this idea has been explored by others, I decided I would give my own take on the type of headline I believe Fox News would write about certain issues that have happened throughout our history.
I figure, let’s have a little fun.
In no particular chronological order, here we go:
1) Watergate:
Liberal Witch Hunt Continues: Mainstream Media’s Relentless Attack on President Nixon Proves Their True Liberal Bias


2) MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech:
Racist Martin Luther King Descends on Washington D.C., Continues to Try to Make Race an Issue
3) Social Security:
FDR the Socialist? President Signs Largest Redistribution of Wealth Legislation in United States History
4) Medicare:
Following Kennedy’s Assassination, President Johnson Signs Communist-like Law Forcing Younger Americans to Pay for Free-Loading Seniors 
5) Truman’s Election:
Rampant Voter Fraud Leads to Unexpected Truman Victory
6) Pear Harbor Bombing:
FDR’s Nazi Sympathizing Backfires: German Ally Empire of Japan Attacks United States Naval Base 
7) Custer’s Last Stand:
American Hero General Custer Slaughtered by Pack of Illegal Immigrants
8) Lincoln’s Push to Free Slaves:
“King” Lincoln Wants the Federal Government to be Able to Seize Your Personal Property, Destroy United States Economy
9) University of Alabama Integration:
Police State in Alabama: President Kennedy Attacks States Rights, Sends Military to Protect Inferior Negros Trying to Mix with Whites 
10) Building of the Interstate Highway System:
Government Spending is Out of Control as President Eisenhower Plans Socialist Takeover of Interstate Travel 
Alright, I’m going to stop there.  Honestly, I could do this all day.
Did I exaggerate a bit on some of them?  I’m really not so sure.  Considering the radical nature of the Republican party — tea party Republicans in particular — and Fox News being the mouthpiece for the GOP, I think most of them would be fairly accurate.


But of course Republicans won’t agree with any of these.  Then again, most conservatives are in complete denial about the sad reality of their own party.
I hope those reading this will share this around and see if others agree with what these “headlines” from Fox News might have been.
Image via “If Fox News Was Around” on Facebook

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Latest job numbers not good for Scott Walker — or those looking for work

Latest job numbers not good for Scott Walker — or those looking for work

November 23, 2013 6:05 am  •  MIKE IVEY | The Capital Times | mivey@madison.com
Mike Ivey has been a reporter with The Capital Times for more than 25 years, covering business, the environment and politics. He was named the state's top business reporter in 2011 by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

A new round of numbers show the pace of job creation in Wisconsin slowing by 37 percent for the one-year period ending in June — not good news politically for Gov. Scott Walker or for those looking for work.

Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday show Wisconsin added 23,968 private sector jobs from June 2012 to June 2013. That compares to the 37,959 jobs added from June 2011 to June 2012.

The numbers are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which are drawn from data of 95 percent of state employers. The QCEW is generally considered the most accurate gauge of job growth.

The 23,986 jobs added over the period ending in June 2013 is down nearly 40 percent from the June 2010 to June 2011 period, when Wisconsin added 39,909 private sector jobs.

Democrats were quick to jump on the new CEW figures, saying they show Walker’s policies are not working to create enough jobs to replace all those lost during the recession. Wisconsin lost 149,652 private sector jobs from June 2008 to June 2009 under Gov. Jim Doyle when the nation went through its most dire economic downturn since the Great Depression.

"Far from the ‘unbelievable amounts’ of new jobs Scott Walker promised after the recall, these numbers are the worst we've seen in the past three years,” says Dem spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff. “Wisconsinites are sick of hearing excuses for why we aren't growing jobs like our neighbors in the Midwest and most of the rest of the nation.”

Walker has based his political future on improving the Wisconsin economy via tax cuts and ending public employee unions. But the state has lagged much of the rest of the nation in job growth under the first-term Republican, although the unemployment rate of 6.5 percent here remains lower than the nation’s 7.3 percent jobless figure.

The state ranked 34th in private sector job growth for the March 2012 to March 2013 period and 36th for the December 2011 to December 2012 period, according to the CEW. It’s not clear where Wisconsin ranks compared to other states for the June 2012 to June 2103 period, since numbers for all the states won’t be released until Dec. 18.

Walker also made a campaign pledge to help the state create 250,000 new private sector jobs during his four-year term, which began in January 2011. But the state is barely one-third of the way there with only 15 months remaining in Walker’s term.

Since the governor took office, Wisconsin has added 88,000 new jobs, according to the Current Employment Statistics, which are not considered as accurate as the CEW figures but are released in a timelier manner.

Meanwhile, economists are raising concerns over the lack of manufacturing job growth in the state. The latest CEW figures showed some improvement in construction hiring but not in manufacturing, a key component of the Wisconsin economy.

"I'm really surprised by the lack of job growth in manufacturing," Abdur Chowdhury, economics professor at Marquette University told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That is a key factor for Wisconsin's recovery. The manufacturing sector generally provides good pay, especially for the three-quarters of state workers without four-year college degrees."

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/mike_ivey/latest-job-numbers-not-good-for-scott-walker-or-those/article_138ea562-53a0-11e3-9bdc-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2lrpeQImO

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Conservative Christian Leader Says Single Moms Should Put Their Kids Up For Adoption

 
Author: Stephen D. Foster Jr. November 27, 2013 3:59 am

In what sounds like a strong suggestion for taking kids away from single moms by force, a ‘Christian’ leader urges them to give their kids up voluntarily. Photo from JuicyEcumenism.Com.

In what seems like a single step away from advocating that we take kids away from their single moms by force, a conservative Christian leader is urging them to give up their children voluntarily.

A conservative Christian leader says single moms should surrender their kids to Christian homes with two parents.

Right Wing Watch reports that Southern Baptist leader Richard Land is calling on single mothers to put up their kids for adoption so that Christian households with two parents can raise them.
In a November 23rd article published on The Christian Post, Land urges single mothers across the nation to stop being selfish and hand their kids over to good Christian parents so they can be raised properly, the way he thinks God intended.

“Keeping the baby is almost never preferable to allowing a baby to be adopted into a solid, faithful Christian home,” Land claims. “A single mother who keeps her baby is quite often denying that baby the father that God wants for that baby, and every baby, to have. Furthermore, in most circumstances, keeping the baby circumscribes and forecloses both the mother’s and the baby’s economic futures in tragic and unfortunate ways. If the mother is doing what is best for her baby (one of the defining marks of maternal love), she will part with her baby so that it will have the future God intended for him or her to have… Adoption allows the mother to give her child both a mother and a father who will love and cherish the child.”

Richard Land calls for a policy that would increase the number of kids in need of adoptive homes by millions.

Land says he understands that there are already 100,000 children waiting to be adopted in the United States, but he still thinks all 11 million single moms in the nation should freely surrender their kids. Why? Because he says the children of single moms are being raised improperly and really should be given the chance to have a father in their lives, even if they have to squander their childhood in orphanages waiting to be adopted.
Apparently, Land has no clue how many children that is. Try about 20 million. That’s how many children would be flooding the adoption system if Land had his way. Earlier in his article, before he completely insulted single moms, Land tried to make the case for adoption instead of abortion. He says that women should always choose adoption rather than seek an abortion. Since an estimated 1.2 million abortions are performed every year, that would be 1.2 million babies that the already overworked and underfunded adoption and child services system would have to deal with each year, in addition to the 20 million Land expects single moms to give up. Can anyone possibly imagine this turning out well?
Unless conservatives are literally willing to order their congressional puppets to open the government wallet and write a gigantic check (Can anyone honestly imagine that happening?), the system would implode upon itself. Millions of children would be stranded. And millions of children would be added to the million-plus children who are now homeless in America. It would create a crisis of epic proportions, with not enough Christian households around to solve it.

Richard Land’s call carves a dangerous path.

