Weasel Walker

$4.5 Billion For Bogus Job Promises: Scott Walker’s Foxconn Con Has Wisconsin Angry

By Matthew Chapman Raw Story (9/2/20) On Wednesday, Crain’s Chicago Business analyzed the floundering remnants of the deal, once touted by President Donald Trump, to build a Foxconn electronics factory in southern Wisconsin — not far from the city of Kenosha, where a police shooting and racial injustice have recently defined the national conversation. “With the help of $4.5 billion in state subsidies—more than Wisconsin spends on its state university system and prisons together each year — along with rolled-back environmental regulations, the CEO, Terry Gou, promised jobs for 13,000 new workers eventually. Total Foxconn investment: $10 billion or more,” wrote H. Lee…

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The Rat & The Weasel: Workers, Progressives Welcome Scott Walker In Vermont

Photo from Vermont AFL-CIO By Mark Gruenberg Workers News (6/3/19) BURLINGTON, Vt.—In a protest that got wide viewing on social media, Vermont workers and progressives – complete with The Rat – “greeted” infamous former Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker when the union-busting ex-Badger State chief executive spoke in Burlington on May 30. Walker went to the city’s Hilton Hotel to keynote a Republican fundraiser inside. Outside was the huge protest, featuring The Rat, symbol of a scab. There’s no indication from news reports whether Walker encountered the protesters, crossed their line – or ducked in a back door, as his also-ousted…


Wisconsin Republican Con Job: This Woman’s House Was About To Be Bulldozed For A FoxConn Factory

VICE News (5/21/19) When Foxconn — the Taiwanese tech giant best known for manufacturing iPhone components — struck a high-profile deal to open its first U.S. factory, the village of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, needed to make room. Local leaders rushed to convince 78 residents to sell their homes. Everyone gave in, except Kim Mahoney. She was at work when she learned that the dream home she and her husband built was in the middle of what would become a factory for LCD screens. 5-Minute Video


Scott Walker’s Big Con Job: Foxconn Reconsidering Plans To Build LCD Production At Huge Racine County Facility

By James B. Nelson & Rick Romell Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/30/19) Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at its Racine County campus, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Foxconn “said it intends to hire mostly engineers and researchers rather than the manufacturing workforce the project originally promised,” the report says. The report is based on an interview with Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chief Executive Terry Gou. Woo’s remarks to Reuters marked the latest in a string of modifications by Foxconn – and for Wisconsin the most ominous – to its originally announced plans for a…


How Republicans Like Scott Walker Are Turning The States Into Labs Of ANTI-Democracy

Wisconsin and North Carolina are the canaries in the coal mine of crippled American democracy.  By Andrew Gawthorpe The Guardian (12/8/18) America’s federal system of government is, in theory, key to the strength of its democracy. As opposed to citizens in the more centralized states of Europe, Americans get to vote for a huge array of local offices, policies and ballot initiatives that can influence their lives for the better. Innovation in the states can be healthy for the whole country, such as when healthcare reform in Massachusetts provided inspiration for the Affordable Care Act. The supreme court justice Louis Brandeis…


COUP! Unable To Even Name The Foe, Wisconsin Dems Flap Hankies & Rattle Teacups At Fascist Onslaught Against State Govt.

A brass knuckle legislative coup. By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (12/6/18) What has happened in Madison this week with the hard right Republican legislature preemptively kneecapping the administration of Democrat Governor-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kraul before they even have a chance to take the oath of office is a brass knuckle legislative coup. While it is shocking the republicans would take such action it is not surprising; after all, that is what fascists do; abandon legal niceties, tradition and the normal transition of power. All those vestiges of democracy are as dead to the GOP…


Scott Walker Tried To Get Me Fired. Now He’s The One Out Of A Job

    By Emma Roller HuffPost (11/8/18) In the fall of 2011, I was an unemployed recent journalism school graduate in a country still clawing its way back from recession. At a family reunion, my grandma pulled out a piece of paper with a list of signatures — signatures required to trigger a recall election against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who’d just inspired massive protests by ramming through a bill that stripped public sector employees of their right to bargain collectively. She asked me to sign the recall petition, and I did. Beneath his corn-fed, “aw shucks” facade, Walker…


