Things DON'T go better with Koch.
Turnout for yesterdays municipal elections in Wisconsin was, as usual, dismal. However, the big money
the Koch Brothers threw at candidates and causes in local elections didn't entirely prevail. The April Fools joke might have been on everyone.
The group's Wisconsin organization mailed fliers to voters in Iron County, identifying seven candidates challenging Iron County Board incumbents as "anti-mining radicals," in advance of the April 1 election.
The mailing claims the county is "being targeted by wealthy environmental groups from outside Wisconsin," and says opponents of mining "do not care if our stores close and our families go on welfare."
That's right, those awful environmental groups and their outside money! Nevermind the money the billionaire brothers Americans for Prosperity have loaded into the election. Move along and concentrate on environmental groups sending a small amount of money into the race to save the water, air, and land from destruction because Scott Walker and his band of Not So Merry Men gutted regulations for the same mining interests that not only donated to Republican campaigns, but were largely responsible for writing the new law.
You can see the election results here.
One local blogger relates that 3 of the challengers attacked by Wisconsin AFP did win their races.
And they put their thumb on the scale not just in Iron County ...
He said the group also has been active in other local matters, including Kenosha School Board issues and efforts to limit the authority of the Milwaukee County Board.
Unions sent out an email to members (even a phone banking operation is now too costly for public employee unions that have been decimated by Walkers Act 10) asking them to vote NO on cuts to salary, benefits, and the authority of the Milwaukee County Board.
The trickle of voters who showed up for the election voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new law proposed by a former Republican County Board Supervisor who is now a Republican member of the State Assembly and happily signed by Scott Walker after it was rammed through the GOP dominated State Legislature.
The changes from Tuesday's binding vote don't go into effect for two years — after the 2016 county supervisor elections. Supervisors' pay then will drop from $50,679 to $24,051, effectively forcing part-time status on them. The chairman's pay will go from $71,412 to $36,076.
Supervisors also will lose their county health insurance and won't get any additional credit toward a county pension.
Have I mentioned that Scott Walker is well known for rewarding friends and punishing enemies? Yeah, that was snark. Seriously, though, outside of unions, Walkers worst enemies in Milwaukee County was the County Board of Supervisors and he's now got them good.
With a tiny salary and NO benefits, those jobs won't go to real people who need to have a salary and benefits to support themselves and their families, but to a small number of rich folks who will happily do the bidding of plutocrats. The good times are about to roll for the Kochs and their puppets in Milwaukee County.
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Scott Walker and his GOP pals are hypocrites when it comes to "local control". They've basically taken over cities, towns and counties with Act 10. They busted employee unions, slashed state revenue sharing, and then prohibited local governments from raising property taxes to make up the difference. Towns, cities, and counties have had to reduce services, strip wages and benefits from employees (easy to do when there aren't unions around), increase class size so they don't need as many teachers, and eliminate things like art and music classes as well as sports.
They've also used the power of the state to change the way the Milwaukee Area Technical School is governed. That vocational school is supported with Milwaukee County taxpayer money, but now governed by a board dictated by Scott Walker that includes members of the (Republican) counties that surround Milwaukee, but put no tax money into its operations along with "business leaders". No other vocational school was overtaken by the State or its operations interfered with.
In better news, shady ballot counter Kathy Nickolaus LOST her bid for a seat on the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors, tea party candidates lost local elections in many areas of the State, and referenda to overturn Citizens United won big in the areas where they were on the ballot. Blue Cheddar has a nice summary of the election results.
It ain't pretty when the Kochs invade with their Brinks Trucks full of money and put petty politicians in to office to do their bidding and take revenge on their political enemies. This time, though, they couldn't buy everything.