In the wake of revelations that Gov. Walker would evade criminal charges in the John Doe investigation, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Graeme Zielinski sent out several tweets pointing out that Walker had spent more on his criminal defense than Wisconsin's most atrocious criminal, Jeffery Dahmer.  

Thanks to Propublica.org for use of this article under Creative Commons licensing.

A Graphic Guide to the Sequester

by Christie Thompson ProPublica, Feb. 28, 2013, 3:24 p.m.

There's been a lot of talk of the looming budget cuts that, without a last-minute deal, must go into effect by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 1. Obama will meet with congressional leaders on Friday to discuss how to avoid the worst consequences of the sequester. 

What is the sequester, and how big is it? Here's our quick graphic guide, from the budget terms you need to know, to how it could impact your home state.

The GOP House leadership designated February 18 to 22 as one of several controversial "House Constituent Work Weeks."  The leadership said such work weeks were necessary:

Well, this is unfortunate but perhaps unsurprising. A correction issued today by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (boldfacing added by yours truly):

"The headline on an article Wednesday about environmental problems confronting a band of Lake Superior Chippewa misstated the band's name. It is the Bad River Band, not the Bad Water Band. Also, the article incorrectly stated that Odanah is in Bayfield County. It is in Ashland County."

During Wednesday morning's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) channeled recent comments by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who has been running radio ads (paid for with tax dollars) urging residents to buy guns to protect themselves because calling 911 might take too long. Graham was questioning Milwaukee Police Department Chief Edward Flynn on the challenges local police departments face under tight budgets. Perhaps Graham was prompted by knowledge of Clarke's recent recents, because he asked:

“Foster parents are special saints,” the Eau Claire woman told me. “They take troubled children and help them have a loving family.”

My company Cruiskeen Consulting LLC is in the running to win a free exhibit booth at Netroots Nation 2013.   You can help us get there so we can spread some good old Uppity Wisconsin Progressive Goodness to the crowd at Netroots Nation, and also help us to maybe earn a little money while we're there.  We have some really cool progressive Internet projects in the works, and we'd like to go to the confrence to spread the word.

How can you help?  Go visit the voting page at http://www.netrootsnation.org/Hallcontestvoting2013/ You need to do a Facebook like for us there, and leave the post up on your Facebook page afterward.   Help us to build progressive infrastructure.  Send us to Netroots Nation.

Clearly, Scott Walker adheres to the discreditable Reaganesque notion that "government isn't the solution -- it's the problem." So give Walker and his enablers in the GOP-controlled legislature a teensy bit of credit for horrifying consistency: Through their anti-life, pro-business, anything goes, blitzkrieg approach to public policy, these political cretins are doing their level worst to make Wisconsin government a really, really, really, really, really big problem. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies.