No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

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Archive for the 'Defending the American Dream' Category

April 23, 2011

Directive 10-289

This week, the NLRB filed a complaint against Boeing in an attempt to prevent them from opening an new manufacturing facility in South Carolina.

Boeing is opening the new facility for two reasons.  First, it wants the ability to manufacture its new airliner in a redundant facility giving it greater capacity.  Second, after several contentious years with the Union at it’s Washington State facility, Boeing was looking to find a location to mitigate the Union’s impact on production.  Enter South Carolina.

South Carolina is a right to work state.  Right to work means many things for employees and employers.  Amongst them is that an employee can not be required to join a union and pay union dues as a condition of employment at a particular business i.e. “closed shop.”  The benefits for Boeing are obvious.  The benefits for Boeing are those that any prudent business would seek given the troubled labor history of Boeing’s Washington State facilities.

In what can only be the missing chapter from Atlas Shrugged, the NLRB’s complaint is based solely on Boeing’s desire to mitigate it’s labor challenges:

The NLRB said its investigation found that the company violated two sections of the National Labor Relations Act in 2009 when it picked Charleston International Airport as the site of its second 787 assembly plant rather than expanding its existing factory in Everett.

Specifically, Boeing officials made “coercive statements” to its unionized employees starting in 2009 that the company would shift or had shifted production work away from the Puget Sound area because of labor walkouts, the agency said.

Wow! “coercive statements,” including their desire to move away from labor disputes are the basis for the NLRB complaint! Can anyone possibly imagine that there may have been some “coercive statements” from the union that may have included threats to shut Boeing plants down which the have done on numerous occasions?

With his desire to “spread the wealth around” and now his NLRB agents attempting to dictate business decisions as basic as where they will do business, I’m beginning to believe that Obama doesn’t view “Atlas Shrugged” as fiction but rather as a road map for full implemention of his socialistic desires. Does anyone really believe Obama would not implement an “Equalization of Opportunity” plan or Directive 10-289?

August 27, 2010

2010 Defending the American Dream live thread

by @ 12:19. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

I’m starting a bit late and have missed most of AFP President Tim Philips’ opening remarks. Oh well; time to fire up CoverItLive…

August 5, 2010

Profound Animosity

It’s now been almost four full years that Barack Obama has been running for office against George Bush.  Yes, some of us (almost all on the right) know that George Bush hasn’t been on the political scene, let alone been President, for 18 months.  None the less, President Obama (isn’t that odd how he carries the title “President” but still doesn’t know that George Bush isn’t?) continues to campaign against George Bush.

During his campaign stop on Wednesday with the AFL-CIO Executive Council, he pledged his commitment to rebuild the economy (I wonder if VP Biden knows this as he’s already told us we’ll have 500,000 new jobs each month and that this is “Recovery Summer”), that he was not  “giving up or giving in” and he was going to change the direction from:

at least eight years in which there was a profound animosity towards the notion of unions.

Well, if “profound animosity towards the notion of unions” is what kept our unemployment rate under 5%, a GDP that was the envy of the world, the ability if not to shrink the deficit, at least keep up with the ridiculous Washington spending, then I’d have to say, “bring it on!”

Instead of “profound animosity towards the notion of unions,” President Obama has shown himself to have profound animosity towards all forms of employment or enterprise that do not include unions.  When it came to the union shops i.e. GM, Chrysler et al, President obama rushed into the burning buildings to save his constituents.  In every other effort regarding the economy, you can determine President Obama’s position in advance by determining what would be the best solution in a free market, and take the opposite!

Even if it was proved true that George Bush had “profound animosity towards the notion of unions,” I would take that back in a hearbeat over the profound animosity that President Obama has shown towards the 87.7% of us workers who can manage employment without paying a monthly allotment towards protection money.

August 2, 2010

Kids Say The Darndest Things

There are some advantages to growing older.  The most obvious is that when you consider the alternative, getting another year older, at any age, isn’t so bad.  Another is that you get to look back and remember fondly, some of your youthful experiences.

One experience that I remember is watching Art Linkletter do his “Kids say the darndest things” bit.  If you aren’t old enough, and haven’t seen one of the clips, Art Linkletter would get any number of kids together, all of whom were typically under the age of 10, and ask them questions.  Time and again, the answers the kids gave would leave the watchers in stitches.  The kid’s answers were innocent and top of mind.  While factual, they usually had a naive or certainly unnuanced view of the world.  Look at the following clip to get a sense of the fun that Linkletter had…all without paid actors:

The reason I bring Linkletter up is that I saw another video today in which a person was asked a question and the response left me in stitches. Like Linkletter’s kids, this respondent answered innocently with what was top of mind. In other words, the person answered honestly and without the bother of real world nuance. Here, watch the video and see if you don’t agree:

I’m glad we have free political speech in this country…at least for now. With free speech we get to see Pete Stark and people like him, lay out in simple, plain English, their contempt for the Constitution and for those who believe it actually has a purpose. He also lays out in plain English, why he and his ilk should be removed from office and offered a relocation package to the People’s Paradise of Cuba.

March 13, 2010

Quick conversation – Ed Thompson

Most of my material from the Wisconsin Defending the American Dream Summit will have to wait until I get home tomorrow (or possibly Monday), but I had the chance to briefly speak with Tomah mayor Ed Thomspon, who is running for the 31st Senate seat currently held by Democrat Kathleen Vinehout.

Thompson stressed that he is a conservative. In fact, he signed the Americans for Tax Reform no-tax-increase pledge just yesterday. He also touts his business credentials as a supper club owner.

He knows he has a hard road against him. The 31st has produced one Republican in the last 100 years, Ron Brown, and it was Vinehout that beat him after only one term. While that election was in the Democratic wipeout of 2006. In fact, he outspent Vinehout by roughly a 2-1 margin.

Of interest to everybody, especially to those not in the 31st, Thompson answered that he thinks his brother Tommy will run for Senate against Russ Feingold. He further said that Tommy does need to give an answer, one way or the other, soon.

Live from the Wisconsin Defending the American Dream

by @ 9:38. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

There are a lot of people here in the Dells on a rainy Saturday for Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream Summit. We’re still a half-hour from the start, and already the place is filling up. All the major candidates for the Republican nominations for governor, lieutenant governor and US Senate have presences, mostly with the candidates in attendance, on the way in, and along the north wall, various other groups have booths.

While we wait for the conference to begin, I may as well upload a few photos (not necessarily in order) I took on my way in.

March 5, 2010

Third Annual Wisconsin Defending the American Dream Summit – 3/12-3/13

by @ 6:59. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

If it’s March, it’s time for the Wisconsin Defending the American Dream Summit. The third edition will be held at the Chula Vista Resort, primarily the 90,000-square-foot Wisconsin Dells Center, on Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13. Tickets are $39.99, and are available at this link.

While most of the activities will happen on Saturday, there is an opening reception Friday night. The list of confirmed speakers is rather impressive:

Vicki McKenna – WISN Radio, WIBA Radio
Lord Christopher Monckton – Columnist, inventor, and Advisor to Margaret Thatcher
Honorable James Sensenbrenner – Wisconsin 8th District
Herman Cain – Author, Radio Talk Show Host
Steve Moore – Wall Street Journal
Grover Norquist – Americans for Tax Reform
John Fund – Wall Street Journal
Tim Phillips – President Americans for Prosperity
Mark Block – AFP Wisconsin State Director
J.B. Van Hollen – Wisconsin Attorney General
Joe Wurzelbacher – “Joe The Plumber”
Eric O’Keefe – CEO, Sam Adams Alliance
Linda Hansen – Wisconsin Prosperity Network
Tim Nerenz – The Oldenburg Group
Niger Innis – Congress of Racial Equality
Dr. David Gratzer – Author, The Cure
Debra Waller – Chairman & CEO, Jockey International
Phil Kerpen – Nat.l Policy Director, AFP
Paul Driessen – APR, Esq.
Pat Synder – WSAU Radio
Fred Kelly Grant – Author, Justice My Ass
Michael Reagan – National Talk Show Host and son of President Ronald Reagan

Be there.

