Althouse: "RECALL WALKER/Tell him: Keep it up/IT'S WORKING!"

January 29, 2012

"RECALL WALKER/Tell him: Keep it up/IT'S WORKING!"

Photo taken today by the commenter James.

69 comments:

James said...: Ahhh....thanks Anne.

I thought it was a clever play on all the "Walker or Workers" and "Recall Walkers" signs I see here in the blue part of Racine County.; 1/29/12, 11:20 AM
edutcher said...: Reminiscent of the McCain - Palin yard signs some people cut in half and reordered as Palin - McCain, although I think the outcome here will be far more satisfactory.; 1/29/12, 11:21 AM
garage mahal said...: "It's Working!"

That's what Tim Russell yelled down the hall to Scott Walker after plugging in the router to install the secret communication system they used to evade the law.; 1/29/12, 11:24 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Walker's got a Nixonian secret communication system?

Some politicians never learn.; 1/29/12, 11:52 AM
Rusty said...: garage mahal said...
"It's Working!"

That's what Tim Russell yelled down the hall to Scott Walker after plugging in the router to install the secret communication system they used to evade the law.

1/29/12 11:24 AM

Shhhhhh.Hush.
You desperation is showing.; 1/29/12, 11:56 AM
Automatic_Wing said...: Reduced to mumbing about routers now, garage? Sad.; 1/29/12, 11:57 AM
Sorun said...: I usually think that where there's smoke, there's fire. But in this case, I think the "smoke" is just Garage's flatulence.; 1/29/12, 12:02 PM
Jason said...: "It's Working!"

That's what Tim Russell yelled down the hall to Scott Walker after plugging in the router to install the secret communication system they used to evade the law.

Im sure you were this adamant about breaking the law when Jim Doyle illegally raided funds from other state sources to balance the state budget. Right?; 1/29/12, 12:07 PM
garage mahal said...: It's not me mumbling Maguro, it's the MKE DA's office. If you only read this blog you probably wouldn't know anything about it though.

Then there is this: John Doe Investigation May Be About More Than Campaigning On County Time

The rule is anyone involved in a John Doe investigation is subject to a gag order, so getting anyone to talk on is challenging, but sources tell 12 News that prosecutors are looking at allegations of pay-to-play in Scott Walker's county executive office.; 1/29/12, 12:12 PM
Jason said...: It's not me mumbling Maguro, it's the MKE DA's office. If you only read this blog you probably wouldn't know anything about it though.

Thats because nobody outside of the liberal establishment in Madison or Milwaukee cares.

Until Scott Walker is actually charged with something, its just grasping at straws by a Milwaukee DA who is trying to land a "big fish" so he can run for state attorney general, and a newspaper looking to create some big story in an effort to save its dying subscription numbers.; 1/29/12, 12:17 PM
Petunia said...: Let's see, someone who was an admitted Walker foe while he served on the county board when Walker was county exec, seems to remember an oddity about a bidding process that ended up not going through anyway? Send Walker straight to jail!

James, I'm impressed that sign hasn't been vandalized. Here in tolerant, compassionate Madison, it wouldn't last five minutes.; 1/29/12, 12:18 PM
Michael Haz said...: Garage - Is pay to play a bad thing? Or does the "Jim Doyle Exemption" apply only to Democrats?

Jim Doyle (or his campaign) were handsomely compensated by road builders, Indian tribes seeking permission to build casinos, Italian light-rail car manufacturers, utility companies, trial lawyers and more.

Your hypocrisy is laughable.

Walker will win the re-call election. He may even win Dane County, where tax payers are sick and tired of double-digit annual increases.; 1/29/12, 12:20 PM
James said...: Its Charlie Brown and Lucy all over again.

Poor Garage.; 1/29/12, 12:21 PM
garage mahal said...: Thats because nobody outside of the liberal establishment in Madison or Milwaukee cares.

You mean conservatives don't care. And I agree, they don't care. It could be 200 felony charges in this John Doe and they wouldn't care. I don't think Wisconsin likes dirty dealing though.

