Very strange, because the Army regularly disbursed paychecks and housing allowance to fobbits like John Scocos.

80 Wis. Soldiers Still Awaiting Service Benefits
Soldiers Said Army Has Acknowledged Money Due

Associated Press
Jan. 29, 2012

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Dozens of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers are still waiting for thousands of dollars owed to them for their service in Iraq but delayed due to bureaucratic glitches and clerical errors.

The soldiers said the Army has acknowledged it owes them money, but they don't understand why they still haven't received it.

An Oshkosh Northwestern report said the soldiers are members of the Wisconsin National Guard 1157th Transportation Co.

After spending much of 2006 and 2007 in Iraq, they were due extra pay or leave. Some got their compensation, but about 80 are still waiting.

U.S. Rep. Tom Petri of Fond du Lac said the government has created an "embarrassment" by mishandling the compensation. He said he and other lawmakers will step in if payments continue to be delayed.

What’s the latest on John Scocos’ foxhole buddy, Tom Nardelli, a retired reservist lieutenant colonel?

Scocos was in the Army Reserve, too, and he likely knows Nardelli, a prominent figure mentioned in the news media coverage of the John Doe probe.

Scocos made O-6 after a couple near misses, and now he is Scott Walker’s coadjutant at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Cancelling the popular Veterans Salute to Legislators event wasn’t drastic enough for Scocos, he had to neutralize the Veterans Affairs Board, too. Scocos doesn’t like following orders, he just likes giving them and campaigning for Walker.

Scocos wants Walker to fix it so he’s a general. What a joke.

Meanwhile, Evan Wynn and now Dan Knodl are hogging credit for Assembly Bill 429 and AB 438. Both bills available for floor vote could possibly aid vets seeking employment by allowing military training to fulfill the requirements of certain state licenses and waive the fees on licenses for specific veterans.

But the Republican powers that be should stop trying to steal the credit regarding VETransfer, an entrepreneurial program providing resources and support to vets in the process of building and developing their own businesses.

Mayville soldier killed in Afghanistan

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/mayville-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan-6r3v4i2-138164054.html

Investigators and the news media should ask John Scocos about the charges against Kevin Kavanaugh. Since Scocos has plenty of time to tour the state campaigning for Scott Walker, he certainly has enough time to address the John Doe investigation and then take questions from the media and investigators.

Scocos’ suits

In a letter dated Jan. 26, Assistant Attorney General Bruce Olsen advised he hadn’t received copies of the motion from plaintiffs' lawyers to consolidate both of Scocos' complaints until Jan. 24, though the motion was filed on Jan 19.

A motion hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16 in Dane County Circuit Judge John Albert’s court.

On Jan. 27, defendants motioned Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi, to dismiss the case.

Polly wolly doodle all the day: Own up to it. The Fitz boys and Scott Walker are screwing the Indians and everyone else.

But it's not because they're smarter. They control both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office.

The Fitz boys and Walker are ramming through a monster taconite low grade iron ore mine project in the Penokee Hills of Ashland and Iron counties. The strip mine will muck up the air, forests, wetlands, streams and the Bad River Ojibwe tribe's legendary wild-rice beds and drainage into the Wolf River.

Members of the various tribes peacefully gathered in the capital city today to oppose the politically fast-tracked mine.

It’s a done deal. Ask the state police Pa Fitz sent to crack a few heads in the statehouse, if they give a shit.

Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs dandy John Scocos was in northern Wisconsin recently fawning over veterans and elected leaders of the Oneida Tribe, trying to get them to support Walker, but Scocos is nowhere to be seen when the tribes are right across the street from his cushy bunker in downtown Madison.

Meanwhile, Little Fitz is such an asshole he won’t answer Ft. Atkinson Democratic Rep. Andy Jorgensen’s question of who authored the mining bill.

Ignoring the question, Little Fitz chastised the Dems for what he reportedly said was "rhetoric coming to fruition." What does that mean?