The fact is, abortion is a necessary choice that all women should have. Sure, they have ability to choose adoption. But it seems that Land is suggesting forcing that choice upon women. There are already so many children who have no home, why force women to thrust more children into that situation? It’s seriously insane.
Furthermore, after single moms read what Land said, it wouldn’t surprise me if they tarred and feathered him in a public square. As if conservatives haven’t attacked single mothers enough, this guy is openly claiming that they don’t raise their children right and that the only way they can do so is to have a husband. This personally enrages me, because I was raised by a single mother, as are millions of children every single year. Is it hard? Sure it is. But does that mean my single mother wasn’t a fantastic parent who raised me well? Absolutely not.
Land’s call for single moms to willingly surrender their children is a dangerous signal from religious conservatives. You know how conservatives are currently cheering for Russia to forcibly take children away from gay couples? It sounds like conservatives are now one step closer toward forcibly taking children away from single mothers here in America. I’m not sure what conservatives call that, but most sane people would call it kidnapping, which is illegal. Furthermore, Land’s call to for single moms to give up their kids to Christian couples is highly suspicious. Clearly, these Christian fundamentalists would be free to indoctrinate these kids. Basically, Land wants to take kids away from their single moms so they can be brainwashed with hate, fear, prejudice, and ignorance. Again, I’m not sure what Land calls that, but most sane people would call that child abuse.

Conservatives have stopped at nothing to attack single mothers.

This is yet another aspect in the GOP’s war on women. They simply can’t stand single moms, even though it’s a good bet that many right-wingers were raised by them. Despite that, conservatives have stopped at nothing to attack single mothers.
Kansas Republicans are increasing the cost of childcare across the state to fund abstinence-only programs that don’t work. You know who is going to be affected by that the most? Single moms. In Wisconsin, the GOP thinks single moms actually want fatherless children and have compared single motherhood to child abuse. Republicans even blame single moms for the epidemic of gun violence in this country.
But that’s not all. Republican policies such as abstinence-only programs and their anti-contraception crusade lead to more women becoming single moms. Not only that, their policies only make the lives of single mothers harder, thus making it more difficult to care for their children. GOP efforts to eliminate child care services, preschool, food stamps, and equal pay for women have only made things harder for single women.
Here’s a thought. The he-man woman haters within the GOP should get off their collective asses and begin pushing birth control and comprehensive sex education. The number of unintended pregnancies would drop as would the number of abortions. And here’s an even better idea. What if Republicans actually supported and enacted equal pay for women? What if they increased child care services and pre-school at the same time? Those combined efforts would reduce the number of women who become single mothers via unintended pregnancies. And single mothers would have a large enough income and the assistance they need to take care of their kids.

Richard Land’s call is sure to drive more women and their children into the welcoming arms of the Democratic Party.

Conservatives have the gall to wonder why women are voting for Democrats, and yet they attack women on all fronts. Of course, it’s not going to get any better for the GOP considering one of their own just insulted millions of single mothers and the millions of children who are raised by them. On that same note, let’s not forget that young people are increasing voting against the Republican Party. By attacking their moms, the GOP is just giving them another reason to vote Democrat.

Richard Land, and conservative men like him, are sexist assholes.

It’s amazing how conservative men can claim to know so much about child-rearing when they have made it abundantly clear that they expect women to do all the work. Maybe if Republicans advocated for teaching men to be good partners with the women they have a child with, more kids would have a father in their lives. Unfortunately, conservative men like Richard Land are too busy being sexist assholes, and you can’t expect sexist assholes to teach other men not to be one. In short, these anti-women conservative men are totally unfit to raise children and are totally unqualified to judge single mothers and how they raise theirs.

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Cartoon Claims Obamacare Means Men Will Get STDs From Women Who Can Now Afford Birth Control

The Huffington Post  |  By Paige Lavender

 

A cartoon is claiming men can thank Obamacare for getting sexually transmitted diseases from "women who now get free birth control."
The cartoon depicts an angry man next to a woman holding a pack of birth control pills, both with sores on their mouths. Under the words "thanks Obamacare!" are the hashtags #gotbrokencondom, #gotherpes, #gotpregnant and #gotchildsupport.
The cartoon was done by A.F. Branco, whose work is published at a website called Comically Incorrect.
The cartoon is a parody of an ad for Obamacare from DoYouGotInsurance.com called "Let's Get Physical," showing characters named "Susie" and "Nate" described as "hot to trot." In the ad, Susie gives a thumbs up while holding a pack of birth control pills.
See the cartoon below:

UPDATE -- 12:26 p.m.: Branco gave the following statement on the cartoon to HuffPost:

I'm not against birth control or nor do I feel that it is any of my business what people do sexually. However, I do feel that contraceptives are inexpensive and accessible enough that I shouldn't have to pay for them through my taxes. I also feel that my government shouldn't be promoting promiscuous sex as though condoms are the answer to all STDs and promiscuous behavior.

This post has been updated with a version of the cartoon sent to HuffPost by Branco.

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Why the Christian Right Believes It Has Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Impose Its Radical Worldview on America

Why the Christian Right Believes It Has Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Impose Its Radical Worldview on America

A change to obscure procedural rules in the U.S. Senate and the upcoming 2014 elections could be a dangerous window of opportunity.

November 26, 2013  

 

AlterNet / By CJ Werleman

Elections have consequences. The Senate Democrats’ detonation of the “nuclear option” has dramatically raised the stakes for secular progressives in 2014, because if there are two issues that juice the Christian Right the most, it’s women’s reproductive rights and judicial activism. On the latter, the Religious Right senses a once-in-a-decade opportunity to impose its radical worldview on America.
Last week, the Senate voted 52-48 to eliminate the ability of the minority party in the Senate to filibuster executive branch nominees and any judgeship below the Supreme Court by changing the requirements for passage to a simple majority vote. It was a historic move made because there was no other alternative, given the GOP’s unprecedented abuse of the filibuster. In the history of the United States, 168 presidential nominees have been filibustered. Half occurred under all presidents from Washington through to Bush. Remarkably, the other half has taken place under just one president: Obama.
Why such aggressive judicial obstructionism by the GOP?
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. writes, “This era’s conservatives will use any means at their disposal to win control of the courts. Their goal is to do all they can to limit Congress’s ability to enact social reforms.”
The Christian Right, which is the GOP’s most reliable and agitated voting bloc, is obsessed with the courts, and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit is the nation’s second most important judicial body, which is why Republicans “gave the game away when all but a few of them opposed Obama’s three most recent appointments.”
Now that Democrats were forced into limiting the filibuster, the Christian Right has its incentive to mobilize for 2014. A simple majority control of the Senate gives it an opportunity to pack the courts with judges straight out of the Justice Scalia mold, who once said that separation of church and state would come under scrutiny under a Supreme Court with a Scalia majority. If the Christian Right sweeps Republicans to control the Senate in next year’s midterms, the anti-secularists will take a big step forward toward their stated ideological goals.
The recent Values Voter Summit demonstrated that the likely 2016 GOP frontrunners have a base wish to transform America’s secular state into a tyrannical theocracy — a nirvana absent gays, liberals, immigrants, Muslims and science books. The right-wing media elites are already doing their bit to gin up the far right’s judicial activists with Rush Limbaugh comparing filibuster reform to rape.
Truth in Action Ministries recently released a film titled Freedom on Trial, which features Robert Bork, the failed Reagan Supreme Court nominee, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly, and Heritage Foundation vice president Genevieve Wood. The general theme of the documentary is that Christianity is under attack thanks to liberal "activist judges." Bork warns that courts are “teaching the people that religion is evil,” while another conservative attorney claims decisions that go against the Ten Commandments will “destroy the country.”
President Obama’s judicial nominees were being filibustered because they threaten to alter the circuit court’s philosophical balance. The Republican Party has again demonstrated that nullification and obstruction are ready-made weapons to ensure the courts remain dominated by conservatives.

Cass R. Sunstein, author of Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts are Bad for America, writes, “Our courts now represents the most extreme elements of the Republican Party. These reformers include a number of federal judges—radicals in robes, fundamentalists on the bench….some of these judges do not hesitate to depart radically from longstanding understandings of constitutional meaning.” Political analyst James Fallows writes, “Add that to the simply unprecedented abuse of the filibuster in the years since the Democrats won control of the Senate and then took the White House, you have what we’d identify as a kind of long-term coup if we saw it happening anywhere else.”

