GARVEYBLOG
January 27, 2012
Gaining momentum
By Ed Garvey
The People's Legislative Session, Wednesday, February 1 is taking shape. While some have complained that we are meeting on a work day, we really had no choice. So, I agree it would have been better on a weekend but we are where we are.
At least four potential candidates have said they will be there. Only time will tell if all of them will be there. Some have asked us to "stream" the proceedings and we are working on that--it's a good idea. We will have to pass the bucket again. So, while there has been some criticism, there is growing enthusiasm for the concept.
How about the Walker team setting up an alternative e-mail system 25 feet from the County Exec's office when Walker occupied that office? Once again, using employees of the state and local governments to work on politics! Won't they ever learn?
And Tommy Thompson is now worth $13 million? Whoa Nelly. He says he is "lucky and happy," and I am not surprised. Like Newt, he claims that he was not a lobbyist although he worked with one at Akin Gump, one of the biggest lobbying firms in Washington. Corruption everywhere.
John Nichols, Mike McCabe, Ruth Conniff and Nino Amato will be at the People's Legislature. We have no way to predict turnout, but I think we will not be lonely. See you on Wednesday at noon.
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GARVEYBLOG
January 26, 2012
People's Legislature
By Ed Garvey
Wednesday, February 1, we will convene around noon, Alliant Exhibition area (free parking), introduce anyone who wishes to be a potential candidate to oppose Walker, decide on forums to be held statewide, hear the latest from Mike McCabe on out-of-state funding for Walker, and on the Citizens United amendment.
Ruth Conniff will co-chair with me; John Nichols will speak, and, who knows, we might make some history when it comes to money in politics.
Need your input--look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.
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GARVEYBLOG
January 26, 2012
Bankers are not bad people!
By Ed Garvey
C'mon folks. Listen to Daddy Mitt. "Bankers are not bad people---just overwhelmed," he said. Really. He said that, and, of course, we all agree. There are some bad, some good bankers, but overwelmed? Heck, there are even bad lawyers. There are even a few bad judges! OK, I have gone to far!
Bad bankers, bad judges, bad lawyers--how about bad pollsters? Headline in JS: GOVERNOR'S JOB RATING UP IN NEW MARQUETTE POLL. What? Marquette has never had a poll so PolitiFact might say JS has "pants on fire" when they write "new Marquette poll" when there has never been an "old Marquette poll." Ah, yes, the unholy alliance strikes again.
Whose poll is it if it is not Marquette's? Did JS ask or are they part of the deal? Recall we have been flashing the yellow caution light about UW-Madison's Pol Sci prof Charles Franklin. He was part of the UW-Madison partnership with extreme right-wing Bradley Foundation's WPRI. Bradley would pay Franklin and his fellow poli sci profs and Franklin would lend the UW's good name to polls. WPRI would give final approval to the wording, timing, subject matter and they agreed to spin results with MJS! In fact, MJS would get the information ahead of all other media. Tsk, tsk, and whoa Nelly. Who conducted this "new Marquette poll"? Why none other than Dr. Franklin: this is the first of a series being conducted by Charles Franklin, co-founder of pollster.com and a visiting professor at Marquette on leave from UW-Madison. Because he is on leave, he will argue that neither he nor Marquette are covered by the Open Records law that tripped him when the WPRI deal was exposed by FightingBob.com.
Franklin can influence the decisions of Democrats thinking about challenging Walker. If they believe Franklin they might conclude that Walker is getting a Gingrich-like surge.
I think that we should know who is paying Franklin or his new corporate entity. What are the questions, who gets to decide? Who spins? Is Franklin back to the old deal with MJS? Looks like it if you read the story today.
My advice: Pay no attention to Franklin's polls and Marquette--old, new or waiting to be cooked.
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ARTICLE
January 26, 2012
Less is more
By Ed Garvey
Democrats have to make Walker's money the issue.
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GARVEYBLOG
January 25, 2012
Note to Newt
By Ed Garvey
Newt Gingrich is missing a good deal. Gingrich is yelled at by Mitt Romney for the $1.6 million he got from Freddie Mac. Romney says Newt was lobbying. Newt says he was a historian!
Well, Newt the historian got "chump change" compared to the money paid to Tommy Thompson since he left the position of the Bush appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services seven years ago. Like Newt, he denies that he lobbied. Yah, sure Tommy. Tommy said, "I have made a few shekels" since leaving office. I admit to not knowing the value of the shekel, so let me convert to dollars. Tommy made at least $8.5 million since 2005, and that is at the low end.
Again, that makes Newt look like a cheap date. Like Newt, the firms that paid Tommy millions hired him as a "strategic adviser"--never a lobbyist. If you believe that, call me. I have a deal for you.
I ran against Tommy in 1998 and we got along despite some very questionable moves TT made. Even the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the insider deals with Bear Stearns and others like big tobacco. While not attacking him for his intelligence, the notion of anyone paying Tommy millions of dollars for "strategic advice" is nutso.
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GARVEYBLOG
January 24, 2012
It beats fiction
By Ed Garvey
Tonight is the second anniversary of an important exchange between Barack Obama, "truth teller," and thin-skinned Justice Sam Alito Jr., not exactly a truth teller, more of a right-wing ideologue. You remember when the president criticized the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United with the Justices sitting a few feet away, and Alito mouthed a response "not true" while shaking his head. Obama, more the scholar than Alito, said the Court had "reversed a century of law" and would open the floodgates for special interests...to spend without limit in our elections.
