Dirtier Than Nixon

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is running for President of the United States of America. Sure, he’s being coy about it, but everyone knows that’s his plan.

With Walker as President, you’ll get plenty of promises, but few good results. Although he doesn’t really care what the average person thinks about him, as long as they vote for him. His real concern is carrying water for those he needs to advance his career.

Walker was never about public service. Can anyone point to a solid reason he was elected as Milwaukee County Executive? Other than this, I mean. What has he ever accomplished that moved society forward?

For Scott Walker it has always been about him. His career. His aspirations.

Yet, he brings nothing to the table.

Walker had an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to the people of Milwaukee County just how good he is at managing large, complex enterprises. The results?

The State was forced to take over Milwaukee County’s public assistance programs, due to Walker's ineptness. It’s almost as if Milwaukee County had picked their ill-prepared, unskilled, and unqualified cousin for the position.

“The State's unprecedented move Tuesday to strip Milwaukee County of its role in administering food aid, child care and medical assistance programs was prompted by years of county mismanagement, state Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake said.”

“The state "has in fact expended millions of additional dollars and thousands of hours of staff resources to assist your county over a period of years," Timberlake wrote. "Despite these efforts, Milwaukee County's performance fails national and state standards and is failing the people of the county."

"Milwaukee County has demonstrated a sustained inability to successfully provide services to its (poor) customers," Timberlake said in a letter to Walker. She disputed Walker's assertion that the problem has been the state underfunding the operation, or due to the souring economy[1].

A ‘sustained inability’. For those who strive towards process excellence, those are damning words. But ‘process excellence’ was the last thing on Walker’s mind. What Timberlake is saying, essentially, is ‘we gave you more help than your predecessors and you still couldn’t do the job’. Walker wanted failure, because from his Randian perspective, those receiving the help weren’t the ‘creative minds’, the ‘makers’ that added value to society, they were ‘takers’, nothing more than grist for the mill and entirely expendable.

Got it. Refuse to administer help (that’s already available) to those most in need, then when they remain needy, seek excuses, not solutions. Thus, the self-fulfilling prophesy becomes the proof.

While on the campaign trail, expect to hear many things from Walker. Programmed talking points produced by his Koch-sponsored handlers designed to mask the real agenda: continue to push for policies that reward the wealthy for being wealthy while destroying America’s middle-class and keep those already struggling from improving their condition.

But what he won’t talk about are any of the scandals and near-scandals that follow him.

Tom Barrett, Milwaukee Mayor and Democrat Gubernatorial opponent in both the 2010 and the recall elections, had this to say about Walker and his tight-lipped defense strategy:

“There are just so many questions that Gov. Walker refuses to answer. He refuses to answer questions about who’s paying his legal defense fees for his criminal defense lawyers. He refuses to answer questions on where he goes on fundraising trips when he should’ve been in Madison working on legislation. He refuses to answer questions such as, ‘Did he sign recall petitions against Sen. [Russ] Feingold and Sen. [Herb] Kohl?’ The more questions he refuses to answer, the more people are asking themselves, why is he asking us to trust him[2]?”

Regarding whether or not Walker signed recall petitions against Senators Feingold and Kohl, walker says:

“I don’t remember what may or may not have been put in front of me. I just don’t remember. Do you remember everything you signed 15 years ago?” he said in the interview. “The mayor’s just desperate.”

Which makes you wonder: Does Walker read what he signs? Signing a recall petition is not like, say, taking a survey or some routine paperwork. Surely one would remember a petition. Do we want a president that is either unfocused or is a liar?

Another scandal surrounding Walker is the John Doe 1 & 2 investigations. John Doe 1 involved Walker’s Milwaukee County staff working on his bid for governor while on county time. Walker has repeatedly stated he knew nothing of what the staffers were up to.

The notion that Walker puts forward as to his lack of knowledge whether or not his staff was breaking election laws, is incongruent with being a manager that is focused on the work to be done, and therefore laughable. If he didn’t know what was going on in his own office, what does that say about his skill at administration? Yet, he his damned by his own words. Writing about the indictments brought forth on Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker says:

"We cannot afford another story like this one…No one can give them any reason to do another story. That means no laptops, no websites, no time away during the workday, etc[3]”

So, he knew.

