Radio Free Wisconsin

2012-02-12T10:25:00.001-08:00

John Scocos will be housed in a first class hotel while 200,000 U.S. veterans sleep homeless on the streets.

Taxpayers are picking up the tab for secretary Scocos and his yes-men to attend the mid-winter conference of the National Association of State Departments of Veterans Affairs.

The posh event is scheduled for Feb. 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

At least while Scocos is in DC he won't be traveling around the state of Wisconsin at taxpayer expense campaigning for controversial Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

2012-02-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

Wisconsin is open for ridicule

There are only four things John Scocos is authorized to say to Scott Walker.

They are: “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” “No excuse, sir,” and “Sir, where do we campaign next?”

Scocos has joined the ranks of the teabaggers to keep his job. It must really suck for Scocos to have Walker pulling his chain.

Scocos is a shill for the politico that appointed him to a cushy state job. The brevet colonel was recently holding doors for Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar, as Walker’s entourage campaigned in the Janesville area.

Scocos is probably chagrined that nothing came of it when Dunbar was the object of an Air Force Inspector General investigation.

The greatest irony is Scocos making false promises about jobs for vets when all his government jobs happened by fiat. He has never held a private sector job in the last 25 years.

Walker and the Fitz boys changed the law so they could appoint Scocos secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. Otherwise, Scocos would still be twiddling his thumbs as number 2 at SAPS with secretary Steve Ross. As a result, Scocos can ignore the Veterans Affairs Board.

Scocos, Ross, Blinky, a faded TV news reader, DWD secretary Reggie Newson, and Dunbar this week targeted the Rock Valley Community Center for a campaign event to advise military vets on getting work.

But Scocos didn’t say anything at the meeting about the fact that one of the lawyers profiting from corruption of the political redistricting maps is suing the state on his behalf. In the suit, Scocos demands $500,000 or more for himself and $200,000 or more in attorney fees for Sarah and James Troupis.

Lawyers for the state recently filed motions against consolidating Scocos’ frivolous suits. The defense also asked the court to dismiss his case. A motion hearing is set for Feb. 16.

Scocos is a sorry excuse for a secretary. He is campaigning for Walker on the backs of veterans. What the politicos are doing is make promises they rarely deliver. Nevertheless, the little valley was under siege by rightwing political appointees campaigning at taxpayer expense.

The politicos are in job preservation mode — their own — to save their own jobs. Blinky really, really needs her job after going into politics with her ill-tempered spouse when piss poor TV ratings forced her off the air.

Maybe Big Fitz can wear his army uniform to drum up support at the next campaign event. It’s the least he can do after conveniently missing two wars.

Notably, the people that have sued former WDVA secretary Ken Black, over lost government employment, all have government jobs these days.

Tim Donovan is a spokesman for the VA hospital in Madison.

Randy Nitschke is back as head of the veterans’ homes.

Gary Wistrom collects pensions and fringe benefits from various sources. These are the same kinds of benefits that Ray Boland also receives though he is campaigning to shitcan them.

2012-02-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Making veterans promises out of the blue

The Republicans are pulling out all stops in a make every possible effort to stay elected.

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Secretary Reggie Newson joins Lt. Gov. Rebecca “Blinky” Kleefisch and other members of Scott Walker’s cabinet to campaign in Rock Valley tomorrow.

Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar of the Department of Military Affairs, John Scocos, and Scocos' former boss, Safety and Professional Services (SAPS) Secretary Steve Ross also will be at the campaign stop.

In his lame state address, Walker cited his Wisconsin Working jobs plan and steps DWD, DVA and his administration as a whole will take to help veterans find jobs — without citing specifics or statistics.

2012-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

In his canned remarks John Scocos says he is there for veterans — yet his lackadaisical actions are just the opposite.

For example, Scocos hires nonvets at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and uses state resources to campaign for nonveterans. He’s pro-Walker in order to save his job.

As long as the booze holds out I don't give a damn.

Still, senator blah blah blah voted to confirm him despite Scocos’ failed leadership of WDVA. No one reaffirmed Scocos’ appointment. Political patronage did the trick. Now Scocos is traveling around the state at taxpayer expense shilling for retread Frank Lasee and Andre Jacque. Before that he was hustling in Rhinelander and elsewhere for Scott Walker.

If Scocos had had the slightest opposition instead of being a rubberstamp political appointee, he wouldn’t be secretary. But now that he is so entrenched he believes it is politically okay to travel around the state campaigning for Walker and other GOPers.

I'm responsible for everything that happens in this department.

Scocos is a prime example of what is wrong with a heavily partisan WDVA. Walker politicized the agency and neutered the Veterans Affairs Board for personal political gain with Scocos as a dimwitted accomplice.

But maybe this election cycle the vets won’t vote in a bloc.

Instead of parading around Green Bay with Republican extremists in the meantime, Scocos should do something to help vets. Yeah, right.

Watch when the Dems prevail in the recall elections, Scocos will be there to quickly switch his allegiance to the Democratic party.

2012-02-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

No one has ever accused Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs secretary John Scocos of being the sharpest knife in the drawer.

But partisan Scocos should know it is illegal for a state employee to campaign for legislators. Nonetheless, he is oinked with retread Frank Lasee and rabid rightwinger Andre Jacque at a political event for them in Green Bay entitled Veterans Stand Together.

In other words, Republican-leaning vets.

Nonveterans Lasee and Jacque obviously need the support of the Republican party and Scott Walker's minion John Scocos is only too happy to oblige.

However, it's illegal to use state resources for campaigning, especially in situations like this where the impropriety of trying to advance one political party over another is so brazen.

Scocos ought to resign effective immediately.

2012-02-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

GOP political boondoggle in the making
Walker likes a government handout when it serves his purpose

Hunkered down in his bunker John Scocos hopes the gloomy headlines about the Walker administration will blow over.

The brevet colonel gets no respect. Controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker didn’t mention him in the roll out of a feel-good proposal that currently has no cosponsors.

Yesterday’s press release said 65% of $4.9 million spent on a huge change at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Union Grove would come from a federal grant and the remaining 35% or $1.7 million would come from “program revenue.”

Program revenue is defined as income from residents’ personal payments, federal VA per diem and Medicaid.

Union Grove vets’ home is in debt

Scocos is so ill-informed he probably doesn’t know what program revenue source to use and he’s relying on the taxpayers to pony up general purpose revenue for the $1.7 million.

Making headlines about the underutilized Union Grove facilities is seen as a political ploy by a desperate governor seeking votes after receiving 1 million rejection slips from voters.

It’s unusual to circulate a bill draft for cosponsors before it is touted to the media. But Walker couldn’t wait and left befuddled Scocos on the sidelines.

He probably figures it’s better to keep Scocos out of the loop so he doesn't screw it up.

Walker has already given him two back-to-back high-paying state jobs that Scocos is unqualified for.

Veterans Voting Bloc

Walker needs the votes to stay in business. Scocos needs Walker’s tenuous support to keep his job. Republicans Van Wanggaard and Robin Vos also desperately need votes to remain in office. Wanggaard has a recall election and Vos could lose his Assembly seat to a challenger.

Nonetheless, the proposal they take credit for hasn’t been assigned a bill number yet. It’s a moderate piece of legislation that will find enough sponsors to land in committee and advance to the floor fast-tracked for a vote in March.

Between now and then someone should explain it to John "I'm responsible for everything that happens in this department" Scocos.

2012-02-06T10:54:00.001-08:00

WDVA Wax Museum

2012-02-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Walker once criticized Doyle for aide's faults

By Dan Bice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Feb. 5, 2012

Should the sins of political aides be visited upon their bosses?

Gov. Scott Walker used to think so - when he was a candidate running for the office he now holds.

In a 2006 news release, Walker blasted then-Gov. Jim Doyle when a state employee named Georgia Thompson was indicted on federal corruption charges.

"Unfortunately, we have a Governor and administration that condones unethical and illegal behavior," Walker said in a statement on Jan. 24, 2006. "The people of Wisconsin deserve better."

Thompson, a former state purchasing director, was convicted of two felonies accusing her of steering a contract to Adelman Travel, whose two top company officials had donated $10,000 each to Doyle's re-election campaign.

A three-judge panel later reversed the decision, saying Thompson had been wrongly convicted. One of the judges said that "the evidence is beyond thin."

Walker now finds himself under the microscope after four of his former county aides or appointees have been charged as part of an ongoing John Doe investigation into activities while Walker was Milwaukee County executive. The first-term governor announced Friday that he has hired two criminal defense lawyers and will meet with District Attorney John Chisholm on Monday.

Throughout the secret investigation, Walker has defended himself and proclaimed that he does not believe he is the target. But he has said little about the former and current aides caught up in the 20-month probe.

But back in 2006 when Thompson was charged by then-U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic - who now represents Walker's campaign - Walker went on the attack against Doyle, even though Thompson was a civil service employee who was hired in 2001 under Gov. Scott McCallum, a Republican.

"Today's indictment provides further confirmation that the Doyle administration is damaged and must be removed from the Capitol," said Walker, a Wauwatosa Republican, of his Democratic predecessor. "Governor Doyle needs to purge his administration of individuals who place politics and special interests ahead of the people of Wisconsin."

Walker went on to call on Doyle to adopt a series of reforms that the candidate was proposing.

"Little can be said to underscore the seriousness of this charge. I am hopeful that the people of Wisconsin will allow me the opportunity to clean up Madison with the same fervor that guided my reform movement in Milwaukee County."

So what should Walker do now if he is to be consistent with his criticisms of Doyle?

Ciara Matthews, spokeswoman for Walker's campaign, did not return messages last week.

Bill Christofferson, the Democratic consultant who helped Doyle get elected governor in 2002, noted that two current Walker aides are identified as being caught up in an illegal fundraising operation run out of Walker's county suite of offices.

Specifically, the criminal charges accuse Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker's former deputy chief of staff, of raising money for Brett Davis, a candidate for lieutenant governor, out of a county office just down the hall from Walker's. Davis is now Walker's Medicaid director, and Davis' campaign manager, Cullen Werwie, now Walker's spokesman, was in regular contact with Rindfleisch. Werwie has received immunity in the current investigation.

Christofferson said Walker should oust both - and probably even resign himself - if he is going to hold his administration to the same standard that he wanted for Doyle's.

"Walker was quick to hold Doyle personally responsible for alleged crimes by an underling who worked elsewhere in state government, not on his staff. Doyle didn't even know Georgia Thompson," Christofferson said. "Two of the people charged with felonies served as deputy chief of staff for Walker, in an office 25 feet away, and he interacted with them every day. But he takes no responsibility."

2012-02-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

GOP says vets not receiving skilled nursing care

Cullen Werwie, who has received immunity from prosecution in the John Doe investigation, appears to be controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s spokesman for veterans’ affairs.

Werwie announced today that Walker supports legislation introduced by Racine Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard, who is up for recall, and Rochester Rep. Robin Vos, who had a beer dumped on his head, to convert Gates Hall at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove into a skilled nursing facility for vets.

Converting Gates Hall into a 38-bed skilled nursing facility would cost $4.9 million, 65 percent of the cost from federal dollars that Walker hates to receive. The remaining cost would be covered by existing program revenue from the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Will someone please enlighten Scocos as to what is happening?

Why hasn’t John "I'm responsible for everything that happens in this department" Scocos notified anyone in the veterans’ community about a waiting list of veterans needing critical care and that a conversion of Gates Hall is necessary?

Who made Vos and Wanggaard aware of a vital need for skilled nursing facilities for vets and that the state needs to make “necessary adjustments” to state facilities so veterans get the care they deserve? Has the state been neglecting vets?

Both Walker and Wanggaard face possible recall elections, so the timing of the announcement is suspicious.

The bill hasn’t been circulated in the state Legislature for co-sponsorship, so, apparently, no one except the LRB, the guv, Vos and Wanggaard have seen a copy of the suspiciously timed proposal.

2012-02-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

Is John Scocos out of his cushy office accompanying Scott Walker and his entourage on the so-called Turning Wisconsin Around tour?

Cheapskate Scocos ought to contribute a few bucks to Walker’s recall otherwise his job is toast. He won’t be able to keep his tenuous position at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. Though he’ll have yet another contrived reason to sue the state and allow the taxpayers to pick up the billable hours tab submitted by the Troupis law office.

Slacker Scocos undoubtedly hates campaigning especially since it involves some work.

Law enforcement officials may already have queried Scocos about Kevin Kavanaugh, a Walker appointee to the Milwaukee County Veterans Service Commission, and Timothy D. Russell, a former deputy chief of staff to Walker, charged last month with embezzling more than $60,000 from a fund intended for veterans and their families. Prosecutors said the stolen funds were used for everything from Caribbean cruises to wedding expenses and renewing Walker-for-governor websites.

Last month, when Marv Freedman disgustedly resigned from the Veterans Affairs Board in response to Scott Walker politicizing the board, Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie (Werwie was granted immunity from prosecution in the John Doe investigation, which means the prosecutor can't use his own testimony against him. He can turn and rat on his own.) reportedly said the guv had campaigned on a pledge to make the veterans secretary a cabinet-level position, a change that Werwie said had the support of many veterans groups.

"Mr. Freedman’s letter is nothing more than a political ploy by a longtime Democrat," Werwie said, a nonveteran obviously ignorant about Freedman and the Vietnam War. "Gov. Walker looks forward to making another appointment to the DVA Board."

Werwie doesn't make sense at all Freeman saw the problems of Walker’s government running away from real issues.

Why are nonveterans Carla Vigue and Werwie speaking for vets? It’s probably because Team Scocos is a political liability for the Walker administration.

Since Walker imposed a nine-member board that is currently a seven-member board — bring on the appointments.

There’s no hurry. The board has no duties or responsibilities.

2012-02-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

Boland for Dollars
Boland picks up Monroe Co. GOP endorsement, possible challenger

Republican congressional candidate Ray Boland has found at least one endorsement and maybe a potential challenger for the Republican party nomination

Boland, ex-secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs — and mentor to John Scocos — has launched his longshot bid against popular incumbent Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse.

Boland got the Monroe County Republican party's endorsement before Bruce Evers, a banker and self-described tea party candidate, who lost to Dan Kapanke, who lost to Kind in a congressional general election (Kapanke also lost recall election to Jennifer Shilling), has announced his candidacy.

Glum old-timey party chair John Christy felt it urgent to glom onto Boland, who has yet to file a campaign finance report.

2012-02-04T08:31:00.000-08:00

GOPers seek votes from proposed $4.9 mil makeover of vets' home

Republicans legislators — one of them is up for recall — are trying to take credit for a proposed a $4.9 million renovation at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Union Grove.

In part of a bill they plan to introduce, Gates Hall would be converted from a 42-bed assisted living facility to a 38-bed skilled nursing facility, according to nonveteran Carla Vigue, mouthpiece for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

DOVER — According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a $4.9 million renovation of the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove is in the works to help house more veterans needing full-time care.

As part of a bill which is set to be introduced next week by area legislators, Gates Hall, a part of the Veterans Home, would be converted from a 42-bed assisted living facility to a 38-bed skilled nursing facility, according to Carla Vigue, a spokeswoman with the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

The project is expected to cost $4.9 million with 65 percent of the costs coming from federal grants, Vigue said.

Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, who has been working with the Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs and Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, on the project, said, “We have to make sure we take care of these guys. It’s important.”

Currently there is a list of approximately 25 veterans in southeastern Wisconsin waiting for these nursing home beds, according to Vigue.

“This is going to help eliminate the waiting list,” said Wanggaard, who is not a veteran, but whose father served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War and served 18 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve.

By doing this renovation, it is also estimated to generate about $2 million annually in revenue, Wanggaard said. That is from federal government supplements and charges paid by residents, Vos said. That revenue will help pay off the debt for the part of the construction not covered by the federal grant.

Vos said the bill is set to be introduced Monday and should pass through the Legislature by the end of March. If it passes, construction is expected to take about a year. Those people in assisted living will move to other facilities at the Veterans Home, said Vigue.

2012-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

WDVA doesn’t care about disabled vets except lip-service saying they’re a priority

Three-star Eagle Scout Joe Leibham took no action on Senate Bill 369 in the Senate veterans and military affairs committee last month.

Oshkosh Republican Dick Spanbauer, and the Assembly veterans and military affairs committee he chairs, however, unanimously passed AB 437 in a hearing Jan. 27 and immediately referred the bill to the Joint Finance Committee with a fiscal note attached.