Scott Walker Has A History Of Signing Plagiarized Corporate Friendly ALEC Bills

  By David Armiak PR Watch (10/19/18) Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who has advocated for and signed binding legislation lifted without attribution from the corporate lobby shop known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is now blaming his opponent, Tony Evers, for copying paragraphs in the Department of Public Instruction’s 213-page budget proposal from other sources and failing to properly attribute them. The story was first reported by Politico, which made no attempt to examine Walker’s history of signing copy-cat legislation. In the 2011-2012 session, Walker signed into law 19 bills or budget provisions with ALEC content. The Center for Media and Democracy…


Weasel Walker’s Foxconn Bait-And-Switch: Fewer Jobs & Business For Other States

Is Walker’s big deal turning into just another empty election year promise? By Dave Hansen, State Senator Dist 30 Green Bay Progressive (9/8/18) GREEN BAY, WI – Since Governor Walker’s initial announcement of the Foxconn deal he has been promising it will create 13,000 jobs. But anyone who remembers his promise back in 2010 to create 250,000 jobs during his first term in office knows to take such promises with a large grain of salt. The same day that Walker made his promise of 13,000 new jobs, Foxconn’s owner Terry Gau would only commit to creating 3,000 jobs and even President…


WALKER’S BIG CON: Yet Another Promise Broken As Foxconn Costs Go Up & Wage Promises Go Down

  (Dennis Brault creatively put a portion of a recent Commoner Call cartoon to work in this meme.) Democratic Party of Wisconsin (7/11/18) Recent reporting by Arthur Thomas for BizNews, detailed below, shows that Foxconn is seeking “flexibility” in meeting its average wage target, which will be artificially boosted by including high-end executive pay in the “average” calculations.This news, of course, comes after we know that Foxconn has already scaled back its Mount Pleasant factory and after costs to taxpayers have gone up. Meanwhile, Foxconn continues to face criticism over its pollution and water use; treatment of its workers; and its use of eminent domain to kick people out of their…


Another Walker Double-Cross: Deep-Sixing A Fragile Marine Sanctuary

A diver explores the schooner Home, one of the oldest shipwrecks discovered in Wisconsin. (Photo by Tamara Thomson, Wisconsin Historical Society via www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/wisconsin/   From Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (April/May 2018 Newsletter) When Gov. Scott Walker rescinded his nomination for a federal designation of a marine sanctuary north of Milwaukee on March 6, he caught a lot of people by surprise. Walker had made the nomination back in 2014 with the support of the municipalities in the area,  including Manitowoc, Port Washington, Sheboygan, and Two Rivers. The designation was supposed to preserve the area for scuba divers and others interested in…


Tab On Walker’s Costly Foxconn Con Grows

When one lives under the tyranny of one party rule, our laws and constitution don’t matter to the party in power. They can just rewrite them to suit their tyrannical wants. #EndTheTyranny    #VoteBlue2018 By Dennis Brault The Commoner Call (5/7/18) Here are updates on recent Foxconn developments… The Political Environment Blog — “Scott Walker’s done it! He’s found another way to bring Wisconsin special recognition in addition to his headline-grabbing wars on clean water, hungry families, women’s health, public employees, poor people, federal funds or ethical spending.SE Wisconsin population centers will be exempted at Walker’s request from US Clean Air…


Russia Monitor: Sanctions & Scotty Walker’s Campaign Financing T’rubles

  By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (4/9/18) Dear Fellow Readers, At long last, the Trump administration has finally issued serious sanctions against Russia. The sanctions cover a combination of Russian oligarchs, related companies and Russian officials. These sanctions are issued under previous censure of Russian involvement in Ukraine and Syria. Congress overwhelmingly passed bipartisan sanctions meant to punish Russia for election interference in August 2017, while these latest additions are not part of that legislation, these are certainly aimed squarely at Russian influence in the 2016 election. More specifically, these latest sanctions punish many Russians directly linked to Trump and…


For Walker, It’s All About Self-Interest: What He Does, Not What He Says He “will do”

