Wisconsin Governor Accused Of Blocking Union Internet Access Mubarak-Style

Taking a page out of the Hosni Mubarak playbook, it appears as though Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is blocking Internet access in the state Capitol to at least one union-supporting left-leaning website.

The website, defendwisconsin.org, could not be accessed on Monday and into Tuesday morning in the Capitol building, where crowds assembled over proposed legislation that would increase the costs of benefits to public employees and curb their collective-bargaining rights.

Wisconsin Democratic Party press secretary Graeme Zielinski blamed Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers — who returned to work Tuesday — for causing the outage.

Walker’s spokesperson, Cullen Werwie, says …

Limbaugh Continues Attack On Michelle Obama’s Appearance

Rush Limbaugh, in a desperate plea for attention, went after Michelle Obama’s weight Monday. Now, with faux “shock,” he continues the despicable smear on her appearance by saying his comments were not below the belt, “given where she wears her belts.”

“These were highly civil comments for crying out loud. I mean, people are going nuts. USA Today, the Politico. And some people were suggesting that my comments were below the belt. Well, take a look at some pictures. Given where she wears her belts. I mean, she wears them high up there around the bust line. Isn’t just about …

Toy Manufacturers Fight Safety Requirements In House

by Stuart Shapiro

Back in 2007, after scandals associated with dangerous toys from China, legislation was passed strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).  One of the actions taken by the newly empowered CPSC was to propose an online database of injuries from children’s products.  Who would oppose such a requirement (besides the legendary Irwin Mainway)?

Emboldened by a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, manufacturers of toys and other children’s products are making a last-ditch effort to quash new safety regulations that they say are unfair or too onerous.

Among their primary targets is a new public …

Why Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Won’t Take Union Concessions

It would be very easy, and sane, for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to agree to concessions offered by public employee unions and declare victory.  They’ve agreed to accept wage and benefit reductions.  A poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner shows that 74% believe workers should retain collective bargaining rights. Even 47% of Republicans see it this way. The public is firmly with the workers and the right to collectively bargain. Yet, the governor is not willing to compromise as of now. Greg Sargent gives three possible reasons:

The first is that he really believes that rolling back employee bargaining rights …

Tampa Mom Makes Son Wear Sign Announcing Low GPA Score

Ronda Holder of Tampa says she and her husband have tried everything to get their 15-year-old boy to do better in school. So now she is forcing her so to wear a sign that says, “GPA 1.22…honk if I need education.”

They’ve offered help, asked to see homework, grounded, lectured him and confiscated his cell phone. James Mond III’s indifference at a school meeting last week was the final straw. The next day, Holder made the sign and made her son wear it for nearly four hours.

Experts criticized the move as humiliating and ineffective, and someone reported Holder to …

More From Leaked Palin Manuscript: Palin Wears Glasses To Look Smarter; Supported Huckabee Over McCain; Called Gingrich “Machine Goon”

Political Wire has the latest leaks from the manuscript from former aide Frank Bailey. One is a Tweet for the Atlantic’s Joshua Green:

“Revelation” from disgruntled Palin aide’s leaked book: claims she had Lasik surgery–but still wears glasses to look smarter

Other nuggets via Politico‘s Ben Smith and Andy Barr:

Bailey reveals that she didn’t even support her own eventual ticket-mate in the GOP presidential primary, recalling that in a January 2008 email Palin wrote: “Huck’s a good pick for me, just fyi.”

When Republicans were unable to confirm her attendance at a fundraising dinner, the congressional campaign committee …

Big Right-Wing Money Pours Into Wisconsin

One of the speakers at the Wisconsin rallies over the weekend was the out-of-state president of the Koch-brothers-financed Americans for Prosperity, Tim Phillips.  (David Koch is at left, and Charles Koch is on the right). That association and the big money behind it wasn’t part of Mr. Phillips’s presentation.

What Mr. Phillips did not mention was that his Virginia-based nonprofit group, whose budget surged to $40 million in 2010 from $7 million three years ago, was created and financed in part by the secretive billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch.

State records also show that Koch Industries, their …

GOP Governors Keep The Fun Coming

by Stuart Shapiro

Last week it was Ohio Governor John Kasich.  Before that, Governor Paul LePage of Maine.  Now Governor Rick Scott of Florida is giving voters reason to think they may have been overly hasty when voting for him in November.

Gov. Rick Scott may have broken state law with his sale of the state’s two airplanes, according to Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander.

Scott used the sale of one state plane to pay off the lease on the second.

But in a letter to Scott sent today, Alexander says the governor needed the legislature’s approval to do …

Why Republicans Want To Bust Unions

Eugene Robinson has a good piece that explains what the true issue is in Wisconsin and other Republican-run states.

It is about money, though – but only in the sense that money translates into political power. At this point, it’s clear for all to see that Gov. Scott Walker’s true aim is to bust the public employee unions, thus permanently reshaping the political landscape in the Republican Party’s favor…

Walker is right about one thing: When it comes to pensions and benefits, public workers in Wisconsin have a sweet deal. Most of them put less than 1 percent of their …

What Does Buying A Republican Politician Get You?

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Now that the Republicans control the House and have regained “The Power of the Purse,” they are determined to use their budget to repay their corporate campaign daddies for their generous contributions. So what can a Republican politician do for you?

After spending over 75% of their money on Republicans, big oil executives can worry no more about the pesky EPA! The House Republican plan to cut the EPA budget by a third and handcuff their ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions will make it much tougher to enforce those irritating penalties for polluting the air and …

Wisconsin State Employees Actually Underpaid

by Stuart Shapiro

One of the canards that has been prevalent throughout both the federal budget debate and the battle in Wisconsin is the idea that government workers are overpaid.   The Economic Policy Institute points out the problem with this argument.

In Wisconsin, which has become a focal point in this debate, public servants already take a pretty hefty pay cut just for the opportunity to serve their communities (Keefe 2010).  The figure [pictured, click to enlarge] shows that when comparing the total compensation (which includes non-wage benefits such as health care and pensions) of workers with similar education, public-sector …