What wisconsins "budget repair bill" is really about.

I received this email this morning. It explains the situation here in Wisconsin better then I could so I'll post it, as is. except it is edit for format and to remove harsh language. As I've said in other posts I don't believe this is about budget repair, teachers salaries or collective bargaining.

MON FEB 21, 2011 AT 02:14 PM EST The Koch Brothers' End Game in Wisconsin by Patience John Share

Oh my, we got ourselves quite a tail-wagging going on in Wisconsin. You are thinking, what? This is about collective bargaining and workers' rights! ********. You are being wagged. As always this has to do with money, and the union "compromise" coming down the pipe was set up to be the "booby" prize while the Koch Brothers get their "booty" prize. This is all being well-orchestrated with an end game that has absolutely nothing to do with unions. As I said in comments before, to much bewilderment, this is about power plants and a vertical monopoly the Kock Brothers have their eye on in Wisconsin.

So in short:
1) Koch Brothers get their puppet Governor Walker in power
2) Governor Walker gins up a crisis
3) Democrats and Progressives take the bait and counter-protest on collective bargaining
4) Governor Walker will compromise on collective bargaining if the rest of the budget is passed as is
5) Bill passes, with trojan horse give-a-way to the Koch Brothers nested in
6) Koch Brothers will buy Wisconsin state-owned power plants for pennies on the dollar in closed unsolicitated bids for which there will be no oversight
7) Koch Brothers get the best vertical monopoly in a generation

First off, before we talk about how this going to play out, because I have seen this same game tape, let's talk about why the Koch Brothers would have made Governor Walker their Manchurian Candidate. When you are calling ******** on such a grand scale as I, it takes extraordinary evidence.

So let's first state that the Koch Brothers placed their puppet Walker into power. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Funded by the Koch Bros. By Andy Kroll, Mother Jones motherjones.com... According to Wisconsin campaign finance filings, Walker's gubernatorial campaign received $43,000 from the Koch Industries PAC during the 2010 election. That donation was his campaign's second-highest, behind $43,125 in contributions from housing and realtor groups in Wisconsin.

The Koch's PAC also helped Walker via a familiar and much-used politicial maneuver designed to allow donors to skirt campaign finance limits. The PAC gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, which in turn spent $65,000 on independent expenditures to support Walker. The RGA also spent a whopping $3.4 million on TV ads and mailers attacking Walker's opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker ended up beating Barrett by 5 points. The Koch money, no doubt, helped greatly.

Thanks to Kochs' poodles on the Supreme Court, this sort of activity is now legal. Poor Tom DeLay, bet he feels stupid for bribing the wrong people. Anyway, through the use of propaganda and corporate influence, the Kochs' money got their pigeon into the Governor's office.

Now here is where it gets tricky. Right now everyone thinks this is about collective bargaining and the rights of the worker, especially to assemble. This is what these two Kochs want you to think. See, they are ginning up a great big whole controversy to hide something deep in the bill that they think no one will notice.

See, Governor Walker is going to back down on collective bargaining at the end of the day, if the Democrats will just "compromise" and pass the rest of the budget as is. The Democratic Party will view it as a success in policy and Progressives the land over will be doing a victory dance. The Kochs will be laughing at you all, because they just played y'all like a fiddle.

See, when you think you won, this will get passed: State of Wisconsin SENATE BILL 11 legis.wisconsin.gov... Google Quick View of PDF: docs.google.com... Bottom of Page 23: SECTION 44. 16.896 of the statutes is created to read:

16.896 Sale or contractual operation of state−owned heating, cooling, and power plants. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).

There are two big whoppers in this section, which is passing through the zeitgeist like ships in the night. It will allow the Koch Brothers to buy or contract to operate state−owned heating, cooling, and power plants in Wisconsin without a solicitation of bids. This is what it is about at the end of the day, and their puppet, Governor Walker, is ready to sell the Koch Brothers the state-owned utility system of Wisconsin for pennies on the dollar for his paymasters.

Governor Walker has intentionally muddied the waters concerning unions to muddy waters hoping no one will see the wholescale give-a-way of the state-owned public infrastructure to private interests. Not only that, they are trying to redefine "public interest"! Who gets to decide? Not the public, Governor Walker by fiat!

Now combine that with the Koch Brothers' existing operations in Wisconsin: www.kochind.com...