The end of the filibuster threatens the far right’s stranglehold on our courts. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell warned, “The solution to this problem is at the ballot box. We look forward to having a great election in November 2014.” John McCain warned, “Democrats will regret this.”
For Republicans to take back the Senate, they’ll need to win six seats. Given Democrats will need to defend 21 seats, compared to just 14 for the GOP, and that seven of those 21 Democratic seats are in states that lean Republican, expect the Christian Right to be the party’s primary water carrier in the midterms.
Former Speaker Tip O’Neill liked to say that all politics is local. He was wrong. It’s tribal. The detonation of the nuclear option ensures the always-mobilized theological tribe will turn out in high numbers in 2014. This means America’s secular state will remain in the balance should the secular left tribe do no better than its impotency in 2010.
CJ Werleman is the author of Crucifying America and God Hates You, Hate Him Back. Follow him on Twitter @cjwerleman.

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Rick Perry Is Quietly Encouraging Texans to Sign Up for Obamacare

Rick Perry Is Quietly Encouraging Texans to Sign Up for Obamacare 

Published October 23, 2013 - 3:30pm

Katie Singh
Burnt Orange Report

Governor Rick Perry has always been one of the Affordable Care Act's most vocal opponents. He's called it a "monstrosity," a "stomach punch to the economy," and a "felony." But that hasn't stopped him from telling Texans to sign up for health coverage from the law.

That's right — Rick Perry's administration is encouraging Texans to enroll in the ACA's health insurance exchanges.

As the Texas Tribune reported last week, Texas will soon be shutting down its high-risk insurance pool for residents with pre-existing conditions, pushing them to seek coverage in the federal insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. According to the Tribune, "the state has deemed the high-risk pool obsolete, as the Affordable Care Act prohibits insurance companies participating in the federal marketplace...from denying coverage to Texans with pre-existing conditions." Governor Perry signed the bill abolishing the high-risk pool into law in June, and it will be shut down by the end of the year.

This is just the latest in a series of hypocritical moves by Governor Perry regarding the Affordable Care Act. Though he's called the law a "criminal act," Perry certainly has no problem accepting money from it. As we reported last month, Perry has accepted over $100 million in ACA grants, and was asking for even more to help expand a state program providing insurance to those with disabilities.

Perry's actions make it utterly impossible to take his position on the ACA seriously. The crux of his argument against the Affordable Care Act has been that it's better for states to control health policy than the federal government. But by accepting ACA grant money, and now by encouraging high-risk patients to enroll in insurance exchanges, Perry's actions have totally undermined his words. In accepting these parts of the ACA, he's essentially acknowledged that federal grants will enhance the state's existing health programs, and that the health exchanges will provide better coverage for people with pre-existing conditions than what the state has now.

Perry's actions confirm what policy experts have known since the law was passed — it's a step forward for Texans. Stacey Pogue of the Center for Public Policy Priorities told the Texas Tribune she "think[s] that people are going to have many more options and many better options in the marketplace than they do in the health pool today."

Texans in the high-risk pool currently pay twice the market rate for health coverage, but they will be able to find much cheaper options in the health insurance exchanges. The ACA's tax subsidies will also make coverage more affordable. In addition, the insurance plans available in the exchanges will expand the level of care people with pre-existing conditions can receive, "as they must cover 'essential health benefits,' some of which, such as maternity care, aren't [currently] covered in the pool."

So, the next time you hear Rick Perry call the Affordable Care Act an "attack on freedom" or some other hyperbole, remember that even he doesn't really think that. Perry's presidential ambitions mean he'll never admit it, but he's repeatedly accepted parts of the Affordable Care Act as good for Texas. In doing so, he's not only recognized that federal assistance can strengthen state programs, but he's also proven himself to be a Texas-sized hypocrite.

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10 Tips For a Libertarian Thanksgiving

Ben Cohen on November 26, 2013

The Daily Banter

Thanksgiving is a tradition that Americans from every walk of life can enjoy. It is a time when friends and family get together and give thanks for what they have. However, the tradition has some rather worrying elements to it that could teach Americans socialistic concepts like sharing and selflessness. To counter the troubling Europeanization of a distinctly American tradition, here is a 10-step guide to having a Libertarian Thanksgiving:
1. Buy your Turkey from Butterball – America’s biggest Turkey farm. It stands to reason that Butterball must be the best turkey producer because it has beaten all the competition and makes $1.5 billion in revenue a year. Sure they may pump their turkeys full of antibiotics and have a horrific record on animal cruelty, but who cares? The turkey is cheap, and it lines the pockets of corporations so it’s a win-win situation for the die hard capitalist.
2. Outsource the cooking. It is almost certainly cheaper to have your Thanksgiving dinner prepared in India and Fed-Exed.
3. Charge family members for leftovers. In fact, they’re not actually leftovers, they’re ‘opportunity costs’. All the turkey they didn’t eat could have been resold at above market rates given turkeys are in heavy demand at Thanksgiving. It is only fair that you are compensated by your family for this loss of earning.
4. No turkey giveaways. Poor people are poor for a reason, and giving them free turkeys will just encourage them to remain poor.

5. The strongest family members eat first. They are bigger and stronger and it stands to reason that they are more deserving of food than the young and elderly. 
6. Make sure you are carrying a concealed weapon at the dinner table. You may have a closet Communist in the family and you need to always be prepared. 
7. Get a sponsor for your dinner. This might mean making family members and guests wear branded t-shirts or drinking Pepsi rather than Coke. You should never pass up an opportunity to monetize family occasions. 
8. Boycott Canada’s celebration of Thanksgiving. They have universal health care coverage. 
9. Challenge the White House’s pardoning of one turkey. This is the government telling Americans which turkeys they can and cannot eat and is a slippery slope towards socialism. 
10. No holding hands during grace. We are not all in this together. It’s every American for themselves.

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Local News Station Busts Darrell Issa for Silencing Supporters During ACA Investigation

Local News Station Busts Darrell Issa for Silencing Supporters During ACA Investigation

By: Sarah Jones
Tuesday, November, 26th, 2013

The mainstream media might be letting the public down, but some local media outlets are still diligently reporting the news instead of chasing after Beltway Cool Kids with a GOP playbook in their front pocket.
Melissa Hankins at Charlotte, North Carolina’s WBTV 3 reported that Darrell Issa’s ObamaCare “hearings” in Gastonia called “Obamacare Implementation: Sticker Shock of Increased Premiums for Health Care Coverage” weren’t exactly unbiased.
In fact, people who had positive things to say about the ACA were not only told they couldn’t speak, but they were told that if they spoke “out of turn” they’d have to leave.

 Watch here:

WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

 

The meeting got off to a contentious start on Friday, with people complaining that they won’t get a chance to be heard. People were told they would be removed from the meeting if they spoke out of turn. Residents were angry because Issa picked the five witnesses that we will hear from, all residents of North Carolina.

The piece goes on to list several supporters of the ACA whom Issa refused to let speak.
Allison Ward, who says the ACA offers her insurance she can afford for the first time ever, wanted to be heard. If she had been chosen to “testify” (is it really a hearing if it’s all staged? Not so much), she would have said, “My president has said I hear you, I’m going to help you and frankly the way I see it is that other people are getting in the way.”
You can see why Issa wouldn’t let Ms. Ward speak.
Another Charlotte resident wanted to speak about how no one would give her insurance because she was diagnosed with MS. Dana Wilson said the ACA changed the fact that no one would insure her. Ms. Wilson thinks if it’s a real hearing, then all sides should be heard. “I think if it’s a true hearing than all sides should be heard and they don’t want to hear us,” she told WBTV 3.
The reported explained that the area has seen some of the highest increases in premiums in the country, and that’s why Issa was there. Fair enough. But that’s no reason not to hear from supporters of the law.
Issa claims that no Democrats picked any witnesses and that is how he justifies not using supporters of the law. But see, that’s an admission that Issa is not trying to get at the truth, as he claims he is. He’s got a show to put on, and he can only use haters in this script. It’s called propaganda, and it’s following the GOP playbook exactly. The main messages of the GOP attack ACA playbook are: “Because of Obamacare, I Lost My Insurance”, “Obamacare Increases Health Care Costs” and “The Exchanges May Not Be Secure, Putting Personal Information at Risk”. ”
Good old Issa is up to his usual tricks, where he only lets the people who he knows will say what he needs them to say in front of the cameras, and then he blames Democrats when he’s busted Issa got busted doing this on Benghazi as well. Issa refused to let the experts on the Benghazi attacks speak in front of the cameras, and then blamed the White House for not inviting them:

While the rest of the media is reporting that the co-chairmen of the independent review on the Benghazi attacks, Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, have finally agreed to testify, in truth Pickering was not invited by Darell Issa (R-CA) to testify at the televised hearing. When called out on his lies on national TV, Issa finally tried to blame the White House for not inviting Pickering.

