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LA Times Headline: “Protesters Out in Force Nationwide to Oppose Wisconsin’s Anti-Union Bill” – I Don’t Think So
This is what the LA Times Headline screams: “Protesters out in force nationwide to oppose Wisconsin’s anti-union bill.”
Promoters, such as David Dayen at Firedoglake, were predicting a million-person turnout nationwide. But reports as of 7:00 E.S.T. today make clear that other than in Madison, Wisconsin, the crowds were sparse.
The turnout in Madison was sizable, with estimates ranging over
from50-70,000, which included protesters bused in from other states. (Dayen is trying to pump the crowd estimate to over 100,000.) But elsewhere, the crowds numbered only in the hundreds or low thousands.In Washington, D.C., only about 500 people showed up (go to link for good photos of crazy signs). (Note, WaPo says 1000.)
In Columbus, OH, where you would expect a big crowd given a similar controversy, only “several thousand” people protested.
Other head counts, based on news reports, include: Boston (1000), Portsmouth, N.H. (few hundred), Augusta, ME (small crowd), New York City (“several thousand“), Chicago (1000), Miami (100), Austin (several hundred), Chicago (1000); Lansing, MI (2000), Nashville (hundreds), Los Angeles (2000), Richmond, VA (300), Denver (1000); Frankfurt, KY (several hundred), Jefferson City, MO (several hundred), Harrisburg, PA (several hundred).
While I don’t have a complete count, based on these numbers from some major cities and labor states, total protesters nationwide (excluding Madison) likely totaled under 100,000 combined.
Outside of Madison, there were no reports of sizable crowds. And if you read the news reports, almost all the protesters were other union members. Despite the efforts, the organizers failed to motivate significant numbers of non-union members to come out for protests.The 50-state protest was a failure, plain and simple, although the images from Madison may create the false impression of massive nationwide protests.
The subhead at the LA Times reads more accurately: “Up to 100,000 rally in Madison while hundreds show up in dozens of other cities to combat the Republican-backed measure that would limit collective bargaining rights for most public workers in Wisconsin.” But, the subheadline contradicts the headline because the protesters were not out in force NATIONWIDE.
This is NOT true.
But, there is MORE:
Nearly two weeks into a political standoff, tens of thousands rallied in Madison and in dozens of cities around the nation to oppose a bill that would severely limit collective bargaining rights for most Wisconsin public employees.
Joel DeSpain, spokesman for the Madison Police Department, said the rally — in steadily falling snow — drew between 70,000 and 100,000 and may have been the largest protest in Madison since the Vietnam War
Again, NOT true and implying that the protest crowds outside of Madison, Wisconsin were on the massive scale.
Later on in the piece they admit the protest crowd in Los Angeles was not so much:
Elsewhere, hundreds of boisterous pro-union demonstrators gathered on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, loudly voicing their support for the Wisconsin workers while speaking of concerns that the perennially forceful labor movement in California could one day face a similar crisis.
“If it can happen in Wisconsin, it can happen anywhere,” said Pasquale Gazillo, a merchant marine, referring to Wisconsin’s long history as a union stronghold.
“States like that, they’re the ones that started the eight-hour workday and made sure workers got paid if they got sick. The Republicans are pushing, and if that state falls, the rest of the country is going to be in trouble,” he said.
Nice try at spin LA Times. Gotcha…..
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Flap’s Links and Comments for February 26th from 16:50 to 16:57
These are my links for February 26th from 16:50 to 16:57:
- Forbes’s Wisconsin Pension Myth – Unfortunately, his “smoking gun” is not true. Not even close.
The Wisconsin Retirement System and deferred compensation are two completely separate things. Full-time state- and local-government employees are participants in the Wisconsin Retirement System, which uses taxpayer money to fund both the state (around 5 percent of salary) and employee (another 5 percent) contributions to their pensions.
On top of that, if they choose, state employees can participate in the deferred-comp plan, where they decide how much of their money to set aside, pre-tax, and a portion is matched by the state. That is in addition to their traditional pension contribution.
All this can be found in Chapter 40 of the Wisconsin State Statutes, which clearly demarcates each program in separate subchapters. Further, the Wisconsin Retirement System is explained in detail in this paper from the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
This is what happens when national writers become instant experts in state-benefit issues — expect a correction post soon. Sadly, the toothpaste might already be out of the tube.
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How embarassing.
Doesn't this guy have an editor?
- The Real Political Math In Wisconsin – The real political math in Wisconsin isn't about the state budget or the collective-bargaining rights of public employees there. It is about which party controls governorships and, with them, the balance of power on the ground in the 2012 elections.
For all of the valid concern about reining in state spending — a concern shared by politicians and voters of all labels — the underlying strategic Wisconsin story is this: Gov. Scott Walker, a Tea Party-tinged Republican, is the advance guard of a new GOP push to dismantle public-sector unions as an electoral force.
Last fall, GOP operatives hoped and expected to take away as many as 20 governorships from the Democrats. They ended up nabbing 12.
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Read it all.
Gee, Fineman you are such a brain donor.
Of course, this is a power struggle between the GOP and Democrats.
Elections do have consequences. I think your Lefty Pal President Obama even said that.
- Oh, To Be a Teacher in Wisconsin – How can fringe benefits cost nearly as much as a worker’s salary? Answer: collective bargaining. – The showdown in Wisconsin over fringe benefits for public employees boils down to one number: 74.2. That's how many cents the public pays Milwaukee public-school teachers and other employees for retirement and health benefits for every dollar they receive in salary. The corresponding rate for employees of private firms is 24.3 cents.
Gov. Scott Walker's proposal would bring public-employee benefits closer in line with those of workers in the private sector. And to prevent benefits from reaching sky-high levels in the future, he wants to restrict collective-bargaining rights.
The average Milwaukee public-school teacher salary is $56,500, but with benefits the total package is $100,005, according to the manager of financial planning for Milwaukee public schools. When I showed these figures to a friend, she asked me a simple question: "How can fringe benefits be nearly as much as salary?" The answers can be found by unpacking the numbers in the district's budget for this fiscal year:
•Social Security and Medicare. The employer cost is 7.65% of wages, the same as in the private sector.
•State Pension. Teachers belong to the Wisconsin state pension plan. That plan requires a 6.8% employer contribution and 6.2% from the employee. However, according to the collective-bargaining agreement in place since 1996, the district pays the employees' share as well, for a total of 13%.
•Teachers' Supplemental Pension. In addition to the state pension, Milwaukee public-school teachers receive an additional pension under a 1982 collective-bargaining agreement. The district contributes an additional 4.2% of teacher salaries to cover this second pension. Teachers contribute nothing.
•Classified Pension. Most other school employees belong to the city's pension system instead of the state plan. The city plan is less expensive but here, too, according to the collective-bargaining agreement, the district pays the employees' 5.5% share.
Overall, for teachers and other employees, the district's contributions for pensions and Social Security total 22.6 cents for each dollar of salary. The corresponding figure for private industry is 13.4 cents. The divergence is greater yet for health insurance:
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Read it all.
Is there any wonder why the teachers are protesting in Madison?
They have a sweet deal in Wisconsin.
- Forbes’s Wisconsin Pension Myth – Unfortunately, his “smoking gun” is not true. Not even close.
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Day by Day February 26, 2011 – Express
Day by Day by Chris MuirWisconsin Democrat Senators – The FLEEBAGGERS – really think Wisconsin voters are stupid, now don’t they?It is very simple as in Chris Muir’s cartoon: Wisconsin taxpayers pay taxes to hire teachers who are required by law to pay union dues, who fund Democrats, so they can increase taxes and hire MORE teachers and more union workers —–> more dues to the union.
It is a perverse, corrupt cycle – is there any wonder why organized labor has mounted massive protests to Saul Alinsky-ize the demise of their sweetheart deal in Wisconsin?
But, you see, folks, belonging to a public employee union which has full collective bargaining ability is a privilege granted by state legislatures, not a right, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
Wisconsin’s legislature will vote on the matter and then Governor Scott Walker can either sign or veto the measure. If voters don’t like it, then the next election they can replace their legislators and Governor.
