Prank call proves billionaire David Koch owns Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP

With regard to laws, Walker has not stopped the protestors from hanging around the Capitol bldg. thus has not blocked their right to free assembly. Last I heard, this protest is not an official "negotiation", but a protest against budgetary restraints. Where is your discussion of the Democratic lawmakers who are refusing to come to work as a means of derailing the vote on the budget?

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus


Also, Walker isn't breaking any laws. The whole point of him trying to change EXISTING laws is so that he doesn't have to break them.

Originally posted by queenofsheba
I listened to this phone call and so far it appears to be the real deal. Why doesn't Gov. Walker take it to the next level and get rid of the public school system as we know it and have kids learn online. Think about it: no over head costs such as heating/cooling, breakfast and lunch programs, no bussing expenses, etc. Teachers could be responsible for more students in a virtual school. Parents would be held more accountable for their children and their care and the state's schools wouldn't be so much a free daycare. It seems the teachers and public schools are being targeted here and I think we need to get creative because it's apparent the system as is isn't working, at least for Wisconsin's governor Walker. Any other input?

Since you asked, I really like this idea. It is too bad that backers of big government have tried blocking home schooling which often involves some form of computer based curricula. I think it would be great to have at least a trial program for this based on those parents who would opt in.

Originally posted by kynaccrue
reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus

 

Also, Walker isn't breaking any laws. The whole point of him trying to change EXISTING laws is so that he doesn't have to break them.

Thank you for that clarification. Other posters have alluded to Walker breaking some kind of campaign financing laws in accepting gifts from wealthy donors. I did a Google search and all the leftist rags are really on the attack with this.

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus


How quickly the liberals have forgotten the whole prank ACORN sting where they caught the ACORN worker helping to set up a prostitution biz. LOL

THIS is why ATS drowns in deflectionary nonsense. An off-topic, partisan, pointlessly distractionary post like this has no business in this thread, as it doesn't relate to the topic AT ALL.

All it takes is one infiltrator like third eye and he can bury all reasonable arguments and those pesky facts'.

Just scream UNION THUG COMMUNIST ACORN MUSLIM NAZI! Staff won't do a thing about it, even if reported.

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus


I don't care if a Politician is left, right or center. This phone call clearly shows that Walker works for a Corporation and not the American People...he should be arrested.

We are at the tipping point in this country...and the fact is that it is no longer about political idealogy, concervatism vs. liberalism...it is about Big Corporate interests vs. the working class and who our government reports to.

No one finds it disturbing that teachers and blue collar workers are being asked to sacrifice what little security and benefits they have to pay for the consequences of a financial crisis that was caused by the wealthiest 2%?

Wall Street effs up and then gets gets bailed out...and the middle class is told they must pay for the damages?

No one finds that odd? So we look around and decide teachers should get screwed?

Walker signed a law on Jan. 31 that says that companies that relocate to Wisconsin will not have to pay corporate taxes for two years.

The following are verified numbers...not spin. The man is corrupt. The Koch brothers gave him almost 3.5 Million last year.

Wisconsin's embattled Governor Scott Walker took large donations from Koch Industries in the run-up to the 2010 election that swept him into office.

OpenSecrets.org reports that Koch Industries donated a total of $43,000 in two separate contributions -- $15,000 on July 8, 2010 and another $28,000 on September 27, 2010 -- to the Friends of Scott Walker Political Action Committee (PAC), to help get Walker elected governor.

The Koch Industries' PAC also helped Walker through a now-familiar political maneuver that lets corporate donors avoid campaign finance limits. The Koch's PAC gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, which spent $65,000 to support Walker, along with a whopping $3.4 million on mailers and television ads attacking Walker's opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker beat Barrett by 5 points, thanks in part to Koch funding.

