ABC News Honors Teachers in Oklahoma as Persons of the Week.

Remember this the next time you hear snarky conservatives bash teachers as thugs, money grubbing and less than dedicated. Moving and honest, this is what I see in every teacher watching over my sons.

The Cliched Bloviating of Conservative Blogger Steve Prestegard.

Listen to the embarrassing stereotype. This was a great moment in radio this morning on WPR’s Joy Cardin program, where guest Steve Prestegard plays the conservative caricature for laughs, I would assume.

Christine Bremer (BREE-mur)-Muggli (MOO-glee), attorney with Bremer & Trollop Law Offices in Wausau and a presidential elector, had all the right answers, good answers. Democrats should learn from her.

Steve Prestegard is described as a “journalist?” Okay, then I am too. He also blogs like me, which means he must be a genius. I will deal with each subject separately, with great answers from both sides...it’s just that Steve had nothing but outright clichés with shades of envy.

First we have a clip of Scott Walker in Iowa, spouting absolute nonsense about getting jobs via losing food stamps. You won't believe this...:

“…you might imagine what they said in Madison. Uhh, the governor hates poor people, he’s making harder to get government assistance. I pushed back right away and said I’m not making it harder to get em assistance, I love the people in my state so much, I’m making it easier to get a job.”

He’s making it easier to get food stamps by taking food away? And we're near last in the country for jogs. Brilliantly deceptive. Prestegard loved the idea, based purely on envy. Like all conservative control freaks, “this is a popular notion,” where assistance is money out of their pocket. But they forget when the poor had jobs, they too paid for others peoples food stamps. So why the outrage? Freeloading Republicans hate it when others get something for nothing, especially those with nothing. An appalled Christine Bremer responded by saying it was mean spirited and costly, $16 million taxpayer dollars, and that Walker’s just shifty blame for the state’s bad economy to the poor. True on all counts:



Rent to Own: Prestegard doesn’t believe government should protect the poor from predators. He assumes everyone knows basic math, and should avoid rent to own “like the plague.” If they’re that bad, why allow them or at the least deregulate them? Lunacy. Christine smokes the clueless Prestegard:



Double Dipping: Prestegard assumes public employee pay is always taxpayer money, never theirs. It’s like someone in the private sector not really owning the money they earn, and are told by their employer how to spend it. If Prestegard thinks that’s true, why can’t taxpayers tell legislators how to eat and what they can do in their free time…with our money?

Walker's Vengeance knows no Limit on Milwaukee. Think what he could do as President.

I thought this story was shocking enough when you think of everything Walker and the Republican authority were doing to Milwaukee, but now its just getting desperately bizarre. Police Chief Flynn went ballistic.

Keep in mind what Republican State Sen. Glenn Grothman said about the festering hatred on the right for Milwaukee:

Remember how Republicans hated Madison for knowing what's best for everyone? All that has changed. But this was the last straw for Police Chief Ed Flynn:

jsonline: Police Chief Edward Flynn on Friday blasted Gov. Scott Walker for being anti-urban and the Legislature's budget committee for "gratuitous" decisions that killed a community policing grant for his department and set in motion the departure of the state crime lab from Milwaukee.

"I don't know of a governor anywhere in the country who succeeded in turning his state's economy around by actively facilitating the decline of his biggest city. This isn't like, bad things are happening in Milwaukee and I can't stop it. This is, can I put another stick in the eye of Milwaukee on another issue? It's certainly not good government. There's 600,000 people here. It's not smart economic policy."

"I don't want to be a partisan," Flynn said. "But I'm not blind. This is partisan. Unfortunately, if you happen to be a Milwaukee resident, you must suffer the apparent desperate need of the (Walker) administration to exact political payback on Milwaukee. Because the mayor had the temerity to challenge for the governor's job. What else could it be? I would prefer not to think the Legislature hates us because we live in Milwaukee. I would prefer to not think it was a kind of prejudice against urban challenges and issues. But it's not much more edifying to say, 'OK, you made the political point.'

