BREAKING: Gov. Scott Walker Punked By Blogger Posing As David Koch–UPDATED
February 23, 2011 No CommentPart 1: Part 2: This is a BFD : We all know that Governor Scott Walker takes his orders from Billionaires and Tea Party loaders Koch Brothers. But thanks to this guy named Murphy , we know how much Scott Walker is in bed with the Koch Brothers. Scott Walker just got the Sarah Palin’s treatment when someone called him while posing as David Koch. Just like Palin, Walker believed it and fall into the trap. Greg Sargent at the Washington Post has confirmed it is a real call. The transcript is unbelievable. I really think that even outside Wisconsin’s constitutional limits regarding recalling the governor, that Walker needs to step down now. Not for getting punked, but what he admits to considering with the man he assumes is Americans for Prosperity funder David Koch. * Walker doesn’t bat an eye when Koch describes the opposition as “Democrat bastards.” * Walker reveals that he and other Republicans are looking at whether they can charge an “ethics code violation if not an outright felony” if unions are paying for food or lodging for any of the Dem state senators. * Walker says he’s sending out notices next week to some five or six thousand state workers letting them know that they are “at risk” of layoffs. “Beautiful, beautiful,” the Koch impersonator replies. “You gotta crush that union.” UPDATES below the fold: More from Sargent: UPDATE, 11:54 a.m.: In a key detail, Walker reveals that he is, in effect, laying a trap for Wisconsin Dems. He says he is mulling inviting the Senate and Assembly Dem and GOP leaders to sit down and talk, but only if all the missing Senate Dems return to work. Then, tellingly, he reveals that the real game plan here is that if they do return, Republicans might be able to use a procedural move to move forward with their proposal. “If they’re actually in session for that day and they take a recess, this 19 Senate Republicans could then go into action and they’d have a quorum because they started out that way,” he says. “If you heard that I was going to talk to them that would be the only reason why.” Then the fake Koch says this: “Bring a baseball bat. That’s what I’d do.” Walker doesn’t bat an eye, and responds: “I have one in my office, you’d be happy with that. I’ve got a slugger with my name on it.” 12:09 p.m.: Another key exchange: FAKE KOCH: What we were thinking about the crowds was, planting some troublemakers. WALKER: We thought about that. My only gut reaction to that would be, right now, the lawmakers I talk to have just completely had it with them. The public is not really fond of this.The teachers union did some polling and focus groups… It’s unclear what Walker means when he says he “thought” about planting some troublemakers, but it seems fair to ask him for clarification. And as I suspected, a watchdog group in investigating whether Walker admitted to breaking any campaign finance or ethics laws in the conversation . UPDATE #2 : Walker’s office has announced he will address the media at 2:30pm. UPDATE #3: Top Six Revelations in the Call Between Fake David Koch and Governor Scott Walker More information as the story develops…
Continue reading …Chris Christie to NBC’s Ann Curry: Sometimes You Just Have to Say No to the Unions
February 23, 2011 No Comment
New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie stopped by the Today show, on Wednesday morning, to educate viewers and NBC's Ann Curry about the problems of public employee unions and explained that when it comes to getting government costs under control sometimes you just have to say no. Curry mostly questioned Christie from the left, as she asked if there was “a coordinated” GOP agenda to make unions “scapegoats” for a problem “created by Wall Street” and the “banks” and suggested that “in some ways it doesn't sort of make sense…that the unions really are to blame.” For his part, Christie responded: “It's, it's an issue of wanting to say yes all the time as a public official. You know you never want to say no to anybody because 'Oh you're much more popular if you say yes.' Well you know what? It's time we have to start saying no to certain things to be able to say yes to the things that will help to grow our economy and create a more prosperous future.” Curry began her interview by citing the New York Times editorial page to the governor, as she asked if in states like New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana there was “a coordinated Republican political agenda to this attack or this effort, this pointed effort at unions?” To which Christie pointed out government spending is so out of control that even Democrats like Governor Jerry Brown in California were being forced to make cuts. The following is the relevant back and forth between Christie and Curry as it was aired on the February 23 Today show: ANN CURRY: Chris Christie is the Republican governor of New Jersey and was the first, as we just heard, to take on public employees unions. Governor Christie, good morning to you. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: Good morning, Ann. CURRY: You probably are the best person to ask about a New York Times editorial in this morning's papers that basically talks about a – says that there is a political agenda by Republican governors, not just from Wisconsin but also in Ohio and Indiana that in each case, quote, “Republican talk of balancing budgets is cover for the real purpose of gutting the political force of middle class state workers who are steady supporters of Democrats and pose a threat to a growing conservative agenda.” Is there a coordinated Republican political agenda to this attack or this effort, this pointed effort at unions? CHRISTIE: No and, and if you look at it, these fights are going on all over the country, not just with Republicans but with Democrats. Look at California, Jerry Brown is talking about cutting their take home pay eight to 10 percent and laying off a bunch of state workers. This is about re-shifting our priorities. So if you want to do things in New Jersey, like I want to do, which is to provide property tax relief for middle class taxpayers. Well you know you can't