No Runny Eggs

Now that it has passed the Assembly 74-23 (by a veto-proof margin) after squeaking through the Senate 20-13 (NOT a veto-proof margin), it’s time to guess when/if Jim “Craps” Doyle will veto it. Patrick and Brian Fraley (filling in for Owen over at Boots and Sabers) seem to think he’ll actually sign it, while Fred and Kevin think he’ll veto it (Fred goes so far as to call for a Friday veto, just in time for Christmas) and Peter has no idea.

As for me, I’ll even come up with the specific time that he’ll veto this; 4:53 pm Friday, December 23. The official reason will be the one pointed to by Fred and Kevin, that it would make the highways “less-safe” (as if the $1 billion that Craps looted from the fund didn’t have that kind of impact). In reality, it will be because it shuts off the automatic growth of Craps’ favorite slush fund. The end to the indexing will cost a LOT less than Craps’ raids.

Homer nods – fixed a typo (D’OH!!!!) – or two (D’OH!!!!!!) – and them typos keep on piling up (D’OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

E. Michael McCan’t (D-Corruption) has decided to take his enhanced pension benefits home next year (he never signed away one red cent of them). The Journal Sentinel story has some interesting tidbits about McCann’s career:

• Back when he was first elected in 1968, both The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel listed his home address and marvelled that a bachelor would be elected to public office.
• By 1970, he had earned his nickname of McCan’t so well that the Milwaukee Policeman’s Union (the forerunner of the Milwaukee Police Association) illegally campaigned against him for not prosecuting violent crimes vigorously.
• McCann is, strangely enough, pro-life.

(H/T Charlie’s show)

How appropriate it is that the penultimate reaction to the first episode happened 232 years ago Friday. A politically-connected industry finds itself with a massive amount of product that it can’t sell. It goes to the government to get a monopoly in a new market to get rid of it and goes on to claim that it will actually cost less to do it that way. Charlie, his Insight Check callers, and I aren’t talking about the East India Tea Company back in the 1770s (which led to the Boston Tea Party and ultimately the creation of the United States of America), but ethanol in 2005. That’s right, the Assembly forgot its history and is planning on cramming the more-expensive, less-efficient, more-polluting, small-engine-killing statewide ethanol mandate through tomorrow.

Those staffers you called regarding the repeal of the automatic gas-tax increase (which went through the Assembly by a veto-proof margin; all indications are that Craps will veto it and let the Senate uphold the veto as it didn’t pass by 2/3rds there) are still there in Madison. Call them NOW!