Women got hammered by Walker when he pushed the burden of the deficit onto teachers, while demonizing their profession, their union, and punishing their children. Women are breadwinners for their families. He said it was about the Budget not the Unions. We knew that wasn't true, wasn't real. Now we have on video, Walker's plan to go red in WI by creating a war between public, private unions and Wisconsinites: "divide and rule...as a first step".

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) speaks about public workers, police and teachers as if they're leaches on welfare. Public workers already pay 100% of their own benefits and pension via deferred wages, so his tirade about pensions & contributions was all Bonk. Even after unions complied with all his Budget requirements, Walker was still unsatisfed. So now the House Oversight Committee is after him, for repeating the same lie about unions and the Budget under oath.

On disenfranchizing voters via expensive new Voter ID Laws that don't fix anything (had there been something to fix), Walker tweeted "I waited ten years to do that".

Walker staff & associates have been charged with 3 misdemeanors and 15 felonies, for illegally funneling campaign & taxpayer money to his personal criminal defense fund. Walker still refuses to co-operate with investigators.

Using a loophole in the law, Walker obtained 25:1 funding from Wall Street ++ anyone from anywhere else who wants to see the back of workers' rights, or cut off competitive union campaign cash to the Democratic Party, or chop citizens off the voter rolls.

No, Scott Walker didn't run on shifting cash to corporations, using Wisconsinites' federal housing aid to fill his Budget hole, stamping out unions, suppressing votes, cutting firefighters and teachers, sly early morning senate voting, evading or ignoring Judge's orders. His mission was to start an ultra-right GOP Governor wave across America, and do a nice test run for the powerful monied elite in America. Today we're doing another little experiment on their behalf, to see if right wing Big Money can buy this election with cunning, endless character assassination, and hateful lies. And in spite of the crimes Walker committed against the people of Wisconsin.

A vote for Scott Walker is a vote for corporate America and powerful special interests. Walker is a hatchet man for the corporations. He'll do whatever they want, at whatever cost to the rest of us.

Go out and VOTE for Tom Barrett today!
Fight, Wisconsin! FIGHT!!

he wanted to crush organized labor and the Democratic Party.

All of this to serve his master: Representative Paul Ryan. They both have soiled Wisconsin and need to leave it alone. Both are shameless Republicans that seem more like the Taliban than Americans.

Get out and leve the people alone! Go back to the caves where you came from, and stop trying to make everything a profit, even the pensions of teachers and the medicaid of old and disabled.

Ron and Feisty, morning and great work,

Governor Walker (R-WI) is a stoolie for multinational corporations that want to bribe and buy politicians to further their profit and political agendas.

This election is not about the good citizens & taxpayers of Wisconsin. It is about positioning the elite to run us their way, and run us into the ground, with the blessings of A.L.E.C. and Citizens United.

Hilarious! Walker is going to win in a landslide. The voters in WI are all fired up and not for the Democrat. Walker is going to win by at least 10%.

Dennis, great info and post. When Romney was Governor of Massachusetts, he had a separate door installed to exit through from a private elevator, so he wouldn't have to encounter pesky questions from the press or citizens. Then when he wasn't re-elected, he had his administration remove all hard drives from every computer used in state business during his one term.

The country would be the loser if this cowardly liar would be elected.

I knew it wouldn't take long before the pre "we lost the recall election" excuses came rolling in to this site. Feasty was quick to oblige. The left is already setting uo their ego defense mechanisms.

If the liberals and the unions win, it would be because all those good Wisconsin people simply would not stand for Gov. Walker curbing union costs to the State of Wisconsin. If liberals and unions lose, however, and Scott Walker is re-elected ....... waah ! waah ! waah ! ...... the election was stolen from us !! They cheated !!

If Democrats win one of the 4 senate seat, the Dems will have control over the Wisconsin state Senate.

That's a plus too.

Any guesses how many of his corrupt cronies start to sing like canaries? lol

Oh Feisty, those birds are already singing like a lark. If elected, he may serve the shortest term in history - one or two days before being carted off to jail. You know something is aloft in birdie land when 13 aides have been granted immunity for cooperating with investigators, and another 6 close advisors/aides have been charged on various criminal counts.

http://www.politicususa.com/recall-bombshell-closest-aide-turns-walker-cooperates-john-doe-investigation.html

Well, it's election day here in California. I'll be at my polling place by 9:00 AM. If the name of a candidate has a D, or in some cases an I, they get my vote. If there's a R next to the name, it's ignored. Is that being prejudice? Yes, and I'm proud of it. As for Propositions, if they help the working stiff, the middle class, women or the poor, it gets my vote. If the Proposition attempts to take away my rights or infringes on other peoples rights, especially women who seem to be the Republican target this year, my votes a resounding NO. All you voters out there today, in all States, take this aditude today to the voting booth and this will be a far better Country to live in.

ROMNEY, WHERE ARE YOUR TAX RETURNS?

OBAMA IN 2012.

The difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that in a dictatorship, dictators get away with things without a challenge. But in a democracy, dictators also get away things, but only after a challenge - a recall for example.

Checks and balances is very important in preserving democracy. Unions are a check on corporations. Just look at the recession, you understand corporate power should be checked.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

But supported by obscene billionaires, such as Cock Brothers, Walker has tried to acquire absolute power and undermine democracy, he should not get away with it without a challenge, that's reason for the recall.

The Democrat party fights against the biggest wage protection our country has and claims to be for the worker, what a joke!

Okay, this requires further explanation.

Backhouse, well said. Walker is the test run for what democracy will look like IF the powerful continue the march away from government of the people to government of the corporations. What's pathetic is that people like Walker will be tossed aside as quickly as the Koch boys or the other multi-billionaires find a new, even more ruthless, person to lead their take over of America.

The truth is that what happened in Wisconsin and what will happen is not about Republican versus Democrat, it is about Corporate Power usurping Government of the People--it is about Corporate control of democracy.

Scott Walker American Hero! Inherited a 3.6 BILLION deficit in 2010, today a surpluss, all the while property taxes have gone down! Beverly In Chicago, how about the 83 BILLION in unfunded union pensions in Illinios? Bet you wish you had a guy like Scott Walker, instead of the tyrant Maddigan! And by the way when do you expect that property tax increase? Oh yeah, and when is that teachers strike coming?

all the while property taxes have gone down!

Of course they've gone down. Property values have crashed.

Unite Women wants WI voters to KNOW THIS!

“From Wisconsin Election Protection, we are receiving reports that some clerks are still asking for Voter ID under the guise of “practice.” This is NOT OK! There should be NO requests for photo ID from voters! If you see signs, if you are asked for your ID, please notify us IMMEDIATELY.

Call our 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), post here, or tweet us @EPWisco. Be sure to tell us what polling site & where the site is located!!

Ruken, if we enforce our immigration laws, every worker gets a raise.

I do not think union and public employees are overpaid and do not "hate" them, I think the rest of the workforce is underpaid.

Think about it, if we arrest anyone who hires an illegal, so much gets fixed naturally. If you are union or a public employee, it helps you immensely. First, if the other workers get raises, it takes away the negative focus. Second, it will increase income tax revenue, giving more funds to pay the public sector.

I am a true believer in capitalism and I know the proper capiotalistic way to rke money from the rich is in the form of a bigger paycheck, putting the money directly into the workers hand.

Keeping the worker underpaid and taxing the rich more only sends the money to run the D.C. gauntlet and allow "benevolent" politicians to redistribute about 10 cents on the dollar.

The polarization of our country, brought to you by the GOTP Party!

Working to keep all the workers down in order to increase corporate profits. Working to push the tax burden from the wealthy to the less well off.

I understand why the GOTP's allow big business to enjoy cheap labor, but why do they think we should emanate China a communist country? Replace our outdated trade laws that reward outsourcing American jobs. Cut the bloated defense budget; there is no sane reason why we spend as much on defense as the rest of the world's nations combined. Corporations are not people, and money does not equal free speech.

it is about Corporate Power usurping Government of the People--it is about Corporate control of democracy.

Exactly, we are struggling against a modern wave of fascism in this country.

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power."

Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy

Ruken, if we enforce our immigration laws, every worker gets a raise.

Is that why all the farmhand jobs in Alabama are sitting empty? Because real Americans were just dying to work there?

Minan, if the R's are for big business and the D's are for the worker, who is failing at their job?

Outsourcing does suck and I will join that fight with you, but how come your party encourages outsourcing within our borders and why don't you fight against it?

Ruken, Wisconsin is the only state that property value has crashed? Beverly in Chicago , complaining about elections bahhahahahahahahahahahahah!

The WI Constitution requires a balanced budget. Walker did what governors before him did. He moved accounts around, he delayed paying bills, he took $1.8 billion from the schools, he cut $250 million from the University of Wisconsin. All of that, and my property tax bill still went up by just over $200. At least, after he wins today, his reign of error will be short lived. Federal indictments coming soon. He can be Blago's cellmate.

Meanwhile, after winning the PR battle last year, labor and state Democrats decide to punish Walker, not just by tying his hands legislatively but with this recall.

This is as biased a piece of copy as I have seen in quite awhile. The democrats won the PR battle? By what measure? I would say that the election today will really decide WHO won the PR battle, and it's not going good for the democrats.

We had a very similar scene play out here in Indiana where the legislators first left the state and then the unions occupied the capital building downtown. They did tremendous damage to the building, and in the eyes of most citizens here, generally behaved very badly. They threatened to protest during the Super Bowl and public reaction was swift and strong: Don't ruin the superbowl.

If anything, the behavior of the unions during these right-to-work fights has helped people see just how unruly and prone to violence they can be. It also lets people see how union dollars are really spent, busing people all over the country to join in protests.

To say that the unions won the PR battle is a big stretch indeed.

geo, teachers do not need to strike. Just be glad I am not teaching your children if the recall fails. If I were not supported by the people whose children I taught, I am afraid my effort would match the support. Of course we all know there is the choice of private schools if they really want to support the teachers.

They asked prominent Democrats to list any schools that were negatively affected, they said there were none. So those cuts are proper.

tackandcover, Then why was there a 3.6 BILLION dollar defict? Tough Decisions, Tough Governor! ir12 , So your a half asser, you will not be teaching my children. My wife and I bust our ass 13 days a week to send our children to private school to avoid teachers like you.

I knew this place would be entertaining today and tomorrow. I did notice 3 buses leaving the Detroit SEIU local yesterday morning. I wonder where they were going? Gosh........ I wonder.

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

And the little birdy goes… tweet… tweet… tweet…!

SMDH, the jail house door should have gone clang, clang, clang long about this lying, college-drop-out and cheat. Scott Walker is living on borrowed time at the moment.

Any guesses how many of his corrupt cronies start to sing like canaries? lol

Yes, they want immunity

If Mr. Walker has nothing to hide – why is he moving campaign cash around into a defense fund…?

Do the right thing good people of WI, kick this crook & his corporate comrades to the curb
before Mr. divide & conquer is locked up!

Indeed Wisconsin do not be swayed by the Koched up Tea bagger or any dirty trick the Republican Party pulls. For instance, do not fall for phone calls telling you if you signed the recall petition you don't need to vote. Report them:

Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), post here, or tweet us @EPWisco. Be sure to tell what polling site & where the site is located!!

Vote Scott Walker out. He is a psychopath. Don't believe all the LIES about Union money coming in from out of state. If there was so so much union money-- why is it a ratio of 25-1?

Think slimy Koch bros, NRA, and ALEC!!! What else could it be?

Well I hope this shuts the union thugs up for a while. Good luck to the people of Wisconsin and Governor Walker.

geo That is absolute BS show me the numbers from a reliable source not connected to Scott Walkers campaign. This guy is lying about his job numbers (Beaural of Labor Statistics has him losing 30,000 Jobs.)

This 3 Billion dollar turn around would have had to be draconian cuts, that would have had to cost the state government jobs, which I am sure he does not count in his job creation BS line.