continue to pay health benefits in New Jersey where this government pays 92 percent of the cost of health care for each person. That doesn't happen anywhere. And so we have to make these choices and they have to become part of the shared sacrifice. [On screen headline: "Cost-Cutting With Christie, Are Unions To Blame For State Budget Shortfalls?"] CURRY: Okay so then the idea then that some critics have, that you are making unions scapegoats for a problem that really wasn't created by unions but was really created by Wall Street, created by the banks and the downturn in the economy, what do you say to those critics? CHRISTIE: Well what I say to those critics are, they're not paying attention. Because if you were paying attention the problems here that are created on the state budget – sure we have a deficit problem that was helped by the economic downturn but what we also have are benefits and costs that are out of control. The family policy that most state workers in New Jersey get – $24,000 a year and they pay eight percent of that cost, the taxpayers pay the rest. We cannot afford these type of things any more. We have a pension deficit of $54 billion dollars in New Jersey. I mean that wasn't created by Wall Street. That was created by the fact that the benefits are too high and the payments in are too low. CURRY: But this problem, budget problem is not just with states with collective bargaining deals. For example, there are many states that have denied collective bargaining rights that also have very large budget deficits. So in some ways it doesn't sort of make sense, that this idea that the unions really are to blame. CHRISTIE: Oh I'm saying it's just about collective bargaining, Ann. Because even in states, as you point out, where collective bargaining doesn't exist, legislatures have been too generous to public employees over time. So it's not just an issue of collective bargaining. It's, it's an issue of wanting to say yes all the time as a public official. You know you never want to say no to anybody because “Oh you're much more popular if you say yes.” Well you know what? It's time we have to start saying no to certain things to be able to say yes to the things that will help to grow our economy and create a more prosperous future. —Geoffrey Dickens is the Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here
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Click here to view this media The Nation’s Chris Hayes filling in for Rachel Maddow takes a look at the negotiating tactics being used by the GOP where they’re more than willing to hold the country hostage to get their agenda passed no matter how damaging it is to our country and the Democrats never ending willingness to meet the crazy half way.
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Demonstrators outside Arab League headquarters in Cairo accuse members of being out of touch Entrance to the Arab League headquarters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square is normally through a grand set of wrought-iron gates, which open onto a courtyard with fountains. But after a crowd of rowdy protesters blocked off the main door, reporters and delegates alike had to make to do with the back route instead – squeezing past the staff toilets and edging round a rusting portable building. Following two months of uprisings that have shifted the fulcrum of power in the Arab world away from the region’s ageing political elites and into the street, this new method of entry seemed not entirely inappropriate. “25 January marked the beginning of the age of democracy and transparency, the age of Arabs withdrawing their consent to be humiliated and patronised, the age when we decided to create a future for ourselves,” said Hakim Abdel Ali, a 32-year-old Libyan living in Egypt, and one of those demonstrating outside the building. He was referring to the date on which Egypt’s 18-day revolution erupted , toppling the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak and sending shockwaves across the region. “The men in there have to decide whose side they are on, this is their final chance,” added Ali. “Either they speak out now and order Gaddafi to fall, or they make themselves an irrelevancy forever.” In the street the demands of protesters were clear: the Arab League must unequivocally call on Gaddafi to stand down, or face expulsion. “They sit passively while Libya is burning, and they call themselves Arabs,” said Bassem Tarek, a 20-year-old Egyptian involved who wanted to express solidarity with Libya’s anti-regime uprising. “Many think that Moussa [the secretary general] is just a client of dictators, a spewer of lies,” added Abdel Rahman Ashraf, 19. “If he wants to prove us wrong then he has to come and talk to us here.” If the age of democracy and transparency has begun, news appears yet to have reached the Arab League’s largely greying coterie of permanent diplomats, who gathered for an emergency summit on the dramatic events unfolding across the border in Libya. Secretary general Amr Moussa made a short-lived effort to step outside and speak with protesters, but his words were quickly drowned out by chants of “Gaddafi is a butcher” and he was whisked away. Inside the graceful if rather dilapidated marble corridors of the headquarters, it was business as usual – with delegates tight-lipped, security guards ubiquitous, and journalists shut out of all deliberations. The press pack was allowed only one brief glimpse into the main hall, just as delegates were standing for a moment of silence to honour those killed in Libya – which the Iraqi representative described as “terrible bloodshed” and “unprecedented circumstances”. When the Arab League did made a decision, it was to suspend Libya from the organisation – but whether that will be enough to placate the youth on the streets remains unclear. Inside, the round table at the centre of the room was packed but for one conspicuously empty chair: that of Major Abdel-Moneim Al-Huni , the Libyan representative who has resigned his post in protest at Gaddafi’s violence. “The regime has failed miserably, and Gaddafi must leave,” said Al-Huni in a statement issued earlier. “The people have stated their final