Flip Romney

Mitt Romney is confused. The old adage, "All politics is local" is being jumbled in Romney's mind as "All video is local." He thinks he can say one thing in one state and then just 24 hours later say something completely different.

Remember when former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney went to a call center of conservative faithful in Ohio, as volunteers were dialing on behalf of the efforts to save SB 5, the state’s new union-busting bill? And then when asked by reporters, said he wasn’t going to take a position on the issue?

Well, that was yesterday.

Today it appears Romney does have a position: he supports Gov. John Kasich’s efforts to curtail public employee unions in the name of tightening Ohio’s budget. Romney said as much at an event in Virginia...

And apparently the confusion was ours. He wasn't going to take a position on other ballot questions, even though he spent his time at the pro-SB5 call center. Reporters couldn't possibly have been asking him about SB5, could they? As soon as Mitt hightailed it out of Ohio - where polls show a majority of Ohioans plan on voting to repeal the union busting bill - he decided to back Gov. Kasich while his feet were firmly planted in Virginia.

Just say, "Oops!" and get out.

He's Not Al Sharpton

If politicians actually did everything they said they'd do while on the campaign trail, the world would be a better place. But we live in reality, don't we? If someone running for president says he'd don "comfortable shoes and walk a picket line" in support of workers and unions, and then actually won the office, would you seriously expect him to do it if it came to pass?

But that's exactly what has happened and now there are pundits who are wondering if President Obama is going to Wisconsin to walk with the protesters. He's already said everyone has to tighten their belts and knows that the Wisconsin labor unions have conceded the financial point and are willing to acquiesce to Governor Walker except when it comes to giving up their collective bargaining rights, but it seems like "an assault on unions."

But, come on, guys, seriously? Walk the picket lines? He's the fucking President of the United States, not Al Sharpton!

The Walker/"Koch" Tapes: The Definition of Numbnuts - UPDATED

Wisconsin Governor, Tea Party darling and conspiratorial union buster Scott Walker took a call today from who he thought was David Koch. Interesting who Walker's willing to speak with after saying he would speak with no one. "And so Walker, believing himself to be on the phone with his patron, seems to have had a long conversation about busting Wisconsin's unions." But it wasn't Koch. It was Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy.

Buffalo Beast Publisher Paul Fallon told The Huffington Post that the audio is "absolutely legit." That the call took place as described by the Beast has been confirmed by Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie.

"Basically what happened was, yesterday morning [Murphy] was watching television about this Wisconsin stuff and he saw a report where he saw Walker say he wasn't going to talk to anybody," Fallon said. "And he said, 'I bet he would talk to somebody if he had enough oomph behind him.'"

Their conversation included trashing MSNBC, dividing the public sector and private sector unions, and the domino effect this would have in busting other unions in other states. Silly me. Taking Gov. Walker at his word, I thought this was all about balancing Wisconsin's budget and had nothing to do with union busting.

And in admitting the conversation took place, spokesman Werwie said nothing they spoke about isn't something Walker wouldn't say in public. Unless of course that something is strategy on how to force the Wisconsin Democratic Senators currently AWOL back to the floor, including stopping direct deposit of their paychecks.

UPDATE (2:45pm): A member of the Wisconsin 14 responds:

A member of the crew of 14 Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin to prevent passage of a sharp anti-union measure, said a revealing prank phone call involving Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has strengthened the resolve of those breaking the quorum and pushed them even further away from the negotiating table... [calling] Walker "cocky" and "gullible" for believing that David Koch, the billionaire conservative bankroller, would call him up to discuss political tactics.

...The part that really had my eyebrows up is the idea that he would trick us to come back for a compromise and use that as an excuse for passing it," said [State Sen. Chris] Larson. "He is such a hypocrite because he is saying what we are doing is an affront to democracy and then he is going to trick us into coming back?"

"To anyone who was thinking, 'Well they wouldn't try anything shady,' this puts an end to that idea," he added.

Nice going, Scotty.

Wisconsin State Troopers Association Regrets Walker Endorsement -UPDATED

From Tracy Fuller, Executive Board President of the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, posted on WLEA website:

Feb. 16, 2011

I am going to make an effort to speak for myself, and every member of the Wisconsin State Patrol when I say this.