I used to admire a lot of republicans and appreciated some of the conservative points of view, but, anymore they just lie as if it cannot be proved other wise. Numbers just come out of their mouths about ' record or even the teachers union record with out an sense of regret. It has become pathological to these guys and it is a terrible sad thing when honest debate is given this kind of death sentence.

Do you really believe that all those billionairs that pumped all that money into the Walker campaign are doing that for the benefit of the average man? Please be serious with your self.

Bill, the unemployment rate has gone down, I know that does not always mean anything, do you know what the "true" unemployment numbers are.

Because if you are going with that thinking, which I agree with, then you must not like Obama either.

Better be careful Wisconsin. All the tears from the democrats may cause an epic flood. Don't worry that will be a republicans fault too.

jolly -- You should be more worried about all the money from Big Business that was "bussed" in to Wisconsin from across the country.

Just_D_Facts


Yes the Community-Organizer / Aggitator-In-Chief has certainally done his part to polarize Americans..... Right out of his Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals handbook


Yeah right FACTOR,

Our President organized so well. It got him to the White House and to be President


That's why the Koch bros borrowed it. See, Alinskying Tea Baggers won't work for you people because it's not for the people who need it and it's not sincere.

Obama/ Biden 2012

It may even be a landslidenow that you PHONIES have been exposed; particularly that Koched up Scott Walker. We still got 2 LOL videoes:

a) prank call fom Koch

b) divide and conquer

GoJoeBiden -

I never forget Joe. He's one of my favorites. And as his wife says, "He'd make a great President".

Jo for President in 2016

Bill, never said anything about job numbers! The surpluss info right out of the Chicago Tribune today!

I STAND WITH GOVERNOR WALKER!

This "polarization" was completely caused by the ignorant left. Walker campaigned on this issue. He won the election by 7 points. After the election, he did what he said he would do. I know that's shocking in this day and age. Public Worker unions can't stand the idea of paying their fair share and started the recall campaign. I am not a huge fan of polls, but here's hoping they are correct and Walker will win.

The article erroneously describes a "war on labor". We are not talking about union workers in packing houses, steel mills, or coal mines. There may be a legitimate purpose for those organizations.

We are talking about unions for public sector workers. Workers who receive pay and benefit packages far in excess of the rest of us (that have to pay for). Teachers, clerks, building code officers, etc. Cushy white/pink collar jobs don't need unions. Please understand the "other " side on the negotiating table. It is you and me and millions of working families.

Since this law has been enacted, local school districts have saved money while not having to lay off teachers. Everybody gave a little and teachers did not lose their jobs. Only a liberal could hate an outcome like that.

THIS IS THE FUTURE. WE NEED FEWER GOVERNMENT WORKERS. WE NEED TO PAY THEM FAR LESS. THEIR BENEFITS SHOULD MIRROR THE POPULATION THAT SUPPORTS THEM.

Can I get an honest answer from the left?

If Walker is so bad for the unions, how come union membership has greatly decreased?

I would think if they felt Walker was going to ruin their lives, the opposite would have happened. There may be a valid explanation, can someone more familiar tell it to me?

It's going to be a fantastic day, Walker will win, libes will be crying from HI. to MA., from AK. to FL. and everywhere in between. Walker is clean, there will be no indictment in his future. Most of those who think otherwise are basing it off very bad information or just their own wishful thinking, desperate for something to cling to, knowing the conservative avalanche that began in 2010 is still rolling forward, 1 state at a time. WALKER for president 2018!

Charlottesville Passes Resolution Against Citizens United

June 5, 2012

As of Monday evening, Charlottesville City Council has joined the list of over 250 localities, several state legislatures, 22 state attorneys general, the Supreme Court of Montana, four Supreme Court justices, dozens of Congress members, countless clubs and organizations and political parties, and -- in poll after poll -- the vast majority of the people of the United States -- all of whom want the U.S. Constitution amended or by other means wish to undo the [Citizens United] ruling that opened the flood gates on corporate election spending.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/david-swanson/43586/charlottesville-passes-resolution-against-citizens-united

=========================================================

See President Obama was right about the flood gates.

Obama/Biden 2012

jolly old soul...

Yep, "entertaining" is certainly the operative word.

geo, you prove my point. Education is important and it cost more than you are willing to pay to ensure all children receive a quality education. Unfortunately, not all children have the luxury of private schools. Perhaps you see no need to have an educated population and lack the ability to understand how that will impact your children. If you are saying the teachers of Wisconsin are overpaid, why are you spending more to send your children to private school? Are you saying public schools in Wisconsin are bad? How is cutting funding going to fix it? You get what you pay for.

Obama/Edwards 2012.

Lie, cheat and steal.

The time has come to throw this Koch paid Bum out on his A$$, puppets for the 1% Mega Rich is not cool Scott Walker.

I believe Governor Walker is the right guy for WI. If their is a surplus and no teachers were fired or laid off. If school districts can now buy health insurance at a cheaper rate then the union one as reported by one schhol district, he is doing right by his state. If all you democrat/liberals say that Governor Walker is lying and that he is trying to pass off dismal numbers as success, be careful as he is following to a t the President Obama/David Axlerod strategy. So I guess President Obama should not be reelected. And if you doubt my belief and remember that you all support Elizabeth Warren who believes she is native American with just hearsay.

If Walker wins and WI moves forward positively with no debt, surplus, how will the people of Il feel about a Republican next election considering their massive debt and unemployment.

It's all going to come down to Milwaukee county - if they GET out and VOTE Barrett will win!

Only 37% of Democratic voters turned out in 2010 - get off your rumps Dems and VOTE!

Prove to the rest of the country, it is NOT for sale to the Koch Brothers, etc...

Gov. Scott Walker repealed Wisconsin Equal Pay law

With little fanfare, union-busting Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) yesterday signed a repeal of Wisconsin’s equal pay act, which gave people who discover they’ve been discriminated against more time to file suit and the right to do so outside of federal courts.

The Equal Pay Enforcement Act was passed in 2009 and gave workers avenues to pursue complaints about pay discrimination in the workplace and press charges where necessary. The law conferred upon workers the ability to pursue their cases in circuit court rather than the federal court system, which is costlier and less accessible to average citizens. It also expanded the window in which complainants are allowed to file their complaints relative to the time when they worked under discriminatory conditions.

Much like the federal law, known as the Ledbetter Act (which President Obama signed as one of his first acts of office), the Wisconsin law was spurred by the case of Lilly Ledbetter, who suffered decades of pay discrimination without her knowledge. After she sued her employer, Goodyear, and won, the Supreme Court threw out the case because she didn’t file shortly after the discrimination began — when she didn’t know it was happening

Source: Raw Story (http://s.tt/1d7JH)

===================================================

What other motivation does one need to recall this larcenous, lying, buzzard, Scott Walker who wants to be on Romney's VP short list.

Believe me Scott walker is no Rock Star. All this attention he is getting now will soon see him hitting the ground lie a rock.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/06/gov-scott-walker-repeals-wisconsin-equal-pay-law/

The "New" Department of Racial, Social and Economic Justice (DORESJ) is on the ground in Wisconsin making sure nobody interferes with the New Black Panthers and Jack-Booted Union Thugs as they "Monitor" the entrances to polling stations...And NO video-taping allowed.... confiscation of your recording device if caught.

ir12 , you state that if not properly compenstated your efffort will suffer. That sounds terrible to me and the children you teach. So you got into teaching for money?

Bev and Feisty, speaking of chirp chirp, that is all I hear when I ask you a valid question.

Why has union membership dropped dramatically instead of the opposite?

I understand the union thugs aka police are arresting veterans who are for Scott Walker. Not a peep out of msdnc about it. hummm?

Tom Barrett's Milwaukee police puts felons under arrest.

Scott Walker hires felons.

For those of you feeling really sorry for those poor Wisconsin school teachers here is some financial information on a teacher:

Title Salary Fringe Full-time equivalency

Teacher $71,742 $36,371 100

School School District

Madison Middle Appleton Area Sch

I was reminded this morning of something the late, great, Pauline Kael said back in 1972-

Writing about the election, she claimed she was surprised that Nixon was winning; after all, everyone she knew was voting McGovern.

Now, Kael was not an idiot- the comment was one of her typically wry remarks- this time, aimed at her media compatriots. She was pointing out just how out of touch they were with the general public.

So it is today.

The failed attempts at changing the make-up of Wisconsin's Senate? No problem! Spending that money sent a message!

Union dues are now completely voluntary- so union membership has dropped precipitously? No problem! That just proves how evil Walker is!

The unions' preferred candidate failed to get the Democratic nomination- but that's no issue and proves nothing. Barrett does not even mention the changed union rules, because that's not an issue. The costs of this attempt to overturn the results of an election are, likewise, not an issue.

And, of course, if Walker prevails, it will not be because the people of Wisconsin agreed with what he has done, and like the results, it will be because turnout was low- or high. Or Barrett did not campaign well- or he did, but too late. Or because the sun got in their eyes, or they tripped over a rock, or. . .

Public workers already pay 100% of their own benefits and pension via deferred wages

That is the first time I have ever seen that arguement. What a crock! Wisconsin is certainly in better shape financially than Madiganistan (formerly known as Illinois).

Rick,

I am ok with teachers making a living wage. What would you like, minimum wage?

Most teachers to reach the top level have graduate and masters degrees, otherwise they do not get that high. What would you like, a person who has $6.00 invested in a lunch pail to make the same or do you want teachers to get dragged down to the level of someone with no education?

So break the teachers unions and 10 years from now we'll have unlicensed, illegals teaching children in the USA. You'll probably complain about that when it happens.

Dennis, Columbus, Ohio,

Affirmative action has served its purpose and its time to move on. I know someone who was working in a one year temporary teaching job until the lady she replaced would come back from maternity leave. The lady on leave decided not to come back and my friend, who had done an outstanding job, and had a Masters Degree in education, applied for the job on a permanent basis. The result? She was replaced by a black lady who also had a Masters Degree, but no track record. She was hired simply because she was black and they wanted more black teachers. My friend was out of a job. Simply put, it was reverse discrimination and a complete injustice.

Affirmative Action is REVERSE DISCRIMINATION AND NEEDS TO BE ELIMINATED. Its not right. Minorities don't like discrimination and many of them should hate to get a job where they get it as a result of reverse discrimination. Its the ultimate hypocrisy.

_____________

Please vote to RETAIN SCOTT WALKER. He did nothing illegal and this recall is unjustified. He hasn't even been given a chance for his policies to work! This is only going to cost the Wisconsin taxpayers $17 million that could used much better elsewhere. Let his plan work, as it seems to be, very well, by the way. If he fails, vote him out in two years.

• Get that jacka$$ Walker out of there - time to clean house!!
• (I wish they could do the same with McDonnell in VA, Scott in FLA, Perry in TX, and, of course, old leatherface in AZ)

alan290,

He did nothing illegal? I think the jury is out on that one.

So Beverly,

You feel it's unconstitutional to to require a picture ID to vote? Amazing how the sanctity of 1 vote per person is cancelled out by union organized voter fraud. Organized labor are the true crooks here, and you seemingly are OK with this?

Walker/Romney will win this one for the good guys. so you are a loser.

Barrett Campaign Sounds Warning On Vote-Suppression Calls

JUNE 5, 2012, 9:59 AM 161

The Barrett campaign went out last night with a warning that some unidentified group was doing robocalls telling voters that they didn't need to vote if they'd already signed the recall petition.

Tom Barrett's Wisconsin campaign is sounding the alarm, with finance director Mary Urbina-McCarthy warning supporters in an email Monday night of a mysterious round of phone calls to suppress voting:

I'm in our situation room right now and I have an urgent update about the state of the race on the ground. Reports coming into our call center have confirmed that Walker's allies just launched a massive wave of voter suppression calls to recall petition signers. Here is what people are receiving across Wisconsin:

"If you signed the recall petition, your job is done and you don't need to vote on Tuesday."

