Prank call shows Walker wants to bring union busting to Michigan

It was pretty clear to most people that extremist Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was trying to bust the public sector unions by trying to take away their collective bargaining rights by creating a financial emergency, but he confirmed his goal was union busting on Tuesday after he was phone pranked by a liberal blogger.

Besides proving he wasn’t very smart and easily duped, the call proves this is just a union busting ploy because unions tend to support Democrats in elections. Walker thought he was talking to David Koch, one of the Koch brothers who has bankrolled teabaggers and is financing the current union-busting movement.

The transcript of the call is just hilarious and reveling, and Walker never knew he was being pranked. It did prove that this is not about balancing the budget but killing the unions. Walker tries to make the claim that the huge crowds that have jammed the capitol in Wisconsin in support of collective bargaining rights are paid, saying, “…they’re probably putting hobos in suits.”

Then they joked about trying to trick the Democratic Senators who left Madison so the Legislature does not have a quorum by tricking them into returning by thinking that Walker was actually going to negotiate in good faith, and Koch/blogger Ian Murphy joked Walker should bring a baseball bat to the meeting.

“I have one in my office; you’d be happy with that,” Walker said. “I got a Slugger with my name on it.”

Walker is obviously enjoying all the attention he is getting, and his ego is growing along with his infamy. He even compared himself to GOP saint Ronald Reagan, and he tried to equate union-busting with the fall of Communism. Someone should tell him about the Solidarity union movement and Lech Wałęsa.

"I pulled out a picture of Ronald Reagan, and I said, you know, this may seem a little melodramatic, but 30 years ago, Ronald Reagan, whose 100th birthday we just celebrated the day before, had one of the most defining moments of his political career, not just his presidency, when he fired the air-traffic controllers,” Walker said. “And, uh, I said, to me that moment was more important than just for labor relations or even the federal budget, that was the first crack in the Berlin Wall and the fall of Communism because from that point forward, the Soviets and the Communists knew that Ronald Reagan wasn’t a pushover"

Walker also made it clear that Wisconsin is ground zero for busting public sector unions, and he wants to import the union-busting to other states, including Michigan.

“I talk to Kasich every day; John’s gotta stand firm in Ohio,” he said. “I think we could do the same thing with Vic Scott in Florida. I think, uh, [Rick] Snyder-if he got a little more support-probably could do that in Michigan.”

The good news is that Snyder is saying, at least publicly, that he is not interested in union busting. But the Republican-controlled Legislature is another story, and they are doing nothing but union busting. I have no idea how this creates jobs.

Veteran Capitol correspondent Tim Skubick is reporting that Snyder went so far as to meet with Legislative Republicans on Tuesday to talk about their union-busting agenda over his agenda of reforming the tax system and the budget. Apparently, the Speaker of the House told him they were more interested in union busting than jobs.

Snyder trying to run the clock out until November

As expected, Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Snyder continues to duck and try to weasel out of debates with Democratic nominee and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.

Like he did in the primary election when he only took part in one of the five debates and held staged “town hall meetings” in front of friendly audiences, he is stalling and using the same strategy in the General Election. He is hoping he can continue to stall and run out the clock until November and con people, praying they do not find out how little he knows about state government and that he has no real plan for Michigan.

Bernero appeared on the radio show “City Pulse On The Air” on Thursday and said the Snyder campaign is more interested in "the size of the table," "the size of the podium" and other assorted "nonsense."

“You've got to face the music,” Bernero said. “We're not running for county commissioner here. This is governor for the state of Michigan. We should be debating over the next two months in every region of the state. We owe that to the public. Let them shop and compare. Let them kick the tires. They're going to be stuck with one of us the next four years."

Snyder spin doctor, Green Oak Township resident and GOP dirty trickster Bill Nowling, is doing his best to spin the Snyder cowardice, but he does not have much to work with.

He told subscription only MIRS that “what the Snyder camp doesn't want is a free-for-all public spectacle that only "Lansing reporters" would enjoy watching. Reminded about the 2006 gubernatorial debate in which Republican gubernatorial nominee and fellow outsourcer Dick DeVos gave a now-infamous blank stare to the camera after being thrown off right out of the gate by a Tim Skubick question, Nowling responded, "Yeah, nobody is interested in that."

