Outgoing Republican WI State Senator Rips GOP: ‘How Much Pain Do We Have to Dish Out?’

Despite my fairly well known disdain for the Republican party, I do realize that not all Republicans are right-wing lunatics. Though as the years progress, “moderate Republicans” are going the way of CD’s and flip phones. In fact, I’ve told the few moderate Republicans that I’ve met the last several years that they’re better off siding with Democrats than this new wave of ultraconservative tea party Republicans. Because that’s the truth. Ronald Reagan, the conservative icon himself, is closer to being a Democrat by today’s radical right-wing standards than he is a modern day Republican.

Well, one outgoing moderate Republican in Wisconsin, state Sen. Dale Schultz, blasted his party for many of the tactics they’ve been using, not just in Wisconsin, but all over the country.

“We are now literally dismantling the state government, and people need to think long and hard about what they want for a future in our state,” he said.

And dismantling the government is exactly what Republicans want to do. These GOP politicians run on the premise that the government is corrupt and inefficient. Then when they’re elected, they do just about everything within their power to make the government as inept as possible so voters will get on their “anti-government” bandwagon.

They’re literally causing the very problems within our government that they tell the American people are so awful. It’s a great scam.

But the Wisconsin state senator wasn’t done there.

“How much pain do we have to dish out in this state to one another before we finally realize that we have to get along and we have to compromise with one another?” Schultz continued.

Well, as we all know, the word “compromise” with Republicans equates to “weak,” and if you’re seen as weak within the GOP you stand a good chance at getting primaried the next time you come up for re-election. Then again, who really wants a government where both sides work together to pass sensible legislation?

Schultz also hammered his party’s moves in Wisconsin to gut funding for education.

“The K-12 system in the last few years has laid off 3,000 personnel, and it looks to me like that’s going to accelerate. Out my way, I would not be shocked if a huge percentage of school districts wind up going to referendum to have the privilege of raising their own property tax because the state has walked away from its principal responsibility of providing for a free, appropriate and near equal education for everybody,” he said.

“I have no idea where they could come up with that money (for school voucher programs) short of taking it away from K-12 public education which is just going to accelerate its demise,” he continued. “We can’t afford one system in this state. How we are going to ever have ourselves in a situation of trying to fund two is beyond me. … But with Gov. Walker’s impending announcement for the presidency, I know that he is going to do everything he can to push a robust voucher program because that is what’s popular with certain elements of the tea party.”

If I hadn’t told you Schultz was a Republican, I doubt anyone reading this who had never heard of him would have ever guessed that he was. These are the kinds of comments you almost never see anymore coming from someone “on the other side.”

A Republican who sees the value of unions, education, compromise and bipartisanship? Yeah, those kinds of Republicans aren’t getting elected anymore.

Instead we get climate change deniers, creationists and people who based their entire political ideology on the sole premise of “whatever President Obama supports, just say the opposite.”

I just wish more Republicans were looking to politicians like Wisconsin state Sen. Dale Schultz instead of right-wing clowns like Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan.

Gov. Scott Walker: Refusing health care to low-income Americans helps them 'live the American dream'

I don't know what anti-healthcare conservatives suppose the "American Dream" to be, but I've yet to see one aspire to it themselves:

Defending his fellow Republican governors’ decision to block Medicaid expansion in their states, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Friday suggested that denying health coverage to additional low-income Americans helps more people “live the American Dream” because they won’t be “dependent on the American government.”

Denying health coverage to any low-income American would run afoul of living the American Dream primarily because of the living part, of course. Denying the Medicaid expansion is expected to kill thousands of Americans outright, and it's difficult to live the "American Dream" as a plastic bag of burnt cinders tossed very respectfully to your next-of-kin. No "American Dream" I am familiar with involves being plunged into sudden bankruptcy by the slightest of accidents; I have never heard a child say when I grow up, I am going to get a medically treated condition but then not be able to treat it because my employer does not cover that.

“Beyond that, I just ask the basic question: Why is more people on Medicaid a good thing?” he said. “I’d rather find a way, particularly for able-bodied adults without children, I’d like to find a way to get them into the workforce. [...]

Particularly able-bodied adults without children, and screw the rest of them. If you are poor and have a child you are out of luck, and had best hope your janitorial job will allow you to raise young Timmy in the mop bucket while you go about your shift; if you are poor and not able-bodied the American Dream dictates you suck it up, self-amputate whichever of your limbs is giving you the trouble using plastic utensils procured from the nearest fast-food restaurant, and apply for a job at that restaurant as soon as you have cauterized the wound on their industrial grill.

