The crazy state race continues...

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Krisken

Krisken

Fantastic article at The Awl describing the fake Democrats being put up to force a primary for recall elections and the disasterous policies being put forth by Walker and cohorts in a rush before control of the state Senate changes hands.

Some of the most scathing comments:
The most surprising part of the court's ruling was the dissenting opinion, in which the Chief Justice, in no uncertain terms, accused the majority of disinformation: that the ruling "set forth their own version of facts without evidence."
That may sound tame by the screaming hyena standard of cable news political discourse, but in the legal world, it's a bona fide scandal and finally confirms that everything in Wisconsin, from the highest court in the land to the dirt, has become rabidly partisaned.
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The most generous possible way to describe him is naive. James Smith is what would happen if Lennie from Of Mice and Men somehow became involved in All the King's Men.
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By just getting on the ballot and forcing a primary, his candidacy is already successful, which means he is no longer necessary. Like the other dull patsies, Smith has been suckered into doing something the rest of the state's Republican leadership supports, but is too spineless and self-preservationist to volunteer for themselves.
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Three-fourths of public schools and nearly every public library in the state accesses the Internet via WiscNet. The new language will require them to contract with private providers, multiplying schools' ISP costs just as Walker cuts their budgets and expands access, and state payments, to private charter schools.
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This new unrestricted work schedule dovetails perfectly with the administration's massive cuts to education. It doesn't take a formal understanding of geometry to understand how groceries best fit into a paper bag.
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Proving that the Wisconsin Republicans are such in name only, the legislature has also raised the ire of conservatives, with a proposal limiting the rights of individual land owners. A proposal receiving unanimous Republican Budget Committee support makes it easier for the state government to appropriate private land to build highways and power lines. No surprise that there is a corporate power line contractor backing the rule: American Transmission Company
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Anyone interested in the dissenting state Supreme Court statement can read it at:
http://www.wisbar.org/res/sup/2011/2011ap000613.htm

It's a doozy, believe me. The dissenting opinion is filled with some of the most interesting lawyerese bitch slapping I've seen in a while.
 
Espy

Espy

Krisken, did you hear the This American Life about the political situation in Wis. right now? It aired a few weeks ago. Super good.
 
Krisken

Krisken

No, I didn't. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll get to it later and bookmark it for now though!

Last night my friend Nick had his bachelor party and the philosophy professor from the local college was there. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on the subjects presented here. He said that he is apolitical and in the end there is only one thing which determines the motivation of those in power- follow the money.
 
Krisken

Krisken

This is a fantastic piece. Thanks for the opportunity to hear it (There is a lot I agree with, especially how it took people by surprise that the policies caused such a rift).

So much for civility, I guess. As long as Walker is in office and pushing an extreme agenda, I don't see how things will improve.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

Update: my (new) state senator was one of the 14. He's had signs up since May. Haven't seen any other signs besides Simac (Tea Party Palin clone, apparently).

However, a new billboard outside of town: "If you didn't report to work for three weeks, would you still have a job?" I almost want to say, "Yes, because I'd use sick leave conversion, just like the Republican lawmakers do."
 
Krisken

Krisken

jwhouk said:
Update: my (new) state senator was one of the 14. He's had signs up since May. Haven't seen any other signs besides Simac (Tea Party Palin clone, apparently).

However, a new billboard outside of town: "If you didn't report to work for three weeks, would you still have a job?" I almost want to say, "Yes, because I'd use sick leave conversion, just like the Republican lawmakers do."
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Ugh. They spoke with constituents, made people aware of the stupidity going on in Madison, and still did their work from a shitty hotel room hundreds of miles away because the Governor threatened to have them forcibly brought to the capitol if they were in the state. Sounds like they weren't playing hookie to me.

I know you know this, man. I find the whole thing awful frustrating.
 
Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

@Li3n said:
Talking about crazy states: http://consumerist.com/2011/07/philadelphia-saves-2-million-by-not-prosecuting-pot-smokers.html

That's sarcasm btw.
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"I can put someone in jail for 90 days because they possess crack. But if we don't get them the help they need for their addiction, when they get out of jail, they're just going to be a 90-day-older crack addict," he explains. "We have to treat drug addiction as a public-health problem, not just a criminal-justice problem."
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You'd never see any level of saving or thought like that on the federal level.
 
Terrik

Terrik

The theory always was that if people have more money to spend, they'll probably spend more money. In China, I'm taxed 20% of my salary. Because of that, I'm weary of taking teaching jobs that "tack on" housing allowances or bonus to the monthly salary as opposed to making it a separate payment because otherwise it won't amount to much at the end of the month and the cost of living in Shanghai is very high, so I'm also less likely to make big purchases here as opposed to when I was living in say, Tianjin where the Koreans made separate housing and bonus payments so it would be under the tax bracket, allowing me to keep more money, and allowing me to make bigger purchases like an HD TV and contribute to the local economy. Nobody likes their money taken away. As far the US goes, I don't believe the US government under either party has made the case that they use tax dollars effectively. Are Democrats advocating an increase in taxes while reducing spending? If so, awesome. If not, get your hands off my money.
 
Tress

Tress

Terrik said:
Are Democrats advocating an increase in taxes while reducing spending? If so, awesome. If not, get your hands off my money.
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Yes. Obama is actually. The plan calls for closing tax loopholes for the wealthy, plus raising taxes on the highest bracket. This would go along with spending cuts. Meanwhile, the Republican position is that no taxes should be raised ever for any reason at all no matter what. They just want huge cuts to close the gap.
 
strawman

strawman

People like to throw around the idea that republicans are pandering to the wealthy, but keep in mind that it's not an invalid fiscal policy.

If taxes are lower, in theory, such people will spend more money, resulting in more cash flow through their community and the companies they patronize.

If the taxes are higher, that money instead goes to the gov't.

Some argue that the gov't isn't going to spend it any better, and possibly worse (social programs can't create jobs if money isn't flowing through the community).

Whereas the opposition suggests that people who have more money should be taxed at a higher rate, and not because they incur a greater public cost - simply because they have more money.

I have my opinions on the matter, but honestly I don't have enough information and experience to judge one way or the other.

However, I keep hearing people imply that the republican plan has no fiscal value, that it's nothing more than pandering to the wealthy, which leads me to believe that some people are ignoring what the value truly is so they can engage in petty propaganda.
 
Krisken

Krisken

My problem with that theory is the last 10 years doesn't support it. Jobs still got cut despite huge tax breaks for the wealthy. Wages went up disproportionately for the wealthy compared to the middle and the poor. It just isn't holding water, and until some evidence of an improved economy due to the increased spending of the rich or wages of the poor and middle class improves when these cuts are put in place, I just don't buy it.

I just don't have a violin small enough to play for the richest Americans at this time.
 
LordRendar

LordRendar

From what I think,there arent enough "Wealthy" people to offset the kind of spending all of those normal people would do.And do wealthy people really spend their money in the US? Dosnt most of it go somewhere abroad?
Wouldnt Taxbreaks for the Poor and Middle Class be more feasible,since they will spend their money in American stores?
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Actually i propose something simpler...

Lets say in one place a X costs 20$, while in another 40$ (but you get better warranty and a nicer looking package)... now you used to have 100 buck, but now you have 200... do you now buy the 40$ version, or do you just buy more of the 20$ version?
 
Denbrought

Denbrought

@Li3n said:
Actually i propose something simpler...

Lets say in one place a X costs 20$, while in another 40$ (but you get better warranty and a nicer looking package)... now you used to have 100 buck, but now you have 200... do you now buy the 40$ version, or do you just buy more of the 20$ version?
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That depends on the product's elasticity, iirc. I won't buy two heart transplants, I might buy two jugs of milk instead of one.
 
Krisken

Krisken

I wish I was surprised. As the article says, this has happened before. Couple this with the painfully bad voter ID laws and I'm amazed anyone has been able to vote at all.
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Krisken said:
I wish I was surprised. As the article says, this has happened before. Couple this with the painfully bad voter ID laws and I'm amazed anyone has been able to vote at all.
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Frankly I can't even think about your state anymore. Every single time I do, my blood boils beyond reasoning. I have never seen such a morally and ethically bankrupt clusterfuck and just thinking about the corruption and fraud.... I just want to slap those people.
 
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