Those complacent Republican politicians who chose to ignore the bill that would provide businesses an income and franchise tax credit for hiring unemployed disabled vets should pay particular attention to what a constituent has to say about their passiveness.

Dear Governor Walker:

It has come to my attention that your office and the WDVA has “no position” on SB 369/AB 437 which would create a state income & franchise tax credit for hiring unemployed disabled veterans that have a disability rating greater than 50%.

I have worked in employment & training for nearly 25 years, first as a disabled veteran outreach Program (DVOP) specialist and later directing the LVER/DVOP program for 10 years with the Dept. Workforce Development. I can tell you first hand that disabled veterans have a difficult time finding suitable employment that ensures a “quality of life” for themselves and their families. Those veterans that are severely disabled have an even greater barrier to employment mainly to convince employers to give them a chance at a job. Governor, this legislation along with the federal program will greatly enhance that these severely disabled veterans will be able to find not just a job, but a “quality” job to support themselves and their families.

I encourage you to support this bill and to take a position that Wisconsin will do whatever it takes to ensure that these disabled veterans find not just a job, but a job that will enhance their life.

All the major veteran service organizations have supported this bill. They all know the uphill battle that disabled veterans have in finding jobs. I also thank Rep. Wynn and Sen. Lassa for moving this bill forward.

Wisconsin once again will show the nation that we are leaders and that we not only care for our veterans but we are legislating bills to improve the “quality of life” for veterans, especially the more severely disabled veterans.

I call upon the VSOs to contact their posts to make contact with their local legislators to support this bill.

Bruce Markert of Sun Prairie

2012-02-03T11:44:00.001-08:00

While the federal government is creating benefits for veterans, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs is taking them away.

Obama proposes $6B in new aid for veterans
The White House believes a new initiative could put 20,000 veterans in jobs.

By Jennifer Epstein
Politico
Feb. 3, 2012

President Barack Obama on Friday will ramp up his efforts to help unemployed veterans find jobs by calling for $6 billion in spending aimed at service members returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration officials said.

At the Arlington, Va., firehouse that sent the first emergency responders to the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Obama will propose an initiative that the administration says could put 20,000 veterans in jobs that preserve national parks and other public land. He also will call on Congress to increase funding in fiscal 2013 for programs that help communities hire police and firefighters.

“Our freedom endures because of the men and women in uniform who defend it. As they come home, we must serve them as well as they’ve served us,” Obama said in his State of the Union address last week, echoing a theme that he stressed last fall as he urged Congress to pass pieces of his American Jobs Act aimed at helping veterans find jobs. “That includes giving them the care and the benefits they have earned. … And it means enlisting our veterans in the work of rebuilding our nation.”

Among the few pieces of Obama’s jobs bill that Congress passed are measures introducing tax credits for employers that hire veterans — up to $5,600 for hiring unemployed veterans and as much as $9,600 for hiring long-term unemployed veterans with disabilities related to their service.

On Friday, Obama will propose the creation of a Veterans Jobs Corps conservation program that would use $1 billion over five years to help as many as 20,000 veterans find work preserving and restoring federal, state, local and tribal lands.

He also will include $4 billion in his fiscal 2013 budget to expand the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program and $1 billion more for a fire and emergency response program. Obama first proposed additional funding for these initiatives in his jobs bill.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who represented Colorado in the Senate until he was appointed to his current post, said Thursday that he sees the measures as likely to win support from his former colleagues on Capitol Hill.

“I think that there is great bipartisan support for our veterans,” he told reporters on a conference call previewing the president’s announcement. “We expect the Congress to act. … These are common-sense initiatives that take care of our 9/11 veterans who have served our country and are coming home.”

Not all of what Obama will announce requires congressional approval. He will instruct the COPS and emergency response grant programs to give preference to communities that plan to hire post-9/11 veterans. Funding available for the police program totals $166 million for the rest of fiscal 2012, while the emergency response program has $320 million in grants to award.

Obama is also announcing the expansion of entrepreneurship training initiatives that help retiring members of the military find civilian jobs.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72395.html#ixzz1lIFmwmTn

2012-02-03T11:32:00.000-08:00

Months before the general election the brandy old-fashioned crowd has voted already in Monroe County.

Before a primary or independent candidate is announced Ray Boland is their pick

The Republican Party of Monroe County blindly picked Boland for a crony endorsement.

The county party launched the party’s support for Boland at their annual caucus Sunday according to local yokel lingo of old-timer John Christy.

Rep. Ron Kind is the popular incumbent in the Third Congressional District.

Kevin Kavanaugh is accused of stealing $42,000 from veterans and their families.

Boland retired from state government, as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, nine years ago (he’s collected pensions and benefits from numerous sources since then), this is his first gnaw at infesting a political office with his heavily partisan brand of politics. Certainly, he has the support of Kevin Kavanaugh.

Scocos continues his mentor's pugnacious attitude.

Many would say that Boland was “retired” the dozen or so years he was at WDVA. That’s why John Scocos covets the cushy position so much. There’s really nothing for him to do except turn in medical insurance claims for his congenitally sick urchin.

But Boland and his ilk want to completely get rid of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veteran's pensions, etc.

2012-02-02T10:10:00.001-08:00

GOP Groupthink Begets Stooge in Sec’s Office
Operate in secret, don’t consult the board and continue suing fellow vets for more money

The compliant Republican legislators that caved to the demands that Scott Walker appoint the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs secretary and nine members of the Veterans Affairs Board must realize the error of their ways by now.

One of the GOP Reps that lobbied for the partisan changes is leaving elected office. Dick Spanbauer said screw it especially after RPW found a primary candidate to oppose him.

Unfortunately, the likes of Kevin Petersen and his brand of extremist politicos seem certain to run again. But think how the seven-member board must feel with zero duties and John Scocos in charge.

Since Scocos was appointed in 2003 the population of Wisconsin veterans has diminished. Why are veterans fleeing the state if the benefits are so great?

Why is he demanding millions of taxpayer dollars to bail out VTF with GPR?

Why, if the population is diminishing so rapidly, are the taxpayers expected to pay more in benefits? About the only people benefiting are the senior WDVA staffers whose salaries have ballooned.

Wisconsin veterans’ population by year:

2003: 486,000

2004: 474,000

2005: 466,000

2006: 457,000

2007: 446,000

2008: 436,000

2009: 427,000

2010: 417,000

2011: 407,000

http://dva.state.wi.us/PA_veteransdata.asp#Population

At these rates, Scocos and his toxic leadership are driving them away so fast there won’t be any veterans left in the state.

One of the reasons UW tuition is going up so substantially is because of 100% tuition remission for veterans under the Wisconsin GI Bill, in addition to the federal GI Bill.

But, hey, it’ll be just like the good old days when Tommy G. Thompson “buys” a Senate seat and Ray Boland is elected to the House, except, there is a fat chance of that happening with the over-the-hill gang running for office.

Nevertheless, Boland probably really likes Thompson’s proposal to cut pension and health benefits for federal workers as a ruse to deflect questions about $13 million in lobbying wealth Thompson has accrued.

Boland's pet bogyman is entitlements. He proposes to end all entitlements except for those he collects.

Not surprisingly, the Republican Party of Monroe County couldn’t wait to endorse Boland, after he spoke at their annual caucus in Sparta this Sunday.

It’s highly unusual to endorse a candidate so early in the game, but Boland relentlessly pushed them for their support.

If that doesn’t tell you something the rightwingnuts took a straw poll and Rick Santorum topped Mitt Romney.

Expect more feral endorsements like that from clueless Republicans. But Scocos ought not use state resources for his mentor's political campaign.

2012-02-01T10:15:00.001-08:00

Boland for Dollars

While spinning disinformation on his campaign website Ray Boland might want to explain why the Veterans Affairs Board has zero duties.

Thanks to controversial Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the board is worthless. With no preparation for board meetings Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs secretary John Scocos has nothing to do.

Sitting on his hands with chauffeur Trepanier and lobbyist Jason Johns while they turn their backs on veterans, the Veterans Trust Fund faces insolvency from too many duplicative and unnecessary programs Boland implemented to exert total control over the agency. Consequently, Scocos’ number 1 priority was closing the loan programs.

Maybe Boland can explain why Scocos closed the programs and requested a taxpayer bailout with general purpose funds instead. Expect a huge GPR request from WDVA in the FY14-15 budget.

Meanwhile, Scocos is busily communicating with the Troupis law office that has been stringing him along while Sarah and James Troupis rack up billable hours in multiple cases Scocos filed against the board.

Alll the while Trepanier snitches on state employees for reading political blogs, Johns is telling anyone who will listen that he’s a combat vet. Apparently a blast from a roadside bomb that someone else ran over enabled Johns to go to the head of the line with a Purple Heart he put himself in for to claim disability payments for a partial hearing loss.

Since the members of Team Scocos don’t process claims or loans or seem to do much of anything to help veterans, what exactly do they do to earn their excessive state salaries and benefits?

The veterans they are supposed to serve deserve better treatment.

2012-01-31T13:21:00.001-08:00

Walker goes out of his way to hire incompetent people that lost their job and mismanage money. John Scocos, for example. Though Scocos isn't charged with a crime. Instead, he sued the state for $500,000.

Ex-Walker Aide Fired From Prior Job For Misconduct
Tim Russell Was Fired From Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority

Associated Press
Jan. 31, 2012

A Milwaukee newspaper is reporting that a man charged with stealing money from a veterans group while he was an aide to now-Gov. Scott Walker was fired from a previous state job for misusing public money.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday that Tim Russell was fired from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority after it was discovered in 1993 that he improperly billed hotel stays.

Walker: John Doe investigation is not targeting me.

Russell was a former deputy chief of staff to Walker while Walker was the Milwaukee County executive. Russell has become part of an investigation into other Walker aides and associates.

Russell's termination letter said he filed for $1,123 in improper reimbursements.

Russell's lawyer declined to comment. Messages left with a number of current and former WHEDA officials were not immediately returned.

2012-01-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

Lobbyist Johns

Last year, lobbyist Jason Johns couldn’t stop lobbying for Scott Walker.

“Walker’s vision includes developing a long-term plan to ensure the Veterans Trust Fund remains solvent and has the resources it needs to continue providing veterans in our state with such things as assistance in purchasing a home and securing personal loans,” Johns crowed.

Campaigning for Walker paid off big time for Johns when he landed a job at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs that pays him $100,000 a year ($145K with benefits).

But Walker did exactly the opposite of what Johns said he’d do. With Wisconsin veterans returning from deployment to the Great Recession that awaited them, the Walker administration rescinded many of their remaining state benefits such as the personal and the home improvement loan programs.

Of course these ideas make complete sense to Johns, simply because he benefits directly from Walker, as does his ill-qualified boss John Scocos.

Johns couldn’t stop lobbying for legislation expanding the seven-member board to nine comprised of a representative from each congressional district and one at-large board member.

But what does Johns say these days about Walker’s board consisting of only seven members?

Johns and cronies like Scocos make Walker their candidate because that’s how they get state jobs.

2012-01-30T12:27:00.000-08:00

"I'm responsible for everything that happens in this department, if that's what you want to hear. I'm telling you, I believe that ultimately whether I was here or not, I'm the secretary of the department. I take responsibility for what happens in this department . . ." hysterical John Scocos said, before the Veterans Board Fires Secretary Scocos.

2012-01-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

This is 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.

2012-01-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Mayville soldier killed in Afghanistan

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

2012-01-27T11:29:00.001-08:00

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.

2012-01-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-01-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-01-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

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."

2012-01-24T10:03:00.001-08:00

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.

2012-01-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-23T13:20:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-21T12:00:00.001-08:00

VA Unveils Website in Push to Hire More Vets

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs unveiled a website stocked with job-seeking tools in hopes of recruiting more veterans to work for it.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki set a goal to increase the percentage of veterans who work for the VA from 30 to 40 percent.

John Sepulveda, Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, told Shinseki he needed to put together a network of tools to help more veterans transition from the military to federal employment.

Veterans can find that network at the "VA for Vets" website at www.vaforvets.va.gov/Pages/default.aspx, which went live on Veteran's Day.

VA for Vets is part of a larger effort to find jobs for veterans. The unemployment rate for veterans was 12 percent in October 2011, the month before the website was introduced. The national unemployment rate is 8.6 percent.

2012-01-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

Corps Gets First F-35B

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — The Marine Corps welcomed its first F-35B aircraft, the Marine Corps variant of the F-35 Lightning II, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Jan. 11.

Marine pilots will receive training to fly the new aircraft and eventually deploy with them aboard Navy amphibious ships.

The F-35B, one of three variants of the Joint Strike Fighter, is a tactical fixed-wing aircraft that is to be the replacement for aging jets within the Marine Corps. 2d Marine Aircraft Wing's F-35 training squadron, Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, is based at Eglin AFB and is the first Marine Corps squadron to receive F-35B aircraft.

2012-01-21T11:51:00.001-08:00

2012-01-21T11:17:00.001-08:00

Lawyers filed a motion with the court late Friday to consolidate both of John Scocos’ complaints against the state.

The original complaint Scocos filed on Dec. 10, 2009 wound up in Dane County Circuit Judge John Albert’s court, and the second suit Scocos filed July 27, 2011 was assigned to Judge Maryann Sumi.

Sarah Troupis of the Troupis law office filed the motion to consolidate.

The first suit awaits assignment in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District 4.

Weird mix at WDVA

It’s been more than two years since the Veterans Affairs Board fired John Scocos, with cause.

The disgruntled ex-secretary immediately sued the state over a dubious USERRA claim even though he’d returned to his old job at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

(He’s been on the federal or state payroll since then.)

Now after the Fitz boys gave Scott Walker control over the secretary and the board their Teflon Man appears to have found a lifetime gig.

Given free reign with insider politics to exercise the power of a king, Scocos has larded up agency operations with his handpicked minions, and Walker has replaced viable members of the board with Republican cronies.

In light of all this it’s doubtful the courts can find anything worthwhile in any of these politically-motivated partisan maneuvers perpetrated by the Walker administration. Scocos likes to remind anyone who will listen that he is now a cabinet member.

2012-01-21T09:45:00.001-08:00

Get used to more citations and frozen dinners at the Wisconsin veterans homes.

http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/bqaconsumer/NursingHomes/rosterwz.HTML

2012-01-20T11:49:00.001-08:00

Shedding light on Walker and his cronies 'hard-wired for trouble' in Wisconsin politics

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/business/psychopath-boss/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

2012-01-20T11:29:00.001-08:00

Scocos’ kinetic campaign operations for Scott Walker seem to have tapered off a bit.

2012-01-20T10:36:00.001-08:00

R-controlled Assembly committee passes 5 bills

FNG Evan Wynn applauded himself today for passage of four bills this week in the Assembly military and veterans affairs committee.

FNG Dick Spanbauer, chair of the committee, had enough votes to pass AB 320, recognizing corporate power of MC League corporations; AB 428, noncompetitive appointment of certain disabled vets to classified positions to state civil service jobs; AB 429, waving fees for certain professional and occupational licenses issued to vets; AB 437, income and franchise tax credit for hiring unemployed disabled vets; and AB 438, applying military service to satisfy professional credentialing requirements.

2012-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

Current, former guard members owed thousands in benefits

http://www.jsonline.com/news/iraq/current-former-guard-members-owed-thousands-in-benefits-j43rrg3-137641898.html

2012-01-19T09:28:00.001-08:00

Veterans should be angered, dismayed, worried over what John Scocos has done to their agency. He has given jobs to anyone with a pulse as long as they support his selfish motives. Ethical lapses, illegal campaigning and general incompetence provide justification for Scocos to resign effective immediately.

2012-01-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

The Veterans Affairs Board fired John A. Scocos with cause in November 2009, blaming him for a plethora of financial and comm problems at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Scocos was handed the job in 2003 after a slimy backroom deal with the right-leaning board members at the time. Kevin Kavanaugh was unhappy and got downright righteous when the board members named Ken Black as the new secretary.

"Have Board members read the Department of Justice report? Either Ken Black was incompetent during the period he served as acting secretary, or he lied to Department of Justice investigators when he told them he was unaware of what happened," said Kevin Kavanaugh of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which advocates for veterans wounded in combat. "And now they make him the secretary?"