How funny is it to hear Walker still talking about "protecting the taxpayer" when his office was one big reelection headquarters on taxpayer dime, and probably much more. They have thousands of emails sent on their secret network, I bet Walker is sweating like Elvis on the toilet right now.; 1/29/12, 12:28 PM
Chip S. said...: sources tell 12 News that prosecutors are looking at allegations

I'm no authority on legal ethics, but to me this looks like an in-kind contribution to the Recall Walker campaign rather than proper prosecutorial procedure.; 1/29/12, 12:30 PM
James said...: James, I'm impressed that sign hasn't been vandalized. Here in tolerant, compassionate Madison, it wouldn't last five minutes.

Racine is heavily unionized because of its manufacturing past so I'm sure in some areas that sign wouldn't survive. This sign is on a fairly well-traveled road leading to the UW-Parkside campus so I'm sure many people have seen it.; 1/29/12, 12:31 PM
Jason said...: You mean conservatives don't care. And I agree, they don't care. It could be 200 felony charges in this John Doe and they wouldn't care. I don't think Wisconsin likes dirty dealing though.

If they old "doing political work on taxpayer time" is the biggest felony pulled out of this investigation, then yeah...nobody will care.

Tom Barrett sends out press releases on City of Milwaukee letterhead bashing Walker for policies that dont affect Milwaukee, just because Barrett wants to run for governor again. Thats political work on taxpayer time, but I dont see the Milwaukee DA opening an investigation on that front.

How funny is it to hear Walker still talking about "protecting the taxpayer" when his office was one big reelection headquarters on taxpayer dime, and probably much more.

Then you would agree with me that there should be an investigation of Tom Barrett's office too, right?; 1/29/12, 12:39 PM
Brian Brown said...: The Walker recall is going to be a successful as OWS Oakland:

After clashing with police, demonstrators break into City Hall and burn a U.S. flag. Mayor Quan calls on the movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

Peace, love, dope!; 1/29/12, 12:39 PM
Ralph L said...: Red ink tends to fade in the sun, which I assume you have up there in May or July.; 1/29/12, 12:42 PM
garage mahal said...: If they old "doing political work on taxpayer time" is the biggest felony pulled out of this investigation, then yeah...nobody will care.

Again, conservatives will not care if felonies were committed to elect Republicans. Everyone already knows that. I'm talking the rest of Wisconsin.; 1/29/12, 12:43 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Had dinner with frinds at Il Mito in Tosa last night. Had a very nice time. Saw lots of Stand By Walker signs!

Keep up the good work Governor Walker!; 1/29/12, 12:49 PM
Petunia said...: You're right, garage, we Wisconsinites DON'T like dirty dealing. That's why we elected Scott Walker after eight years of Diamond Jim's corruption.; 1/29/12, 12:52 PM
Jason said...: Again, conservatives will not care if felonies were committed to elect Republicans. Everyone already knows that. I'm talking the rest of Wisconsin.

The rest of Wisconsin largely doesnt care, either. This story has been stapled on the front page of the Journal Sentinel for weeks now, both in print and online, and has gotten some run in the Madison papers, yet you are lucky if you find any play for it in the other major newspapers in the state. Nothing in the LaCrosse paper, and the Green Bay paper actually uses the State Journal article as a small blurb in their online edition.

Until Walker is actually accused of doing something wrong, nobody outside of the lib establishment is going to care. Right now, all that can be accused of Walker is that he had a couple of d-bags working for him while county exec that stole money from a charity, and a couple of others that are accused of doing political work. If that's front page news for you, so be it. For just about everyone else, its just a shrug-of-the-shoulders.

Like I said, Tom Barrett has city staffers writing up press releases on city of Milwaukee letterhead on a near daily basis.