December 15, 2009

Amen!

I can’t figure out how to make the video link work so, just go and watch. No additional comments are necessary!

Amen!

Revisions/extensions (10:53 am 12/15/2009, steveegg) - Let’s see if the semi-hidden embed code works…

October 26, 2009

Next Up On the “Rights” Hit Parade…

Individual “Rights” come in two forms.  There are the rights that are spelled out in the Constitution.  A right to bear arms, a right to a fair trial and a right to free speech are just a few of the examples of these rights.  These rights, while guaranteed by the Constitution, are time and again “rights” that we have to fight to retain.  It seems hardly a month goes by where one or more of our Constitutionally guaranteed rights are assaulted in small and large ways by Congress, the Judiciary, any of a number of interest groups are not comfortable in a free society, or even, the President.

Along with the rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution, there are a whole separate set of “rights” that have been established, not by the Constitution, but by the government.  This set of “rights” are no where to be found in the Constitution.  This set of “rights” are not even “rights”, at least not if you believe a “right” that you have doesn’t require anyone else to give up something they have.  Included in this set of “rights” are; the “right” to an abortion, a “Right” to government provided financial support and a “right” to an equal educational opportunity for every child.

It’s ironic that we have to fight to get the set of rights provided by the Constitution remembered and yet any number of people and groups are happy to increase the number of the unmerited “rights”.

Right now, Congress is debating the addition of another unmerited “right”.  While there are numerous rationals for the desire to implement health care reform, the core essence of the Left’s argument is that health care is in fact a right.  Can you find it in the Constitution?  No.  However, the Left is undaunted in this argument and believes “it’s the right thing to do.”

If you think health care as a right is offensive, get ready for the next “right” that is now germinating within the thinking of the Left; a right to housing!

In this video, Raquel Rolnik, a UN “special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing” (think “Special Investigator”), is coming the the US to make a determination about New York and six other cities, affordable housing.

If you have any questions about my concerns regarding housing becoming a  focus of “rights”, let’s look at Ms. Rolnik’s own words:

“I am representing the right of adequate housing as a human right.”

In past times a US President would have taken insult in a UN inspector nosing around the US when the UN’s record is one of support for Socialists and Marxists.  This time, Rolnik is likely to receive the Medal of Honor from President Obama.

Following her town hall in New Orleans, Ms. Rolnik made the following comments:

“Well, the feeling is that we definitely need to have a discussion, open discussion and re-appraisal of housing policies. I think a lot has been done in this country. This country has a history of intervening in housing sector, of building public housing, or intervening in the homelessness sector on innovating programs like rent subsidizing and other schemes. But in a way I think that was stuck in some point now. And I think the way forward need to be discussed.”

Just what Obama needs, support from the UN to completely take over yet one more industry!

 

 

October 4, 2009

Ed Morrissey talks taxes at Defending the American Dream Summit

Because of various technical issues, I was pretty much limited to covering the 2009 Defending the American Dream Summit on Twitter. However, I did get some not-quite-great-quality video of Ed Morrissey talking about the tax system and especially the ill-named HAPPY Act, which would create a tax deduction for pet expenses. He explains why both halves of the bipartisan Party-In-Government likes the current tax code.

YouTube Preview Image

I wish I had more, but those tech issues completely threw me off my game. However, Kyle Maichle picked up the slack.

Revisions/extensions (5:19 pm 10/5/2009) - Changed the link to the Hot Air post Ed put up. Thanks again, Ed.

March 7, 2009

Midday pics

by @ 13:34. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

WISN/WIBA host Vicki McKenna, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, Herman Cain

Union protest FAIL

by @ 12:46. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

Despite issuing an action alert to come down to the Midwest Airlines Center to protest the Defending the American Dream-Wisconsin summit, the AFL-CIO and the SEIU could barely get a couple dozen to show up. After all, it’s not a workday.

(Pic from Fred’s camera; I had left the memory card for mine upstairs and his USB cable doesn’t fit my camera)

Revisions/extensions (12:58 pm 3/7/2009) - Fred ran with it

R&E part 2 (5:39 pm 3/8/2009) - Kyle Maichle proved how big a FAIL that was by taking some video. Do note the drum that made it an official Leftist protest.

Round 4

by @ 12:38. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

State Rep. Leah Vukmir (presenter), Congressional Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (national Defender of the American Dream winner), State Rep. Jim Ott (state Defender of the American Dream winner), WSAU host Jerry Bader Pat Snyder (media Defender of the American Dream winner; thanks for the catch, John), and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (last speaker before lunch)

Round 3 of pics

by @ 11:28. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

Apostle David King of the Milwaukee God Squad, Steve Moore from The Wall Street Journal and some booth pics before they get swamped…

Sign of the day

by @ 11:16. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

From my friends at Citizens for Responsible Government:

dscf0057

Second round of pics

by @ 10:35. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

AFP national director Tim Phillips, Phil Williamson (the man behind Wisconsin’s Drill Here, Drill Now movement last summer), Joe Wurzelbacher (Joe the Plumber), Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker

First batch of pics

by @ 9:56. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

Mark Block, AFP-WI state director, and the standing-room-only crowd

Busy Saturday

by @ 7:55. Tags:
Filed under Defending the American Dream, Taxes.

Whether you’re in southeast or northeast Wisconsin, there is something going on today:

- Green Bay Tea Party (which got a mention on the Green Bay Press-Gazette website – H/T Berry Laker) – 11 am-noon, Titletown Brewing Company, 200 Dousman St., Green Bay

- Defending the American Dream-Wisconsin Summit – 8:30 am-6:30 pm, Midwest Airlines Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee (just noticed they “borrowed” my summary of the mid-week announcements)

I wish I could be in both places at once, but there isn’t time travel or cloning yet. I’ll be in Milwaukee because it’s closer, but I’m sure that the gang around Titletown will have plenty of coverage.

March 3, 2009

Defending the American Dream – Wisconsin announcements

by @ 19:00. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

I truly hope you reserved not only Saturday, March 7, but the evening of March 6. AFP-Wisconsin director Mark Block just dropped me an e-mail with a couple of updates on the Defending the American Dream-Wisconsin summit:

- For the outstate folks, there will be a bus available, starting in Minocqua at Island City Lanes at 5 am Saturday, with stops in Wausau at the Holiday Inn on Imperial Ave. at 6 am and Stevens Point at the Holiday Inn on Amber Ave. at 6:30 am. Do call the AFP-Wisconsin offices at 414-475-2975 for reservations.

- For those that need a hotel room, the Hilton Milwaukee, right across the street from the Midwest Airlines Center at 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., will be offering special rates. Just mention that you are with Americans for Prosperity and are in town for the summit.

- AFP-Wisconsin has teamed with the Conservative Young Professionals of Milwaukee to have a pre-Summit Happy Hour at Bootleggers, 1025 N. Old World 3rd St., Friday at 5:30. The special guest will be Joe Wurzelbacher (better known as Joe the Plumber).

There’s still room, and the price is far better than CPAC at $36 for general admission and $19 for students.

February 11, 2009

What The Stimulus Is Creating

by @ 5:22. Filed under Defending the American Dream, Economy.

Bandage your heads up tight before you watch this video:

Moving past the Messiah assignment that Julio is doing, Julio is the perfect example of your brain on stimulus!

First, where did the expectation come from that college students should have well paying, high benefit plans?   The purpose of college, if you choose to go, is to learn skills that will enable you to get well paying, high benefit jobs.

Second, note the mentality that says “because I am here, I should get paid.   In fact, because I am here a longer time I should get paid or benefited more!”   Julio obviously has never heard of “pay for performance.”   It’s a nifty little concept that says that your compensation is determined by the value you bring to the organization not the length of time you’ve managed to walk through the front door of the organization.  

