Phil_EngAmer, one last thought here. I think there's a significant chance for stagnation of government in our country, with future politicians (on either side of the aisle) being scared of passing any legislation that is considered to be a compromise. Strange as it seems, but politicians who seek common ground and compromise are finding themselves attacked at every level. Those however are the courageous ones. If we keep electing my way or the highway authoritarians like Walker - we won't have perpetual recalls. We'll have perpetual war.

"What was your point again?"

I was comparing three people in the same time period.

Falk has not been in executive position for a while now (don't know where you are pulling your info from and what year)....and Vinehout is not in any executive position.

'more union/nazi control'

Just plain sad...

Wow, Phil_EngAmer. Scott Walker did all of that too? Did Walker really plan out his corporate-run government well enough? Did he ever think that his actions could plague the state for many years to come? Why did he politicize it? What was he to gain? Does good public policy come by way of aggression? I don't know. These really are not questions but more of puzzling observations.

@Johnny- Moody's just downgraded 2 weeks ago. Weve gone over this topic before but you must have missed it. The Milwaukee problem did not start within the last year. Walker and Company were very much a part of the concerns in Milwaukee, if not the entire cause because of his negativity. By the way, if I had the time, I could dig up a whole lot of info on Walker's regime while he was County exec starting with the security guard scandal. But we've all had that discussion too in the past. You must be a new hiree.

@Johnny- I just copied this sentence from your 10:16AM post:
"Eagle1. No the suburbs of Milwaukee are in much better shape than the city of Milwaukee."

I think this stark divide amongst voters really highlights the questionable motives behind this recall in the first place. Wisconsin has been a divided state for a while (http://bit.ly/KRmScq), but now the political machine is being up-heaved in the name of that divide. The precedent has now been set, and you have to wonder if this is only the first of many future recalls.

There’s a significant chance for stagnation of government in the state, with future politicians (on either side of the aisle) being scared of passing any legislation that is considered to be aggressive. It’s too bad that this issue of public sector union reform is triggering this recall, because it’s not really an issue that should be so politicized. We are seeing typical “blue” states being forced into public sector reform (http://eng.am/qh2i1T), but as long as labor has such a huge impact in lobbying, this issue will continue to plague elections.

Wislady writes --"Tom Barrett's unemployment rate 10.4%; Barack Obama's unemployment rate 8.1%; Scott Walker's unemployment rate 6.8%."

...and Kathleen Falk's unemployment rate is 5.0% and Kathleen Vinehout (Buffalo County) stands at 6.4%.

What was your point again?

Eagle1 writes -- "We all know why this recall was started ...and the reasons to boot him change almost daily, it is really entertaining..."

You are confused. The reasons to recall Walker never change - they remain the same daily. All 1,632 of them.

helge: Does that mean you're going to vote democrap?

No repuliGOON votes

If you think the state should take a stab at becoming number 51 in job creation, then you should vote to keep Deputy Dawg.

analertcitizen: Where in my post did I say that the suburbs where in great shape? Answer I didn't, I said that they were in better shape than the City Of Milwaukee! Also Walker was not County Execwhen Moody's down rated Milwaukee bond rating or Barret announced spending millions of tax payers money for a 2 mile long street car line to nowhere.

916 - I love that "the state lost jobs under Doyle" argument. It is so easily countered. Fact is that EVERY state was losing jobs at that time. Now when everyone is gaining jobs, Wisconsin is the sole loser. So with the question becomes: What is different about Wisconsin? Why are we bucking the recovery trend? Answer: Because Walker - in his zeal to make Wisconsin "open for business" created such chaos and discord that no sane business person would come here! Businesses crave a stable, predictable environment. Walker gave us the opposite. Now we have a chance at a fresh start. He says he loves the controversy and has made the tough choices, making him a lighting rod. Well, lighting rods are useful, but I don't stand next to one during a storm.....

Eagle1,

You made the following statement:

"We all know why this recall was started and since that reason is not a winner for the anti-walker crowd the reasons to boot him change almost daily, it is really entertaining, the next month should have us in stitches."

What is it that you propose is the reason this recall was started? Your post leads me to assume (because you were very general) that you are saying this recall started as some sort of conspiracy. My best guess is you believe the unions and those in charge of the unions simply wanted an excuse to get a Republican out of the governor's chair.