Little Fitz said he, Big Fitz and Scott Walker are damn well going to create jobs for out-of-state technicians in bringing the strip mine to fruition. Where have we heard that before? Little Fitz is correct about one thing you can’t pick up the destructive mine and move it to China.

Why would anyone from Iron County vote for this piece of shit legislation?

Little Fitz disingenuously addressed the "phantom author" aspect of the bill by moving that all GOP members be made coauthors of the bill. In lockstep the GOPers were then recognized as coauthors.

The Assembly also honored Marcia Anderson, Wisconsin's only two-star general.

Anderson is the first African American woman to obtain a second star in the U.S. Army. That really chaffs Scocos.

Get a load of this. Scott Walker’s mouthpiece Ciara Matthews' spin following the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s action is that “The Milwaukee County Executive's Office expressed policy was that county employees were not permitted to use county time or resources to conduct any political activity. Scott Walker expected everyone to follow the law and made that clear publicly and privately.”

Three-star Boy Scout Walker knows wrong from right but continued to do nothing about it when the wrongdoing was discovered — in May 2010.

The John Doe investigation ought to pursue a plausible connection between WDVA and the allegations against Kevin Kavanaugh.

According to court records the Rolfs Foundation processed (laundered?) $50,000 in donations through WDVA: Since WDVA is required to follow standard procurement and accounting rules isn’t there an accounts receivable or bookkeeping record of the transaction?

Doesn't WDVA have an agreement with MOPH or a mechanism on how donated money is handled?

Why not?

The investigation is getting closer to ‘Veterans for Walker’ and the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, which was a cosponsor of the infamous Operation Freedom event.

Two more ex-Walker aides charged in John Doe investigation

By Mary Spicuzza
Wisconsin State Journal
Jan. 26, 2012

Two more former aides to Gov. Scott Walker have been charged in the ongoing John Doe investigation, and face charges liked to political fundraising while working on county time.

Both worked for Walker while he was serving as Milwaukee County Executive, and both are accused of fundraising activities while at their taxpayer-funded day jobs.

Kelly Rindfleisch - the former deputy chief of staff for Walker who also worked as a fundraiser for then lieutenant governor candidate Brett Davis - was charged with four felony counts of misconduct in public office.

In one Internet chat, Rindfleisch said that "half of what I'm doing is policy for the campaign." She also worked on Operation Freedom, an annual event for veterans that has already been embroiled in the probe.

Prosecutors say Rindfleisch spent "significant time" doing political campaign work while working in the county executive's office.

"In the course of the investigation it was learned that a private email network was established and operated out of the County Executive's office and that private network was used to communicate both political campaign and government work related information to select individuals," prosecutors wrote in the release announcing charges.

Also charged was Darlene Wink, the Walker staffer who resigned last year after admitting to posting numerous pro-Walker political comments online while working in the county executive's office. Wink was charged with two misdemeanor counts of political solicitation by public employee.

Wink, 61, was allegedly arranging fundraisers, "robo-calls" and writing campaign-related press releases. The counts allege she violated state laws prohibiting solicitation of political contributions in public buildings and banning public employees from soliciting or receiving money or services for any political purpose while at work.

According to the criminal complaint, Wink, Walker's constituent services manager, exchanged numerous campaign-related messages with top Walker campaign staffers, including Joe Fadness, operations manager for Friends of Scott Walker, as well as Reince Preibus, then Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman and now head of the Republican National Committee. She also communicated frequently while at her county job with the officials from the Republican Party of Milwaukee County, prosecutors allege.

The complaint reveals that Fadness was among those testifying in the John Doe investigation. Other witnesses include Rose Ann Dieck, membership chairperson for the Milwaukee County Republicans, who has received immunity from prosecution. Among the events Wink allegedly arranged while working for Milwaukee County was a birthday fundraiser for Walker on Nov. 6, 2009. The $42-a-plate dinner offered photographs with "Wisconsin's next governor" for donors giving between $100 and $1,000.

Wink complained in emails about the lack of help from Walker's campaign, and the event was cancelled, the complaint said. Wink then allegedly began work on alternate $35-a-plate "Holiday Gala" fundraiser scheduled for Dec. 7, 2009 offering the same photo opportunities.

