Scott Walker recall takes an unexpected turn.

[Fear_Itself]

@FE3O4ENAIL

Really? It wasn’t that we blew up most of the rest of the worlds factories in the war?

Well, that and the higher marginal tax rates.

[FE3O4ENAIL]

@Fear_Itself

Well, that and the higher marginal tax rates.

We should raise tax rates, the question is how far.

[FE3O4ENAIL]

@BigAppleBucky

http://

http://rocknetroots.blogspot.com/

What sounds more likely?
The CRG is…
A fascist militia group operating out of Milwaukee (Blog opinion from the link)
Or (self described):
CRG Network has four goals.

1. Educate citizens on how to successfully engage and manage their government.
2. Motivate fiscal conservatives to vote in increasingly larger numbers.
3. Organize fiscal conservatives into the most influential political force in Wisconsin.
4. Encourage fiscal conservatives to contribute the human and financial resources needed to grow and be successful

[Folacin]

@FE3O4ENAIL

From the link:
"For three decades after World War II – I call it the “Great Prosperity” – wages rose in tandem with productivity. Americans shared the gains of growth, and had enough money to buy what they produced.

That’s largely due to the role of labor unions. "
Really? It wasn’t that we blew up most of the rest of the worlds factories in the war? Labor unions did it. No.

The important bit is that “wages rose in tandem with productivity” - that was due to the unions. The selling of great gobs of goods was due to the rest of the world being rubble and the rising American middle class (whose wages rose in tandem with productivity) having the scratch to buy cars, houses, and the gadgets that filled the houses.

I think it’s a fairly easy argument that if the unions hadn’t been there, most of the profits from increased sales and productivity would have gone to the bosses - and the virtuous cycle wouldn’t have gotten started.

[FE3O4ENAIL]

@Folacin

I think it’s a fairly easy argument that if the unions hadn’t been there, most of the profits from increased sales and productivity would have gone to the bosses - and the virtuous cycle wouldn’t have gotten started.

Wiki-“The percentage of workers belonging to a union (or “density”) in the United States peaked in 1954 at almost 35%”

Most people didn’t belong to a union, but their wages rose. Simple competion for resources (labor) can’t explain the rise?

[Folacin]

@FE3O4ENAIL

Wiki-“The percentage of workers belonging to a union (or “density”) in the United States peaked in 1954 at almost 35%”

Most people didn’t belong to a union, but their wages rose. Simple competion for resources (labor) can’t explain the rise?

I’d argue (and glad I’m not in Great Debates so I don’t need a cite) that the unions established a target. My company might not be unionized, but if the UAW or Steelworkers were getting $10/hr, then I’m probably going to have to offer $7-8, or the workers I need are going to go elsewhere. Further, the unions were able to negotiate work rules and benefits that “leaked out” to the wider work force.

I think that’s it’s pretty indisputable that the unions led to much improved wages and work conditions prior to the war, so it’s reasonable to assume that they maintained that role post-war.

Similarly, with only 35% or so of the workforce unionized, the companies had some leverage to resist union demands.

[Chronos]

Of course simple competition for labor explained the rise. Unions are a major part of that.

[BrainGlutton]

@FE3O4ENAIL

What sounds more likely?
The CRG is…
A fascist militia group operating out of Milwaukee (Blog opinion from the link)
Or (self described):
CRG Network has four goals.

1. Educate citizens on how to successfully engage and manage their government.
2. Motivate fiscal conservatives to vote in increasingly larger numbers.
3. Organize fiscal conservatives into the most influential political force in Wisconsin.
4. Encourage fiscal conservatives to contribute the human and financial resources needed to grow and be successful

Based on this and this, I’d say they’re the former, or at least a GOP front group (not quite the same thing), despite CRG’s heated denials of that on their own website.

[Bricker]

Walker, who has raised $25 million, has been blanketing Wisconsin with broadcast advertising touting his handling of the economy. His Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett, who did not win his party’s primary until May 8, has raised only $1 million and not been able to match the blitz. The most recent public poll on the race released last week showed Walker leading by 6 points.

“I feel like Walker does have the momentum,” said Michael Brown, who was among those who organized the petition drive that netted more than 900,000 signatures to force the recall vote. “It’s up to the people of Wisconsin to push back.”

From HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost

Is anyone in this thread predicting a Barrett win?

I am going to daringly predict a Walker win.

[elucidator]

Gov Walker must be so grateful, what with the flood of donations from the “common people” of Wisconsin, the small donors that so clearly reflect the will of the people, and help him to turn back the wave of outstate contributions from Commissar Soros and ACORN plutocrats.

[Steve_MB]

@FE3O4ENAIL

From the link:
"For three decades after World War II – I call it the “Great Prosperity” – wages rose in tandem with productivity. Americans shared the gains of growth, and had enough money to buy what they produced.

That’s largely due to the role of labor unions. "
Really? It wasn’t that we blew up most of the rest of the worlds factories in the war? Labor unions did it. No.

The fact that the rest of the world was damaged by WWII contributed to the rise of productivity. It didn’t determine how much of the resulting fruits went to owners and how much went to workers.

[Reginald_Hobbes]

Article on JS online today about campaign donations.

Walker does seem to have support from some “common people”, although it doesn’t say how many of these donations came from residents.

Walker has stressed that most of his contributions are small, saying 76% of them were $50 or less. We found he’s essentially correct. To put it another way, 73% of his $25 million came from donations of $50 and less.

And, I thought all those $500k checks would’ve increased Walker’s average, but apparently not.

Walker: $142 average in-state contribution; $115 average out-of-state contribution

Barrett: $141 average in-state contribution; $112 average out-of-state contribution

[FE3O4ENAIL]

I would like to point out the disinformation out there about Walker signs.It is claimed the big signs are bought and paid for by nonWisconsinites.
If you see an “oversized” sign in someones yard, they paid $100 for the sign. Small signs are free.

[BrainGlutton]

@Steve_MB

The fact that the rest of the world was damaged by WWII contributed to the rise of productivity. It didn’t determine how much of the resulting fruits went to owners and how much went to workers.

I think FDR’s legacy helped there immensely, in general terms.

[BrainGlutton]

And, the vote-suppressors are gearing up in Wisconsin. Specifically, True the Vote.

[elucidator]

@Reginald_Hobbes

Article on JS online today about campaign donations…

And this? (Same cite)

…Two groups based outside of Wisconsin that aren’t required to disclose the sources of their money have made expenditures on Walker’s behalf.

Republican Governors Association, Washington, D.C.: $4.88 million spent

Americans for Prosperity, Arlington, Va.: $2.7 million spent, based on a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign estimate…

Not precisely the same as “campaign donations”, if you parse the phrase carefully enough…

[BigAppleBucky]

How Did Wisconsin Become the Most Politically Divisive Place in America?...

ALEC takeover of a state.

Dale Schultz is my hero.

The next day, Pocan outlined a strategy ALEC advises its members to use: “You have to introduce a 14-point platform,” he said, “so that you can make it harder for them to focus and for the press to cover 14 different planks.” He pointed to several bills introduced in the past two sessions, including one that allows more children to enroll in virtual charter schools. “It sounds good,” Pocan said. “Kids could access virtual schools for home schooling. But again,” he emphasized, the real purpose is “taking apart public schools, drip by drip.”

For Compas, the pivotal moment came when the collective-bargaining measure was passed. On March 9, 2011, Scott Fitzgerald led a hastily called meeting of the Senate and Assembly leadership. A few days earlier, the Assembly voted on the budget-repair bill that included the collective-bargaining measure, but the Senate had been unable to pass it because of a rule requiring a quorum of 20 members to vote on fiscal measures. At that point, the 14 Senate Democrats were still in hiding in Illinois, leaving the Republicans with just 19 votes. After attempts at persuasion and withholding their paychecks failed to bring the Democrats back, Senate Republicans decided to separate the collective-bargaining measure from the budget bill and vote on it immediately.

During the meeting, a heated argument erupted between Fitzgerald and Peter Barca, the Assembly minority leader. “I said I wanted an explanation of what’s in this document, so I can at least know what I’m voting on,” Barca told me. He had been handed a 37-page summary of the bill, not the bill itself. Fitzgerald ignored his request and, five minutes later, called the roll. By a 4-0 vote the committee separated the measure from the budget bill. It was then passed by both houses within hours. “I said, ‘I just want to make you aware that this meeting is a violation of the open meetings law,’ ” Barca said he told Fitzgerald, who called the meeting less than two hours before. (Under Wisconsin law, a government body is generally required to give 24 hours notice to the public before it meets.) The exchange was captured on WisconsinEye, a local version of C-Span, and went viral.

“Barca’s standing there yelling, ‘This is a violation of the law!’ ” Compas said. “I just sat there, and I cried. I’ve never felt so powerless and so frustrated. Regardless of where you stood on this issue, the complete contempt that Fitzgerald was showing for his legislators was unacceptable. That night I think I tweeted: ‘I will recall Scott Fitzgerald if I have to crawl on my hands and knees through the snow to every house in his district.’ ”

Like many other Wisconsinites, Lorman was surprised when the collective-bargaining measure was introduced. “It was like being blindsided,” she said. “Walker’s agenda, which was always there but nobody knew it, really came from somewhere else, like the Koch brothers, the national party and ALEC. I don’t think it was a local agenda, frankly.”

My personal hope is that the divisiveness will abate after the recalls. If the Fitzwalkers get stung a bit, they may realize they can’t just walk over people and need to work with them.

[BrainGlutton]

There’s an unusually high turnout in early voting in Madison.

[Reginald_Hobbes]

@BrainGlutton

There’s an unusually high turnout in early voting in Madison.

Might be a bad sign for Walker, might not.
Even if 100k have already early voted for Barrett, being in the lead today is irrelevant.
That’s assuming none of those people are voting more than once.

[BigAppleBucky]

• to the rich.

Longish Cap Times article this week.

The Fitzwalkers are pleading poverty, yet have all this largess for the “job creators”. What a crock.

Windfall! Rich will get richer from new tax credit

Slipped into Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011-2013 budget at the last moment, the domestic production tax credit will cost the state $360 million in revenue over the next four years and some $130 million each year thereafter, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Critics warn the impact could be even greater, a key point in a state still struggling with budget shortfalls.

The credit applies to profits derived from manufacturing or agriculture and is available both to corporations and shareholders of limited liability companies, S corporations or others who report business income on their individual tax returns.

As a result, top bracket taxpayers could see their state income tax rate fall from 7.75 percent to less than zero by 2016, when the credit fully kicks in.

As an example, Harris points to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, whose family owns the PACUR manufacturing company in Oshkosh. Johnson paid $645,000 in state income taxes on income of $9.5 million from 1997 to 2008, according to campaign finance reports. Under the production credit, Johnson would have seen his state income taxes eliminated — with enough left over to shelter some of his investment income.

An unitentended consequence is that many businesses may get themselves calssified as manufacturers in order to take advantage of the new credit which would, of course, increase the cost of the program.

When Barrett mentioned this as one Walker position he would reverse, the Walker campaign predictably jumped down his throat about “taxing job creators”.