Walker habitually surrounds himself with corrupt people. One of his biggest contributors paid a fine of $166,900 for illegally funneling money to Walker’s campaign. And let’s not forget the convictions of former Walker staffers in the John Doe I probe.

But it’s not just crooks that Walker keeps company with, it’s stupid people with disgusting values. Walker’s former deputy chief of staff, Tim Russell, and his partner, Brian Pierck, chose the brilliant user name of “Walker04” when visiting child pornography sites[4].

Imagine the selection process that was used to locate such great talent. Now, imagine that same expertise applied to potential cabinet secretaries and even Supreme Court nominees.

All this might matter to a person if they were intent on serving the public, not so with Walker – like the Honey Badger – he just doesn’t care. Walker is only concerned with advancing his own career. Make no mistake: Walker uses the Koch brothers (and others) as much as they use him.

Let’s also not forget Walker’s demonstrated fealty to the Koch brothers, and particularly the infamous phone call. Last time I checked, neither Koch brother was a citizen of Wisconsin. To further cement the relationship between the Koch brothers and the Right in general, reflect for a moment of the efforts of ALEC – funded by Koch.

To be fair, not all the blame for ALEC’s influence can be placed at Walker’s feet – too many Wisconsin Republicans holding office offer sacrifice at this altar. Let’s just not forget that we are the sacrifice they are offering.

Walker has made the largest cuts to public education in the state – ever. The result of Walker’s ‘administration’? Wisconsin ranks poorly compared to any other state in terms of economic health and job creation, the keystone of his campaign promises. Transfer that thinking to the national level.

This all goes beyond money. It speaks to the question of what kind of society we wish to have. Do we want to live in a country where the number of dollars you have is the only metric worth considering? What about the overall quality of life attainable to the average citizen, even if they aren’t filthy rich? Is it only the moneyed-class that has a right to pursue happiness?

If you aren’t convinced that the only reason Walker is Governor of Wisconsin is the Tea Party frenzy of 2010 – manufactured by Koch – and that the Tea Party is an entirely astroturf effort, consider the following:

“Many of the ideas propounded in the 1980 campaign presaged the Tea Party movement. Ed Clark told The Nation that libertarians were getting ready to stage ‘a very big tea party’, because people were ‘sick to death’ of taxes.[5]”

They’ve been at this for a while.

Most frightening of all are the ties that the Koch’s have to the John Birch Society, possibly the most extreme right-wing group ever, with the possible exception of the Ayn Rand Society, though are nearly one and the same.

Even William F. Buckley, Jr., whom no one could mistake for a left-leaning socialist-sympathisizing flower-child condemned the John Birch Society, and Barry Goldwater felt the need to distance himself from the group.[6]

And the Koch’s are fulfilling the JBS agenda, if not in name, then certainly in deed. Helped by Grover Norquist (no friend of middle America and another Randian robot), who wants to return the country back to the good old days of the 1880’s where there corporations ruled people’s lives in nearly every way and made countless miserable.

In this worldview, regular people are of no use – they are not the ‘creative minds’ Rand writes of but the ‘reactive minds’ that L. Ron Hubbard pities[7]. Nevermind that the ‘creative minds’ (read ‘job creators) that Rand talks about could never realize success if not for the ‘takers’ she despises.

This is why Wisconsin voters carry a burden unlike those of other states. Wisconsin has the opportunity, nay duty, to turn him out of office – any office. People of Wisconsin need to reclaim their place as innovators of public service and policy.

They’ve done it before, and come November, they will realize another first: the first state to rebuke the big-money Koch-Machine fueled era of Randian/Birch government.

