Can Scott Walker ‘three-peat’ in Wisconsin?

[Geee]

AFSCME wages war on Scott Walker, Public Union Enemy No. 1

 

MADISON, Wis. —Big labor’s got payback on its mind in Wisconsin, and they’re waging an all-out war on their Public Union Enemy No. 1.

 

“We have a score to settle with (Gov.) Scott Walker,” Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, told the Washington Post on Thursday in his first interview about the union’s midterm strategy.

 

“He took collective bargaining away from us,” Saunders said. “He stole our voices, in a state where we were born.”

 

AFSCME, which got its start in Wisconsin in the 1930s, has a very bitter bone to pick with Walker.

 

VENDETTA ELECTION: AFSCME President Lee Saunders says the union has a “score to settle” with Gov. Scott Walker.

It was the Republican governor who led the charge in 2011 to reform Wisconsin’s public sector collective-bargaining system that critics had long claimed handed over too much power to labor unions like AFSCME, sticking the state with bills its taxpayers could not afford.

 

http://watchdog.org/169945/labor-scott-walker-afscme/

[Geee]

GOP sues state election overseer over ‘deeply flawed and confusing’ ballot

 

MADISON, Wis. — The state’s campaign finance and election law regulator is being accused of “either blatant partisanship or sheer incompetence” in a complaint filed Wednesday by top Republicans who demand the Government Accountability Board improve the “deeply flawed and confusing” standard ballot for November’s general election.

 

In a 22-page complaint, the Republican Party of Wisconsin — through Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau — claims a new ballot design will create confusion at the polls.

 

BAD BALLOT? Wisconsin’s top Republican leaders filed a complaint in Waukesha County Circuit Court Wednesday, asserting the GAB’s newly designed ballot for the November general election is ‘deeply flawed.’

In addition to no clear demarcation between each office and the first candidate, the GAB’s standard ballot design doesn’t clearly separate each office from the previous office’s candidates, which will dilute voter intent by increasing the number of under-votes, the GOP asserts in a statement.

http://watchdog.org/171254/gop-election-ballot/

[Geee]

Scott Walker accused of violating OSHA rules when he climbs out of pit in ad

 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's opponents are accusing him of violating the Occupational Health and Safety Administrations regulations in a campaign re-election ad in which he is the only person who appears. That is, he is being accused of physically endangering himself.

In the 30-second ad, titled "Comeback," Walker appears arguing that the state has rebounded economically under his watch. The governor does this while climbing out a dirt pit about 10 feet deep, an effort to symbolize him getting the state out of the financial hole it had dug itself into.

Jeff Kaminiski, president of United Steelworkers Local 2006, which is based in Oak Creek, Wis., said the ad really symbolizes Walker's disregard for Wisconsin workers because he does not observe proper OSHA regulations while he gets out of the pit.

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"Gov. Walker's violations send the wrong message to anyone trying follow the rules and come home safe at the end of the day. Safety is the backbone of the union movement. We want all workers to come home safe at end of the day, we can't have an example like this playing statewide," Kaminski said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/scott-walker-accused-of-violating-osha-rules-when-he-climbs-out-of-pit-in-ad/article/2553568

[Geee]

Clinton boosts Walker's opponent

 

Hillary Clinton is taking aim at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, one of her potential adversaries for the presidency in 2016.

 

In a speech in Washington, D.C., on Friday to the Democratic National Committee's women's leadership forum, Clinton gave a boost to Democrat Mary Burke, who is running against Walker.

 

Walker is weighing whether to run for president, and is considered a likely frontrunner should he decide to run — but first, he will need to win re-election this year.

 

Add Clinton to the long list of Democrats working to ensure Walker does not succeed.

 

“[burke] is offering a choice between more gridlock and progress that will actually make a difference for Wisconsin families: better jobs, better wages, better schools,” Clinton said.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/clinton-boosts-walkers-opponent/article/2553681

[Geee]

How Wisconsin Prosecutors Became Campaign Partisans

 

Last year Wisconsin prosecutors—at the behest of Milwaukee's Democratic District Attorney John Chisholm —launched a secret criminal investigation involving almost every conservative advocacy group in the state. Armed law-enforcement personnel executed pre-dawn searches of the homes of consultants for the Wisconsin Club for Growth. The organization had engaged in "issue advocacy"—running ads that do not call for the election or defeat of a candidate—both before and during the extended cycle of recall elections for state officials following Gov. Scott Walker's collective-bargaining reforms in 2011. At the same time, subpoenas were directed to approximately 30 other conservative advocacy organizations and their bankers and accountants.

 

The investigation has been stopped by a preliminary injunction in O'Keefe v. Chisholm, and it is the subject of legal wrangling in state and federal courts, but if Mr. Chisholm's efforts were politically motivated, then he can already claim victory. As midterm elections near, Wisconsin conservative groups have been sufficiently intimidated amid the uncertain legal climate, or their money has been so depleted by courtroom fights, that they are not the force in the state that they were in 2012.

 

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Sept. 14, Gov. Walker's campaign was outspent in television advertising by his Democratic challenger, Mary Burke, thanks in part to donations from the Greater Wisconsin Committee, "an anti-Walker group heavily funded by organized labor." Ms. Burke's spending advantage is a remarkable contrast with the 2012 recall fight, when Gov. Walker enjoyed strong conservative backing and was better funded than his opposition. A recent editorial in these pages noted that the Wisconsin Club for Growth's political fundraising has been suspended and the group "hasn't run a single ad in this election cycle."

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/richard-m-esenberg-how-wisconsin-prosecutors-became-campaign-partisans-1411167181

[Geee]

DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE IN WISCONSIN PLAGIARIZED JOBS PLAN FROM OTHER FAILED DEMOCRATS

 

In March of this year Mary Burke, the Democratic candidate challenging incumbent Republican Scott Walker in this fall's Wisconsin gubernatorial election, approved the release of a jobs plan that, it now turns out, contains numerous passages plagiarized from the jobs plans of several recent Democratic gubernatorial candidates in other states and at least one passage plagiarized from an Obama White House press release.

After BuzzFeed broke the story on Thursday, the Burke campaign announced Friday that it had "terminated" the consultant who had prepared the 40-page jobs plan. Prior to this announcement, the consultant, Eric Schnurer of the Philadelphia firm Public Works, had not been listed as someone associated with the campaign, nor had he received attribution for his work creating the plan.

Burke did not offer an explanation for why her campaign had failed to discover the massive plagiarism prior to the release of the plan and during the six months since its release that she has been touting it as her own.

Significant sections of the plan, titled "Mary Burke's Plan: Invest for Success," are word-for-word copies of paragraphs found in plans of failed Democratic gubernatorial campaigns going back to 2008, as well as one instance where it copied a press release from the Obama White House.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/19/Democratic-Gubernatorial-Candidate-in-Wisconsin-Plagiarized-Jobs-Plan-From-Other-Failed-Democrats

[Valin]

@Geee

 

The left is (as it were) Up In Arms again...still

[Geee]

@Geee

 

The left is (as it were) Up In Arms again...still

OMG That's over the edge

[Geee]

DESPITE PLAGIARIZED JOBS PLAN THAT CRITICIZED OUTSOURCING, BURKE HELPED SEND JOBS TO CHINA WHILE AT TREK BICYLE

 

On Friday, Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke stood by her plagiarized jobs plan, a key element of which criticized the practice of outsourcing American manufacturing jobs overseas.

Despite standing by her plagiarized criticism of outsourcing in her campaign document, Burke helped send Wisconsin manufacturing jobs to China earlier in her career while employed as a senior executive at family owned Trek Bicycle, based in Waterloo, Wisconsin.

The company, whose 2013 revenues were estimated at $600 million, manufactured the majority of its bicycles in America during the first decade after its founding in 1976. By 2011, however, virtually all of the 1.5 million of the bicycles it sold were manufactured in China, Taiwan, and Germany, according to a company spokesperson. Less than one percent--a mere 10,000--were manufactured in Wisconsin.

Burke, who served on the Trek Bicycle Board of Directors along with her father, company founder Richard Burke, until 2005, appears to have played a key role in outsourcing Trek Bicycle's American manufacturing jobs to China, despite claims to the contrary from her campaign and her family.