Darrell Issa wants you to believe that he is wasting all of this money just to get the truth, but the truth involves refusing to let anyone with a dissenting point of view be heard. It’s just like the founders envisioned…
Only not.
h/t Diane Sweet at Crooks and Liars

Local News Station Busts Darrell Issa for Silencing Supporters During ACA Investigation was written by Sarah Jones for PoliticusUSA.

© PoliticusUSA, Tue, Nov 26th, 2013 — All Rights Reserve

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Ted Cruz Quite Possibly Just Made His Most Ridiculous Statement — Ever

November 26, 2013

By Allen Clifton


It’s no secret that I absolutely cannot stand Texas Senator Ted Cruz.  I still go back and forth between him and Sarah Palin when trying to figure out who I loathe more.  Currently the edge goes to Cruz simply because he’s actually a senator, whereas Sarah Palin is nothing more than a failed vice presidential candidate and the Alaska governor who quit before her first term was up.
That being said, it’s not difficult at all to find ample quotes from Ted Cruz that are completely absurd.
But while there are plenty of quotes proving Ted Cruz is an idiot, the context of his recent comments about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid using the “nuclear option” to change the rules of the Senate might just be his most ridiculous ever.
During an exchange with Bloomberg News’ Al Hunt, Hunt asked Cruz about the change in the rules made by Senator Reid:

Hunt: Will it complicate passing budgets or debt ceilings or anything?
Cruz: Of course it will. I mean, it will poison the atmosphere of the Senate.

Yes, that’s Ted Cruz accusing Harry Reid and Democrats of poisoning the atmosphere of the Senate.  The guy who many within his own party can’t stand.  The man who staged a fake 21-hour filibuster where he tried to compare “Obamacare” to Darth Vader and misconstrued the meaning of Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor.  The same Senator who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to force a government shutdown, knowing that it stood absolutely zero chance at accomplishing his ridiculous “goal.”
The same Senator Cruz who, in his very brief time in the United States Senate, has done absolutely nothing except use his position as senator to set himself up for a 2016 presidential bid – at the cost of the taxpayers, of course.
Ted Cruz epitomizes “poison” in the Senate.  It’s clear to anyone with any kind of common sense that Cruz only ran for the Senate because he had presidential ambitions for 2016 and needed a way to get his name known to voters.  And since his election he’s taken up the strategy that the only thing he’ll do is pander to the tea party, hoping that if he builds enough support with far-right Republicans, he’ll set himself up to claim the GOP nomination in 2016.
But like I said, you don’t have to believe me – many within his own party can’t even stand him.  Look at how quickly many leading Republicans emphatically denounced the idea of shutting down the government again once another vote on the budget will have to be held in a couple of months.
So while what he said wasn’t the most asinine thing he’s ever said, the context behind what he expressed might just be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard him say.
Of all people, for Ted Cruz to accuse anyone of introducing poisonous behavior in the Senate could be a definition for hypocrisy.  And while this just might rank at the top of my list for ridiculous comments from the Texas senator, I’m sure it won’t be long before he says something else outrageous to trump its stupidity.

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20 Clues that you not a Progressive

by Grace Kelly on November 26, 2013 

 

Just like “Jesus” has become a label to pin on without bothering to help the poor, “progressive” has also become a label to pin on for popularity. These personal thoughts would be clues that you not a Progressive candidate.

1) When I run for office, I will have a focus group decide my stances on issues.
2) I am a nice person, why would I want to disagree with someone?
3) Education on issues is for lobbyists not elected officials.
4) Do I look good?
5) I won. Now my job is keeping my job.
6) In public I recycle, in private I won’t bother.
7) I think climate change will not significantly impact my personal life.
8) On issues, I will look for big media win possibilities and ignore incremental media-invisible win possibilities.
9) Smiling and smoozing are my important assets.
9) Hanging out with the 1% is proving one has made it in life.
10) What’s all the hype about people having to work on Thanksgiving?
11) Those long documents on issues that everyone sends are so boring.
12) I will let my assistant handle the correspondence on all the non-important people.
13) Republicans get to drive the more fun cars.
14) I wonder what office I could run for next?
15) I love that audience when I speak. It is good to be loved back.
16) I wonder if I can get one of those free nifty trips.
17) Isn’t great how neat and clean my desk is?
18) Enough on issues, can we talk about the Vikings now?
19) I have wait to the end of the vote, to see what is my best strategic move.
20) Someone at my door, another opportunity to get something.

Feel free to add in the comments, what you have heard from non-progressive candidates.

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Palin: Half-Term Half-Wit God ‘blessed’ with me a platform on Fox News to defend myself

Palin: God ‘blessed’ with me a platform on Fox News to defend myself (via Raw Story )

Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday defended colleague Sarah Palin said that he found comparisons between federal debt to human slavery to be “fairly unobjectionable.” Earlier this month, MSNBC host Martin Bashir had blasted Palin after a speech…

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Three of the Biggest Lies Republicans Tell About Themselves

Three of the Biggest Lies Republicans Tell About Themselves

November 25, 2013 By Allen Clifton  

 

When I talk with Republicans, I often feel like I’m speaking with someone who lives inside of a bubble where the outside world and all of its realities are simply unable to penetrate.  It’s the school teacher who votes Republican despite Republicans stripping teachers unions of collective bargaining power.  It’s the individual who’s soon to rely on Medicare and Social Security, claiming they don’t need the federal government.  The person on welfare who voted for the politician who just voted to cut their benefits.
But one area where Republicans excel at is propaganda.  They’re really good at it.  They’ve successfully convinced millions of people to be absolute hypocrites, vote against their own interests and believe that giving rich people more money benefits the rest of us.
Basically, they’ve convinced people to lie to themselves.
So I decided I would give a quick rundown of three of the bigger lies Republicans perpetuate about themselves (though there are far more than three).
1) They’re fiscally conservative 
This is probably the biggest joke of them all.  It’s amazing to me that this is real platform they actually run on, yet haven’t had a Republican president who’s actually balanced the budget since President Eisenhower in the 1950′s.  Hell, their “conservative hero” Ronald Reagan came close to quadrupling the national debt during his eight years.  How exactly is someone a “beacon for fiscal responsibility” when they almost quadrupled the national debt?
And I know some conservatives will do what they always do and blame Democrats for Reagan running up our national debt.  I love reading the asinine conclusion that the near quadrupling of our debt was the fault of Tip O’Neill, not Reagan.  I hate to break it to these people, but Reagan signed off on every single piece of legislation during his eight years in office that led to the massive growth of our national debt.  Congressional Democrats couldn’t simply enact legislation without Reagan’s approval.
Then again, conservatives who make this argument clearly don’t understand how government works.  They’re also the ones who give all of the credit for our balanced  budget in the 90′s to congressional Republicans.
Then look at George W. Bush.  He took a balanced budget and completely wrecked it.  It took him one year to send us back into deficits after President Clinton gave us a surplus.  And don’t even tell me that our budget surplus should be credited to the Republicans in Congress.  If they were the primary reason why we had a balanced budget, it would have continued after Clinton left the White House, when they were still in charge of Congress — but guess what?  It didn’t.
What Bush did was cut taxes, then started two wars.  That’s like buying an $80,000 sports car just after taking a massive pay cut at work.  He reduced our revenue then increased our spending.  How again is that being “fiscally conservative”?
The only area Republicans point to for this claim of “fiscal responsibility” is their opposition to tax hikes.  But guess what?  Cutting taxes has nothing to do with being smart with money.
Oh, but they’ll cut programs that help the poor and the needy, that’ll balance our budget, right?  But you damn sure better not mention cutting oil subsidies or closing tax loopholes for the rich — Republicans will have no part in eliminating either of those.
The only place Republicans are fiscally conservative is in their minds.
2) Small government 
This is another joke.  I love how the party which actively campaigns for president on the pretense of passing Constitutional Amendments that would define traditional marriage is somehow the party of “small government.”
Or the party that continues to pass laws in Republican-controlled states attacking the right for a woman to have an abortion, requiring ultrasounds or transvaginal probes before an abortion can be performed.  That’s small government? 
Hell, if they had their way there would still be a ban on homosexuals in the military.
The fact is, Republicans love government.  Well, as long as that government is supporting something they want.  The only time they’re advocates for “small government” is when the government forces them to do things like — give people civil rights.
I live in Texas, a highly Republican state, where you can’t even buy liquor on Sunday due to outdated laws passed decades ago.  Hell, there are some counties in Texas where you still can’t buy alcohol at all.  How “small government” of them.  Isn’t Texas supposed to be a beacon for “small government values”?  Right.
The truth is, Republicans love government when they can use it to try to enforce their bigotry and ignorance, but hate government when it prevents them from enforcing their bigotry and ignorance.
3) Pro-life 
Being anti-abortion doesn’t make you “pro-life.”  Just like supporting the right for a woman to have an abortion doesn’t make you “pro-abortion.”
Republicans constantly prove that they don’t give a crap about life the moment it’s out of the womb.  Sure, they’ll use a fetus to stir up anger within people to get votes, but the fact of the matter is once that baby is born — they couldn’t care less.
The GOP has consistently cut funding for programs that help the poor and the needy.  They’ve strongly stood against access to health care for all Americans.  There’s even a push now by many to privatize Medicare and Social Security so that these programs are handed over to greedy corporations that can gamble with the future of millions of Americans.
There are tens of millions of children who will have less to eat this holiday because of the Republican cuts to our nation’s SNAP program.  And if Republicans get their way, tens of billions more will be cut from the program.
In a state like Texas — where millions of its citizens go without health care — Rick Perry refused to expand Medicaid coverage so that millions of Texans could receive health care, some for the very first time.  This is a practice we’ve seen all over the country in many Republican-controlled states.
How “pro-life” of these Republicans to deny access to health care for millions of Americans who desperately need it.
And the sad fact is, Republicans only really “care” about a fetus because it helps them get votes.  Otherwise they wouldn’t oppose — and cut — funding to programs that would help millions of poor children all across the United States.
When Republicans say they’re “pro-life” all they really mean is they’re anti-abortion — that’s it.  To call Republicans “pro-life” is an absolute joke.  Because once that baby is born, they couldn’t care less what happens to it, as long as it votes Republican in 18 years.
Now of course these aren’t the only ways Republicans lie to themselves.  These are just three of the bigger “labels” they give themselves that I find completely absurd.
But I’m sure to any Republican reading this, I’m absolutely wrong.  Sure I am.  Of course, they’ve most likely never voted for a Republican president who’s balanced the budget, they probably support a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, and you can bet they support massive cuts to welfare programs that feed millions of poor children.
Like I said, it’s like they live in a delusional bubble that reality is simply unable to penetrate.