You couldn't be more wrong. While I cannot speak for everyone, I can vouch for the opinions of those I have listened to. Please note, people I have listened to, not my preconceived assumptions or my interpretation of what people really think but are not saying. Everyone I have spoken to has expressed great concern for the style with which Walker is governing the state. Walker has acted as though he has to answer to absolutely no one, and in doing so, he has ignored about half of the state. He has treated about half of Wisconsin like nobodies. He has exercised no regard for the opinions or input of several people who share this state with Walker and his supporters.

I do not support Kathleen Falk because I feel she would, in some ways, make the same mistake. We need someone who will bring us closer together, not polarize us. Scott Walker appears to only want to further the Republican agenda. He won the election by about 100,000 votes, that's not a mandate.

So please, listen. There absolutely are legitimate reasons for pushing for this recall. Scott Walker's "budget repair" was absolutely a political attack, and to call it a budget repair was largely a misnomer. Do not belittle everyone who you apparently assume is following marching orders from union bosses. Do not cast aside opposition as being heartless or mindless. When you do that, you stop listening to reason. When you do that, you stop seeing all of us as human beings. When you do that, you lose the ability to effectively debate.

I believe that in error, you have spewed some rhetoric yourself. I know that generally speaking you are well reasoned. I understand that you and I do not agree on a fundamental level, in fact, we are quite opposite on many issues. But one thing we both agree on is that in order to truly make progress, we must all strive to remain civil.

@Johnny- The Milwaukee County Exec is Chris Abele and he has been Exec since 2011. Scott Walker was the Exec until then. The suburbs of Milwaukee are not in great shape either. The entire Milwaukee Metroploitan area, including suburbs, is considered in the statistics.

Eagle1. No the suburbs of Milwaukee are in much better shape than the city of Milwaukee.

hardtobelieve: Get your facts straight: The Milwaukee County excec was and is Chris Able since Milwaukees bond rating went down, home prices plumited, Barret announcing the street car to nowhere, unemployment drops to 2nd highest in the country.

localgirl75- I agree with you about forming opinions based on fact not television commentaries. Until Walker was elected most people bought into that TV and ad mentality.
(Some still do). Walker was not forthcoming about all of his intentions when he ran for Governor and most people had no idea what his agenda was. The Walker camp is still putting out half-truths in their ads but people are beginning to "fact check" to measure the truth. Now that they do, the voting may be very different.

People forget that a recall effort against Doyle was attempted, and failed miserably. As far as the union money behind the recall, I'm still waiting for my check for collecting signatures. It was the Republicans during the Senate recall that paid an out of state company to collect them. There were over 100,000 people protesting at the capital on several occasions. If each protester collected 9 signatures, they would have 900000 signatures.

And as far as the comment about Kohl-Riggs, he is at least campaigning and trying. The fake Democrat candidates aren't doing anything other than forcing primaries and wasting tax money. Anyone upset about Kohl-Riggs, should be upset about the fake Dems too.

Ok I just gotta say this..... After reading a bulk majority of the comments on here this morning, all I can say is it sounds like a bunch of parrots repeating campaign propaganda that has been on tv over the past week. The sad part about this is that once again we have a group of individuals that fail to look past what they hear on tv, because God forbid anyone would ever embellish, misguide, or outright lie, to get what they wanted in a television spot. And as far as lumping individuals into a category by using hate mongering speech, and misdirecting readers to irrelevant topics and hyperbole, it is a feeble attempt to draw the focus away from the facts and on to why their particular "flavor of the day" candidate is the best option. Heck - half of the comments I've read to this article this morning come right out of the DNC strategy room.

Look if you don't like a candidate, or don't like what they are about; let it be because YOU actually educated yourself to the TRUTH of what is going on, not what someone else tells you is the truth. Try a little investigation and if you find yourself always running to FOXNEWS or CNN, MSNBC or the like, challenge yourself to find another source for information to balance out the opinion you are finding there. And IF you are basing your opinions solely on one of the sources above.... have your head examined and investigate your sources as well. CNN and NBC and their affiliates aren't retracting stories and publicly apologizing for their errors because they want to. Just ask them about the 911 editing scandal in the Trevon Martin case.

flick, do you think the repubs didn't recall Doyle for some altruistic reason or because they wanted to give him a fair shot to fininsh his term? Heck no, they didn't have the popular support or organization to do a recall. Don't you think they would have recalled Doyle if they had half a chance to (or were smart enough to think of it)? Of course they would have.
.
The truth is the national repub party is a mess right now. They couldn't organize a Sadie Hawkins dance if their collective lives depended on it. After the Sarah Palin circus, the removing of Michael Steele, etc. they are in a tailspin. The Koch bros. and their super wealthy ilk (Mitt Romney, Rush etc.) are the ones pushing the whole tea party agenda and have hijacked the party. The actual repub. party organization is a joke. It will truly be a miracle if Romney beats Obama in November and if he does win, it will be due to his own personal wealth and organization, not because of the party.