I VALUE THE CAPITOL POLICE, AND THE U. W. POLICE. I VALUE ALL OF THE POLICE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICERS OF ALL OF THE AGENCIES IN OUR UNION, AND THE STATE TROOPERS, AND THE INSPECTORS OF THE STATE PATROL. I VALUE “ALL” OF THE SUPPORT STAFF OF ALL OF THE AGENCIES AROUND THE STATE. I DON’T KNOW HOW ANY OF US COULD FUNCTION WITHOUT ANY OF US AROUND THE STATE WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER.

I VALUE THE BUREAU OF FIELD SERVICES, FIELD AGENTS OF LOCAL THREE, NO LESS THAN ANY OF THE OTHER MEMBERS IN THE UNION. I AM HERE FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THIS UNION AND ALWAYS THOUGHT I HAD BEEN UNTIL THIS WEEK.

I SPECIFICALLY REGRET THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE WISCONSIN TROOPER’S ASSOCIATION FOR GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER. I REGRET THE GOVERNOR’S DECISION TO “ENDORSE” THE TROOPERS AND INSPECTORS OF THE WISCONSIN STATE PATROL. I REGRET BEING THE RECIPIENT OF ANY OF THE PERCIEVED BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNOR’S ANNOINTING.

I THINK EVERYONE’S JOB AND CAREER IS JUST AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE OTHERS. EVERYONES FAMILY IS JUST AS VALUABLE AS MINE OR ANY OTHER PERSONS, ESPECIALLY MINE. EVERYONES NEEDS ARE JUST AS VALUABLE. WE ARE ALL GREAT PEOPLE!!

UPDATE (2/21/11 12:45am): Fuller has removed his statement from the WLEA website.

"I am in no position to speak for the Troopers Association on any issue, other than just being -- I am a member, that's the truth. Because the reason that I am a member, and I'll give you this piece of information, the Troopers' Association does a lot of beneficial things in this state."

...Fuller's quick decision to pull down the statement is a further sign of the tensions in organized labor in Wisconsin and the rapid pace of events in the unfolding crisis. Divisions within Fuller's union are due to Walker having exempted the State Patrol but not other WLEA members from his budget proposal to remove most collective bargaining rights and place other heavy restrictions on public employee unions.

Why Are State Pension Plans Broke?

Matt Taibbi might give anyone who blames state public employees' unions for their deficit plight a more realistic answer.



So who are the real freeloaders?

A friend of mine just said this, which I tweeted (I didn't want to take credit for it):

Try to say this with a straight face: "We're running a deficit because the teachers and police make too much money."

Indistinguishable From Aristocracy

posted by Armadillo Joe

Mrs. Joe and I are fans of the show House Hunters on HGTV, including its offspring House Hunters International. Last night, we watched an episode called Londoners Seek a More Leisurely Life in France. A synopsis:

Stephanie and Charlie May have lived in the fast lane in London for four years. Now, they yearn to slow down and spend more time with their two-year-old son Finn. They've begun a search for a home in the Jarnac region of France, which has everything they are looking for: good schools, beautiful landscapes, great food and a relaxed pace of life.

And as much as we were both ready to hate them, we actually had quite the opposite reaction. She works as a defense barrister and he works as a carpenter/joiner/cabinet-maker. The rather modest home they showed the two owning in South London was nothing spectacular and overall, my impression was of a more or less straight-up middle class couple who married for love, she from the bourgois-merchant class on down and he from the working class on up. We liked both of them and they seemed like the sort of people who we would count among our friends if we knew them.

They were moving to a rural part of western France to open a bed-and-breakfast, their plan being to find and spruce-up an old French farmhouse, retro-fitting the unused portions of the house and the out-buildings into gîtes for Brits on extended holiday in the late spring through early fall. The price range of the homes they were looking at in France were actually rather comparable to what me and Mrs. Joe would be seeking were we ever in a similar position and, if you've ever seen the show or plan to watch this specific episode (spoiler alert!) they choose House #2. That made us happy because it needed the most work but also had the most potential.

It's funny, though. Note that I said "were we ever in a similar position." It occurred to me as I watched the show last night that we could never, ever be in a similar position. Ever. Not just because in the epilogue we found out that the two of them after the fact wound up splitting time between London and rural France in order to continue to draw income while they made the transition -- much easier across the Channel than from across The Pond, though my actual point isn't about distance -- but because even if Mrs. Joe and I decided to flee this crazy New York City lifestyle and raise goats to make artisanal cheeses in Vermont, we couldn't because we'd have no health-care.

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