"Perhaps, you know, the leadership of this city should go to Madison and kiss a ring and bend our knees and say, 'Yes, overlords, please don't hurt us anymore. We're so sorry.' I mean, enough."

Flynn echoed a comment made recently by former mayor John Norquist who said that, without Milwaukee, Wisconsin was basically Iowa. "Maybe he wants us to be Iowa," Flynn said of Walker. "Spending as much time there as he is here."

(Before losing it, the) community policing grant would have provided $445,400 over the next two years to expand the city's ShotSpotter system. The system detects the shock waves from a bullet being fired and transmits that information immediately to the department's communications facility and computers inside squad cars.

Walker to Iowans: "We've laid a positive foundation to move Wisconsin forward..." Yeah, we're real happy here!

It's no surprise that even the most outrageous and partisan state Republican legislators can't stomach many of the things Scott Walker wants to pass under his governorship. Truly is irresponsible stuff. But the criticism here is countered by the wild eyed praise of Iowans.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was the keynote speaker before the Polk County GOP

"Make" it go Red? Walker to turn Country Blood Red?

in Iowa Thursday. Using Wisconsin as his conservative model, the governor talked nationally, insisting the GOP must adapt.

"People realize we stood our ground not for some political cause, not just to keep a campaign promise, but because ultimately we wanted to put the power back in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers. We said here's the pathway forward. We've laid a positive foundation to move Wisconsin forward, and people want to continue down that path. We need to do that nationally, as well, which brings me to my second point, we need to be more relevant as Republicans."

Walker did not lay a “positive foundation” forward, unless having the most partisan statewide divide nationally is a model to be admired. Neighbors now hate neighbors and recall records are used as blacklists for potential candidates for office. jsonline's Craig Gilbert wrote:

The state's red-blue divide is a major reason for this consistency. Walker and Obama routinely get 90% approval or higher from voters in their own party, and close to the same level of disapproval from voters in the other party. That guarantees each of them a large, unyielding bloc of support - and a large, unyielding bloc of opposition.

Walker has done the impossible; he got reelected in the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee, and then reelected in a recall. For some reason, those droopy sociopathic eyes are hypnotic, controlling and lovingly deceptive. And now it's working for him in other states too.

Read the following on an empty stomach:

"I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I can imagine that guy being our next president."

"That was very inspiring, and it's a great kick-off to the next election cycle, really, and we agree in Iowa with all of his values," Debbie Heldt said.

"I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I can imagine that guy being our next president," Joel Illian said.

"One of the better aspects is, he actually does what he says he's going to do, and I'm not sure that's so true around the nation," Kevin Zierke said.

One Wisconsin Now was there to spread the word, Walker is a lousy governor on paper. Here's the TV coverage from WBAY:

Republicans don't even like themselves anymore....

Republicans love to be in charge. They're natural political authoritarians. They have great taxpayer supported jobs, free health care and really don't have to do much except shed their responsibilities onto the private sector. They even wanted to pass a new law exempting them from Obamacare. The balls right? Well, not even Republicans can stand themselves anymore:

 Fox News: A move to give lawmakers the right to carry handguns anywhere they wish sparked an angry debate among Republicans in the Texas House on Thursday, with conservatives lambasting their colleagues for giving themselves special privileges.

Regular concealed handgun license holders cannot take their guns into hospitals, churches, bars or onto private property that bans them. When the bill came up in the Texas Senate, lawmakers added themselves to those exempted from the restrictions and sent it back to the House for final passage. Conservative Republicans became enraged.

"My constituents are sick and tired of politicians passing laws that exempt themselves from following the law. We are putting ourselves on an un-level playing field. Do you not know a moral problem with that?" Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, shouted at the House chamber.

My, my, the moral vacuum within the Republican Party is now a problem for…Republicans. I love it.  

Obamacare Slashing Rates in Exchange. High Bidders resubmit to compete.

