Wisconsin's Governor Walker and the possibility of a recall

Edwin wrote:

I read every post but I never have anything good to say.

Same here. Dimmer, please keep posting updates for us!

I read every post because at one point I used to spend a lot of tourism dollars in , milwaukee and I'm excited for the state to earn my business back.

It is ironic that I choose Chicago as the less corrupt destination.

Edwin wrote:

I read every post but I never have anything good to say.

Very much this.

Last month, news broke that Governor Walker was outraising the recall efforts by a large margin, thanks to out-of-state donors, who made up almost 50% of his donations.

That fundraising hasn't slowed down, and out-of-state donors now comprise 61% of his campaign funding.

Governor Walker gave his "State of the State" address last night.

There was tight security, and police kept protesters from being admitted to the galleries. They stayed out in the rotunda, singing songs before the speech and raucously shouting once it began (the speech audio was piped in to the rotunda). You can faintly hear a drumbeat and "shame" chants at points during the audio.

Additionally, several people interrupted the speech from the galleries at various points. To his credit, Governor Walker kept talking and didn't engage at all. I'm okay with the raucous protests on the far side of the police line, but attempting to interrupt or shout down the Governor during his "State of the State" speech is inappropriate and unproductive. It wasn't okay when Rep. Joe Wilson did it to Obama, and it's not okay that folks did it last night.

The speech itself had two main talking points. First, Governor Walker wanted to point out that the state created 13,500 private-sector jobs last year. There was no mention of his campaign pledge to create 250,000 jobs during his first term, though he did stress the 150,000 jobs lost in the three years prior to his taking office. In addition to the obvious apples-and-oranges (exclude public-sector job losses when talking about his accomplishments, include them when talking about failures of the Doyle administration), Walker deftly avoided mentioning the worldwide economic collapse that caused most of those job losses. Here's a chart showing Wisconsin jobs (exclusive of farm labor):

IMAGE(http://badgerstat.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Long-term-chart.jpg)

Additionally, he avoided disclosing that those jobs were mostly created prior to Walker's budget being passed - that is to say, to the extent that any Governor can take credit for those jobs, it'd be Governor Doyle. Since Walker passed his "pro-business" budget in June? Wisconsin has lost over 35,000 jobs. We've lost jobs now for six months straight, at a time other states (including Illinois, just to the south) are adding jobs.

The second talking point was the budget. Governor Walker was proud to take credit for solving a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, in only his first year in office. That sounds impressive. Except, as noted earlier, it's not true. The multi-billion-dollar deficit Governor Walker claims is only apparent when using GAAP standards. Using these standards is fine, and there's a case to be made that all state budgets should do so. However, if we continue to use these standards, the budget deficit has not been erased - in fact, it is getting worse (something Governor Walker's DoA admitted to the Federal Government, in order to cut healthcare for 53,000 needy Wisconsinites).

In 2010, then-candidate Walker accused Governor Doyle of telling a "world champion" lie for claiming a balanced budget when GAAP showed a $2.1 billion deficit. Looks like we have a new champion.

In the time it took me to write up that State of the State post, more news out of the John Doe investigation.

Two staffers who worked directly for Gov. Scott Walker while he was county executive were charged Thursday with illegally doing extensive political work while being paid by taxpayers to do county jobs.

Kelly Rindfleisch, deputy chief of staff to Walker in 2010, faces four felony counts of misconduct in office for working for then-Rep. Brett Davis' 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor while on the county clock. Davis, who lost in the Republican primary, is now Walker's state Medicaid director.

"In the course of the investigation, it was learned that a private e-mail network was established and operated out of the County Executive's office and that the private network was used to communicate both political campaign and government work related information to select individuals," said a press release from District Attorney John Chisholm.

The email network was apparently created by Tim Russell, who has already been charged with embezzlement for taking money from the the veteran's charity Operation Freedom.

Darlene Wink (whose misconduct was also noted upthread) was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of using county resources to raise money for Walker's 2010 gubernatorial bid.

[Edit to add: reading through the criminal complaint against Rindfleisch, a local reporter found this doozy]

IMAGE(https://img.skitch.com/20120126-j9baitcahrb8ghd2cs32bjd5yt.jpg)

I believe that's the first direct appearance so far by Scott Walker in any of these proceedings.

Also worth mentioning: as soon as the story broke, Governor Walker cancelled a planned 11:40am appearance in nearby Wausau, citing "weather issues".

I like how the graph has a "target direction".

*whistle*

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I like how the graph has a "target direction".

I'd prefer the racing-game-style "WRONG WAY. U TURN!" flashing text.

Hypatian wrote:

*whistle*

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/fIIic.jpg)
?

Nope. The other kind of *whistle*.

Hypatian wrote:

Nope. The other kind of *whistle*.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/1H30z.jpg)
?

Yeah, I'm a little slow today too I guess
Perhaps some exposition on *whistle* would be appropriate?

Okay. "Whistle in admiration of the smoking gun email, as if I was whistling in admiration at a shapely behind, only unlike the woman the email is unlikely to slap me."

Governor Walker released a statement in response to today's charges. Here it is, in its entirety:

The Milwaukee County executive's office expressed policy was that county employees were not permitted to use county time or resources to conduct any political activity. Scott Walker expected everyone to follow the law and made that clear publicly and privately

After that statement came out, someone leaked a confidential letter, sent yesterday. Darlene Wink got misdemeanor charges, in part, because she's agreed to testify in the John Doe investigation, and has information pertaining to the destruction of digital evidence. Here's the letter (warning, PDF), but the bombshell excerpt for me is:

Our office is nevertheless interested in pursuing a negotiated issuance of misdemeanor charges alleging violations of Wisconsin Statutes §11.35. We are so motivated for a variety of reasons. First, Ms. Wink's misconduct, in terms of ongoing contact with political organizations, was materially less extensive than others working for the Milwaukee County Executive's Office. Second, Ms. Wink has provided information concerning a related investigation involving the destruction of digital evidence. Third, Ms. Wink is in possession of valuable information as it relates to possible future prosection(s) and proceeding(s). Her truthful testimony in this regard is a thing of value to the State of Wisconsin.

I'm beginning to wonder whether Walker will last until the recall election.

Is she then the "unnamed person" from before? Dimmer, this is fascinating. It's like live-blogging Watergate.

And, since it's becoming not-unreasonable to speculate about whether Governor Walker will be in office when the recall elections happen later this year, I found the applicable portion of Wisconsin's statutes.

Wisconsin State Law §9.10(3)(c)[/url]]The official against whom the recall petition is filed shall be a candidate at the recall election without nomination unless the official resigns within 10 days after the original filing of the petition. Candidates for the office may be nominated under the usual procedure of nomination for a special election by filing nomination papers not later than 5 p.m. on the 4th Tuesday preceding the election and have their names placed on the ballot at the recall election.

I'm not totally clear on whether the effective date is when the initial recall filing with the GAB happens, or when the completed petitions are delivered, since the statutes use the word "petition" in both cases. If it's the initial filing, that would have been Nov. 25th of last year (or Nov. 14th, if they count Mr. Brandt's filing). If it's the delivery date, the ten days would be up either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how the GAB decides to count (since petitions were delivered to the GAB on Jan. 17th).

Robear wrote:

Is she then the "unnamed person" from before? Dimmer, this is fascinating. It's like live-blogging Watergate.

That hasn't been disclosed. The leaked letter doesn't refer to a denied request for anonymity, so it's possible that the "unnamed person" from earlier is Jensen, Wink, or yet some other person.

Given all the misbehavior the John Doe investigation has uncovered so far, the assertion that Governor Walker surreptitiously met with Justice Prosser the day after the State Supreme Court election, with results still in doubt, just before filing the State Supreme Court case for 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 is seeming less and less improbable.

Robear wrote:

Is she then the "unnamed person" from before? Dimmer, this is fascinating. It's like live-blogging Watergate.

Indeed. I'm also consistently impressed at how well you present it, even though we all know who you're rooting for. If half the media managed the presentation you do, we'd be a lot better off.

Kannon wrote:
Robear wrote:

Is she then the "unnamed person" from before? Dimmer, this is fascinating. It's like live-blogging Watergate.

Indeed. I'm also consistently impressed at how well you present it, even though we all know who you're rooting for. If half the media managed the presentation you do, we'd be a lot better off.

Thanks - I freely admit I have a horse in the proverbial race, my goal in all these threads is always to strive for accuracy and fairness, with links to sources so folks can evaluate the relevant evidence for themselves.

One spot where I think you're maybe a little unfair is in the comments on the economy -- holding Walker responsible for job creation is kind of silly, since state governors don't really have that power, and at any rate, it would take several years for his economic policies to really play out. Obama's policies are only really taking root now, near the end of his first term, as an example... up until now, it's mostly been G.W. Bush's policies we're living through.

That said, you're not doing anything to Walker that he's not doing to his predecessor, so you're just playing by his rules. They're bad rules, but he's playing that game, so... hmm... I guess it's not UNFAIR to play the same game, but it's not actually useful in any real sense.

I think that criticism of Dimmer's comments would be fair to make... if Walker wasn't claiming credit for job creation. When somebody is making bogus claims (like claiming that he's responsible for job growth that he's clearly not responsible for, or comparing the GAAP numbers from when he took office to the non-GAAP numbers now to show that he's balanced the budget) or doing things that he earlier decried as bogus (like using non-GAAP numbers at all), it's perfectly reasonable for anybody to call them out on it.

I'd say holding someone to their bullsh*t promises by their rules is completely fair and useful. People get away with lying when no one calls them on it.

If I say that I can freehand throw something into orbit, it'd be fair to call me on that, even though there's no physical way it was remotely possible.

Edit: As usual, someone beats me to it. Ah well.

Kannon wrote:

If I say that I can freehand throw something into orbit, it'd be fair to call me on that, even though there's no physical way it was remotely possible.

And I totally would, because people lying about being able to throw things into stable orbit really reflect badly on those of us who can actually do that.

Malor wrote:

One spot where I think you're maybe a little unfair is in the comments on the economy -- holding Walker responsible for job creation is kind of silly, since state governors don't really have that power, and at any rate, it would take several years for his economic policies to really play out.

It's not unfair given that Walker himself made all sorts of fuss about he was going to create 250,000 jobs during his first term.

NPR's Planet Money even did a podcast about it: How Many Jobs Has Scott Walker Created?

Wow!

It looks like current Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Pribeus was involved in this scandal:

The counts allege that Wink violated state laws prohibiting solicitation of political contributions in public buildings and banning public employees from soliciting or receiving money or services for any political purpose while at work.

The criminal complaint said Wink, Walker's constituent services manager, exchanged numerous campaign-related messages with top Walker campaign staffers, including operations manager Joe Fadness, as well as Reince Preibus, then Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman and now head of the Republican National Committee.

If Preibus was in anyway directly involved in helping Walker and his aides in this, the RNC is going to be having one hell of a time dealing with this during an election cycle.

Malor wrote:

One spot where I think you're maybe a little unfair is in the comments on the economy -- holding Walker responsible for job creation is kind of silly, since state governors don't really have that power, and at any rate, it would take several years for his economic policies to really play out.

Economics is outside my depth, but I'm willing to accept that criticism (as well as Hypatian's defense). Yay for citing sources so folks can come to their own conclusions!

That'll raise the profile of this story, and may make the national GOP less likely to go to bat for Governor Walker. The bigger news to me though is that Darlene Wink was also involved in the caucus scandal. Here's a timeline of the broad strokes, but the short version is that events beginning in 2001 led to members of both parties being caught campaigning on state time (and from state offices), which is strictly prohibited by law. Anyone involved in Wisconsin politics could not possibly fail to be aware of that history, or the legal boundaries between campaign and government work. Rindfleisch's assertion that fully half of her work was for the campaign is still not as baffling to me as Wink's willingness to try her hand and illegal political behavior she'd already been caught and prosecuted for, not even a decade earlier.

Fun fact: another person involved in the caucus scandal you might recall is Kathy Nickolaus. (Remember her? Sure you do.)

Yeah, it's not a major knock, Dimmer... that was intended more as a sideways comment, not significant criticism.

And, as others are saying, if he's claiming superpowers, then you have every right to criticize him for failing to demonstrate same.

Dimmerswitch wrote:
Kannon wrote:
Robear wrote:

Is she then the "unnamed person" from before? Dimmer, this is fascinating. It's like live-blogging Watergate.

Indeed. I'm also consistently impressed at how well you present it, even though we all know who you're rooting for. If half the media managed the presentation you do, we'd be a lot better off.

Thanks - I freely admit I have a horse in the proverbial race, my goal in all these threads is always to strive for accuracy and fairness, with links to sources so folks can evaluate the relevant evidence for themselves. :)

That goal and that admission make you better than most reporters out there today. Especially the admission part.

Walker made some brief remarks about the John Doe investigation today. He denied knowing about any wrongdoing, and doesn't think he's the target of the investigation. Oddly, he refused to confirm whether or not he has spoken to investigators.

Local reporter Jessica Arp[/url]]Gov Walker won't say whether he has spoken to investigators, but says campaign has been cooperating with John Doe investigation for months.

Why is this odd? Well, back on Jan. 5th, when the last round of charges against his staff were filed, Governor Walker said he hadn't been contacted by prosecutors at all. It seems fairly likely that at some point in the intervening weeks he has indeed been contacted. It's possible that "no comment" response is required once you've been interviewed for the John Doe investigation - if that's not what's driving that change, I'd sure like to know what is.

Additionally, some clever folks dug up this story about Walker's departure as the Milwaukee County executive last January.

The thorough housecleaning of the Milwaukee County executive's office when Gov. Scott Walker left late last month has left his successors wondering whether any records are missing.

Tom Nardelli, who was Walker's chief of staff at the county, said all records were saved or disposed of properly. But without knowing what records were destroyed, it's hard to know whether anything required by law to be kept was tossed, said Harold Mester, an aide to Acting County Executive Lee Holloway and the County Board.

At minimum, the question shows a lack of communication between the outgoing and incoming administrations. Mester said no message or memo was left by Walker's staff on the records. Nardelli said none was left because Holloway's staff failed to respond to general offers of help during the transition.

"I didn't even get the courtesy of a reply," Nardelli said.

The dozens of Walker's file cabinets were virtually emptied of their contents by the end of last month, and 16 bankers' boxes of records retrieved this week from storage by aides to Holloway appear well short of the total paper-load once held in the courthouse's third-floor executive suite.

A tour this week of the sparsely staffed offices revealed banks of empty file drawers, save a set of various bureaucratic forms, county budget books and one stack of papers on various issues left in the office of Fran McLaughlin, who was Walker's county spokeswoman.

The empty drawers, coupled with the absence of any message or memo telling the whereabouts of Walker's office documents - and at least two bins of shredded paper left by Walker staffers - were perplexing, Mester said.

"There was nothing left," Mester said. "There was no communication from the previous administration as far as where anything was."