Well, Snyder and Nowling are not interested in answering tough questions from people who know what’s going on in the State Capitol, but many voters are. That’s simply Snyder ducking the debates.

Like I have said before, Snyder is wrapped himself so tightly in the outsider blanket that he wants nothing to interfere with that expensive image he bought with the millions he made cheating stockholders; like facts and the fact he has no idea how state government works. His preferred campaign mode is the millions he has spent on 30-scond TV commercials crafting the false image of “one tough nerd” and in front of friendly audiences who someone believes state government can be run like a business where you can fire the elected Legislature if they don’t do what you want.

Good luck with that, but that bought and paid for image will be destroyed after the first debate

Local teabagger appear on Off the Record

One of my favorite TV shows turned into an episode of “The Twilight Zone” today with the appearance of tea-bagger, book-burner and anti-gay hatemonger Wendy Day.

Day appeared as a guest on the long-running weekly Michigan PBS political show "Off the Record.” The show must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for guests. Day craves the spotlight more than anything else, and although the show has a small audience with political junkies like me, it was just more exposure for the divisive Howell School Board member.

Host and long-time Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick usually asks tough questions, but Day got nothing but softballs. Day has a long history of supporting rightwing hate and extremist groups that gained her national attention, but she really took advantage of the racist anti-government Astroturf “tea party” movement that sprang up last year that attracted some extremist right wing groups to get even more attention.

With health care reform so close to becoming a reality, a couple of rightwing extremist Washington, D.C. lobbying firms helped organize the “tea parties” and spread the more that $1.4 million a day the insurance companies are spending to defeat it.

She is billing herself as the president of another misnamed “tea party” group called “Common Sense in Government.” It apparently follows the Bush Administration’s practice of naming things the opposite of what they really do, like the Clean Skies Initiative, the Healthy Forest Initiative and No Child Left Behind.

Apparently, Day wants to re-fight the American Civil War and turn back the clock with the “state’s rights” farce that the southern states used in order to maintain the institution of slavery.

“Our beef is government has too much focus and control over the individual lives of Americans, and that the federal government has more power than they are supposed to,” she said. “What you are looking at is a state’s rights issue.”

The only half way hard question was asked by panelist Chris Christoff from the Detroit Free Press’s Lansing Bureau, who asked her how large the state budget was, and she had no idea.

“If it’s in the phone book, government should probably not do it,” Day answered.

For someone who says they want the federal government to adhere to the U.S. Constitution, Day’s support for a part-time U.S. Congress is even more hare-brained.

She claims her teabag group is bipartisan, and her group is currently behind robo calls against Democrats. Day also said her hate group plans to form a political action committee (PAC); no doubt funded with the massive amounts of cash from the insurance industry, former U.S. House Majority Leader and rightwing Republican Dick Armey’s Freedom Works and the Washington, D.C.-based rightwing think tank Americans for Prosperity.

Leadership for Freshman Caucus is lacking

Remember all the fuss last winter when the 46 new Michigan State Representatives took the oath of office because of term limits?

It was one of the largest classes of incoming freshman lawmakers in the history of the Legislature, and this group formed a Freshman Caucus to foster friendship and cooperation that would address the problems facing Michigan. They even signed a pledge to cooperate even when they disagree. Livingston County’s own Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton, was elected as the co-chair of the bipartisan caucus.

That pledge appears to be worth no more than the paper it was printed on. Veteran political correspondent Tim Skubick calls out one of the largest caucuses in the House as Michigan faces a budget crisis eerily similar to the budget mess in 2007.

In a column in the online magazine Dome, Skubick says they have failed to assert any influence on the closed-door negotiations between the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, is doing the same thing he did in 2007; telling the press he will not consider a revenue increase, but privately, he says he will support it if the Democrats take the heat again.

"Senator Bishop, it’s time to stop negotiating out of both sides of your mouth. For public consumption you demand that the budget be balanced with cuts and no new taxes, yet quietly behind the scenes you’ve given the green light to your minions to negotiate a possible revenue raising deal with the governor," Skubick wrote.

Skubick also has harsh words for Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, but he cannot question their honesty like he does Bishop.