Nobody cares.; 1/29/12, 12:52 PM
new york said...: A governor, swept into office on the GOP wave of 2010 with a financial assist from the billionaire Koch brothers, pivots immediately from moderate talk about job creation to radical austerity that divides his state more than any in the Union. He attacks the collective bargaining rights of public workers and teachers. When hundreds of thousands of citizens rally to oppose his agenda, the governor and his allies respond by attempting to bar protests in the Capitol. They reject their state’s tradition of open and transparent government, dismiss criticisms from the opposition—even from moderates in their own party—and begin gerrymandering districts and changing election rules. Faced with a serious threat to basic rights and democracy, citizens organize a grassroots campaign to recall and remove the governor, the lieutenant governor, the State Senate majority leader and key legislators.; 1/29/12, 12:58 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The good news is that this DA is apparently saying.. in not so many politically charged words..

I'm the controlling legal authority.

Garage is pleased.; 1/29/12, 1:01 PM
Chuck66 said...: "Reduced to mumbing about routers now, garage? Sad."

Next Garage will be mumbling about missing strawberries.; 1/29/12, 1:02 PM
Jason said...: A governor, swept into office on the GOP wave of 2010 with a financial assist from the billionaire Koch brothers, pivots immediately from moderate talk about job creation to radical austerity that divides his state more than any in the Union. He attacks the collective bargaining rights of public workers and teachers. When hundreds of thousands of citizens rally to oppose his agenda, the governor and his allies respond by attempting to bar protests in the Capitol. They reject their state’s tradition of open and transparent government, dismiss criticisms from the opposition—even from moderates in their own party—and begin gerrymandering districts and changing election rules. Faced with a serious threat to basic rights and democracy, citizens organize a grassroots campaign to recall and remove the governor, the lieutenant governor, the State Senate majority leader and key legislators.

---------------------

Which lefty website did you copy and paste that from?; 1/29/12, 1:02 PM
Chuck66 said...: This Milwaukee DA thing...its called the criminalization of politics. You try to find something, anything, no matter how trivial, to use to go after your political opponent.; 1/29/12, 1:06 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: If these investigations are the new standard, let's apply them to everyone. We can start with Falk and Barrett. Then we can look into a Democrat Milwaukee DA who leaks secret John Doe details to the media.

How else can we be sure we are getting the ethical leadership we deserve. I'm sure all concerned Wisconsinites would agree!; 1/29/12, 1:06 PM
Chuck66 said...: "Faced with a serious threat to basic rights and democracy...."

Drama queen.; 1/29/12, 1:06 PM
Chuck66 said...: The mother of all scandels is what is occuring in Iowa. An Obama and Harkin staffer tried to steal the identity of the Republican Sec'y of State in otder to frame him in some criminal act.; 1/29/12, 1:12 PM
Sydney said...: I truly hope your governor wins. The public sector unions committed my state to bankruptcy by defeating our governor's legislation to rein in their benefits and runaway pensions. Now I'm spending my Sunday afternoon going through three years of receipts to find out what I purchased from other states so I can pay a "use tax" that they resurrected from the 1930's. And yeah, I'm a little bitter.; 1/29/12, 1:18 PM
cubanbob said...: new york said...

And when the next president and congress are sworn in and do the taxpayers a favor an ban federal employee unions and pass a national right to work act.

If the WI taxpayers are fortunate, Walker won't be recalled and the legislature will further curb the cancer of the public sector unions.; 1/29/12, 1:33 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: They have thousands of emails sent on their secret network..

garage is setting us up for another Unsealing of Al Capone's Vault.

vw: queequi; 1/29/12, 1:37 PM
PaulV said...: Garbage, do the store the router on the work bench or next to the drill press or bench saw?; 1/29/12, 1:40 PM
chickelit said...: @garage: I just got off the phone with my mom and my FIL--both salt-of-the-earth Wisconsin people. The recall effort is not flying with the septuageneric set. They recognize the wastefulness of it all at a time when people should be putting aside differences. They don't like outside money coming into both sides.; 1/29/12, 1:47 PM
PaulV said...: Tailgunner Garage has a list in his pocket of counterrevolutionary cads he will expose.; 1/29/12, 1:52 PM
SteveR said...: with a financial assist from the billionaire Koch brothers

You lose! I've told garage that using the "Koch" angle renders you intellectually unserious. Is that really the best attack you have? Try harder.; 1/29/12, 1:53 PM
dbp said...: Which lefty website did you copy and paste that from?

