The People vs. Scott Walker

I think I left my glasses in my car (crossin' my fingers!) so I can't really read most of that. Hopefully tomorrow.

interesting graph forward thanks for posting that..one thing really stuck out is how the top 1% ect really gained some wealth from the mid seventies to today.. ...If you really sick back and consider things that may have really boosted the wealth of the rich form the 70's to today

1) Housing prices sky rocketed.
2) land value went through the roof
3) stock market jumped up a great deal

these are all areas the rich inversted in. land, housing, stocks were VERY cheap YET VERY safe investmens. The poor didn't have the same access to capital as the rich and didn't invest in these r45 areas for the most part

these 3 points alone show why the top 1% ect became richer while the poor lost out b/c production went down

in 2007 debt piled up?? WHY??? everybody bought shit they couldn't afford on credit. I remember many times over my parents like holy shit this dude bought a camper, this guy has a lexus, this dude has a summer home and jet ski's while my parents just got bu..Yet they all lived in the same neighborhood and made about the same wages..

Stagnant wages for the poor is right!!! what has been a huge reason for that?? the 12 million plus of illegal unskilled workers that have invaded america...it may not be the only reason BUT it is def worthy of discussion.

I would be interested in others take on the graph..

Housing prices skyrocketed. Yeah there are people out there who just can't budget debt and I don't want to excuse their financial irresponsibility. But there are those who had a hard time with those mortgages even though the homeowners were employed because those homes were ridiculously overpriced. My brother bought a home last year for nearly a third of its 2007 price, yet there are newer facilities around the home and the land value has not decreased. Another example, there was a million dollar home that did not even have insulation, let alone a wet guard. You talk about unions pricing themselves out but what about goods and services that are just too damn high. I'm still pissed about my health insurance doubling in only 2.5 years.

Anyways back to the housing bubble. Everyone just assumed the market would never end and just keep going up, meanwhile there are factors such as lack of job growth that ends up leading to a stagnant economy which leads to everything being devalued. With the exception of T-bills, there really was not much protection for regular folks against the stock market recession. Meanwhile a company like Goldman Sachs bet for the mortgages to fail allowing them to recoup some losses, an option the public at large was not privy to. It just sucks that when the public makes a bad investment, we gotta face the music and pull through on our own merit. Meanwhile, the major financial institutions make a bad investment, they get a bailout, a larger control of smaller banks because they are supposed to help those smaller banks make loans again, and a lack of accountability on how they invest again as long as they pay back the TARP bills not easing any piece of mind this can happen again.

As far as stagnant wages for the poor. Well, jobs being shipped to India and China are a reason. A way bigger impact than illegal immigrants because at least illegals pay property taxes and their share of Social Security and Medicare on their paychecks. They may not file their income tax but they also don't get any returns either. So it's a cost/benefit analysis on them. Meanwhile jobs shipped overseas is all negative, because domestic job growth is needed for a strong economy. Capital without job growth is a stagnant economy. Reason we did so well from the 40s to the 70s was American workers worked for American companies and we offered more exports then our imports. Workers have had to adjust to a slash in wages to stay competitive, because laborers in this country are nowhere near the pay in Germany or the UK and less benefits than our European counterparts. Labors are actually fine with what we have, but fiscal conservatives still want to take back more. I really think they want us to be paid like the Chinese. It's a fact the average wage has not kept up with inflation under the Great Recession period.

And for fuck's sake, reform the tax code! We don't have to increase taxes for the wealthy. But how about lowering the corporate tax if American companies hire American workers. And if you decide to go overseas, it is a free market but there should be punitive taxes on that foreign income. Our country did that to help protect Americans businesses against English trade back in our founding fathers days. Seriously, we need to stop sucking the teat of China. Their economy is getting better because of us and when they overtake us. The whole point of Reagan's deregulation will be null because we did it so we can be at the top. Labor unions actually voted for Reagan because he did believe in Unions. Hell he was the president of the Screen Actors Guild. These new Republicans are a bunch prissy privileged brats who will cry murder if you take away their Iphone but demand you take funds away from public schools, healthcare, social services. These current Republicans need to realize their current financial planning is sh*t and is responsible for a downgrade in our credit rating with a negative outlook. For the delusional ones that think it's gonna get better, it hasnt gotten better in 30 years and we have had 3 financial crashes. Face the music. Go back to being Eisenhower and improve our domestic infrastructure.

It is irresponsible and dishonest not to acknowledge that our representatives' preferential treatment of the top tax bracket over this past generation is another major reason for the state of our economy today.