WisPolitics reports that Barrett said late Monday night he has thus far been unable to identify the source of the calls. But he responding with his own call: "I recorded a robo-call telling people, yes, you do have to do that, and we'll be sending that to people who signed the recall petition so they know they do have to vote."

Reid Magney, spokesman for the state Government Accountability Board, told TPM: "The allegation is that it was tea party people going door to door and saying if you signed the recall petition, you don't need to go vote. Again, we weren't able to confirm any reports of that, and then yesterday the Barrett campaign said that some people were receiving these robocalls. And I had one email this morning, from a person saying he'd got such a call. But other than that, we really haven't heard very much."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/barrett-campaign-sounds-warning-on-vote-suppression-calls

============================================================

Wisconsinites;

How much more do you need to see Scott Walker is slim?

Call the hotline if you suspect any, any, dirty tricks

Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), post here, or tweet us @EPWisco. Be sure to tell what polling site & where the site is located!!

Vote Scott Walker out.

Since there is virtually no discussion here of the topic of the article, polarization, let me simply make this observation from reading this thread. It is pretty apparent: 1) That the libs know that the Dems are in deep trouble, both at the federal and state levels; 2) As this realization sinks in and the panic increases, their rhetoric becomes more bizarre....and if it's possible....even more hateful than usual!

Fiesty,

It's all going to come down to Milwaukee county - if they GET out and VOTE Barrett will win!

The problem is that Barret screwed Milwaukee with Walker's laws as soon as the ink was dry! The unions did not come out in support of Barret initially for just that reason and instead supported one of his female challengers in the primary. They are only supporting him now because he is a democrat!

richard,

I agree with you on several points and so does my niece who happens to be a teacher.

This article also mentions Democrats accusing Republicans of adopting European style economics. That they have foolishly taken on austerity measures as a way out of our current bind. A few points need to be made on that reasoning. Republicans have ALWAYS wanted lower taxes and smaller government that only carries out its proper functions, so nothing new here. Germany is the only really solvent country in the EU right now and they are the ones preaching austerity while the others pushing for more spending and less restraint are dropping one by one. President Obama during his first campaign said that he would take America closer to the European style of government and economics, well he has done that by increasing regulations, raising taxes, and plunging us further every day into a debt hole we are unlikely to be able to crawl out of anytime soon.

Rod_Father ...(#1.63)..."Tom Barrett's Milwaukee police puts felons under arrest....Scott Walker hires felons."

Cute, but here are the facts about Barretts Milwaukee Police....

"

State and local leaders on Wednesday, May
23, called for independent audits of the Milwaukee Police Department's crime
numbers, citing a Journal Sentinel investigation that found more than 500 cases
in which serious assaults were misclassified as lesser offenses.

The Journal Sentinel review discovered an
additional 800 cases since 2009 that follow the same pattern but couldn't be
verified with available public records. Copies of those incident reports have
been sought from police through an open records request.

The Journal Sentinel found enough
misreported cases in 2011 alone that violent crime would have increased 1.1%
instead of falling 2.3% from the reported 2010 figures, which had their own
errors.

Dozens of misclassified assaults were sent
to FBI crime reporting experts, who confirmed that they should have been marked
as aggravated assaults, which are counted in the city's violent crime rate.
Police officials agreed that a sample of assault cases shared by the Journal
Sentinel were misreported."

http://www.twincities.com/wisconsin/ci_20699671/wisconsin-officials-seek-audit-milwaukee-police-crime-numbers

They Arrested a U.S.Marine veteran for carrying a Pro-Walker sign at the Barrett rally where Clinton was speaking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3s4R4b-k74

I guessing those cops figure Barrett will still be their boss tomorrow morning....

alwayzright

So Beverly,

You feel it's unconstitutional to to require a picture ID to vote? Amazing how the sanctity of 1 vote per person is cancelled out by union organized voter fraud. Organized labor are the true crooks here, and you seemingly are OK with this?

Major Victory: Constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act Upheld!

MAY 18, 2012  |

The Lawyers' Committee applauds the the DC Circuit Court's announcement today of its decision to uphold the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in a landmark voting rights case,Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder.

Read the DC Circuit Court's decision; alwayzright!!!

section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of1965. Section 5 prohibits certain "covered jurisdictions" frommaking any change in their voting procedures without first demonstrating to either the Attorney General or a three-judge district court in Washington that the change "neither has the purpose nor will have the effect of denying or abridging theright to vote on account of race or color." 42 U.S.C.§ 1973c(a). The Supreme Court warned that the burdensimposed by section 5 may no longer be justified by currentneeds and that its geographic coverage may no longersufficiently relate to the problem it targets.

http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/admin/site/documents/files/shelbydecision.pdf

Walker/Romney will win this one for the good guys. so you are a loser.

Do you play russian rollette? Vote on Black.

Obama/Biden 2012

time to clean house!!

That is exactly what they did two years ago, clean house of those that gave in to the unions over and over and over again. It has to end.

RETAIN SCOTT WALKER IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOOD FOR YOUR STATE.

There are no less than 13 indictments against people that worked for Walker either on his campaign staff or within his administration.

Misclassification means they were not arrested? How many were misclassification mistakes that were corrected later?

So we can apply the same test to Walkers jobs report. The one that his administration came up with.

Rod_Father,

The ones that should be getting recalled are the pussies that went and hid in another state instead of being in the Wisconsin Congress, doing their jobs, and fighting for their constituents when all of this went down.

Go ahead Dems and run with that "accusing Republican Congress of having 'adopted Europe's economic policies' of austerity". Run with it hard! That plays to your MO of assuming that everybody else in America is a huge idiot -- which frankly is insulting, BTW.

Everybody knows that the real threat in Europe is not austerity. The real threat is those European nations' refusing to live within their means...not the austerity that now goes with that refusal. The Euro is not going to collapse because of austerity measures enacted by Greece, Spain and the like. What will make the Euro collapse is if they don't accept the austerity dictated by their previous fiscal irresponsibility. The looming threat is the failure of those nations to meet their debt obligations because their debt servicing has grown too large. When those debts aren't paid, nations' credit markets will freeze and investors will refuse to carry any new debt. Countries will fall like dominoes, a contagion effect will take place and the Euro will plummet in a 1929-style money and market collapse taking all of the Euro zone with them. This won't be because nations enacted austerity measures, it will be because they won't. Will austerity slow economic growth? Yes, of course...minimally. Will it cause the collapse of the Euro zone? No, that catastrophe is reserved for the case of those nations defaulting on their debts which is what will happen without austerity measures.

People in the US aren't as stupid as you believe Dems. We know that -- like Europe -- our debt burden is quickly barreling towards the edge of the cliff. We know the problems we face now are because we -- like Europe -- have been practicing the politics of ever-growing hand-outs and ever-growing government for decades. We know that if we continue on this path it will be our economic foundations that will collapse. It will be our catastrophe...one the likes which has never been seen, even during the Great Depression.

So go ahead Dems, run with those accusations...run at your own peril.

So if you are the republicans aren't you already getting the signatures needed for a recall of Barrett just in case he wins?

IMO - if Walker gets recalled and loses and the laws aren't changed both side will continue to do this until the law is changed. IMO you shouldn't recall a Government that hasn't done something illegal, that is what elections are for.

This comes from somebody that has Mark Dayton has my Governor and agrees with him about 2% of time and would never sign my name to have him recalled. (Yes I know the MN law for recall, that he actually has to sign for a recall)

Mike, I don't think the dems can even understand what you are saying.

spider,

Agreed, although it really doesn't matter on the topic or the day, I find that liberals always fall back on their hate filled talking points. The polarization of America started with political correctness movement during the Clinton years. That is when liberals started branding anyone who didn't follow their mantra as politically incorrect or ignorant. The impeachment of president Clinton was not about his amorous ways, God knows that if that were the case Kennedy would have been ridden out of Washington on a rail too. The impeachment was about lying under oath, and impeding a federal investigation and really turned out to be more symbolic than substantial. After all even though he was impeached, he was never put on criminal trial and never removed from office. Obama on the other hand makes it a point to play the race and gender cards when ever possible, attacking alternate points of view by calling them racist or sexist. He has also stoked the fires of class warfare as evidenced by most of the liberal posts on this blog, blaming the rich and corporations for not paying their fair share when in fact it is the rich and corporations that are already paying the lion's share of taxes to Washington. 50% of tax payers received a full refund or paid no taxes, and it wasn't the top 1 or 2 percent that paid 0. We have the highest corporate taxes in the world and then people wonder why large corporations are moving elsewhere. We have tens of thousands of regulations and requirements for business in this country, so much so that it is insane for even a small business owner to NOT have a lawyer on retainer before making any moves.

No it is relatively plain for people to see if they are willing to look that the polarization of America is a liberal creation and worse still it is not even an original idea. In fact it is the same as the discriminatory practices they claimed to fight so hard to abolish only instead of color and gender they are basing it on standard of living.

Rod_Father....(#1.78)...."Misclassification means they were not arrested?"

No, Rod.....I'll spell it out for you.....They Classified Serious felonies as lesser crimes to make the Violent Crime Statistics they turned into the FBI show a reduction in Milwaukee....

"The Journal Sentinel found enough
misreported cases in 2011 alone that violent crime would have increased 1.1%
instead of falling 2.3% from the reported 2010 figures, which had their own
errors."

A history of providing false information to make Milwaukee look safer than it is and the Police Department better than it is.....

alwayzright

You feel it's unconstitutional to to require a picture ID to vote?

So each state can send each registered American citizen voter a free voter ID card on November 7. Requiring people to "purchase" an ID in order to vote, 5 months before an election, is unconstitutional.

Amazing how the sanctity of 1 vote per person is cancelled out by union organized voter fraud. Organized labor are the true crooks here, and you seemingly are OK with this?

again, any proof of voter fraud because NO Republicans could come up with any proof but you can? Or do you simply not know the difference between voter fraud and voter registration fraud?

Or do you just allow Republican Secretaries of State to commit VOTER FRAUD?

Walker/Romney will win this one for the good guys. so you are a loser.

Good guys? Mass hates Romney becuase he took Mass from 10th place and pushed it down to 47th place in job growth. Walker is responsible for Wisconsin being the WORST state in job growth. Good guys, it doesn't get "gooder" than this.

Mike in SA -- You said:

Will austerity slow economic growth? Yes, of course...minimally.

You are incredibly ignorant.

Item: Private education is not the province of the priveleged. The majority of children in private schools come from working families, in many instances earning less per year than public school teachers and administrators, and being required to work twelve months out of the year, appear at an office, factory, or store every day-even holidays like President's Day, Etc. These families have made a commitment to their children and to the educational institutions where they choose to send their children. Most of these private schools also have scholarship programs. Those who have greater assets contribute to fund these programs, so that families dedicated to their children's education are not shut out by economics. I have known parents who have donated time to private schools, performing janitorial or kitchen help functions to be able to afford sending their students. I, for one, would love to have the salary of a teacher.....my education and work experience is more than comparable with theirs. I would love to have their work schedule as it would definitely give me more time with my family. I would love to have their benefits, as they receive much more than I, who pay for these benefits through my taxes at a lower rate of pay. I don't have a retirement guarantee program for healthcare or income other than what I can put aside, after paying all my taxes into 401K or IRA programs.

