The NRA's $3.5 Million-Dollar Man

Scott Walker at 2012 NRA Convention

Last week, another 17 high school kids were murdered by a crazy person with a gun. Rather than act to end this all-too-common slaughter of innocents, America will do nothing.

The NRA is way too powerful for any meaningful and common-sense regulation of weapons of mass destruction. We will see no restrictions on the purchase of efficient human-killing machines. No increased waiting periods. No universal background checks. No banning of military-type weapons. No restrictions on bump-stocks or trigger cranks. No limits on high capacity magazines. 

Despite all of the new youthful optimism and zeal to address the problem, nothing will be done. Despite all of the marches and listening session and interviews, we will have more massacres. The NRA owns too many politicians for things to change.

With our current leadership, there will be nothing done at a national level to stop the killing. Only in a few progressive regions will anything be done at the state level. We have no hope of a common-sense legislative response in Wisconsin, so long as the NRA-owned Scott Walker and his batshit-crazy GOP legislature are in power.

After the latest tragedy, Governor Walker issued a predictable statement. He spoke of prayers for the victims. He ordered flags to be lowered. But in his 124-word statement, he did not once mention the words "gun", "weapon", or "shooting".

Like many politicians who are fully-owned NRA vassals, Walker blames everything for the mass-murders except the actual problem -the easy availability of rapid-fire guns. In his statement, he spoke of mental health. He gave vague promises of action that will never come, saying, "Here in Wisconsin we will continue to work with legislators and law enforcement on how to best keep our communities safe." 

Walker and the NRA go back a long way. He has been a proud member for years. As Milwaukee County Executive, Walker gave the welcoming speech at the 2006 National Convention held here. In a later interview, Walker gushed about meeting the off-his-rocker rocker and renowned pants-pooper, Ted Nugent at the Convention.

By any measure, Scott Walker is in the pocket of the NRA. He was endorsed by the group during both the 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial elections. The group has propped-up their boy with contributions of over $3.5 million dollars for his elections in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

In their 2014 endorsement, an NRA spokesman expressed their over-the-top love for Walker, "Scott Walker is a battle-tested leader in the fight to preserve Second Amendment rights in Wisconsin. He's never wavered, never backed down and never stood still in the fight to protect our freedoms."

Walker spoke at the national NRA Leadership meeting in 2012 in St. Louis. At that session, he was awarded the gun lobbying-group's highest honor, the Harlan B. Carter Award. Walker was given this dubious award after he signed Wisconsin's Concealed Paranoid-Carry Bill into law.

With the stroke of his pen, Walker had turned our state into the wild West. He made all Wisconsin citizens less safe from stray bullets. During his acceptance speech, Walker bellowed, "It's all about freedom and that's what the NRA is all about ! "

Also adding to Walker's NRA luster was Wisconsin's Castle Doctrine Law "I can Murder a Drunk Kid on my Porch" Law that our governor signed in December 2011.

Walker at 2015 NRA Convention

Walker was unable to attend the 2013 National meeting, but sent a short video to his favorite lobbyist and contributor. He atoned by speaking again at the 2015 convention. In a warm-up for his 2016 presidential run, Walker strutted the stage, crowing about his perfect A+ NRA Score as Governor, "I'm proud of my A+ ranking as governor. I'm proud of that, even though some on the left might say it's a scarlet letter. ....I consider it a badge of honor."

Walker has a long history as a favorite NRA asset. He has consistently defended them, no matter how extreme their position. In turn, the NRA has consistently endorsed and funded Walker. 

We cannot expect Scott Walker to buck his controllers at the NRA. Wisconsin will not get common sense gun laws as long as the NRA's $3.5 Million-dollar Man is our Governor.

Thank a Republican !

The Republican Party is primarily responsible for America's epidemic of school and public shootings. Despite a citizen outcry to do something about the carnage, GOP politicians continue to push their all guns-at anytime-for everyone agenda. They refuse to ban the most efficient of the rapid-fire human-killing machines. They defend the right of the mentally-ill and terrorists to own a deadly arsenal. At both national and state levels, Republicans are erasing common sense gun purchasing and carrying regulations.

If you think that the wholesale murder of children is a good thing, thank a Republican.

But that is not the only reason to thank the GOP. If the party did not exist, the country's Overton Window would not have been shifted so sharply to the loony-right. America would be dramatically different without today's Republican Party. Why else should we thank the Republicans?
 
We should thank them for Americans lacking universal access to healthcare. Unlike all other first world countries, we have a health system that ignores large swaths of our population. Despite deficiencies in our current system, GOP pols are fighting to make it much worse. They constantly slash Medicaid and aspire to privatize Medicare. Destroying the ACA is one of the few unifying goals of the party.

