@Mau -- We have judges and the courts to make up for the fact that some of our elected legislators didn't pay enough attention in law school. Then they pass laws that violate our Constitutions and someone has to file a suit to point that out.

So then you would have a problem with the Supreme Court electing the president in 2004 and possibly throwing out the ACA mau?

Did you study civics in grade school? There are three branches of government, the executive, the legislative, and the executive. There are three branches in the hopes that none will be able to become the supreme ruler of either the US or of the good state of Wisconsin.

You are right. FitzWalkerstan "laws" do seem frequently to end up in court. They abuse their powers that is why! The abuse of their powers-working for ALEC instead of working for all the people of WI is why there are the recalls. Stupid so-called 'lawmakers" who don't know WI constitution!

................
mau

3:48 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012

Why do we elect lawmakers? Seems the judges, courts and lawyers are the supreme rulers of the US.

"the state is divided into branches, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility so that no branch has more power than the other branches. The normal division of branches is into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary."

It's supposed to be a balance of power. That is not what we are getting into. The problem is it's the lawyers who are writing the laws and running the country.

spot on mau
Walker's lawyers at Best et all wrote the redistricting laws. Look what happened.!!

.............
mau

7:47 am on Saturday, March 31, 2012

"the state is divided into branches, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility so that no branch has more power than the other branches. The normal division of branches is into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary."

It's supposed to be a balance of power. That is not what we are getting into. The problem is it's the lawyers who are writing the laws and running the country.

Johnny, do you want everything written out for you? Even current laws (written in the 21st century are subject to interpretation.

Well, Johnny Blade, that leaves us with single-payer. Unless you enjoy paying inflated prices for an inefficient system that leaves some people out in the cold.

The individual mandate was a GOP idea, did you know that?

It also ends all discussion of privatizing social security, as citizens would be mandated to contribute either to private retirement plan or to the government (social security) plan. The only constitutional options, should ObamaCare be struck down, will be single-payer Medicare-for-All, or the Tea Party preferred "Let 'em Die" plan where we remove the obligation on emergency rooms to provide life-saving care to anyone who can't prove they have a means to pay their bill. It also kills Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare, as this would change from a tax-funded service to an individual mandate on seniors to purchase private insurance. Republicans have really shot themselves in the foot on this challenge!

@Bert -- I realize an ER can't turn you away if you're uninsured and bleeding to death, but they sure can bill you for it. And I'm not sure hospitals are obliged to admit you then and give you the care you need to save your life, like chemo.

As for Social Security, it's partly privatized now, because no one can live on those benefits alone, especially if their lifetime earning weren't all that great.

Would the Ryan plan be a mandate? I mean, some old people could simply forego the vouchers and hope to die in their sleep.

Liberals bring everything to court
Liberals with their non stop recalls

Hope and change is expensive when the liberals are backed against the wall.

Steve, this is the first recall effort against a Wisconsin governor in state history.

Bren, forgot your pills this AM? If I can turn the page of memory back correctly were were doing a round of recalls last year as well.

Second amendment also says "well-regulated", as opposed to the NRA preferred "unregulated".

Your gun is more harmful than anyone's vote, except owning the gun probably makes you feel more manly than casting a ballot.

A liberal voting is more harmful that a gun. Myself and my wallet have to live with the consequences.

Keith Schmitz in possession of taxpayer money is a far worse threat than any weapon.

I actually agree with you, Johnny. I think 'managed care', which is another way of saying insurance pays for everything, inflates prices and encourages overuse, while making healthcare unavailable to some people.

I'd be perfectly happy to be able to buy a catastrophic policy to cover my final illness. Forget trying to cure cancer if I should be so unlucky as to get it. There's no way I could afford that.

"Iam not a fan of either MOB family that runs the government."

Welcome another two-year old to the group.

Leave Johnny alone and stop picking on him. He is just describing the "government" of Somolia which is a "Libertarian Paradise" where there are no rules, no taxes, and no pesky police or fire departments. He is just describing the type of "paradise' that he would like the US to become.

Whatt?? I take it you do not value literacy very much.
The under 18 crowd did sign the petitions too.

Dear PJS, I'm assuming you're a product of our excellent public school systems. Please note for the future (when you have to have a job and write correctly) that "there" means a place as in "I want to go over there." The word you should have used is "their" - that means that "they" possess something. Also, there is an apostrophe in "couldnt". The little red squiggly line that appears under words you type in a blog entry mean that the word is spelled incorrectly or is missing punctuation. I suggest that if you want your position to be taken seriously, you pay attention to your writing skills.

Now, now, you two. You don't want me to start taking my editorial 'blue pen' to the postings of some of you conservatives, now do you? Because there's plenty of illiteracy to go round.

Wow Heather, if you had only judged and picked apart walkers character, before he bought his way in to the State Capital, like you do to the people jotting down quick responses on these pages, he never would have gotten into office in the first place. Substance please, not personal attacks. It demeans your position, whatever it may be.