Julio is a perfect example of the “I’m owed something” mentality.   He has already determined that he is a person who will be perpetually disadvantaged, not because of any choices he has made or skills he does or doesn’t have, but because “the system” is fixed against him.  

As we continue the full out run towards Socialism you can expect to see more Julios.   As the government spreads its net of benefits over more of the population, more and more people will become just like Julio, slaves of the state and unable to take responsibility or act without some action or provision from the government.   Of course, along with the net of benefits comes the governments ability to dictate how you live and work.   Doubt me, just ask the banks and the auto companies.

This country has always been about the taking and rewarding of risk.   There is little the the Founders of our Country, the folks who risked their lives and livelihood for a chance in the “New World” or those who spanned out to settle the West would have had in common with folks like Julio.  

It’s unfortunate really, Julio may have talent and ability but he’ll probably never know.    Julio and those like him, are waiting for the next drop from the government gruel bucket.    They’ll eat the gruel, never being fully satisfied but justifying their situation as  being “better than nothing.”

February 6, 2009

2nd Annual Defending the American Dream – Wisconsin Summit

by @ 9:06. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

I do hope you reserved Saturday, March 7 on your calendar. Americans for Prosperity is holding the 2nd Annual Defending the American Dream – Wisconsin Summit at the Midwest Airlines Center. Yes, there is a bit of a cost involved at $36 for general admission and $19 for students, but the lineup of both guests and topics are well worth it.

Guests include Rep. Paul Ryan, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, Wall Street Journal reporter Steve Moore, authors Herman Cain and Fred Kelly Grant, Judge (and candiate for Supreme Court Justice) Randy Koschnick, candidate for State Superintendent Rose Fernandez, and WIBA/WISN radio star Vicki McKenna.

Topics include the death tax, climate “change”, property rights, the upcoming state budget, and choice in education.

Do register for this great event as soon as possible.

October 11, 2008

Roll bloat – DAD part 1

Just because I’m goofi…er, working doesn’t mean I don’t find some good blogs to add to the overloaded roll and feed reader. After all, you can sleep when you’re dead. There are a couple I want to get in before I completely blank like I did to Aakash Raut.

- Crystal Clear Conservative
- Katy’s Conservative Corner

October 10, 2008

Off to the main reason I came to DC – Defending the American Dream Summit

by @ 6:57. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

Drinking my way through DC with Sean Hackbarth, Kevin Binversie and various others was fun, and seeing some sites (most of the pics are up at Flickr) was good, but now it’s time to do what I came to do; attend Amercans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream summit. I don’t know exactly how much I’ll cover versus actually attend this time, but I’ll do as much of both as I can.

Since I doubt my coverage will even begin to cover it, there is also a Twitter hashtag set up – #AFP08.

September 23, 2008

Roman History and the Paulson Bailout Plan

After initial euphoria, the stock exchanges took back all of Friday’s gains as more details were released and Congressional wrangling began, regarding the Paulson bailout plan.

Paulson is proposing a $700B plan to take all of the “bad loans” off of banks books and manage the disposition of those loans over a 2 to 4 year period.  

Several articles have described the Paulson’s plan as “letting those responsible for this debacle, off the hook.”   In a sense that may be true, to the extent that companies holding these bad loans survive and avoid bankruptcy.   In another sense, it’s hard to say that companies who have written off up to 80% of assets that surely have greater value than that, have been “let off the hook.” (Don’t get me started on the mark to market requirements!)  

It’s hard to tell if Paulson’s plan, in any form, will make it through Congress.   While there was a large sigh of relief last week when the plan was rumored and initially announced, several factions have inserted themselves in the process or the lobbying and may ultimately kill any chance for a bill.

The Dems are trying to ensure that they get a piece of flesh by adding a provision that any institution who sells these loans to Paulson (I’ll use that term as generic for his plan because I don’t know what else to call it)  or buys them, has to provide stock warrants to Paulson that would allow Paulson to cash them in and benefit from any gain that the companies may later have.   As an aside, this ain’t going to fly.   Can you imagine anyone willing to buy distressed assets if they have to also give stock warrants?   They also want to control salaries and bonuses of senior executives of the impacted companies…Oh yeah, that will get a lot of folks lining up at Paulson’s door!   While Dems may possibly cause derailing from the inside of the process, some Republicans, especially those who would brand themselves “hard core conservatives” are trying to derail the bill from outside.