verdict which cannot be retracted; it is no longer acceptable for Gaddafi to continue another moment in power.” He went on to confirm he was stepping down from his role at the Arab League: “I declare to the international community, Arab world and every Libyan man and woman that I have resigned my post because it is dishonourable to serve a regime which kills its people and annihilates them in this inhumane manner.” Speaking just before the meeting, Amr Moussa – who is believed to be keen on challenging for the Egyptian presidency in upcoming elections – described the demands of Arab populations for development and political reform as legitimate and acknowledged this was a “pivotal stage of Arab history”. However, he offered no response to accusations that the 22-state Arab League is little more than a talking-shop, and went on to warn against those trying to “stir up sedition between sister states”. “They will now sit and talk for hours, because they have nothing else to do,” remarked one journalist with a long history of covering the institution. “These are crumbling old men completely out of touch with reality. I wish they would go to their graves instead of the brave people of Libya.” Around them demonstrators waved Egyptian, Tunisian and pre-Gaddafi tricolour Libyan flags, and sang “Egypt and Libya, on one hand”, and “Into Libya we march, martyrs in our millions”. The contrast in energy on each side of the gates was clear; whether Moussa and the Arab League can win round those Arabs disillusioned by the old political status quo and establish a new voice for itself remains to be seen. Arab and Middle East protests Egypt Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Libyans had plenty of reasons to despise Moammar Gadhafi and his clan long before the leader ordered the use of heavy artillery on protesters. State Department cables released by WikiLeaks detail some of the Gadhafis’ abuses of power, which are known to Libyans despite the regime’s control of the media,…
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AP Top Stories Off 63rd w/ Garrard McClendon Ep4 Pt2 Feb 17 2011 Media Bias in Elections Off 63rd w/ Garrard McClendon Ep4 Pt2 Feb 17 2011 Chicago Mayoral Election For the first time in 64 years, Chicagoans are voting for a mayor with no incumbent on the ballot. On the Chicago mayoral election « An und für sich On the Chicago mayoral election . Tuesday, February 22, 2011 — Adam Kotsko. I have often joked that I support Rahm Emanuel because he’s so evil. It’s funny, but it’s not actually a joke. First of all, I do support him. … Fix prediction contest: The Chicago mayoral election ! | Al Tech … Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is running for mayor of Chicago. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images It’s been 112 days since the November e… » Chicago Mayoral Election : First in 22 years w/o former mayor on … Quote of the Day: ” voting is important, Wisconsin is living proof!” Katie Klabusich, 31, declined to reveal her mayoral pick after voting at The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Little Italy, but said she was grateful for the chance to … Chicago Mayoral Election Chicago officials are expecting a 50 percent turnout for the city’s mayoral election. RatedRepublican says: RT @tonyperaica : ILGOP Chair asks if Wisconsin Dems will vote in Chicago Mayoral Election http://bit.ly/fLZBGk
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Click here to view this media On Rachel Maddow’s show tonight she connects the dots between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting moves and his association with private security firm Wackenhut, who brought lots of unwanted attention to the US with their awful sexcapades in Afghanistan awhile back. AlterNet has more : Of course, the end of the Afghanistan War would mean that people with whom Walker is cozy would lose some important revenue streams. Remember Wackenhut, the war contractors that disgraced us by holding drunken, nude firelight romps in Afghanistan on the State Department’s dime? Walker got them a sweet privatized state security contract in a prior fit of “cost-savings” that failed to add up. But who needs to rein in death, destruction and obscenity when you can take a whack at the unions, right? Walker’s not actually interested in fixing a supposed emergency. He’s interested in paying off allies and zinging enemies, and you can tell that by his silence on war spending that’s bleeding his state taxpayers dry. Oh look, here’s some payback. Nothing like no-bid contracts to sell or lease public power facilities to pay back folks who might have an interest in Wisconsin’s energy industry. MSNBC did not have a transcript available, but the gist of Rachel Maddow’s report is this: When Scott Walker was in charge in Milwaukee, he decided to fire the security guards who worked at the courthouse. Those security guards were public employees represented by unions. He had no grounds to fire them beyond saying that he could, despite opposition by the county Board. When they blocked him, Walker insisted that he could fire them because there was a “budget emergency.” All of the union security guards were fired, and Scott Walker replaced them with Wackenhut private security guys. This is why Wisconsin is so important. Walker got away with it once on a local level. Walker practices classic “Shock Doctrine” politics: Create a crisis, exploit the crisis, and do away with rights ordinary people have had for years. As part of the process, privatize public services so the “market” can make adjustments. During the height of the health care town hall Tea Party protests, not even a fraction of the numbers in Wisconsin showed up, but to hear the media tell the tale, the Tea Party is the only populist, grass roots movement in the country. Yet 68,000 people showed up over the weekend in Madison. Thousands of others are protesting all around the country. This is where the line in the sand is, and if Walker is forced to back down, other governors will have to do the same eventually. Fight on, Wisconsin. It’s worth it. As for Wackenhut, it would be best if the market forces pushed it straight to hell sooner rather than later.
