What Happens when a Whole State Turns into
Right Wing World

Steven Elbow of the Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times looks into what else the state's Republican legislators have been up to: "Bills have been coming down the pike that would add to union woes, make it harder to vote at the polls and allow charter schools to proliferate. And Republicans haven’t even gotten to the social issues yet." Elbow provides a partial list:

Requiring voters to produce photo IDs from the state DOT at polling places "Critics say [this] will stifle tens of thousands of votes, mostly those of Democratic-leaning groups like students, the elderly and the poor."

Scaling back the state’s family and medical leave law, signed in 1998 by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson

Preventing municipalities from adopting their own leave laws

Rescinding laws the help prevent racial profiling

Rescinding laws that mandate clean drinking water (because rich people drink Evian)

Rescinding a law that allows university faculty and academic staff to join unions

Allowing universities to assign staff to nonclassified positions so they can’t organize

Allowing the state to mandate charter schools & eliminating caps on funds the state can take from general school aid to fund charter schools. "Critics see the move as a giant step toward privatizing education in the state."

Eliminating the state’s farmland preservation program

Repealing 2009 legislation that authorized the creation of regional transit authorities (because rich people don't ride the bus)

See Elbow's article for more details.

The Commentariat -- March 1

On Wisconsin
(Yes, UW Badgers, That's a Double Entendre)

Ed Kilgore of The New Republic: Gov. Scott Walker is following the Southern "Moonlight & Magnolias" strategy for attracting business to Wisconsin -- "It is based on a theory of economic growth that is ... aggressively pro-corporate: relentlessly focused on breaking the backs of unions; slashing worker compensation and benefits; and subsidizing businesses in order to attract capital from elsewhere and avoid its flight to even more benighted locales." ...

... Scott Walker Is Not a Constitution-Loving Republican. Clay Barbour & Dee Hall of the Wisconsin State Journal: "Capitol Police kept more than 1,000 protestors at bay Monday, locking down the statehouse and allowing only a few dozen inside to meet with lawmakers.... The decision seemed to run counter to Capitol tradition and the spirit of the state Constitution, which says officials cannot prohibit individuals from entering the Capitol or its grounds." ...

Prohibiting protestors on either side of the debate from entering the Capitol during normal business hours or during legislative hearings or sessions, while allowing others with 'business' in the Capitol to enter, is manifestly content-based and, hence presumptively unconstitutional. -- American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, in a letter to state administration Secretary Michael Huebsch ...

I’m sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn’t acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another. -- Scott Walker, Wisconsin governor, in response to President Obama's call for respect for union members

... Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "... if voters in [Wisconsin] could do it over today they'd support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin. The difference between how folks would vote now and how they voted in November can almost all be attributed to shifts within union households. Voters who are not part of union households ... [who] report having voted for Walker by 7 points last fall and they still say they would vote for Walker by a 4 point margin. But in households where there is a union member voters now say they'd go for Barrett by a 31 point margin, up quite a bit from the 14 point advantage they report having given him in November.... Walker seems to have severely hurt his party's chances of building on their gains from 2010 next year." ...

     ... Greg Sargent: "The reason this matters is that in the days ahead, Dems and labor are going to intensify pressure on Republican state senators to break with Walker and support some kind of compromise route out of the current impasse. Walker himself seems to recognize this is a potential problem: On his call with the fake Koch, he acknowledged that Republicans in swing areas would need to be propped up by aggressive messaging." ...

... Masquerade. Eric Schroeck of Media Matters: "This morning [Monday], Fox & Friends hosted an 'upset Wisconsin parent' to discuss her objection to Wisconsin public schools' teaching of labor union history. Left unsaid during the segment: The parent, Amber Hahn, is also a local GOP official.... This is now the second time Fox has masqueraded a GOP activist as a concerned parent to attack unions." ...

Jon Stewart on Greedy Teachers. Unfortnately, Comedy Central has changed their video system, & I can no longer embed individual segments, so here's the Whole Show. It's all pretty good up till the Howard Stern interview:

... Bob Herbert: "This most recent assault on labor is part of an anti-worker movement that has been on the march for decades. Jobs have been shipped overseas. Workers have been denied their rightful share of productivity gains. Wages have been depressed and benefits in many, many instances have disappeared." ...

... Michael Cooper & Megan Thee-Brenan of the New York Times: "As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."

Bryan Zepp Jamieson: "If America had a free press at the mainstream level that was worth a damn, then the Republican Party would be finished by now. As it is, the Republicans have to spend millions and millions of dollars on their vast right wing echo chamber. But all that would be for naught if it were not for the complicity of the mainstream media, which obediently adopts their talking points and their framings, and thus presents news as seen from the viewpoint of the GOP – and nobody else." Read on! Thanks to reader Bruce B. for the link.

Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "A Republican plan to sharply cut federal spending this year would destroy 700,000 jobs through 2012, according to an independent economic analysis set for release Monday. The report, by Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, offers fresh ammunition to Democrats seeking block the Republican plan.... His report comes on the heels of a similar analysis last week by the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which predicted that the Republican spending cuts would cause even greater damage to the economy." You can read Zandi's report, titled "A Federal Shutdown Could Derail the Recovedry," here.

"Billions in Bloat." Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal: "The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development. These are a few of the findings in a massive study of overlapping and duplicative programs that cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year, according to the Government Accountability Office.... The report ... recommends merging or consolidating a number of programs to both save money and make the government more efficient."

Dan Eggen of the Washington Post: "A group of House Democrats is calling on Republican leaders to investigate a prominent Washington law firm [Hunton & Williams] and three federal technology contractors, who have been shown in hacked e-mails discussing a 'disinformation campaign' against foes of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In a letter to be released Tuesday, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and more than a dozen other lawmakers wrote that the e-mails appear 'to reveal a conspiracy to use subversive techniques to target Chamber critics," including "possible illegal actions against citizens engaged in free speech.' ... The e-mails ... show HBGary Federal, Berico Technologies and Palantir Technologies teaming up with a sales pitch to undermine chamber opponents.... The chamber has denied knowledge of the proposals."

It's increasingly imaginable that there would be some kind of international intervention in Libya, and I think the U.S. would be active in shaping that. -- James Dobbins of the Rand Corp.

David Sanger of the New York Times: "Today ... the success of a joint American-British effort to eliminate Libya’s capability to make nuclear and chemical weapons has never, in retrospect, looked more important."

"Zenga, Zenga." Mark Thompson of Time explains:

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors may use victim statements given at the crime scene even if the victim dies before testifying at trial, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.... The 6-to-2 ruling drew a withering dissent from Justice Antonin Scalia, the court's most outspoken advocate for the Sixth Amendment's requirement that the accused 'be confronted with the witnesses against him.' The majority's reasoning, Scalia wrote, 'is so transparently false that professing to believe it demeans this institution.' Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote for the majority, shot back, accusing Scalia of 'misreading' the rules the court set for when statements could be admitted as evidence.... Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Scalia but declined to join his caustic comments. Justice Elena Kagan was recused from the case because she had worked on it as President Obama's solicitor general." You can read the majority opinion & dissent here (pdf). Adam Liptak of the New York Times has a report here.

Kim Severson of the New York Times: "George Holding, the United States attorney in Raleigh..., as well as a Justice Department lawyer and agents from the F.B.I. and the Internal Revenue Service are looking at a number of campaign accounts and the records of a nonprofit group connected to [former Sen. John] Edwards.... Those who have been subpoenaed include dozens of former campaign workers, top aides, friends and [Rielle] Hunter," a woman with whom Edwards had an extramarital affair and a child.

Rep. Darrell Issa, who promised to open a new investigation every week, is now investigating his own aide.  Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "... the congressman will look into 'concerns' raised by Politico's editor-in-chief. In the meantime, press secretary Kurt Bardella remains on staff and is expected to report for work Tuesday...." ...

     ... Update: here's Politico's story -- by Jake Sherman & Marin Cogan -- on Issa's investigation of Bardella. Bear in mind wen you read it that, according to Sonmez, Politico initiated the complaint against Bardella.

News Ledes

Hurrah! New York Times: "In a lively decision that relied as much on dictionaries, grammar and usage as it did on legal analysis, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that corporations have no personal privacy rights for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act." Update: here's the ruling (pdf).

Not the Education Governor. New York Times: "Gov. Scott Walker, whose push to limit collective bargaining rights and increase health and pension costs for public workers has set off a national debate, proposed a new budget for Wisconsin on Tuesday that called for deep cuts to state aid to schools and local governments, provoking a new wave of fury.... Walker sets aside nearly $200 million for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Walker's public-private hybrid replacement for the state Department of Commerce" ...

     ... Wisconsin State Journal: "Education and local government bear the brunt of Gov. Scott Walker's first budget, a reform-minded plan that cuts about $1 billion in state aid and prevents officials from raising taxes to make up the difference." ...

     ... Not the Health Care Governor. Related: "Wisconsin would cut Medicaid spending by $500 million over the next two years, with much of the savings coming from Family Care, under Gov. Scott Walker's budget released Tuesday. But state Medicaid spending still would go up overall because the state must pay $1.3 billion over the two years to replace federal stimulus money that has been supporting the program. That money ends this year." ...

     ... Not the Environmental Governor. Related: "State-mandated recycling, in place in Wisconsin since 1995, would be eliminated under Gov. Scott Walker's budget. And payments to local governments to run those programs — a total of $32 million this year — would be halted." ...

     ... The Tough on Nonviolent Crime Governor. Related: "A program allowing some nonviolent offenders to petition for early release from prison, which some Republican critics had derided as 'catch and release,' would be ended under the budget Gov. Scott Walker introduced Tuesday."

New York Times brief: "An anti-gang dragnet has led to the arrest of 678 gang members and their associates, most of them immigrants, in 168 cities, federal officials announced Tuesday."

Washington Post: "The House on Tuesday approved a stopgap measure that would keep the federal government funded through March 18 and cut $4 billion in spending by targeting programs that President Obama has already marked for elimination."

Reuters: "A state-owned Egyptian newspaper said Wednesday that former President Hosni Mubarak was being treated for cancer in a hospital in Saudi Arabia."

Al Jazeera: "The United Nations general assembly has unanimously suspended Libya's membership of the UN Human Rights Council, citing the government's use of violence against protesters."

... Washington Post: "In a six-hour battle, rebels armed with tanks, anti aircraft guns and automatic weapons repelled an overnight attack by government troops using the same weapons in the town of Zawiya, 30 miles west of Tripoli, the Associated Press reported."

AP: "Republicans controlling the House are moving quickly to pass stopgap legislation to avoid a partial shutdown of the government when temporary funding runs out Friday." ...

... Politico: "Showing the first signs of coming off the sideline, the White House made a late bid Monday to extend the life of a stopgap government funding bill to a full month and thereby allow more time for the administration to become engaged in the House-Senate talks."

AP: "China appears to be rolling back some press freedoms, barring foreign journalists from working near a popular Shanghai park and along a major Beijing shopping street after calls for weekly protests in those spots appeared online."

Full House Fold

Art by Barry Blitt for the New York Times.Frank Rich: "Still heady with hubris from the midterms — and having persuaded themselves that Gingrich’s 1995 history can’t possibly repeat itself — radical Republicans are convinced that deficit-addled voters are on their side no matter what.... Let’s hope [the President] knows that he, not the speaker, is the player holding a full house, and that he will tell the country in no uncertain terms that much more than money is on the table."

CW: I'm not sure when or if the Times is going to get around to posting my comment on Rich's column, so here it is:

President Obama will not tell the American people what's at stake in the budget. None of us knows what his true ideology is. None of us knows how he would govern if we had a parliamentary system in which the leader of the government can pretty much govern as he wishes.

But we do know this: Prime Minister Obama would not govern as a progressive. All that progressive talk during the campaign was a vote-currying deception. Mr. Obama campaigned the way Republicans always campaign: by pretending his goals were markedly different from what they really were.

Obama perfectly followed the Republican playbook in 2008: he pretended to be a progressive who would right the wrongs of eight years of Republican rule. But when he got into the White House, he suddenly turned into a conservative who engineered a "stimulus" package that was largely Republican-style tax cuts, a healthcare law that was nearly identical to one Republicans proposed in the 20th century (& which also included the individual mandate, BTW), & a financial reform package that lets the banksters do what they want.

If you think I'm exaggerating, let's look at something that's more simple and straightforward than a complex budget or those huge bills that Obama signed into law during his first two years in office. Let's look at something over which Mr. Obama has complete control and for which he cannot claim the Congress forced him to "compromise": Here's what President Obama said in a campaign stump speech he made in the fall of 2007 in South Carolina:

 If American workers are being denied their right to organize & collectively bargain, when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a pair of comfortable shoes myself, I'll walk on that picket line with you....

Here's the video, which I first posted a couple of days ago:

Today, Republican governors in several states are attacking collective bargaining rights. Obama made one statement -- and then only in response to a reporter's question -- in which he said of the Wisconsin bill, "it appears to be an assault on unions." President Obama's comfortable shoes are nowhere to be seen. Reporters have repeatedly questioned Obama's press secretary Jay Carney about Obama's campaign promise, and Carney has dutifully obfuscated with responses like (this is not an exact quote) "People know where the President stands." Yeah, we know this: he's not standing in Wisconsin or Ohio or Indiana in those comfortable shoes.

Similarly, ever since budget season has come upon us, President Obama has been playing the part of a reliably Republican president. He has repeatedly told the American people that the government must live within its means. That's a line straight out of the Contract on America. Never mind that politicians since Alexander Hamilton -- you know, one of the fathers of the Constitution -- have said that federal deficits are a good thing. And where has President Obama been campaigning? At corporation after corporation where he has said we can "win the future" (or as Sarah Palin calls it, "WTF") by giving tax breaks to small businesses so they can innovate.

Not Word One about funding prenatal care or healthcare legislation or the EPA. Not Word One. Instead, Obama has given government workers an effective five-year pay cut by freezing their wages even as the prices of essential commodities (like grain & cotton) have soared, guaranteeing that prices of food and clothing will rise. He has also presented a budget that will cut home-heating assistance to poor families & Pell grants to college students. Hope you're not too cold while you're staying home from college.

Scott Walker made a "fireside" address the other day in which he expressed his respect for unions. ("I really do" respect unions, he emphasized.) Relying on President Obama to tell the American people the truth about what's in that noxious House budget is like relying on Scott Walker to tell the truth about how he feels about unions:

Not. Going. to. Happen.