As William Finnegan, writing in the New Yorker[8], put it:

“Wisconsinites aren't used to such hard-nosed politics. Bipartisan consensus is a cherished local value; laws mandating official transparency are proudly upheld. The good-government tradition is strong, and many Wisconsinites like to suggest, politely, that the state has been indispensable to social progress in America. It was here that the first progressive state income-tax and workers'-compensation laws were passed, in 1911; the first unemployment insurance established, in 1932; the first collective bargaining agreement for public employees signed, in 1959. The country's first kindergarten was opened in Wisconsin. The historic bastion of Wisconsin progressivism was the Republican Party. As William Cronon, a University of Wisconsin historian, writes, "The Democratic Party was so ineffective that Wisconsin politics were largely conducted as debates between the progressive and conservative wings of the Republican Party." At times, the Socialists (Milwaukee had three Socialist mayors, the most recent serving until 1960) and Robert M. La Follette's Progressives also played vital roles”.

Scott Walker has brought nothing to positive to Wisconsin, he'll bring nothing positive the the country. He's already dirtier than Nixon was when he was forced out of the Oval Office in disgrace. His friends are linked to the most paranoid and extremist organizations ever to crawl the Earth.

Walker has mis-managed Wisconsin's affairs in a spectacular show of incompetence. Likewise as Milwaukee County Executive. And, he the same thi...wait. What did he do as a member of the state assembly?

Now, he wants to be President. He has the Koch brother's money backing him. He's able to lie with a straight face. He might make it, after all. That's why Wisconsin simply must stop him, here.

Wisconsin is ready to rise to the challenge and lead the country away from the perverse distortion of of our Founding Father's vision. Our motto is "Out of Many, One" not "For a Few, All".

Come November, it’s on the people of Wisconsin, more than anyone else, to set the ship of state aright once again and put the country back on a genuine path to prosperity for all. And this time, a democrat will lead them.

---

[1] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel February 3, 2009.

[2] “Scott Walker Keeps Low Profile Before Wisconsin Recall Vote. David Catanese, Politico.com

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76809.html

[3] “Sending Scott Walker Packing” Ruth Conniff, Progressive magazine March 2012, Vol. 76, Issue 3

[4]http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/former-walker-aide-tim-russell-gets-prison-for-stealing-from/article_fbe19ae6-64b7-11e2-a1ae-0019bb2963f4.html

[5] http://occupymuseums.org/press/TheNewYorker.pdf

[6] http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/goldwater-the-john-birch-society-and-me/

[7] For a discussion of the similarities of Rand’s philosophy and Hubbard’s, see “The Ayn Rand Cult”, by Jeff Waler. Open Court Publishing, Peru, Illinois 1999.

[8] “The Storm”, William Finnegan, New Yorker 3/5/2012 Vol.88, Issue 3.

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How Milwaukee’s Socialist Legacy Made Scott Walker What He Is Today

The legacy of Milwaukee’s socialist past has benefitted Scott Walker in a way that could not have been predicted by the city’s early to mid-20^th century socialist leaders.

“Sewer Socialism” – Milwaukee’s version of socialism that came to power in 1910 with the election of the nation’s 1^st socialist mayor – Emil Seidel (later the 1912 V.P. candidate on the Socialist ticket). These Sewer Socialists worked for and put in place, among other things, public parks, and public health and traffic safety measures. It meant providing basic government services honestly and with frugality.

Prior to these ‘sewer socialists’ taking the reins of city government, Milwaukee was at least as corrupt as Chicago. They cleaned up city government and kept it clean. After Seidel came Mayor Daniel Hoan, who ran the city from 1916-1940 and then Frank Zeidler from 1948-190.

These guys weren’t the type of socialist that seeks to take over every aspect of life, they just wanted to see city government run to the benefit of all. They did it so well that not only in the city of Milwaukee but the entire state of Wisconsin, good, well run government came to be expected.

For many years, that's the way it was.

So when the pension scandal broke in 2002 and forced the County Executive, Tom Ament, along with a slew of County Supervisors, to resign, it gave Walker the opening he needed.

Walker ran for and was elected Milwaukee County Executive. Welcome to the “What, Me Worry?” era of county governance.

Walker proceeded to undermine Wisconsin’s legacy of good government practice by his now all too familiar game of “Three-Card Monty” governance: tell the public what you think they want hear while secretly doing what’s politically unwise and unpopular, then spring it on the unsuspecting public in a way that’s sure to piss them off.