Associated Press: Critics question pick for new state vets secretary

Before abruptly departing the agency, Scocos had appointed Kavanaugh to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation.

Prior to that, he presented an award to Kavanaugh at a Mission Welcome Home function.

2012-01-18T10:57:00.001-08:00

These politicians like to glad hand people at the vets' home.

2012-01-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

Instead of jobs for disabled veterans, Scocos, Blinky, Walker, Mark Honadel provide more tax breaks aka corporate welfare.

Taxpayers pay state employee John A. Scocos roughly $125,000 a year to, among other things, campaign for Scott Walker.

Ethically challenged Scocos ignores the inherent conflict.

Walker appointed the problematical Scocos despite the financial and communications mess Scocos caused at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

But even if Scocos had an ounce of integrity to stop campaigning for Walker, he is still beholden to the governor for appointing him to his former job and another administrative job in state government before that.

Nevertheless, it’s still illegal for the secretary to campaign for Walker. Public officials are not supposed to use their public office for political gain. Nothing about Walker’s and Scocos’ brazen politicizing of WDVA is in fact unforeseen. It’s just unaddressed.

Therefore, the Government Accountability Board, the mainstream media and Common Cause, among others, ought to follow the Republicans’ questionable campaigning and deploying their formidable advantages in pay-for-play politics.

Scocos and company are doing something, not because voters want them to, they are politicians shamelessly seeking favors (votes) by wooing a fickle electorate (vets). They’re exercising political authority to tell (influence) people how to vote. It’s nonstop campaigning for the vets’ vote because vets vote in a bloc.

Wisconsin politics has gone completely to the dogs.

So why aren’t the Republicans providing jobs for disabled vets?

Why’d nonveteran Carla Vigue get a cushy job at WDVA?

Obviously, it’s because Vigue’s politically connected to the governor’s office. Disabled vets are not politically connected nor are the majority of vets. Deck apes like Tom Lemmer only think they are.

Meanwhile, it’s disappointing to see an honorable vet like Marv Freedman resign. He is an Army Vietnam vet who earned two Bronze Star medals.

Hedging against Scocos leaving?

The criticism of Scocos from his former number three, Anthony Hardie, is weird.

Now dependent on the state and federal for goodies, Hardie’s stint in government mostly involved obtaining benefits for himself and grabbing medical (STD?) retirement at the first sign that Scocos was going to be fired.

Hardie apparently has nothing else to do except count the bennies rolling in and complain hardily about Scocos.

WDVA under Scocos is the Wal-Mart of Wisconsin politics.

2012-01-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

CAMPAIGN EVENT WITH HEAVY POLITICAL OVERTONES

Campaign event at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King with heavy political overtones.

While parading around in a spiffy army uniform, Big Fitz conveniently missed two wars.

Big Fitz was too busy being a politician surrounded by the likes of Tad Ottman, who used to fetch Mary Panzer’s dry cleaning, Joe Handrick, the sleazy edge of lobbying, and Adam Foltz, an aide to Assembly speaker Jeff Fitzgerald.

Big Fitz

After an all-out assault on the state last year, Big Fitz and Little Fitz and the Republican gang plan to finish the job by destroying the environment.

Not wanting to be in the capital city any longer than possible the Republican-controlled lawmakers have reportedly limited themselves to four bills this session. Republican leaders are pushing to make it easier for a strip mine for iron ore in northern Wisconsin, easier to develop wetlands, shitcan environmental regulation, and create a phony venture capital fund.

So why is controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker touting a vote in the state Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee today that passed Senate Bill 357, a bill that recognizes military training as meeting the requirements for certain state licenses?

The committee also passed Senate Bill 338 that would waive an initial state license fee for certain veterans.

Walker is obviously kissing up to veterans but why mention these bills if the legislature is passing just four major bills during the session that begins today and runs through mid-March?

Meanwhile, what did Tom Nardelli know and when did he know it?

It is unclear how long Scott Walker’s former chief of staff in Milwaukee, Tom Nardelli, waited before telling prosecutors about the missing money meant for veterans.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/former-walker-appointee-pleads-not-guilty-to-theft-fraud-charges/article_973e27be-3ecd-11e1-b52a-0019bb2963f4.html

2012-01-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

OPERATION F--- THE VETERANS

Walker, Republican operative Karl Rove, and Koch brothers

After taking office in August, arrogant, defiant, my-way secretary John A. Scocos replaced competent managers with pliable political cronies.

Why? Is it because he is suspicious of everyone around him and trusts no one but himself?

Secretary, Dave Zien

Scocos won’t let the Veterans Affairs Board hold regular meetings because he’s afraid of accountability. Besides, isn't campaigning occupying a lot of his time lately? And isn't it a lot more fun than work?

Apparently Scocos doesn’t have any moral objection to campaign events with heavy political overtones on state time using state resources.

The secretary’s job is supposed to be bipartisan and not connected with a particular political party. Maybe he’s hoping that some of the money pouring in to Scott Walker’s coffers from the Texas donors will trickle down to him.

Surrounding himself with all his cronies instead of reducing costs is a stupid pet trick.

The appointments of lobbyist Jason Johns, chauffeur Trepanier, Tim Thiers and Domingo Leguizamon runs the gambit of management experience from zero to zilch. You’d think that the bloated salaries the state pays them, WDVA would have a first-rate operations staff ― it doesn’t. Starting with the secretary, internal controls and processes are subpar.

His political cronies capable of following direct orders and commands from Scocos, all arrived at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (including Scocos) though the SAPS backdoor just in time to see a longtime top aide of Scott Walker in Milwaukee County, Tim Russell, and Milwaukee veterans commission appointee Kevin Kavanaugh arrested and accused of crimes including embezzlement and fraud stemming from an ongoing John Doe investigation.

As a lifer on the government payroll who likes to play games why doesn’t Scocos seem to know anything about how the missing Operation Freedom money was deployed? Scocos had Kavanaugh appointed to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation, long after Kavanaugh came under scrutiny.

Scocos runs his department like a little fiefdom. He also imparts info on a need-to-know basis. He certainly must have known or heard something about the missing money. So why didn't he speak up?

But then Scocos didn’t blow his stack when $160,000 was embezzled from the rec fund at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, either. Funny, he never seems to know anything or is he always trying to beat the system?

2012-01-17T11:17:00.001-08:00

WTF: Along with a bloated paycheck and Cadillac health care and pension benefits generalissimo John A. Scocos is eligible for a lottery credit.

WDVA salary helps finance lawsuits against taxpayers.

Check out page 22:

http://pdf.countyofdane.com/treasurer/LotteryCreditEligible-20110901.pdf

Why?

2012-01-17T10:46:00.001-08:00

Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs members Rod Moen, Jackie Guthrie, Marcia Anderson, patriot Akira Toki, chair Marv Freedman, Pete Moran and Dan Naylor

Another honorable vet forced out of his job of overseeing veterans’ affairs

Veterans Affairs Board secretary Marv Freedman has had enough of controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker and generalissimo John A. Scocos.

Under previous secretaries the protocol for the board had always been to meet roughly half a dozen times a year. But Scocos cancelled all meetings that would require board input.

In light of Walker’s thoughtless appointment of Scocos despite compelling reasons to appoint some qualified, the disturbing findings revealed in the Legislative Audit Bureau and the Pathway Health Services, Inc. reports showing "substantive management failures" of Scocos when he was secretary his first time around, and truncated input from the veterans’ community regarding budgeting, policy and operations at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, Freedman has resigned from the board effective immediately.

In a letter to Walker and CC'd to board chairman Dan Naylor today, Freedman said he’s decided that he cannot in good conscience continue to serve on the board when his presence could well be construed as tacit approval of Walker’s ill-advised decision to render the board irrelevant and Walker’s decision to appoint someone to the position of department secretary despite compelling reasons not to.

2012-01-15T10:07:00.001-08:00

Wis. vets museum to close on Mondays

John A. Scocos and Carla Vigue are spinning that the Wisconsin Veterans Museum is closing on Mondays for exhibit maintenance.

They insist the closure is to maintain the exhibits more than to save a few thousand bucks. But no cost savings from Scocos’ and Vigue’s inflated salaries and Cadillac benefits.

Nonetheless, the museum will close on Mondays beginning Jan. 30. It will remain open Tuesday through Saturday and Tuesday through Sunday in the summer.

Legislative Watch

Action on bills designed to make it easier for vets and military types to receive professional credentials from the state and another measure that creates a pilot program to provide unpaid, part-time training with employers that may lead to full-time work.

Senate Bill 312, veterans’ preference points or military training and experience counting towards license qualification is in Senate veterans’ affairs committee.

SB 338, offering free first-time professional licenses for veterans on the senate calendar for Tuesday.

SB 339, appointing disabled veterans to civil service positions available for floor debate.

SB 357, applying military training to professional credentialing in committee.

AB 292, indicating veteran status on an operator’s (DMV) license or ID card to vote is stymied in Assembly veterans’ affairs committee.

The state Department of Workforce Development and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. was ordered to bring together unemployment insurance claimants with businesses looking to hire.

DWD will also double the number of job fairs it holds across the state to 100 this year in hopes of getting the unemployed into current vacancies.

The department also will hire 14 additional staff members who will be able to serve roughly an additional 400 job-seekers a week.

The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs will hold 14 job fairs in conjunction with DWD this year to help veterans and organize an employer educational seminar to lobby employers to hire veterans.

2012-01-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

Signs and symptoms of paranoid schizophrenic secretary

Inflated salary helps finance his lawsuits against taxpayers.

John A. Scocos longer chairs the VFW of Wisconsin p.r. committee.

As a result it is no longer a conflict for the secretary. Besides, the VFW doesn't need anymore bad news. In fact, nothing’s found in the public relations slot at this time.

Scocos is evidence of how small the consequences of a bad reputation are. He thrives on people’s very short memories. The more authority Scocos seems to have the more he relies on political favors, mainly from Republicans. However, Democratic senators contributed to the malaise at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, when they voted to confirm him to his current position of surmised power.

In the photo with the Oneidas taken when he was touring the state as a carnival barker for controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker, Scocos looks like he has a chip on his shoulder against the tribes and their efficiency.

Scocos tends to float above the problems he created as if he practices a willful ignorance of what’s happening to veterans. Thanks to Walker, Scocos can set all the rules at WDVA. The Veterans Affairs Board members can only sit on their hands. With the change the board is irrelevant. Scocos has made WDVA a very political place.

But Scocos and Walker should know that the VFW’s bylaws prohibit campaigning for politicos. The national VFW should admonish the state chapter for campaigning on behalf of Walker and other Republicans.

Scocos is making too much money to care about veterans’ issues — he only cares about himself and making more money on the backs of veterans.

2012-01-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

Ex-Walker Appointee Pleads Not Guilty To Theft
Suspect Was Appointed When Governor Was County Executive

Associated Press
Jan. 13, 2012

MILWAUKEE ― A former Milwaukee County official appointed by Gov. Scott Walker while he was county executive is pleading not guilty to theft and fraud charges. Kevin Kavanaugh is accused of stealing $42,000 from veterans and their families.

Kavanaugh

According to online court records, he also waived his preliminary hearing and was bound over for trial Friday. A scheduling conference was set for Jan. 30.

Kavanaugh is charged as part of an ongoing John Doe investigation.

Also charged is Tim Russell, Walker's former deputy chief of staff in the county. He faces embezzlement charges related to a nonprofit Walker asked him to head.

Russell, Walker, Pierick

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

2012-01-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

VETransfer combines business, military experience

Lasser

Ted Lasser is executive director of Veteran Entrepreneurial Transfer, Inc., also known as VETransfer.

The initiative is a pilot program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It opened in the spring in The Shops of the Grand Avenue in downtown Milwaukee and already is working with 200 veterans.

The incubator is the idea of Milwaukee native Jonah Czerwinski heads of the U.S. DVA Innovation Initiative, whose goals is to help vets in areas such as housing, health and employment.

The organization offers free office space in its 15,000-square-foot headquarters at Grand Avenue. About 50 veterans use the space while the others work with VETransfer remotely.

VETransfer has tapped into a pressing need in the veteran community, said Lasser.

2012-01-14T11:43:00.000-08:00

Secretary-Campaigner Lite
Self-serving tour of northern Wisconsin deceives state's veterans

It didn't take long for generalissimo John Scocos to get an introduction to campaigning.

Wisconsin's secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs was pulling up in a state-owned vehicle Thursday to the Oneida Health Center, where he’d spread the word about embattled GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

"Wow, I guess I'm really campaigning door to door," he thought.

Scocos, appointed secretary of the Wisconsin Department Veterans Affairs by Walker in August, has been visiting northern Wisconsin to campaign as payback for his political appointment.

Flashback to Green Zone palace desk job

Though he has served as a staff weenie in the comfort of the Green Zone, watching the war unfold on CNN, Scocos said his experience in Baghdad has given him a better understanding of the needs of combat veterans, now that he has joined their ranks.

Whatever, it costs the taxpayers mega bucks to send Scocos on a wild goose chase. But he has no choice in the matter since his job is contingent on Walker preserving his job. Especially since Walker is facing a likely recall election ― and losing.

At that point both of them will be unemployed politicos. Maybe they can find work in Texas.

Why else would Scocos leave a comfortable bunker in Madison if not to spread the word about Walker’s bogus veterans’ initiatives?

How many overpaid administrators traveled in Scocos’ entourage? Chauffeur Trepanier and lobbyist Jason Johns, were more likely than others.

Beware of false compliments from Scocos. Before his surprise inspection of Wisconsin tribes, unconvincing Scocos hit all the right-wing hot spots to pull in the veterans’ vote.

But Scocos should know that using state resources to campaign is illegal.

Nevertheless his impression of the Oneida facilities was just incredible, he said breathlessly. "The incredible facilities they have," Scocos said. "This is probably one of the best VFW halls in the state of Wisconsin."

By making that comment he not only offended the other VFWs he also insulted the politicos who represent the districts from Rhinelander, Shawano to Green Bay. An interloper in their districts is always a sticking point with the politicians that were elected to office.

It’s laughable of Scocos kissing up to the tribes. He has a mania about turning his back on them ― unless he needs something. While the tribes deserve credit for running a tight ship they certainly don’t need Scocos’ interference. Ostensibly, he is appearing to take over tribal veterans services and then go after Native American funds.

Erosion of standards at vets’ agency

With the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King racking up citations it’s obvious why Scocos visited the shipshape Oneida Health Center.

But why would the efficient Oneida Tribe of Indians offering its veterans superb care think "a greater collaboration with the state" would make it easier to facilitate services for the tribe's disabled veterans?

Scocos is such an insensitive jackass that he not only disssed the other VFW halls he said the tribes are "One of the most dedicated ethnic groups for serving in our country have been Native Americans." While that is true he has treated blacks and Latinos with contempt by ignoring their dedication to military service.

Scocos is living proof that political appointees require zero skills except to perform puppet routines for the politicians that appointed them.

All those jobs Scocos and Walker promised vets at least half a dozen of them went to political cronies. The big kahuna of state largesse is Scocos himself. He has a surprising six-figure job that he couldn’t duplicate in the private sector. So he doesn’t have a whole lot to be smug about. With him as secretary there’s an increased productivity of mistakes.

Dereliction of duty?

When Walker ordered Scocos to make efficiencies Scocos provided only one: reorganization, but then expanded WDVA and ignored the efficiencies in the previously approved reorganization such as combining the Division of Veterans Services and Division of Veterans Benefits.

WDVA salary helps finance lawsuits against taxpayers.

What about Scocos’ multiple lawsuits against the state?

Scocos conspicuously neglected to mention in his travels that he demands three-quarters of a million dollars from the state of Wisconsin: $500,000 or more for himself and $200,000 or more for Republican ambulance chasers Sarah and James Troupis, after he was appointed to high-paying management jobs at the state Department of Regulation and Licensing (SAPS) and Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs that pay him over $123,000 a year plus Cadillac benefits.

His demands also include reinstatement to WDVA, the agency that now employs him and where he was fired from in November 2009.

2012-01-13T12:26:00.001-08:00

Former Milwaukee County Veteran Service Commission member Kevin Kavanaugh is free on $20,000 bail after being arrested this month and charged with five felonies, including embezzlement and fraud, according to court documents.

Controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker appointed Kavanaugh to the commission.

