Replacement ref throws up hands in disbelief. NFL rules a touchdown.

When reading MSM stories concerning the hypocrisy of Republicans or conservatives it is often difficult to decide whether the reporters are actively dishonest or just stupid.

An AP story by Scott Bauer and a Washington Post effort by Brad Plumer are prime examples. Both concern a tweet sent by Republican Gov. Scott Walker (R–WI) after the Green Bay Packers were robbed of their victory by a high school level replacement referee who was unable to distinguish between an interception and a touchdown.

Tuesday morning Walker tweeted, “After catching a few hours of sleep, the #Packers game is still just as painful. #Returntherealrefs.” If you are a liberal journalist working for the Associated Press or the WaPost (I know that’s redundant) this is obviously an example of conservative hypocrisy.

The Post headline was: “Wisconsin governor fumbles on Twitter: Walker sees collective bargaining in a new light after the Packers’ loss.” The headline over the AP story was: “Union–busting Wis. governor calls for return of NFL’s union refs after call seals Packers loss.”

Both headlines reek of hypocrisy on Walker’s part and the Post even claimed a change of heart that existed only in the reporter’s fevered mind. But not all unions are alike, just as not all reporters are equally biased.

Both writers overlook the obvious fact that Walker’s fight in Wisconsin was against public employee unions and his tweet was about private sector unions. There is no hypocrisy involved in supporting one form of union and opposing the other.

Public employee unions are a conspiracy against the taxpayer. Union officials bargain with elected officials. The elected official wants union support in his next election. The union official simply wants more. They come to an agreement. The taxpayer, who picks up the tab, is not represented at the table. There are no market constraints on public employee unions. As long as taxes can be raised to cover salary, insurance and pension costs, the benefits keep rolling along.

This is not how it works in the private sector. Plumer attempts to graft the American Airlines’ labor dispute onto the Wisconsin controversy when he writes, “the referee feud is fairly representative of modern labor battles playing out in Wisconsin and elsewhere.”

This is simply false. Wisconsin labor disputes involved public employee unions and although flying American Airlines in many ways resembles a visit to the DMV, it is still a private sector entity with a private sector union.

Walker, as opposed to the two reporters, knows there’s a difference.

Another distinction is American Airlines declared bankruptcy because it could not survive in the private sector with the cost structure imposed on it by declining revenue and union contracts. Taxpayers and public employee unions are not involved.

The NFL referee’s union is obviously a private sector dispute being played out in public. And as a customer of the NFL and a supporter of the Packers, Walker is both intellectually consistent and within his rights to demand the NFL solve the problem by retuning the “real refs.”

Evidently this obvious distinction escaped the two “journalists” who thought they had a gotcha story.

On the other hand, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is the one with the political problem. He has manifestly failed and lost this strike. He has committed the cardinal firing offense for a business leader: being unprepared for a crisis he knew was coming, while debasing his product.

Goodell better hope he can keep 17 votes in his favor among the 32 NFL team owners. Otherwise he might be biggest casualty of this strike.

Many Wi police labor leaders picked a fight they should have avoided.

There has been much discussion of winners, losers and the effect on public employee unions elsewhere in the US after the failure to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. But there has been little comment on one group of unionized workers that were unaffected by public employee union reform, yet joined the losing side anyway. And not once, but on three different occasions.

When Gov. Walker first introduced his plan to eliminate public employee collective bargaining, automatic union dues deduction and require annual union recertification votes there were two notable exceptions: police and fire unions.

This exemption was a godsend and it would have been perfectly natural, and tactically sound, if Wisconsin police labor leaders had simply breathed a sigh of relief as the Angel of Death passed over their house on its way to visit AFSCME households.

Instead many police leaders shinnied up the downspouts so they could get on the roof and try to flag him down.

One expects this type of behavior from firefighters. They’ve always been more committed to labor “solidarity” and most probably know the words to “Joe Hill.” Firemen are accustomed to volunteering in political campaigns and charitable efforts. (Cops say it’s because firemen only work part–time.)

So when Wisconsin firemen began beating on drums in the state capital and protesting the reform legislation it was not surprising. (One unexpected side effect of the Migration to Madison was the absence of fire trucks blocking the curb at grocery stores and the welcome shortage of firemen brandishing boots in left turn lanes.)

Cops, on the other hand, don’t volunteer.

Part of the difference is attributed to how police and fire unions are organized. Firefighters are much more hierarchical, with the locals sending dues money up to the state and national organization, where spending decisions are made. Consequently fire locals usually have a shortage of money, but plenty of manpower.

Police unions are feudal. Many locals are independent baronies and keep all the dues money within city limits. Even those locals affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Police or other national organizations, still keep local dues money at home and remain politically independent. That’s why effective police unions (those with over 450 dues–paying members) usually have money for political action, and the disinclination to volunteer is not so damaging.

I’ve worked with police (and some fire) unions for over 20 years and aside from union officers, you get almost no rank–and–file participation. Clients have had to hire temporary workers to gather signatures for a police pay raise election because the officers wouldn’t volunteer.

Which is why it was so surprising to see all those motivated cops enjoying “mic check” communication and employing their decoupage talents on poster board.

Other public employee unions want the cops to join their campaigns because conservatives and taxpayers usually support police. Consequently, police participation can generate public approval.

Unfortunately for cops, labor “solidarity” usually runs in one direction. When is the last time you saw AFSCME members picketing city hall when some rabble–rouser accuses the police of brutality? How many times have public employee union leaders defended police officers accused of “racial profiling?”

The answer is never.

Gov. Walker treated law enforcement differently and police union leaders should have done their best to make sure the precedent continued. Instead of encouraging members to join a pointless and destructive protest in the capital, (the notable exception being the Milwaukee police union that stayed with Gov. Walker), officers should have been meeting with individual legislators to thank them and explain how law enforcement is the equivalent of domestic defense: a spending priority conservatives can and should support.

In Congress few if any members are calling for military pay cuts, reductions in health coverage and limiting pensions, even though the tail–to–teeth ratio in the military is much higher than it is in domestic law enforcement.

Police officers have a difficult and inherently dangerous job. Librarians are rarely shot down during the course of their duties and they almost never have to fight a patron when it’s time to pay an overdue book fine. Cops are faced with this possibility on a daily basis.

It makes sense for them to be able to retire after 25 years on the job, have access to comprehensive medical coverage before and after retirement and receive a hazardous duty pay differential, just like the military. What’s more, police unions, in stark contrast with other public employee unions, have fought to maintain strict hiring standards, extensive background checks and stringent physical qualifications.

Law enforcement, like national defense, is not an area where wise conservatives seek to cut corners. I doubt even the most frugal Tea party member would want to exchange US law enforcement for Mexico’s.

Fortunately for Wisconsin cops they have a chance to recover from their leadership’s serial errors. Currently there is no sentiment in the legislature to revisit public employee union reform or public safety employee status. Wise police union leadership should take advantage of this truce and seek to repair their relationship with Republicans.

Attendees of RightOnline

If there is a difference between Netroots Nation and RightOnline, besides political leanings, it’s that the enthusiasm amongst the bloggers and activists present was high.  Fresh off the Wisconsin Recall win, the feeling of victory in November was palpable.  The kick-off morning session at RightOnline last Saturday in Las Vegas started with Luke Hilgemann, state director for AFP’s Wisconsin Chapter, who reiterated the facts about Walker’s reforms.  Reforms that  reduced property taxes in the state for the first time in twelve years.  In fact, the average Wisconsinite saved $700 on their property taxes thanks to Governor Walker.  Furthermore, the governor took a $3.6 billion dollar deficit and turned that into a $154 million dollar surplus without raising taxes, laying off workers, or disrupting the delivery of key state services.

Instead of labeling and smearing Walker’s agenda, like the political left has done, AFP and other organizations disseminated the accomplishments of the reforms.  Showing the positive changes towards the state’s economy, which saw the creation 33,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate dropping to 6.7%.  The state is seeing a return of its economic vigor thanks to Walker’s conservative reforms that has returned Wisconsin  on a track to fiscal sanity.   News that was warmly greeted by the audience.

Guy Benson, political commentator and News Editor at Townhall, gave an astute (and at times comical) history of the various failures the left and Wisconsin Democrats experienced in their efforts to derail the Walker agenda.  It started with Senate Democrats fleeing the state for avoid a quorum, therefore, blocking the bill.  It was passed after Senate Republicans removed the expenditure language, therefore, bypassing the quorum.  The Left tried to oust Justice David Prosser of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, who is seen as part of the conservative bloc on the seven member court, but failed.  Then they decided to recall six Senate Republicans in August of 2011, which ended with Republicans keeping the majority at the end of the day.  In short, it was an appropriate anecdote to describe   how conservatives are winning in the political battles at the heart of this presidential election.  Furthermore, it is being won in a concerted effort spearheaded by the common people.  A point Benson drove home.

However, as the economy continues to stagnate, despair and frustration are easy characteristics to exude.  There is no doubt that some attendees had experienced or knew a loved that has lost his or her job in the recent months.  However, Hugh Hewitt, who spoke after Benson, reminded people in the audience, (namely the baby-boomers) that this isn’t the first time we’ve experienced such hopelessness.  He stated how 1978, 1979, and 1980 were dismal years for America’s place on the world stage.  However, Ronald Reagan came along, reversed the geopolitical mess left by the Carter administration, and re-invigorated a stagnated American economy.

Just as it was thirty-two years ago, out nation’s future is on the line.  He reiterated the fact that everyone here, and those who participate in this online movement, matter a great deal.  Hewitt detailed how conservatives compliment, not compete, with each other and how we must band together and promote each other to drive, or change, the narrative peddled by the progressive left.  ”We are each other’s best advocate” and it’s our duty to bring more “Breitbarts,” like Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Mitt Romney, and Ted Cruz into the fold and “help them get here!”

He pointed out how conservatives, at times, overestimate the threat.  He described how many perceived the unions descending on Madison as an invincible army.  However, Hewitt stated that the media, Occupy Wall Street, and the progressive online networks are pretty much papier-mache and  stated that “boy is it raining right now and that’s a very good thing” concerning their incremental diminishing of power in our political discourse. What’s so great about the online movement and new media, Hewitt says, is that anyone can be Breitbart, Malkin, or Reynolds.  From the ten year veteran blogger to the forty-eight hour one, each day is new day online. Let’s get to work!

Netroots Nation

Netroots Nation, the annual left wing gathering of activists and bloggers, concluded this weekend with a lukewarm response from its attendants.  To say it was lackluster would be generous.  In the wake of the conservative victory in the Wisconsin Recall election, where Scott Walker, the only governor to survive a recall effort, handily beat Democratic Mayor of Milwaukee Tom Barrett, hopes ran low.  According to John Fund, who wrote in National Review, “enthusiasm for Obama was decidedly absent from this year’s gathering. Administration officials weren’t invited to attend (Valerie Jarrett and others have appeared in the past), and President Obama limited his role to an unpublicized surprise video shown to delegates late on Saturday, when many people had already left. Change is hard, but we’ve seen that it’s possible, as long as you’re willing to keep up that fight, I’ll be right there with you, Obama offered. Not exactly a stirring call to arms, and the tepid applause his video garnered can’t have pleased Team Obama.”

Van Jones gave a “rousing” speech demonizing conservatives, but what was I found most amusing was the panel discussion Fund wrote about concerning DINO (Democrat In Name Only) activities.  The panel called “When Democrats Aren’t Democrats: The Story of Rhode Island.  Kate Brown, the executive director of the liberal group Ocean State Action, warned that progressives are in a minority on a lot of issues” they care about, including gay marriage, expanding abortion rights, raising tax rates, and even implementing Obamacare. “We cut tax rates for the wealthy,” she asserted. “So when they tell us there’s no money [for programs], they are lying! There’s lots of money.”  So much that we’re $15 trillion dollars in debt, we’re nearly $60 trillion dollars in the hole with the unfunded liabilities for our entitlement programs, and soaking the rich has been consistently debunked as a viable economic policy.

It’s not the messaging that sucks, it’s the political left that sucks. Gov. Scott Walker is an exemplar of a committed leader who is pushing his state towards fiscal health and economic vitality.  He is the personification of a principled conservative. As a result, he beat Barrett and garnered more votes than he did in the 2010 gubernatorial election.  The recent recall saw the highest turnout ever for a gubernatorial race in Wisconsin history that ended in the repudiation of left-wing economic policies. The types of policies espoused by Ms. Brown and other progressives on the left.  One must ask if liberals are taking notice to the cries of  ”hell no” from the American electorate concerning their socio-ecnomic agenda.

Well, if you’ve seen the post-recall footage, you have far left activists convinced they didn’t lose.  In fact, the state director for the Obama campaign, Tripp Wellde stated:

While tonight’s outcome was not what we had hoped for – no one can dispute the strong message sent to Governor Walker. Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites from all walks of life took a stand against the politics of division and against the flood of secret and corporate money spent on behalf of Scott Walker, which amounted to a massive spending gap of more than $31 million to $4 million…it is a testament to all of those individuals who talked to their friends, neighbors, and colleagues about the stakes in this election of how close this contest was. The power of Wisconsin’s progressive, grassroots tradition was clearly on display throughout the run up to this election and we will continue to work together to ensure a brighter future for Wisconsin’s middle class.

This would be meaningful if Barrett HAD WON!

Then, there is the inimitable Howard Dean.

(H/T Guy Benson)

Whether the liberals want to admit it or not, their entire agenda is crumbling.  To combat the stinging defeat of their policies that were soundly rejected by voters of a swing state, they must be increasing their daily intake of Soma, which has to be responsible for the delusional remarks above.  However, I’ve heard when your coming down from the proggie high, the sense of hopelessness can be palpable.  Hence, the Netroots blues exhibited last weekend.  My advice to the left is stay home and let us do the governing for a bit.

On Wednesday the White House released President Obama’s detailed itinerary through October:

1. Worry

2. Lie

3. Obfuscate

4. Golf

5. Fundraise

6. Worry

Indeed, the president has much to worry about. No honest politico can deny that liberals’ Wisconsin debacle likely represents a shadow of things to come – a precursor to November.

Recall DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s admission on CNN. In a rare moment of candor, she said Wisconsin was a “dry run” – a “test run” for the 2012 election. (A bit like the Titanic’s test run, as it turns out.)

Tuesday night Sarah Palin took to Fox News where she said that Scott Walker’s humiliating defeat of Tom Barrett, the DNC and heretofore-excessively-coddled-labor-union-leaders spells big trouble for little Barry. “Obama’s goose is cooked,” she said. “It’s the union leaders who need to be recalled.”

Does this mean the Democratic Party is not long for the world? That our two-party system is on its way out?

Of course not.

As long as there are voters who really, really want lots of free stuff from other people, there will be Democrats and Democratic politicians.

Still, what it does mean is that beyond the short-term political reality that Wisconsin presents a bleak forecast for Democrats in 2012 – liberalism itself (or “progressivism,” as the left euphemistically prefers) is terminally ill.

On Tuesday night, blogger David Burge of the Iowa Hawk blog “tweeted: “The principal delusion of liberals is that liberalism is popular. The principal delusion of conservatives is that liberalism is popular.”

Simple, yet profound.

Liberals should be afraid. They should be very afraid. The jig is up. Polls consistently show that Americans identify as conservative over liberal by a two-to-one margin. Wisconsin was an earthshaking manifestation of this reality.

But it was only a tremor.

There’s a distinct probability a massive quake awaits liberals when, later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court releases its decision on Obamacare. If this, both Obama’s and Democrats’ signature accomplishment, goes down, so too do the obtusely utopian, neo-Marxist dreams of the Democratic Party’s progressive base.

And in November? The tsunami.

Indeed, the political tectonic plates are shifting. Unsurprisingly, so-called “progressives” pretend it ain’t so.

Problem is, so do conservatives.

Stop it, both of you!

This is about worldview. This is about an epic clash between two irreconcilable, diametrically opposed socio-political philosophies. It’s a zero-sum game. Somebody wins and somebody loses.

On the one hand, we have secular-socialism, a cultural and political philosophy embraced by labor unions, Barack Obama, the base of the Democratic Party, the mainstream media and many of those controlling the reins of our elitist institutions. It is “progressivism.”

This is a philosophy that, throughout history, has proven to be a serial failure. One need only look to Europe for the latest example. This secularist worldview is based loosely on the unattainable, redistributionist ramblings of Karl Marx, the father of communism.

It hates Christianity. It hates constitutionalism. It hates the precepts of individual liberty and responsibility codified throughout our nation’s founding documents. It embraces moral relativism and says there are no clear lines of demarcation between right and wrong.

It says that government is God and that as government giveth, government taketh away.

In sum: It’s garbage.

On the other hand we have the Judeo-Christian worldview. This is the socio-political philosophy embraced by our Founding Fathers. The historical record is unequivocal. It was within this framework that our U.S. Constitution was created. It is conservatism.

It says that we are endowed by our “Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

It embraces the virtues of fiscal responsibility, individual liberty and personal charity. It says there is black and white – right and wrong. It strives for less government and more freedom.

It acknowledges that there is a sovereign God – to whom we are all accountable – including both government and those whom “we the people” place in government.

It holds that as God giveth, God taketh away, and that you lying, cheating, ungodly snakes in Washington, D.C., better just take a step back and quick.

In sum: It is truth.

On Tuesday night, as the election returns came in and it became clear that Scott Walker was landsliding liberals and their union thugocracy, some progressive nut broke down, sobbing on camera and cried: “Democracy died tonight!”

Progressives, get this straight: On Tuesday night democracy didn’t die. Democracy was fulfilled in a powerful and transformative way.

And it’s only the beginning.

Liberals went to Wisconsin for a recall vote and a revolution broke out. We the people have spoken. Tea party? Yes. “Occupy”? Not so much.

Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”

On Tuesday America hit Wisconsin and did an about-turn.

Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action. (This information is provided for identification purposes only.)

Governor Walker deserves our heartfelt thanks for his steadfast determination to do the right thing. But you will never know just how difficult this was if you get your news from the “mainstream” liberal media. While shamelessly championing the Democrats’ cause, they completely ignored the unprecedented, outrageous campaign of hate and lies promoted by those same Democrats and their public employee union allies. This shameless, naked, self-serving attempted power grab is a story in-and-of itself.

News reports of the union-orchestrated, DNC-backed, month-long occupation of the Wisconsin state capital last year were ubiquitous. This was followed by a flurry of recall efforts last summer and this winter against 16 senators (8 Republicans and 8 Democrats) – every senator that was eligible for recall - as well as Governor Scott Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. This recall was unprecedented. There have been only three times in history when more than one legislator has been recalled over any single issue.

What is less known is that the recall effort against Governor Walker – indeed, the entire attack – was far from spontaneous. Within days of his election the left began contemplating a recall, and it began in earnest in February of 2011, before his controversial budget bill was even passed. The left had him in its sights from day one.

Following the announcement of Governor Walker’s “Budget Repair Bill,” last February, unions went on a rampage. Beginning around February 15, 2011, protesters began massing around the state Capitol building in Madison.

On February 17^th, all fourteen state senate Democrats fled the state to prevent a quorum for voting on the bill. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka addressed the growing crowd the following day. By the 20^th protesters were occupying the capitol building.

They were enthusiastically supported by the national news media, which compared Wisconsin protests to Egypt. ABC’s Christiane Amanpour said, “Populist frustration is boiling over this week, as we’ve said, not just in the Middle East, but in the middle of this country as well.” On NBC, Brian Williams exclaimed, “From the Mideast to the American Midwest tonight, people are rising up. Citizens’ uprisings are changing the world.” Ed Schultz broadcast live from the Capitol on February 17^th.

An editor of the leftwing Buffalo Beast contacted Walker by phone, impersonating billionaire Walker supporter David Koch, who Walker had never spoken with before. He recorded and broadcast the call. The Society of Professional Journalists called it “underhanded and unethical… grossly inappropriate.”

Death Threats and AWOL Media

The occupation of the Capital building made front page news for weeks running, but the mass media somehow missed all the protesters’ outrageous, disgraceful behavior and thug tactics:

• Early childhood teacher Katherine Windels pled guilty in December 2011 to making death threats to Governor Walker and Republican senators following passage of the Budget Repair bill. E-mails made statements like: “Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed… This woman obviously had problems, but the tone set by the unions and their Democrat allies did nothing to discourage such behavior. The media silence was deafening.
• A suspect in Maine was arrested after sending letters to that state’s Republican U.S. senators suggesting that Walker should be killed and that all Republican governors resign. How do we know this? One blogger, Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit.
• Dozens of emails suggested Walker or legislators should be shot or hanged, watch their backs, look over their shoulders or resign. One man tweeted that he prayed an anvil would fall from the sky onto Walker. How do we know this? Hoft again.
• Police found 41 rounds of live ammunition near three separate entrances to the capitol building in early March. How do we know this? Fox News… in Memphis.
• A union agitator posted a photo of Governor Walker’s son, asking, “What’s it like having the most hated dad in Wisconsin? This kid knows.” How do we know this? The agitator’s Facebook.
• The same agitator poured beer on state Rep. Robin Voss at a local restaurant. Five days earlier he had accompanied another agitator, who followed Vos, screaming at him and warning Vos that he had “five days to respond.” How do we know this? The agitator’s own Youtube video.
• Union members disrupted a Special Olympics award ceremony. Made up as zombies, they stood between the governor and award recipients, preventing them from receiving the awards. How do we know this? Gateway Pundit’s Hoft, again.
• 2,000 union protesters demonstrated a Walker fundraiser; took pictures of attendees’ license plates. How do we know this? That’s right, yet again.
• Meanwhile at a leftwing “Fighting Bob” La Follette festival, celebrating Wisconsin’s famous “progressive,” one of the speakers said “If you’re going to pour beer on a Republican, you have to drink it first.”

Urinating on your opponents… All in good fun for the Democrats of course, but what would Ed Schultz say if the tables were turned? The New York Times?

Joining in the dignified celebration, fellow speakers included Democratic Congresswoman and US Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s Mike McCabe, former Congressman David Obey, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and others. A good time was had by all.

Do these people have no shame? That’s a rhetorical question, of course.

Wisconsin’s firefighter’s union refused to participate in a 9-11 float depicting firefighters raising the flag on the World Trade Center grounds. The float’s creator was a union supporter of Scott Walker.

Peshtigo High School chorus teacher Rob Schneider resigned after sending the following e-mail to Republican state Rep. John Nygren:

(Expletive) you!!! I pray that a semi-truck will run you over you piece of (expletive) (expletive)! If there is a God that (expletive) Governor Walker will be riding with you when the truck hits your sorry (expletive)!!!!!!!!!! Stop (expletive) sending me your (expletive)!!! You are a waste of human space!!!!

On March 3^rd, protesters were ordered out of the Capitol building. On March 9^th, Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature passed the bill using a procedural move to bypass the still AWOL Democrat state senators. Spending bills require a quorum to be voted on, but by removing all spending elements, state legislators were able to quickly pass the measure without the missing Democrats.

One Democrat state senator supposedly “drove 80 miles per hour” in a failed attempt to return to the capital in time to impact the vote. On March 10^th the bill was signed into law. Protesters remained around the capitol in dwindling numbers until June.

Crimes Committed in Police Absence

Hundreds of police were required around the clock when protesters occupied the capitol building, and the community was endangered as a result. One detective testified in court that he was unable to apprehend two robbery suspects because he was required to be at the capitol. The two have since been arrested for a murder that might have otherwise been prevented.

After hearing an early estimate of $7.5 million to clean up from the month-long protest, liberals were furious that anyone could beef when the maintenance cost was later estimated to be about $200,000. Total costs, including police overtime, actually exceeded $8 million. Media outrage over that? Crickets.

Lt. Governor’s Incredible Story

In its abdication of honest journalism, the media has completely overlooked another story as well, the election and recall of Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Kleefisch was a former news anchor who quit in 2004 to be a stay-at-home mom to her two children. Increasingly fed up with Wisconsin’s dysfunctional government, she announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor by webcam from her kitchen table in January of 2010.

Kleefisch was diagnosed with colon cancer in the middle of her campaign, underwent surgery, won her campaign, and went on to get chemotherapy just as the recall was beginning. Despite this amazing tale of courage and determination, or perhaps because of it, the Left’s attacks on Kleefisch were unprecedented in their vile viciousness. One Leftist radio host said on air,

I’m Rebecca Kleefisch. I perform fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorse me and that’s how I became lieutenant governor.

He then went on to accuse her of “pulling trains…” Where was the media on that one? NOW?

Weaponized Recalls

According to Wisconsin law, since 1967, governors and their lieutenants run on the same ticket but there is no similar provision for recalls. Kleefisch said, “No one at that point in American history had weaponized the recall function. And that’s what we’re looking at in Wisconsin now – non-stop recalls.”

So what was this nonstop protest, endless recalls and vicious invective all about, mass executions of innocents, as was happening in the streets of Iran at the same time? Were the police shooting protesters, as they were in Egypt? Or worse, did the governor purchase a yacht with union pension funds?

Self-Serving War Against Responsible Government

Governor Walker’s modest “Budget Repair Bill” now known as Act 10, proposed that union members contribute a mere 12.6 percent to their health care premiums (they were paying between 4 and 6 percent), and 5.8 percent toward pensions, where they had previously contributed nothing. He also proposed curbs on some collective bargaining rights.

These modest changes – accomplished without raising taxes – reduced a projected 3.6 billion structural deficit inherited from the prior administration to a surplus of approximately $89 million now. Local governments and school districts were able to save over $220 million within a few months after the bill’s passage.

In passing the bill, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald stated:

Before the election, the Democrats promised ‘adult leadership’ in Madison. Then a month and a half into session, the Senate Democrats fled the state instead of doing their job. ‘In doing so, they have tarnished the very institution of the Wisconsin state Senate. This is unacceptable.

This afternoon, following a week and a half of line-by-line negotiation, Sen. Miller sent me a letter that offered three options: 1) keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 2) take [the Democrats’] counter-offer, which would keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 3) or stop talking altogether.

With that letter, I realized that we’re dealing with someone who is stalling indefinitely, and doesn’t have a plan or an intention to return. His idea of compromise is ‘give me everything I want,’ and the only negotiating he’s doing is through the media.

Enough is enough.

The people of Wisconsin elected us to do a job.  They elected us to stand up to the broken status quo, stop the constant expansion of government, balance the budget, create jobs and improve the economy.  The longer the Democrats keep up this childish stunt, the longer the majority can’t act on our agenda.

The union protest against the Repair Bill was presented as a spontaneous reaction, but the Walker recall effort began over one year ago. A group called United Wisconsin initiated the recall a few days after Walker first proposed the Bill. One website, recallscottwalker.com, started in November 2010, within days of his election. None of what has happened in Wisconsin has been even remotely “spontaneous.” Governor Walker was in their sights from the beginning.

When the recall began in earnest, United Wisconsin was joined by a nationwide constellation of union, radical left and Democrat organizations. This group reflects an emerging labor/radical left/Democrat syndicate – encouraged by a sympathetic press – and behaved like one. Using the vote swamping method pioneered by ACORN, labor and democrat activists collected a claimed 1 million recall petitions in two months. These were submitted by the January 17, 2012 deadline.

Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB), is responsible for verifying the recall effort. Led by Democrat Kevin Kennedy, the GAB flatly refused to validate the petitions. They announced in a press conference that they would accept any petition with a valid address, even if signed by Adolf Hitler. They added “we will not strike them unless challenged.”

The process allowed 10 days to review petitions. A Dane County (Madison) judge extended that to thirty days at the request of the Walker administration, but denied further extensions. The thirty day window to review petitions began on January 28.

TRUE THE VOTE Comes to the Rescue

Two citizen groups, We the People of the Republic and Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty, took up the challenge and created an organization for that purpose titled Verify the Recall (VTR). At that point there were 22 days remaining to evaluate the 1 million petitions United Wisconsin claimed to have submitted. The response is a story all to itself.

To facilitate this effort, VTR contacted Catherine Engelbrecht’s True the Vote. TTV created an online program for inputting and verifying petitions using a triple blind procedure. Volunteers would be able to input data from a computer anywhere in the U.S. By February 27^th, the last day for challenging petitions, TTV had recruited 14,000 volunteers nationwide. They had entered and analyzed 92 percent of the records submitted.

VTR identified 819,233 discreet records, not the 1 million claimed by United Wisconsin. Of these, only 534,685, 65 percent, could be verified as legitimate. TTV continued to analyze the data past the due date, attempting to review all petitions. On March 21, they had analyzed 97 percent, a total of 860,155 complete records with 584,489 validated. More than the 540,208 needed, barely, but with a tremendous error rate. A total of 17,000 volunteers had participated.

As with ACORN’s now-famous voter registration drives, there were many blatantly bogus “Donald Duck” petitions, duplicates and incomplete records. One Democrat activist, Mark Demet, signed the names of family members and neighbors, including one neighbor’s dead husband, without their knowledge or consent. Demet was charged with seven counts of felony ID theft and two counts of vote fraud, with a potential 49 year prison sentence.

Despite GAB’s earlier insistence that private citizens verify recall petitions, they refused to examine or even acknowledge VTR’s efforts. Ultimately, the GAB certified all but 30,000 of the most egregious cases. Except to discredit VTR, the media largely ignored this story.

Verify the Recall published a searchable database on the recall petitions. Its revelations included:

• 571 petition signers owe a total of $17 million in back taxes.
• 20,000 felons signed the petition, including 11 murderers, 203 rapists, 53 child pornographers, 3,207 thieves, 1,526 for battery, 357 hit and run, and many others.
• 29 Wisconsin judges signed the recall petition, including Dane County Judge David Flanagan, who later placed a restraining order on a voter ID law passed by Walker and the Republican legislature.
• Deputy DA Lovell Johnson Jr, 19 attorneys and dozens of other DA employees signed. Some had been working on a heavily criticized “secret” John Doe investigation of Governor Walker at the time.
• NBC affiliate WTMJ issued a public apology that several of its news staff and editors had signed the Walker recall petition.
• 25 Gannett News journalists signed the petition, some in violation of the company’s code of ethical conduct. Gannett also apologized.
• 32 Post-Crescent journalists signed the petition, including six directly involved in reporting about the recall.
• School board members, four University of Wisconsin regents and the university’s chief spokesman also signed. The spokesman alone apologized.

Richard Niess, the same judge who had limited the petition review to thirty days also ordered a permanent injunction against the Walker voter ID law in March. The state will appeal.

True the Vote has also been on the ground in Wisconsin to train volunteer poll-watchers. This is a critical function that is being provided nationwide only by True the Vote. GOP are you listening? Perhaps the most critical function an activist can engage in this year, you should sign up. If you can’t do that, support True the Vote, which has become one of the most effective grassroots groups out there today.

The press has made much of Walker’s “advantage” in recall campaign funds, but unions have spent over $14 million on Walker opponents in this effort. This does not include the rent-a-protester demonstrations, in which they bussed in people from out of state and held the capitol building hostage for almost a month.

Union Thugs Unrepentant – After All, They Are Thugs

The largest union contributor was Wisconsin’s main teacher’s union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). They have spent $4.4 million on the recall effort so far.

Last year WEAC fought the dismissal of two public school science teachers fired for viewing and emailing porn from their work computers. Legal battles cost the district over $500,000 defending an open-and-shut administrative decision, a stark demonstration of the union’s priorities and attitudes.

Total spending on the Walker recall could reach $80 million. Walker claims unions alone could spend as much as $60 million. Walker campaigned on reducing out-of-control spending, won on that basis and kept his word. He shouldn’t have to be raising a penny.

It is interesting to note that Wisconsin’s famous Congressman and later governor, “Fighting Bob” La Follette, was the author of one of the first pro-public-employee union laws passed by Congress (in 1912). It negated an executive order preventing employees from soliciting “…an increase of pay, or to influence or to attempt to influence in their own interest any legislation whatever, either before Congress or its Committees,”[1]

The passage of this law informed creation of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) five years later, the first union to legally represent federal workers. La Follette’s law began the slow slide toward full acceptance of public employee unions. Significantly, Wisconsin was also the first state to allow collective bargaining by public unions. Perhaps Governor Walker was sent by the gods to set things right.

Walker’s challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, won the Democrat primary, although another Democrat, former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk received most backing from the major public employee unions. This may have been part of a deliberate deception, however. Barrett had distanced himself somewhat from unions, although he promised to repeal Act 10.

Here’s the rub. Did the unions really care which Democrat is elected? Barrett may have quibbled with them at the margins during his term as mayor, but would a Governor Barrett dare threaten the union/democrat franchise in Wisconsin?

When pigs fly.

AFL-CIO’s top thug, Richard Trumka appeared on C-SPAN before the Democrat primary to address this question, “After the [primary] election they’ll come together and they’ll take out, I think we’ll take out Scott Walker…” An interesting choice of words for a man whose union thugs murdered a non-union employee, Eddie York, during a United Mine Worker strike. As he said at the time, “I’m saying if you strike a match and put your finger in, common sense tells you you’re going to burn your finger.”

Trumka didn’t seem worried about challenges to union supremacy from other states either: “Would you like to take this fight on?” he asked the interviewer. “A year after you were in office would you like to be in the fight of your life, spending $25, $35 million to hold on to a seat you were supposed to have for four years and you lose a majority in the Senate? Would that embolden you? Not if you were sane and rational it wouldn’t.”

I wonder what he is saying now.

Despite massive vote fraud from the Democrats, including busing people from out of state to abuse the same-day voting process allowed in Wisconsin, Walker won a resounding victory. This will return sanity to state budgeting in Wisconsin and demonstrate that public employee unions cannot continue to dictate outrageous terms of compensation through intimidation and thuggery. A loss would have legitimized the unions’ mob rule, Occupy tactics, and encouraged America’s own “Arab Spring,” the nationwide revolution that communists, anarchists and professional agitators have been contemplating for a year.

Say a prayer of thanks to God today for Scott Walker and our nation.

UPDATE Today: Note that the media continues the disinformation campaign by claiming that Walker won in Wisconsin only because of vastly outspending Democrats. This is a lie. A full accounting finds that traceable funds spent by Democrats were almost equal to Walker’s spending. If the vast unreported amounts unions provide were measured, it would likely exceed Republican spending for the recall. Furthermore, given their reliance on taxpayer funded public employee unions and fat cat sugar daddies like George Soros, Peter Lewis and the Sandlers, Democrat complaints about “big money” are the height of hypocrisy.

Originally posted at Right Side News

James Simpson is a businessman, media consultant and investigative journalist. His articles have been published at American Thinker, Accuracy in Media, Big Government, Big Peace, Washington Times, WorldNetDaily, and others. His regular column is DC Independent Examiner. Follow Jim on Twitter, FB

[1] Executive Order #163.

"We didn't lose"

Believe it or not, some liberals feel they didn’t lose, despite the curb stomping Tom Barrett took last night.

Note to left-wingers: Elections can be called without all the votes being counted, especially when all the returns point to a landslide victory. (i.e 1984 presidential election)

(h/t Dana Loesch)

The results in Wisconsin are especially revealing when examining the mood of American voters. That mood will play a critical role in determining November’s presidential election results. Wisconsin is one of several crucial swing states that could decide which economic direction American voters choose for their country.

In a traditionally liberal State, Governor Scott Walker ran as and has been governing as a fiscal Conservative. He stood his ground, staking the Governor’s mansion on defense of Conservative economic principles

The nation was watching closely. Neighboring states were too. Voters in a state obama won by double digits in 2008 had chosen to follow a different path in 2010. That decision to change course was re-confirmed by the outcome of the 2012 re-call attempt.

The looming national fight is real and based on substance. The upcoming presidential election will not be just about personalities. For obama, who’s personal polling numbers remain high, this is not particularly good news.

Unions formed as a way for workers to unite and push back against abusive employment practices. If public employees see the government they’re working for as abusive, there is a real problem. Either that government should be removed from office or the unions should curtail their expectations. Perhaps both. In Wisconsin, voters sided with the government. A Conservative government

A growing number of voters nationwide now believe public sector unions have gone too far and are milking a corrupt system. This is to the detriment of the ordinary folks who fund union demands with their taxes. The depth of animosity toward public employees is palpable. They keep demanding more until the taxpayers can no longer support them.

obama is closely tied to unions. For years he has openly supported them and worked to expand their role and increase their power. For a growing number of voters, that fact will come into play this November.

By visibly staying away from Wisconsin and mailing his support for Milwaukee Mayor Barrett in at the eleventh hour, obama may have made a crucial mistake. Rank and file union members might now see him as someone who was unwilling to stand up for them in their hour of need. Will they decide to stand up for him when he needs their votes come November’s election?

Make no mistake about it; the result of the Wisconsin recall election is a boost in moral for Republicans nationwide. On the other hand, it is a blow to Democrats, their union supporters and the rest of the institutionalized “progressive” left. Conservatives and the left went three rounds in Wisconsin and the left lost all three.

Whether the “progressive” Democratic Party and their press secretaries in the “progressive” Party Pravda/”mainstream media” want to accept, acknowledge or even report it, the momentum goes to Republicans.

http://mjfellright.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/momentum-goes-to-republicans/

Union supporters gather to protest embattled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in front of Madison Capitol. - photo by Jeremy Griffith

As Venus crosses the sun, the political stars too seemed to align for embattled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who survived a special recall election in his state Tuesday. Walker trounced opponent Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 53-46, crushing the labor unions along with him.

Big labor had been angry with the Governor ever since he passed legislation to reform labor pensions and stripped the unions of their bargaining rights as a measure to control deficit spending in the state. Since then the labor unions have launched a costly recall effort over the past 18 months that culminated bitterly on Tuesday.

The outcome, though striking was not apparent on the ground in Madison amongst those gathered to protest. An Occupy Wall Street style gathering occurred at the steps of the state capitol before the polls closed, with many of the same themes as previous Occupy protests around the country, including French themed signs, drum circles and shouts of “This is what democracy looks like!”

See exclusive video of the scene below.

Protesting union supporters talk about why they voted to oust Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Libertarian voter explains his view.

Retired Firefighter joins protest, explains why he voted to oust Governor.

Stay Classy Liberals

(H/T Twitchy)

Once the reforms were enacted, government sector unions went rogue, holding demonstrations, occupying the State House and basically going out of their way to create a ruckus over perceived wrong doings by Walker and his fellow Republicans.

The allegations were that the Republicans had wrongly stripped the public unions of all their collective bargaining “rights”. This allegation was false on multiple counts.

First of all, collective bargaining is not a right. A right is something that is inherent, which belongs to you without costing another. Wielding monopoly bargaining power to extort exorbitant salaries, pensions and benefits in excess of those enjoyed by the taxpayers footing the bill from politicians seeking re-election to office is not a right.

Second, collective bargaining is a negotiating tool, agreed upon by both sides of the negotiations. A mutually agreed upon negotiating tool, like any such tool, is subject to rejection by one side or the other at any time.

Thirdly, the unions did not lose all their bargaining power. They still retain the ability to collectively bargain for salaries. What changed was their power to collectively bargain over pensions and benefits was removed. Those are budgetary line items that for the State of Wisconsin had reached the point of insolvency. The cost of those pensions and benefits were sending the State of Wisconsin down the fast track to bankruptcy.

In response, every national union in America spent huge bankrolls and invested big muscle in multiple recall attempts within the State of Wisconsin; culminating in the recall attempts against Governor Walker and Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch. In each and every recall attempt, the big, free spending, bullying tactic practicing union failed. The hardest core, institutionalized “progressive” left threw everything they had at Walker, Kleefisch and Wisconsin and fell short. Their noisy, irreverent public displays of selfishness went to no avail.

The win in Wisconsin is a win for the Silent Majority…otherwise known as the Tea Party. Remember them? The “progressive” Party Pravda and “progressive” politicians of all stripes want you to believe they’ve disappeared from the electoral map.

Remember the Tea Party. The ordinary mom and pop citizens who had finally had enough, who got up off the couch, skipped a few of their regularly scheduled activities and demonstrated against big government, big spending, higher taxes and irresponsible regulations.

The Tea Party stood eyeball to eyeball and went toe to toe with the unions in Wisconsin. The Tea Party took the unions best punch and won each and every round. Unions and their incessant demands for more of the fruits of the taxpayer’s labor are on retreat in Wisconsin. Unions and their institutionalized “progressive” allies are on notice. It’s time for them to retreat in America. The people have spoken.

The Tea Party and America are on the rise.

http://mjfellright.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/wisconsin-tea-party-beats-unions/

Let's Try and Get A Grip

Sadly, American democracy ended with Gov. Scott Walker’s landslide win in the Wisconsin recall election.  If this is news to you, don’t worry about it.  The far left needs to get a grip.  ”The United States of America (1776-2012)”

Gov. Scott Walker Survived His Recall Effort By A Landslide

After the most expensive recall election in Wisconsin history, Scott Walker has soundly beaten left wing efforts to eviscerate his agenda that has returned economic vigor to the state of Wisconsin.  What should have been a titanic battle between the two competing narratives, one being deficit spending and dependency peddling advocated on the left and lowering taxes and cutting spending to balance the budget on the right, was a landslide victory for Governor Walker.

The governor wiped out a $3.6 billion dollar deficit without tax increases, reduced property taxes for the first time in twelve years, and has dropped the unemployment rate in the state to 6.7%.  He has given local school districts the flexibility to renegotiate health pans and benefits, which has produced millions in savings.  When choice and competition are interjected into the market, costs are usually reduced, therefore, a dividend for the American consumer. A concept that is anathema to the left.  Hence, mandated health care coverage via Obamacare.  Like Chris Christie, Scott Walker took a stand for what he believed in and what he thought was right for his state.  Throughout this entire debacle, Scott Walker has stuck to his principles that provided him the passion to see through to absolute victory.  A passion that was also exuded by his supporters in this election.  It proves that the strong core that conservatism produces in its followers will undoubtedly defeat the waffled convictions of the institutional left.

As for the unions in Wisconsin, and that of the larger labor union movement, I’m hoping that this will be the death knell concerning their influence in the American political process.  At the very least, tonight was a serious blow to unionized labor and demonstrated their reduced capability in executing successful political operations. According to Phil Kerpen, it’s pretty clear:

that Walker will be able to serve at least the rest of his term through 2014 and keep building on the progress made with his education and collective bargaining reforms. More broadly, Walker was able to implement such reforms in a state that President Obama won by 14 points in 2008, and ultimately win popular acceptance after an initially fierce backlash. It means that governors in states throughout the nation should no longer be afraid to take on public sector unions.

Of course, Walker’s victory is about more than public sector unions. What Walker has demonstrated is that voters will ultimately reward politicians for showing political courage on the big issues if they have the resolve to see their policies implemented and watch them succeed. Enthusiasm for Walker among his supporters was off the charts because people are more willing to fight for a leader who has actually taken a stand. As the United States faces a looming fiscal crisis due to prior generations’ unwillingness to tackle runaway spending on the entitlement programs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, wobbly-kneed politicians in Washington should look to Walker’s triumph in Wisconsin for inspiration.

Lastly, I would also like to thank DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz for nationalizing the recall and for putting Wisconsin in the toss-up column for general election.  Needless to say, it was a very good “dry run” for Scott Walker, Mitt Romney, and the Republican Party concerning their approach to balancing budgets and getting the economy back on track.  I can’t say the same for Barack Obama.

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/06/live-blog-wisconsin-recall-election-results-live-coverage/

(h/t Rich Mitchell)

Unions and the progressive agenda are taking a huge hit as popular sentiment is falling behind fiscal sanity and a responsible governor. While the election implications are dire for the President and Democrats, the news is good for all of the Republicans also recalled.

Rebecca Kleefisch will remain the state’s Lt. Governor and all  four Republican State Senate seats that were recalled will remain Republican.

• Scott Fitzgerald handily won the right to keep his position in district 13 by a 60-39% margin.
• Kristen Dexter was handed a defeat in her bid to take Terry Moulton’s district 23 seat away.
• Jerry Petrowski beat back the challenge by Donna Seidel with a 66-34% margin
• Van Wanggaard will hold on to his seat beating out Democrat challenger John Lehman 63-37%

Not to be outdone, CNN projected Walker the winner in the race at .. 10:22pm with an oddly worded tweet:

After all the union money and Democrat grass roots effort, it appears that America is looking for less government and more sanity.