The complaint also alleges that while at work, Wink fielded email messages forwarded from Walker's campaign website from people interested in donating money to become hosts at the fundraiser.

John Doe investigations are secret proceedings in which witnesses can be compelled to testify about possible criminal matters.

Earlier this month, two Walker appointees, Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh, were arrested and charged with embezzling from veterans groups. A third man, Russell's partner, was charged with child enticement.

Democrats quickly slammed Walker in the wake of the latest charges.

"The more we learn about the way Scott Walker came to power, the more corrupt it appears," Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said. "With two more Walker aides charged in a growing criminal corruption probe, there is not merely ethical smoke around the governor, there is a whole forest fire that illuminates the crooked turns for his benefit."

The probe already has netted one conviction. William Gardner, president of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, was sentenced to two years of probation after acknowledging funneling at least $72,800 in illegal and excessive campaign contributions to Walker and other candidates since 2003.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/two-more-ex-walker-aides-charged-in-john-doe-investigation/article_0d64606e-4835-11e1-b461-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1kaiO32E2

Boland for Dollars
3rd Cong. District GOP candidate a party flunkee

Softball interview lets Ray Boland, the epitome of entitlements, say moronic things about what he termed “the need (for) major entitlement reforms.”

“We should be talking to people about what they need to hear and not what they want to hear. I think most people are willing to do their part — even seniors.

Kevin Kavanaugh, Ray Boland

Boland talks in wild generalities. He’s another mind numbed Republican robot who wants to “balance” the budget by eliminating Social Security, Medicare and VA benefits, of which he thrives in.

Boland, 74, a former Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs secretary who brought the state John A. Scocos, intends to challenge popular incumbent U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, in the November election.

Interviewed after a Wood County Republican Party event Tuesday evening in ultraconservative Wisconsin Rapids, Boland immediately contradicts himself by saying he’d get more people back to work in central Wisconsin by listening to people. “The important part is to listen to what people have to say.”

Boland doesn't have any kind words for health care reform derisively referring to it as Obamacare, a favorite rote expression of the GOP.

What Boland said he is doing right now is meeting people face to face and going from town to town in every corner of Wood and Portage counties: “One has to be intimately familiar with where the people are.”

Obviously Boland is oblivious to the fact that a million people are dissatisfied with Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker, and that the Republican presidential contenders are a bunch of clowns.

JOHN DOE
According to the Kelly Rindfleisch criminal complaint, Scott Walker sent a private email to a top staffer in the wake of that controversy.

"We cannot afford another story like this one," Walker wrote to Timothy Russell, his longtime aide and adviser. "No one can give them any reason to do another story. That means no laptops, no websites, no time away during the work day, etc."

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/138099588.html

Boland for Dollars
Ray Bolands’s more interested in votes than vets

Since Ray Boland has decided to run for congress in the 3rd Congressional District, he’ll have to ask vets to open their checkbooks.

Then he’ll see how many of them really are his buddies. It’s easy to be a buddy when a guy’s handing out free drinks.

Boland doesn’t know much about politics and even less about how a political campaign is run. He needs campaign managers, aides and volunteers who know exactly how to get him elected. He has no new ideas to campaign on. The election’s in November.

But just because lobbyist Tommy G. Thompson is trying to "buy" a seat in the U.S. Senate, is no reason for Boland to think enough vets will back him all the way to Washington, D.C.

Boland wants to use vets to get votes. He has no interest in vets themselves. He wants to keep his old-age benefits and veterans to give up theirs.

Boland’s photo album posted on his campaign website is about his ego, it’s not about his qualifications or lack thereof.

Tired of the extremism at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, Dick Spanbauer has decided not to seek reelection, paving the way for extremist Mike Schraa, the arrogant "my way is the only way" soda jerk owner of Leon's Frozen Custard in Oshkosh, to likely face a Democratic challenger instead of a GOP primary opponent in the 53rd Assembly District. Schraa accused Spanbauer, who voted against controversial Republican Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining bombshell, of not being a true conservative.