He also calls out the freshman for the summer work schedule, but I disagree with part of that. He says, “the House has met one time since the first of July. That’s a six-week summer snooze.“ That’s simply not true. The House has met at least five times since July 1, and they have held committee hearings every day. The Senate has met twice and held no committee meetings.

However, Skubick did say there was some hope for the Freshman Caucus; at least the Democrats.

"There is one ray of hope. The bulk of the new Democrats demanded and got a closed-door meeting with two of the senior Democratic leaders, where they complained about the lackadaisical summer work schedule and griped about being left out of the loop on the budget. Major points for that. But the speaker did not attend. Major points off."

Maybe Rogers, a genuinely nice man, can organize a few more frames of bowling.

Only Republicans think it’s OK to charge admission to political debates

Only in the world of Republicans can a decision by a candidate to skip a so-called political debate where admission is charged can he earn their scorn.

Both the Michigan House and Senate canceled session on Thursday so lawmakers can attend the annual three-day Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's Mackinac Policy Conference. Thursday evening an event called “The Great Gubernatorial Debate” moderated by “Off the Record’s” Tim Skubick was held.

Invited to participate were Republican gubernatorial candidates Sen. Tom George, Terri Lynn Land, Mike Cox and Peter Hoekstra, and Democratic candidates Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith and Lt. Gov. John Cherry.

Cherry decided to skip the debate because admission was being charged and it was a fundraiser. Over at the official unofficial GOP blog “Right” Michigan, they gave Cherry a hard time for skipping it, saying he “snubbed the event.”

I say good for him. Who the heck charges admission to a political debate? The tickets were $175 in advance and $200 at the door. Plus, Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, a GOP candidate, was not even invited. The rightwing blog failed to mention that.

In the 14 years I have been a journalist and in politics. I have only heard of one other time where admission was charged for a political debate between candidates for elected office.

Last June the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans (TAR) sponsoring a candidate forum for the two open Michigan House seats and charged admission.

The delay on taking up the workplace smoking ban is a smokescreen

LANSING – Its’ pretty clear Legislative leaders used a lame excuse to suspend action on the workplace smoking ban, and that fact is becoming more clear every day.

You will recall that at the start of a much-needed two-week spring break earlier this month, House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said the workplace smoking ban will be shelved this spring to concentrate on the budget. The House Regulatory Reform Committee that had held three straight weeks of testimony on the ban and nothing else has now moved on to apparently more important matters.

When they meet today, they will take testimony on House Bill 4715 introduced by the chair of the committee, Rep. Bert Johnson, that modifies investment of money in the state lottery fund. It will also consider HB 4565 introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing that requires tagging of certain beer kegs.

That is much more important than taking action on a public health hazard that kills 3,000 people a year in Michigan.

For even more important issues, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, chaired by Rep. Dudley Spade, D-Adrian, is meeting on Thursday to discuss an even more pressing issue: proposed administrative rules for unarmed combat (mixed martial arts). Now, I’m sure lottery, beer kegs and mixed martial arts are very important issues to some people, but so is protecting people from deadly secondhand smoke. The legislature can work on the budget as well as work on other issues at the same time.

The April 10 edition of “Off the Record” hosted by Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick makes its pretty clear the decision to put off the ban is just a smokescreen.

Michigan political junkies can see Off the Record live

The long-running weekly PBS show "Off the Record" will tape a segment live on Nov. 21 in East Lansing in front of a live audience, and the show is inviting fellow political junkies to join them for a special on the road show.

The show has been a staple on PBS stations all over Michigan since 1972, covering the governor's office, the state legislature, the political campaign trail and state government with host and longest-running Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick. The on the road show will take a look back at the 2008 election with some of Michigan's top political pundits. The show will begin at 2:30 pm. At Michigan State University's Kellogg Center Auditorium, 55 S. Harrison Road in East Lansing, with a reception following at 5 p.m.

The program is sponsored by MSU's Michigan Political Leadership Program and the Michigan Political History Society. It will feature guests Steve Mitchell of Mitchell Research and Communications, Inc.; Susan Demas, a reporter for the newsletter MIRS that covers the Capitol; Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA; Nat Ehrlich, of the Institute of Public Policy & Social Research; Bill Ballenger, editor of the newsletter Inside Michigan Politics and Coit Cook Ford III of CCF III Consulting & Associates.