Burke was employed as a senior executive at Trek on two separate occasions after receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1985. According to her resume, she served as the company's Director of European Operations from 1990 to 1993, where she claims she "[grew the] company's European business from $2 [million] to $60 [million] in sales in 4 years." She also had "direct bottom line responsibility for 8 operations in 7 countries."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/21/Despite-Plagiarized-Jobs-Plan-That-Criticized-Outsourcing-Burke-Helped-Send-Jobs-to-China-While-At-Trek-Bicyle

[Geee]

Walker Surges as Burke Fires Campaign Staff for Plagiarism

 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has surged ahead of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, as Burke has been forced to fire campaign staff responsible for copying her campaign's job plan from other failed candidates.

 

The most recent Marquette Law School Poll, conducted September 11-14, found Walker enjoying a 3-point, 49-46 percent lead over Burke. This was a marked improvement for Walker who trailed Burke in Marquette's earlier poll, conducted August 21-23, by 49-47 percent.

 

Burke's week only got worse after BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski reported that portions of Burke's jobs plan had been copied from four other Democratic candidates, three of whom went on to lose their elections.

 

Burke had made her jobs plan the centerpiece of her campaign, telling reporters back in March, “I brought Gov. Walker’s plan from 2010. This is 4 pages. I’ve seen 8th grade term papers that had more work put into them."

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/conncarroll/2014/09/22/walker-surges-as-burke-fires-campaign-staff-for-plagiarism-n1895058

[Valin]

 

@Geee

 

The left is (as it were) Up In Arms again...still

OMG That's over the edge

 

 

 

Ya Think!

Dollars to donuts this group is 5-6 guys?

[Geee]

 

 

@Geee

 

The left is (as it were) Up In Arms again...still

OMG That's over the edge

 

 

 

Ya Think!

Dollars to donuts this group is 5-6 guys?

 

Black Panthers?

[Valin]

 

 

 

@Geee

 

The left is (as it were) Up In Arms again...still

OMG That's over the edge

 

 

 

Ya Think!

Dollars to donuts this group is 5-6 guys?

 

Black Panthers?

 

 

They would never do anything like that!

[Geee]

THE CUT-AND-PASTE CANDIDACY OF MARY BURKE

 

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is currently just a few points ahead of his Democrat challenger, Mary Burke, in the polls. If Burke wins, not only will Democrats have defeated a Republican governor who survived constant attacks from Big Labor, endured an absurd years-long witch hunt from a partisan Democrat prosecutor, turned around a fiscal wasteland left by his Democrat predecessors, and earned serious consideration as a 2016 presidential contender, but they’ll be able to boast that they didn’t put a lot of effort into the winning campaign. It turns out that a lot of Burke’s platform was copied from other sources, and the candidate might not have bothered to read some of it.

 

First, we learned Burke’s “jobs plan” was mostly stale boilerplate copied from three previous Democrat candidates, only one of whom actually won his race. As Buzzfeed detailed, other parts of her plan were copied from a White House press release and a Harvard report. We’re not talking about borrowing some ideas here and there. Sizable sections of the older documents were copied word-for-word.

 

After her defenders made fitful attempts to claim this was no big deal, Burke decided it was a big enough deal to sack the consultant who was held responsible, claiming he had essentially plagiarized himself, because he worked on those previous gubernatorial campaigns. (Did he write the Harvard report and the White House press release, too?) It should be noted that the consultant in question, Eric Schnurer, is not named anywhere in the Burke jobs plan as its author.

http://humanevents.com/2014/09/22/the-cut-and-paste-candidacy-of-mary-burke/

[Geee]

Hillary Clinton front group files federal campaign complaint against Walker

 

Wisconsin’s wild political ride continued Monday, when a left-leaning group with ties to Hillary Clinton announced it is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

 

Interesting that the American Democracy Legal Fund pushes out its plea to Obama administration top gun Eric Holder just as Mary Burke, the Democrat’s candidate for governor, is embroiled further in a major plagiarism scandal.

 

The American Democracy Legal Fund, run by liberal power brokers David Brock and Brad Woodhouse, wants the Justice Department to investigate whether Walker sponsored and ensured passage of mine legislation in exchange for campaign contributions from northwest Wisconsin mine developer Gogebic Taconite.