Randy and Hambone,
<Shoot - I had written a response and my kid hit Delete, so I'll have to re-write it.> I'm not saying I never make a mistake - in fact I made one in my initial response. I'm giving constructive criticism to a kid who appears to be trying to get his\her point across and possibly persuade people. I usually skip posts with poor language, but I thought it might be helpful if they realized that people really do judge opinions and ideas by the way they expressed.

If Walker had written something this poor when he was running for governor, I would never have voted for him.

@Heather -- I agree that it's important to be as correct as possible to make an intelligent impression. To me honest, I look at a lot of the comments on here and wonder where my property tax dollar has gone. Not to teaching proper language skills, that's for damn sure.

But quite a few people on these pages make grammar and word-choice mistakes. Educated people on both sides of the political aisle.

@Oak Creek Resident -- Your vulgar language to another poster, no matter what his or her political view are, is highly inappropriate.

@oak creek resident -

I thought I warned you about personal attacks here - STOP IT!!!

Or, prepare to be visited by some Teamsters for the concrete shoe treatment!

oak creek resident,
Looks like maybe that touched a nerve? :) Nice response.

Thanks, Randy.

Forget the concrete galoshes, JRH, I flagged it.

David, I know that most folks don't type very quickly and don't have time for accuracy. However, if you want to make a point and have someone take you seriously, I think it helps to wait until you do have to think it out and write well. Of course, he\she is entitled to their opinion, but I'm also entitled to mine. :)

Please, JRH, as if court rulings haven't gone both ways, beginning with the 2000 SCOTUS decision that stopped the Florida recount and gave us GW Bush for President. And how about that Citizens United decision?

@Hoffa

My my--your panties are in a tight wad tonight Hoffa!! Only in your far right extreem TeaParty mind are workers are a "special interest group"!! Distraction is a stupid way to argue any point.

@Randy1949 -

So far, every single trial court level ruling/opinion against Walker's policies has been overturned by a higher court! And there's no doubt that this will be too - it's only a matter of time.

As to the Florida recount, an independent non-partisan review of ballots revealed that GW would have won the election irregardless of any action by the SCOTUS. While the entire FL scene was a mess, HBO's depiction of events in 'Recount' (2008) is hardly what I would call factually accurate.

As to Citizens United, it's the right decision premised upon a faulty/bad piece of legislation (McCain/Feingold).

@morninmist -

What am I distracting from exactly? Public sector unions are in fact some of the biggest and most politically well connected special interest groups in the country - just look at the yearly campaign contribution lists and who always seems to occupy a majority of the top 20 spots. I'll give you a hint - it's not the Koch Bros, not even close!

Good evening fellow Patchers!

@JRH -- It depends on whose website you visit. Usually the ones with the more red, white and blue in the banner have Bush still winning, but not always. http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/the-florida-recount-of-2000/
:
"On the other hand, the study also found that Gore probably would have won, by a range of 42 to 171 votes out of 6 million cast, had there been a broad recount of all disputed ballots statewide. However, Gore never asked for such a recount. The Florida Supreme Court ordered only a recount of so-called "undervotes," about 62,000 ballots where voting machines didn’t detect any vote for a presidential candidate."

morninmist - those "workers" you talk about are legislating and running the democrats and union activities from Chicago and DC. Don't tell me these are home grown workers from wisconsin. Stop the lies and liberal hate.

@morninmist -

You call something cited in a footnote by a clearly partisan hack judge a "smack down" - if it was such an important point, why didn't the judge put it into the body of his analysis instead of relegating it into a lowly footnote?

@Hoffa

That all you got Hoffa--crying because Fitz name is in a footnote?? FAIL!!

Leader Fitzgerald is in the body of the ruling on page 35 as my post states.

................
James R Hoffa

9:05 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012

@morninmist -

You call something cited in a footnote by a clearly partisan hack judge a "smack down" - if it was such an important point, why didn't the judge put it into the body of his analysis instead of relegating it into a lowly footnote?

@morninmist -

No, it's not - did you even read the pdf you linked to? Here's the entire body of page 35:

"C. Governmental Interest in Selectively Subsidizing Public Unions
In defending against plaintiffs’ First Amendment challenge, defendants exclusively argue that the prohibition on the withholding of union dues from paychecks of general employees does not implicate the First Amendment. Having rejected defendants’ position, the court now must determine whether the State of Wisconsin has demonstrated “a rational basis to justify the ban on . . . payroll deductions” and, if so, whether plaintiffs have advanced evidence of invidious viewpoint discrimination.
Given its position that none is required, the State proffered no justification for the ban on dues deductions from paychecks.17 One might turn to the justification already discussed in the Equal Protection context -- that extending the ban further would result"

So, where exactly is Fitz's name? Oh, that's right, it's in the lowly footnote, just as Hoffa stated.

morninmist - 0
Hoffa - 1

You both are right. Scott Fitzgerald is only mentioned in the footnote. But footnotes are highly illustrative of the deceit by Walker and FitzWalkerstan. I am glad you read the long footnote.

HA - only in our dreams Brian, only in our dreams!

Vote for DEY on Tuesday!!!

