It doesn’t take a fortune teller…

…Scott Walker is just that easy to predict.

I previously predicted Walker blew this financial crisis out of proportion in an effort to pass his radical agenda. Walker created a budget “repair” bill. Then, Republicans stripped the non-fiscal items out of the budget “repair” bill and passed a bunch of right-wing policy items instead. So much for the “repairing” of the budget.

Then, I called Walker’s “scoop and toss” debt restructuring deadline “unsubstantiated.” According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Walker’s fake deadline was indeed phony.

In a February 7, 2011 blog post, I said “It appears that Governor Walker has turned Wisconsin’s progressive tradition into an unmistakable pattern of regurgitating hard right-wing ideas of conservative wordsmiths like Frank Luntz.” Little did I know how correct I actually was. According to a recent press account, the day after Governor Walker was punked by someone pretending to be a billionaire, he had a face-to-face meeting with renowned right-wing spinster/fixer, Frank Luntz.

Wow, the Governor is just too easy to predict. One final prediction: Walker will realize Luntz costs too much and will instead hire Bush “Speechalist” Harlan McCraney. McCraney’s promo video can be seen here.

Enjoy.

The integrity of the Legislature

Usually, when people visit my blog, they expect a lot of facts, figures, links and pointed humor. After all, how else are we supposed to get through the day here in FitzWalkerstan?

Today, I left the humor and stats behind. Instead, I sent a somber letter to the Fitzgerald brothers.

Welcome to FitzWalkerstan

Wisconsinites, don’t recognize your state?


Over the past month, the most public of public buildings in my legislative district, the State Capitol, has been regularly locked down during business hours. Even legislators weren’t able to get in or out.

Don’t worry, though. Gov. Walker has a tunnel.

Over the past month, Republicans have ignored 50 years of Wisconsin tradition of negotiating with our state employees. Instead, Walker just issued layoff notices to thousands of state workers.

Don’t worry, Walker just gave himself more than 30 brand new political staff.

Over the past month, Republican legislators have continuously violated our own legislative rules. They’ve even disobeyed state law and a court order.

Don’t worry, they’re above the law.

Don’t recognize your state? That’s because it’s not your state anymore. The Republicans have spent the past two months quietly trying to form their own junta aimed at dismembering Wisconsin.

Welcome to FitzWalkerstan, where Wisconsin is open for special interest give-a-ways and closed to the middle-class.

The New Order will be issuing new laws soon. Stay tuned.

Can anyone trust Scott Walker?

Should the Senate Democrats trust Scott Walker?

No really, I’m asking.

We already know that Scott Walker lied to the voters when he embellished the size of the state’s deficit so he could justify sticking it to hardworking state employees. Even I’m not alone on that assertion, just check out Capitol veteran reporter Steven Walters’ Op Ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on February 27th that states, “And about that $3.6 billion deficit estimate. It’s misleading…”

Then, Walker admits, while being punked by someone he believed to be billionaire David Koch, to intentionally trying to dupe Senators into returning to the state without a compromise.

Then, he tells the media he won’t negotiate. Yet, as a result of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel open records request, we see his office has been kinda sorta negoti-emailing with a Democrat.

So, Walker lies to the public and the media and admits to trying to dupe the Senate Democrats. Tell me why anyone should believe him at this point?

Governor, the ball is in your court. Pick up the phone, talk to the Senators directly, negotiate in good faith, come to a compromise and end this thing.

Follow the money… or the attorney getting the money

Remember when the Republicans hired their own attorneys in a potentially multi-million dollar sweetheart deal to act on behalf of the Legislature in redistricting matters and refused to allow the Democrats to have our own legal representation?

One of those law firms is Troupis Law Office, headed by Jim Troupis, who used to be a partner in the Firm Michael, Best & Friedrich (also notably RNC chairman Reince Priebus’ former firm). Both firms were hired by the Republicans to lead their redistricting efforts.

Don’t forget Jim Troupis. We’ll come back to him later.

Now, remember Club for Growth? They’re one of the groups that have hijacked Supreme Court races and state partisan races for the past several election cycles to the tune of more than $1M. You may also remember the ads Club for Growth put up within minutes of Walker introducing his budget “repair” bill.

Back to attorney Jim Troupis. One Wisconsin Now uncovered who this man really is in 2009. They found significant business relationships with David Prosser and Legislative Republicans, big clients of Troupis’ legal career.

Now, we find out that Republicans are about to cut another blank taxpayer check to Troupis for legal advice to compel Senate Democrats back into the state. Troupis even got involved in court proceedings in Senator Jim Holprin’s district. The case was filed on behalf of a resident, bankrolled by Wisconsin Club for Growth and tried in court by… you guessed it, Jim Troupis.

So, there you have it – Troupis and Club for Growth in, er, in court together. How can Troupis be the taxpayer’s lawyer and also Club for Growth’s campaign lawyer without breaching some sort of ethics rules or at the very least, the public’s trust?

It would appear through a simple Google search, following the money is easier than one might think. Troupis earned a lot of money in his career from taxpayers and has a long history of donating to almost exclusively Republicans and conservative Supreme Court candidates. Now we learn that he’s also working with one of the GOP’s biggest campaign groups.

I’ll let you decide if this passes the smell test.

Pink Slip for Walker

Scott Walker is in trouble. The man elected just a few short months ago with 52% of the vote has a disapproval rating of 57%, according to a new poll. His once bright political future may come to an end in nine months, when he is eligible for recall.


Walker's pink slip hangs proudly in Pocan's window.


Is he backing off, taking yes for an answer? Is he even looking for a political escape route that allows him to save face?

Nope.

Scott Walker is using real human beings as political shields to protect himself from the public shellacking he’s taken in the past few weeks.

It seems like just about every day Walker flings a threat at Democrats. Many of them have been debunked as illegal, out of his power or simple bullying. But now he’s gone a step further. Today, Walker threatened 1,500 innocent state employees with layoff if Senate Democrats don’t return and do his bidding.

Scott Walker, you’ve gone too far. The people of this state didn’t elect a bully. They elected you to fix the economy, not to increase the unemployment rate.