September 19, 2014

"Large portions of Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke’s jobs plan for Wisconsin appear to be copied directly from the plans of 3 Democratic candidates who ran for governor in previous election cycles."

Andrew Kaczynski reports (at Buzzfeed).
A spokesman for the Burke campaign told BuzzFeed News an “expert” named Eric Schnurer who also worked on the other campaigns as responsible for the similar text, a case of self-plagiarism.
The problem of plagiarism isn't just the loss (if any) to the person who wrote the text. It's also that the taker feels a need for that material. So even if Schnurer was only cutting and pasting his own text and thus doing himself a favor, avoiding needing to do additional work, there's still a question of why the candidate was not the source of the ideas that were being presented in her name.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:
Burke said Friday that she made the decision to cut ties with Schnurer, suggesting that his work fell short of expectations. "The language is not the language that should have been used," Burke said.

There are no payments to Schnurer or his company listed in Burke's campaign records. [Burke spokesman Joe] Zepecki said Friday that Schnurer was a subcontractor and as such could not be fired.
That reminds me of that scene between Mr. Leland and Kramer in the "Seinfeld" episode "The Bizarro Jerry":
LELAND: Kramer, I've... been reviewing your work.. Quite frankly, it stinks.

KRAMER: Well, I've been having trouble at home and uh... I mean, uh, you know, I'll work harder, nights, weekends, whatever it takes...

LELAND: No, no, I don't think that's going to do it. These reports you handed in. It's almost as if you have no business training at all. I don't know what this is supposed to be!

KRAMER: Well, I'm... uh... just... tryin' to get ahead..

LELAND: Well, I'm sorry. There's just no way that we could keep you on.

KRAMER: I don't even really work here!

LELAND: That's what makes this so difficult.

220 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 220 of 220
Curious George said...

"madisonfella said...
"is saying that the Republican Party is behind this poll intimidation, which they clearly are not."

Emu is right for once. Looking back at my own words it is obvious it should have said "Some Republicans" instead of "The". I'm sorry, my bad. Would edit that part if I could."

Bullshit. You meant THE Republicans because your comparison was versus Burk's plagiarism. I'm pretty sure that SOME republican don't create jobs plans.

cheddar said...

On his consulting firm's website, Eric Schurner describes himself as a
"recognized expert on government efficiency and reinvention."

Unknown said...

-----Burke worked for it.----

Bwahhaahhha….See this is the kind of humor I love on the internet

Where would Walker be right now without other people's millions? Still making calls at the Red Cross?

Where would Obama be right now without other people's millions? Still defending slumlords for not supplying heat and water to the tenants.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/chapter-iv-for-the-slumlords-defense-barack-obama-esq./article/2508420

Unknown said...

---Walker signed legislation allowing "poll watchers" to come within 3 feet of voters or poll workers. Why?

Because state law allows watchers to listen to electors names as they are being given to the registrars. In a noisy polling place one can't hear from farther away.

C'mon garage, you're a big boy, you've voted once or twice don't you get that the secrecy starts in the booth?

Unknown said...

---White supremacy - not Democrats - is the problem.

Who do you think runs Ferguson MO?

Some say Ferguson's increasing reliance on court fines to fund its municipal operations may have contributed to its residents' distrust in law enforcement and government.

http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-ferguson-missouri-court-fines-budget.html

Unknown said...

----Thanks for making it clear that you support violence at the polls, regardless of which party is doing it.


Really a weak tea argument here. You may have thought you scored points, but its goose eggs all the way down.

Anonymous said...

"Bullshit. You meant THE Republicans because your comparison was versus Burk's plagiarism. I'm pretty sure that SOME republican don't create jobs plans."

Burp is a Democrat, not THE Democrats, so thank you Blue Emu for proving my point. And you're absolutely right; some republicans don't create job plans. In fact, most don't.

Curious George said...

"madisonfella said...
Burp is a Democrat, not THE Democrats, so thank you Blue Emu for proving my point. And you're absolutely right; some republicans don't create job plans. In fact, most don't."

Tap dance...fail.

eddie willers said...

Leaving the post when Crack is here is just another example of white flight.

Here in Atlanta, so many blacks were moving to the suburbs to get away from people like Crack they had to change the term to "Bright Flight".

David said...

The Crack Emcee said...
David,

"Well, it is the Democratic Party. It's like riding a bicycle. You may not have done it for a while, but you don't forget how."

I've started a series of posts on TMR - featuring a rogue's gallery of all the racist white Republicans I find - just to shut you stupid partisan assholes up. Your lies mean nothing to me. You're merely ignorant fools who don't educate yourselves trying to fool other ignorant fools who don't educate yourselves.


