Inside the beltway is actually 325.949641 square miles: NEW POLITICS THREAD

[FreddyKnuckles]

So there's probably a politics thread somewhere that isn't expired but whatever.

(you can check my maths if you want.  Based on a circumference of 64 miles.)

There hasn't been a lot of political jibber jabber around here lately.  So here's what's on my mind

1.  Bob Etheridge
Pretty douchey move.  The kids were asking him a dumb question "do you fully support the obama agenda" but they weren't in his face or anything and were reasonably polite.  Pretty odd for a seasoned politician to snap like that.  Just say no comment and keep walking.  Don't need to assault some 19 year old.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/06/rs-_etheridge.html

I mean, this article here ( http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38521.html ) pretty well sums up the crazy knee-jerking on both sides, but I don't really get the sense from the video that it was a republican ploy hatched by breitbart and the gang a la the Acorn scandal.  If they had been more aggressive or had asked something a little harder hitting maybe, but it was pretty innocent and homeboy flipped his shit. 


2.  Alvin Green
Pretty hilarious.  Don't really want to speculate this early on but I wouldn't really put it past the SC GOP to pull some sort of shady business.  Don't really see the motive though, not like the other guy would've beaten DeMint.  What seems more likely to me is that the democrats in SC are small in number and largely apathetic, and having heard of neither candidate voted for the one with the better name.
http://www.examiner.com/x-46109-Augusta-Religion--Politics-Examiner~y2010m6d14-Green-upsets-the-Democrat-cart-with-win-in-primary

[elpollodiablo]

Oh man do I want to get a remaindered copy of Glenn Beck's novel.

[FreddyKnuckles]

ah THAT was the #3 I wanted to mention.  It's gonna be really gross how many copies of that thing he sells.  The commercial is a RIOT.  Where do you find a voice actor like that anyway?

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/glenn-becks-overton-window-ad-try-no

[FreddyKnuckles]

Hi I am president robot watch me insincerely read these inspirational words which I have prepared

[YojimboMonkey]

necroed 'cause... fuckin Rahm

The "Donate" button is a bit much

[Good Intentions]

Another painfully contentless editorial by Obama in the NY Times. I honestly don't know why he bothers. He has to be seen to be saying something, I guess.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Honestly, some dumb press secretary wrote it, it got stripped of anything controversial by someone a level up, and the blandest version with the least content got approved.

[Good Intentions]

Yes. And I don't know why they bother.

[FreddyKnuckles]

So blucas may be the only one who gives a fuck but Denny Rehberg is going to announce that he's running against Jon Tester.

I go back and forth on Denny.  I saw him one time speaking at a Poli Sci dinner.  There were about ten Profs and twelve students and I was the only guest.  They invited Democrat and Republican politicians to this dinner alternating years to be the keynote speaker. So Denny said a little about himself and that he got a political science degree too.  Blah blah and then he took questions. From 10 very liberal political science professors.  He knocked it out of the park,  really.  He was clear, direct, and honest.  No platitudes and no question dodging. 

But at the same time,  he's kind of a drunken sleaze (maybe that makes him an every man?)  There was an expose in the hill rags about how a capitol hill bar showed up on his expense report under lodgings.  Apparently he passed out there and the bar charged him like 80 bucks to sleep on a cot in the basement.  His approval rating went up in Montana. 

He was also drunk, on a speedboat, when that speedboat crashed on flathead lake in Montana.  He was shitfaced and the boat driver,  a Montana state senator was even drunker. One of his staffers was in a coma for over a month and has permanent brain damage and others on the boat were seriously hurt. 

He also sued the local fire department last year. 

Oh and also be gave me a beer at a griz game at his tailgate when I was just 20

There was also a quasi scandal ehere one of his staffers was accused of some serious poaching. (A big deal in MT)

[elpollodiablo]

I know I'm not in the target demographic for the rhetoric by a damn sight, but jeepers does it make me wanna gag every time I hear the words "win the future"

[Antero]

Aw, is someone having a bit of a Sputnik moment?

[FreddyKnuckles]

See, I always think "children! children! future! future!"

[dieblucasdie]

So after hearing Ryan et al bitch all day that Obama's budget doesn't address entitlements ("the president punted on this issue" must've been the talking point that was sent out, ugh), I'm wondering what the odds are that the GOP will goad Obama into proposing cuts to Social Security, then find a ticky-tack reason not to vote for said proposal ("We won't vote for any legislation until we put the ACLU on the list of terrorist organizations!" or, whatever random-hobbyhorse-du-jour FNC dreams up), then run attack ads in FLA from now until Kingdom Come about how Obama wants to CUT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY.

I'm going to go with 100%.  Every time something like this happens, I think about Dick's line on just giving up and joining "the inevitable Hipsters for Palin trend and riding that fucker to the end of civilization."

[elpollodiablo]

jeb, I've been really too busy with other reading this week to follow events in WI as closely as I'd like--care to give us your perspective?

[kadiekatRN]

I don't know what Jeb has to say, but I am personally just livid at the fucktard that is our governor.

I seriously cannot watch or listen to coverage without screaming in rage.  My ride home from work, I screamed "Fuck You" at the radio whenever a misinformed asshole called in.

The governor has submitted an emergency budget bill that slashes wages and benefits for public workers.  That is tough, but not my point of contention.  The evil, maniacal part is that it also strips all public unions (except police and firefighters) of almost all collective bargaining power.  The lone right they would retain would be to negotiate for wages only up the consumer price index.  Moreover, the unions would not be able to collect dues in the same way and would have to be recertified by election every year.  Basically, every year, union workers would be asked to cough up a lump sump after their unions that can't do much for them and then asked to vote to retain the privilege once a year.

Somehow, this is an important component of a budget issue.  I can't see how this is possibly even remotely a budget issue!  It is one thing to cut funding and negotiate with workers some concessions to our ailing budget.  Sure, we're all forced to make concessions.  I'm not part of a union, but I pay more for my benefits this year than last, etc.  I'm pretty sure that within reason public workers would, too.  And they already have in the form of furloughs and pay freezes.  But instead, they are portrayed as fat cats with bloated benefits and salaries.  It's like a collective Republican delusion.

The ONLY three things that I like about this whole thing:
1) Protesters!  So many, and reasonably peaceful, respectful, etc.  Nice to see that mobilization!
 2) The Wisconsin Democrats, who have historically squandered their majority by cowering under the shadow of reelection and some ridiculous delusion of bipartisanism, have finally grown some fucking balls!  They left.  They just will not be present in the Capitol, which prevents voting on the bill.  The Republican have the votes, but it can't pass unless at least one Democrat is present.  Apparently, state police are now pursuing them.  They have taken some action!  They have not submitted to an inevitable fate.  Hallelujah! 
3) I think this sheds light on just how foul the man they elected as governor is!  I think this will alienate him from moderates/thinking folks who were deceived by him this fall.

Seriously look at this man and tell me that he doesn't have profound cognitive problems:


Edit for typos.

[jebreject]

Looks like Katie has covered this pretty damn well, but I wrote this whole thing, so here it is.

Some of my facts might be a bit off, so feel free to correct me if I've gotten anything wrong, but here's the gist of it:

In the name of balancing the budget, Governor Walker introduced a bill that would effectively end collective bargaining rights for public workers. Unions would only be able to negotiate wages, not benefits. It would also mean that public workers would have to pay for healthcare and into their pensions out of pocket, which basically amounts to a huge, huge paycut for a segment of workers who already make on average something like 8% less than their private sector counterparts (and that number goes up to about 25% when you start looking at university professors). Further, public unions would no longer be able to automatically deduct dues from paychecks, nor would union membership be mandatory--the same kinds of policies that have nearly obliterated unions in the private sector. So it's a direct attack on unions, a very, very vicious attempt to bust the unions outright. When the bill was announced, it is reported that Walker stated that he would call in the National Guard to quell any protest. This isn't strictly true as far as I can tell; he actually said that in the case of strikes, like if prison guards went on strike, for example, he would call in the National Guard to perform the duties of the striking workers. Which is quite a bit different, but I'm getting off topic.

There is also a lot in the bill about the governor's ability to control healthcare in the state, though that stuff I'm not as clear on.

Here's the rub, anyway: the deficeit Walker is trying to fix is at least in part caused by his own first month actions as governor:  "$25 million for an economic development fund for job creation,  $48 million for private health savings accounts and $67 million for a tax incentive plan that benefits employers, but at levels too low to spur hiring" and now he's asking public employees to pay the cost of what, to my mind, ends up amounting to cronyism and typical Republican economic plans that do nothing for the economy or workers.