End of story.
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The Day By Day Archive -
Flap’s Links for February 25th from 10:40 to 10:50
These are my links for February 25th from 10:40 to 10:50:
- The Untold Story of Scott Walker’s Longstanding History with Labor – Governor Scott Walker may be a new marvel to cable news, but he is certainly no stranger to Wisconsin politics. Scott K. Walker, son of a Baptist preacher, began his political career in the early 1990s when he ran for an Assembly seat in the State Legislature. Even as a young legislator in his twenties, Walker took a hard-line, penny-wise approach to labor unions. During a debate in 1993, Walker advocated reforming union laws that oversaw local government labor disputes. Little did he know that his career in Milwaukee politics would be tested and weighed by his exchange with those very laws.
After nine years in the State Legislature, Scott Walker campaigned for Milwaukee County Executive – a seat that no Republican in Wisconsin has ever occupied. But Milwaukee County was recently rocked by a massive pension scandal – one that had given away six-figure backdrops to hundreds of public employees. The area was ripe for a new breed of leadership, and Walker’s message of frugality and fiscal reform seemed to reverberate with the voters. In 2002, Milwaukee County elected Scott Walker, the first ever Republican County Executive.
As Executive, Walker’s skirmishes with unions began shortly after he promised he would balance county budgets without raising property taxes. Without counting on these revenue-raising mechanisms, Walker had to lean on the county workforce for program cuts.
In 2003, Detractors accused Walker of ginning up a false fiscal crisis in order to justify slashing budget items. Drumming up false budgetary crises became a perennial charge against Walker, so he didn’t waste opportunities to remind them that unfunded pension liabilities threatened the solvency of their county government.
In 2006, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) – Walker’s nemesis in all budgetary matters – criticized Walker for what they called a “Sky is Falling Tour.” A few months later (ironically), the Greater Milwaukee Committee – a private sector civic organization – released a damaging report recommending a state takeover of Milwaukee County's budget due to their daunting health care and pension costs.
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Read it all
- Oregon Dem Rep. David Wu should step down | For lack of candor, not because of treatment – Now that an explanation for U.S. Rep. David Wu’s sometimes peculiar behavior has emerged, Oregon Democrats are saying that talk of a resignation is premature. The 1st District congressman says he has sought professional care, and supporters claim that seeking treatment should not disqualify a person for public office. They’re right, but that’s not the issue. The real problem is a lack of candor, and for that he should resign.
On Oct. 30, Wu’s staff members demanded that he check into a psychiatric hospital for treatment, according to The (Portland) Oregonian. Wu, who has represented Oregon’s 1st District since 1999, refused. Wu’s staff kept him away from public events in the final days of the campaign, and on Nov. 2 he was easily re-elected to a seventh term. Many of Wu’s top staff members have quit since the election, including his chief of staff, pollster and campaign treasurer.
Wu’s district extends from the northern Oregon Coast to the west side of Portland, and he has not been a frequent visitor to this part of the state. But people in Lane County who recall Wu’s off-key introduction of Barack Obama on the University of Oregon campus in 2008 have some understanding of reports of disjointed public appearances in his district and in Washington, D.C. His behavior in private has reportedly been even more erratic, leading staff members to stage their unsuccessful intervention.
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Rep. Wu needs to resign and concentrate on his health.
- Oregon Rep. David Wu’s situation raises questions about why staff didn’t act sooner – The big question now is whether Wu can survive politically. I suspect that continuing coverage of his eccentricities will leave him no choice but resign or pledge not to run again in 2012.
I'm more interested in the answers to a different set of questions that might provide a greater lesson for us all: Who knew what when? And why didn't they act sooner to help a man whose behavior clearly called out for it?
Eccentricity should not preclude anyone from serving in public office. (If it did, the halls of power would be as empty as Manhattan in "I Am Legend.") Neither should addiction or depression disqualify talented public servants, as long as the conditions are acknowledged and treated. It's a wonder we don't hear more tales of members of Congress cracking from the combined strain of long hours, frequent travel, constant pressure to raise money and, even before the rise of the tea party, increasingly personal attacks from partisan foes.