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5 reasons why the American people can't stand the Republican party 

Robert SobelOrlando Liberal Examiner

February 28, 2013

 

The Republican party often has people scratching their heads and it's not just "liberals" who are doing it. With The Republican party splitting into multiple factions, the once proud political party has been thrown into disarray Here are five reasons why the American people can't stand the Grand Old Party.
1. Bush wastes money and American lives-
After the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001, everyone throughout the country felt a variety of emotions. Some were upset, others scared or just plain angry. There isn't a right or wrong answer in how people felt because what happened was so horrific. It's natural to want revenge and that is how George W. Bush and the Republican party were able to get the country into a huge mess while lining their own pockets. Preying on the fear that came with the attacks on 9/11, the Bush administration decided to wage war, but with the wrong country. With his father, George H.W Bush, unable to capture Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s, George W. Bush wanted to finish the job that his father couldn't.
Knowing that Iraq was run by an evil dictator, had plenty of oil and could be a goldmine for companies to rebuild, Bush used the fear that overcame the United States to wage war with a country that had nothing to do with the attacks on that September day. Saddam Hussein was captured less than a year into the invasion of Iraq, but nearly a decade later the United States was still there.
The reason given to the American people for the invasion was that Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction," but later Americans were told that Iraq didn't have these weapons and that the United States had received "bad intelligence." Many believe that there were never any weapons in Iraq and that it was an excuse to invade the country. Many companies, such as Dick Cheney's Halliburton, made billions rebuilding in Iraq while others ran off to the bank as well. According to a 2007 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the war in Iraq would cost $1.9 trillion dollars, or about $6,300 for each U.S citizen. Mix that with the thousands of courageous soldiers who lost their lives or became injured and you have a mess that every American should be mad about.
2. GOP Depression-
Today's economic climate is a scary one. Though the unemployment rate has dropped to 7.9%, there is still only one job opening for every four Americans looking for work. As Ronald Reagan dropped the top tax rate from 70% to 28% during his eight years in office and deregulated big business and the financial sector, the United States was placed on a path of economic destruction. President Clinton stabilized the economy enough that he was able to hand a surplus to George W. Bush in 2001, but all the reckless actions by Wall Street drove the United States to the brink until a taxpayer bailout of the banks was needed in 2008. They say history repeats itself and that is true in this case.
When the economy took a hard down turn in the 1980s and in 2008, if was because the same economic policies were repeated that caused the Stock Market to crash in 1929. The Great Depression was caused by deregulation and bad tax policies, put in place by three consecutive Republican presidents. Starting with Warren Harding in 1921, through Calvin Coolidge and then Herbert Hoover, the United States fell into an economic depression. It took President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his New Deal and World War 2 to help get the United States back on track. Roosevelt had to deal with Republican opposition in congress and a new war, but after years in office, was able to get the job done.
3. Medicare Part D-
Republicans today seem to hate anything that the government does until they need it. Conservatives scream about programs like Social Security and unemployment benefits, but once they enter retirement or lose their jobs, they're quick to hold on to government assistance. Republicans want to privatize programs like Social Security and Medicare by taking them out of the government and putting them into greedy hands on Wall Street. While conservatives are opposed to these programs now, you don't need to go back too far to find Republicans supporting parts of programs like Medicare.
George Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Medicare Part D) which went into effect on January 1, 2006. The program was supposed to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs for those who receive Medicare, but it was never paid for. In the long run, Medicare Part D raised prices, cost taxpayers billions of dollars and while the cost of Medicare Part D has been projected to be less than originally thought, much of the declining cost is due to President Obama's new health care law that was passed in 2010.
4. Sexual Morality?-
The Republican party pounds their chest as the voice of morality, clutching their Bible, fighting back against the LGBT community and abortion and love to bring up that President Clinton cheated on his wife. If people make certain claims, they should learn to look in the mirror first. Former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich has been married three times and has a dark history of infidelity. While Gingrich was one of the leading voices against President Clinton in the 1990s, he was actually cheating on his own wife. In fact, while his wife was in remission with cancer, Gingrich served her divorce papers.
The list of Republicans who have engaged in sexual affairs is endless. Former Republican mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, Philip Giordano, is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing two underage girls. Republican congressman and anti-gay activist, Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar while Republican legislator, Richard Gardner, admitted to molesting his two daughters. This doesn't mean that Democrats haven't done anything like this in the past, they have, but there's an old saying - "those who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones."
5. Unions aren't the problem!-
Just the word "union" seems to have a negative connotation these days. Conservatives point their finger at unions for every fiscal issue that the country has closing their eyes to the fact that unions are fighting for the middle class. Whether you're a member of a union of not, you must understand what a union is there for. Unions are a collective voice for workers to make sure that their rights are protected. These rights are not limited to, but include safe working conditions, fair pay, health care and other benefits. As executive pay has risen to an all-time high, wages for workers remain stagnant and are at an all-time low. Unions are put together to make sure that those at the top don't hold back the average middle class worker, but Republicans have tried to destroy the voice of the middle class for decades.
From the time Ronald Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers on August 5, 1981 to Republicans trying to push for "right-to-work" laws across the country, the voice of the middle class is starting to become silent. Republicans claim union workers are "lazy" and "greedy," but that is not the case. Are there workers who take advantage of the benefits of being in a union? Of course there are, every system has issues, but the majority are grateful and work hard. If Republicans want to truly be patriotic they should start supporting the middle class, not just the wealthy.

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Heart of Darkness: Criminal Investigation of WI Recall $

Heart of Darkness: Criminal Investigation of WI Recall $

Posted by Mary Bottari on November 25, 2013

 

 

The post-Citizens United dark money showdown is underway in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin makes sense. In November 2010, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker swept to power at a time of economic turmoil with a promise to create 250,000 jobs. Instead, with Republican control of both houses, he passed a bill knee-capping public-sector unions, sparking an 18-day occupation of the Capitol and weeks of mass protests, regularly topping 100,000.
The controversy immediately kicked off a struggle for control of the Wisconsin Senate. Between 2011 and 2012 Wisconsin voters across the state knocked on doors, circulated recall petitions, and put an unprecedented number of state officials up for recall. Thirteen state senators eventually faced recall elections. Close to one million people signed recall petitions for the Governor and Lt. Governor, and even before an election was certified, outside money began to saturate the state.  $137.5 million is estimated to have been spent on the recalls in total, the vast majority from out-of-state players.
The source of much of that spending remains unknown. Millions were spent in by "dark money" nonprofits -- most of them organized under 501(c)(4) of the tax code -- that allow deep pocketed donors to hide their identity. These groups spent boatloads, but attempted to evaded state disclosure laws by running phony issue ads that do not expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate. These nonprofits are supposed to be social welfare groups, and cannot exist for the "primary purpose" of participating in political activity. Many have interpreted this to mean that no more than 49 percent of their funds can be spent on "issue" advertising.
Dozens of 501(c)(4)s spent huge sums in defense of Team Walker. Not only did they not disclose their donors, they engaged in a dizzying array of fund transfers, spelled out by my colleague Brendan Fischer at the Center for Media and Democracy/PRWatch, perhaps in an effort to stay under the 49 percent line.
These groups played big in the election along with Walker's own campaign committee and the Republican Governors Association, which dropped $9 million on what are called "independent expenditures." Independent expenditure groups are required to register with the state and swear an oath not to coordinate with candidates under Wisconsin law 11.06 (7).
As the funds flooded the state, no one was checking to see if the diversity of groups were playing by the rules. But now someone may be doing just that. In the past few months, a special prosecutor with Republican credentials has issued dozens of subpoenas reportedly related to the recall spending. Because of Wisconsin's unusual "John Doe" statute and its secrecy rules, little is known about the grounds of the investigation, although some reports say prosecutors are looking at illegal coordination between candidates and purportedly "independent" groups.

News Breaks of Criminal Probe into Recall Spending

A John Doe investigation is Wisconsin's version of a grand jury, where subpoenas can be issued and testimony can be compelled behind closed doors. There is no jury, just a judge overseeing proceedings under strict secrecy rules. According to news reports, a high-powered special prosecutor Francis Schmitz (who spent many years as a counter terrorism investigator) is in charge. The right-wing press fails to admit it, but Schmitz has bona fide Republican credentials having once been a finalist for appointment as the U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee during President George W. Bush's administration.
News reports indicate that Schmitz could be delving into "illegal coordination" between the groups based on evidence that came out of an earlier John Doe probe into Scott Walker 2010 race for governor. But because of the secrecy of the proceedings few know the exact nature of the probe and other laws, outside of campaign finance laws could be implicated.
Although the right-wing media likes to portray the previous John Doe probe as a witch hunt that came to naught, in fact six people were found guilty of felony and misdemeanor crimes and many -- including two top aides of then-County Executive Scott Walker -- will be spending quite a bit of time in the pokey. The convictions included various charges, but the allegation that county employees set up and operated a secret Wi-Fi system to raise campaign funds while on the taxpayer payroll, netted two convictions. (See our history of the case, revelatory Walker emails, and the stunning charging documents.) This aspect of the investigation closed in March with no charges against Walker himself or his political campaign committee.
While rumors of a new John Doe had been circulating for weeks, Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel nailed it on October 24, breaking the story and confirming a five-county investigation. Why five counties? Bice cites a new Wisconsin law that allows legislators to be tried in their own counties, away from "liberal" Madison judges. The law was passed after the last Speaker of the Assembly, Scott Jensen, was charged with felony crimes and wanted to be tried in conservative Waukesha, a move that ultimately worked out well for him.
The right-wing site the Wisconsin Reporter, quickly picked up the story, citing unnamed sources to report that three groups were implicated in the investigation, including the Republican Governors Association, the Club for Growth, and David Koch's Americans for Prosperity. But the Wall Street Journal editorial board later expanded that list, naming some 29 groups (all Republican, mostly 501(c)(4)s), and the Walker campaign itself.
The Wall Street Journal put Wisconsin's Eric O'Keefe on the record as saying he received a subpoena in the John Doe. O'Keefe is an old Koch buddy going back to the days when David Koch ran for Vice President of the United States, bankrolling the Libertarian ticket in 1980. He helped create the Sam Adams Alliance, which trains Tea Party activists, and he is a co-founder of the SuperPac called the Campaign for Primary Accountability and is on the board of directors of Wisconsin's Club for Growth. He was spotted jetting around with Walker as the governor traveled the country raising funds for his recall fight.
O'Keefe's comments put Wisconsin Club for Growth at the center of the controversy. RJ Johnson, a longtime Republican operative, often cited in the press as "an official" at Wisconsin Club for Growth, is a close friend of Walker's -- named as his "chief political strategist" in Walker's new book Unintimidated. Club for Growth also spent an estimated $9 million on the recalls, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Just days after Walker "dropped the bomb" and unveiled his union-busting budget repair bill, Club for Growth was up on air with TV and radio ads praising Walker and attacking public employees. When Walker's popularity plummeted, RJ Johnson advised Walker to get the bill passed "as soon as possible," Walker writes in Unintimidated.
The Wall Street Journal has spun the John Doe as an attack on free speech, a line that was immediately picked up by the echo-chamber on the right. Wall Street Journal board member and political operative Stephen Moore is a founder of Club for Growth and also served on the board of Donors Capital's dark money machine. He is also an ALEC "scholar" who helps to write and produce ALEC's debunked "Rich States, Poor States" report.
O'Keefe's move to break the story with friends at the Journal seemed foolish to some, as he could face sanctions under the John Doe, but he no doubt has the confidence of a man with a lot of money and quite a few lawyers ready to go to the wall on the all "money is free speech" theory.

Dark Money Hires Powerhouse Lawyers

The whole John Doe became much more interesting when the roster of high-powered defense attorneys moved to kill it. Madison's Dean Strang asked the Court of Appeals to halt the investigation on a number of grounds, but the appellate court rejected some of his claims out of hand and asked for more information on others. The Court of Appeals made the unusual decision to unseal its ruling in the case, bringing a welcome degree of transparency to the proceedings.
Strang is a highly respected criminal defense attorney. His most recent high-profile client was Steven Avery, who was jailed for murdering a young photographer shortly after being released from prison and declared innocent in another crime. Strang is also credited with setting up Wisconsin's Federal Defenders program. This is not his first foray into the world of campaign finance, he also represented railroad magnate William Gardner, who was convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to Walker in the first John Doe case. Gardner hid his identity by funneling funds to friends and employees asking them to hand over fat checks to Walker, thereby exceeding the state's campaign contribution limits. It's possible that more of this type of activity has been uncovered in the John Doe.
Joining Strang in representing the posse of groups under investigation are Todd P. Graves and Edward D. Greim, Tea Party attorneys from Kansas (home of Koch Industries). Grime and Graves are representing Tea Party groups and the Texas Public Policy Institute that are angry at the IRS for their clunky targeting of groups with political sounding names during their application process for tax-free status in the 2012 election cycle. Todd Graves was one of the six U.S. Attorneys improperly fired by the Bush White House in 2006 in order to pave the way for more political appointees.
Another prominent attorney with clients in the case is Michael Bresnick, a Washington, DC, lawyer who was the head of President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force that netted the $13 billion dollar settlement against JP Morgan Chase.
James Bopp, Jr., the Dean of Darkness who has spent 30 years challenging federal and state campaign finance laws, has joined the fray. Bopp is the mastermind behind the Citizens United case, which likened non-profit group spending on issues ads to free speech and opened the flood gates for undisclosed corporate spending in elections. He is also behind the latest Supreme Court case on election spending, McCutcheon, which could erase limits on individual campaign donations. As the primary proponent of the "money is speech theory" to challenging clean election laws, Bopp thinks that anyone should be able to spend any amount they want in any election and that there is no reason for disclosure because "the vast majority of people don't care," he says.
Bopp may think he has his finger on the pulse, but he neglects to mention that every time the issue is put on the ballot, citizen's vote overwhelmingly for disclosure, for an end to big money politics and even for overturning his Citizens United case. So far, more than 16 states and more than 500 communities have taken a stand against Bopp's "money is speech" theory.

