http://www.fightingbob.com/ An online magazine about progressive politics in Wisconsin. en-us Subscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with Pageflakes http://www.fightingbob.com/weblog.cfm?postID=4830
Citizens United, that god-awful Supreme Court decision brought to us by Judges Alito, Thomas and Scalia, may well have destroyed democracy in America. Americans for Prosperity, the leading activist group paid for by the Koch Brothers along with the Tea Party will determine who the nominees for national office will be. And they will frame the issues for the "debate" in future presidential debates. Bad as that is, you should read Jane Mayer's most recent article in the New Yorker about the role of the Koch brothers in shaping America to their liking through bought media, including public television. It is very scary, so if you are prone to have nightmares don't read the Mayer article just before bed.

We have always turned to public TV for help in belling the cat (especially Bill Moyers), but now it is in danger of joining the Koch crusade, albeit it in a more subtle way. The right-wing Kochs will soon suffocate PBS, shut down Moyers and Frontline, and complete the purchase of the Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and Baltimore Sun (actually that is a bit redundant as the L.A. Times bought the Baltimore Sun years ago, but it should be recalled).

David Koch--yes, that one--has donated $23 million to public television and he is ready to give more as a board member of WNET. Sure makes my hundred bucks to PBS seem like an insult! And the Kochs don't suffer opposition well. They want control.

So in the future I can imagine the Koch brothers as the dominate force in media in this country and others. Heritage Foundation, CATO, Tea Party, you name it, and they will own it. Say hello to president Ryan!

Is there any light at the tunnel's end? Give us your thoughts.]]> Ed Garvey 2013-05-23 http://www.fightingbob.com/article.cfm?articleID=1634 Anne Arneson, Barbara Arnold, Nan Brien, Carol Carstensen 2013-05-23 http://www.fightingbob.com/weblog.cfm?postID=4829 asking how much the Democratic Party shells out for his compensation package I am picking on him. No, Mike, I am not picking on you. I am just asking you to tell us how much the party will have to pay the next chair and how much you get paid. You could get some very talented people for the salary a legislator gets.

The admin committee should be held accountable not just you. My bone with you is to ask why you did not notify Democrats or the media about the filing deadline--last Friday I think but cannot say for certain. You give the impression that "the fix is in." Is it?]]> Ed Garvey 2013-05-21 http://www.fightingbob.com/article.cfm?articleID=1633 Dave Zweifel 2013-05-21 http://www.fightingbob.com/guestblog.cfm?postID=4828
It started on its upward course during the bellicose years when the two tough, smart, uncompromising leaders Scott Jensen in the Assembly and Chuck Chvala in the Senate ordered an end to the casual camaraderie that had characterized those two bodies for years.

The public show in both houses had been somewhere between bitter and vitriolic, but the after hours was where the deals were made and the rhetoric toned down. The watering holes were off the record and populated by seemingly irreconcilable partisans from both sides. Breaking bread together was common, neither encouraged nor frowned upon.

The respect for the trade and its practitioners was evident despite the disputatious nature of the institutions.

In the winter of 2011 and the recall rants that followed camaraderie was out the window and the toxicity level went ballistic. The issues that were the worthy subjects of debate and disagreement became personal. “He said, she said,” escalated to, “If he [or she] is for it, I’m against it.”

Compromise and civility were history. Ideological purity and rigidity reigned.

The toxicity level reached 100.

One respected veteran of the legislative wars predicted, “It will take 30 years to get over this.”

I asked the journalists Patrick Marley and Jason Stein, who had reported on the wars of 2011 at the time and revisited and updated them in their admirable book, where they thought the toxic index was. They thought it was still high, but dropping ever so slightly.

A good sign.

A better sign is the informal survey taken by a newly elected member of the Assembly who said that a good third of the group that came in in 2012 said their constituents had been vocal and firm about their desire to see if not peace a lower level of conflict in that chamber.

Organized sociability was common in the last third of the last century where a series of governors brought presumed enemies together at the executive residence for drinks and dinner along with citizens, administrators, academics, and others who didn’t belong to the same clubs or hang out at the same taverns in their home venues either.

These soirees have been more rarely used in the new millennium and hardly ever as an antidote to the rising toxicity downtown.

And Washington is reputably as bad or worse. A new member of Congress has said that there has been one social occasion since November when an event in DC brought the partisans under the same roof. A long series of Wisconsin governors would have told the president, if asked, that he might have followed their example and hosted more than a few of those kinds of occasions himself.