State Rep. Dick Spanbauer cites broken system, 'extremism' on both sides in decision not to seek reelection

Oshkosh Northwestern
Jan. 24, 2012

State Rep. Dick Spanbauer, R-Town of Algoma, decided not to seek a third term in the Assembly citing his lack of desire to continue serving in a system he said values political points more than the people of the state.

“They’re more obsessed with politics than the real reason we’re elected: To serve the people,” Spanbauer said. “Madison is different. Politics is different. Today, compromise has gone out the window and I’m coming to that point where I don’t have the patience for it anymore.”

Spanbauer was first elected to represent the 53rd Assembly District in 2008 when Democrats controlled both houses of the state legislature and the governor’s office. His second term was served in the majority after Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans swept the 2010 election and he was appointed to veterans, consumer protection and urban and local affairs committees.

Spanbauer was one of the only Republicans to break ranks and vote against Walker’s proposal to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state employee unions in February 2011. And while he said he was proud of the Republican efforts to create new jobs and enact tort reform, he said members of both parties polarized the state and its residents.

“Extremism on the left or the right doesn’t serve the people, it serves the party,” Spanbauer said. “It’s either play ball (with the parties) or you’re out. I asked myself if I felt like we were accomplishing something for the betterment of Wisconsin, for the betterment of the people. And all I saw was one-sidedness. And that doesn’t work.”

Spanbauer was going to face Republican challenge from Mike Schraa, owner of Leon's Frozen Custard in Oshkosh.

Lackluster lawyer Sarah Troupis, who works for her Republican gadfly father, James Troupis, filed a brief January 19th in Dane County Circuit Court to support her motion to consolidate both of John A. Scocos’ frivolous lawsuits he has filed against the state.

Troupis law office

The original case that was filed in December 2009, and assigned to Dane County Circuit Judge John Albert (after judge shopping when the case was randomly assigned to Judge Shelley Gaylord's court), is awaiting assignment in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

A nearly identical case litigation-happy Scocos filed in July 2011 is in Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi’s court.

It’s screwy. Two similar civil matters in three separate court venues involving at least five judges where the defendants have the original case in appellate court and the plaintiff asks consolidation of circuit court cases, so which jurist decides the consolidation motion?

More charges expected against ex-Walker staffers, sources say

By Dan Bice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jan. 22, 2012

A new round of criminal charges is coming soon against at least a couple of Gov. Scott Walker's former county staffers for doing extensive campaign activity while on the taxpayers' dime, sources say.

The charges - which should be filed by District Attorney John Chisholm's office in the next week or two - will be part of the long-running John Doe investigation of Walker's aides and associates during his tenure as Milwaukee County executive.

Russell, Walker, Pierick

Already, the probe has led to multiple felony charges against Walker's onetime deputy chief of staff, Tim Russell, and former county veterans official Kevin Kavanaugh. They are accused of taking more than $60,000 in donations intended for Operation Freedom, an annual event at the county zoo for veterans and their families.

Russell's domestic partner, Brian Pierick, was also hit with two felony counts for child enticement.

In an interview last week, Walker said he has not been contacted by investigators for the Democratic district attorney but would be open to sitting down with Milwaukee County prosecutors to discuss the issues they are investigating.

"I certainly would be willing if they asked me to in the future," Walker told the Journal Sentinel's Madison bureau. "Like I said, no matter who it might be about, we'd be more than willing to in the future."

Asked if he has hired his own attorney for advice regarding the John Doe investigation, Walker declined to answer.

"I've not been a subject of this," the first-term Republican governor said. "At some point in the future, if I am, I'll discuss that with you."

His campaign hired Steve Biskupic of Michael Best & Friedrich in late 2010, when officials subpoenaed campaign emails. Last year, Walker's campaign paid Michael Best nearly $110,000 for "compliance issues."

At least eight of his former aides and associates have hired criminal defense lawyers.

A John Doe is a secret probe of a possible criminal matter that allows prosecutors to compel testimony and seize evidence.

The upcoming charges, sources said, will not mark the end of the 20-month criminal investigation.