Kavanaugh was the treasurer of the Milwaukee chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. In addition to collecting donations to help the children of soldiers killed, the group served as the fiscal agent for Operation Freedom, an annual military appreciation day that Walker held at the Milwaukee County Zoo while county executive.

Tim Russell, a former longtime aide to Walker, who coordinated the event for the Republican governor, was also required to make a $20,000 bail payment.

Russell, Walker, Pierick.

Russell has been charged with felony embezzlement for allegedly stealing more than $21,000 from Operation Freedom, a group he ran that was supposed to help veterans and their families.

The complaint alleges Russell used the stolen funds to pay for cruises, a political trip and website domain names for Walker's campaign.

Russell’s domestic partner Brian Pierick, was required to make a $7,500 signature bond and $2,500 cash bond in a bail agreement.

Pierick’s preliminary hearing on child enticement charges was postponed until Jan. 26.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/child-enticement-preliminary-hearing-postponed-9o3p2nt-137263863.html

Former Walker aide utilized the username "Walker04" to obtain child porn

According to the criminal complaint, Russell used the username "Walker04" to obtain child pornography.

The complaint states that investigators found "sexually explicit images of young appearing males who appear to be between the ages of 12 and 19, extracted from computers seized from the defendant's former residence."

Investigators traced the kiddie porn back to Russell and his longtime partner, Pierick.

2012-01-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Secretary has gained nearly lifetime job security

Pandering to both sides of the political aisle, John A. Scocos has been a two-faced administrator ever since he was the state Assembly clerk.

Both parties deferred to him because he ensured that water pitchers were full for committee hearings and bills got read during floor sessions.

Politicians had to knuckle under if they didn’t want to be assigned a hearing room in the underground bunker of the state Capitol.

Pat Fuller exacts the same kind of deference from them.

Scocos drifted to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, while Ray Boland was secretary. Scocos finally assumed command of WDVA, badly, when Boland retired. Scocos was set for a lifetime gig until the Veterans Affairs Board fired him in November 2009.

He’s back, unfortunately, because both political parties avoid getting involved in veterans’ squabbles. As a result, the agency continues to deteriorate with Scocos as secretary.

2012-01-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

Generalissimo’s sneak attack on Oneidas

Traveling the state at incredible taxpayer expense generalissimo John A. Scocos made a surprise inspection of the Oneida Health Center.

Scocos didn't take off his cape because it protects him with its magic.

What the greasy, spiky-haired secretary is trying to do is screw up what the Oneida Tribe of Indians do so well for veterans: Their bottom line is for veterans, no matter what.

But Scocos' surprise inspection is bad news for the grant-distribution process for veterans’ organizations around the state that are in jeopardy wherever the generalissimo sets foot.

Look at the early retirements at Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs ever since controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker gave Scocos the head job in August.

An exact number of retirees isn't unavailable — many precipitated by the abrupt changes to collective bargaining — but the others are mostly the direct result of Scocos’ reign of terror.

Meanwhile, the new Council on Veterans Programs chair Roger Fetterly, a former state Department of Administration budget analyst, is following legislation very closely.

Read between the lines of Wednesday’s legislative agenda items to see who has the authority to vote.

Right now, every VSO can vote on their own, although only about five actually participate.

Lobbyist Jason Johns peddles influence to about five VSOs — VFW, AMVETS, DAV, MOPH and the American Legion, before the hearings.

The COVP has no favorites.

2012-01-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

County Veterans Service Office to Move Monday
New Office Will be Located on Greenfield Avenue in West Allis

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has announced that the Milwaukee CVSO is relocating to 6419 W. Greenfield Avenue in West Allis, on Monday.

He said the new location will continue to provide the services that veterans have come to expect including The Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, DWD Office of Veterans Services and Bureau of Apprenticeships, Veterans Initiative for Paternity and Support, and Department of Human Services (Foodshare/Medical Assistance Applications) as well as a full range of assistance to veterans and their families in applying for state and federal veterans benefits.

The CVSO was previously located at the Zablocki VA Medical Center, but that space is needed by the Medical Center. The terms of the lease with the VA stated that they could claim the space if needed for medical reasons, and currently the Medical Center is experiencing a severe shortage of available space for medical services.

Free parking is available both on and off the street and the new location is wheelchair accessible. Veterans are encouraged to stop by the new office. The phone number is 414 266-1234.

2012-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

Commuting back and forth from Madison to Milwaukee is a grind just ask GI Bill Kloster.

Kloster commuted awhile until quitting.

Imagine driving to Madison from Manitowoc and back every day. What a grind that would be.

Scocos possibly solved the dilemma by allowing Domingo Leguizamon and Tim Thiers to telecommute.

What’s good enough for Christine Wrolstad Hotvedt, is good enough for them, except it’s unfair to hundreds of other WDVA employees who must show up at the bunker in Madison or King and Union Grove homes or wherever to toil in the trenches for a petty dictator.

2012-01-12T12:42:00.000-08:00

Third world veterans' agency puppet visits the Shawano Leader

Controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker recently directed John A. Scocos to take action because Scocos hasn’t done anything for vets since he's been in office.

But Scocos wants people to think it was his idea and his "mission" to visit an editorial office to spread the word about Walker’s lame initiatives for veterans.

Nothing new under Walker's plan that Scocos touted, the Department of Workforce Development routinely hosts job fairs, except now the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs wants to co-host them and take all the credit for scheduling so many events that it trivializes them. Scocos is unaware of that because as a camp follower he's never had to apply for a job in the public sector.

Veterans possess qualities that every employer is looking for and Scocos lacks: leadership, the ability to work as a team leader and team member, the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, the ability to follow directions, possession of planning and organizational skills.

Strangely, Walker appointed Scocos and is trying to get the state "working in the right direction" by dissing working-class voters. In office for a year, Walker finally must admit there's an employment problem.

U.S. Department of Labor figures for the week ending Dec. 31 show the state of Wisconsin had the second highest number of new unemployment claims of any state in the nation — 10,203 new claims. Michigan with 10,364 new claims, was the only state higher than Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's unemployment rate hovers around 7 percent, or about 224,000 jobless workers. Yet Scocos is surprised that a guesstimated 12,000 veterans are unemployed, especially since he's employed in a cushy state job that he’s unqualified for.

Government does not create private sector jobs. And why limit the job search to veterans only — the goal should be to have the entire workforce employed. But the befuddled secretary is not particularly astute about business or are the people around him. Besides, he doesn’t care that the state is politically divided enough without vets competing against nonvets for too few jobs.

Actions matter more than words, so why doesn’t Scocos act?

The general wannabe selfishly administered from a comfortable desk in the Green Zone. Now he's marching around the state because Walker ordered him to get off his fat ass and do something. That's why he traveled to northern Wisconsin, ostensibly, to campaign for Walker, even though using state resources to campaign is illegal.

The dynamic due — Walker and Scocos — shamelessly pandered for votes at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, despite the shutdown of a popular wheelchair repair shop there.

So what? It's no skin of their noses. The theft of money from charities to aid the families of military personnel hasn't elicited a response from the secretary. Wonder why? Guilt by association?

If WDVA is such a "large and complex state agency" why did Walker put an amateur in charge?

Scocos closed the low interest Personal Loan Program during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Suspending programs like that doesn’t make financial sense since interest payments are the largest source of revenue for the Veterans Trust Fund. The underutilized loan staff must be swabbing floors or looking for something else to do.

Instead, Scocos has his hand out for more general purpose revenue at an agency where he has — with Walker’s consent — replaced public employees with political cronies. Otherwise unemployable Tim Thiers, for instance, is Scocos’ new "manpower" added to outreach.

Veterans have a right to know why Scocos is traveling around the state on the taxpayer dime. Scocos’ sense of mission is job preservation — his own. But he should not be linked to campaigning. Scocos is not paid to serve Walker’s re-election campaign.

Scocos nonetheless wants the taxpayers to pay for a publicity agent to "improve internal communications" at WDVA. The Republican Party of Wisconsin should order the slacker to verify recall petition signatures. Or is he busily performing a comprehensive budget analysis? No. He’s closed the veterans’ museum on Mondays.

2012-01-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Walker and Scocos campaign at veterans’ homes because the residents are a captive audience and considered a voting bloc. Bankers, builders and realtors don’t congregate that way.

Retread secretary travels the state campaigning on the false hope of jobs for vets

The state taxpayers grease administrator John A. Scocos with six figures to travel all the way to Rhinelander to announce a doubling of the number of job fairs in the state.

Job fairs are statewide events that have been offered to vets for quite some time.

So Scocos could have traveled to northern Wisconsin to distance himself from the John Doe investigation. What goes around comes around. But most likely he’s campaigning for controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker and Ray Boland, both right of Attila the Hun.

Recall that Boland and Kevin Kavanaugh were members of Walker’s veterans’ campaign committee when he was running for governor. Kavanaugh is now an embarrassment to them.

Or maybe Scocos was spreading the message of Tommy Thompson, but who could ever trust Scocos after he turned on his ex-boss Scott Jensen, and then tried to send him to jail.

Actually, Scocos will have more time to travel now that Walker has ordered the state Department of Workforce Development to double the number of job fairs, and the Department of Military Affairs to organize an employer educational seminar to inform employers of the benefits of hiring veterans.

Scocos’ real political "mission" is to campaign for the Republicans. Doing so he sounds a lot like goofy Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, babbling about "ensuring" vets have the "tools" to "reintegrate into society."

Actually all they really need is a sugar daddy like Walker to give them cushy state jobs. But that won’t happen unless they’re politically connected and part of polarizer Walker’s support base. Political cronies working for Walker aren't required to have any skills or a work ethic, either.

Another travesty is that Walker says he supports vets while slashing disabled services, jobs and education.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG2rUDklRL4

2012-01-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

Sen. Shilling

Legislation to allow Veterans Court alternative treatment programs to serve a greater number of vets in Wisconsin is being proposed by La Crosse Democrats Sen. Jennifer Shilling and Rep. Jill Billings.

Rep. Billings

Several counties in Wisconsin have begun to offer veterans a new place to turn for help within the judicial system. La Crosse, Rock, Iron, and Brown Counties have been working to address the specific needs of veterans in their region through dedicated Veterans Court alternative treatment programs.

2012-01-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

HARDEE HAR HAR

John A. Scocos’ right-hand gofer before falling out with him, Anthony Hardie jealously guarded the number 3 position at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hardie medically retired when he was certain that the Veterans Affairs Board intended to fire Scocos, which it did. From then on, Hardie took a backseat to veterans’ issues and was never again a factor at WDVA.

Obviously frustrated no one pays any attention to him Hardie got Madison Democratic Rep. Terese Berceau to contrive recognition for his ― by his account ― decades on the public dole.

Accompanied by his partner Christopher Guest, Hardie accepted the recognition, which couldn’t have been determined by his performance.

Records show Hardie had his driving privileges from the state revoked for reckless driving. He had enough time with his stay-at-home state job to explain in eight single-spaced pages why combat vet Gerald Hilsenhoff was denied assistance from the needy veterans program.

Nonetheless, Hardie had even more time (he had a state phone number that was secret) to arrange for his own entitlements while employed by the state and federal government, and now enjoys long-term benefits from government largesse.

Now he’s telling anyone who will listen (correctly, as it turns out) what a crumbum Scocos is. But the six years he worked for Scocos, Hardie never complained about mistakes and mismanagement at the agency that he was a part of.

Since 2008 or so, RFW has described the ethically challenged leadership at WDVA. Now Hardie is using the phrase to correctly refer to Scocos.

Scocos and Hardie are both deceptive. So why is Hardie badmouthing Scocos now? He could be trying to flip his "triumphant" six years as Scocos' lapdog ― years he didn’t do much of anything ― into the number 1 job at WDVA after Scocos is fired, again.

That’s a monstrous red flag. The shoddy management of the Scocos administration should not be a nonissue.

2012-01-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Walker crackup

Today controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker announced that his Commission on Waste, Fraud and Abuse has cracked down on fraud in public assistance programs, overtime and unemployment insurance fraud.

Walker doesn’t quantify the "savings" as much as gloat about lowering the boom on poor people.

As RFW suggested last week, Walker (court jester John A. Scocos) has been absolutely silent regarding the "abhorrent" crime of embezzling vets’ funds and how disturbing it is to the community at large and to the veterans’ community in particular because Walker doesn't give a rat's ass about a few miscreants.

Now state Rep. Terese Berceau, a Democrat from Madison, has decried Walker’s apparent lack of concern over multiple felony charges filed last week in an ongoing criminal corruption probe.

Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh are accused of embezzling over $60,000 for personal and political use from charitable aid earmarked for military veterans and their families.

As county exec, Walker appointed both dudes to high-ranking positions in Milwaukee County. Last week, Walker said he was "very disappointed" about the alleged theft.

Scocos and Walker have been too busy pandering for veterans’ votes to otherwise care.

How would Walker’s spokesman, among others granted immunity from criminal prosecution, know about embezzlers and accused pedophile Brian Pierick, Russell's significant other? Likely there are more corruption charges in the works.

Secretary packs agency with cronies

Minimizing skills and expertise in the workforce at WDVA, Scocos handed unqualified Tim Thiers a program assistant job in the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs division of veterans services. Scocos has also demoted managers and hired his own staffers in spite of Walker ordering state government to make budget cuts.

Scocos also advertised in the state job service system for two (2) loan officers to work in the loan programs, that he closed.

Scocos was the secretary for six years, but the Veterans Affairs Board fired him in November 2009. Scocos sued over the firing a month later, and his legal challenges are ongoing.

Meanwhile, arrogant Scocos thinks he’s interested in looking at Senate Bill 312, veterans’ preference points or military training and experience counting towards license qualification, Assembly Bill 429/SB 338, offering free first-time professional licenses for veterans, and AB 428/SB 339, appointing disabled veterans to civil service positions, among others, including SB 357, applying military training to professional credentialing.

What a joke. Scocos is an administrator, not an elected official. The Republicans will ram through these bills no matter what he thinks.

A real oddball is AB 292, indicating veteran status on an operator’s (DMV) license or ID card to vote.

What good is knowing veteran status on a driver’s license?

Why not show religion, favorite color or school grades obtained? Who at the DMV has the time or inclination to administer vet status, authenticate or generally clarify whether or not somebody’s a vet?

Why not indicate how many early chow passes the army issued Scocos?

Stand in line with Dick Spanbauer, he'll stymie the system simply because he doesn’t have a DD-214.

The unusual bill has one senator and a couple of GOP reps supporting it.

Against all observable evidence and Scocos’ mistakes and mismanagement he’s totally dependent on Walker. Therefore the hapless Dems should shun the offender. Scocos is Walker’s aide-de-camp. Past experience has shown that Scocos can cause serious problems before the veterans community knows about them.

Scocos just doesn’t so much manage his executive team (Team Scocos) as control them, running WDVA as a dictatorship. Scocos is a paranoid control freak.

Democratic sentors should realize by now that a vote for Republican legislation is a vote for Walker’s regime. It also supports Scocos. Newbies like Jessica King and Nick Milroy don’t get it. But the majority of the Dems should see the writing on the wall. Instead they think they’re reaching across the aisle.

Horse meat at vets' homes

The topic at an Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday, is equine-assisted therapy to help vets cope with PTSD and other war-related disabilities.

2012-01-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Captive audience at King home

Controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker and his court jester John Scocos campaigned recently in the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.

Or maybe they dropped in for some frozen chow or to reorganize and consolidate functions and financial ops there or siphon more money from the 721-bed nursing home.

For politicians with a seemingly unlimited amount of cash, a convoy of SUVs and an aircraft or two at their disposal King home is within an easy traveling distance of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs bunker in Madison.

The planned media event didn’t get much coverage though, except for a Wisconsin National Guardsman snapping pictures. Nonetheless, Walker and Scocos dropped in on the unsuspecting residents during frozen TV dinnertime.

Crisscrossing the state raising unlimited and unprecedented amounts of campaign cash

Laughing and glad-handing their way through a selected number of partisan vets, the campaign entourage tries to keep veterans in the picture as long as they can vote.

It doesn’t take a detective to deduce that jaunty Scocos and Walker were campaigning at King home, on state time using state resources. Photos of the event are particularly revealing.

How much does it cost taxpayers to move politicos around the state?

Don’t bother asking why you weren’t invited.