# Flint Hills Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, is a leading refining and chemicals company. Its subsidiaries market products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, olefins, polymers and intermediate chemicals, as well as base oils and asphalt. A subsidiary distributes refined fuel through its strategically located pipelines and terminals in Junction City, Waupun, Madison and Milwaukee. Another subsidiary manufactures asphalt that is distributed to terminals in Green Bay and Stevens Point.

# Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin, part of the nearly 4,000 miles of pipelines owned or operated by the company.

# The C. Reiss Coal Company is a leading supplier of coal used to generate power. The company has locations in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan. With an ownership of resources, distribution and generation of energy, the Koch Brothers will have a vertical monopoly that would make even Rockefeller blush! And just imagine the profits! They investment in Walker is gonna pay out big time. Which was the plan all along. Now we know the end game, who is going to block it?

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO PATIENCE JOHN ON MON FEB 21, 2011 AT 02:14 PM EST.

I don't know 100% that this is really what it's all about but it does seem possible, even likely to me. As the saying goes "follow the money".

I would also add this link. source

Koch brothers quietly open lobbying office in downtown Madison

As i have said in another thread of this topic, its amazing to see how many people are " buying " into, " we are fighting for you " nonsense! What the sheep don't understand, is that these elitists do NOT have the peoples best interests in mind. They have their shady back door " deals " ongoing behind closed doors, all for the Dollar!
And yet, those protesters will continue on, listening to the Reps, buying into the BS, never fully understanding what is really going on~

reply to post by villagesmithie


If I could, I'd star this again and again. This is one of the most important points in this dialog. And one, unfortunately, that many people will either ignore, or simply never become aware of.

interesting thread and you could be right about this. i will be keeping an eye out on this theory. s&f

Great find. I think that article really hits the nail on the head. This event may serve as the epitome as to WHY we NEED to keep corporations OUT OF GOVERNMENT

For what its worth - found the original source of this.

Daily Kos Blog - The Koch Brothers' End Game in Wisconsin

Dunno if that makes it any more (or less) accurate - but the above appears to be where it comes from.

To put it mildly, the author of the email (not the poster) is full of do-do.

While there are several municipal power companies in Wisconsin, Madison Gas & Electric and Manitowoc Public Utilities for example, they are owned by their respective municipalities and not the state. The “power plants” in question are all institutional cogen units. These plants supply steam heating, chilled water and some electricity to large institutions like prisons, universities, and hospitals. For example, UW Madison’s Charter Street Heating Plant falls under the authority of the state of Wisconsin and generates less than 10MW of electricity.

Koch industries has no holdings in commercial utilities and I cant see the logic in them wanting to purchase small solid fueled institutional cogen units if they did decide on getting involved in the commercial power business.

The EPA’s 2011 boiler MACT (maximum available control technology) will require all solid fuel boilers to comply with a very stringent set of emission standards by 2013. This affects every unit that burns solid fuel forcing them to install pollution control equipment or convert to gas. Neither of these two options is inexpensive by the way.

Faced with a structural budget deficit and looking at spending several hundred millions of dollars to bring all their institutional cogen units into MACT compliance the state is going to sell them instead of spending the money, money which they clearly don’t have, bringing them into compliance with the EPA’s boiler MACT.

This would be quite the conspiracy if true. I would say that if the scandal could be uncovered then Walker will be crapping in his pants. Do you know what the people would do if they find out that the Governor elect sold them out to private interests that have no intentions of employing them or contributing to their community? I would be pissed and calling for jail time and strippage of the assets not to mention a reversal of the transactions.

Originally posted by Whereweheaded
As i have said in another thread of this topic, its amazing to see how many people are " buying " into, " we are fighting for you " nonsense! What the sheep don't understand, is that these elitists do NOT have the peoples best interests in mind. They have their shady back door " deals " ongoing behind closed doors, all for the Dollar!
And yet, those protesters will continue on, listening to the Reps, buying into the BS, never fully understanding what is really going on~

edit on 23-2-2011 by Whereweheaded because: (no reason given)

Will you also concede unions are more worried about maintaining their power than the "rights of the workers?"
Or are the "republicans( every last one of them) the only people involved in taking advantage of govt power.?


Thought not...
Thats'why I believe govt should have as little power as necessary. It just gets abused.
Unions certainly wouldn't want to re certify their"right to bargain collectively"for their membership with a vote every year they might not win.They might lose all those monthly dues payments to keep the Chicago fatcats in the best cigars and hookers.