I think ideologically, that’s a better approach, not just as a conservative, but as an American. Have more people live the American dream if they’re not dependent on the American government.”

 Ideologically, it's a wonderful approach. Ideologically, it would be ideal if poor Americans rode unicorns to their fancy Wall Street jobs and got health insurance from the ghost of Ronald Reagan himself, who would smile as he helped them fill out the forms and would then quickly send them off to Jesus Christ to be processed. The chasm between ideologically andpracticality is wide, and at the bottom is a slow-moving river of Not Really Giving A Shit. If you are so determined to find an ideological solution to poor Americans dying from preventable diseases and not-poor Americans always one hospital visit away from becoming destitute, it is a clear announcement that the great vast sweep of those Americans and their problems is not concerning enough to bother with a non-ideological solution. Which would be, of course, the crux of the problem here.

I suspect what Gov. Scott Walker really means is that denying healthcare coverage to low-income Americans is necessary for his own American Dream, which is to be a respected and powerful member of a government that would do such things. The American Dream for Scott Walker means rising to a position where you can tell The Poors that they do not really need health care, and if they did need health care they should have thought of that before becoming Poors. The American Dream for Scott Walker is being able to sit in a very nice office and opine on how all of the Americans who are not governors should be happy to die for the cause of Scott Walker's personal ideology, because we are all in this together, you and I, and if you are not willing to be buried in a pauper's grave in order to provide a slight boost to Scott Walker's planned run for the presidency then you are not really a part of the Scott Walker team, now, are you. You should consider your diabetes or heart disease or sick child from a more ideological perspective, and I am sure then you will be able to appreciate how your existence runs afoul of Scott Walker's American Dream.

Walker: Minimum Wage Serves No Purpose

“Well, I’m not going to repeal it, but I don’t think it serves a purpose,” Gov. Scott Walker said of the minimum wage during a meeting with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial board.

After avoiding the question in his first debate with Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, Gov. Scott Walker finally offered an answer during a live broadcast of his sit-down with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“What is your position on the minimum wage?” asked columnist Dan Bice. “Should we have it?”

“Well, I’m not going to repeal it, but I don’t think it serves a purpose,” Walker responded.

While the facts paint a clear picture that raising the minimum wage would boost earnings for 16 million people and bring 900,000 Americans out of poverty, Walker once again stands against middle-class values and on the wrong side of history.

According to a poll conducted by the Marquette University Law School, 59 percent of Wisconsinites support increasing the minimum wage.

Walker’s latest flub comes only days after his first debate with challenger Mary Burke during which, when asked about Wisconsin’s lack of job growth compared to the rest of the Midwest, Walker responded that the state “doesn’t have a jobs problem, we have a work problem.”

Agree to disagree, Governor. You might think sitting last in the Midwest for job growth is acceptable, but to the people of Wisconsin, last in the Midwest and 35th in the nation isn’t cutting it.

Wisconsin Teapublican Jackhole Wants to Abolish the Weekend, Headed for Congress

Glenn Grothman is a Tea Party Republican state senator in Wisconsin who is now running for congress in the 6th district. He is known for speaking bluntly and is not hesitant to share his most outrageous opinions.

Grothman is likely to win the race in the solidly Republican district and he will certainly bring his radical ideas to Washington with him, hoping to impose them on the entire nation and not only one state.

In January Grothman proposed that the state’s law requiring that workers must have at least one day a week off be repealed, saying that time off work is “a little ridiculous.” He told theHuffington Post that the law as it stood was “a little goofy” suggesting that many people want to work seven days a week and don’t want any time off.

In 2010 Grothman proposed a law that would ban sex education teachers in Wisconsin schools from mentioning homosexuality because he thinks that homosexuality is a choice and that some students may be “turned gay” by teachers who for some diabolical reason have an agenda to “recruit” as many as they can to homosexuality.

In 2013 during an appearance on Voice of Christian Youth America Grothman said of Planned Parenthood:

“Given the racist background of Planned Parenthood, and not liking people who are not white, I wonder if one of the reasons why Planned Parenthood likes to do these sex selective abortions is disproportionately being done on people of an Asian background. And let’s face it, we know all Planned Parenthood’s background, they’re very racist.”

He doesn’t believe that men and women should get the same pay for the same job, because men need the money more than the women and besides he thinks the women earn less because they are worth less since they take time off to raise children and other such wastes of time.

He says that affirmative action for any group is just wrong and should be done away with completely, that people on food stamps don’t act poor enough and eat better than working people do, Kwanzaa is some sort of conspiracy concocted by white liberals to con the black community and that God is mad at John Kerry.