Which side are you on? I can guess, but guess work is not needed. Headline in NY Times: "Super PAC for Gingrich To Get $5 million Infusion." A casino owner in Las Vegas gave him $5 million during the South Carolina primary and now jumps in to help Newt in Florida with another $5 million. Was the money helpful? It "provided a major boost to Gingrich in South Carolina," says NYT.
What's that you said, Justice Alito? "Not true"? With all due respect sir, I don't think you were correct in your finger-wag at Obama. (OK not a finger wag--a head shake.) As for the president, his comments were seriously under-stated. Citizens United is a disaster not just wrong.
Look at Wisconsin, Justice Alito. CASH POURING INTO WALKER COFFERS. Walker raised $12 million in one year; $4,5 million in five weeks. Where does it come from, Justice Alito, the good fairy?
I predict Walker will have raised more than all Democrats who have run for governor of Wisconsin in modern history--combined. Koch Brothers, Uihlein family business in Illinois. Perry Homes in Houston and on and on.
To add insult to injury, Scott Fitzgerald attributes this money to Walker's successful programs. (I am not kidding.) He said that on the day the UW-Milwaukee released a report showing a disaster in Black employment in Milwaukee; lowest ever, and more African-American men are incarcerated every month than were employed by year's end. Does that grab you Scott one and Scott two? Only 44.7 percent of working-age black males were employed in 2010.
February 1. A week from tomorrow we convene the People's Legislature at the Alliant Center to figure out how candidates can emerge to oppose Walker and to agree on the key issues that must be addressed. We need your ideas asap. We know Feburary 1 is a work day, but time is flying by and this date was open.
Let us know via email if you plan to attend. Thanks. See you there.
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ARTICLE
January 24, 2012
Up in the air
By Bill Kraus
Something immense has happened on Wisconsin's political landscape, but what it is at this point is mostly unknown.
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EVENTS
January 23, 2012
The People's Legislature to Reconvene: 2/1/12
Fighting Bob Friends:
We have had three sessions of The People’s Legislature, and now is time to call for the most important one we have held:
February 1st at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Halls, the People’s Legislature will reconvene. The agenda? Discuss a process for naming a candidate to oppose Scott Walker and to list the key issues that must be addressed.
This session will not be an endorsement. Rather, it will try to develop a road to a wide-open primary. Let the people decide who should run—we will focus on the issues and the process.
This open meeting will go from Noon to 4:00pm. I plan to chair; Mike McCabe will keynote; other speakers to be announced.
Can you make it? We have to continue the uprising.
Everyone thinking of running or supporting a candidate is welcome.
No speeches on behalf of any candidate: only speaking to the process of how to select the best person. This is a grassroots movement and we are all part of it.
We will ask you to contribute a few bucks as we always do.
Best Regards,
Ed Garvey
GARVEYBLOG
January 23, 2012
Got our hands full
By Ed Garvey
Hit the pause button, sit back and make a list of top issues the country must deal with. Imagine giving or writing the State of the Union speech this week.
Issue number 1 in my book is the need to find leaders people will trust. Not many around these days. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Barack Obama... The lack of trust starts with the sad state of our corrupt political system. In order to pay the high cost of running for office (consultants, TV spots, staff) candidates must hone their begging skills. It matters not if a person understands the state budget, but it does matter if he or she can twist arms for money. I get 50 or more money requests from legislators per year and I am tired of it. Hitting up people who support you for money is absurd.
If you are a billionaire, that problem is solved, but there are not many billionaires who will seek office and some of them are not interested in the commonweal. They want more not less for themselves. They do not seem to care about homeless people struggling to keep their noses above the water line, so back to ground zero.
Issue number 2: health care as a right of every citizen. Period. The excuses for not adopting single-payer health care are pathetic.
Issue number 3: Unfair taxes make cynics of all of us, so we must adopt a fair tax system if we expect the middle-class to trust the system.
Issue number 4: Reduce military spending, stop the rush to war.
Issue number 5: Deal with the sad state of education in America. We need to pay teachers more not less, we must make college and tech school free. We cannot afford millions of uneducated young people out of work.
Final issue for a Monday morning: Find iron-clad solutions to climate change.
That's it for the moment. Share your thoughts, please.
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GUESTBLOG
January 22, 2012
The rise of Newt
By Bob Menamin
The Palmetto state, South Carolina, has discovered a vein of gold with Newt Ginrich. South Carolina loves cockfighting as sport and has finally discovered Newt, the biggest rooster of all, who will get down and dirty. The Tea Party GOP has found Newt after its chronic rejection of all its previous candidates. The question is, will it last in the Tea Party's ongoing quest to find the perfect, right-wing corporate candidate? No one seems to have the purity demanded by the party of hate.
Newt is at peace in his cathedral of hatred. The eloquent organmaster is professional at striking the discordant themes of resentment, grievance, anger and hatred as he softly plays the cathedral pipe organ. He plays his audience like a fiddle, using openly hateful statements as well as the more subtle code words of bigotry that warm the cockles of hardened GOP hearts.
Newt has also become the redemption poster boy by admitting that he has sinned again and again, promising a future life of virtue after each transgression. This is music to the ears of the religious rightwing faithful who are in love with redemption stories. How many times can one person go to the redemption well? Howard Fineman has noted that the eloquent wordmeister can "go from Judas to Jesus in one sentence." Newt has achieved the status of a Cardinal (not St. Louis) in the Tea Party GOP Church of Deception. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Newt has risen from the dead again. This resurrection insures that the "GOP reality show" will continue for some time.
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