Gov. Scott Walker Reportedly Planning Financial Martial Law In Wisconsin

Apr. 16 2011 - 5:16 pm
by Rick Ungar

Reports are surfacing that Scott Walker is now preparing his next assault on the democratic political process in the State of Wisconsin.

Following the lead of Michigan GOP Governor Rick Snyder, Walker is said to be preparing a plan that would allow him to force local governments to submit to a financial stress test with an eye towards permitting the governor to take over municipalities that fail to meet with Walker’s approval.

According to the reports, should a locality’s financial position come up short, the Walker legislation would empower the governor to insert a financial manager of his choosing into local government with the ability to cancel union contracts, push aside duly elected local government officials and school board members and take control of Wisconsin cities and towns whenever he sees fit to do so.

Such a law would additionally give Walker unchallenged power to end municipal services of which he disapproves, including safety net assistance to those in need.

According to my sources, the plan is being written by the legal offices of Foley & Lardner, the largest law firm in the state, and is scheduled to be introduced to the legislature in May of this year.

The story first came to public attention yesterday during an interview with Madison, Wisconsin attorney and activist, Ed Garvey, on Wisconsin Public Radio.

While Mr. Garvey is a familiar player in Wisconsin politics, some of you who are football fans may recognize his name from his days as the Executive Director of the NFL Players’ Association, where Garvey is credited with making extraordinary strides in the protection of player rights and improving their earning opportunities.

I spoke with Mr. Garvey today to gain insight into his information, which led me to Mr. Nate Kimm – a Wisconsin based political organizer who is a leader in the effort to recall eight  GOP Wisconsin State Senators who voted in favor of Gov. Walker’s anti-collective bargaining legislation.

While Kimm was unwilling to reveal his source, he was able to confirm that he had received the information regarding Walker’s plans from a highly placed GOP source, very much in a position to know what the Governor has in the works.

Should these reports prove accurate, Walker’s plan would resemble-if not directly mirror- the legislation signed into law by Gov. Snyder of Michigan which gives Snyder extraordinary powers to take over municipalities when he determines them to be in financial trouble, further permitting him to actually fire locally elected public officials when he deems it desirable.

Gov. Snyder’s extraordinary law became all too real this week when Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris, appointed by the Governor to take charge of  Benton Harbor, Michigan, issued an order which took away all powers of the city’s elected officials.

Yes, this has really happened right here in the United States of America.

Walker’s plans give further credence to the notion that the efforts of the GOP governors with Republican majorities in their state legislative bodies are part of a coordinated plan to enforce a right-wing agenda designed to not only destroy state, county and municipal employee unions, but to take control of  local governments by replacing elected officials with appointees, both corporate and individual, of the state’s highest executive officer.

More on this as it becomes available.

Thanks to Wisconsinite Doug Olson for his help with this story.

Contact Rick at thepolicypage@gmail.com

http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/04/16/gov-scott-walker-reportedly-planning-financial-martial-law-in-wisconsin/

BP plotted to influence what scientists say about oil spill’s impact, internal emails reveal

Fri Apr 15, 11:51 am ET
By Brett Michael Dykes

With the first anniversary of the onset of the BP oil spill coming up next week, spill-weary Gulf natives have a fresh reminder of how the oil giant has devoted itself to studiously downplaying the damage of the disaster: A recently leaked body of internal company correspondence shows senior BP brass trying to spin scientific research produced by company-paid researchers in order to minimize the scale of the spill's destruction in the public mind.

The news doesn't exactly come as a shock to many in the Gulf region. After all, when the Mobile Press-Register first reported last summer that BP was contracting to hire a battery of coastal scientists, many theorized that some such initiative was afoot. And now the internal BP emails obtained by Greenpeace through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appear to bear such worries out.

As The Guardian reports today, BP officials sought to tailor the findings of company-funded research. Last May, BP announced that it was ponying up $500 million to fund "an open research program studying the impact of the Deepwater Horizon incident." That mega-project is now known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Institute (GRI). And to judge by the emails released via Greenpeace, company leaders were deeply concerned with how to spin to the group's findings given they footed its research bills.

"Can we 'direct' GRI funding to a specific study (as we now see the governor's offices trying to do)," BP environmental official Russell Putt asked in a June 2010 email. "What influence do we have over the vessels/equipment driving the studies vs the questions?"

Another email written by a BP environmental officer, Karen Ragoonanan-Jalim, indicates that company officials met in Houma, Louisiana, to discuss how they might "steer the research" to best serve the oil company's interests, writing that officials discussed how "BP can influence this long-term research programme" to "undertake the studies we believe will be useful."

The emails also reveal dissension among U.S. government leaders over the spill, specifically over the White House's controversial, and ultimately disproved, claims that the "vast majority" of the spilled oil had vanished from the Gulf.

Reports the Guardian's Suzanne Goldenberg:

The White House clashed with officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last summer when drafting the administration's account of what has happened to the spilled oil.

On 4 August, Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA administrator, demanded that the White House issue a correction after it claimed that the "vast majority" of BP oil was gone from the Gulf.

A few days earlier, Lisa Jackson, the head of the EPA, and her deputy, Bob Perciasepe, had also objected to the White House estimates of the amount of oil dispersed in the gulf. "These calculations are extremely rough estimates yet when they are put into the press, which we want to happen, they will take on a life of their own," Perciasepe wrote.

It should be noted that no evidence has yet surfaced to suggest that BP succeeded in compromising the integrity of the research carried out by any of the scientists working with the GCI.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110415/ts_yblog_thelookout/bp-plotted-to-influence-what-scientists-say-about-oil-spills-impact-internal-emails-reveal

Scott's lawyer admits he gave Fla. Supreme Court wrong info in high-speed rail argument

PALM BEACH POST EXCLUSIVE
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 6:53 a.m. Friday, April 15, 2011
Posted: 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, 2011

Gov. Rick Scott’s legal counsel Thursday told the Florida Supreme Court that he made an inaccurate representation on the amount of money already spent on the state’s high-speed rail project — a key detail that may have helped cinch the governor’s victory in a constitutional tug-of-war.

In a two-page letter to Chief Justice Charles Canady, Scott's general counsel, Charles Trippe, acknowledged he misrepresented a central fact in arguments last month supporting the governor's rejection of $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project linking Tampa with Orlando.

Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, one of two senators who sued Scott saying he had exceeded his constitutional authority in killing the project, said Thursday evening that Trippe's letter is a "huge admission."

"It's a material misrepresentation of the facts in this case," Altman said. "We knew (Trippe) was wrong when he said it in court. But we couldn't stop him from saying it."

In the letter, Trippe admitted he was wrong when he told justices that $110 million of the $130 million authorized by the Florida Legislature for the project approved in 2009 had already been spent.

Instead, Trippe said only $31 million had actually been spent - a major gap that appears to have shaped the court's decision that sided with Scott.

Justice Barbara Pariente responded to Trippe's claim during the hearing that Scott's move against high-speed rail seemed to involve little remaining money. If so, Pariente suggested, the governor was likely empowered to stop the project.

"So the issue (as) to whether his actions affect the $130 million, you would argue - and of course we have very limited to no factual record here - but that is de minimis right now?" Pariente asked.

Trippe agreed, suggesting lawmakers were arguing over a trifling amount of cash.

"It is not only de minimis, but the statute itself provides for a carryover of it by the end of the year if the money hasn't been spent. So he is not in violationof this appropriation," Trippe told the court.

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, had joined Altman in the lawsuit, arguing that Scott acted like a "king" in rejecting the Legislature's directive.

But in a terse, one-page ruling, justices quickly killed the lawsuit following the hearing. They seemed to rely heavily on the facts of the project, as presented by Trippe - who now acknowledges he was wrong.

In its ruling, the court wrote, "Based on the limited record before the court and a review of the federal and state law relied on by the parties, the court has determined that the petitioners have not clearly demonstrated entitlement to . . . relief."

At the time, Scott spokesman Brian Burgess said the governor was "gratified" by the decision. Critics, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, union representatives, and other rail advocates said that killing high-speed rail has cost the state at least 24,000 future jobs.

For his part, Scott has even taken partial credit for helping solve the Congressional budget standoff - by returning the high-speed rail cash to federal coffers.

Now, however, it looks like the ruling may have hinged on a misstatement by a top Scott official.

Trippe blamed the Florida Department of Transportation for giving him bad information, in his letter to Canady.

But Trippe concluded, "Nothing in the course of the court's questioning or its written order leads me to believe that this error was material to the court's resolution of the case."

Trippe added, though, "If the court requires any further explanation of this matter, I will be happy to provide it."

Altman said he is still exploring his next step, which could include asking the court for a rehearing.

"The court relied on wrong information," Altman said. "The governor's counsel misrepresented the facts."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/scotts-lawyer-admits-he-gave-fla-supreme-court-1401594.html?printArticle=y

UPDATED - And so it begins. Emergency Financial Mgr. fires entire government of Benton Harbor, MI.

Fri Apr 15, 2011 at 03:20 PM PDT
by Eclectablog

As you probably know, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently signed legislation passed by the Republican-dominated House and Senate that gives State-appointed Emergency Financial Managers (EFMs) historically broad and sweeping powers. These new powers allow the EFM to cancel or modify contracts (including with unions) and even to fire the municipality's government.

Today, for the first time, a EFM did just that. According to a press release from the Michigan AFL-CIO, Joseph L. Harris, EFM for Benton Harbor, Michigan issued "an order prohibiting all action by all city boards, commissions, authorities and other entities, except as authorized by the emergency manager."

Here is the press release in total:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Takes First Step to Strip Away Rights

Joseph L. Harris issues an order prohibiting all action by all city boards, commissions, authorities and other entities, except as authorized by the emergency manager

CONTACT: Jesse Sipe 517-515-3242

In the wake of a bill that was signed into law with high objection from the people, as it was a bill that threatened local communities, schools, townships, and municipalities, the first order has been officially issued in Benton Harbor.  Joseph L. Harris has used his emergency manager powers to “exercise any power or authority of any office, employee, department, board, commission, or similar entity of the City, whether elected or appointed.” In addition, the Emergency Manager has the power to supersede any officer or entity and the power to act on behalf of the city.

“This is sad news for democracy in Michigan.  It comes after the announcement of Robert Bobb in Detroit ordering layoff of every single public school teacher in the Detroit Public School system,” says Mark Gaffney, President of Michigan AFL-CIO.  “With the stripping of all power of duly elected officials in Benton harbor and the attack on Detroit school teachers, we can now see the true nature of the Emergency Manager system.”

This is a real life instance of taking away our fundamental rights.  In fact, the only thing City Boards, Commissions, Authorities or other entities may do without the approval of an Emergency Manager is to:

1) Call a meeting to order
2) Approve of meeting minutes
3) Adjourn a meeting

Everything else is under the Emergency Manager’s control.  These new powers are taking away the will and voice of the people by stripping away the rights of public officials elected by Michiganders.  By exploiting the current crisis situation, these emergency managers are able to ascertain unreasonable rules to completely control a city.  This is a true case of political over-reach, and will simply add to the hardships of an already suffering populace in Michigan.

###

Harris's order can be viewed HERE (pdf).

This is a complete disenfranchisement of an entire community, an entire large city in my state. The voters are now denied the ability to be governed by the people they elected in a democratic election.

This is nothing short of an abridgment of democracy in raw form.

I will have more as this develops. I can only assume a lawsuit will be forthcoming. The news is so fresh it has not yet hit the major news outlets.

I'm just sayin'...

Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com.Updated by Eclectablog at Fri Apr 15, 2011 at 11:41 PM EDT

UPDATE: the ACLU is investigating.

DETROIT — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, April 7, filed 13 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records regarding Public Acts 4-9, the new emergency manager law passed in March.

In a press release, ACLU Director Kate Moss observed news reports that estimated over 100 local governments are potentially in a state of ‘fiscal watch’ and 40 school districts or charter schools are in deficit while another 150 are in danger of going into deficit.

Moss says the implications for the state are potentially enormous and questioned the passing of the law.

“Our elected officials have painted the issue with broad brush strokes and these FOIA requests seek the details,” she said.

Interesting statistic: Benton Harbor is 92.4% African American with an annual median household income of $17,471 with 42.6% of the population below the poverty line. St. Joseph, the next city south of Benton Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is 90.3% white with an annual median household income of $37,032.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/15/967374/-And-so-it-begins-Emergency-Financial-Mgr-fires-entire-government-of-Benton-Harbor,-MI

Top Ten Tax Charts

April 14, 2011 at 5:46 pm

With the April 18 tax filing deadline fast approaching, we’ve assembled these charts to provide a big-picture look at the U.S. tax system.

http://www.offthechartsblog.org/top-ten-tax-charts/

The Y Article

On Friday, April 8, as members of the U.S. Congress engaged in a last-minute game of chicken over the federal budget, the Pentagon quietly issued a report that received little initial attention: "A National Strategic Narrative." The report was issued under the pseudonym of "Mr. Y," a takeoff on George Kennan's 1946 "Long Telegram" from Moscow (published under the name "X" the following year in Foreign Affairs) that helped set containment as the cornerstone of U.S. strategy for dealing with the Soviet Union.

The piece was written by two senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a "personal" capacity, but it is clear that it would not have seen the light of day without a measure of official approval. Its findings are revelatory, and they deserve to be read and appreciated not only by every lawmaker in Congress, but by every American citizen.

The narrative argues that the United States is fundamentally getting it wrong when it comes to setting its priorities, particularly with regard to the budget and how Americans as a nation use their resources more
broadly. The report says Americans are overreacting to Islamic extremism, underinvesting in their youth, and failing to embrace the sense of competition and opportunity that made America a world power. The United States has been increasingly consumed by seeing the world through the lens of threat, while failing to understand that influence, competitiveness, and innovation are the key to advancing American interests in the modern world.

Courageously, the authors make the case that America continues to rely far too heavily on its military as the primary tool for how it engages the world. Instead of simply pumping more and more dollars into defense, the narrative argues:

By investing energy, talent, and dollars now in the education and training of young Americans -- the scientists, statesmen, industrialists, farmers, inventors, educators, clergy, artists, service members, and parents, of tomorrow -- we are truly investing in our ability to successfully compete in, and influence, the strategic environment of the future. Our first investment priority, then, is intellectual capital and a sustainable infrastructure of education, health and social services to provide for the continuing development and growth of America's youth.

Yet, it is investments in America's long-term human resources that have come under the fiercest attack in the current budget environment. As the United States tries to compete with China, India, and the European Union, does it make sense to have almost doubled the Pentagon budget in the last decade while slashing education budgets across the country?

The report places considerable emphasis on the importance of achieving a more sustainable approach to security, energy, agriculture, and the environment. Again, it is important to stress that this narrative was penned by senior military thinkers, not the Sierra Club. The simple fact is that any clear-eyed analysis pretty quickly comes to the same conclusion: The United States has established an incentive system that just doesn't make any sense. It continues to pour tens of billions of dollars into agricultural and oil subsidies every single year even as these subsidies make the gravity of the environmental, health, and land-use problems the country faces in the future ever graver. As the report argues, America cannot truly practice the use of "smart power"
until it practices "smart growth" at home. While some may be quick to
argue that the Pentagon should not be considering issues like smart growth and investments in America's youth, this goes to another key point from the
authors: America won't get its approach to policy right if it leaves foreign
policy and domestic policy in tidy little silos that ignore the interconnection
between the two.

The paper argues persuasively that the tendency of Americans to broadly label the rest of the world has been hugely counterproductive. The authors point out that the tendency over the last decade by some Americans to view all Muslims as terrorists has made it more difficult to marginalize genuine extremism, while alienating vast swaths of the global Muslim community. In a world where credibility is so central to America's national interest and reach around the globe, the overheated domestic debate about the war on terror has never served it very well.

Lastly, the narrative makes a clarion call for America to look forward, not back, in today's interconnected world:

And yet with globalization, we seem to have developed a strange apprehension about the efficacy of our ability to apply the innovation and hard work necessary to successfully compete in a complex security and economic environment. Further, we have misunderstood interdependence as a weakness rather than recognizing it as a strength. The key to sustaining our competitive edge, at home or on the world stage, is credibility -- and credibility is a difficult capital to foster. It cannot be won through intimidation and threat, it cannot be sustained through protectionism or exclusion. Credibility requires engagement, strength, and reliability -- imaginatively applied through the national tools of development, diplomacy, and defense.

The budget deal over the weekend lopped $8 billion off of funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International
Development. Defense spending was left untouched. Congress doesn't seem to have gotten the wake-up call.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/13/the_y_article

Share the FACTS on our defict, taxes, & the national debt

Wed, 04/13/2011 - 11:21am — Coffee Party USA

As Congress debates cutting essential programs that affect our future, let's investigate why we have a deficit and a debt problem.  Our tax code is full of loopholes created and exploited by big corporations. They spend the millions that they don't pay in taxes to control our government with misleading commercials, political donations, and an army of lobbyists camped out on K Street.  

In return, politicians INSIDE our government feign alarm over the deficits created by the tax loopholes their corporate funders have installed, and propose that the difference be made up ordinary people like you and me — by taxes on our pensions and cuts in public safety, job creation, infrastructure, and education.  

"Won't this anger the voters?" the politicians ask.  "Don't worry, we'll pay for campaign commercials, grassroots movements, and think tanks to distract deceive them," the corporate lobbyists say.  

We won't be deceived any longer.  We demand that Congress represent We the People instead of corporate campaign funders and lobbyists! 

SHARE this video on Facebook or Twitter (see above).
Or send this URL in an email blast: www.CoffeePartyUSA.com/facts

Get the facts with NPP

Last time we directed our members to National Priorities Project (NPP), their site actually crashed because so many taxpaying Americans wanted to know how their money is being spent.  Now, NPP's website is back with a vengeance, and, more bandwidth.

Below are the four charts sited in the video we produced with Jo Comerford, NPP's Executive Director.  Click on them and you'll be directed to a National Priorities Project web page with the same graphic, and lots more information. 

Source: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012, Analytical Perspectives, Table 28.1, "Receipts, Outlays and Surplus or Deficit by Fund Group," and Table 15-5, "Revenues By Source."

Where is the “borrowed” 53.2 percent borrowed FROM?  Click HERE for the answer to this and other FAQ's.

Please note that the rapid increase in the national debt started in the 1980's, when we began allowing large corporations to contribute less than their share.  With income levels for We the People stagnant — actually, after taxes, our income has decreased during this period — it's little wonder that our deficit and our debt have grown.  Corporations decided to lobby and bully our government so they could contribute less to America.  We the People have worked hard and done all we can, but we just haven't been able to make up the difference. 

This national debt can no more be blamed on We the People than the Great Recession, but corporate interests and the politicians who serve them are trying to make us pay for both. We will not stand for this. 
 

Coffee Break Action Items

Coffee Party members have designed actions you can take on your coffe break, every day for the month of April.   CLICK HERE to see the calendar.  Given that 2/3 of the mega-corporations in America do not pay taxes on their earnings, those of us who do pay taxes have a right to be (not just angry) but informed and engaged in the decision-making process about how our tax dollars are collected, and how they are spent. The first step is making our collective voices heard.  For the month of April, Coffee Party members are collaborating on 30 ways to do just that. 

This video is a follow-up to the one above, featuring 108 Americans ready to stand up to the corporate elite.

MAKE THE TRUTH GO VIRAL!

 
Y o  C o n g r e s s !
Call (202) 224-3121. That's the Capitol Switchboard. Put it on speed dial, because you're gonna need it!  To find out more about your representatives in Congress, click here.

Tell them to stop focusing solely on cutting vital programs like public safety and education, and start discussing our revenue problem. Tell them to ask more of the companies and executives enjoying record profits and bonuses.  

The recession may be over on Wall St. but on Main St, millions of us are going homeless and hungry. Stop pandering to the fat cats who caused, and then profited from the recession!  Trickle-down economics has failed us.   Time to invest in America.

April 18th Tax Day Action
1)  Determine which U.S. Post Office in your city or town is staying open the latest on April 18th to post mark tax filings, and grab the address.

2)  Enter the address when you create an event using our event page (this way others in your area can contact you and/or join you).

3)  Print out FACT SHEETS from our Coffee Break Tool Kit, and hand them out to people filing their tax returns on the evening of Monday April 18th.

• Fact Sheet 1: Tax Breaks & Budget Cuts (Download PDF)
  
  • Click to View
• Fact Sheet 2: 9 Worst Corporate Tax-dodgers (Down load PDF)
  
  • Click to View
• Fact Sheet 3:  Citizens United One Year Later (Download PDF)
  • Click to View
• Fact Sheet 4: Military Spending (web link)

Use your creativity!

Watch our previous Survivor video and CLICK HERE to find out how you can be part of the next installment in the series.

____________________________________________

http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/facts