HotAir.com  has an article outlining opposition to Paulson’s plan by Rep. Mike Spence and William Kristol. Over at Redstate.com a conservative blog site, some readers are lining up their opposition to the bill.

I honestly don’t know whether the Paulson plan is the right one or not. You could say it’s above my pay grade. While I’m not big on bailouts, I do believe the Bear Stearns move was the right one. AIG, I’m just not familiar enough with the issues. Here’s what I do know. In the current discussion, the Dems are playing politics and some of the Conservatives, blasting this plan with as little information as the rest of us have, are ideologues.

I saw this article today in US News and World Report. In it, the author makes a swag at the possible implication if the Paulson plan is derailed. His numbers are staggering! According to his swag, the impact on the US economy could be north of $30 trillion. Remember, the US economy is about $12 Trillion. Can you imagine an impact that is 2.5X today’s economy.   Is he right?   Again, I don’t know.   But, even if you cut his numbers in half, the potential is beyond significant.   At the very least, those who are working hard to flush this plan without serious discussion, ought to spend some time considering the articles arguments.

What’s the tie to Roman History?

In 280 B.C. and again in 279 B.C. King Pyrrhus of Epirus took on the Roman army. The good news is that Pyrrhus won both battles against the larger Roman army and the Roman losses were more significant than those of Pyrrhus. The bad news is that Pyrrhus lost so many men relative to his army, that he was unable to maintain an army after the large number of casualties in the two battles, and he ultimately lost the war to the Romans who had a much larger reserve of men to back fill their losses. A victory accomplished at a huge loss has been known ever since as a Pyrrhic Victory.

As I said, I’m not sure what the right answer is but the same can be said for the Dems who are politicizing and some of the Conservatives who are ideologues. I do know that this issue needs to be given much more serious consideration and analysis than I’ve seen given it thus far. Should the Dems or the ideologues win, I trust that their success will not be remembered as a 21st century Pyrrhic victory.

May 22, 2008

Who Wants Gas Prices to Come Down?

by @ 17:26. Filed under Defending the American Dream.

…well, I do and I would guess you do too.   I’ll also bet that most people who have to pay for their gas also would like to see the price come down.   But what about our political elect?    Do they want to see gas prices come down?   This article today  from CBS Chicago says that for some of them, the answer is:   NO and HELL NO!

On average, the total government take on a gallon of gas is about $.40. However, there are areas where the state or local tax is not a fixed amount but is a percent of the retail value. The result is that as the retail price continues to climb, so does the tax that is paid.

Chicago is an area that has a percentage gas tax. As the article points out, tax on a gallon of gasoline in Chicago is now nearly $.80 per gallon. While Dick Durbin was asking oil executives whether they were ashamed of their profits, parts of the state he represents were charging nearly twice the national average for taxes. What makes this even more appalling is realizing that of the $.40 national average, the average for state and local taxes is about $.21. The combination of state and local taxes in the Chicago area are about $.61, nearly THREE TIMES THE NATIONAL AVERAGE!


One would think that with prices going up, the folks in Chicago might see fit to saying, “Hey, we could get by with just two times the national average,” and cut the rate by $.20 or so. One would think, but then, one would be wrong. See, there’s never been a governmental entity that couldn’t find ways to spend the WINDFALL PROFITS they may get…

And that, of course, is exactly the point for the politicians. Gov. Blagojevich, for example, is counting on the high price of gasoline to bring at least an extra $220 million in the State Treasury in the fiscal year that begins this July. Most of that will be used to balance the way-out-of-balance budget.

There is no solution to the creep (used as a noun and verb) and greed of government that doesn’t involve pitchforks and torches!

Where’s my lighter?

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