We should thank Republicans for blowing-up the budget deficit and federal debt. We actually ran surpluses during Clinton's second term. W destroyed all that. His huge tax cuts and two unnecessary wars ballooned federal spending. Obama took an ax to spending, reducing Bush's 2009 deficit an amazing 69% by 2015. But the GOP is doing it again. The party of "fiscal responsibility" is again spending like drunken sailors. They enacted a ginormous tax cut for the wealthy and made huge jumps in military spending.

We should thank them for such unpopular moves as killing net neutrality and fighting marijuana legalization. We should thank them for creating a crisis for DACA kids, where none existed before. We should thank them for their Forever War on reproductive rights.

We should thank state Republicans for every pothole to which your car is subjected. By refusing to adequately fund our roads, Wisconsin now ranks #49 in the US in road quality. We can't afford decent roads, but we can afford to give billions to Foxconn.

We should thank Wisconsin Republicans for low wages in our state. The party no longer supports a minimum wage of any kind. Their war against labor includes ending prevailing wage and imposing Right to Freeload. Now the Trump Administration wants to steal the tips of low-paid restaurant workers.

We should thank the GOP for fighting renewable energy and denying the scientific reality of man-made climate change. We should thank them for America's new role as the global village idiot.

We should thank Republicans for worrying granny and gramps by constantly threatening to steal their earned Social Security and Medicare benefits.

We should thank the GOP for interference in our elections by a hostile foreign government. Our Republican White House denies that Russia was even involved in our elections. Our Republican Congress defends that stance with attacks on law enforcement, leaked intelligence, and conspiracy theories about secret societies.

We should thank Republicans for undrinkable water, unbreathable air, and unrestrained banks. We should thank them for allowing the purchase our government with billions of dollars in dark, uncontrolled, and untraceable campaign contributions. We should thank them for a country in which corporations are people.

Yes, we have many reasons to thank today's Republican Party. Without a modern GOP, America would be a very different place. If you don't like what we've become-if you want to truly make America great again- you know what we have to do in November.

Sensenbrenner Joins GOP's War on the FBI

I have seldom agreed with Jim Sensenbrenner on issues. However, I never questioned his devotion to America or his patriotism. Until now.

Sensenbrenner is right in the middle of the Nunes memo scandal. The memo, written by the staff of Congressman Devin Nunes, unveils classified information for a blatantly political purpose. It is a clumsy ruse to cast doubt on the motivations of law enforcement agents at the FBI. It is a ploy to end an investigation of the meddling in our elections by a hostile foreign power.

The memo seeks to bully the FBI into submission. It tries to convince us that the FBI has no right to investigate collusion of the Trump campaign with agents of Russia. In a tweet this morning, Trump chimed-in, "The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans ... "

Our own Congressman is not innocent in this attempt to subvert American sovereignty and rule-of-law. Like many others in the GOP, Jim Sensenbrenner has piled-on to harm the reputation of the FBI. On January 19th, he signed a letter to Nunes to release the memo. A copy of Sensenbrenner's appeal to release classified information can be found here.

Sensenbrenner's letter, cosigned by sixty-three other House Republicans (but not a single Democrat) stated "This important memo will be of interest to anyone who cares about America and our democratic system of government. We are writing to request the immediate release of this document to the public, as well as any relevant ancillary information. The audience of this document should not be limited to members of Congress -the American people deserve to know the information it contains."

In a January 19 press release, Sensenbrenner implied wrong-doing on the part of the FBI, saying "The American people deserve to know the full extent of any surveillance abuses by the intelligence community. This memo should be released publicly so that we can begin to restore trust in government.”

The Nunes memo selectively discusses the FISA warrants for FBI surveillance of Trump foreign policy adviser, Carter Page. This man was identified as a Russian asset during investigation of a Russian spy ring in New York City. Page later gave an anti-American speech in Moscow. With his deep involvement with a Presidential campaign, it was no wonder he was under FBI surveillance. The agency would be remiss if Page wasn't being watched.

The odd thing is, Sensenbrenner asked for release of the memo that impugns the integrity of federal law enforcement without actually reading the memo. He had no idea of what sensitive classified information he was calling to be divulged.

Just last Sunday, at a Germantown town hall meeting, Sensenbrenner claimed that he had not read the memo. In response to a question, he said, " Now, have I seen it? No. And the reason for that is, if I saw it, I couldn't talk about it. And when it is released, I want to be able to talk about it." So the Congressman was clamoring to have a memo released, while having no idea what it contained. (13:13)

During the same meeting, Sensenbrenner further expressed his endorsement of the GOP's war on the FBI, saying, "I think there's some problems at the top of the FBI that need to be addressed, because I don't think that the FBI should ever become a political police force." (10:10) Sensenbrenner does have some power to bully the FBI. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee, the group that oversees the agency.

In his blind devotion to the President, Jim Sensenbrenner has jumped on the crazy train. He has bought into the wildest conspiracy theories of the far right. He is putting his crumbling party over our beloved country. His reckless partisan actions in attacking law enforcement are beyond the pale. He no longer acts for the good of America. He must be replaced in November.