The Government Accountability Board ought to investigate the misuse of state resources. But it won’t. The board is too busy with recall efforts.

And the mainstream media is indifferent unless there’s a court record on a perp like, say, Kevin Kavanaugh.

Scocos blatantly advertises Walker’s campaign trips on the WDVA website. On the bottom rung of Wisconsin politics, the Walker administration is the most disastrous in modern history.

Meanwhile, WDVA has a secretary who is not particularly astute about business, nor are the people around him.

Why do veterans tolerate mediocrity at a state agency that’s supposed to be helping them, not shamelessly soliciting their votes?

Veterans should apply for a cushy job at WDVA — so they can get rich, too.

For all the fakery and talk about helping vets it’s really a money and power grab.

Though Walker got some laws changed to enable the existence of Scocosistan, count on Scocos losing his job when Walker is recalled. It’s a gravy train for Scocos, but how long is it going to last?

Inspector General investigates Dunbar

Whatever happened to the Air Force Inspector Generals' inquiry into Brig. Gen. Donald Dunbar or what it entails?

He's a brigadier general in Wisconsin, but at the Pentagon, he still has the rank of colonel.

Scary thought: If Walker threw Dunbar under the tank, he’d promote Scocos to adjunct general.

Lobbyist Jason Johns would become secretary by default, chauffeur Mike Trepanier moves up to No. 2, and Domingo Leguizamon marches into the No. 3 slot.

They could even promote equally unskilled Tim Thiers to an administrator gig. Consider them all very bad scenarios. Political promotions like those would have adverse consequences on veterans that would linger for a very long time. More citations at King home, for example.

http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/bqaconsumer/NursingHomes/rosterwz.HTML

Scocos is like the blood-sucking vampire that never completely went away.

2012-01-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Watch for Scocosistan to take credit for this initiative and somehow politically spin it that it is part of Team Scocos’ overall outreach plan.
Veteran works to revive service groups council

Stevens Point Journal
Jan. 7, 2012

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — A new generation of veterans coming back from warfronts in Afghanistan and Iraq means the need for veteran services is as great as ever.

If Duane Miskulin has his way, those vets will benefit from a coordinated effort. Miskulin, a former national commander for American Veterans or AMVETS, a national advocacy group for veterans, is working to revive the Portage County Allied Military Veterans Council.

The group helps coordinate the county's 13 veteran service organizations, such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The council helps to make sure different groups' fundraising events aren't scheduled for the same day, for example, or that an honor guard can attend local ceremonies.

Miskulin said the need for the group is even more pronounced with veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan recently and existing organizations looking for ways to best serve them.

"We need to get all 13 of us working together in the community," Miskulin said.

Miskulin is a veteran himself, serving in Ankara, Turkey, for six years in the U.S. Air Force until 1966. He went to work at AT&T, and after retiring 21 years ago, devoted himself to veterans affairs. He worked with a number of veterans service organizations, eventually becoming a national commander of AMVETS, serving through Post No. 1051.

Miskulin traveled the world while in the role, speaking in Hawaii, China and South Korea.

Miskulin said the purpose of the council is to help all the service organizations to better serve the veterans in the county. It will help the groups coordinate their fundraising efforts and support each other without duplicating services.

"It's so we'll have an organization, so each one doesn't detract from the other," said Portage County Veteran Service Officer Mike Clements.

2012-01-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

Scocosistan

Absolute silence from John A. Scocos regarding the "abhorrent" crime of embezzling vets’ funds and how disturbing it is to the community at large and to the veterans’ community in particular.

Scocos is too busy pandering for veterans’ votes with Scott Walker, who wants to appoint him Wisconsin’s adjutant general that would have a significantly longer-lasting negative effect.

For now, Scocos is pacified being the self-proclaimed "guest of honor" at veterans’ events selling Dryhootch coffee (in violation of Wisconsin Code of Ethics for public officials and employees?).

Scocos’ latest high-paid administrator, Domingo Leguizamon, was vice president of the organization that accused Tim Russell presided over and whom Walker appointed to handle Operation Freedom funds.

In November 2003, Scocos praised Senate Bill 170 that was enacted by saying it is an "extremely important piece of legislation that protects and expands existing programs to ensure that Wisconsin veterans receive the benefits and services that they deserve" such as the Veterans Mortgage Loan Program (that he closed), veterans tuition and fee reimbursement, authority for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs to acquire a headquarters building (relocating near SAPS' offices), departmental delivery of services to veterans, veterans personal loans, eligibility for burial at a veterans cemetery, part−time study grants for veterans, housing loans for veterans, mortgage loan repayment fund, grants to county veteran service offices, national guard tuition grants, granting rule−making authority, and making an appropriation — blah blah blady blah — but Scocos doesn’t say anything about protecting veterans from embezzlers.

Rehired two years after he was fired with cause jubilant Scocos has yet to address unemployment among veterans, financial problems at state vets' homes or the insolvency of the state veterans' trust fund.

These days Scocos is campaigning for Walker on state time using state resources, which is prohibited. A bureaucrat squandering money on partisan politics and abusing his connections to benefit Walker and his third world puppet regime will come back to bite him in the ass.

The party was over for Scocos before. This time it won’t last as long. WDVA is off center when Scocos is secretary.

Six Degrees of Separation

What separates Scocos and company from Kevin Kavanaugh, Russell and Brian Pierick charged Thursday with felonies as part of the ongoing John Doe investigation into Walker staffers?

What a coincidence. Kavanaugh, Russell, Leguizamon, Scocos and Walker all have close ties to southeastern Wisconsin.

Where’s GI Bill Kloster these days?

2012-01-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

Veterans are the victims of crime whenever John Scocos is secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

State salary helps finance suit against taxpayers.

John A. Scocos was secretary of the vets' agency when Rich Calcut embezzled $160,000 from the elderly at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.

Calcut lived comfortably in Waupaca, until he was caught, convicted and sentenced.

James J. Hucke confessed to thefts at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in King.

Kavanaugh

Now Kevin Kavanaugh is accused of embezzling money from vets.

Although Scocos is not implicated in any way he is once again the secretary.

Law enforcement officials ought to confront him about these unusual coincidences on his watch. It looks bad, but don't count Scocos in.

Though there’s a history of crimes being committed, Scocos received Dem senate endorsements to confirm him as Scott Walker’s nominee, even though Scocos doesn’t have a stellar reputation as a manager.

Scocos is a partisan butt-kisser who doesn’t give a crap about Dems, yet they voted to confirm him as if there was something for them to gain from his partisanship.

Four Democratic senators wisely voted against that appointment ― Chris Larson of Milwaukee, Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller of Monona, Dave Hansen of Green Bay and Tim Carpenter of Milwaukee.

Although a joint finance committee member senator blah blah blah didn’t know the agency was siphoning millions from vets’ home.

The other Dems and Republicans who voted for Scocos, just don’t get it. Scocos is bad news. None of the other state agencies have lapses of criminal activity. The other agency’s heads exercise leadership, integrity and control over the entity they govern.

A few bad apples

Dave Kurtz and the American Legion Department of Wisconsin speaking out about the criminal charges are a day late and a dollar short.

Denise Rohan joins the chant over the "abhorrent" crime of embezzling funds destined for vets and their families.

Politicians pandering for vets' votes

Particularly disturbing is that these phonies blindly support Scott Walker, and his political partisan lackey John Scocos.

http://www.wilegion.org/page/content/members/january-6-2012-press-release

MOPH is mum about the John Doe investigation by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisolm that, as Kurtz correctly stated, is so disturbing to the community at large and to the veterans’ community in particular.

2012-01-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

Weird DVA

By gosh they stole from vets?

A rather startling Chicago newspaper-style front page story in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The ongoing investigation of veterans and politicos and general weirdness may not be confined to the missing Operation Freedom funds.

http://jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/three-charged-in-john-doe-investigation-of-walker-aides-o63mivs-136748913.html

Tentacles could reach all the way to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and beyond to controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s office.

There’s the missing money, of course. But the weirdness includes the fact that Walker insisted on changing state law so that he could appoint a petty political hack to govern more than 400,000 veterans in the state while at the same time trying to extort $500,000 (not to mention $200,000 legal fees) from the state.

It’s doesn’t get much weirder than that.

Three-star Boy Scouts Walker, Joe Leibham, Randy Hopper, Dick Spanbauer and radioactive Kevin Petersen, made it so.

Complete control of veterans’ affairs and now a vet is accused of committing a crime against vets.

Way before that, another MOPH member, aide John O’Brien abruptly left the state Capitol under weird circumstances. The politicians O’Brien aided included Dan Kapanke.

Both Kapanke and Hopper were unelected.

To be sure, O’Brien is not implicated in any way in the ensuring scandal he’s just one of the people who blindly followed John A. Scocos when he was secretary after Ray Boland left office, and now Scocos receives preferential treatment from Walker.

These days the strangeness at WDVA includes the hiring of Tim Thiers, Mike Trepanier and Domingo Leguizamon through the backdoor at Safety and Professional Services (SAPS), and Randy Nitschke, to name a few.

Thiers, Trepanier and Nitschke all were fired from their previous employment.

None of these privileged characters are implicated in Operation Freedom, but where will the weirdness at or tangent to WDVA end? Strangeness seems endemic in the Walker administration and systemic in the Scocos administration.

The investigation of the Operation Freedom chicanery may just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Oddly enough, Walker clings to these weird guys.

But don’t look for colonel above-it-all Scocos to rescue a distressed vet. Walker changed the rules at WDVA for his own self-preservation and Scoco’s longtime employment. The appointment of Scocos in August foreshadowed these political changes after Scocos’s six-year reign as head of the vets’ agency.

Ninety-nine percent of the vets don’t seem to know or care what’s going on at the agency. Only the privileged one percent profiting from it seem to have a clue.

Also don’t look for colonel know-it-all Dave Zweifel to comment in the liberal Cap Times about the monkey business at WDVA. Part-time colonels stick together through thick and thin.

Will John Doe meet John Scocos?

Stay tuned.

2012-01-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Nardelli is next.

Walker ordered transfer of control of veterans event funds

By Dave Umhoefer
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jan. 6, 2012

Transferring control of funds for an annual veterans event - from an American Legion Post to an organization run by then-County Executive Scott Walker's aide Tim Russell - was ordered by Walker in October 2009, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday against Russell.

Walker made the move after the Alonzo Cudworth American Legion Post No. 23 had performed what prosecutors now say was "exemplary" work in managing the books of Operation Freedom, a recurring event honoring veterans held at the Milwaukee County Zoo.

Russell's nonprofit entity, known as Heritage Guard Preservation Society, had "expressed a desire" to take over management of the funds, according to a memo of understanding Walker signed on Oct. 20, 2009.

"I have identified a nonprofit corporation to which I am transferring Operation Freedom," Walker told the Cudworth Legion Post in a letter mentioned in the criminal complaint. "This new structure will allow the community to take ownership of it."

Walker reiterated that intention to reporters Thursday, saying he wanted to consolidate oversight under Heritage because it could focus solely on Operation Freedom.

The October 2009 transfer memo was cosigned by Russell and Walker.

Russell, a longtime Walker political and governmental aide, wore two other hats in 2009 and 2010: as Walker's deputy chief of staff, and later, after a promotion in March 2010, as the county housing director.

Now he stands accused of taking more than $20,000 from Operation Freedom funds for his own use.

The complaint also says Russell set up Heritage's books with three phony officers and directors - county employees James Tietjen and Kelly Rindfleisch as secretary/treasurers, and Domingo Leguizamon as vice president. All three told John Doe investigators they were unaware they were listed as officers.

Close ties

Russell worked on and off for Walker at the county, starting as his executive assistant in May 2002 and passing through several other county jobs within the county executive's office and elsewhere in county government. In between, Russell regularly took a role in Walker's county executive campaigns. Walker first won that office in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008.

Russell's highest-paying county stint was as associate economic development director, starting in April 2003. He was paid about $83,000 a year in that post. Walker also nominated Russell to lead the county's economic development office in late 2004, but county supervisors voted down the Russell appointment the following April on a 12-7 vote amid complaints that Russell was unqualified and a Walker campaign functionary.

Walker took the unusual step at the time of sending a letter beseeching County Board Chairman Lee Holloway to back Russell's appointment, saying he was needed to provide continuity on the county's efforts to market vacant Park East Freeway corridor land.

Supervisor John Weishan Jr., a frequent Walker critic, said Thursday he and others were irritated at Walker repeatedly placing Russell in county posts despite concerns Russell did campaign work on county time.

Russell's last job with the county was director of housing, a stint that ran about 10 months. Holloway fired Russell from that job Dec. 28, 2010, as one of his first official acts as interim county executive after Walker quit to become governor.

Holloway did so because of his ongoing concern that Russell was "too political," said County Board spokesman Harold Mester.

Like Walker, Russell attended Marquette University though he's several years older than the governor. Russell graduated in 1986, the year Walker began there.

Russell directed the Milwaukee office of former Gov. Tommy Thompson from early 1987 through late 1989, leaving for a post at the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

At WHEDA, Russell first worked as a marketing specialist and later headed the agency's southeastern Wisconsin office, according to a Russell résumé on file at the county.

He also ran unsuccessfully for a state legislative seat in 2002, worked as public affairs consultant, ran a bed-and-breakfast inn and served as a real estate agent.

Switching control

Here's a recent timeline on Russell's role with the Heritage Guard veteran's group and Operation Freedom, based on the complaint and Journal Sentinel reporting:

In 2008, the county executive's office discovered financial discrepancies involving the handling of Operation Freedom funds. At the time, the funds were under the control of a chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, whose treasurer was a Walker appointee to a county veterans committee. That treasurer, Kevin Kavanaugh, was charged Thursday with embezzling from Operation Freedom donations.

In January 2009, Russell was promoted to Walker's deputy chief of staff from a lesser position in Walker's office.

In February 2009, because of the concerns over the Purple Heart's work, Walker transferred the treasurer duties to the Cudworth Legion Post.

In mid-2009, Walker's then chief of staff, Tom Nardelli, went to the district attorney's office with suspicions about missing money under the Purple Heart management of funds back in 2007. Darlene Wink, a Walker staffer then in charge of Operation Freedom, had earlier raised concerns within Walker's staff.

In August 2009, Todd Hunter - a lawyer who helped set up Heritage Guard in 2004 as an advocate for preservation of historic buildings on the VA grounds - turned over control of the nonprofit organization to Russell.

On Oct. 20, 2009, Walker transferred about $19,000 in Operation Freedom funds to Heritage Guard, as well as control of its finances. The Walker and Russell memo transferred the "ownership, responsibility and operation" of Operation Freedom to Heritage Guard, which the memo said "had expressed a desire to administer, manage and continue this worthwhile event."

Walker terminated the county's agreement with the Cudworth Legion Post, which had managed the funds in exemplary fashion, the complaint says.

The memo said Walker agreed to serve as the chairman of the advisory committee that was to be created for Operation Freedom. After that point, Russell actively raised private funds for the event. County executive office employees processed donation payments into a Heritage Guard account that Russell controlled, the complaint says.

One thing that did not change: The county always ran Operation Freedom, dating to 2003, whether the money-handling job was in the hands of the Purple Heart, the Legion or Heritage Guard and Russell.

2012-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Recall Happens

Walker statement on announcement by Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office

Madison, Wis. — Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker released the following statement today following an announcement from the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office:

"My chief of staff at Milwaukee County, Tom Nardelli, brought to my attention concerns about a local veterans organization and funds collected several years ago for an event honoring veterans. Mr. Nardelli, with my support, asked the Milwaukee County District Attorney to investigate those concerns. We appreciate learning that the District Attorney's office investigated those concerns."

Took him long enough to respond, huh?

2012-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Three charged in John Doe investigation of Walker aides

Seemingly parallels abound in the scandal involving missing funds.

Did any of the funds wind up in Walker’s campaign war chest?

Notably, Kevin Kavanaugh was on the Veterans for Walker Campaign Committee. So was Waylon Hurlburt, who’s now Walker’s policy advisor for veterans’ affairs. The list also includes former WDVA secretary Ray Boland, who’s a Republican candidate in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.

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

The charges against former Walker aide Tim Russell, Kavanaugh and Brian Pierick could be a sideshow to the main event involving the real issues of the probe.

What does secretary John Scocos know and when did he know it (if anything) and what did he do about it?

Maybe he's under a "gag order" not to talk about it.