By Scott Wittkopf Frame4Future.com (3/12/18)   Since his state of the state address, Scott Walker has been attacked by Democrats as “stealing their best ideas” in an effort to “buy votes.” Wisconsin Democrats’ continued adherence to outdated political strategies are resulting in a critical failure that could again cost them votes in November. Because most of the Democratic strategists in Wisconsin view politics only through the narrow lenses of issues, personal identity, and celebrity, they are actually helping Walker by claiming that he is “stealing their ideas” on issues. Instead of focusing on who says what about which issue, they ought to focus…


Are Scott Walker & Paul Ryan Next? Dems Score Big Upset In State Special Election

  By Jon Queally Common Dreams (1/17/18) The win by a Democrat for a state senate seat in Wisconsin’s special election on Tuesday is being seen as the latest sign that traditional Republican strongholds, including districts where Donald Trump beat rival Hillary Clinton handily in 2016, could be up for grabs as the nation eyes this year’s mid-term elections. The victory by Patty Schachtner, the chief medical examiner at a local hospital, over Republican Adam Jarchow, who currently serves in the State House, in Wisconsin’s 10th Senate District—where Trump triumphed over Clinton by 17 points—was an indication to many Democrats, as…


Scott Walker 2016 Presidential Campaign Enriched By $1.1 Million From Oligarch Directly Linked To Russia

There may be another reason top Republicans have not been more vocal in their condemnation. Perhaps it’s because they have their own links to the Russian oligarchy they would prefer go unnoticed. (Editor’s Note: Thanks to Commoner Call reader Bob Fox for forwarding this story. Bob notes that the Dallas Morning News is a very conservative newspaper. – Mark L. Taylor) By Ruth May, Contributor Dallas Morning News (8/3/17) Party loyalty is often cited as the reason that GOP leaders have not been more outspoken in their criticism of President Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn Russia’s interference in the…


BS’er Scotty Walker Behind New Republican Fake News Site

  By Hunter The Daily Kos (9/20/17) We were all distracted by the sheer terribleness of the Republican efforts to strip health insurance, and Republican efforts to specifically deport children, and Republican efforts to defend Trump’s campaign team from being investigated as conspirators assisting the intelligence efforts of a foreign government. Then there were the What’s the point of going to such efforts to hide a party-produced website as an independent media outlet? There’s only one: to intentionally mislead voters. Republican efforts to pack the courts by systemically nullifying the very same rules they used to block the last Democratic…


Hey, Someone Has To Pay For Walker’s $3 Billion Foxconn Giveaway! Republicans Continue Raid On Veteran Nursing Home Fund

  Sen. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) MADISON, WI – A second audit of the state’s veteran nursing home at King revealed major staffing and health care concerns years after red flags were first raised by residents and whistleblowers. Since 2011, Republicans raided $21 million from the King Home while failing to ensure proper staffing, facility maintenance and health care services. Gov. Walker’s administration plans to raid an additional $26 million from the state’s veteran nursing homes over the next two years. “It is inexcusable that Republicans would prioritize a $3 billion giveaway to a foreign corporation while our Wisconsin veterans…


Conned: State Republicans Shelled Out $4 Million Of Your Money For Tiny Airport For Republican Mega-Donor’s Golf Course

  By Noor Al-Siai The Raw Story (9/8/17) While the rest of Wisconsin’s road infrastructure “crumbled,” state Republicans quietly approved $4 million in repairs to a tiny airport near a golf course owned by a Republican “mega-donor.” According to the Associated Press, Sand Valley Golf Resort developer Michael Keiser donated $25,000 to the state’s  Republican Party earlier this year. Soon after, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee approved the $4 million repairs to the golf resort’s diminutive airport. The report also said that the donation came “three weeks after Gov. Scott Walker (R) released his budget without funding for Wisconsin Rapids’ Alexander Field [airport].” “It…


Scotty’s Big Con: Wisconsin’s Foxconn Deal Enriches Billionaires With Taxpayer Cash

  By Sam Pizzigati Common Dreams (8/28/17) Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou every once in a while likes to think “outside the box.” Back in 2010, for instance, the giant electronics manufacturer that Gou runs — Foxconn — was facing what corporate flacks like to call a major “PR problem.” Working conditions inside Foxconn’s massive Chinese factories had become so incredibly stressful that workers were committing suicide in shockingly large numbers. They were leaping out factory windows to their deaths. And what did Gou’s Foxconn do to try to calm the worldwide outrage? The conventional corporate move would have been to dial back the…


John Nichols: Walker’s Crony Capitalism And His ‘Over-The-Top’ Bad Deal

  By John Nichols The Cap Times (8/6/17) If Scott Walker were a fiscal conservative, he would be ashamed of himself. But Walker is not a fiscal conservative. And he has no shame, as Wisconsinites who know how their tax dollars are spent are rapidly discovering. Walker, who has claimed over the years that the state is too impoverished to adequately fund public education, public services and roads, has suddenly determined that Wisconsin has an extra $3 billion to hand off to a controversial multinational corporation that is famous for making big promises to nations and states and then failing…


$3 Billion Foxconn Corporate Welfare Bill Includes $10M Giveaway For Walker & GOP Pal Fiserv

  Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (8/2/17) A bill that would provide $3 billion in state giveaways for Foxconn to locate a manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin also includes millions in tax breaks for a big campaign contributor to Republican Gov. Scott Walker. The bill, which is expected to be considered by the legislature this month, includes $10 million in tax breaks intended to keep Fiserv, a Brookfield-based company that makes products for banks and credit unions, from relocating its headquarters to another state. The company is considering sites around Milwaukee, but has not ruled out locating its new headquarters outside Wisconsin. Fiserv is a…


Bought & Paid For: Wisconsin State Supreme Court Legalizes Bribery Of The Courts

By Dennis Brault The Commoner Call (4/24/17) Yes, indeed, the Wisconsin Supreme Court just ruled that your First Amendment right to free speech would be impinged if you couldn’t bribe …err… support with cash, Wisconsin judges. This should come as no surprise, as our state supreme court is the most expensively purchased court in state history. They are, like so many politicians, nothing more than employees of the far right wing Ayn Randian corporate groups funding their campaigns. The free speech, which isn’t free if it costs money, argument can be fixed by amending the United State Constitution to state…


Walker’s Plan To Cancel State DNR Magazine Enrages Citizens

  By Chris D’Angelo The Huffington Post (4/10/17) WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) plans to do away with a nearly century-old, state-run nature magazine, sparking outrage among critics who see it as part of an ongoing anti-environment agenda. Walker’s 2017-2019 budget, which he unveiled in February, calls for suspending publication of Wisconsin Natural Resources next year. The magazine, a product of the state Department of Natural Resources, has kept Wisconsinites informed about hunting and fishing opportunities, species conservation, environmental issues and much more since 1919. The Walker administration argues it doesn’t fit the department’s core mission. “While the magazine has a…


Public Not Buying ‘Bucky Weasel’ Walker Muzzling Of DNR On Climate Change

  Bucky Weasel: Environmental Rodent Model By Steven Verburg The Wisconsin State Journal (3/4/17) Hundreds of phone calls and emails voicing shock, outrage and ridicule flooded state Department of Natural Resources offices in December after top managers deleted language from the DNR website that had described the urgency of addressing human activity that has accelerated climate change. Some DNR employees handling the public reaction expressed frustration as managers waited days before telling them how to respond, and then provided a script that treated the altered web pages as a routine update. Documents released to the Wisconsin State Journal under the state…


CARTOON KNOWLEDGE: What’s A ‘Snollygoster’? We Have Three Prime Examples In Wisconsin

By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (2/27/17) Commoner Call reader Richard Smith sent in a note the other day alerting me to probably the best word I have ever seen to describe a politician. It is one of those words that sounds exactly like what it means: snollygoster. It’s perfectly suited to a particular brand of politician citizens on both sides of the American political chasm have come to loathe. Truly, snollygoster is a tag with bipartisan applications. While all politicians have to occasionally stretch the truth or compromise on some campaign promise or utter some meaningless BS to…


In Spite Of Walker, Solar Jobs Surge In State

Walker has received nearly $6 million from the Koch brothers, the nation’s leading advocates for fossil fuels.   By Dave Zweifel Cap Times (2/10/17) There are now more than 260,000 Americans working in the solar energy industry, according to end-of-2016 figures released this week by the Solar Foundation. That’s actually twice the number of Americans now employed by the coal industry and roughly the same number working in the national gas industry, the foundation said. That means that roughly one of 50 new jobs in 2016 was in the solar industry. But here’s what’s even more significant: The national median…