In a nutshell, Mr. Grothman has a set of “values” and “principles” packed and ready to go to Washington in January that are somewhere well to the right of Attila the Hun, and the bright red district he is running in is apt to elect him inflicting him on the rest of the country.

Republican Jacob Dorsey Drops Out Of Race For Wisconsin Assembly Following More Homophobic, Racist Comments

Jacob Dorsey, the 19-year-old Republican candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly, has dropped out of the race after racist and homophobic comments he had made on Twitter and YouTube surfaced, reports LGBTQ Nation.

On Monday it was reported that Dorsey was facing a backlash following a tweet sent last December that contained a homophobic slur.

The tweet, which has since been deleted, read:

“10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejects #Utah’s request to stop same-sex marriages.” fags need 2 leave my favorite state alone.”

In a statement, Dorsey had apologised for the tweet and said “I regret using unacceptable and hurtful language on social media last year. I am a staunch supporter of traditional marriage, but the language I used is not in keeping with my character, family values and Christian upbringing.”

However, yesterday NOManiacs, a group that exposes hate speech, reported that Dorsey had posted further racist and homophobic comments on YouTube. The comments were posted to Dorsey’s since deleted “jdorsey1995″ YouTube channel, the same account name he used for Twitter and Instagram.

Dorsey - a former intern with Citizens for Decency who has been endorsed by Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Right To Life - yesterday told the The Janesville Gazette that he had “decided to withdraw from the race due to insensitive remarks that have surfaced from years past. This race has been extremely hard on my family and myself.”

On Dorsey's resignation, NOManiacs said:

"We hope Jacob Dorsey truly regrets his posts. America needs leaders at all levels who champion diversity and are committed to represent all. Dorsey was not yet that person."

Teen GOP Hopeful Faces Backlash Over Anti-Gay Christmas Tweet

Jacob Dorsey  (Source:Facebook)

So much for the theory that younger Republicans are more accepting of LGBT rights.

Jacob Dorsey, 19, must not have been thinking of his campaign to represent the 44th District in the Wisconsin state assembly last Christmas, when at 1:30 a.m., the young Republican hopeful used a gay slur in a tweet speaking out against Utah's same-sex marriages.

Fiver months before throwing his hat in the ring as the Republican candidate for Wisconsin's state assembly, Dorsey, a student at the Mormon owned Brigham Young University, celebrated Jesus' birth with a little old fashioned homophobia. Angered over same-sex marriages that were taking place in Utah, Dorsey took to twitter:

10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejects #Utah's request to stop same-sex marriages.
fags need 2 leave my favorite state alone.

In a statement to News 3, Dorsey apologized for his language.

"I regret using unacceptable and hurtful language on social media last year," he said. "I am a staunch supporter of traditional marriage, but the language I used is not in keeping with my character, family values and Christian upbringing."

Dorsey's CV boasts membership in the National Rifle Association, BYU Investment Society, Republican Party of Rock County. He is also a former legislative supervisor for the anti-porn crusading group, Citizens for Decency.

In 2013, on the eve of the United States Supreme Court hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8 cases, Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus said that the GOP needed to welcome party members who support same-sex marriage.

"I don't believe we need to act like Old Testament heretics," Priebus told USA Today, saying Republicans "have to strike a balance between principle and grace and respect."

7th Circuit Hears Challenges To Same-Sex Marriage Bans in Indiana and Wisconsin

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals this week heard oral arguments in two cases that challenged the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin, respectively. As the AP reports, the three judge panel composed of Judges Richard Posner, Anne Claire Williams and David Hamilton, were critical of arguments that sought to justify the bans. Judge Posner, the sole Republican appointed judge among the three member panel, was perhaps the most critical of the states defending their anti-equality laws, objecting in particular to arguments that relied on "tradition":

"It was tradition to not allow blacks and whites to marry — a tradition that got swept away," Posner said. Prohibition of same sex marriage, he said, is "a tradition of hate ... and savage discrimination." 

Posner frequently cut off Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fischer, just moments into his presentation and chided him to answer his questions. 

At one point, Posner ran through a list of psychological strains of unmarried same-sex couples, including having to struggle to grasp why their schoolmates' parents were married and theirs weren't. 

"What horrible stuff," Posner said. What benefits to society in barring gay marriage, he asked, "outweighs that kind of damage to children?" 

There was [also] some levity during the hearing. As Samuelson struggled to offer a specific reason for how gay marriage bans benefit society, he suddenly noted a yellow courtroom light signaling his allotted time was up. 

"It won't save you," [Judge Ann Claire] Williams told him, prompting laughter in court.