More people, particularly more in powerful jobs, should feel comfortable openly discussing how they cope with stress; we should all understand that seeing a psychiatrist or taking anti-depressants is a sign of strength and self-awareness, not weakness. (Imagine this campaign victory speech: "I'd like to thank my wife, my children, my volunteers and the guy who invented Zoloft.")
Members of the House and Senate work inside a bubble of supportive staff. Aides handle their daily schedules, their travel arrangements, even their laundry. Wu's increasing agitation could not have escaped his staff's notice. And this was obviously not one bad month, despite Wu's suggestion to that effect on "Good Morning America." Political professionals don't decide to stage an intervention with their boss on the spur of the moment.
Yet his aides stayed with him, in some cases for years. The Democratic establishment tolerated and worked around him, through seven campaigns and an increasing number of whispers and raised eyebrows. From a political perspective, that's understandable. Wu holds a strong Democratic seat and knows how to raise money, particularly from out-of-state donors. You don't mess with that kind of success. Unless you care about the person at the heart of it.
In propping Wu up for so long, in staying quiet about what might lie behind his strange behavior, staff and the party power structure did a disservice to both the congressman and his constituents. Wu should explain his behavior. The people who shielded him for all these years as the pressure mounted should explain theirs, too.
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Speaker at the time, Dem Rep Nancy Pelosi propped up this moron because she needed his vote.
She and the House Dem leadership should be ashamed of themselves
- The Untold Story of Scott Walker’s Longstanding History with Labor – Governor Scott Walker may be a new marvel to cable news, but he is certainly no stranger to Wisconsin politics. Scott K. Walker, son of a Baptist preacher, began his political career in the early 1990s when he ran for an Assembly seat in the State Legislature. Even as a young legislator in his twenties, Walker took a hard-line, penny-wise approach to labor unions. During a debate in 1993, Walker advocated reforming union laws that oversaw local government labor disputes. Little did he know that his career in Milwaukee politics would be tested and weighed by his exchange with those very laws.
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Day By Day February 25, 2011 – Voters Get the Business
Chris, there will be some new Wisconsin laws after this Fleebagging fiasco which will prevent POLS from avoiding their legislative duties. In California, such conduct would be illegal and taking monetary support from others for work related to the performance of their legislative functions is likewise barred by law.In the meantime, the Wisconsin GOP and Governor Scott Walker should continue with legislative business that does not require the Democrat Fleebag Senators and simply support the recall of those who have left Wisconsin.
Eventually public pressure will force the Democrats to return.
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Flap’s Links for February 24th from 20:31 to 20:41
These are my links for February 24th from 20:31 to 20:41:
- California Little Hoover Commission’s plan rolls back California Public-Employee pensions for current workers – The bipartisan Little Hoover Commission recommended today that California state and local governments roll back pensions for existing employees, dump guaranteed retirement payouts and put more of the pension burden on workers.
Although any attempt to reduce pensions for current workers would prompt a legal battle, the commission says that public pension funds are in such dire financial straits that they'll never right themselves by reducing benefits for new hires. The recommendation would not affect current retirees. Click here to read the commission's 106-page report.
The most controversial Hoover proposal would allow state and local governments to freeze existing employee pension benefits and then lower them for future years worked.
Courts have ruled that pensions are legally protected property and that government has a contractual obligation to follow through with them.
The Hoover idea echoes a similar plan that the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility has said it hopes to put to a public statewide vote next year.
Such a measure, if approved by voters, would undoubtedly trigger lawsuits that would test government's ability to alter pension promises prospectively. The foundation believes that its ballot measure would hold up in court.
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Will be tied up in the courts for years.
Reform has to begin with current new workers and quickly implemented.
- Groups officially begin recall process for seven Wisconsin lawmakers – The clock is now running for groups trying to collect enough signatures to trigger recall elections against seven Democratic senators, state officials said today.
Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said local groups have officially registered recall committees with his agency to try to recall Sen. Bob Wirch of Kenosha and Jim Holperin of Eagle River.
In addition, a Utah group, American Recall Coalition, has registered electronically to set up recall committees against Wirch and five other Senate Democrats – Lena Taylor of Milwaukee, Mark Miller of Monona, Julie Lassa of Stevens Point, Fred Risser of Madison and Dave Hansen of Green Bay.
Magney said his office is still waiting to receive paper registrations from American Recall Coalition but that the out-of-state group may begin collecting signatures for the recall elections in those districts.
"We thought we were going to have a quiet time after the election," Magney said. "Apparently not."
The only Democratic senator who is not currently the subject of a recall bid is Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee.
The groups need about 16,000 signatures to force a recall election for a senator, Magney said. The exact number will vary from 11,000 to 21,000 signatures, he said, depending on how many votes were cast in the 2010 governor's race in the targeted district.
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Recall all of the Fleebaggers
- California Little Hoover Commission’s plan rolls back California Public-Employee pensions for current workers – The bipartisan Little Hoover Commission recommended today that California state and local governments roll back pensions for existing employees, dump guaranteed retirement payouts and put more of the pension burden on workers.
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Flap’s Links for February 24th from 14:06 to 14:17
These are my links for February 24th from 14:06 to 14:17:
- Follow the Money – Who Benefits from the Public Employee Unions? – Everyone has priorities. During the past week, Barack Obama has found no time to condemn the attacks that Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi has launched on the Libyan people.
But he did find time to be interviewed by a Wisconsin television station and weigh in on the dispute between Republican governor Scott Walker and the state’s public-employee unions. Walker was staging “an assault on unions,” he said, and added that “public employee unions make enormous contributions to our states and our citizens.”
Enormous contributions, yes — to the Democratic party and the Obama campaign. Unions, most of whose members are public employees, gave Democrats some $400 million in the 2008 election cycle. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the biggest public-employee union, gave Democrats $90 million in the 2010 cycle.
“Follow the money,” Washington reporters like to say. The money in this case comes from taxpayers, present and future, who are the source of every penny of dues paid to public-employee unions — who in turn spend much of that money on politics, almost all of it for Democrats. In effect, public-employee unions are a mechanism by which every taxpayer is forced to fund the Democratic party.
So, just as the president complained in his 2010 State of the Union address about a Supreme Court decision that he feared would increase the flow of money to Republicans, he also found time to complain about a proposed state law that could reduce the flow of money to Democrats.
And, according to the Washington Post, he had time enough to get the Democratic National Committee to organize protests against the proposed Wisconsin law — protests that showed contempt for the law, with teachers abandoning classrooms, doctors writing phony medical excuses, Democratic legislators fleeing the state and holing up in a motel. The lawmakers played hooky without losing any salary, which is protected by the state constitution.
It’s true that Walker’s proposals would strike hard at the power of the public-employee unions. They would no longer have the right to bargain for fringe benefits, which are threatening to bankrupt the state government, and they would no longer be able to count on government withholding dues money and passing it along to them.
But what are the contributions that public-employee unions make to our states and our citizens? Their incentives are to increase the cost of government and reduce toward zero the accountability of public employees — both contrary to the interests of taxpaying citizens.
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Read it all
- Obama’s Gay-Marriage Striptease – The Obama administration’s announcement today that it regards the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional and will not defend it in court is the latest act in a striptease. President Obama favors same-sex marriage — favors its judicial imposition — and is casting off the disguises that have hidden that position one by one.
The portion of the Defense of Marriage Act on which the administration just opined defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the purposes of federal law. So if a state court declares that in Massachusetts men can marry each other, its edict does not require the federal government to provide spousal benefits under Social Security to such couples. Obama, while claiming to oppose same-sex marriage, has also favored repeal of this act.
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Read it all
- President 2012: Mike Huckabee defends Obama on Jeremiah Wright – In an interview with Christianity Today, Mike Huckabee denounces the line of attack that Republicans opened up against Obama in 2008 concerning his controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright. Huckabee, on Obama:
He's been very expressive in his statements, even at the Saddleback Forum when he ran in 2008. He spelled out very clearly what his view was, and frankly, it's inappropriate , wrong-headed, and not helpful to the overall discussion when people try to say he doesn't have a birth certificate or he's a Muslim. To me that demeans the entire real discussion—what is he proposing and whether it's good for the country—that ought to be the centerpiece for our entire conversation, not what did he hear when he sat in church. If people went back and heard every sermon I heard when I was a little kid and some of the more fundamentalist pastors were yelling from the pulpit at me, if they took every one of those sermons and lifted out of them certain phrases and things, it could be scandalous, but only out of the context of the bigger picture. That's why I thought that a lot of the focus on Jeremiah Wright was misplaced.
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Still think Huckabee is running for President in 2012?
Mike will have a hard time winning the GOP nomination and he will not readily give up his fat paycheck at Fox News.
- Watchdog calls for criminal probe of Governor Walker over prank Koch call – A Washington-based campaign finance watchdog group is calling on Wisconsin prosecutors to launch an investigation of Governor Scott Walker, alleging potentially illegal fundraising activity in an exchange with the prankster who posed as billionaire David Koch, the group says.
The Public Campaign Action Fund provided me with a letter it has sent to the Dane County District Attorney, who has jurisdiction over state government matters, asking him to probe whether Walker engaged in an effort to solicit "illegal coordinated political spending," as well as whether he illegally did so from state property, i.e., his office.
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Greg Sargent is a lackey for the Far Left and what else do you expect from the Fleebag LEFT.
This is as stupid as it is moronic.
- Follow the Money – Who Benefits from the Public Employee Unions? – Everyone has priorities. During the past week, Barack Obama has found no time to condemn the attacks that Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi has launched on the Libyan people.
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Poll Watch: 67% Disapprove of Legislators Fleeing Wisconsin to Avoid Vote
This is according to the latest Rasmussen Poll on the issue.
Half of America’s voters favor public sector unions for government workers, but they strongly oppose the tactic by Wisconsin state senators to flee their state to prevent a vote that would limit the rights of such unions.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that only 25% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of this tactic, while 67% disapprove. State legislators in Indiana have used the same approach to avoid a vote in their state.
Not surprising and could you imagine if the GOP had done this during other contentious issues over the years what the media response would have been?
What is interesting is that even Democrats are about evenly split on the issue.
Sizable majorities of Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party reject such a strategy. Democrats are fairly evenly divided, with 48% approving and 44% disapproving.
Until the Democratic senators return, there will not be quorum allowing a vote on Republican Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to have public employees pay more for their health and pension benefits and to limit their collective bargaining rights. The Republican majorities in both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature are expected to pass the governor’s proposal which has been the subject of major protests in the state for several days now.
Now, whether Wisconsin allows collective bargaining for its public employees is an issue to be decided by the Wisconsin Legislature. If Wisconsin voters do not like it, they can replace their representatives at the next election. This is how American government works.
Voters continue to be closely divided over the question of public employee unions themselves. Fifty percent (50%) at least somewhat favor such unions, while 44% oppose them. These figures include 25% who Strongly Favor the unions and 25% who are Strongly Opposed.
Last month in a survey of American Adults as opposed to Likely Voters, 45% supported public employee unions, while 45% opposed them. Support for the unions was down from 53% in May of last year.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of Democrats now favor public employee unions, while 66% of Republicans and 54% of unaffiliated voters oppose them.
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Flap’s Links for February 24th from 05:58 to 06:22
These are my links for February 24th from 05:58 to 06:22:
- Why Does Walmart Get a Pass? Re: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker – Indeed, the Center for American Progress goes on (in this post and several others) to indict pretty much every major organization, company, or individual who ever gave to Walker—and even some of the organizations that gave to organizations that supported Walker.
Never mind that Walker has devoted his entire career in public service to reducing government spending, reforming budget processes, and reining in public-sector unions—this is about wild conspiracy theories, not the impressive, smart, likable young governor taking on an entrenched, corrupt and incestuous relationship between public-sector unions and public officials.
But there is, oddly, at least one major corporate donor to the Walker for governor campaign that the Center for American Progress has given a pass. Walmart, one of only two corporations to fall in the top ten list of donors to Walker’s campaign, has never been mentioned in connection with Walker by the intrepid Googlers at the Center for American Progress. Not even once.