Another obvious question is why Walker kept Kavanaugh on the campaign committee if Kavanaugh was suspected since 2007 or thereabouts?

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/3d/33d044a8-37d1-11e1-ab31-001871e3ce6c/4f05f6197b270.pdf.pdf

Interestingly, a considerable amount of the initially donated funds was filtered through the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. What accountability does the agency have for the use of these funds?

Seems a paltry sum to garner such a scandal; still, it's a sideshow until the deep shit hits the fan.

There’s definitely more to the story.

2012-01-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs cosponsored 2007 Operation Freedom. Though not implicated, secretary John Scocos was an event coordinator before his deployment in April 2007. In November 2009, Scocos separated from the state.

MOPH — considered one of the Big Five faves — is also one of the VSOs Scott Walker used for feedback on his push to return Scocos to the secretary’s office. Investigators should continue following the MOPH money trail to WDVA. Why not?

Three charged in John Doe investigation of Walker aides

By Dan Bice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jan. 5, 2012

Three individuals — including a former top aide to Gov. Scott Walker — were charged Thursday with felonies as part of the ongoing John Doe investigation into Walker staffers.

Tim Russell, a longtime Walker campaign and county staffer, was charged with two felonies and one misdemeanor count of embezzlement. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm the charges are tied to Operation Freedom, an annual military appreciation day held at the zoo.

Chisholm said some of the stolen money was intended for the families of Wisconsin soldiers who were killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funds also were used for wounded veterans of the war in Iraq. In 2010, Walker's county administration had asked prosecutors to investigate what had happened to $11,000 raised in 2007 for the event.

Chisholm announced the charges at a noon news conference, but said he could not take questions because of the ongoing investigation. He noted that Walker's administration had asked for the investigation and said his office was following the evidence without regard to politics.

"We go where the evidence leads and partisan politics plays no role in any decision by this office," Chisholm said.

Russell's attorney, Michael Maistelman, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Gary Porter photo of Scott Walker meeting with Tim Russell (left) and Brian Pierick at a campaign event in Wauwatosa in 2002 as Walker was beginning a campaign to become Milwaukee County executive. Russell and Pierick were charged with felonies related to a John Doe investigation into former Walker staffers. The John Doe began when Walker's administration requested an investigation into missing money from a veterans event.

Also charged Thursday was Brian Pierick, Russell's longtime partner and a staffer at the state Department of Public Instruction, and Kevin Kavanaugh, Walker's appointee to the Milwaukee County Veteran Service Commission.

Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh, 61, of Cudahy is charged with five felonies for theft and fraudulent writings by a corporate officer. He was the treasurer of the Milwaukee Purple Heart chapter at the time of the dispute over the $11,000 for Operation Freedom.

Prosecutors say he stole than $42,000 in donations intended to families of U.S. service members killed or wounded in Iraq.

Kavanaugh embezzled and otherwise stole money given to the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Kavanaugh was finance officer for the organization's Milwaukee-area chapter, named for the late war veteran Michelle Witmer.

The bulk of the Purple Heart money Kavanaugh took - nearly $35,000 - came from money raised for "Operation Freedom," an annual event for veterans sponsored by then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and held at the Milwaukee County Zoo, according to a criminal complaint.

The donations for the event were obtained by Russell on behalf of Walker from local businesses.

He also siphoned Purple Heart money that came from three different sources: former state Sen. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin), a grant from the Rolfs Family Foundation and the Purple Heart's own foundation. Gundrum, now a state appeals court justice, donated more than $28,000 of his legislative salary to the Purple Heart while he was on active duty in Iraq; Kavanaugh peeled off $4,800 of that amount.

In a 2010 interview with the Journal Sentinel, Kavanaugh said he was unaware that there was any concern by prosecutors over some $11,000 in Operation Freedom believed missing at the time.

He attributed bookkeeping problems to a shortage of help at the local Purple Heart chapter.

"I don't really know what they are talking about," he said, when asked about the concern over missing money.

Pierick, 48, was charged with two felony counts for child enticement. He is an office operations assistant at DPI dealing with education for homeless children and youth, according to the agency's website.

Walker spokesman Chris Schrimpf had no immediate comment on the news but said the office would provide one later in the day.

"We're still looking at it," he said.

Russell, who was housing director for Walker at the county, is facing Class G and Class I felonies. A Class G felony carries a fine of up to $25,000 and up to 10 years in prison or both. A Class I felony carries a fine of up to $10,000 and up to three and a half years in prison or both.

In August 2010, authorities seized Russell's county computer just weeks before the gubernatorial primary.

A longtime political hand, Russell, 48, used to run former Gov. Tommy Thompson's Milwaukee office and had been with Walker since he ran for county executive in 2002. Russell did not get a job in the Walker administration in Madison.

Last year, Russell and Pierick had their Milwaukee residence foreclosed on, and the pair moved to the Madison suburb of Sun Prairie.

Chisholm's office has been overseeing the investigation for more than 1 1/2 years.

Walker set up the annual Operation Freedom as a military appreciation day at the zoo for veterans, who got free admission and food. It was run through the county executive's office.

Russell was the coordinator of the event and worked on it with Darlene Wink, another former Walker aide at the county who has been under investigation in the John Doe probe.

The Journal Sentinel reported in June 2010 that the district attorney's office was investigating the finances of Operation Freedom after Walker's office alleged an $11,000 shortfall in a dispute with the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart had acted as fiscal agent for the program in 2006, '07 and '08.

Later, in 2010, the financial end of the event was transferred to an entity known as the Heritage Guard Preservation Society, Russell told the newspaper in 2010. In 2009, an American Legion Post handled those duties.

The Heritage Guard Preservation Society was incorporated for a different purpose as a nonprofit in 2004. But Russell said in 2010 that the dormant firm was shifted to Operation Freedom.

The financing setup for the event drew ethics scrutiny in 2006, when two county Ethics Board members questioned the practice of county officials asking private companies for money for public programs, saying it raised conflict-of-interest questions. Walker said then that he was trying to save taxpayer dollars and that he'd resolve ethics concerns by asking a veterans organization to solicit funds for the event.

Walker got legal advice that the fundraising should be handled by a separate charitable entity.

In 2010, an official with the Milwaukee Purple Heart chapter said he thought the dispute over the $11,000 was resolved when the chapter paid $10,000 to the zoo for 2007. Russell said even with the zoo payment, there was still an $11,000 shortfall from 2007 receipts.

"Nobody's making accusations about anything here," Russell said then. Bookkeeping errors could ultimately explain the shortfall, he said.

Wink quit her job as Walker's constituent relations director in 2010 after she acknowledged posting political comments on the Journal Sentinel website while at work. She monitored the finances for the program in 2007, but did not collect checks or pay the bills, Russell said. That was Purple Heart's job.

In a May 26, 2010 posting on his county website, Walker said Operation Freedom was a way to thank military personnel and families.

"The picnic, patriotic program and Supermarket of Veterans Benefits are a small way for us to show our appreciation and give back for all our military has done for us," Walker wrote.

Operation Freedom includes free admission to the zoo, as well as free food and entertainment. Veterans' organizations also are on hand. This year's program will include a military honor guard and Air Force flyover.
MOPH — considered one of the Big Five faves — is also one of the VSOs Scott Walker used for feedback on his push to return John Scocos to the secretary’s office. Investigators should continue following the MOPH money trail to WDVA.

2012-01-04T11:00:00.001-08:00

JOHN A. SCOCOS v. STATE OF WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS, MARVIN J. FREEDMAN, MARCIA M. ANDERSON, DAVID F. BOETCHER, JACQUELINE A. GUTHRIE, RODNEY C. MOEN, PETER J. MORAN, and DANIEL J. NAYLOR, in their official capacities as members of the Board of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Reinforcing its initial brief, lawyers for the state urge the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to hold that the defense of sovereign immunity requires the circuit court to dismiss John A. Scocos’ USERRA and Wis. Stat. § 321.64 claims.

Reply Brief

2012-01-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

True military heroes don't brag about it

"As a combat veteran of the war in Iraq, I will be voting for Scott Walker," partisan lobbyist Jason Johns declared in November of last year, right before the general election.

Johns assumed that Walker would make veterans issues a priority. He hasn’t.

Question: Was Johns an 11 Bravo and is he entitled to wear the combat patch?

After sending photos of himself to the mainstream media "(Scocos) said the experience has given him a better understanding of the needs of combat veterans, now that he has joined their ranks."

According to Scocos, a cushy staff wienie desk job in the comfort of the Green Zone qualifies as combat experience.

Parading around telling anyone who will listen, Mike Trepanier says he was in a combat unit.

They're apparently authorized to wear the patch just like anyone else who's been in a combat zone — even a REMF — for 90 days.

However, most combat experienced vets are reticent to talk about it and certainly they don't brag about such experience.

Individuals embellishing military experience indicate disputable character.

2012-01-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Secretary uses politics to enrich himself

WDVA salary helps finance suit against taxpayers.

John A. Scocos is a simple con man trying to exhort three-quarters of a million dollars from the state of Wisconsin.

He demands $500,000 or more for himself and $200,000 or more for Sarah and James Troupis, and, after appointments to management jobs at the state Department of Regulation and Licensing (SAPS) and Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs that pay well over $100,000 a year he wants reinstatement to the agency (WDVA) he was fired from.

The greedy Troupis clan represents him in multiple lawsuits against the state.

Meanwhile, Scocos is back in the position he lost and now has created jobs for the people who have helped propel him into office. The qualifications (or lack thereof) these people have are suspect. Their appointments based on party connections. It’s political favoritism at its worst.

They aren’t even big campaign contributors. Scocos gave Scott Walker a miserly hundred bucks (people like Tim Thiers don’t give a dime).

Scocos is secretary, but he has no power to assign to administrators the powers to lobby legislation. Yet Jason Johns still peddles influence in spite of the fact that he turned off his lobbying license.

Scocos has nonetheless delegated the power to lobby proposed legislation to his deputy secretary. Johns is peddling concocted laws purely for self-interest. Politics has replaced competent management at WDVA.

Like Thiers and Mike Trepanier, Johns was given a title and placed in office. Although not in touch with the majority of vets, they follow arrogant Scocos’ orders.

Johns, Thiers, Trepanier and Domingo Leguizamon are puppets on a short string and nonresponsive to the veterans’ community.

Scocos is an administrator appointed by Walker, at the whim of Walker. He can be removed from office summarily (happened before); he serves only as long as he pleases the guv.

Walker ordered tea baggers in the Republican-controlled legislature to change the law so he has the power to appoint the secretary and Veterans Affairs Board members.

Over a year ago lobbyist Johns crowed that he’d vote for Walker to ensure partisan geographic representation on the Veterans Affairs Board by proposing legislation to expand the then seven-member board to nine members, comprised of a representative from each congressional district and one at-large member.

Johns is presently No. 2 at WDVA, but after a year in office Walker still doesn't have anyone representing the 7th Congressional District. Way to go to ensure local geographical representation.

Though Scocos has larded up the agency and rewarded his cronies the sub-administrators he's hired have similar shaky positions.

And 99 percent of veterans are kept in the dark about what goes on at WDVA.

It isn’t a very bright thing what the secretary has done.

DA investigates missing Operation Freedom funds

Kevin Kavanaugh seems to have disappeared from the Wisconsin MOPH ops roster.

Kavanaugh was treasurer of the Milwaukee Purple Heart chapter during Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's seventh annual Operation Freedom military appreciation day at the zoo.

A dispute over about $11,000 in money raised for the event in 2007 remains under investigation by District Attorney John Chisholm.

2012-01-03T08:12:00.001-08:00

2012-01-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

What are Darlene Wink, Tom Nardelli, Tim Russell, and Cindy Archer during these days while there's a John Doe probe in an ongoing criminal investigation? According the the mainstream media, the investigation began in May 2010, shortly before Wink left her county job as Walker's constituent services coordinator. She reportedly quit shortly after admitting that she had frequently posted online comments on Journal Sentinel stories and blogs while on the county clock; nearly all of her posts praised Walker or criticized his opponents.

DA investigates missing Operation Freedom funds

County officials say efforts to track money have not succeeded

By Steve Schultze and Dave Umhoefer

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

June 4, 2010

With Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's seventh annual Operation Freedom military appreciation day at the zoo less than a month away, a dispute over about $11,000 in money raised for the event in 2007 remains under investigation by District Attorney John Chisholm.

Tim Russell, an aide to Walker and coordinator of this year's Operation Freedom day, said the issue was referred to Chisholm by Walker's staff. The discrepancy was discovered in mid-2008 by another county staffer and remains unresolved, Russell said.

The local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart acted as fiscal agent for the program in 2006, '07 and '08. Efforts to recover the missing money - or determine whether it was legitimately spent - were unsuccessful, Russell said.

Kevin Kavanaugh, treasurer of the Milwaukee Purple Heart chapter, said he thought the dispute over the $11,000 was resolved when the chapter paid $10,000 to the zoo for 2007.

"I haven't talked to anyone on this for 1 ½ years," Kavanaugh said.

Purple Heart was hired to run the books for the event after Walker got legal advice that the fund raising should be handled by a separate charitable entity. Walker ran the entire 2003 and 2005 Operation Freedom programs through his office, Russell said. Using a charity to handle fund raising also ensured that donors could claim their donations as tax deductions.

There was no Operation Freedom program in 2004.

In 2006, two county Ethics Board members questioned the practice of county officials asking private companies for money for public programs, saying it raised conflict-of-interest questions. Walker said then that he was trying to save taxpayer dollars and that he'd resolve ethics concerns by asking a veterans organization to solicit funds for the event.

The missing money issue was not turned over to the district attorney until mid-2009, after Walker staffers Darlene Wink and Tom Nardelli were unsuccessful in resolving the problem with a Purple Heart official, Russell said.

Russell said even with the zoo payment, there was still an $11,000 shortfall from 2007 receipts.

Appreciation continues

"Nobody's making accusations about anything here," Russell said. Bookkeeping errors could ultimately explain the shortfall, he said.

"Maybe there are records in somebody's bottom drawer that would demonstrate that money was appropriately spent," said Russell, who runs the county's housing program and is a former Walker campaign aide.

"Without access to records, we don't know."

Wink quit her job as Walker's constituent relations director last month after she acknowledged posting political comments on the Journal Sentinel website while at work. She monitored the finances for the program in 2007, but did not collect checks or pay the bills, Russell said. That was Purple Heart's job.

Wink is listed on the Operation Freedom Facebook page as a coordinator of this year's event. Wink couldn't be reached.

Nardelli, Walker's chief of staff, and Chisholm declined to comment on the DA's investigation.

In a May 26 posting on his county website, Walker said Operation Freedom was a way to thank military personnel and families.

"The picnic, patriotic program and Supermarket of Veterans Benefits are a small way for us to show our appreciation and give back for all our military has done for us," Walker wrote.

Operation Freedom includes free admission to the zoo, as well as free food and entertainment. Veterans organizations also are on hand. This year's program will include a military honor guard and Air Force flyover.

The full cost of the program is about $40,000 to $50,000, Russell said. About $18,000 to $19,000 was raised in cash donations for the 2009 event, plus another $20,000 to $30,000 worth of in-kind contributions, such as food and other supplies.

If the free zoo admissions are included, the full cost of the program balloons to several hundred thousand dollars a year, Russell said.

After shifting fiscal agents from Purple Heart to an American Legion Post in 2009, the financial end of this year's Operation Freedom will be run by the Heritage Guard Preservation Society. Though incorporated for a different purpose as a nonprofit in 2004, the dormant firm was shifted to Operation Freedom last year, Russell said.

Nardelli and Russell said most work on Operation Freedom by county employees has not been done on county time, though they said it was an appropriate use of employees' time. Nevertheless, Russell said he'd taken a half day of vacation Thursday to discuss the issue with a reporter.

2012-01-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

Sec wants to add more costly jobs at vets' agency

The antics of one-man train wreck John Scocos are sure to pique the interest of the Veterans Affairs Board.

When they arrive in Madison for "their" now annual board meeting they can publicly inquire about the cushy state job Scocos gave to Domingo Leguizamon, and otherwise employed Tim Thiers, who suddenly gained state government employment, presumably, as political payback for supporting Scocos' lawsuit.

That particular lawsuit against the previous board is on appeal.