If you don't like it don't vote for them Wisconsin people voted them into office on the promise that they would cut spending, and begin the work to balance the budget. Where else have they got to go. The state budget is losing like 3 or 4 billion dollars the last i heard. In Detroit they are closing down half their schools, Providence RI just said they are pink slipping ALL of their teachers. Everybody is broke.

Providence plans to pink slip all teachers
Detroit Ordered to Close Half Its Public Schools Amid Budget Crisis
New Jersey City to cut Police Force by Half

At least in Wisconsin they are trying to do something. If they don't break some of the ridiculous rules of the Unions, then they will have to do cuts like they are doing all over the place. If you notice, or if you don't Ohio is trying to do the same thing. I guess the people before these elected officials should have done a better job managing the money they had. Instead of spending, and spending knowing that they wouldn't have to worry about it. That someone in the future would have to worry about it. Well the future is now

Originally posted by Frogs
For what its worth - found the original source of this.

Daily Kos Blog - The Koch Brothers' End Game in Wisconsin

Dunno if that makes it any more (or less) accurate - but the above appears to be where it comes from.

This is just now being brought upon the local talk radio.. It was a "prank"
call..
The daily kos/huff post are the anti-matter cousins of right wing media, so thats like a conservative(me) telling "wuky" I got this from the blaze.com ( Glenn Becks blog).his head would explode....

Theres an excellent debunking of this whole "gotcha'" above by"Sir mike.(wish I was that informed on local energy issues)


(GPS Ankle bracelets for midwestern democratic state legislators!

A spending program we can believe in : o )

reply to post by 46ACE

Will you also concede unions are more worried about maintaining their power than the "rights of the workers?"

That's a given! Unions have always been and always will be about money, and power. Just read up on Hoffa. That's prime example of power and greed.

Or are the "republicans( every last one of them) the only people involved in taking advantage of govt power.?

Don't be confused, its not just the Repubs involved in this dastardly deed....the Democrats are just as much to blame. They are All on the same team, despite what many may think.

Thats'why I believe govt should have as little power as necessary.

Can't agree with you more! The founding fathers warned of the government becoming to powerful, thus the reason most of which didn't want a " paper currency " backed by nothing. ( They experienced first hand during their time ) They also warned of POTUS having to much power, and what do we have " executive orders", which appear to give the POTUS powers that the founding fathers tried to prevent, further these EO allegedly supersede the Constitution. Sad, very sad.

Originally posted by 46ACE

Originally posted by Frogs
For what its worth - found the original source of this.

Daily Kos Blog - The Koch Brothers' End Game in Wisconsin

Dunno if that makes it any more (or less) accurate - but the above appears to be where it comes from.

This is just now being brought upon the local talk radio.. It was a "prank"
call..
The daily kos/huff post are the anti-matter cousins of right wing media, so thats like a conservative(me) telling "wuky" I got this from the blaze.com ( Glenn Becks blog).his head would explode....

Theres an excellent debunking of this whole "gotcha'" above by"Sir mike.(wish I was that informed on local energy issues)


(GPS Ankle bracelets for midwestern democratic state legislators!

A spending program we can believe in

: o )

edit on 23-2-2011 by 46ACE because: (no reason given)

Thanks, working in the energy business gives me an edge on dopes like the one responsible for the email.

reply to post by Whereweheaded

And yet, those protesters will continue on, listening to the Reps, buying into the BS, never fully understanding what is really going on~

The protester are very aware of whats really going on. That's one thing that bothers my about the discussions and media coverage of this. If you attend the rallies and talk to people you rarely hear pay or benefits mentioned, but to hear the discussions you would think that's all it's about. Sure collective bargaining is an issue but this and other points yet to come are all being discussed by them. This bill is a difficult read and it's hard to parse out some of what's in it. I am also trying to find out about an issue of martial law that is supposedly in it but haven't figured that one out yet.

reply to post by 46ACE


The problem, as I see it, is that we have a big country, big government, big labor, and big business's. Most if not all of the people at the top of those heaps are there for money and power. Our founders had the right idea in creating a system of checks and balances to try to keep those human tendencies in check. People will find a way to gain the system and it is our responsibility as citizens to play our part when one or another gets out of hand