This is the crux of the concept of polarization. Those who have these golden parachutes don't want to concede anything, but will spout about how unfair everyone else who works for a living has it....Somebody else has to make things right and fair, but it doesn't start with those who already have the brass ring. It isn't just teachers, but UAW, Teamsters.....unionized labor feels a sense of entitlement to all the perks, maybe or maybe not acknowleging that other equally hardworking and skilled people do not have the same treatment, but definitely in the mode of "that's your problem, and I am not going to give up the least thing to make things more fair for you" It is always somebody else that has to make things fair....government, big business, small business....anybody but those who already have the benefits. Well, nobody can keep meeting higher demands....for all of you who have guaranteed salaries and guaranteed cost of living increases and guaranteed subsidized healthcare....the rest of us paying taxes and purchasing goods (which pays for these programs) do not have the same guarantees. We have less money to spend and our incomes have not increased, and eventually, we will be tapped out, unable to finance your retirements and healthcare....Property values have decreased nationwide, but tax bills have universally gone higher-even with the property being taxed worth less and less. Properties are sitting vacant and generating no tax revenue because of the vacancy.....so how long can that continue???? Organized labor is unable to fathom the fact that they have been lied to by their labor representatives, and that what has been promised to keep them working at peak levels, are not programs that can be sustained indefinitely. It isn't government that has lied to you.....Your expectations are based on what Union stewards have told you is your entitlement based upon demonizing the businesses that employ you. And when they cannot deliver what they promised, the solution is to blame business again, instead of admitting that they sold you a load of goods to get you to work harder. In the meantime, you have gone along, living a pretty nice existence, counting on chickens that haven't hatched (heck, the eggs haven't been laid yet), and consequently, you don't see a need to plan for the future, for retirement, because it is owed to you.....Remember: "I owe my soul to the company store." But when the store can no longer stock its shelves, when the things that you need are simply not available, you are ill prepared to take care of yourself. You left your parents home and expected the Union to nanny you, create a world where you only have to show up at work a certain amount of time and absolutely everything will be taken care of, peachy keen. And when the time comes to leave the workforce, and you are no longer contributing to the productivity of the institution, you still feel that they owe you this nannying, and if they fail, then the government gets to step in a do it. But all freebies come with strings and if you aren't careful, then the lifestyle that you lead begins to sound alot more like slavery than those of us who work, expecting to be paid for what we produce and expecting that we are ultimately responsible to be good stewards in the use of what we have, taking care of our families, ourselves and our futures. The Democrats have long been bed partners of organized labor-guaranteed votes. How does it feel to be told how to think, act, and vote (probably your most important and personal privelege) How does it feel to be threatened with all your perks going away because you didn't follow the party line? For those of us without all those strings....well, we truly do vote our conscience about what best benefits ourselves, our families, our communities, because we haven't any expectation of being directly paid or given benefit.

bayllie, can you put out a web site that shows Wisconsin has the worst job growth. I think you just might be lying.

The governor got a bump in the polls this week and some fresh state data that showed Wisconsin had actually gained 23,000 jobs last year that let some air out of the Democrats about Wisconsin being the worst state in the nation on job growth.

http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/friday-finishers-world-s-greatest-prom-set-for-its-new/article_cf980154-a06e-11e1-b88f-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/states/

Don't Carry,

As opposed to continue to spend WAY more than you take in?

Ruken...

It's not that simple...here in Connecticut, property values have crashed thru the floor...yet, unlike what you claim as fact, our property taxes have only increased every single year.

Tom...

Why would "fact" have anything to do with an agrument ? On this site, folks design the "facts" they want and as long as they couple a fact with an insult toward anyone who doesn't accept what is written...then all is well on Newsvine.

Tom – Plymouth,

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin has lost about 21,400 non-farm jobs between April 2011 and April 2012, making the state the worst job-growth performer in the nation.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-29/in-wisconsin-s-jobs-debate-walker-has-the-stronger-case.html

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Scott Walker is a Puppet for the 1% Mega rich Kocheads !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom in Plymouth -- Complex problems call for complex solutions. Simple solutions like quit spending are naive. BTW Romney's economic plan not only calls for removing more revenue from our coffers, his plan adds billions in spending. It's the faux conservatives agenda. Most republicans are faux conservatives.

alan those pussies did not break any laws.

The United States has tried two Austerity measures already. They were called QEI and QEII. Neither worked and arguably made the situation worse because we are heading for another recession.

Eventually people will learn artificial growth is not sustainable and causes bigger problems.

SSDD

Don't carry,

I am not a fan of Mit, I believe him to be no better than PBO. Most republicans are no different than most Dems they want the government to spend more money on them and not the next guy.

I on the other hand don't want the Government to spend a dime on anything that is not Constitutional. And not the constitutional that you are to interpret down to the word is and it.

Dennis, Columbus,

Please, please, take down the Ohio State moniker from your comments. You are an embarrassment to the university.

Dennis did you actually read the article that you gave?

It basically says the BLS is wrong.

Scott Walker and his rightwing nuts will do as instructed by the Koch Mob !!!!!!!!!

Dennis, Columbus, Ohio

Thank you for doing my dirty work

Tom - Plymouth

bayllie, can you put out a web site that shows Wisconsin has the worst job growth. I think you just might be lying.

http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/states/

I'm confused; are you proving or disproving my claim becuase according to your link, the Current Employment Statistics (i.e. Payroll) survey is actually a negative 5900? And while CPS shows a positive 6761, CPS includes unpaid family workers, workers on leave without pay, and the agriculture sector (you know the one illegals usually do due to low wages and no Americans wanting them).

http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/wisconsin/

tony-268769

here in Connecticut, property values have crashed thru the floor...yet, unlike what you claim as fact, our property taxes have only increased every single year.

This is not a federal issue, this is not even a state issue - you need to speak to your town's/city's elected officials about your concerns.

I actually own a house in CT, and although my house value went down despite many upgrades, my taxes went down as well. I pay less than I ever did owning this house so you are either full of it or you are being ripped off by your town.

Polarization has always been evident in any country throughout history. The polarization we are experiencing now is as unhonorable as .... unhonorable can be. Money drives it, not we the people. When polarization is people driven, things get settled. People will compromise for the better good even if it hurts. Polarization can have good results. What we are witnessing now is flat evil to the freakin bone. The republican party has brought this newer and higher degree of dysfunction. Obviously. My prayers include compromise between our political parties as the populace will demand it. My vote will be for hope and change .... again.

And in Wisconsin, Walker didn’t want just to balance his state’s budget by reforming pensions; he wanted to crush organized labor and the Democratic Party.

And that folks is the bottom line!

Obama/Biden 2012

Two Questions:

When will Walker be indicted?

When will Walker start supporting the child he fathered in college and thusly, stop being a deadbeat dad?

and ForePlinger sleeps with farm animals.

Isn't this great! You can post any crap you want.

So geo, why do you work?

Recall Bombshell: Closest Aide Turns on Walker and Cooperates With John Doe Investigation

June 4, 2012

Scott Walker’s closest political aide has just been named in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Monday as the source of damaging revelations that undermine Walker’s claim that he has cooperated with the John Doe criminal corruption probe into his current and former administrations.

Tim Russell, who was hired or promoted by Scott Walker even after he was fired for stealing from a state agency, was said in court Monday to have given Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice information that showed that, contrary to Walker’s claims, Walker was stonewalling investigators all along.
The shocking revelation that Scott Walker’s closest aide sought to damage Walker on the eve of Tuesday’s historic recall election indicated that Russell was cooperating with a prosecution against Walker himself.

The worm turns on election eve.

http://mytechnologyworld9.blogspot.in/2012/06/us-to-move-majority-of-its-naval-fleet.html

"You are incredibly ignorant." - Dont_carry_it_all

What a thoughtful response! I mean any intelligent person would point to expert opinions that said austerity measures in Greece and Spain would, in fact, cause great hardship to the Euro zone, but that's just not you, now is it? Of course in your defense hardly anybody actually has that opinion, do they? After all if nobody meaningful has that opinion, it's awfully hard to point to, right? I mean "who cares about the facts" is your motto.

lvingbarefoot

Bev and Feisty, speaking of chirp chirp, that is all I hear when I ask you a valid question.

Why has union membership dropped dramatically instead of the opposite?

Because the turd blossom, Karl Rove thinks if he can reduce the number of unions RepubliCOns can regqain the White House simnce they are the foot soliders; and mostly vote democratic.

Mike in SA --Both of your posts are based on conjectures. Enough said.

Terry--just which union thugs would you be referring to?

The Police?

The firefighters and rescue EMS?

The nurses?

School teachers?

Janitors and maintenance personnel?

Which thugs Terry? Which of all these tireless public servants are the thugs you refer to?

NewsFlash "after" the "frivolous" recall results announcing Governor Walker the WINNER:

"Wisconsin Labor Unions, DOJ, SEIU, NLRB, Jesse Jackson, Bill Ayers, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Matthews are all DEMANDING a vote recount because they think votes for Governor Walker were FRAUDULENT."

We all work to try to make a living and a better furture for our children, I have never heard of a teacher living in poverty, ever. I think teaching is a very nobel profession, I don't like how powerful and selfish the teaching union has become, after all is this not about our children. You do not become a teacher to be rich do you? And judging by your threats to do less for the children if not properly motivated ie paid just reinforces my opinion of unions.

"Both of your posts are based on conjectures. Enough said." - Dont_carry_it_all

So if my first statement was conjecture, what information is it that you have that I and the bus loads upon bus loads of experts don't?

According to you:

1. The BBC is ignorant: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13798000
2. The IIF is ignorant: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/03/06/iif-outlines-dire-what-if-on-greek-default/
3. The WSJ is ignorant: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203735304577166542319625430.html
4. The Financial Times is ignorant: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/48b1de4a-ad6f-11e1-97f3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1wx1xmFR2
5. The IMF is ignorant: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-07-19/imf-sees-serious-risk-of-greek-contagion-even-if-default-averted.html
6. The ECB is ignorant: http://www.greekcrisis.net/2011/12/ecb-warns-of-global-contagion-risks.html

...but you....you're brilliant and/or have information that nobody else - not even those ignorant experts -- has!

BTW, here's the "catastrophic" effects of Greek austerity on the economy of the EU so far. Greece's economy with current austerity measures in place dipped 5% in 2011. However, Greece's economy is only 1.7% of the EU. This means that that 5% dip affected the EU economy by 0.085%. I'll say it again...the effect is minimal.

As for my second statement, that was an educated guess based off the scintillating retort you gave. That one was almost as scintillating and thought provoking as your most recent response.

geo-1957883

You do not become a teacher to be rich do you? And judging by your threats to do less for the children if not properly motivated ie paid just reinforces my opinion of unions.

No they do not, and some states require a Master's to be a techer. And in Mass you have to pass a test to be certified which is hard to do.

So you expect people with Master's to take pay cuts - as compared to the private sector - to make you happy?

Be a gem, and become a teacher or a police officer, or a figherfighter. Why don't you if you are so about SACRIFICING for the children?

When walker wins, I hope it gives the Governor in Michigan finds the fortitude to push for a "Right to Work State" as well as taking on the puclic sector unions.

Also reading the posts above on the requirement to have picture ID to vote, MI has had that in effect for some time, and no citizen had thier vote disinfranchised. The real fact is you need photo ID to do just about anythinng anymore, get a library card, cash a check, go to school, join a gym etc. the photo law in MI is working and should be adopted by every state. why is it, only the GOP wants to make sure that only those that are legal to vote can vote.

Rick-312779

"For those of you feeling really sorry for those poor Wisconsin school teachers here is some financial information on a teacher:

Teacher $71,742 $36,371 100"

Madison Middle Appleton Area Sch"

If Countries like Singapore,Hong Kong,Brunei are able paying their Teachers an Average Salary of between $80,000-$100,000 annually.Then, American deserves this "Welcome to the Third world !" Check it Out yourself !

Yet American Public able to Give Socialism Corporations with Trillion Bailouts.

Penny Wise,Pound foolish !

We shall see NOT only the Education will be in the Drain, But soon we shall see the Country as Well.

Living Barefoot:

Can't dispute the facts, so go for the ad hominem attacks.

How predictable of your ilk, stay true to the creed.

Later, tater.

Bayllie, As soon as you can spell teacher we can have an intelligent conversation.

The only way Wisconsin will get closure is to dump Walker, throw the Koch paid Bum Out !!!!!!!!

Hey geo-1957883, As soon as you can spell "surplus" (right) on your post #1.47, than you can have a intelligent conversation with "Bayllie" Just playing with your mind !!!!!!!!!! Have a nice day !!!

Gingerbread Mamma -- Romney definitely feels entitled, so it's easy to imagine him thinking he's above the law (like Nixon, Reagan and other Republicans -- when the president does it, it's not against the law.) But if he really thinks he can be a CEO rather than POTUS, and avoid the press and scrutiny or criticism of his performance as all presidents must face, he is in for a rude awakening.