I saw the best sign over the weekend. Wish I had one for myself.... I think this sums it up.

"RECALL SANTA: Because he didn't give me what I wanted"

"So defending someone outside the state fair makes one qualified to be governor?"
What Barret did makes him a hero.

Hardtobelieve, are the suburbs that are also in Milwaukee county in the same boat as the city of Milwaukee?

yada, I said nothing about Barrett's other qualifications. My statement was based on the incident outside the state fair and only that.

'your pathetic stereotype'

all stereotypes are pathetic, including labeling liberals as lazy

Johnnyreb: And just WHO was Milwaukee County Executive during that time????? Scooter. they both go hand in hand.

Who cares if Walker quit school....100% meaningless. I judge a person by what they do, not what a peice of paper claims they learned. I know some pretty succesful people that Dont have much formal education, and I know people who have lots of formal education and are idiots and cant manage their checkbook so save their life.

Stubbs......Between 2008-2010, when the democrats were running the show, the state lost over 150,000 jobs--Is that all their fault??
As far as walker's number is concerned, over 17,000 of the jobs lost were in the public sector. Would you be happy if he put the state billions in debt by hiring tens of thousands of people, so you people can stop making these inane claims while never mentioning that the majority of job losses were directly related to a reduction in state spending......My guess is that no, you would be crying and whining about Walker spending too much as well.......

for you people who think that Barret would be a good Governor. Look at his record in Milwaukee and tell me that you want this man running the whole state! Barret wants a street car line brought back to Milwaukee that runs a whole 2 miles. http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2011/07/barr...

Barrets failed deep tunnel project for MMSD. http://jeffco.jccal.org/pls/portal/docs/...

The Milwaukee school district is one of the worst in the state! http://www.localschooldirectory.com/dist...

Milwaukee unemployment rate 2nd worse in the Nation! http://www.jsonline.com/business/2933900...

Housing Values drop almost 9% in Milwaukee! http://www.rr.com/local/topic/article/rr...

Milwaukees bond rating lowered. http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/moodys-...

Do you really want someone with this kind of record running the state??!?!?!?!?!?!?!???

Don't you think the reason the recall was successful was because the Unions/$$$$ backed it? And my opinion on free america, is how can it be free when we are counting on everyone else to support what we want? And before you start the "comments" on how hard you all have worked and Walker is taking away what you have worked so hard for let me say this. You are NOT the only people this happened to, work many other jobs and you would find out it has happened to many other people. We cannot continue to live High on the hog, we live in the day where cuts have to be made in order to continue surviving. Sad but true. We need to learn to take care of ourselves, grow our own food, work for ourselves just like 1900. The day of the free ride is over. Companys that have unions that allowed them to get a pay check and mega benefits can't be any longer. Good luck to Barrett and Walker to bringing back the days of good pay for no work.....

carlitosway

Maybe you should change your name to "Julia"

Who the hell is "Julia," and why am I paying for her whole life?

"In the new Barack Obama campaign piece The Life of Julia, voters can "Take a look at how President Obama's policies help one woman over her lifetime -- and how Mitt Romney would change her story." It is one of the most brazenly statist pieces of campaign literature I can ever remember seeing.

Let's, for the purposes of this post, set aside the misleading generalizations regarding policy in the ad (no one is innocent on that account, obviously). What we are left with is a celebration of a how a woman can live her entire life by leaning on government intervention, dependency and other people's money rather than her own initiative or hard work. It is, I'd say, implicitly un-American, in the sense that it celebrates a mindset we have -- outwardly, at least -- shunned."

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?i...

I find it very ironic that those same people who blast Obama for the 8.1% unemployment rate, citing the whole way the fact that the rate is artificially low because people aren't looking for jobs, are the same ones who tout Walker's even more artificially low rate. At least every other state in the nation has created jobs over the past year. Wisconsin is the only net loser. So tell me, Wislady and the rest, how does Wisconsin lose 24,000 jobs and lower the unemployment rate at the same time? Right - because unemployment only counts those looking for work. Both real rates are over 10%.