If anyone finds out, throw a subordinate or two under the bus and move on. After all, who could place responsibility for the administration of the county’s business in the lap of the Executive?

That’s how he operated as County Executive, which has driven investigations of its own (and a number of former Walker employees convicted of crimes) and how he continues to operate as Governor. And, there’s more where that came from.

Don’t be fooled by this counterfeit leader or his rhetoric – that he’s looking out for the less well-off – he’s running for President (some Koch-head must have planted that idea). He has to appear to care about the 99%, after all, he needs their votes.

Gov. Walker Wants To Eliminate Wisconsin's State Income Tax

Walker recently floated out the idea of eliminating Wisconsin's state income tax. he hasn't come up with a plan yet as he claims he wants input from 'the people'.

That's something we in Wisconsin haven't heard from him before, but he is running for President, so he has to at minimum appear to care what voters think.

He says he has no definite scheme in mind, but we know that can't be the case. This guy's middle name is subterfuge. That's mainly because he knows his policies are unpopular and can't just come out say what he wants to do. Geez, if he did that, he probably wouldn't get elected.

Let's look at Wisconsin's current state income tax, compare it to other state's that have no state income tax and see if it can't be discerned where Walker is really going with this.

Currently, there are seven states with no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

Right off the bat, you can see that the line representing Wisconsin doesn't follow the contour for the states with no income tax. The reason for this is that Wisconsin's current tax structure has a graduated design and is far more progressive than those states that have no income tax.

Wisconsin's state motto is "Forward" and used to be lauded for it's progressiveness. In fact, it was Wisconsin's Republicans that gave the state this reputation.

Now, with Walker running the state, this is no longer the case as his main interest is serving his overseers. And, the one thing his overseers lust after more than possibly anything else, is the elimination of capital gains taxes. Considering that Walker is a man of little or no real substance and will bend to whatever political wind is blowing (Tea Party, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?), watch for it to be forced down the throats of the people.

If we're lucky, we'll end up with a tax structure that resembles the 'overall average' of data sets reflected in the chart above and those least able to fight back will end up bearing the heaviest load. That last part is sure to be a feature of whatever plan Walker comes up with because we now live in an echo of days past where the only ones that mattered were those with money.

Follow me on Twitter for more analysis on this and other topics.

Where Was Jiminy Cricket When Scott Walker Needed Him?

We here in Wisconsin have been inundated with news stories regarding the John Doe investigations relating to Gov. Scott Walker.

A February 25, 2014 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that John Schultz, former Chief Legal Counsel for the state’s Department of Transportation, has lost his job due to improper emails.

While the email in question was sent before Schultz joined the administration, this is now at least the second time that Walker or his staff's failure to properly vet hires has come back to bite him. I know of staffing agencies that do a better job of researching temporary workers.

Reading the article, I found myself asking how it was possible someone with a law degree can be so stupid to send an email that offensive over the state’s email system. Schultz himself asks the same question, sort of.

After reading the remainder of the article, I was asking other questions: Are there no responsible adults working for Walker? Why do people on Gov. Walker’s staff seem not to be able to excersize any impulse control? Where is Gov. Walker’s Jiminy Cricket?

Who? Jiminy Cricket?

For those not familiar with this valuable asset, let me direct your attention to the Poynter Institute’s article “Meet 12 great employees to toast in 2012”, written by Jill Geisler.

One employee that Walker apparently needs desperately is Jiminy Cricket. Here’s Jill’s description of Jiminy:

“The Jiminy Cricket: Like the venerable little sidekick to Disney’s “Pinocchio,” this employee is characterized by conscience. Jiminy Cricket deftly asks questions that get people thinking about ethics, diversity, fairness, accountability, safety, legality — helping people see past their blind spots.”

It seems as if the Wisconsin Governor has a huge blind spot when it comes to hiring people who conduct their employer’s business with integrity. That’s bad for a private employer conducting private business, and simply unacceptable for any public office holder conducting the public’s business.

Did no one working for Walker either in his administration or on his campaign question this email? More importantly, why was no action taken at the time the email was sent – over the state’s email system, no less?

