ThinkProgress » Is Scott Walker Cutting Off Internet Access To Thwart Protesters?

According to pro-labor protesters in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) may be taking a page from former Egyptian Dictator Hosni Mubarak and cutting off internet access to key protest organizers within the state Capitol building.

If you are in the Capitol attempting to access the internet from a free wifi connection labeled “guest,” you cannot access the site defendwisconsin.org. The site has been used to provide updates on what is happening, where you can volunteer, and where supplies and goods are needed to support protesters. Administrators of the website were notified on Monday that the page is being blocked. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate says that the site was put on a blacklist typically used to filter out pornography sites so that protestors inside the Capitol could not access this key site.

Former Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Charles Hoornstra said that, if Walker is blocking the website, it could be a violation of state and federal laws concerning free speech laws.

ThinkProgress » Is Scott Walker Cutting Off Internet Access To Thwart Protesters?

ThinkProgress » The Last Time Scott Walker Went Union Busting, He Was Overruled And Wasted Taxpayer Dollars

The last time Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) went after public sector unions it had “disastrous results” for him and for taxpayers. As Milwaukee County Executive in 2009, Walker tried to get rid of the unionized security guards at the county courthouse and replace them with contractors, which he promised would save the county money.

ThinkProgress » The Last Time Scott Walker Went Union Busting, He Was Overruled And Wasted Taxpayer Dollars

ThinkProgress » Koch Industries Front Group Americans For Prosperity Launches Ad To Support Walker’s Union Busting

As ThinkProgress has reported, the global conglomerate Koch Industries not only helped elect Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), but is the leading force orchestrating his union-busting campaign. Koch gave Walker over $43,000 in direct donations and its allies aired millions of dollars worth of attack ads against his Democratic opponent. Then, Koch political operatives pressured Walker to crush labor unions as one of his first priorities. Tim Phillips, a former lobbying partner to Jack Abramoff and current president of Americans for Prosperity, a front financed by David Koch, told the New York Times that Koch operatives “had worked behind the scenes to try to encourage a union showdown.” A Koch-financed front group, the American Legislative Exchange Council, has prepped Wisconsin GOP lawmakers with anti-labor legislative ideas.

Today, the Koch group Americans for Prosperity announced that it will air an ad smearing the protesters in Madison and calling on the state to support Walker’s power grab.

ThinkProgress » Koch Industries Front Group Americans For Prosperity Launches Ad To Support Walker’s Union Busting

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/SPEAK: Speak Up!

WHAT’S THIS? A people can topple their government without having any Second Amendment rights? Strange how we did not see protesters in the streets of Cairo with guns. The protesters were peaceful and not threatening to kill anyone in order to be heard. — C.E.

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/SPEAK: Speak Up!

I created the NADA category on my blog during the darkest days of Duhbya’s Reign of Error: New American Dark Ages. I still find new items to add to NADA almost daily thanks to the frightened, angry, and willfully-ignorant ranting of the Radical Right Wrong. If politics are all that interest you … you may have a problem, but here’s your link: mjh’s blog — NADA. However, I recommend frequent breaks from the biliousness, so see the whole blog for photos, poetry, movies, etc. Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think (in comments or via email, if you’re civil).

Raise the income cap on taxable wages. All salaries up to and including the level of pay for the President should be subject to FICA. If you make more than the President, you’re on your own — you don’t need Social Security.

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Talk of the Town

Quit Lying About Social Security’s Health
        … On a recent episode of "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarbarough and guest Peggy Noonan, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, both insisted that any work to reduce the deficit must begin with cutting Social Security benefits. It was a lie. Social Security has no effect whatever on the federal deficit.
        They also insisted that as an "entitlement" Social Security faced bankruptcy. Another lie. Social Security is fiscally sound until about 2037. By lifting the income cap from the current $106,000 level it will be fiscally secure until past 2070.
        The practice of lying about Social Security has become epidemic among "conservatives." It needs to stop. Along with the issue of civil discourse when we disagree, honesty is desperately needed as a part of the conversation, too.
        Social Security has out-performed every private sector retirement program in our country except the "golden parachutes" of the uber-wealthy. It has never missed a payment and won’t, unless the extremists in our government insist on shutting down the government as a part of their political tantrum. Conservatives need to find a different dead horse to beat on. And they need to stop lying about Social Security.
JOHN SHIPLEY
Albuquerque

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Talk of the Town

[updated added 2/22/11 7pm]

ThinkProgress » McCain On Social Security: ‘It’s A Ponzi Scheme That Bernie Madoff Would Be Proud Of’

By calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme, McCain appears to be aligning himself with other radical conservatives who have long sought to gut or privatize the popular public program. Last year, former House Majority Leader and FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey called Social Security a “pay-as-you-go Ponzi scheme“; a month later, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) also compared the program to a Ponzi scheme. And Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) campaigned by making the same comparison in his television commercials.

All of these radical conservatives are wrong to make such a comparison between a criminal enterprise and one of America’s most successful social programs. A Ponzi scheme involves fraudulently manipulating investors’ money without being able to pay them back; meanwhile, Social Security is a program that has successfully managed Americans’ money since its inception and has guaranteed them safe retirements.

ThinkProgress » McCain On Social Security: ‘It’s A Ponzi Scheme That Bernie Madoff Would Be Proud Of’

ThinkProgress » Koch Industries Slashed WI Jobs, Helped Elect Scott Walker, Now Orchestrating Pro-Walker Protest

A number of the big business interests standing with Walker are beneficiaries of his administration’s tax giveaways. But the greatest ally to Walker is the dirty energy company Koch Industries. In response to the growing protests in Madison, Koch fronts are busing in Tea Party protesters to support Walker and his union-busting campaign.

ThinkProgress » Koch Industries Slashed WI Jobs, Helped Elect Scott Walker, Now Orchestrating Pro-Walker Protest

NewMexiKen | All you need to know about Wisconsin

Originally posted Saturday, February 19, 2011  

Wisconsin’s Democratic state senators went into hiding to deprive the Republican majority of the quorum they need to pass Walker’s agenda. The Senate majority leader, Scott Fitzgerald — who happens to be the brother of the Assembly speaker, Jeff Fitzgerald — believes the governor is absolutely right about the need for draconian measures to cut spending in this crisis. So he’s been sending state troopers out to look for the missing Democrats.

The troopers are under the direction of the new chief of the state patrol, Stephen Fitzgerald. He is the 68-year-old father of Jeff and Scott and was appointed to the $105,678 post this month by Governor Walker.

From Gail Collins.

NewMexiKen | All you need to know about Wisconsin