The title says it all, or at least, is a good lead in to the Washington Post's Ezra Klein article lifted from his email to me. States the went kicking and screaming into health care exchanges will shortchange their citizens. Maybe businesses will relocate to healthier, less costly states? Ya think? Here's Ezra:

Ezra Klein: Obamacare got some very good news on Thursday.

In 2009, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that a medium-level “silver” plan — which covers 70 percent of a beneficiary’s expected health costs — on the California health exchange would cost $5,200 annually. More recently, a report from the consulting firm Milliman predicted it would carry a $450 monthly premium. Yesterday, we got the real numbers. And they’re lower than anyone thought.

Sarah Kliff has the details. The California exchange will have 13 insurance options, and the heavy competition appears to be driving down prices. The most affordable silver-level plan is charging $276-a-month. The second-most affordable plan is charging $294. And all this is before subsidies. Someone making twice the poverty line, say, will only pay $104-a-month.

Sparer plans are even cheaper. A young person buying the cheapest “bronze”-level plan will pay $172 — and that, again, is before any subsidies.

California is a particularly important test for Obamacare. It’s not just the largest state in the nation. It’s also one of the states most committed to implementing Obamacare effectively.

We’re beginning to see competition drive down proposed rates in some exchanges around the country. Remember Maryland, where CareFirst grabbed headlines with a shocking 25 percent proposed increase in rates? Kaiser Permanente is only increasing its rates next year by 4.3 percent, a modest increase that will make CareFirst’s proposal almost impossible to sustain. My guess is when the exchange actually opens in October, CareFirst will have dropped its price substantially. If they don’t, then Kaiser and others will grab all the market share.

The way this competition can drive down rates is already evident in Oregon. There, one insurer came in with monthly premium costs in the $169 range, while other insurers asked to charge more than $400. But then, seeing what their competitors were charging, two insurers came back to the state’s regulators and asked if they could refile at lower rates. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be competitive in the exchange. The Obama administration was ecstatic to see this: It’s exactly what they’re hoping will happen across the country.

Of course, California and Oregon are managing Obamacare particularly well. Imagine it’s the end of 2014. California now boasts a working, near-universal health-care system. Nothing perfect, but clearly a a success after the first year of implementation. 

Texas, meanwhile, is a bit of a mess. They didn’t allow the Medicaid expansion so the state’s poorest residents got nothing. They didn’t help with the exchanges, or the outreach, so there aren’t many choices, and premiums aren’t as low one might hope.

Viewed in isolation, Texas’s problems would be deadly for the law. But viewed next to California, they might mainly be a problem for the political class in Texas, which has failed to implement a clearly workable law.

Scott Walker miffed tea parties were discouraged by IRS. This from the guy supporting voter suppression?

Just to show how bent out of shape conservative opportunists are, wacko Wall Street columnist John Fund tried to jump on the IRS tea party controversy, but instead showed just how big a scam the tax exempt status was for teatards.

But that’s not all, Scott Walker has even weighed in, as he appeals to the easier to convince low information voter we know as teabillies.

Fund is outraged that many tea party groups didn't get the chance to get out the vote. Oops, that’s social welfare and not politics? John Fund must know tea parties could have just filed the paper work, advocating under the radar. He did make it clear tea parties were all about politics, which could end up being exhibit b in the case against allowing any of these groups tax exempt status (including liberal ones).

Here’s what Fund wrote, featuring our very own hot ticket the imperial Scott Walker:

Newsmax: The IRS could be directly to blame for lower voter turnout during the 2012

election after conservative groups were left sidelined by the IRS decision to target them, according to John Fund … it now turns out there may have [been] suppression of the vote after all," he wrote, pointing to a conversation he had with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who said, "It looks like a lot of tea-party groups were less active or never got off the ground because of the IRS actions. Sure seems like people were discouraged by it."