The next phase, insiders say, is focusing on the role some of Walker's closest associates and county employees had in a real estate deal involving a county agency. The point man on the deal, real estate broker Andrew Jensen, was arrested last month for allegedly failing to cooperate with the investigation. Jensen, who was not charged, is set to meet with prosecutors this week.

Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf declined to discuss any phase of the probe - including whether taxpayers footed the bill for campaign labor.

"I officially have no comment whatsoever," Landgraf said Friday.

Insiders were likening the upcoming charges to an earlier political corruption scandal.

"It's going to be along the lines of the (Steve) Foti and (Scott) Jensen cases from the caucus investigation," said one knowledgeable source.

The comparison is an interesting one because Walker, as a state lawmaker, was untouched by the well-publicized state caucus investigation, which concluded the partisan legislative caucuses were taxpayer-financed campaign machines for their respective parties.

Beginning in 2002, prosecutors charged a number of lawmakers and staffers - both Democrats and Republicans - as part of their investigation into state employees illegally campaigning on taxpayers' time.

Foti, the former Assembly majority leader, pleaded to a misdemeanor in January 2006 for directing an aide to campaign on state time. Jensen, the ex-Assembly speaker, was originally charged with three felony counts of misconduct in office, but he eventually was convicted of a misdemeanor and ethics code violation. Now an adviser to a school choice group, Jensen was required to pay a $5,000 fine and reimburse the state $67,174 for legal fees.

Both Jensen and Foti are Republicans.

Milwaukee County prosecutors had a hand in that investigation, winning a conviction of former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, who pleaded to two felonies for having a state worker campaign while on state time and for illegally funneling cash into the election fund of a fellow Democrat.

The current case was launched in May 2010 - about a week before one Walker staffer, Darlene Wink, resigned from her county job. She acknowledged to No Quarter that she spent much of the day working on a private laptop posting comments and posts online touting her boss when she was supposed to be doing her job providing help to Milwaukee County constituents. Walker's chief of staff said at the time that "no one in our office had any knowledge" of her activities.

Prosecutors raided Wink's house less than three months later.

It is not clear if the upcoming charges will involve anyone from Walker's successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Chisholm's office subpoenaed Walker's campaign emails on Nov. 1, 2010 - one day before the general election, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In his interview with the Journal Sentinel, the governor emphasized that prosecutors have not asked for his phones, computers or other electronic devices. But he didn't provide a clear answer if the same was true for his staff during his successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

He initially said he didn't know about anyone else. Pressed again, he said, "I haven't looked in with anybody else, but not to my knowledge."

Wouldn't his staff tell Walker if the cops showed up and started seizing equipment from his campaign headquarters?

"I answered your question," he said. "I don't know of anything else right now."

Kevin Kavanaugh, Ray Boland

Boland for Dollars

Boland for Congress is an old joke.

When Ray Boland announced he his intent to run for congress in the 3rd Congressional District he boldly stated he’d cut entitlements if elected to office.

Fine, then Boland should start by cutting his own entitlements. He’s been living on federal and state largesse for years.

Eliminating his own pensions and benefits ought to be part of his platform is to reduce entitlements. He should announce it is his duty as a self-described standard-bearer.to refuse to accept entitlements.

That’s the example that real leaders would make when CALLED TO DUTY.

Yet, one of his entitlements from state service can’t be touched thanks to Scott Walker; one of the reasons why Boland is politically supportive of Walker. Boland’s campaign won’t get off the ground because he’s a member of the over-the-hill gang.

Vets should know that the main reason that the Veterans Trust Fund is teetering on insolvency is the result of unnecessary and duplicative programs Boland started at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Boland and Boland Lite, John Scocos, consummated the shaky deals that have led to the depletion of VTF. Boland and Scocos are the spitting image of piss poor performance.

They’re autocratic style of governance has pushed VTF to the brink of insolvency. If Boland and Scocos were private sector CEOs they’d have bankrupted the firm by now.

Steve Peterson, a retired Wisconsin Army National Guard colonel, is contact person. Peterson left Wisconsin Emergency Management after spending too many long lunch hours hydrating.