Meanwhile, watch for Steve Lawrence and other political cronies to file phony affidavits with the court to try and bolster Scocos' frivolous suits. Scocos shows political favoritism to Thiers and Lawrence, among other cronies, for backing him.

Yet people like Scocos, Thiers and Lawrence are ill-suited to represent veterans organizations.

Despite the Republican mantra of less government, controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker appointee Scocos has advertised in the state jobs service for two (2) loan officers to work in the loan program that he slammed shut.

The board should censure Scocos for adding layers of management on top of the Veterans Trust Fund insolvency dilemma.

Siphoning federal per diem money from the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King is no solution to mismanagement. The situation will worsen with Scocos wasting more money on administrative salaries and hiring loan officers for the defunct mortgage loan program. Scocos' ineptitude is legion.

Instead of misplaced directives from the secretary he should be making budget cuts demanded by the Walker administration. But he won't. The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs will be the only state agency that doesn't cut its budget. Simply ignore the problem and expect it to go away.

Meanwhile, where were costly state pawns Donna Williams and Andy Schuster reassigned?

Anyone at WDVA not following Scocos' directives is demoted or is out. There is no check on administrative power exercised in a tyrannical fashion.

Why is the state going to the expense of supporting administrator's wages, offices, transportation, not even counting their generous health care insurance and pensions?

Why does state government have do-nothing administrators in the first place?

These are good questions for the board to ask when they show up at the bunker in Madison in two weeks. They'll probably scratch their heads at the "briefing" nonveteran Carla Vigue prepared for Scocos.

Noticeably, Scocos and lobbyist Jason Johns mumble through the scripts Vigue gives them to read. They can't afford to make their usual stupid off-the-cuff remarks.

Scocos' chauffeur and No. 3 Mike Trepanier is right: They screwed up.

Still, Scocos blames his inadequacies on others.

Possible ethics violations at WDVA for law enforcement officials to consider

http://ethics.state.wi.us/standardsofconduct/standardsconduct.htm

Lobbyist Jason Johns cannot legally "Instigate legislation to obtain employment," but that's exactly what he appears to have done when he had certain VSO cronies meet with Walker's office and legislative veterans committees to create Asembly Bill 96 and Senate Bill 97, eventually Act 36, which made the secretary a cabinet position and neutralized the board in the process.

Notably, Johns kept his state issued lobbying license until Aug. 24, the day before Scocos was appointed.

Johns' fingerprints found on everything

http://host.madison.com/mobile/article_38226b54-76ea-5f02-946a-3bedd8f482a8.html

Instigation of legislation ultimately led to a $100,000 ($145,000 with benefits) appointment for Johns.

Johns also seems to have coordinated and encouraged Bill Hustad and MOPH's involvement in the changes in the composition of secretary and the board.

The governor cannot appoint the deputy vets' agency secretary, however, cynics would suspect Johns got the job as payback for bill enactment, after all, peddling influence is what Johns does.

Similarly, Scocos cannot "Use public position for private benefit" or "Solicit or accept rewards or items of service likely to influence" but that appears to be what he did in landing AMVETS legislative chair Thiers a job at the state Department of Regulation and Licensing (SAPS) and then relocating him to WDVA.

Interestingly, a pal-of-the-court filing submitted by AMVETS is clearly trying to influence the judges.

Read and Weep

Likewise, Hustad, Wisconsin MOPH department head, was the contact person encouraging AB 96/SB 97 legislature to pass.

On June 2, Hustad and the Military Order of the Purple Heart-Department of Wisconsin expressed its thanks to committee chairs Dick Spanbauer of Oshkosh, and Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac (before Hopper was unelected) for their partisan support and passage of AB 96/SB 97, authored by Kevin Petersen of Waupaca and Eagle Scout Joe Leibham of Sheboygan. All are Republican teabags.

2011-12-31T09:56:00.000-08:00

Unethical secretary excludes majority of vets

Team Scocos recently provided insider information to Larry Kutschma, Steve Lawrence, Denise Rohan, Al Labelle, Bill Hustad and camp follower Tim Thiers, about Eagle Scout Joe Leibham's state senate committee hearing long before anyone else in the veterans community found out about it.

Undoubtedly, paranoid John A. Scocos was looking over the shoulder of lobbyist Jason Johns when Johns emailed the notice and Team Scocos' personal endorsements.

Why the favoritism?

Why is Scocos leaving tens of thousands of Wisconsin vets out of the loop?

It's because ethically challenged Scocos, as the line in a popular movie goes, can't handle the truth.

Of course. But why are Marv Freedman and Dan Naylor the only veterans in the state fighting against Scocos' sorry-ass fiefdom?

Ninety-nine percent of the veterans in the state, and even the majority of VSO "leaders," are clueless about what's going on. There is no transparency in the Scocos administration. Scocos conducts closed meetings and neglects to post meaningful information on the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Team Scocos only communicates with the very same few VSO individuals that Scocos politically used to marginalize the Veterans Affairs Board and sweep him back into power.

Where's the democracy in that?

An example of crass influence peddling is Johns' half-ass comment that it's not WDVA's place to take a position on eligibility for veterans preference points.

Though Team Scocos has its finger in every pie, Johns said it's "a slippery slope (and an) erosion of the definition of 'veteran,'" if SB 312 were to pass and allow "anyone who has ever worn the uniform to receive veteran preference points."

By his own narrow definition, part-time solders like Johns and Scocos wouldn't be eligible for veterans preference points.

Nonetheless, informing Scocos' pet legislative committee chairs of the public hearing, Johns told them how to testify. But it's not the job of overpaid partisan administrators at WDVA to develop or influence public policy with their handpicked cast of primary characters.

Noticeably, none of controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker's constant updates related to his operation of his state government ever mention anything about veterans. That's probably because he and his toady Scocos haven’t done anything for veterans, except take away their benefits . . . Walker's and Scocos' assault on veterans benefits at WDVA, for example.

2011-12-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

State DOJ officials wanted to stay out of John Doe probe

By Patrick Marley and Dan Bice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Dec. 30, 2011

Madison — Top investigators at the state Department of Justice wanted to keep out of a secret investigation of current and former aides to Gov. Scott Walker, newly released records show.

"This is one to try and stay away from. I can't see any good coming from it," Ed Wall, head of the department's Division of Criminal Investigation, wrote in a Nov. 15, 2010, email.

"Absolutely," responded David Spakowicz, director of field operations for the division's eastern region.

Wall's email was sent just hours before he met with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm about the John Doe investigation. Also at the meeting were then-Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora and Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern.

The Journal Sentinel first reported on the Department of Justice's decision not to help with the investigation this September. On Friday, emails from Wall and other state officials were released in response to a request under the state's open records law.

The meeting happened just two weeks after Walker was elected governor and a month and a half before he was sworn in.

But the records also show Department of Justice officials discussed the investigation on Nov. 1 - the day before the election and the day prosecutors executed a subpoena for emails from Walker's campaign, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

"Are you available for a call - ASAP - in order to brief you on this sensitive matter?" Spakowicz wrote Wall at 1:40 p.m. that day.

Wall said he was available and six minutes later wrote to Taffora, then the No. 2 official in the department, to ask when he could take a call.

David Matthews, director of field operations for the Division of Criminal Investigation, later wrote Wall to say: "Spak has briefed me on today's SW activities."

The campaign has hired former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, now a criminal defense lawyer with Michael Best & Friedrich. Walker's campaign has paid nearly $110,000 to Michael Best, which is also representing the campaign in a legal challenge to how election officials must review recall petitions that are expected to be filed against Walker in January.

Walker's opponents are trying to recall him because of legislation he wrote and approved early this year that all but eliminated collective bargaining for most public workers. Democrats announced earlier this month they had collected more than 507,000 of the roughly 540,000 signatures they need to turn in by Jan. 17 to force a recall election.

John Doe investigations are secret proceedings in which witnesses can be subpoenaed and compelled to testify under oath about potential criminal matters and are forbidden from talking publicly about the case. Sources said prosecutors have been looking into whether county staffers were doing political work while on the clock and failing to do county jobs.

The investigation initially had focused on campaign activity by aides who worked for Walker while he was Milwaukee County executive. But several sources have said prosecutors continue to look at new angles.

The investigation is being headed by Chisholm, a Democrat. The Department of Justice is headed by Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, who like Walker is a Republican.

Van Hollen's agency assisted with at least one previous John Doe investigation run by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office, lending a hand during the probe of former Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee.

State Department of Justice officials have declined to say why the agency chose not to assist with the investigation of Walker's former county staffers.

Kevin St. John, a top aide to Van Hollen who now serves as deputy attorney general, sent Chisholm a letter Dec. 3, 2010, about the current John Doe probe, but the Department of Justice declined to release it because it is about an ongoing criminal investigation.

The investigation began in May 2010, shortly before Darlene Wink left her county job as Walker's constituent services coordinator. She quit shortly after admitting that she had frequently posted online comments on Journal Sentinel stories and blogs while on the county clock; nearly all of her posts praised Walker or criticized his opponents.

Authorities later took her work computer and executed a search warrant of her home. They also took the work computer of Tim Russell, a former Walker campaign staffer who was then working as county housing director.

This past September, as part of the investigation the FBI seized material from the Madison home of Cindy Archer, who had served as a top aide to Walker at the county and state. Archer went on leave and was moved into a lower-profile job at the state Department of Children and Families a month before the raid.

The John Doe investigation already has resulted in the conviction of railroad executive William Gardner. Gardner, president and chief executive officer of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. and a major donor to Walker, was sentenced to two years' probation in July after pleading guilty to two felonies for exceeding campaign contribution limits to Walker's campaign and laundering additional campaign contributions through employees and associates.

2011-12-30T13:37:00.001-08:00

No matter what else they do, the Veterans Affairs Board won't recapture the flag until John A. Scocos is replaced as Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs secretary.

2011-12-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

North Korea has a new supreme commander, vets' agency has a retread dictatorial secretary

The eight-member Veterans Affairs Board hasn’t met for six months and has been left out of the loop.

In spite of the board members being gubernatorial appointees secretary John A. Scocos is unwilling to meet with them or allow them to speak publicly until next month.

He thinks he’s an elected official. He’s not. He is a prerogative of controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

Scocos is Walker’s secretary without decision-making capacity or the need to make discretionary choices. His job is simply processing veterans’ benefit applications and permitting entry to the veterans’ museum.

There was no screening to see if Scocos was properly qualified for the position. But now that he’s a civil servant it’s his job to be helpful and nonpolitical.

Scocos was appointed to administer, not regulate. But for partisan political reasons he was inexplicably given power to draft administrative code. Instead of doing the job he was hired to do he’s become a dictator.

Pedaling influence for Scocos is his untested number 2, lobbyist Jason Johns, who tells the VSOs how to vote on proposed legislation in a Dec. 29 email sent exclusively to Larry Kutschma, Steve Lawrence, Denise Rohan, Al Labelle, Bill Hustad and brand new state employee Tim Thiers.

The Wisconsin Council on Veterans Programs is represented by 26 VSOs, but only backers and rabid fans of Scocos were notified.

Nonetheless, the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, chaired by Eagle Scout Joe Leibham, meeting on Jan. 4 at 9:30 a.m. will hear testimony on these bills.

Senate Bill 312 military training and experience counting towards license qualification.

Senate Bill 338 offers free first-time professional licenses for veterans.

Senate Bill 339 appointment of disabled veterans to civil service positions.

Whitewater Republican Evan Wynn circulated these bills in the Assembly last month but they landed in the state Senate. SB 312 is heavily represented by Democratic sponsors, and SB 338 and 339 are heavily supported by Republicans.

LRB 2956 tax credits for hiring unemployed disabled vets didn’t make the cut allegedly because WDVA has a thing about disabled vets and wheelchair repair shops.

Grasping for some credibility, Johns concludes his partisan email with an inapplicable quote from George Washington.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help

Despite the Republican mantra of smaller government, Scocos continues to grow state government while at the same time he is sacrificing veterans’ benefits.

http://wisc.jobs/public/job_view.asp?annoid=53162&jobid=52677&index=true

Demanding two new cronies for the mortgage loan program that he arbitrarily closed, Scocos obviously hasn't thought about retraining the employees he carelessly stuck without any duties when he shuttered the programs that benefit vets.

The jobs pay well enough. Salary plus benefits or about $73,000 each for two new state employees that roughly equals $150,000 in new payroll expenses for state taxpayers to absorb.

Instead, the state could put $150,000 toward the Personal Loan Program that Scocos slammed shut in denying a safety net to needy veterans.

2011-12-29T13:15:00.000-08:00

Secretary better start looking for a new job

The original press release and a second release from the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs indicating the trip for Iraq and Afghanistan war vets was on and then off again, isn’t posted on the agency’s website.

A phone call to the contact person lobbyist Jason Johns might help.

Fortunately, the Wisconsin State Journal caught the story.

The Capital Times, however, seems oblivious to the machinations of Team Scocos.

That’s probably because Dave Zweifel won’t editorialize about an agency headed up by another retired, part-time army colonel.

2011-12-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

Prematurely sharing credit for ticket giveaway backfires on sec
'Miscommunication' haunts Scocos

I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.

Leave it to John A. Scocos to hook up with a travel agency that is as dysfunctional as his administration.

After 50 all-expenses-paid trips to the Rose Bowl for Wisconsin vets go belly up, Badger Trips blamed the snafu on miscommunication.

Sound familiar? Miscommunication is one of the reasons the Veterans Affairs Board fired Scocos two years ago.

Scocos giddily announced yesterday that 50 post-9/11 veterans will be attending the Rose Bowl thanks to a generous donation from Badger Trips along with College Travel Experts, which Team Scocos partnered with to pick 50 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have recently returned from overseas to join in the Rose Bowl festivities in Pasadena, Calif.

Not gonna happen: Too many ticket orders from cash paying fans.

Scocos announced the "wonderful honor" in a press release with lobbyist Jason Johns as the contact person, but Badger Trips abruptly rescinded the mission, and the department supposedly issued a second release (though it's not published on the WDVA website) indicating the ticket dudes have put a kibosh to the last-minute deal.

The giveaway trip to the Rose Bowl was just one small way for the donors to thank returning vets but it "blew up" after the travel agency overbooked.

Scocos’ cronies at the Wisconsin organizations VFW, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, the Military Honor of the Purple Heart, AMVETS, Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard members and Vets for Vets waved bye-bye from the tarmac.

When asked about it, Scocos’ chauffeur and number 3 Mike Trepanier said "they screwed up."

http://badgertrips.collegetravelexperts.com/

If the trip to the Rose Bowl is so important to veterans maybe Scocos, Trepanier and Johns should donate some of their outrageous state salaries to help make those veterans who missed out whole again.

Equally clearly, that won't happen either.

2011-12-28T13:47:00.001-08:00

Sec takes credit for last-minute Rose Bowl deal

In a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs John A. Scocos is not only trying to take all the credit for some Rose Bowl tickets a donor has offered to vets, but he has designated lobbyist Jason Johns to be the contact person.

What happened to Carla Vigue and Kathy Scholl in the public affairs office? Are they vacationing or did Scocos demote them too?

What makes Scocos so insecure that he feels he must control every tedious bit of minutia in the agency?

Profiting from vets by selfishly being in the game for himself, Scocos is a figurehead and doesn't provide them anything.

2011-12-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Multiple complaints alleging employment discrimination and open meetings violations filed by overpaid, underqualified, arrogant secretary are a nuisance and clogging up the court system

Frustrated John A. Scocos doesn't care what it costs the state.

Bruce Olsen is assistant attorney general assigned to represent the legal interests of the defendants in the second lawsuit Scocos filed against the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and honorable members of the Veterans Affairs Board.

The state Department of Justice awaits a briefing schedule in Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi’s court in that suit. Olsen has filed a host of documents to dismiss the case.

So this isn't the first time Scocos sued the board. The original complaint Scocos filed immediately after the board fired him in November 2009 is in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District 4.

But with his original open meetings violations complaint failing to gain traction, Scocos filed another complaint with the lower court alleging that six board members violated the open meetings law on Nov. 24, 2009, when they fired him.

In September 2011, process server Chad J. Tetting, through WDVA paralegal Debbie Ripp, served Marv Freedman, Marcia Anderson, David Boetcher, Jackie Guthrie, Rodney Moen, Pete Moran and Dan Naylor, in their official capacities as members of the Veterans Affairs Board, with subpoenas in the second complaint.