.geo-1957883

Bayllie, As soon as you can spell teacher we can have an intelligent conversation.

says the person who spells NOBEL instead of NOBLE

noble = possessing outstanding qualities

Nobel = like Nobel Prize.

But I let that one o because I'm not a Typo Nazi.

Hey, the fact that I spelled TEACHER more than once didn't give the TYPO away???

You know, the only people who become Typo Nazis are the ones who have nothing of value to contribute.

Have a great day, geo!

Tom - Plymouth -- Like you know what's constitutional... And you're for "what's constitutional" until you want to amend the constitution, right Tom?

Sue-3329001

I, for one, would love to have the salary of a teacher.....my education and work experience is more than comparable with theirs.

You're almost there Sue, almost asking the correct question: Why not me too?

But think a little bigger than what teacher's make (because they too should be paid more), and BTW, most work during the summer to make it to the next school year. But why not have a little more of the pie compared to the outrageous pay CEO's earn? Remember when companies did profit sharing and all that loyalty stuff?

Still, the US has never been on par with other countries. Think about it, three months vacation like the Germans, or health care like the Canadians, and so forth. But no, the rightwingers have been brainwashed by the greedy elite in this country to believe somehow this will put companies out of business, and that it is even evil! For that matter minimum wage is asking too much! Yeah, keep on believing that line of crap, and thinking you will join the 1% too, riiight.

More than ever, labor needs to unite. Solidarity!

Gary 420

I STAND WITH GOVERNOR WALKER!

Shocking, who would have guessed. Hahaha.

Jody, Iowa -- So true. The Koch brother's even called it a "Holy War." We The People are now under siege by the low-information Teahadist minions, who pray to the south and Big Oil in Texas, pray to the East and Wall Street, for these are their masters.

Is that why all the farmhand jobs in Alabama are sitting empty?

im so sick of that straw man

those jobs sit empty not because Americans wont do them, they wont do them for the slave wages you offer, you will find that to be true with most so called labor shortages

Strong divisions remain? So sad, too bad. Oh well, when you are out of other peoples money you have to cut back. Moochers hate to have their free lollipops taken away. Water is wet, also. This is just the beginning of he painful cutbacks that will occur nationwide restoring the competitive edge worn down by the 50 year creation of the entitlement society.

Patriotic American U.S.A.Hey geo-1957883, As soon as you can spell "surplus" (right) on your post #1.47, than you can have a......

Regarding spelling, then is the proper word, not than.

Hey GBMamma - thanks for re-posting. That your post was deleted was quite startling. I guess you really freaked the right wing nut jobs out yesterday. In addition to getting your post deleted and many more collapsed, they were apparently on such a roll, that they began collapsing their own. Proof positive they will eat their own once they start rampaging.

GM

For what it's worth, while I disagree with the conclusions of your post, I see no reason that it should have been deleted and I'm a conservative.

Good Morning RedDev PS, Yes I agree, I was startled by that too, but this really speaks to how desperate they are and as you say will truly eat their own in their efforts to grab power.

However, it says so much more about them and if just one person reading such posts learn and get some family and friends to check their voter registration status, it will have achieved a measure of my intent to inform.

Have a great day. Obama/Biden 2012.

To Ginger: In Florida, those targeted are predominantly Democrat, African American, Hispanic,

Please, give me a brake www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/04/voter_suppression.html

I might as well quote Fox News, or Rush. As far as the young vote my 18 year all ran a campaign in his high school for 18 year old to register and the majority register Independent and republican. Ginger please let me know what constitutes Hispanic? is that Cubans/South Americans/ Dominican? The majority of these will vote Republican.

As to the subject of this Firat Read:

Walker holds a 7 percentage point lead over Barrett -- 52 percent to 45 percent -- in voter enthusiasm among likely Wisconsin voters, according to the most recent poll by the Marquette University Law school

Bitterhawk.....thank you. I respect you opinion, but in this case, facts are facts.

GBM, thanks for reposting; terrific information. It seems the conservative cowards prefer silencing free speech whenever they disagree with said free speech. No wonder the right has Mitt Romney as their candidate, cowards need each other to remain standing upright.

.

The integrity of the election system is more important than anything else. If having a volunteer sign a statement letting them know there is a penalty for submitting false info discourages them, thats a good thing. Election day is not catching anybody by surprise. same day walk in registration should not even be allowed. Take your right to vote seriously, be prepared, be informed and vote. This practice of handing out cigarrettes to the beggers on the street to get them to go and vote for the democrats should not be allowed. Photo id is a no brainer. These dems milking the welfare system, do you think they would have a problem voting more than once? They are not even credible as they vouch for each other. The integrity of the system is more important than leaving the door to the barn wide open. once the election system is compromised what is the alternative? When people do not believe that their voices are being heard, it will lead to fighting in the street. The election is not a mystery be an informed citizen and vote if you chose not to be, you should not vote anyway.

Walker holds a 7 percentage point lead over Barrett -- 52 percent to 45 percent -

Wrong, the only poll that counts is the one taking place today. At this point no one knows who may or may not be in the lead. Any poll can be manipulated to produce what ever result the pollsters desire. Most likely, we will have to wait until tomorrow to find out the results of the election.

sfox,

I largely agree with your post. However, there is at least one point where I think my state (FL) has written a bad law - that's the paperwork required to get a new license. From everyone I've talked to (Rep's included), the requirements are overly onerous (ex: original birth certificate and marriage license) and need to be scaled back. But, this is going to happen sometimes with laws...as long as they fix it in time for November, I won't fault the Reps for the mistakes.

I'm also not sure why the turn in period for voter registration drives was reduced to 48 hours...I'd like to hear more about why they think this change is needed.

The rest of the voting changes seem like good ideas. (i.e.; I think photo ID's should be required, and I think it's ok to let someone change their address the day of the election - but that vote should not count until they verify the person didn't vote in multiple districts.)

Marquette is a notoriously right wing biased institution. I'm just saying and the poll was 90% white and 65% over 45. Look on their web site. Don't think anyone knows what will happen today, but the turn out is fantastic.

I wonder if the five US Supreme Court conservative justices will step in and help that dirtbag Scott Walker, look what they did for "W" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ron-1861300....(#2.10)..." However, there is at least one point where I think my state (FL) has written a bad law - that's the paperwork required to get a new license. From everyone I've talked to (Rep's included), the requirements are overly onerous (ex: original birth certificate and marriage license) and need to be scaled back. "

Florida is in Compliance with the Real ID Act of 2005 for State Issued Drivers Licences and ID's ....All States were supposed to meet those requirements by May 2011....Janet Napolitano at DHS, singularly kicked the Mandatory Compliance date to January 2013.....conveniently passed the elections this November. Why, you may ask ??.....because they would have been valid as a Voter ID in EVERY STATE......That's why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act

wienee, so it IS all about race, in your eyes. You are the epitome of a racist.

We've had those same requirements for a license in New Jersey since 2002. If you have a passport, it takes the place of both the birth certificate and, if you are female, the marriage certificate. You also need proof of residence, such as a utility bill, tax bill, or bank statements.

We instituted so early because it was discovered that fake licenses were being issued to people at one of the actual DMV offices. About a hundred state e,ploy eyes were involved in a ring that sold licenses to criminals who resold them on the street. It came to light in the days after 9/11.

Do the new requirements help in instances like that? Don't really know. All I do know is that it's not really that onerous- just different.

Ahh...I didn't realize those requirements were part of the REAL ID act - thanks for the info!

Wisconsin, do you want the Koch Baggers running your State, if not - than vote this Koch paid Bum Out !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wisconsin, do you want the Koch Baggers running your State

Koch Brothers have created thousands of jobs. Unions, which are running the state is killing jobs. Sad, but true. I would rather have Koch rather than a stupid union running things.

again MI has had photo ID requirements to vote for sometime, (Note MI was a blue State till 2010), the requirement has been upheld by the MI supreme court (Court was liberal at the time up till 2010), also in Michigan Felons Can not vote, they lost that right when they broke the law (this means felons in or out of prison, once a felon you can not vote in the state MI unless it is exsponged). Even with all that the Dems won races (again only up till 2010) till that time the unions were strong and ran the elections. so what happened in 2010, we the citizens got tired of of the unions picking our government, and we let the public sector unions know that we will not tolerate their games any longer. And if Gov Snyder doesnt get a pair and stand up to the Public sector ynions we will find a Governor that will. We only can hope to find a Governor as strong as Walker.

I believe the proper protocol is to thank them publicly, and then bend over the podium and let them deliver their final donation.

Scooter Walker. The best governor out of state money can buy.

Noid, you are correct in assuming Walker will win. Other states who are also sick of being bankrupted by whining, spoiled union bosses will be thanking him.

P.S.

Will Obama thank George Clooney, Eva Longoria and the rest of Hollywood when he looses this fall?

Amazing how the GOP and Walker talk about the corruption in the UNIONS. Seems to me, that Walker is doing the EXACT SAME THING via the campaign contributions. Love the Hypocrisy.

pjam09

There is corruption and greed in unions. Very similar to the same corruption and greed from American Corporations and their lobbyists. However, let's not lose site that NOT all unions are bad.

This is not Nazi Germany in 1933 - Adolph Hilter Quote:

“We must close union offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce workers salaries and take away their right to strike.”

Walker out spent Barrett 5 to 1 dolars. ^5% of the money came from large corporate donors out-of-state. Guess we are going to see if money really does buy an election.

DaNoid and the moonbats going to the loser's talking point...

The other side had more money, boo hoo... what a pantload.

The freaking unions nationally have poured millions into this recall election to protect their looting of the public treasury...

weemee,

more like 7.5 to 1

pjam, you do know that Romney himself had a few huge private fundraising dinners in California himself last week, right?

Scott Walker is a Loser and Losers don't win, this will be a head buster for Scotty's nutty TeaBagger buddies !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this is how democracy dies in the United States:

1. Who ever has he most money can simply buy their way into office.

2. Both "camps" are full of corruption and greed.

3. Both "camps" continue the 'polarization' and 'dividing' of America. So much for 'Compromise".

Who loses.. All of us.

So this is how democracy dies in the United States.... Whoever has the most money can 'buy' their way into poltical office.

DaNoid and the moonbats going to the loser's talking point...

Really? I mean, wasn't it Gov. Walker who, upon receipt of the petition that started the recall process, INSISTED that there were thousands of improper signatures on the petition?

Aren't these the same Republicans who, if Gov. Walker loses, will immediately issue cires of "VOTER FRAUD" and "ACORN"?

Would the defeat of the recall attempt, require that the union thugs'& union dues bused in from out of the state, to make an apology for their failure to communicate with real Americans?

"According to government lawyers familiar with a Milwaukee criminal corruption probe, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is now a 'target' of the investigation."

We're running last-minute online ads in Wisconsin to make sure voters know their Governor -- up for recall tomorrow -- is under criminal investigation.

He has been the main focus of the John Doe investigation for the past two years, the democrat prosecutor who is running this investigation, keeps digging and digging. Still hasnt found anything yet, so now they are demanding that Walker talk about the investigation knowing full well, by law he cant.

I just wish the Justice Dept could investigate MF Global like the prosecutor. Its sad after so long, billions of dollars gone and nothing has happened to anyone involved..

Goes to show how desperate the dems have become. Having a panic attack about getting wipped on election day so they make a claim that he is under investigation, wowwwww. This man saved your state, you should be thanking him.

Sfox: Shows how ill informed you are. This investigation started BEFORE Walker was Governor. It about his corruption in office as Milwaukee County Executive, not Governor. Please read.

GoJo,

Because the Marquette poll says so? LOLOLOLOLOLOL

JoBlow,

All within the margin of error of 3%.

Vote this arrogant self righteous tea bagger dictator Scott Walker out, this lowlife doesn't represent Wisconsin, Walker represents the Koch Baggers !!!!!!!!!!

'Patriotic' is a closet teabagger...just doesn't want folks to know so he uses diversionary tactics to throw them off the trail.

We won't know until tomorrow...and personally I hope Walker is toast..

I hope Romney picks Ryan as his veep. They can portray them as Herman and Eddie Munster. Should make for some great laughs onSNL.

Romney needs Florida or he loses without question. Obama has a multitude of ways to reach 270. Everything has to go Romney's way which is very unlikely.

It's good to listen to the voter's of Wisconsin reaffirm their belief that ridiculous union benefits need to go away. The tax payer is tired of working until they are 75 to pay for union workers who retired at 50. This is the kind of reform this country needs. It truly is a revolution to get our country back. Congratulations Wisconsin for showing America the way. We stand with you and other states are watching! 2010 was just the beginning.

VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2012!

Well put Jody!

The teachers in WI had already negotiated to pay more of their health insurance and pensions before Scott Walker, backed by his corporate handlers, pushed to eliminate collective bargaining rights. It's interesting that most news sites call Democrat Barrett the "union-backed" candidate but never label Walker as "corporate-backed". Incidentally, Barrett was NOT the union's choice to run against Walker. Also never mentioned is the bill Walker tried to pass that would have allowed his administration to sell or lease WI-owned power plants to any entity they chose, no bids required. Theoretically Walker's administration could have leased all of the WI-owned power plants to, say, Koch Industries, for $1 each. leaving Koch with the profits and the WI taxpayers with the maintenance expenses. Instead of reporting on Walker's cozy relationships with big corporations, the media chooses to continue the neighbor-against-neighbor ill feelings by stressing the unions' objections to Walker's actions.

Democrat Chet Culver, Screwed the Iowa tax payers to pay back a union bribe as well. As tax payers and voters we've had enough of the crap......

Iowa’s outgoing Democrat Governor Chet Culver gave his union buddies at AFSCME a true ‘sweetheart deal’ on Friday—a two-year contract worth $200 million taken from Iowa’s taxpayers.

The funny thing is, Culver didn’t even bother to negotiate a better deal for the state’s taxpayers. In fact, Culver didn’t bother to negotiate at all. Instead, Culver took what was asked for by AFSCME and put it into effect leaving the next administration (and taxpayers) to deal with it.

MNPat,

Who did they negotiate with? Each school district decides locally what insurance they will have. The reason collective bargaining for fringe benefits were eliminated for state employees was that the state unions were so successful in the past in bargaining with the local school boards that the locals had NO control over their budgets. Wisconsin Educators Trust is the name of the self insured "insurance plan" the unions pushed. The savings that the state realized was through the side stepping of this hyper-inflated cost burden. If the school districts could provide like insurance benefit for their employees at a fraction of the former cost, where were the excess funds going with the the former plan? The answer is the reason why the liberals are so up in arms; they used the fund to finance their choice in political candidates, so the candiadate, if successful, would assure them further benefits. This went on for over 50 years prior to Scott Walker, who's experience told him that this was the real log jam in solving the states 3.5 billion dollar budget deficit. Dreyfus, Earl, Thompson, McCallum and Doyle kept kicking the can down the road because they thought the unions were too powerful. Lastly, why is Wisconsin in the electricity business anyway? The only reason you're up in arms is because we are also privately operating nukes to supply MN. with power. The hydros or coal fired plants couldn't keep up with demand on their own.

Jody, Iowa

The effort to recall Scott Walker is already a winner regardless of the outcome of today's vote.

Kinda like all Pee Wee Football kids getting a trophy even though they lost.

It is democracy in action. It is what our Founders believed democracy should be: of the people, by the people and for the people.

Until they loose! Then it is a conspiracy! Truth be known, our Founding Fathers would have tared, feathered and rode the Democrats and their liberal rabble-rausers out on a rail by now!

The Founding Fathers would be disgusted with what is happening! Disgusted with Public Unions, disgusted with the bickering and mudslinging over this.

I would like to be the first to congratulate Scott on the recall victory. Just want to know why you needed to spend that much money if all those people in Wisconsin are so happy with the job you are doing?

Maybe Walker had to combat the union thugs money from out of state. Walker has brought fiscal responsibility to WI, lacking for so many years.

AG99

That is incorrect. Walker did not campaign on stripping teachers of their bargaining rights.

Since you are not a Wisconsinite, perhaps that is why you are wrong. He did not campaign on these issues, such as union busting. It is not sour grapes, it is about saving the middle class. It is about the Koch Brothers, ALEC, Citizens United, etc. trying to force their agenda on Wisconsin, the rest of America and the world. Turn off the Faux News and get educated on the REAL issues. Anyone who thinks this recall is only about union issues is a misinformed.
Incidentally, I am neither a public employee nor a union member.

The you don't understand much then. Walker didn't campaign on the actions that he's taken. He had to admit that before Congress. The old republican bait and switch.

"Anyone who thinks this recall is only about union issues is a misinformed. "

LOL...the thuggish tactics of the Wiscosnin unions backfired...now the union poodle Democrats pretend the recall isnt about unions, but about "jobs" and corruption". How stupid do they think the voters are.

Laughable how totally corrupt unions want the voters to get upset about a totally partisan investigation of the Governor...why dont they investigate the crooked unions?.

I do remember a question asked to one of his opponents on the lines of, can you name one school that has been damaged by these cuts?

And the answer was no!

To fix this country, we need Democrats to embrace conservatism and not define it as religious right, homophobes and even anti-uinon. It is a proper way to govern and run your own life.

BIV were do you live? Oh sorry you don't live there either! I had no idea that the probes were that long.

NoLimit - How many teachers in Wisconsin? How many individual contracts will need to be negotiate? Do the school districts in Wisconsin all have the needed expertise to negotiate individual contracts? Collective bargaining for massive numbers of contracts is efficient and good business. Or are you more in favor of the bad faith negotiating, take it or leave kind of management?

To fix this country, we need republicans/ teabaggers to embrace freedom for all, and quit pushing fascism and / or a theocracy style of government. It is a proper way to govern and run your own life.

AG99, wrong, Walker did not campaign on any of the things he did the minute he took office; he even admitted it on tape and before Congress. Walker lied to Wisconsin voters.

livingbarefoot, in other words, you believe that everyone should think just as you do; that only your side is right. No wonder Congress is dysfunctional. Sounds familiar, in the words of a recent republican wannabee--compromise means democrats doing what republicans want.

Sounds to me that the teachers union needed to be busted. The teacher of the year gets layed off in wisconsin. They don't want a good teacher teaching their children. Don't you libs get it? This is why unions are bad, they have corrupted themselves. They are not concerned about producing quality. We need quality teachers. The tenured teacher who does not give a damn any more needs to be let go, period. Our schools have to many teachers that fit this bill and we wonder why our schools are failing. Union rules insulate people who do not perform. The unions would be credible if they held their members accountable. I spent 15 years as a supervisor in a union shop. sat in on panels listening to biggest bunch of bs with the union back flipping to save some guys job. If the employee did what was asked of them they would not be at the hearing!!!! The hearing was like the fourth or fifth step in the discipline process!! The union does not strengthen their position by having workers who cannot perform wearing the union label.

Jody - "Walker did not campaign on any of the things he did the minute he took office; he even admitted it on tape and before Congress. Walker lied to Wisconsin voters."

He campaigned on balancing the budget. Just because how he did it may cut into your ability to leech off of the citizens of Wisconsin makess you only highlights your greed.

He campaigned on balancing the budget. Just because how he did it may cut into your ability to leech off of the citizens of Wisconsin makess you only highlights your greed.

And yet the WI constitution requires a balanced budget.

Hurp.

livingbarefoot - and we would define conservatism as such if there weren't bigoted religion, anti-women, anti-union, anti-middle class homophobes running the party!

Obama/Biden 2012

Walker never campaigned on his intent to convert WI to a "right to work" state, by first destroying public employees unions, then going after private unions, an action greatly desired by his corporate handlers.

I know several teachers in WI. They are dedicated to their jobs and cooperate with their school districts in dismissing poor teachers. I've worked in union jobs and non-union jobs. The employers, if they suspected that some employees were even discussing unionizing, quickly wrote up bad reviews and fired those employees. These companies lost some very good employees by that action. In my union job I saw workers who were deficient lose their jobs, and I saw a foreman dismissed due to his harassment of female employees.

Unions know how to negotiate and compromise. Republicans are too often convinced compromise is a dirty word, indicative of surrender. It's not; it's a long-standing American principle which should be an inherent part of politics.

Seeking, I think they are given way too much attention by the left to help divide our nation.

Why are you not conservative? I am and I am for equal rights, legal abortion and where I seperate from the left is I would do nothing for minorities. There are none in my country! Thinking you need to take care of particular groups is about as bigoted as you can get.

Good lord, teachers aren't overpaid fat cats backed by jack-booted union thugs? Where do you get your information, the liberals on CNN? You need to tune everybody out except FOX for a while, get your head straight like the rest of the gun-toting, anti-government patriots here.

Livingbarefoot, what about helping your fellow man? What about welcoming the weary and oppressed, those yearning to live free?

Your views are neither American nor Christian.

fielden, I would love to see one third of every Congressman's salary and resources being used for charities. It would be more efficient and we would not be held hostage by the two parties.

Allowing people to come here and live in a poverty level a little greater than where they fled and dragging millions of my fellow citizens and my country down with them, helps nobody.

I have a plan for people who would like to migrate here. I am not a hater, I just don't think your philosophy, the same as Cuba's, works.

Don't believe we want this stuff for our nation GM...

Bad enough he did it to the people of Mass;

DO NOT ALLOW HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO IT TO AMERICA!

President Obama for Predident 2012

5 Facts About the Massachusetts Economy Under Mitt Romney

Wow, how refreshing. A presidential candidate who has a record. Now can you post President Obama's record prior to 2008 and his record as President so I can make an informed choice?

Thanks!

Now can you post President Obama's record prior to 2008

President Obama may not have been more experienced than Romney, when he was inaugurated in 2008, but he surely is more experienced now.

I think it would be a mistake to change horses in midstream, as they say, considering President Obama has weathered a financial crisis, an environmental crisis, a debt ceiling crisis, and numerous foreign affairs crisises, and built serious relationships with foreign leaders across the globe. If we elected Romney, he'd be starting all over again, without even the experience George W. had from his father's administration.

Pre-2008 Obama voted against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan citing a lack of reason to attack Iraq or the Taliban (who DID NOT attack the USA)

Post 2008, Fair pay act, WSR, HCR, Over 2 straight years of economic and job growth, Bin Laden is dead, Kaddafi is dead, The Iraq war is over, The Afghan war is ending, Top tier of Al-Q leadership is dead, Second tier of Al-Q leadership is dead, Those rising are being taken out as fast as they pop up.

Need more??

Certainly Allan:

You can begin with this one; if you need more, just ask

Always happy to show the RWNJ/Fox/Limbaugh lies, spin & half-truths the FACTS

http: / /www.voice4america.com/articles/2012/01/30/unemployment-progress.html

1/30/12

Don't believe what you hear. We are making progress with respect to the unemployment rate.

A user bmcphail over at DailyKos.com put together a fantastic article debunking many of the misconceptions about Barack Obama's record.

Most notably the unemployment rate.

Well here is the graph of the US unemployment rate.

Start with this one and I have several more if you need them.

Facts are facts (but the Tea/GOP platform planks, talking point of the day, and spin are all woefully lacking in FACTS and truth.)

Our President simply is NOT the failure the RWNJ's attempt to paint him to be; Bush/Cheney was the failure.

Are any of you old enough to remember when we had a balanced federal budget with surplus? Then remember what happened to it...

Don't want that again, which is exactly what we would get with Romney....

Does THIS help you make that informed decision Alan?

Another consideration is that Willard is a Norquist pledger which means he has promised Grover he will not reduce the nation's deficits....

Selective numbers are great. The real truth will be told. Clue...Romney entered office in January of 2003. So let's put some numbers in there that have from July 2002 to confuse the masses.