Walker has taken a total of more than $70,000 from gas and pipeline companies, and opposed a high speed rail project that would have reduced Wisconsin's dependence on oil. Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin, part of the nearly 4,000 miles of pipelines the company owns or operates, and the Koch's paper and wood products division, Georgia Pacific, has six facilities in Wisconsin. A Koch subsidiary, the C. Reiss Coal Company, has locations in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan. All of these business interests give the Kochs ample reason to attempt to influence Wisconsin politics.

www.prwatch.org...

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus
With regard to laws, Walker has not stopped the protestors from hanging around the Capitol bldg. thus has not blocked their right to free assembly

Wow, he's a saint. He's allowed people to exercise their rights.

Where is your discussion of the Democratic lawmakers who are refusing to come to work as a means of derailing the vote on the budget?

That would be for a separate thread, don't you think? Perhaps you should start it. The topic here is about the Governor kowtowing to a wealthy donor, and admitting he has considered using infiltrators to break up a legal protest.

I am having a really hard time following the TEA Party logic in this thread.

These tax breaks were good because they will get big businesses to move in and offer better or more sustainable real jobs to people because

the TEA Party believes big business is altruistic and honest in nature.

The TEA Party believes Walker is making the important tough choices necessary to keep jobs and do what is right for the people of his state because

the TEA Party believes politicians are altruistic and honest in nature.


Am I close yet?

Originally posted by Maxmars
Walker's got some 'splainin to do...... or do you suppose the media will make this story... fade away?

Planting "trouble makers" in the crowd of protestors.

The Police Chief and Mayor of Madison want answers..So do I...these are the types of tactics that we saw in Tunesia and Egypt, now in Libya....We should never tolerate this in the USA...he should be impeached immediately for happily admitting he considered the tactic and only dismissed it becuase he worried it would not work to his advantage...people getting hurt, honesty, ethics, the law...none of that was mentioned.

Madison Mayor, Police Chief Want Gov. Walker to Explain Comments During Prank Call

They want to know what prompted the GOP governor to tell a blogger that he thought about planting troublemakers among the thousands of Capitol protestors against his proposed union restrictions.

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said somebody in the governor’s inner circle brought up the idea – and he wants to know who it was. Police Chief Noble Wray said it was, “unsettling and troubling” that anyone would think about creating safety risks for his officers and others.

wtaq.com...

Beyond that, the ethical violations ...working for billionaire contributors..are endless.

Reply to post by Sinnthia

Nope. Missed on every mark.


Keep trying.





Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by Lemon.Fresh
Reply to post by Sinnthia

 

Nope. Missed on every mark.


Keep trying.

Amazing rebuttal.
The facts.
The points.
The well thought out arguments.

PERFECT!

The very most I could expect from you at this point. You get a star for that amazing argument!
Better yet. I encourage everyone reading this thread to star your post to better encourage exactly that level of intellectual discourse in the future. Bravo!

Originally posted by Lemon.Fresh
Reply to post by Sinnthia

 

Nope. Missed on every mark.


Keep trying.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

Wow, what an amazingly informed rebuttal!

No information countering what you contend is wrong, just a simple 'nope' and a derisionary 'keep trying'!

So concise you are in your deflection!

Originally posted by Lemon.Fresh
Reply to post by Sinnthia

 

Nope. Missed on every mark.

Keep trying.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

That response was about as useful as a burp. She asked a nuetral and intelligent question.
Contribute or don't...otherwise you are just wasting space.

On a related note, it's nice to see the neo-con apologists are back to demonizing popular democratic protest.

It was confusing there for a while when they flipped and decided the FreedomWorks 'tea party' 'protests' were the epitome of Democracy in action.

Its comforting to know we are back to demonizing democracy as a filthy habit of the unwashed masses.

Reply to post by maybereal11

No she didn't. It was a veiled attack. I have read and responded to her enough to know where she lies in her beliefs.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

How about some truth to this topic, directly concerning the prank call-maker?