Samuleson smiled, and said: "it was worth a try.”

The last anecdote indicates somewhat dramatically just how much the court may be inclined to disagree with the state’s arguments and find for the plaintiffs.

Wisconsin's Supreme Court Rejects One Of State's Biggest Homophobes

The Wisconsin Supreme Court sent Julaine Appling packing yesterday, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving homophobe. 

If you aren't familiar with her, Julaine Appling is the director of Wisconsin Family Action, (WFA) a group dedicated to the fight against gay marriage rights. According to the Wisconsin Gazette Ms. Appling is, “a never-married woman who lives with her lifelong companion, Diane Westphall, in a home they own jointly in Watertown,” adding, “The two also work side by side at WFA.”

Ms. Appling first came to our attention in August of 2011, when she joined the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity (AFP) in their effort to resist the recall of Republican state senators who voted to rescind collective bargaining rights for teachers, firefighters and other public sector union members. Under her leadership, the WFA ran fake Democrats in the primaries that were held to find opposition candidates, and mailed fake absentee ballots to gay Wisconsin voters, with instructions to return them by August 11, two days after the election was to be held. This isn't conjecture, the fake ballots not only had the WFA as the return address, Ms. Appling admitted to it:

“We’re part of a coalition, and we’re doing this,” Ms. Appling announced proudly, and she stuck to that line right up until the time she was warned the ballots constituted mail fraud. At that point Ms. Appling suddenly denied any knowledge of the campaign and claimed AFP had used her group’s return address without permission.

Ms. Appling also famously called for nine-month jail sentences and fines of $10,000 for anyone married in another state who attempted to live in Wisconsin.

“I think we have been extremely tolerant to let them live wherever they choose.” said Appling.

To say Ms. Appling is a sworn enemy of the LGBT community is like saying Lindsay Lohan gets stoned. Her latest effort to make life more difficult for gay couples was a legal battle, not to keep them from marrying, but to keep domestic partners in Wisconsin from having any of the same privileges that married couples have.

Wisconsin voters passed a same-sex marriage ban in 2006. But in 2009, the legislature tried to relieve some of the blatant unfairness inherent in such bans. Wisconsin established a Domestic Partnership Registry which extends to same-sex partners the right to be covered by their partner's insurance, to inherit should their partner die, and to visit their partner in a hospital or hospice or to take medical leave to care for their partner. 

Corrupt Judge Tries To Protect GOP Governor Walker By Ordering Incriminating Evidence Destroyed

On Tuesday May 6, 2014, Federal Judge Rudolph Randa ordered a halt to the investigation into Scott Walker’s campaign finance dealings. Randa, who has close ties to the Walker administration, took that order a step further by demanding that prosecutors destroy all the evidence they had collected during the investigation.

Attorneys for the Walker administration asked Randa to halt the investigation, claiming that authorities examining and collecting evidence of illegal activity is a violation of their right to free speech. The judge ruled in support of this ridiculous notion, basically saying that illegal acts should be protected from the process of investigation, under the guise of free speech.

Randa, who was appointed by George W. Bush and is an adviser to the extreme right-wing Federalist Society, received a harsh reprimand from the 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals, who placed a stay on the judge’s ruling, less than 24 hours after it was handed it down. The three judge panel halted the order to destroy the evidence, saying it “effectively prevents appellate review.”

Randa reissued his order on Thursday, May 8, a move which blocks any further investigation into Walker’s illegal activities. The order does not reinstate his ruling that evidence in the case must be destroyed. The most absurd line from Randa’s latest ruling is this:

“As other histories tell us, attempts to purify the public square lead to places like the Guillotine and the Gulag.”

So what he’s saying here is that we should not attempt to stop illegal activity, because something bad could happen if we do? That is a frightening statement coming from a person who is appointed to oversee justice.

In addition to the state investigation, there is an ongoing federal investigation into Walker’s illegal activities. An earlier investigation led to the conviction of a half dozen members of Walker’s former administration.

Walker and his accomplices have attempted every possible tactic in order to squirm out of providing documents or testimony to investigating officers. Getting the case in front of a right wing judge with close ties to one of Walker’s lead attorneys, might have been luck of the draw, but it’s doubtful. Former US attorney Steven M. Biskupic, who was appointed by the George W. Bush administration, is leading the legal team for the Walker administration. Biskupic’s wife just happens to work for judge Randa.

Even more questionable, Randa scheduled sessions to hear motions related to the case, but then cancelled both, before handing his ruling without ever having heard the arguments.

In spite of the massive amount of corruption in the state of Wisconsin, the citizens continue to demand that the truth be known. The decision of the appeals court panel will allow the investigation into Walker’s money laundering and illegal campaign finance activities to continue, as much as Walker and his corrupt group of co-conspirators don’t want that to happen.

Son of Wisconsin governor acts as a witness to same-sex marriage

Governor Scott Wilson has refused to offer a statement on same-sex unions after his state's marriage equality ban was struck down by a judge

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker might no longer publicly announce his position on gay marriage, but one of his sons doesn't mind participating in one.

On 9 June Alex Walker, a rising University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore, was one of the two required witnesses to the marriage of Shelli Marquardt and Cathy Priem.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Marquardt is a cousin to Alex Walker's mother, the state's First Lady Tonette Walker.

On 6 June, US District Court Judge Barbara Crabb struck down the state's ban on marriage equality. On 13 June, she issued a stay on her decision as it's reviewed by the 7th Circuit Court.

Sixty of the state's 72 counties provided LGBTI marriage certificates since 9 June.

Ever since Crabb's ruling, Governor Walker has not given a statement. In the past the Republican has voiced disapproval of gay marriage, but now is keeping mum out of respect for the legal process.

‘It really doesn’t matter what I think now,’ Walker told Fox 7.

When asked if he was rethinking his position Walker replied, ‘No I’m just not stating one at all.’

The rumored 2016 candidate for the GOP presidential nomination will have an opportunity tomorrow, 6 July, to congratulate the happy couple. As reported by the Journal Sentinel, Marquardt and Priem are listed as hosts, along with the governor and first lady, of the Independence Day barbecue.

The event will be held at Wisconsin's Executive residence.

Marquardt and Priem have both made donations to Walker's past campaigns.

ACLU Urges Wisconsin Attorney General to Make a Decision on Appeal of Marriage Ruling

In an open letter to Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen (pictured), the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Wisconsin have called for Van Hollen to decide whether or not to appeal the recent ruling striking down the state's gay marriage ban.

For now, Judge Crabb's order is suspended, pending the possible appeals from Governor Scott Walker or Attorney General Van Hollen. While Walker seems hesitant to take a definite stand on this issue, on numerous past occasions Van Hollen has stated it would be his intention to appeal.

In the above-linked letter, John Knight and Larry Dupuis of the ACLU explain the need for prompt action in this matter:

Our clients and other same-sex couples in Wisconsin are faced with the continuing indignity of seeing their families denigrated by the state’s refusal to allow them to marry or to recognize their marriages entered elsewhere... Even if you [Van Hollen] believe you will win, please file your appeal promptly to resolve the uncertainty that same-sex couples, their children, as well as employers and other businesses and government offices who interact with same-sex couples are facing until the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s ban on marriage is resolved.

Federal Judge Blasts Homophobic Tea Party Gov. Scott Walker: ‘Traditional’ Marriage Was Polygamy!

If you haven’t already heard, Wisconsin recently became the 27th state to potentially allow for gay marriages. US District Judge Barbara Crabb struck down Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage ban, crushing every argument proponents of the ban put before her.

“Because my review of that law convinces me that plaintiffs are entitled to the same treatment as any heterosexual couple, I conclude that the Wisconsin laws banning marriage between same-sex couples are unconstitutional.”

One such argument given was that the “traditional view of marriage — between a man and a woman — has been recognized for millennia.” Judge Crabb blasted this claim too, reminding anti-gay bigots that “traditionally” marriage has more often been polygamy.

“Throughout History, the most ‘traditional’ form of marriage has not been one man and one woman, but between one man and multiple women, which presumably is not a tradition that defendants and amici would like to continue.”

Boom! Crabb goes on to state that, while tradition cannot simply be ignored, “there are darker traditions as well, which later generations have rejected as denials of equality.” While slavery, segregation, and denying women the right to vote were all once tradition, we have thankfully progressed from those ideas.

Crabb’s 88-page ruling tears apart one argument after the other, stating that their hateful claims are “bewildering” and “harken back to objections to interracial marriage”. In an especially amusing part of the ruling, addressing the claim that allowing gay marriage would somehow cheapen or otherwise injure straight marriages, Judge Crabb slams their nonsensical bigotry once more:

“Neither defendants nor amici cite any evidence or even develop a cogent argument to support their belief that allowing same-sex couples to marry somehow will lead to the de-valuing of children in marriage or have some other adverse effect on the marriages of heterosexual couples. Thus, it is doubtful whether defendants’ belief even has a rational basis.“

Double boom! With judges like Crabb willing to call these anti-equality thugs on their unconstitutional crap, there’s real hope for equal rights in the near future.Congratulations to all our fellow LGBT allies in Wisconsin!

Martin O’Malley Brilliantly Rages Against Tea Party Idiots Paul Ryan and Scott Walker

Have you heard of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley? In 2002 he was named by Esquire “The Best Young Mayor in the Country,” and in 2005 one of America’s “Top 5 Big City Mayors” by TIME. Still, even though he’s publicly considering a run for the Democratic nomination in 2016 (if Hillary doesn’t make up her mind soon), he’s not exactly a first-name figure for most. That just changed, at least in Wisconsin.

As the keynote speaker for 2014′s Democratic Founders Day Gala, O’Malley absolutely skewered several prominent Republican figures; most notably, Paul Ryan. He said of Ryan’s budget, which narrowly passed the House Budget Committee chamber this week:

“When Pope Francis urged American Catholics to fight poverty, Congressman Ryan thought he said, ‘Fight the poor.’ ” 

Ryan’s budget, which comes by its supposed “$5 trillion over ten years” in “savings” primarily by cutting everything that might in any way benefit the poor. And, of course, that includes repealing Obamacare. However, Ryan wasn’t afraid to count on the taxes or Medicare cost shifting that is part of Obamacare, but wouldn’t exist under his plan. One Kentucky Republican (who was one of the 12 who voted against it) said of Ryan’s numbers fudging ”I’m not sure that’s honest accounting.”

O’Malley reserved some of his harshest words for hometown boy Wisconson Gov. Scott Walker. Walker has consistently opposed wage increases in Wisconsin, which i was a cause championed by O’Malley in Maryland. He called Walker a “devoted follower of trickle-down economics if ever there was one,” and dropped the K-Bomb with:

“If your goal is to hold down wages and turn Wisconsin into a subsidiary of Koch Industries, then Governor Walker’s your guy.”

You might be wondering why O’Malley chose to target Walker, right on his home soil; or even why he was in Wisconsin in the first place. Lots of Wisconsonites have probably asked themselves the same question. But O’Malley wasn’t there for the beer and cheese: He was there for Walker. Walker has expressed some intent to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016…he already has some name recognition, after all.

Unfortunately, that recognition came from a series of massively racist emails circulated around his office, which were uncovered during a previous criminal probe. And he’s still under investigation for a second criminal charge. He’s also not only refused $11 billion from the Fed to expand Medicaid, he actually CUT $500 million from the state’s Medicaid budget.

He’s passed the usual battery of voter ID laws, and more recently, broadened Wisconson’s gun laws, two days later shelling out $175,000 to pay for a new “ShotSpotter” system for the police. ShotSpotter is an acoustic system that helps military and police personnel to pinpoint the location of gunfire and calculate the trajectory of bullets…which is probably a little more important after you throw open the door to residents purchasing out-of-state rifles.

So, pretty standard Republican.

ACLU Seeks Injunction Blocking Wisconsin Gay Marriage Ban During Court Challenge

The ACLU has filed a brief asking a federal judge to issue an injunction blocking Wisconsin's gay marriage ban while the issue is fought in court, the AP reports:

The organization filed a motion on Thursday with U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, seeking a preliminary injunction that would essentially invalidate the ban until the lawsuit is decided.

In a brief accompanying the motion, the ACLU argued it’s entitled to a preliminary injunction because it’ll likely win the lawsuit and the ban imposes irreparable harm on same-sex couples.

The lawsuit was filed on February 3 by the ACLU on behalf of four couples.The first hearing is March 27.

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Wisconsin's Ban on Gay Marriage

Add another state to the list. 

 

The Washington Blade reports:

Same-sex couples in Wisconsin joined others throughout the country on Monday in filing a lawsuit seeking same-sex marriage, but efforts there are unique because of the penalties for marrying in another jurisdiction.

The litigation seeks not only to overturn the state’s 2006 constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage, but also to enjoin state official from enforcing a “marriage evasion law” prohibiting couples — gay and straight — from going elsewhere to marry.

The penalties of violating the marriage evasion law in Wisconsin, which is the only state to have such a statute, include up to $10,000 in fines and nine months in prison.

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU, the ACLU of Wisconsin and Mayer Brown LLP before th U.S. Disctrict Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Marie Carlson and Charvonne Kemp of Milwaukee (pictured); Virginia Wolf and Carol Schumacher of Eau Claire, Wis.; Roy Badger and Garth Wangemann of Milwaukee; and Judith “Judi” Trampf and Katharina “Katy” Heyning of Madison are named as plaintiffs. Read their stories here.

The ACLU adds:

Among the plaintiff couples, Schumacher and Wolf were legally married in another state, raising the possibility of prosecution back at home. The lawsuit challenges the overall ban as well as the application of this criminal law to same-sex couples who are forced to choose between being denied federal protections and the risk of criminal prosecution.

“These families simply want the security and recognition that only marriage provides,” said Larry Dupuis, legal director of the ACLU of Wisconsin. “They have built their lives and raised children here. It is wrong for the state to treat these loving and committed couples as second-class citizens, and it is cruel to place them in a catch-22 where they can’t even travel elsewhere to obtain federal protections without their marriage being labeled a crime.”

Glenn Grothman (R-WI): Workers Having Weekends Off Is ‘Goofy’, ‘Kills Freedom’

Glenn Grothman, the Republican Assistant Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate, is fighting to make sure that workers can avoid such horrible burdens as rest and pleasure with family. Since not a day goes by in this topsy-turvy, Mad Max world that Republicans are trying to create, State Senator Grothman is pushing to overturn a Wisconsin law that employers have to provide employees one day off. Seeing as Mr. Grothman is painfully single obviously he wouldn’t mind being away from home 7 days a week. In any case, Wisconsin is rapidly losing out on labor growth due to its anti-worker policies.

Glenn Grothman Thinks Seven Day Work Week Brings Freedom To Employee

In a email obtained by Huff Po, Senator Grothman is trying to pass legislation that would allow an employee to “voluntarily choose to work without one day off.”

“Right now in Wisconsin, you’re not supposed to work seven days in a row, which is a little ridiculous because all sorts of people want to work seven days a week,” Grothman told The Huffington Post.

The law that Glenn Grothman also called “goofy” and  undoing it is a matter of “freedom,” is one in which the state’s employers must afford employees with at least one period consisting of 24 consecutive hours of rest in each calendar week.  However, it seems an employee could work for up to 12 consecutive days so long as “the days of rest fall on the first and last days of the 2 week period.” But while this law change seems innocuous at first glance, it can (and will) lead to employer abuse.

Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President of the Economic Policy Institute, believes that such a change could lead to employers forcing their employees to work the extra time.

“It’s a very hard thing to know whether something is truly voluntary or not,” said Eisenbrey.  “If the employer puts pressure on people and lets them know they will be unhappy if workers exercise their right to have a day off, that might be enough so that no worker ever does anything but volunteer to work seven days a week.” (Think Progress)

Multiple Subpoenas, Search Warrants Issued in New Probe of Gov Scott Walker’s Recall Election

Trouble is brewing for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Walker is the target of probe conducted by Milwaukee County, issuing dozens of subpoenas requesting documents related to the 2011 and 2012 campaign to recall Walker and other state lawmakers.

“Copies of two subpoenas we’ve seen demand all memoranda, email […] correspondence, and communications” both internally and between the subpoena target and some 29 conservative groups, including Wisconsin and national nonprofits, political vendors and party committees,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “The groups include the League of American Voters, Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity — Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.”

The Journal report goes on to say that the subpoenas are demanding “all records of income received, including fundraising information and the identity of persons contributing to the corporation.”

According to Madison.com:

According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, spending in the 2011 and 2012 recall elections by groups mentioned in the article include:

• Right Direction Wisconsin PAC (Republican Governors Association): $9.4 million
• Club for Growth Wisconsin: $9.1 million
• Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce: $4.7 million

Americans for Prosperity/MacIver Institute for Public Policy: $4.5 million

The liberal Center for Media and Democracy has tracked millions of dollars that has flowed among these groups in Wisconsin.

In an interview Saturday, the group’s general counsel, Brendan Fischer, described it as a “dark money shell game” in which thousands and in some cases millions of dollars from anonymous donors are moved from one organization to another with the goal of influencing elections.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Unmentioned in the editorial is that R.J. Johnson is an adviser to both Walker’s campaign and the Wisconsin Club for Growth.

The newspaper said the subpoenas sought records and fundraising information and were related to the 2011 and 2012 recall efforts against the Republican governor and state senators. The subpoenas come out of a second, secret John Doe investigation of Walker aides or allies. The first investigation was closed in February, but the second one is ongoing. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on both investigations.

John Doe probes give prosecutors the power to compel people to testify and bar them from speaking about their involvement in the investigations. The Wall Street Journal editorial page reported O’Keefe was willing to discuss his subpoena, saying he “realizes the personal risk but wants the public to know what is going on.”

Search warrants were executed based on affidavits filed by Dean Nickel, according to the newspaper. Nickel served as the special agent in charge for the state Department of Justice’s public integrity unit, and the newspaper reported he has served as an investigator for the state Government Accountability Board.