On page 13, Boland honors Kevin Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh is another former Walker appointee who's pleaded not guilty to theft and fraud.

http://dva.state.wi.us/WDVA_Updates/Up032_2003_Summer_Fall.pdf

Boland, Kavanaugh were on the Veterans for Walker “leadership” team in 2010 quite a bit after Kavanaugh came under scrutiny for his alleged crime.

http://www.scottwalker.org/press-release/2010/05/scott-walker-announces-leadership-team-veterans-walker

(So were Chauffeur Trepanier and Tim Thiers, who both later landed cushy jobs in the Walker/Scocos administration.)

Boland appears on his campaign website as the only Vietnam war vet ever. Albeit he was a helicopter pilot and followed them War 1 Alvin York and War 2 Audie Murphy, may be in jeopardy of losing their earned status as the most notable warriors in the U.S. Army.

What a bloody war hero Scott Walker is sports fans.

He’s rendered the Veterans Affairs Board irrelevant.

Three-star Boy Scouts in the state Legislature usurped veteran input by handing Walker the power to appoint board members and the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

The nine-member board — reduced to seven after nearly everybody quit — is irrelevant and can’t weigh in any meaningful ways on issues that impact vets.

Instead, they have to follow the orders of a sociopath secretary.

Unfortunately, the board is relegated to working with John A. Scocos, who is currently preoccupied with the lawsuits he filed against the state aka previous board members.

Scocos is represented in his multiple suits by the law office of Sarah and James Troupis and dishonored Jon Wilcox.

Former Walker Associate Will Stand Trial

Russell Faces Felony Embezzlement Charges

Associated Press
Jan. 23, 2012

MILWAUKEE — A close associate of Gov. Scott Walker charged in a John Doe investigation will stand trial on embezzlement charges.

Russell, Walker, Pierick 

Tim Russell faces two felonies and one misdemeanor in Milwaukee County. It's related to his alleged stealing of more than $21,000 in money from a nonprofit that Walker asked him to head.

The 48-year-old held various positions under Walker when the governonr was Milwaukee County Executive between 2002 and 2010, including his deputy chief of staff.

Also charged is Kevin Kavanaugh, another former Walker appointee who's pleaded not guilty to theft and fraud.

Russell's domestic partner, Brian Pierick, faces child enticement charges. Prosecutors said that they found that evidence while looking through Russell's phones and computers.

Russell was bound over for trial during a preliminary hearing Monday. An arraignment is Feb. 16.

Donovan

Tim Donovan’s jury trial in U.S. District Court won't happen until Oct. 1.

After Secretary Ken Black didn’t hire Donovan as the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs’ comm officer, Donovan, a retired as lieutenant colonel in the Wisconsin National Guard, filed suit in July against the former department secretary, who said there were "too many older white males" working for the agency, according to the suit.

Donovan, longtime communications spokesman for the Guard and an Iraq war vet, is currently double dipping as the community relations chief at the Madison VA hospital.

Randy Nitschke of Elkhorn was division administrator for the department's veterans’ homes before Black demoted and later fired Nitschke, according to the three lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court.

Nitschke, Black

Nitschke’s trial is set for Sept. 17.

Controversial secretary John Scocos rehired Nitschke as administrator of the WDVA Division of Veterans Homes.

Gary Wistrom of Kenosha was Nitschke's assistant at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove and was at the March 2010 meeting when Black made the "white males" statement. Wistrom later signed an affidavit for Nitschke, who had a complaint pending with the state's Equal Rights Division, attesting to Black's remark.

Wistrom

Wistrom trial is scheduled for Sept. 24.

Wistrom collects pensions.

The final pretrial conference and trial dates are docketed for later this year unless there’s a summary judgment on April 16.

Newt's main squeeze, Callista, is from Whitehall, Wis.

Wisconsin's elected officials should also release their tax returns so the public can see how many entitlements they receive but don’t want anyone else to have.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/politics/campaign-wrap/index.html?hpt=hp_t2