 

“Wisconsin voters deserve to know whether their state’s highest elected official made a devil’s bargain with Gogebic Taconite, selling out Wisconsin in order to secure his own political future,” the liberal group states in a widely distributed press release.

http://watchdog.org/172370/hillary-clinton-federal-scott-walker/

[Geee]

'We Have a Score to Settle with Scott Walker': Dems, Unions Target Wisconsin Republican

 

When one talks Republican policy and politics, from the size and cost of government to the role of some notoriously out-sized GOP enemies such as public sector unions, including in education, there may not be a more critical battle space nationally-speaking, than Wisconsin this year.

Democrats have been gunning for incumbent Gov. Scott Walker since he and the Republican-controlled state legislature passed Act 10 — a measure curbing the collective bargaining powers of some public workers — forcing them to contribute more for their health care and pensions, and ending the automatic collection of union dues.

It's hard to remember the incredible intensity that surrounded passage of Act 10 three years ago. Democratic lawmakers fled the state rather than allow a vote on it. Protesters took over the state capitol. There was an ugly Supreme Court fight. But it became the law.

As the GOP struggles to capture the Senate, those races have been rising and falling on issues like immigration, the economy and even foreign policy. But as important as those may be, the issues at the heart of Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker's re-election bid are perhaps even more critical to the success of any larger national GOP agenda.

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/09/24/Democrats-Unions-Target-Scott-Walker

[Geee]

FOR GOP, SCOTT WALKER’S GOVERNOR RACE EQUALS ANY SENATE MATCHUP - Byron York

 

Of course it’s important which party controls the House and Senate. But for Republicans concerned about the party’s 2016 presidential prospects, one key race this November isn’t for control of Capitol Hill. It is, somewhat improbably, the fight for governor of Wisconsin.

 

Democrats have been gunning for incumbent Gov. Scott Walker since he and the Republican-controlled state legislature passed Act 10 — a measure curbing the collective bargaining powers of some public workers — forcing them to contribute more for their health care and pensions, and ending the automatic collection of union dues.

 

It’s hard to remember the incredible intensity that surrounded passage of Act 10 three years ago. Democratic lawmakers fled the state rather than allow a vote on it. Protesters took over the state capitol. There was an ugly Supreme Court fight. But it became the law.

In the years since, Act 10 has been very good for the state budget. The measure has saved the state somewhere between $2 billion and $3 billion, mostly in pension costs.

http://humanevents.com/2014/09/24/for-gop-scott-walkers-governor-race-equals-any-senate-matchup/

[Valin]

Wisconsin’s Dilettante
Is gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke ready to settle on a career?
Eliana Johnson
September 25, 2014

 

The daughter of Trek Bicycle founder Richard Burke, the woman gunning for Scott Walker’s job, is the scion of a prominent Wisconsin family who’s had the wealth to flit from one career to another.

 

In an election being litigated primarily on economic issues, Mary Burke has touted her business experience. But it’s the sort of business experience only an heiress could afford: a couple of years spent toiling at a failed start-up company and two stints working for her father. Between her two tours at Trek, Burke spent a couple of years “as a snowboard bum in Colorado.” (That’d be from the Harvard Business School alumni bulletin, not her campaign website.) At Trek, she ran the company’s European division, and has said she increased international sales by a whopping $47 million, but the company denied PolitiFact’s request to verify the number.

 

(Snip)

 

By her mid 40s, she’d left to become a philanthropist and told Democratic governor Jim Doyle’s political team when it expressed interest in bringing her aboard — she was eventually appointed to run the state’s Department of Commerce — that she wasn’t sure she wanted to “reenter the full-time work force.” The only elected position Burke has ever held is a seat on the Madison school board. Now, she wants to become governor.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Why does the phrase "Light Weight" come to mind?

 

[Geee]

This would not even be a contest if the Unions and the Democrat Party were not sending millions here for her campaign. Emily's list just gave her 1.5 million.

[Geee]

From Scott Walker Opponents, Still More Nastiness

 

I reside in a suburb in Milwaukee County which is a well-known bastion of the far Left, populated by a high proportion of professors and state university staff as well as other government workers. Those who have not yet drunk the Kool-Aid, as it were, affectionately refer to it as the “People’s Republic” or “Moscow by the Lake.”