It seems the only time Walker deals with ethics is after they’ve been exposed. That’s weak because it’s reactive. If you’re forever explaining and cleaning up past mistakes, how do you move forward?

Talk about working harder, not smarter! Walker will now be spending a lot of time and money (taxpayer money) dealing with the aftermath of this disclosure.

One Jiminy Cricket equals ten campaign strategists.

The time and money spent on spinning and distracting, with evading questions and avoiding responsibility won’t be spent of formulating a forward looking strategy designed to govern a state or win a campaign.

In a manufacturing setting, this would be called ‘rework’: doing additional work to a product because it’s defective and the work wasn’t done right the first time. That is directly non-productive, non-value-adding work. That’s what Gov. Walker is doing.

Someone like Jiminy can be a real pain in the neck at times, but his concerns about being ethical, and about accountability when people fall short are a necessary and vital input to open, transparent, and fair practices, whether in the private sector or when conducting the public’s business.

By questioning certain actions early in the process, Mr. Cricket serves as an organization’s Early Warning System – one that saves time and money as well as something that money can’t buy: repute.

Mistake-Proofing, which is really what Jiminy is doing, is comparatively inexpensive, and really not that hard to accomplish.

Walker has aspirations to the Presidency. It might just be too late for Jiminy to help him.

People Expect Better From Leaders...

Walmart once again tops the list of Wisconsin employers who consistently abrogate their responsibility to pay their employees a living wage so they don’t have to rely on public assistance.

In years past, if you worked for Walmart and only worked part time, you didn’t qualify for the company’s health insurance plan, or it was prohibitively expensive. That forced many people who worked for such companies (Walmart is only one of many) to seek help elsewhere to acquire insurance, etc. for themselves and their children.

As the chart shows, in part because of the economic meltdown, and in part because of the company’s well-known practice of paying below-market-value wages, BadgerCare enrollment was steadily increasing but by the 4^th quarter of 2009 (point ‘A’ on the chart) had leveled off and stayed that way until the 4^th quarter of 2011 (point ‘B’), when Walmart began increasing the hours provided to associates, throwing many off BadgerCare, due to a policy change in the state’s health insurance plan.

At first glance this doesn’t seem like it’s a problem, until you consider that the increase in hours worked (at below-market-value wage) isn’t enough to make up for the increase in insurance premiums. So, the workers get squeezed even further.

Perhaps the worst of all this is that this company, maybe more than most, is in a position to demonstrate genuine leadership and lead the way away from survival wages to wages that provide the means for families to thrive, and prosper.

I’d like to think that there are many folks in management positions who’ve been lobbying for exactly this kind of change. Think about this for a second: remove all the negativity associated with low wages and what is left?

You’re left with a very well-run organization – there’s no disputing that Walmart is the leader when it comes to world-class distribution practices, having invented many industry benchmarks over the years.

If you’ve ever seen the inside of one of their distribution centers then I’m sure you’ve marveled at how this company can keep track of the thousands of products they sell, keeping their inventories and sell prices as low as possible while still meeting market demands. Additionally, who could dispute their forecasting techniques? In these respects, there is no better company on the planet.

The company’s top leadership should set the example with respect to employee compensation - and be the paradigm in this area as well. Granted, changing corporate culture is often a very difficult thing to accomplish. Walmart is a great company – except in this area.

In fact, it is exactly that lack of ‘push’ from top management that turns public opinion against Walmart. The company could be the ideal of American employers, yet sadly, so far has chosen not to.

Yet, given the company’s performance in the technical areas of meeting consumer demand while realizing very good profits, there’s no doubt whatsoever that they can be successful in this effort – all it takes the political will to do so, and that must come from the very top.

Just think of the respect this company could garner by resetting the terms of its implicit social contract. It would earn this company greater profits than what they experience currently. Americans love success stories, and in every aspect of conducting business, Walmart is a great success story – except for one.

Barba Tenus Sapientes

"The best off...should pay at a rate at least equal to what low- and middle-income families pay." - Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy

Scott Walker wants to change how Wisconsin collects taxes. He wants Wisconsin to join the cast of states that have no income tax. That doesn't sound so bad at first hearing, but, like all things Walker, this needs further unpacking.