From external source:
Earlier today, when news broke that a liberal blogger from the site Buffalo Beast claimed to have successfully prank called Gov. Scott Walker by posing as liberal hate figure and billionaire libertarian donor David Koch, I thought that if true, this could really embarrass him. Since then, the call has been confirmed by Walker's office as legit, but after listening to the whole thing, I think Walker comes off rather well.

Throughout the call, fake Koch makes a series of bizarre and over-the-top comments such as "gotta crush that union," but Walker generally either changes the subject or treats the remarks politely without cosigning them, as a host or guest would do with a crazy caller on talk radio or C-SPAN.

Some liberals are claiming that Walker responded "oh yeah" when fake Koch referred to MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski as a "piece of a--." But TNR's Jon Chait has had to correct his post to acknowledge that the early transcription was "totally misleading." If you listen to the audio of the exchange (just before the 7 minute mark), you'll hear that what actually happened is that fake Koch said, "You gotta love that Mika Brzezinski," Walker said "Oh yeah" and started to change the subject, there was cross talk when fake Koch referred to her as a "piece of a--," and then Walker goes on to tell an unrelated story.

Liberals are also seizing on Walker saying "we thought about that" when fake Koch suggested “planting some trouble-makers” among the protesters. But Walker actually goes on at length to explain why he doesn't think it's a good idea. “Let them protest," he said. "It’s not going to affect us. And as long as we go back to our homes and the majority of people are telling us we’re doing the right thing, let them protest all they want.”

When Walker explained that they may have found evidence that unions were paying to put lawmakers up at hotels, which he said if true, would be an ethics code violation or felony, fake Koch chimes in "they're probably putting hobos in suits, that's what we do." Yet Walker corrects him to say that he's only talking about lawmakers: "People can pay protesters to come in, that's not an ethics code (violation)."
(NOTE: Howard dean has illegally contributed $100K in a slush fund to help pay the expenses of the un-democratic senators.)

Throughout the call, Walker explains why he believes what he's doing is right, and that he intends to stand firm. “This is about the budget," he said. "This is about public sector unions – hell, even FDR got it...You’re essentially having taxpayers’ money being used to lobby for spending more of taxpayers’ money. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

At another point, he said: “If they think I’m caving, they’ve been asleep for the last eight years, because I’ve taken on every major battle in Milwaukee County, and won in a county even where I’m overwhelmingly overpowered politically. And it’s because we don’t budge. If you’re doing the right thing, you stay firm.”

And toward the end, he said, “We’re doing the just and right thing for the right reasons, and it’s all about getting our freedoms back.”

The worst you can say about the call -- aside from the screening bungle by his staffers -- is that he took 20 minutes of time to speak with a rich guy from out of state. But at the same time, the call undermines the conspiracy that Koch is secretly controlling events in Wisconsin, as Walker is clearly explaining the way things are to fake Koch and the decisions he's making, rather than acting on Koch's suggestions. Also, as some have pointed out, their interaction on the call seems to suggest that the two don't know each other, or at the least, not very well.

I will take a crack at this if for no other reason than to encourage a legitimate response from a TP proponent.

Originally posted by Sinnthia
I am having a really hard time following the TEA Party logic in this thread.

These tax breaks were good because they will get big businesses to move in and offer better or more sustainable real jobs to people because the TEA Party believes big business is altruistic and honest in nature.

The TP believes Tax Breaks are good. Less taxes.
Dick Armey/Freedomwerks/Koch Brothers use this to thier advantage when directing the TP agenda.
Someday the TP will stop and reflect and realize that all the Tax Breaks are going exclusively to big corporations while the Tax Code for the average American remains unchanged. At present Freedomwerks just yells "Less Taxes" and hopes it's followers won't ask about specifics...like ...less taxes for who? And if the odd TP member does ask they pat them on the back and say...don't worry, it will trickle down

Add this in...the drumbeat against "Socialist" education. It's an easy button to push. Colleges are bad, education leads to "Elitism" and Liberal thinking. Prayer in school. Add to that ...Unions smell like communism. Easy, easy button to push.