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Click here to view this media In this clip you get a look at Ben Austin. I’ve been following this story from afar, but it’s time to get it up. I feel for these parents because they want the best for their kids, but it appears a trap may have been set for them by astroturfers . I’m still taking in the reports so please add to the conversation. The ‘Parent Trigger’ doesn’t help schools or parents Building genuine parent engagement is a critical element of improving our schools. Two-way “conversation” and not the all too common one-way “communication” between schools and parents needs to be developed through strategies such as teacher home visits to build relationships and working together to address the two-thirds of outside school factors that affect student achievement (health care, affordable housing, neighborhood safety). The so-called “parent trigger” law in California, which allows a majority of parents (from a school or from their “feeder” schools) to sign a petition that forces a school to be converted into a charter, is not one of those genuine parent engagement strategies. The recent effort to apply this law for the first time in Compton highlights all the reasons why it is an unwise strategy for students, families, teachers, and administrators. When organizers are interested in helping community residents build leadership skills, develop genuine ownership of the group they are creating, and leave a lasting organization for the long-term, they do not work “under the radar” as the Parent Revolution (the group behind the law) organizers did in Compton (their first contact with school officials apparently occurred when the petitions were delivered) —- Unions were not begun, nor led, by leaders of groups that want to start competitive companies (the chair of Parent Revolution’s board is the head of charter operator Green Dot Schools). They are also not funded by groups that want to do so (Parent Revolution’s primary funders are the same ones who are the biggest funders of charter schools). Parents are very susceptible to charter school pitchmen selling themselves as agents of reform. The LA Times has a take on this. Regulations aren’t enough to fix the sloppy law that created the parent trigger Mother Jones has been following the story quite well. This week, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that some parents are withdrawing their signatures, saying that they were intimidated or misled by Parent Revolution, the Los Angeles-based group that organized the petition drive. The Los Angeles Times reports : “They told me the petition was to beautify the school,” said Karla Garcia, whose two children attend McKinley. “They are misinforming the parents, so I revoked my signature.” On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a supporter of the parent-trigger effort, took the other side, condemning alleged “intimidation tactics” by charter opponents at McKinley. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa weighed in with similar views. The mayor was flanked by parents and petition organizers Friday as he visited the home of a Compton petition signer to praise the effort and condemn what he described as harassment by opponents.” Similar “parent-trigger” laws are being considered in other states. Meanwhile, the ability of charters to “solve” the problems of the low-performing public schools remains far from clear. [Read Kevin Drum for a good backgrounder on charter schools .] Kevin Drum writes that so far charter schools aren’t performing very well in New York.: Bad News for Charter Schools Statewide in New York, about 50% of high school graduates are college ready. In charter schools, about 20% of graduates are college ready. This isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, since we don’t know whether the charter schools had the same quality of incoming students as the public schools. Most likely they didn’t, as the lower graduation rate shows. Still, that’s a helluva gap. It’s not good news for the charter school movement .