Let's look again at the chart shown previously:

It should be pointed out that simply because a state may not have an income tax in no way should be interpreted that no taxes are paid. They just aren't call income taxes.

You see how the line showing the current tax structure for Wisconsin has a sort-of hump in the middle? And, how that is in contrast to the other lines, which represent who pays what percentage in taxes of personal income for non-elderly taxpayers?

The reason for the hump is to give those on the bottom of the earnings scale a break. It's no secret that lower-income people have less to work with in the first place.

As you can easily see, people in the lowest 20% , pay from 5.7% to a whopping 16.9% of their income in taxes in one form or another, be it sales, property, or excise tax. That 16.9% figure? That's from Washington, where there is no state income tax. It's also the highest percentage paid by anyone in any category.

Generally as one moves from lowest to higher income brackets, the percentages of taxes paid goes down, but not the dollar amounts. This is as it should be.

Take a look at the chart below:

The upper and lower lines represent the range I believe distribution of tax burden will be within.

The line in the middle, labeled Walker's Wisconsin, is what I think the state's tax structure will look like after Walker obeys his overseers and does their bidding. The structure will favor the better off, and the least well off will carry an unfair burden. No surprises there.

Yet, I still wouldn't be surprised if Walker tries to take it a step further, if not right off the bat, then at the next budget cycle, by removing features such as exemptions for children, sales tax deductions for groceries, rent, heating,etc.

Walker's not stupid and he's sure to incorporate at least a few progressive features into the scheme, such as:

• Property tax Homestead exemptions - at least for the elderly. 
• Provide a tax credit to offset impact of sales tax - at least for lower-income taxpayers. 
• A tax credit linked to Federal poverty level and/or to inflation. 
• Standard deductions and child-care exemptions. 
• Refundable Earned Income Tax Credit. 
• Limits itemized deductions for upper-income taxpayers. 
• Use of Combined Reporting for corporations.

But I'm certain that once he sells the state on discarding the graduated income tax, he (if he's still Governor and not..and not..I can't say it...) then train his efforts to punish and reward freely:

• Providing total exclusion of Capital Gains taxes (that's how rich people make their money make their money). 
• Eroding the Combined Reporting requirement. 
• Higher reliance on property taxes. 
• Decoupling exemptions from inflation indexes. 
• Removal of Federal Income Tax deduction. 
• Institute only non-refundable EITC. 
• Higher reliance on sales and excise taxes.

Neither of the above lists are exhaustive. Think of it as a game: remove two from column A and add three from column B.

I hope I'm wrong - and there's a chance I am, since Walker is running for president. Maybe the strategy is to do this one thing right to show the people he really cares. Because he does - about his ambition.

How Can You Tell When Walker's Lying?

Data from Politifacts have confirmed what we in Wisconsin have known for a while: Our Governor plays fast and loose with the truth.

The chart below was created from data taken from Politifacts “Top Ten Most Fact-Checked” article.

No surprise why Walker’s one of the most fact-checked. It’s because he’s also one of the most factually-challenged. Doesn’t it always seem that those who shout “I’m straightforward” the loudest are the least so?

It reminds me of the Tom Smykowski,  from the movie “Office Space” who becomes frustrated and angry when trying to explain to the business consultant that his main reason for being is that:

“I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?”

It’s clear that Mr. Smykowski doesn’t have people skills, he just thinks he does. Same with Walker and his ‘straightforwardness’. He’s so straightforward, he won’t bother to answer whether or not he knew about the secret email serves in his Milwaukee County Executive office.

Maybe it really is better that he doesn’t say anything at all. Judging by the Politifact numbers, he’s more likely to either lie (38% of the time) or to fudge the truth (65%). In fact, Walker only tells the truth outright a mere 10% of the time.

Based on that, it’s easy to conclude he isn’t being ‘straightforward’ with the people of Wisconsin, no matter how many times he stays on script.

Telling the truth and being straight with the people you work for only 10% of the time wouldn't cut it in the private sector - or in the White House.