Walker and the newly GOP-controlled legislature made a move to push this bill through as quickly as possible. Walker stated outright that he would not negotiate, and he's been pushing this narrative that public workers are essentially leaches (I think this is a pretty popular sentiment right now among the GOP and its supporters), setting up this false dichotomy of public workers vs. taxpayers. He says he will listen to taxpayers, but they're not the ones protesting. Anyway, almost immediately there were rallies and protests around the Capitol, with rallies taking place all throughout the state, particularly on UW campuses. Thousands of protesters--public servants, school teachers, university faculty, students--have all but taken over the Capitol. The photos are awe-inspiring. People brought sleeping bags and slept in the rally. The legislature couldn't vote on the bill until everyone was heard (or so we thought), and we essentially filibustered well into the night Tuesday night. At some point the GOP members of the legislature left, but the Democrats stayed for some time longer to continue listening to the public testimony of the protesters. Public schools all across the state canceled classes due to teachers calling in sick in order to join the protest--including the entire Madison school district shutting down; classes were canceled in the UW system as faculty and students alike did the same.

Thursday night, the Joint Committee on Finance voted in favor of the bill, with no concessions or changes. The bill was set to be voted on in the Assembly and Senate today, but couldn't be, as fourteen Democratic and two Republican legislators did not show up, apparently having fled the state in order to buy more time for the unions and delay the passing of the bill--and hopefully resulting in the bill being killed or major concessions being added. Walker ordered the State Patrol to find the legislators, but the legislators are not technically breaking the law, so there is nothing to be done on the front. (I've also heard that Troopers have outright refused to pursue and that Walker threatened to have the National Guard hunt them down, but I've been totally unable to find a reliable source on that one and it sounds like bunkum to me.)

I think that about brings us up to date, though it also came out today that Walker also has on the agenda a bill to cut funding to Milwaukee Public Schools (already one of the most poorly funded systems in the state), a measure which would leave the system in shambles, and to break up the UW system. Listen, I don't believe in evil, but this man is about as close to pure evil as I've ever fucking seen.

I'm pretty sure that Madison school district has shut down schools tomorrow as well, but I haven't checked further into that.

I'm really glad that this is starting to get national attention, and that members of the Obama administration have spoken up--including Obama himself, though I feel like his statement was pretty weak. Walker can't be recalled until he's served for a year, but campaigns are already being started to recall Republican members of the legislature who are in favor of this bill and Walker's agenda.

I'm also glad to see that a number of people who supported Walker in the gubernatorial race have changed their stripes.

Miles, you should keep a close eye on what's happening in Wisconsin, because it sounds like Ohio is next ...

[kadiekatRN]

There are some frightening executive powers that Walker is seeking, too. 

Just absolutely no check and balances.  Just a megalomaniac looking to destroy the most vulnerable in the state.  Anyone who thinks that cutting the budget of Milwaukee Public Schools by $200,000 is a step in the right direction, must want even more unemployed, uneducated people to bitch about being on welfare.  How is NOT educating urban children a priority!  You are basically ensuring that the mythology about the city and its residents becomes true.  Seriously!!!!
 
Also, with this union-busting, it will actually COST money for many public transit systems.  Apparently public transit that is county-run get federal funding that requires workers to have certain rights.  They will not get that money if this bill passes.  Great budget solution, right?

Edit:  I meant $200,000,000!  Big difference!

[Antero]

It's starting to look like you guys might have elected someone so fucking awful that it will reenergize a proper leftist opposition.

[elpollodiablo]

Gov. Scott Walker calls on 14 Senate Dems to do their jobs after they flee the state instead of voting on bill

[nonotyet]

Milwaukee Public Schools are closed today! Errbody called in!
I have nothing else to add because Katie and Jeb already said everything

[kadiekatRN]

I happened to get a little time off today.  Contemplating going to Madison, but probably won't.

[nonotyet]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/02/cops_now_pursuing_missing_wisc.html?wprss=plum-line

State Senator Chris Larson, one of the Democrats who is remaining in Illinois to stall the vote on Governor Scott Walker's measure, tells me that another Dem Senator -- who he declined to name -- returned home late yesterday to try to get some sleep. That Senator's staff reported to Larson that police visited his home, but that the Senator had managed to slip away before cops could apprehend him.

"Police were sent over to his house, but he was able to get out of there," Larson told me.

Police were sent over to his house, but he was able to get out of there

Police were sent over to his house, but he was able to get out of there

Police were sent over to his house, but he was able to get out of there

 

[kadiekatRN]

What's funny is: how can the cops lawfully be pursuing the Democratic lawmakers?

[auto-da-fey]

It's starting to look like you guys might have elected someone so fucking awful that it will reenergize a proper leftist opposition.

yeah, it's been kind of interesting to see all my mostly-now-Wisconsin-based high school "friends," who usually strike me (rightly so, I think) as a fairly reactionary-to-apolitical bunch, come to life in anger against the governor on FB.
in fact, it makes me wonder what the two dozen or so people I've made invisible because I don't care about their babies are posting.

[jebreject]

No, you don't. I promise you don't.

I've already had some rather regrettable back-and-forths