So voting suppressed is good under Walker's view that hoop after hoop be put in place, but tea party costumed freaks and retirees should electioneer tax free with no regulation?

Why did IRS's Lois Lerner plead Fifth Amendment? Hiding something or....

The 5th:

Since dropping the bomb that her division of the IRS had been improperly giving extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, Lois Lerner, head of the IRS Exempt Organizations division, has kept quiet. Tuesday, she made it official,pleading the Fifth at a House Oversight Committee.

But why? We can thank Rep. Darrell Issa. Here's the explanation from Martin Bashir and former House counsel Julian Epstein:

Northwoods Patriots just found out about Common Core, say tougher standards Bad for education! Smarter kids may also cut down on their membership.

Teabilly’s are up in arms over the quick implementation of the Common Core Standards that had been in the planning stages for years, and implemented nationwide over the last three years.

Catching up as usual, the slow low information tea party voter only heard of Common Core after extremist former congressman and now Republican Gov. Mike Pence blocked implementation in Indiana.

Common Core is nothing new and has been in place world wide for years. The U.S. has seen their success rates and have adopted many of the more successful standards. Tea Party dunderheads assume it’s a curriculum, which it is not. They are…”Standards,” it’s right in the name.

WKOW-Greg Neumann: Opponents of new national education standards are hoping to put a stop to them here in Wisconsin, but public school officials say that would be a big mistake. Since 2010, Wisconsin public schools have been working to meet Common Core Standards.  Those are nationwide achievement goals the National Governor's Association established and that 45 states have now adopted.  "They're skill based standards. It’s what kids will be able to demonstrate and how they will be able to apply their knowledge versus just knowing.  That's a pretty big difference," said West Bend Superintendent Ted Neitzke, one of a handful of people invited to speak to the Joint Education Committee.

And wouldn't you know it, Teabillies don’t like the idea of tougher educational standards:

Neitzke says Common Core Standards are much tougher than what Wisconsin had previously. 

Understandably, Wisconsin’s own Northwoods Patriots are having a hard time grasping even the underlying concept of Common Core, not to mention its success rate in countries that are testing much higher than the U.S.. And since it's new, it’s also a work in progress.

But the Northwoods Patriots just noticed something started way back in 2010:

But a group donning T-shirts that read "Stop Common Core" is challenging that idea. "In January when we came to ask 'please can you explain to us what's going on with Common Core Standards?'

I don't often bring up appearances, but just check out the blank look in the CCS opponents face (Kim Simac), and her embarrassingly uninformed observation. She ran unsuccessfully for our state senate:

"In my mind it’s a prototype that was put together and sent out there and we've adopted it without even having anything to go on to prove that it’s going to help our children to excel," said Simac, a member of the Northwoods Patriots tea party group. "This is an old issue for us, we're already mapping into other things," said Neitzke.  "And then to stop the momentum that's been behind it in the State of Wisconsin would be pretty difficult." 

Green Bay Tea Party Protesters Fired their Rifles into Stacks of Paper, angry over IRS targeting.

There's a very good reason why we call tea party members "teatards" or "teabillies." The following recent protest over the IRS's targeting of crooked tea party groups lying to get tax exempt status in Green Bay is exhibit A.

Teabillies aimed their rifles at stacks of paper representing the tax code. I'm utterly speechless. This was a good idea? One teatard whined about the complicated tax code, which by the way was created by big business seeking every loophole possible, all the while wearing a US Bank hat. Maybe he didn't understand what caused the Great Recession? Breathtakingly bizarre and mind numbing, these sheeple will continue to parrot their big donor talking points, oblivious to the world around them.

Watch the accident, from WKOW:

Republican backed Health Savings Accounts and Sequester driving doctors and hospitals out of Medicare.

My conservative friend in Milwaukee likes to blame Obama for making cuts to Medicare that will drive hospitals and doctors out of the program. But Obama and the Republicans are both trying to rein in costs by cutting payments to hospitals and doctors.