 

In 2011, in an access of public-spiritedness, I decided to run for the village board. Heretofore, we had lived in this bucolic (worker’s) paradise for 18 years without any problems, even though my politics, judging from the campaign signs which regularly sprouted from my lawn, was hardly a secret. But with that campaign, the fun started.

 

Neighbors who had put out my signs received nasty, anonymous telephone calls (as did we). Dead animals were thrown onto our driveway. I received a ticket for not having shoveled my walks within a 24-hour time frame (an ordinance which is almost never enforced); and someone complained to the village that our backyard, filled with my grandson’s toys, was an eyesore.

On the eve of the election, one of my opponents put out a flyer warning people that I was the tool of dark forces seeking to overturn the village’s proud progressive traditions. I lost the election, and since then life has gone back to normal: no tickets for slacking at snow-shoveling, and my grandson’s toys are all still there, together with some for his little sister.

This goes to show how seriously Leftists take politics, and the lengths they are willing to go to win, which brings me to the general election in beautiful Wisconsin this year.

http://pjmedia.com/blog/from-scott-walker-opponents-still-more-nastiness/

[Geee]

I really don't know what his campaign is doing. I see Burke commercials one after another here and maybe one or two a day for Walker? I know that she has a pile of money from outside groups. Does he have a money shortage???

[Geee]

Michelle Obama declares war on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

 

HUDSON, Wis. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie played the role of political attack dog here Monday for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, saying the Democrat seeking to unseat Mr. Walker in November is guilty of plagiarism.

 

Mr. Christie, campaigning in his role as chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association, said Mr. Walker was “too much of a gentleman” to attack Democrat Mary Burke, adding, “but I will.”

 

One small company makes the gadget possible, and its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run.

 

President's newest plan for student's who are out of school!

 

These smoking hot body paint pictures have readers asking, "Do I see what I think I see?"

“The fact of the matter is that it is OK if we disagree with her ideas,” he said. “But we don’t know if they really are Mary Burke’s ideas, do we? Because her whole campaign has been surrounding this economic jobs plan of hers and wait, what do we find out? It is not hers.”

SEE ALSO: Hoyer makes a pitch for a Democratic House

“Why would you trust her honesty and integrity on anything else she tells you about what she’ll do for Wisconsin or about Scott’s record,” Mr. Christie said.

Wisconsin Democrats countered with some star power of their own, with first lady Michelle Obama appearing with Ms. Burke at a big rally in downtown Milwaukee Monday evening and trying to invigorate the party faithful in a difficult political year.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (right) was in Wisconsin Monday campaigning for fellow Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is facing a tough re-election campaign against Democrat Mary Burke. (Associated Press Photographs)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (right) was in Wisconsin Monday campaigning for ... more >

“We need to be just as passionate and as hungry as we were back in 2008 and 2012,” the first lady told the large crowd. “… This is going to be a tight race and every single vote is going to matter.”

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/29/chris-christie-michelle-obama-hit-the-trail-in-wis/

[Valin]

Gov. Walker Up 5 in Latest Wisconsin Poll
Conn Carroll

Oct 01, 2014

 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has taken a firm 50 - 45 percent lead among likely voters over Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, according to the latest Marquette Law School Poll.

 

Walker's five-point lead in the latest Marquette poll, conducted September 25-28, is a marked improvement over the last Marquette poll, conducted September 11-14, which only showed Walker up by three points, 49 percent to 46 percent.

 

Voter opinions of Walker haven't budged over the past two weeks, with both Walker's job approval rating (51/47) and favorable rating (52/46) now at nearly identical levels (52/47 job approval, 52/46 favorable).

 

But voter perceptions of Burke have fallen sharply. Earlier this month Burke enjoyed a modest net favorability rating at 41/39. But now Burke is underwater with 44 percent of likely voters telling Marquette they have an unfavorable opinion of Burke, and just 40 percent saying they have a favorable opinion of her.

 

(Snip)

[Geee]

Reading a Wisconsin article about this a couple of hours ago. They also mentioned that the behavior of the polls is very similar to the polls before the recall. Don't know what that means but I hope it means that the outcome will be the same.

[Valin]

Reading a Wisconsin article about this a couple of hours ago. They also mentioned that the behavior of the polls is very similar to the polls before the recall. Don't know what that means but I hope it means that the outcome will be the same.

 

And wouldn't that just drive The Left right around the bend?