Wisconites...can you proof this for me?

RE: WISCONSIN’S LAME DUCK COUP D’ ETAT

I’m sure all my Wisconsin friends, both Republican and Democratic, have heard the details of the proposed lame duck session on Tuesday of next week when the Republican Party Controlled State Legislature will try (and probably successfully) undermine the will of the voters in last November’s mid-term elections.

True, thanks to court-challenged and yet to be resolved gerrymandering, Republicans maintained their majority in both houses of the legislature. But it is equally true that they did so on the basis of promises that they agreed with the stated desire of the public that health care exclusion of pre-existing conditions were NOT what they wanted and yet, Fitzgerald and Voss are proposing legislation to prevent the newly elected Attorney General from withdrawing from a law suit that would allow insurance companies to carry on with this practice. Many Republicans ran under the “cover” of saying they were in favor of prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and now they are proving that their support was just another cheap campaign ploy. They are showing their hypocrisy.

The same hypocrisy holds true for the effort to be taken up in the Lame Duck Session on early voting. Republicans claim loudly and boldly to support voting integrity and yet they will try to limit access to the ballot box by limiting the time in which Wisconsin residents can cast their vote early.

The people of Wisconsin voted decisively that new leadership in Wisconsin’s state-wide offices was wanted. This Executive Branch experienced a near-total house cleaning to provide new leadership to the State of Wisconsin and again, in a naked and crass power grab, the Republic-controlled legislature seeks to thwart the will of the voters.

To place a fig leaf over their naked aggression Republicans are using two arguments.

The first is simply that the electors put them back in office; they have the votes, so they can do anything they want. Not true. The people of Wisconsin voted for those state wide offices on the basis of issues and as stated above they spoke loudly and clearly about where they stand on those issues. And, as also stated above, many Republicans running for re-election AGREED with the same issues upon which the Governor and the other members of the executive branch were elected. The actions of the Republican legislature not only reveals the hypocrisy of the those Republicans who were re-elected, but also raises a proverbial middle finger to the will of the voters who entrusted them to carry out their promises.

The other argument I hear from the Republican rank-and-file is “this isn’t a democracy, it’s a Republic and you (insert your choice: liberals, libtards, snowflakes) don’t understand this.” On the contrary my friends it is you who do not understand that we are a democratic republic. We elect our members of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to reflect our will as we have the opportunity to express it.

Without much hope that any of these words will have influence with my Republican friends, I respectfully ask you to reject the proposals put forth in the Lame Duck Session and serve the people of Wisconsin as statesmen with an eye toward respecting the institutions of our State of Wisconsin as opposed to power-hungry politicians.

What's happened to us...??

This is significant!

Head's up 7th CD!

The attached article from TALKING POINTS MEMO shows pictures of Congressmen celebrating the "defeat of Obamacare"...and among them is Sean Duffy..

But the authors have done something great...they have annotated in RED the names of the Congressmen along with the NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THEIR DISTRICT WHO COULD LOSE THEIR HEALTH COVERAGE..

In the 7th CD...57,000.......that's 57,000 people who have a reason to vote against Duffy..

Here's the article.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-trumpcare-butcher-block-celebration-in-photos-annotated

What the hell happened?

I found this old post of mine on facebook..The contrast between what the Republicans did to Health Care last week as well as the B.S. Transportation Proposal the Wisconsin Republicans have used as a vehicle (no pun intended) to push through a FLAT TAX on Wisconsin citizens and what the REPUBLICAN PARTY USED TO STAND FOR is absolutely mind-boggling...

Here's the post:

In defense of once being a card-carrying Republican, another blog found this text of the official Republican Party Platform in 1956...enjoy

"We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs--expansion of social security--broadened coverage in unemployment insurance --improved housing--and better health protection for all our people.

We recognize the need for maintaining isolated wilderness areas.

A continuously vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws

Legislation to enable closer Federal scrutiny of mergers which have a significant or potential monopolistic connotations;

Procedural changes in the antitrust laws to facilitate their enforcement.

Stimulate improved job safety of our workers, through assistance to the States, employees and employers;

Continue and further perfect its programs of assistance to the millions of workers with special employment problems, such as older workers, handicapped workers, members of minority groups, and migratory workers;

Strengthen and improve the Federal-State Employment Service and improve the effectiveness of the unemployment insurance system;...