Crack, I've seen the posts. I do read your blog. For your info:

1. I am not a Republican, nor a Democrat. I have voted Republican more than Democrat in my life but I sure as hell am not a partisan Republican.
2. My post refered to Democrats, who I think get a pass from far too many people (including you) for all the things they have done and still do that hurt minorities. My Exhibit A is always schools, and their piss poor record on education, but its not the only factor. This is true even with a black president, for crying out loud.
3. The Republicans have plenty to answer for too. But if I point out that a rich girl dilettante like Mary Burke would be considered an absolute joke if she were a Republican, it does not make me a White Supremacist.
4. Mostly I am very suspicious of government power. The Democrats used government power from the dawn of the United States until the 1960's to keep blacks subjugated. It was a long term vicious and brutal suppression. Except from about 1858-87, the Republicans did not do much to counter this, except they did provide the decisive edge for the civil rights legislation in the 1960's.
5. For the last 40-50 years the Democrats have purported to use government power to help blacks. How much has this helped? Is the failure due to the evil Republicans, or are the Democrats, even when solidly in power, content with bread and circus programs that they won't abandon when they fail, because they supply some political edge?

Crack, you seem to me too smart to buy this bullshit. I get your outrage, but its selectivity and reactivity puzzle me. Frankly, I think you are picking the easiest targets, and God know there are plenty of them on the right. But I don't apologize for being critical of the Democratic gentry and establishment. They are far too content with symbolism and failure, as long as the failure does not cost them blaçk votes. And therefore supremacy.

One of these days I will get to San Francisco to visit my stepdaughter, who lives and works there. Perhaps we can share a meal or two. I will keep my hair short, so you can inspect my skull for horns.

pacwest said...

Quaestor 6:29 got it right. We are the people hiring these public servants. Isn't in our best interests to hire people that at least have the semblance of being able to do the job?

cubanbob said...

@Jupiter, just curious, why don't you capitalized Negroes and Negritude? You don't have a problem with capitalizing Mexicans and Asians.

As for Ms. Burke, the problem as I see it isn't plagiarism as such but simply bad ideas. No one would be bitching if she had sound economic policies no matter who thought of them first.

@Crack why would you expect whites to not put their interests firsts? Or rather, why are you indignant that they do so as per your perception? Would blacks be so considerate if the situation were to be reversed? I'm not saying that blacks don't have a legitimate beef, they do, but would they be so magnanimous if the situation was reversed? Human nature is what is it is and that means number one looks out after number one.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Actually build a black town in defiance of whites claims we're lazy - and they burned it down.
It was like Paris! No, wait, it was BETTER THAN PARIS!
Stupid white people.

damikesc said...

betamax is a way better Crack than Crack is.

Bruce Hayden said...

Some say Ferguson's increasing reliance on court fines to fund its municipal operations may have contributed to its residents' distrust in law enforcement and government.

I think that you, and a lot of others, are reading much too much into the Ferusson situation. A lot of those protesters were bussed in from neighboring states. Call it rent a (mostly Black) mob. The police there probably never really overreacted, and most likely not Officer Wilson, whose (most likely legally justified) killing of violent felon "Big Mike" Brown started off the entire thing.

RecChief said...

It's yawns all the way down

Unknown said...

---A lot of those protesters were bussed in from neighboring states. Call it rent a (mostly Black) mob. The police there probably never really overreacted, and most likely not Officer Wilson, whose (most likely legally justified) killing of violent felon "Big Mike" Brown started off the entire thing. ---

I'm not saying that the mob is justified and I pretty much understand what the police are going through in the age of black rap and flash mobs. But I think it will be valuable to point out possible examples of poor governance (and exploitation) exacerbating the problems.

Anonymous said...

I'm late to the party but I have to clear something up. Madisonfella said:

"The Republicans just now got caught copying others as well. This latest plan of theirs was plagiarized from 1939 Germany."

Wait, what? Are Republicans annexing Czechoslovakia or invading Poland? That's what Germany was doing that year. By 1939 Germans hadn't gone to the polls in 5 1/2 years, when the Enabling Act (1933) proposed by Hitler and passed after the Reichstag fire, suspended elections temporarily (never revoked) for the safety of the German state.

The last election in 1933 was what I think you wanted to allude to, one in which there was much Nazi and Communist Party strongarm tactics in the streets. In that election the Nazis received just 44% or the vote, enough to put them at the head of a coalition government. After the Enabling Act was passed, political opponents, communists, and labor leaders were arrested, most ended up in conscentration camps.

The Reichstag as a legislative body became a rubber stamp for Nazi nonsense like the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union.

By the way, what would stop an agent of the Justice Department or Democrat Party, from posting on Facebook, the threats from an alleged Republican group?

Emil Blatz said...

Walker will beat her like a rented car.

Jupiter said...

"@Jupiter, just curious, why don't you capitalized Negroes and Negritude? You don't have a problem with capitalizing Mexicans and Asians."

Good question. Of course, Mexico and Asia are places, while Negro is not. But I don't think that fully explains it. Certainly, Negro is frequently capitalized, although I don't think I ever saw "negritude" with a capital N. I don't know. Just racist, I guess.

Did I mention that I am a racist? Isn't that all the explanation needed? You don't really need to pay any attention to my ideas, let alone my spelling, because I'm a racist. I don't know why they let me vote. They should put us in camps. Probably will. Soon.

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 220 of 220   Newer› Newest»