I think it's worth noting that every time these rates get cut in half, we wind up having a period of reckless economic activity before an epic market crash. In the 20s, it was speculation trading and buying on margin which distorted the market and led to a crash; in our times, it was the housing bubble and collateralized debt obligations. Both times, at least it seems to me, it seems the investing elites created something which harmed everyone. I hear a lot of talk from conservatives (usually wealthy individuals) about not being able to trust the government with their money. If this is what these people do with money when they get it, I don't know if we should trust them with that much money - for our own good.
Not to mention the obvious loss of revenues that also occurs, further feeding into the crisis...

Of course, it's spending as well...


This clip is worth watching.


Elizabeth Warren is a Democratic candidate for Massachusetts Senator in 2012. She is a Harvard law professor who recently created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Senate Republicans blocked her nomination to lead the agency once established. (Fun fact: Obama's nominations have had the fewest hearings/confirmations of any president due to partisan obstructionism.)

I'm not a rich man, but she got $50 out of my paycheck.

Walkergate 101
The name "Walkergate" has come to apply to the ongoing investigation into Scott Walker. This investigation has been a John Doe proceeding, meaning that witnesses are subpoenaed to testify privately without discussing the case outside of proceedings. These proceedings are used to gather/assess evidence for the purposes of determining whether to issue an indictment over an alleged crime.

This particular investigation begins with Scott Walker's tenure as Milwaukee County executive, led to the recent FBI raid on Walker aide Cynthia Archer's residence, has grown beyond that, and is expected to grow beyond that. As I wrote a write-up to help understand the thread in advance of the recall elections, so I feel it is necessary for the ongoing investigation into Scott Walker and his staff activities.

2010
Darlene Wink was an employee in Walker's county executive office. She admitted that during the gubernatorial campaign, on county time and county equipment, she was posting messages (favoring candidate Walker, criticizing both his primary & general election opponents) on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel comments sections and other similar websites.

What Wink did was get caught making online posts to suggest an illegal blurring of lines between governing and campaigning. She used the handle RPMCVP, standing for her position - Republican Party of Milwaukee County Vice President. It was noticed by Milwaukee bloggers that RPMCVP, a county employee, had been making such posts during business hours on weekdays.

There was a website, ScottForGov.com, which was believed to be operated by Walker's county staff during his gubernatorial campaign.

In September 2010, shortly before the gubernatorial primary, the work computer belonging to Tim Russell - a county employee who also worked on the Walker campaign and transition team - was seized by the Milwaukee district attorney.

There was an incident in which a public employee/blogger in Milwaukee noticed the improper presence of county employees staffing official Walker campaign functions. Said blogger also noted potential improper collaboration between county entities and Americans For Prosperity during the campaign. This blogger was among the first to question the overlap between Walker's administration and Walker's campaign, perhaps not coincidentally. In retaliation for filing open records requests related to these situations, this blogger had his own work computers seized by Walker's Milwaukee County as part of an investigation. No charges were filed.

As I understand it, most or all of the county computers belonging to the county executive's office had been removed by outgoing Walker administration before the transition. Not necessarily related, but curious nonetheless.

April
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. CEO William Gardner pleads guilty to two felony charges. These charges stemmed from illegally reimbursing his employees (~$60K) to donate to the campaigns of Scott Walker and other officials he declined to name. Gardner was one of Walker's biggest campaign contributors.
(This was mentioned in this thread around the time it happened, but the context of the growing scandal/investigation gives it renewed relevance.)

May
An open records request for Wink's payroll records was filed by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, to determine whether her RPMCVP posts were in violation of the law.
Wink resigned within two hours.
It wasn't long before Wink's house was raided, with various papers and computer equipment being seized.
ScottForGov.com was taken down entirely in rapid fashion after this.

Wink and Russell have either been the reason for initiating the John Doe investigation, or are simply among the first witnesses publicly known to be involved in an already-existing investigation.

July
Tom Nardelli, a Walker administration aide who spent three years as his Milwaukee County chief of staff, abruptly resigned a state administrative position he had accepted just three days earlier. He claimed he was leaving to pursue other opportunities, but in an interview admitted there were "other little things" about the administration which he would not specify influencing his decision.

August
Walker aide Cynthia Archer, who had followed him from Milwaukee County to the capitol, had her Madison home raided by law enforcement including the Milwaukee DA's office, the Milwaukee FBI, and Dane (Madison's) County police. Again, various papers and computer equipment were seized. A computer purchased by a neighbor at Archer's rummage sale was also confiscated.
Archer was the deputy secretary of the Department of Administration, which was responsible for developing the controversial budget repair bill, before taking a different position as a legislative liaison in the Department of Children And Families.

Archer has been taking paid sick leave ever since resigning her previous position; she has not worked a day at the legislative liaison position she started two days later. Her sick leave has been extended; no evidence of a legitimate medical excuse has been presented; her neighbors claim she looks as healthy & active as she always has.

The Milwaukee district attorney claims he asked the state's Attorney General, Republican J.B. Van Hollen, to assist in this investigation. As with other Milwaukee County DA requests for AG assistance involving investigations into Walker, Van Hollen declined. (Too partisan to care?)

This Week
It became publicly known that three individuals have been offered immunity from prosecution for their cooperation with the John Doe investigation. These are the first individuals known to be offered immunity in these investigations.

These individuals are:
Rose Ann Dieck, retired teacher and Republican Party member, who was in frequent contact with Darlene Wink. It is believed that she can tell investigators things that Wink's computer alone cannot.
Kenneth Lucht, lobbyist for Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. Lucht was involved with W&S CEO William Gardner's violations of campaign finance laws, for which he paid a fine. Since his involvement in the campaign finance violations has been resolved, his receiving immunity suggests that his knowledge/involvement goes beyond that settled matter.
Cullen Werwie, current spokesman for Scott Walker, who was with him in Milwaukee County and followed him to Madison. The exact reason for granting his immunity is unclear, but his receiving it suggests that this investigation is growing closer to Walker.



The story is developing, and the investigation appears to be digging deeper and getting closer to the top.
I've heard rumors that there were recent raids other than the one on Archer's home. I hear other names which may become a focus of this investigation, as either subjects or witnesses. At the rate this investigation seems to be progressing, I would not doubt it one bit.



There was a similar scandal in this state about a decade ago. At the time, the caucus scandal was what passed for a major political scandal in this state. (Oh, how I long for those simpler times...)

That particular scandal involved legislative staff campaigning on state time. Though that scandal involved elected representatives from both sides of the aisle, more Republicans than Democrats were implicated. It is worth noting that two figures who've played roles in this year's affairs played roles in this scandal.
David Prosser, the Supreme Court justice who questionably won reelection this spring, was among them. He openly admitted that he engaged in the same conduct as Assembly speaker, and would have been convicted had he been in the legislature during the statute of limitations. He was not in the legislature at the time because former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed him to fill the court vacancy.
Kathy Nickolaus, a Republican legislative aide at the time, was granted immunity to testify in this case. She later went on to become Waukesha County Clerk, handing Prosser his questionable electoral victory this spring.


When all was said and done, that caucus scandal led to criminal convictions and ended careers.
This John Doe investigation is pursuing a higher-ranking state official, focusing on a wider range of illegal activities.
There is definitely potential for Walkergate to dwarf the caucus scandal.

This investigation will either bring Walker down outright, or it will intensify the efforts to recall him.
Scott Walker is going down... but will it happen in the courtroom or at the polls?

You don't get to complain this much about a problem to which you yourself are contributing.

Your money is not where your mouth is.

I am not in a union. I really don't support nor feel unions are needed. The federal gov't has decided to not enforce immigration laws. I have said my share and the corrupt officials and those that support them are to blame. In the end it's not my job to ask this person if they are illegal. It's not like he came out and said I am an illegal alien hire me. I certainly had my doubts that his status was legit.

So I hired a worker that did a great job for a great price. It's called being savy!!

I suggest liberals and those union members that are liberal (all of them not by choice) must look long and hard at the people they put in power. On one hand they claim to fight for the worker ON the other they support a policy that drives their wages into the dirt

I am not a laborer. My job is not threatened by low skilled immigrants. I have friends that are hurt in dramatic ways by the cheapening of labor. I pray they can see an honest wage again for their hardwork.

I see my gov't doing nothing more than to protect their powerbase. This means selling out the american people to illegals and special interests everyday. This is an issue americans can rally on..instead the gov't is trying to convey class warfare. When the real problem is american's job are going over sea's with no penalty to the corporation and jobs at home are now being done by illegals

HS kids should be able to walk into a BS fast food restaurant and get a job. Instead these jobs ARE FULL TIME JOBS filled mostly by illegal labor..warehousing, landscaping ect.

You can't deny americans must now compete with an illegal workforce for jobs

2) For those businesses that decide to pay illegals in cash. They are breaking the law. Plain and simple. You need a paper trail of every worker hired by your company and if you decide to bypass that so you could pay someone under minimum wage. I have absolute no sympathy for that. I've talked with a business owner who says they can't afford to do it honestly for their family and do it because everyone else is doing it. I don't buy it because we still imprison a person who decides to sell drugs to help their family when a job is not enough.

Plus it leads to that fucked up double standard certain Americans have for immigrants. Go ahead, I'll let you do my work for cheap but I'll publicly denounce you. It's not racist to enforce an immigration policy but it is to be two-faced like that. You either go ahead and be anti-immigrant and only hire American workers. Or you are okay with immigrants and don't mind that they work low income jobs. Don't ride the fence, it's hypocritical.

3) How can a plumber make $30 an hour? Mmm...let's see. How long did it take for that plumber to make that much? In my union, it takes at least 4 years, paying dues, working fulltime, pay your own tools, in some cases if you use a work truck your own gas. So you may be resentful it took you four years in college, but it took that laborer just as long if not longer. One of the reasons Germany is highly skilled and have a great economy is the recognizance that education doesn't always come from school, it can come from an apprenticeship in a craft, or service in the military. There's not one golden path for knowledge.