But surprise, it looks like Republicans are now in the driver’s seat when it comes to stripping Medicare of provider hospitals and doctors. With their backing of high deductible Health Savings Accounts and the sequester, folly they said would not result in anything dramatic, providers are losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Here's the audio:

Like I've been saying for years because I've had them, HSA’s discourage the insured from seeking care, which is great for insurers but lousy for the sick and medical community.

WPR: Ministry Health Care plans to cut between 225 and 250 full-time-equivalent workers at its 15 hospitals and 47 clinics. In a news release, two factors were cited: high deductible health insurance plans that are keeping people from seeking medical care, and federal sequestration budget cuts, which include a 2 percent reduction in Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians. Ministry officials say those cuts are costing them $10 million.

Steve Brenton, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, says Ministry is not the only medical organization being hurt by sequestration. “We have estimated that the one-year impact of sequestration — these Medicare budget cuts — is about $100 million for Wisconsin's 140 hospitals.”

I actually talked my doctors ear off asking him questions about the fate of Medicare, and he pretty much said the following:

Brenton there's another $30 million dollars in Medicare cuts for the physicians who are employed by those hospitals. He says other Wisconsin medical facilities may have to join Ministry in laying off workers.  “I would not be surprised at all. I know based on anecdotal information that many organizations have implemented targeted hiring freezes. And the bottom line is, if your revenues are going to be down $130 million dollars, it's going to have an impact on your ability to pay for expenses.”

They're Republican Politicians, nobody ever said they'd be good with money or management of an entire state.

Having been a real estate agent, I know the importance of contracts, and my jaw dropped to the floor when I read this:

jsonline: Rent-to-own stores could encourage customers to sign agreements that

included blank spaces that would be filled in later, under a plan by Gov. Scott Walker coming before a key committee Thursday.

If this is anything, it’s a lesson for voters who put to much faith into completely unqualified elected officials. These guys couldn't do anything else, so they got into freeloading small government politics.

The following will make you gasp.

The provision is one of several in the Republican governor's 2013-'15 budget bill that would weaken consumer protections for those who shop at rent-to-own stores, such as potentially keeping spouses from learning of contracts they were liable for and preventing state regulators from shutting down stores that intentionally violated disclosure laws.

A liberal Democratic and conservative Republican lawmaker on opposite sides of the overall rent-to-own provision both criticized the blank spaces section in the bill Wednesday, suggesting it might be changed.

"Oh my God, that is a horrendously bad idea," said Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee), a member of the Legislature's budget committee. "You're asking people to sign a blank check."

Currently, state law requires that a statement appear on rent-to-own contracts and other credit agreements that says, "Do not sign this before you read the writing on the reverse side, even if otherwise advised. Do not sign this if it contains any blank spaces. You are entitled to an exact copy of any agreement you sign." That requirement would go away under Walker's proposal, according to a detailed analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Consumers can wind up paying as much as 500% more than what they would if they bought the products outright with cash, according to the state Department of Financial Institutions.

Dumb Ron Johnson must be Fired!!! Says He'll vote Against Oklahoma Aid without Budget Cuts.

The ego enveloped arrogance of Dumb Ron Johnson is just too much to take anymore. Did Wisconsinites vote for this kind of unencumbered cruelty in pursuit of a balanced budget?

WSJ; Several Republican senators said that the cost of any emergency aid bill crafted to provide aid to people affected by the enormous tornado that touched down in Oklahoma Monday must be offset by cuts elsewhere to the federal budget to defray costs to the taxpayer.

Conservative GOP senator Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) said that any emergency aid bill must include matching spending cuts to ensure there is no increase in the budget deficit.

“We should be able to find plenty of areas in the budget to offset that,” said Mr. Johnson, a tea-party backed lawmaker from Wisconsin. “I would vote against a bill that didn’t include offsets.”

This ABC video summary should tell you everything you need to know about Johnson's detached irrational response. One more thing, anyone want to continue to beat up on teachers?: