
The AFP's non-partisan bus
The gubernatorial recall election in Wisconsin is now less than a week away, and polls show a tight race between Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D). With this in mind, the Wisconsin chapter of the Koch-financed Americans for Prosperity is launching a 10-city bus tour this week, which will feature AFP national president Tim Phillips rallying conservatives in the state.
That's not exactly a surprise -- the Koch brothers, like so many far-right figures, consider Walker's race critically important -- but the amusing part is Americans for Prosperity's explanation for this week's bus tour.
Given the tour's timing and billing, any reasonable person would view it as a statewide drive to get out the vote for Walker and his GOP allies in the June 5 election. Not AFP.
AFP's Wisconsin director, Luke Hilgemann, says the bus tour has nothing to do the recall elections. "We're not dealing with any candidates, political parties, or ongoing races," Hilgemann told the Hudson, Wisconsin, Patch news site.
Got that? Just days before a closely-watched statewide election in which Scott Walker's job is on the line, an allied group is launching a 10-city bus tour -- and the group wants you to believe this has nothing to do with Walker's recall race. Seriously.
It's simply a remarkable coincidence. AFP's leaders just happened to have some free time on their hands, stumbled upon an available bus, and thought they'd make 10 carefully-selected campaign stops visits around Wisconsin. And wouldn't you know it, the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity also happens to be busing in conservative activists to Wisconsin this week for pre-election canvassing, but we're supposed to believe that's unrelated to the recall election, too.
As Andy Kroll explained, AFP doesn't have much of a choice -- the far-right interest group, which launched a "Stand With Walker" campaign last year, is technically a nonprofit organization, and has to be very careful about intervening on Walker's behalf.
But if there's anyone, anywhere, who seriously believes the group's pre-election bus tour this week is unrelated to any "ongoing races," I'd like to meet him or her. I can offer them a great deal on a lovely bridge.





So they are busing in "Illegals" from Illinois(e).
AFP is also quite busy recruiting and training baggers in other states for live telephone calls to Wisconsin voters during the period June 1 through the election. My local bagger panjandums put out a call for volunteers to attend a training session which was held on May 22 locally
Yeah right...it's all just a COINCIDENCE my *$$!
Lie, Cheat, Steal...it's the Republican way.
Actually it's the Democrat way. It's safe to say any bad behavior Republicans might exhibit, was learned originally from Democrats. They haven't had occasion to self-exile like some Democrat state groups, but give it time. Heh.
Well now since the original democratic party was southern born and southern bred until the party embraced affirmative action...
When the racists and bad-seeds leave one party and go to the other, it's not one party learning from another, it's the bad actors changing designations.
"We're not dealing with any candidates, political parties, or ongoing races,"
Only AFP is a reich-wing organization, so of course they're not "dealing" from the bottom of the deck, right.......Still, it's good to reinforce the "unreality world" that the GOP inhabit.
It would clearly be a tragic abuse of power if state local or federal taxing authorities were to cease the cowering and averting their eyes and take notice of the fact that these "nonprofit operate in such complete and open violation of the requirements § 501(c)(3) that they be operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing, public safety, educational purposes or for the purpose of promoting amateur sports or the arts, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals that it constitutes open mockery of the rule of law. Because if taxing authorities were so lost to reason as to acknowledge that their claims to 501(c)(3) status are not even sufficient to constitute a pretext, they they might actually have to *gasp* tax them and, well, taxes are evil.
Yeah...but all of these exchequers need to be taxed, because that $$$ belongs to state and People they are violating with their Campaign to Miss-educate Voters who can make a Real difference to their Communities, though their voices are being blocked by dirty $$$ and Corrupt Politics...While these neoCons lecture over the Rule of Law and "Local Control"... they need not be afforded any further presumptions of "innocence"...INVESTIGATE THEM!!!
I do love how stupid the AFP seems to think everyone is. Sorry, AFP, you are liars and inept ones at that.
and dear Shooter, if you want to make claims, surely you have evidence about this? Or are you simply lying too?
They're not banking just on stupid. They're also working under the assumption that people are apathetic or corrupt as well as those that are stupid/ignorant.
All y'all: please remember not to feed trolls. It just makes 'em fat and sassy.
Not sure if this is from Wisconsin or not, but I saw this on PostSecret this week:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2N5CdD5WIzM/T8FW6NSEMcI/AAAAAAAATQM/1Lav_8zzFAQ/s1600/lastlaugh.jpg
Walker keep's ripping dems for taking money from those big "Union Boss's"while he himself is bought and paid for by the Koch bros.The man is a hypocrite to the nth degree.If the repubs want to talk about somone divisive It's Him. Marco Rubio claims that Pres.Obama is divisive and he's right,BUT,it's not because of his policies,it's because of his color.While Walker's divisiveness is because he is an ought right liar,just like that other lying republican running for President.
What difference does it make? It's not like having a bus touring the state to get the Conservatives rallied to vote is illegal. Besides, the Liberals bused thousands in to protest in Madison. How hypocritical can you be? Seriously, how is this a problem?