What we need is a sociologist to creative a Toxicity Index along with the criteria used to measure the intensity of the affliction. The questions should go beyond attendance at official occasions. Co-sponsorship of legislation would be a factor. Hanging out together in the off hours at places where guns are figuratively left at the door, and all who enter are welcome and comfortable. Talking to, instead of at, each other. Even freeing whatever free spirits there are in today’s legislators from caucus control.

It’s not against the rules for cabinet secretaries to invite legislators out for or to their homes for dinner.

Driving to work together. How many deals were cut by the carpoolers from central Wisconsin on the way to and from Madison in the not-so-distant past?

Does that 10 percent approval rating bother anybody? Outsiders are asking why they should respect people who don’t respect their trade or each other. It’s a legitimate question.]]> Bill Kraus 2013-05-19 http://www.fightingbob.com/weblog.cfm?postID=4827 Wisconsin State Journal reports that Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski is leaving his post with Democrats. He has been the party's spokesman for three-and-a-half years, according to party chair Mike Tate, but was demoted after a couple of statements. One compared Scott Walker to Jeffrey Dahmer and a second one suggested that he does not fully suport a woman's right to chose abortion.

The WSJ remained silent on his compensation. No mention of a severance package, and no indication if the party has hired a replacement or if they have named someone. Is it true that the party will pay $120,000? C'mon! This is serious business not bean bags. We have a right to know all the facts.

Mike Tate still refuses to tell us his compensation package. Will hell freeze over first?]]> Ed Garvey 2013-05-19 http://www.fightingbob.com/article.cfm?articleID=1632 David Giffey 2013-05-19 http://www.fightingbob.com/weblog.cfm?postID=4826
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there does it make a noise? Asked another way, if Mike Tate is the only Democrat who will qualify for the job of chairman, who will decide his compensation, priorities and plans? Well, apparently the answer is Mike Tate.

I don't really know Mike Tate, so it is hard to tell if he knows what he is doing. Some of the tasks are obvious: candidate recruitment; fund raising; framing the issues for debates; expanding the party base. What is he doing to prepare for a right-to-work campaign in Wisconsin? Where is the master plan for the party to become relevant? What grade should we give this well compensated employee of the party?

I can say that I have received hundreds of fundraising requests from Mike Tate but never a request for my position on policy. Hells bells, I can't even find out what he is paid. The Democratic Party appears to be out of gas. Time for an internal debate on the direction of the Democratic Party--third party or second!]]> Ed Garvey 2013-05-18 http://www.fightingbob.com/weblog.cfm?postID=4825 note: this post originally identified Phil as Robert's brother), and his wife Belle could see us now they might change their minds a tad.

Sit before reading the following. I have been badgering Democratic Party Chair Mike Tate to post his compensation package online. He refuses to do that and will not disclose his compensation to party members or media who call the Democratic Party office. I have an idea that his compensation package is quite generous. A former elected official is also in the dark, but she said "rumor has it" his pay is in six figures plus insurance and memberships in some exclusive clubs paid for by the Democrats! (Milwaukee Athletic Club and North Hills Country Club.)

Here is the straw that broke the camel's back. Tate announced that he will run again, but won't tell Democrats or the media when the election will be held, when the filing deadline is, etc. Imagine trying to recruit someone really good and when asked how much she would be paid is told that it is none of her business!

We were told yesterday that the filing deadline for the two-year job is today. Yup! Today. Notice? Nope! We called the party but we were only allowed to talk with an intern who knew almost nothing--by design. I asked if a notice had been sent to Democrats and he didn't know.

More rumors. After Graeme Zielinski compared Walker with Jeff Dahmer people were outraged and Tate gave the impression that Zielinski was suspended or fired. When Zielinski said he was not really in favor of abortion, some caution flags went up. He went into hiding.

More rumors. He (Graeme) has been making $60,000 per year, but is now moving on and the party has hired a person to replace him with a salary of $120,000. (You can't make this stuff up!)

Why do I suspect that Tate's pay is high? If he was not earning a big salary he would not be fighting so hard to keep the job. And he might be telling us he is making a big sacrifice.

Paul Wellstone was fond of saying "we are the democratic wing of the Democratic Party." What wing in Tate in?]]> Ed Garvey 2013-05-17 http://www.fightingbob.com/article.cfm?articleID=1631 Dave Zweifel 2013-05-16