The Nation

I've yet to meet a fellow conservative that would think an opinion piece from a publication like National Review or The American Spectator would be at all convincing to a "progressive". And yet they give us crap from The Nation or Mother Jones as if it is biblical writ.

The level of cluelessness displayed is truly awesome to behold.; 1/29/12, 1:56 PM
Original Mike said...: Looking forward to learning more about their secret network. Keep us posted, GM.; 1/29/12, 2:07 PM
garage mahal said...: You try to find something, anything, no matter how trivial, to use to go after your political opponent.

So you're saying the DA should have just ignored the felonies they found?; 1/29/12, 2:07 PM
Jason said...: So you're saying the DA should have just ignored the felonies they found?

DA's "ignore" felonies everyday. And there are other cases that they chase relentlessly, no matter how foolish.; 1/29/12, 2:17 PM
garage mahal said...: And the reason to ignore these felonies carried out in Walker's County Office is.......?

He's a Republican.; 1/29/12, 2:22 PM
Jason said...: And the reason to ignore these felonies carried out in Walker's County Office is.......?

He's a Republican.

The only reason this investigation is going on is because the Milwaukee DA is a Democrat, Walker is a Republican, and the Milwaukee DA has aspirations of higher office in this state.

Stop pretending that the Milwaukee DA office just "stumbled" upon this stuff. They've been investigating Walker since he took office, looking for any way to get him out of office. The Milwaukee DA could just as easily investigate the Barrett administration down at Milwaukee City Hall and probably come up with as many or more charges on more people than what he has come up with in 20 months of investigating Walker's office.; 1/29/12, 2:31 PM
garage mahal said...: Still haven't told us why the DA specifically in this case should have ignored the alleged felonies they uncovered. The existence of the off-county email/computer system proves they knew what they were doing was wrong.; 1/29/12, 2:35 PM
Jason said...: Still haven't told us why the DA specifically in this case should have ignored the alleged felonies they uncovered.

I never said this case should be ignored. I said that DA's all over the country ignore cases on a daily basis. Either they arent worth prosecuting or investigating, or not a high enough priority to bother with. The fact that the Milwaukee DA has chased this investigation for 20 months should tell you where his priorities are. If this was his own money, this "investigation" wouldnt have gotten off the ground. But since this is taxpayer money, and since the Milwaukee DA needs some publicity so he can run for state district attorney, it doesnt surprise me that this investigation seems to have taken top priority in his office.; 1/29/12, 2:42 PM
Phil 314 said...: Walker=Nixon

(sources say); 1/29/12, 2:48 PM
machine said...: So is Walker lying to Wisconsin about balancing the budget or lying to the federal government about running a deficit?

Both cannot be true....; 1/29/12, 3:53 PM
Toad Trend said...: "So you're saying the DA should have just ignored the felonies they found?"

What a rube. Had real crimes been committed you can bet a grand jury would be empaneled and an indictment would have resulted.

You are a master of the strawman garage. I hope Walker continues the reforms, he is doing it for the good of your state.; 1/29/12, 4:06 PM
Rusty said...: garage mahal said...
Still haven't told us why the DA specifically in this case should have ignored the alleged felonies they uncovered. The existence of the off-county email/computer system proves they knew what they were doing was wrong.