Lastly, I understand labor jobs can't be outsourced because they physically cannot do it. If a building needs to be renovated, of course they hire domestically. What are they gonna do ship workers in? If they could ship the jobs overseas, they would have done it by now. But they can't so that is why collective bargaining rights need to be protected, so we protect domestic workers from being paid like third world countries. As long as corporations exist, you need unions.

The jobs that I am referring to that are being shipped overseas are manufacturing jobs. Name me the last time US clothing was actually made in America. Toys and cheap plastics are made in China. The decline of American manufacturing coincides with the timeline of the Great Prosperity and the Great Recession. A recent development is tech support centers in India, now we are losing jobs in the white collar world. Loss of job growth and imports that supercede exports leads to devalued economy.

All I can say is after spending a week in DC....I have even LESS faith that ANYTHING will come out of this government that will have a positive, long-term improvement. It's still the same old "color of money" crap they have been doing for years. The people who want and demand change have no power to make it happen. Sad but true. It will honestly take a near-violent revolution to change the situation at this point.

1) I see Liberals and democrats screaming for the dream act. I see Obama pushing for the dream act. I see ALMOST ALL union members are democrats. I agree the problem of illegal immigration is a failure of both sides BUT republicans aren't calling for the dream act..They are calling for tigher borders. Very surprised Democrats aren't as well considering many of those that jump the border aren't sitting in the conference room sipping coffee but instead doing labor jobs that union members USE to fill
2) I wont disagee that republicans messed things up pretty bad as well. However the economic condition and general state of the nation can be blamed on our lack of leadership as a whole. Both sides ONLY care about their powerbase I have stated that serveral times
3) Nice try at an underhanded comment like I can't think critically. I won't get my underwear in a bunch over it. Democrats NEED to be held accountable for pushing for policy that IS horrible for jobs, heathcare, schools...The push the dream act for votes...Then get out front and state democrats are for middle americans...I hope you can see how "backhanded" that is.

I can walk into a store and have 37 choices of candy bars. When it comes to people that operate and pass laws in our nation I have 2 choices and they both stink

To Chicagorooer:

You know why I think you aren't thinking critically?

Let's look at when you complain about special interest money in politics.
You complain that unions favor Democrats, which is true, but you completely ignored the fact that more money funneled to Republicans. You also chose to ignore that one of those top donors is called Every Republican is Crucial. The fact that there's not an Every Democrat is Crucial organization should help highlight the disparity in big-money organization.

You have only once even acknowledged corporate responsibility and culpability in the time you've been in this thread. That was just recently, when you were saying immigrations violations should be enforced against corporations. I think you were only calling them out then because you admitted you were guilty of the same violations. You do see the hypocrisy in calling for demanding papers and prosecuting corporate entities, when you do the same things on the individual level, right?

Maybe it's just that you aren't thinking critically enough. You see some of the problems, but then you only complain about them on one side of the equation.
You complain about all the jobs lost to illegal immigrants, but ignore the fact that our trade agreements (a big corporate priority) are responsible for at least as many jobs outsourced overseas.

You call out special interest money for sponsoring candidates, but focus on the minority of the special interest money in question. You have a problem with unions making donations, but not corporations. You don't seem to realize that the corporations are engaged in all the same activities of the unions and then some. There is no comparable union equivalent of ALEC writing legislation for their agents to introduce. When Gov. Snyder of Michigan dissolves a democratically-elected local body of government, it's a corporation - not a union - to which he hands over control.
You admit the problem, but won't look at one side of the equation as having equal causation, let alone the proportionality deserved for the side you're not looking at.

You can see the problem, but you've got partisan blinders on that only let you see a fraction of the cause. You can understand why that leaves you open to charges of not taking the holistic approach these situations deserve.

All I can contribute on my own knowledge and experience and who I know is that DC is as scattered as it has been in a while. With no clear enemy (aka Bin Laden etc) and no clear policy on how to improve the economy without digging a bigger defecit hole, I can tell you the rank and file are looking at individual projects. While eventually those may and very will probably will add up to some substantial savings....NO ONE in the goverment is willing to be the ones to come forward and bite the magic silver bullet. And really, do they have to? We just need a LOT more common sense in DC and a lot less people looking to make money or even worse LOSE money in the policy decisions. It's a total sham, three card monty up there and always has and will he til someone with enough influence says "ENOUGH!"

Slayer rules!

I live like three hours away. I might be tempted on an upcoming Saturday to head on down there and get my protest on.

And think it's a good idea until the NYPD whacks me with a nightstick and throws me in a makeshift pen. Not to be confused with Beer Prison at Newport Folk.