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Click here to view this media Here’s some hopeful news in Ohio. As Dave Dayden noted , with the protests spreading to other states with these union busting bills being pushed through, it’s possible they’re doing some good. Wisconsin remains the main battleground for the broader assault on worker’s rights. But elsewhere in the Big Ten states and across the country, these battles have moved forward. In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich is pushing pretty much the exact same bill as Scott Walker in Wisconsin. Known as SB 5, the bill would strip collective bargaining rights from Ohio public employees. SB 5 is a piece of legislation, so Kasich isn’t trying to implement this under the cover of a budget bill. However, he has said that if he doesn’t get what he wants out of SB 5, he will put those items into the next budget bill . Alternatively, this could go to the ballot. So SB 5 won’t be the last showdown. The Governor, aping Scott Walker, claims this is a fiscal issue , but nobody can explain how much money SB 5 would save. Senate Republicans may not have the votes to get SB 5 out of committee (unless they work out a deal.) : Yesterday, we wrote about the Columbus Dispatch ’s story that indicated that there are seven Republican Senators on the fence on SB 7, enough that if they don’t support the bill could defeat it. Well, I failed to note another key aspect. If the GOP doesn’t get these members on board, they may not even be able to pass SB 5 out of committee . The Republicans have an 8-4 majority on the Senate Insurance, Commerce, and Labor Committee . However, three of the Republicans on the Committee are Senators Bill Seitz, Bill Beagle, and Jim Hughes. These just happen to be three of the seven Senators the Dispatch identified as saying that SB 5, as it currently stands, goes too far and they are on the fence over supporting. So if the GOP cannot get one of these three on board (either by partisan arm twisting or amending the bill), the GOP doesn’t have the votes to approve the bill out of committee. Ohio Governor Kasich appeared on CNN tonight and is still trying to claim that SB5 is not really about busting the unions. Uh huh. Sure it’s not. As Robert Reich wrote yesterday , this is part of an organized strategy by the GOP to destroy what’s left of the middle class. Ohio governor says collective barganing bill not meant to kill unions : Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Monday proposed curbs on the collective-bargaining rights for public employees in the state is to “restore some balance to the system,” not destroy unions. “It’s right for them to be able to negotiate their own salary,” Kasich said in an interview with CNN, “but we need to let managers be able to determine things like keeping the pension systems healthy, making sure that that the costs related to health care are consistent with private sector workers.” The Ohio General Assembly is a considering a proposal similar to legislation introduced by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin that would roll back collective-bargaining rights for public employees, including teachers. The Ohio proposal was was introduced by a Republican state senator. Like Walker’s bill, the Ohio measure has generated protests from public employees’ unions in that state. Senate Bill 5 would eliminate tenure as a consideration in deciding who gets laid off. It would also require employees to pay 20% of their health insurance premiums and implement merit-based pay for some government workers. Critics of the legislation say the bill not only undercuts workers’ rights, it also fails to address systemic deficit problems. The bill drew crowds of protesters to the state capitol lin Columbus ast week to demonstrate against it.
Continue reading …Time Mag Warns ‘Climate Change Lengthens Allergy Season,’ Ignores Benefit of Longer Growing Season
February 22, 2011 No Comment
Climate alarmists always want to point out the downside of a warming planet while never informing the public of the benefits. Take for example Time magazine's Tuesday piece bemoaning global warming's impact on allergy sufferers but never once mentioning that a longer growing season for the dastardly pollinating plants means a commensurate rise in the growing season of things we eat: A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows a link between warming temperatures and a longer ragweed pollen season. According to researchers led by Lewis Ziska of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the ragweed season is now 27 days longer in the northernmost areas of North America, largely because winters starts later and ends earlier, extending the time for pollen-bearing plants to thrive. The PNAS researchers examined ragweed and daily temperature data from Canada and the U.S. at 10 different latitudes. In eight of those areas—and in all seven spots north of 40 degrees latitude, around Philadelphia—the ragweed season increased between 1995 and 2009. To be sure, this is not at all surprising even to climate realists. After all, no one is arguing that global temperatures haven't risen since the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850. At issue are the amount of the increase and the causes. Also not being debated is that with such increases in temperature, growing seasons around the world are going to lengthen, including for plants that people are unfortunately allergic to. The Nature Center in the Netherlands reported earlier this month that the growing season there has increased by about 26 days in the past ten years. Throughout Europe the growing season has also expanded . NASA's lengthy report on global warming states, “The growing season in parts of the Northern Hemisphere became two weeks longer in the second half of the 20th century. Spring is coming earlier in both hemispheres.” With commodity prices on the rise all across the world, aren't longer growing seasons a good thing? Mightn't Canadians, Chinese and Russians be better able to feed their populations with longer springs and summers? Regardless of the cause of the roughly one degree Celsius rise in global temperatures since 1850, there are indeed benefits to a warming planet that climate alarmists in the media choose to always ignore as they prophecize the end being nigh. Ironically, the best example is that far more people die each year in winter than in summer. So cheer up, allergy sufferers. As long as the pollen doesn't kill you, you'd much rather be sneezing than freezing.
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