Assure equal pay for equal work regardless of Sex;

Clarify and strengthen the eight-hour laws for the benefit of workers who are subject to federal wage standards on Federal and Federally-assisted construction, and maintain and continue the vigorous administration of the Federal prevailing minimum wage law for public supply contracts;

Extend the protection of the Federal minimum wage laws to as many more workers as is possible and practicable;

Continue to fight for the elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex;

Provide assistance to improve the economic conditions of areas faced with persistent and substantial unemployment;

Revise and improve the Taft-Hartley Act so as to protect more effectivel

Wow! The Guardian isn't pulling their punches

I think they're more upset about the election results than we are.

As to the descent into leftwing in-fighting, so distracting from the task of trenchantly opposing a fascist, it has the same driver: if you are fighting to reach a consensus, however bitterly, you can only do so with people who will move. You cannot discuss climate change with a person who thinks all scientists are crooked; you cannot discuss abortion with people who conceive women as chattel to begin with; it’s meritless. And yet to fight with one another is not neutral, it does more than just pass the time. It creates false equivalence or, worse, a hierarchy that has its arse on backwards. If you are talking about Hillary Clinton’s corporate cosiness and not Trump’s endorsement by the KKK, you are unavoidably putting one above the other.


edited to provide link:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/15/dangerous-fantasy-donald-trump-normalisation-us-president-elect-barbarism?CMP=fb_gu

Fraternal Order of Police

I ALWAYS make an annual donation to the Fraternal Order of Police. Haven't failed in years...

So when I got the telemarketing solicitation, I cut him off from his spiel about what FOP does and told him just to renew my pledge, same as every other year. Told them to send the package in the mail and I would send check by return mail.

Then......

I find out that the National FOP ENDORSED TRUMP!

Instead of sending back a check, they got all their materials back and I included this:

Gentlemen:

I was solicited for a pledge to your organization via telephone on or about September 19 of this year. Having been a supporter of our local Police Department for years, I agreed to a $25 pledge as I have done in many years past. However, in the intervening time I was informed that the National Organization of the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Donald Trump for President on September 16, 2016.

I consider it inappropriate for a benevolent association to make any political endorsement and I am particularly offended over this endorsement.

For that reason I am rescinding my pledge to your organization. Please remove my name from your list of future solicitations.

Sincerely,

Historic times in more ways than one...

True. Electing Hillary will be a historic moment for our country...but there is another, perhaps more subtle piece of history that can be written.

Bluntly, we have an opportunity that has eluded us for over 30 years. Since Ronald Reagan and the neocons took control of the Republican Party, our country has been plagued (yes, I deliberately used that word) by conservative policies that have slowly but surely destroyed the middle class, devastated our industries and ruined our health. For the first time in 30 years we have a chance to take not only the Presidency, but also majority control of the U. S. Senate and to put a serious dent in the Republican strangle-hold in the House of Representatives.

We have Donald Trump to thank for this opportunity.

The stench of the Trump campaign may in fact be enough for us to overcome the horrible consequences of 31 (I think that's right) Republican Governors gerrymandering state to make house districts safe for Republicans and to assure what Karl Rove called "a permanent Republican Majority".

But we need to be smart and work hard to make that happen. Even in the most terribly gerrymandered House districts we need to make sure there is opposition to the Republican incumbent (e.g. don't "write off" any district) and then tie Trump around the incumbent's neck like an albatross and make them wear it right up through election day.

If we can turn around the 30 years of Republican majorities, we can put America back on the right track...and that will be as historic for us as the "Reagan Revolution" was to the Republicans.

Court House to White House

that's an old meme....but extremely useful...

If our current State Party Leadership won't subscribe to it, it's time we took matters into our own hands and started running good, solid Dems for every Repub seat in the state...and if we can't back it up with money we'll have to back it up with man/woman power..

The entire Congress is up for re-election and about 1/3 of the senate.

The entire State Assembly is up for re-election and so is about 1/3 of the State Senate.

In the local races...only 1 out of 19 seats on the Wood County Board is Contested..
....only one out of 5 City Council seats is contested.

We've got to do better and if our so-called leadership in Madison won't step up then we have to

Bradly's extramarital affair

Unbelievable.....

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/bradley-extra-marital-affair-role-in-child-placement-surface-b99684605z1-371700831.html