Rocky's assessment were generally on track, but Eagle's criticism is noted. The decline of the schools and roads has not taken place yet - those things have inertia and will take time to decline, but decline they shall if there is not sufficient funding. It is kind of like saying "Look - I didn't pay my mortgage for 6 months and I am still living in my house!". Sure - things look fine for now, but eventually it catches up

Rocky...Too funny! I suggest that you take your own advice and come back to reality! Show me any legitimate report which finds that Wisconsin's children are getting an education better that 95% of the country. Then you bring up paved roads...seriously? If this is an important point for you to consider, then surely you'll be voting Republican. During the democrats last stint at running the state, they illegally raided the transportation fund to pay off their supporters. Spare me the rhetoric about Walker supporters and their $50K cars and their riverfront homes, the majority of us are middle class, taxpaying citizens who unlike your pathetic stereotype would like a few extra dollars a month not for a Starbucks coffee(never been to one) but rather to put away for our own retirements.

Not only about workers rights it is about many things His Attacking women on every level along with most of the male GOP, The lie after lie, his corruption and and the way he continues to mock and taunt Wisconsin even after enough recall signatures he signs more laws that have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BUDGET, Where does women's right to choose and birth control have to do with the budget? Where does the right to negotiate have to do with it? Where does equality rights have to do with it? His union busting in his own admission had not a nothing to do with the budget,the loss of Jobs under his BRUTAL dictation and attacks is what people are fed up with along with his corruption and criminal actions in areas that he was heavily behind. There are so many things that he has done and a majority in closed and secret meetings. he is a menace to this State and does not deserve to make anymore decisions for it That is why People signed the recall and the more he does against this state the more people wish they would have signed that were undecided at the time of signature collection.

Yada, Tom Barrett is a good man, he's just not too bright. How many whacks to the "haid" would it take to convince a Democrat that concealed carry proponents have a point about allowing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms? Thanks to Governor Walker, Barrett can be armed with more than good intentions the next time he wants to intervene in a domestic dispute.

The next time Barrett goes to Washington to talk about illegal guns http://city.milwaukee.gov/012307BARRETTJ... perhaps he will visit the White House and mention to President Obama that having the ATF ok gun sales to Mexican drug cartels is a bad idea.

Tom Barrett's unemployment rate 10.4%; Barack Obama's unemployment rate 8.1%; Scott Walker's unemployment rate 6.8%.

Dwight, we don't need to know what Walker would have done, we know what he has done. That is enough for most reasonable people to determine that we don't want the type of person he has proven himself to be to represent our state. What Barrett did in that situation was honorable, what Walker has done to our state is not. Enough said.

Hey DWIGHT - in a hurry to get to work...forgot the letter A ...for TOM BARRETT for his B.A. degree from UW - Madison. I did not want you confused Dwight.

DWIGHT - I use to think you actually had some good comments at times...but this one is ..well..DUH! All DWIGHT needs to do is read and learn - I will do it for you.
TOM BARRETT - UW - Madison - B.. - 1976

(walker quit school and NOT even close to a degree, Walker barely had a C average in school.)

TOM BARRETT - UW - Law School - J.D. 1980

(many stories are that walker was asked to leave school, maybe it was about his student campaign activity that the school newspaper said was so very wrong and he was unfit for office.)
TOM BARRETT also has much experience as a lawyer and did some work as a bank examiner.

(walker is a career politician that has never had a real job in anything. Also seems to be involved with some top aides in the FBI John Doe investigation since he has set up a criminal defense fund to cover his BUTT!)

Rocky, so within one year all of that changed? I highly doubt it, the reason we had a great school system had little to do with the amount of money shoveled into it and had much more to do with the work ethic of this state. California pays the highest to their teachers and has one of the worst graduation rates in the country. That correlates with the work ethic of the people in that state, I know this first hand. As far as your example of paved roads, are we to believe that once Scott walker got in office he started digging up roads and replacing them with gravel? Thanks for the morning laugh, you are just as guilty as the right wing partisans at spewing ridiculous rhetoric. We all know why this recall was started and since that reason is not a winner for the anti-walker crowd the reasons to boot him change almost daily, it is really entertaining, the next month should have us in stitches.

So defending someone outside the state fair makes one qualified to be governor? How do you know Walker wouldn't have done the same thing? Grasping straws, grasping straws.

Tom Barrett is a good and honorable man that will never have to set up a criminal defense fund like Walker. Also to refresh your memory - It was Tom Barrett on August 15, 2009 outside State Fair Park in Milwaukee that heroically responded to a woman yelling for help as she was being attacked by a man with a pipe. Barrett called 911 and confronted the man and was able to break up the confrontation. Barrett did not run and received significant injuries - he had re-constructive surgery on his hand, broken teeth, head injuries - all injuries from being hit by the iron pipe,and was hospitalized. Barrett will step up to the plate and make good decisions that will unite people in WI once again. He will NOT have a secret computer network that sneaks(as Walker and pals did) around doing illegal things. As I said before, no criminal defense fund will be set up by him. Being honorable is what WI needs at this time.