Spacey Tetting quickly bolted the WDVA bunker after service oblivious to the fact that unwitting Ripp was, and still is, unauthorized to accept process.

Nonetheless, Scocos’ complaint is barren because the court lacks jurisdiction over board members, and the complaint is also worthless since the two-year statute of limitations has lapsed.

Scocos originally alleged open meetings violations when he sued six board members on Dec. 10, 2009.

On Dec. 16 of that same year, the Dane County District District Attorney declined to entertain an open meetings enforcement action against any of the board members.

On July 11, 2011, Scocos fired off another complaint in addition to his original beef.

On Sept. 8, bungling Tetting stupidly paid Ripp a visit and served copies of the summons and the complaint.

The latest documents with the court motion the judge to dismiss the complaint against the board because the court lacks jurisdiction over the state agency simply because the state Legislature has not authorized open meetings enforcement actions to be brought against the state or a state agency.

Meanwhile, Assistant Attorneys General Steven Kilpatrick and John Sweeney have a reply brief due Jan. 3 regarding a superfluous amicus brief submitted by attorney Lester Pines, on behalf of complainant Scocos.

Sarah and James Troupis continue to rack up billable hours representing complainant Scocos in both civil matters.

Who is responsible for paying Scocos' attorney's fees?

Scocos’ lawsuit against the state demands a settlement of $500,000 or more for him and $200,000 or more in legal fees for the Troupis law office.

Maybe the Republican Party of Wisconsin is paying the Troupis clan.

Meeting of Scott Walker's political appointees on the vets' board

The Veterans Affairs Board is meeting Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 1 p.m. in the WDVA bunker in Madison.

The board hasn’t met since June.

First-ever meeting of the new board ostensibly called to dump board officers Dan Naylor and Marv Freedman, and replace them with controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker political appointees. At the flash bang show, Scocos can take all the time he wants to give his usual monotone, mealy-mouthed spiel prior to public comments that he’s uncharitably limited to no more than five (5) minutes.

2011-12-27T12:32:00.001-08:00

Army medic from Marshfield killed in Afghanistan

Associated Press
Dec. 27, 2011

MARSHFIELD, Wis. — The military says an Army medic from Marshfield has died in Afghanistan of injuries suffered in an insurgent attack.

The Defense Department said today that 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Altmann died on Christmas Day in Kunar province. The military says he was hurt when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

His mother told The Associated Press by telephone the family was preparing to fly to Dover, Del., for the arrival of her son’s body. Janice Altmann says the family is “devastated.”

She says Altmann had served two tours in Iraq and just re-enlisted for another four years. She says he got married in February. He had no children.

Altmann was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks.

2011-12-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

Most veterans don’t want Walker messing with their affairs

Dan Bohlin, Ben Collins, Marv Freedman, John Gaedke, Carl Krueger, Dan Naylor, Al Richards and John Townsend should ask John Scocos what their duties are now that he’s taken his ball and gone home.

These honorable vets are off the radar.

They are board members from each congressional district, except for the 7th Congressional District, which is still unrepresented after controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker expanded the Veterans Affairs Board from seven to nine members. A board member is supposed to hail from each of the state's eight congressional districts, and the final board member serve at-large with all of them appointees of the governor.

They have yet to hold a public meeting. Why hold a public meeting? Effective citizen oversight of government operations is essential to democracy and transparency promotes confidence in it. Public access to meetings of governmental bodies is a vital aspect of this principle.

Whatever, the state Legislature also gave unbridled power to Walker to appoint the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs secretary. The secretary has the power to make changes to or enact administrative rules that govern the department without obtaining board approval.

Scocos was fired in November 2009, two months after desk duty in the Green Zone. He sued the department, twice, alleging that the board violated USERRA, a federal law that protects the jobs of military service members. Both suits are pending.

Brief of Amicus Curiae - AMVETS

Walker sneaked backdoor man Scocos into the secretary's office after he was fired by the board with cause.

Ironically, nonveteran Walker thinks he knows what's best for WDVA.

2011-12-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

Scum rises to the top at vets’ agency

New managers at the vets’ agency landed their jobs by sneaking in the backdoor from SAPS.

Thiers, Scocos

That’s how John Scocos, Mike Trepanier, Tim Thiers and Domingo Leguizamon found themselves gainfully employed at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

SAPS, a regulatory agency — Department of Regulation and Licensing — only none of the above characters are regulators. Nevertheless, they temporarily found themselves on the payroll there until entering WDVA through the backdoor.

Why is SAPS a conduit for political patronage jobs in controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker's administration?

It’s totally disrespectful to have the professional administrative, clerical, blue collar, trades, information processing, technical positions and administrative support personnel working under revolving door managers who know absolutely nothing about the agency’s functions.

Why is a corrupt hiring process like that allowed to continue?

Scocos, Trepanier, Thiers and Leguizamon didn’t compete with candidates from outside the system. They were told to show up for work despite a lack of knowledge that affects their ability to do the job.

It’s an end run around the Wisconsin civil service system. How many more political cronies got cushy state jobs that way?

No time-in-grade or entry level jobs

Aren’t state employees required to be on the job a certain amount of time before they are eligible to laterally transfer?

Walker and Scocos have short-circuited the system and created a lot of scum on the top of the administrative hierarchy at WDVA. Larding the agency with Scocos' followers distracts from honest government. There’s also the risk these jokers become permanent state employees.

It’s a barely concealed fact that Scocos’ main ambition is lifetime employment at WDVA. Walker temporarily parked Scocos at SAPS until authorized to appoint the secretary and the Veterans Affairs Board. When Walker appointed him Scocos hired Trepanier and then funneled Thiers and Leguizamon through the SAPS system the same way they arrived at WDVA.

It’s a corrupt way to do business.

2011-12-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Secretary scuttles his own reorganization plans and it will cost taxpayers money in the long run

John A. Scocos has no convictions.

None.

Speaking in half-truths (lying), he claims to improve the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, but doesn't follow his own 33-page reorganization plan. His management capabilities are limited to balancing his own checkbook and personal checking account.

Scocos said he'd streamline operations by, among other things, consolidating veterans benefits and services divisions. Instead, he moved Domingo Leguizamon from the Milwaukee CVSO and ensconced him at SAPS until moving him to administer veterans’ benefits in the bunker in Madison.

James Bond is still with the division of veterans services.

WDVA

Team Scocos: teaming with cronyism, redundancy and unqualified managers.

Veterans Affairs Board: no meetings held periodically and no meaningful oversight of WDVA.

Stakeholders: no one to look after the interests of stakeholders; they are treated arbitrarily.

Employees: collateral.

The whole process is susceptible (controlled) to political influences while the taxpayers bear the loss of Scocos' bad decisions.

Scocos is unpatriotic or why would he reward himself with privileges? He acts like an all-knowing czar who is accountable to no one. For his trouble, he is compensated with huge paychecks and fringe benefits.

No competition with others for these management positions. Tim Thiers also moved to WDVA, after a very brief stint at SAPS.

Why is Scocos rewarded for his stupidity and laziness? WDVA is not a well run agency. Cronyism is rewarded with medals from Scocos presented in private and announced later by nonveteran Carla Vigue.

Scocos is the central planner with no board input. An outsider applying for a job at the agency is an exercise in futility.

What could possibly justify the huge management salaries at WDVA? Almost anything incestuous is possible at the agency with Scocos at the helm.

Closing the wheelchair shop reflects the secretary's hold on veterans' groups. They must play ball or else.

Bending the rules and crossing the lines controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker gave Scocos and extraordinary role.

Scocos' favoritism is degrading WDVA. It's an agency of the privileged and they are destroying opportunities for the remaining vets.

Factors that make the secretary look like a buffoon

Parroting Walker, state employees are simple civil servants to Scocos, and he follows the guv's playbook by eschewing the fact that many of them have bargaining rights.

Scocos maligns civil servants in order to "maximize skills and expertise of the current workforce" at WDVA by hiring more of his handpicked unqualified cronies. How does that utilize existing positions (some of them vacancies) or improve the process? It doesn't.

The divisive governor inadvertently revealed his true intentions by trying to destroy labor unions and taking away their collective bargaining rights.

Nonetheless, the secretary and the board were appointed by Walker, hence they follow Walker's agendas. But such favoritism is never in the general welfare of veterans.

There's also other evidence that Scocos won't be calling the Combat Call Center, a confidential hotline staffed by combat veterans so he can talk about his military experience and readjustment to civilian life.

2011-12-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

It’s payback for DAV not endorsing Scocos' nomination?

Veterans group abruptly shuts down popular wheelchair repair shop

By George Hesselberg
Wisconsin State Journal
Dec. 23, 2011

Wheelchair repair is no longer provided by the state's Disabled American Veterans group, a loss of a low-cost, award-winning goodwill volunteer service for veterans that occurred last month partly because of unspecified "improprieties."

The service was offered at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King but was available to any veteran in the state, said Charles Vandenplas, who supervised the DAV Wheelchair Repair Shop and is looking for a home for thousands of spare parts and two dozen electric wheelchairs and scooters.

While state Department of Veterans Affairs officials insist it wasn't their idea to close the service, Vandenplas said the DAV Wheelchair Repair Shop was abruptly shut down, and locks were changed, by the state in November.

A repair shop run by the state, servicing scooters for Veterans Home residents, remains open.

While the DAV and the state knocked heads last summer over the DAV's chilly endorsement of Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos, the two have presented a united front over the wheelchair shop closing. The same shop earned praise in 2008 from Scocos — who was removed from the secretary job, only to be reappointed this year by Gov. Scott Walker — for "any veteran, any veteran's family and any disabled veteran in need." He commended the shop's volunteers as "great mechanics and electrical repairmen" for their "uncanny ability to locate parts."

Everyone earlier agreed the shop needed to be moved. Now, the DAV said the shop is unnecessary.

Kevin Johnson, DAV state commandant, said the shop did not fit with the DAV's mission, which he said is to "build better lives for disabled veterans and their families." In a press release last April, however, the DAV advocated maintaining the shop at King.

The shop, set up in 1986 in a converted greenhouse, fixed veterans' scooters and wheelchairs, even bicycles, said Vandenplas. It requested contributions or was free for those who couldn't pay.

The Wisconsin DAV, which has 16,000 members, stated Dec. 1 that it had decided to close the shop after the Department of Veterans Affairs "brought forward several improprieties of a serious nature."

Neither the state nor the DAV last week would explain those "improprieties," though Johnson said they are "an internal matter" and were not criminal.

The department was also compelled to explain the closing, in a letter from deputy secretary Jason Johns released Dec. 7, to counter what it called "false speculation" that it had forced the DAV to close the shop.

"We attempted to accommodate future operation of the wheelchair shop at King by offering alternative space, free of charge, and we asked that steps be taken by DAV to address our legitimate concerns with operations and personnel," the department said. Those concerns included requiring DAV to follow a lengthy list of policies regulating volunteers.

The closing will not affect repair services at the home itself, state officials said.

Vandenplas said the shop had eight volunteers, "an excellent program built up and we were servicing for the whole state."

He said a benefit of the all-volunteer DAV-run shop, unburdened by state rules, was that they could occasionally assist the veteran who needed help but fell through the cracks in the protocol of qualifications for help.

Vandenplas said about one-fifth of the more than 700 residents of the Veterans Home at King use wheelchairs or scooters.

Johnson said Wisconsin had the only Disabled American Veteran chapter in the country that provided wheelchair and scooter repair services for veterans, and "if some other organization wants to do that, they are entitled to it, it just won't have our DAV name on it."

2011-12-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

WDVA salary helps finance suit against taxpayers.

The Darkside Secretary

Wisconsin pays its DVA secretary twice as much as Iowa pays its DVA director.

The director in Iowa represents vets. Wisconsin’s secretary is a magnet for bad press.

Iowa hires staffers based on their merits. Wisconsin provides state jobs to political cronies.

The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs has morphed into a privately held corporation. There is no competition. Its accounting is suspect or worse. Management gets huge salaries. There is opportunity for untold mischief.

When’s the last time there was a comprehensive financial analyses of the agency?

Team Scocos is masking their incompetence and indolence with the backing of the Walker administration. Walker protects secretary John A. Scocos from personal liability.

Leguizamon moved from Milwaukee CVSO to administer the Division of Veterans Benefits.

By removing personnel from the bureau of loans and transferring Domingo Leguizamon to the division of vets’ benefits, Scocos completely ignored his own reorganization plan to combine benefits and veterans services divisions as a way to reduce overhead costs.

He has a license for abuses and mismanagement. Witness the demotions and layoffs of people who disagreed with him at the agency. For example, he replaced Colleen Holtan, Brian Marshall and Max Dulberger, with his faves.

Is James Bond, current administrator the Division of Veterans Services, on the way out?

Leguizamon is one of many personnel changes since late August when controversial GOP Gov. Walker appointed Scocos as new secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Republicans yammer about smaller government, but not in Scocos’ Bizarro world. His idea of VTF solvency is taking away veterans’ benefits and hiring redundant and inept senior managers to cover his ass. He never announces the new management hires breaking into lockstep with him as if they are some clown act in the circus

WDVA is subject to mid-year cuts like other state agencies, but typically administrators at the agency whine to DOA they can't possibly support our nation's heroes by making any budgetary cuts at all. Baloney!

Leaving vacancies open at the agency is Scocos’ idea of cuts. Meanwhile, he continues to expand his own third world fiefdom and doesn’t introduce necessary measures to keep costs down.

The shell of Scocos’ arrogance is impenetrable

What is the loyalty test for longtime employees subject to dismissal or demotion if they disagree with Scocos? Earning Brownie points at WDVA is easy. All you have to do is follow Scocos’ orders.

His goal is to surround himself with indentured servants and loyal subjects. Essentially, he’s taken state jobs away from nonpartisan, more qualified people in the workforce and replaced them with his handpicked cronies.

The level of skills required for these jobs certainly disqualifies most of Scocos’ lame brained yes-men he hires.

In Scocos’ world it is fine and dandy for other people to lose their jobs, just don’t fire him or he’ll sue twice. You don’t need a better understanding of Scocos to know how greedy and insecure he is.

The state Medical Examining Board at SAPS — the agency where Scocos spun his wheels before returning to his old job at WDVA — reprimanded several doctors who wrote sick notes for protesters.

But the hypocrites don't mind vets receiving disability payments (Scocos?) after finding a doctor to make a phony report so the vet could collect benefits.

Scocos’ double standards damage his own interests.

(Lawyers for the state filed a motion this week to dismiss the second lawsuit Scocos filed against former board members. It includes affidavits from defendants Marcia Anderson, David Boetcher, Marv Freedman, Jackie Guthrie, Rodney Moen, Pete Moran and Dan Naylor. Assistant Attorney General Bruce Olsen and WDVA legal assistant Debbie Ripp also filed affidavits with the court.)

2011-12-22T12:13:00.001-08:00

2011-12-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Only in the Team Scocos bunker

Domingo Leguizamon has relocated from SAPS, where he’s been laying low for the past year to administer veterans’ benefits in the bunker at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Milwaukee County CVSO until about a year ago, Leguizamon is another handpicked crony John Scocos hired to do his bidding and obey his commands.

They will probably give him a no-show job where he just collects a paycheck and hangs out as a "benefits officer" whatever that is.

Budget director Colleen Holtan was forced out by Team Scocos.

Wonder if Scocos’ number 3 and chauffeur Mike Trepanier, is still giving driving lessons to Scocos’ "nannies."

Tyrannical Scocos has made the Veterans Affairs Board a nonstarter from day one. Ignored, the board is not functional under his regime. Board members are supposed to represent each congressional district, but the 7th Congressional District is still unrepresented.

Recall that Pete Moran, an Army Vietnam vet and vice chairman on the board, resigned in response to controversial GOP Gov. Scott Walker's appointment of Scocos to head the agency.

Zien and Gary Wetzel

No biggie. Team Scocos is mean-spirited and capable of shifting revenue from the Wisconsin veterans’ homes fund and undermining the agency's ability to care for residents.

Meanwhile, Mike Huebsch, head of state Department of Administration, plans mid-year cuts across all state agencies.

What percentage will Scocos cut from WDVA’s inflated budget?

Scocos is demanding a percentage of general program revenue (GPR) funding to support administrative and staff positions at the agency.

Instead, why not reduce funding for those positions?