Hoffa- I know, but one can dream! Thanks for your support. #3 on the ballot!!!

Well Brian.
In your la la world you can dream anything you want.

But the reality is that Walker and Koch are joined at the hip in vile WI politics. To translate--you will will continue to hear about the Walker and Koch brothers.

StandUp4People ‏ @StandUpWis

#WI needs a Governor that represents #Wisconsin interests--not ALEC's, not Koch Industries' -- but We the People! #WIpolitics
..............................
StandUp4People ‏ @StandUpWis

#WI needs a Governor that represents #Wisconsin interests--not ALEC's, not Koch Industries' -- but We the People! #WIpolitics

morninmist- You mean, a Governor that protects union interests for a whole bunch of cash come election time. I can read between the lines. ;)

Ummm... I don't mean to sound like an ass here, but don't both the state and federal governments already recognize Labor Day as an official holiday?

No, this is a good idea I think Hoffa. It flies directly in the face of arguments that this recall isn't about a bunch of ticked-off, entitled public workers who've been asked to join the rest of us who've been effected not only by the recession but the increasing influence of a globalized economy and changes in technology. It would be the perfect 1 finger salute from them to us.

Heule's fantasy apparently includes an assembly made up entirely of Democrats as well, so not to worry about something like this actually coming to fruition. But it would be fun to see the Dems introduce something like this and then claim, once again, that they're not subservient to the unions

So you want to give State employees another paid holiday? No problem....while I'm busy working at my job, I'll just write a check payable to State of Wisconsin for employees paid holiday. Give me a break!

@Steve ®

Stop lying.
The dues deductions are voluntary.

................
Steve ®

11:37 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012

ha forcing public workers to pay for a corrupt union. And Walker was branded evil for making them pay for their benefits.

The liberals never cease to amaze me.

@morninmist -

If the dues deductions were truly voluntary, as you're claiming them to be, then wouldn't there be an opt-in option as opposed to a complex and complicated opt-out process?

You really need to stop living over on the Daily Kos my friend, as it's really starting to effect your deductive skills.

Try again!

morninmist- If that truly is the cae that it is volunary, there would have been no need to go to court over this. A simple form from the union bank and signed ACH from the member could have solved this. Would have saved the taxpayer's a few dollars as well.

But see, that is where your voluntary deduction ends. If they have a choice, they wouldn't pay it. It will be interesting see what happens at the end of the current contracts.

You're all talking past each other a bit here - there are two separate issues: 1) The ability of willing union members to have their dues deducted from their paychecks; and 2) The ability of the union to force unwilling workers to pay union dues. Act 10 got rid of both of those. This lawsuit only challenged #1.

So the current status of the law, after the injunction goes into effect, is that the union still can't force people to join or pay dues (or "agency fees" they're sometimes called), but people who are members can, if they say choose, voluntarily have their dues deducted from their paychecks.

But because the union's ability to enter a contract calling for automatically withdrawing the dues of ALL members from their paychecks has ended (because they can only contract over base wages now), union members will have to opt in to having their dues withdrawn.

Hope that helps.

You're tired of mean spirited rants but then you post one.
lol

@Rolando -

"... tired, mean spirited rants" and "... two ex-wives and kids in jail...."

REALLY???

As my good friend Steve ® has already pointed out, it would appear that you're an ironically in denial hypocrite, but such is life - it is what we make of it!

BTW - Hoffa has no ex-wives or children to speak of, yet alone any direct family members currently incarcerated. Are such unfounded accusations a part of that infamous liberal strategy known as projecting?

James R, it is the infamous liberal strategy known as lying.

@morninmist -

What does this have to do with portions of Act 10 being ruled unconstitutional by a liberal activist hack federal judge?

Come on Hoffa
Take a guess!! Connect those dots! I know you can do it correctly. But, I also know it would be difficult for you to actually type it out.

Jason Easley ‏ @politicususa
Scott Walker Tastes Defeat As Part Of Union Busting Bill Gets Struck Down http://www.politicususa.com/walker-union-busting-court/ via @politicususa #wearewi #p2 #p2b #topprog

In other words James R...

NOTHING!

Ahh, I see!

So Barrett is going to run on the hypocrite card - I used Walker's tools to balance my budget as mayor of Milwaukee, but if elected governor, the first thing I'll do is take away those same tools from my successor.

That's a bold strategy - I guess we'll see if it pays off for him or not.

WOW - the one thing Barrett had going for him is that he didn't pander to the public sector unions the way Falk did. But, it appears as if he just flushed that card down the toilet!

Message - the DPW is clearly owned by the public sector unions!

Thanks for info morninmist - did you suddenly wake up and change sides or something, or did you honestly see this as good news for the recallers?

EPIC FAIL!!!

Hoffa

You will notice Barrett is attacking Walker-not other Dems. That is good.

Onto the recall election.

Gotta get some distance from Johnny Thomas endorsement and financial support. Time to attack that Dem.

@morninmist

Can you please help me with this?

http://wisupnorth.com/2012/03/where-was-tom-barrett-before-the-vote/