"..."and failing to create the 250,000 jobs he promised in the 2010 campaign."
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And you'll hear this double-talk from democrats. First on Obama (circa 2009/10): "give him more time, it's going to take him more than a year or two to undo the mess Bush put us in." Now on Walker: "He hasn't created the jobs he promised in his FIRST year in office, he needs to go!"

916 - as with everything else in life, you get what you pay for. We also had (past tense) a school system better than 95% of Americans, one of the highest percentages of paved roads and one of the lowest percentages of children without medical services. I find it laughable to see those who "cant afford" it any more with their bumper stickers on their Lexus and their signs in front of their huge brick riverfront homes. So spare me the rhetoric and look at reality. Are you really telling me that your visit to Starbucks is more important than giving our kids good schools?

Arthur Kohl-Riggs isn't even a republican. He's a self-proclaimed communist who lives off a trust fund! If you think for a minute that he's a republican, you shouldn't even be eligible to vote for your lack of educating yourself about the candidates.

Primary voting: Walker for Gov. Weix for Lt. Gov!

Sun Prairie resident Cathy Fleury, 50, voted for Barrett in 2010 but is torn over whether he would be an improvement over Walker. She dislikes Walker's tough tactics but says Democrats haven't offered any new ideas for the state's fiscal condition.

You are correct Cathy. Walker took the unions head on and won. Democrats have been in disfunction mode since.

The outcome is already determined anyways... They might throw a few miscounts in there and try and make it look good... but its nothing more than a dog and pony show....Welcome to corporate America. "We the people" dont run anything anymore.

Rocky....Doyle was hardly inept. Corrupt would be a much more appropriate description. The unions that supported Doyle definitely got rewarded considerably for that support--typically at heavy cost to the rest of the state's citizens. There is no denying that.
As far as your comment, "It is almost laughable that the Tea Party can talk about the "greed" of the Democrats, when all you hear from them is "my money - no I don't want to pay for your schools or roads or other projects, but be sure to keep paying my social security and/or disability!"
You're completely missing the message. They are not saying "I don't want to pay for your schools or roads or other projects". They are saying that "I can't afford to pay more for your schools or roads or other projects". With a total state tax burden higher than 70% of American citizens and a state property tax rate higher than 80% of American citizens, they have a point.......no??

Time for a fresh face in the Republican party. That is why I am voting for the other Republican in the primary, Arthur Kohl-Riggs.

I will never vote for a repulican for a WI state office again
walker has no right to even think he can mess with my retirement
walker is self serving / way to big of a ego

Theflick....Completely agreed......I think it's laughable that the Democrats justify the the recall by claiming that Walker didn't make his intentions known while he was campaigning. Funny, because I don't remember Doyle and the democrats running on the platform of a $1.2 billion tax increase and the illegal raiding of state held fund and trusts? The word "hypocrite" seems to apply more often than not when discussing the liberals of our wonderful state.:)

It is funny how, as an independent voter, I very rarely ever voted for democratic candidate. But the intolerance and greed of the Tea Party nutjobs currently holding the Republican party hostage is so much worse than anything Doyle or his relatively inept, but at least well-intentioned, administration put out there. This is truly a choice of the "lesser of 2 evils", but at least it is an easy choice. Anybody but Walker.

.

It is almost laughable that the Tea Party can talk about the "greed" of the Democrats, when all you hear from them is "my money - no I don't want to pay for your schools or roads or other projects, but be sure to keep paying my social security and/or disability!" and then go on to attack the livelihoods of tens of thousands of middle-class Wisconsinites so they can save themselves fifty bucks a year. Then, when the incomes of tens of thousands are cut back and - amazingly - the economy suffers (sarcasm), they don't see the connection.

.

I would agree that neither Barrett nor Falk are very attractive candidates, but either is better than Walker and his out-of-state Tea Party masters by leaps and bounds. Actually, Vinehout has interesting ideas, but, sadly, not the name recognition to do well.

This is the thing I worry about if Walker loses on June 5 we may have to do this all over again. Why because each side will not be happy if they lose and it will never end I hope it was worth all the **** we went through to get to this point. After May 8 will still have 28 days more of this to get to the recall election on June 5. This will not be over no matter who wins on June 5