The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required by phone at (517) 353-1357 or by e-mail to cusickk@msu.edu.

The show airs on weekends on PBS stations beginning Friday evening. Check local TV listings in your area to see when the show airs on your local PBS station.

Bloggers gaining credibility with appearance of LL on OTR

Bloggers took a major step toward the mainstream and credibility when one of our own was included as a regular panelist on a mid-Michigan institution, “Off the Record with Tim Skubick.”

Julielyn Gibbons – AKA Liberal Lucy of Liberal, Loud and Proud – appeared as a regular panelist on the show hosted by Tim Skubick, along with Rick Albin of WOOD-TV, Stephanie Korneffel of MIRS and Bill Ballenger of Inside Michigan Politics. The show on Michigan PBS stations features various mainstream reporters that cover the legislature and state government talking about the hot political stories, and it usually features a guest.

LL appeared as a panelist as part of a show on blogging and bloggers, and a week later she joined the panel as a capitol correspondent. Hopefully, she will appear as part of the rotating panel of reporters, and it will also spur Mr. Skubick to look at other bloggers for inclusion as panelists.

The show airs on most state PBS stations, but here in mid-Michigan it can be it can be seen on WKAR in East Lansing at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. It can also be seen on line.

On a personal note, LL is a former Livingston County resident, hailing from Green Oak Township where some of our most loyal and active Democrats come from, and her parents still live there.

She has also posted a very personal and courageous story on why she started blogging and became an activist. She is asking for our help in spreading the word about Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. In doing so, she is trying to bring attention to an upcoming event, the Get Your Guts in Gear ride. Please check out her post on the subject, the event itself and spread the word.

LC’s own LL knocks em dead on OTR

Hats off to Julielynn Gibbons (Liberal Lucy of Liberal, Loud and Proud) and Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel from The Next Hurrah) for the excellent job they did representing liberal bloggers on “Off the Record with Tim Skubick.”

They appeared with rightwing bloggers Nick DeLeeuw (“Rightmichigan”) and Bill Nowling (The Lunchbucket Conservative) on the half hour show to discuss the effect of blogging on Michigan politics. They did an excellent job doing that, and they lent credibility to what we bloggers do. This is one of my favorite shows, and usually the panelists are political reporters from the mainstream media that cover the Capitol, but this time we had people who are much more involved in covering the Capitol.

I know this is all over the blogosphere by now, but because a lot of what I write about is politics where I live in Livingston County I wanted to point out the special connection to Livingston County.

Liberal Lucy grew up here in Livingston County’s Green Oak Township, and her proud parents still live. Although she now lives in Lansing, many local Democrats know her from her work to improve the Democratic net roots presence here in the county.

Bill Nowling also lives in Green Oak Township, and he was once a reporter here for the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus when it was still a weekly newspaper. After moving here to his wife’s hometown, fellow Republican Buddy Moorehouse, then the editor of the former Brighton Argus, got him a job with the paper until he could get into Michigan Republican politics, hooking up first on the staff of former Gov. John Engler and for then former state Sen. Mike Rogers.

After going to work for a PR firm, he made news when he allegedly threatened to blackmail Rogers after Rogers was elected to the U.S. House if he did not vote for a telecommunications bill one of the clients Nowling’s firm was representing wanted passed.

Ann Arbor resident Marcy Wheeler is the author of “Anatomy of Deceit” about the Plame CIA leak case. She was the only blogger to receive a press pass for the Scooter Libby trial where she live-blogged during the trial.

DeLeeuw operates one of the more slimier blogs around that’s long on accusations and short on facts. He recently took the Governor to task for daring to take a lunch hour and spending it with her teenage daughter on her birthday. His latest baseless attack is accusing Michigan House Democrats of taking a bribe because DTE’s political action committee contributed $15,000 to the House Democrats' political action committee, making the ridiculous claim it was for the proposal to revamp state regulations to return monopoly status to utilities such as DTE that could raise $500 million toward the budget shortfall. Like all of his “reporting” the real story is what he leaves out, like the fact that DTE has also given $11,500 to Senate Republicans.

You can see the show online, or you can tune in tonight at 9 p.m. on WKAR in East Lansing or 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The show is on most state PBS stations.