Less education...fewer schools, larger class sizes etc..will simply increase the income divide in this country while at the same time expanding the available low income working class. In short...denying a population an adaquate education is the most thorough form of oppression.

We need to dramatically improve our education system, not defund it.

Originally posted by Sinnthia

The TEA Party believes Walker is making the important tough choices necessary to keep jobs and do what is right for the people of his state because

the TEA Party believes politicians are altruistic and honest in nature.

Here is the hard truth. These folks don't think politicians are altruistic and honest in nature. They think they are all crooks. That is demonstrated in thier responses to these scandals...they just boil down to a "so what...at least this crook is not a democrat"

Idealogy trumps morals and that fact honestly makes me despair for this country.

I have said it before...left, right, middle, Conservative or Liberal...we shouldn't ever allow proudly corrupt people to govern wether they align with our idealogy or not. When we tolerate that we might as well tear down the statue of liberty and sell it to China for scrap.

Originally posted by inkyminds
On a related note, it's nice to see the neo-con apologists are back to demonizing popular democratic protest.

It was confusing there for a while when they flipped and decided the FreedomWorks 'tea party' 'protests' were the epitome of Democracy in action.

Its comforting to know we are back to demonizing democracy as a filthy habit of the unwashed masses.

REPLY: No... what the protesters and senators are doing is PREVENTING democracy from taking place. And, please remember, we do not have a democracy in America; it is a constitutional representative republic. No democracy in history has lasted more than 200 years, because it's nothing more than mob rule... as you can see from what's happening in Madison and other cities. Unfortunately, as can be seen, America is getting closer to a true democracy, and it's not good for the future of this country.

Originally posted by zappafan1
How about some truth to this topic, directly concerning the prank call-maker?

From external source:
Liberals are also seizing on Walker saying "we thought about that" when fake Koch suggested “planting some trouble-makers” among the protesters. But Walker actually goes on at length to explain why he doesn't think it's a good idea. “Let them protest," he said. "It’s not going to affect us. And as long as we go back to our homes and the majority of people are telling us we’re doing the right thing, let them protest all they want.”

First...if you are simply going to cut and paste someone elses writing and consider it a post at least provide a source and a link.

Second...yes he explained why he didn't plant troublemakers...becuase he was worried it would backfire...not one mention of ethical or legal concerns regarding the tactic and he clearly said "WE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT".

Which BTW he has now confirmed and admitted.

What a long rambling excuse paper you cut and pasted. No meat or substance worth evaluating and the principle concern of admitting he considered introducing posers to create violence or ugliness into an otherwise peacful protest is glossed over without any legitimate explanation.

Originally posted by Daughter2
Here's what Walker didn't say:

HE NEVER ONCE ATTEMPTED TO BRING JOBS TO HIS STATE!!!!


Think about it - All this talk about Koch being able to bring jobs - but once they get together - no mention of this!


If a union leader took a California vacation from an employer - they would be charged with a felony.

Unions are very restricted with their finances. The Koch brothers can keep their money secret but Unions have to report every penny!

The highest earning union leaders don't bring in more than $200,000 - which is a lot of money - but NOTHING compared to the BILLIONS of dollars corporate leaders make.

REPLY: The Plumbers paid former General President Martin Maddaloni $1.3 million in total compensation, and Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Patchell almost $900,000 – after they were ousted for disastrous pension investments in a Florida hotel; AFSCME President Gerald McEntee recorded total compensation just shy of $585,000; General President of the Laborers Terence O’Sullivan made more than $528,000; National Education Association President Reg Weaver made almost $439,000; * The presidents of unions for players in the National Football League and the National Basketball Association made more than $1 million each. The NFL union head, Eugene Upshaw, made $2.4 million. Moreover, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb received $900,000 from his AFL-CIO affiliated union as a player representative. Would you like more?
'Ya might want to do some research before you post.