Dark Money Press Ramps Up the Intimidation

Dan Bice, the 20-year veteran of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who broke the news of both John Does, is being slammed by right-wing media spinning the probe as a "witch hunt" and a "vendetta." His report of a major investigation underway in the state was called as "low point in the history of modern journalism," on the Journal's right-wing news site called RightWisconsin. Notably, RightWisconsin was launched with a handout from Club for Growth. Fortunately, the Journal Sentinel is unlikely to toss overboard the award-winning reporter who is one of the only people left in the state who actually breaks news.
Initially led by Milwaukee County prosecutors, the investigation is now being headed up by another big gun, former federal prosecutor Schmitz. Because he prosecuted terrorists for a living, Schmitz snapshot is not easily available online, prompting one reporter to hand draw a goofy portrait of him. Schmidt should be ready to have his house staked out and photos of him picking up the newspaper in his jammies published. During the last John Doe, the right-wing press made a big deal of the yard signs posted by one of the prosecutor's wives.
So far there have been no reports of any Democratic groups being investigated, which is not conclusive. The Democrats had a number of independent expenditure groups on their side, but spent very little through any of the controversial 501(c)(4)s. This chart by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign shows the players and how much they spent or were estimated to have spent.
Illegal coordination is rarely charged in Wisconsin. Common Cause state director Jay Heck points to a 1997 case that netted big fines for the players. In 1997, former state Supreme Court Justice John Wilcox settled a suit that charged that his campaign had illegally coordinated with an independent expenditure group. He and his campaign manager, Mark Block, were fined and Block was barred from working on any state campaigns for seven years. Block went on to work for David Koch's Americans for Prosperity and run the Herman Cain presidential campaign in 2011 (the Center for Media and Democracy initiated a request with the IRS to investigate Block's use of a separate charity to help fund Cain campaign trips).
With regard to Bopp, Heck has this to say. In all of his years as an advocate for clean and open government, Heck says he has "never come across a Wisconsinite who said they wanted to know less about money in politics, they always want to know more" about the forces shaping their democracy.
For his part, Walker is staying mum. This week Walker told Bice, "To me, I'm leaving it up to the people who are authorized to talk about it." Walker said: "If you know anything about it, then you are legally prohibited from talking about it. If you don't know anything about it, you shouldn't be talking about it."
"So either way, I'm not going to talk about it."

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Media Manufactures GOP 2016 Front-Runner From Abject Failure

Media Manufactures GOP 2016 Front-Runner From Abject Failure

Would you buy a used car from this man?
Is this what an "ideal" president looks like?

Scott Walker will fail miserably on his promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin -- his austerity agenda, entirely from out-of-state multinational corporate interests, is a documented train wreck.

His job-growth stunt is so out-of-whack, that now Scott Walker is falsely puffing up numbers for business growth -- fraudulently counting nonprofits like girl scout troops, little league baseball, and other service groups as business entities.

Walker's "flagship" economic development agency, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, is a fiscal disaster that has lost track of more than $19 million dollars of taxpayers money.  Fully 36% of its loans are uncollectable.  Is WEDC just a failure or is it actually a campaign laundering scam and pay-to-play?

There are multiple criminal investigations into Walker's ascent to power -- at least one, which no one talks about, resulted in the FBI obtaining and executing a search warrant to seize computers and evidence from one of Walker's top associates, Cynthia Archer.

Objectively, Scott Walker can be shown to be a most dishonest and disingenuous politician -- perhaps even making habitual liars like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan look "truthful" by comparison.

And then there's the fact that Scott Walker positioned himself squarely in the middle of the republican War on Women, signing, over the long 4th-of-July weekend, a vaginal ultrasound bill -- one of the most controversial in the nation.  Women's groups, a vocal voting block, are up-in-arms about it -- Scott Walker proclaims it is unfair to talk about.

Scott Walker dropped out of college after pulling illegal campaign stunts on campus that resulted in Marquette Tribute proclaiming him "unfit for office".  Walker would not only be the first president in modern times to have not earned a degree -- but his peers on campus still remember Walker's disgraceful conduct.  Walker recently lied to Time that that he left college for the birth of his son -- four years before he was born.

But perhaps most disturbing is how Wisconsin's self-proclaimed "divide and conquer" Governor, admitted deceiving the electorate and "dropping the bomb" with extreme and controversial legislation.  On multiple occasions, Walker has admitted considering crimes against our democracy by planting "troublemakers" in crowds of peaceful crowds expressing their Constitutional Rights to seek redress of grievances.

A fiscal conservative? -- HA!  Walker's budgets are not balanced and greatly inflate debt-service taxpayers will be saddled with in the future -- interest and expenses that create the illusion of fiscal responsibility.

So just how does the media snooker the public into falsely believing that a man with this track record, Scott Walker, is an "ideal" presidential candidate?  It takes a lot of propaganda.

Scott Walker is in need of some "big guns" to create and disseminate propaganda -- but have no fear -- the media is here!  A rational & objective analysis of Scott Walker's record in Wisconsin proves he is not presidential timber -- however, no one has told the media yet.

It will take a lot of propaganda, heavy-hittin' propaganda artists, and a massive right-wing media echo-chamber to catapult Gov. Scott Walker across the Badger State and the Nation as a credible presidential candidate.

Putting him in the White House will take another stolen election -- but here in Wisconsin, election irregularities and downright fraud are the norm.  It can be scientifically demonstrated that Scott Walker stole the 2012 recall.

FAIL:  Economic Austerity Crashes Wisconsin Economy

Let's begin with the massive job failure -- and this isn't just about Scott Walker's 2010 signature 250,000 job promise.  Wisconsin is also falling far behind its neighboring states in economic growth -- our economy is one of the worst in the nation -- all after implementing Walker's austerity agenda.

Click to enlarge, source:  Cap Times
Interactive Data -- Job Growth

Maybe turning to radical extreme out-of-state multinational corporate agendas via one-party rule isn't such a good idea after all.

In the coveted private sector manufacturing arena -- Wisconsin has actually LOST jobs (NOTE:  Please read that last link carefully, Journal Communications headline is extremely misleading -- more HERE).

We know why Scott Walker left his job growth promise out of his ghost-written and "not-a-tell-all" book -- by every assessment -- Walker is going to fail to grow the Wisconsin economy and will miss his jobs goal by a huge margin.

In fact, now that they are done promoting Walker's dishonest book, Sunday's New York Times outlines the differences in political philosophies in the Midwest, documenting that, compared to every nearby state, Walker's austerity is an utter failure.

NYT held these facts back until after Walker's book bamboozle tour was over.  Please note that NYT has not yet challenged the false notion that Walker is the "ideal" presidential candidate in 2012.

FAIL:  Business Growth

Lesser known than Walker's signature promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin during is first term is that he would also create 10,000 new businesses.  We know he is not going to come anywhere close to the 250,000 jobs -- and this does matter, despite Walker's attempts to roll-back those claims.

But Walker is also failing to create 10,000 new businesses -- and don't believe Journal Communications' propaganda artists at PolitiFact.  Not only is Walker falling short, but he (and Journal Communications) fraudulently prop up Walker's deceptive numbers by misusing what Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (WDFI) terms "business entities.  These are not all businesses -- not even close.

When Walker saw he was falling almost 6,000 businesses short of his goal, he turned to WDFI to orchestrate a great deception and is now counting Girl Scout troops and Little League teams as new business creations in the state.

FAIL:  Wisconsin Economic Development Agency, Walker's "Flagship"
& Misappropriate of Federal Community Development Block Grants

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, will not be able to collect more than 1/3 of the loans it has made, according to the most-recent audit by Schneck SC, which states that WEDC's internal accounting controls over loans were not in place and that loan agreements did not all have required performance reviews.  So what does Scott Walker have to say about?

He claims that having more than 1/3 of WEDC's loans, all taxpayer money, uncollectible is just a "boo-boo" that couldn't have been anticipated and that it's the computer's fault. And when the public found out about this mess, Walker proclaimed:

The vast majority of the people at the WEDC are doing good work. We've just got to make sure that the other things are corrected so that stays the focal point now and in the future.