It’s clear that the groups listed in the subpoena were not exercising their free speech rights when they intentionally and illegally misinformed voters.

Although coincidence and incompetence may be an admissible defense in a limited number of cases, most investigators do not give credence to coincidence. The new investigation of the conservative groups that have invaded Wisconsin since the days before the 2010 election is a long time coming.

Wisconsin GOP pushes new voting restrictions

President Obama may have won Wisconsin with relative ease last year, but when it comes to state government, the Badger State looks pretty “red”: Republican Gov. Scott Walker is currently working with Republican majorities in the state Assembly and state Senate.

 

And like most states where GOP officials control the levers of in-state power, voting restrictions appear to be a top goal in Wisconsin. This started in earnest back in March, as my colleague Laura Conaway reported at the time, and the efforts intensified yesterday.

Voters in Wisconsin would have less time to cast early ballots under a proposed bill that passed the Wisconsin Assembly on Thursday, the latest move in a nationwide string of Republican-led efforts to tighten voting rules.

 

The measure would require county clerks to limit early voting to 40 hours per week, between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It would end weekend early voting hours, which Democrats have used to turn out the vote in heavily urban areas such as Milwaukee and Madison.

Remember, while Republicans generally rely on the ridiculous “voter fraud” canard to rationalize voter suppression, the argument has no use in cases like these – the only reason to shrink the amount of time voters have to cast a ballot is if you want fewer votes cast.

 

Of the 54 Republicans in the Assembly, 53 voted for the measure, which was more than enough to pass the bill and send it to the state Senate.

Thanks to Scott Walker, Wisconsin Will Pay Up To 99% Higher Insurance Costs

“Wisconsin health insurance exchange premiums for single coverage will be on average 79% to 99% higher than premiums in Minnesota, before tax credits are applied,” according to a new report.

If you’re wondering why there is such a disparity in healthcare insurance costs between similar states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, it’s because Republican Governor Scott Walker rejected enhanced federal Medicaid dollars and Wisconsin Republicans decided not to implement more robust rate reviews. Translation: Republicans rejected money to expand Medicaid and Republicans choose not to oversee rate regulation (if this doesn’t ring a bell, when Republicans discuss it, they call their refusal to check corporation’s “freedom” and “free markets”).

These decisions may cost Wisconsinites $1,800 or more a year over what their Minnesota counterparts pay for health insurance. Wisconsinites will pay between 79% and 99% higher premiums before tax credits are applied, and the middle class will be hit the hardest. Some cities will pay as much as 136% higher premiums.

Citizen Action of Wisconsin released a new report documenting the vast differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin in the cost for health insurance on the individual insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act.

• Wisconsin health insurance exchange premiums for single coverage will be on average 79% to 99% higher than premiums in Minnesota, before tax credits are applied. That is a difference of over $1,800 a year.
•The health insurance cost differential will be even worse for some major Wisconsin cities. Rates in La Crosse are 136% higher than the Minnesota average, rates in Eau Claire are 116% higher, and rates in Milwaukee are 112% higher.

• The cost gap with Minnesota has the biggest impact on middle class Wisconsinites because Affordable Care Act tax credits mitigate the impact on lower income people who buy insurance on the exchange.

Watch Scott Walker’s Police Illegally Arrest A Marine Veteran & Desecrate His Flag

Friday was the second day of the police crackdown to rein in daily protests at the Wisconsin Capitol building seeking to bring attention to Koch-sponsored Governor Scott Walker’s unprecedented attacks on Wisconsin's labor unions, minorities, the public sector, and the middle class.

After illegally declaring the peaceful demonstration an “unlawful assembly” the Wisconsin Capitol, which are under Walker’s control, have attempted to quell the demonstration by sending out waves of officers to unnecessarily arrest several peaceful protesters.

In the video below, they go as far as to arrest a completely peaceful US Marine Corps veteran, who had not yet been arrested, for “resisting arrest”, although he was simply standing there with a bandanna tied over his mouth, ensuring that he couldn’t possibly have been arrested for saying something disrespectful or threatening towards the police.

Adding insult to injury and providing a very fitting example of Governor Walker’s un-American trampling of his constituents First Amendment rights, the arresting officers either intentionally or inadvertently(it’s not clear in the video) stepped all over this ex-Marine’s American flag, trampling and desecrating it for all to see.

It’s important that all of America sees this video, so everyone can see just how brutal and un-American Scott Walker’s reign of terror is. Please do your part by sharing this literal trampling of American First Amendment Constitutional Rights on social media forums.