1/29/12 2:35 PM

The operative word here is alleged, but good for for trying and convicting them before the indictment. Save the taxpayers so much time.
As for the router, it proves nothing at all, except in your progressive fascist little mind.
Prove a felony has been committed or STHU.; 1/29/12, 4:08 PM
Brian Brown said...: new york said...
A governor, swept into office on the GOP wave of 2010 with a financial assist from the billionaire Koch brothers, pivots immediately from moderate talk about job creation to radical austerity that divides his state more than any in the Union

Sorry,

A President, swept into office on the media induced "change" wave of 2008 with a financial assist from wall-street billionaires and foreign donations, pivots immediately from moderate talk about job creation to radical redistributionist leftist that divides the country more than any President in modern memory

But I fixed that for you...; 1/29/12, 4:16 PM
Brian Brown said...: notice how garage has given up on the attack on working class meme and is now just shouting "felonies"

PS garage, you don't know what a router is or does.; 1/29/12, 4:17 PM
Toad Trend said...: Jay

In the small mind of the leftist, paying for your own health care = 'radical austerity'.; 1/29/12, 4:27 PM
Anne M Ford said...: "Lefty blogger Chris Liebenthal was suspended for 10 days without pay earlier this year for using his county computer for personal purposes, recently obtained records show.

'It is clear that Mr. Liebenthal blatantly violated the Use of Technology Policy over the course of a year on numerous occasions and was in violation of the above Civil Service rules,' wrote Geri Lyday, interim director of the Department of Health and Human Services, earlier this year.

The suspension cost Liebenthal - a social worker and official with the county employees union - $2,051 in county pay, said Mark Stein, an interim department administrator...
After seizing his work computer, prosecutors found last year he had engaged in political activity at work but decided not to file charges, saying it was more of a personnel issue."
Dan Bice Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

So why is the same thing a FELONY for the Walker workers? Anyone care to explain how a "personnel issue" get upgraded to felony?; 1/29/12, 4:41 PM
PackerBronco said...: machine said...
So is Walker lying to Wisconsin about balancing the budget or lying to the federal government about running a deficit?

Both cannot be true....

Clearly you're not an accountant.

The general fund budget (which is where all of the state taxes go) is done on a cash basis and so politicians (like Doyle) have "balanced" this budget by raiding other funds, leaving IOU's. On the books it looks like it's balanced, but you really haven't paid for the goods and services of government.

The problem is that we have to pay for those IOUs in the NEXT budget. And so you haven't actually balanced that state's finances as much as put the problem off until the next year and the year after that and so forth.

So you could have a balanced budget for one year, but have a structural imbalance that carries over from year to year. We've had a structural deficit each year since 1997 of about $500M to $1.5B.

The current state budget under Walker does not have a structural deficit and that's to Walker's credit.

There is another way of calculating the deficit called the GAP (generally accepted accounting principals) deficit which is based on an apprasial of the financial statements from the last several years (including years which are pre-Walker.)

GAP ignores things like paying for the budget using an IOU to other funds and answers the basic question: "are the government's obligations really funded?" We've also had GAP deficits over the past 15 years including the fiscal year ending in June of 2011.

So, on a cash basis the current budget is balanced and Walker has greatly reduced the amount of "tricks" used by Doyle and prior administrations to achieve that. This also means that the GAP deficit, while it still exists, will not get worse. However the GAP deficit will be around for a while because it represents a lot of nonsense in accounting from the past several years.

The bottom line is that the state government's finances are a lot better off and a lot more honestly dealt with under Walker than it ever was under Doyle.

Okay, that's a long explanation and I probably got some of the details wrong, but explaining accounting principals is difficult and I'm not an accountant either.

It's much easier to yell "you lie!" in ignorance of the facts.; 1/29/12, 5:14 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Different rules apply to Democrats. In the immortal words of candidate Shelly Moore after being caught sending political emails on a public email system:

“We’re not supposed to use school email, but since all of our rights are being taken away, I don’t frankly care.”; 1/29/12, 5:18 PM
garage mahal said...: There always seems to be a plethora of handy excuses when it comes to Walker. The favorite seems to be "But what about ____________ !!!??; 1/29/12, 5:24 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: I don't see any excuses. I see examples where Democrats aren't being held to the same standard. If these rules are going to be applied to one side, they should be applied to both.; 1/29/12, 5:29 PM
garage mahal said...: What Democrats that you're aware of set up private email systems to politic/fundraise inside the courthouse? Democrats have gone to jail for that in 90s. Remember that?; 1/29/12, 5:33 PM
garage mahal said...: Rindfleisch was caught up in that scandal, Walker hired her anyway, and she apparently learned nothing.; 1/29/12, 5:34 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: If these people are guilty of breaking laws, then charge them. But why is it that only Walker's administration is being investigated. Why stop there? Don't we want Falk and Barrett held to the same standard? Do you think their administrations would hold up any better under this kind of scrutiny? Doesn't the public deserve to know?; 1/29/12, 6:03 PM
alan markus said...: Rusty @ The operative word here is alleged, but good for for trying and convicting them before the indictment.

That takes me back to what I commented at an earlier post:

Pierick seeks dismissal of child enticement charges

The complaint points out that although the teen claimed he was almost 19 years old, he made several references in his chats that would have suggested he was not yet 18, such as the fact he was still in high school, lived with his parents and had never engaged in the sex acts being discussed

So, a 17 year old kid posts on Craigslist and in follow up info says that he is 19, in high school, and lives with his parents. Somehow that computes to "child enticement" charge because the defendant should have known that he couldn't be that old? Because he said he was 19, in high school, and living with his parents? If a kid flunks a grade, he could very well be in high school at the age of 19. And where is is written that all kids at age 18 no longer live with their parents? Or that if some kid purports to not have had certain types of sex, he must be presumed to be under the age of 18?

Bottom line, there will be no conviction on that charge.; 1/29/12, 6:10 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Funny - Jason and Jay thought the same thing as me- that New York cribbed his comment. After a little Googling, I found he did "borrow" it from The Nations's nice far left librul, John NIchols.; 1/29/12, 8:18 PM
Chase said...: What Democrats that you're aware of set up private email systems to politic/fundraise inside the courthouse? Democrats have gone to jail for that in 90s. Remember that?

I do remember Democrats who DIDN'T go to jail for fundraising inside the White House. "No controlling legal authority" ring a bell?; 1/30/12, 12:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Nice blog..

Property Facility Management; 1/30/12, 6:03 AM
Rusty said...: garage mahal said...
There always seems to be a plethora of handy excuses when it comes to Walker. The favorite seems to be "But what about ____________ !!!??

1/29/12 5:24 PM

Now that's just hilarious coming from you- the king of moral equivalency. The prince of sophistry.
If you've got a case , your highness, contact the States Attorneys office. Better yet. Get Holder on the case, I'm sure he could use the distraction right now.; 1/30/12, 6:53 AM
Brian Brown said...: garage mahal said...
There always seems to be a plethora of handy excuses when it comes to Walker.

I find your faux outrage comical.

What is even funnier is that you believe you have any credibility on the topic.; 1/30/12, 7:33 AM
Michael The Magnificent said...: new york said... A governor, swept into office on the GOP wave of 2010 with a financial assist from the billionaire Koch brothers, pivots immediately from moderate talk about job creation to radical austerity that divides his state more than any in the Union.

Emphasis mine. That current lefty meme is a re-write of history.

Let's take a trip in the wayback machine... In November of 2009:
Walker targets wages and benefits

Here's an excerpt from Walker says he would cut taxes in first budget

In a conference call Monday with reporters, Walker said his first budget would undo tax increases approved this year by the Legislature and implement cuts in manufacturing taxes, estate taxes and retirement taxes.He said those tax reductions could be made with cuts to employee's wages and benefits. "There's just benefits in particular that are just woefully out of balance iwth where the private sector is," the Republican said.

Beil accuses Walker of wrecking state services

This one is from December of 2009:
This is the Face of the New State Worker Contracts; 1/30/12, 9:05 AM
Peter said...: "He attacks the collective bargaining rights of public workers and teachers."

By all means, let us return effective control of the state to the public-sector unions. I'm sure thet'll work out for the best.; 1/30/12, 10:18 AM