The Schneck audit identified other "material weaknesses":

• No procedures were established to monitor loans
• Financial transactions were regularly recorded wrong or not at all
• Accounting journal entries were made without any documentation and often entirely without approval.  This may be an indication of fraud and cover up.
• Almost one-quarter of all credit card uses during the year were not approved.

Walker's Department of Administration was forced to respond by announcing that DOA would administer Community Development Block Grants.  H.U.D. had suspended the grant program because WEDC was not in compliance with state and federal statues, rules and regulations.  The law demands that these grants be administered by state agencies.  Since Walker created WEDC as a quasi-private agency to replaced the former Wisconsin Department of Commerce, he was afoul of federal laws.

But even after taking remedial action, Scott Walker and his WEDC are not off the hook, because HUD is investigating previous grants WEDC improperly awarded and reserves the right to demand Wisconsin pay-back any funds that were disbursed inappropriately.  If laws were broken, there could be other repercussions -- is any of this related to ongoing criminal investigations?

FAIL:  Multiple Ongoing Probes into Walker's Ascent to Power

The closed Milwaukee County John Doe probe resulted in 6 people being convicted of 15 felonies and 3 misdemeanors -- those top Walker aides are still in jail. Walker's right-wing supporters and media shills are worried and now screech lies that the whole process is unfair.

We now know that there are multiple ongoing probes -- all stemming from the original Milwaukee County John Doe probe. And we still do not know the results from the Federal search warrant that the FBI used to raid close Walker associate Cynthia Archer's Madison home.

With people currently serving time for felonies and with so many open investigations, how can the media tell us that Scott Walker is an "ideal" GOP candidate for 2016? 

This looks more like a train-wreck than a ticket to the White House.

FAIL:  General in War on Women & Reproductive Rights

Scott Walker is proclaiming to attendees at a recent Christian Science Monitor breakfast that he does not expect the "War on Women" to be an effective line of attack against him in his 2014 re-election campaign.  Christian Science Monitor's report reads like pure propaganda -- all but anointing Walker the next President of the United States.

This despite the fact that Walkersigned one of the Nation's most divisive and extreme vaginal ultrasound bills -- trying to hide it from the public by delaying signing it until the long Fourth of July 2013 weekend.  We know why Scott Walker tells lies -- in this case -- insisting he has no responsibility for taking away reproductive rights and signing into law state sanctioned rape.  Why does the media endlessly repeat these lies?

Reproductive rights are not just a women's issue either -- women and men have a vested interest in being able to determine when the time is right to raise a family.  Walker is thumbing his nose at the majority of Americans of reproductive age -- is this a stepping-stone to the White House?

FAIL:  Disgraceful Electioneering at Marquette University

Scott Walker, a man that can be objectively demonstrated to tell many lies, has a long history of being a political bully and has a track record of dirty campaign tactics & illegal campaigning.  Dr. Glen Barry, a former classmate at Marquette University, spoke out about the recall and Walker's disgraceful political roots which began at that school.  Read more of the sultry details of Scott Walker's life running for Marquette student government HERE.

FAIL:  Divide and Conquer Politics

Scott Walker, in January 2011, was asked by Diane Hendricks, a Wisconsin billionaire who is his largest campaign donor and who paid no state taxes in 2010, if he could make Wisconsin a "right to work state"  (video HERE).  His reply was, speaking in hushed tone was:

Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill.  The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. So for us, the base we've got for that is the fact that we've got – budgetarily we can't afford not to. If we have collective bargaining agreements in place, there's no way not only the state but local governments can balance things out.

Proclaiming to your wealthiest in-state donor that you will fail to serve large blocks of your constituency, declaring intentions to "divide and conquer" them instead, does not qualify one as the "ideal" presidential candidate.  Why does the media consistently proclaim otherwise?

FAIL:  "Drop the Bomb" -- Extreme & Divisive Legislative Agenda,
Hidden from the Electorate

Scott Walker has been lying about the most embarrassing mistake he has made as governor -- getting punked by a prank phone call by blogger Ian Murphy who pretended to be David Koch.  Murphy claims to have been "fairly stoned" when he made the call.  What was Scott Walker's excuse for falling for the prank?

Here's what Scott Walker said:

[…] the Monday right after the 6th. Came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, and that Monday night I had all of my cabinet over to the residence for dinner. Talked about what we were gonna do, how we were gonna do it. We’d already kinda built plans up, but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb.

As Governor, Scott Walker declared war on the people he has a sworn oath to serve.  He literally described his strategies as dropping "the bomb" on Badger Citizens.  But it gets worse, much worse.

FAIL:  Admits to Crimes Against Democracy -- Agent Provocateurs.

In that same prank phone call, Gov. Scott Walker admitted that state authorities had “thought about” using troublemakers -- actually agent provocateurs -- to infiltrate the crowds demonstrating against his effort to eliminate collective bargaining rights.

During a press conference that followed, Walker defended these remarks, stating “The bottom line is, the things I said are things I said publicly all along.”

We are talking about serious federal crimes here -- violating laws that go back to the Civil War era and protect citizens from direct attacks by their government -- even admitting thinking about these great crimes against our democracy is criminal. But to potential GOP presidential hopeful, Scott Walker, its all-in-a-days-work.

On February 23, 2011, Walker appeared on Fox News with anchor Greta Van Susteren -- she asked Walker if he and his aides had considered employing agent provocateurs to play “dirty tricks in the crowd.”  Walker openly confirmed -- yes indeed, he had, going so far as to explain: “I even had lawmakers and others suggesting riling things up.”

While Walker said that he rejected the idea, he has never expressed moral concerns about “riling things up”, potentially creating a dangerous situation for the for crowds that included children, elderly folks and people with disabilities. 

How can this episode reinforce Walker's front-runner status as the "ideal" GOP candidate for President of the United States in 2016?

FAIL:  Budget Shenanigans -- Deficits and Massive Debt

In 2011, Gov. Scott Walker needed a crisis to exploit, so he ginned up a budget deficit to enable his attack on public unions.  Then, in In May 2011, the state issued additional debt of approximately $558.3 million, which will cost state taxpayers an additional $156.2 million interest costs.

Gubernatorial opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, was correct  when he pointed out Walker's deception -- to help balance the 2011-13 budget, Gov. Scott Walker used "a credit card" approach that "pushed over $500 million in debt onto our children and our grandchildren" costing state taxpayers "more than $150 million in interest."

Even the conservative pro-business journal, Forbes, had to call out his lies on balancing the budget:

In fact, we now know that the Governor is either being untruthful with the good people of Wisconsin on the whole ‘I balanced budget and wiped out the deficit’ thing or he’s been, shall we say, stretching the truth when speaking to Uncle Sam on the same topicv 

In a letter sent by Mike Huebsch, Walker’s Administration Secretary, to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services just two months ago, Huebsch disclosed that the state of Wisconsin would have an ‘undisclosed deficit’ from January, 2012 through June, 2013.

Kathleen Vinehout points out the myths in the current 2-year budget:

1. The 2013-15 budget spends $4 billion more than the previous one. In fact, state spending is greater than it has ever been in Wisconsin’s history.
2. Walker's 2013-2014 
3. budget spends more than it is projected to collect in revenue.  When spending is greater than revenue, a deficit exists
4. In the 2011-13 legislative session, Gov. Scott 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 the current budget than ever before.

Scott Walker is not a fiscal conservative.  He is a flim-flam man that panders to a compliant media to generate misleading headlines -- one of his most outrageous shams was loading up the the Badger State's rainy day fund in a publicity stunt that the media promoted.  This borrowed money is not an asset set aside for future use -- it is a liability that taxpayers get stuck with while Walker struts around like a genius.


Fraudulently Creating a Republican "Rock Star"

So how can anyone look at each of these failures and objectively proclaim Scott Walker is a republican "rock star"?  How is Scott Walker the "ideal" candidate for GOP in 2016?  Why did the national media prop Scott Walker up for an entire week to let him promote his misleading and deceptive ghost-written biography?

Pretty powerful propaganda -- but we haven't see the worst of it yet. The media is, after all, anointing Scott Walker as the "ideal" GOPPER for the White House.

Posted by Voices Newspaper Blogat 6:41 PM

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