Coincidentally, Walmart has been, and by every indication continues to be, a major donor to … the Center for American Progress. John Hinderaker notes this connection in his own post at Powerline, picking apart the shameless hypocrisy of the corporate-funded Center for American Progress's attacks on corporate money in politics.
You'd think Walmart, with its long record of hostility to unions (which just maybe has something to do with the million-plus jobs the company has created), would be a top target for the group. Or could it be that the Center for American Progress reserves its ire for individuals and entities that do not contribute to the Center for American Progress?
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Hypocrites all
- The Left’s War on the Kochs – The most extraordinary story in the news these days is the all-out assault that the Left is mounting against Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Enterprises. A day doesn't go buy–hardly an hour goes by–without some new attack being launched against these two lonely libertarians.
Why? Simply because they are rich–their company is one of the best-run and most successful in the world–and conservative. The Left is trying to drive them out of politics and, more important, to deter any other people of means from daring to support conservative politicians or causes.
Understand, the Left has nothing against rich people participating in politics. Most rich people who are politically active are liberals, and the Democratic Party gets much more of its support from the wealthy than the GOP. George Soros is only the most famous of a battalion of sugar daddies who fund every left-wing cause. But the Left wants a monopoly. They want wealthy people to be barred from political participation unless they toe the liberal line. Hence their increasingly vicious attacks on the Koch brothers; they are trying to make an example of them.
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Read the entire piece
- Right Turn – Mitch Daniels’s Damage Control – I asked a Daniels spokeswoman repeatedly why Daniels had to throw in the towel on right-to-work legislation since he got two school reform measures through the state senate with only Repubican votes. She never answered. The question remains: What was the purpose of his capitulation last night?
Daniels, in essence, has admitted he screwed up. Whether his apology will allay the conservatives who will be Republican primary voters in 2012 remains to be seen. But one longtime Republican observer e-mailed me, "The right to work free of compulsory association with, and dues paid to, any particular group, is as close to a basic liberty as can be imagined. If Daniels won't stand up for that, he can't be counted on for ANY subject aside from green-eyeshade accounting." I suspect that sentiment is rather widespread.
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Yes, pretty weak sauce from Mitch Daniels
- Why Does Walmart Get a Pass? Re: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker – Indeed, the Center for American Progress goes on (in this post and several others) to indict pretty much every major organization, company, or individual who ever gave to Walker—and even some of the organizations that gave to organizations that supported Walker.
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Audio: BFD – Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is Crank-Called by Moron Impersonating David Koch
Here is part one of the crank-call of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker by the Buffalo BeastI am still wondering what the BFD is here. There is no FLAP and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker sounds like how a public official should.
Here is part two:
Well, it is obvious that the phone call is NOT from David Koch, the billionaire businessman. And, it is also obvious that Governor Walker does NOT talk to him very frequently as he does NOT recognize the differences in the impersonator’s voice.
Here is David Koch talking about filtration membranes:
The LEFT can have its fun with this call and the Saul Alinsky type ridicule of Scott Walker can begin.
But, there is nothing there folks.
Here is Governor Walker’s office response:
“The governor takes many calls everyday,” Walker’s spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said in a statement. “Throughout this call the governor maintained his appreciation for and commitment to civil discourse. He continued to say that the budget repair bill is about the budget. The phone call shows that the governor says the same thing in private as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin is having.”
If anything, this shows Governor Walker as a principled well-balanced POL.
By the way, why did Walker take the call in the first place? Well, most POLS do know who their major political donors are and do grant them a degree of access.
Lipton leaves that claim hanging, and never tells his readers how much the Koch PAC contributed to Walker’s campaign. In fact, the total was $43,000. That was out of more than $11 million that Walker raised, and $37.4 million that was spent, altogether, on the 2010 race for Governor of Wisconsin. Which means that people associated with Koch Industries contributed a whopping one-tenth of one percent of what was spent on last year’s election.
Here we have just more desperate, Saul Alinsky, Big Labor type tactics to defame Governor Walker – didn’t work though.
BFD.