Brewtown Gumshoe: David Clarke

"When I hear people say that we need to reach across the aisle and work with people, with the Democrats, you know what I say? The only reason I'll be reaching across the aisle is to grab one of them by the throat," Clarke said to raucous cheers and fist-pumping. [source]

Maybe most of the deplorables outside of Wisconsin are not aware (and even some inside Wisconsin), but Sheriff David Clarke runs for office as a Democrat.

So maybe he's just letting the cat out of the bag here - that he's a complete political opportunist who will do and say anything, buddy up to anyone and lie to his constituents for his own benefit.

It seems he's trying to set himself up for a position within the Trump administration, so he may not really care about running for County Sheriff anymore. Although, if he does try to run for another term as Milwaukee County Sheriff, he should have to run as a Republican.

Words mean things. The Trumps, Clarkes and the rest of that basket should have to mean what they say and stand behind the garbage that spills out of their mouths. Enough of their mealy-mouthed bullshit, saying whatever will gain applause from the crowd and fanning the flames of anger and misinformation, while shamelessly changing positions every other day.

Clarke is glad to call himself a Democrat to get elected in Milwaukee County, yet he wants nothing to do with the Democrats?

So, Mr. Clarke, if you're going to run around spouting conservative bromides, start labeling yourself a Republican. Until then, grab yourself by the throat, squeeze and don't let go until that last breath leaves your hateful and ignorant body.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Weekend Reading

For Democrats, Cleaning House Means Pelosi and Schumer Too
Surviving The Age of Trump
Did Trump Steal Wisconsin?
Why Oklahoma Can't Turn Off Its Earthquakes
Fracking Isn't Causing Oklahoma's Earthquakes - This Is
Do Markets Really Hate Uncertainty? Not At All
Why Are These Clowns Winning? Secrets of The Right-Wing Brain
Treat Start-Up Companies Like The Bucks
Walker's Lead Poisoned Politics
David Clarke The Demagogue
John Doe, Open Records Proves Harsdorf, Olsen Crooked, Unfit for Office
Wisconsin Corporations Won't Step Up To Improve State's Economy
Almost Two-Thirds of People In The Labor Force Do Not Have A College Degree
10 Facts About American Workers
How America Grew -- and Grew Unequal
Who Really Runs Your City?
Why I Left The Republican Party To Become A Democrat
Democratic Presidents are Better at Making Us Rich. Eight Reasons Why
Art of the Steal: This Is How Trump Lost $916M and Avoided Tax
Paying For Job Reductions: The Unreported Story of a Ballooning Tax Credit
The Deficit is Too Small, Not Too Big

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Conservatives' Government Dependency Fairy Tale

Acclaimed Mensa member and Wrangler jeans spokesperson, Sheriff David Clarke, following the calamity in Milwaukee, has fingered "progressive policies" as the cause of the protests.

The growth of the welfare state” encourages the destructive behavior seen on Saturday and Sunday nights...

“These progressive policies have hit the black community like a nuclear blast, and until we reverse this government dependency, that’s what creates all of this – and encourages it, by the way,” Clarke said.

Just like the good little conservative soldier he is, Clarke regurgitates right-wing tripe on cue.

In case you haven't heard, everything the Democrats, liberals, etc. have ever done is the cause of everything bad in the world. Nevermind reality or facts, everything the Democrats, liberals, etc. have ever done is the cause of everything bad in the world.

TANF Continues to Weaken as a Safety Net

In 2014, for every 100 families in poverty, only 23 received cash benefits from TANF. This is down from the 68 families for every 100 in poverty that received cash assistance when TANF was first enacted in 1996. This ratio, which we call the TANF-to-poverty ratio (TPR), has declined nearly every year since 1996 and reached its lowest point in 2014.

Improving the State of Our Welfare State

By the time Bill Clinton first ran for president, the concept of public assistance had diminished to such an extent that that he pledged to “end welfare as we know it.” He fulfilled this promise when he signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. With the stroke of a pen, the government’s largest direct cash assistance program for families with low or no income AFDC was replaced by the more restrictive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. What was called “welfare reform” at the time was in fact an attempt to lessen the financial commitments of the federal government. It also included several features advanced by conservatives, including time limits on assistance, connecting benefits to work effort, and a block grant structure that gave states greater discretion in how to distribute resources.

The End of Welfare as We Know It

More than 13 million people received cash assistance from the government in 1995, before the law was passed. Today, just 3 million do.

If nothing else, these policies were an effective way to reduce the number of people on welfare rolls. People on the left and right agree that they helped change a program that was in need of reform. But there were real human costs too: Those who didn’t find jobs, who weren’t working, who lived in states trying to reduce their cash-assistance programs, were left to struggle on their own...

Today, in large part because of welfare reform, the safety net—the set of government efforts to come to the aid of the country’s citizens when they are down on their luck, much of which has existed since the Great Depression—is thin and getting thinner. And this thinning goes beyond welfare, which gives needy families cash support: On April 1, between 500,000 and one million childless adults will lose access to food stamps (officially known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). This is the belated consequence of a rule that was part of Clinton’s welfare reform, which stipulated that childless adults can only receive three months of food stamps if they aren’t employed at least 20 hours a week or in a training program. For years states received waivers for the rule, but in many states, governors have chosen not to ask for extensions for this year.

How the rise of America’s massive military welfare state led to the decline of the civilian welfare state

Over the past four decades in the United States, as the country has slashed its welfare state and employers gutted traditional job benefits, growing numbers of people, especially from the working class, grasped for a new safety net – the military. Everyone recognizes that the US armed forces have become a global colossus. But few know that, along with bases and bombs, the US military constructed its own massive welfare state. In the waning decades of the 20th century, with US prosperity in decline, more than 10 million active‑duty personnel and their tens of millions of family members turned to the military for economic and social security.

Reality appears to be almost the exact opposite of what Clarke claims. It has been, in fact, the decline of the welfare state and the lack of investment in the poorest persons and neighborhoods that has caused the current situation.

Too much money for stadiums and the well-connected, not enough investment in the needy and underprivileged.

In can also be argued that our recently militarized police state has diverted dollars from more appropriate investments in the communities that need it most. We keep increasing our police force in communities nationwide, claiming a need for law and order. But, what if, rather than employing a force to "keep order," we were, instead, investing in community institutions and assets, schools, real estate renovations, public spaces and jobs for these economically blighted neighborhoods? Rather than employing a force to lock down a neighborhood, why not try a New Deal-like infrastructure investment and jobs program targeted at these distressed areas?

Update:

Another aspect of this issue in which Republicans, Conservative, Right-Wingers, etc. are hypocritical and wearing blinders - where are the their complaints about corporate welfare? We have millionaires and billionaires with their hands out asking for public dollars for stadiums, business parks, factories and on and on. These are The Haves asking for more...and getting it. Talk about a culture of dependency.

Wisconsin's Corporate Welfare
Corporate Welfare
Where Are The Conservative Calls For Accountability For Corporate Welfare Recipients?

Another Wisconsin Corporate Welfare Failure

Wasteful Corporate Welfare

More On Scott Walker's Stadium Corporate Welfare

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Violating Logic

What exactly do 'Conservative Principles' entail these days? Is there really such a thing?

How can supposed 'conservatives' be for smaller government, yet support the most costly government programs and even push for growing those?

How can 'conservatives' continually blast bureaucrats and the government as inefficient, wasteful and incompetent, and then turn around and call for more and more money funneled to certain pet governmental units?

Enter our favorite wingnut sheriff.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. Calls on City to Hire 400 New Police Officers

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is calling on the city to hire 400 new police officers.

Clarke, while speaking Friday before the city's Public Safety Committee, also urged Milwaukee County to hire an additional 200 sheriff's deputies...

He urged for "stop, question and frisk" policing, 100 searches per night of homes where those on parole are living and aggressive traffic stops targeting repeat offenders.

"We need to rain holy hell on these individuals — lawfully," Clarke said. "We don't need to violate anybody's rights to do this."

During Friday's meeting, Ald. Terry Witkowski asked Clarke how the city would pay for 400 new officers, estimating it would cost Milwaukee about $40 million annually. Witkowski also noted that state officials have limited the city's ability to increase taxes...

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn called Clarke "irrelevant to my work."

"I'd love to have 400 more cops, if somebody could come up with a way to pay for them without breaking the backs of Milwaukee taxpayers," Flynn said. "There's no there there."

He suggested Clarke talk to "his good friend" Gov. Scott Walker about restoring money that's been cut from Milwaukee's shared revenue payments.

"Just restore state aid and we'll have a discussion," Flynn said.

Christopher Ahmuty, executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, said Clarke's presentation promoted "largely discredited theories" and shows he is "out of step with the best ideas in current debates over improving public safety."

"Predictably, his principal recommendation is 'more boots on the ground,'" Ahmuty said. "Hopefully, the majority of the Public Safety Committee will take his views for what they are worth, antiquated and unhelpful."

Clarke makes regular appearances on Fox News and other television and radio news shows —often wearing one of his signature cowboy hats — where he sounds off on a variety of issues, including Beyoncé, the Black Lives Matter movement, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

We can clearly see why Clarke has so many issues with his County budget. Apparently he's not much of a numbers guy.

(And, the "stop, question and frisk" policing - searching 100 homes per night where those on parole are living along with aggressive traffic stops targeting repeat offenders. "Raining holy hell — lawfully. We don't need to violate anybody's rights to do this." How do you "rain hell" and not violate people?)

Wouldn't it be great to have more teachers and better schools? How about better public transportation and roads? Maybe replacing all the lead water pipes in the City?

But where to get the money to pay for any of it? With the State cutting shared revenue and limiting the City's ability raise additional revenues, coming up with the money for anything is increasingly more and more of a problem.

And, I guess, according to Clarke, the answer is making blustery speeches without any consideration of the details. "This, that and the other should be done...someone else figure out how to pay for it!"

WOW! What a visionary! I can see why FOX News lets him spout his wisdom regularly.