The Midvale Heights bison celebrate Thanksgiving

Bison Prairie Gateway, built by residents of the Midvale Heights neighborhood in Madison, under the direction of artist Bill Grover, who designed the two concrete bison sculptures. It has become a neighborhood tradition to dress them for the holidays.

Festive, Timely and Functional Holiday Placemat from the "Recall" Collection

Wisconsin Residents Only:: President Obama pardoned two turkeys for Thanksgiving, but here in Wisconsin we're not so much in a mood to pardon our turkeys as to recall them. Brighten your holidays with this specially designed holiday placemat from the "Recall" Collection (also available in Christmas red). It's guaranteed to be a stimulating icebreaker at your holiday table. This is the Walker model. There's also a matching Kleefisch. Mix and match! And after your holiday meals, brush off the crumbs and pass the pens! You'd be surprised how much fun it is to autograph one of these unique recall petition placemats. It's downright empowering!.

All kidding aside, Happy Thanksgiving and here's hoping the recall isn't too divisive at your celebration, a day to put family ahead of politics. There are plenty of other days remaining to sign those recall petitions.

Thanksgiving Eve Sunset on Lake Wingra

Wednesday was a gorgeous day. Forecast for Thanksgiving is looking pretty good too. Happy Thanksgiving!

"The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice."

The words of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Recall Walker Rally, Madison, Nov. 19, 2011.

Helping take back our state one signature at a time

Peg and Steve Arnold were collecting signatures to recall Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch outside Trader Joe's on Monroe Street when I photographed them yesterday. Like all the people working on the recall I've seen there they were cordial and courteous, stayed on public property and didn't block access to the city parking lot. In short, there never was any need for Trader Joe's to put up either the firs or the second sign distancing themselves from what management seemed to think were the "barbarians at the gate." I'm glad they've apparently changed their minds and have come to realize that democracy isn't so bad after all -- the second sign came down today.

The Arnolds say most people have been friendly and receptive, and the location has produced lots of signatures. That's not surprising, given the location in a progressive neighborhood in liberal Madison.

But what about other parts of the state? What about rural Wisconsin? Margaret Krome has a story in the Capital Times about taking recall petitions door-to-door in a small town in southwest Wisconsin last weekend. It's a real eye-opener. Badgers far from Madison are also angry at their governor, and some of them are Republicans.

I believe that the Recall Walker campaign leaders significantly underestimated discontent in rural areas. When the Iowa County office opened up to train volunteers several days ago, over 100 people showed up. And in five days, they have gathered well over 50 percent of the total signatures they expected to gather in that county in the entire two months of the process.

An office volunteer recounted having a senior couple come in, seeming uncomfortable as they approached the counter. The wife said to her husband, “I don’t like to do this, but it’s got to be done.” Yes, he agreed, “It’s got to be done.” They were Republicans, they said, and it was difficult to abandon the party, but the state’s well-being was more important than party.

It was drizzling much of the afternoon as I walked, and many people invited me in. Probably the visit that I remember most was the elderly lady on oxygen, who apologized as she struggled to write, but was adamant that she wanted to sign. “How did Walker ever get elected?” she asked. “Didn’t people see what he did to Milwaukee County?”

Krome writes that about 20% or people declined to sign, but even they were mostly polite and friendly. The signatures she collected were far beyond her expectations. No wonder Republicans have pushed voter suppression measures so hard.

Scott Walker is definitely in trouble.

Wisconsin October job losses -- Scott Walker caught in the collision between ideology and reality.

It was going to be so easy. Scott Walker was going to use his sunny disposition and the lure of lower taxes to suck jobs right out of high-tax Illinois and into the Badger state, which he had recently opened for business.

It didn't work out that way. Illinois gained 30,000 jobs in October, the biggest gain of all the states. Our other neighbors also added jobs. Wisconsin lost 9,700 jobs -- the biggest loss of all the states. It's damn near a controlled experiment -- 5 Rust Belt Midwestern states roughly similar in their economic situations. Four improve, and one doesn't. The one that doesn't is the one that was renamed Fitzwalkerstan and became a laboratory for union-busting rightwing panaceas.

No wonder even some long-time Republicans are joining the recall movement. Walker almost seems to be scaring the jobs away.

Scott Walker needs to read the paper -- here's why tax cuts for big business don't automatically produce jobs

It sounds so intuitive, if you're prone to think that way -- just give tax cuts to big business, and they'll use the extra money in their pockets to invest in business expansion and that will create jobs. Wrong. Mostly, they'll just use the money to line their pockets.

That's the gist of a new report in the New York Times, As Layoffs Rise, Stock Buybacks Consume Cash.

The principle behind buybacks is simple. With fewer shares in circulation, earnings per share can rise smartly even if the company’s underlying growth is lackluster. In many cases, like that of the medical device maker Zimmer Holdings, executives are able to meet goals for profit growth and earn bigger bonuses despite poor stock performance.

“It’s clear there’s a conflict of interest,” said Charles M. Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “Unless earnings per share are adjusted to reflect the buyback, then to base a bonus on raw earnings per share is problematic. It doesn’t purely reflect performance.”

In addition, executives, who are often large shareholders, stand to benefit from even a small, short-term jump in stock prices.

In addition, if the stock buybacks are made mainly for the purpose of bumping short-term earnings-per-share, and thus executives' bonuses, the effect is often to weaken their companies by draining them of needed cash resources, creating major problems down the line. But by then their executives probably have used their golden parachutes to glide away to greener pastures.

Something for Scott Walker to ponder when he looks at the 9,700 jobs Wisconsin lost in October, despite his "job creating" tax cuts for the rich.

No, Scott -- It's NOT Working!

Just look at the numbers -- Wisconsin lost 9,700 jobs in October. We're underperforming other states. Scott Walker knows nothing about creating jobs. What he knows is how to lie and misrepresent and use job creation as a pretext for busting unions and giving tax breaks to the rich. Wisconsin once led the nation in economic justice. Wisconsin's 99% deserve better and the 1% need to get out of the way.

Celebrating Walker recall with Solidarity Forever, dancing balloons, and one runaway balloon rising symbolically.

Great scene inside the Capitol after the Recall Walker rally -- people singing Solidarity Forever, while the balloons do their dance. Note the runaway balloon at the end that rises symbolically.

The constitutional right "peaceably to assemble" is alive and well in Madison, where it's practiced without batons and pepper spray.

Saturday was such an incredible day at the Capitol Square. All that pent-up frustration, anger and determination finally had the long-awaited chance to express itself in resolute and peaceful solidarity against Scott Walker and what he has done. I loved what Sue Pastor said about it on Facebook: "Like February, but warmer."

We Wrote It Out in Big Letters So Walker Would get the Message

That felt so great! Signed our recall petitions for both Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch up at the Capitol Square, where it all started, and joined 40,000 people who care about the future of Wisconsin in solidarity. Judging from the relative proportion of recall supporters and opponents (a handful of the latter staged a rather pathetic march around the periphery), Scott Walker is toast.