Look at the following graphs from the BLS... ALL key labor indicators show Romney was successful. Compare to our current President where not all indicators show improvement

//data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet

GBM: The kindest thing I can say is that Mitt Romney seems like a nice person, obsessed by running for office but a nice man. However, he brings nothing to the table to be our next President. There has to come a time in the near future when he outlines his own plans instead of ducking the question. His record in Mass. was abismal and, as a registered independent, I do not view Romney as a viable alternative to a second Obama term.

Having said that, the massive amounts of contributions to Gov. Walker by non-Wisconsin gazillionaires appear to be causing a close race today. In our system under Citizens United, billion dollar ad buys can convince a frightening high number of voters that the moon is made of cheese OR that Romney was a great Governor of Massachusetts. Can we rely upon the media to give us unbiased facts to help make informed decisions? Not when they are the recipients of the ad. buys!

Amy

Can Mr. Obama carry a tune..."I'm singing in the rain?" Please, your post about weathering storms doesn't carry water, let alone make sense. It's about leadership in the midst of storms...we've seen none.

Don't pizz on my shoes and tell me it's raining. I woulda said "my back" but I know enough of the danger in turning one's back on a democrat, their teeth and knives are extremely sharp.

Pre-2008 Obama voted against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan citing a lack of reason to attack Iraq or the Taliban (who DID NOT attack the USA)

Really? Can you point me to where his votes against these wars are recorded? If he did not believe in attacking the Taliban why did escalate the war against them in 2009? What changed his mind?

Since we are talking about Romney, let us review the lies he has told while campaigning. There are two many to cut and paste here, but follow the link and enjoy.

http://theobamacrat.com/2012/05/08/the-complete-list-of-lies-by-willard-mitt-romney/

ITT: JAS1 spews more rhetoric without details. Jeez there's a shocker.

So the Governor of a state is solely resposnsible for the unemployment rate and the economic growth?

Please, liberals, make sure then and thank Republican Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia, currently with a 5.6% unmployment rate...

7 of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates today are governed by Republicans...so make sure and thank them....and also realize states like California are failing due to Democratic Governors..

Please, liberals, make sure then and thank Republican Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia, currently with a 5.6% unmployment rate...

Then that means Obama isn't responsible for the national unemployment rate, as those states with high unemployment must just have sh*tty governors.

But what did McDonnell have to say about Obama helping him out?

Are any of you old enough to remember when we had a balanced federal budget with surplus? Then remember what happened to it...

Don't want that again, which is exactly what we would get with Romney....

So I looked at your chart and it is already out of date as the trend line ticked up last Friday. In addition the main reason that the unemployment rate has been falling is because participation in the workforce has been dropping. Either way the unemployment rate is a bad statistic for measuring unemployment because the participation rate varies and that is not accounted for when bringing the rate down or causing it to rise. It's a nice headline number though but fairly meaningless as an indication of employment.

I'm more interested in your second point regarding a balanced budget. I personally don't think Romney's plan will balance the budget because by the end of his first term Federal Spending is projected to be 3.7T. Under the President's proposed budget spending would be 4.3T so I'm curious as to why you think Obama would be able to balance the budget.

We are currently spending 3.8T of which we borrow 1.3T. How would Obama close the gap? Hasn't he already promised that he would cut the deficit in half by 2012, so what will he do different in the next 4 years?

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com

Since we are talking about Romney, let us review the lies he has told while campaigning. There are two many to cut and paste here, but follow the link and enjoy.

Still doesn't' beat the whopper "People should not be forced to buy health insurance", and then he includes an individual mandate in the ACA.

And please don't say the republicans made him do it because no Republicans voted for it so the reason it was in there is because the Democrats in the Senate made him do it.

Bob -- Gov. Bob McDonnell also acknowledged the federal stimulus money helped.

Alan -- You have a real problem with people changing their views and opinions when circumstances call for it. That is the epitome of a closed mind.

Im for changing not only the horse, but also the saddle, the shoes and the track he rode in on.

You have a real problem with people changing their views and opinions when circumstances call for it. That is the epitome of a closed mind.

I think when you use a position to attack your opponent like "People should not be forced to buy health insurance", and then turn round and sign that legislation into law you have to be held accountable. I am also upset that he escalated the troop levels in Afghanistan. Now that is something he said he would do as a candidate but I still disagreed with it. The other big one to me was the pandering over NAFTA, when he said it should be re-negotiated and he had no intention of doing it when elected.

I'll be the first to admit that Romney is a panderer but at least hold Obama to the same standard. My problem is that neither have put forward a serious budget and that to me is the important issue of this election. As Obama is the incumbent he shoulders more of the blame. The fact that in 6 month nobody knows what the Federal Government is going to be spending or taxing is insane. How do you expect any business to make a decision (and 12 months is a short-term decision) when the Federal Government will not plan ahead. The players who are to blame are Obama, Bohner, Reid, McConnell and Pelosi, in that order.

Bo - Need more??

$5 trillion in additional debt. 1.9% rate of growth. $4 gas. Real unemployment (people that have just given up looking) at 14%.

Need more?

greenbear

How quickly you have forgotten the Gulf Oil spill. You must not live along the coast, depend on fishing and tourism for a living, or care about the environmental damage caused by an unplugged well gushing oil into the sea for weeks. It was one of the earliest crisises President Obama faced and he stood on the neck of BP until they paid to clean it up. For all I know, Romney is one of BP's investors.

Good Morning Belfast Lad,

What I find so troubling about Romney and the election is how little the MSM challenge him. Last week he made a statement, really an outrageous lie, regarding Solyndra, (link below) standing in front of the failed business, having hijacked the press to a so called press conference. Not one reporter questioned him about the lies, not one. Only Rachael Maddow called him out, no other journalist has done any report stating he told another bald faced lie. If only money is what it takes to buy an election, then the country gets what it deserves. In the meantime, we can keep soldiering on refuting and challenging the lies. Thank you for your continuing support, have a great day.

Real unemployment (people that have just given up looking) at 14%.

Is that the category you fall into JAS1?

RedDev, you want to talk lies?

Guess who?

“I promise 100% transparency in my administration.”.
“I promise NO NEW TAXES on a family making less than $250K a year.”.
“I will allow 5 days of public comment before I sign any bills.”.
“I will remove earmarks from PORK projects before I sign any bill.”.
“I will end Income Tax for seniors making less than $50K a year.”.
"I will bring ALL of our troops home within ONE year."
“I’ll put the Health Care negotiations on CSPAN so everyone can see who is at the table!”.
“I’ll have no lobbyists in my administration."
"I'll close Guantanamo."
"I'll resign if I don't cut the deficit in half by the end of four years."
"I'll unite the people of this great country."

Tunanut, you should really add to this list McConnell and Boehner saying "Our number one priority is to obstruct and make Obama a one term President."

You know McConnell and Boehner. Republican leaders in Congress. The body that is charged with legislating and passing any of the things you mentioned.

Amy B: For all I know, Romney is one of BP's investors.

If you have a 401K, you're probably invested in a mutual fund with BP being part of its portfolio.

fielden - no they prefer to disregard the treasonous actions of the GOP when talking about our President's record. It totally defeats their purpose.

Obama/Biden 2012

To Belfast Lad and others interested in the truth, I just realized I omitted this link from my @7.22. With apologies......................

http://factcheck.org/2012/06/romneys-solar-flareout/ -

Alan -- People need certainty. We need to be certain our jobs won't be eliminated at whim. We need certainty that we will not go bankrupt for lack of affordable health care. We need certainty that Wall Street and banks won't cheat and steal from us. We need certainty that our land, air and water isn't poisoned by pollutions. At this point I don't give a @!$%# about business's uncertainty. They have the money to buy their certainty, the people don't.

I believe a lot of us depend on businesses, or have you found a replacement for all those businesses? Business uncertainty is why we have investors sitting on their money, and that uncertainty will not change until the farce of a President is gone. That fact is why there is virtually no real job growth, but you don't give a s--t about business uncertainty.

This recall is all about the middle class. Does it not make you wonder why the Koch Bros. and other millionaires have been giving Walker huge contributions? Most of them don't even live in Wisconsin. Think about it, why should they care? I will say it again, if you think this recall is all about unions, you are completely misinformed!

this recall election is more about the big labor people having a rant because they are no longer part of the political process ( as they should not have ever been )

Oh suddenly, we are a nation that excludes citizenry from the political process? And all this time, I thought we were a democracy working towards inclusion. You know, like giving Catholics and Jews the right to vote, Women, Blacks, non-property owners. This is why politics are divisive, because posters like you want the political processed owned by rich, white, fat, protestants (aka Koch Brothers).

Nana, I suggest you educate yourself on the labor movement and why it was/is so important; the deplorable working conditions, the unsafe equipment, the low wages, the lack of rights--"I owe my soul to the company store" was the reality of pre-labor movement. It wasn't just a Tennesee Ernie song about coal mines; it was a protest song. All the benefits people have today--safe conditions, vacations, holidays, health care are because the labor movement fought for those things and often died for the right to fight for better and safer conditions. Unions are not perfect but they have given every other non-union worker the same benefits and rights as those who belong to unions simply because unions exist as a competitive force for employers. To claim them as evil is to be duped by those corporations and powerful people who do not want workers to have collective power rights.

Reddev: I think you nailed it. Suddenly, with the Citizens United ruling, we are a nation which excludes the citizenry from the political process - or at least drowns them out in a sea of payola. As High Commander of the Right Dick Cheney once said: the wealthy should have more say in the activities of our government. Our 80 year experiment with democracy is over. Long live the plutocracy.

Bob-

So you are ignoring Gov. Walker's "divide and conquer" strategy? He deliberately pit the people of Wisconsin against each other as a means to a political end and you call the unions divisive?

BIV, from what I read of your post you seem bent on a little divisive action of your own so what makes your brand any better than the other. Stop throwing stone, they keep coming back to you.

Gee, Bob, do you think the recall would have happened if Walker hadn't stripped the unions of their constitutional right to exist? Walker brought this on himself and he can blame no one except for himself. What a political idiot - pulling a stunt that has cost the state millions.

I think he just informed everyone about the abuses and for the most part (Unions and supporters aside) they agreed with him. Even if he does lose, Im betting the Dem. winner would not change much, its working just like it is here in Michigan and Florida.

TNSEVOL- you mean the strategy that Obama is using, right?

If you hate the guy who compromises with you, who is being divisive? Boener crowed last summer that he got 95% of what he wanted from Obie, and the tea party zealots still voted against it. Is 5% just too divisive for you?

Texas, I here you have the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the country, how that program working out for ya. What are you going to do with all those babies. Oh right built in child labor for the future, I should have guessed.

Not only does Texas have the highest rate of teen pregnancy, their abstinence only teachings and no actual sex education resulted in a male asking what his risk was for cervical cancer. I didn't make that up, that was one of the findings of researchers that Texas youth are so uninformed about sex, they don't even comprehend who can get what. Those teen pregnancies and births are paid for by Medicaid dollars from the US Government. Those teen mothers end up receiving food aid for the poor also federal money. So the great State of Texas is one of the biggest recipients of US Govt medicaid and low income assistance in the country. It isn't much different in other southern red states--undereducated, uninformed, lacking basic sex education while claiming to want government out of their lives yet being the biggest recipients of tax-payer funds. Now, that's something for Texans to be proud of!

Well Jody, there's payback coming for Texas. As a result of their right wing ideology they are building a majority of minority kids who will grow into Democratic voters. Wait a few years and Texas will be a thoroughly blue state.

When Romney became Gov of MA, it was 36th in the Nation in job creation; he took them down to 47th so he didn't make it better, Mitt made it worse. Gillespie can spin all he wants but the facts prove how bad Romney was. Running government is not the same as running private business such as Bain Capital. There's a reason why Romney trails President Obama by about 25 points in Massachusetts, it's because those people know the truth about Romney.

Bo,

And how many DEMOCRATS believe that the far left liberal lunatics are spending us into oblivion? So, in my estimation, it's a wash!!

NEXT.......?

What exactly did you just say Bernie??

Ignore Bernie, Bo. When the far right gets excited they start babbling more and no one knows wtf they are attempting to say.

The state of Virginia under Republican Governor Bob McDonnell has a low unemployment rate of 5.6%....yet the Obama campaign wants to take the credit...

Actually Bob - it was good old Bob (Vaginal Probe) McDonnell himself who was exalting how much he appreciated the President's stimulus funds only last Sunday!

How's his chances for VP now? lmao!

All do to the stimulus.

Not to belittle your position but as you are keenly aware of, VA is heavily represented with DOD and Intel franchises. You've got Northern VA that's really connected to the DC area and then you've got the greater Norfolk military communities. So, your governor is really living off the dole of all the Federal dollars being spent to support our Naval/Marine, Air Force, Coast Guard and Army installations in the Tidewater area. Close off the money pipe and I'd like to see how you can give all the credit to your governor then.

Well in Virginia it is probably the President since much of the VA employment, both primary and secondary, is from military contracts and the DC overflow of lobbyists and staffers. As your Governor admitted he received benefits from the stimulus

BiV- Didn't the Virginia governor admit that his state was doing better under some of the present federal administrations policies?

Also, when has Romney ever taken ownership of his time as governor? If Massachusetts was such a great place under his leadership, why were so many people leaving the state?

If the state took federal money (stimulus) it was made possible by President Obama. More would have been available if it weren't for the Norquist-owned GOP/TPers. In other word, more people would be working, paying taxes, buying products, and off unemployment if it weren't for the republican pledge to make President Obama a one-term president at the expense of the survival of our citizens and our country.

Actually Bob - it was good old Bob (Vaginal Probe) McDonnell himself who was exalting how much he appreciated the President's stimulus funds only last Sunday!

Feisty - Bob-Va didn't see that story because it didn't run on Fox. It was funny to see Bob M. choke on his words - at first, I thought he was being probed, but then I realized his cough was because he thanked Obama for helping bring down the states unemployment numbers.

During his CNN appearance, when asked whether Obama deserved "just a tiny bit of credit" for helping the Virgina economy, McDonnell said: "Well, sure. I think there are national policies that have had some impact."

"Tiny" is giving too much credit, but McDonnell was generous.

McDonnell also criticized Obama for "overburdensome regulations" and argued that Republican-led states have fared better during the downturn and struggling recovery.

"Think how much better we'd do if we had President Romney," he said.

The economy in Virginia is thriving not due to the failed stimulus, but due to conservative economic policy.

Bob, "tiny" was interviewer sarcasm directed at McDonnell for his ridiculous assertion that the stimulus did nothing for VA.

Wow, Bob, are you really so petty and selfish?

bob in V

McDonnell criticized Obama for "Over burdensome Regulations"???

You do remember how "NO Overburden-some Regulations" Work in Bush's reign of terror..right? Had the REP/TP been fair and less Greedy NONE of this would have happened. Look at "Chase", the 1% still have not learned their lesson. Have we the People?

No, both parties are equally spending us to oblivion. The Republicans just choose to cut taxes and starve the beast, while increasing spending on the military.

Both parties are equally at fault, and will have to come together to fix the problem.

You Betcha!

Ever heard "starve the beast" or "deficits don't matter", Bernie--those terms belong to the GOP. The truth is simple, the GOP has not been fiscally responsible since Reagan was elected. Democrats are not perfect but they do, except in times of crisis, believe in paying for what they pass. What did the GOP pay for from 2001 through 2006? Go ahead, Bernie, take a stab at the answer. To help you, think ZERO, nada, nothing, zip. That's right for 6 years, the GOP paid for nothing; they charged it and now they whine about the deficit and the debt which they largely created.

Excellent post Ruken

Jody, the last republican to balance the budget was Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956-57.

Reagan oversaw the greatest percentage increase in the Federal debt of any president before or since in the period 1983-86.

Yeah, but Obama wants to set the record ! The United States is headed toward a financial cliff if our country does not make serious attempts to cut back, trim, delete, trim some more, consolidate duplications in service, eliminate the unnecessary and crush out fraud.

We need a President who understands a balance sheet and will actually get a budget DONE ! Obama has failed repeatedly with his unrealistic budget proposals. Only Romney has enough business savvy to turn around the massive annual deficits we are facing.

Jeff need help. I don't seem to recall which politicians were elected by their constituents, that said they wished to obstruct anything they deemed not to be in the best interest of the country (as seen by them). I'm sure we all want BI-PARTISANSHIP from our elected officials. I try to only vote for those that seem to be able to at least make the effort to try, as I'm sure you do. Anyone who votes for a politician that states they will not help the other side has to know they are slowly voting the US to totalitarianism.

Jeff-

I would agree with your point, but Romney has changed his entire belief system since his term as Governor of Massachusetts. He no longer considers himself a "moderate", he is "extremely conservative". He has changed his position on abortion, gay rights, healthcare, taxes, etc. He has positioned himself too far to the right to be bipartisan.

Jeff - too bad you don't speak the truth. I have many friends in MA and they say just the opposite as you - Romney was divisive as hell and didn't even run for a 2nd term because he got bored. Just what people need in a "leader."

The total stupidity of your comment about bi-partisanship is absurd. When Romney was governor he did not have a group - from day one - that said they would obstruct everything he did to make him a one-term governor like the GOP did to President Obama in Washington. How nice for you that you pick and choose "facts" when there are none to support your lies.

Obama/Biden 2012

Jefff do you ever watch the Senate in session?? The party of 'NO" is only interested in the 1%. You know the GOP mantra...MONEY Talks...Bul$%^ walks. Thanks to our corrupt Supreme Court (ya they too can be bought) we will have a tough fight until people remember the OLD USA that came together as ONE.

So, SeekingSanity makes a personal attack on Jeff in #17.3 ... finding 3 creative ways to call him a liar in one single post ! But, of course, she knows a lot more about the politics of Massachusetts than someone who has actually lived there FOR 51 YEARS ! LOL !! Sorry, you just lost all credibility with that one .... not that you had much to begin with anyway.

Then, somehow you magically turn this into a sob story about obstructionism of Obama by the GOP ? Having difficulty in staying on focus with your rant today ? How about the topic of the day ?? Do you not want to talk about Scott Walker's lead in the polls ???

Mitt Romney's Dad earned three times what the average auto worker of his day made. Today's CEO makes over 300 times what the average worker does. Mitt pays 14% taxes on whatever income he hasn't been able to shelter in the Cayman Islands and Swiss banks. Meanwhile, you begrudge teachers a living wage. Nice priorities there, bub.

Amy,

No one is begrudging teachers a living wage.

Exactly right, And that is why Federal Aid to Texas, Arizona, etc should be immediately cut off

Texas alone collects more in Federal Aid "State Welfare" than every single welfare and food stamp recipient in the USA combined, It has been their largest single source of income for over 20 years and Arizona is not far behind

Bo,

Wonder why that could be... Can you say Mexican illegals getting government aid? Doesn't take a lot of thought to come up with that conclusion. Stop illegal immigrants and the problem your pointing out goes away.

Hmmmm,,,,Which party controls Texas?? and has for those 20 years of being the "Welfare State"

Hmmmmm,,,,Who is charged with controlling the COUNTRIES BOARDER??? Not the state...

NON Socialist/Marxist -

So you think that even though the benefits/retirement were freely negotiated with the public unions (almost always in lieu of higher wages and raises) that the governor should be able to void those agreements becasue he can't live up to his end of the bargain?

The end of collective bargaining also means things like classroom size, police staffing, number of fire stations, etc. can no longer be negotiated by the union. Those items and many others benefit the public and help keep us safe and our children educated.

Who is charged with controlling the COUNTRIES BOARDER??? Not the state.

Texas, 47th in the USA for education.

Can you say Mexican illegals getting government aid?

And you know this as fact? Show one source where the primary receivers of state aid in Arizona and Texas are illegal Mexicans. Closer to the truth is they are white republicans sucking the system for everything they can.

Walker's "end of the deal" was to balance the budget, which he has. He took an 8 billion dollar deficit and turned it into a surplus in a year and a half.

As far as the benefits paid for by taxpayers for Union workers, quite frankly I think the taxpayers should have a hand in the negotiations seeing as they are paying for it. When you have a state like Wis, that has been dominated by Democrats with their hips tied to Unions, of course Unions are going to get favorable contracts. No Union worker should EVER get 100% pension and 401k paid for by their neighbor the taxpayer... Time to get a clue and bring the Unions workers back to reality, where they can pay for their own pensions and retirement.

Bo - You are mis-informed. Texas receives 94 cents in federal dollars for every dollar it sends to the US Treasury. That's a pretty good balance. For a real welfare state you need to go to New Mexico at $2 received for $1 spent, which btw has voted pretty much Democrat for the last several elections.

Are you really dumb enough to think the majority of entitlements in Texas and Arizona are going to white Republicans? If so there is no point in trying to have a conversation with you. I would rather tank to my shoe as it probably has a higher IQ.

What I DO care about are the crappy teachers in our school system

I may not know exactly how to improve our school systems, but I'm pretty sure spreading the myth there are tons of "crappy teachers," and treating the profession with disrespect, is not the way to attract the best and the brightest to the job, or encourage students to take their education seriously.

Our Tea Party governor also cut teachers' benefits in our state, and, as much as I dislike our governor, I will say, he managed to do it without setting off a civil war in the state. Gov Christie, another Tea Party type, is actually popular in his state. It seems to me, if you can't enact necessary policies without insulting school teachers, you aren't a competent governor.

You can tank to your shoe until you are blue in the face, it doesn't change the fact that illegal Mexican immigrants are not the primary recipients of state welfare.

NON Socialist/Marxist

Maine is the whitest state in the country, according to the census, and the second highest in people receiving food stamps. Not too many Mexican immigrants make it all the way up here.

RedDev,

Your blind.

Amy,

No one was talking about Maine. You are trying to compare apples and oranges. nice try though.

"It seems to me, if you can't enact necessary policies without insulting school teachers, you aren't a competent governor"

It seems to me, if you cant even begin to reform the absolute failure that is public education today, without unions blocking every effort and pretending any reform is "insulting school teachers", the children will continue to suffer, and the unions will continue to ruin education.

RedDev,

Your blind.

Nope, not at all. But let me help you out since you are so lost. There is a website hosted by an unfair and unbalanced news organization made specifically for you folks that live for your stereotypes and disregard all facts and figures. It is called Fox News .. and to prove I am a giver, here is the link for you http://www.foxnews.com/ -- this is a place where you can find like minded individuals who spend hours on end gender bashing, ethnicity bashing, and gay bashing without challenge. You can also blather, unchallenged I might add, about the flat earth, the age of the universe (some 6k years I hear), and most importantly, how the country was founded in the name of Christianity and should be ruled by Christians. Do enjoy!!

P.S. As a Bonus, the site pays you money every time you end a sentence with Democrats are socialist/marxists.

Bo was lying about Texas being the biggest welfare state anyway. Here is a list of the 15 biggest welfare states:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/31910310/The_Biggest_US_Welfare_States

Not real clear on the topic of discussion huh Rick. You can get some basic compehension classes at your local junior college.

Shellie, you really should not be attacking Rick like that. I am sure that one day, if you keep plugging away, maybe you will graduate from that junior college. Maybe then you will be capable of something more than a one or two sentence attempted put-down. That seems to be all you do.

Rick is merely clearing up distortions. We know that "bugs" you libtards.

I blame the schools.

Spell much? Bloods, Crips. Union thugs? You forgot union scum, union parasites, union commies. Just like in the south where "damn Yankee" is all one word. Less than 7% of the work force is unionized. There is a strong correlation between the decline in union membership and the offshoring of American manufacturing jobs. Elect Romney and watch him do to your job what Bain Capital did to so many of the jobs in the companies they bought--eliminated them.